Posted: 11/25/09 01:43, Edited: 11/25/09 01:44
by Dave Mindeman
I am really trying to get my hands around this Politico quote from Independence Party leader Dean Barkley:
"Lou Dobbs, I think, would be a perfect candidate for us," said former Sen. Dean Barkley, the founder of the Minnesota Reform Party (later known as the Minnesota Independence Party) who managed former Gov. Jesse Ventura's successful third-party campaign in 1998. "We were hoping he would have run last time."
Lou Dobbs?
The only possible criteria that would make Lou Dobbs an attractive candidate for Barkley's party is that he is ego centric, well known, and shoots his mouth off.
OK, I get it. He is kind of like Jesse Ventura. Barkley has been searching for a Jesse clone for years. Except Dobbs has all the negative quailities of "The Body" with almost none of the positives.
At least Ventura was willing to take a stand on gay rights, women's rights, and the pluses for transportation investment. At least Ventura gets it on torture.
But Dobbs? Dobbs is the loosest of loose cannons. He is all over the board on the issues. He generally supports abortion rights and at least opposes the GOP Same-Sex Marriage ban. But his stances on immigration are just plain discriminatory. He has dabbled in the "birther" conspiracy. He questions climate change and sometimes rants about the secret rise of the "North American Union"-- a pseudo-plot to usurp American sovereignty. He has been an outspoken critic of outsourcing (one of the few) but at the same time buys into the ridiculous arguments from the right on the Employee Free Choice Act, about taking away the "secret ballot".
His language is peppered with "commies" and "socialists" and "fascists" and "demagogues"....why, he even called Rachel Maddow a "tea bagging queen".
He sees his own black helicopters as well. He claims that the left and the right are out to "silence him". He points to a recent incident in which a stray bullet hit his house as an attempt to kill him....while a police investigator thinks its more likely it was an errant shot from a local hunter.
I don't quite understand Barkley's reasoning on this. The only explanation possible is that they are desperate for a "name" candidate. Well, Dobbs certainly qualifies in that regard.
But, really, in the long run, would Dobbs really be good for any third party?
I guess if that party is not willing to do the hard work of grass roots organizing and really building a strong base for that party that could last for years.... I guess maybe if you wanted to skip all that...
yea, then Dobbs would be your "perfect" candidate.
Barkley has done something very few people are capable of doing. He started a party that became qualified to be considered a Major party. He was the last campaign manager to elect someone other than a Republican to the Governors seat and they did that being out spent many times over.
Barkley’s no rabid right winger and anyone who watched the Senate debates knows that.
Dobbs may be the best IP candidate and that speaks more about the IP than the fact that Barkley came out and said it.