the field's clearing for Hillary. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/washington/politics-feingold.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin -- Feingold Decides Against 2008 Presidential Bid By REUTERS Filed at 9:48 a.m. ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sen. Russell Feingold, a leading liberal in Congress and an outspoken foe of the Iraq war, announced on Sunday that he would not seek the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. ``I'm sure a campaign for president would have been a great adventure and helpful in advancing a progressive agenda,'' wrote Feingold, who is from Wisconsin, in a letter e-mailed to supporters and posted on his Senate campaign web site. ``At this time, however, I believe I can best advance that progressive agenda as a senator with significant seniority in the new Senate serving on the Foreign Relations, Intelligence, Judiciary and Budget committees,'' the three-term senator said. Like many members of Congress, Feingold has been mulling for months a possible run for the White House in 2008. His announcement that he has decided against a presidential bid came in the wake of Democrats winning control of the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives in last week's elections. The new 110th Congress will convene in January with Democrats in control of both chambers for the first time in 12 years. During the next couple of months, a number of Democrats and Republicans are expected to announce if they will run for president in 2008.
I think McCain is going to smash anyone that comes out regardless. The dems candidates are all putrid, congressional victory or not. Even if they arent putrid, they are all imperfect to win the presidency. I will be shocked if he is not our pres in a couple years.
Because Feingold's out? Hardly. I love him and I wish he was president, but he wasn't a serious threat to Hillary. Warner dropping out was bigger news wrt clearing things for her. Meanwhile, Obama's recent noise makes things far more difficult for her. Not to mention increased speculation about Gore. Meanwhile, Edwards, Clark, Bayh, Vilsack, Biden and Richardson (at least) are all serious competition as well. I tend to think Kerry's smart enough to know he's finished by now, but he might be in there too. The field is anything but clear for anyone. If we're still in this disastrous war, I'll take Gore or Obama (who both openly opposed it) against McCain who remains one of its greatest supporters and even favors increasing troop levels -- a position supported by 10% of the American public.
That's too bad. I don't agree with Feingold all the time but I've admired his fairness in his approach as a member of the judiciary and his willingness to stand on principles even when those were potentially harmful to short term political aspirations. His refusal to take PAC money almost cost him the election 1998 when he was vastly outspent by his opponent. I'm guessing that that principle would've seriously handicapped him in any money race for presidency.
And McCain is perfect? I think its far from guarenteed that McCain will be President, its far from guarenteed that McCain will even be the Republican nominee. McCain has gotten away with being a Maverick but with all of the kowtowing he's paid to the religious right recently and carry water or the Bush Admin. may come back to haunt him in a general election among independents. Even though he's made great strides to make nice with the religious right its not clear that many of the rank and file trust him now after the rhetoric of the 2000 election.
rupert murdoch is holding multiple fundraisers for her. how does that sit with you? mark my words, within a year fox news is going to start telling us how great hillary is and you will be starting up 10 threads a day about how only hillary can save us from the fascists. personally, the bushs and the clintons make me sick. i wish they would all just go away.
Man, this kind of sucks, I really liked the guy. When he won his senate seat several years ago, he won it on brutal honesty and an actual commitment to his state. He won a lot of people over through little things like promising to actually live full time in Wisconsin and sending his kids to the local public school in the small town he lives in. Also, his campaign ads were just brilliant, very funny to watch because they just lambasted the other two opponents and the smear campaigns they were throwing at each other. Every major economic think tank loves the guy because he's never accepted a congressional pay hike (I believe he just sends the check back to the treasury every year) and he's one of the few senators to return part of his allocated funds for his Congressional office every year. Also, he's very consistent about not adding any pork barrel spending for his state onto spending bills. I'm not sure he could win a presidential campaign like that but he's one of the most principled members in Congress.
My friend Batman, please support a Democratic candidate who can win. If you really want Feingold to run for President, you will deserve the next Republican President. Gore is only a hair better. IMO Gore and Kerry do not stand a chance of earning Middle America's trust or vote. At this juncture Richardson (my favorite) and Obama are promising, but, as I said in another thread, it will be interesting to see how and when Hillary eviscerates Obama. As a BTW, I do not at this point have a GOP favorite. The field is in such disarray that it will be as much as a year before a real Republican candidate will emerge.
Feingold had little chance to win so this is no news. Hillary's way is anything but clear. It's probably between her, Obama and Edwards. If you ask me, Edwards would be their strongest candidate. McCain is sealing up the GOP nod. It's his to lose. I assume the right wing will throw somebody in to pull McCain to the right during the primaries and deny him a free ride. One issue for him is he will be 72 years old in November 2008 and he's had health issues in the past. IMO, that is the most likely reason he isn't nominated. If the GOP nominates someone who "appeals to the base" and tries to win by using hard-edged "get out the vote" campaigns, they would get clobbered by Edwards in 2008. I give Giuliani a 0% chance to be the nominee. At best he could make veep.
thumbs, have you seen Gore's documentary? Watching it, you wonder where this man was in 2000. I've seen some speeches by him the last few years, and I don't know if he's just become relaxed and at peace with himself out of the Washington power pressure cooker, or what, but I've gone from figuring Gore's career was done, to wishing he would run in '08. Now, I don't know if I would vote for him in the primaries. I'm a big fan of Obama. But I would be tempted, and about 3 years ago I would have laughed at the idea. You might want to revisit the guy. Our history is filled with "failed" candidates who found their footing, and went on to win, despite being written off numerous times. Just food for thought. In my opinion, the Democrats should look to Dean's highly successful template for victory. Run a national, not a regional campaign, and run a candidate who can win a national election, not just one based on a couple of regions. I think Webb is going to prove to be very popular with the public. He's another guy to watch, although '08 is too early, and his victory too narrow to consider this soon. Just strikes me as another possible Democratic star in the future, and definitely a centrist. Interesting map here, if it'll open for you. The nation is far less "red" than was generally thought. Fancy that! http://www.nytimes.com/ref/elections/2006/Senate.html Keep D&D Civil.
More importantly did thadeus deserve those 3 purple hearts? Can thadeus explain why he reported late to his reassignment from the TX to the AL Air National Guard?
It's too early for any of them -- there's a lot of time for gaffs that kill. However, I agree that the nation is far less "red" than thought just as I believe the nation is far less "blue" than some here on the board seem to think. The vast majority are quite content and they "don't (want to) rock the boat, baby." The nation has been pushed right over the years by those who love to litigate over "Ten Commandments"-type issues. I concede that they may even be technically correct in some areas, but the end result is to antogonize heartland people who really don't care who rules Congress and the White House. Most Americans just want to live decent, honest, quiet lives with their core values intact. Push their buttons and they react. That's why we got Republican government, and that why we are now getting rid of Republican government. The Far Left will rule the roost for a short while, but, unless the Democratic Party reigns them in toward a centrist position, Republicans will gradually take power again. Just my opinion. BTW, a Gore revival would shock the ....stuffings ....out of me.
What did thadeus do to that female intern? or if thadeus is running as a republican: What did thadeus do to that male intern? Thanks, I'll be here all week.
