MyDD :: Why electability matters (with poll)

Why electability matters (with poll)

by Populism2008, Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 10:04:14 AM EST

(This diary is cross-posted at Daily Kos)

Kerry wasn't electable, he never was. Period. The usual counterargument against "electability" as an important quality of any candidate therefore fails.

Electability doesn't equal wishywashiness or timidness. It only means that the candidate we pick should be able to win on a national level, against a Republican. If that candidate is a rock solid progressive that's a big plus - but in the end he/she must be able to bring the votes. Granting that electability is important let me review two prime contenders for the 2008 presidential nomination:

- Hillary Clinton
Unelectable. Because 1. she has too much baggage, 2. half of the country hates her guts, 3. she is a Northeasterner, 4. she looks/speaks like an elitist and 5. she is a Senator with a long record to distort.

- Russ Feingold
Unelectable, I think. Because 1. he's a Jew (and possibly an atheist), 2. he is single and 3. he has divorced twice. His liberal credentials will not hurt him, since people do not vote on a candidate's views as much as their persona. Kerry lost because he was a boring stiff elitist, not because he was "the most liberal Senator".

As of today we only have 4 electable candidates in my opinion:

Wesley Clark
Al Gore
Mark Warner
Brian Schweitzer

I like them all.

Poll

Votes: 40
Results : Vote Link : Polls

Tags: (all tags)

Permalink :: 15 Comments :: Post a Comment

Possibly an Atheist? (none / 0)

I have a seen a lot of posts questioning his "electability" because he is Jewish. What are you basing this on?

by whodat527 on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 10:19:31 AM EST

Unelectable Hillary: (none / 0)

She is a woman, and she comes from the Northeast, and she have baggage from the Clinton years. People want someone who is more of a moderate.

by mleflo2 on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 10:52:59 AM EST

Re: Unelectable Hillary: (none / 0)

Hillary's very moderate. She voted for CAFTA, she voted for the war, she's cosponsored things with Bill Frist and made joint appearances with Newt Gingrich. She's a centrist Dem, always has been, even if the media likes to say otherwise.

by raginillinoian on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 02:08:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Unelectable Hillary: (none / 0)

Which means our base hates her too - way to go. The cons hate her persona and her husband.

Who loves Hillary? That is the question.

The history of the left is a history of purists betraying the progressive movement so that they can feel good about their righteous selves.

by Populism2008 on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 02:18:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Unelectable Hillary: (none / 0)

Agree. Hillary does have a sort of "cult following", but beyond that, I do not think she can win. Our base isn't that fond of her, particularly not with her renewed committment to the DLC and her votes on the Iraq War (and continued support for it, no less).

And of course, the Republicans love to hate Hillary even more than Bill.

I think she'd lose in the general. The only question is whether or not it would be close.

TAKE BACK OUR PARTY: Democracy Bonds

by LiberalFromPA on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 02:28:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Unelectable Hillary: (none / 0)

She probably will be close, losing Iowa and New Hamsphire, but winning New Mexico.

by mleflo2 on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 02:52:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Unelectable Hillary: (none / 0)

I think it depends on who she runs against. If it's a winger, it'll be close. But if it's against McCain or Guiliani, I think she could actually lose big.

TAKE BACK OUR PARTY: Democracy Bonds

by LiberalFromPA on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 02:53:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Unelectable Hillary: (none / 0)

What about her baggage? She is not very moderate because she for partial birth abortion and lifted the caps on the tightly squeezed budget. She also isn't moderate, because she is for a national health care. We can perhaps do what we can with the system we have, but we can give a national health care to kids.

by mleflo2 on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 02:50:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Kitty Litter Cake (none / 0)

Yummy!

Ingredients

1 spice or German chocolate cake mix
1 white cake mix
2 large pkg vanilla instant pudding mix, prepared (I like Bird's® dessert mix)
1 large pkg vanilla sandwich cookies
green food coloring
12 small Tootsie Rolls®

1 new kitty litter pan
1 new plastic kitty litter pan liner
1 new pooper scooper

OPTIONAL GARNISHES

I like to serve different garnishes with this recipe, for instance: chocolate sauce, chopped nuts and/or sweetened coconut. Trolls are known to prefer freshly killed cockroaches and roasted mealie worms.

Roasted Mealie Worms

by Gary Boatwright on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 11:27:28 AM EST

Re: Kitty Litter Cake (none / 0)

Please explain why I'm a troll. It would be very interesting not least since I've worked hard to elect a Democratic president since the early 90's.

Or what is your problem?

The history of the left is a history of purists betraying the progressive movement so that they can feel good about their righteous selves.

by Populism2008 on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 02:20:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The irony is palpable. (3.00 / 1)

A guy called "Populism" who says we should nominate people based solely on electability? Give me a break.

I get so sick of these "electability is all" arguments. They're made by people who want to win the White House but don't want to put any effort into it.

You know, if we just nominated the same person as the Republicans and made it a one-candidate race, electability would be guaranteed.

by craverguy on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 02:43:04 PM EST

Such Lies! (none / 0)

I don't like Hillary because of her actual (vs. perceived) politics. But this unelectable stuff is pure rightwing talking points stuff. The polls show she is far more popular than you give her credit for, as front page posts here and at DKos have noted over the summer months.

If you want to be taken seriously, it helps to have at least some semblance of facts to hang your hat on.

The one thing that dogs her is the reputation of being divisive--which this post helps to perpetuate.

But, then, conservatives have been calling liberals "divisive" since the earliest slave revolts in Egypt's First Dynasty.

by Paul Rosenberg on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 04:46:20 PM EST

Feingold is as electable as anyone ... (none / 0)

He would win all the states the supposedly electable Kerry won. The key would be which red state could he win?

http://politizine.blogspot.com: A political fanzine containing random musings about politics, music and modern times.

by politizine on Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 11:45:52 PM EST

Re: Feingold is as electable as anyone ... (none / 0)

With that said, Hillary would probably win all of the states that Kerry won.

by material boy on Sat Sep 10, 2005 at 07:09:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Why electability matters (with poll) (none / 0)

Question:
Is "Electability" a canard?

Answers:
a)Yes
b)Of course
c)Debate the issues, not the chances of getting elected.

The choice is simple: A President who voted for the worst of Bush's odius agenda, or one who didn't.

by Liberal Avenger on Tue Nov 28, 2006 at 03:36:28 PM EST

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