I am working to fix the new proposal drafted by several Senate Democrats, which at this point basically reads like a new authorization. I will not vote for anything that the President could read as an authorization for continuing with a large military campaign in Iraq. Deauthorizing the President's failed Iraq policy may be an appropriate next step if done right, but the ultimate goal needs to be using our Constitutionally-granted power of the purse to bring this catastrophe to an end.
Russ Feingold issued the above last week. Again, the question: Why isn't Feingold running for president? The answer? As best we can tell, running for the presidency while serving in the Senate means making a lot of meaningless statements that are obviously meaningless (Joe Biden) or appealingly vacuous (Barck Obama).
Oh, and there's Hillary. As C.I. observed Feb. 20th:
In US political news, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has underscored that, although politically active for many years, she has held public office for far too few. As Amy Goodman noted on Monday's Democracy Now!, Clinton, speaking in New Hampshire, not only continued to refuse to term her vote supporting the invasion of Iraq "a mistake," she went further by stating: "If the most important thing to any of you is choosing someone who did not cast that vote or has said his [or her] vote was a mistake, then there are others to choose from." Indeed there are and it takes an arrogance born of campaign stupidity to make such a public declaration. We'll also note that "[or her]" was added here to be inclusive -- something that Hillary Clinton once could have take care of all on her own. But who would have ever guessed she'd waste the opening weeks of her campaign refusing to say something as simple as "I made a mistake"? Probably the same people who would have guessed that a candidate who cannot count on peeling off Republican voters, who may or may not have a hard time with swing voters, would thumb her nose at the Democratic base with one of the most idiotic statements made on the campaign trail. When you are campaigning for a national office, the last thing you need to do is to tell voters "there are others to choose from." Despite rumors to the contrary, Clinton's not scripted but New Hampshire may demonstrate that she needs to be. In one decade, we've gone from Bill Clinton's "I feel your pain" to what passes for "Piss off" from Hillary Clinton. (Which may remind many of the health care debacle which went from universal to some managed care option when, as Robin Toner pointed out, Clinton got cozy in the backrooms.)
No straw poll, but going by the e-mails coming into this site, the candidates being explored currently are (possibly due to Betty's input in the Mailbag feature last week) Dennis Kucinich and John Edwards. There are also a number wondering when the Green Party's going to have some presidential candidates, whether Al Gore will run and whether Ralph Nader will run?
And, in what we'll assume was a joke e-mail, one man suggested Big Babs run noting that she would go from First Lady to president and "skip the Senate so take that Hillary!" Big Babs as president? Had to be a joke, had to be a joke.
