Brief interruption

Go look at this. Now go give this person some money.

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8 Comments

  1. Posted 6/24/2003 at 7:23 pm | Permalink

    Do you think blogs will be an influential factor in this first major election where they are somewhat in the mainstream?

    It would be a pretty interesting study. Personally, I would be more open to going to a candidate’s website via a blog I read everyday versus a television commercial.

  2. Posted 6/24/2003 at 8:04 pm | Permalink

    Hands off! I claim le droit du professeur! :)

    Yes, there are a lot of folks saying that Dean will be the first Blog President. I think, in fact, that if any technology will get the spotlight, it’s his use of meet-up to encourage rallies, etc.. But I know more than a few researchers are watching very carefully how the online campaign shapes up.

  3. Posted 6/24/2003 at 8:59 pm | Permalink

    http://www.denniskucinich.us/
    I would have found the link quicker, but his last name is *tough* to spell – most candidates in recent memory have had names that are incredibly easy to spell and to remember (Bush, Gore, Clinton, and now Dean). Maybe there’s a correlation there? It may mean that Gephardt has no chance.

  4. Posted 6/24/2003 at 10:35 pm | Permalink

    Gephardt never had a chance, and yes, I have a feeling that if you did name-length over # of presidents, it would be shorter than average. If you did it over terms, I think a couple of prezs with names starting in R would skew things, but we can just call them outliers and drop them from the sample.

    Oh, and I meant *real* candidates. What’s Kucinich’s platform? Dissent. Now I’m all for dissent, mind you, but it’s not what a president does. “Speak truth to power” he says. But unless you plan on talking to yourself a lot, that’s not a great plan for a presidency.

    When I was interviewed by Bob Edwards on NPR, he asked me if I was running to win, or just to raise issues. I told him: by raising these issues, I’m going to win.

    In other words, throwing your hat in the ring gets you a sound bite now and again. More power to him. But we don’t need dissent right now, we need reform at the highest levels. A vote for Kooky K is a vote for Bush. Unfortunately, a vote for Nader is also a vote for Bush. I want a credible choice, and Dean–while imperfect–is the closest I’ve seen to that.

    The left has grown increasingly conservative, telling us what we don’t want. What happened to clear plans that would lead to real progress. I would vote for a candidate who would:

    * cut our defense budget by half.
    * require either military service or a sojourn at 18 (Peace Corps, etc.)
    * triple the “Death Tax”
    * strike two laws for every new one promulgated
    * create a national university
    * create a national gun license* Dismantled the DEA and licensed most illegal drugs
    * tax drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, according to their direct health costs for the nation
    * release all prisoners being held for drug offences, extend house arrest to all non-violent offenders, eliminate forced executions (but allow the choice)
    * legalize assisted suicide
    * create a national health care system that protects all children until the age of 18 and as many adults as possible after that age.
    * for those doctors working outside the health system, charge a 50% tax on all fees
    * declare amnesty for all current “illegal” aliens
    * proposed a law making the AMA responsible for deciding what good medical practice was and requiring states to offer good medical practice
    * put a national cap on consumer credit of 10%
    * attach a tax to gasoline that paid for a high-speed national rail system
    * illegalize the use of paramilitary force by the CIA and reassert the requirement of congressional approval for troop deployments.
    * require political advertising be allotted by petition, and provided for without cost by broadcasters
    * instate a “corporate death penalty” that would allow for corporate charters in states to be revoked if national law was violated
    * push for the legalization of school vouchers ONLY for use by schools that did not charge anything outside the voucher for tuition
    * reinstate the tax break for school loan interest.
    * create a Secretary of Privacy–a national ombudsman to act as a protector of our privacy rights
    * bring those privacy rights into line with current standards in the EU.
    * outlaw Cheez Wiz

  5. Posted 6/24/2003 at 11:30 pm | Permalink

    RIGHT ON alex. wow, does dean believe in the points you list? if so, i’m on board. or is it your list? which, naturally, you’ve got my vote!

  6. Posted 6/25/2003 at 1:16 am | Permalink

    Very nice list. Funny thing is I got a similar impression of Kucinich this morning while reading through the candidate statements at moveon.org. While I do dislike some of the more generic statements Dean made there I do like his take on issues like gun control. To this end I have also given him my personal endorsement.

  7. Alex
    Posted 6/25/2003 at 10:06 am | Permalink

    David: Were it only his platform! But in that case he would be even more unelectable than he is now. In fact, I like Dean because he is just on the edge of centrist Democrat, at least for today. That is, he is strongly anti-war, pro-liberties, and places national healthcare at the forefront. He isn’t an ideologue, and I don’t think he’d support most of the above, but he also isn’t a fascist, which is a key characteristic (not) to have in my book, these days.

    My platform is taken, almost verbatim in many cases, from the Revolutionary Party. I’d put their odds of seating a president fairly low :). I think they could take a card out of the Greens’ strategy and try for some local elections.

  8. Posted 6/26/2003 at 2:20 am | Permalink

    I also like Kucinich although I don’t think he has a shot. I am willing to support Dean but I am still waiting to see what the Green Party is doing. I hate supporting the lesser of two evils but I think that Dean is less evil enough for me to vote for in good conscience.

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