Tammy Duckworth for US Senate

[DFW]

Obama has just resigned his Senate seat (thought I wish he had kept it
for a few weeks longer in case of critical votes), which means the
Democratic governor of Illinois appoints a successor to serve out his term.

I heard that Tammy Duckworth might be interested. Although there has been
some negative press about her, I still liked her and was impressed by her
guts to stick in there after losing her legs when her helicopter crashed
after being shot down in Iraq. Her appointment would also be an in-your-face
appointment to some of the chicken-hawk Republicans in COngress, such as
Saxby Chambliss of Georgia (if he survives the runoff) and John Cornyn, the
shame of my own Texas. Let them tell her to her face on the Senate floor about
"cut-and-run" Democrats when both of them shirked military service and she left
her lower body on the battlefield.

She incidentally also happens to be quite a bright lady.

[ColbertWatcher]

1. i don't agree with you. Someone else suggested her for VA director.

But, I will happily give a kick and rec for your kind words and recognition for her service.

[...of J.Temperance]

8. How about Senator Max Cleland for VA Director instead?

He'd be a marvellous choice.

[ColbertWatcher]

10. Don't now. The reason why Duckworth has been suggested for VA director is because ...

... that's the post she has now for the state of Illinois.

Hell, it's a big job, why not both!?

[...of J.Temperance]

12. I think Duckworth would make a good Senator or a good VA Director

But sadly she can't be both at the same time :)

I think many people miss having Senator Max Cleland in national politics, and his Senate seat was taken off him in such a grotesque and disgusting manner by that utter pig Saxby Chambliss, that I think it'd be nice to have Cleland back in some capacity, and I think VA Director would suit him very well.

[ColbertWatcher]

13. True about Cleland.

But that doesn't mean Duckworth is not qualified as well.

Isn't it great to have so many qualified people to choose from?!

[...of J.Temperance]

14. They are both qualified

Yes it's cool that we have so many qualified people to choose from.

[rosesaylavee]

2. She would be my choice.

I am sorry to hear she has had bad press though.

[Principal Vernon]

3. she's a nice sentimental favorite...

...but from what i've been hearing, there's a logjam of more qualified people ahead of her.

[DFW]

4. That is quite possible

I am still for the symbolic value of her confronting the right-wing chickenhawks
on the very public forum of the Senate floor. The seat is up for re-election in
two years anyway, and by then, she could either grow into the job sufficiently
to warrant being elected in her own right, or step down to take another post
that would more suit her, including, as another poster suggested, VA director.

[Jack Rabbit]

5. She'd be an excellent pick

[janethussein]

6. Nope - not for Senate -

she would be good for VA Director or something along that line but definitely NOT Senator.

This reeks of the same sentiment of so many ignorant people insisting that McCain should be President because he was a POV for 5 years.

[DFW]

9. She almost made it into the House in 2006

This wouldn't be her first rodeo, and I didn't buy at all the
POW/military experience line that the McCain campaign tried to
use, either. Max Cleland did a credible job, why couldn't Duckworth?

[madfloridian]

17. Because the DFA candidate had quarter of a million spent against her by Rahm.

for Tammy to win.

You need to read this.

http://www.truthout.org/article/special-report-democratic-house-officials-recruited-wealthy-conservatives

[...of J.Temperance]

7. 100% yes, I gave you a vote too, lets get this on the Greatest Page

Tammy Duckworth would be a wonderful choice, I'm a big fan, I was VERY disappointed that she lost her election bid last time.

She'd make an great Senator.

[riderinthestorm]

11. Yes! I worked on her campaign against the despicable Roskam

who ran a very nasty campaign against her. She is so bright and dedicated. She more than capably handled Roskam in the debates and during her campaign, and lost by 1% in one of the reddest counties in the country (Dupage - home of Henry Hyde).

She'd be a natural to win in 2 years which is what we should really be looking ahead to - who can win THEN.

She can. She's demonstrated she can pull in a LOT of republican voters.

[madfloridian]

15. Yes, DFW, we learned in 2006 that she would be something big.

Rahm spent a quarter of a million against Cegelis, a Democrat, to get her out of the race so Tammy could be the candidate. Cegelis had been building the party up again in that district. Rahm and Durbin and Obama moved Tammy in and the rest was history.

[AZ Criminal JD]

16. She should not be a Senator. Illinois voters have rejected her.

Jesse Jackson, Jr. would be a better choice and keep an African-American presence in the Senate.

[sunnystarr]

19. I agree. I really liked what I've seen from Jesse Jr.

and he has more experience than Tammy. I think she's a brave woman who has sacrificed much for her service to our country - but that alone shouldn't qualify her to be ahead of another excellent choice who has the experience. I also agree that she would do her best work in a VA type of position where she could be inspirational to the Iraq/Afghanistan vets and champion their needs.

[bdamomma]

28. Jesse Jr. that would be a good choice.

Maybe Tammy would be better in some VA position, who knows better than her what her counterparts are feeling now.

[riderinthestorm]

20. Gov. Blagojevich appoints and he really doesn't like Jesse Jackson Jr.

Blagojevich is a political animal through and through, he'll select whoever Barack Obama gives the nod to in order to curry favor with the next Prez, would be my guess.

Obama likes Tammy Duckworth very, very much. She's very much in play. She lost by 1% in Dupage County against Roskam who had Bush, Cheney, Rove and even Laura Bush come campaign for him. He ran a despicable campaign that she handled very, very well (fine so credit Rahm Emmanuel with some of that but still - she was the one very much out there). She's proven she can garner Rethug votes. I have no doubt that when it came to the election in 2 years, if she were the incumbent, she would win.

Eye on the prize. Who can win in 2 years? Duckworth has the name recognition, and Obama's support. Blagojevich could do a lot worse in his selection.

[madfloridian]

18. Article from Truth Out that needs to be read.

We have suffered so much of this in Florida.

Looks like we are going right back to these ways now.

http://www.truthout.org/article/special-report-democratic-house-officials-recruited-wealthy-conservatives

[TheWraith]

21. For starters, fuck Truthout.

Sorry, but they don't have any right to continue talking and being taken seriously until they apologize for that "24 business hours" fiasco. They swore up down and sideways that they'd reveal sources if they were proved wrong. They never did. They're frauds, nothing more, nothing less.

Second, I get tired of this constant resentment over backing for candidates that some people perceive as moderate to conservative Dems. Newsflash, folks: there's a hell of a lot of districts out there that aren't going to be won by any other kind of Democrat.

We had some of this in our local congressional primary. You know what? The candidate who would have been met the purity test you describe won the primary, against the endorsement of all 7 local party committees and the D-Triple-C. She went on to get pounded flat in the general election, giving us another Republican congressman on an open seat that would have been ours if we'd run the endorsed guy, an Iraq War vet and--gasp--former Republican.

[madfloridian]

22. Then you can say the same to me. Because I detest what they've done.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/2892

The waste of a good Democrat.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/2921

So eff me, too, huh?

[TheWraith]

23. My point is that this broad-brush image that people run around complaining about is nonsense.

The DCCC picks people who they think can win and still be useful Democrats in the House. If you think that they're not about as partisan as anybody, or that they're secretly working for the Republicans, I don't know what to say. Obviously there's always going to be bad decisions in any organization. The FL-16 one is a whopper. But this obsession that people have with blaming the DCCC for anything that they don't like about the available Democratic candidates is a fig leaf designed to cover up the ugly reality of political nature.

[madfloridian]

24. Bottom line per choices: Dean out...Lieberman embraced.

Because the Republicans love them some Lieberman.

I do blame the DCCC when they handpick Republicans to win.

But now I understand it all. For 5 years hubby and I been dreaming..thinking we mattered. We donated and worked, and no one cared.

[TheWraith]

25. You're reading tea leaves that aren't there.

Dean's term as DNC chief is expiring. He's not running for a second. That's not being fired, it's "term over, going home." If you look historically, the only other DNC chair in the last 15 years to serve as long as Dean was McAuliffe.

And I'd hardly describe what's happening to Lieberman as being "embraced." Preferring to keep him in the Democratic caucus only makes sense since, aside from the war, he almost always votes with us. Throwing him out would be strictly a PR move.

[cate94]

26. The available candidate in the Dist in question

was Christine Cegalis. She ran a grassroots campaign and was doing VERY well with it. It was a tough district to win but she had worked and made a name for herself.

Rahm Emmanuel brought in Tammy Duckworth as his favored candidate late in the game. She wasn't from the District. She had no backing except the DCCC money. The people from that District that were for Cegalis didn't want Duckworth. She didn't win because the people in that District were very PO'd about the high handed tactics of the DCCC. If the DCCC had backed the more "liberal" candidate, Cegalis would have won. I am absolutely sure of it. BTW, I used to live in that district and I know a lot of folks from there.

I think Tammy Duckworth is a smart woman. I think she could be an asset, they picked the wrong place and time to insert her into the political arena. As for the Senate seat? It would have been nice if Duckworth had won something first.

[madfloridian]

27. Yes, Cegelis was building a good ground game. But big big money overcame her.

Rahm, Durbin and Obama endorsed Duckworth and pumped almost a quarter of a million, perhaps more.

Spending that much against a good Democrat?

Shades of FL 16 and Tim Mahoney

[cate94]

29. agreed

I really don't mind the big boys bringing in candidates where there are districts without them. However, if there is a grassroots campaign going strong -especially in a traditionally repuke area- they should be supporting that candidate.

I lost all respect for Rahm after the Cegelis fiasco, when I read about FL 16, it confirmed it for me.

That remains my only real concern about Duckworth. She is Rahm's pick, and I no longer trust his judgment.