WHO WILL THE DEMOCRATS RUN FOR POTUS IN 2008?
Now that's an intriguing question.
Here are some of the most frequently-mentioned "possible candidates". The information is mostly from Wikipedia.
EVAN BAYH - Age 50. Son of Birch Bayh. Former Governor of Indiana, now a Senator from that state. He serves on six Senate committees: Banking Housing and Urban Affairs, on which he is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance; Armed Services; the Select Committee on Intelligence; Energy and Natural Resources; the Special Committee on Aging; and the Small Business Committee.
JOE BIDEN - Age 62. Senior Senator from Delaware. Supporters note he has a friendly, down-to-earth personality that generates widespread, bipartisan appeal, and that he has years of experience in the Senate dealing with national security and other high profile issues, advantages that distinguish him from most newer, less-experienced potential candidates. Bowed out of 1988 presidential campaign due to controversy over plagiarising others in his speeches.
HILLARY CLINTON - Age 57. Former First Lady, currently Senator from New York. entered the world of politics in 1964, at the age of 16, by supporting the presidential bid of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater! As a Senator, she has attempted to counter her polarizing celebrity by keeping a low public profile and by learning the ways of the institution while building relationships with senators from both sides of the aisle.
JOHN EDWARDS - Age 52. Formerly a skilled trial lawyer whose efforts during the Clinton impeachment proceedings helped lead to the president's adquittal. Served as Senator from North Carolina. After an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2004, he ran as vice-president on the Democratic ticket. He is now employed as a part-time faculty member at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC, where he will be director of the Center On Poverty, Work and Opportunity in the university for studying ways to move people out of poverty.
RUSS FEINGOLD - Age 52. Wisconsin Senator since 1993. Americans For Democratic Action, a liberal advocacy group which rates members of Congress on a scale of 0 to 100, with zero being totally conservative and 100 being completely progressive, gave Senator Feingold a lifetime average rating of 96, tying him with California's Senator Barbara Boxer for the title of the "most progressive person" in the Senate, according to ADA.
AL GORE - Age 57. Won the popular vote in the 2000 presidential election. currently serves as President of Current and Chairman of Generation Investment Management, sits on the board of directors of Apple Computer, and serves as an unofficial advisor to Google's senior management. Although speculation about a possible presidential run in 2008 will not surcease, he has claimed publicly that he considers his re-entry into politics to be very unlikely.
JOHN KERRY - Age 61. We know about Kerry already, and he is planning to run for president again in 2008.
BARACK OBAMA - Age 44. Defeated GOP candidate Alan Keyes for Illinois Senate seat in 2004. Some remarks from his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention: "When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world." "...there's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America." "We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States, and yes, we've got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq."
BILL RICHARDSON - Age 57. Governor of New Mexico, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., former U.S. Secretary of Energy. Some local observers in New Mexico have criticized that he has a somewhat imperial style and seeks to impose his vision rather than respectfully consult and patiently build consensus. He has also been criticized for expanding and perhaps enjoying too much the perks of his position. So far his national reputation, polished by smooth major media appearances, remains rather unaffected by some of this bad local press.
MARK WARNER - Age 50. Governor of Virginia since 2001. Ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 1996. He has been regarded by some Democrats as a Bill Clinton-like figure. Was able to build a power base in rural Virginia to help him win his gubernatorial race.
TOM VILSACK - Age 54. Governor of Iowa. Increased the number of Iowa children covered by health insurance by 300%. From Wikipedia: "One of the main problems Vilsack has is that he has a reputation of being a "tax and spend" Democrat in the state. Those who see him that way have pointed to the fact that general fund spending had increased during his term at about 8 percent per year during the first two years in office. Critics feel that overspending by the state caused the current budget crisis. He also approved expansion of expenditures dealing with salaries despite the fact that the budget crisis was already in full force. Also, he has called for the use of bonds for some projects, which critics feel would give the state an unnecessary debt burden."
Snave's note: The problem with this list is, these people are all politicians. That aside, I think I like Obama, Edwards and Feingold about the best as potential candidates. I like what I have read about Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich too. An Edwards-Obama ticket, or maybe Edwards-Feingold or Edwards-Blagojevich would be fine with me. Let me know who you think might make the best Democratic candidate in 2008!
I will post a list of frequently-mentioned GOP candidates soon.
Here are some of the most frequently-mentioned "possible candidates". The information is mostly from Wikipedia.
EVAN BAYH - Age 50. Son of Birch Bayh. Former Governor of Indiana, now a Senator from that state. He serves on six Senate committees: Banking Housing and Urban Affairs, on which he is the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance; Armed Services; the Select Committee on Intelligence; Energy and Natural Resources; the Special Committee on Aging; and the Small Business Committee.
JOE BIDEN - Age 62. Senior Senator from Delaware. Supporters note he has a friendly, down-to-earth personality that generates widespread, bipartisan appeal, and that he has years of experience in the Senate dealing with national security and other high profile issues, advantages that distinguish him from most newer, less-experienced potential candidates. Bowed out of 1988 presidential campaign due to controversy over plagiarising others in his speeches.
HILLARY CLINTON - Age 57. Former First Lady, currently Senator from New York. entered the world of politics in 1964, at the age of 16, by supporting the presidential bid of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater! As a Senator, she has attempted to counter her polarizing celebrity by keeping a low public profile and by learning the ways of the institution while building relationships with senators from both sides of the aisle.
JOHN EDWARDS - Age 52. Formerly a skilled trial lawyer whose efforts during the Clinton impeachment proceedings helped lead to the president's adquittal. Served as Senator from North Carolina. After an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2004, he ran as vice-president on the Democratic ticket. He is now employed as a part-time faculty member at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC, where he will be director of the Center On Poverty, Work and Opportunity in the university for studying ways to move people out of poverty.
RUSS FEINGOLD - Age 52. Wisconsin Senator since 1993. Americans For Democratic Action, a liberal advocacy group which rates members of Congress on a scale of 0 to 100, with zero being totally conservative and 100 being completely progressive, gave Senator Feingold a lifetime average rating of 96, tying him with California's Senator Barbara Boxer for the title of the "most progressive person" in the Senate, according to ADA.
AL GORE - Age 57. Won the popular vote in the 2000 presidential election. currently serves as President of Current and Chairman of Generation Investment Management, sits on the board of directors of Apple Computer, and serves as an unofficial advisor to Google's senior management. Although speculation about a possible presidential run in 2008 will not surcease, he has claimed publicly that he considers his re-entry into politics to be very unlikely.
JOHN KERRY - Age 61. We know about Kerry already, and he is planning to run for president again in 2008.
BARACK OBAMA - Age 44. Defeated GOP candidate Alan Keyes for Illinois Senate seat in 2004. Some remarks from his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention: "When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world." "...there's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America." "We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States, and yes, we've got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq."
BILL RICHARDSON - Age 57. Governor of New Mexico, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., former U.S. Secretary of Energy. Some local observers in New Mexico have criticized that he has a somewhat imperial style and seeks to impose his vision rather than respectfully consult and patiently build consensus. He has also been criticized for expanding and perhaps enjoying too much the perks of his position. So far his national reputation, polished by smooth major media appearances, remains rather unaffected by some of this bad local press.
MARK WARNER - Age 50. Governor of Virginia since 2001. Ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 1996. He has been regarded by some Democrats as a Bill Clinton-like figure. Was able to build a power base in rural Virginia to help him win his gubernatorial race.
TOM VILSACK - Age 54. Governor of Iowa. Increased the number of Iowa children covered by health insurance by 300%. From Wikipedia: "One of the main problems Vilsack has is that he has a reputation of being a "tax and spend" Democrat in the state. Those who see him that way have pointed to the fact that general fund spending had increased during his term at about 8 percent per year during the first two years in office. Critics feel that overspending by the state caused the current budget crisis. He also approved expansion of expenditures dealing with salaries despite the fact that the budget crisis was already in full force. Also, he has called for the use of bonds for some projects, which critics feel would give the state an unnecessary debt burden."
Snave's note: The problem with this list is, these people are all politicians. That aside, I think I like Obama, Edwards and Feingold about the best as potential candidates. I like what I have read about Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich too. An Edwards-Obama ticket, or maybe Edwards-Feingold or Edwards-Blagojevich would be fine with me. Let me know who you think might make the best Democratic candidate in 2008!
I will post a list of frequently-mentioned GOP candidates soon.
8 Comments:
I think Clinton, Kerry and Edwards will be running whether we like it or not. I'd like Russ Feingold to run.
I hate to be a pessimist, but most of the people on that list don't have a chance. Most of our recent presidents have been ex-governors. Only 2 presidents have gone directly from the senate to the White House -- so no senators please.
Bayh? Good, solid candidate on the surface, but I'm curious about his stances on major issues. His answers will determine his viability.
Biden? I see some potential there, though he may be undone again by the 1988 scandal.
Clinton? She's a Clinton and cannot be counted out as such, but will energize the right. If she gets in, the election automatically turns into a dogfight.
Edwards? An inexperienced politician, has never run for re-election, and from my read, had he done so, he would have probably lost. Dark horse at best.
Feingold? Like Senator Clinton without as much charm. Will also energize the right but may not be able to do the same for the left.
Gore? No go. He's tasted his own shoe leather too many times since 2000.
Kerry? Again, no go. 2004 has pretty much eliminated any chances of a successful run for the White House, as has is laziness while in office.
Obama? Like Edwards only more viable. Political novice, has yet to express any real stances on major issues. Also, was at least partly elected due to the problems with the Republican Party in Illinois. I didn't see any Republican having much of a shot at the national level in Illinois in 2004 due to their Governor. You'd think with the Daley mayoral election scandal in the 60's, they'd be used to major corruption, but being from Alabama, I can sympathize, as our last two governors were elected on "Anyone but (insert name here)" platforms. At least we lucked out with our current one.
Richardson? Solid candidate on surface, local press may ultimately be the undoing at the national level.
Warner? Solid choice, but has yet to have a successful reelection campaign.
Vilsack? Like Richardson, but with more serious problems with local press.
At this point I would say it looks like Clinton or Edwards. I would go with either Biden or Obama for VP. Biden because of vast experience and demeanor, Obama because he's black and a great campaigner.
Hey Obama could be a strong VP for any one of the other candidates, great campaigner.
Clinton is definitely the front-runner, but I think Biden has a better chance of winning. Unfortunately, my hunch is that the fix is already in for 2008. How can we compete when the game is crooked?
Snave, you forgot to mention Wesley Clark. He is one hell of a fighter and not afraid to speak his mind. Watch him closely again...
Right on, Fred! I'm not sure how I could have forgotten Clark. He was my favorite candidate early in the Democratic primaries, and I had a Clark bumper sticker on my car until Kerry was nominated. I thought his military knowledge and experience helped make him a good candidate, and could have served to make a strong point to the public that there are actually some Democrats in the military, or who have served in it.
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