Georgia DUers: Has Max Clelland always been that tough and aware?

[Armstead]

Having seen or read the former Senaror a few times lately, I'm been impressed by how outspoken and straight shooting and forceful he has been. He's said many of the things that need to be said about the administration without mincing any words.

He also has been saying many things that indicate a keen awareness of modern alternative poilitical culture -- he almost sounds like a DUer at times.

I'm very surprised at this, because he never seemed that strong and forceful when he was in the Senate. And from what I could see of his performance in last year's campaign, he was pathetic. He seemed bumbling and vague and waffling.

I'm just wondering if he has changed, perhaps become straighter now that he is no longer in office. Or was he always this way, and just had a "bad hair day" during the campaigns?

[DEMActivist]

1. Max has always been like that

During the campaign, he wasn't suffering a "bad hair day" he was going against his very fiber on the advice and suggestion of the DLC/DNC cabal.

on edit:
I assure you watching Bush* destroy the veteran benefits is killing Max.

As a constituent, I could tell story after story of one of the best, most effective Senators who ever held the title.

[Best_man23]

5. I don't think Max will make that mistake (following DLC advice) again

The people of Georgia need to send Max Cleland back to Washington.

[SEAburb]

7. what a copout, isn't Max responsible for his actions

Max is the one who should be responsible for the campaign strategy he used. Stop passing the buck onto someone else. Max sat quietly by and let Saxby and the RNC box his ears in. And Max was the one who voted for Bush's tax cuts in '01 for political reasons, not a principle one. If Max can't think for himself, he doesn't belong in the senate.

[DEMActivist]

13. So tell me...

how many times have you spoken with Max Cleland on constituent issues?

How many calls have you made to Max?

How much did you work on his re-election campaign?

Because, quite frankly, I've done all of the above. I watched this all happen. I saw the reasons and the actions.

I'll relay just ONE constituent story I was personally involved in for you:

A couple moved into the house next door because the man was in the service and had been diagnosed with cancer. His mother (who owned the house) moved him to Atlanta to be near the best cancer specialists she could find. The Army gave him 6 months to live. The cancer specialists in Atlanta gave him weeks.

Two weeks later, Craig was gone. Leaving behind a wife and 3 children.

3 months later, Tammy was nearly penniless. The Army had "lost" the paperwork we faxed from my office 4 times. Tammy was frantic to figure out how to feed her children while she waited for the Army to lose her paperwork AGAIN.

I called Max Cleland. The very next morning, Max had a uniformed escort at Tammy's door to drive her to the local base. There, Max had a check waiting for her and paperwork ready for her signature.

Tammy nor Craig were ever registered Georgia voters. Max knew that all Tammy wanted to do was get home to her family in Washington state and would never be in a position to vote for him.

Max Cleland saw a problem and he solved it. He helped a family who needed his help.

You don't understand who or what Max Cleland is if you've never had contact with him.

[ulysses]

2. I've been out of the loop

I'd love to see what you've been reading, Armstead. Cleland's one of the good guys, but I always wished he'd brought a little more fire to what he was doing. And yeah, 2002 was a disaster.

It could well be that not having the burden of the office has freed him up some.

[Armstead]

6. THere was a thread on DU today in LBN

I also saw him on NOW the otehr night. He was ripping into the war and the administration, saying they stalled 9-11 investigations to shift attention to Iraq.

It was his directness -- and the almost DU-like phrases and referenences to things that caught my attention.

[Best_man23]

8. I wonder if Max reads DU

Max, if you're on here, keep up the good fight.

[MattNC]

3. 2002 campaign

The smearing of him during the 2002 campaign is one of the main reasons why my contempt for the Republican Party is at an all-time high.

[DEMActivist]

4. Just an FYI...

another Max pet peeve was the CDC. Thanks to Max Cleland, they broke ground on a new building a couple of weeks ago.

[newsguyatl]

9. the only reason

max lost to redneck hick saxby chambliss is because the elections were rigged here in georgia, via the electronic voting machines... how the HELL else would another redneck named SONNY become governor over the popular roy barnes?

just insane

[Zan_of_Texas]

15. Another story.

I agree, by the way -- the most likely reason Cleland and the governorship of Georgia's races were "lost" to Republicans -- Diebold voting machines that allowed/facilitated rigging. Cleland was the incumbent, was popular, spent 50% more than his opponent, and was leading in the polls only days before the election.

One more story, of Max Cleland before he ever was in elected office.

I spoke to a man, John, who was a department head under Cleland at the VA, when Cleland was head of the VA.

At that time, VA services had been geared to WW II vets. The Vietnam vets came back, and it was a whole different ballgame. They had different needs, looked WAY different than WW II vets, the country had an attitude. The services offered and the way they were offered had to be shaken up.

John told me that an idea was hatched to open storefronts, to go TO the veterans where they were. It had never been done before. The idea came out of Los Angeles.

In LA, there were vets on Venice Beach living out of garbage cans, guys who came back from Vietnam. They wouldn't or couldn't go home. They did not trust gov't. They wouldn't come to the VA.

The storefronts, called Vet Centers, were established, and John said Max helped the VA to take a risk to do that. He wanted the VA to be relevant to vets of all wars. Without Max, it would have been a longer process.

One proposal John worked on in LA was getting a community health center in the barrio. "It was clear that this proposal to open a community based center, focused on a Hispanic population, was just foreign. I suspect people passed it around, not knowing what to do with it. At Central Office , I brought it to Max's attention. He took it home and read it, which was his habit. Told his deputy, 'We need to do this. I want this done.' We got authority to do it. The center was really accepted, provided good service. Max came to the opening in LA, and dedicated the place. It said so much, that the VA was there to serve the vet and their family. It said a lot that the head of the VA came to that part of Los Angeles."

[Darth_Kitten]

10. You'll like this.....

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20030801/D7SLEIPO0.html

[mndemocrat_29]

11. 2002 Campaign

He didn't run a splendid campaign in 2002. The DLC helped to botch his campaign and Cleland didn't fend off Saxby Chambliss's blaspheomous campaigning very well.

I've heard a lot of people mention Cleland for the 2004 race for the Senate and I'd love to have him back in Washington. However, I think that Democrats have a fantastic candidate in Andy Young, if he runs. Therefore, I think Cleland should hold out until 2008, for another run against Chambliss. By then, hopefully Sonny Perdue would've fallen to Cathy Cox or Thurbert Baker, and Andy Young will have shown Georgians the light. Democrats will still be mad about the Chambliss campaign and I think that Max could sail in and take back his Senate seat. I don't usually like rematches, but this is one time I think it could really work.

[MattNC]

12. debate

True. I remember watching one of the debates on C-Span, and Cleland did a terrible job.

[quilp]

14. Real heroes are usually modest. While cowards often swagger.

I think Max Clelland has learned that Republicans are quick to take advantage of an opponent's modesty. It was a costly lesson for him. But it has now put him in a position to speak his mind in a way he was reluctant to do while in office.