Liberals vow to challenge Obama in Democratic primaries
Worried the liberal voice is being drowned out in the presidential campaign, progressive leaders said Monday they want to field a slate of candidates against President
Obama in the Democratic primaries to make him stake out liberal stances as he seeks re-election.
The group’s call has been endorsed by more than 45 other liberal leaders. They want to recruit six candidates who bring expertise ranging from poverty to the military the intent is not to defeat
Mr. Obama
But to make him focus on issues that might get lost in a purely
Obama-versus-
GOP discussion.Defeating an incumbent in a primary is a tall order, but opponents can expose weaknesses, as
Patrick J. Buchanan did in 1992 to the first President
Bush and
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy did in 1980 to President
Carter.
“We need to put strong Democratic pressure on President
Obama in the name of poor and working people” said
Cornel West, an author and professor at Princeton University. “His administration has tilted too much toward Wall Street, we need policies that empower Main Street.”
Darrell West of the Brookings Institution said the group should find a high-profile liberal to challenge the president if it is to be effective.
“The group should consider the fact that one of the greatest predictors of a one-versus-two-term president is having an in-party challenge,”
Mr. West said. “Presidents with no nomination challenge such as Reagan, Clinton, and
Bush won re-election while those with a significant in-party challenge such as
Carter and George Herbert Walker Bush lost their bids for re-election.”
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/19/liberals-vow-challenge-obama-democratic-primaries/
