Steve,
That's "Bill" Nelson from Florida. I just got off the phone with his office. I told them that unless he votes with Feingold on censure, I will not vote for him in November. His yes vote on cloture during the Alito fiasco almost caused me to say that, but this will do it for sure.
Doesn't Hillary have to run in 2008?? Unless the political landscape changes significantly over the next year and a half, if she wants to be President she has to do it in 2008.
There's a pretty narrow window in which to run for this job for each candidate involved and it can close quickly.
Posted by Double B at March 13, 2006 02:23 PMIt wasn't just Nelson's vote against cloture that was galling...it was his vote FOR Alito!
I'd think that Gore could spend his time better than campaigning for this asshole.
Posted by LizDexic at March 13, 2006 02:28 PMLiz,
Nelson voted NO on Alito, but he voted FOR cloture, so the Dems couldn't filibuster. The cloture vote was the most important for us.
(Correct me if I'm wrong. Lord knows it's been know to happen!)
Posted by Susan S at March 13, 2006 02:39 PMtwo snaps up! for the gore/clark ticket.
Posted by melonhead at March 13, 2006 02:39 PMGore/Warner?
Gore/Feingold?
Gore is running, no doubt about it. And I'm delighted.
Regarding Bush's tangerine delivery girl, Katherine Harris, she's channeling the Founding Fathers for advice. The woman is a whacko.
Posted by Christopher at March 13, 2006 02:42 PMGore/Clark sounds good....but the problem with Gore..I have a feeling that if he declares he'll slip back into the Old Gore and the bold, tell it like it is New Gore will be history. It's easy to give 'em hell when there is nothing on the line.
Posted by T2 at March 13, 2006 02:48 PMAs long as Gore stays away from the DLC-beltway consultants, he'll be all right in 2008.
Posted by herbal tee at March 13, 2006 02:55 PMFeingold/Clark with Gore as an advisor.
Posted by ann at March 13, 2006 03:00 PMI have a feeling that if he declares he'll slip back into the Old Gore
I don't think this is likely. He wuz robbed in 2000, and everybody knows it; the country has gone to hell in the interim, and I think he's been liberated from his cautious self. He knows what's at stake. And he's got to be outraged.
But I fear that he means it when he says he's not running again. Republicans run their failed candidates repeatedly until they win (Nixon, Reagan, etc.); Democrats don't seem to do that.
Posted by brooklyn at March 13, 2006 03:02 PMGore/Warner, Clark would be far more effective as Sec. of State or Defense. We will need someone to clean up both Cabinets with a scrub brush and Clark is the man for either job.
Edwards for Education, RFK Jr. for Interior.
I think Bill or Hillary could do a decent job for Sec. of State. (Bill would still qualify for Sec. of State or does the 22nd Amendment prohibit that?) Of course anyone is better than what we got now.
I know it might be a reach but what about Rudy for Homeland Sec.
All I know is one of my first acts would be to fire Porter Goss.
I'm pretty uncomfortable with Clark. He's a former military man and has never run for office.
It's far better to have a ticket of elected men or women who know how to massage the machine in DC and get things done.
However, if Clark came out AGAINST "Don't ask, Don't tell," and promised to get it thrown out, I would consider him.
It was the OTHER Nelson who voted for Alito.
Posted by dj moonbat at March 13, 2006 04:08 PM"...do any of you feel that Clinton may in the end decide to forego 2008 and instead be a kingmaker and candidate for Majority Leader instead?"
No. Hillary is running for Prez in 2008. It wil make for a very ugly primary. (However, watching a Gore-Clinton fight would b very amusing.)
"...holding onto its base and reaching out to independent voters and 'reasonable Republicans'"
I am afraid that "holding the base" and "reaching out to independent voters and 'reasonable Republicans'" are mutually exclusive.
Posted by Bagley at March 13, 2006 04:11 PMPlease let Gore run. While I won't be surprised if he doesn't, if he is planning for '08, staying out until the last minute would be a brilliant strategy to avoid early sliming.
Posted by space at March 13, 2006 04:20 PMHow about a Gore/Gore ticket, they looked so nice on that wedding cake at your convention in 2000. Please run a retread. Please do. America will see that nothing is new in the 'new' Democratic Party. Some old tired ideas. Thanks AL for 'inventing' this great medium for public discourse.
Try this one:
"I leave you with this challenge: Serve a neighbor in need, because a life of service is a life of significance. Because materialism ultimately is boring, and consumerism can build a prison of loss. Because a person who is not responsible for others is a person who is truly alone. Because there are few better ways to express our love for America than to care for other Americans. And because the same God who endows us with individual rights also calls us to social obligations."
Posted by peter at March 13, 2006 04:42 PMI think Gore feeling free to say what he thinks is a sure sign he's not running. He's happy - why would he throw himself back in the wringer?
Posted by CA Pol Junkie at March 13, 2006 05:04 PMYep, peter, cut high-end income taxes, borrow and spend into massive deficits, and bloat the military---we've never seen those exciting new Republican policies before! This ain't your Gipper's GOP, nosiree!
I guess I have to admit that the Republican- Brownshirt-dictatorship thingie allied with extraordinary incompetence is sort of "new".
Bushco Republicans: the party of "social obligations" and "care for other Americans".
Posted by euzoius at March 13, 2006 05:29 PMThanks AL for 'inventing' this great medium for public discourse.
Oh, please. You're not still trolling that old chestnut of a lie around, are you?
Posted by ann at March 13, 2006 06:12 PMOld Republican lies never die, they just Google away.
Posted by euzoius at March 13, 2006 06:22 PMGood old "Brownshirts" references again. Those people were in vogue pre power Nazi Germany. Once A. Hitler took power. They were rapidly assasinated, at least the ones that were dangerous to Hitler. Go ask Ernst Rohm how grateful Hitler was for his help. DOA 1934.
If you haven't noticed folks, Bushco HAS the power, and has had the power to render Democrats just a nusance.
Please brings us some retreads. Another ALGORE or maybe Senator Kerry again. You've adopted his 2004 campaign slogan as the 2006 vehicle to gain Democrats power in November. Took four months to come up with:
"Together, We Make America Better".
H. Dean asked Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid to come up with six items to focus on. He did the same. They each came up with six things without anyone in common with the others. Where's your 'Contract with America"? It's now March, Chrm Dean said it was coming out soon in December. Still nothing, and very little money in the bank to boot. You want US to trust Democrats when they can't keep the bank accounts flush with money. McAulife did a much better job with the purse strings. Same results, but at least you were in the black.
Three more years, one or two more Supreme Court appointments, many more lower court judges, and frustrated Democrats everywhere. Priceless!
Posted by peter at March 13, 2006 06:25 PMAnd the best thing about it, peter, is that you'll have to live in the resulting reactionary shit-hole, too! And your kids.
Again, it does seem a shame that you never learned anything from your commendable study of the Nazi party and Hitler movement. With age will come wisdom.
See, many people see your Glorious Leader as just starting to build the GOP version of an American dictatorship---hence the "early movement" brownshirt reference. We still see the country as in the Weimar stage (so to speak) and are trying to sound the alarm.
You, instead, seem to see Nero Jr as already having advanced to the "Gestapo--Waffen SS" late phase---but that seems a bit wishful thinking right now.
Posted by euzoius at March 13, 2006 06:43 PMThere is no "New Gore."
That's a fantasy. He is still a marginally competent retail politician, who is just better at feeding redmeat intellectual partisans after his loss. He's still way overweight.
He is also smart and likeable when you know him, but all of the above adds up to a not so good candidate for the White House. He should have won by 5 points in 2000. I'd rather run at least 4 other people in '08.
Posted by Steve SJ at March 14, 2006 04:24 PM