If the Democratic presidential candidate in 2008 is to have any hope of winning, and preferably winning with a governing mandate, we in the Democratic Party need to get over our cowardliness. Sure, we're not afraid to stand up to the Republicans anymore, but we still seem to be afraid to stand up for our own candidates and ideas. We sold out Howard Dean because even though we were inspired by his campaign, we had no confidence in our ability to go out and not just win votes but actually convince people that his ideas were better than those of George W. Bush. As a result, we dumped Dean and embraced the uninspiring, flip-flopping John Kerry, who we thought would be more electable.
We went with electability, and we lost. The Republicans went with ideology, and they won. They will continue to win until we Democrats decide our belief in a candidate's ability to be a good president is more important than whether that candidate is supposedly more or less electable than other candidates. We need someone who inspires us as much as President Bush inspires the Republicans.
Who has the ability to be the new spokesperson for our Democratic values?
The vast majority of speculation has settled on newly elected Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. While Obama is looking like the best thing since sliced bread right now, it's important to keep in mind the lesson of soon-to-be-former Sen. John Edward, who, like Obama, came out of obscurity to be anointed the future of the Democratic Party from the day he was elected to the Senate. Edwards apparently bought into the hype because after about two years in the Senate, he started talking and acting like a presidential candidate and paid little attention to his legislative duties and his home state.
Obama is smart enough to avoid having this happen to him. But even so, Illinois state Senate to the White House in four years is a very fast and very big jump. Right now he should concentrate on being a good senator and make his move in 2012 or 2016, instead of following the Edwards path and possibly ending his political career prematurely.
Several other Democrats have been mentioned as potential candidates in 2008. Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, Gov. Mike Easley of North Carolina, Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona, Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia are all members of the Democratic Leadership Council, the moderate-to-centrist \New Democrat"" wing of the party that produced Bill Clinton and Al Gore.
Being the unabashed liberal that I am, all six of these candidates are a bit too Republican-lite for my taste, some more so than others. In addition, every argument I've heard for them has revolved around electability: All are from potential battleground states, most are governors and none are New England liberals. Based on the miniscule amount that I've read about their actual qualifications to be president, Warner seems to have done a fairly good job in Virginia, and Lincoln and Vilsack have put forth some good ideas, but I am not close to inspired.
Personally, my dream nominee would be our own Sen. Russ Feingold. He is a confident, thoughtful person of liberal values and policies with enough independence to examine issues without a partisan microscope and enough political courage to stand up for what he believes is right. And if you want electability, what more could you ask for than a liberal who wins consistently in a swing state?
My nightmare candidate would simply be any figure of the past, and this category includes, unfortunately, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, of New York. The former First Lady has turned out to be an excellent senator, but she possesses little of her husband's charisma and much of her husband's baggage. She is also associated with the past, and we need a Democrat for the future to take center stage.
The same goes for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a member of Bill Clinton's cabinet who is rumored to have Clintonesque women problems and whose much-trumpeted Hispanic heritage didn't prevent President Bush from carrying New Mexico with record numbers of Hispanic votes. And seriously, whatever happens, we absolutely cannot become desperate enough to fall back on John Kerry, Joe Lieberman or Al Gore.
We need to build a new Democratic Party. A new Democratic Party requires new Democrats to lead it. We've been playing it safe and losing for almost 25 years now. It's time for us to stiffen our spines and stand up for candidates who share our ideas. If they're talented enough and we're inspired enough, we will make them electable.
opinion@dailycardinal.com.
