Forget politics: Who has the FDR type capability to actually fix this

[NNadir]

mess?

The country is savaged, and deeply damaged, weakened and bloodied by the years of Bush.

It seems to me that if the country is to be saved, and certainly it is no sure thing that it can be, we would need a person with the capabilities of an FDR to do it.

I am not sure that his contemporaries in 1932 recognized FDR as being the man who could fix what was then an intractable mess, but nonetheless, he won. He became great through a mixture of optimism, energy, experimentalism, openness and sheer force of will. Of course, Mr. Roosevelt was a man who experienced both suffering (from his disease) and access to enormous privilege - some saw him as a traitor to his class. He also was married to one of the greatest Americans ever to have lived in the White House.

Let us forget about politics for a moment, who is electable, who is prominent. Even in our imaginations, is there anyone who would seem to have such strength on the horizon today? I'm depressed by the notion that there seems to be no one who is really equal to the task.

[Skink]

1. Eliot Spitzer

[NNadir]

22. Can you tell us more about Mr. Spitzer that makes you feel this way?

[Skink]

25. OK

Spitzer could sweep into the White House on his record of overturning corruption.
The country is so in need of cleaning up.The people are demanding it. Look at what just happened Tuesday.
Somebody later in the thread said Spitzer/Gore. I think that's a good call. An experienced politician for number two which is no longer merely a throwaway political appointment.
If not Gore how about Howard Dean.

[MN ChimpH8R]

2. My $.02

Wes Clark and Bob Reich come to mind. Both are brilliant but practical men with the ability to cut through the BS and get to the heart of the issues. I don't know if they could do it, but they'd give it a hell of a try.

[Lena inRI]

3. Yep, easy choice. . .

Wesley K. Clark

See ya in 2008!

:patriot:

[garybeck]

4. Al Gore

The solution is a new energy economy based on renewables. it will spark the economy, create jobs, and end our dependency on foreign oil forever.

[theplutsnw]

6. Totally Agree!

[OneBlueSky]

9. yup . . . and I think he's learned a lot since 2000, too . . .

pairing Al Gore up with Clark, Conyers, or Obama would create a winning ticket that would actually be able to tackle the mess that BushCo will leave . . .

also, Gore's actions in New Orleans to evacuate a couple of planeloads of critical patients at his own expense, and while fighting FEMA, spoke volumes about the man's character . . . particularly since he didn't seek any publicity whatsoever for his mission of mercy . . .

he'll have my vote . . .

[NNadir]

12. I wish for a moment I thought it were that simple.

I love Al Gore, and have always considered myself a strong supporter of his, but under the circumstances, he may come with too much baggage for the task at hand.

I'm not sure either that he has any intention of running.

[Punkingal]

5. Al Gore...

The man who was elected in 2000.

[dogindia]

13. I totally agree. Gore.

with Edwards and some of the other great names listed in this thread.

[Punkingal]

20. Personally, I think we have so many great choices...

It is good to be a democrat! I like them all except for Hilary.

[blm]

7. Gore and Kerry and men like Gary Hart, Warren Rudman, Wes Clark,

and other patriot citizens.

I also mean every Dem leader like Dean, Clinton, Edwards, Kucinich, Graham, .....every darn one of them.

Whatever they specilaize in they should jump in and man that trench.

[buzzard]

8. I would agree with an Eliot Spitzer /Gore ticket, your country has been

plunged into a massive debt with this war and it obviously has not garnered the much needed support outside of your country. I really hate the neocon agenda and Bush but I truly ache for the decent Americans who are being hurt by this.

[insane_cratic_gal]

10. Gore

I lay our troubles at his feet if I could.

[Horse with no Name]

11. It is going to take a village to repair this mess

There isn't absolutely any way one man can do it alone.
There is an entire network of corruption--every single solitary department of government is broken and corrupt to the core.
It won't take just one man.
I'd like to see Gore head it up with Conyers as VP.
Would like to see Wes Clark Secretary of Defense with full reins to fix what is wrong in the military.
Would like to see John Edwards Attorney General.

That is just part of my dream team.:)

[Clark2008]

18. Wes for Pres.

Because he cannot (for the billioneth time) be Secretary of Defense.

He has to be out of active-duty service for more than 10 years, by law, to serve as Secretary of Defense. He will only have been out of service for eight years in 2008.

Besides, with his degree in economics, his approval high in Europe and Asia and his knowledge of how to actually win a war (and use force as a last resort), he'd have all the components for fixing this shit.

[Douglas Carpenter]

14. Bernie Sanders -- I know it sounds "far out" but think about it

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. I agree. Bernie is great

[Douglas Carpenter]

19. Bernie Sanders is simply the most convincing politician I have ever

heard in my entire life, bar none. Pragmatically, I think it would be necessary to convince him to register Dem and run in the primaries. I don't know that he would be ready for that in 2008. But, in all intellectual honesty I do believe he would likely win.
There has got to be something about an unabashed social-democrat who can win rural conservative counties by landslides.

[mopinko]

15. just about any dem, but gore is the man

not only because he understands the whole energy picture, and how to make the government work more efficiently, but because he understood the outpouring of entrepreneurial energy that would ensue from universal health care.
he's an honest men beholden to no one.

[Clark2008]

17. Wesley Clark

He's a leader AND he could pick up enough purplish red states to actually WIN.

He's an FDR and Truman in an Eisenhower uniform.

How can you beat that?

[AndyTiedye]

21. Economically, Bush** is the Second Coming of Herbert Hoover

Imagine how bad the Depression would have gotten if Hoover had been able to steal the 1932 election?

[NNadir]

23. The electorate in 1932 was far superior to the electorate of 2004.

That's for certain. We are not worthy of our great grandparents and grandparents.

[I Have A Dream]

24. I agree. I'm very ashamed on my generation. n/t