My pick for Obama's VP: Rocky Anderson

[Ian David]

Rocky Anderson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson (born September 9, 1951) is the former mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah



Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson was born in Logan, Utah and graduated from Ogden High School. He received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Utah<1> and graduated in 1978 with a J.D. degree from The George Washington University Law School.<2>

Anderson practiced law for twenty-one years in Salt Lake City, specializing in civil litigation. He was lead attorney in several civil rights and consumer protection cases, including Bott v. Deland and Bradford v. Moench, and filed an amicus brief in University of Utah Students Against Apartheid v. Peterson. Anderson also helped spearhead reform of Utah’s child custody laws. He worked to institute a program to help those who do not qualify for assistance through Legal Aid or Legal Services, but who are unable to afford to pay a full fee for legal representation. Anderson served as Chair of the Litigation Section of the Utah State Bar Association and as President of Anderson and Karrenberg, a Salt Lake City law firm.

During this time, he was affiliated with the ACLU,<3> and volunteered as a board member of several community-based, non-profit organizations, including Common Cause, Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, and Guadalupe Schools. On behalf of Common Cause, Anderson lobbied for stronger legislation pertaining to ethical conduct by elected officials and for campaign finance reform. Anderson also founded and served as President of Citizens for Penal Reform.

He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1996, but received 55% of Salt Lake City's vote in that race.<4> His Republican opponent, Merrill Cook, made Anderson's support of gay marriage the focus of his campaign in that race.

<snip>

On March 19, 2007, during an anti-war rally for the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq, and afterwards on CNN, Anderson stated that he believes that George Bush should be impeached, saying: "This president, by engaging in such incredible abuses of power, breaches of trust with both the Congress and the American people, and misleading us into this tragic and unbelievable war, the violation of treaties, other international law, our constitution, our own domestic laws, and then his role in heinous human rights abuses; I think all of that together calls for impeachment".<33>

More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Anderson

[Radical Activist]

1. He sometimes acts like a child

with his publicity stunts. I like his politics but I've never been impressed with his behavior.

[democrat2thecore]

2. Hasn't he called himself a "Democratic Socialist?" As much as I LOVE IT - the nation would cringe -

[liberalmuse]

3. Yeah, baby!

I would love him as VP, but alas, too controversial (well, in Utah, outside of downtown SLC). He was the best thing about living in Utah.

[David Zephyr]

4. I prefer Roky Erickson

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. We need a VP who knows how to fight when called for...

Rocky Balboa. Helps locks up the working class white too, without being racist about it.