Which political leaders do you trust (U.S.)?

[sakabatou]

I just want names. And people, I don't want any flame wars going inside this thread. All I need is a general consesus.

Thank you.

[cyclezealot]

1. A good clue, go to the FEC

see where their Pac money comes from.
our most trusted pol of modern times. Dennis Kucinich.he' rather be honest than be mayor.
his honesty cost him his mayorship.

[felman87]

2. Obama McCain 2008

Is that too much to ask?

[NYCGirl]

8. You trust THIS McCain?

He sure has some impressive friends!

[savemefromdumbya]

17. Do NOT trust McCain he is a Republican

[savemefromdumbya]

18. He is

[liberalnurse]

11. You can't be serious?

No way!

[concerned citizen23]

30. Don't Trust McCain....

McCain was a former member of the now disbanded “Committee for the Liberation of Iraq”(CLI). CLI was a committee formed just prior to the US preemptive attack on Iraq and served as advsiors to the Bush White House. McCain has not been forthright with the American people for the reasons the administration fixed facts around “policy” and the real reason we are in Iraq.

At the time of it's formation,the Washington Post published the following on the CLI:
"CLI bills itself as a nongovernmental organization comprised of a "distinguished group of Americans" who want to free Iraq from Saddam Hussein. In a news release announcing its formation, the groups said it wants to "promote regional peace, political freedom and international security through replacement of the Saddam Hussein regime with a democratic government that respects the rights of the Iraqi people and ceases to threaten the community of nations." It has close links to the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), important shapers of the Bush administration's foreign policy".

"Many CLI, PNAC and AEI members were previously involved with the Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf (CPSG), a hard-right group created in 1990 prior to Operation Desert Storm.
The Washington Post reported in November 2002 that "the organization is modeled on a successful lobbying campaign to expand the NATO alliance. Members include former secretary of state George P. Shultz, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former senator Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.). ... While the Iraq committee is an independent entity, committee officers said they expect to work closely with the administration. They already have met with Hadley and Bush political adviser Karl Rove. Committee officers and a White House spokesman said Rice, Hadley and Cheney will soon meet with the group." <1> (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A64233-2002Nov3?language=printer)"

Because of CLI close associations with The Project for the New American Century, I am sure he is rather knowledgeable of the philosophies and strategies boldly detailed in their report “Rebuilding America’s Defenses.”

Two thumbs down on McCain...

[ArkySue]

3. Wes Clark

:patriot:

[sakabatou]

5. .

[Eric J in MN]

4. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

NT

[surfermaw]

9. Al Gore & John Edwards

[liberalnurse]

12. That makes a Perfect

Democratic Presidential Ticket.

[rubberducky]

6. Jimmy Carter and Al Gore

:)

[calico1]

7. Ted Kennedy, Dennis Kucinich,

John Conyers, Maxine Waters, Russ Feingold, Charles Rangel, Patrick Leahy.

[MissWaverly]

10. Rep. John Conyers, Rep. John Murtha, Sen. Barbara Mikulski

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Carl Levin, Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. Henry
Waxman, Sen. John Kerry, Sen. Teddy Kennedy, Sen. Robert Byrd, Sen. Russ Feingold, Sen. Richard
Durbin

[Sinti]

13. Kucinich, Conyers and Feingold ATM - that could change quickly.

I've seen too many votes that shouldn't have been, adn too many stand downs to believe they're "keeping their powder dry". I only trust Russ for the moment, because he put his money where his mouth was regarding campaign finance reform and doesn't take money from International Megacorp.

[thatsrightimirish]

14. I trust

Barbara boxer, gavin newsom, john edwards, russ feingold there's more but that's all i have so far

[Cookie wookie]

15. Howard Dean, John Conyers, Barbara Boxer

Russ Feingold, Cynthia McKinney, Sheila Jackson Lee, Edward Kennedy, Russ Holt, Al Gore, Rep. John Murtha, Dennis Kucinich, Maxine Waters, Tom Harkin, John Edwards, Corrine Brown

[citizen snips]

16. My choices

Edwards,Warner,Dean,Obama,Clark,Finegold,and Gore

[savemefromdumbya]

19. John Conyers, Mayor Martin O'Malley, Barbara Boxer,

[adriennui]

20. feingold, clark, boxer

i know it's a short list but i have reservations about everyone else.

[globalvillage]

21. Kerry first, then Kennedy, Boxer, Feingold, Durbin and Byrd

I like Clark, as for 'trust', not much to base it on, I guess.
I trust Rendell to do the right thing, although I don't always agree with him. I think Kucinich can be trusted. I'm sure there are others. Conyers. I trust him.
Least trustworthy are McCain, Santorum and the entire bush* admin. Allen's pretty oily, too. And Sessions and DeMint. Don't trust them at all. I guess all the other republicans can be tossed in with them, but those are the standouts.

edit, I forgot Gore. I trust Al.

[guinivere]

22. Ted Kennedy, Leahy, Boxer, Feingold nt

[ginnyinWI]

23. Trust ---in what way?

If you mean trust that they are authentic, and that their values match mine, it would be, in this order:

John Kerry
Dick Durbin
Russ Feingold
Patrick Leahy
Al Gore
Ted Kennedy

[jfkjunior2004]

24. MARK WARNER!!!!!!!

[Prophet 451]

25. Kucinich

Also, Teddy Kennedy most of the time and, in a weird sort of way, Zell Miller (OK, he might be batshit crazy but at least you know where you stand with him).

[Stinky The Clown]

26. Mario Cuomo

[FreeStateDemocrat]

27. President Carter.

[Foolkiller]

28. Not Feingold

He had the "courage of conviction" to stand up and vote to confirm Roberts as chief justice.

Thanks, I'll pass.

[Foolkiller]

29. I guess I should say who I trust, too . . .

On the Dem side, I used to love John Breaux, but he got out of the business. Now I dig Bill Richardson and Janet Napolitano.

On the Republican side, even though I disagree with them on a lot of things, I've always thought Sens. Richard Lugar and Orin Hatch were men of conviction.

[LWolf]

31. Kucinich

a few others in line behind him:

Conyers
McKinney


and some others I'd like to trust:

Boxer, Feingold

[DAMANgoldberg]

32. Center Field Politicians

Sen. Barack Obama, D-IL
Rep. Harold Ford, D-TN
CEO Vernon Jones, R-GA (DeKalb County Chief Elected Officer)
Ex-Mayor Rudolph Guiliani, R-NYC

[cyclezealot]

45. Do a search on Guiliani

The Nation did a research piece on him a couple years ago. I am not just talking policy, here. He is a ruthless, user of friendships. He will cut your throat as soon as the winds change. He has a trail of betrayed friendships he climbed over on the way to the top.
Now,as to policy. I think after 911, his foreign policy be more neocon, that you might expect. React from the gut and war is always the answer. I encourage you to go to the Nation and find this article written by former allies betrayed by this tyrant.

[CarolNYC]

47. Agreed...

Guiliani is a mess...about the only thing I'd trust him for is to do what he thinks is best for himself...

[cyclezealot]

49. One problem with judging politicians.

In the US , image is what sells. Watch out if you are influenced by image. It's all smoke and mirrors. BUt, then so many Americans judge their leaders by 'looks' alone. So is it all just a hopeless situation?

[CarolNYC]

50. One thing I used to think about him...

even when I was so angry at him for other things...was at least he loved NYC...but his use of this city's tragedy for his and his party's political gain since then is nothing short of a disgrace...He loves nothing other than himself....And I actually used to kind of like him at one time...After a couple of years of him as mayor, I changed that tune quick enough.

[CarolNYC]

33. Right now?

Wes and Charlie and Dennis...

And Senator George McGovern and Mario Cuomo....

[Greyhound]

34. I swear the only one I trust is Kucinich. I'd like to trust Clark,

and will give him the benefit of the doubt, and I was one of Henry Waxman's constituents when he was on the LA city counsel and he was much less scummy than his colleagues, so he's got the potential.

[Vidar]

35. Conyers, Feingold, Kucinich, Gore, Clar, Boxer.

[TayTay]

36. Kerry, Boxer, Conyers, Jim McGovern

to name a few.

I don't, generally, trust any Republicans. I am not comfortable with Harry Reid at all, but I like Nancy Pelosi a lot.

[aein]

37. Al Gore, Carl Levin

I know Levin can be trusted.

[Lindacooks]

38. Kucinich, Gore, Edwards, Boxer, Kennedy, Conyers, Murtha, Boxer,

President Carter, and Wes Clark.

Not in any particular order.

[sakabatou]

39. You have Boxer twice

does that make her twice as trustful? ;)

[Lindacooks]

42. Just a typo, but why not put her twice; she's the only woman!

;-)

[Blue_In_AK]

40. John Kerry, Al Gore, Barbara Boxer, John Conyers

[dr.zoidberg]

41. I trust

no one. Not a single one of those motherfuckers. I trust them about as far as I can throw my house.

[sakabatou]

43. And now, why you people did this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zd8Ej8HmgQ

[CarolNYC]

48. Aw, that's a very nice piece...

I love the music, too...

But, is that really supposed to be Senator John Warner in there?

Thanks for the link...

[sakabatou]

55. Yeah, that's Warner

taken from wikipedia

[CarolNYC]

59. John Warner

I don't think John Warner belongs in there....Maybe you mean to include former Governor of Virgina, Mark Warner?

[sakabatou]

62. ... Dammit...

>_< Now I have to delete and re-edit it.

[CarolNYC]

63. Sorry....

but it will be a stronger piece for the edit...Nice work.

[jen4clark]

44. Clark

Kucinich
Carter
Conyers
Rangel
Leahy and Durbin sort of, want to.

[cyclezealot]

46. There might even be one REpug, I sort of trust

Ex Congressman Pete McCloskey of Calif. He ran for PRez against the VietNam war. He has a good environmental record. Not sure about his economics. But, at least I find his ethics acceptable.
Also, once was infatuated with some Repugs. Used to like Ex Mayor John V. Lindsay of New York. That breed of Repug has vanished from the Earth.
Also, an honorble mention to former Michigan gov, William Milliken. He is not very comfortable as a Repug right now.

[SaveElmer]

51. Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Barack Obama...

John Edwards, John Kerry, Mark Warner...

[GreenArrow]

52. I don't particularly trust any of them

to be honest.

[concerned citizen23]

53. “Politics is the world's second oldest profession..."

When it comes to politics / politicians in general I am reminded of something attributed to former President Reagan:

“Politics is the world's second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a striking resemblance to the first” Ronald Reagan

In many respects, most politicians probably follow the 80-20 rule of business. Since most elected officials find their way into office through the same election process, campaigns funded primarily by the lobbyist-corporate-military complex, it stands to reason where their loyalties lie.

Most politicians are a causality of a faulty system. It requires one hell of a strong personal constitution not to loose sight of your principles especially after many years of being subjected to the huge temptations our current election system places a person to.

We need to change the system to a fully public funded campaign process and perhaps turn out to pasture most of the elected officials holding office, especially those who have held offices for many years, and re-populate Washington with a new generation of politician not tainted by the lobbyist-corporate-military funded elections and the incest this has created.

[KKKarl is an idiot]

54. George Bush..

Dick Cheney, Condi Rice, Don Rumsfeld, Rick Santorum, Dennis Hastert, Tom Delay...

Had you'll fooled. Okay that is it for those I do not trust.

I trust Russ Feingold, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Wesley Clark, Barack Obama. Probably some others I cannot think of now.

[SteppingRazor]

56. Jimmy Carter...

I trust politicians that are too old and out of power to give a damn anymore... hell, even Brent Scowcroft came out against the Iraq War. When the political fossils speak, I tend to listen.

[smokey nj]

57. In no particular order......

Russ Feingold, John Conyers, Jim McDermott, John Edwards, Bernie Sanders, Louise Slaughter, Dennis Kucinich, and Barbara Boxer. This is just off the top of my head, there are others.

[martymar64]

58. Jim McDermott, my former Rep in Seattle

For clarity, he's still in Seattle. I'm not.

[hughee99]

60. George W. Bush...

I trust that whatever he says is definitely a poorly thought out bad idea.

[LandOLincoln]

61. Wes Clark, Jimmy Carter, George McGovern,

Dennis Kucinich, Russ Feingold, Barbara Boxer, Louise Slaughter, John Conyers...

[Upfront]

64. Two

Howard Dean and Governor Granholm of Michigan, period.