Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

Silly season is over. Presidential candidates with no viable chance of winning the White House are finally getting shunned.

Democrats are leading the way when it comes to not waiting for the voters to winnow the field. Last week, their party’s number one 2008 gadfly, former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, was excluded from a debate. This weekend it appears that Iowa Democrats will be adding Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio to the unwelcome list, making a point of not inviting him or Gravel to the party’s Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Des Moines that the six other Democratic contenders are expected to attend.

Republicans would probably like to give maverick Texas Rep. Ron Paul the same treatment, but it turns out he has raised too much money and gained enough support in early-voting states such as Iowa to justify showing him the door. And hopeless GOP cases such as former Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson have already taken themselves out of the running.

With both parties fast approaching crunch time for picking a nominee, it is not surprising that they would want to focus on the feasible contenders. But it is always sad to see the also-rans leave the stage. Perhaps because they have so little hope of winning, they tend to be more blunt and thought-provoking than the competitive candidates.