Joan Walsh says Obama is the most progressive Democrat we can get elected.

[dkf]

Maybe we can get a more progressive nominee but that is about it.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Well, that settles it.

[sasha031]

2. they were referring to the left as crazy

I shut it off

[Cali_Democrat]

3. A Progressive Dem will never be elected President.

This country is too right-wing. The corporate media and the powers that be will never allow it.

Sure, they might win the primary, but they will be trounced in the general election.

So there are 3 choices for Dems

1) Vote for an electable politician like Barack Obama or Bill Clinton and live with the fact that they will not govern like progressives.

2) Vote for a politician like Dennis Kucinich in the primaries and watch him get trounced in the general election, handing the Republicans the presidency.

3) Vote 3rd party and hand the Republicans the presidency.


That's it.

[BluegrassDem]

8. ^^THIS

I couldn't have said it better myself.

[AndrewP]

9. Unfortunately, this is correct

[phleshdef]

16. Even if we elect St Dennis himself, he would end up governing less progressive...

...once the reality of Washington slapped him upside the face and he realizes he can either forge a legacy or be a do nothing President. The only way around that is if we somehow managed to get huge, filibuster proof majorities in both houses where we elected Democrats that are predominantly progressive. Our recent majorities were not that way.

[derby378]

17. You can concede defeat all you want...

...but since the fortunes of so many Americans (myself included) are still in the toilet, I'll got for #2 anyway because #1 has not worked out so well for us, has it?

[Cali_Democrat]

18. Well....

#1 - Centrist President along the lines of Obama and Clinton

#2 - Republican President

#3 - Republican President

[derby378]

19. You already said that

And I'm asserting that your outcome for #2 is still erroneous. If it wasn't, why would people like me even bother to get involved?

[Cali_Democrat]

20. The powers that be will never allow somebody like Kucinich to be elected

The powers that be and the corporate media will drown out his voice. Check out his last campaign in 2008.

How did he do? How did he poll? He was trounced even in the primaries. The general election would be a blood bath.

The corporate media and the right think Obama is a str8 up communist. What do you think they would think of somebody like Kucinich?

If somebody like Kucinich couldn't get elected after the rethugs gave us the worst president in our history, somebody like Kucinich will never be elected.

[derby378]

21. The corporate media only has as much power as you allow them

Same goes for every other American. That's why some of us are pushing to turn off FOX News when it's broadcast in restauruants and other public places.

[Cali_Democrat]

22. Faux News is the highest rated cable news channel

That should tell you something.

Americans eat that shit up. The rich and powerful are feeding the information and they are able to do so because of their deep pockets. That will never change.

After the Citizens United decision, it will only get worse.

[derby378]

24. "News" channel?

They're as much of a news channel as Bad Girls Club is a dissertation on sociology. It's propaganda, like a Soviet newspaper.

[Cali_Democrat]

25. Exactly

It's a propaganda tool, an effective propaganda tool.

[derby378]

26. I know...

It certainly doesn't hurt that George W. Bush's cousin worked for them in the 2000 Florida debacle. He was in a great position to tilt the case against Gore.

[xxqqqzme]

27. Perhaps you should stop listening to the

whorporate media. This country is NOT far right any more than it is far left. The whorporate media would like you to believe that crap and will continually tell you it is, but poll after poll shows people want good education for their kids, good jobs w/ reasonable benefits, provided healthcare, fair trade and a clean environment. Those are not far right issues. We are a progressive country (Do you think right wing conservatives wrote the Constitution?) We have been told decade after decade that we are conservative because that is to the benefit of the multinational corporations controlling the country. It simply is not true.

[Cali_Democrat]

28. Actually I don't watch cable news

Haven't watched for well over 1 year.

[martymar64]

32. Does that make you happy or proud of your country?

That we are so benighted as a nation that we only elect those that wish to do us harm?
And I include "Centrist" Dems in that category of those that will do us harm without skipping a beat.
Obama is Exhibit A.

[martymar64]

31. Then you acknowledge that we as a country are irreversibly fucked.

It just means that the USA will likely collapse and go the way of the Soviet Union before 2020.

[JamesA1102]

23. Dead on right! nt

[nckjm]

35. Well, so much for the audacity of hope...

[CakeGrrl]

4. This should not be shocking news to anyone paying attention to the general electorate.

[martymar64]

33. So you agree that the general electorate are morons?

[cottonseed]

5. That's about right.

At least the guy talked the game. I think he's a spot on representative for the Democratic party as a whole, so I just don't see the daddy worship with this guy. He is what he said he'd be.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. I put it somewhat differently some months ago.

Obama is the furthest-left President we are allowed to have.

The Establishment will kill the chances of anyone further left. Think Dean Scream, Swiftboats and, dipping a bit into history, the economic manipulations and October Surprise business in 1980.

[TwilightGardener]

7. Well, shucks, I know that.

[polichick]

10. But then she backtracked and said he doesn't really come out of the progressive wing. nt

[dkf]

13. Yeah he is another p word...pragmatist not progressive.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. Of course not

The Big Money Boys won't allow it. Not unless the American people wise up and learn to look past what's in the media machine.

[BeyondGeography]

12. Like any of these pundits could have envisioned him being elected in the first place

They know very little, even less about the future.

[polichick]

14. As much as I like Joan as a person, I agree with you. nt

[Hepburn]

15. Obama is a progressive?

Cudda fooled me...ummmmmm...

[MissDeeds]

29. Obama is the most progressive Dem we can get elected?

Bull sh!t. Pure and simple. Even using 'Obama' in the same sentence with 'progressive' is absurd. Walsh's statement is ludicrous.

:thumbsdown:

[martymar64]

30. Then turn out the lights, this country's done

This country will no longer be worth even fighting for.

[JVS]

34. Obama ran left of how he governs, so Joan is wrong.

[bvar22]

36. I agree with Joan.

America will never again have a "Democratic" president who represents the Working Class & The Poor.
Those days are OVER.
"They" WON!!!



Remember THIS "Democratic Party"?

"In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.

Among these are:

*The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

*The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

*The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

*The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

*The right of every family to a decent home;

*The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

*The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

*The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

Americas own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.

For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world."--FDR

Well, THAT "Democratic Party" is dead, dead, DEAD!
If YOU want Economic Justice in America,
don't ask the "New Democrat Party" for it.
They serve another master.

"By their works you will know them."

"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans. I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans, family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."---Paul Wellstone