General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf you could meet any (living) politician, who would it be?
Last edited Sat Jun 28, 2014, 11:51 PM - Edit history (1)
I would love to meet John Lewis. I've actually become kind of obsessed with meeting him (in a non-creepy, not-stalkerish way.) I watched the PBS documentary on Freedom Summer this week and the CNN sixties episode about Civil Rights activism and I think I would be in awe if I ever had the chance to meet him.
I have visited several major Civil Rights movement sites and have plans to visit more. I especially want to visit the memorials for Fannie Lou Hamer and Viola Liuzzo. Someday, I have no doubt, there will be a memorial to John Lewis and I will visit that, too, but I am so grateful he is still alive and that I may one day just get the chance to shake his hand.
So, that's my choice. Which living politician would you like to meet?
HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)closely followed by Jimmy Carter.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)Or at least that is my impression. But I live in Chicago, so that may taint my impression.
On edit: I think going out drinking with Bill Beavers would be awesome.
Louisiana1976
(3,962 posts)PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)Oh, and Jan Schakowsky who is another amazing woman.
greatauntoftriplets
(175,751 posts)Didn't meet her, though. She was in a hurry.
LuvNewcastle
(16,858 posts)It seems like her brain is always cooking up something good. If she'll run in 2016, I'll work for her as much as I can. I think she'd be a phenomenal Pres. and she would give the GOP hell!
Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)Now that I've joined the Socialist Alternative which she represents.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)sufrommich
(22,871 posts)I watched the documentary too and it wasso well done. What a life Lewis has led. Fannie Lou Hamer was an awesome,powerful force to be reckoned with and I would have loved to hear her in action. Great picks.
pamela
(3,469 posts)Last edited Sat Jun 28, 2014, 04:53 PM - Edit history (1)
I thought it would be a rehash of stuff I already knew but there was so much I had never heard before. The part about LBJ trying to preempt Fannie Lou Hamer's speech stunned me. I had never heard that story before.
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)sadoldgirl
(3,431 posts)Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)PeaceNikki
(27,985 posts)We laughed. He, like me, is really short.
When he was Senator, he held listening sessions in each of the 72 counties once per year. He was always very accessible to his constituents. I met him when Obama was likely president elect and he & Russ had MAJOR disagreements about FISA. He's a good man with great knowledge. I used to pine for him to be president but now I dream of him on SCOTUS someday (soon). He could have a great impact.
calimary
(81,507 posts)Oh PLEASE!!! From your mouth to God's Ear!!!
treestar
(82,383 posts)redstatebluegirl
(12,265 posts)JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)In a closed cage match, 3 rounds. Bring it.
JustAnotherGen
(31,907 posts)I would ask him how he did it - how did you dodge the Nixon bullet?
Rowdyboy
(22,057 posts)An amazing career both in space exploration and later in politics added to a dry sense of humor. It would be one of life's highlights.
I do agree with an earlier poster that I'd love to meet the Carters. I had the opportunity to ask candidate Carter a question in 1976 but I've never even seen Rosalynn. What class acts they remain.
pamela
(3,469 posts)The Carter's, too. I'm enjoying everyone's answers. I wouldn't have thought of John Glenn but after you said it I thought "Yes, definitely!"
JEB
(4,748 posts)Tikki
(14,559 posts)abakan
(1,819 posts)Dawgs
(14,755 posts)My wife works a state lobbyist in Georgia and has met John Lewis (our congressman) many times. She gets to meet all kinds of cool people.. Hank Aaron, Al Gore, and others. Of course she's also met a lot of republicans, like Cantor, Jack Kingston, and Saxby Chambliss.
pamela
(3,469 posts)He's probably the politician I would most want to just hang out with and talk to mostly because he strikes me as one of the more honest and down-to-earth people in politics.
IDemo
(16,926 posts)Jimmy Carter. To congratulate him on having an exemplary life post-presidency and to ask him about his thoughts and feelings on the present day havoc.
840high
(17,196 posts)tavernier
(12,406 posts)at a state convention and listening to him speak. He absolutely electrified the whole room; we laughed and cried and cheered. I'll never forget it. Obama and some other powerful pols spoke that weekend, but none were as magical or mesmerizing as Lewis.
pamela
(3,469 posts)You just gave me an idea. I would probably enjoy hearing him speak as much, if not more, than meeting him. I think I'll start checking occasionally to see if he' speaking somewhere. We travel all over the U.S. so that would be very doable.
Skittles
(153,193 posts)she's fantastic
I would like to meet her, too.
Skittles
(153,193 posts)I'd love to meet Michelle Obama too - she's my favorite First Gal since Betty Ford
840high
(17,196 posts)cali
(114,904 posts)Bernie holds lots of town meetings. people go, they ask questions, they bring kickass potluck dishes. Bernie listens well and responds to just about everyone.
840high
(17,196 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)CaliforniaPeggy
(149,719 posts)He is so smart and really a great conversationalist. Sense of humor, sense of history, you name it. I loved hearing him talk.
liberal N proud
(60,346 posts)I have worked with him on several campaigns. As politicians go, he is probably one of the most genuine I have seen.
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,719 posts)And yes, he struck me as completely genuine too.
calimary
(81,507 posts)And the Clintons. There are quite a few of 'em, actually. John Lewis would definitely be on the list. So would Elizabeth Warren. I've met Howard Dean (WUNNNNderful!), Jerry Brown and my Congressman, Henry Waxman. Saw him at a local restaurant recently - which was very cool! We thanked him for all he's done on our behalf, and for being a VERY capable representative. I'd also like to meet Debbie (Wasserman Schultz) - and give her a piece of my mind. Tell her to get her head out of the damn Beltway and start powering us up at the state level the way Howard Dean did.
pamela
(3,469 posts)Oh my God yes. I keep thinking that with this year being the 50th Anniversary of Freedom Summer the DNC should have recruited college students to go to the red states to register voters with an emphasis on minority voters. Call it Freedom Summer 2014 and make a big deal out of it while simultaneously paying tribute to the original Freedom Summer activists. It kills me that we give up on these states when we could have the numbers there to win with a little effort and creativity.
avebury
(10,952 posts)Unfortunately, the Democrats seem to be good at look great opportunities pass them by too often. Howard Dean was very powerful when he headed up the DNC. If they can't get Dean to head up the DNC they need a Dean clone.
tavernier
(12,406 posts)She is very warm and personable; very smart.
I met Bob Graham, a very interesting, impressive man, genuinely interested in everything and everybody.
calimary
(81,507 posts)resilience. But dammit, she needs to do more than just try to maintain the status quo! We need the 50-State Strategy back! ASAP! Now and forevermore, amen!
sheshe2
(83,927 posts)Others would follow. Sigh yes, John Lewis. And Teddie Kennedy, sadly that will never happen.
I met Elizabeth Warren, she was in Mass stumping for Ed Markey. Small brief gathering a half mile from where I worked. She is a powerhouse calimary.
First Speaker
(4,858 posts)...one of the real good guys, someone who really cares about people. Dead ones? Forgive a bit of name-dropping...but as a kid, I met Bobby Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, Adlai Stevenson, Muskie, Tom Dewey, Goldwater, and a host of others..if this sounds unlikely, it's because my grandmother was a close friend of Kate Hepburn's family, so I was introduced to all sorts of people growing up. Oh--and I once talked on the phone to Howard Hughes. No fooling!
pamela
(3,469 posts)And I do believe you even if I'm totally jealous. Bobby Kennedy? Wow. I would give anything to have met him.
liberal N proud
(60,346 posts)Donna Shalaila, Kit Bond and a whole host of dead politicians.
Currently, there is no one else on my list.
Puzzledtraveller
(5,937 posts)pamela
(3,469 posts)Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)flvegan
(64,416 posts)L0oniX
(31,493 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)My first choice would be president Obama and my second choice would be Henry Waxman.
Iggo
(47,571 posts)If yes, then Darth Cheney.
If not, then I'd like to meet Mr Obama.
That might make a fun thread: Which politician would you most like to punch in the face?
treestar
(82,383 posts)I could not pick between Presidents Obama, Clinton and Carter. Or Joe Biden and Al Gore. And John Kerry. Also Barbara Boxer, Pelosi and Gabby Giffords.
pamela
(3,469 posts)Another good choice I hadn't thought of.