In an election for the U.S. House of Representatives, with Nancy Pelosi running as a Democrat, and Cindy Sheehan running as an independent, which describes you?
I would vote for Pelosi, no matter who the Republican is 66%
I would vote for Sheehan no matter who the Republican is 9%
I would need to know who the Republican is... 21%
Not sure 4%
I see the glass half-full: after electing Ms. Pelosi for so many years, who would have thought the voters of the 8th district had the sense to reject Ms. Sheehan?
Congressional Quarterly suggests that Cindy Sheehan's run against Pelosi will only help her nationally. The logic says that subjecting her to a challenge from the Left will make her appear more mainstream:
Yet some political analysts speculate that Sheehan’s candidacy actually could benefit Pelosi and her Democratic Party. While Sheehan is widely deemed as unlikely to pose a serious threat to defeat Pelosi, her arguments that Pelosi’s views are not liberal enough could provide a counterpoint to the contention often voiced by Republicans that the House Democratic leader is too liberal.
Pelosi has represented a liberal Bay Area constituency since winning a June 1987 special election and will seek an 11th full term next year. Republicans cast her as the embodiment of the “West Coast liberal” — and much as they did in the 2006 elections, GOP candidates are already invoking Pelosi’s name in their 2008 campaigns, warning their party base of what they contend is her determination to shift Congress far to the left.
But it is from the left that Sheehan is attacking Pelosi, which in turn might allow Democrats to cast the Speaker as more mainstream than she appears in Republican caricatures.
That's certainly a possibility, but I don't think there are many voters nationwide who pay that much attention. And of course, if Sheehan actually gets any traction -- something to be hoped for -- Ms. Pelosi will have to either forcefully argue that the pacifist apologist for Saddam and the Taliban is wrong, or she will have to echo Ms. Sheehan to appeal to her base. Either outcome would be welcome by Republicans.
Of course, she's far from the first walking, talking embarrassment to seek elective office. Here is a CNN story on her announcement, including an interview with Ms. Sheehan.
Here's a local story, including a video of her speech (a 'must-see,' if you take this even the least bit seriously). Between the two videos, here are some of the things you'll hear:
She's running because Ms. Pelosi 'has lost touch' with most of the people of the 8th district and America as a whole.
Of course, Speaker Pelosi's Congressional district is nothing like America as a whole. It is one of the most liberal areas in the country. It would be nearly impossible simultaneously to lose touch with both the 8th district and America.
Many of our young people join the military in order to receive 'college credit;' it's the reason her son joined.
I may need to review the benefits of military service. What do soldiers do that earns them college credit? Is marksmanship now a course at some universities?
On a more serious note, while Ms. Sheehan says that her son joined the military for 'college credit,' she does not address the question of why he renewed his enlistment. Perhaps the answer is in her statement that he 'always did what he believed in.' That would put her late son in the company of thousands of brave men and women doing what they believe in now, in Iraq.
She is dedicating her run to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, who have been 'tragically harmed' by the Bush 'regime.' She's also dedicating it to her unborn children and grandchildren, who would live in peace and prosperity.
It's ironic that she dedicates this effort to some whom she wishes to live in peace and prosperity, and others whom she wishes could still live under murderous, genocidal, sadistic, repressive, rapacious dictatorships. If she truly thinks the people or Iraq and Afghanistan are worse off now than they were under Saddam and the Taliban then she is more out of touch with reality than we previously suspected. I only hope that Ms. Pelosi is forced to take Ms. Sheehan's challenge seriously, and explain why Saddam and the Taliban were bad. It would be good for Democrats to remember.
If elected, Sheehan promises to push for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.
This will be neat to watch. As CNN points out, she'll have 17 days to get it done. Perhaps if she's lucky, President Bush will declare martial law and rule as a dictator. That might give her the time she needs, as long as Bush doesn't execute all Members of Congress.
I'm surprised she doesn't mention that as a possibility; she probably believes it.
