2004 Elections: Democratic Party Contenders

The Center for Public Integrity has just published a downer about Kerry: an "analysis [which] is part of the Center's research for The Buying of the President 2004 (to be published by HarperCollins), which tracks the financial backers and interests of the major candidates for the White House... "
http://www.publicintegrity.org/dtaweb/report.asp?ReportID=521&L1=10&L2=10&L3=0&L4=0&L5=0


The relationship between candidates/elected officials and corporations/media will be a prime consideration for me when voting in the next election.

Tartarin
Where do you think the millions spent on election campaigns comes from. Certainly not the small donations the general public gives. Why do you think the large corporations and unions give this money to political candidates? You can answer that I am sure. I have always said we have the finest politicians that money can buy.
I am sure Kerry is not unique

Nobody's clean.
You have to pick the less offensive lobby.

At present, lawyers are my least favorite. The Unions are a close second. Teacher's unions have moved over to my bad side, recently.

I guess the AARP is the only one I can stomach, and they are becoming impossible.

Do the Environmentalists still have their lobby? Aren't they on the FBI's most wanted list?

Newsweek -- on Dean:

Spinning a New Web The Democratic machine wants to anoint an early king. Can a high-tech insurgent hack his way in?
May 19 issue ?- No one contacted Heather Allison to invite her to the campaign event at the Essex bar in Manhattan. She invited herself, and was there last week, pale ale in hand.
"I FOUND OUT about this surfing the Web," said Allison, 25, a development officer at New York University. "As soon as I saw this on Meetup, I knew I had to come." Nationwide, thousands of Howard Dean supporters gathered at 250 such functions on the same night, drawn not by calls or cards from the campaign but by a Web site, Meetup.com, whose founders didn't envision it as an election tool.
Many things in politics?-soaring promises, hearty handshakes?-are immutable. But the media methods for reaching voters keep evolving. In 1980, Ronald Reagan's team overrode hostile reporting on broadcast news with irresistibly cinematic photo ops. In 1992, Bill Clinton's battalions understood that cable and satellite uplinks?-and the "rapid response" they made possible?-were the next new thing. Dean's insurgency may falter, but he's already made history: the first Web-launched candidate to go mainstream in the era of BlackBerry and Bluetooth.
Still, not every candidacy is a tech-based insurgency, and Democratic insiders don't want one. Facing a jump-suited juggernaut in George W. Bush, they see Dean, who rose to prominence by opposing the Iraq war, as a disaster in the making: George McGovern Reloaded. They dream of settling pre-emptively (after a foreshortened primary season) on a well-funded centrist.
The problem is finding one. The insiders (and their media lieges) keep falling in and out of early love. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina?-handsome, articulate and, above all, Southern?-was the first to generate preseason buzz. But now he is facing a Justice Department probe into some donations to his campaign. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts was next, on the theory that only a Democrat with battlefield credentials?-Kerry's are from Vietnam?-could take on a wartime president. But he seemed to wobble as he walked through a crossfire of Dean in New Hampshire and the Karl Rove White House.
Now others are now getting a tryout, raising their visibility it in a traditional, low-tech way: the policy speech. Rep. Dick Gephardt, famous for his calculated caution, won plaudits for a sweeping health-care proposal, which would scrap Bush's 2001 tax cut and use the money to provide health-care tax credits to all employers. Gephardt was so bold that he drew fire from a host of critics, led by Edwards.
This minute's buzz is enveloping Sen. Joe Lieberman after a surprisingly feisty debate performance in which he declared "no Democrat will be elected president in 2004 who is not strong on defense." Party types?-and Republicans?-loved the swipe at Dean. "Lieberman's the only Democrat I'm really worried about," GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said after the debate.
Seeking to capitalize on his mini-mo, Lieberman last week unveiled a market-based plan to curb the use of foreign petroleum by allowing auto companies to trade fuel-efficiency "credits." Those that dramatically boost the mileage ratings of their fleet would be able to sell the credits.
None of which fazes Dean, who still sees the Net as his medium of choice. Meetup, founded to foster a post-September 11 sense of community, is central to his strategy. But as he becomes a bigger factor, signs of creeping traditionalism appear. This week he'll make his first "major address." A doctor with a record of balancing budgets as Vermont governor, he will unveil his own health-care plan, NEWSWEEK has learned. It would expand existing federal programs, require employers to offer health-care coverage if they want to keep their business deductions and cost half of Gephardt's plan. Late last week, Dean aides were scouting locations in New York for the speech. In the end, they settled on Columbia University?-and not the Essex bar.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/911590.asp

You know-- I'm an admirer of Lieberman, but I just had a thought.
One of the strongest arguments against Bush and his friendly cabal is the matter of global anti-Americanism-- A good Dem candidate would push hard on the Diplomacy and Ugly American phenomena.

With all the work we're forced to do now in the ME-- How would a Jewish President work in this climate?

If Bush is so closely associated with accusations of Zionism; how would Lieberman fare? What would Saudi, Jordan, Palestine say about Lieberman's acension?

Very good point, Sofia.

Here's an article from the LATimes about Graham going after Bush on 9/11 and secrecy. http://www.latimes.com/la-na-graham12may12,0,100697.story

I'm beginning to see a multi-pronged attack on Bush coming from the candidates which is planned, intended. I hope so. Let's see how the various candidates pick up weapons designed for Bush's vulnerabilities...

Dean's health plan, as of noon today:

Governor Dean's four point plan will cost $88 billion annually?-only one-third the cost of Congressman Dick Gephardt's proposal. The Dean plan, which takes the innovative step of limiting tax deductions and government contracts for large companies which do not provide health insurance to their employees, also includes the following provisions:

Extending Medicaid to every child and young adult under 25, up to three times the poverty level. It will also require employer health plans to extend coverage to dependents up to age 25.
Expanding coverage to working families who earn up to 185% of the federal poverty level.
Allowing those with incomes above that level, as well as small businesses, to buy into a health plan similar to the plan for government employees, while providing tax credits to keep insurance affordable.
Limiting tax deductions and government contracts for large companies which do not extend health benefits to their employees.

from Dean's website

I never thought I would hear myself say this, but,

Susan Estrich is exactly correct!
http://www.creators.com/opinion_show.cfm?columnsName=ses


My favorite line:

I agree with her totally also. For different reasons, I'd venture. And it doesn't suprise me, as she is often "right on" in my judgement.

swashbucklin' snood said:

That would be a misventure, snood.

I am an American.
And as an American it is in my best interest to see the best person possible in contention for the Presidency, regardless of party.
Why would I not want that?

Why wouldn't everyone want that?

No, snood.

We aren't ALL partisan hacks....

Anyone interested in Dean might want to take a look at this article from the Boston Phoenix:

http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/talking_politics/documents/02598565.htm

2204 Elections: Democratic Party Contenders



Yes, Sofia, you are quite right to think of Lieberman's religion. He would certainly assure a Bush re-election, as will anyone else considered by the Demo's @ this point. And I am glad you are so concerned with the feelings of those states which have sponsored and/or have carried out deadly attacks on Americans, at home or abroad, because we certainly must always vote our fears and not our convictions. Listen, they will terrorize no matter who "ascends", but why give them such an easy way to describe why they would be terrorizing in 2005 and beyond? I apologize in advance if this sounds harsh, but it's very hurtful to me.

2004 Elections: Democratic Party Contenders


Baby Tartarin, please see my response to Sofia; that goes right to you as well, but, since you didn't do anything but fall into lockstep with her, let me give you a big "Sieg Heil"!

You should know a bit more about who you're talking to, before you make such assumptions.

I am discussing campaign strategies-- and how others' fears and concerns may lead them to vote. If conversation and ideas are "hurtful" to you, you're in the wrong place.

We try to keep the discourse out of the kindergarten sandbox.

You are new, and really need to take a step back and think before you write. Especially when what you write is against board policy, and will make your time here quite short.

Apologize to Tartarin and I for equating us with Nazis, or I will pursue your ejection. You will find, if you remain here for any appreciable period, that people will disagree with you. This doesn't make them Nazis.

2004 Elections: Democratic Party Contenders



Sofia, you should know about who you're talking to before making assumptions as well. There are ways and there are ways of discussing campaign strategies; of course, a Jewish president won't cut it now, if ever, but you "just had a thought"???? Oh, please. If you can't temper your discussions with any compassion, perhaps you're in the wrong place and, by that, I mean the wrong country.

Oh, while answering your last message, your threat came in. I did NOT call you a Nazi although I did give Tartarin a Nazi salute in response to her lock-step agreement with you. If you want to pursue my ejection, go ahead.

I have taken the issue to mgmt.
You should have read the rules of engagement before bringing your insults.

This isn't a flame board.

sweetcomplication
The climate in this country tells me that A. Jew could not be elected president of the US at least not yet. If there were any chance for a democrat to be elected in 04 it would be shattered should Leiberman run at the head of the ticket. I would like to believe that anti-Semitism does not exist and religion is not a factor however, being a realist I know better. All I can say is someday maybe but certainly not yet. Regarding the ME it certainly would not enhance our position in dealing with the Moslem nations and indeed may make it more difficult. If that was at all possible?

OK, now that's good.