Daily Democrat: A positive discussion of Al Sharpton

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.

12/13 - Wesley Clark ...... and ... Dennis Kucinich
12/14 - NO DAILY DEMOCRAT THREAD
12/15 - Howard Dean ....... and ... Joe Lieberman
12/16 - John Edwards ...... and ... Carol Moseley Braun
12/17 - Dick Gephardt ..... and ... Al Sharpton
12/18 - John Kerry ........ and ... Wesley Clark
12/19 - Dennis Kucinich ... and ... Howard Dean
12/20 - Joe Lieberman ..... and ... John Edwards
12/21 - Carol Moseley Braun and ... Dick Gephardt
12/22 - Al Sharpton ....... and ... John Kerry
12/23 - Wesley Clark ...... and ... Dennis Kucinich
12/24 - Etc...

LET'S GET STARTED

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

does so with dignity - even in the face of Heckling (recall the LaRouche hecklers at one of the debates.) He can hold his own when debating tv 'blowhards' (rabid rightwing talkingheads). And he has provided some of the snappiest, most humorous moments in some of the debates.

That the mind that resides within Rev. Sharpton is one of the quickest and most agile we have seen in any candidate in a long, long time. He has the rare luxury of knowing that his shot is a long one, hence, it frees him to get to the essence of certain issues and address that essence without ambiguity and massaging by focus groups.

There was a time when some candidates ran simply to effect policy and issues, a noble, noble endeavor. Sadly, it seems that this is not that time. Rev. Sharpton harkens back to that, and we are a better party for his involvement.

The attacks by the right, on The Good Reverend, are to be expected and should be given the credence they are due: none, at the best of times. It should be noted that, on the right, there is no major figure with the comparable grit, save perhaps Pat Buchanan, to speak up as honestly as Rev. Sharpton. That said, Mr. Buchanan tends to lapse back into groupspeak far too often, for my tastes, and that weakens his honesty.

He will NOT allow words to be put in his mouth by pundits, and will not be "talked over".


He stands his ground, he has good positions and he has my respect.

I have written before of his acid wit and how in a debate between him and Bush, America would have something hilarious to remember for many years. His performance in debates has been solid, and I'd like to see him get better recognition, especially since ABC has just pulled coverage of his campaign (along with CMB and DK).

He is so sharp, so quick, and so bright. I'd also love to see him rip the chimp to shreds...but doubt that Bushie would come with in miles of him. He'd get sick...a cramp...a trip to Iraq. Anything but a debate.

..."There are a whole lot of elephants walking around in donkey suits." (Or something like that)

he tells it like he sees it
his interview on the Daily Show was awesome
his support level has been stable, if not rising (hell, he outpolls Kerry in some national polls)
he'd energize the young vote - and honestly if he managed to be the dem nominee it might well go a long way to doing a lot more for the democratic base over the long term than ANYTHING Dean is doing.

:kick:

that most of the other candidates wouldn't dare say. And I respect him for not worrying about pissing anyone off.