Kerry-Richardson

[Perky]

Apparently Pat Buchanan likes the idea as well.

Gravitas. UN Ambassador, Cabinet Secretary, House member, Governor, AND HISPANIC!!!!!

Largeley unobjectionable. Might be what it takes in Florida if He can get Hispanics to the Polls. Also puts Arizona very much in play.
Pick off those two states even with a northern/western strategy and Bush can't win

Would be a Brilliant Choice!!!

[LuminousX]

1. Richardson is also very respectable and would make a great

President after Kerry serves out his terms, if he gets the nomination and is elected.

[Arlington]

3. I think attracting independents

is the key to all this.

If one is suggesting Richardson because of his appeal to Hispanic voters, then that is just more of the balkanized thinking that has plagued the Dems. If it is for other characteristics and strengths, then it may be more valid.

The sad fact is that when you go out of your way to make headway in one narrow demographic sector -- rather than confining yourself to the issues -- you tend to alienate another sector.

The prez and veep team that wins this election is going to have to demonstrate -- to a broad range of voters -- an ongoing commitment to important issues rather than to important demographics. I think Kerry's successes are starting to prove that.

[Virgil]

5. You are exactly right

What needs to change and who can do it. I used to live in an area dominated by furniture and textiles in North Carolina. I still live here, it is just that the mills keep closing.

It is one thing to say that you want jobs. Well, Bush wishes everyone had a job too so he could get re-elected. But how is that going to get done without sensible trade agreements. NAFTA was a tool of industry. It was not meant to benefit the common man. It allowed jobs to leave the country to seek their lowest level with no protections of tariffs and maybe even quotas. DK wants to end NAFTA and get out of the WTO and end the free trade stuff that only looks for cheap labor and no tariffs. The first thing the Congress did in 1793 was to adopt a seal. The second thing it did was place tariffs.

I do not care if someone is tall or has corporate whore experience. I do not care where they are from or if they are married or if they played high school football. I want to know what they are going to do.

After the economy, most people seems to be worried about health care. It used to be that one in four people got cancer and now it is one in three. How is a person to make it when he gets cancer and cannot work? The whole sytem is gamed by insurance companies that cherry pick the profitable and charge whatever they want because even if you can pay cash, the system penalizes someone outside of the system that is gamed. DK proposes single-payeruniversal health care. That would sell to an average American and it sure sells me.

The media situation is an abomination of the public air waves and the public good. It is destructive to our democracy, if in fact we are one. DK wants to make media companies with public airwaves furnish time for the political candidates so that we can get past sound-bite marketing. He wants to break up the media companies and that needs to be done in the worst way.

DK wants to end the war on drugs and be pragmatic. Substance abuse is real, but if you want to know the truth the most abused substance in America is sugar. With 5% of the population the land of the free has one in four prisoners in the world. We are not a land of the free, we are the land of pee. It is time to treat substance abuse in its proper context as a health care issue and not a criminal justice issue that leads to a police state and militarization. Who is talking about the failure on the war on drugs?

People are talking a lot of crap and have got to talk issues. The Democratic Party needs an identity besides being representatives of big business that do not have Republican representation. Send out the candidate that will do the most for the common man. He will win. If you send out a candidate that represents the establishment he may win, but what the H will change?

Talk farm subsidies. Talk steel industry. Talk outsourcing. But please talk about some issues and what the Democrats think they can do for the average guy. My real issue is the corruption of the entire system, but who will even want to acknowledge it.

Yesterday, I talked about Congress funding the bill that had its intent on removing the paper trail in voting machines. DK says they all should have paper trails and supports the legislation in the House that has no sponsors in the Senate. Now this does not mean that DK is brilliant as there have always been paper trails in my lifetime. It makes me think that he is at least honest with the problem when supports legislation to correct a no-brainer situation. The BBV is a sign of total corruption. People think there is a mistake that needs correcting. It is they that are wrong. Congress had it the way they wanted it the first time. That is why they do not see the need to change it now.

[question everything]

2. Agree n/t

[West Coast Democrat]

4. Richardson would definitely help us in the West

the only argument against him would be that we need to have a strong ticket in the South as we have some tough Senate races there this year.

[TexasSissy]

6. Hmmmm. Interesting. But I don't know anything 'bout Richardson.

And let's not forget that hispanics don't necessarily vote for hispanics. The hispanic vote in CA voted 30% for Schwarzenegger, with a lower % voting for Cruz Bustamante.

[Rowdyboy]

7. I think having a major Hispanic governor on the ticket

would change that situation considerably. He'd draw a tremendous response from the Hispanic community. However, his appeal is not limited to his ethnic background. He has excellent credentials as a long serving congressman and former cabinet member. His career has included diplomacy and currently he's governor of a western state. There were some problems at the Energy Dept with security during his tenure but nothing that would disqualify him from the nomination.

Whats not to like?

[leyton]

8. Why would Richardson accept the offer?

He's the governor of a midsize state in an area that could soon become a Democratic stronghold. He's got legislative, foreign policy, and executive experience. Why become Vice-President in 2004 and languish in political and constitutional limbo for four or eight years when he can stay where he is in that birthplace of Presidents known as Governor-land and run in 2008 or 2012?

[dolstein]

9. If Richardson is on the ticket, I will eat my hat

Ok, first I'd have to go out and buy a hat. But then I'd eat it.

Sorry to disappoint you, but Richardson isn't even halfway through his first term as governor of New Mexico. He wants to be governor. And he wants to be president -- someday. He's too smart to tie his political fortunes to John Kerry.

[revcarol]

10. I can't IMAGINE as more horrible ticket, except Bush/Chene;y

or Bush/Giuliani.

Want to keep the U. S. occupation of Iraq going?
Want to lose ever more jobs to NAFTA and the WTO?
Want to be beholden to the movers and shakers of the DLC?
Want to alienate labor forever?
Want to just tweak the Patriot Act a smidgen and let Richardson off the hook for blatant racial/ethnic prejudice?
Want to put the Democrats in the corporate advocacy column?

[gate of the sun]

11. You are absolutely

right revcarol.....I can't think of a worse combination.

[eissa]

12. No

Nothing against Richardson, but the ticket would need someone who can bring in the votes that Kerry (if he is the nominee) would have trouble with. Although Hispanics do not vote in blocks, it is safe to say that the majority would vote dem. Richardson could, however, alienate the all-so-important southern vote that we need to whore after. I still think Bob Graham is a safe choice.