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Cindy Sheehan may run for U.S. Senate against Dianne Feinstein
Sheehan, 48, who lives in Berkeley, Calif., said she would head to Washington on Sunday for protests against Bush's State of the Union address on Monday, and then return to California to discuss her idea of running against Feinstein with her son and two daughters.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5578242,00.html
Sheehan Considers Challenging Feinstein
Sunday January 29, 2006 2:01 AM
By IAN JAMES
Associated Press Writer
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Cindy Sheehan, the peace activist who set up camp near President Bush's Texas ranch last summer, said Saturday she is considering running against Sen. Dianne Feinstein to protest what she called the California lawmaker's support for the war in Iraq.
``She voted for the war. She continues to vote for the funding. She won't call for an immediate withdrawal of the troops,'' Sheehan told The Associated Press in an interview while attending the World Social Forum in Venezuela along with thousands of other anti-war and anti-globalization activists.
``I think our senator needs to be held accountable for her support of George Bush and his war policies,'' said Sheehan, whose 24-year-old soldier son Casey was killed in Iraq in 2004.
Feinstein's campaign manager, Kam Kuwata, said the senator ``doesn't support George Bush and his war policies.''
``She has stated publicly on numerous occasions that she felt she was misled by the administration at the time of the vote,'' Kuwata said by phone from California.
But with troops committed, Feinstein believes immediate withdrawal is not a responsible option, Kuwata said.
``Senator Feinstein's position is, let's work toward quickly turning over the defense of Iraq to Iraqis so that we can bring the troops home as soon as possible,'' he said.
Sheehan accused Feinstein of being out of touch with Californians on the issue.
She said she would decide whether to run after talking with her three other adult children. The Democratic primary will be held in June, and candidates must submit their statements for the voter guide by Feb. 14.
Kuwata said Feinstein and Sheehan appear to have a fundamental disagreement over whether troops should be pulled out right now. ``That's why they have elections, and if she decides to file (paperwork to run), so be it,'' he said.
Sheehan said running in the Democratic primary would help make a broader point.
``If I decided to run, I would have no illusions of winning, but it would bring attention to all the peace candidates in the country,'' she said.
Sheehan, 48, who lives in Berkeley, Calif., said she would head to Washington on Sunday for protests against Bush's State of the Union address on Monday, and then return to California to discuss her idea of running against Feinstein with her son and two daughters.
``I can't see - if they think it's going to help peace - that they would be opposed to me doing it,'' she said.
Sheehan and other peace activists met Saturday with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, himself a critic of Bush and the Iraq war.
``He said, why don't I run for president? ... I just laughed,'' she said.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0...
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But if she insists on running against Feinstein-- I hope she does so as a Green.
I am committed to Todd Chretien who is running as a Green against Feinstein: because he stands firmly for the same values as Cindy Sheehan.
He believes we need to leave Iraq now.
If, however, Cindy considers running as a Green: let's see what Todd and the party say. I have an instinctive feeling that we would welcome Cindy with open arms.
God bless America!
Only in the honest and open conflict of ideas do the best ideas gain acceptance.
Todd Chretien, Cindy Sheehan... one thing is certain:
Dianne Feinstein has let the people down by rubber stamping this illegal and criminal war that we conduct in Iraq.
Feinstein must go!
(I would be amazed if Feinstein voted against Alito-- if she does vote against him, I will tip my hat to her-- but I will never vote for her.)
Bush's unchecked power is as much the result of Democrat's malfeasance as it is of the Republican's.
As a registered Democrat, she cannot run as a Green or Peace and Freedom candidate. In order to get a ballot position in the primary in one of those parties, she would have to have left the Democrats at least one year ago, and registered in that party at least three months ago. While she could run as an independent (no party) she would have to forgo the Democratic primary and get an enormous number of petition signatures during the summer.
As a candidate in the Democratic primary, she will be unable to run as an independent if she loses the Democratic nomination, no matter how many signatures she could get.
Keep in mind that incumbent office-holders write the election laws, and they write them to stay in power. Challengers always have a hard time, and saying "that is not fair" does not impress a judge (always a partisan supporter of one of the parties in power).
I would presume that the intention here is to build support in the Democratic primary and try to throw that support to Todd Chretien in the November election. Of course, since Marsha Feinland of the Peace and Freedom Party has a superb anti-war record, and is a woman, she would likely get quite a few of the votes intended by Sheehan to go to Chretien. Sheehan makes it plain that she does not expect to win the primary, so she apparently does not intend to draw people back into the Democratic Party. However, she should make that explicitly plain over and over again, or we will see her campaign used as an excuse to register voters into the Democratic Party to vote for Cindy.
Personally, I will vote for the entire Peace and Freedom Party slate, because each vote will make plain my opposition to the war. -Kevin Akin