2009 NFL UNRESTRICTED & RESTRICTED FREE-AGENT SIGNINGS AS OF 5/21/09
(Based on official notification to NFL office)
1) 125 UNRESTRICTED free agents have signed with a NEW team:
TEAM
PLAYER
FORMER TEAM
DATE REPORTED
Arizona Cardinals
CB Bryant McFadden
Pittsburgh
3/11
RB Jason Wright
Cleveland
3/18
Atlanta Falcons
LB Mike Peterson
Jacksonville
3/11
C Brett Romberg
St. Louis
3/10
Baltimore Ravens
C Matt Birk
Minnesota
3/5
CB Chris Carr
Tennessee
3/18
CB Dominique Foxworth
Atlanta
2/27
TE L.J. Smith
Philadelphia
3/20
Buffalo Bills
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick
Cincinnati
2/28
C Geoff Hangartner
Carolina
3/2
G Seth McKinney
Miami
4/8
RB Dominic Rhodes
Indianapolis
4/20
LB Patrick Thomas
Kansas City
3/20
Chicago Bears
S Josh Bullocks
New Orleans
3/12
T Frank Omiyale
Carolina
2/28
Cincinnati Bengals
WR Laveranues Coles
NY Jets
3/5
DT Tank Johnson
Dallas
4/8
QB J.T. O’Sullivan
San Francisco
3/10
Cleveland Browns
LB Eric Barton
NY Jets
3/16
CB Corey Ivy
Baltimore
3/19
DE C.J. Mosley
NY Jets
3/9
CB Hank Poteat
NY Jets
3/10
T John St. Clair
Chicago
3/18
T Floyd Womack
Seattle
3/16
Dallas Cowboys
LB Keith Brooking
Atlanta
3/2
DT Igor Olshansky
San Diego
3/9
S Gerald Sensabaugh
Jacksonville
3/11
Denver Broncos
RB JJ Arrington
Arizona
3/5
RB Correll Buckhalter
Philadelphia
2/28
LB Andra Davis
Cleveland
2/28
S Brian Dawkins
Philadelphia
3/2
NT Ronald Fields
San Francisco
3/3
WR Jabar Gaffney
New England
2/28
CB Andre’ Goodman
Miami
3/3
T Brandon Gorin
St. Louis
4/18
CB Renaldo Hill
Miami
2/28
RB LaMont Jordan
New England
3/4
LS Lonie Paxson
New England
2/28
DT Darrell Reid
Indianapolis
2/28
QB Chris Simms
Tennessee
3/5
G Scott Young
Cleveland
3/13
Detroit Lions
CB Phillip Buchanon
Tampa Bay
3/5
TE Will Heller
Seattle
3/17
DT Grady Jackson
Atlanta
3/5
WR Bryant Johnson
San Francisco
3/2
T Daniel Loper
Tennessee
3/11
CB Eric King
Tennessee
2/28
RB Maurice Morris
Seattle
2/28
RB Terrelle Smith
Arizona
4/17
LB Cody Spencer
NY Jets
3/9
Green Bay Packers
C Duke Preston
Buffalo
3/30
Houston Texans
NT Shaun Cody
Detroit
3/30
QB Dan Orlovsky
Detroit
3/2
G Adrian Jones
Kansas City
5/18
DE Antonio Smith
Arizona
3/2
Indianapolis Colts
LB Adam Seward
Carolina
3/20
Jacksonville Jaguars
S Sean Considine
Philadelphia
2/28
T Tra Thomas
Philadelphia
3/9
Kansas City Chiefs
LB Monty Beisel
Arizona
3/17
WR Terrance Copper
Baltimore
3/17
CB Travis Daniels
Cleveland
3/10
WR Bobby Engram
Seattle
3/17
G Mike Goff
San Diego
3/26
G Eric Ghiaciuc
Cincinnati
4/30
TE Sean Ryan
San Francisco
4/21
LB Zach Thomas
Dallas
4/13
Miami Dolphins
G Joe Berger
Dallas
2/27
CB Eric Green
Arizona
3/12
C Jake Grove
Oakland
3/3
Minnesota Vikings
CB Karly Paymah
Denver
3/19
New England Patriots
DT Damane Duckett
San Francisco
3/23
C Al Johnson
Miami
3/16
S Brandon McGowan
Chicago
5/5
New Orleans Saints
TE Darnell Dinkins
Cleveland
3/23
FB Heath Evans
New England
3/12
CB Jabari Greer
Buffalo
3/5
DE Tony Hargrove
Buffalo
5/18
C Nick Leckey
St. Louis
3/18
S Pierson Prioleau
Jacksonville
3/25
S Darren Sharper
Minnesota
3/24
New York Giants
DT Rocky Bernard
Seattle
3/2
LB Michael Boley
Atlanta
2/28
S C.C. Brown
Houston
3/4
DE Chris Canty
Dallas
3/2
New York Jets
DT Howard Green
Seattle
3/16
LB Larry Izzo
New England
3/11
S Jim Leonhard
Baltimore
3/3
LB Bart Scott
Baltimore
2/28
CB Donald Strickland
San Francisco
3/25
Philadelphia Eagles
T Stacey Andrews
Cincinnati
2/28
S Rashad Baker
Oakland
3/11
S Sean Jones
Cleveland
3/9
RB Leonard Weaver
Seattle
3/23
Pittsburgh Steelers
WR Shaun McDonald
Detroit
5/1
CB Keiwan Ratliff
Indianapolis
4/27
Oakland Raiders
T Khalif Barnes
Jacksonville
3/16
DT Ryan Boschetti
Washington
4/1
S Keith Davis
Dallas
5/21
QB Jeff Garcia
Tampa Bay
4/6
T Marcus Johnson
Minnesota
4/6
St. Louis Rams
TE Billy Bajema
San Francisco
3/31
QB Kyle Boller
Baltimore
4/6
C Jason Brown
Baltimore
3/10
S James Butler
NY Giants
3/12
San Diego Chargers
LB Kevin Burnett
Dallas
3/12
San Francisco 49ers
DE Demetric Evans
Washington
3/10
LB Marques Harris
San Diego
5/1
WR Brandon Jones
Tennessee
2/28
RB Moran Norris
Detroit
3/3
T Marvel Smith
Pittsburgh
3/30
Seattle Seahawks
DT Colin Cole
Green Bay
3/2
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh
Cincinnati
3/3
TE John Owens
Detroit
3/5
LS Bryan Pittman
Houston
5/18
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
LB Angelo Crowell
Buffalo
3/23
QB Byron Leftwich
Pittsburgh
4/14
K Mike Nugent
NY Jets
3/4
RB Derrick Ward
NY Giants
3/3
Tennessee Titans
CB DeMarcus Faggins
Houston
4/2
DT Jovan Haye
Tampa Bay
3/3
WR Mark Jones
Carolina
3/20
QB Patrick Ramsey
Denver
4/6
WR Nate Washington
Pittsburgh
3/3
Washington Redskins
DT Albert Haynesworth
Tennessee
2/28
DE Renaldo Wynn
NY Giants
3/24
2) 88 UNRESTRICTED free agents have re-signed with their OLD team:
TEAM
PLAYER
DATE REPORTED
Arizona Cardinals
DE Bert Berry
3/20
G Elton Brown
3/25
CB Ralph Brown
3/27
P Ben Graham
3/2
LB Clark Haggans
3/17
QB Brian St. Pierre
3/2
QB Kurt Warner
3/5
Atlanta Falcons
DE Chauncey Davis
3/4
LB Tony Gilbert
2/27
DT Jason Jefferson
3/3
LB Coy Wire
2/27
Baltimore Ravens
QB Todd Bouman
4/6
LB Ray Lewis
3/9
Buffalo Bills
T Kirk Chambers
3/4
RB Corey McIntyre
3/3
Chicago Bears
RB Kevin Jones
3/9
Cincinnati Bengals
RB Cedric Benson
3/4
LB Darryl Blackstock
3/2
S Chris Crocker
3/5
Cleveland Browns
CB Mike Adams
3/6
Denver Broncos
DE Kenny Peterson
3/10
TE Jeb Putzier
3/16
Detroit Lions
RB Aveion Cason
3/9
G Damion Cook
3/5
WR Keary Colbert
5/7
T George Foster
4/6
Green Bay Packers
DE Mike Montgomery
3/23
Houston Texans
S Nick Ferguson
3/12
C Chris White
2/27
S Eugene Wilson
2/27
Indianapolis Colts
S Matt Giordano
4/18
LB Tyjuan Hagler
4/8
C Jeff Saturday
2/27
Jacksonville Jaguars
C Brad Meester
2/27
CB Scott Starks
2/27
Kansas City Chiefs
S Jon McGraw
3/6
Miami Dolphins
S Yeremiah Bell
2/27
Minnesota Vikings
LB Heath Farwell
3/6
DT Jimmy Kennedy
3/11
TE Jim Kleinsasser
2/28
S Benny Sapp
3/10
New England Patriots
P Chris Hanson
3/5
G Russ Hochstein
3/2
S James Sanders
3/5
DT Kenny Smith
4/22
S Tank Williams
3/16
DE Mike Wright
3/16
New Orleans Saints
QB Joey Harrington
3/30
WR Devery Henderson
3/4
T Jon Stinchcomb
3/3
LB Jonathan Vilma
3/3
New York Jets
CB Ahmad Carroll
3/16
K Jay Feely
3/9
TE Bubba Franks
5/12
RB Tony Richardson
3/3
Oakland Raiders
G Cooper Carlisle
3/3
LB Isiah Ekejiube
3/3
NT William Joseph
3/16
CB Justin Miller
3/16
RB Lorenzo Neal
5/8
TE Tony Stewart
3/3
LB Sam Williams
4/1
Pittsburgh Steelers
QB Charlie Batch
4/17
CB Fernando Bryant
3/17
T Trai Essex
3/17
LB Keyaron Fox
4/6
LB Andre Frazier
3/16
G Chris Kemoeatu
3/12
St. Louis Rams
CB Ron Bartell
3/5
G Adam Goldberg
3/23
DE Eric Moore
3/16
San Francisco 49ers
CB Allen Rossum
3/11
LB Takeo Spikes
3/4
Seattle Seahawks
LB Leroy Hill
5/1
LB D.D. Lewis
3/16
T Ray Willis
3/9
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
S Will Allen
3/3
WR Michael Clayton
3/2
WR Cortez Hankton
3/5
S Jermaine Phillips
3/6
TE Jerramy Stevens
3/5
Tennessee Titans
QB Kerry Collins
2/28
S Vincent Fuller
3/2
P Craig Hentrich
3/6
Washington Redskins
DE Phillip Daniels
4/2
LB Alfred Fincher
3/10
CB DeAngelo Hall
3/4
P Hunter Smith
4/27
3) 0 RESTRICTED free agents have signed with NEW teams:
TEAM
PLAYER
FORMER TEAM
DATE REPORTED
4) 51 RESTRICTED free agents have re-signed with their OLD team:
TEAM
PLAYER
DATE REPORTED
Arizona Cardinals
TE Leonard Pope
3/31
DT Gabe Watson
3/31
Atlanta Falcons
G Harvey Dahl
4/15
Baltimore Ravens
P Sam Koch
3/27
S Dawan Landry
4/2
TE Quinn Sypniewski
4/9
WR Demetrius Williams
4/9
Buffalo Bills
LB Keith Ellison
3/23
S George Wilson
3/31
Carolina Panthers
LB James Anderson
4/18
TE Jeff King
3/18
S Nate Salley
4/20
Cincinnati Bengals
LB Brandon Johnson
4/16
LB Rashad Jeanty
4/18
Dallas Cowboys
WR Miles Austin
4/23
DE Stephen Bowen
4/6
WR Sam Hurd
4/21
G Cory Proctor
4/2
Green Bay Packers
S Atari Bigby
4/18
CB Jarrett Bush
3/16
DE Jason Hunter
3/16
RB John Kuhn
4/18
WR Ruvell Martin
4/18
Houston Texans
WR David Anderson
3/13
T Rashad Butler
4/7
TE Joel Dreessen
3/4
Kansas City Chiefs
C Rudy Niswanger
4/24
WR Jeff Webb
4/20
Philadelphia Eagles
C Nick Cole
3/31
Pittsburgh Steelers
T Willie Colon
3/10
S Anthony Madison
3/20
TE Sean McHugh
3/2
Minnesota Vikings
DT Fred Evans
4/6
RB Naufahu Tahi
3/30
New England Patriots
LB Pierre Woods
4/21
New Orleans Saints
G Jahri Evans
4/21
WR Lance Moore
4/22
T Zach Strief
4/13
CB Leigh Torrance
4/13
New York Giants
CB Kevin Dockery
4/13
New York Jets
S Abram Elam
3/17
Oakland Raiders
LB Ricky Brown
3/16
Philadelphia Eagles
WR Hank Baskett
4/23
St. Louis Rams
DE Victor Adenyanju
4/20
G Richie Incognito
5/1
San Diego Chargers
WR Malcom Floyd
5/15
CB Cletis Gordon
4/14
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
T Donald Penn
4/14
Washington Redskins
DT Kedric Golston
4/10
DT Anthony Montgomery
3/25
K Shaun Suisham
3/16
5) 0 FRANCHISE players have signed with NEW teams:
TEAM
PLAYER
FORMER TEAM
DATE REPORTED
6) 4 FRANCHISE player has re-signed with his OLD team:
TEAM
PLAYER
DATE REPORTED
Arizona Cardinals
LB Karlos Dansby
3/4
Cincinnati Bengals
K Shayne Graham
4/30
San Diego Chargers
RB Darren Sproles
4/28
Tennessee Titans
TE Bo Scaife
4/28
Showing posts with label list. Show all posts
Showing posts with label list. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The First Debate of the Caucus
Well, the first democratic debate has come to an end, and as the political pundits over at MSNBC interview each other and talk about who looked the best, I’ll make the call to arms – bloggers: start your fingers!
For starters, to those of you who don’t know exactly where Hillary, Barack, and John Edwards stand on the issues: don’t feel bad. None of us do. The three front-runners coming into the debate have continued their firm stances of not having any firm stances. Hillary is roughly in favor of leaving some people in Iraq, Barack is more or less in favor of leaving no residual troops, and John Edwards is definitely from a poor, southern family. That’s about all they gave up in their continued campaigns to sound passionate without offering real solutions. Oh, and they’re all Christian. That matters to some people, I know.
If you want to know what their stances are – please just check their official sites, because there’s no point in going through a middleman when the information is so readily available. I’ll put the links at the end, if I can figure out how.
Now, to those of you who don’t know where the lesser-known candidates stand: shame on you! For the first time in a very long time, we have a great cross-section of democrats that are all ready to lead our country into a renaissance of peace and understanding. Any one of these candidates would be an unprecedented leap forward from our current administration, and every one has ideas that are both novel and refreshing. But as is the case with so many things in life, the best ones are flying under the radar. So here they are: the candidates without $20 billion….
Not that my opinion should mean anything to anybody other than myself (please just read about the candidates and make a decision on your own), but I’m officially stating that I feel Bill Richardson (Governor of New Mexico) is the best candidate for president of the United States Of America that we’ve had in decades. For virtually every question he was asked, he had a well thought out and decisive answer prepared, even if he wasn’t asked the same questions as the other candidates. He had multiple-points that he attempted to get to in the 1 minute allotted to him per answer. Admittedly, he doesn’t seem to have mastered the art of being concise with his speech, but that just tells me that he was more prepared than anybody else and he knows that there isn’t a quick, 1-minute answer to these difficult questions. His speech was honest (admitting once that he was the last of the candidates to call for Alberto Gonzales’s resignation, partially because Gonzales is Latino) and his opinions were clear and well stated. The moderator once mentioned that Richardson has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times, and he was the only one to propose a way to give universal health care without raising taxes (which correlates with his track record in New Mexico, but again – check his site for facts. Blogs are for opinions.)
However, I’m not here to blow smoke up Governor Richardson’s ass, as every candidate is worth mentioning. Standing out from the crowd was former Alaskan representative and senator Mike Gravel. His speech was loud and often accusatory with radical ideas and an aggressive style, but frankly: that’s what we need. He was the most vocal against the Bush administration, but was also opposed to the other candidates that would pander to said administration by trading more money for a long-term timetable of withdrawal and taking any action that wouldn’t result in immediate change. The only other candidate looking for such quick action is Richardson whose timetable is “the end of this calendar year” but Gravel offered a virulent path to that end: a call to congress to make a law that would make it a felony for President Bush to continue the war in Iraq. His idealism may be a bit far-fetched, as he would need 67% of congress to over-rule the President’s obvious veto, but the idea is the sort of progressive thought that liberals are looking for.
Another stand-out in the field of candidates is senator Joe Biden, who came across as the most intelligent and professional of the group, even if his opinions are less radical than Gravel’s. Also, despite his great track record he doesn’t have the diplomatic experience that Richardson does. Biden is a very well spoken candidate who advocates a complete withdrawal from Iraq and a quick end to the war. Unfortunately, he has a similar approach as Hillary, Barack, and Edwards in that he seems fine with a slow withdrawal and has no brilliant new ideas to make the changes we all want to see. He does have the intelligence, passion, and experience to run the country though.
Dennis Kucinich, like always, stands out as a passionate and intelligent individual. I’ve been a fan of Kucinich for years, and it’s a shame that once again I see him picking the wrong fights and choosing the wrong places to make a stand. When not one of the other 7 candidates would endorse his plan to impeach Vice President Cheney (this caucus is all about uniting, not further dividing) he pulled out a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution and held it up while explaining that Cheney was going against what the country stands for and needs to be held accountable. A great point, and a good picture that we’ll likely see again during this race, but it certainly didn’t help his popularity. Richardson was right to say that the American people want an honest candidate, but a level of discretion is advisable to somebody involved in a popularity contest. And make no mistake: this is the grandest of popularity contests.
Senator Christopher Dodd also came across as both intelligent and well spoken, but his opinions were little more than regurgitation of everybody else’s stances. He was neither controversial nor particularly memorable, so his presence is more that of a strong benchwarmer than anything else. He reminds me that even the least memorable democratic candidate is infinitely better than the options that the other side has, and we would be lucky to have Dodd as a president, even though I don’t see him making many waves this year. But it’s still early, and we may hear from him yet – he certainly has the capacity to lead the democrats, and we could all rejoice if he were our next president.
As for the three front-runners, they don’t need more press, so I won’t spend as much time talking about them. Hillary was very well composed and presented herself like a President. Her pearls were a bit extravagant (who cares about a $400 haircut when you’ve got a $10,000 necklace?), but I’m not one to make a decision based on superficialities so that’s the end of that. Barack wasn’t his usual self, but that’s not to say he isn’t still deserving of his large following. I was first made aware of him three years ago, and to this day I like the guy. My only problem (like most people’s problem with him) is the lack of experience: it’s more than signing bills and pulling the troops out, and his continued reluctance to take any firm stances would keep me from voting for him. I’d love to see him take the vice-presidency, and then take over after 8 years of internship. That’s a distinct possibility. As for John Edwards: he’s the cookie-cutter candidate that we get at least one of every four years. Just like Al Gore before him and countless others that I won’t waste my time mentioning, he’s got the key phrases (“my Lord” was mentioned, of course) and his look is both clean-cut and conservative (appropriate, considering his approach). He doesn’t represent change – just a solid step away from the current regime.
So what should we all take away from this debate? Hope - tons and tons of hope. Every single candidate up on that stage was a good remedy to the bunch of stubborn misfits that we have in place right now, and no matter what happens – we’ll be much better off in 2009 than we were before. These candidates all represent more than a change of primary color in the executive branch: they represent a change in philosophy and approach. Every single one agrees that war has to be 2nd to diplomacy, not the other way around. They are all more willing to talk about the issues than to give each other grief (even if only one of them was willing to sign Governor Richardson’s agreement not to sling mud during the caucus), and they are all qualified leaders. We are terribly lucky to have this group vying for our votes, and 2009 will prove to be a great year in American history.
So do yourself a favor, and watch the future debates, keep track of the candidates, and know that whatever happens: voting democrat in 2008 is going to be a good decision regardless of your usual party affiliation.
Official sites/candidacy sites:
Bill Richardson
Mike Gravel
Joe Biden
Dennis Kucinich
Christopher Dodd
Hillary Clinton
Barack Obama
John Edwards
For starters, to those of you who don’t know exactly where Hillary, Barack, and John Edwards stand on the issues: don’t feel bad. None of us do. The three front-runners coming into the debate have continued their firm stances of not having any firm stances. Hillary is roughly in favor of leaving some people in Iraq, Barack is more or less in favor of leaving no residual troops, and John Edwards is definitely from a poor, southern family. That’s about all they gave up in their continued campaigns to sound passionate without offering real solutions. Oh, and they’re all Christian. That matters to some people, I know.
If you want to know what their stances are – please just check their official sites, because there’s no point in going through a middleman when the information is so readily available. I’ll put the links at the end, if I can figure out how.
Now, to those of you who don’t know where the lesser-known candidates stand: shame on you! For the first time in a very long time, we have a great cross-section of democrats that are all ready to lead our country into a renaissance of peace and understanding. Any one of these candidates would be an unprecedented leap forward from our current administration, and every one has ideas that are both novel and refreshing. But as is the case with so many things in life, the best ones are flying under the radar. So here they are: the candidates without $20 billion….
Not that my opinion should mean anything to anybody other than myself (please just read about the candidates and make a decision on your own), but I’m officially stating that I feel Bill Richardson (Governor of New Mexico) is the best candidate for president of the United States Of America that we’ve had in decades. For virtually every question he was asked, he had a well thought out and decisive answer prepared, even if he wasn’t asked the same questions as the other candidates. He had multiple-points that he attempted to get to in the 1 minute allotted to him per answer. Admittedly, he doesn’t seem to have mastered the art of being concise with his speech, but that just tells me that he was more prepared than anybody else and he knows that there isn’t a quick, 1-minute answer to these difficult questions. His speech was honest (admitting once that he was the last of the candidates to call for Alberto Gonzales’s resignation, partially because Gonzales is Latino) and his opinions were clear and well stated. The moderator once mentioned that Richardson has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times, and he was the only one to propose a way to give universal health care without raising taxes (which correlates with his track record in New Mexico, but again – check his site for facts. Blogs are for opinions.)
However, I’m not here to blow smoke up Governor Richardson’s ass, as every candidate is worth mentioning. Standing out from the crowd was former Alaskan representative and senator Mike Gravel. His speech was loud and often accusatory with radical ideas and an aggressive style, but frankly: that’s what we need. He was the most vocal against the Bush administration, but was also opposed to the other candidates that would pander to said administration by trading more money for a long-term timetable of withdrawal and taking any action that wouldn’t result in immediate change. The only other candidate looking for such quick action is Richardson whose timetable is “the end of this calendar year” but Gravel offered a virulent path to that end: a call to congress to make a law that would make it a felony for President Bush to continue the war in Iraq. His idealism may be a bit far-fetched, as he would need 67% of congress to over-rule the President’s obvious veto, but the idea is the sort of progressive thought that liberals are looking for.
Another stand-out in the field of candidates is senator Joe Biden, who came across as the most intelligent and professional of the group, even if his opinions are less radical than Gravel’s. Also, despite his great track record he doesn’t have the diplomatic experience that Richardson does. Biden is a very well spoken candidate who advocates a complete withdrawal from Iraq and a quick end to the war. Unfortunately, he has a similar approach as Hillary, Barack, and Edwards in that he seems fine with a slow withdrawal and has no brilliant new ideas to make the changes we all want to see. He does have the intelligence, passion, and experience to run the country though.
Dennis Kucinich, like always, stands out as a passionate and intelligent individual. I’ve been a fan of Kucinich for years, and it’s a shame that once again I see him picking the wrong fights and choosing the wrong places to make a stand. When not one of the other 7 candidates would endorse his plan to impeach Vice President Cheney (this caucus is all about uniting, not further dividing) he pulled out a pocket-sized copy of the Constitution and held it up while explaining that Cheney was going against what the country stands for and needs to be held accountable. A great point, and a good picture that we’ll likely see again during this race, but it certainly didn’t help his popularity. Richardson was right to say that the American people want an honest candidate, but a level of discretion is advisable to somebody involved in a popularity contest. And make no mistake: this is the grandest of popularity contests.
Senator Christopher Dodd also came across as both intelligent and well spoken, but his opinions were little more than regurgitation of everybody else’s stances. He was neither controversial nor particularly memorable, so his presence is more that of a strong benchwarmer than anything else. He reminds me that even the least memorable democratic candidate is infinitely better than the options that the other side has, and we would be lucky to have Dodd as a president, even though I don’t see him making many waves this year. But it’s still early, and we may hear from him yet – he certainly has the capacity to lead the democrats, and we could all rejoice if he were our next president.
As for the three front-runners, they don’t need more press, so I won’t spend as much time talking about them. Hillary was very well composed and presented herself like a President. Her pearls were a bit extravagant (who cares about a $400 haircut when you’ve got a $10,000 necklace?), but I’m not one to make a decision based on superficialities so that’s the end of that. Barack wasn’t his usual self, but that’s not to say he isn’t still deserving of his large following. I was first made aware of him three years ago, and to this day I like the guy. My only problem (like most people’s problem with him) is the lack of experience: it’s more than signing bills and pulling the troops out, and his continued reluctance to take any firm stances would keep me from voting for him. I’d love to see him take the vice-presidency, and then take over after 8 years of internship. That’s a distinct possibility. As for John Edwards: he’s the cookie-cutter candidate that we get at least one of every four years. Just like Al Gore before him and countless others that I won’t waste my time mentioning, he’s got the key phrases (“my Lord” was mentioned, of course) and his look is both clean-cut and conservative (appropriate, considering his approach). He doesn’t represent change – just a solid step away from the current regime.
So what should we all take away from this debate? Hope - tons and tons of hope. Every single candidate up on that stage was a good remedy to the bunch of stubborn misfits that we have in place right now, and no matter what happens – we’ll be much better off in 2009 than we were before. These candidates all represent more than a change of primary color in the executive branch: they represent a change in philosophy and approach. Every single one agrees that war has to be 2nd to diplomacy, not the other way around. They are all more willing to talk about the issues than to give each other grief (even if only one of them was willing to sign Governor Richardson’s agreement not to sling mud during the caucus), and they are all qualified leaders. We are terribly lucky to have this group vying for our votes, and 2009 will prove to be a great year in American history.
So do yourself a favor, and watch the future debates, keep track of the candidates, and know that whatever happens: voting democrat in 2008 is going to be a good decision regardless of your usual party affiliation.
Official sites/candidacy sites:
Bill Richardson
Mike Gravel
Joe Biden
Dennis Kucinich
Christopher Dodd
Hillary Clinton
Barack Obama
John Edwards
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