Sheehan challenges Pelosi for U.S. House seat

anneshirley · August 2008

I need an outlet for my political energies now that I've stopped writing on the Hillary thread. I know this is a bit outrageous, but here's an outlet for all of you who dislike Pelosi. I'm sure Sheehan can use some money in her fight against Pelosi, so why not contribute to Cindy? She has a real chance of winning.

I was delighted when Nancy Pelosi became the first woman to head the House. She's been an enormous disappointment to me. The Democrats won in 2006 because of anti-war feelings and Pelosi and Reed have been totally inept at moving us out of Iraq. And I'm tired of their excuses, that they don't have a majority. They're in charge and there's so much they could have done with courage and integrity. Both are lacking, something Cindy Sheehan has in abundance.

And even if you're a Republican and don't agree with Sheehan, contribute to her just to be malicious.

anneshirley · August 2008

Conspiracy Theories: For those of you who believe in them--I don't totally, but I throw this one out as food for thought. I worked for GE years ago and it was a very conservative company in terms of its political leanings. And Jack Welch, who may have retired, is still the face of GE and he's a Republican. Yet, NBC, owned by GE, has been in the tank this election year for Obama, so much so that it's been called the "Obama Network." And the network went left very very quickly. If GE wanted to rein in the obvious and biased support of its cable network for Obama, it could have done so easily, yet it didn't.

Now that we see Obama's polls dropping every day, I'm wondering if this was all set to music. Perhaps they were sure that with Hillary as the candidate, the Republicans would lose. I'm putting this out there so if it ever is revealed that NBC orchestrated this whole thing, I can say I called it first! LOL

And for anyone who might think, But Keith Oberman and Chris Matthews and others couldn't put this on, I agree. But that's not how it works. The big guns of the network give the likes of Oberman and Matthews plenty of opportunity to express their views, rein in some of their more right-wing analysts or let them go, hire more and more liberals and the whole thing takes off, apparently without any behind the scenes manipulating. And if McCain does win, I would expect to see some small changes in the beginning but by the time McCain is in for four years, it will be another Fox network. MS-NBC was pretty much the only network I watched until I got really pissed at the gender bias shown towards Hillary. In fact, I probably would have come over to Obama more easily if the MS-NBC folks hadn't gotten me so riled up.

Anyway, it's a theory, nothing more, but considering Watergate et al., it's possible.

Anonymous · August 2008

<<contribute to her just to be malicious>> ???

i am sure you meant that humorously?

anneshirley · August 2008

Laurap,

Well, not really. I'm sure Sheehan can use the money and whether it comes from a Democrat or a Republican, or an independent, it's still money. I doubt any Republican would contribute to Sheehan except to make trouble for Pelosi, whom so many dislike So partly humorous and mainly not.

Anonymous · August 2008

anneshirley,

i would hope that people make contributions to campaigns and causes to bring about social change and not for malicious reasons.

<<She has a real chance of winning.>>

that is not true. sheehan has about as much chance of taking pelosi's seat in november as ralph nader or cynthia mckinney (whom sheehan endorses) does of becoming president

laurap

anneshirley · August 2008

Hope away! I certainly do, and I'd be delighted if a true anti-war advocate were to win Pelosi's seat. And who are you to tell others to whom they can give their money. I suspect you're on the wrong thread. You're looking for the Obama4president thread, where no disagreements are permitted.

Anonymous · August 2008

anne,

i am not on the wrong thread. i was responding to your statement that sheehan has a real chance of winning nancy pelosi's senate seat.

your statement is inaccurate. she has no chance.

peace out ....

laurap

NoH8 · August 2008

I really like Pelosi. She has to walk a fine line between supporting a democratic agenda and not being too liberal that she loses moderate democrats. As much as I respect Cindy Sheen, I don't want her taking Pelosi's seat and losing the first female Majority leader of the house.

Anonymous · August 2008

Cindy Sheehan to Pelosi: Impeach Bush, or I'll Run Against You

By Rachel Kapochunas, CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY New York Times July 9, 2007

Antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan mainly has targeted her wrath over Iraq at President George W. Bush and other Republicans. But just more than a month ago, she pronounced herself disillusioned with the leaders of the Democratic Party, calling them too soft on Bush.

And now Sheehan says she is considering taking her displeasure directly to the source - by waging a third-party challenge to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi next year in the California Democrat's San Francisco-based 8th District.

Sheehan told the Associated Press on Sunday that she would enter the 2008 House contest, in one of the nation's most solidly Democratic and liberal-leaning districts, unless Pelosi introduces articles of impeachment against Bush by July 23.

Sheehan said she believes the president misled the public about the reasons why he took the nation to war in Iraq and committed other impeachable offenses.

Moved to political activism by the death of her son while serving in Iraq, Sheehan rose to national attention in 2005 as she set up camp outside Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, and demanded without success an audience with the president to discuss her grievances over the war as the mother of a serviceman killed in action.

Sheehan announced late this May that she was leaving the Democratic Party because she felt its members in Congress were "caving in" to the president by supporting continued funding for the war in Iraq.

Pelosi has been an outspoken critic of the president on Iraq as well as a long list of other issues. But she has declined to use her position as leader of the House Democrats to block approval of Iraq funding legislation, which most Republicans and many Democrats argue would constitute abandoning U.S. troops in the field.

This is not the first time Sheehan has tested the waters for a challenge to a sitting Democratic officeholder. She threatened to wage a primary campaign in 2006 against California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, but demurred early that February. The consensus among political analysts was that Sheehan was unlikely to pose a serious threat to Feinstein, who coasted to an easy re-election victory last year.

Similarly, while Sheehan might gain a platform to air her views by waging a campaign against Pelosi, she would face an uphill battle to be considered a serious contender for the 8th District seat.

Despite criticism from Sheehan and others on the left, Pelosi is the embodiment of Democratic liberalism to many conservatives. Republican operatives in many 2006 Senate and House races, especially in places with generally moderate-to-conservative voting tendencies, sought to villainize Pelosi and tie Democratic candidates to her.

But with public support for Bush and congressional Republicans at low ebb, Democrats made major gains in the 2006 elections and took control of both the House and Senate - an achievement that made Pelosi House Speaker and the highest-ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government.

At home, Pelosi has long been well-received by her Bay Area supporters and appears virtually safe for re-election to an 11th full term in 2008.

Republican Dana Walsh filed a statement of candidacy for the race, but has only a small GOP base with which to work - as underscored by the district's 2006 election, when Pelosi romped to victory with 80 percent of the vote. Republican Mike DeNunzio received less than 11 percent and finished just 3 percentage points ahead of Green Party nominee Krissy Keefer.

NoH8 · August 2008

BTW, I heard about Sheehan several weeks ago, this isn't new news to me.

Anonymous · August 2008

i first found out about cindy's run over at the daily kos:

http://cindysheehan.dailykos.com/

i think.

but as a 35 year resident of san francisco transplanted to orange county i still read the s.f chronicle at sfgate where it has been covered also.

iodine · August 2008

I believe that about the only thing worse than Pelosi is Sheehan. They scare me to death!

Anonymous · August 2008

i wonder if she will stay in the race for pelosi's seat or drop out like she did in her run against dianne feinstein ... nonetheless, nice touch cindy, imo...

"Sheehan plane crashes party

Hours before Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama was set to deliver his acceptance speech, Cindy Sheehan delivered a concise message over the Denver skies, clearly visible from the Pepsi Center on Thursday: "Peace now."

The antiwar stalwart hired an airborne messenger after raising $5,000 via an Internet and e-mail appeal, asking for donations to write those words "at the height of the convention over the Mile High City in letters a mile high." "

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/29/skys-the-limit-for-tickets-to-obamas-big-night/?page=2

Anonymous · September 2008

Anti-war activist faces long odds to unseat Pelosi

By ERICA WERNER Associated Press Writer Article Launched: 09/24/2008 04:01:19 PM PDT

WASHINGTON-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to win an easy re-election to Congress on Nov. 4, but not before her liberal San Francisco constituents get the chance to cast symbolic votes against the war she has failed to stop and the president she never tried to impeach.

Voters will have the opportunity to try to replace the Democrat with one of her leading critics on both those issues.

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, in her first campaign for public office, is running as an independent against Pelosi in California's 8th Congressional District, which covers most of the city of San Francisco except its southwestern corner.

Like other critics on Pelosi's left flank, Sheehan accuses the speaker of not using her power to cut off funding for the Iraq war and says she should have allowed impeachment hearings against President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, among other complaints.

"I think it's very important to go up against the establishment and to challenge both sides of the problem, not just half the problem," Sheehan said. "It's time the people were represented, and not the corporate interests."

Sheehan became famous for camping outside President Bush's Texas ranch to demand an end to the war after the death of her son, Casey, in Iraq.

Asked about Sheehan's candidacy, Pelosi responded that "everyone has a right to run, and I respect Cindy Sheehan. I especially respect the fact that she lost her son."

Pelosi, who is seeking a 12th term, said she will campaign around the country for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, as well as in her San Francisco district.

Pelosi did not address the substance of Sheehan's candidacy, but she herself has said that her greatest disappointment since becoming speaker in January 2007 has been her inability to bring the war to a close. Pelosi largely has blamed the Senate, where procedural rules have allowed minority Republicans to block troop-withdrawal bills.

As for impeachment proceedings, Pelosi declared those "off the table" early on, insisting Congress must focus on other priorities, including trying to end the war.

Republicans have sought to brand Pelosi nationally as a "San Francisco liberal." But in the freethinking City by the Bay, most of the challenges the congresswoman faces come not from the right but from the left. She's fought them off relatively easily in the past, and analysts expect the same result with Sheehan.

In California's June primary, Pelosi faced local activist Shirley Golub, who branded the speaker a "political coward." Pelosi won with 89 percent of the vote, compared with slightly less than 11 percent for Golub.

Still, in Sheehan, Pelosi is facing a nationally known opponent who has become a symbol of opposition to the Iraq war. Some leftists may take the opportunity to punish the speaker on Election Day over the war and other perceived failings of Congress.

Local analysts and pollsters say Pelosi remains highly popular in San Francisco, although her poll numbers, along with those of the rest of Congress, have sagged nationwide and in California. A Field Poll in May found that 39 percent of California voters disapproved of her performance, while only 30 percent approved.

Although Pelosi should win easily, Sheehan offers "another way that people actually get to voice their opposition to the Democrats' positioning on the war," said Corey Cook, an assistant professor of political science at the University of San Francisco.

Also on San Francisco's general election ballot are measures sure to inflame liberal passions-one seeking to rename the city's sewage plant after Bush and a policy declaration against spending more money in Iraq.

In addition to Sheehan, Pelosi will face Republican Dana Walsh and Libertarian Philip Z. Berg. Fifty-six percent of registered voters in the district are Democrats, while 9 percent are Republicans.

"There are highly sophisticated voters here," Cook said, "and so voters realize that while there may be somebody more ideologically pure and closer to their position-not just on the war issue but on other issues as well-they're unlikely to have the same sort of impact on national policy that Pelosi is."

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10549021?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

anneshirley · September 2008

Laura, your post reeled me back in. If Pelosi did derail the bailout bill by making a partisan speech in the house immediately before the vote today, "ideologically pure" voters like me, might think that Pelosi, who sold out on their positions, and to boot isn't worth much as a leader, isn't worth their votes to keep her around. Why not someone like Sheehan, who can beat the drum from within the system, not from outside. The audacity of hope, but I'll be watching the California numbers closely on election day.

Anonymous · September 2008

a.s. with obama leading in double digits in california, a very popular democratic mayor in san francisco , i tend to agree with the san jose mercury times article i posted earlier.

in regards to the spin on the bailout failure, it is a bit early to see how history will play it.

Anonymous · October 2008

Cindy's world: Things are getting downright weird for Cindy Sheehan, the world's most famous anti-Iraq war activist.

Sheehan, who is running an uphill fight for the San Francisco congressional seat held by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is telling the world via her "Cindy for Congress '08" Web site that she is now the target of a dirty-tricks campaign.

According to Sheehan, the first sign was at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August when she returned to her hotel room just in time to catch a maintenance worker who supposedly was changing a light bulb. She thinks he was actually bugging her phone.

Then two weeks ago, Sheehan says, she was invited down to the "We the People" music festival in Los Angeles - only to be prevented from speaking once she arrived. The next day, she heard from a reporter of an alternative newsweekly that no less than L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was "involved in the decision to silence my voice."

Then last week, she filed a restraining order against a former volunteer who allegedly has been sending threatening e-mails. On her Web site, Sheehan says "we now know (he) was probably spying on us for the Pelosi camp." Pelosi's people brushed off the suggestion as absurd.

The tail lights on her campaign's RV were subsequently busted out. Not long after that, Sheehan writes, four young men walked into the campaign office on Mission Street, acted like they wanted to register to vote, then "grabbed one of our computers and beat an intern over the head when she tried to stop them."

To top it off, Sheehan says, she has been summoned to jury duty in San Francisco on "the week of, you guessed it, the elections!"

But for Sheehan, the most compelling evidence of dirty play involved the robo-calls that her campaign made to voters. The idea was to start last Monday, she says, but then "we started getting phone calls and e-mails blasting us for sending out the calls at 10:30 on a Saturday night." The candidate noted that people tend to find such late-night calls "extremely annoying."

"Was it just a 'glitch' in the system, as the owner of the robo-call company claims, or overt sabotage of the campaign?" Sheehan wrote, before concluding: "The stakes are high and I have a feeling 'they' won't stop at anything to assure that the tyranny of incumbency continues."

By the way, Sheehan campaign manager Tiffany Burns tells us that "except for these little bumps, everything is going great."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/18/BALG13JJUV.DTL&tsp=1

Sheehan challenges Pelosi for U.S. House seat

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