How is the "Primary Obama!" movement coming along?

[brooklynite]

It's been about a week by now. Has anyone contacted the candidate of their choice to beg them to run? Campaigns don't happen on their own...

FWIW with the possible exception of Bernie Sanders (who's NOT a Democrat), I can't think of any of the "usual suspects" (Kucinich, Grayson, Dean, Feingold, et al) who's been openly critical of the President's handling of the debt limit negotiations.

[SDuderstadt]

1. I am hoping that one of our fellow DUers....

who are so incredibly critical of Obama, will "suit up" and show him "how it's done".

[dennis4868]

5. yes...

maybe they can show us how Obama can enact tax law and pass the debt limit legislation without congress' approval....come on DUer...shows us how a real man/woman gets it done!

[Zorra]

11. I'll be your huckleberry.

But the "suiting up" thing ain't gonna happen, that's not me and what you see is exactly what you get.

I announced awhile ago.

I promise to veto any cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and veto any legislation extending the Bush tax cuts.

And I never go back on my word.

[dionysus]

30. why SDuderstadt, where you goin with those campaign stickers?

[bigwillq]

31. That's so lame.

So we can't be critical of anything, ever?
I didn't like the pizza I ordered the other day. I was very critical. Does that mean I should become a pizza maker? How silly.

[SDuderstadt]

36. Nice strawman...

It's amazing how you got all of that out of what I actually said.

[bigwillq]

40. I got out of your post that

if you're going to criticize, then you should run for office yourself.

Is that what you meant or not? If not, please tell me what you meant.
That's what I got out of it.

[JuniperLea]

54. Of course you can!

When Obama actually does something, you should bitch. The thing that makes most of us weary is the he plans on, he's going to, he intends on, he wants to... hypotheticals give me hives.

[Whisp]

52. I am looking forward to peace and prosperity throughout the world

and all known and unknown universes

when this DUer wins the Presidency and corrects all that is wrong.

[JuniperLea]

53. Absolutely!

They seem so very knowledgeable... and so much smarter than Obama. I bet they are better looking too!

:thumbsup:

[Number23]

59. The very THOUGHT of such a thing makes me want to board my windows

and never leave my house again! :scared: :scared: :scared:

[BeFree]

2. Yeah, it's a bummer

Would have been nice to have a little democratic debate.

Somebody sure needs to officially stand up to Obama and gobsmack him for some of the crap he has and hasn't pulled. He needs to be challenged!

[dennis4868]

6. yes....

this needs to be challenged IMMEDIATELY ----> www.whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com

[Dept of Beer]

9. It wouldn't hurt to have some competition.

This is after all America, right?

[AlabamaLibrul]

21. Ok -

http://www.whatinthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com

[MADem]

3. The last Democrat who challenged an incumbent was a coked up, not-in-a- good-place-psychologically,

marriage-on-the-rocks, fooling-around, acting stupid, grief-stricken-over-the-loss-of-his-brothers, Ted Kennedy.

We saw how well that ended. We got Saint Ronnie, who wasn't so saintly when you got up close and scratched the surface.

We don't need to repeat history.

[Art_from_Ark]

13. Carter would have lost anyway, regardless of the Kennedy challenge

Unless Carter could have pulled a rabbit out of his hat and gotten the Iranian hostages home before the election, he was toast. Carter also had to deal with a stealth 3rd party candidate (former Republican congressman) named John Anderson who ended up getting 6% of the vote, nearly all of which would have gone for Carter otherwise.

[dameocrat67]

24. john anderson played no part either

most of his voters were moderate republicans that hated reagan.

[Art_from_Ark]

58. I disagree

If you had watched the debates, you would have seen that John Anderson was trying to portray himself to the left of Carter. I actually worked with the Anderson campaign for a while in a major college town. His biggest supporters by far were people who thought that Carter was too conservative, including quite a few former hippies who never would have thought of voting for Reagan.

[dameocrat67]

61. anderson was not even the margin of error between

Carter and Reagan.

I was alive then too. Proof.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1980

Reagan 50.1
Carter 41.1
Anderson 6.6

41.1 + 6.6 equals 47.7

Also your volunteering for anderson would be called an anecdote. The idea that Anderson had anything to do with it or Kennedy is just the mythology of the conservadems.

[MADem]

28. Maybe yes, maybe no--we'll never know. Ted, and I forgave him his tresspasses, really screwed

the pooch with that move. John Andserson may not have had as much traction if people like Ted were working to reelect Carter instead of defeat him. Ted, in essence, sucked off a huge amount of "energy" from Carter (to say nothing of cash), who was dealing with malaise, and Desert One, AND Ted, on top of Anderson.

If they'd only had screens on their intakes at Desert One, the outcome may have been different. It was an absolute crime that the military leadership that planned that operation, all of them, didn't swivel their fat asses around, pick up the phone, and call Sikorsky and Bell Helicopter, and get some expertise from them--after all, they'd operated in Iran, running the helo programs for the Shah, for decades previous to that failed op. They'd recently fired people who knew just what to do to enable a helo to run smoothly at high altitude in an unforgiving desert. T'was a real shame.

Of course, the guy who put the final nail in Carter's coffin was Reagan's other running mate, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. That whole hostage mess didn't help a bad situation.

In a strange way, though, Carter made it easier for Clinton to win. A "Southern President" was not only NOT the paradigm, it was kind of viewed as "the other." By the time Clinton came along, it was sort of an "Oh, we've done this once before" sort of attitude.

[kenny blankenship]

4. We're telling everyone to eat their peas and catfood.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bluebear]

8. ..

:loveya:

[kath]

16. ..

:hug:

[Honeycombe8]

10. Only someone very naive or very young, or both, would think that this is gonna happen.

Obama is a well liked President. If the economy doesn't get much better, he'll have trouble getting re-elected. But if history is an indication, he'll probably be re-elected. If unemployment is better, there's no doubt that he'll be re-elected.

But in either case, a Democratic or left-leaning Independent challenger will not be elected. Won't even win the primary. It's just not gonna happen. First, you'd have to have a hugely popular politician, who has tons of money, and for your taste is progressive. It's hard to beat Obama's popularity, so that's problem #1. Obama has far more $$$ than any challenger would have. And progressives rarely win Democratic Party primaries, even when there is no Democratic Party incumbent.

The only time that has a small chance of succeeding is if there is no incumbent Democratic President. The only time. So we're talking 2016.

This just doesn't help everyone focus on the real issues and solutions. A primary challenger isn't a real solution. It's fantasy.

[girl_interrupted]

14. You'll probably right but

primary challenger or not, it's just as easy not to vote for him. And despite all the scare tactics, I really don't see a difference between a man who would cut benefits on the elderly or disabled, much of a man to begin with, and certainly no different from a Republican. So if Obama loses, he loses. It would be like trading one republican for another. I can concentrate on voting for the Dems I really like in my state. And there are quite a few of them. So no problem. We all have choices, no one is stuck.

[Honeycombe8]

17. I guess you're young? I'm 57. SS and Medicare are right around the corner for me.

I see a HUGE difference between waiting one or two years for a benefit from never getting it at all.

Ask any senior if they'd prefer that you take away their SS for two years, or whether you take it away permanently. I bet they'd have a preference, for sure!

I'm not saying SS and Medicare benefits should be cut or delayed. They ABSOLUTELY should NOT be. For one thing, SS has NOTHING to do with the deficit, is what I've heard experts say over and over. But also, that is making our seniors sacrifice so that Exxon nad other wealthy corporations can go without paying ANY taxes. It's just wrong.

But the Republican goal is to do away with both programs. There IS a difference.

[girl_interrupted]

22. SS shouldn't even be in the Deficit discussion

And yet it is...you tell me why. You say Republicans want to get rid of SS? Well look at who is helping them do that. This is Step 1 and it's by a Democrat.

You can wait 2 years or a hundred years, good for you, what counts are those who are depending on it NOW. Make no mistake that those who depend on it whether they be elderly or disabled will feel the crunch. And the saddest part is that it's all unnecessary. They aren't adding to the deficit.

You have time to prepare for it, they don't. What do you suggest they do with even less income? Do you see the prices of anything going down?

There is something very wrong with a society that picks on the least of its individuals. You know the expression "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig" ?? Well this kind of treatment of Seniors and the Disabled puts us all right down in the mud with the rest of the greedy pigs. It's heartless and it's disgraceful.

Yes, I am young, maybe there will be SS when I get older and maybe not, I have lots of time. But I have grandparents that I love and when someone picks on them, they pick on me.



As for the "difference". I wish I could agree with you, but I can't. Obama promised a lot of things, he was going to go after the banks, he was going to reform Wall Street, he's done neither. He's more a compromiser than a fighter. And thats what I thought this party stood for, fighting for people.


Until Bush there were never tax cuts during Wartime..now it's the same under Obama. Not much of a difference.

Somewhere along the line, people have to stand up to whats wrong and stop making excuses. Stop enabling politicians, let them know loud and clear when they take actions that hurt others.

I just don't know...to whom do we owe allegiance to? A politician or our conscience? I cant in good conscience support what I'm seeing.

I feel fortunate that I live in a state where there are a lot of Democrats that I can support easily. We recently passed Gay Marriage and in doing so, got 4 republicans to cross over and vote for it, with us. Unfortunately we had one Democrat who wouldn't. I will be working to see if we can't get rid of him in the near future. Sometimes you can get people to do the right thing, no matter the party. So I'll stay active in my local politics, and that's good enough for me.

[EFerrari]

12. Sheldon Whitehouse

Liberal senators warn Obama over Social Security cuts in any debt deal
By Erik Wasson - 07/08/11 11:59 AM ET

http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/170409-liberal-senators-warn-obama-on-debt-deal?tmpl=component&page%27%20rel=%27nofollow

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Liquorice]

18. Yes, it's a loser idea. The primary challenger would lose AND Obama

would be weakened as a result of the primary challenge. It would be a fucking disaster, like when Ted Kennedy did it. Our choice was (unfortunately) made in 2008. It's Obama or a republican in 2012.

[inna]

19. Obama is running a tight ship.

And so are TPTB.

:shrug:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

20. Obama's still working on making it a necessity. He's progressing well in that endeavor.;

[roomfullofmirrors]

23. not as well as the third party movement I'll bet.

[divvy]

25. Unfortunately, it will be Jeb Bush .....

I expect Jeb to come out of the bushes in the 11th hour and sweep the election. 3 presidents from a single family is something that cannot be resisted by the bfee.

I would expect most republicans and quite a few democrats who are "done with Obama" to vote for him. He would seem like the least crazy person in the room.

EDIT: The current batch of GOP crazies are only floating positions to see which gain traction with the public. Jeb will cherry pick from them.

[dionysus]

34. .

:spray:

[Shagbark Hickory]

44. That's asinine.

Jeb wouldn't do that to his good friend.

[lib2DaBone]

56. I can see Jeb Sweeping in... but I also see...

.. I see Patreus being foisted up to an adoring public as an Eisnehower. The Teapukes will eat it up. After all, we are reliving Germany 1932.

Maybe even a Patreus/Jeb ticket?

[moondust]

26. I wouldn't call it a movement.

Yet.

[Motown_Johnny]

27. a bowel movement is more like it

[MADem]

29. +100

Best post on this thread!!!

[Number23]

60. LOL!!

Ow! My sides!!! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[leeroysphitz]

32. How is the "get Obama to start acting like a democrat" movement coming? n/t

[whatchamacallit]

33. Yes, yes, it's a silly pipe dream, ha ha ha, you win... Ultimately we all lose. n/t

[kath]

35. How's the "i'm totally frickin' clueless about who's really on my side movement " going?

Gee, if I buy myself a pair rose-colored glasses can I live in bliss and think this President is just peachy??

[SDuderstadt]

37. Easier solution...

learn how Washington actually works.

[proud patriot]

38. United States Supreme Court

need I say more

[TBF]

39. And why is it that you are openly fanning flames to pit dems against each other?

nt

[kath]

41. Yeah, this thread is total flamebait. The OP's tone is nasty, yet when people post a

nastily-toned response in opposition, it gets deleted. WTF?

[fascisthunter]

42. goofey

[Shagbark Hickory]

43. You think a Disney character should run against Obama?

[fascisthunter]

46. what do you think?

[Shagbark Hickory]

47. I think it sounds like you want Goofy to run.

Although I'm pretty sure he's a republican. Donald Duck is a democrat though.

[fascisthunter]

48. well then, I'd ask you to run then

because I don't think you are a democrat

[Shagbark Hickory]

49. I'm not.

I'm a communist.

[fascisthunter]

50. lol...

[in_cog_ni_to]

45. Grayson was bordering on "livid" last night when talking about BO putting SS on the table

He was on KO's show last night. Grayson would be the perfect challenger. A TRULY Progressive candidate. He spoke out against what BO is doing.

[JuniperLea]

55. PBO hasn't done anything...

When he does, and it's bad, I'll help you bash him... until then, the he plans on, he intends on, he wants to... is all BS and not worthy of comment, really. Especially since the GOTP has fallen for this game, much line many on DU, and they are forming their circular firing squad as we speak!

It's all panning out nicely.

[Pisces]

63. Grayson couldn't even win his seat in the House and you think he can win the Presidency???

This is just ridiculous. Obama is our candidate, he is doing a good job and he will be re-elected.

[ScreamingMeemie]

51. How is that posting obvious flamebait towards people who refuse

to walk in lockstep with Republican-ish ideals coming along? Pretty good by the looks of this post, eh?

Edited for spelling error.

[AtomicKitten]

57. If I were Master of Time and Space

I'd shrink Bernie Sanders down and glue him on Pres O's shoulder to whisper in his ear.

[0rganism]

64. So maybe all he needs is a cell phone?

No need to master Time and Space when something like a blue-tooth headset, in a permanent conference call with Bernie and DK, could be arranged -- USING CURRENT TECHNOLOGY!

[ddeclue]

62. Grayson has been critical. Apparently you don't get MSNBC.