Gore Vidal asked people to vote their choice of Democrat candidates, if the primary were held today, in a poll sponsored by The Nation. He likes Dennis Kucinich whom he compared to James Madison. Click on the VOTE link below to read the entire text. To check the results, click on the Cast your Vote link in the article. Hint: Hillary is NOT leading, not even close.
What do you think of this poll?
THE NATION
If the Democratic presidential primary were held today in your state, whom would you support? Cast your vote in the Nation Poll.
For the past two years I've been crisscrossing the United States speaking to crowds of people about our history and politics. At the same time, would-be Presidents of the greatest nation in the country, as silver-tongued Spiro Agnew used to say, have been crowding the trail, while TV journalists sadly shake their heads at how savage the politicos have become in their language. But then, it is the task of TV journalists to foment quarrels where often none properly exist.
As I pass through the stage door of one auditorium after another, I now hear the ominous name of Darth Vader, as edgy audiences shudder at the horrible direction our political discourse has taken. Ever eager as I am to shed light, I sometimes drop the name of the least publicized applicant to the creaky throne of the West: Dennis Kucinich. It takes a moment for the name to sink in. Then genuine applause begins.
He is very much a favorite out there in the amber fields of grain, and I work him into the text. A member of the House of Representatives for five terms since 1997, although many of his legislative measures have been too useful and original for our brain-dead media to comprehend. I note his well-wrought articles proposing the impeachment of Vice President Cheney, testing the patriotic nerves of his fellow Democrats, but then the fact of his useful existence often causes distress to those who genuinely hate that democracy he is so eager to extend. "Don't waste your vote," they whine in unison--as if our votes are not quadrennially wasted on those marvelous occasions when they are actually counted and recorded. Meanwhile, Kucinich is now at least visible in lineups of the Democratic candidates; he tends to be the most eloquent of the lot ...
... I asked a dedicated liberal his impression of Kucinich; he wondered if Kucinich was too slight to lead a nation of truly fat folk. I pointed out that he has the same physical stature as James Madison, as well as a Madisonian commitment to our 1789 Constitution; he is also farsighted, as demonstrated by his resolute opposition to Bush's cries for ever more funding for the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. More to the point, in October 2002 he opposed the notion of a war then being debated. For those of us at home and in harm's way from disease, he co-wrote HR 676, a bill that would insure all of us within Medicare, just as if we were citizens of a truly civilized nation.
... Gore Vidal is a prolific novelist, playwright and essayist, and one of the great stylists of contemporary American prose.
******************** Now for some serious fun, check out Pursey Tuttweiler's Big Impeachment Party currently in progress! *************
17 comments:
That was a good catch and a fun poll to take DK thanks.
DK i had to do a post on your post..so hopefully people will come on over and vote. great job gal ! oh and i have been a Gore Vidal Fan for awhile now. The guy is pretty remarkable. I even own and read his book Imperial America, thats when i really started to discover how truly progressive he is. Good old Gore Vidal. I will never forget him on some show doing this mimick of the chimp in a baby voice saying "i'm a war time president" it was so great. He sure caught the essence of our murderous doofus in chief.
It's heartening to hear the voice of the people. MSM keeps telling us *it's Hillary*, but people I speak with give a thumbs down to Hillary... the way she's voted, lack of spine, etc.
2008 may be the year I say screw the 2 party system- especially if Hill is #1 on the ticket. If just enough people would step out of the box, we could vote a candidate we'd actually want in office.
PProg, Gore Vidal is a national treasure! I love his quick wit (that bit he threw in at the end "just as if we were a truly civilized nation" almost made me cry). He may be slowing down physically, but he is mentally sharp as ever.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a poll targeting The Nation readers (the left liberal left, as Falwell once called them) would have Dennis on top & Hill near the bottom -- but it was sure nice to see, wasn't it? Gravel was 18% this morning, but now down to 16%. I don't know how they're doing it, but once you vote, you can't vote again, you can only see results. So I'm hoping the link I gave allowed you to actually vote!
ps, PProg, thanks for linking back! I'm still trying to figure out how to do a blogroll myself. Maybe next week.
Fran: I have yet to meet or talk to anyone that thinks Hillary speaks for them. Who are all these people responding to national polls? I'm starting to suspect this is what Karl Rove retired to do -- manipulate polls to give dems the one candidate who can't garner any crossover or independent votes.
You have anyone in mind for 3rd party '08? After announcing he won't seek another senate term, I heard rumors about Chuck Hagel possibly teaming up with a dem for the Unity Party ticket. Hey, if it wasn't for successful 3rd parties, we'd still be voting for Whig vs Tory!
If the Dems won't let Kucinich run, he could choose to go Independent.
I like Hagel, but have not heard his views on anything but the war.
Another candidate that comes to mind is Senator Russ Feingold (D- Wis).
Go to his web site to hear his reasons for a NO vote on Mukasey.
http://feingold.senate.gov/
I checked out the Nation web site, and I noticed that the Clinton supporter actually had to lie about Clinton's position on the war, claiming that Clinton opposes it even though she has committed herself to continuing the war of occupation at least until 2013.
The better informed people are about Clinton's actual positions, the more they will realize that she really is more of a Republican than a Democrat.
Given a choice between Hillary Giuliani and Rudy Clinton, I will definitely vote Green or leave that part of the ballot blank.
Libhom, I didn't even read the Clinton article. I'm very tired of hearing her slick no-answer answers, her refusal to be pinned down on anything important. she reminds me of someone ... now who could that be?
I'm glad you brought up 2013, because Edwards echoed that in one of the debates, too, but failed to make clear he was talking about embassy guards, not occupation troops. that's a big difference, yet I keep hearing people say all 3 top-tier dems are on the same 2013 page.
Fran, I would love to see Feingold do something; I was very disappointed that he decided not to run for prez. I think Hagel is great in criticizing the war & this adm's incompetence & criminal debt run-up, but beyond that, he is a conservative repub, 'nuff said. I wonder if Kucinich would try the independent route. What's he got to lose, he's not making much headway within the 2-party bobsy-twins.
In my dream world Al Gore would run with Russ Feingold as his veep.
Sadly my dream world is just that, a dream.
That was a great catch and post.
By the way, Hagel is conservative to the core.
If our next pres. is a repub, you can kiss Roe V. Wade goodbye. That is the most frightening thing of all, in my opinion.
PoP, I like your dreams! While we're at it, we should dream up a cabinet. Amy Goodman for Sec of State. RFK Jr for Sec of Interior. Stuff of dreams ...
dk: this is an off topic post.... I don't know who log poster Bryan is, (on my blog) but he is there to fight. I posted a warning to him, saying knock it off, first & last final warning. My strategy from this point on is to ignore him. I am inviting you to do the same. I may begin deleting his posts if he remains obnoxious. I thank you for your input.
If Bryan embraces this Iraq occupation, I suggest he enlist & ship out ASAP. More bodies are needed in Iraq.
Fran, I knew I shouldn't have responded so quickly when I was working on 4-hrs sleep! just.couldn't.resist ... his ignoring any key points to focus on a maze of side issues, tangents & differences in semantics was very irksome. Glad to see he hasn't been back around. You did a great job with it!
dk- B did post something again & I removed his post. It was not totally inflammatory, but his routine has become tiresome. You made excellent points & are entitled to your opinion. People can debate different viewpoints till the cows come home on my blog, but attacking another poster is not allowed. That is not a real debate or meeting of the minds.... it is name calling & unproductive.
Bye bye Bryan.
Atta way, hell Fran you make great points. Idiotic thread jacking and attacks which i missed fortunately this round are not to be tolorated. This is a time for open mindedness, ideas, dialog. About all the candidates. All the angles. And above all KINDNESS as passions often run deep , and we all get swept up in different issues and events from time to time. So DK you had your first troll. You must be bloggin now gal !
Not my troll, PProg, but I'm afraid I may have exacerbated the situation at Ramblings, for which I am sorry, Fran. Yeah, the passions do run deep & I tend to take short-cuts, assuming it's not necessary to repeat a whole historical littany with every stmnt. (heavy sigh) ...
testing new avatar
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