2004 Elections: Democratic Party Contenders

Of course, take same commerical, change a couple of lines, insert anyone else - same difference. How could anyone vote for this jerk with a clear conscious?

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Good evening Tartarin, Littlek and all others. I will attempt to clarify what I meant in my last post. It wasn't at all as derogatory
as it was interpreted. Those of you know me realize that I spend a lot of time in "Creative Writing" categories. I tend to create lots of characters in the stories we tell there. Perhaps I got carried away.
My observation about this, as the aging dyed-in-the wool liberal, was/is that many things (from education to health care to welfare) don't seem to be working.

(billw: you are right, um I mean correct. As the Republicans march to the right, there should be room for a moderate Democrat)

-realjohnboy--thanks for not yelling at me

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I don't like to look at it as

realjohnboy wrote:

many things (from education to health care to welfare) don't seem to be working

but as "the programs have matured and are decaying" - they need reform; but, I know of no Repub I trust in touching them. The current one just places time bombs inside of programs and further enriches his benefactors. It may be true of a significant number of the Dems also!

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Has there ever been a time when education and health care have actually been fully prioritized? Of course they aren't working well. And, as BillW said, they also need to be updated.

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AFL-CIO eyes early endorsement

Quote:

Sets stage for October meeting; Gephardt has inside track
By William L. Watts, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 5:46 PM ET Aug. 6, 2003

CHICAGO (CBS.MW) -- The AFL-CIO left the door open Wednesday to granting one of the nine Democratic presidential candidates a rare but powerful pre-primary endorsement in October.

That's about the best news Rep. Richard Gephardt could hope for from this week's meeting of the executive council of the umbrella labor organization

.

CLICK TITLE TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

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The last word (?)

Former Vice President Al Gore criticized the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq and reiterated that he would not run for president in 2004 against George W. Bush.

"I am not going to join them (in the election race,) but later in the political process I will endorse one of them," Gore said.

"The removal of Saddam was a positive accomplishment in its own right for which the president deserves credit, just as he deserves credit for removing the Taliban from power in Afghanistan," Gore said.

But he said the United States "suffered enormous collateral damage" because of the questionable intelligence the Bush administration used to justify an invasion of Iraq.

Saying the American people were mislead by "false impressions" before the war, Gore disputed Bush administration assertions that Iraq had connections to the Sept. 11 attacks and links to al Qaeda, that Baghdad was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons and that the international community would rally behind America once victory was achieved.

"Every single one of these impressions was just wrong," Gore said, adding, "Our invasion on Iraq had no effect on al Qaeda other than to boost their recruiting efforts."

Yahoo! News

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So Gore is out - it's up to the seven dwarves.

Prepare for a second Bush term.

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You can't even count, george--there's nine.

Four more years of Bush? Don't think so. Our democracy can't stand it, for one. And the people are wising up.

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Here's one that just turned up on the Diane Rehm show's weekly news roundup with "pundits." They're talking about California. David Brooks (not someone I trust, anyway), voice low with opprobrium, referred to Gray Davis as an "even bigger spender than Howard Dean in Vermont."

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Note, the biggest spender is GWB - but he only spends in places that benefit the family and friends!!!! David Corn literally called David Brooks a big time hypocrite which went unrefuted!

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BillW wrote:

Tartarin wrote:
I think if the Dems move any further to the right, they won't have to bother with the Dem label to separate them from Republicans. And I think both parties are very close -- and taking us very close -- to the edge of a cliff.

This not really true Tartarin in that it assumes the Repubs have remained status quo as the Dems moved right. In all actuality, the Repubs have moved well into the centrist postion of Fascism and are approaching Totalitarianism at this point!

That's kind of my point, Bill! The Dems have felt obliged to follow the Reps to the right, rather than hold the center line where it's supposed to be and articulate a position (as a party) which encompasses left through left center. Where the Dem center now is, thanks to the DLC, is where -- 20 years ago or more -- where moderate Republicans used to be.

But there's another point, and that has to do with sources of financing for both parties. If you look at the FEC listings over the past 15 years, you'll see that major corporate contributors have been giving to both parties. Not equally, but the Dems are now obligated to people whose interests coincide largely with those of the Republican Party. I'd like to see more Soros types coming forward with some serious, separate funding for the Dems, but most of all I'd like to see more individual Dems step up their giving (and once in power, push through a serious campaign finance bill to stop the flood of money from corporations). That way the Party can maintain its base on the left and not feel it has to kowtow to Republican supporters in order to win elections.

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Oh Tartain - that should have made the Comedy Central. David Brooks is trying so hard. His voice does get low, and he develops this serious look, but lately he has not soundeed so sure.

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No. It's wonderful. His voice gets rough, he clears his throat, his giggle is more self-conscious. Most enjoyable. Nothing like noting stress in the opposition to make one feel better!

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Tartarin wrote:

That's kind of my point, Bill!

I knew that Tartarin, I was just tryng to give it more incite Smile

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And now a word about John Kerry:
From Slate's William Saletan and Avi Zenilman

Soldier's perspective: Kerry is the only 2004 candidate who served in the active military. He earned a Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts in Vietnam. When he returned home, he became a spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

Corrupt allies: When Kerry entered the Senate in 1985, he joined the Foreign Relations Committee and took charge of the subcommittee on narcotics and terrorism. His investigations of U.S. involvement in Latin America, especially with the Nicaraguan Contras, brought that issue to the forefront. The subcommittee revealed the role of Reagan aide Oliver North in smuggling guns to the Contras. It also uncovered the drug-running of CIA-funded Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. Kerry called these connections part of an "illegal war." He angered the political establishment by demanding the testimony of Clark Clifford, a Democratic Party insider whose bank was linked to Noriega's money laundering. The subcommittee also intimated that some CIA operatives working with the Contras had smuggled narcotics into the United States. Ten years later, the CIA acknowledged that this was true.

Terrorism and multilateralism: In 1997, Kerry wrote The New War, which analyzed emerging threats posed by international criminal groups such as terrorist organizations and drug cartels. The book outlined multilateral steps to combat international crime. It urged the United States to "regulate electronic money transfers; expand the scope of extraterritorial jurisdiction for major crimes committed against a country's citizens overseas; use the CIA and other intelligence services to penetrate global crime organizations; [and] share the seized assets of international criminals with governments that cooperate in fighting global crime."

Dogmas and grudges: In 1991, Kerry chaired a bipartisan investigation into the possibility that American POWs were still captive in Vietnam. Despite pressure from POW activists, he convinced the investigative committee, including reluctant Republican senators, that there were no leftover American soldiers in Vietnam. The committee's unanimous agreement set the stage for the 1995 normalization of relations with Vietnam.

William Saletan is Slate's chief political correspondent.
Avi Zenilman is a Slate intern.

===
On a personal note: I watched John Kerry ever since he stood up for the regular troops like me and opposed the war in Viet Nam. It's been interesting over the years to see him go from being a loudmouthed radical to a statesman.

Joe

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An interesting CNN story on some comments from Cuomo:

Quote:

"Cuomo knocks Democratic 'babble'"

Wednesday, August 6, 2003 Posted: 5:36 PM EDT (2136 GMT)

ALBANY, New York (AP) -- Labeling the Democratic voices from the presidential field "babble," prominent Democrat Mario Cuomo is calling on former Vice President Al Gore to enter the race for the party's nomination.

Gore, who lost the disputed 2000 race to President Bush, has said he would not seek the party's nomination -- a point stressed by his spokesman Michael Feldman. "The vice president is not going to be a candidate in 2004," Feldman said in response to Cuomo's appeal.

Still, Cuomo urged Gore to return to the political fray because the party lacks a single candidate to rally around.

"I would like to see him get in," said Cuomo in an interview with WROW-AM radio in Albany, New York.

"Right now, the Democratic voice is not a single voice. It is not a chorus. It is a babble," said the former New York governor. Webster's Dictionary defines "babble," as "to make incoherent sounds, as a baby does, prattle."

In a subsequent interview with The Associated Press, Cuomo said that the Democrats are lacking a "positive agenda, one that the whole party can come around, and a guy like Gore -- who has done it, who has it and who can point to it -- I think he would be an advantage to the campaign."

Cuomo's comments came one day before Gore was to deliver a speech at New York University on the Bush administration's handling of the U.S.-led war against Iraq and other national security issues.

Cuomo, who contended that "my voice isn't that important," said he had not personally shared his thoughts about the race with Gore.

The former New York governor said he did talk to Gore in 2000, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bush's favor to clinch the election, and told his fellow Democrat that he hoped Gore would run for the White House again.

"He did get more votes than the other guy," Cuomo said Wednesday, a reference to the popular vote.

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean didn't take Cuomo's appeal to Gore too seriously.

"I don't know, Mario is having a little fun," Dean said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I think Al Gore is a terrific human being. ... I think Mario is stirring the pot. That's what he does and he does it well."

Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, in an interview with Fox News radio Tuesday, said he spoke to Gore Saturday night and the former vice president "made it clear to me that he was not running in 2004."

Gore's 2000 running mate, Joe Lieberman, also dismissed suggestions that Gore will enter the race.

"I'd be very surprised if Al got back in," Lieberman, who is seeking the 2004 nomination, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I think he's made a decision and he's very happy and at peace with it."

Cuomo, who was leading in the polls in late 1991 when he decided against a race for the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination, also criticized Lieberman for saying that Howard Dean was too liberal to win the White House.

"I think that's an unfortunate confession by Lieberman of weakness," Cuomo told WROW-AM about the Connecticut senator.

"It's another illustration that we need something more," he told the AP. "You don't need somebody attacking another Democrat."

Among the current crop of Democratic contenders, Cuomo praised Bob Graham but acknowledged that the Florida senator has yet to spark real interest among voters.

"One of the things I like about him, regrettably, is that he doesn't have that pizzaz, that jazz, that stuff that startles people," Cuomo said.

Graham might make a good vice presidential candidate, the former governor said.

There is a little bit of irony in there being that he rips Leiberman for his comments on Dean and then says "You don't need somebody attacking another Democrat".

Anyway, he's pushing Gore who's already stated he won't run.

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Mario would have made a great Supreme Court Justice.

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while i do like the way in which cuomo articulates his vision, after all his key note speech in SF at the democratic convention in 1984 is one of the best speeches of the 20th century, he himself acted like hamlet on the hudson when he vacillated about as run for the white house in 1992.

so it is hard to take him seriously when he comments on al gore's decision to remain on the sidelines in 2004.

but then again, he is just following the political wisdom of another old new york pol. adam clayton powell, who epitomized the phrase "do as i say, not as i do."

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Cuomo just handed the GOP some hefty ammunition, as he has ceremoniously dismissed the entire Dem pack.

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Link?

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2004 Elections: Democratic Party Contenders

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