Daily Democrat: A positive discussion about Dick Gephardt

In an effort to provide for some enlightening discussion, rather than partisan flaming, the administrators have decided to post regular threads about the candidates for the Democratic nomination which are reserved for positive discussion only. These threads will be called the "Daily Democrat".

Currently, we intend to post two Daily Democrat discussion threads per day. If a particular thread becomes too long, then the moderators will open additional threads as necessary. These discussion threads will be allowed to stay open until the next two Daily Democrat threads are opened at some point the following day.

THE RULES

The rules for these Daily Democrat candidate threads are as follows. (For the purposes of these rules, the candidate who is the subject of the thread is referred to as the "Daily Democrat".)

1. You are welcome to post anything positive about the Daily Democrat. You can explain why you support that person. You can dispel myths about that candidate. You can discuss that person's positions on various issues. Whatever.

2. You are allowed to favorably compare the Daily Democrat to other candidates, provided that you are not unnecessarily inflammatory or antagonistic to the other candidates.

3. You may not post attacks of any kind against the Daily Democrat. Furthermore, you cannot post criticism and try to pass it off as a compliment ("I enthusiastically support candidate X because he ruined his state's economy!")

4. You may not discuss the supporters of any candidate (that goes for the the Daily Democrat, or any other candidate).

5. Undecided voters are encouraged to ask questions about the Daily Democrat in order to better inform their choice. Note that criticism disguised as a question will not be allowed.

6. You may not start another discussion thread for the purposes of responding to comments made in the "Daily Democrat" thread. Sorry -- you just have to suck it up and let the positive discussion continue uninterrupted.

7. I will not babysit the Daily Democrat thread, because I believe it will not be necessary. It is the responsibility of every member to know and follow the rules. Deliberate disruption of the Daily Democrat thread, or efforts by opponents to influence the Daily Democrat thread, will result in the banning of the individual(s) responsible.

8. I reserve the right to change the rules as necessary to make this work.

TIMING

We will discuss two Daily Democrats per day, and cycle through the list of presidential candidates in modified alphabetical order.

12/04 - Wesley Clark ...... and ... Dennis Kucinich
12/05 - Howard Dean ....... and ... Joe Lieberman
12/06 - John Edwards ...... and ... Carol Moseley Braun
12/07 - Dick Gephardt ..... and ... Al Sharpton
12/08 - John Kerry ........ and ... Wesley Clark
12/09 - Dennis Kucinich ... and ... Howard Dean
12/10 - Joe Lieberman ..... and ... John Edwards
12/11 - Carol Moseley Braun and ... Dick Gephardt
12/12 - Al Sharpton ....... and ... John Kerry
12/13 - Wesley Clark ...... and ... Dennis Kucinich
12/14 - Etc...

LET'S GET STARTED

Here's your chance for some positive discussion of Dick Gephardt! Who wants to start it off?

It was Gephardt who led the fight, along with Dennis Kucinich, against the DLC - Clinton and Gore, and the neo-liberal "New Democarts".

Who else even has the guts to call for an International Living Wage?

and he also has a very strong grasp and understanding of the needs and problems of the "little guy", so to speak, and usually stands up for them against big business and corporations, etc., especially in regard to labor issues.

I got your little guy, right here!



:) :bounce:

Martin Hoke beat Mary Rose Oakar in 1994
Dennis beat Hoke in 1996 and started in 1997

Wasn't the NAFTA debate before that, in Clinton's first term. Who can ever forget the Gore vs. Perot debate.

http://www.dickgephardt2004.com/plugin/template/gephardt/103

I also like this part (speaking as a public employee in an agency that will have a majority of its workforce privatized.)

"Dick Gephardt opposed "waivers" that allow state and local governments to privatize of key services.

In 1999-2000, union members faced a threat from those who sought to "expedite" the process that allows states to get waivers to hire-out services. Gephardt opposed these reckless expedited waivers that allow state and local governments to privatize jobs.

Gephardt also supported "responsible contractor" reforms, to stop the awarding of government contracts to repeat violators of environmental rules and worker safety rules. The Republican majority actually stopped this measure in Congress. Gephardt fought to pass it."


Punctuation edit.

He has given the party so much of huimself and stands on such a positive record, I would be proud to vote for him for anything at any time.

Gephardt is one of the true greats in Democratic politics.

he believes in the party and in the country. He stands for the little guy all over the country. His support for labor is flawless.

I couldn't add more to that. Works hard for labor and unions.

He deserves much better than being labeled "Bushlite" because there is no truth to it. He's a good, hardworking man and earned his support from labor by fighting for them for decades.

I keep track of how the Congress and Senate vote on progressive issues at http://thomas.loc.gov/

Out of all the candidates running who have been in the House or Senate, Gephardt has the second most progressive voting record, with only Kucinich ahead of him. Talk is one thing but what it really comes down to is how they vote on important legislation, and Gephardt in that regard has a more liberal voting record than even Moseley-Braun and Kerry.

I'd love to see him on the VP ticket if he doesn't get the nomination.

would tie together all of a person's private pension plans "from the moment you're born to the moment you retire."

If, like me, you have more than one private pension account, you know it would be beneficial to combine them into one plan. A combined account would accrue a greater amount of interest and be more convenient to keep track of.

Gephardt also wants to intitiate improvements in wages in the U.S. and the rest of the world, to end the "race to the bottom" that "free trade" has set in motion.

"A Gephardt Administration will press the World Trade Organization to establish an international minimum wage (IMW). The goal of the IMW will be to equalize a "living wage" in each country to ensure the proper sustenance, health and welfare for that country's population. The IMW will vary based on a country's development level, and will seek to eliminate the proliferation of competition from slave, sweatshop and child labor around the world."

And as a first step, Gephardt would increase the U.S. minimum wage so that every worker earns an adequate income.

Dick Gephardt is a good Democrat who has had the courage to repeatedly refer to George W. Bush as a "miserable failure." (Type those two word in at Google.com and click on "I Feel Lucky" to see Gephardt's influence at work!)
(I doubt DG personally had anything to do with this beyond providing inspiration.)

He seems like a decent man.

:kick:

issues. He has been a staunch supporter of labor rights and even though he did NOT support NAFTA, he does support trade. Gephardt was very effective in standing up to the damage that both Reagan and Poppy COULD have done.

I think DU'ers have taken the meme "pink Tutu" and used it to disempower many of the champions of our party, when in fact many of them have led the good opposition fight for years. These are very tough times in which to govern, and when one has to make a choice being the minority party of addressing an issue at ALL or being labeled obstructionist, the job becomes much tougher.

The voice of reason and FAIRNESS above all else.

I haven't been able to contribute my questions in the Daily Dem threads yesterday or today (computer problems and too busy), but I am still interested in why folks support who they do. Having defended unions to Eldest Son (who got his union card in the mail today, but doesn't have a good grasp on the whys and wherefores), I appreciate a politician who stands up for the worker.