See John run. See Donna, Dawn, Eriq, Libby, Steve, Rosa and Peter run, too.

Also, see another Peter run, alongside Paul, Matt, Les, Bruce, Beverly and Martin.

Finally, see Lynne and Samme run, not to mention Eliot, Augustus, Alex and, yes, another John.

Those are the names of the 21 Mainers – and yes, there soon will be more – who are registered with Maine's ethics commission as active candidates in the race to become our next governor.

To a man and woman, every one views this, quite correctly, as the most wide-open race in recent Maine gubernatorial history.

To a man and woman, every one claims he or she is uniquely positioned to move into the Blaine House – even if it is through a side door.

And to a man and woman, all but one are, to varying degrees, delusional.

"The first thing you have to remember is that even though they all say they are running to be governor, many of the people who run have no intention of being governor," said Chris Potholm, a political science professor at Bowdoin College. "They're just doing it because a lot of people will have to pay attention to them – they'll go to a lot of forums, and whatever things they want to say, people will listen to them."

In other words, it's easy to jump into a race. A few friends tell you you'd make a great chief executive and the next thing you know you're launching a "Me for Governor" Web site, promising to "turn Augusta around" and insisting that you – and you alone – have found the secret path to social justice and economic prosperity.

But with Maine now knee-deep in candidacy announcements – Democrat John Richardson joined the parade this week, and Democrat Pat McGowan, Republican Steve Abbott and independent John Jenkins appear poised to follow – now seems like a good time to ask an admittedly indelicate question:

When will some of these dreamers start dropping out?

"It used to be money – you go out and start raising money and if it isn't coming in, you have to turn off the lights and move on with your life," noted Dennis Bailey, a key adviser to both successful (Angus King, John Baldacci) and unsuccessful (Dan Wathen, David Flanagan, Tom Allen) gubernatorial campaigns in the past decade or two. This time, Bailey is working for Democratic newcomer Rosa Scarcelli.

"Now, with public financing, it's different," Bailey said.

Indeed.

Seven of the 21 declared candidates – Democrats Richardson, Libby Mitchell and Donna Dion; independents Alex Hammer and John Whitcomb; Republican Peter Mills; and Green Independent Lynne Williams – have notified the state that they plan to run as "clean election" candidates.

Any who can get at least 3,250 people to donate at least $5 each and collect at least $40,000 overall in "seed money" will get $400,000 from the Maine Clean Elections Fund. And if their opponents outspend them, they'll be eligible for as much as $200,000 more in "matching funds" down the road.

Potholm, for one, sagely predicts that the potentially hefty cost of public campaign financing "will be a very interesting thing to watch" this winter as the Legislature addresses yet another budget shortfall, pegged at $400 million.

Still, for any candidate who might otherwise sense early on that their candidacy is going nowhere, a check for $400,000 can buy a lot of denial.

Then there are the privately financed candidates – Democrats Scarcelli, Steve Rowe, Dawn Hill, Eriq Manson and Peter Truman; Republicans Matt Jacobson, Paul LePage, Les Otten, Bruce Poliquin and Martin Vachon; and independents Samme Bailey, Beverly Cooper-Pete, Eliot Cutler and Augustus Edgerton – all of whom can be divided into two groups.

First are those with at least one foot on the ground. Assuming they're not blowing the family fortune on their political destiny, at least a few normally would...