Here's a nice list of Democrats who would make good presidents

Folks, I'm sorry, but we can't run a Senator for president in 2008. No one, on either side of the aisle, has gone from the Senate to the White House since JFK beat Nixon in 1960. And if it wasn't for our good friend Max Factor, who made Kennedy look youthful and rested while Nixon looked tired and haggard*, we'd have to go back a long ways before him.

Senators have two problems: they have diverse records and they never work independently. By "diverse records," I mean that there is an office at Republican National Committee headquarters--the Democrats have one too--who is combing through every bill that went through Congress since any of the people who announced for president were first elected, looking for things to use against them in campaigns. Assume we've got a senator who's been in Congress 30 years. In his first term, he voted against a bill that contains a tax increase. In his third term, he voted for a bill that contains one. You know the attack ad already: "Joe Smith flip-flops on taxes." And the other charge is easy to understand too: you can't get a bill through Congress by yourself.

Here's what we know from examining the presidents since then, and in this case I'm going to exclude Ford. We've had seven presidents since Kennedy died: LBJ, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton and Bush 43.

LBJ, Nixon and Bush 41 were vice presidents before they were elected president.
The rest were all governors.

This means that if we expect to put a Democrat in the White House, it's gotta be a governor--both of our presidents after LBJ were governors.

Hence, go to http://www.democraticgovernors.org/governors and run down the list. The only one we CAN'T put up there is Jennifer Granholm, who was born in Canada. Let's throw out five names I like and see what you think, noting that in four cases I put down some alternate positions in an upcoming Democratic administration.

1.Deval Patrick. Governor of Massachusetts.
The Clinton-haters might like Governor Patrick because one of the things he did while working for the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund was to sue Governor Bill Clinton. The Clinton-haters would have a field day with him because, after Clinton was elected president, Deval Patrick eventually went to work for him. He'd be a good Attorney General.

2. Edward Rendell. Governor of Pennsylvania.
Governor Rendell is a bit troubling, actually. You know how Reagan's disciples fell in line with this "supply side economics" crap that says you can cut taxes and increase spending while not putting the government into hock? Well, Edward Rendell actually did it. This opens Pandora's Box just a touch--if Rendell could pull off supply-side in Pennsylvania, why can't he do it nationally? Well, probably because Rendell doesn't spend money like a shipload of drunken sailors, the way Reagan, Bush and The Bush We're Stuck With Now did. Unfortunately, his nickname might haunt us: when Edward Rendell was mayor of Philadelphia, they called him Fast Eddy Rendell. I like him as White House Chief of Staff. Maybe Secretary of the Treasury, if Brad Henry won't take it.

3. Brad Henry. Governor of Oklahoma.
The major thing this guy brings to the table is the proven ability to draw votes from Republican voters. He's also good at slashing deficits without fucking up vital services, and after Bush this is going to be a critical skill. Perhaps he'd be better as Secretary of the Treasury. He also has a public health record that's pretty good; perhaps Secretary of Health and Human Services would be a good fit, although I'd rather have someone with a Masters of Public Health degree in that slot.

4. Christine Gregoire. Governor of Washington.
Governor Gregoire, elected in 2004, demonstrates a proven willingness to fight like hell to get all the votes counted correctly. Otherwise we'd be looking at Governor Rossi out there. She is also a teacher, which is important here because one of the first things we've got to unfuck once Bush has been renditioned off to The Hague is America's education policy. I feel confident that if Christine Gregoire were running for president in 2000 and the Brooks Brothers Mafia would have tried to shut down the Florida recount, she'd have gone to the Dade County Courthouse with a shotgun. I'd use her as Secretary of Education.

5. Brian Schweitzer. Governor of Montana.
I'm gonna tell you right now: this is the guy. If we intend to put a Democrat in the White House in 2008, we need to quit fucking around with senators and go straight for the man who won election in a state that's full of Republicans. You know how politicians who want to be president always claim to know the Common Man? Brian Schweitzer is about as common as they get--we have never, ever had a president with a boiler operator's license. Schweitzer has one. He also holds a commercial pilot's certificate, a crop dusting license, and a master's degree in soil science. The man is a professional irrigation contractor and a professional farmer. He has steered national farm policy. He has installed irrigation systems on five continents. He knows what regular citizens need because he really is one.

* The 1960 presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy was broadcast both on television and radio. Kennedy did makeup before the debate, while Nixon refused. Kennedy looked better to the camera's eye, which helped steer undecided voters toward the Massachusetts Democrat. However, most of the people who monitored the debate on radio gave the nod to Nixon, who was more in command of the issues.

the Illinois governor whose name I can't pronounce much less spell? He's given health care to all Illinois children.

BTW, just FYI--both Johnson and Nixon were in Congress before they became VPs. Do you think that office insulated them from people going back and looking at their previous records? Just curious, because I frankly don't recall anyone doing that during their campaigns, with the possible exception of the 1960 campaign, when I was too young to understand about such issues.

He is already being investigated by Patrick Fitzgerald for corruption. Lots of dirt could be slung at him over that. By 2008, he could be under indictment.

If he were to try for the White House, he'd be dead in the water. Democrats as a whole are slowly learning from their defeat in 1994.

But there are some investigations swirling around his administration right now. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he was indicted down the road.

and good governor. A minority at that.

A governor, a former governor. You get the idea. It's all good.

states doing business with China. He understands the complexities of Asia. Smart guy.

I would LOVE to have an Arabic-speaking Secretary of Defense and a Secretary of Commerce who knew at least Chinese, and preferably several Asiatic languages--Vietnamese and Japanese would be good.

A Chinese-speaking president would be good too.

Very business savvy.

to the White House of late, but it is increasingly possible that both major parties will nominate a Senator each.

I'm thinking we're looking at breaking that model into little pieces in 2008, and that both the Democrats and the Republicans will nominate a Senator as their nominee.

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I would certainly prefer her judicial selections over any Republican I can think of.

I prefer other candidates to her in the caucus/primary season, though.

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Ever since Kennedy, a senator has NEVER been elected president straight out of the Senate.

You KNOW the Republicans are not going to run a senator. I'm sorry. They're just not. You're going to see either Goodhair Perry (governor of Texas), Mitch Daniels (governor of Indiana), Mark Sanford (governor of South Carolina) or Tim Pawlenty (governor of Minnesota) on the Republican ticket. The first one I'd drop is Perry because of his corruption issues. Mitch Daniels is my guess...he worked for Ronald Reagan, and to a lot of Repukes that means something. I was gonna put Dave Heineman (governor of Nebraska) on this list because he seems, at least superficially, to not need to go to jail this very instant...but then I noticed on the RGA's website that Heineman was an Army officer who attended Ranger School. He wouldn't survive five minutes at the national level of the GOP.

seeing him on a GOP national ticket anytime soon, if ever.

You have a point with Pawlenty's appeal, but can any GOp prez nom be elected by choosing a "moderate" veep candidate? The convention, even a Minneapolis convention, would balk, I think.

Governor Perry does have lovely hair, but he's more conservative than Sam Brownback.

Huckabee is the only likely candidate for the GOP who's a governor who stands a chance of being nominated.

And I think any of our blue folks would whomp him good in the general.

None of those candidates are running, several are in their first term, and many are unpopular. The GOP nominee will come from the current crop and, in line with historical precedent, it'll probably be whoever the establishment settles on early as the nominee.

is the "fuck 'em all, I'm not voting for any of those losers" non-vote, if you get them to show up for you you'll win, which is how we get stunt canidates like Ahhnuld and Jesse Ventura holding public office.) Social conservatives would hate him, but we're not getting their votes anyhow and the price for their loyalty (throwing women, gays and non-christians under the bus) isn't one we can even consider if we choose to be the party of ethical behavior.

Absent a presidential run, he'd make the greatest AG since RFK.

:thumbsup:

Imagine turning Spitzer loose on the Bush 43 criminals. Oh shit.

Governor of NY could be a stepping stone to the White House. Attorneys General usually get recognized when a controversial legal incident happens - Ashcroft & Gonzalez with torture & the Patriot Act... even Janet Reno with Waco & Ilian Gonzalez.

Mopping up after ShrubCo corruption wouldn't be a bad way to gain prominence on the national stage at all, but it's probably a small step down in his case. For a governor of a smaller state I'd call it a lateral move.

remembering that he's already got a governorship on his resume.

The man who cleaned up corruption in New York State, then threw all the Bush criminals in jail, would look pretty damn good in a presidential campaign. No one has ever sent a former president to jail before.

I also considered that he was Attorney General of New York State before he took the governor's mansion, so being AG isn't a problem for him.

An energy expert not addled by Big Oil, with international experiece (he even speaks Arabic), and a sucessful small-business owner/operator. Yeah, he works for me. Can we get him to run? I think he also hunts and fishes, which beats the hell out of "brush-clearin'" for experience with the environment and nature.

Tho' I left Oregon for Washington 14 years ago, he really impressed me as progressive, creative and honest. Oregonians loved him.

He won't even run for Senator. He does have this happening, though. http://www.archimedesmovement.org/

Haha, I had to read the bit about Max Factor a few times before I got it, and only THEN did I see your footnote. Anyhoo ---

Hum, didn't Deval Patrick JUST get elected in 06? I doubt he would want to run. As far as Gregoire, she only got elected in 04. Would SHE want to run? For that matter, do any of them seem to be interested in throwing their hat in the ring? :shrug: I'm just curious.

I totally agree with your point about Governors, but don't you think that in this time of war, people are also going to be interested in overseas / military / international experience? We have to get out of this mess somehow. I like Clark and also Gore for that reason.

Oh, and add to the list of possible Republican candidates running -- Rick Perry, governor of Texas, is rumored to be thinking about adding his name to the list. Your post made me think of him because he is, well, a governor. :)

Brian Schweitzer has done business--installing irrigation systems--on five continents. He WENT there to do this--none of this long-distance-management stuff for Brian Schweitzer.

You remember how Dubya liked to tell people that he was qualified to be president because, as a small business owner, he'd met a payroll? Well...what he wasn't telling you is that he also met corporate bankruptcy attorneys five times. Brian Schweitzer has met a payroll.

Now, the photo ops at factories and shit that presidential candidates like to do to prove they are in touch with the common man might be really entertaining in Schweitzer's case--he's actually been in a factory before.

And he'd win, too.

I believe we can all agree that Al Gore is the best environment guy we have.

He'd be an exceptional president, but as Secretary of Environmental Protection we could put him full-time on unfucking Bush's environmental disaster. That's really more important.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: The man is brilliant, but still has a wee problem with people seeing him as a geek. He would actually be hobbled by being in the Oval Office, too many distractions. At Interior, he could REALLY kick some ass, focusing on really meaningful policy and letting loose those who do REAL SCIENCE over political boot licking. He understands the issues and the immediacy of addressing them with REAL policy instead of the spin crap we are suffering now.

With Gore in that office, I would rest better about our National Heritages not being squandered to the highest corporate bidder for the lowest mercenary morals.

I would hate to loose Brian Schweitzer at the helm here in MT, but, damn, the nation needs a strong leader who knows how to work for win/win solutions. Brian is such a man. And he knows the REAL world.

Jag for First Dog! Send a Border Collie to D.C. Send Gore to save the Interior and lead the way to solid energy policy. Brian Schweitzer can sell it to the nation. It'd be one hell of a team.

And I think if he runs, he'll be unbeatable.

Gore in 08!

Not only can we run a senator.....a former first lady and a women,

Senator Clinton will be a brilliant president.



Go Hillary

:party: :party: :party: :party: :party:

I love Hillary. I think Hillary is one of the smartest women in America. She's also got the strength of Hercules to raise a wonderful, balanced daughter and maintain her home and sanity in the midst of the constant onslaught from the right. I think Hillary Clinton would be a marvelous president.

I know she'll never get the chance.

Being president requires being ELECTED president. Hillary can't get elected president because she'd never survive the general election campaign. Shit, she'd never survive the PRIMARY. She would be attacked on every front, from being a lawyer to being a smart woman to her choice of spouse. Pigboy would rip on her constantly. Faux News would turn into the Get Hillary Network--they already are, but it's not 24/7 right now the way it would be if she was running for president. After the drubbing she would take, Hillary's own mother wouldn't vote for her.

It's got to be a governor. It should be Brian Schweitzer.

We also need to keep strong, politically savvy leaders in the Senate.

Schweitzer has some great ideas about running a campaign and being a real life Democrat instead of a conservative suck up Democrat.

a governor with foreign policy experience

senator and governor Graham were running. Smart policy wonk with huge integrity - what we need to begin to reverse the bush era damage.

but he's out of politics for good, more's the pity.

Honorable, good man. Martinez can't even pretend to fill his shoes any better than Jeb!s misfit of the shoes.

but long term, I guess he's just hanging out with his grandkids.

Maybe 'cos I'm from Florida and think it'd be cool to have a President from here. I also think his "work days" program was kind of cool - he'd work a day in various jobs that regular Floridians held like policeman, busboy, factory worker, etc.

but talk about lacking charisma...

He may have a problem with the age thing too, having turned 70 last year.

Anyway, for all the die hard liberals, this man co-authored the Patriot Act. He didn't do so hot in 2004.

Firstly, NONE of those people are running, and several are only in their first terms as governor (many elected just THIS year).

Second, ask Presidents Dukakis, Stevenson, Dewey, Landon, Smith, or Hughes how much being a governor helped them.

It would be the height of folly to reject somebody on nothing other than the fact that they're a senator instead of being a governor.
A good candidate is a good candidate, period. And there's no reason to believe than an uncharismatic governor would be anywhere near as good a candidate as a charismatic and popular senator.

In truth, the biggest problems senators have is simply getting the nomination. Only 6 sitting senators (incl. Bob Dole) have received the nomination of either party since 1896. Of those, 2 won, 4 lost. A shift of not all that many votes to John Kerry would have made that record 3-3. And let's also remember that Sen. Goldwater (R) in '64, Sen. McGovern (D) in '72, and Sen. Dole (R) in '96 were all running unwinnable races. It's doubtful that any governor could have defeated Bill Clinton in '96. It's equally doubtful that a governor could have defeated Johnson in '64 or Nixon in '72. Admittedly, candidates OTHER than Goldwater or McGovern may have done much better. So some state governors may have done better than either. But that's true of plenty of other senators as well (i.e. Sens. Hubert Humphrey or Ed Muskie in '72 would have come much closer to Nixon than McGovern).

Besides, since 1896 (the first modern campaign), governors were nominated in 1896 (McKinley - R), 1912 (Wilson - D), 1916 (Charles Evans Hughes - R), 1920 (James Cox - D), 1928 (Al Smith - D), 1932 (F.D. Roosevelt - D), 1936 (Alf Landon - R), 1944 (Tom Dewey - R), 1948 (Tom Dewey - R), 1952 (Adlai Stevenson - D), 1956 (Adlai Stevenson - D), 1976 (Jimmy Carter - D), 1980 (Ronald Reagan - R), 1988 (Michael Dukakis - D), 1992 (Bill Clinton - D), 2000 (George W. Bush - R). Of those, the governor won 7 times (6 if you don't include Bush in 2000) but lost 9 times (10 if you include Bush in 2000). So Governors are hardly guarantees. And recall that between 1945 and 1977, no former governor sat in the White House.

I will qualify this by saying that supporting a governor over a senator can be effective as sort of a tie breaker. It's fine to let it be one consideration. But it's ridiculous to make this the only criterion by which you judge a candidate.

Fucking Puerto Rico. As soon as they vote for statehood I'd consider a Puerto Rican president.

Puerto Rico brings a statehood initiative to the polls every two years, and it always loses because at the current time, money earned in Puerto Rico by Puerto Ricans is exempt from federal income tax.

As soon as those guys start chipping in, I'll entertain the thought of a Puerto Rican president.

Just won her re-election in a landslide. She won in a red state not by being a DINO but by being competent - she's pro-choice, has fought the nuts in the legislature against carry/conceal (finally had her veto overridden, but at least she vetoes that crap) and has raised hell with Bush about the abuse of the Kansas National Guard. Her father was governor of Ohio and this tie might actually help us carry Ohio for once. She'd be my choice.

She's come to my attention recently (I'm in Florida) and I'm like, yes, the US is ready for a woman President, but it has to be the right woman. Hillary is not (and not just because she's a Senator).

I would like to hear Governor Sebelius speak. From what some have said she doesn't have a lot of charisma like a Bill Clinton, but comes across as warm and competent. In a woman, that may actually be more important than charm. For some reason, many Americans only vote for some one with whom they'd want to have a beer. Maybe Sebelius doesn't fit that bill, but if she seems trustworthy, she'll do okay. I've only seen her, but she looks like she could kick ass if need be (not literally) as well as stop bleeding and bandage a cut (okay, literally).

I like that she's won in a red state without running to the right.

Forget Gregoire, she barely won and a lot of people think she didn't. I know it wasn't quite the same, but I wonder if Republicans feel the same way about the 2004 Washington Governor's race as we do about the 2000 Presidential race in Florida. then again, maybe that will be forgotten by 2008, just as what Dubya did in 2000 was forgotten.

She's no Bill Clinton, but then, no one else in this race is either.

She's okay. She comes across as calm and in control. There's a certain amount of warmth there without being gushy. She's just very natural and hey, she's a huge jazz fan to boot.

She said in her re-election campaign that she wasn't going to run for national office (most assumed VP) in 2008, but I tend to wonder about this. I've lived all over the country and I have yet to see a better-run campaign than she ran in 2006 - the advertising was stunningly good and very professional. Her competition was weak and I wonder if she didn't want to rack up some huge re-election numbers to burnish her credentials for 2008.

I would SO love to see her run. She's one of the few out there who could take more states than Kerry or Gore did. She's not an an irritant to the RW'ers here (even the freeper next door to me voted for her last year) but she doesn't back down on her beliefs, either. To think that a pro-choice woman could be a two-term governor of Kansas is really kind of stunning. She's just a solid, highly competent governor.

There, he learned enough about the rulers to know America is NOT served by energy dependence on them. He REALLY wants the US to be energy independent and free from having to take the Sauds into consideration in deciding American policies.

And he has the good sense to take his dog, Jag, to check up on a local animal shelter where a cute pup was taken after being rescued after being beaten and dumped in a trash barrel. He knows how to relate to people well.

Jag for First Dog!

I'm familiar with. I don't know if he could be elected President, but he is a very shrewd and capable man. I like him. The others I know little about, but I will pay more attention if I hear their names mentioned.

And if they were elected in '04, '05, or '06 they are extremely disinclined to run because they are basically giving up their job at a long shot.

Deval Patrick is great but he was elected a few months ago. Brian Schweitzer is also great but if he loses the primary he will be in serious shit when he has to face the voters of Montana in '08 and he could potentially lose any future national potential.

Brad Henry is in no way presidential and Ed Rendell isn't interested.

We did a very poor job at wining Governorships in '98-'04 with some exceptions. That's why we don't have a ton of second term gubernatorial talent running this time.

Assuming we don't win in '08 (god forbid), we'll have a better shot with Governors in 2012. Schweitzer will be on his second term as will O'Malley, Spitzer, and if we don't have a problem with a President in his 70's, Ted Strickland.

He isn't exactly popular.... he just had two weak opponents.

In Mssachuetts, we just got rid of Game Show Host Romney.

Let us have a few years of a decent governor. Also let Patrick earn his spurs.

For the record,if Patrick does walk his talk as govenor, he'll be a great presidential contender in the future.

I said that to my wife that Brad would make a good President just a couple days ago. I'm glad others notice him too. My hope is he will at the very least go on to be one of our Senator's. Go Brad Henry.

There's no reason to assume we have to have a governor nominee to get elected.