If Dems voted their consciences, it would be Kucinich by a landslide

[babylonsister]

http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/letters/258647

If Dems voted their consciences, it would be Kucinich by a landslide

A letter to the editor — 11/24/2007 11:33 am

Dear Editor: "Oh the candidate's a dodger,

Yes, a well-known dodger ..."

I recall these lines, penned by the sainted Lee Hays of the Weavers, when I watch the erroneously styled presidential "debates." On these ill-conceived reality shows dodging, in the sense of hedging, weaseling and equivocating, is as running and colliding are the essence of football. Three participants neither hedge nor dodge, and so they are largely ignored.

Ron Paul, Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich are principled opponents of wars of aggression, which is to say the Iraq war and the one against Iran that so many of the debaters say is "not off the table." Mike Gravel is in exile on the trumped-up charge of impecuniousness.

Ron Paul is tapping an enormous pool of voter discontent with perpetual war, but after bringing the troops home he would remove from government the power to do anything not specified in the Constitution. No more public works; no more public schools. No more Social Security.

Dennis Kucinich stands as the one candidate whose bred-in-the-bone beliefs about war and peace, the rights of working people, environmental integrity, and the sanctity of the Bill of Rights embody the convictions of what may be fairly called mainstream Democrats -- political heirs of the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and the best of the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson.

Eugene Debs said that it is "better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it." If every voter who cherishes the convictions set out above were to vote for the candidate who embraces them wholeheartedly -- the candidate he or she wants -- it would be Dennis by a landslide.

Alan Bickley, Madison

[Captain Hilts]

1. Really? Live and learn. nt

[donheld]

2. We no longer vote our conscience

Some fool coined the term "electable" so we vote that. :crazy::banghead:

[IndianaJones]

3. If Kucinich voted his conscience, he'd still be pro-life. nt.

[Kucinich4America]

12. If so called "pro-life" voters had a conscience

They would be opposed to the Chimp/PNAC/DLC war agenda.

One cannot call themselves pro-life if they only care about the life inside a uterus, and not about those who have died because of the criminally insane foreign and domestic policies of the current corporatist occupiers in Washington DC.

[IndianaJones]

16. What does that have to do with Kucinich switching his stance when it was convenient...

for him to do so?

[AtomicKitten]

4. My conscience dictates that I vote for Obama.

see my sig line

[skipos]

5. Huh? I vote my conscience and it won't be Kucinich. nt

[DuckBurp]

6. I agree. I would vote for him in a heartbeat.

But, alas, I live in Texas.

[Tejanocrat]

7. I love Dennis. I feel worse about our country that he's out of "their" mainstream. Whose platform do

you think is closest to Kucinich's?

[onelittleindian]

24. cindy sheehan

[LWolf]

8. I believe that's true.

What Democrat's conscience prefers war to peace?

For-profit-health insurance to public health care as a right?

What Democrat's conscience values corporate profits and outsourcing over labor rights at home?

What Democrat's conscience values triangulation over PROTECTING AND DEFENDING THE CONSTITUTION OF THE US?

What Democrat's conscience prefers noble-sounding sound bites to actually walking the walk of a Democrat?

[stuartrida]

9. No thanks. He would be a mediocre President

[Wilms]

10. *

[Hippo_Tron]

11. I don't particularly care for Kucinich as a person, but I would like a candidate...

That takes his positions on SOME issues.

[riqster]

15. I have to say, personality has become overly important to many voters

...not you specifically, but across the country. The "have a beer with" criteria et.al.

Some of the best administrators with whom I have worked have been Grade-A assholes. As long as it gets the job done, I don't care. I'm all about the results.

Affability is overrated.

[Hippo_Tron]

18. It's not affability it's ability

"Personally" is perhaps not the word I should have used. I don't think Dennis has what it takes to get the job done.

[riqster]

23. Fair enough

I agree with you on the criteria, but have come to a different conclusion. May the best Dem win!

[onelittleindian]

25. I agree

Kucinich could not run Cleveland!

[bklyncowgirl]

13. There's a difference between agreeing with a candidate on the issues

and believing that he or she could actually do the job.

[Perry Logan]

14. I really like Dennis--but my conscience is OK with any Democratic candidate.

[Odin2005]

17. And then Kucinich would lose the general election by a landslide. n/t.

[cali]

19. well, the author of that letter has zero

credibility in my eyes. Praising ron paul as principled is just bullshit.

[Armstead]

20. It's really sad that Kucinich's positions have been marginalized

It's been a pattern with Kucinich that he is usually vilified or marginalized -- but later is proven to have been absolutely correct. And usually his "whacky" positionms later turn out to become mainstream opinion.

Or perhaps his positions are always mainstream, but people get deluded and diverted -- as in the case of the Iraq War.

He was right on "free trade" in the 90's. Now the country is parroting him.

He was right on Iraq. Ditto.

He was right on the Patriot Act and the assault on freedom.

I suspect his position on health care is what most Americans would buy (including many health care workers except for right wingers and members of the corporate insuring and health care elite).

He'd probably be proven right on impeachment if there were enough time left in Bush's term.

It's sad that too many Democratic have abandoned such clearcut liberal and progressive positions which are truly mainstream.

[SaveElmer]

21. Uh no...

Kucinich is singularly unqualified to be President...

And the fact he would consider putting a racist like Ron Paul on the ticket only confirms how completely out of touch he is...

[ecstatic]

22. Perhaps... Prior to his alignment with Ron Paul (the dark side)

I'm disappointed yet relieved that he did this. Makes my decision so much easier.

[MGKrebs]

26. Another way to say that:

If Dems ONLY CONSIDERED policy positions, and ignored other criteria like organizational ability, experience, consensus-building ability, etc., DK might win in a landslide.

Fortunately, most of us do consider things other than campaign policy statements.

I could just as legitimately say "If Dems voted their conscience, they would vote for the woman (or the Black guy)."

[MonkeyFunk]

27. Yet another way to say it:

"You can't possibly disagree with me for respectable reasons."