by kleinbl00

Look at the Democrats. In 2000 they had a brief competition between Al Gore and Bill Bradley. In 2004, John Kerry was the de facto nominee after Iowa. The 2008 primary eventually whittled down to three serious contenders: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards. Although Bernie Sanders is putting up a brave fight this year, Clinton is protected by having only one opponent and a firewall of party insiders (superdelegates) to save her from unpredictable demotic forces.