Who would have been the best president?

[WI_DEM]

Poll question: Who would have been the best president?

Of these people who lost presidential races who would have made the best president? I did not include Al Gore because he actually won the 2000 election.

[buddy22600]

1. me

[trotsky]

2. Being a Minnesotan...

especially one that saw Mondale speak a few months ago, it's very hard for me not to pick him. The man is HIGHLY intelligent, has tons of tact, and understands all the issues. But I have to give the nod to HHH, another Minnesotan, based on his progressive ideals and how much Nixon damage he would have prevented had HHH won.

[Supormom]

4. I agree...

Two great men.

[WI_DEM]

5. this country would be in a far better place

had HHH won in '68 and Mondale won in '84--of course had HHH won in '68 there might not have even been a Ronald Reagan presidency.

[dolstein]

13. Sorry, but Mondale wasn't in the same league as Humphrey

Humphrey was one of the greatest liberals of the 20th Century. Compared to Humphrey, Mondale was a second-rate hack. You of all people should be able to appreciate Humphrey's contributions to the Democratic Party, both at the state level (where he built the modern DFL party) and at the national level (where he was responsible for the landmark civil rights plank in the party's 1948 platform).

[trotsky]

19. WTF?

OK then, you have a different opinion. Can we leave it at that or do you have to go into attack mode simply because I have a much higher opinion of Walter Mondale than you do?

[livetohike]

3. George McGovern

I worked on his campaign while I was in college. I was devastated when he lost.

[asthmaticeog]

6. Gary Hart n/t

[AntiCoup2K4]

7. You left a few notables out of the poll

Robert F. Kennedy -1968

Gary Hart 1984/1988

Howard Dean - 2004

[NoPasaran]

8. Madly for Adlai

With McGovern a close second.

[flaminbats]

9. Sadly only Mondale could have changed the course of history...

He probably would have been re-elected in 1988 and would have had the Democratic majorities necessary to stop the four trillion dollar debt accumulated during the Reagan/Bush years. He may have even had the political strength to reform the healthcare system before it had developed into the crisis we have today.

Dukakis probably would not of been re-elected in 1992, possibly leading to a Republican President and Congress during the 90's! I doubt McGovern would have been re-elected in 1976, meaning that his policies would have had no long-term impact on this nation. He would have stopped Watergate from becoming a major scandal, but Americans have made Watergate the acceptable norm of all politicians. Stevenson would have been no better than Eisenhower, and perhaps even less aggressive in regard to Civil Rights.

[WillyT]

10. Bobby Kennedy

Sigh...

[AP]

12. Yep. RFK and Hart. There was a rumor that RFK's VP: MLK.

I think losing RFK, MLK and Hart self destructing might have been more damaging, collectively , to democracy than JFK's assassination.

[Guaranteed]

14. Yup

That's the guy.

[no name no slogan]

23. As a native Minnesotan, I'd have to agree

Humphrey may have been a great liberal, but he was also responsible for purging the more radical elements from the merged DFL party in the 1940s. He was also an ally of Joe McCarthy and the HUAC, too (although RFK was as well).

Had Bobby survived, he would have trounced Nixon in 1968. He would have done spectacularly in the South, as the Kennedys were popular with both whites and blacks. As a matter of fact, George Wallace once said that he would have voted for Kennedy and not run as a third-party candidate in 1968.

Bobby would have ended the war, ASAP, and saved the lives of 25,000 US soldiers and a million SE Asians. Dick Nixon would have never re-entered national politics. Henry Kissinger would be some wonk at the Heritage Foundation instead of a wanted war criminal. Cambodia would not have been bombed by the US, and the Khmer Rouge would never have taken over the country, sparing Cambodia its own genocide.

Maybe it's over-romanticizing a bit, but Bobby would have had the tenacity and the goodwill to truly change this country. He truly was a man transformed by his 1968 experiences, and would have been the greatest president ever.

Sure, the others were important men at their time, but none of them had the vision that Bobby had. His loss is a great American tragedy.

[AP]

11. Gary Hart could have changed the tone of American politics had

he won.

He was a serious threat to the Republican party.

I can't believe he sowed the seeds of his own undoing.

The republicans dodged a major bullet with Hart without having to lift a finger.

[AntiCoup2K4]

15. But DID he sow those seeds on his own?

Kinda funny how Donna Rice is now a Freeper anti-porn activist. Makes you wonder if her loyalties weren't on that side of the fence to begin with.

Just like Monica L. bragging to her friends in Oregon how she was taking her "presidential kneepads" to Washington DC. A Scaife/Starr plant?

That doesn't let either Hart or Clinton off the hook, but it's entirely possible their weaknesses were deliberately exploited.

I still think Junior needs a gay male intern ;)

[dolstein]

16. What's so difficult about saying "no thanks, I'm married"

Personally, I find it difficult to forgive Bill Clinton for putting his need for a quick blowjob ahead of the presidency, his party and his family.

[cindyw]

17. I don't who the hell Al Smith is, but he's my choice.

Hoover resided over the Depression, so I'll have to say that anyone but him would have been the right guy. I don't know if he would have been the best president, but If I could pick one person to have won, that would be it.

[NewJerseyDem]

20. He was the first Catholic to win a major party's nomination

That is part of the reason he did so badly though and it is part of the reason why many people skeptical if Kennedy could win in 1960.

I believe Smith was quite progressive and shared many of the views of FDR. Smith was governor of New York in the 20s and tried to win the presidential nominations in 1924, FDR gave the nomination speech. However, Smith seemed to have some resentment that FDR became president and became so popular while Smith didn't, so Smith endorsed Landon and Wilkie in 1936 and 1940 respectively and he broke with some of the New Deal policies. He formed the Liberty League to oppose his efforts. However, if he had been president he would have probably acted like FDR did.

[cindyw]

25. wow thanks!

[Zynx]

18. HHH. He would have been far superior to Nixon.

[GreenPartyVoter]

21. Good question :)

[Doosh]

22. Humphrey

[corporatewhore]

24. EUGENE FUCKING DEBS!!! he ran as a socialist way back when

[greendog]

26. La Follett

...carried Wisconsin and finished 2nd in 7 or 8 states. Served two terms as Governor and three terms(?) as Senator.