Who should we replace Dianne Feinstein with over FISA?
One of the main things that we decided on was the need to primary DiFi in 2012. I know that is six years down the road. But it is not too soon, given her repeated cave-ins to the Bush administration, to figure out who would be a better fit for California and who would be a better Senator and a compliment to Barbara Boxer.
Since this is six years away, the time to lay out the groundwork is now, so that we can get our candidate name recognition and promote them. Listed below are 14 potential candidates, one of which we can draft to replace her.
Secretary of State Debra Bowen
She is one of the chief voices of electoral reform in this country, and it helped her to beat Ahnold's hand-picked man in the 2006 elections. She will help protect the state against the influences of Diebold and help ensure that there are free and fair elections in California. There is strong support for this in California, and she would make a strong compliment to Barbara Boxer, who challenged the 2004 election results in Ohio.
He is a maverick politician, so such a challenge would be right up his alley. He has turned the attorney general's office into an effective bully pulpit for more stringent regulations against greenhouse gasses.
He was one of the first people to advocate for gay marriage and used the Mayor's office to push for that goal in his city. He has also reduced the number of homeless in San Francisco by 38% through active engagement in eliminating the causes. He has also converted 39% of the city's vehicles into biofuel vehicles and has also created a 311 number so that city services are more accessible to city residents.
He is an advocate for health care and a green economy; like John Kerry in "This Moment on Earth," he seeks to combine environmentalism with economic development. He is also an advocate for health care and funding for higher education in the state.
He is the chief financial officer for the State of California; his duties involve the management of billions of dollars in taxpayer money. He has saved people hundreds of dollars to accountants through the development of a free tax return service for taxpayers in the state. He sponsors tax seminars around the state that make it easier for small businesses to understand and to navigate tax laws within the state.
Invests money for the state as well as for the state pension funds that pay out pensions for state employees as well as teachers. His job is also to finance public works projects around the state. Previously, he had served as the state's Attorney General, where he recovered hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Medicaid fraud as well as establish one of the most advanced DNA testing programs in the country.
He is pushing to unite all the people of that city and is also pushing to create a green city. He sees it as a necessity and understands the need to reduce carbon emissions. Under his leadership, violent crime has dropped in the city by 25% in the face of rises nationally. On the green front, he has opened the Orange Line, a transit line which has reduced traffic congestion in the city; he has also worked with shipping companies to convert to low-sulfur fuel and is on target to have 20% of the city on renewable energy by 2010.
He was supported by Daily Kos' own Kid Oakland. You can read his endorsement here. He would be a nice contrast to DiFi, who refuses to work with us on the issues. His style of leadership is people-centered, and his goal is to involve the people in every step of the decision-making process.
She is one of the key voices in Congress for defunding the war. Similar to Dennis Kucinich, she supports only funding for the war that would be used for withdrawal. She has used the time after the last vote to push for this measure.
Also a member of the Out of Iraq Coalition. She is also an advocate for cutting poverty in half in this country, an opponent of Judge Leslie Southwick, and got a bill passed that tightens the financial pressure on Sudan for their role in the Darfur Genocide. She also wrote the bill that will ban permanent bases in Iraq that passed overwhelmingly in Congress. Paul Wellstone used to be the Conscience of the Senate; she is rapidly becoming the Conscience of the House.
Also a sponsor of the ban on permanent bases in Iraq, the bill to end funding of Iraq, and the Darfur Divestment Act along with Lee. She was one of the key voices in securing the challenge to the Ohio results in 2004. She is strong and unapologetic; her reaction to the Republican smears of Michael Moore on the day of the challenge was, "Thank God for Michael Moore." She also publicly congratulated him on his release of Sicko.
He showed the ability to beat a corrupt incumbent Republican, Richard Pombo. He was able to do that while still touting strong progressive credentials. He is a supporter of a timetable for withdrawal as well as the expansion of the SCHIP Program that will bring health insurance to 11 million. He is also a team player, working with business and environmental interests to create a green future for the district and develop the economy at the same time.
She focuses on issues that many of the others do not focus on. She is still an advocate for Katrina relief long after everyone else has forgotten it. She is still an advocate for veterans rights and is pushing to protect them from the recent massive identity theft scam. She is also a spokesperson for the Cherokee Freedmen, a group of people who she says was illegally disenfranchised by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Her willingness to take on issues that the media is not willing to take on is reminicent of the best qualities of Russ Feingold and John Edwards.
While a minority of Democrats have caved into the Bush administration and have given him broad unitary executive powers, Henry Waxman is doing all he can to investigate the culture of corruption within the Bush White House. In addition, he is also sponsoring a bill that would make the changes that scientists say are needed to meet the challenges of global warming.