Repost: Who are the Top 10 Gutsiest Dem Leaders?

[LiberalEsto]

Making sure the DU nightsiders get to post their lists...

Who are our most courageous Democratic leaders?

These are the people willing to speak truth to power, and to take a stand against the cabal in the White House. The names listed below were submitted by DUers earlier today. You may not agree with every name on the list. Just don't include them in your Top 10 list.

Please post your list of who you think belong in the Top 10.

Once I receive enough of your Top 10 lists, they'll be tabulated. I'll list the 10 most frequently named in a DU poll so you can vote for the best of the best.

My purpose in doing this is to bring attention, recognition and publicity to those Democrats willing to take risks and challenge the current regime in the White House. They need all the support and encouragement we can give them. Paul Wellstone was named by many. I think most of us agree he deserves a posthumous permanent spot in the DU Dem Leaders' hall of Fame.

Here's the list. Pick your top 10 and post them on this thread.


1. Joe Biden
2. Barbara Boxer
3. Corrine Brown
4. Sherrod Brown
5. Lon Burnam
6. Robert Byrd
7. Jimmy Carter
8. Wes Clark
9. Bill Clinton
10. Hillary Clinton
11. John Conyers
12. Howard Dean
13. Chris Dodd
14. Byron Dorgan
15. Richard Durbin
16. Elizabeth Edwards
17. John Edwards
18. Russ Feingold
19. Barney Frank
20. Al Franken
21. Janeane Garofalo
22. Al Gore
23. Molly Ivins
24. Marcy Kaptur
25. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
26. Ted Kennedy
27. John Kerry
28. Dennis Kucinich
29. Frank Lautenberg
30. Patrick Leahy
31. Barbara Lee
32. Carl Levin
33.Mike Malloy
34. Marc Maron
35. Jim McDermott
36. George McGovern
37. Cynthia McKinney
38. Marty Meehan
39. Barbara Mikulski
40. Eleanor Holmes Norton
41. Martin O'Malley
42. Charles Rangel
43. Jack Reed
44. Harry Reid
45. Ann Richards
46. Randi Rhodes
47. Bernie Sanders (I)
48. Janice Schakowsky
49. Diane Wasserman Schultz
50. Brian Schweitzer
51. Al Sharpton
52. Louise Slaughter
53. Elliott Spitzer
54. Pete Stark
55. Jon Stewart
56. Mike Thompson
57. Stephanie Tubbs Jones
58. Henry Waxman
59. Maxine Waters
60. Lynn Woolsey
61. Evan Bayh

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Here are mine (in alphabetical order):

Boxer
Byrd
Clark
Conyers
Dean
Feingold
Kennedy (Ted)
Kucinich
Lee
Rangel

[skooooo]

2. Robert Byrd #1

Robert Byrd is da man.

then..

Howard Dean - he's one of the few ALIVE democrats
Bill Clinton - the big dog
Ted Kennedy - very intelligent and an effective senator
John Kerry - good at working behind the scenes, imo
Barbara Boxer - eloquent speaker, true democrat
Jimmy Carter - Habitat for Humanity
Carl Levine - just like him
John Conyers - DSM
Maxine Waters - passionate

[Goldeneye]

3. Boxer, Conyers, Dean, Feingold, Kennedy,

McKinney, Slaughter, Tubbs Jones, Waters, Woolsey

[Celeborn Skywalker]

4. Ok....

(This isn't necessarily in order, btw)

1. Barbara Boxer
2. John Kerry
3. Teddy Kennedy
4. Robert Byrd
5. Stephanie Tubbs Jones
6. Dennis Kucinich
7. Harry Reid
8. Howard Dean
9. John Conyers
10. Maxine Waters

[SteveIrving1]

5. The best Dems are...

1. Howard Dean
2. Harry Reid
3. Brian Schweitzer
4. Barbara Boxer
5. John Conyers
6. Wes Clark
7. Robert Byrd
8. Ted Kennedy
9. Al Franken
10. Bill Clinton

Thats my list.

[Todd B]

6. No Mike Malloy?

What, no Mike Malloy?

Good list, I think you covered most of the leaders I would of added. Although I think that I would also add Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz to the list too.

[LiberalEsto]

8. I added Malloy and Schultz

thanks

[Pacifist Patriot]

7. Mine

Okay, I think I went over ten but I also restricted it to political leaders and not pundits. These are the ones I admire right now.

2. Barbara Boxer
7. Jimmy Carter
8. Wes Clark
11. John Conyers
12. Howard Dean
18. Russ Feingold
19. Barney Frank
26. Ted Kennedy
27. John Kerry
28. Dennis Kucinich
29. Frank Lautenberg
43. Harry Reid
55. Stephanie Tubbs Jones

I'm going to give an honorary nod to George Galloway even though he is neither an American political leader nor a member of the Democratic party.

[POAS]

9. Here's mine in no particular order

John Conyers
Charlie Rangel
Sherrod Brown
Molly Ivins
Barney Frank
Maxine Waters
Jimmy Carter
Al Franken
Barbara Boxer
Russ Feingold

[byronius]

10. Oh, yeah. So painfully difficult.

The Magnificent Barbara Boxer
Randi Rhodes
John Conyers
Janeane Garofalo
Molly Ivins
Henry Waxman is cool.
RFK, jr.
Al Gore (I love Al.)
Gutsiest? Must include Hillary.
I'm mad at Al Franken for pitching Voter Fraud and then pulling it out on November 3rd. It happened, goddammit. What the hell was that? But where else can I hear Joe Conason, and Paul Krugman, and Tom Oliphant, and Katherine Lanpher, and Christie Harvey? Where? Damn. Have to include him. Aaaallll!!! Rrrgggghh.


:tinfoilhat:

[Idioteque]

11. In no particular order

1. Jim McDermott
2. Sherrod Brown
3. Cynthia McKinney
4. Russ Feingold
5. Barbara Boxer
6. Howard Dean
7. Ted Kennedy
8. Harry Reid
9. John Conyers
10. Dennis Kucinich

[longship]

12. My list

In alphabetic order:

Barbara Boxer
John Conyers
Howard Dean
Albert Gore
Russ Feingold
Sheila Jackson Lee
Ted Kennedy
Dennis Kucinich
Cynthia McKinney
Harry Reid


Honorable mention to:
Bernie Sanders (I)

I omit talk show hosts because they are not strictly part of the Democratic leadership. But if I were asked about nominations they would include:

Mike Malloy (Air America)
Randi Rhodes (Air America)
Bernie Ward (KGO, San Francisco see http://www.whiterosesociety.org/)

Only ten nominations, there weren't enough spots for a lot of very good Dems, including Wes Clark, Henry Waxman, Patrick Leahy, and the entire House African-American Caucus (who are probably the strongest, most unified Bush opponents).

[LiberalEsto]

14. Unfortunately there are only 10 slots on a DU poll

though I'd love to do a poll with all 60.

I included people other than elected officials on the list because there are heroes everywhere in our party.

[longship]

17. When this is all done,

and we return to a multi-party system, we will look at all Democrats as heros.

[LiberalFighter]

13. Amazing!!!! Bayh didn't make the list LOL

[LiberalEsto]

15. I just added him n/t

[LiberalFighter]

21. I was not asking for Bayh to be added...

By his absence from the list initially says much about him.

If you think he qualifies I would like to know the criteria.

[POAS]

18. Nor did Zell n/t

[serryjw]

16. Shame on all of you for forgetting Corine Brown

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6505.htm

Can a woman have BALLS?

[globalvillage]

19. Tough to pick 10

Boxer
Byrd
Conyers
Dean
Feingold
Ivins
T. Kennedy
Kerry
Rhodes
Jones

[trudyco]

20. You really think there are 10?

1. John Conyers - stood up for vote fraud in OH and now the DSM, etc
and WAY FURTHER DOWN.....
2. Reid - he's doing better than I expected for a conservative
3. Obama - not yet a leader but Washington Spectator did a nice reprint of a recent speech and it was GOOD. The guy has potential.
4. Randi Rhodes - tells it like it is and has good phrases (messaging). The Dems should get a clue from her.
5. The head of MoveOn - they disappointed me in dropping vote fraud and not canvassing voters to get a true post election poll but have done some good campaigns lately. They could still do a lot more.
6. Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd are good liberal stalwarts but get verbally beat up for it.

Hilary is gunning for a promotion. Barbara Boxer keeps sending me email wanting my money. Nauseating. She's spent all her political capital of standing up for Ohio electors by the money grubbing. Isn't Biden one of the traitors that voted for Bankruptcy "reform"?

The rest have their moments but their voices don't rise above the din enough to make leader.

Dean should be doing a Daily Deanism on Air America. He should be doing weekly interviews on Democracy Now and any other news organization that will let him. He should champion privacy laws and get them on the states ballots for 2006. He should be asking for money from us to pay for international blue ribbon polling to audit electronic voting in the next election. He should be having democratic mayors in major cities getting public assurances that in the next election their constituents will be able to vote in a fair and unencumbered way - no more poll taxes of long lines. I wonder if he doesn't know how to delegate. Or are the Nancy Pelosi's of the party knifing him in the back? Not supporting him?? The thing about Dean was his voice. Where is it?

Alas, John Kerry keeps talking about childrens health insurance. Talk about a waste of leadership position. Why isn't he still counting all the votes? Or counting the missing money in Iraq? Or demanding to know the latest on the anthrax investigation? Or, or, or....I keep hearing about these conservative megachurches popping up. Who's fronting them?

[Dawgs]

22. Kerry first, then

Boxer
B. Clinton
Clark
Conyers
Reid
H. Clinton
Ted
Carter
Al Gore

[election_2004]

23. My 10 nominations

Barbara Boxer
Russ Feingold
Stephanie Tubbs Jones
Ted Kennedy
Jan Schakowsky
John Conyers
Nancy Wasserman Schultz
Patrick Leahy
Howard Dean
Barbara Lee

[Larry in KC]

24. My top ten...

1. Wes Clark (one of the main reasons he's my avatar)
2. Robert Byrd
3. Barbara Boxer
4. Jimmy Carter
5. Molly Ivins
6. Charlie Rangel
7. Henry Waxman
8. John Conyers
9. Russ Feingold
10. Al Franken

[T Roosevelt]

25. Boxer, Dean, Conyers, Frank, Kucinich, Tubbs Jones, Jackson Lee, Waxman

Maxine Waters
Al Gore (though too little too late)

I don't think that personalities can be included, since they can go much further than elected officials. Otherwise, throw in Randi, Maron, Malloy, and Hartmann, as well as Robbins and Sarandon...and Moyer (added on edit)

[Coexist]

26. Here's mine - but it could change tomorrow!

Conyers, Dean, Kennedy, Tubbs-Jones, Clark, Jackson Lee, Waters, Stewart (bold more than courageous I guess), Boxer, Carter (for always being courageous enough to tell the unvarnished truth)