Why would a Democrat want to be President following this disaster ?

[kentuck]

No doubt about it, whomever wins in 2004 will have a plate full of problems. Not the least of which will be the economy and the huge deficits run up by Bush and the Repubs. There is also the war on terrorism and the broken relationships around the world. There are also the issues of healthcare and Social Security which must be addressed.

Why would anyone want to inherit such a mess? Why not leave it to the Repubs to finish off our country? The country that has been so good to them and has given them the freedom to enjoy their capitalism and greed to their hearts' content. Why would a Democrat feel the need to save our country once again from their greedy vices, much as FDR did in 1932? Is it that they think this country is still worth fighting for? Perhaps?

[onebigbadwulf]

1. I wondered that when the recal in CA started.

Inhereting disaster is definitely more work than anyone wants.

[denverbill]

2. Especially with a Republican Congress.

It would be one thing to inherit this mess and have a friendly Congress, but to inherit it and have to deal with the morons that voted for the mess in the first place won't be any fun at all.

In some ways, I think we should just let Bush have another four years for this whole mess to collapse on the pukies. Then again, they've already caused one Great Depression, and I really don't want to witness one up close and personal.

[Hawkeye-X]

4. Dean in 2004, then a major Democratic takeover in 2006. Dean wins in 2008.

and the Republicans are on its downward spiral to becoming extinct.

Hawkeye-X

[ramapo]

10. Need a radical change

It is possible that Bush can be beaten, maybe Dems can win the Senate, unlikely the House will change hands.

There's no way that a Repub Congress will cooperate with a Dem President like the Dems have capitulated to Bush. So I do wonder what good it'll do to replace Bush.

I also sometimes think that it would be best, though very painful, to let the Repubs just have their way. Give them another four years. I think that they'll eventually self-destruct. There are two dangers.

One is that people like living in a corporate fascist state and embrace the Republican way. The other is that things go so far downhill that the hole is too deep to climb out of. From the environment to the economy, there are eventually going to be serious and, I believe, extremely unpleasant consequences from the last 20-30 years of policy.

Only then will politicians have the guts to attack the problems that face us today. And that will be because the citizenry wakes up and decide that they are very pissed that the economy, the environment, and everything in between has been trashed by the corporate oliogarchy that now controls this country.

[theorist]

3. You're right! Let's just give up. [/sarcasm]

[kentuck]

6. "Is it that they think this country is still worth fighting for? Perhaps?"

Think this might be the case?

[Solomon]

8. You know damn well Kentuck that we think this country's worth

fighting for! I hear ya.

[mike_c]

5. if the repigs would come to their senses and run an opponent against...

...whistle ass in the primaries, and there was a credible repig candidate in 2004 other than Bush*, I might actually vote republican for that very reason-- let the repigs clean up their own mess. Unfortunately, Bush* will only dig the hole deeper, and Jeb will likely follow in 2008. I really don't want to leave the country until I retire, so that's an utterly awful prospect!

[izzie]

7. Please the GOP may get to stay in and finish us off.

n/t

[Syrinx]

9. to save the country and planet?

[creativelcro]

11. Well... perhaps

because we all still live in the US and want to make it better ?... what kind of a question is that ??... -C

[Faygo Kid]

12. Because it matters?

Who could possibly want to be president in 1860, or 1932 (as you note). C'mon. You're pulling our chain, right?

[JohnKleeb]

14. do the math

every 35-36 years we have a situation like this. 1896 and 1968 werent as big as 1932 and 1860 but they were a crossroads.

[Nederland]

15. This is nothing like 1968

...at least not yet.

[leftofthedial]

13. eventually, there will be a Dem president

If the neocon Bush GOPNAC Cabal win in 2004, the mess will just get worse and worse.

The candidates definitely feel the country is still worth fighting for.

I think there is some truth to the recent analogies that Murka has to "hit bottom" before the sheeple wake up. Maybe the best "progressive" strategy is to let the curretn dysfunctional mess melt down and then be ready to step in with an alternative.