Let me say right up front that I can't stand George W. Bush. I can't stand his smirk, his lack of intelligence regarding policy matters, the way he lies to the American people, his war, his tax cuts, his mother, his wife, his daughters, and especially his political hit-man, Karl Rove. BUT, there is something about him that we should be looking for in our next nominee and that is a strong belief in his own convictions and a willingness to ignore polls.
George W. doesn't care if 49% of the public hates him as long as 51% were willing to vote for him. He doesn't care what the media establishment thinks. He doesn't care what anyone thinks about anything. He knows his own mind and he is secure in his beliefs.
All of that is a tremendous strength and gives him power. He was able to force through tax cuts and a bogus war in Iraq almost on the sheer force of personality. Now, you can argue that without the GOP Congressmen and Senators becoming part of the George W. Bush cult he wouldn't have been able to do all that damage to America, but maybe the reason why they went along with him was the strength of his will.
That's what we are looking for: a liberal Democrat with the will to win and the will to govern and push his/her agenda regardless of what anyone else thinks, says, or does. So who has it? I put some names below, but the list is not meant to be exclusive.