There is a huge question mark hanging over who will run for the Democratic ticket in the 2008 presidential elections. Hilary? Russ? Barack? The General? And now there are even whispers of John Kerry taking another shot at the run for the White House.

In the last primaries, Democrats worked diligently to find a suitable candidate to beat incumbent George W. Bush. The usual suspects were all there: two men named John, both of whom were listed on the final ticket; four-star general and stately white-haired Wesley Clark; the man whose infamy shifted to the realm of crazy after that chortling scream following the Iowa Caucus — none other than the nuttier-than-squirrel-breath Howard Dean; and even former vice presidential candidate turned Dem-pariah Joe Lieberman put himself out there, with a handful of other notables.

And now, in the lead up to the 2008 presidential elections, the roster looks much like an episode of "Lost": some of the former characters are still there, while others have fallen, and those remaining are accompanied by a few new names. While they were all on the same plane, they just fell on different parts of the island. Though there will be competition among them, they all have the same mission: defend themselves from and defeat "the others," i.e. the Republican Party and their choice for the nomination.

If the Democrats felt an urgency to find a candidate to oust Bush in '04, they must be absolutely wetting themselves in the race to '08. So who will be the best and brightest the Democrats have to offer?

First, if I had my druthers, Bill Clinton would be back in office, doing what he does best — no, not the cigars, you pervs — running this nation the way it should be, chipping away at the deficit and promoting strong relations between the U.S. and other countries. He would be handling even the most volatile of situations abroad with rational thought and credible intelligence, and dealing in the persuasion of reality instead of the realm of fear and religion. But my devotion to and admiration of Bill Clinton is beside the point.

There may be hope in another Clinton, the former First Lady, Hilary. As a member of the news staff, I covered her appearance at the Monona Terrace last year, and all anyone really wanted to hear from her was whether she had plans to re-inhabit the White House. And boy, wouldn't Bill make a fine First Gentleman?

Hilary definitely isn't alone in the laundry list of possibilities. Maybe with a little more time for his name to sink in with the general populace, with his vast military experience and his sound leadership abilities, Gen. Clark has a shot at winning more than one state.

Joe Biden's name has been thrown around in the past two decades, but some voters may recall the controversy surrounding his intent to run for the presidency in 1988.

The Johns are back, too. Both Kerry and Edwards have come up in many conversations about the future of Democrats in the White House. After all, they did it once, almost, so perhaps they can do it again.

And many liberal Wisconsinites are salivating at the thought of having a cheesehead in the Oval Office, however, others are questioning whether the twice-divorced Russ Feingold will be able to reign in swing voters. Feingold has pioneered campaign finance reforms with congressional darling and Republican John McCain. He fought the invasions of privacy and the illegal monitoring of U.S. citizens in his stand against the Patriot Acts. Feingold has said the outcomes of the November elections will determine whether he runs or not. But let's hope he does regardless.

Another youngster Dems are looking to is Barack Obama. A while back, he said he would not set his sights on the 2008 presidential elections; recently he has been hinting at a change of heart. How does Obama-Feingold or Feingold-Obama sound? Pretty damn good to me.

There is one thing you can bet on for the Democratic primaries in 2008, however: Whoever wins the ticket and the nomination will break the mold of past presidents and vice presidents. Maybe the nominee will be Jewish, female, black, a divorcé or a seasoned military man. In this election, all bets will be off, and we can hope against hope that this next election will turn out better than the last.

Carolyn Smith (csmith @badgerherald.com) is a continuing student at UW.