The rumor I'm hearing about 2016

[Proud Public Servant]

People in a position to know are whispering that Sherrod Brown is in. Even if Hillary scares everyone else out of the pool, Brown is diving in so that somebody will be lifting the progressive standard high and challenging the party's corporatist wing.

[graham4anything]

1. Link please. nt.

[djean111]

3. I don't think rumors have links. If you don't believe it, fine! Doesn't change things.

I'd vote for Brown.
I am tired of the corporate dynasties.
Hillary just may be hurt by the TPP, too.
I believe the TPP is going to be indefensible.

[graham4anything]

42. Sorry you did not like FDR and JFK. I consider them the 4th & 8th best President nt.

[ReRe]

60. Also, she might be hurt by the XL Pipeline

[morningfog]

7. Here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023198362

[graham4anything]

28. That link is to this thread (so there is no link). I heard a rumor he wants to be Hillary's VP. nt.

[Renew Deal]

30. You catch on quick

[graham4anything]

31. There will be 20 people running, all for the golden 2nd spot. I hope Janet Napolitano gets the VP

Women will change the world and bring in the entire south to blue in 2016.

[OnlinePoker]

32. Yes. Look how well it worked in England under Thatcher. n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

37. Guess that goes back to the old "all women are the same" thing spouted by guys.

[graham4anything]

40. That was McCain's logic too in 2008. Worked real well for him and Sarah. nt.

[leeroysphitz]

46. Yes, all guys spout this. n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

67. Well,....maybe not Pee Wee Herman.

[HappyMe]

72. I don't think that is what that poster meant.

I think that maybe they were pointing out that being female doesn't necessarily guarantee that they would be a good leader.

[OnlinePoker]

76. Exactly

There are a lot of bat-shit crazy women in the Republican camp that would be disastrous for the country.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

79. So was I....

Not that the notion is unique...

The whole "A Woman, ANY Woman" thing didn't fly with the public recently...

[HappyMe]

81. Oh okay.

I misunderstood.

[movonne]

77. Hillary is DLC...that's not good...we need someone

progressive...we all thought that Obama would be but maybe not...and maybe it might be impossible to have a progressive...due to corporations influence..

[Spitfire of ATJ]

78. It's due to party manipulation.

[totodeinhere]

59. I doubt very seriously if Hillary Clinton would choose another woman as her

running mate. She would want to "balance" the ticket. And while I support the idea of a woman president or vice present, there are also some fine progressive men such as Alan Grayson who would make an excellent addition to the ticket, as would Senator Brown.

[cascadiance]

66. Personally, if we have a woman on the ticket, I think it should be Warren...

It's very clear who she's fighting for now in her brief history as senator so far.

Her balancing out a ticket with Sherrod Brown or Russ Feingold would be ideal in my book (with her as president or VP on it).

[totodeinhere]

68. Warren/Grayson is my dream. n/t

[Bake]

64. The entire South. Riiiiiight.

G4A, what happened to your usual 80%?

You always amuse me.



Bake

[Spitfire of ATJ]

35. Okay,....THAT was funny.

[dipsydoodle]

2. An election

instead of a military coup ?

[femmocrat]

4. I love Sherrod!

If it is true, I hope he doesn't compromise and "run to the middle".

[Doctor_J]

5. He wont - they'll just ignore him

Do you really think he has any hope against the media machine of HRC?

[temporary311]

75. And if it ever looks like he does have a hope,

he'll likely be Deaned in short order.

[Doctor_J]

90. So true. Even if he gets too "disruptive" during the early campaign

too much talk about Climton's pet TPP project - good-bye!

[MineralMan]

6. There will be many rumors about 2016.

Some will pan out. Many will not. Right now, 2014 is the upcoming election. There are candidate choices to make, organization that needs to be done, and lots of hard work that is already underway.

GOTV 2014!

[Skidmore]

8. Absolutely. GOTV 2014

and get in a Congress that will work for the people. I just hate it when people dismiss 2014 because it is like Congress has been given a perpetual pass.

[MineralMan]

9. It's amazing that people sometimes think that the Presidency

is the only thing that matters. It's even more amazing after seeing the past few years. Mid-term elections are very, very important. They are crucial for all voters, and a good turnout of one party, while the other party doesn't show up, can turn legislatures around. That's why my primary political activism is aimed at turning out Democrats to vote in every election.

GOTV 2014 and always!

[Scuba]

11. Excellent point. Now lets primary the conservatives pretending to be Democrats from the left!

[MineralMan]

13. All Congressional House elections are local.

It's up to people in each district to determine who will run. Outsiders without stacks of money can't do anything, except in their own district, but in their own district, they can do much.

So, primary the one in your own district if that's appropriate. It can be done. It's not easy, but it can be done.

My district is a lock for our congressional representative. She's Betty McCollum, and is a solid progressive. I'll be working in MN CD-6, where Michele Bachmann is not running in 2014. We have a great opportunity to elect a Democrat. However, any Democrat who can possibly win will be a centrist. Nobody further to the left will have a chance.

Each district is different, and the decisions are made by voters in each district. That is political reality. Ignore it at your peril.

[Scuba]

15. Agreed, with one exception ...

... outsiders are making a huge difference in local elections here in Wisconsin, and elsewhere.

Among other things, they own the media.

[MineralMan]

16. The media is beyond the control of most individuals.

It can be countered but, again, that has to be a local action. Despite everything, feet on the ground during campaigns can turn an election around, despite expensive campaigns run by outsiders.

[totodeinhere]

61. You bring up the age old conundrum.

Is it better to go down fighting for principle or is it better to support more conservative Democrats if they are the only ones who can win in certain red states? Is a conservative Democrat who could help us hold our majority in the Senate and take control of the House preferable to a bona fide progressive candidate who might be more likely to lose in a deep red state?

[Scuba]

74. False choice ...

It is better to have the party sponsor and support candidates who will hold the Democratic base, then expand it by drawing from the huge portion of potential voters who don't bother. How?

Medicare for All

Strengthen and expand Social Security.

Living Wage

Legalize marijuana

etc.


Yes, you'll lose a few conservative Dems, but you'll gain 100 currently disaffected citizens for every one.

[totodeinhere]

83. Those are great goals but we have to get total control of Congress first including a filibuster

proof majority in the Senate. (Or do away with the filibuster altogether.) You know that there is a snowball's chance in hell that SS will be strengthened or that Medicare for All will pass as long as the Tea Party controls the House. And with the gerrymandered House do you really think that we can take control without running some more conservative Dems in red sates?

Perhaps as a long term goal your plan might work. We need to take some governorships and state legislatures leading up to the 2020 census. But I'm not sure if we have that long. If we can't get control of Congress soon then things might very well go from bad to worse.

[Scuba]

84. We won't get the things I described by electing a bunch of DINOs.

We can win elections by running candidates that support the things I described.

[totodeinhere]

89. Not in some red states. Look at Utah for instance. In the last election, Jim

Matheson, one of the most conservative Democrats in the House representing a very conservative district, the 4th District, barely survived a challenge from a Tea Party candidate. Do you really think that someone running to his left would have had a chance in that district? I don't. Yet we need votes from members like him if we are to take back the House. Do you understand how conservative some of those gerrymandered districts are? Medicare for All would not fly there. And with the gutting of the Voting Rights Act it's going to get worse, not better.

Howard Dean's 50 state strategy worked. It was that strategy, recruiting more conservative candidates to run in red states, that enabled us to take control of the House in 2006.

[mountain grammy]

49. Yes, it's Republican state governors and state legislatures drawing the district maps

and gerrymandering the hell out of everything. Now, with the VRA seriously compromised, they have even more power. These are the elections that need our attention. School boards too.

[MineralMan]

52. Every legislative or executive election is crucial.

Depending on the state, the makeup of the legislature and the governor's office can affect things for decades down the road. Even two years of a Republican-controlled state legislature can cause great changes. Here in MN, the Republicans got majorities in both legislative houses in 2010. They immediately attempted to push through constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage and instituting photo ID requirements for voting. Fortunately, both required a vote by voters. In 2012, both failed and we elected Democratic majorities in both houses. Now we have marriage equality.

We are lucky in MN. Our district boundaries are set after the census by our Supreme court, with input from both parties. They have resisted gerrymandering strongly and our boundaries are pretty much OK.

But, no matter what happens, constant vigilance and activism is required to keep control of legislatures.

[sabrina 1]

17. I don't know what we DUers, who have been among the most activist campaigners

since its inception would do without your sage advice as to what needs to be done and when the next elections are coming up.

But here's some info you might not have, things are going to be way different in the next elections among Liberal Democrats. As 'rumor' has it among those in the know.

We'll return the favor and keep you posted also.

One of the main concerns eg, which I'm sure you know and agree with as a Progressive Democrat, are the infiltrators into our party who have undermined it and rather than forming their own Third Party, have chosen to latch on to ours. Some are quite prominent, but as you know, just placing a 'D' behind one's name no longer has the same impact as it once did.

So a hint of things to come would be 'No More Third Way' (third party really) support and no amount of propaganda or promises is likely to change that this time.

[MineralMan]

21. OK. I'm not sure what that has to do with

what I posted, though. In every congressional district and in districts for state legislators all across the country, the same people who have always been active in their local campaigns will be active again. They will be out trying to get voters to the polls. Prior to that, in the period leading up to the primaries, decisions will be made about primary candidates. That's going on right now where I am.

Now, there may well be people who push for certain candidates in certain districts who may be unlikely winners, based on the voting preferences of the local voters. We have had people like that in my own district, too. In Minnesota, we use a caucus system to determine which candidates are supported by the DFL party. We also have primary elections. Both are important.

In one State Senate race in 2012, the one in my district, the district convention did not endorse any candidate for that race. The reason was that the incumbent was not sufficiently progressive and the two challengers were not well known. So no endorsement was made. At the convention, I caucused for one of the other two candidates, a Hmong immigrant, who convinced me, in several conversations, that he was the most progressive of the declared candidates.

What happened next was something of a surprise. Failing to get the DFL party endorsement, the incumbent dropped out of the race. Through hard work, including door-to-door campaigning throughout the district, we managed to get the candidate I supported through the primary as the winner. He won the general election, too, also due to a strong, grassroots campaign.

My regular habit is to caucus for the most progressive candidate in my districts, at the precinct caucus and district convention levels. Most of the time, someone else gets the endorsement. In this case, however, we got the progressive candidate elected, rather than a more centrist, but well-known and recognized candidate.

So, what you say may well be true, but it will be the people in each district who will decide, and those decisions will be, in part, influenced by the work done by individuals within the district during the campaigns.

We got rid of a centrist in my State Senate district. He sided with Republicans on some labor issues, and he's no longer our State Senator. So, yes, I do understand how that all works, thanks.

[Jim Lane]

92. You're wrong. 2014 is not the upcoming election.

There are some elections this year.

If you don't like Chris Christie, you might check out his opponent, State Senator Barbara Buono. Her campaign website describes her as "a progressive champion for EVERY New Jerseyan." I'd find it refreshing enough just to have a candidate who thinks that being progressive is something to boast about, but Buono also has the record to back it up.

Of course, she's way behind Christie in fundraising. Anyone who's thinking about possible tickets for 2016 might usefully take a moment out to send Buono a little help.

The other major offices at stake are Governor of Virginia, Mayor of New York City, and (in the special election in October) U.S. Senator from New Jersey. There may also be other special elections, if a Democrat or a Republican is caught taking bribes, or if a Democrat is caught committing adultery.

[Scuba]

10. I could vote for Sherrod Brown without holding my nose.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. I could too, my dear Scuba!

He is a smart man, and a liberal.

[Scuba]

14. The blogging tourist. Go visit with some locals!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

18. Well, I'm at 36, 000 feet......how do I do that???

[madinmaryland]

20. Wow! Posting on DU at 36,000 ft!! Does that make you a member of something

like the mile-high club!!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

24. My dear madinmaryland!

Nah, it doesn't make me anything but someone coming home, silly!

A lot of airlines have wi-fi these days and it really helps the time pass...

[Scuba]

22. Vacation over? Aw. Safe travels.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

26. The official part of the vacation is over, yes...

We're heading home now.

I am more than ready!

Catching a cold on a trip is no fun, not one bit. I want my bed!

[HappyMe]

19. I would vote for him.

We need to gotv for 2014 first.

[AtomicKitten]

53. Agreed.

on both counts

[HappyMe]

57. In reading the thread through,

it seems that a few people that are in the know don't think it's true.

I hate the thought of being steam-rolled into having to vote for Hillary. She hasn't said that she is going to run, but it appears to be a forgone conclusion here. If she does run, I hope somebody steps up to primary her.

[AtomicKitten]

58. Your observation is valid.

It's quickly becoming a redux of the inevitability meme we saw in 2008. Things like the Clintons' embrace of Keystone ---> http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023022353 make me long for a primary election with viable candidates. We really need a choice, not a coronation.

You're also right that we must fight tooth and nail to GOTV in 2014 or nothing but bad stuff will get done.

[Historic NY]

82. In addition to fighting voter supression..

by the GOP overlords....they only need to knock out a few percentage points in critical states to win....ala Florida etc.

[Laelth]

23. Glad to hear it. k&r n/t

-Laelth

[ChoppinBroccoli]

25. Sherrod Brown Is MY Senator

And I love that guy so much, I'd work for his campaign. I don't know if he has a shot against Hillary, but I didn't think Obama had a shot at beating Hillary either. I'm telling you, though, Sherrod Brown would make a GREAT President. He's a Democrat who actually FIGHTS!

[gopiscrap]

27. Anything can happen between now and 2016

[AnnieK401]

29. Glad to hear it!

[brooklynite]

33. Can you offer any background to the source of the rumor?

...because MY sources (including Sherrod) have never mentioned it, and I saw no signs of interest in Charlotte.

[Proud Public Servant]

38. A bit

The immediate source is my daughter, who works with a bunch of folks very closely tied in to teh higher levels of national Dem politics; forgive me for being cagey, but I want to protect her anonymity. And of course, like any rumor, it could turn out to be nonsense; but Serious Players are apparently repeating it as if it has some substance.

[brooklynite]

63. Well, as I said, I have perdiodic contact with Sherrod...

...and with HIS daughter. I've heard nothing, and I'm the sort of person that prospective candidates tend to reach out to when they're musing about options (the Clinton people have already reached out, and I had a private chat with Brian Schweitzer in Charlotte.

At that being said, I would strongly doubt that he would run against Hillary if she chooses to get in. As much as progressives may dream of a "real Democrat" for them to support, Sherrod is smart enough to recognize that a Hillary Clinton campaign will such virtually all the oxygen (and the MONEY) out of the Primary process.

[Proud Public Servant]

86. Interesting

You certainly seem to have an inside line; thanks for sharing it!

[DainBramaged]

34. People. people also say unnamed sources are BULLSHIT

That's what this 'people' says.

[meegbear]

36. I'd call HorseHockey on something like this, but since they're rumors, they MUST be true

God Bless The Internet

[EdwardSmith74]

39. I'm counting on Al Franken and/or Alan Grayson to step up to the plate.

[WovenGems]

41. 2 years

Give it a little time and the brightest one in the senate will change her mind and run. Now who would that be?

[razorman]

43. This could also be true in order to make it look like Hillary actually had to fight

for the nomination.

[bravenak]

44. Yay!

I like this. Maybe he'll pull her my direction.

[djean111]

45. I did not know that speculating on 2016 automatically means I am not interested in 2014.

And here I thought multitasking was a GOOD thing.
For 2014 - I am hoping that no one currently in office proposes any very bad trade deals or cuts to social programs - which would give the GOP plenty of ammunition.

[DCBob]

47. Sherrod is great. Quite a contrast from Hillary.

He could give her a run.

[Gman]

48. He'd be a good candidate but

And I'd be surprised if he did it, so long as he doesn't turn it into 1980.

[FreeBC]

50. I'm voting for Elizabeth Warren

I hope I don't have to write it in, but I'm voting for her whether she runs or not.

I'm done voting for corporate democrats and blue dogs. The lesser of two evils is still evil and I will no longer endorse it.

[cascadiance]

56. I agree... Warren is my favorite... Here's my list of who I'd like to see consider running...

Elizabeth Warren
Russ Feingold
Jeff Merkley
Tom Harkin
Alan Grayson
Pete DeFazio
Bernie Sanders (though he probably won't run, especially as a Democrat that he'd need to run as)
Howard Dean

I think I'd consider Sherod Brown on this list. He's doing some good things, though I want to see more.

[polichick]

51. Well, that would be fun!

[Deep13]

54. Sherrod told me in '06 that he promised his wife he would never run for POTUS. nt

[LiberalAndProud]

55. That would be a good thing. Sherrod Brown is certainly one of the good guys.

As a bonus, if he were to win, he'd be the second black president

according to Rush Limbaugh and fans.





(Just to clarify, I know that Sherrod Brown is not black.)

[JEFF9K]

62. wing of party

Sherrod Brown, like Dennis Kucinich, represents the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. Fortunately, the democracy-undermining GOP isn't able to gerrymander him out of office, like they did with Dennis.

[Larkspur]

65. Assuming Hillary wins the Dem Prez nomination, Sherrod Brown on the ticket could

ensure carrying Ohio. He did win reelection in a statewide office.

However, that means we could lose a senate seat. Not sure of the depth of Dems in Ohio who could fill that seat.

[rhett o rick]

69. The corporatists would never put Brown on the ticket with Ms. Clinton. nm

[cascadiance]

73. I think we need to avoid "assuming" that Hillary wins the nomination at this point...

Many were assuming she'd win when Obama won too.

And if we really want some progressive change, it will NOT happen with someone who's family basically created the corporatist and Koch funded DLC cancerous tumor in the Democratic Party. We need someone else. Don't let others get away with "assuming" that she's won already. That is what Korporate Amerika wants us to "accept"...

[rhett o rick]

70. The rumor I am starting, er I mean have heard from incredible sources is the Chris Christie is switc

switching parties and will run with Ms. Clinton. Win-win.

[joshcryer]

71. Other than co-sponsering PIPA I could see getting behind him.

His record is pretty good except for PIPA as far as I can see.

[ananda]

80. That would be OK.

I would vote for him.

Of course, I would never vote Reep or Libertarian!

[liberal_at_heart]

85. I hope this rumor is true. 2016 is a long way away, but this would be welcome news.

[LongTomH]

87. We need Sherrod, or another good progressive running, even if they have little chance at the........

......nomination. We need someone to articulate progressive issues and values in the primaries and the debates. I doubt that the media will allow much of what any progressive says to leak through the media; but, a liberal candidate could talk to crowds directly, and there will be a chance to get a word in edgewise in the debates.

We need to get enough information through to voters to start them thinking: "Oh, that's what Democrats used to believe!"

And, I don't think there's a chance of Sherrod, or any other progressive getting the VP slot! The 'balance' that HRC will be looking for will be in terms of voting blocks; a young Hispanic would probably fill the bill.

[Waiting For Everyman]

88. I'd definitely support him.

And it wouldn't hurt that he's from Ohio. Go Sherrod!

If he'd pick Elizabeth Warren to VP with, it would be a dream slate.

[flamingdem]

91. I like it. VP makes sense

[burnodo]

93. why VP?

doesnt he have enough experience?

[flamingdem]

94. Assuming Hillary is the pick for President

Otherwise he'd be fine for me as Potus too.