Conventional wisdom in 2013 presents a scenario in which former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, backed by the Democratic establishment and big money, secures the party's 2016 presidential nomination without much trouble.  Under this thinking, although a few others such as Gov. Martin O'Malley or Gov. Andrew Cuomo might venture into the race, Clinton's road to the nomination is seen as close to inevitable, almost by acclamation.  A coronation is unlikely to occur; there will inevitably be unforeseen turns and bumps in the road.  As 2013 drew to a close, more attention turned to who might emerge as a progressive alternative to Clinton.  The Great Mentioner added a few new names to the mix including Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Gov. Brian Schweitzer and even Gov. Jerry Brown.

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	Vice President Joe Biden - Following the Dec. 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, President Obama appointed Vice President Biden to head up a Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.  In Jan. 2013 Obama announced 23 executive actions to address the issue (1, 2); however Congress did not take action, disappointing gun control advocates.  At the beginning of Dec. 2013, Biden made the highest profile trip of his vice presidency, visiting Tokyo, Beijing and Seoul.  Biden's most noted political activity was his appearance as a featured guest at Sen. Tom Harkin’s 36th annual Steak Fry in Indianola, IA on Sept. 15, 2013.  Biden has not established a leadership PAC, and there is scant evidence of grassroots support for a presidential campaign.
	Gov. Jerry Brown (CA) - Jerry Brown has already run for president three times, in 1976, 1980 and 1992.  Almost no observers of the Sacramento scene believe the governor, age 75, will mount another presidential campaign.  Nonetheless, Gov. Brown was a late addition to the presidential speculation game due to a Dec. 17 article by the Los Angeles Times' Mark Z. Barabak headlined "Jerry Brown, urged to run for president, won't rule out 2016 bid." (>)  Brown's immediate challenge is his 2014 re-election campaign.  His campaign website urges readers to "stand with Jerry for a fiscally responsible California" and notes he "has taken steps to reduce California's debt, improve the state's credit rating, and protect funding for education and public safety."  Brown's strongest challenger appears to be former Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado.
	Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - 2013 got off to a somewhat trying start for the then Secretary of State when on Jan. 23 she testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi.  Since finishing her tenure at the Department of State on Feb. 1, Clinton has kept a fairly busy schedule.  She found a landing place at The Clinton Foundation, renamed in March as the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.  She has received various honors and awards and given a bunch of speeches, some to trade associations and businesses for a speaking fee reported at around $200,000 per speech and others to favored causes or to raise money for the Clinton Foundation.  She also has ventured out onto the campaign trail, stumping with Virginia gubernatorial candidate and friend Terry McAuliffe in Falls Church on Oct. 19 and appearing at a fundraiser for NYC mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio, who managed her 2000 U.S. Senate campaign, at the Roosevelt Hotel on Oct. 21.  On June 10 Clinton launched a Twitter account ("Wife, mom, lawyer, women & kids advocate, FLOAR, FLOTUS, US Senator, SecState, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD...")  On June 14 she announced she is partnering with Next Generation in the Too Small to Fail early childhood initiative.  As part of her work at the Clinton Foundation, on Nov. 1 she launched No Ceilings: The Full Participation Project.  Clinton appear poised for a run, and conventional wisdom at this early, pre-campaign stage is that she would be the almost-certain nominee if she does run.  For example, in October, speaking at an EMILY's List event in New York, Sen. Kay Hagan let slip the existence of a secret letter circulated by Sen. Barbara Boxer in the first part of the year in which all 16 Democratic women senators urged Clinton to run.  In May, EMILY's List launched Madame President, a "national campaign to put a woman in the White House."  (The effort does not specifically back Hillary Clinton, but clearly they don't have Sarah Palin in mind).  The independent Ready for Hillary super PAC is building "a grassroots army" of supporters that could prove very helpful (>).  Certainly the RNC is keeping a close eye on the Hillaryosphere (>).  However, there is a saying that the only certainty in politics is that nothing is certain.  Clinton held the position of the heavyweight in the 2008 campaign for the Democratic nomination (>), only to see then Sen. Obama prevail in the closely fought contest.  Clinton remains a polarizing figure to some, evidenced by efforts such as the Stop Hillary PAC, The Hillary Project, and America Rising PAC's StopHillary2016.org, and critics continue to raise questions about Benghazi.  Health can be a factor as well.  Clinton suffered a fall and concussion on Dec. 13, 2012, but judging from her busy schedule appears to have fully recovered.  She will celebrate her 69th birthday a few days before Election Day, making her about nine months younger than Reagan when he was elected.
	Gov. Andrew Cuomo (NY) - Gov. Cuomo has focused on governing New York and has not engaged in any noticeable 2016 politicking.  According to New York Rising [PDF], Cuomo's 54-page year end report, "His leadership has restored our State as a model for the nation and demonstrated the impact that an effective and responsive government can have on the lives of its people." Highlights include three consecutive on-time balanced budgets, income tax cuts for the middle class, a property tax cap and continued efforts to build the economy.  Cuomo faces re-election in 2014.
	Former Gov. Howard Dean (VT) - In August, former Gov. Dean told the Des Moines Register, "At this point, I'm supporting Hillary Clinton."  However, in 2013 Dean managed to make it to both Iowa, where he addressed the 57th annual Iowa Federation of Labor Convention in August, and New Hampshire, where he spoke on heath care at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics in September.  Dean is senior strategic advisor and independent consultant in the public policy and regulatory affairs practice at McKenna Long & Aldridge; he joined the firm in March 2009.  He is also a contributor to MSNBC.  Before serving as chairman of the DNC from 2005-09, Dean founded Democracy for America, a "member driven, people-powered PAC" chaired by his brother Jim Dean.
	Gov. Martin O'Malley (MD) - Gov. O'Malley, who is term-limited in 2014, has been most open about his presidential ambitions.  In July 2012 he formed the O' Say Can You See PAC (Adam Goers is executive director); through June 30, 2013 the PAC federal account raised $164,076 and spent $138,353 while the non-federal account raised $315,497; adding a small state-level account the total was a bit less than $500,000.  O'Malley also serves as finance chair of the Democratic Governors Association, which he chaired from 2010-12.  O'Malley's presidential ambitions were on full display on the evening of Nov. 16, when he keynoted the New Hampshire Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner in Manchester.  A 3:34 introductory video "Belief" reviewed O'Malley's accomplishments as mayor and governor in glowing terms.  In Baltimore, "a cauldron of crime, drugs and profound despair," O'Malley waged an "assault on hopelessness."  A hallmark of O'Malley's tenures as mayor and governor is performance measurement and management, first through CitiStat and now with StateStat.  The video notes, "Things that get measured are things that get done..."  The video cites many areas where Maryland has excelled.  Toward the end of the year, however, he ran into difficulties as the state's online health insurance exchange, Maryland Health Connection, encountered problems similar to what happened at the federal level.  O'Malley moved to address the glitches, but the situation proved quite embarrassing to him and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, the point person on the exchange.  One of O'Malley's strongest critics is Larry Hogan, seen as the leading Republican candidate for governor in 2014.  Hogan, a businessman who served in the Cabinet under Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich  from 2003-07, founded and chairs Change Maryland. He charges that 40 O'Malley-Brown tax increases are leading to "increasing tax flight, continuing the small business exodus and large corporate headquarters relocating to other states."
	Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) - Sen. Sanders was convincingly elected to a second term on Nov. 6, 2012, gaining 71.0 percent of the vote.  He did not attract much attention in the first part of 2013, but in the latter part of the year, as progressives considered who might be possible alternatives to annointed pre-campaign frontrunner Hillary Clinton, the 72-year old Senator from Vermont entered into the mix.  In October he made a four-day trip to the South, holding town hall meetings on the theme of "The Fight for Economic Justice!" in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.  He started to get a bit of attention including being featured on the cover of the November issue of The Progressive magazine ("Bernie Sanders Takes on the Oligarchs.")  In Nov. 16 interview with Glenn Russell of the Burlington Free Press (>) Sanders described "a nation now in the midst of a real crisis."  "We need a sense  of urgency and I don't see that in the establishment politicians and I don't see that in the establishment media," he stated.  Sanders set out his progressive agenda in a Dec. 30 YouTube video "Plant Your Flag."
	Former Gov. Brian Schweitzer (MT) - After finishing two terms as governor in Jan. 2013 Schweitzer joined with the Clinton Group hedge fund in a hostile takeover of Stillwater Mining Co..  He and others were concerned about management of the largest publicly traded company in Montana.  On May 2 shareholders elected him and several dissidents to the board of directors; on May 20 he was elected chairman.  Schweitzer also considered running for the Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Max Baucus.  The Progressive Change Campaign Committee organized a strong draft effort and Schweitzer was seen by many a favorite to win, but on July 13 he ruled a Senate run out, saying he did not want to be part of the Washington scene.   In an interview with Montana Public Radio, Schweitzer said, "I've said for some time that I didn't think I would fit in in Washington DC.  I don't like the kind of clothes they have to wear.  I don't like the traffic.  I don't like the weather.  And I really don't like it that it's a town that seems to be run by the corporate interests and lobbyists..."  If the job is right, however, Schweitzer may be willing to overlook these dislikes.  , He had already been seen as a long shot potential presidential candidate.  Starting with a number of interviews in October he has put his hat more firmly in the presidential speculation ring.  For example see a Real Clear Politics article published on Oct. 18, "Brian Schweitzer Mulling 2016 Presidential Bid" (>)  On Nov. 24 Schweitzer told MSNBC that it is "on my bucket list is to try to and make it to all the counties in Iowa someday," and on Dec. 18 he spoke at Progress Iowa's holiday party in Altoona.  As a folksy populist from a rural state, Schweitzer would offer a unique appeal in a Democratic field, but some of his views such as his pro-gun stance and support of the Keystone pipeline run counter to Democratic orthodoxy.
not in...
	Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) - The Draft Kirsten Gillibrand 2016 website, which launched in Oct. 2010 and ran through Jan. 2013, says of the Senator from New York, "A trendsetter of bold ideas of a new generation, she has the guts, the heart and the tenacious fighting spirit to lead her party, and this country, in the 21st century."  At least for now, Gillibrand is not interested.  On March 5, 2013 she tweeted "I'm thinking Hillary 2016. Anybody else? Go Hillary! She's going to run… I'm not running."  Gillibrand, who was appointed to the Senate in Jan. 2009 to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Clinton, then elected in a 2010 special election, convincingly won a full term on Nov. 6, 2013, defeating Wendy Long with more than 72-percent of the vote.  Among her committee assignments, Gillibrand serves as chair of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, and in that role she made the matter of sexual assaults in the military a signature issue for much of the year.
	Sen. Amy Klobuchar (MN) - An Aug. 16 visit to Iowa, where she was the keynote speaker at the North Iowa Democrats' 10th anniversary Wing Ding Fundraiser at the Historic Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, put Sen. Klobuchar on the list of potential candidates.  However she, along with the other women Senators, did sign the letter urging Sen. Clinton to run.  Klobuchar was re-elected in 2012 by a margin of close to one million votes over state Rep. Kurt Bills (R), 65.2% to 30.5%.  She serves on the Judiciary, Commerce, Agriculture and Rules Committees and is the Senate chair of the Joint Economic Committee.
	Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA) - Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive favorite among presidential prospects, seems unlikely to run.  Noam Scheiber made the case for a Warren candidacy in a Nov. 10 article in The New Republic (Nov. 25 cover date) headlined "Hillary's Nightmare? A Democratic Party That Realizes Its Soul Lies With Elizabeth Warren." (>)  However, Warren does not seem at all interested.  Several weeks after Scheiber's article she deflated the speculative storm.  On Dec. 4 the Boston Herald reported on Warren's remarks at a Boston press conference.  Warren stated, "I'm not running for president and I plan to serve out my term."  Pressed, she stated, "I pledge to serve out my term..." (>)

DEMOCRATIC PROSPECTS' VISITS TO KEY STATES, from Nov. 7 2012 to Dec. 31, 2013
Iowa
>Former Gov. Brian Schweitzer was the featured speaker at Progress Iowa's Holiday Party at the Prairie Meadows Event Center in Altoona, Iowa on December 18, 2013; he also did media including taping an appearance on IPTV's "Iowa Press."

>Vice President Joe Biden and San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro were the featured guests at Sen. Tom Harkin’s 36th annual Steak Fry at the Warren County Fairgrounds in Indianola, Iowa on September 15, 2013. >

>Former Gov. Howard Dean was the keynote speaker at the 57th annual Iowa Federation of Labor Convention at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa on August 21, 2013.

>Sen. Amy Klobuchar was the keynote speaker at the North Iowa Democrats' 10th anniversary Wing Ding Fundraiser at the Historic Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa on the evening of August 16, 2013.


New Hampshire
>Gov. Martin O'Malley keynoted the New Hampshire Democratic Party's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner at the Expo Center at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester, NH on the evening of November 16, 2013.  [video, transcript]

>Former Gov. Howard Dean spoke on "Health Care in the Private Sector, Reform is still possible" at the Institute of Politics & Political Library at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH on the evening of September 23, 2013.

(Vice President Joe Biden had been scheduled to appear at a fundraiser for Gov. Maggie Hassan at the Cape Neddick, ME home of Jim Demers on August 22, 2013, but canceled to be with his son Beau, who was hospitalized).


South Carolina
>Sen. Bernie Sanders visited SC on October 18-19, 2013.  On the evening of October 18 he spoke at a 'Fight for Economic Justice" town hall meeting sponsored by South Forward at the Eau Claire Print Building in Columbia.  On October 19 he spoke at the S.C. Progressive Network fall retreat at Penn Center on St. Helena Island.

>Vice President Joe Biden made an official visit to the Port of Charleston in Charleston, SC on September 16, 2013; he spoke about "the importance of infrastructure investment to exports, economic competitiveness, and job creation."

>Vice President Joe Biden delivered the keynote address at the South Carolina Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson Dinner at the Metropolitan Convention Center and dropped by Rep. Jim Clyburn’s annual Fish Fry at the Carolina Field House in Columbia, SC on the evening of May 3, 2013.

>Gov. Martin O'Malley addressed the South Carolina Democratic Party's 2nd Annual Issues Conference at West Ashley High School in Charleston on March 23, 2013.


FEATURE ARTICLES .
BIDEN
Jeanne Marie Laskas.  "Have You Heard the One About President Joe Biden?"  GQ.  July 2013.
Douglas Brinkley.  "Joe Biden: The Rolling Stone Interview."  Rolling Stone.  May 9, 2013.

CLINTON
Joe Hagan.  "Hillary in Midair."  New York.  Sept. 22, 2013.

CUOMO
Chris Smith.  "The Albany Machiavelli."  New York.  April 14, 2013.

O'MALLEY
John Briley.  "O'Malley on the Move."  Capitol File.  Summer 2013.
Haley Sweetland Edwards.  "Shoud Martin O'Malley Be President?"  Washington Monthly.  May/June 2013.

SCHWEITZER
Michael Warren.  "Schweitzer Takes Aim."  The Weekly Standard.  Dec. 23, 2013.

WARREN
Noam Scheiber.  "Hillary's Nightmare?  A Democratic Party That Realizes Its Soul Lies With Elizabeth Warren.  The New Republic.   Nov. 10, 2013.


See also:
Calvin Woodward.  "2016 Campaign Checklist: They've All Been So Busy." Associated Press, Dec. 30, 2013.