Politicians, maybe. Public servants, no, not really.
Did you catch the US elections last week? People have short memories.
I don’t understand the relevance, though. Guilt by association? Hillary Clinton is not Bill Clinton. Jeb Bush is not his brother, and he’s not his father. His brother wasn’t their father, either, as was demonstrated pretty clearly when he was on the throne. I don’t want to be held accountable for what my father or my husband does: what sense does it make to say that a politician is responsible for his or her family?
Depends on their incentives. When government fails, it usually does so because elected officials aren’t minding the shop. “Public servants” are just people, some of whom take pride in their work, others who just like the job security, and still others who think their job gives them authority over the citizenry, rather than working for them.
It’s elected officials’ job to curb these tendencies and they are accountable when they fail to do so. Now O’Malley of course isn’t the only governor to do this type of thing, but it’s not actually common. I know of not a single Democratic candidate likely to run in 2016 that ever did this. Cuomo? Schweitzer? Heck, Cuomo said he wanted accountability and then ended his pet program when it actually started working.
While I think Biden’s a nice guy, I don’t think he stands a chance. First and foremost is his tendency to “shoot from the lip.” Beyond that, he’ll be 72 in 2016 – maybe not the oldest potential candidate ever, but his age would certainly be a factor.
As for John Kasich, he’s my governor and I don’t believe he’s done nearly as good a job as his campaign ads painted. One of the lines that bugged me was praising the fact that he had eliminated a deficit and balanced the budget without raising taxes. But he did that by cutting back on funding to local government – leaving the locals in the position of either raising taxes or cutting services. He won a resounding victory, but his opponent never recovered from early revelations that tarnished his credibility.
Maybe I’m just reacting to current news, but I wonder if anyone has thought of Bob McDonald. He’s only been on the job as VA Secretary for a short time but he seems to be getting very favorable reviews. And he might actually get support from both sides of the fence. He was appointed by a Democrat but his bio on Wikipedia says he’s a Republican. I don’t know much about him except what I’ve heard lately but if he really does get the VA functioning, he’ll have a real headstart for any political ambitions. I’m also guessing that his VA job might necessitate visits to a lot of states, bringing him favorable press and name recognition without even considering any possible political ambitions. Am I just overreacting to the fact that he’s today’s media darling?
Well, the OP is specifically about “lesser known contenders.”
No, but he should be permanently disqualified from consideration just because of what he did in Florida before and during the 2008 election.
I have no problem with disqualifying him on his own record!
I think the people who would make the best Presidents are people who have no taste for running for elected office. Sure, if McDonald fixes the VA, that alone makes him as qualified as anyone to be President. Down here in Florida we had a Democrat like that, a guy named Bob Butterworth. He did hold elected office statewide at one point, but mainly the guy was used as a Mr. Fix it whenever a government agency was broken and he was very, very good. The only reason the government works at all is because of dedicated public servants like this who seek no glory for themselves.
You know a guy who does hold elected office who has earned a shot? Steve Beshear. DId any state have a more successful ACA rollout than Kentucky? For a governor of a deep red state to pull that off, I don’t understand why his name isn’t on Democrats’ lips for 2016.
Electable, if he can reimagine himself as the pragmatic center-left guy he was a governor, not the screaming progressive he cast himself as during his first run. Gonna be hard to do.
The man lost Maryland. *Maryland.
*
Won’t survive the primaries. Progressives would hate him. Could be very strong in 2020 or 2024, if the dems are out of power and looking to win back the white working class.
When you’ve already reached the point that The Onion has made mocking you a running gag, you’ve risen as far as you’re gonna rise.
Great on policy. Probably one of the five smartest and most accomplished people in American politics. And he looks and sounds like the treasurer of the chess club. Sorry, no nerds.
Very strong candidiate. Got 25% of the African-American vote in Ohio, which should send a cold chill down the spines of Democrats.
Vanilla milkshake.
I can’t imagine a core constituency.
Biden is old and already given to verbal gaffes. As the stresses of a primary run continue and mount, I expect that to continue and get worse, and the other candidates would bring them out even if the press tries to look the other way. Plus, as we have seen a few days back, Obama does not have very long coattails.
Dean has shot his wad already. Jim Webb - one term in the Senate and a stint as Ass’t Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy back in the 80s is not exactly overwhelming, even with his stellar military record.
On the GOP side, Kasich is probably one of the front runners (if there are such things two years out). Winning the governorship by a two-to-one margin, and in Ohio, means he already has a strong edge in what was considered a swing state. Pence is more of a generic GOP-er - I wonder if he is too much of a Republican insider to do well in a national election. Jindal could deliver the South, but that will probably happen anyway. He isn’t white but he isn’t black - I wonder how the Dems will call him an Uncle Tom. But he has a pretty extensive record as Governor in Louisiana, so there is lots of material to attack him. Her performance during Hurricane Gustav won him a lot of cred, but that was a while ago.
I am still hoping Romney reconsiders and runs in 2016. Hopefully after everyone else exhausts themselves in the primaries without picking a clear front-runner - then Romney steps in, gets the nom, and then makes it to the Oval Office. Hopefully he will run against Hilary who implodes after getting the Dem nod.
I can’t believe I am being drawn into speculation about 2016 a few days after the 2014 elections.
Regards,
Shodan
If verbal gaffes are such a big deal, how did we end up with Dingbat W. Bush for eight years?
Biden has bigger problems. Age being one, the other being he’s run before and gained little traction. He’s just not an attractive candidate to most democrats.
The republicans best hope is still, hilariously, Chris Christie. Or maybe Rand Paul. The dems could do far worse than Martin O’Malley. Hillary Clinton, for example.
There are verbal gaffes, like “put food on your family.”, but the real gaffes are when a candidate accidentally tells the truth. And Biden is a truth teller, whether he wants to be or not.
But I think we’re so used to Biden that it wouldn’t even matter anymore. I think Biden’s real problem is that despite being a pretty high profile Democrat for 30 years now he hasn’t really inspired passion among progressive voters. But he’s a great speaker when he’s on script, he’s a guy who levels with the public. It seems to me that in a field with no Hillary or Warren, Democrats might give Biden a second look and say, “You know, this might just work out okay.”
I know, misinterpreted as “less likely to be considered successful/feasible.” The less-serious media thinks the “flashy” candidates are contenders, but I’m not so sure.
If Biden runs he should do all his campaigning in a tuxedo t-shirt.
Howard Dean last Sunday:
The Romney ship had sailed. Why you would hope he gets the nomination again when there’s a ton of likeable, intelligent candidates is beyond me. That “47%” remark will live in infamy as the campaign-crushing blunder it was.
Also, Hillary would demolish Romney. You live somewhere just south of delusion if you think that’s a winner for the 'Pubs.
Most people harbor irrational beliefs. It’s not likely to be an issue as President unless he’s going into it with the purpose of imposing those irrational beliefs or letting them strongly influence his policies.
If Jindal wants to create a Department of Exorcism then I’ll worry. I’m more interested in what he did as governor than his personal beliefs on the metaphysical.
Contrast that to Dennis Kucinich, who actually proposed creating a Department of Peace. C’mon, that’s some serious irrational nonsense there. The way he described it, it does nothing that the State Department doesn’t already do. It’s just feel good gobbledygook from a pseudointellectual mind.
Except he doesn’t have just one irrational belief – in addition to exorcism, he believes volcano monitoring is government pork, creationism should be taught in schools, and he’s flirted with Birtherism.
That’s some high-volume irrational stupidity, and should disqualify him from holding any significant office.
I don’t know, to me being struck down by the Supreme Court unanimously nearly a dozen times should be disqualifying.
I think you mean “one time”. You’ll also have to demonstrate that other administrations don’t lose unanimously in the Supreme Court sometimes.