One of the big trends I have picked up on from last time is that Hillary Clinton has made a lot of inroads here at Daily Kos -- when I did these polls in 2008, she had trouble getting 10% of the vote in my polls. But now, the big difference is that she is routinely leading these polls (unscientific, of course) along with Elizabeth Warren. If these results hold up nationally, then we could see the first woman President in the history of the country.
Here were the results from last time:
Hillary Clinton 27%
Elizabeth Warren 23%
Deval Patrick 11%
Bernie Sanders 8%
Brian Schweitzer 6%
Russ Feingold 5%
Joe Biden 3%
Wesley Clark 3%
Kirsten Gillibrand 2%
Keith Ellison 1%
Not a Freaking Clue 6%
OUT (Did not receive votes) -- Al Gore, Howard Dean, and Gavin Newsom.
In their place:
Martin O'Malley
Martin O'Malley and the Maryland legislature have bucked a national trend of state legislatures swinging more and more to the right. For instance, Missouri now has a veto-proof GOP majority. They legalized gay marriage in Maryland, which has burnished his Progressive credentials for 2016 should he decide to run.
Mark Udall
Mark Udall, the Senator from Colorado, has opposed the Patriot Act and has opposed the indefinite detention provisions of the NDAA. He has also been a strong leader on alternative fuels. He reminds one of Lloyd Bentsen, the grandfatherly running mate of Michael Dukakis in 1988 only he is a much stronger progressive.
Sherrod Brown
The Senator from Ohio is one of the most progressive members of the Senate and has proven that liberals can and do win in some of the most purple states. He is an opponent of free trade agreements, voted against the Iraq War, and has been one of the leaders in pushing for equality for all Americans.
Andrew Cuomo
A name sure to infuriate the right. A Reuters article mentioned him as a possible candidate and reports that he has already signed a book deal for 2014 in a preemptive effort to put his life on the table. He is the son of New York Governor Mario Cuomo and signed the bill in favor of marriage equality in New York. When his father was governor of New York, Rush Limbaugh would deliberately mispronounce his name with a special emphasis on the "U" and omitting the first "O" -- "Cumo."
Now for the current crop.
Hillary Clinton
UP 2%
Hillary rose by two points from 25% to 27%. One of the biggest arguments in her favor is electability. From an anecdotal point of view, I have personally had right-wingers tell me that she would make a much better president than Obama, forgetting, of course, that they just as easily bashed Bill and Hillary in the 1990's. She has the potential to put states like Missouri, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas in play, states that voted for Bill in the 1990's but who have not voted for Obama. This, while holding the states that Obama won in 2008 and 2012.
Elizabeth Warren
DOWN 2%
Finished second last time. Elizabeth Warren is enjoying high approval ratings in Massachusetts and her win in the last election is setting an example for other people. This article is about Susan Crawford, who is very similar to Warren in her ability to take on corporate power. The ability to lead and inspire people is a critical Presidential quality.
Deval Patrick
NEW
Finished third with 11%, meaning that there is some interest in his candidacy. He is enjoying high approval ratings in Massachusetts of over 60% in the wake of his handling of the recent Boston Marathon bombings. And he is infuriating the right. For instance, the right-wing website Dropout Nation is engaging in negative campaigning against what they say is a massive teacher's pension fund deficit in that state.
Bernie Sanders
NEW
Finished fourth with 8%. He is bucking the conventional wisdom that the government must address the deficit first. Instead, he has a better feel for public opinion than all the pundits as he says that we should focus on the Middle Class first. And he is championing a bill that he says will end Veteran homelessness by 2015; there are currently around 62,000. If we are going to send them off to foreign wars, then the least we can do is ensure that they have a place to live once their service to their country is done.
Brian Schweitzer
DOWN 3%
Finished 5th with 6%. A new pollshows that he would beat all Republican challengers if he runs for Senator in Montana. Like Sanders, Schweitzer gets it when he prioritizes the economy, in accordance with the wishes of the American people. The Huffington Post does an entire feature article on this; one of his quotes: "Corporations are not just controlling our governments, but our everyday lives."
Russ Feingold
DOWN 6%
Finished with 5%. The lone Senator to vote against the Patriot Act, he gave an interview in which he said that the country was maturing in the face of terrorist threats:
"...a sign that the country is maturing, and getting used to the fact that there's going to be terrorism, but we don't want to give up all our values in our law in terms of dealing with it."
He gave this interview before the Boston Marathon bombings.
Joe Biden
NEW
Chris Cilliza writes that Joe Biden is interested in a 2016 run. He is one of the most popular Democratic leaders according to a poll posted by Cilliza, posting a 74% approval rating among Democrats. The problem, as Cilliza sees it, is that Hillary is more popular, posting a 91% approval rating. But, as we all saw, Hillary did not win in 2008. But she would have a head start over Biden.
Wesley Clark
NEW
Wesley Clark's group, Growth Energy, is taking on the oil companies. Their op-ed appeared in The Hill recently:
The oil industry hopes to protect its control over America’s fuel supply by undermining renewable fuels. By confusing us with misleading claims and outright falsehoods, oil companies hope Congress will overlook the real dangers caused by our almost complete dependence on oil for transportation fuels. For our economy and our environment, we cannot allow them to succeed.
The oil lobby is not hiding its goal. It wants to destroy its competition by repealing the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), calling higher ethanol blends “unworkable” and “not the way to go.” That is nonsense. Currently, ethanol is blended at the 10% level (E10) into nearly every gallon of gasoline in America, saving consumers money and cleaning our air. Meanwhile, higher ethanol blends like E15 are the most tested fuels ever – with enough miles driven by testing agencies to travel to the moon and back 12 times.
The oil industry would like you to ignore the inconvenient fact that oil is both limited and disappearing fast. In the race to drill ourselves into “Saudi America” by increasing domestic oil production, we will be going after oil reserves that are harder and harder to access. And those oil reserves will cost us a lot more, both economically and environmentally.
According to the IEA, even with all that drilling at home, oil is still expected to top $200 per barrel by 2035. That’s a far cry from the $20/barrel price most of us baby-boomers grew up with. We won’t have lower oil prices until we have real alternatives to oil at the pump – and the oil companies know it.
Kirsten Gillibrand
NEW
Politico did a recent article about her chances in 2016.
As a Blue Dog Democrat from upstate New York, the former congresswoman was viewed with distrust — if not disdain — by the left when she snagged a surprise appointment to Clinton’s seat in 2009 amid fierce jockeying for the slot.
Since then, the 46-year-old Dartmouth-educated attorney has demonstrated impressive political chops. She has managed not only to ease liberals’ misgivings about her but also to win their enthusiastic support — all while maintaining her moderate cred and doing the kind of behind-the-scenes political scut work that could enable an eventual national bid.
“I find her to be very impressive,” said the champion of the left circa 2004, Howard Dean. “She often underwhelms people at first sight, [but] when you look under the hood, you find a first-class political mind and someone who has a great deal of skill.”
"It's outrageous that everything from car seats to my son's dishware could be leaching hormone disrupting or cancer causing chemicals, but the EPA is virtually powerless to regulate them,"
Keith Ellison
DOWN 2%
Finished with 1% of the vote last time. The Minnesota Post talked about the importance of having someone like him who knows when to support the President and when not to:
The fact is, we need more Keith Ellisons in Congress. Not just because he’s a great progressive voice, supporting the president but challenging him strongly on his questionable austerity politics, but also because he’s a patriotic American who’s also a Muslim. He’s crucial right now.
On “Meet the Press” David Gregory tried to pigeonhole Ellison a little: “You’re a Muslim — this concerns you on civil libertarian grounds and other areas.”
Ellison shot back: “I’m an American,” Ellison replied. “And I’m concerned about national safety — public safety — just like everyone is.”
We only have 15 poll slots available; however, I am always open to other suggestions. I will post as many as I can. If someone gets no votes, I will eliminate them and replace them with your suggestions. I'm in a complete state of withheld judgment at this point.