3 years is a lifetime in national politics.
At this point in the last election cycle Gore was the "presumptive" nominee, considering the fact that he had won the popular vote in 2000.
Very few knew anything about John Kerry and nobody knew shit about Howard Dean.
Also on the republican side McCain is far from a sure thing....he's very old and would likely only serve 1 term if elected president. The right might want to go another way with someone younger.
The reason Hillary seems so popular right now is just name recognition.....if she'd never been the first lady we wouldn't be having this discussion.
