i doubt that the shrub group wants to capture public enemy number one; osama's more valuable as a boogey man living somewhere in a world filled with "enemies." after all, they've "won" the war in afghanistan, and a major taliban figure just surrendered.
i believe we're seeing the birth of another teflon president. if the enron scandal, and his awful domestic "policy" doesn't nail him, i'd like to see what will.
R
At 01:42 PM 2/10/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>The Dems could do a lot worse.
>
>My main beef is he is bad on an issue I think is
>very important -- budget deficits.
>
>Electability is a bit problematic because
>he is jewish w/o the shield of an ultra-piety facade.
>
>But I disagree that Bush's campaign will inevitably
>be some kind of juggernaught. The 'war' will become
>something of a two-edged sword, IMO, since it is quite
>likely he will have failed to haved captured 'the evil
>one' and failed to follow through on threats to the 'evil
>axis.' So in its own terms the war issue is problematic
>for him. Plus on the domestic side he could face some
>strong negatives.
>
>mbs
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>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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