Yikes! A liberal Democrat is running for president. Calls for Medicare for all, a new WPA, massive

[Karmadillo]

defense cuts, a moratorium on home foreclosures, and an end to Citizens United.

http://www.darcy2012.com/2011/10/10/darcy-on-the-issues/

Darcy On The Issues

<edit>

We need a President with some backbone, somebody who will fight for poor and working-class Americans.

As such, I’m advocating a capital levy on wealth, not unlike the proposals currently being debated in Germany and other European countries. Much of our current $15 trillion national debt should be recouped from the rich — the pampered and privileged class that hasn’t paid nearly its fair share in recent years.

I also support a second stimulus package — roughly five or six times the size of the Obama Administration’s relatively puny $447 billion “Son of Stimulus” — to jump-start the ailing U.S. economy; a Medicare-for-All health care plan; and a moratorium on home foreclosures (for primary residences only), not unlike that initiated by Minnesota’s radical Farmer-Labor Party during the Great Depression.

I’m also calling for a new Works Progress Administration (WPA), similar to the massive jobs program implemented by Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression to alleviate what Princeton University economist and former Federal Reserve vice chairman Alan Blinder has accurately described as a “national jobs emergency” — painfully evidenced by the fact that 25.8 million Americans are currently unemployed or underemployed. The new WPA, financed in part by retroactively rescinding the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, will employ millions of jobless Americans in rebuilding our nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

A Richardson Administration will also bring an immediate end to the war in Afghanistan while fighting for a drastic 33% to 50% reduction in military spending.

I will also put the full weight of the White House behind Sen. Bernie Sanders’ proposed constitutional amendment to overturn the narrow 5-to-4 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United vs. the Federal Elections Commission giving corporations the same First Amendment free-speech rights as individuals while recklessly allowing for unrestricted and undisclosed spending by corporations in U.S. elections.

A Richardson Presidency will also vigorously defend the environment, beginning with doing everything in its power to block the Keystone XL project.

“Hope and Change” turned out to be empty rhetoric, just more of the same.

Progressive Democrats shouldn’t be fooled again. America doesn’t need a fourth Bush term.

[surfdog]

1. As if

Any of that could get through Congress probably wouldn't even be brought up for a vote

[Karmadillo]

4. So we should just give up and not even promote policies offensive to the oligarchs? Good strategy.

[surfdog]

9. oh please

You look at the current gridlock we see today and you think the answer is to elect somebody that wants Medicare for all ?

[Karmadillo]

10. Yes. Obviously. The idea of leadership is to push towards where we need to be, not to bipartisan

the party into the arms of the corporate elite.

[SunsetDreams]

14. and you think a normally Third Party Richardson (Consumer Party)

and founder of the "New Democrats" all of a sudden had an epiphany and realized he was really a Liberal Democrat?

Please.

[Karmadillo]

23. More on the Consumer Party (a liberal party--thanks for strengthening Richardson's bona fides)

http://thirdpartydaily.blogspot.com/2010/10/exclusive-interview-with-darcy_11.html

Oct 11, 2010
Exclusive: Interview with Darcy Richardson,

<edit>

The following year, in 1980, I ran for Pennsylvania Auditor General on the Consumer Party ticket, an affiliate of the newly-formed Citizens Party. The Citizens Party nominated environmentalist Barry Commoner for President that year. I was 24 at the time. Prior to that I had volunteered in Eugene McCarthy's 1976 independent presidential campaign and had managed my father's unsuccessful bid for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant-governor of Pennsylvania in 1978.

The Consumer Party was founded by Max Weiner and a few other activists in 1967 as the political arm of the non-profit Consumer Education & Protective Association (CEPA), one of the country's first consumer protection organizations. A red-diaper baby and one of the nation's first consumer activists, Weiner founded CEPA a year earlier, shortly after Ralph Nader first burst onto the scene with his book, Unsafe at Any Speed.

For years, the raspy-voiced Weiner could be found shouting into his bullhorn on the east side of Philadelphia’s historic City Hall, railing for lower utility rates and mass transit fares and against shady business practices and political corruption. He was a folk hero to thousands of ordinary Philadelphians concerned with pocketbook issues.

http://www.ourcampaigns.com/PartyDetail.html?PartyID=195

The Citizens Party was formed on May 15, 1979 in Washington DC by Barry Commoner, who wanted to gather under one umbrella political organization all the enivronmentalist and liberal groups which were unsatisfied with President Carter’s moderate administration (Kruschke 45). The Citizens Party registered with the Federal Elections Commission at the end of 1979 (Havel 2:291).

Barry Commoner, a “professor of environmental science at Washington University in St. Louis,”(Kruschke 45) was the head of the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems in St. Louis (Schap 96) and editor of Science Illustrated magazine (Kruschke, p. 45).

The first Citizens Party National Convention met in Cleveland in the Cleveland Plaza Hotel on 4/10–13/1980. There were 260 delegates from 30 states present. (Havel 2:291) The “proposals presented at the convention reportedly numbered some 300 items, a list largely irreducible to a manageable platform. . . Units of the party organization on the state level thus became more or less responsible for delineating their own briefer versions of the list of goals” (Kruschke, p. 46). The Party nominated Barry Commoner for President and La Donna Harris (who was the wife of U.S. Senator Fred Harris OK) for Vice President. (Hauss 147) La Donna Harris was “a leading feminist and a Comanche Indian [who] labeled herself as ‘a woman of color.’” (Kruschke, p. 46)

Party Platform

The Citizens Party in 1980 advocated several liberal programs. Among them were: • Creating a new party which was not tied to the capitalist economic system. (Kruschke, p. 45) • Environmental protection (Hauss 147) • Passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (Hauss 147) • An increase in social spending (Hauss 147) • Reducing defense spending at least 30% (Schap 96) •Creating a nationalized health insurance (Schap 96) • Providing for government grants to discover energy sources in order to eliminate nuclear power (Schap 96) • Fostering “economic democracy” through nationalizing oil companies and railroads, granting employees greater management responsibilities in corporations, and providing for full employment. (Hauss 147, Schap 96)

more...

[SunsetDreams]

48. We don't promote Third Party candidates here

It doesn't strengthen his bonafides, it only shows his desperation, in claiming to be a Democrat so he can "run for President".

[Karmadillo]

63. It strengthens his credibility as a liberal and we should be glad a liberal is running for the

party's nomination.

[surfdog]

29. Thanks for the laugh

Implying that a little pushing is all we need to get single-payer passed is completely absurd

[Karmadillo]

30. Thanks for the laugh.

"Implying that a little pushing..." Shouldn't make things up.

[surfdog]

39. Even my dog understands

Why single-payer couldn't pass.

And it has nothing to do with the president not being liberal enough

Perhaps you have heard of Congress and maybe you haven't

[Karmadillo]

54. Even my dog understands

the only way we'll get Medicare for all is to fight for it. He further understands a liberal president will fight for Medicare for all while a bipartisan Republican-lite president will cave to the health insurance industry. Of course, my dog is from the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party, so he has a clearer view of things than your dog.

[uponit7771]

78. What do you people MEAN by "fight for it"!??!?! My God, do you want Obama to bust someone in the

...mouth literally?

Theatrics hasn't worked and wont work on people who have no empathy towards what you're working towards.

Thx in advance for any input

[renie408]

98. That whole 'nahney nahney boo boo' tone doesn't promote your argument.

You had to know you were going to hit a brick wall with this, you have been around long enough. The things people are saying aren't wrong. The reason we don't have single payer right now isn't because people didn't fight hard enough. It's because you can only fight so hard for so long before reality sets in.

I truly believe we will get there and you are right not to just quit with where we are on so many of these issues. But where you are wrong is in attacking other members of your own party for pointing out reasonable, logical obstacles.

[Karmadillo]

126. When did Obama fight for single payer? I forget.

[sendero]

160. You didn't forget..

... he didn't. The Great Compromiser gave up before the first round as he almost always does.

[leeroysphitz]

99. Right. Even a president who openly promised a public option and was ushered into

office with the largest popular mandate for change in decades didn't dare try for it.

[dionysus]

121. i can smell the flop sweat....

[Karmadillo]

125. Remove your nose from your underarm and the smell will diminish.

[stockholmer]

161. LOLOLOL

Darcy Richardson is a great protest vote in the primaries, and his programmes and ideology are what is truly needed for the nation. A shame that Obama is much closer to the Rethugs (in terms of actual results) at the end of the day than he is to Richardson.

Thanks for your postings.

[gratuitous]

21. That same thing was said against many Republican initiatives, too

But they kept at it and kept at it, from the days when their lunatic rantings were dismissed as pipe dreams, until they got the power of the Mighty Republican Wurlitzer behind it, aided and abetted by their think tank choruses. Soon enough, and disturbingly quickly, they began getting serious hearings and consideration for nutball ideas, and they succeeded in pushing some of it through, to the detriment of the country.

We may try and fail, but we will surely fail if we don't try.

[SunsetDreams]

49. Did Ralph Nader recruit him?

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader:_Obama_will_likely_face_challenge_in_Democratic_primaries

Consumer advocate and four-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader revealed Thursday to The Daily Caller that there is an "almost 100 percent" chance that U.S. President Barack Obama will face a primary challenge from a Democrat. Nader has led a campaign for the past few months to draft a progressive to run in the Democratic primaries, which are held to determine the party's presidential nominee. He insists that he will not be the candidate and has labeled a potential run for the presidency in 2012 as "unlikely".
Incumbent presidents usually do not receive any serious challenges from within their party, but it has happened in the past. Senator Ted Kennedy challenged Democratic President Jimmy Carter in 1980, and in 1992, paleoconservative commentator Pat Buchanan opposed Republican President George H. W. Bush. Though both incumbent presidents secured their respective parties' nominations, the opposing party defeated them in the general election.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. He sounds great.

He has never held elective office...

And he's running for President?

Not going to happen. He needs elective experience. He needs to run for the House or Senate, or Governor, or something, first.

He has time...

Thanks for the link!

[frazzled]

11. Well, he has TRIED running for office before

1980: Ran for Pennsylvania State auditor on Consumer Party ballot; came in 3rd place.

1988: Ran for US Senator from Pennsylvania on Consumer Party ballot; got 0.58 percent of the vote (a half of a percent).

2010: Ran for lieutenant governor of Florida with an independent gubernatorial candidate who promised to save Florida's economy by creating the State Bank of Florida (sort of like a Fed for the Sunshine State?) Got 0.14% of the vote with that idea (a tenth of a percent, sixth place)!


But he's on the primary ballot in five states this year! NH, MO, LA, OK, TX. So if you live there, knock yourselves out!

[RiffRandell]

17. Lol!

Love the last part!

[Karmadillo]

67. A good point,

but given the performance of our recent experienced presidents, I'd be willing to take a flyer on Richardson. My impression is he knows he's not going to win, but he does want to do what he can to push liberal ideas in an arena where they're pretty much being ignored. If you get a chance, read the interview I posted at post #52. He has some pretty good ideas and we'd be better off as a country if we embraced them instead of the corporate-approved agenda we seem stuck in.

[CakeGrrl]

3. Call me when explains how all that gets through Congress.

Remember that pesky Legislative Branch of the US Government?

Explain how this statement is more than just some pretty words tailor-made for the disgruntled Progressive crowd.

[sandyd921]

13. Maybe his primary run is less about getting elected

and getting things through congress and more about providing some opposition to the status quo that says that these things are impossible to achieve and leaves this country paralyzed and incapable of enacting the changes that are necessary if we're going to have any chance at all to keep this country from falling into the hopper? To me this is one more opportunity to make the chorus louder about the truth of what is necessary if we and future generations are ever going to have any chance at all at decent lives.

[NYC Liberal]

148. Anyone who runs in an election without intending to with is a fucking moron.

And someone who runs without intending to get anything done is even stupider.

I would never vote for someone like that.

"Maybe his primary run is less about getting elected and getting things through congress"

[treestar]

16. Maybe trying to get him elected to Congress

But not for the short cut takers! Just take the top! The bully pulpit is all powerful. A POTUS with backbone would just use the bully pulpit - demand Medicare for all or bust! The Republicans will get right in line!

That seems to be what they believe, at any rate. I keep telling them they can have President Kucinich himself - President Grayson himself - and within a month, it'll be "sellout!"

Always looking for a short cut rather than deal with campaigning for the pesky Congress and actually selling ideas to the voters.

[msongs]

26. when obama says "some pretty words tailor-made for the disgruntled Progessive crowd" you LIKE it nt

[CakeGrrl]

33. Hey, I thought you'd never talk to me!

But seriously, my point is that I want to understand the basis for this enthusiasm for Richardson when, in my opinion, President Obama has WANTED to accomplish similar things but has hit the wall of GOP obstruction (and has done damned well under the circumstances).

How will Richardson be more successful?

[girl gone mad]

115. There is no evidence to support the assertion that Obama wants to enact progressive legislation.

It was Obama's decision to pivot to deficit reduction in the midst of an ongoing unemployment crisis. It was his choice to impanel the deficit commission. It was his choice to re-appoint Bernanke and appoint a cadre of Wall Street cronies to his economic team. It was his choice to ignore Bush administration crimes. It was his choice to expand the drug war. Etc.

[stockholmer]

162. so so so true +10000

[Arkana]

129. Perhaps because President Obama's in a place to actually turn words into actions

unlike some former investment banker mounting a quixotic vanity campaign against the sitting President in his own party.

And you folks seem to only dislike those "pretty words" when they come out of Obama's mouth.

[tridim]

5. Another purist who can't remember what happened from 2000-2008.

Pass.

[surfdog]

15. Please stop already...

Implying that Darcy could get single-payer through Congress is totally absurd

Just please stop the spin already

[rgbecker]

6. Right Wing Shill to split the liberal vote?

[Robb]

65. Yep. It ain't free, getting on those ballots.

[young but wise]

75. Yep.

[Laelth]

7. I clicked the link.

I read what Mr. Richardson had to say, paying special attention to his critique of the Obama administration, and I am quite irritated to admit that I agree with him on a host of issues. The Obama administration, generally speaking, stinks if you're a liberal like me.

That said, I am suspicious of this candidacy, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it is funded by right-wingers as a means of siphoning votes away from Obama in the 2012 general election, but this just adds to my frustration. If Obama weren't so worried about "getting things done" just so that he can "look successful," if, instead, he actually stood on principle just 50% of the time, we wouldn't be having this discussion, and the President's base would be solid.

It's not, though, and that's because Obama has betrayed his base on far too many issues. A little less "pragmatism" an a little more "idealism" (i.e. standing on principle) would have served him better.

-Laelth

[karynnj]

24. Pragmatism - in terms of actually passing legislation - has a lot to be said for

It is abundantly clear that even in early 2009, almost none of this could have passed either House. I guess Obama could have pushed it and written a well regarded book on the proposals after he lost 2012, but it does not help solve serious problems when you propose ideas and criticize Obama for not doing things that pure and simple can not be done with our current government.

Do you think that Richardson has better insight for passage of Medicare for all than Bernie Sanders, who says it doesn'tr have more than 10 Senators?

[Laelth]

38. Well, when the budget needs to get passed, I agree with you.

In that case, some pragmatism is absolutely essential.

But when it comes t civil rights, transparency in government, who you appoint to cabinet positions, and what you push for in reforming health care, I think a lot more idealism would have been appropriate.

I do not buy the argument that Obama is some kind of closet liberal who has been stymied by evil Republicans. That argument is absurd on its face. Obama has made lots of conservative decisions without needing any conservative pressure.

More here, if you're interested:

http://laelth.blogspot.com/2010/12/kissing-butt-and-taking-names-obamas.html

-Laelth

[karynnj]

41. I'll give you cabinet posts (esp Treasury) and I think there is a lot that can be done within the

administration on transparency - and Obama has not been all that good on that. On civil rights, most things need to go through Congress and Obama has scored some important victories.

I never saw Obama as extremely liberal. In 2004, I thought he was more liberal than Hillary Clinton, but not that far apart. I thought he was closer to Kerry than Clinton on foreign policy, but that was my misconception - maybe because Kerry was his best foreign policy surrogate. In reality, I think the people who said there was little difference were correct.

What that means is that was no liberal choice in 2008 - Edwards was essentially a chameleon, whose Senate vote were similar to Evan Bayh's (to the right of Clinton's), his 2004 campaign well to the right of (Kerry, Dean, and Clark), in 2008, he obviously thought the only opening was on the left as Clinton was right enough to claim the center and the right and she could be thought to get some of the left. His 2008 platform had more in common with the 2004 Kerry platform than his own 2004 platform.

[Arkana]

130. Every landmark piece of legislation in the last 100 years was passed

because the President in power was a pragmatist who made some deals with some pretty odious people.

If you honestly think Social Security and Medicare were all sunshine and roses then you clearly have read nothing about FDR or LBJ.

[ProSense]

8. OK

"Progressive Democrats shouldn’t be fooled again. America doesn’t need a fourth Bush term. "

...I'll take that advice.

Between 1989 and 1992, Richardson served as the National Chairman of the New Democrats, a liberal reformist group that included Eugene McCarthy and Gary Hart.[3][4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darcy_Richardson#Author_and_Activist

New Democrats
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Democrats

Lautenberg Introduces 21st Century WPA Job Creation Legislation
Job Creation Must be Top Priority for Economic Recovery

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced legislation to establish a national job creation program modeled after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s highly successful Works Progress Administration (WPA). Lautenberg’s bill would create a 21st century WPA to train and hire unemployed Americans to build infrastructure and enhance public safety throughout the country.

“Our economy will not recover and our nation will not move forward until we put jobs first. Establishing a 21st Century Works Progress Administration would immediately put Americans to work rebuilding our nation and strengthening our communities,” Lautenberg said. “Across the country, we continue to benefit from projects completed under President Roosevelt’s WPA, which employed more than three million Americans during a time of great need. A 21st Century WPA would tackle our nation’s job crisis head-on and accelerate our economic recovery.”

Lautenberg’s “21st Century WPA Act” would:

• award funding to economically-beneficial job creation project proposals;
  
  
• provide businesses unable to locate a worker with suitable skills with a WPA fellow, who would receive on-the-job training from the business and be paid by the WPA;
  
  
• provide funding to communities to improve public safety by hiring unemployed Americans as firefighters and police officers;
  
  
• be fully paid for through a surtax on income exceeding $1 million ($2 million for joint filers); and
  
  
• provide $250 billion for job creation over the next two years and reduce the deficit by approximately $133 billion over 10 years.

Projects awarded funding by the 21st Century WPA would have to generate a high number of jobs per dollar of total cost, contribute to economic growth after completion, and rapidly recruit needed workers from among the ranks of the unemployed. Examples of programs that could be funded by the WPA include residential and commercial building weatherization; transportation infrastructure repair and maintenance; school, library and firehouse construction; and National Park and trail maintenance. In order to be eligible to participate, an individual would have to be unemployed for at least 60 days.

U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jack Reed (D-RI) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) are original co-sponsors of the bill.

A copy of the legislation can be found here.

http://lautenberg.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=333977

What makes Darcy special? He's an unknown who was affiliated with the New Democrats and now he's saying anything to become a spoiler?

Darcy: "The new WPA, financed in part by retroactively rescinding the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, will employ millions of jobless Americans in rebuilding our nation’s crumbling infrastructure."

Yeah, sounds good. Who is going to end the Bush tax cuts and make them retroactive, and to when 2001?

[karynnj]

22. Not the New Democrats! Isn't that the DLC!!!! Yet he is the new hero of the far right

He was not just affiliated, he was the CHAIRMAN. (Gee - I remember hundreds of posts condemning Senator Kerry, who was clearly the outlier among the New Democrats in terms of votes, whose connection stemmed from the same time period - and was completely over after 2004 - and possibly before.)

Great find Prosense. His statement is filled with things that would be DOA in either the House or the Senate. People should look at the margin of victory on everything passed that Obama pushed. There were rarely more than a vote or two to spare in the Senate and not much more in the House. To me, this means that he likely got the most that could have been gotten - and it was a lot - enough to make the RW nearly lose the small remaini9ng part of sanity they had.

[LiberalAndProud]

12. Is he on the primary ballot in Virgina?

I didn't think so.

Lots of hot air but no gondola.

[fredamae]

18. How will this person accomplish this? Obama

Did Ask For A Much Larger Stimulus and the filibustering Senate/House gave him what we have.
Record numbers of filibusters in the Senate and a "crazy thinking" RW/TP runs the house.

I would like to see any and all candidates outline their plans, process & cite the precise authority they would use to make these promises actually happen.

We are well aware of what is wrong and we need to do to fix it. How will this person over-ride the crazies?

[karynnj]

19. He will get that through a narrowly divided Senate how? Then through a narrowly divided House?

Remember that Bernie Sanders said that there were no more than 10 Senators for single payer - and that was pre-2010 election, where at least one - Dodd - left. Ending Citizens United likely requires a constitutional amendment - that means that it must be passed by 2/3rds of both Houses and then ratified by 3/4ths of the states.

With his last sentence - he gets the dubious distinction of being 2012's Ralph Nader!

[chrisa]

20. Bit late, isn't he?

Maybe he should try in 2016 where the Repubs put try to force the other idiot Bush on us.

[Stinky The Clown]

25. When something sounds too good to be true . . . . . .

. . . . it often is.

Who is funding him?

[TBF]

46. Maybe using his book royalties -

looks like he's written a bunch: http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=24890

But this guy has never held any office ...

[msongs]

27. leadership is setting the goal high and working towards it, not surrendering before the negotiations

begin. Medicare for all is a great concept to espouse and might likely get a lot of support. It is certainly a better PR choice than 'whatever my bipartisan friends will permit us to have if we just give in enough"

[txlibdem]

84. Finally! Someone with fire in their eyes. These other posters are already defeated by pukes

"Oh, we just can't because the Pukes might yell at us" "That's not possible because we might have to do some arm twisting" "Waaaa, I want my mommy"

Grow a pair and get behind the candidate that is going to win back the House for us, the candidate that isn't already tainted by extending the Bush Tax Cuts for the rich for 2 years just to get another few months of unemployment, isn't the Capitulator In Chief, isn't going to bend over for the Pukes without a bloody fight, isn't going to drop ANY progressive legislative measure BEFORE DEBATE HAS EVEN BEGUN (ahem, single payer).

In the end we all know that we are going to vote for Obama but our sitting President needs a good swift kick in the ass to get his priorities straight. And OWS and OccupyTogether and movements like them will be behind the Progressive and fired up winner of the Democratic Primary. We'll have marches and campouts by the millions all across the nation, Mic Checking the idiots till they shut up and Mic Checking the Democrats till they grow a pair and get out in front of the wave of voters who want ACTION, not excuses.

[SammyWinstonJack]

89. This^

[stevenleser]

103. So why haven't you and people like you been successful? If you think you have all the answers

why arent people like you parading all your elected officials and their successful slate of legislative accomplishments in front of the rest of us?

When you figure out the answer to that, you will know why you are wrong.

[Arkana]

131. Oh please.

Stop whinging about "growing a pair" and "using the bully pulpit". It makes you look naive.

Getting legislation passed is a dirty process and a good compromise is supposed to leave everyone unsatisfied. You don't get to govern as an ideologue, no matter how much you wish it were so. FDR and LBJ were responsible for Social Security and Medicare--and if you had any clue about the deals they had to make to get them you'd throw up on your shoes.

[boxman15]

28. How would a Richardson presidency be any different?

Especially with a Tea Party/Republican House and a Senate filled with DINOs?

This is absolutely absurd. I'm sick of purists ignoring reality.

[grantcart]

31. Yikes the monthly thread supporting a 10 year Merrill Lynch stockbroker

that perrenially supports third party moves against the Democratic Party!

How many more of these threads do we have to have before this charlatan is known to all DUers?

[dionysus]

122. hypocrisy knows no bounds when you're trying to defeat a democratic president.. but it sure is

dsperate and yet, hillarious at the same time...

[Freddie Stubbs]

32. So, this clown has finally realized that you can't accomplish anything positive by running as a

third party candidate. He should be congratulated.

But shouldn't he perhaps be running for something that better matches his qualifications, considering that he has never held public office before?

[FSogol]

34. Why not wish for "Free Waffles" and "Talking Llamas?"

[stevenleser]

105. What's wrong with Free Waffles?

[nobodyspecial]

35. And when he doesn't accomplish any of these

because the president can't make any of this happen without congress, we can call him a traitor and failure.

[bvar22]

36. At THIS point, I don't care WHO is putting these ISSUES & Policies in the national spotlight.

SOMEBODY needs to be out front putting this stuff before the public.

If left alone, the Republicans and "Centrist" Democratic Party leadership will IGNORE this stuff,
because they essentially agree with each other on Economic Issues.
They will try to frame the BATTLE between the parties over whether we should raise the top bracket from 35.5% to 39%.

I WILL support each and every issue brought up in this platform.
THIS is what a Populist Movement should be demanding from our politicians,
and forcing them to answer for their policy choices.



You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
[font size=5 color=green][center]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

[sandyd921]

37. Couldn't agree more!

You said it well. Thanks.

[mvd]

47. Right. I'm not saying everything can get through, but..

it's nice to see someone fighting for these issues and aiming high. Then, if you have to compromise, you could get a better deal.

[xiamiam]

70. agree with you. I'm a left leaning democrat. Obama is not.

Nothing has happened during this first term which makes me feel represented by this administration. Seriously disappointed and unafraid to say it. Its not going to get better. Obama is owned by wall street and the mic..thats enough for me. Expect never ending war and rich than rich banksters getting richer if you continue with the status quo.

[woo me with science]

88. Absolutely. nt

[dionysus]

123. yes, mr merril lynch.. take off the blinders.

[dmallind]

40. A perfect opportunity to see how well these stances sell.

I'm far from the left edge of the party and other than perhaps the WPA (much harder to directly fund jobs when a much smaller percentage of them require very limited training as in those days) redux I could support all those ideas. I of course am far from confident they could be enacted, but one of Obama's mistakes IMO is starting negotiations where he should be ending them.

I certainly do disagree with the "fourth Bush term" insanity but I realize an unheard of candidate must initially get attention with wacky sayings like that.

So his ideas are pretty decent, even to a moderate Dem like me. How much will that count for in the primaries? If he can't get Dem activists to vote for him, what would his chances be in the general with Reps and Indies? Anybody willing to guess what his primary %age will be? 0.8 is mine - and if he stays in long enough I might very well vote for him myself. That doesn't mean I think he has a prayer however - in either primary or general.

[T S Justly]

42. K&R (nt)

[cthulu2016]

43. Is this a primary challenger or a general election candidate?

[AtomicKitten]

44. Darcy Richardson, former teabagger.

Darcy Richardson challenges Obama in Democratic presidential primary
October 27th, 2011 ·
link: http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2011/10/darcy-richardson-challenges-obama-in-democratic-presidential-primary/

At BostonTeaParty.US Darryl Perry notes:

// BTP member Darcy G Richardson (Darcy2012.com) has filed as a Democratic Party candidate for the New Hampshire primary. According to articles here and here Darcy will be seeking primary ballot access in more States aside from New Hampshire.

Darcy says, “I hope that my candidacy, as limited as it may turn out to be, might in some small measure restore a belief in American politics and American government, reinforcing the notion that real change can be achieved at the ballot box.”

As Chair of the BTP National Committee, I wish Darcy the best of luck in his campaign!

In Peace, Freedom, Love & Liberty,
Darryl W. Perry //

Wonkette on Boston Teabaggers:
http://wonkette.com/414814/boston-teabaggers-we-have-fascism-now-right

[Karmadillo]

50. Keep smearing. He's not a teabagger.

You were informed in a previous thread you were wrong, but I guess that's no reason you can't continue to mislead DUers. http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=24027

The Boston Tea Party is a political party (founded 2006) that predates the Teabagger movement (2009). They are not the same movement.

http://www.bostontea.us/program

Program of the Boston Tea Party
Adopted in Convention, May 27, 2010

1. End the Wars of Aggression: The U.S. should withdraw all forces from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, South Korea, Germany, Japan, and all other occupied nations.

2. End the Fed: The U.S. Congress should audit the Fed, allow for competition of currencies, repeal the income tax, abolish the IRS, and refuse any further 'bailouts' of corporations in any industry. Furthermore, all federal regulations covering every aspect of the private economy, including those individuals who seek self-employment, should be repealed across the board. All FICA and withholding taxes levied on employers and employees should be eliminated entirely.

3. End the War on Drugs: The federal government should repeal all laws against the use and trade of "controlled substances." The states and local communities should also permit people to freely choose what substances they wish to consume without government intervention.

4. End the Abuses of Liberty: Congress should repeal the Patriot Act, Military Commissions Act & FISA Acts and abolish the NSA, TSA, CIA and any other federal agency that infringes on individual rights. Congress should review and revoke the emergency powers granted to the President in response to the September 11th terrorist attacks. The U.S. should restore privacy by forbidding warrant-less wiretapping of phone and internet communication. The U.S. must restore habeas corpus, allowing all detainees, foreign and domestic, a speedy and public trial. No physical or environmental discomfort should be used to influence the interrogation of suspects for any crime. The U.S. government must respect the rights of all people, regardless of place of birth, status of citizenship, or suspicion of criminality.

5. End the Immigration Fiasco: Rather than suddenly decide to enforce long-ignored immigration laws, the U.S. should open the borders to trade and travel. We should loosen restrictions on citizens and visitors alike, allowing people of many backgrounds and cultures to coexist in a society of social and economic freedom and prosperity. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol agencies at all levels of government should be abolished and dismantled immediately.

[AtomicKitten]

57. Yes, he was.

Your "proof" comes from somebody also trying to pawn off Richardson as 'teh awesome.'

BostonTeaParty: http://patrickhenrypress.info/node/182787

Boston Teabaggers: We Have Fascism Now, Right? - 04/14/2010




// It’s the Boston Tea Party day in Boston, and everybody is breaking out with their finest signs and slogans. Our Boston Globe (?!) friend Garrett Quinn is out there taking pictures, including this one. How did we, as a nation led by a common African, go so quickly from Socialism ‘n Communism to, uh, Fascism? We blame the Internet, probably.
* Garrett Quinn/Boston Globe //

[Karmadillo]

62. I guess your smears are ATOMIC SMEARS!!!, but they're still smears. You & Newt seem to have a strong

dislike of liberals.

[AtomicKitten]

79. Clap harder.

Darcy Richardson: "My involvement with the Boston Tea Party — a freedom-oriented, limited government entity — was relatively short-lived."
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews_interviews_Darcy_Richardson,_Democratic_Party_presidential_challenger_to_Barack_Obama

DRichardson was also national chair of the New Democrats. He has been affiliated with the Justice Party and the Consumer Party. Having run repeatedly albeit unsuccessfully for various offices under various party affiliations over the years, DRichardson is a perennial third party candidate just looking for a way in.

[Karmadillo]

81. Smear more.

And if you weren't cherry picking quotes from that interview I've already posted, you'd be able to let DUers know the Boston Tea Party is not a teabagger party. As I noted earlier, the party predates the teabagger movement by three years. Not that the facts will keep you from smearing away. Maybe add developing a sense of shame to your New Year's resolutions?

Being associated with liberal third parties seems like a meritorious background for a Democratic candidate given the Republican lite ideas we're having crammed down our throat as the only way forward.

[AtomicKitten]

102. He joined the BTP of FL organized on 6-23-2008 right after Obama got the nomination.

Richardson was involved in a faction of the BTP organized in June 2008. This was not an innocuous faction of the teabaggers; it was in response to Obama's nomination. Here's an email he wrote corroborating that and seeking affiliation with the national Boston Tea Party.

edited for link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/btpnc/message/410 (scroll down 2nd email)

----- Original Message ----
From: Darcy G. Richardson <darcyrichardson aol.com>
To: btpnc-talkyahoogro ups.com
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 7:54:22 PM
Subject: Florida Requests Affiliation


The Boston Tea Party of Florida, organized on June 23, 2008, and

dedicated to keeping the flame of liberty alive in the Sunshine

State, hereby requests formal affiliation with the national Boston

Tea Party. We have adopted bylaws (subject to modification) for our

state organization and have elected the following officers:



State Chair:
John Wayne Smith of Leesburg, Florida


Treasurer:
Nicholas Galindo of Jacksonville, Florida


At-Large Member:
Charles Jay of Hollywood, Florida

We currently have nine active members and recently started a Yahoo!


Thank you for your kind consideration.


With best wishes,
Darcy G. Richardson

[stevenleser]

106. You keep saying that but Atomickitten has the links and facts backing him/her up.

It's not a smear when you have the candidate admitting he was a teabagger.

I expect to see Repukes trying their hand at revising history, ala Palin and Gingrich's campaign publicist. I dont expect to see that from Democrats.

Darcy was a teabagger. Deal with it and move on.

[Karmadillo]

109. Except she doesn't. Keep pretending if it makes you happy.

[stevenleser]

110. LOL

Darcy Richardson: "My involvement with the Boston Tea Party — a freedom-oriented, limited government entity — was relatively short-lived."
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews_interviews_Darcy_Richardson,_Democratic_Party_presidential_challenger_to_Barack_Obama

DRichardson was also national chair of the New Democrats. He has been affiliated with the Justice Party and the Consumer Party. Having run repeatedly albeit unsuccessfully for various offices under various party affiliations over the years, DRichardson is a perennial third party candidate just looking for a way in.

[Karmadillo]

117. Read the subthread (not that it will matter). Your 'point' has already been addressed.

[stevenleser]

137. Unless you are claiming some kind of demonic possession, he said it and is responsible for it. nt

[Karmadillo]

144. He said what he said, but that doesn't mean he said what you'd like him to have said.

[stevenleser]

152. That's what you are going with, eh? Good luck with that. nt

[BklnDem75]

116. Very interesting

Thanks for the info. Learn something new everyday.

[Number23]

151. And BOOOOM goes the dynamite

"My involvement with the Boston Tea Party — a freedom-oriented, limited government entity — was relatively short-lived."

ANYONE that refers to the Tea Party as a "freedom entity" is not an individual that I will take even the slightest bit seriously. Not that anyone else with any sense would either.

[stevenleser]

154. But OP is now saying, when he said what he said, it didnt really mean what it sounded like. LOL

Its real simple. I know that you know, that I know that you know that Darcy meant to say what we think he said. But Karmadillo knows, what he knows and Darcy knows what he meant to say.

In other words, I think Karm was Ralph Cramden in another life.

[dionysus]

124. you should stop, you're embarrassing yourself...

[Karmadillo]

128. as long as you're around, i'm not alone in doing so...

[Motown_Johnny]

45. and how will these things get passed in Congress?

We barely got that half assed watered down health care reform through and we can't even ger infrastructure spending passed.


It is all well and good to spout what we all want to see, but with no way to make them happen they are just a distraction.

[TheKentuckian]

56. You get them through by hammering the issues year after year and cycle after cycle

You must sell ideas and keep pushing them into the spotlight. You must stick to your guns no matter the whining from the beltway.

What do you guys think you have the support and then you can promote the policy???

Look at how the TeaPubliKlans have rolled, they push shit that is considered flat out crazy and just keep pushing until it is the beltway common wisdom.

Yes, we have to promote policy that has no chance of passing today so that it will be plausible in the future. If we are content to wait till we have the votes, they'll never, ever be there.

[woo me with science]

141. Of course this is true, and

the meme of helplessness is particularly galling on a political board where obviously people know better.

How utterly silly to argue that the national conversation and conditions must be exactly right for change before politicians can do anything. The role of a politician is to work on leading that national conversation and affecting conditions so that change *can* occur.

[fascisthunter]

112. and how will we change this country if people think this way?

[Occulus]

135. You redefine education, health care, and housing as national security issues

and refuse to sign a defense bill that does not fund them in full.

You frame it this way:

"Is a nation whose population lives on the streets secure? In what way? A population lacking adequate housing cannot be considered to be living in a secure nation. Does having an uneducated populace create a secure nation? Of course not. National security includes a population educated to a basic, general level, with an additional dour years of adult education free to those who wish to pursue it, and trade schools for those who do not...."

etc., & etc. Republicans have been doing exactly this sort of thing for decades with their pet projects.

Why can't we?

[woo me with science]

142. That whole negotiation was a scam from the outset.

The problem is not Republican obstructionism or a right-leaning country as much as it is collusion between corporatists in both parties. Out in the country, neither Republicans nor Democrats would have supported the corporate mandate we got. But they riled up one side with the promise of universal health coverage, and they riled up the other side with the fear of "government" health care, and they passed a "compromise" that was the greatest gift to corporations since Homeland Security.

They managed to MANDATE that every single American in this country buy an overpriced corporate product for their entire LIVES... An exercise in corporate power that nobody would have considered possible before this. And that was the goal all along.

[jefferson_dem]

51. Dismiss the former "New Democrat," teabagger, member of the "Consumer Party" and "Justice Party"...

An attention-whoring political gadfly...at best.

[Karmadillo]

52. Wikinews interviews Darcy Richardson, Democratic Party presidential challenger to Barack Obama

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews_interviews_Darcy_Richardson,_Democratic_Party_presidential_challenger_to_Barack_Obama?dpl_id=310400

<edit>

Policy

William S. Saturn If you had been elected president in 2008, what would you have done differently than Barack Obama?

Richardson: The fact that President Obama initially appointed Larry Summers as chairman of his White House Economic Council shortly after taking office, should have given everybody pause. Summers is probably more responsible for the country’s current economic mess than any other individual.

As President Clinton's Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to January 2001, Summers shaped and pushed the financial deregulation that unleashed the near-collapse of Wall Street in the autumn of 2008, particularly when he pushed through the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 during the final years of the Clinton Administration — legislation, as you know, that had prohibited banks from doing both commercial and investment banking.

An architect-turned-enabler of this never-ending economic crisis, Summers later supported the Commodity Futures Modernization Act that, unbelievably as it might seem, mandated that financial derivatives — including the reckless credit default swaps at the heart of the financial crisis — could be traded between financial institutions without any government oversight whatsoever.

It’s little wonder that Rolling Stone writer William Greider, in a marvelously detailed article in late 2008, pointed out that Obama’s choice of Summers and other key economic advisers, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, seemed designed to sustain the failed economic policies of the Bush presidency — an administration that never saw the financial crisis coming in the first place.

The Summers appointment told me that the President had no earthly clue how this devastating financial crisis happened or how to reverse it.

Things only got worse after that. President Obama failed to resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. He failed to include a public option in health care. He failed to assert his constitutional responsibility during the recent debt limit crisis. Unbelievably, he's failed to protect Social Security and Medicare. He extended the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. He failed to push for cap-and-trade. And he failed to close Gitmo. I could go on, but I think you get the point. If anybody deserves a serious intraparty challenge, it's the current occupant of the White House.

In retrospect, it's really incredible that a Democrat of national stature and credibility hasn't entered this race — at least as of now.

WSS: Do you believe Obama has done any good things as president?

Richardson: Nothing I could write a book about, unless it's a work of fiction. He's generally been disappointing, allowing the GOP to frame the debate on issue after issue. Who in their right mind wants the Republicans to dictate fiscal or economic policy in this country? The folks in the Occupy Wall Street movement have already figured that out. It's just a matter of the rest of the country coming to the same conclusion...

WSS: What necessary freedoms are currently lacking in American society?

Richardson: Since the beginning of the Bush Administration, most of our personal freedoms have been under constant attack — including freedom of assembly, as many in the Occupy movement can sadly testify.

WSS: Do you disagree with any parts of the current U.S. Constitution?

Richardson: Not really, but I'm not particularly crazy about the second amendment.

WSS: What are some of your policy proposals, and if elected, how would you implement these?

Richardson: First and foremost, I'm advocating a capital levy on wealth, not unlike the proposal currently being debated in Germany and other European countries. Much of our current $15 trillion national debt should be recouped from the rich — the pampered and privileged class that hasn't paid its fair share in recent years.

Though I'm still developing my platform, I also support a second stimulus package — roughly five or six times the size of Obama's meager $447 billion "Son of Stimulus" — to jump-start the U.S. economy; a Medicare-for-All health care plan; and a moratorium on home foreclosures (for primary residences only), not unlike that initiated by Minnesota's radical Farmer-Labor Party during the Great Depression.

I also want an immediate end to the war in Afghanistan and am strongly opposed to the Keystone XL pipeline. The American people are hurting, and they're hurting badly.

more...

[fascisthunter]

53. Thank you.... the conservatives can have their batshit party

and leave ours alone. We don't need them, they need us, hence the vitriol and personal insults being thrown by the most conservative posters on DU.

[Oldenuff]

55. Darcy smarcy...

Rocky Anderson is a better candidate...imo

I'll write him in if necessary....just say no to more right leaning Dems.

no more dinos.

[Bucky]

58. Damn, I was hoping for Jefferson D'Arcy

I'd vote for him.

[AtomicKitten]

59. Or this Darcy.

I probably wouldn't vote for him but I'd like to discuss it with him for about a week and a half.

[SidDithers]

60. ROFL!!...

comedy gold

Sid

[Scuba]

61. Half the posters on this thread don't care if we have a Republican President....

... since they're soundly convinced that the President has no power or authority, no influence, and certainly no ability to lead the public in demanding that Congress do the right thing.

If they're right, we might as well abandon President Obama and focus all our efforts and money on getting progressive Senators and Representatives.

[SammyWinstonJack]

90. Well, I don't expect that Obama will be any different

in a second term, so yes we should focus all our efforts and money on getting progressive Senators and Representatives elected.

I wonder then what the excuses will be for Obama?

[Robb]

64. I'll just leave this inconvenient image right here:

Courtesy OpenSecrets.org:


...In case you were wondering, H. Joel Deckard was Pat Buchanan's Reform Party's nominee for U.S. Senator in 2000.

Fuck this guy.

[babylonsister]

71. Very inconvenient; thanks for the info. nt

[Robb]

74. Buchanan/Nader 2012!!11elevens. (nt)

[emulatorloo]

111. You are just "smearing" him with your research and your damn facts

I hate when you tell the truth and give links to back it up.

[Robb]

132. Noticed I didn't get a scolding from the OP.

Nagging things, facts.

[Karmadillo]

134. Nice try, but speaking of facts, I addressed your sad mewling on this in another thread. Click

on the link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=102573

[emulatorloo]

136. You are twisting yourself into a pretzel

[Karmadillo]

143. You are twisting yourself into a pretzel

[emulatorloo]

145. Rational people would say otherwise

There's lots of solid evidence here that your dream candidate is not who he appears to be.

It is ok to admit you were mistaken. No one will think less of you.

[Karmadillo]

147. Group thinking again, emulatorloo? Bad habit. It's

OK to think for yourself. Some of your "rational people" will think less of you, but you'll get over it.

[emulatorloo]

156. You are in a hole. Stop digging. Your person is not who he presents himself to be

[Karmadillo]

157. Your person is not who he presents himself to be

[emulatorloo]

158. I didn't start a thread promoting a person. You did.

And your person is associated with Pat Buchanan's Reform Party.

Just admit you made a mistake and move on.

These constant attempts to justify your mistake and blame everyone else for your mistake are doing damage to your reputation.

Happy Valentines Day!

[Karmadillo]

159. Thank you for the holiday wishes and

the group think, the confirmation bias, and the projection.

[OregonBlue]

80. Just as we suspected, another right-wing shill hoping to siphon off votes. Thanks for the info.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

66. I like this guy!

[slay]

68. I will vote for any Dem to the left of Obama in the primaires

we need someone WAY more progressive than Obama and we all know it.

[Zorra]

69. I'll donate to his campaign and vote for him in the primary. He says he'll do the things

that I wanted Obama to do.

But Obama never even talked about any of these things, let alone try to accomplish any of them.

[mmonk]

72. Yes. Have been watching.

I'm glad he is making the effort to run. He brings new conversations rather than "deficit" reduction.

[lonestarnot]

73. Pipedream.

[Zorra]

76. Democratic Primary Calendar 2012 -

http://frontloading.blogspot.com/p/2012-presidential-primary-calendar.html

[MjolnirTime]

77. You're not going to take it well when Obama is reelected, are you?

[SidDithers]

82. Kick for Darcy's excellent NH results...nt

Sid

[Saving Hawaii]

83. Doesn't matter what they say, I ain't never gonna vote for the "Consumer Party".

I'm not a shopper, I work for a living.

Like most Americans.

[SidDithers]

85. Richardson was officially 14th in NH, with 264 votes...

Not exactly a stellar showing.

http://www.sos.nh.gov/presprim2012/DemSummaryPres.htm

Sid

[L0oniX]

86. Everyone here attacks him but no one is discussing what he suggests ....nice discussion board.

DU was supposed to be a place to discuss ideas.

[RC]

133. Nobody dares to...

This country is so far to the Right, real Liberal/Progressive ideas sound too crazy to contemplate.

[woo me with science]

138. The Third Way messaging problem again.

It is an impossible position to be in, to have to claim to support certain goals and values, while simultaneously needing to attack policy and candidates that actually represent them.

It can only result in lots of spitting, snarling, and rofl smilies to compensate for the utter lack of coherence.




The Democratic Party has been infiltrated (should have written, "purchased&quot
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=1660734

The Third Way Messaging Problem
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1717174

[NYC Liberal]

149. Proposals with no plans for getting them implemented are useless.

I would like to see how he intends to get these proposals through a Congress with one or possibly both houses controlled by Republicans and conserva-Dems.

And even with Democrats in control, how will he deal with the Republican obstruction? How will he get the conserva-Dems to support any of this?

[SidDithers]

87. The Darcy Richardson juggernaut keeps rolling...

http://www.sos.mo.gov/enrweb/statewideresults.asp?eid=336

A solid 5th place out of 5 with 892 votes. Randall Terry got twice as many votes.

Sid

[Tarheel_Dem]

96. Which begs the question...Is it "liberals" that Dems are opposed to, or is it just Darcy?

This "liberal" savior, that the party has obviously been clamoring for, lost to a Republican, in a Democratic primary? That speaks volumes. I'd be ashamed to show my face after this.

[AtomicKitten]

107. some guy named "uncomitted" came in second

Precincts Reporting 3134 of 3134
Obama, Barack ..... DEM ..... 64,405 ...... 88.3%
Terry, Randall ........DEM ....... 2,016 ...... 2.8%
Richardson, Darcy G. DEM ........ 892 ..... 1.2%
Wolfe, John ......... DEM ........ 1,022 ..... 1.4%
Uncommitted ....... DEM ....... 4,588 ..... 6.3%

[NYC Liberal]

150. Obviously, it's a conspiracy.

Obama snuck out to NH and changed all the votes.

Or something.

[boxman15]

91. The idea of pushing through all that with a Congress like this is absurd

I'd love Medicare for all and a new WPA, but it's not gonna happen unfortunately.

[RussBLib]

92. I'd love to see this guy in the Dem primaries

Speaking of which, have there even been any Democratic primaries? Having a real progressive in the race against Obama could help to pull Obama to the left. Darcy would have little chance of victory, but having a progressive voice in the race to the convention can only be good for the Dems, I think. What I would not want to see would be a third party progressive taking votes away from Obama.

[SidDithers]

95. He is running in the Democratic primaries...

He was 14th in New Hampshire.

He was 5th in Missouri, behind noted "Democrat" Randall Terry.

Sid

[grantcart]

100. Yeah but these are write in votes right?

If his name was actually on the ballot he would have gotten more votes than that, simply as a protest candidate.

[SidDithers]

101. Nope. His name was on the ballot...

http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2011/12/darcy-richardson-now-on-ballot-in-four-states/

Darcy Richardson, who has commented here at IPR for a long time and was once a contributor to IPR, is running a primary challenge in the Democratic Party against incumbent President Barack Obama. Mr. Richardson is now on the ballot in four states–Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri, and New Hampshire.

Sid

[woo me with science]

93. What a start it would be, even with a recalcitrant Congress.

Imagine having someone to veto indefinite detention...

choose someone other than banksters for Chief of Staff and other appointments
pressure for criminal prosecutions of bankers instead of for settlements
oppose ACTA and the internet ID
oppose surveillance drones over New York
oppose murderous drones everywhere
be "evolved" on marriage equality
have our military in fewer, rather than more, countries
oppose TSA groping and other Homeland Security excesses
speak out against brutalizing peaceful protesters
refrain from going to court to fight for warrantless GPS surveillance of Americans
stand up against the corporatization of our schools

...and perhaps to give soaring speeches about protecting our civil liberties, curtailing the MIC instead of expanding it, and protecting SS and Medicare instead of using them as bargaining chips to implement an austerity budget.

This is how change happens. Look at what merely having OWS out there to change the conversation has already accomplished in our political discourse; we are finally talking about the one percent. Imagine what could be accomplished with a President who consistently stood up for these things and was a vocal leader for change. Let's refrain from sending the defeatist message that it can't possibly happen.

[Tarheel_Dem]

97. !

[Leopolds Ghost]

146. What's the joke?

[Douglas Carpenter]

104. if he trounces Obama on Super Tuesday - hell, I'm in

[RBInMaine]

108. A purist who thinks the Presidency is the only branch of government. This person is off the planet.

[fascisthunter]

114. hahaha.... 15 years ago Dems actually were purists in your book

ridiculously simple-minded.

[spanone]

113. who? i'll bet the republican congress will certainly support this guy....i'm in

[blue neen]

118. It's election season. Barack Obama is our nominee.

What is the purpose of this post now?

[dionysus]

120. pure desperation....

[dionysus]

119. ROFL... more of this Darcy bullshit.mr merril lynch.... you guys are getting fuckiing DESPERATE....

[Arkana]

127. Darcy "Former Investment Banker" Richardson?

He managed to kill those windmills yet?

If Darcy can tell me how he gets all these grand plans through a divided Congress, I'll vote for him. Oh, and by the way: "USE DA BULLY PULPIT!" isn't a valid response.

[SidDithers]

139. Next up for Darcy, the Oklahoma Primary on March 6...

any predictions?

Sid

[Arkana]

140. Personally, I'm predicting he gets 100 gazillion percent of the vote.

That's how liberal Darcy Richardson is. He can break mathematical law.

[Zalatix]

153. Let him run in 2016!

[JNelson6563]

155. I see this has been kicked.

How's this fantasy working out for you? How many states did your powerful political machine of DU's "true liberals" get your candidate on the ballot? I know you all are in the trenches day in, day out over the decades. I have no doubt that all your real world politics friends and allies are out there making the magic happen!

Julie--who marvels that people seem to think pissing/moaning on the tubes wins elections

[SidDithers]

163. Richardson, a solid 4th in OK...

'course asshat Randall Terry was second, with almost 3 times as many votes.

Go Darcy!

Sid