______ for President '08
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Who's name goes in the blank. This is where we as Democrats get into trouble. Too often we have too many candidates running around saying things against their opponent. This is politics. However we all know that all this does is give the eventual GOP nominee ammunition. So this time lets see if we can't rally around a candidate before Iowa. We know who wants the job. So we have a little more than a year for candidates to get together and join in a concerted effort to elect a Democratic President. We cannot withstand months of Biden saying Obama is too inexperience. Feingold will charge that Wes Clark has never run for elected office. Hillary will wait as long as possible for the field to weed out the weaker candidates. Maybe Dr. Dean can call for a presidential summit. A meeting those candidates can attend and jointly agree on a field of two or three strong representatives of the Democratic Party. Those contenders can also agree to find a way to showcase their individual strengths without making claims designed to weaken their opponent. Every time Democratic candidates weaken their opponents they strengthen their eventual Republican opponent.

This upcoming Presidential election should be conservative versus liberal election part two. We are on an upswing of liberal thinking. The neocons have shown an ugly side of conservative thinking. We must show that we can be strong leaders. We need to search the Democratice Party for just that a strong leader. For years both parties have sought strong politicians to run for President. We need leaders not politicians. We have plenty of politicians but are a little light on true leaders. Politicians show us how to win elections. Leaders show us how to be a great nation. So let the search begin.
Let the word go forth from this time and place, that the torch has been passed to a new generation
of Democrats. A new generation born after the Nixon resignation, is now ready to choose their leaders. So lets give them the best choices not all of the choices.

Reader Comments
  
Hillary is the best choice for President in 08!
By American People For Hillary Nov 13th 2006 at 12:48 pm EST
Now is the right time and Hillary will win the democratic party nomination and then she will win the Presidential against any GOP candidates.

I ask you to join us in this cause and make a contribution to our campaign for Hillary right now. Let make history together!
Link

From craigslist for Hillary =>
Link
Re: Hillary is the best choice for President in 08!
By AllenLax15 Nov 13th 2006 at 2:19 pm EST
If the GOP runs a moderate conservative like John McCain, Hillary will be isolated as a "New England Liberal" by the conservatives. Barak Obama would make an excellent leader. And as he is from IL, he cannot be accused of being a new england elitist.
Re: Hillary is the best choice for President in 08!
By SiameseWonka Apr 4th 2007 at 10:40 pm EDT
I have the utmost respect for Hillary Clinton and all that she stands for. I don't believe Mrs. Clinton could unite the country though. Conservatives have made her look like a psycho by taking small bits of her speeches and basically spreading lies about what she wants to do for the past 10+ years. Mrs. Clinton would undoubtedly be great in all areas as president however if we should choose someone who could bring the voters out in droves on the premise of change we should give Barack Obama a chance. Obama is very qualified for the job; he has taught constitutional law at Chicago University for several years, he has represented Illinois' state legislature for many years and has the ability of TACT and optimism. I feel that Kerry was and is brilliant but the one thing he lacked was tact- or how to best express the views of himself and his constituents without seeming pessimistic or critical of a wartime president. If we want to run against someone like Guiliani who can just show pictures of himself in front of the World Trade Towers and get instant respect we need someone like Obama who can bring the importance of current issues to the table without seeming too much as a partisan griper. Sure Guiliani loves this country too but only Obama can show that the Republican ideology is flawed and does not represent the change that the American wish to see..and he is very ready for the oval office!
  
Feingold's announced he's not running
By Ladydawn Nov 13th 2006 at 6:16 pm EST
Biden is for sure.
So is Vilsak (again) from Iowa

Probably Bayh of Indiana too......
Clark maybe (I hope)
Edwards
Hillary (no thanks)
MURTHA would be GREAT!
or Gore but I don't think he wants it bad enough.
  
John Edwards is my pick for 2008
By dk2 Nov 13th 2006 at 7:50 pm EST
He has been leading the country on minimum wage and poverty reform. He speaks to all Americans, and mostly the middle class that has been choked out of reality by coporate interest.

Check out One America Committee for his speeches, news, travels, podcast, and blog.

Link
  
Same here...
By snakelips Nov 14th 2006 at 1:14 am EST
Good post Barry. Unfortunately, your situation applies to us over here on the GOP side too. We'll have to muddle through these problems too.

-snakelips
  
I Disagree
By Carolyn G Nov 19th 2006 at 4:30 pm EST
I absolutely disagree that this campaign should degenerate into a conservative vs liberal slugfest. That's what has gotten us to where we are now. The campaign needs to be based on issues and ideas from whatever side of the political spectrum they originate.

For instance, fiscal responsibility has long been identified as a conservative value, yet Republicans have made a mockery of it. Democrats who refuse to indulge in profiligate spending, want a balanced budget, smaller government (savings invested in other programs), zero based budgeting, and other such fiscally responsible agenda will find they have an eager audience.

The biggest mistake both parties are making these days is playing into this liberal vs conservative schism. You are making a serious mistake if you believe this last election had anything whatever to do with liberal vs conservative. The election was a backlash against ethics violations, corruption, and a do-nothing congress which preferred to fight and indulge in photo opportunities than it did addressing the critical issues facing this nation. They had a chance and the momentum with border security and immigration reform and they blew it in preference to pandering to their big business base and ignoring the wishes of the people.

If the Democratic party makes this next election a moratorium on liberal versus conservative they will go down so hard and so fast it will leave their heads spinning. The electorate is sick to death of partisan bickering and finger pointing. They want action, no matter what label that action wears. They want compromise and bipartisanship that obtains results. Mostly they don't give a fuzzy rat's backside what label you place on those results.
Re: I Disagree
By Barry C aka Casey Nov 21st 2006 at 9:28 am EST
I support your basic premise. Voters are people or at least they're supposed to be. It would be nice if they were as objective as you. Sadly, this is not the case. We all have pet issues that define us politically. This is a part of the political side of representative democracy. Personally I would like to see three or four viable political parties but alas that is far off in the future. Someday but not this time around. We all must identify the candidate that most closely aligns with your hopes, needs, etc.
  
Kucinich
By Julie Jun 6th 2007 at 1:55 am EDT
Fills in your blank already.

Dennis Kucinich is the ONLY candidate who is actually proposing a Universal, Single-Payer Health Care Plan.
His idea is to expand Medicare, a system we already have in place, to include everyone.

ALL of the other candidates advocate a blend of private insurers with government subsidies, which will inevitably leave people falling through the cracks. Edwards wants to make it like car insurance, and actually require people to pay for it by law.

I don't believe anything that includes for-profit Insurance Companies will succeed; rather I predict such a system would be bankrupt in 3 years. There was an experimental tryout in TN which used 7 HMOs, and it failed miserably.

All the frontrunners say they will cover people, but most only get specific about child coverage.
Child coverage is already there. Medicaid will cover children of parents below a certain income level, but it will NOT cover adults.

Why? Because it's fairly cheap to cover kids--well baby visits and the odd broken arm, plus a few ear infections are about all there is to it.

I think it's a little deceptive of candidates to make a big deal of this as if the idea were original to them!
Re: Kucinich
By Wally Jul 22nd 2007 at 9:48 pm EDT
Support for H.R. 676 should be the litmus test for me. If Kucinich is the only one supporting it, then he will get my vote.

C'mon, Hillary! Where's the resolve from a decade ago? And Barack... his "universal" idea also blends private insurance? There can be no lasting, workable reform as long as private insurers are allowed to sell coverage that a public program will offer.

"If private insurers are allowed to cherry pick the healthy, leaving the public health care system with the very sick, the system cannot help but fail. This is part of what is happening in U.S. health care now." Link
Re: Kucinich
By Bobby Joe Murray Sep 4th 2007 at 2:59 pm EDT
I agree that Kucinich is the right choice. As a citizen of the greatest country on this planet we should, by birthright have access to healthcare from cradle to grave! This is not negotiable! Making a profit off of this is a crime against humanity. Dennis is the man!
  
Make all the blanks endorse HR 676
By Democrat in Boston, MA Sep 5th 2007 at 11:41 am EDT
Every candidate besides Kucinich is lying when they say they will provide affordable health care for all. Everyone who wants fairer and more efficient health care should demand that the DNC and ALL the democratic Presidential candidates get with the program.

They should jointly and publicly pledge: the Democratic presidential nominee, whoever she or he is, will making passing HR 676, the single payer health insurance bill, the administration's first priority. They will lose the financial backing of the insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies of course, but they'll gain the gratitude of the majority of the people they say they want to serve.
  
Choice Must Be Based On Ideas
By Frank Lynch Oct 17th 2007 at 4:28 pm EDT
Too many of these comments are based on code words and labels and shortcuts.

Our Democratic party is in danger of becoming irrelevant unless we concentrate on ideas which benefit the people instead of "Hillary should win because she has the most money because she sold out to the health insurance companies."

I challenge all of you to focus on ideas.

Compare the ideas in the Top Ten List at www.franklynch.org against the obsolete 20th century baloney of promises made but not kept with which the other candidates insult us.