Bradblog:
Nader argued that without a primary challenge and vigorous debate on issues important to the Democratic base, Obama would "be able, for another four years, should he win, which is likely, to turn his back on the liberal progressive base and become Obama/Bush Administration 2. Just look at all the similarities with the Bush Administration."
Host David Shuster challenged Nader by suggesting that "a primary challenge to President Obama would hurt him, cause fissures in the democratic party and possibly impede the party efforts in the the general election."
"Well, it's just the reverse," Nader countered. "It will challenge him, bring the best out of him and there's nothing worse for a candidate in terms of lessening the enthusiastic level for him than to go through an unchallenged routine of repetitious primaries."
The former Green and then independent Presidential candidate discussed a soon-to-emerge, campaign by Democratic progressives to organize an initiative in the coming days "not designed to defeat [Obama], in the Democratic Primary, but designed to generate a robust debate, and put the liberal progressive issues on domestic policies, including job production and foreign and military policy, on the national Presidential agenda in 2012."
He said that without such a challenge, Obama would be allowed to continue serving little more than just "the corporate warlords and corporate barons of Wall Street."
[,,,] Nader is not the only high profile figure to discuss the possibility of a primary challenge to the President. Vermont's extremely popular Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, said on Thom Hartmann's radio show the Friday before last that he thought "it would be a good idea if President Obama faced some primary opposition."
Then, over this past weekend, as word of the debt ceiling "deal" brokered between Obama and the Republicans, featuring historic spending cuts but no increases in revenue, leaked out, word came in that some 75 Progressive Caucus members of the California Democratic Party (CDP) had passed a controversial resolution in support of, you guessed it, a Democratic primary challenge to Barack Obama.
According to a statement posted with their resolution at WarisaCrime.org: "Gathering in Anaheim during an Executive Board meeting of the CDP, the group overwhelmingly endorsed the resolution following a discussion on the importance of not only challenging the far-right agenda of unmitigated corporate greed but also the current administration's willingness to slash 650-billion dollars from Social Security and Medicare."
That resolution, passed by the Progressive Caucus of the CDP follows in full below...
[emphasis added] Go to Brad Blog for omitted links, and to read the resolution text.
Obama has been far too willing a tool of moneyed power. There is this. Paraphrasing Subterranean Homesick Blues, "You don't need Firedog Lake to know which way the wind blows [but their follow-the-money confirmation of things IS reassuring that personal assessments are likely not in error]." These Wall Street one-night-mega-money-on-the-table folks are people known for taking care of friends, and ranging from indifferent to hostile, against enemies.
Gary Gross has an interesting pro-GOP post and comment thread about Mad Michele calling for Geithner to be sacked. I put that Firedoglake link up there. Gary seems in agreement on the rating agencies being little but bothersome wind, when getting too, too political. He had no opinion to register on Obama being cozy with the Wall Streeters.
If Obama wants that constituency, he needs a primary challenger, representing who else, but job-hungry cash-stressed progressive and informed true Democrats.
Romney is not going to budge the man. Pawlenty and Bachmann are not going to budge Romney.
That being said, Ron Paul might be a GOP winner but they'll rather lose than run him. To the core traditional GOP moneyed interests, Obama is a better option than RP.
They're seen buying into that, if Firedog Lake's info is not at all in error.
In closing -- I am unaware of any Ron Paul one-night-stands with Wall Street. Readers with info that way are encouraged to post a comment or send an email. I don't recall Bernie Sanders' one-nighting with that crowd either.