the key for the Dems in 2008 is to have a candidate that is not tied to the power establishment of the 80's and 90's and possibly not also tied to Vietnam... that means that anyone attached to the Clinton Administration is not qualified as they will be fair game for the GOP, similarly a non Vietnam related candidate will dispose of the need to refight that calamity...the focus should be on the future, not on the past ...
Obama/Schweitzer?
Warner/Obama?
I personally am a huge fan of the Intermountain Democrats like the Montanans..Schweitzer and Tester. I think these commonsense dems who can win in Red States, and candidates like Obama that reflect the intelligent, enterprising diversity of America are the way to beat the GOP in the future
I also watched Obama live on TV yesterday... he was very very impressive...
Leftymn
Posted by leftymn at September 18, 2006 03:03 PMI think General Clark and Gov. Warner will be a strong ticket. Clark's military background will help convience voters that he can resolve Iraq mess and Gov. Warner's fine record as a governor will assure them that the country will be brought back on the right track. Besides none of them have any DC connections and were not party to voting to go into Iraq.
Posted by suresh at September 18, 2006 03:11 PMI like Obama and his "core Democratic themes".
I disagree with him on bu$h, he is a bad man! Anyone who will listen to turdblossom has got to be sick!
I still like a Gore/Edwards ticket. Have Gore establish who he has in mind to tap for his cabinet, let the people know what they're getting. Being up front and brutally honest would be a refreshing change coming from Washington!
Posted by Seven of Six at September 18, 2006 03:42 PMMeasured against "America creates a Gulag" Bush, all Democrats look good to me.
But, first things first.
Let's elect Democrats to Congress in '06.
I watched Obama as well - and I still fell like he's all talk and no game at this point. That was a Democratic haven of an audience, Obama could have read the telephone directory and gotten good crowd reaction. (Well, not really, but hopefully you get my drift.) Previous Steak Fries aren't indicative of future success, either. Dean was a lack luster bore in Sept 2002 . .
Posted by idiosynchronic at September 18, 2006 05:26 PMBarack Obama is Evan Bayh with darker skin. Same old Corporate DLC message, "America's Corporation's first, everything and everyone else second."
Americans sorely need someone to snap them out of their stupor and help them understand that there is a difference between 3 billion brown skinned people and "the terrists".
The DLC will.....once again....use both '06 and '08 to try to use the Neocon propaganda and the bigoted ethnocentrism of the common American to their advantage instead of explaining the ruse to them. There's no profit in peace and without spreading fear and stupidity, the right wing zealots and end-of-the-world doomsday-seekers would be left to their own devices, ceasing their tithe's to the Corporate plutocracy.
Posted by Tampa Student at September 18, 2006 06:27 PM"I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot, So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth." Revelations. 3:15-18
I'm listening to this idiot Gallagher on the radio (because the local Air America broadcast ends at 8:00p.m.) and found out that the neo-cons had a rally with the chimperor this past weekend and were given their marching orders to go out and argue bush policies. One of which is that the Geneva Conventions don't apply in the so-called "war on terror". Thus torture should be allowed according to them. But what the idiots aren't thinking of is that when they call these adversaries "islamofascists" or "like nazis or Hitler", they are defining them as conventional enemies from our past (whose pows our military didn't torture).
Posted by Eric at September 18, 2006 11:09 PMOh blast I should have posted this in the above article, sorry.
Posted by Eric at September 18, 2006 11:10 PMI would like to think I have a pretty good idea of what kind of leaders our country needs; the problem is that I'm not sure what kind of leaders sell these days.
We need people who are competent, who understand the problems of our times, who have ideas, who know how to hire good people and who can take the lead on an agenda. Well, that defines Gore and Kerry and neither one is in the White House because they didn't sell themselves well enough (though Gore got more votes than Bush did, and Kerry got 9 million more votes than Gore).
So what sells? With Obama, it's an optimistic attitude and that makes him a good draw on speaking tours but he's needs more in this era to be on a ticket some day.
Forget for a moment Bill Clinton's tendency to go Republican-lite. And even forget that he was well-qualified. He won in 1992 because he was a fighter (the comeback kid), but he also had a mix of optimism, toughness, and likeability that served him well; I'm uncomfortable with the way a president has to be sold these days and the fact that under current conditions the guy with the most money to sell himself/herself has an enormous extra advantage, but that's the way it is (Bush also had the advantage in 2000 and 2004 of a compliant press; as early as summer 2000, the signs of a prickly Nixon-type personality were visible but the press gave Bush a free pass with glowing marks).
The next Democratic presidential nominee better be in the ballpark when it comes to ideas because we're running out of time to deal with a number of growing problems. But that nominee still needs to be likeable, tough and optimistic. I could be wrong, but I also think the Democratic nominee is going to have to show real strength and courage and somehow exude that in a way that appeals to people; I mean, in such a way that it's an antidote to the fearmongering we've been seeing from Republicans.
Most of the potential Democratic candidates would make fine presidents and would certainly be a vast improvement over Bush, but not too many of them have all the necessary elements (and discipline) to sell themselves to a majority of voters; I count two, three, maybe four at the outside who can.
Posted by Craig at September 19, 2006 01:25 AM