It's going to be a very long time before I vote for another Senator

[WCGreen]

for president.

Perhaps if that senator was a governor or even a mayor, I might consider it.

But a president needs to be decisive, have a plan and the guts to stick to what he or she considered important not to his or her re-election chances but to the people for whom he or she purports to advocate.

Of course there are exceptions to my Green Doctrine, Lincoln being the most apparent, but having some sort of leadership with proven decision making technique experience some where along the way is now, more than ever, crucial to success in this new perception being the new reality reality.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Mark Twain

"History has tried to teach us that we can't have good government under politicians.  Now, to go and stick one at the very head of government couldn’t be wise." - Mark Twain

[upi402]

7. Like kissin' the devil

-you're gonna get screwed every time.

Twain rocks btw!

[maxsolomon]

2. You voted for Lincoln?

Every POTUS will disappoint and frustrate. Clinton used to have me yelling back at his speeches.

My simple rule: I will never vote for a Republican for any office from Dog Catcher on up. Even the most spineless liberal is infinitely preferable.

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRVKBH2QGzjwO39CSXita9qDbWbjat2-uRZ6FOtUs5lmmk9s2j_pg&t=1

[frazzled]

3. Lincoln was not an exception, as you say

I was rewatching the Ken Burns "Civil War" documentary last week, and was surprised to notice how much criticism leveled against Lincoln from the left (abolitionist North) was exactly like the criticism of Obama today: he compromised too much (especially in not abolishing slavery outright but merely stopping its expansion into new territories), and, after several years of war, that he was a "war monger."

You would have hated Abraham Lincoln. You probably would have voted for General McClellan, the "peace" candidate who really didn't believe in peace at all: he ended up having to repudiate putting a stop to the war (by negotiating with the South).

[WCGreen]

10. He was decisive and stuck to his plan....

the criticism leveled at Abe made him stronger. I think the criticism leveled at Obama was taken to heart and clouded his resolve.

BTW, that's some supper power you have there to be able to discern from a few paragraphs how I would have voted in the 1864 election campaign.

My trouble with president Obama is that he has squandered every bit of good will he had and actually undercut the liberal agenda.

[bluestate10]

16. Lincoln meandered on policy and often backfilled at the spur of the moment.

You really need to brush up on Lincoln and his policies and how they came about and how often they changed. But, the final versions of Lincolns policies, changed as they were, saved the nation. Whether Obama is a good President or not won't be determined until decades from now when his policies have borne fruit, and with that measure in mind, I would say that Ronald Reagan was a failed President and the Jimmie Carter was in fact a visionary President, in particular concerning energy and it's impact upon american's quality of life.

[bluestate10]

13. Isn't it sad how time changes the lenses of how a person is viewed?

Lincoln was largely considered a buffoon during his day. A person that liberals in the north had to tolerate and suffer. Those that wanted slavery to end yesterday despised Lincoln because of his patient, but determined approach for ending slavery. I have seen many write on DU that Jimmy Carter is one of the greatest Presidents, but the liberal lion, Ted Kennedy primaried Jimmy Carter because Carter was slow on the mark for liberal causes. But time has proven that Carter has a golden progressive heart. The radical Left runs as hot blooded as the radical Right. I enjoy watching the radical Right damage their party, it hurts to watch the radical Left do the same to democrats when so much is at stake.

[Poll_Blind]

4. Meh. I see your point but my senator and rep are Ron Wyden and Pete DeFazio.

I guess not everyone's that lucky, but there are notable exceptions to the Green Doctrine.

PB

[WCGreen]

6. I have Sherrod Brown and Dennis K for my reps

[Poll_Blind]

9. LOL, I throw down a pair of Kings, you throw down a pair of Aces!

Remind me never to play poker with you! (Though I still like my pair better!)

:rofl:

PB

[Bluenorthwest]

11. Don't forget Jeff Merkely who's had a good start so far...

Also fond of all three myself.

[kentuck]

5. It does seem that Senators develop a certain type of thinking...

while in the Senate, that does not lead to swift decision-making and does a lot of dilly-dallying with "my good friends" from the other side.

[Donnachaidh]

8. it will be a very long time before I vote for any candidate who seems to have a whirlwind ascension

happening. I don't think the office matters -- what matters is the -ease- at which that ascension happened. As if there was behind the scenes grooming going on.

THAT I will always be suspect of in the future.

[WCGreen]

12. I told Mrs. WCGreen after the speech at the 2004 convention that

senator Obama is running for president.

I was not excited at the time and only supported him after he won the nomination.

[murielm99]

18. I put up with a lot of crap from DU because I did not

support him until after the nomination. I still think there are a lot of amateurs, neophytes and purists at DU. You have worked for the party out in the real world, so you know what I mean. I never saw that kind of behavior in the real world during the primary season. I was in some disagreements, because expressing doubts about Obama in Illinois is kinda risky. But we all moved on.

I don't want to see him primaried. We need to stay united, especially now, with the teabaggers creating so much dissension in the repubbie ranks. We can make some real gains in Congress and at the state level. Maybe Obama will feel more emboldened to stand up to the pukes in a second term. I have no doubt he can be reelected.

[Bluerthanblue]

14. I'll vote for the candidate I believe is best, regardless - JFK was a senator-

I don't see this as an issue of 're-election' desires, as much as I see it as the realization, that the President is supposedly the President of ALL citizens. That's a rare quality. Lincoln had it- so did FDR.

imo the Presidents who realize this and govern accordingly are usually Democrats, but not always.

[white_wolf]

15. I get your point, but there are few exceptions among our current Congress.

I'd vote for Sanders, Weiner, Grayson(fine,former congress in his case), and based on his book Al Franken.

[truedelphi]

17. And Senator Barbara Boxer would make my list, in addition to those

You cited.

She has taken on the pesticide industry at a time when few others in Congress were bothering to upset the campaign revenue flow from the Big Industry coffers to their own.

The most egregious stuff was happening - in fact, the most important event that Boxer came out against was the one where the Pesticide Manufacturer's research people were offering free video cameras to any poor families who were willing to let pesticides be sprayed inside their houses. (You had to have a toddler in residence to qualify.)

[northoftheborder]

19. There are advantages to coming to the Presidency out of the legislature.....

...particularly if he candidate has been there a while, and knows the inside history of legislation & people he has to work with. Someone coming out of a governorship, with no Washington experience, often doesn't have insiders to work for him from the Congress; Clinton & Carter are examples of this. Part of Obama's problem is he just hadn't been around long enough to have experience with legislative or governing.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

20. K&R!

[theophilus]

21. Lincoln was never a Senator. n/t

[WCGreen]

22. I know that, I was thinking more on the lines that he wasn't in a position

of leadership...