If there is room for a third candidate (and I think there is till Super Tuesday), then O’Malley is the guy.
Where is there room for him though? Back a long time ago he was considered the more-liberal alternative to Clinton. Now that’s clearly passed to Sanders, and he’s so firmly established there with both rhetoric and credentials that there’s really no space for someone else. That basically leaves him as being the candidate who’s not a socialist but who isn’t Hillary Clinton, which frankly isn’t very much of an opening.
I agree and disagree. I agree that there isn’t much room at all for Blue Dogs and I don’t think that’s actually what Josh was suggesting. I think he meant that Webb probably picked up a % or 2, or merely what’s left of the Blue Dogs. It won’t amount to anything more than a move from less than 1% to maybe 3% if he’s lucky. I think maybe he appeals to a certain segment of blue collar men who feel the party is too focused on women’s issues, who support gun rights, who aren’t comfortable with marriage equality and some of the party’s positions on social issues-basically, my eldest brother. It won’t do Webb any real good, except to move him to second to last place.
Sanders could have added the metric issue to things every “developed country” besides us does. It’s amazing how obstinate we are on that issue. In fact, it may be one of those issues that we draw our line in the sand and die over. How odd.
I’m with Davey on this one. O’Malley was good. Honestly, Sanders is only half a candidate. What good progressive couldn’t love his impassioned moral stands on just about everything? He’s marvelous! Unfortunately, he’s also 74. He has a bit of trouble hearing, sometimes he falters in his arguments unless they are his standbys. He’s 74. I love him to pieces, but I wouldn’t vote for him for president in 2016.
Seriously…granted it’s a poor campaign issue but someone needs to step up eventually. As a scientist I use metric all the time because it makes vastly more sense (if you have to do a calculation with different types of units, like volume and weight or length and area, it’s usually easier to convert the original English units into metric, do the calculation, and then convert back again for someone who needs them in English units than to actually do it all that way). But not being able to think in them intuitively is a major hindrance.
Josh is off his game about Webb, who was downright creepy.
Having said that, Webb is probably right about China, but China is a Republican campaign issue (xenophobia) rather than a Democratic issue. I mean, whomever is elected over the next 50 years is going to have to deal with China. So, whatev.
What it takes to make a good soldier is a lot different than what it takes to make a good president. We need both, but Webb needs to realize which one he’s good at and stick with that.
But I have heard constantly that we need more candidates, that we are all DOOMED if Hillary is the nominee, that Biden needs to get in the race…
So it sort of leaves me scratching my head as to why I am hearing (and not just from you) that no, there is only room for 2 candidates, and now we are all full up.
Only us, Liberia and Burma [=Myanmar]. The last announced plans in 2013 to begin the transition to metric in the near future. The obstinacy, I think is based partly on tradition and aversion to learning something new [because we’ve never done it that way before] and hubris. If we are an exceptional and indispensable nation, then it figures that so is our measurement system [which we inherited from Gt. Britain, which doesn’t use it anymore]. Thing is a lot of our commerce has already gone metric to compete in world markets. Even Detroit is using metric fasteners, along with some other parts in some cars and engine displacement is in liters.
I was surprised that Jim didn’t say that George W. Bush as the person who probably disliked him the most…REMEMBERA Jim worn his son’s combat boots everyday to work in Congress in PROTEST of THE IRAQ WAR. Remember he switched from being a Republican to a Democrat in PROTEST to THE IRAQ WAR. He should’ve been given more time at the debate to speak.
I don’t think picking up a point from his current zero matters. And I don’t think that will happen at all. He came across as aggressive and confrontational without much coherence. It was machismo, and it was, as someone else previously commented, creepy.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Democratic Response of Senator Jim Webb
To the President’s State of the Union Address
Good evening.
I’m Senator Jim Webb, from Virginia, where this year we will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown - an event that marked the first step in the long journey that has made us the greatest and most prosperous nation on earth.
It would not be possible in this short amount of time to actually rebut the President’s message, nor would it be useful. Let me simply say that we in the Democratic Party hope that this administration is serious about improving education and healthcare for all Americans, and addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans.
Further, this is the seventh time the President has mentioned energy independence in his state of the union message, but for the first time this exchange is taking place in a Congress led by the Democratic Party. We are looking for affirmative solutions that will strengthen our nation by freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil, and spurring a wave of entrepreneurial growth in the form of alternate energy programs. We look forward to working with the President and his party to bring about these changes.
There are two areas where our respective parties have largely stood in contradiction, and I want to take a few minutes to address them tonight. The first relates to how we see the health of our economy - how we measure it, and how we ensure that its benefits are properly shared among all Americans. The second regards our foreign policy - how we might bring the war in Iraq to a proper conclusion that will also allow us to continue to fight the war against international terrorism, and to address other strategic concerns that our country faces around the world.
(continued)
For me (also a Vietnam war vet), Webb’s comment proved one thing, even though he claims to be a Dem, he still thinks like a Republican; “Revenge, revenge, revenge, I got my revenge against that Commie!”
