Howard Zinn writes speech for Dem. Nominee

[diamondsoul]

http://www.progressive.org/jan04/zinn0104.html

Identify this candidate, folks and then explain to me why he's not electable.

"What is national security? This Administration defines national security as sending our young men and women around the world to wage war on country after country--none of them strong enough to threaten us. I define national security as making sure every American has health care, employment, decent housing, a clean environment. I define national security as taking care of our people who are losing jobs, taking care of our senior citizens, taking care of our children.


Our current military budget is $400 billion a year, the largest in our history, larger even than when we were in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. And now we will be spending an additional $87 billion for the war in Iraq. At the same time, we are told that the government has cut funds for health care, education, the environment, and even school lunches for children. Most shocking of all is the cut, in billions of dollars, for veterans' benefits.


If I became President, I would immediately begin to use the great wealth of our nation to provide those things, which represent true security."

[grannylib]

1. Powerful speech...very well done IMHO n/t

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

2. Kucinich is *very* electable

His platform is supported by most Americans. He needs some better marketing, and he needs to remember how to eat a hamburger again (wait, Mad Cow ... never mind), but if the Democratic party got behind him Bush wouldn't stand a chance.

Think about the Perot and Buchanan voters who would vote for Kucinich on his populist platform alone. Who knows, maybe you could even have Buchananites getting past their bigotry and voting in their self-interest?

[diamondsoul]

3. Kick.

Interesting. It seems Kucinich supporters and admirers recognize the ONE candidate who would deliver this very speech in a heartbeat, and nobody else wants to explain why he's unelectable/has no chance/fringe/too far left/etc.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. I read that speech in the supermarket line

(well, actually it was at the food co-op, which is why I could read The Progressive while standing in line), and I kept thinking, "That's Kucinich's platform."

[snoochie]

6. Depressing

I've been pretty depressed over this whole situation our country is in. In discussions with my family I keep hearing that they think it's FUBAR, and they want to just leave. I say no matter where we go we have to be involved and active, or things will get worse, and hear the response that that's fine, because at least in these other countries the electorate takes it's role in politics seriously, which is why things are better there politically. Can't argue there.

Reading your comment on the lack of response drives the point home.

I agree that given a chance to really see what Kucinich is for, that people will flock to him. Not his diet, not his love life, but what he stands for, and has fought for, throughout his career.

[diamondsoul]

7. If the stakes weren't so massive,

it might be funny. All these people who insist their candidate is the best of the bunch, yet not one take issue with the content of this piece nor claim their candidate would deliver it.

It's just wierd. Equally wierd to me is why Zinn didn't just come out and say VOTE KUCINICH!

[diamondsoul]

5. Kick, and still no response from

non-supporters.

Nobody to tell me their candidate would make that speech. Nobody to give me a single reason not to vote for the one man we all know would. And I really wish Zinn had just said "Which candidate would deliver this speech? Vote for him."

[diamondsoul]

8. Oh come ON! NOBODY

sees anything of their own candidate in this speech BUT Kucinich supporters? No Howard Zinn fans? What's up here?

Nevermind what I see in the piece, I want to know what others see!

[ThirdWheelLegend]

9. unfortunately DS, I don't see it in those candidates either.

Rhetoric is fine and dandy for some polls and money.

Real plans and policy, integrity, passion, caring and courage. These are the things that make a leader. Someone who has the people's best interest at heart.

Zinn is an amazing person and there is no surprise he endorsed Kucinich.

Kucinich is an amazing person and there is no surprise he is simply miles better than the supposed 'pollrunners', I mean frontrunners.


TWL

[Armstead]

10. I think Kucinich is great but not as a prez candidate

His ideas are top-notch, and he is extremebly admirable as a person. He also is obviously a good politician on the regional level, and a strong force in the congress for progressive causes. I hope he remains that for many years to come.

I also don't believe his basic ideas make him unelectable. They are IMO exactly what we need, and if there were an elecrotate of 1 (me) he's be a shoo-in.

However, as a presidential candidate, he doesn't have it personally to appeal to a majority. I wish it were otherwise, but there are too many biases in the public against presidential candidates who don't fit a certain mold in terms of their persona. He also tends to get shrill in the debates and his speeches. Even people who agree with his views have cringed when I've watched witnh them. He also has too many quirks that represent the silly stereotypes that seem to define values, like being a vegan or getting carried away with New Age rhetoric. (I realize that's a dumb bias, but that's what we have to work with.)

I also believe his basic ideas and platforms are the future. But we need to present them better, and give it some time before they are accepted enough by "the mainstream" to be electable. Like the Chinese say: "A journney of a thousand miles begins with one step."