by Pa Rock
Fired-Up Voter
The 2018 midterm elections have come and gone, the old Congress is in its final throes, and the calendar year is rushing to an end. The new Congress will convene on January 3rd, and within weeks after that - or perhaps even just days - Democrats will begun stepping bravely forward to announce their desire and intention to run for President. At this point is looks as though the field of wannabes and actual contenders will be a crowded affair.
VoteVets.org is a left-of-center veteran's organization that I support whenever I can. The goal of the group is to keep members informed of electoral issues and to do everything in its power to oppose the autocratic regime of Donald Trump. In other words, VoteVets are good people.
This past week, in preparation for the political madness that will begin descending on the country in January, VoteVets sent around a simple questionnaire and a presidential preference ballot. The email document asked for my email address (which they obviously already had), my first name, zip code, and if I was a veteran or not (I am). Then it listed nineteen potential Democratic presidential candidates and Donald Trump and asked me to either select my preference for the nation's highest office, or choose "other" or "undecided."
VoteVets printed its list in alphabetical order. The names on the internet ballot were:
Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, Eric Holder, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Terry McAuliffe, Jeff Merkley, Chris Murphy, Beto O'Rourke, Richard Ojeda, Deval Patrick, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Donald Trump, and Elizabeth Warren.
Noticeably absent from the VoteVets list was Hillary Rodham Clinton. Perhaps they believe her feint claim that she will not run in 2020, but I personally doubt the sincerity of that recusal.
2020 would be the proper year for a woman to head the Democratic ticket, and nothing - NOTHING - would be sweeter than Donald Trump getting his ass handed to him by a member of the gender that he has routinely degraded and maligned for most of his adult life - but the stars don't seem to be aligning that way.
Hillary running again would be a huge mistake. The last time Democrats chose to rerun a race - Adlai Stevenson versus Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 - Stevenson was beaten even more soundly by Ike than he had been in 1952.
Of the Democratic women who are on the list, Harris, Gillibrand, and Warren, all three very formidable and outspoken members of the Senate, are on the California, New York, Massachusetts axis that promotes a sense that the broader (Main Street) America is being ignored. Gillibrand also has the baggage of being seen as one of the central figures in the political downfall of Al Franken. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is a combat veteran who opposes the removal of President Assad in Syria, causing some to feel that she may have too much radical baggage to form an effective national campaign. That leaves Senator Amy Klobuchar, perhaps the least well known of the group, as arguably the best option from the field of female candidates.
Of the male contenders, Biden and Bernie Sanders are (as is Hillary) too dammed old - even if all three are younger than Nancy Pelosi.. Michael Bloomberg, an ultra-rich former Republican, is currently a Democrat and may be a Libertarian or a Pekinese tomorrow. Tom Steyer, also ultra-rich, has sidetracked himself on a political bender to impeach Trump.
Sherrod Brown seems almost desperate in his desire for the White House, but his primary qualification seems to be only that he is from Ohio - a state the Democrats must win in order to prevail - and Brown is a bit duller than dishwater. Others pulling up behind Sherrod Brown in the boring lane are Terry McAuliffe and Chris Murphy. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon has a bit more fire than Brown, MCAuliffe, and Murphy, but he is relatively unknown. Richard Ojeda is a nationally unknown West Virginia state senator with big ambitions, but he seems unlikely to start any major political fires.
Former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick is also not much of a political fire-starter, but he is black and his nomination would be a welcome nod to the Democratic Party's large minority component - as would the nominations of Eric Holder or Julian Castro, both of whom would make strong contenders and would strengthen the party's hand with minorities.
Senator Cory Booker, a black man, is outspoken on many issues and knows how to draw attention to himself and his positions. He was an active mayor of Newark, New Jersey, who often interacted with his constituents through Twitter and resolved their problems on the spot. (Your trash hasn't been picked up? I'll have a truck there in fifteen minutes!). While he was mayor, Booker once rushed into a burning building and saved a woman's life.
With Klobuchar and Booker, two sitting senators perched warily toward the top of the Democratic pyramid, yet neither with a national groundswell of public attention or favor, that leaves room for a populist usurper to move in and grab both the attention and the momentum - and that individual has arrived through a much-watched and analyzed senate race in Texas. And even though Beto O'Rourke lost that race - barely - in deep red Texas to incumbent Senator Ted Cruz - he did manage to foist himself into the national spotlight.
Beto O'Rourke, through his thoughtful positions on the issues, his fearlessness in taking unpopular stances, and his sheer eloquence, is being regarded by many as this cycle's re-emergence of Barack Obama. Like Obama, Beto is a young man (more than three decades younger than Nancy Pelosi), who has a raging intellect and a comprehensive command of the issues. True, Donald Trump would undoubtedly delight in running against a polar opposite to himself such as O'Rourke, but Trump, like Cruz, would quickly discover that this energetic young Texan would be far more formidable than he could have ever imagined.
Yes, Congressman Beto O'Rourke, has lost an election - like Hillary - but unlike Hillary he did far better than almost all political analysts predicted that he would do. Beto O'Rourke nearly sank Ted Cruz in bloody Texas of all places, and he would be a serious challenger to Donald Trump in every state - and not just the "necessary" ones that Hillary's team chose to target. O'Rourke against Trump would be a defining moment for America, one that could drive ignorance and hate from the government and restore our national soul. America could once again be America!
(It should be remembered that America's greatest president, Abraham Lincoln, ran for the U.S. Senate twice and lost both times - the final time being just two years before he was elected to lead our nation.)
The 2020 election is still almost two full years away - but Pa Rock is off the fence and in full campaign mode!
Beto, Beto, Beto!
Fired-Up Voter
The 2018 midterm elections have come and gone, the old Congress is in its final throes, and the calendar year is rushing to an end. The new Congress will convene on January 3rd, and within weeks after that - or perhaps even just days - Democrats will begun stepping bravely forward to announce their desire and intention to run for President. At this point is looks as though the field of wannabes and actual contenders will be a crowded affair.
VoteVets.org is a left-of-center veteran's organization that I support whenever I can. The goal of the group is to keep members informed of electoral issues and to do everything in its power to oppose the autocratic regime of Donald Trump. In other words, VoteVets are good people.
This past week, in preparation for the political madness that will begin descending on the country in January, VoteVets sent around a simple questionnaire and a presidential preference ballot. The email document asked for my email address (which they obviously already had), my first name, zip code, and if I was a veteran or not (I am). Then it listed nineteen potential Democratic presidential candidates and Donald Trump and asked me to either select my preference for the nation's highest office, or choose "other" or "undecided."
VoteVets printed its list in alphabetical order. The names on the internet ballot were:
Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, Eric Holder, Tulsi Gabbard, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Terry McAuliffe, Jeff Merkley, Chris Murphy, Beto O'Rourke, Richard Ojeda, Deval Patrick, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Donald Trump, and Elizabeth Warren.
Noticeably absent from the VoteVets list was Hillary Rodham Clinton. Perhaps they believe her feint claim that she will not run in 2020, but I personally doubt the sincerity of that recusal.
2020 would be the proper year for a woman to head the Democratic ticket, and nothing - NOTHING - would be sweeter than Donald Trump getting his ass handed to him by a member of the gender that he has routinely degraded and maligned for most of his adult life - but the stars don't seem to be aligning that way.
Hillary running again would be a huge mistake. The last time Democrats chose to rerun a race - Adlai Stevenson versus Dwight Eisenhower in 1956 - Stevenson was beaten even more soundly by Ike than he had been in 1952.
Of the Democratic women who are on the list, Harris, Gillibrand, and Warren, all three very formidable and outspoken members of the Senate, are on the California, New York, Massachusetts axis that promotes a sense that the broader (Main Street) America is being ignored. Gillibrand also has the baggage of being seen as one of the central figures in the political downfall of Al Franken. Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is a combat veteran who opposes the removal of President Assad in Syria, causing some to feel that she may have too much radical baggage to form an effective national campaign. That leaves Senator Amy Klobuchar, perhaps the least well known of the group, as arguably the best option from the field of female candidates.
Of the male contenders, Biden and Bernie Sanders are (as is Hillary) too dammed old - even if all three are younger than Nancy Pelosi.. Michael Bloomberg, an ultra-rich former Republican, is currently a Democrat and may be a Libertarian or a Pekinese tomorrow. Tom Steyer, also ultra-rich, has sidetracked himself on a political bender to impeach Trump.
Sherrod Brown seems almost desperate in his desire for the White House, but his primary qualification seems to be only that he is from Ohio - a state the Democrats must win in order to prevail - and Brown is a bit duller than dishwater. Others pulling up behind Sherrod Brown in the boring lane are Terry McAuliffe and Chris Murphy. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon has a bit more fire than Brown, MCAuliffe, and Murphy, but he is relatively unknown. Richard Ojeda is a nationally unknown West Virginia state senator with big ambitions, but he seems unlikely to start any major political fires.
Former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick is also not much of a political fire-starter, but he is black and his nomination would be a welcome nod to the Democratic Party's large minority component - as would the nominations of Eric Holder or Julian Castro, both of whom would make strong contenders and would strengthen the party's hand with minorities.
Senator Cory Booker, a black man, is outspoken on many issues and knows how to draw attention to himself and his positions. He was an active mayor of Newark, New Jersey, who often interacted with his constituents through Twitter and resolved their problems on the spot. (Your trash hasn't been picked up? I'll have a truck there in fifteen minutes!). While he was mayor, Booker once rushed into a burning building and saved a woman's life.
With Klobuchar and Booker, two sitting senators perched warily toward the top of the Democratic pyramid, yet neither with a national groundswell of public attention or favor, that leaves room for a populist usurper to move in and grab both the attention and the momentum - and that individual has arrived through a much-watched and analyzed senate race in Texas. And even though Beto O'Rourke lost that race - barely - in deep red Texas to incumbent Senator Ted Cruz - he did manage to foist himself into the national spotlight.
Beto O'Rourke, through his thoughtful positions on the issues, his fearlessness in taking unpopular stances, and his sheer eloquence, is being regarded by many as this cycle's re-emergence of Barack Obama. Like Obama, Beto is a young man (more than three decades younger than Nancy Pelosi), who has a raging intellect and a comprehensive command of the issues. True, Donald Trump would undoubtedly delight in running against a polar opposite to himself such as O'Rourke, but Trump, like Cruz, would quickly discover that this energetic young Texan would be far more formidable than he could have ever imagined.
Yes, Congressman Beto O'Rourke, has lost an election - like Hillary - but unlike Hillary he did far better than almost all political analysts predicted that he would do. Beto O'Rourke nearly sank Ted Cruz in bloody Texas of all places, and he would be a serious challenger to Donald Trump in every state - and not just the "necessary" ones that Hillary's team chose to target. O'Rourke against Trump would be a defining moment for America, one that could drive ignorance and hate from the government and restore our national soul. America could once again be America!
(It should be remembered that America's greatest president, Abraham Lincoln, ran for the U.S. Senate twice and lost both times - the final time being just two years before he was elected to lead our nation.)
The 2020 election is still almost two full years away - but Pa Rock is off the fence and in full campaign mode!
Beto, Beto, Beto!
2 comments:
A similar questionnaire arrived recently in the daily tsunami of email, most of which ask to take some money from a fictionally infinite account I have hidden offshore. Apparently all Kansans my age are confused with the Koch Brothers.
Absent from your list was California's junior Senator, Kamala Harris. She, in my view, is on par with Mr. Booker. One of them may eventually get a shot. Neither has an uncle like Ted Kennedy on the horizon to pass the torch to them; thus making straight a path to the nomination.
Perhaps the assessment on Sherrod Brown is a little harsh. He has been fully engaged in the heavy lifting in the United States Senate and may be a favorite of organized labor. Time will tell.
We may, in our lifetimes, not see the likes of an intellectual firebrand with the mesmerizing linguistic skills of Barack Obama. Especially if such a candidate could woo us with such speech, will that person have the mind, the patience, the focus, and the wisdom to occupy the Oval Office as did Obama? Again, likely not.
We cannot live in the past. We cannot expect our future President to replicate Obama, or any other successful (and hopefully failed) leader of the nation. Each Administration must seek to master its moment in history and as Democrats it is time to recognize that the 2020 moment's challenge is to move America away from government of the rich, for the rich, and by the rich. The three plus decades of corporate welfare with tax break upon tax break which redistributes wealth upwards must end.
The 2020 moment can finance the rebuilding of America's infrastructure by ending the cycles of perpetual war against ill defined enemies. Our engagement in the belligerent policies has created a world of refugees. America must do its part in resolving the refugee crisis that America helped to created. The 2020 moment must include comprehensive immigration reform.
There will be a person emerge who will give voice to the hopes of the 2020 moment with fresh ideas and new energy. After the corruption of the current Administration America will need to heal, to unify, and mere technical competence at governance can't get that done.
On June 6, 1966 the late Robert F. Kennedy spoke to students at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa. This was his "Tiny Ripple of Hope" speech. Fifty-two years later the world continues in, as he said, the Chinese curse of perilous times. Fifty-two years later this speech signals revile to those who would become the President of the United States. The best nominee our party can produce will have no chance at winning unless that person enters the games, or as the quote says the lists.
Kennedy taught us: "Aristotle tells us: “At the Olympic games it is not the finest or the strongest men who are crowned, but those who enter the lists.” “So, too, in the life of the honorable and the good it is they who act rightly who win the prize.” I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the world."
Oops, I cannot blame spell check. I meant reveille not revile. My apologies.
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