Nine candidates are running for the Democratic nomination for president, but some experts say the race is too cluttered.

Steffen Schmidt, professor in political science, said having so many candidates is bad for all involved.

“It’s a terrible thing,” Schmidt said. “It splinters everything up.”

Schmidt said Democratic leaders need to tell certain candidates to pull out of the race in order for one leader to emerge.

Having this many candidates is typical for the party without control in the White House, said Robert Lowry, associate professor of political science.

“They’re running because Democrats are the out party, and there’s no obvious leader,” Lowry said.

He said 10 candidates ran for the Republican nomination in 2000.

Lowry said he believes a number of candidates will drop out of the race before the Iowa Caucus Jan. 19.

“It’s hard to believe that some of [the candidates] think they might have a chance,” he said. “It’ll get narrowed to just a few.”

Candidates tend to drop out of the race for their party’s nomination either when they realize they don’t have a chance of winning, or they can’t raise enough money, Lowry said.

“Campaigning is hard work,” he said. “Raising money is even harder.”

Although U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., is the front-runner in national polls such as the Gallup Organization poll, Schmidt said local polls indicate different results.

“I think the national polls are not very accurate,” he said. “If you do a national poll, you’re getting goofy numbers.”

Schmidt said even well-educated people don’t know the names of every candidate running, and current polls are based on name recognition.

Lieberman has name recognition because he ran for vice president in 2000 alongside Al Gore, Schmidt said.

Schmidt said he believes the front-runners at the Iowa Caucus will be Rep. Dick Gephardt, Sen. John F. Kerry and Gov. Howard Dean.

Lowry said having this many people running for the Democratic nomination makes it hard for candidates to stand out.

“It does make it difficult for any one of them to get a coherent message across,” Lowry said.

Mark Daley, communications director for the Iowa Democratic Party, said having nine candidates is beneficial for the party and the American public.

“I think that it is fantastic that there are so many people running in the race,” Daley said.

Daley said the candidates have different platforms, and he hopes the Democratic nominee will combine all of their ideas into one.

This many candidates will only make the presidential candidate stronger, he said.

When candidates travel and meet their public they energize the electorate about different issues, Daley said.

“I hope the candidates will all continue forward,” he said.

The candidates running for the democratic nomination for president include: Lieberman, Dean, Kerry, Gephardt, Sen. John Edwards, Carol Moseley Braun, Sen. Bob Graham, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich and the Rev. Al Sharpton.