Sheehan to challenge Hillary (Libertarian party candidate?)

[gulfcoastliberal]

My apologies if this was already posted. I know Cindy would have a mountain to climb because of all of Hillarys Saudigroup money, but still. Hillary is pro-occupation, Cindy is not.

NY LIBERTARIANS MIGHT RUN CINDY SHEEHAN AGAINST HILLARY CLINTON

From the Libertarians for Peace Yahoo Group.

John Clifton, a Navy submarine veteran and Chair of the Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY), has called for an end to martial law occupation of Iraq, and a no-timetable withdrawal of military forces from the region. He rejects the compromise idea of a timetable proposed by his own party's national organization.

He has also issued an 'open invitation' to activist Cindy Sheehan, a mother whose son died in the war last year, to consider running as a peace candidate against Hillary Clinton in the 2006 U.S. Senate race.


"The invasion remains unjustified, so the subsequent occupation has no underlying moral basis," said Clifton. "Thus, neither does a phased withdrawal. If no one can answer Sheehan's question, then there's no 'noble cause' for which American troops or Iraqi civilians should be dying right now, period."

Sheehan has openly challenged Senator Clinton to plainly speak out against the war or "lose her job."

http://www.hollywoodinvestigator.com/pork/sheehan.htm

Hillary think our troops are dying for a good cause and they should continu to get killed and maimed for whatever cause she thinks this occupation is. Hope Cindy runs against her.

[gardenista]

1. If this is true, I'm afraid that Cindy has jumped the shark. nt

[gulfcoastliberal]

Whatever, Hillary is doing us no good.

NT

[onenote]

18. she does a lot more good than any repug would do

Her rating from the ADA in 2004 was 95. The average repug score was around 20. The most "moderate" repugs (Collins, Snowe and Specter) had scores between 45 and 65.

Do you really think that harming HC's candidacy by siphoning off votes from the left is a good thing?

onenote

[WA98296]

37. She's just like a Repub, she's a corporatist -- THAT is our problem.

[onenote]

42. she's not just like a repub, and I'm sorry you can't tell the difference

[TallahasseeGrannie]

22. What would Cindy's qualifications be?

We're talking President, right? Not Senate because she isn't a New Yorker?

I mean I understand she is passionate about one issue and she is well spoken.

[400Years]

29. honesty, integrity, passion, and intelligence

i would say those are enough

[TallahasseeGrannie]

41. Well I agree those are definitely on the short list

for personality qualities, and they are sorely lacking in the present administration. And I understand where you are coming from.

But in the real world (and I assume we are talkig real and not just fantasy, here?) for a job of that level I think they need to be backed up with some level of administrative and/or governmental experience. Even (gulp) military experience, as in the case of Eisenhower.

But if we only need honesty, integrity, passion and intelligence, we can draft Oprah, as Michael Moore suggests.

[400Years]

51. I think we need to start electing real people instead of beltway types

after all they are the ones who have led us down this road.

Now as far as the reality of her running, I kinda doubt she will so this may be just an exercise in fantasy.

Draft Oprah? Why not? She's bound to be better than what we have now.

[rinsd]

46. It would be the Senate I am guessing....

...I think she would still have time to declare and set up residency. It's not like Hillary can attack her for being a carpetbagger or anything.

[Cha]

59. Cindy would have to move to

New York like hillary did.

Why doesn't Cindy run in Calif against feinstein?

[LSK]

61. after bozo the clown in office since 2000

Your worried about qualifications?

[NYCGirl]

2. You know, I'm not the biggest Hillary fan in the world, but I'm a

New Yorker, and this idea is totally absurd.

[tatertop]

3. I would vote Cindy in a heartbeat

[400Years]

32. Me Too

[NoPasaran]

4. I hope Cindy doesn't run against her

Not that I support Hillary's pro-war stance, but for Cindy Sheehan to allow herself to be used by libertarian weasels would do a lot of harm to the antiwar cause.

[gulfcoastliberal]

5. Maybe she could run as an independent?

That'd be great.

[Neocondriac]

6. Big mistake...

IMO....Sheehan can fly above the fray and have a greater impact outside of a campaign or political seat.At least until this war winds down.

[Canuckistanian]

7. No, no, no, no. BAAAAD move, Cindy.

Not that I have any love for Hillary, but this is bad optics.

Get behind one leader and stay there. This is just opportunism and circular firing squad behaviour among liberals.

AGAIN.

[bluedog]

20. seems like cindy

is all over the place lately.....she should stick to one message and stay there.......people who once stood with her in her protests are now moving away.........and sorry to say it.I am one of them.....

[TallahasseeGrannie]

43. Can you elaborate?

And if you fear the flame throwers, shoot me some email. I'm very interested in Cindy and her message and have wondered myself if she is being manipulated.

[okieinpain]

8. hahahaha. hahahaha. happens to the best of them.

to much spotlight.

[mattclearing]

9. I totally support this.

Hillary needs to bolster her pro-war credentials, and Cindy gets to raise tons of hell.

Even if Cindy wins, we win, because we finally get a true anti-war senator.

Would be nice if she were a Dem, but an anti-war non-Republican is probably a better deal for progressive causes than a pro-war, DLC Democrat.

Flame away.

[onenote]

19. but what if the repug wins?

How is that "win win"...

onenote

[mattclearing]

21. Pirro is a buffoon.

I think one of them will beat her no matter what.

Edit: And Sheehan as a Libertarian will snake Republican votes as much as Dem votes.

[Orangepeel]

24. so is bush

it's a good thing that this story is just the libertarian party spouting hot air, or I'd be having Nader flashbacks.

[mattclearing]

27. Did you see that announcement?

Bush has never done anything that retarded. Nor has he sent his opponent fundraising pitches.

[onenote]

34. that's what folks said about Al D'Amato

History counts. Just assuming that splitting the liberal vote won't elect a repug is a dangerous assumption. Here's how Wikipedia describes D'Amato's election: "As a rather obscure candidate, he then defeated incumbent Jacob Javits in the 1980 Senate Republican primary, taking advantage of Javits' 1979 diagnosis of generally fatal amytrophic lateral sclerosis. Javits nevertheless pursued the seat on the Liberal Party ticket, splitting the left-wing vote in ordinarily liberal New York with Democratic Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman and leading to D'Amato's 45% plurality victory."

While Schumer cruised to victory, its important to keep in mind that victory by a Democrat in New York State is not a mortal lock: think Governor Pataki. I suspect if Sheehan ran as a Libertarian, she wouldn't hurt HC enough to cost her the election. But I'd be willing to bet she'd hurt HC more than Pirro.

onenote

[TallahasseeGrannie]

45. Okay, I think I am out of the loop and missed something

Is this for Senate or Prez? Because I totally buy Senate. Prez, not so much.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

48. NEVERMIND

Dummie Grannie finally read the post more carefully. Senate.

You know, I'm okay with that.

[OneTwentyoNine]

10. Libertarian?!?! Going to be against those evil "Government schools" too??

Just like asswipe Neal Boortz and those crazy Libertarians he runs with??

Don't do it Cindy,your great and we need you to speak out against the War in Iraq but don't blow it with a silly office run.

[mattclearing]

12. I'm sure she'll be as Libertarian as Nader was a Green. n/t

[davidinalameda]

11. she lives in California

if anything, she could run against DiFi next year

[AntiCoup2K4]

15. I think that's a better strategy actually.

Running as a carpetbagger against the previous carpetbagger really isn't a winning idea.

[davidinalameda]

16. I didn't want to say that

but I'm glad someone else did

[rinsd]

49. It does insulate her from carpet bagger charges from Hillary though (nt)

[kurth]

13. Libertarians are more insidious than Republicans

Where were they the last five years?

Libertarians are just a Latin-spouting, marijuana-loving, greed-is-good minor branch of the right wing.

[toddaa]

53. Stop being stupid

Go to www.antiwar.com and spew your hatespeech there. Libertarians have been actively fighting the Iraq war, the Afghan war, and Balkan war for a lot longer than most Democrats have. The Congress is filled with Democratic politicians bought and paid for by the same military industrial complex that feeds the Republican party and Clintons are just as guilty as the Bushes when it comes to fighting bogus wars.

And outside of the insular world of the U.S., libertarians are far to the left of most American liberals.

[Patchuli]

14. No offense to anyone

but Libertarians aren't much better than repubs.

We need Cindy to stay on the anti-war movement and besides, she's a California girl. I'd rather see her take Feinstein's place if she were going to make a senate run.

[High Plains]

54. At least they didn't support the invasion of Iraq...

...which is more than we can say for a whole lot of national Democrats, including Hillary.

[rockymountaindem]

55. But the Libertarian party does support a lot of other ideas

that your average liberal or progressive probably wouldn't agree with.

[Patchuli]

57. True but Libertarians support only

themselves. I don't believe in social Darwinism. Those with the money are not necessarily those with the brains, i.e. *!

I don't think Cindy should run for office. I think she's doing a world of good with what she's doing right now.

[leetrisck]

17. Ha,ha,ha,ha - Cindy doesn't support our military or veterans

Hillary does - I'll vote for her - very hard working, accomplished person, very well informed. cindy can stuff it -

[gulfcoastliberal]

23. Hillary supports our troops being blown up in Iraq and not bringin em home

Some support.

[leetrisck]

26. That is really just plain

* nuts - Hillary cannot send troops anywhere. She supports the military and veterans of NY and it is her job to do so.

[IndianaGreen]

28. If you support the troops, you would want them home NOW

anything less than that is just chauvinism and militarism.

[DerekG]

35. Oh yeah? Was it Chelsea who died in Iraq, or Casey Sheehan?

n/t

[leetrisck]

58. Oh no, was it Jenna or Barbara

is that why cindy's so upset? she can't make up her mind. Cindy DIDN'T DIE - her child did - she can just shut up - my family members lost their lives - I DIDN'T.

[William769]

25. Hillary will mop the floor with her.

Go Hillary!

[400Years]

31. only because of money

Cindy has more integrity than Hillary.

[DerekG]

30. Good. We're never gonna end this war until we attack the pro-war Dems

I've longed for Clinton's defeat since she cast her IWR vote. If Sheehan throws a monkey wrench into the ambitions of my hawkish senator, then I can die a happy man.

[Mass]

33. As a Libertarian? I sure hope it is not true

Those are the people who think the govt should not have Medicare, Medicaid, public schools, Social Security, or anything else like that.

I think Sheehan is a progressive and she would not do that,

[NCarolinawoman]

44. They are also terrible on environmental issues.

They don't want any controls.

They would let developers, oil and mining businesses, corporations, etc,. do what ever they want to do.

[Rowdyboy]

36. I really feel sorry for Ms Sheehan....She deserves enormous support...

That said, she's in way over her head and needs to get her priorities straight. She would simply be a tool of Republicans to try and embarrass Hillary-and they would see to it that she was well founded.

It reminds me of Ross Perots running mate, Admiral James Stockdale. He was a very competant man but was a totally incompetant politician and bombed. Cindy, likewise, would be a disaster.

[zbdent]

38. I think you fell for one - isn't this the site which "broke" another bogus

(and subtly amusing) story? I can't recall at this time, but "Hollywood Investigator" rings a bell.

Besides, if "true", Sheehan would need to resolve residency issues.

[lancdem]

39. Cindy Sheehan is not a threat to Hillary

She's entitled to do whatever she wants, however.

I find it ironic that the RW and some DU members are pushing this Cindy vs. Hillary "battle" with equal fervor.

[Skidmore]

40. So do I. It's kinda stinky.

[onenote]

50. "she's entitled to do whatever she wants" -- but she won't help anyone

I don't know that anyone thinks she's not entitled to do whatever she wants. But the fact she's "entitled" to run doesn't mean its a good idea or that folks that share her opposition to the war can't express the view that its a bad idea.

In my view, if you're right that she isn't a threat to Hillary, it will be because she gets blown away in the polls, which will allow the pro-war types to point to that as evidence that her position doesn't enjoy popular support. If she does well at the polls, it will hurt Hillary, possibly enough to cost her the election,which would be a very bad result. While I'm not the biggest fan of HC (and she's not my idea of the best candidate for Pres), her voting record in the Senate has been solid -- a 95 percent rating from the ADA in 2004. Anyone thinks that having a repug in her seat instead of her won't make any difference is badly mistaken.

onenote

[Zhade]

56. Well, some DUers ARE members of the RW.

Or might as well be, with their conservative stances displayed at this PROGRESSIVE website.

[Robeson]

47. Calm down people. This article means nothing. So this guy has issued...

...an "open invitation" for her to run. So what? It does not say she knows about the "open invitation", nor does it say she has even heard of it. This guy can "issue" an open invitation to Bugs Bunny if wants to, but it doesn't mean Bugs is gonna' run.

[Hawkeye-X]

52. First of all. Sheehan is NOT ELIGIBLE (California resident with no plans)

to move.

Second of all, Libertarian party has gone batshit crazy. Mayu be the neo-con influence in the Liberterian Party.

I would dismiss this bullshit.

If anything, she'll run against DiFi in '08.

[Adelante]

60. Oh. fer crissake

If Cindy is going to run for office, can't it be against a goddamn Republican?