Is Dennis Kucinich the closest thing to a modern-day Thomas Jefferson

[chadm]

I won't try to summarize Jefferson's views (assuming we all have some baseline understanding of American history). If not Dennis, which other candidate comes closest to a Jeffersonian view of the world?

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

1. Yes

A pro-democracy Democrat, like Jefferson.

[dolstein]

2. Jefferson was a leader -- Dennis is a voice in the wilderness

NT

[molly]

3. I lived in Cleveland when he was boy-mayor

[chadm]

4. Really?

Do you know the story about how the local banks forced him to privatize the electric company and he refused? Do you know how they bankrupted the city when he refused?

"Boy-mayor" got trampled by the monied power and yet he stood up to them. He would do the same in the White House only this time he'd have a lot more power behind him.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. No

Apples and oranges.

Thomas Jefferson was born into a wealthy family and was part of the Virginia establishment. Now the estabishment of that day was highly educated and advanced for its day, but it was an establishment nonetheless. Also, Jefferson's world was very different from ours. America was made up of small farmers, plantation owners, frontier settlers, and a few small cities along the Atlantic Coast, and most of the white population was of English or Scottish descent.

Dennis Kucinich was born into a poor family and has fought outsider status all his life. Our America is mostly urban or suburban, with many cities over one million in population, and citizens from every nation on earth.

I would prefer to compare DK to the Progressives of the early twentieth century, who also fought against the hegemony of large corporations and the coddling of the wealthy and powerful.

[chadm]

6. True enough

but I was talking more about his ideology than his social status. Also, I don't agree that human nature has changed and so I reject the Apples to Oranges bit.

If I'm Jeffersonian, who do I vote for?

[RichM]

8. Cart before the horse. If you're really Jeffersonian, you'd listen to all

of them, & pick the one you truly like best. And he would turn out (if you're really Jeffersonian) to be the one that was most "Jeffersonian."

You don't approach it by first postulating that you're Jeffersonian, then trying to decide which candidate most fits that mold.

[chadm]

9. Not true

Jefferson didn't start with a clean slate on every issue. We all have ideals and mental models that don't get discarded with every new issue / decision.

For instance:

- Jefferson generally believed that men were basically good, not bad
- Jefferson believed in the natural rights of mankind to live in freedom and govern themselves
- Jefferson was against Monarchy and what could be referred to as Despotism

So your suggestion that I'm somehow not open-minded enough is just wrong. I have listened to the candidates and concluded that Dennis is the closest to these ideals.

But this isn't about my ideals or my opinions. The question was, "which candidate seems most Jeffersonian?"

[chadm]

7. Maybe my assumption of baseline understanding is wrong

I don't think you guys realize how much Jefferson's ideals permeate your own ideals.