No, Clinton did not come out of nowhere. He first attracted national attention in 1978 when he was elected Governor of Arkansas at the age of 32. As we all know, he screwed up and got thrown out of office, but came back to get back in in 1982. That attracted more attention, and he became prominent as a governor. I'm not sure I agree with your assessment of Edwards' candidacy, headache. The guy came out of complete obscurity to place second in the Iowa caucuses, ahead of favorite Howard Dean. It's true he only won one primary, but he probably learned a hell of alot during 2004 and will use it as a stepping stone. James Carville, no less, said he has the best stump speech he's ever heard, and this bloke was Bill Clinton's campaign manager. If it hadn't been for the "front-end loaded" primary schedule he might have won the nomination. This strategy was drafted by Terry McAuliffe, and his term as National Chairman of the DNC is about to end. It's rumored that Howard Dean may make a run at the position. Good point about Wesley Clark and lesser political office. Maybe he should run for Congress from Arkansas.