Would THIS make you change your mind about your candidate?

[patriotvoice]

If one of Democratic candidates said today:

"If elected President, I will fully support criminal investigations of Bush Administration officials. Should charges be levied, I will support every effort of the FBI to find the guilty party. Finally, if convicted of a crime, I will pardon neither Bush nor any of his officials, and I will seek the highest punishment available under law."

Would that be enough for you to vote for that candidate, regardless of any other views that candidate held?

It wouldn't be enough for me, but it would definitely place a large check in the pro column for that candidate.

[Democrats unite]

1. No N/T

[nankerphelge]

2. As much as all those things need to happen...

I think it would come across as too strong. Still, I wish they would start showing some backbone on these things. Let's remember how low the bar for initiating impeachment proceedings has been set.

[patriotvoice]

13. Yes, too strong...

... so how about:

"If elected President, I will hold other politicians accountable for their actions, regardless of their position in government, and I will work to ensure a higher standard of behaviour from all Federal employees."

Or something like that. I am a bit sleep-deprived.

[DuctapeFatwa]

3. That would be perceived as a threat to the status quo

"electable" means assurance that there will be some very visible cosmetic changes, and some outstandingly skilled rewording of current policies, to make them sound more palatable, but the voting class needs that stability and continuity of knowing that nothing will really change.

[patriotvoice]

11. Why?

We the People decide who is electable by electing them. We the People have become apathetic to political corruption and have not exercised our due diligence by holding them accountable.


The "voting class" wants assurance that nothing will change for the worse, but they are hopeful that things will change significantly for the better.

The "voting class" has allowed themselves to believe that "it's just politics" and that nothing they do will change the "status quo."

And it is for that reason that most American's don't vote. Many of us in the "voting class" keep peddling this notion that "all of politics is corrupt" and there's "nothing we can do" about. If that's the case, why do we even bother? Why do we even bother to vote Democrat, Republican, Green, Worker's Party, etc.?

For the matter, why do we even bother to wake up?

I, for one, am tired of seeing marginally less corrupt politicians being voted into office after heinously corrupt politicians leave it, only to have the Lesser Evil pardon the Greater Evil.

So I'm asking one simple thing: hold politician's accountable.

Other threads have unanimously agreed that Bush and company deserve lynching. If the President we vote into office doesn't do it, then what? Do we lie back and take it? That's the status quo.

It's time for a change.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

4. Yes, first one to say that gets my vote

Seriously - I'm voting for DK, but if another candidate said that in public I'd probably vote for him.

[creativelcro]

5. No. Getting rid of Bush is enough. Prefer to spend resources

in a more productive way...

[patriotvoice]

9. What is more productive?

I agree that We the People have scarce resources; that is one reason we are a nation damned. We should be spending our time and energy on education, health care, and the stimulation of productive economic systems.

But if we fail to hold our politicians accountable, the corruption will redouble. We are where we are precisely because We the People have failed to hold them accountable. We have marginalized accountability in favour of status quo, and that is absurd.

It's very easy. If Congress finds a high official guilty of a crime, we simply demand the President hold the guilty party accountable. "You did the crime, now you do the time." I would rather spend my scarce resources on proactively curtailing future, majorily dehabilitating behaviour than reactively addressing majorily dehabilitating problems.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[JasonBerry]

6. No

That's the last thing this country needs. Political revenge would hardly bring this country together. This is a difficult time for this country. We need a Democrat as president - not as local district Attorney.

[patriotvoice]

8. Revenge? No. Justice.

Justice (n): The upholding of what is just, especially fair treatment and due reward in accordance with honor, standards, or law.

I agree this is a difficult time for our country. It is under siege, not from radical, shadowy Islamic fundamentalists hiding in caves in the Middle East, but from radical, shadowy "Christian" fundamentals occupying high-levels of government. It is under siege from decades of mismanagement, neglect, and over sight. It is under siege from the weight of oppressive edicts issued for the benefit of corporate hegemony.

The first step down the path of Right is to recognize and curtail the Wrong. The President is only the first link in the chain for curtailing the Wrong. He (or she) is an icon, and if he ignores, or worse participates in, the Wrong, the bar reaches a new low and corruption worsens.

Bush is a Texan that is definitely all hat and no cattle. He talks tough on crime, but he is lax on the issues that really matter, because he is part-and-parcel to that corruption. He will sign the execution orders for individuals but he won't ensure that Ken Lay, one of his biggest contributors, gets jail. He will order the bombing of women and children, so that Cheney's old-firm can become the largest subcontractor of goods and services to clean up the bodies.

What we need is a President who will remember that he is employed by Us, and that his duty is to uphold our Constitutional principles.

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

[patriotvoice]

7. When will you DEMAND politician's be held accountable?

In this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1107066

everyone is categorically against the incoming President pardoning Bush and company for any crimes levied against them.

In this thread, everyone is categorically against supporting a candidate who would make that happen.

Is justice not more important than status quo?
What level of corruption will be required to forgo these dillusions of "status quo?"
* Isn't sending our parents, siblings, and children to a war of conquest for oil and dynasty enough?
* Isn't a national debt whose interest payment alone exceeds all tax revenue collected enough?
* Wouldn't you be held accountable for such a colossal mismanagement of your business or your family?


We truly are a nation damned until We the People draw a line in the sand and say we have had enough.
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/nationdamned.html

[bornskeptic]

10. definitely not.

I want a candidate who will get rid of Bush. Anybody who makes a statement like this is politically dead.

[patriotvoice]

12. What exactly is political death?

We the People must demand our politicians be held accountable. If our candidates refuse to hold others accountable, we do not elect them.

Let's run a Gedankenexperiment:
* We know that only a Democrat has a chance of winning against a Republican, so we can temporarily hold off on considering Independents, Greens, Reformists, and so on.
* We, as a party, demand Democratic candidate X make the following statement and hold him to it: "If elected President, I will hold people, including other politicians, accountable for their actions, regardless of their public office."

I agree that if the candidate makes the promise as I originaly laid it out, he'd be marginalized as a Reformist and that would turn many people off. But if he was the only contender against Bush, he'd still get our votes, yes?

After all, We the People define what is political death: you are dead if we don't vote for you. It's time We the People remember that we're in charge and start holding our politician's accountable. The first way to do that is by voting people into office who will keep their word and actually hold others accountable.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

14. kick