Al Gore
Like a lot of liberal bloggers, I find myself substantively quite attracted to the idea of Russ Feingold as a presidential candidate in a field that seems crowded with pro-war Democrats. Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons if I were tasked with the job of designing a good messenger for Feingold's message it really, really, really wouldn't look much like Feingold. Better in a variety of respects, it seems to me, would be Al Gore. At any rate, while it's not quite on this point in particular, my colleague Ezra Klein's cover story on Gore should be of interest to anyone who's been impressed by the former vice president's role over the past couple of years.
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I think you're selling Feingold short here. If you want to talk really, really bad messengers, look at Dennis Kucinich. He had a pretty good platform other than that Department of Peace nonsense, but he was a 5'7" beady-eyed poetry-reciting goofball. Feingold at least appears Presidential. So he's got a couple of divorces. The only substantive problem with him I have is his excessive dovishness (against the first iraq war, against kosovo).
March 20, 2006 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
First time as tragedy, second time farce?
March 20, 2006 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
"Better than Kucinich" is really setting the bar pretty low.
;-)
March 20, 2006 2:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Haha no argument there, but I mean Matt used "really, really, really." If it was just one or two reallys I could put up with it. :-)
March 20, 2006 2:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
You go to the primaries with the Feingold you have, not the Feingold you want.
Actually, I like the guy just the way he is.
Dissent Protects Democracy
March 20, 2006 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
SherryB
I was delighted with Klein's article about Gore. I'm happy to see that he's doing so well. I would love to see him win again.
March 20, 2006 7:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
<i>if I were tasked with the job of designing a good messenger for Feingold's message it really, really, really wouldn't look much like Feingold.</i>
Why? Too "urban?" Is he like the fat Dreamgirl or something?
March 20, 2006 8:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you're up for an antiwar Democrat who is packaged to win, let me recommend my boy John Edwards. Sky-high favorability ratings -- he even gets around 50% from Republicans.
March 20, 2006 11:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think Edwards (if he runs) may end up winning the nomination. He's great on domestic issues. He used to be weak (in my opinion) on foreign policy, but he seems to be getting stronger. Last time I heard him talk about Iraq, I was very impressed. He seemed much more on top of things--and more confident of his position--than before. With a bit of maturation, he could be a formidable candidate.
March 21, 2006 6:19 AM | Reply | Permalink