And I've done that. You know, when I was in Illinois, we brought police officers and civil rights advocates together to reform a death penalty system that had sent 13 innocent men to death row.
And we ended up passing it unanimously, even though originally people had said it couldn't be done.
You know, Dennis earlier was talking about the need to work on nonproliferation issues. I've worked with Dick Lugar, Republican spokesperson for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to focus on the next generation of nonproliferation efforts.
Congratulations, Dennis. You made Barack refer to you. That means you are becoming more and more of an issue for him. Good work!
Now, that, I think, is critical experience.
Let’s be clear here though. Democrats traditionally compromise with Republicans by going the extra mile for them so that they can get the Republicans to allow the American people an inch in progress or reform.
Your compromising plan sounds like a rosy idea in theory but whose compromising? Corporations and the establishment. That’s who.
I also think it is critical for the next president to be experienced to stand up to special interests. I'm glad Hillary is talking about it, but I'm the only person on this stage who has worked actively just last year passing, along with Russ Feingold, some of the toughest ethics reform since Watergate, making sure that lobbyists could not provide gifts and meals to congressmen, making sure that the bundling of moneys by lobbyists was disclosed.
And finally, I think we've got to have a president who has the experience of standing up, even when it's not easy, which is what I did in 2002 when i stood up against this war in Iraq 10 days before the authorization.
That is the kind of judgment that I'm displaying during this campaign when I go to Detroit and I say to the automakers that they need to raise fuel efficiency standards; not in front of some environmental group.
That kind of consistency and principled leadership, I think, is what is going to move us in the next direction. That's what I'll provide as president.
So, “I don’t support dumb wars” Barack Obama believes in taking on the special interests. Check out OpenSecrets.org. He's as influenced as Hillary. In fact, it was corporate businessmen who organized the beginning of his campaign. He didn't get a "grass roots" start like Dennis Kucinich.
And please do us all a favor, Barack. Don’t use Feingold’s name in a sentence explaining why you are right for the presidency in 2008 ever again. He is a far better politician and statesman than you could ever hope to be because he has the courage to do what’s right time and time again.
MORE TO COME
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