Chelsea Manning Running for US Senate

[TrPrado]

Formerly registered as a Libertarian in Oklahoma, Manning is running on a platform of government accountability for the Democratic primary in Maryland against incumbent Ben Cardin.

[ND]

Lol Manning will probably win given how bizarre the Democratic Party has become lol.

[TrPrado]

There’s also a large segment of Libertarians that want her to beat the Libertarian Party candidate for the senate race, Arvin Vohra (who has defended pedophilia). I personally think Manning is a pretty good candidate and really represents her platform of accountability really well.

[ND]

Um Manning betrayed the United States of America... she was literally incarcerated for years for treason and you want that type of person to be in Congress and to sit in on intelligence briefings? Wow TrPrado.

[CAPT Brad]

i didn't think that convicted felons could be elected to congress.

[CAPT Brad]

Manning is a pretty good candidate and really represents her platform of accountability really well.

not a good statement in the light of treasonous behavior. besides oklahoma belongs to native americans. the representatives should not be white 'gurls'

[Calmar]

He is a traitor and a disgrace to the uniform he was foolishly allowed to wear.

[TrPrado]

Um Manning betrayed the United States of America... she was literally incarcerated for years for treason and you want that type of person to be in Congress and to sit in on intelligence briefings? Wow TrPrado.

A) I thought you were pro-WikiLeaks??? Because that’s where all the info went. When running a campaign on accountability and transparency, she’s a record of being incarcerated to promote those ideals.

B) Being in Congress doesn’t automatically give you clearance for classified info.

[TrPrado]

i didn't think that convicted felons could be elected to congress.

They can and should as long as they’ve served their sentence. It technically comes down to state law, and Maryland has no law about it.

[Ogion]

Actually, no she wasn't convicted of treason, but of violations of the Espionage Act in a bizarre application of that law.

Strange how Petreus wasn't convicted of the same thing. As for whether being treasonous is a barrier to elected office, um, look at the President and most Republican Senators....

[Octavious]

At the end of the day it should be up to the people whether they believe her past actions make her unsuitable or not. If you don't trust the people to make the right call, you might as well give up on democracy.

[TrPrado]

I agree. While I find the candidacy very interesting, I’m not going to pretend I know best for the people of Maryland. I am quite happy, though, that Vohra has even less of a chance of getting it than Manning. Especially with a large portion of the Libertarian Party turning on Vohra (a friend of mine doing so is how I heard about Manning running).

[Randomizer]

Trump did business with the Mafia and sent senior members of his company to start business talks with Cuba before Obama and Congress lifted the long time ban. Those were the worst of Criminal Trump's offenses and he got elected president so the bar is pretty low.

Pardoned convicted felon Joe Arpiao is running in Arizona for Senator Jeff Flake's seat. He didn't even get sentenced or serve time after being convicted.

[ND]

Wikileaks is fine, but people who break laws to give them information still have to pay the consequences. It doesn't excuse the fact that Manning is a traitor.

[TrPrado]

Everything submitted to WiliLeaks is illegal. Everything they publish is illegal. That’s the point of WikiLeaks. It’s hypocritical to condemn one and not the other.

[The Czech]

There are only 3 qualifications for running for Congress.
House of Reps: Min 25 years of age, resident of the district you will represent and a citizen of the US for at least 7 years
Senate: Min 30 years of age, resident of the district (state) and a US citizen for at least 9 years.

Al Hastings of Florida was an impeached federal judge who has won several elections to Congress.

[Foxcastle]

For House elections, you must live in the state, but do not have to reside in the district you run to represent.

[ghug]

I think you have to maintain a residence in the district once you reside there, though that might just be a state law.

[swordsman3003]

I have not been this intrigued by a U.S. candidacy announcement in years.

I say, why the hell not? Many important political figures have served jail time, especially for politically-charged offenses. Unmemorable political figures often do heinous acts in their free time and suffer little consequence.

I don't expect Chelsea Manning's candidacy to result in her election, but I'm impressed to hear of someone who did so much time in prison set her goals so high -- just for that reason alone I am intrigued.

[Ogion]

Actually, a lot of what wikileaks publishes isn't necessarily illegal, just not released. Leaking isn't usually a crime, or at least it wasn't until the Obama administration distorted existing laws to attack whistleblowers.