Who are the gutsiest Democratic leaders?

[LiberalEsto]

You know how environmental groups rate politicians on their pro-environmental votes, how anti-abortionists rate them on pro-life votes, etc?

We should have a scorecard system listing all our Democratic leaders -- members of Congress, governors, party leaders -- rating them on their courage in challenging the B*sh cabal.

This would serve to inspire those who are too chicken to stand up and confront the rethugs, and to reinforce those who do fight back. John Conyers and Henry Waxman and Howard Dean would be some of our highest scorers.

I'm not sure how to go about creating this, but anyone who wants to develop such a rating system is welcome to the idea.

[PsN2Wind]

1. Dean

Boxer, Waxman, Conyers.................that's about it.

[sendero]

33. I would add..

.... Kennedy and Reid to that list.

[AlGore-08.com]

2. Gore's got to be on the list with a very high ranking

He has lead the way on every major issue - - the biggest being his opposing the invasion of Iraq and the Patriot Act before Congress voted on them - - and his use of MoveOn as a platform. Gore's first MoveOn speech put it on the MSM's radar.

The latest example of Gore's leadership: just yesterday I heard Pelosi on Ed Schultz calling for Rumsfeld's resignation: Gore called for his resignation on May 26, 2004

http://www.algore-08.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=171&Itemid=165

[ArkDem]

3. AND he endorsed Dean!

[LiberalEsto]

5. True - he's definitely up near the top

and Boxer and Kennedy are too.

Criteria for this rating system might include:

- Consistency of message
- reliably speaking up in the face of wrong
- not backing off on issues
- courage
- ability to make the case for own viewpoint
- supporting/opposing the Iraq war
- supporting/opposing Social Security privatization
- supporting/opposing paper ballots...cuts in veterans' benefits...the Patriot Act...judicial nominees...

[AlGore-08.com]

9. Some more

supporting/opposing Smirk's tax cuts for the super rich
supporting/opposing the bankruptcy bill
supporting/opposing other Dems (i.e. not piling on Clinton, Gore, Dean, or anybody else because Faux et al is demonizing them)
supporting/opposing civil rights for women, minorities and GLBT

[LiberalEsto]

18. Absolutely!

good criteria, thanks

[paineinthearse]

4. Edward Moore Kenndey

My senior Senator and solid for over 40 years.



I get so :mad: at DU when I make a post about Ted that gets overlooked. He has been at the forefront of the nuclear option disaster as well as the point person against *'s activist judge nominations.

A few days ago I posted his statement on DSM - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1835227
with subdued response (only 31 replies and 5 "greatest" votes"). Had Kerry or another made such a statement, it would have been huge. Why is this, becuase we expect as much from Ted that we take him for granted?

[Mass]

6. The problem with this particular Teddy post is that it was directed to a

no-risk audience (suscribers to his blog and dailykos). Dont take me wrong, I am a big fan of Kennedy, but I am a little underwhelmed by this fact.

At least Boxer talked about it in a Senate Committee Hearing, Kerry and Feingold talked to it in the media (even if it was in a local newspaper in both cases).

[LuPeRcALiO]

19. Teddy was the first and only Senator to call for immediate withrdrawal

from Iraq, and that was on TV (Meet the Press).

He's got guts!

[LiberalEsto]

21. The Democrats With Balls List (so far)

In alphabetical order:

1. Barbara Boxer
2. Wes Clark
3. John Conyers
4. Howard Dean
5. Ross Feingold
6. Al Gore
7. Ted Kennedy
8. Dennis Kucinich
9. Jim McDermott
10. Cynthia McKinney
11. Henry Waxman


More nominations?

[Mass]

7. Feingold, Conyers.

[deutsey]

14. Yes, definitely

I admire these two a great deal.

[stevedeshazer]

8. The entire Black Congressional Caucus.

It ain't even close. :)

[Coexist]

10. Right on the money!

[bunkerbuster1]

16. The only people who really represent me.

A white guy. go figure.

[KingFlorez]

22. Right On!

That whole caucus is tough, I was listen to Eleanor Holmes Norton talk about Janice Rogers Brown and she said a mouthful. Maxine Waters is another one who knows how to show 'em who's boss.

[Tom Rinaldo]

11. Clark outed and confronted PNAC over their multi war plans

Throughout the Primaries he held Bush publicly accountable for sleeping on the job prior to 9/11 and not doing what he should have to protect this country. He directly dared Karl Rove to attack him for being Liberal when he unveiled his progressive income tax plans:

"If Karl Rove is watching today, Karl, I want you to hear me loud and clear: I am going to provide tax cuts to ease the burdens for 31 million American families -- and lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty -- by raising the taxes on 0.1 percent of families -- those who make more than $1,000,000 a year. You don't have to read my lips, I'm saying it," Clark said.
"And if that makes me an 'old-style' Democrat, then I accept that label with pride and I dare you to come after me for it."

[Dr.Phool]

12. The biggest balls award goes to Senator Barbara Boxer

Conyers and Dean, com in a close second, with Kucinich in the running!

[ClarkUSA]

35. Ovaries are bigger than balls - she proved that on Jan. 6

;-)

What a woman.

[xkenx]

13. Wes Clark

For calling out Bush on Iraq before, during, and after the misadventure. For consistently being the voice for the troops who were sent into harm's way. For consistently speaking up on the environment and leading the aharge against global warming. For consistently championing equal rights and equal opportunity. For consistently being able to drape himself in the flag, while demonstrating how the Rethugs fake it. Not since Bobby Kennedy......

[Nederland]

15. Cynthia McKinney

No doubt. Those who mention people like Ted Kennedy don't get it. It doesn't take any balls whatsoever for a guy like Teddy to say whatever he wants because let's face it, they guy is from Massachusetts and WILL NEVER LOSE AN ELECTION. What takes true courage is to be from the Bible belt, speak truth to power, and risk losing your seat because of it.

THAT takes guts.

[BlueIris]

17. Jim McDermott.

Love him. Never glossed over his feelings about the damage the Iraq war would do to Iraq, to the world, to our military, or to this country.

[PurityOfEssence]

20. Boxer, Stark, Feingold, Durbin, Schakowsky, Frank, Kennedy, Reid,

Dorgan, Lautenberg, Conyers, Waxman, Leahy, Sanders, Byrd, Kucinich, Dodd, Reed, Levin...

Edwards is in the wilderness now, but he still gives 'em hell.

Dean maybe getting a tad too reckless, but only by a bit; I think he's doing a great thing by stirring up a ruckus.

Kerry's always been a good man, but what he's up to at the moment I don't know. I tend to give him a break after getting fucked with from so many directions and still having to show up for a very difficult and time-consuming job.

Pelosi I'm not too sure about of late; when she was more confrontational, I liked her more.

[LiberalEsto]

23. Balls List (Revised)

Barbara Boxer
Robert Byrd
Wes Clark
John Conyers
Howard Dean
Chris Dodd
Byron Dorgan
Richard Durbin
John Edwards
Ross Feingold
Barney Frank
Al Gore
Ted Kennedy
Dennis Kucinich
Frank Lautenberg
Patrick Leahy
Carl Levin
Jim McDermott
Cynthia McKinney
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Jack Reed
Bernie Sanders (I)
Janice Schakowsky
Pete Stark
Henry Waxman
Maxine Waters

I'm embarassed to say I don't know anything about a few of these folks.

Anybody want to try ranking these in order of gutsiness?

[FrenchieCat]

24. Wes Clark.....

For Calling Bush out on 9/11, Iraq, the PNAC Plan and stating what the DSM stated long before it was released. He also insisted publicly that the American people should hold Bush accountable for the failures of 9/11.
http://www.issues2000.org/2004/Wesley_Clark_War_+_Peace.htm

Bush used 9/11 as a pretext to implement Iraq invasion plan

Clark told me how he learned of a secret war scheme within the Bush Administration, of which Iraq was just one piece. Shortly after 9/11, Clark visited the Pentagon, where a 3-star general confided that Rumsfeld's team planned to use the 9/11 attacks as a pretext for going to war against Iraq. Clark said, "Rather than searching for a solution to a problem, they had the solution, and their difficulty was to make it appear as though it were in response to the problem." Clark was told that the Bush team, unable or unwilling to fight the actual terrorists responsible for 9/11, had devised a 5-year plan to topple the regimes in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Iran, and Sudan.
Clark's central contention-that Bush used 9/11 as a pretext to attack Saddam-has been part of the public debate since well before the Iraq war. It is rooted in the advocacy of the Project for the New American Century, a neo-conservative think tank that had been openly arguing for regime change in Iraq since 1998.
Source: The New Yorker magazine, "Gen. Clark's Battles" Nov 17, 2003

For standing up for Michael Moore's right to be heard on National Television.....in the throws of American nationalist Fervor. And for again not denouncing Michael Moore's right to call Bush a "desertor".

For encouraging Sy Hersch to put out the Abu Graih story.

For encouraging Richard Clarke to write the book that skewered George Bush.

For Calling George Bush on his "prancing around on the deck of an AirCarrier" before John Kerry said it.

For warning us about the Admin's plan for Iran.....back in the 2nd primary debate:
"...This administration's preemptive doctrine is CAUSING North Korea and Iran to ACCELERATE their nuclear weapons development. Now there are some of us who aren't in Washington right now, but I'd like to ask all those who are...lets see some leadership in the United States Congress. Let's see you take apart that doctrine of preemption NOW. I don't think we can wait until November 2004 to change the administration on this threat. We're marching into another military campaign in the Middle East. We need to stop it." --WES CLARK

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

31. Give.

It.
A.
Rest.

[FrenchieCat]

38. I think you must be looking in the mirror....

as you say this.

I'm answering the OP question....and you?

[XemaSab]

25. Dean, Boxer, Gore

Gore, Boxer, Dean.

I'd be happy to call any of them my president.

[LiberalEsto]

26. Kick for the evening DUers

Got any more names for this list?

:kick:

[Awsi Dooger]

27. Anyone who has ever run for president

That takes unimaginable guts. Frankly, I'm not overly impressed by high rankings of people who have never taken that step. Or dismissals of politicians who have.

[Clarkie1]

28. I found this old thread that I believe answers your question...

"I was looking for a candidate with integrity, guts, and strong intellect. I was looking for a candidate who had an established track record at having done good and achieved results while being selfless with his/her own life. Looking at the announced Democratic line-up, I didn't truly see someone fitting that category and that I thought could win.

Since I was no longer watching television, I started doing a lot of reading. I found a book by Samanta Power about Genocide. In this book, Ms. Power constantly referred to a General Wesley Clark has having been one of the very few who wanted to stop a lot of Black people from being murdered. This General Wesley Clark also wanted to stop the murders of a whole lot of minority Albania Muslims. He was also an internationalist who had negotiated peace.

I looked him up and I liked what I read about him. I never saw him commentating on the war on CNN because I wasn't into watching Teevee and "war". Instead I read about him on Russian, German and French Websites. I read articles that had been written back during Kosovo and Bosnia, and I liked what I read about this Man. It was very clear that he had stood up time and time again when everyone else was sitting. Not just once, or twice, but time and time again. He stood up for human lives.....which is the most valuable thing that I can think of.

Maybe BECAUSE I came from Europe, but am also a minority, I truly appreciate what the General Clark did for the Minority Albanian Muslims. Maybe BECAUSE I am Black and part of me originates from Africa, I appreciate what General Clark wanted to do in Rwanda. Maybe BECAUSE I know (from experience) that many politicians talk a good talk, but frankly don't really give a shit if it means inconveniencing themselves, i.e., taking a chance, even if lives are at stake.

My mother was raised during the 2nd World War in war-torn France. She remembered and has told me the stories of how long it took for the Americans to intervene in that war. Three of her siblings died during this war......they died of malnutrition as they were hiding from the Germans....who ended up taking 2 of my great uncles away to the concentration camps (I am bi-racial).

I wrote Wes Clark a letter begging him to run...because I was desperate. As a Black person, he was really the only candidate that I felt I could truly work for and who I felt could win. Why? Because he is the only candidate that ever ran for President that actually put his career on the line to save lives. To me, that's more important than how long one has been a Democrat, etc.,etc., etc. You see, I don't give a rat's ass about party loyalty, because like Al Sharpton said, Better a new Democrat that's a real Democrat than those who have always been Democrats but act like Republicans. Labels are for those who need them. I don't. People have attempted to label me all of my life, and so, I just don't give a shit what label one wears....cause it's actions that count.

Bottomline is that a great man isn't measured by his party affiliations, or how much money he may have in the bank...but by the content of his character, i.e, by what he has actually done and whether he has made a real difference. Because a President and Leader of the Free(?) World needs to be someone who really cares about everyone, no matter who they are or where they are from, I see Wesley Clark as the most prepared, based on his past actions.... for that task than any others yet."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=1517151&mesg_id=1517151

[LiberalEsto]

29. Clark's definitely earned his spot on the list

and I think I'd like to add the Texas Democratic Legislators who stood up to the state's rethug leadership and Tom DeLay last year...
only I don't know their names

[pie]

30. Kucinich!

[politicasista]

32. Although he doesn't vote, but he tells it like it is

Rev. Al Sharpton

[ClarkUSA]

34. Wes Clark for calling out Karl Rove by name in front of rolling cameras

* For his antiwar HASC testimony in September 2002 when he infuriated Richard Perle - not for the last time.

* For telling us in 2003 about his being informed about Bush's determined plans to go to war in Iraq only days after 9/11 and then facing the jeering disbelief of the GOP media for the then-shocking disclosure.

* For telling an old veteran who worried aloud that the GOP would McCain him if he became the nominee, "Don't worry, if they do that, I'll beat the shit out of them."

* For continuing to strongly oppose the rationale for and execution of Bush's wars for what they are everytime he gets airtime or speech-time.

* For asking all of us to stop attacking fellow and sister Democrats and to start reframing the issues better so that people on the other side who are wavering can hear us and maybe cross over to join us.

* For encouraging Sidney Blumenthal and Richard Clarke to write their books and exposes about Bush's criminal incompetence.

* For bringing national defense back on the table for the Democratic Party in a four-star way, unapologetically patriotic way.

* For inspiring this former Greenie anti-military independent to join the Democratic Party and get involved.

:patriot:

John Conyers has cujones the size of Mount Rushmore, too. All of the Democrats who have been mentioned earlier deserve to be on the virtual Gutsy Dais, too.

Thanks for the thread - ending the night on positivity and Democratic unity is a good thing.

:thumbsup:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

36. I propose a posthumous Brass Balls award for Paul Wellstone.

His were bigger than just about anybody's. Damn, I miss him!

[Joey Liberal]

37. Conyers, then Barbara Boxer n/t

[election_2004]

39. Add Barbara Lee to the list

She's awesome!!!

[LiberalEsto]

40. Gutsy Democrats Hall of Fame

(Newly revised)

Barbara Boxer
Robert Byrd
Wes Clark
John Conyers
Howard Dean
Chris Dodd
Byron Dorgan
Richard Durbin
John Edwards
Russ Feingold
Barney Frank
Al Gore
Ted Kennedy
Dennis Kucinich
Frank Lautenberg
Patrick Leahy
Barbara Lee
Carl Levin
Jim McDermott
Cynthia McKinney
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Jack Reed
Bernie Sanders (I)
Janice Schakowsky
Al Sharpton
Pete Stark
Henry Waxman
Maxine Waters
Paul Wellstone (posthumous)

:yourock: :toast: :dem: