WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is considered so dominant in the early jockeying for the White House in 2008 that she overshadows a lot of fellow Democrats, including some big names.

The biggest of these names is former Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic nominee in 2000, who is sending mixed signals about whether he will make another run for the presidency.

“I have absolutely no plans and no expectations of ever being a candidate again,” Gore told reporters less than a year ago.

But this week, Gore seemed to leave the door open a crack.

“I haven’t completely ruled out running for president again in the future,” he said. “But I don't expect to.”

Despite such coyness, Gore consistently places second to Clinton in Democratic preference polls for president. That means he has more support than many Democrats who are less ambiguous about their White House ambitions, including John Edwards, John Kerry, Mark Warner and Russ Feingold.

Then again, after losing in 2000 to George W. Bush, Gore spent two years flirting with the idea of a comeback, only to rule it out in December 2002. With presidential campaigns starting earlier each election cycle, Gore’s window for making a decision may already be closing this time around.

“I don’t think Al Gore is going to run again,” said Democratic strategist Mary Anne Marsh. “People always look good until they actually announce.

“Besides, Gore has made a name for himself in the private sector by warning against global warming.

“On the environment, he’s had far more influence, one would argue, than he’s ever had in his life, either as a presidential candidate or as vice president,” Marsh said.

Another big name who has been eclipsed by Clinton in the Democratic presidential sweepstakes of 2008 is Wesley Clark, the former general who ran for the nomination in 2004. Although Clark won Oklahoma’s primary and placed second in several other states, he was chosen by only 1 percent of respondents in a Democratic preference poll by the Cook Political Report last month, down from 3 percent in June.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was still at 3 percent in a poll released by CNN last week. But White House political strategist Karl Rove says candidates like Richardson know Clinton probably will be the Democratic nominee and are merely “preening for the vice presidential slot.”

Several other Democrats performed just as poorly in the CNN poll, including former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. But that doesn’t mean they’re vying to become Clinton’s running mate, Marsh said.

“Every one of those guys — Vilsack, Bayh, Richardson, Warner — are all deadly serious about running for president,” she said. “If you don’t get into the presidential race to win, then don’t bother, because the likelihood of you becoming the vice presidential nominee is slim and none.”

Although Sen. Joseph Biden announced 15 months ago his intention to “seek the nomination,” he was chosen by just 2 percent of respondents in this month’s CNN poll. The Delaware Democrat first ran for the White House nearly two decades ago, but abandoned the bid in 1987 after being accused of plagiarism.

Other Democrats don’t even show up in preference polls, yet are being urged to run by their supporters. Sen. Barack Obama, for example, has been in the Senate less than two years, but is already considered presidential material by some Democrats.

“Barack Obama is a man for these times,” said Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes at a news conference Thursday. Hynes was beaten by Obama in the Senate Democratic primary of 2004. “He and he alone can restore the hope and optimism that has made this country great.”

Meanwhile, Democrats such as Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota have failed to create much of a groundswell for their potential White House candidacies.

“I’m looking at the ’08 race with others, and there will be no formal decision until the first of next year,” Dodd said this week in Iowa.

This election cycle is something of an anomaly in that Democrats typically do not anoint a dominant front-runner so early in the game, according to Marsh.

“Republicans have always had the heir apparent, someone who it was their turn or appeared to be the likely nominee,” she said. “The Republican process, for all intents and purposes, historically, has been far more orderly and succession-oriented than Democrats.

“Democrats, on the other hand, have always, for the most part, had a free for all, and rarely had anybody who could be dubbed a true front-runner in the way that a lot of people see Hillary Clinton at this point.”

And unlike Republicans, who tend to give second chances to their failed presidential nominees, Democrats are less forgiving.

“One of my complaints about Democrats is that we’re really great at killing each other, but we can’t manage to kill off Republicans,” Marsh said. “Hopefully, we’re starting to get a little better at that.”

After studying the polls, consulting the handicappers and interviewing the candidates themselves, The Examiner has winnowed a list of some 30 potential presidential contenders down to 10. The result is Meet the Next President, a two-week series of in-depth profiles of the 10 people most likely to become the next leader of the free world. It's a behind-the-scenes look at Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, front-runners and dark horses in the 2008 presidential sweepstakes - even before the 2006 midterms have been decided. With presidential campaigns starting earlier each election cycle, why wait?