on RFK Jr.: 'am excerpting from my post in Freddie Stubbs' poll on DU earlier:

[saltpoint]

Imagine -- this is just a speculative notion here -- imagine that the Nobel Prize does in fact go to Al Gore in the early fall.

Think of what a headline that would be. George W. Bush picks up the Washington POST in the Oval Office and there's the headline with the man he cheated being awarded the most prestigious honor on earth.

A week later, after extraordinarily positive media attention and buzz, Al Gore holds a press conference and announces that he will seek the presidency in 2008, not only to reclaim the job he was rightly elected to hold but also to do what he humanly can to help lead the United States and its worthy citizens out of the maelstrom of lies and darkness visited upon it by 6-8 years of the Bush administration.

Imagine also that Gore announces that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has agreed to run with him as a vice presidential consideration -- a pre-Denver ticket proposition. That ticket would have a great deal of appeal, some particular demographic force, the historical dynamic in spades, and would very likely sweep to a victory in 08.

Imagine the impact an Al Gore-Robert Kennedy Jr. prospective ticket would have on the U.S. media and the Democratic primary landscape.

I'm voting for John Edwards as things stand now, and very proudly and happily so. I'm not an Al Gore Democrat, strictly speaking, although in 2000, after Al whipped my candidate Bill Bradley, I was strongly a Gore Democrat against the foolish little beast the Republicans sent up against him.

This post is a speculative post to widen the range of considerations for our side against the red team in 2008.

[babylonsister]

1. Right about now, that sounds like manna from heaven!

Good morning, O C, and I have no problem with speculative posts! :hi: :thumbsup:

[saltpoint]

2. Hey there good person. Good mornin' to you, too.

I like Democrats generally and if my personal favorite isn't our nominee, I want a ticket to vote for with all my heart.

[Totally Committed]

3. A Gore/Kennedy ticket in '08 would tickle me pink!

Anyone who has read Gore's "Assault on Reason" knows he's left the pro-Corporatist positions of the DLC behind him. And, Kennedy's rabidly anti-Corporatist politics are right up my alley as well. Both are anti-corruption of both Parties by lobbies and special interests. Both are populist in their approaches to the social and economic problems of today, and both are pro-environment.

A real Dream Team! --- Especially considering the mostly pitiful slate of DLC/Corporatist shills and warmongers we have to choose from right now. (Kucinich is the only decent one of the lot!)

So, I am VERY pro-Gore/Kennedy!

TC

[saltpoint]

5. Hey, TC. I hear you on Al Gore's evolution. Whoops -- I said "evolution."

I hope Jim Dobson isn't lurking here this morning! You know how fragile he is on that subject.

Gore wasn't my first choice Democrat in the 2000 primary, as Bill Bradley seemed the more people-directed innovator.

I would defend Al Gore these days on the same merits. I think he's come a HELL of a long way from his previous public positions, and I applaud him for it long and loud.

And although my ticket proposition has been mentioned on DU before many times, I reiterate here because we'd have two tremendous people to go vote for.

And the Republican ticket would fade by comparison almost instantly.

[Totally Committed]

9. OC, have you read "Assault on Reason"?

No mistaking Gore's politics now. And, Bobby's speech at Live Earth was amazing. They would be than answer to a prayer.

Thanks for this thread!

TC

[saltpoint]

11. Hi, TC. ASSAULT ON REASON is on my to-acquire list.

I'm just now finishing Franks' WHAT'S WRONG WITH KANSAS. I'm a bit behind on some of my reading.

I blame Larry McMurtry for my being behind, though.

If it weren't for his trilogy of Thalia, Texas -- THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, TEXASVILLE, and DUANE'S DEPRESSED, I probably would have gotten to the new Gore book already.

[Totally Committed]

13. I know summer is for lighter reading.... but, I highly recommend "Assault..."

Al's passion is tremendous. It was so great to read.

I guess I'm just happy to read a book from a Democrat that has a fire in his belly other than for corporations and their money.

You won't be disappointed. (I've read it twice already!)

TC

[saltpoint]

14. Done. I'll take that hearty rec and get myself to a bookshop this weekend.

Thanks.

[JNelson6563]

4. You can write my political fantasies anytime

Well done. Like a happy dream. :toast:

Julie

[saltpoint]

6. Hey. Good mornin' to ya.

I picture those two in the debate schedule against ... who? Romney and Giuliani and whoever else? ...

and I'm seeing a big, big vote for Democrats, ballot-wide.

[Norrin Radd]

7. One thing I simply have trouble imagining --

bush picking up a newspaper.

[saltpoint]

8. LOL!!

I'm laughing out loud at that. Thank you!

As Captain Barbosa says in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, "I concede that it strains credulity."

[OneBlueSky]

10. funny you should mention that . . . just yesterday I was entertaining a similar fantasy . . .

not particularly tied to the Nobel, but one involving Gore and Kennedy announcing a joint ticket for the 2008 elections . . . my hunch is that they'd win in a landslide, both the primaries and the general . . . exactly the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that Americans are ripe for . . .

let me know when I can get my Gore/RFK Jr. t-shirts, lawn signs and buttons . . . :9

[saltpoint]

12. Some party stalwarts have told me the notion is too out-of-the-box,

yes, but I persist with it anyway.

I think we have many winning combinations in the current field and throw in several other dark-horse veep noms -- more than enough of a deep bench to whup the Pukes in 08.

But I think the electroal college would be ours in a landslide with a Gore-RFK Jr. ticket.

A LOT of people would turn out for that one and it would have an all-region universal draw.

I think we could count on the environmental groups' endorsement, too!

[Totally Committed]

15. It's time for "out-of-the-box'!!!

Or all we'll ever be stuck with are the same "Party" types -- DLC/Corporatists and middle-of-the-road war-mongers.

Gore/Kennedy would be a breath of fresh air!

TC

[saltpoint]

16. I'm sitting on the blue side of the bleachers in this always-local game.

But it has national implciations, too, and with Gore and RFK JR there would be strong national resonance.

They both have the long reach past the local into the long-term, into the permanent.

Churchill said something about "The farther back you look the farther ahead you can see." U.S. voters have seldom invoked that standard for critical thinking because we're such a baby nation. Rumsfeld mocks "Old Europe," but those people turn out and VOTE. We just sit on our cans and watch cable tv. Over 80% of eligible French voters turned out for their last election. We pale by comparison.

On its merits, Gore/RFK Jr would have that long vision into history and be able to use it to inspire for a look ahead in sound environmental policy and other social programs.

And a Gore/Kennedy White House would have its phone calls respectfully returned around the globe, too, unlike the climate Dubya and his cronies have created in foreign policy now.

[RFKJrNews]

21. Thanks for posting this, OC!

Am coming into this thread a bit late, but sure was glad to see it upon my return from a long travel weekend! Great idea, Old Crusoe.:)

A Gore/Kennedy ticket would be unbeatable, IMHO. And can you imagine the fight the Republicans would have on their hands if they tried to steal the election again with RFK Jr. on the ticket?

Want bumperstickers? Well, they're not exactly Gore/Kennedy stickers (don't think anybody has printed any of those up yet), but you can get some free RFK Jr. bumperstickers like the one in my sig line image below to plaster all over creation at http://draftrfkjr.blogspot.com

These were printed by the nice people who run the Draft RFK Jr. page at blogspot. Another great website out there dedicated to the cause.

If you want Bobby to get in the race, please SIGN THE PETITION and let him know he is wanted and needed in 2008!
http://RFKin2008.com

[Freddie Stubbs]

17. Do you think that Kennedy's heroin possession conviction would be a liability?

:shrug:

[saltpoint]

18. No. The frontal lobotomy Dubya evidently had prior to his stealing the

election hasn't been a political liability.

I'm hoping we're in a post-Rockefeller era when draconian drug laws are (not quickly enough) being amended from the books. People are in a more therapeutic mode now, more likely to endorse therapeutic rehabilitation than to condemn on the basis of possession or casual use.

Not everyone. But that's the trend.

I think the dynamic would eclipse the drug charge in a case like this.

[Totally Committed]

19. It has been expunged from his record since he completed all the

specifications made by the court. If it's brought up, we need only to remind the Republicans of Bush's coke addiction and his alcohol addiction. We need to stand behind our candidates, especially when they are swiftboated over something their side is as guilty of as well.

TC

[saltpoint]

20. Yur durn tootin. We have good people and they're deserved our

full support and backing.