Who are your Democratic HEROES??

[polichick]

For many years, mine have been Jimmy Carter and Al Gore ~ so of course I was thrilled when each of them won the Nobel Prize. Since it was my love of nature that got me involved in environmental activism and then politics, I was ecstatic when Clinton put Gore on the ticket. But Carter's was the first campaign I worked on ~ even took a road trip to Plains and was given a handpainted campaign button by one of his aunts, which I still treasure.

We all know about Gore's recent films, but I just saw Jonathan Demme's 2007 doc about Carter - it's called JIMMY CARTER, MAN FROM PLAINS and I highly recommend it.

Since I'm drawn to leaders who are WAY ahead of their time in terms of vision and wisdom, looks like Obama is headed for my list!



WHO ARE YOUR DEMOCRATIC HEROES??

[silverweb]

1. Off the top of my head...

Gore.
Carter.
Boxer.
Dean.
Kennedy.
Obama.

[AllieB]

2. Ted Kennedy, Ann Richards, Mario Cuomo, Paul Wellstone, Al Gore

There are probably a few more but can't think of them right now. :-)

[Alexander]

28. Those are my exact choices as well.

Great minds think alike.

[Hieronymus]

69. Excellent choices ... I agree. I would add Obama.

[BlueGirlRedState]

71. I second Ann Richards...

and I'm going to add Lady Bird Johnson, too!

[mod mom]

3. Russ Feingold, Dennis Kucinich, Robert Wexler

[MH1]

4. John Kerry, Al Gore, Barack Obama, and the volunteers

that work their asses off to get liberals elected, and to promote liberal values in their communities.

John Kerry: for volunteering to serve in Vietnam, and coming back and organizing to end the war; for giving an incredible testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about that war, at the ripe age of 27; for putting his heart into the 2004 campaign and getting right back to work when he just missed; for continuing to stand for his principles; and for being the one politician who almost always responds to an issue in a way that makes sense to me.

Al Gore: the only reason I enthusiastically voted for Clinton/Gore in 92. For knowing the importance of environmental issues long before someone made a blockbuster movie about it.

Barack Obama: I read "Dreams From My Father".

Volunteers: without them, the others wouldn't be able to accomplish anything.

[mloutre]

6. Yeah. What she said. (Except I'd put the volunteers first, coz without them/us there is nothing.)

[ShadowLiberal]

5. See my avatar, Harry Truman

I just love the story about how the underdog Truman was written off by pretty much everyone as unelectable, and how despite a 'fatal' 3 way split of the party he still managed to pull off the greatest political upset ever by defeating Dewey, and helping his party retake control of both houses of congress to with his aggressive campaign style.

I also like how as president he was willing to make the tough, but correct decisions on a lot of issues (like firing general MacArthur for refusing to obey orders, and wanting to expand the Korean war into what could have become WW3), even if it made it him widely unpopular at the time.

[emilyg]

10. Mine, too. One of a kind.

[HelenWheels]

7. Howard Dean

For initiating the 50 state strategy. FDR, JFK, Gore, Obama, Feingold, Hillary and so many more.

[Barack_America]

8. Carl Levin.

Hardworking, no nonsense Democratic Senator from MI.

:patriot:

[shugah]

13. 2nd for Levin

he is teh awesome - votes the way i like almost all of the time.

[Faygo Kid]

18. I'll be the third. Does he even have an opponent this year?

He's up for reelection.

Needless to say, the seat is safe. I'm guessing this will be his last go-round. I haven't always agreed with some of his political choices, but the man is a patriot, and he's on our side.

[L0oniX]

9. Denis Kucinich and Henry Waxman

[NYC_SKP]

11. Jerry Brown (CA Governor & Attorney General, Oakland Mayor, CA Dem Party Chairman)

A true progressive, visionary and fearless against the establishment, even the Democratic Party establishment.

But lovers of Bubba might hold a grudge:

Running a shoestring campaign on maximum $100 donations, sleeping in supporters' guest bedrooms, and throwing well-aimed rhetorical grenades at rival Bill Clinton (at one point calling the then-chief executive of Arkansas a "union-busting, wage-depressing, scab-inviting environmental disaster of a governor"), Brown managed to shape profoundly the parameters of debate during the Democratic primary season, despite his eventual loss. And his once-derided flat-tax plan to radically alter the American income tax code is now a mainstream tenet of the Republican Party amongst the likes of Jack Kemp and Steve Forbes.

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/10.17.96/jerry-brown-9642.html

He was my governor and I supported him in 1976.

:patriot:

[WinkyDink]

12. Well, you are in my head today! :) I'd add FDR, McGovern, RFK, DK.

[Hutzpa]

14. Russ Feingold, Ted Kennedy, Al Gore

Barack Obama and David Axelrod.

:hi:


:thumbsup:

[newmajority]

15. Historically, I would say Thomas Jefferson, FDR and JFK.

<------ currently it would be those two guys (Howard Dean and Barack Obama) They are the reasons I'm still a Democrat.

Also Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Dennis Kucinich.

[Sparkly]

16. Adding to those above: Maxine Waters and Wesley Clark. nt

[Faygo Kid]

17. FDR is at the very top. Now THERE was a president.

1936, he accepts the nomination for a second term at Madison Square Garden:

". . .For nearly four years you have had an Administration which instead of twirling its thumbs has rolled up its sleeves. We will keep our sleeves rolled up.

We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace--business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.

They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.

Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me--and I welcome their hatred.

I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master. . . "

http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/od2ndst.html

Wow. Just wow.

[LiberalAndProud]

54. Yes. The very top. (nt)

[rndmprsn]

19. FDR, Truman, JFK, RFK, Al Gore, Howard Dean, John Kerry, Barack Obama

[AZBlue]

40. Add Ted Kennedy and my list is identical.

[politicasista]

63. The people in your list including Uncle Ted, Fannie Lou Hamer,

Barbara Jordan just to name a few. :)

[Skidmore]

20. Shirley Chisolm, Barbara Jordan, Molly Ivins....for starters.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

21. John, Robert and Ted Kennedy

Paul Wellstone, George McGovern, Dennis Kucinich, Al Gore, FDR, Russ Feingold and Howard Dean.

[salonghorn70]

22. Robert Kennedy

[mvd]

23. Wow, there are many

FDR, Dennis Kucinich, Molly Ivans, Tom Harkin, Sheila Jackson-Lee, John Conyers, Wexler, Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Barack Obama (if he becomes President - I like him, and he'd save us from our worst times in recent memory,) Mario Cuomo, Russ Feingold, Jimmy Carter, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, Tammy Baldwin, Jesse Jackson, Maxine Waters, Walter Mondale..

[RichardRay]

24. Adlai Stevenson.

And I can't believe this is the first mention of his name.

[Staph]

25. Jennings Randolph (D-West Virginia)

Elected to congress in 1932 and to the US Senate in 1958. Eleven times he sponsored the amendment to lower the voting age to 18 (the 26th Amendment was finally ratified in 1971, just in time for me to vote as an 18-year-old). The Randolph-Sheppard Act of 1936 gives blind people preference in federal contracts for food service stands on federal property -- one of the first government acts of affirmative action. He was a strong supporter of aviation, sponsoring legislation that created the Civil Air Patrol, the Civil Aeronautics Authority, and the National Air and Space Museum. In 1942 he proposed a synthetic liquid fuels act, to find ways of transforming coal into more usable forms of energy.

But my favorite Randolph project was his legislation, first introduced in 1946, to create a Department of Peace, with the goal of strengthening America's capacity to resolve and manage international conflicts by both military and nonmilitary means. In the 1970s and 1980s he joined Senators Mark Hatfield and Spark Matsunaga and Congressman Dan Glickman in efforts to create a national institution dedicated to peace. After he had announced his retirement from Congress in 1984, Randolph played a key role in the passage and enactment of the United States Institute of Peace Act. To guarantee its passage and funding, the legislation was attached to the Department of Defense Authorization Act of 1985. Approval of the legislation was in part a tribute to Randolph's long career in public service. The Jennings Randolph Program, which awards fellowships to enable outstanding scholars, policymakers, journalists, and other professionals from around the world to conduct research at the U.S. Institute of Peace, has been named in his honor.

Jennings Randolph was a man ahead of this time. I miss him. This nation misses him, and others like him, who put country ahead of self.

[blm]

26. The anti-corruption, open government HEROES: John Kerry, Henry Gonzalez,

Maxine Waters - they took on the BIGGEST RISKS to confront BushInc and the fascist agenda, exposing their illegal activities. I Would like to put Russ Feingold and Pat Leahy in that column soon.

Ted Kennedy has been a great legislator, though I am definitely bias towards the open and honest government leaders, as they definitely put themselves at risk. Kennedy's have risked themselves too much already.

Barbara Jordan, Joe Moakley, Dennis Kucinich and Paul Wellstone are certainly in my top ten.

[monomach]

27. Historical: FDR, Stevenson. Current: Obama, Durbin, Gore, Dean

[mvd]

29. I'll add Dean

Our party has come a long way under him, even if I don't agree with him on all the issues.

[AtomicKitten]

30. Howard Dean.

I supported another candidate during the 2004 primary but have come to respect and admire Dean. He is fearless. I was THRILLED when Barack retained him as DNC Chair.

[tannybogus]

31. Just a few...

Myles Horton
Will Campbell
Judge Frank Johnson
Fannie Lou Hamer
John Henry Faulk
Septima Clark

[redsoxrudy]

32. Paul Wellstone

I am a pretty stoic fella but I admit I shed a few tears when I learned he had died.

"I dare to imagine a country where every child I hold in my hands, are all God's children, regardless of the color of their skin, regardless of whether they're boy or girl, regardless of religion, regardless of rich or poor, that every child I hold in my hands, will have the same chance to reach her full potential or his full potential. That is the goodness of our country. That is the essence of the American dream." Paul Wellstone

"If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them." Paul Wellstone

[Lyric]

33. Dennis Kucinich and Russ Feingold n/t

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

34. Howard Dean

He revolutionized the way fundraising is being done, making way for Obama to be beholden to the people, not a few bigwigs.

Obama may very well become my hero, depending on his presidency.

[madfloridian]

35. Howard Dean

.

[boomerbust]

36. The day I became a Democrat

Late summer 1965 - Dad sent my sister and I down to the local greasy spoon for supper. Pa said him and Ma had some "discussing" to do. In the middle of supper a waitress that was reporting for duty walked in and yelled Proxmire is coming down the street. Everybody in the restraunt proceded outside to greet him, except me. A few minutes later I decided to go outside and see him. But it was to late, He was already about 50 yards down the street when he turned around and saw me standing alone. Proxmire ran back to where I was standing and shook my hand. I was only 12 at the time. but that is the day I became a Democrat. Bill Proxmire and Gaylord Nelson were my two favorite Democrats.

[Raine]

37. FDR, RFK & JFK

along with Jimmy Carter, Al Gore and the Democratic Lion Teddy Kennedy ... ALL the best of the best. :thumbsup:

Edit: added someone I stupidly had left off. :spank:

[scarletwoman]

38. Paul Wellstone, FDR, and Dennis Kucinich. (nt)

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

39. FDR, JFK, RFK, Carter, Gore, Obama

[Mass]

41. Robert Kennedy, Kerry, Carter, Feingold, and Obama.

(Just a short list) many to be added.

[windbreeze]

42. The Kennedy Family, Paul Wellstone, Carter, Ann Richards, Dennis Kuchinic, and Gen.W.K.Clark n/t

[TheKentuckian]

44. Jefferson, the Kennedy clan, FDR,

Biden, Kerry, Tip O'Neal, Truman.

I have the utmost respect for the abilities of Bubba and LBJ.

This Obama guy you all speak of has some talent and skill.

I'm a big fan of Wexler. Thank goodness for Dennis Kucinich.

[mloutre]

43. my Aunt Phyllis.

She's the only one on my rather large extended mother's-side family who was (and still is, at 92) an unrepentant Democrat.

The rest of mama's whole side of the family shunned her for it, but Aunt Phyllis didn't (and still doesn't, at 92) give a rat's ass what they think about that.

When I talked to her a couple of weeks ago, she was really looking forward to following up her Pennsylvania primary vote by voting loudly and proudly for Barack Obama again in November.

You go, Auntie Phyl!! Give 'em hell!!

[politicoFOsho]

45. FDR all the way!

This would be a far different country if it weren't for him.

[Hepburn]

65. Total agreement with your statement! n/t

[mrreowwr_kittty]

46. Paul Wellstone. Howard Dean.

Russ Feingold. Barbara Boxer. Henry Waxman. Robert Wexler. Joe Biden (far from perfect but I say his "a noun a verb and 9/11" thing pretty much knocked Guiliani out of the race).

[mrreowwr_kittty]

47. And how could I forget FDR! Truman was no slouch either.

He made some mistakes but he did a lot to elevate the profile of the US in the aftermath of WW2.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

48. Barbara Jordan. An amazing stateswoman. nt

[karynnj]

49. FDR and his distant relative Kerry, JFK, RFK, EMK, and Obama

One that I respect more in retrospect are Carter, who was prescient on the need to conserve and whose Camp David Accords represented more progress on the middle east than everyone else.

I respect Gore, but far more as a global warming activist,

[alwysdrunk]

50. Bill Clinton

Also put me down for Cynthia McKinney.

[Stinky The Clown]

51. Mario Cuomo

[MBS]

52. John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Paul Wellstone, Barbara Jordan, FDR

and, yes, with MH1, the volunteers.


also:
Chris Dodd (specifically for his eloquent fight against FISA and for the rule of law)
Obama (still too new to put into my eternal pantheon, but I am delighted he is our nominee, I hope and expect that he will be our next president, and I have high hopes he will do our country proud, and bring us back to our highest self)

But John Kerry will always be at the top of my list, for his courage, his integrity, his character, his life wisdom (honed through his experiences in Vietnam, the presidential campaign, his bout with cancer, and his family history), his forefront, unstinting efforts for the environment, his commitment to our country. Above all, the way he perseveres in his fight to take our country back, whether people give him the credit he deserves or not. He is for me the very definition of a patriot, and a mensch.

[MBS]

59. also on my second tier:

(along with Dodd and Obama, though I fully expect Obama to move up to the top tier as his presidency unfolds):
Jimmy Carter, for his early warnings on the environment (for which he got only s__ from voters and the media), for his work for peace (I was overjoyed when he won the Nobel Peace Prize!), for his work for Habitat for Humanity, and his overall stellar approach to his ex-presidential years.

[liberal N proud]

53. Senator Sharrod Brown

[CaptJasHook]

55. Cesar Chavez, Eugene Debs, MLK Jr., Wayne Morse, Peter DeFazio and Earl the Pearl

[Douglas Carpenter]

56. George McGovern of course

As Bobby Kennedy once said of Sen. McGovern. "He is the most decent man in the United States Senate. In fact, come to think of it, probably the only one."

Prior to being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and later the U.S. Sen. George McGovern along with his wife Eleanor personally built the South Dakota Democratic Party from a marginal force with only two members in both branches of the state legislature into being a dynamic force in South Dakota politics.

Under John F. Kennedy, George McGovern was the first director of the Food for Peace program, which introduced to millions of children all over the world the very concept of schools in impoverished countries providing at least one nutritious meal per day to every student.

In the U.S. Senate, George McGovern was a brilliant bipartisan visionary who joined forces with his good friend and senatorial colleague, Robert Dole in skillfully crafting, maneuvering, legislating and implementing the most massive assault on malnutrition in American history.

Certain mean-spirited sorts have twisted and spun and rewritten reality in a desperate and pathetic effort to make the good name of George McGovern synonymous with 1960's counterculture chaos and confusion and to blame monstrous results of monstrously misguided and long discredited policies on voices of reason and balance like Sen, McGovern.

President Eisenhower thought a lot of George McGovern; and so did Barry Goldwater and countless other thinking conservatives who knew him well--many of whom remain his close friends to this day.

The real George McGovern is the son of a small-town Wesleyan Methodist minister. He was a World War II bomber pilot and real hero who learned the difference between reality and storybooks. He has spent his life as a tireless humanitarian, a passionate defender of rural American family life, a dedicated history teacher with a critical mind, a consummate listener, reader and deep thinker and a true Christian gentleman.

George McGovern comes straight from the heart and soul of America. And his voice speaks from the conscience of a kinder, gentler, older and wiser America.

"And this is the time. It is the time for this land to become again a witness to the world for what is noble and just in human affairs. It is the time to live more with faith and less with fear- with an abiding confidence that can sweep away the strongest barriers between us and teach us that we truly are brothers and sisters.

So join with me in this campaign. Lend me your strength and your support-and together, we will call America home to the ideals that nourished us in the beginning.

From secrecy, and deception in high places, come home, America.

From a conflict in Indochina which maims our ideals as well as our soldiers, come home, America.

From military spending so wasteful that it weakens our nation, come home, America.

From the entrenchment of special privilege and tax favoritism-

From the waste of idle hands to the joy of useful labor-

From the prejudice of race and sex-


From the loneliness of the aging poor and the despair of the neglected sick, come home, America.

Come home to the affirmation that we have a dream.

Come home to the conviction that we can move our country forward.

Come home to the belief that we can seek a newer world.

And let us be joyful in the homecoming, for:' this land is your land, this land is my land. From California to the New York Islands. From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters. This land was made for you and me.'

May God grant us the wisdom to cherish this good land and to meet the great challenge that beckons us home.

This is the time."

From the Acceptance Speech at the Democratic National Convention in July of 1972

[JNelson6563]

57. Paul Wellstone

I'm still not over them having whacked him. Those bastards.

[Island Blue]

58. John Kerry, Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, Barbara Boxer.

There are many others of course, but that's my short list.

[JaneQPublic]

60. RFK, Barbara Jordan, FDR, McGovern, Gore, Dean

[beachmom]

61. John Kerry and Barack Obama. 2004 was the year I became a Democrat.

[PresidentObama]

62. RFK, Bill Clinton and John Kerry. Oh, and Obama.

[Hepburn]

64. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

From the time I was a small child, he has been my hero. That is exactly why I have a Scottish Terrier. As young child, I wanted a dog just like Fala and I am now on my fifth Scottish Terrier.

:hi:

[styersc]

66. FDR, JFK, RFK and Wellstone. Dr. Dean has also had moments.

Progressives are few and far between in this party anymore. Too many pols watching the polls for their policies and not enough leading from the heart and soul.

[Steely_Dan]

67. Okay, I'll Bite...

RFK
Cuomo
Biden
Jerry Brown
DK

[SoxFan]

68. RFK

Bobby Kennedy

Harry Truman

Paul Tsongas

Bob Casey, Sr.

Joe Biden

[Marrah_G]

70. Gore, Kennedy, Clinton, Clinton

[ray of light]

72. My Mom!

(Not quite what you meant huh? But my mom must have the patience of a saint for putting up with me all these years. And also she must grow money on trees too...)