Phil
Thanks for putting up this thread.
At this point, I agree with your conclusion but for different reasons.
In my opinion, the war remains such an overriding issue that Greens,
Libertarians and independent Democrats should back a single candidate in
opposition to Pelosi - if a strong, unifying candidate could be found.
Pelosi would have more difficulty avoiding a debate with such a candidate.
This debate is extremely important because it would compel Pelosi to explain
to her constituents why she continues to allow war funding bills onto the
House floor and has failed to take meaningful action against warrantless
wiretapping, rendition and torture. Further, a strong, single candidate
could potentially get a high enough vote total to scare her into making some
immediate changes. With all due respect to previous efforts (and they do
deserve respect), the 7% garnered by the Greens and the 1-1/2% we received
in 2006, do not represent a credible threat to her.
Unfortunately, I have reasons to believe that Cindy Sheehan is not the
strong, unifying candidate I seek. I have the following concerns about her:
(1) Her overemphasis on impeachment - At a recent speaking engagement,
she promised to spend her first couple of weeks in Congress pushing
impeachment, since there is a 17 day overlap between the opening of Congress
and the Inauguration. This is a complete waste of time. As we all know,
the Congress doesn't move very fast, and it certainly won't expend any
special effort on behalf of an unaffiliated freshman member. In my view,
she should have a laser like focus on cutting off funding for the Iraq War.
(2) Her endorsement of single payer health insurance.
(3) Questions about whether she can run a consistent, focused, well
planned race - One reason for worry was her resignation from the peace
movement in May, followed a month later by her return. Another problem is
that she's not addressing the "End the War Now" protest next Saturday, and
isn't even sending a tape. Finally, it does not appear that she consulted
with the Greens, let alone us, before declaring her intention to run. She
should have made more of an effort to cultivate the local activist community
before waltzing into the District.
(4) The shrill nature of some of her rhetoric.
I hope LP members will have the opportunity to discuss these concerns with
Cindy. Maybe she could allay them. Maybe we could reach an agreement under
which she runs as a Green Candidate in the 8th CD without Libertarian
opposition, and the Greens let us run a candidate unopposed by a Green in
Tom Lantos' district. More likely we can't, but I think it's worth
considering.
Marc