from The Nation:
BOB WEXLER FOR VICE PRESIDENT...Robert Wexler is not actually running for anything but the Florida U.S. House seat he has held for the better part of two decades. But the congressman who has taken the lead in the fight to open impeachment hearings against Vice President Dick Cheney has launched a Web site that says he is "giving voice to America's progressive Democrats."
He's riding an idea -- holding the Bush/Cheney administration to account in order to reassert the role of Congress as a co-equal branch of government -- into the consciousness of progressives. He's appealing to those frustrated not merely by lax leadership in Congress but by a presidential field that, with the exception of Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, does not seem to recognize that the White House has run roughshod over the Constitution.
Wexler's decision to step out front in the fight to check and balance Cheney has convinced a lot of activist Democrats that he gets it. If he keeps getting it, the veteran member of the House Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees could find his name added to the list of potential vice presidential nominees.
In a matter of days, 170,000 people have signed the pro-impeachment petition at the www.wexlerwantshearings.com site. And, despite the pull of the holidays and the impending presidential caucuses and primaries, the number are growing rapidly.
That gives Wexler a better base than several of the presidential contenders with which to play on the national stage.
But Wexler is not playing. He's distinguishing himself as a bold and strategic thinker at a time when most Democrats are struggling to strike the right balance between principles and tactics. ........(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=264213