Do you regret voting for Obama in 2008?

@wandeljw,

I feel I should transcribe the key moment for Sozobe, who I suspect will like this:

(The report begins with a story of how Kucinic keeps winning elections in the Heartland, even though he's a Vegan, has plenty of liberal friends, and once proposed a "department of peace".)

Republican Kucinic opponent: Yet tomorrow he'll still be a member of Congress.

Daily Show: How? This either shows how superhuman he is or how terrible you are.

Republian Kucinic opponent: (Long pause) We'll have to look at that.

Daily Show: And look at it the Republicans did. Rather than have Kucinic removed from Ohio's 10th district, they decided to remove his district altogether.

***

Priceless!

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@Thomas,

Ha! Thanks Thomas. Smile

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@Thomas,

Very good of you to provide a transcript for sozobe.

I wonder if The Daily Show provides transcripts online. It is a very cleverly-written show.

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Does anyone else besides me have serious doubts that Kucinich could get traction for his ideas if he were to somehow become the candidate? I think his predictably taking the extreme left stance at every turn would severely limit his effectiveness.

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@snood,

Kucinich has had opportunities and always failed to get traction with the voters. As much as I would love to see him get elected, I don't believe it will happen, ever.

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@snood,

snood wrote:

Does anyone else besides me have serious doubts that Kucinich could get traction for his ideas if he were to somehow become the candidate? I think his predictably taking the extreme left stance at every turn would severely limit his effectiveness.

Yeah, that and the fact that he has on multiple occasions reported sighting aliens Rolling Eyes

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@snood,

Kucinic would get trounced in the general election, absolutely.

But winning the nomination isn't the only way in which outta-there candidates contribute to the political process. Another way is that, by running for the nomination and getting good results, they make sure the mainstream candidates know that there is danger in compromising too much as well as too little. For an example on the other side, Pat Robertson could never have won a general election. But today, the Religious Right got much of what they wanted when he ran. I believe, admittedly without hard numbers to back me up, that Robertson's candidacy contributed to their getting it. Likewise for Dennis Kusinic, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, etc on the Democratic side.

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@snood,

I like Kucinich, well, somewhat, even met him once (he wouldn't remember). My husband and I and our friend Harvey went to Warsawa restaurant in Santa Monica before Santa Monica was any kind of hot place. Trust me, I lived there when the main store in town was Penny's in the 40's and 50's. The city changed over time. I've no idea if Warsawa is still there, but it was a good though not fancy place serving polish specialties. No idea what year, maybe late 80's. There were two tables left talking away as the place quieted down, ours and theirs. We said hi to Kucinich (we recognized him when they came in) as his group passed and he stopped and talked for a few minutes, no long conversation, just this and that and that, have a good evening.

I don't think he'd ever get traction. Two dastardly reasons - he is short, and his wife is bananas re the mainstream (according to even me). Or was, as I don't follow who is married to whom or how people grow and change one way or another. These reasons underly the obvious reasons re political views.

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@Thomas,

I can't remember who it was, Thomas, but an Evangelical leader (other than Pat Robertson) actively worked with Ronald Reagan's political advisors in the 1980's to consolidate a strong political presence for the religious right. It wasn't a televangelist, but someone who had a background in both government and religion.

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@Cycloptichorn,

Cycloptichorn wrote:

snood wrote:

Does anyone else besides me have serious doubts that Kucinich could get traction for his ideas if he were to somehow become the candidate? I think his predictably taking the extreme left stance at every turn would severely limit his effectiveness.

Yeah, that and the fact that he has on multiple occasions reported sighting aliens

Cycloptichorn

I know he reported back in 2007 that he saw a UFO, but "on multiple occasions reported sighting aliens" is a bit of hyperbole, I think. After all, just seeing a UFO is an experience he's got in common with a lot of pretty reputable people - even a couple of past presidents.

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The only president I regret voting for was Reagan. It was a slippery slope -

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I sorrowfully regret that I didn't vote for Obama and each time I hear McCain and Palin open their hypocritical mouths I cringe and writhe in embarrassment.

I have a new found respect for Schumer too.

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Tax paying Americans fully regret your voting for Obama in 2008

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I don't regret voting for Obama to the extent I regret having no other choice.

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@blueveinedthrobber,

Still holding that torch for Hillary?

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yes

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@joefromchicago,

No regrets here. I still believe I made the right choice.

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@Thomas,

on Krugman and What’s Left of the Left

Quote:

The president of Krugman’s dreams would have made his singular long-term goal the preservation of the welfare state and the middle-class society it was designed to create.

This purism is not a role Krugman is altogether comfortable with, but it is one he has sought: His blog is titled The Conscience of a Liberal. He uses it as a kind of workroom for his column, and it is now, according to Technorati, the most popular single-author blog online—a more statistically rigorous counterpart to Rachel Maddow’s show and the Huffington Post. The comment section has become a repository for a certain form of liberal anguish, and a community unto itself: “His campaign promised a better, more equitable America. Those who believed him feel betrayed,” wrote one commenter in regard to a recent column titled “The President Is Missing.”

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@ehBeth,

Thanks for that link. It's an amusing notion, isn't it, that preserving the American welfare state should be labelled as liberal "purism". The American welfare state is stingy compared to that of almost all other developed countries. Why isn't its mere preservation a conservative position in American politics? The liberal position should be to expand it drastically!

Indeed, having lived both in Germany and the US, my current sense is that the best-size welfare state just about splits the difference between the two countries, making it somewhat like Switzerland's or Canada's. Even this opinion strikes me as boringly pragmatic rather than radical. And yet, it puts me well to the left of what New York Magazine portrays as liberal purism. This boggles my mind: Why should Obama's ultra-cautious reforms be the most daring that reality-based Americans are allowed to expect?

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@ossobuco,

Actually, osso, when I met him a couple of years ago, his wife seemed much more intelligent and mainstream than Dennis. Of course, she had the good sense to keep her mouth shut most of the time, which made her appear to be a great deal smarter simply by default.

1 Reply

Do you regret voting for Obama in 2008?

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