Comments on: Election ’08 Round Table Pt. 2 http://morehockeylesswar.org/blog/archive/2007/07/12/election_08_round_table_pt_2/ Peace, Justice and Hockey Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:50:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: benson http://morehockeylesswar.org/blog/archive/2007/07/12/election_08_round_table_pt_2/#comment-8363 benson Fri, 13 Jul 2007 22:55:27 +0000 http://morehockeylesswar.org/blog/archive/2007/07/12/election_08_round_table_pt_2/#comment-8363 Quick note about the Chicago Machine: Nobody needs their permission to run for Statewide office, but you will need their permission to vote in the city of Chicago proper - if you're black.... Quick note about the Chicago Machine: Nobody needs their permission to run for Statewide office, but you will need their permission to vote in the city of Chicago proper - if you’re black….

]]> By: Himself http://morehockeylesswar.org/blog/archive/2007/07/12/election_08_round_table_pt_2/#comment-8356 Himself Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:47:27 +0000 http://morehockeylesswar.org/blog/archive/2007/07/12/election_08_round_table_pt_2/#comment-8356 Sorry for misreading your nuance. I get it now. And you're right. He earned it in a real way. Still, I wouldn't be so ready to see him as separate from the Machine. They let him run for the US Senate, after all. Finally, you broach the topic we've been skirting so far: "[t]he compromises in policy positions ... that are necessary to get elected president...." Which brings us back around to a question we've deferred (and you've already answered): is there a place for social and economic progressives in the Democratic party? I'll be publishing our answers to that soon. Sorry for misreading your nuance. I get it now. And you’re right. He earned it in a real way.

Still, I wouldn’t be so ready to see him as separate from the Machine. They let him run for the US Senate, after all.

Finally, you broach the topic we’ve been skirting so far: “[t]he compromises in policy positions … that are necessary to get elected president….” Which brings us back around to a question we’ve deferred (and you’ve already answered): is there a place for social and economic progressives in the Democratic party?

I’ll be publishing our answers to that soon.

]]> By: benson http://morehockeylesswar.org/blog/archive/2007/07/12/election_08_round_table_pt_2/#comment-8353 benson Fri, 13 Jul 2007 15:04:46 +0000 http://morehockeylesswar.org/blog/archive/2007/07/12/election_08_round_table_pt_2/#comment-8353 Whoa — slow down there Himself. Let’s back up a minute and take a closer look at what I said about Obama: I didn’t say he was progressive. I said he had progressive <i>stripes</i> (as in zebras, dammit!). Anyone with a passing familiarity with his career would know about his experience as a grass roots community organizer in Chicago, helping south-side blacks hit by lay-offs find jobs, and organizing voter registration drives. As an attorney, he did what lawyers are supposed to do: represent members of the community who get into legal trouble for trying to exercise their civil rights. He fought for the rights of poor black people who were discriminated against in housing and employment. Obama fought against the Chicago Machine where the Machine still reigns supreme today – on the local ward level. So Obama has progressive stripes - big-time - the kind earned by <i>doing</i> instead of just <i>posturing</i>. Thus my point about Obama potentially wasting those stripes on a presidential run. The compromises in policy positions - such as the ones aptly noted by Yourself - that are necessary to get elected president would, in my opinion, likely negate much of the political value that he has accumulated throughout his career in Illinois. This is value that could remain largely intact were he to be content to remain a senator. Whoa — slow down there Himself. Let’s back up a minute and take a closer look at what I said about Obama: I didn’t say he was progressive. I said he had progressive stripes (as in zebras, dammit!). Anyone with a passing familiarity with his career would know about his experience as a grass roots community organizer in Chicago, helping south-side blacks hit by lay-offs find jobs, and organizing voter registration drives. As an attorney, he did what lawyers are supposed to do: represent members of the community who get into legal trouble for trying to exercise their civil rights. He fought for the rights of poor black people who were discriminated against in housing and employment. Obama fought against the Chicago Machine where the Machine still reigns supreme today – on the local ward level.

So Obama has progressive stripes - big-time - the kind earned by doing instead of just posturing. Thus my point about Obama potentially wasting those stripes on a presidential run. The compromises in policy positions - such as the ones aptly noted by Yourself - that are necessary to get elected president would, in my opinion, likely negate much of the political value that he has accumulated throughout his career in Illinois. This is value that could remain largely intact were he to be content to remain a senator.

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