If I could pick *ANY* politician for President (electability not an issue)...

[IdaBriggs]

I'd pick Representative John Conyers from Michigan.

He's a man of integrity, and I like him. He's a "tell it like it is" politician, and I just have an AMAZING amount of respect for him. I attended a round table discussion of "impeachment" that he held a couple of years ago, and now he's stepping up with the health care stuff. Also, he was one of the few folks who has been investigating Election Fraud since 2004. Swoon!

Maybe I just like him because of what I know about him. Who is your "secret fantasy candidate" -- the ones who would never run, but you would *LOVE* to see in office...and why? :)

[grasswire]

1. maybe Montana's Governor Schweitzer next time

right now I think Al Gore should be POTUS.

[Schema Thing]

2. Wes Clark, hands down.

[BikeWriter]

27. Ditto!

[rucky]

3. A Law Professor friend of mine.

Amazing guy. Has worked with several foreign governments as a constitutional consultant.

[NMDemDist2]

4. Maxine Waters for President!!! n/t

[Phredicles]

14. Hell Fucking Yes!!!

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[kansasblue]

5. Fiengold.

[Truth2Tell]

8. Not fair

He's actually electable.

[John Q. Citizen]

6. Conyers seems to have flip flopped on impeachment. Where is he now?

[Atman]

7. DK

As long as "electability" is not an issue.

.

[dweller]

18. another vote here

electability be demand.
dp

[dkofos]

32. I 'm with you. Conyers would make a great VP for Dennis.

Can you imagine what they could accomplish in 16 years.

[RB TexLa]

9. Edwin W. Edwards

[More Than A Feeling]

10. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI). Sadly, he almost did run.

He's such a tease.

Seriously, though, what's NOT to like about him? The only senator to vote against the Patriot Act, then pursue a five year vendetta against that legislation that almost succeeded. Now that's committment, that's dedication, that's being true to one's ideals. That's being a leader. He voted against the IWR, tried to censure Bush for illegal warrantless wiretapping, was the first to draw national attention by calling for withdrawal of the troops. Regularly wins awards from the Concord Coalition for being a deficit hawk. Supports the freedom to marry. Holds his senate seat in a swing-presidential state, and isn't afraid to promote his ideas and himself in the red counties by holding listening sessions in all of them.

He's pretty much a Democratic Party legend already, as far as I'm concerned.

[monkeyhq]

11. General Wesley Clark.

Hands down. No competition.

[jobycom]

12. Sheila Jackson Lee

Brilliant mind, practical attitude.

[PurityOfEssence]

13. Pete Stark, Jan Schakowsky or Barney Frank

What a wonderful world it would be...

[More Than A Feeling]

23. Pete Stark! There's another good one. A nontheist president! n/t

[Lisa]

15. this is one thing I like about Canada's appointed Senate!

I know that there's a risk that Prime Ministers will pack the upper house with patronage appointments, but I'm thinking it's nice to have a way to get people who wouldn't ordinarily become politicians into our government. One of our generals (who led the peacekeeping force that tried to stop the genocide in Rwanda) is a senator now, and is very active in championing African issues. And a filmmaker is now our head of state.

Someone like Rep. Conyers would be great in our Senate -- even better as Governor-General!

[never_get_over_it]

16. Feingold, Kucinich, Boxer or Waters

anyone of them would make me a VERY HAPPY GIRL.....


Leahy, Kennedy and I'm beginning to think maybe Whitehouse - wouldn't be so bad either

[cherokeeprogressive]

17. Sam Nunn

[Hippo_Tron]

24. Out of curiosity what's appealing about Sam Nunn?

As I recall he forced Clinton to settle for "Don't ask don't tell" because homosexuals serving in the military was unacceptable to him.

[cherokeeprogressive]

29. There isn't a perfect candidate.

What I know about Sam Nunn is that he's:

Pro-choice
Pro-environment
Pro-affirmative action
Pro-legal immigration
Been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 2x

[Stop Cornyn]

19. Good call. Also Doggett, Waxman, Kucinich, Waters, Rangel, Frank, Feingold, Boxer, Sanders ...

[southerncrone]

20. Russ Feingold & Dennis Kucinich

Common sense, determination, integrity, and honesty galore.
:bounce:

[Phrogman]

21. Ralph Nader of course.

wouldn't everybody?

[WyLoochka]

22. Still Howard Dean n/t

[Hippo_Tron]

25. Ted Kennedy

[lutefisk]

26. Conyers is a great choice. Gore would be, eh, not too bad either

There are plenty of good men and women in Congress. Realistically- Gore is as close as we are going to come to a fantasy candidate. I really think he would take names and kick ass, so to speak. He knows what's at stake and he won't waste time. If that doesn't happen I'm looking at a long term career goal of tire changer at Canadian Tire.

[Peace Patriot]

28. Seymour Hersh. Nobody understands our government's descent into fascism,

sadism and utter lawlessness better than he does.

One of the reasons Hillary, Obama and Edwards seem...beside the point, off point...is that they rarely or never address the critical issues of the "balance of power," the rule of law, and Constitutional government and how far the Bush Junta has crossed the line into tyranny. All three seem content to inherent the out-of-control powers that the Bush Junta has pioneered. Kucinich and Gore have both addressed these matters, Gore quite directly in powerful speeches over the last several years, condemning torture and other lawlessness ("How dare they? HOW *DARE* THEY?!" Gore thundered, about torturing prisoners), and Kucinich a bit less directly (it seems to me) but still strongly (he wants to change the entire paradigm of our national policy from war and aggression in every sphere, to peace and cooperation). So Gore and Kucinich would be on my list, too. Plus, Gore touts the green revolution for saving the planet, and Kucinich touts it as an aspect of peace (he's so right), and both understand the importance of a green revolution to the economy, to reverse the staggering damage the Bush Junta and Clintonism have done with "free trade" (global corporate piracy) and wholesale looting of our government and economy by war profiteers.

There are a lot of issues to consider in naming the person you think could provide the leadership needed to drag us out of the deep hole the Bush Junta has plunged us into. But, bottom line, they must understand how deep a hole it is. And Seymour Hersh has been brilliantly investigating its deepest darkest corners: torture, the conspiracy to attack Iran, impacts on people of conscience who are insiders (i.e., Gen. Taguba, who told him he felt like the Pentagon was the mafia), and similar matters. That's why I brought his name up. He knows what's been going on--its ugliest face. I would feel VERY GOOD if he were President. He has the intellectual capacity to understand what has happened; he knows how wrong it is. Also, he comes from a "civilian" venue, so to speak--and maybe a refreshing "outsider" is what is needed. Someone who understands the system but isn't part of it.

Another unusual candidate nomination by me: Lt. Ehren Watada. No one understands the excruciating moral dilemma that unjust war has inflicted on ordinary officers and soldiers better then he does, and no one has shown more spine in facing it, bravely and with absolute integrity.

I also think that John Conyers, Sheila Jackson Lee, Maxine Waters, Howard Dean and Russ Feingold would make fabulous presidents.

Final note: Kucinich is the only one of the announced candidates who has strongly addressed the matter of election fraud (--and may be the only one who has said anything at all--a huge omission by the announced candidates). That puts him at the top of my list (of the announced candidates). There is no more important issue.

I wish I could feel that we were electing a president, and not acquiescing to the appointment of a king. I cannot shake the conviction that no one who truly believes in democracy will be permitted to enter the White House, and that we, the People, will have little or no say about it. The presidency has become an undemocratic institution for the profit of global corporate predators and the war industry, and, under Bush, an outright tyranny of behalf of the fascist super-rich. Would they permit a true advocate of the people to claim that throne?

This is what the "trade secret" vote counting is all about, I'm afraid--thwarting the will of the people on war and everything else, and preventing "we the People" from ruling this land, and being its only sovereign power, as the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and our Founders intended. The U.S. Presidency in the 21st century is our Founders' worst nightmare--an office, with autocratic powers, that is passed around among the oligarchy, and is no longer beholden to the People in any way.

An ordinary citizen cannot become President, unless he or she sells his or her soul to the devil. By assassination, by "trade secret" code, or by the sheer bludgeon power of money, the oligarchy will prevent anyone who is not beholden to them from becoming president. I have seen this too often in my life to have any illusions about it.

We are in an extremely compromised situation, as a democracy, and may have to endure several kinds of tyrant in the White House before our work at the grass roots level, on transparent vote counting and other basics of democracy, begins to straighten things out.

Why should John Conyers, or Maxine Waters, or Seymour Hersh, or Ehren Watada being elected president be such a seemingly unrealistic fantasy? Ask yourself that.

[mondo joe]

30. I think I'd go for Feingold. NT

[Nikki Stone1]

31. Sheila Kuehl (D) California State Senate (Santa Monica)

The only living politician whose ethics I really trust.

http://dist23.casen.govoffice.com/

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

33. Senator Jack Reed of RI

A good man, with just a steady common sense approach to everything.