For all those people that voted for Obama and his change and hope…..how did that work out for you? There were so many people that were looking for a new way of governing and Obama was that way…..back in early 2008 I wrote a piece on Daily Kos saying that if he were elected that it would be business as usual in Washington…I was attacked merciless and told that I was not welcome on a site that was working to bring hope and change to America….now I can look back at send the “finger” to all those so-called progressives….they were wrong and now they are turning on the president…….how does it feel to be crapped on by your fair haired boy? (Not intended as a slap at the Prez, in case someone is offended)
With all of Obama’s giving to the GOP…he has fallen flat on his face as a progressive…the progressive we all hoped he would be………
Sorry, I digress…….to answer my own question….yes he should face a primary and have to defend vigorously his lack of leadership and principles……but then the question arises……who?
One of my votes would go the independent Senator Bernie Sanders…..why?
Sanders said recently….and he is right……
“My suggestion is, I think one of the reasons the president has been able to move so far to the right is that there is no primary opposition to him, and I think it would do this country a good deal of service if people started thinking about candidates out there to begin contrasting what is a progressive agenda as opposed to what Obama is doing,” Sanders told talk show host Thom Hartmann over the weekend. “I think it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition.”
Sanders has been an unfaltering champion of true progressive ideals…not the Dems ideals which are no more than Repub ideas in liberal clothing….he would be a good choice.
And then there is former Senator Russ Feingold, another champion of true progressive ideals….by standing by his ideals it cost him his re-election and gave a mamby pamby Repub a shot at destroying the country….Feingold is BETTER than a liberal….he is a PROGRESSIVE!
And then there is my long shot……Eliott Spitzer…..the man is a progressive and a genius in economics….the only problem would be getting past the “hooker” thing…..which in my opinion is NO big deal…I mean look at Sen. Vitter of LA….he had a hooker thing around his neck and he is still in the Senate even tough he actually broke the law…he is still there.
Of course, the inevitable criticism will be that it will harm the prez and possibly give the GOP a win….in my opinion…it is a crap of an argument….why? Because the prez is giving the GOP everything they want …..so where would be the harm?
There is a downside to running against the Prez in the primaries…..the one that comes to mind is the election of 1980……Carter faced a primary challenge from Kennedy and the chaos that was brought about the John Anderson third party candidate which cost Carter the presidency….as case could be made (that is what Google is for)……..
Okay, those are my three nominees……what to you guys think? And who would be your picks?
Senator Sanders would be the best man for the job. Of course, that also means I’d never wish it on him. Short of that, I’d like to see an articulate leftist mayor who has not previously been in the political spotlight nationally, step up to challenge Obama.
lucorico, thanx for the visit and for following on twitter….I had seen several blogs and sites ask the question and I thought I would answer them with my ideas…Sanders is definitely the best person….but he will have a toxic label to overcome….socialist. I even see conserv Dems using it against him…..I would like to see just about anybody challenge him but the media whore Nader.
I like two of your suggestions although Sanders would be Stalin by the time Fox and yes, Dems, were done with him and Russ would try to run without raising money…But Spitzer? I don’t care about his hookers, that is between him and his family but he has one of the ugliest personalities I have ever seen. Telling people you are the smartest person in the room simply proves that you are not.
I don’t know who it should be but an honest to god Democrat would be nice. And yes, someone should do it.
Morning quoti……..welcome back……..I like Bernie the best……..and Spitzer would be the smartest person in the room in Washington….apparently not many have any economic knowledge whatsoever…..
Dems are worrying me….since Clinton and the DLC they have been moving way too right for my liking……
lucorico and quoti…….funny how things work out….we were talking about Bernie and I found this from him………http://ow.ly/5V3hw
Sanders would be great in theory. But he’d be eaten alive by FOX as quotidianhudsonriver said.
My picks: Pelosi (#1) and Kucinich
I’d vote for Pelosi in half a heartbeat. She has more balls than all Democrats (maybe even Republicans) combined.
I’d vote for Kucinich because we’d have a real shot at getting out of the
occupationswars completely.Spinny…excellent choices…..I like Kucinich and voted for him in the primaries…but I think that progressives would view him as “old hat” kinda like Nader……but still an excellent choice…Pelosi is a proven fighter and another good choice but would progressives line up behind her? remember there is a difference between liberal and progressive……to find the perfect person we have to make sure that whoever is picked would not deviate from a progressive program…..
Good point. I think they would because of her track record of getting things done. Progressives know that if they were to help vote her in, they would have to prod her to back their issues. They also know they have a much better shot at winning her over vs. Obama.
Spinny, an interesting hypothesis……I will be watching……the recess should give progressives a boost but they have to take advantage of it….and that is something they have failed at in the past…….
I like your picks, although I’d probably go for Kucinich over Spitzer. I was thinking of another possibility the other day, but I cannot remember who they were now.
In any case, I think a primary challenge should happen. I’m not very optimistic that it will happen, but I think it should.
Hi vjack…….Kucinich is a good choice, like I have said….however Spitzer is an economic dude and in these times economics will make or break any challenger…..but Spitzer would not get past the “hooker”, at least from the Right……
I think you’re a socialist, Lobotero.
And I don’t mean that to be a slur. When I was a right-wing dodo bird, I used to use the term “socialist” as some kind of a slur, right on par with Communist or Nazi.But when you step back and truly look at what it means to be a socialist, it’s not something bad at all. In fact, I might be one, the more I think about it.
Which is pretty crazy. How one can go from a conservative nut to a socialist in only a few months is the eighth wonder of my world.
Terrance….no offense taken….I was a member of the Socialist Party in the past I was even a presidential convention delegate of them…….I left because of their waste of needed money on elections……
Socialism has been used as a slur and usually by those that have no idea what the term means….once you look at principles then one can understand what they are all about…..
The only principle the Socialist Party of USA holds that I certainly do not is their views on abortion. But other than that, I could probably get behind them.
Terrance……they say that it is a personal choice…….to have or not to have…….and that the issue is up to the individual…..but I understand where you are on that and I appreciate your point of view……
Hadn’t thought of this before. Kuchinich would be a great choice. As far as Spitzer though, totally ignoring the hooker thing he represents the worst of the worst. He put Martha Stewart in jail for a victimless insider trading mistake in order to get political attention while Wall Street scandals were rampant right under his nose. He is part of the problem, not the solution.
As far as Obama it’s important to keep the bigger picture in mind. Ask yourself, where would we be be if McCain and Palin were in the White House. And ask yourself how much leadership he can show in a system where leadership of any kind is punished.
I don’t live in the US and I think that Americans overlook the fact that the president is both the head of government and the head of state which is not the case in most countries which have a president and prime minister, or a queen and prime minister. Outside of the US Obama is viewed as a towering head of state and that is a huge positive for the US. Unfortunately in the world today there isn’t a single head of government who has any credibility because all the chickens of political and economic expediency of the past 20 years are coming home to roost.
Hi Thomas……..Spitzer put a bunch of Wall Street crooks and banksters behind bars……..he was called the Sheriff of Wall Street………I personally do not particularly likje the man personally, but I appreciate economic knowledge when we need lots of it if this country is to continue……
As far as I know about him…I would trust him to go after those that are profiting from the economic down turn by gambling with taxpayer money…..