Who would you like to see run in 2008?

[elperromagico]

Poll question: Who would you like to see run in 2008?

I'm just going to throw out a few names I've heard suggested as possible Presidential candidates in '08. I'll include an "Other" option, as I'm sure to leave several possibilities out.

My apologies in advance if I leave your personal favorite out. :(

[Emboldened Chimp]

1. We need a governor, not a senator...

and Mark Warner is our best bet.

[Killarney]

2. Mark Warner

the more I read about him, the more I think he's our best chance to win and take back the country.

[TolDem]

7. Why?

I don't know that much about him, but have heard the same thing before. Wasn't he a darkhorse for the veep this year? Where can I find background on him? Thanks!

[Killarney]

11. Someone from Virginia would probably be able to

tell you more than me. But from what I've read, he sounds fantastic. When he took over Virginia, they were in poor shape. He's balanced the budget, worked with a Republican legislature to get this done. He's incredibly fiscally responsible. Yes, he raised some taxes but Virginia is pleased with him. He's also doing great things for education there.

And he seems to have a perfect family life. Very smart. I think he went to Indiana? for undergrad and Harvard for grad.

He appeals to Democrats because of his pushes for education and health care and he appeals to moderate Republicans because he's fiscally responsible. Also, the red states might accept him. He has a NASCAR car. He's one of them.

He's a good bet. :)

[Mike L]

34. Agree, Warner. I hear he is more "likable" than Mike Easley of NC.

That's what about 10% of the population votes on. Unforunate, but true.

[aquart]

3. WTF difference does it make?

This is a ridiculous discussion when we can never win an election.

Sorry. It isn't the candidate. It's the counting.

[elperromagico]

8. It's just a poll on a website.

It wouldn't be important, regardless of who wins in '08.

[Killarney]

Only in a close election, my friend.

If we had a landslide, they couldn't steal it.

[aquart]

33. Aww, honey. They did.

[LamedVov]

4. Hillary, baby, Hillary!

The others are o.k., but Hillary's the one for me. Please spare us from Al Gore and John Kerry. One time's enough. In 08, it's Hillary!

[aden_nak]

12. I like Hillary, but we won't have a female President in our lifetime.

That's just a fact of our shitty, shitty culture. I don't like it, but it's true.

[LamedVov]

19. You're wrong, my friend

The ultra-traditional British elected Margaret Thatcher. The macho-culture Israelis elected Golda Meir. Jeez, even the Turks, Indians and Indonesians have had women leaders. Hillary will be the first of many women presidents. Don't ever lose faith in this great country.

[aden_nak]

20. I would like it to be. And maybe I am misunderestimating people.

I just think that our specific combination of fake morals, religious bigotry, and greivous undereducation will make it impossible.

Maybe within my lifetime, then. But I don't know if it will happen within Hillary's.

[RaleighNCDUer]

31. I think you underestimate the level of hatred the wingnuts have

for Hillary. I don't think she'd survive the campaign.

[DebJ]

23. I LOVE Hillary, but Red States prefer Stepford Wives like Laura

[RunningFromCongress]

5. ABB - Anybody but Bayh

[sir_arms_50]

25. ?

why is that? I need to learn more about him as his name keeps coming up?

I see him as a possible centrist similar to Clinton?

thanks for your thoughts on him.

[demnan]

6. I am undecided

I will make my decision based on the issues at hand and how the candidates handle them. No pro-war candidate for me. That means no Kerry, Edwards, Clinton or probably Warner (who is going to run for the Senate anyway).

[Mist]

9. I agree with aquart

Who runs doesn't matter until we get the voting system and the voting verification problems solved.

[aden_nak]

10. The problem with running a Senator. . .

The problem is the way that the Senate works. There are so many votes, and often one Senator will vote for and aganist and for a bill depending on which revision is up. That's how they hammered Kerry's record into the ground, even though it's a very admirable 20 year record.

Governors are "graded" more on the quality of life in their state, or the level of improvement they brought to their state. That can be made to reflect on the previous Presidential administration if things were bad nationally, so it's much more maneuvering room in a campaign.

[elperromagico]

15. This is true.

A governor can always veto a bill he/she doesn't like. He/she can send it back and say, "I want you to change this, this, and this." The legislature can either make the changes or override the veto. If they do the latter, he/she can always say, "Well, I tried. I fought the legislature, tooth-and-nail... "

A Senator has three choices when encountering a bill not to his/her liking: vote yea, vote nay, or don't vote at all. Do the third, and they'll hit you for absenteeism.

In some ways, a senator is better prepared. They have a better knowledge of how federal government works, and generally a better knowledge of foreign affairs. But their records are so damned easy to pick apart...

[d_b]

13. Kerry with balls.

[goodhue]

14. Dennis Kucinich

[eissa]

16. A governor

Mark Warner of Virginia or Tim Vilsack of Iowa. A senator like Joe Biden, Tom Harkin, Bill Nelson or Evan Bayh would make a good VP. White, Christian males with nuclear families. No women, gays, minorities, or anyone from New England or California. Maybe with those restrictions we can pick up some of those idiotic red states.

[maveric]

17. Clark/Obama ticket for 2008

If we still have the right to vote.

[itzamirakul]

32. I favor Edwards/Obama at this time....

but we need to take an even closer look at some possibilities that are still out there. Don't ask me who...I don't have the foggiest right now.

Unless Kerry comes out real soon and tells us that he has secretly been working on this voter fraud, he is dead in the water to me. Until Kerry can bring himself to say, "George Bush is a LIAR" and stop with all the namby-pamby words, I just cannot support him again.

I love Hillary,she is my Senator, but to be real, she has too much baggage besides the fact that the Repubs are just waiting to shoot her down. They will NEVER allow the Dems to have the first female Prez. I know that there will be one someday, but I don't think Hillary has the chance of a snowball in hell. Running Hillary would be a sure loss IMO.

I like Edwards A LOT! I think that he gained great experience during this campaign and I also think that he will listen to the electorate and incorporate our thoughts and ideas in another run for the office. I would definitely support him especially with Obama as VP.

I think Obama as VP would work, because even though he is African American and many voters are turned off by the thought of having a black person so close to the top, the fact that he is of mixed heritage might help many of those types of people rethink their positions.

I think Dean would be great, but the Repubs will never stop running that damn tape. He's the only man besides Sharpton that will actually call a spade a spade and not say it is an upside down heart with a handle. Right now, I am urging everyone to sign this petition for Dean to become Chairman of the DNC and replace that Republican-Lite, McAuliffe.I would not find it difficult to support Dean for Prez again, though.
www.petitionspot.com/petitions/deanfordnc

Our most important job is to find someone who is "charismatic" yet who can carry the Progressive message unequivocally.

[tomreedtoon]

18. I'm saying Dean...

His only "mistake" - that howling noise he made - was the bravest thing I heard from any Democratic candidate in this campaign. Instead of being mocked, he should be praised.

Hell, if every Democrat hollered "Yeawlhhh!" in a cheery, boistrous voice, it would demonstrate we are not taking ANYTHING silently any more.

[DebJ]

21. Gee, this looks like this forum did a year ago!!

[elperromagico]

22. I'm not sure if that's good or bad...

:scared:

[DebJ]

26. I'm not sure either!

[Killarney]

27. Nah, we're all getting along on this thread!

So far. :toast:

[Groucho Marxist]

24. None of the above

Sorry to say it, but that's a pretty pathetic lineup.

Is that really the best we can do?

MOST of those would win the dyed-in-the-wool Democrat's votes, but which of them would appeal to the swing voters?

None of them.


I think the Democrats that would stand the best chance of appealing to the swing vote would be any of several former Joint Chiefs of Staff, including several former Chairmen of the JCS.

No other Democrats stand out in my mind as having any appeal to more than just core Democrats.

Groucho.

[fshrink]

28. I want someone

who will lose by saying the truth and bringing up the real issues, which, in my opinion, revolve around a re-thinking of the Constitution (e.g. corporations are not persons, separation of church and state, proportional representation, freedom of speech and intangible protection of privacy). The rest is just common sense politics and economy (e.g. don't spend more than you earn, build savings, protect your capital -people, environment). This is political suicide. This is historical necessity. And that is a very moderate position...

[JudyM]

29. Joe Biden

[RaleighNCDUer]

30. Dean/Obama n/t