John Edwards: I initially supported him because I liked his energetic populist message. This was something that distinguished him from Obama and Clinton early on. I even sent him ten bucks. However, I could not get over the fact that Edwards the 2008 candidate was so different from Edward the 2004 candidate and Edwards the Senator (DLC-NC). That just never sat well with me. I need a president a little more consistent than John Edwards.
Bill Richardson: I flirted with him for awhile too. However, his lackluster debate performances, awkward speaking style, and many gaffes do not display good leadership or good judgment. Even on foreign policy issues (his supposed strong point) he rarely deviates from cliches and rehearsed talking points (“It’s called diplomacy…blah, blah, blah…)
Barack Obama: I just haven’t seen any substance or leadership so far. It’s nice to think you can bring the country together with hope, optimism, and all that good stuff, BUT what does that really entail? How will he do that? Obama’s fame has been media driven as has his campaign. I want a president not a celebrity. I also don’t buy all this talk of a “movement.” A movement for what? It’s nice he did not support the Iraq war, but can Obama win a campaign based on that and “hope”?
Hillary: I do not want the presidential roster to go Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton. America has more than 2 families to lead our nation.
Gravel and Biden: They yell too much.
Kucinich: It appears he will have a problem winning his congressional seat. He better go back home to Cleveland real fast. Also, his 2004 performance was unimpressive and 2008 has been more of the same.
And now: Chris Dodd.
From the beginning of the campaign, Dodd has emerged as a reasonable, knowledgeable, and out-spoken advocate for the change he wants to bring to the country.
Dodd has led the charge on restoring our civil liberties, personal freedoms, and habeus corpus. He has made restoring our Constitution the centerpiece of his campaign. It would be exciting to have a champion of the Constitution sitting in the Oval Office. Moreover, the Democratic Party should move toward becoming the party of civil libertarians and freedom-oriented Americans. It may not be a compelling issue now for the average voter, but as our liberties continue to erode and eavesdropping and wiretapping continue, the Democratic Party should be looked at as the party that will protect privacy and liberty.
Dodd has displayed that he can work with members of both parties to pass important legislation (i.e. Family and Medical Leave Act). His twenty-six years in Congress would make him an effective broker with leadership in both parties. This is desperately needed since Bush has further centralized the presidency and eroded the relationship between Congress and the White House.
On foreign policy, Dodd’s goal is to restore America’s moral standing in the world. As a veteran of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this is not an empty promise, but rather a commitment to deliver.
When he speaks, you can tell Chris Dodd knows what the heck he’s talking about. He’s direct in his answers and displays an impressive intellect that is desperately needed in the presidency.
Instead of media superstars or position-changing one-term Senators, America needs someone like Chris Dodd. On every issue, Chris Dodd has done important work, has thoughtful answers, and will be ready to lead and get to work on January 20, 2009.
So what do you guys think about Chris Dodd? Will you consider supporting him?
I like how you were fair to the candidates you flirted with and made a reason why they arent as qualified as Dodds. Overall glad your supporting the guy you want to win, and not the guy you think can win,
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On Edwards I totally agree, its the insincerity of his current position that I distrust, that and hes moved so far to the left he alienates an economic centrist like me.
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Good reason, in fact the best reason to dislike Clinton in addition to her electability issues.
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And Id say spot on for everyone else cept Biden and Obama.
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On Biden hes offered a truly unique and compelling vision for ending the Iraq war, one that is in fact the only one the Senate has passed and is currently being endorsed by the foreign policy elite and has even been considered favorably by General Petraeus who might begin adopting it. This is the semi-partition plan in case you were unfamiliar. He also has similar time and success in the Senate as Dodd but less of a comprehensive domestic agenda.
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I am an Obama partisan, Id say that those that say he has no experience or positions are people that are only listening to the buzz around the candidate and not really reading his book (which is informative albeit self promoting like any politicians), or going to his website, or seeing the experience he does have and also the ideas he does. I wont go into detail but I can if you want in later posts.
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But yeah I like Dodd, and he could pull off a few surprises.
True, Biden’s plan to create three entities within the nation of Iraq does represent an important break from Bush’s policy. He certainly has been leading on that issue and he deserves credit for that.
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As for Obama, I’ve skimmed through “The Audacity of Hope” and liked what I read. His policy proposals on his website are pretty good. However, I’ve just been waiting for him to be more substantive in the debates and in public appearances. His rhetoric is too vague, so far. This could change and I hope it does. Not enough Americans are people like us who actually read policy proposals on candidate websites.
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Let me be clear about another thing: though I’ve explained what I thought were weaknesses in the other candidates, I will vote for whoever is the Democratic nominee (just, please don’t be Hillary!)
Thanks from me too, for the analysis.
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For me, it’s been between Dodd and Obama for quite a while. I very much like the way Dodd comes across – he’s good-humored but also has gravitas – and his long experience rounds out the appeal for me.
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He comes across – to me, anyway – as trustworthy. I feel I know where he stands on the issues and can’t imagine him making any sudden shifts.
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I also thought he handled the Lieberman situation with integrity. His loyalty spoke well for him as a person, but I liked the way he went in the end with the will of the democrats in his state.
conflict. He did his duty as a long time friend/colleague and softly supported him in the primary. He didnt let this get in the way of him doing the right thing and supporting Lamont in the general.
I completely agree with you on the Lieberman ’06 race. He could have easily gone the way of people like Bob Kerrey and Ken Salazar and supported his good friend no matter what primary voters decided. But he did not. Instead, he stood on principle.
I am an Obama supporter because I do think the media super-star factor is a positive. In general I distrust charisma, but it’s a powerful tool when you have it. Also, I think it would be a major major social step forward for a black man to be elected president. I dont have a problem with Obama’s nuanced positions–I think he is just being more honest than rhetorical and I like that.
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Dodd is my 2nd favorite by a very narrow sentiment. I make small regular donations and they are always equal between Dodd and Obama.
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Nobody gets a perfect 10 score. On my scorecard I give Obama a 9.5 and Dodd a 9.45
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PS: Pro-rated for his limited time I think Dodd has done the best in the debates so far.
letters to his wife while he was prosecuting Nazi war criminals should be mandatory reading for anyone interested interested in issues of justice and how things work
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http://search.barnes…
Thanks for pointing that out. Seems like it has potential to be a pretty good book.