On Sat, Feb 09, 2002 at 08:38:01PM -0800, rhisiart at earthlink.net wrote:
> with all due respects, les, i don't think it matters who the democrats run
> as long as bush's "war" continues. the democrats, and the country, got
> themselves into a corner when they sat back and did nothing as the supremes
> put shrub in office. then 9/11 came and sealed the deal. the 2004
> democratic candidate will be a sacrificial lamb. reich sounds perfect for
> that role.
>
> another timely terrorist attack right about election time is all shrub
> needs to win in a "landslide" of more than 1/2 of the 1/2 of the electorate
> that votes.
>
> R
>
> At 09:21 PM 2/9/2002 -0500, you wrote:
> >How about feingold as a dem candidate? He's young. He's popular and
> >competent in his home state (I've heard). His cross-the-aisle votes (e.g.
> >ashcroft) give him cred with some republican voters. He's pushing the
> >"issues of our times." He picks up the Nader vote. He has a reputation for
> >integrity (I've heard). Whaddaya think?
> >
> >Feingold explores possible White House bid
> >Plans progressive push on campuses
> >
> >By John Nichols
> >September 6, 2001
> >
> >U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold this fall will launch a serious, if nontraditional,
> >exploration of his prospects as a contender for the 2004 Democratic
> >nomination for president...
> >
> >"I want to get some fire back in the party, get people talking about what it
> >would mean to have a progressive Democrat in the White House," the two-term
> >senator from Wisconsin said in an interview this week...
> >
> >A progressive maverick who is best known nationally as the Democratic half of
> >the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform tag team with U.S. Sen. John
> >McCain, R-Ariz., Feingold is not rushing out to join other prospective
> >Democratic contenders on the fund-raising circuit.
> >
> >...Rather, the senator is arranging to tour college campuses to ask the
> >question: "Why can't we have a real Democratic Party and a real Democratic
> >candidate for president in 2004?"
> >
> >The tour will begin Nov. 11 at the University of Michigan. Other possible
> >stops included state universities in Iowa, Texas and North Carolina...
> >
> >Feingold, who bluntly challenged last year's Democratic National Convention
> >in Los Angeles to reject the dictates of special interest contributors, said
> >he will talk not just about his objections to Bush administration policies
> >but also about his sense that the conservative Democratic Leadership Council
> >is warping his party into a force that many Americans can't differentiate
> >from Republicans...
> >
> >"I'm worried sick about what's going to happen with Supreme Court
> >nominations, social policy, foreign policy, trade policy, the environment if
> >we get eight years of Bush," Feingold said.
> >
> >"But I'm also worried about the prospect that we could have four years of
> >Bush and four years of a DLC Democrat, which is just about as bad. I am so
> >furious with the corporatization of the Democratic Party and this constant
> >dumbing down to centrism.
> >
> >"Centrism, ultimately, just plays into the hands of the corporations because
> >they end up knowing they can do business with either the Republican or the
> >Democratic Party."
> >
> >Arguing that Democrats have sacrificed the support of tens of millions of
> >disenchanted voters - especially young people - by embracing cautious
> >approaches to major issues, Feingold said he will challenge his audiences to
> >"think big" about what a progressive Democratic president could do for
> >America.
> >
> >"There's a hunger out there and it's a hunger for a politics that addresses
> >the issues that I really care about," he said.
> >
> >Those issues include his convictions that free trade as it is currently
> >construed is harming workers and the environment in the United States and
> >around the world; that corporations have too much power; that the death
> >penalty and racial profiling are wrong; that the District of Colombia should
> >be a state; that AIDS in Africa is an issue for Main Street Americans; and
> >that "America really can be a more tolerant, more caring country."...
> >
> >Feingold's reputation as a bold - some would say reckless - campaigner is
> >well established. He used an Elvis impersonator to help propel him past two
> >better financed Democrats and a Republican incumbent in his 1992 quest for
> >the Senate seat he now holds. Then, to make a point about the need for
> >campaign finance reform, he rejected aid from outside groups for his 1998
> >re-election campaign - making himself one of the few incumbents in the nation
> >to be outspent by his challenger...
> >
> >Feingold knows he irked both party regulars and those in the progressive wing
> >with some high-profile departures from Democratic Party orthodoxy: He voted
> >against dismissing perjury and obstruction of justice charges against former
> >President Bill Clinton, even though he ultimately opposed impeachment; and
> >this year he voted to support President Bush's nomination of John Ashcroft to
> >serve as attorney general.
> >
> >Those votes will require some explaining to the party faithful. But, Feingold
> >said, "I love the challenge."
> >
> >He is especially interested in discussing the Ashcroft vote in the context of
> >presidential politics. Feingold argues that presidents - even those with whom
> >he personally disagrees - need wide freedom to choose their Cabinets. By
> >voting for Ashcroft, Feingold said, he helped protect the ability of future
> >administrations, particularly future progressive administrations, to pick
> >preferred aides.
> >
> >"That allows a progressive president to have not just a milquetoast
> >administration, but an administration that can have an impact," he said.
> >
> >Feingold will also challenge Democratic insiders to rethink their anger
> >toward 2000 Green Party presidential nominee Ralph Nader, whom many blame for
> >drawing support away from Al Gore.
> >
> >"I've been troubled by the venom that many Democrats display toward Nader,"
> >said Feingold, who backed Gore last year but refused to join in Democratic
> >attacks on Nader.
> >
> >"I agree with many of the things that Ralph Nader had to say about the
> >Democratic Party. It has become too corporate, too compromised. It is out of
> >touch with our base - especially with young people. On the merits, Nader was
> >right in a lot of what he said. My difference with him is that I think it's
> >impractical to try to launch a third party at this point. I think we need to
> >make the fight inside the Democratic Party. And we need to start fighting
> >now, not in January of 2004." ...
> >
> >
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> >)
>
>
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu