Whoever wins the most votes in a field of three or four will run against Mr. Bush.

Mr. Robertson, who ran against Mr. Bush in the 1988 Republican primaries, bridled at that characterization and said his information came from mainstream publications.

That link made him precisely the right choice to run against Mr. Bush among the few Democrats with guts enough to run.

(With clear regret, none of the Republicans interviewed said they saw any prospect that Dr. Dean would be running against Mr. Bush this fall.)

They said it was a response to critical advertisements run by the Democrats against Mr. Bush.

Gary Bauer, who also ran against Mr. Bush in 2000, said the decision was "not as bad" as he had feared it would be.

Pat Buchanan says he might run against Mr. Bush, putting the President under renewed pressure to prove that he's the right-winger's right-winger.

Mr. McCain was running a harsh advertisement against Mr. Bush last week and had others ready to go if necessary.

We have all heard these Democrats say they were not dropping out because they feared running against Mr. Bush.

Gerhard Schröder's campaign prospects soared when he started running against Mr. Bush.