Progressives plan to challenge Obama in Iowa

The group Progressive Democrats of America hope to send a message to President Barack Obama by organizing people to vote for "uncommitted" in the Iowa Democratic caucuses.

"I believe we need an inside outside strategy," Tim Carpenter, the founder of the group, said at an organizing meeting in Des Moines this week. "We’re not asking everybody in this room to vote for Barack Obama. We’re not voting for Barack Obama. We’re organizing uncommitted slates to go to the caucus on Tuesday to challenge Barack Obama because he gave up on his promise to single payer [health care]. He took too long to get troops out of Iraq. There’s still troops in Afghanistan. And we need a financial transaction tax."

Other groups, including the recently launched “Occupy Iowa Caucus” campaign, also plan to vote for "uncommitted" as a way of expressing their disappointment with Obama.

"We are a broader movement, inside and outside the Democratic party," Carpenter said. "So as we move the conversation today, we’re not asking you to go to any caucus to vote for Barack Obama, we’re asking you to go to challenge him both inside and outside the caucuses, I want to make that clear."

Ralph Nader has that a Democrat should challenge Obama in a primary election to force him to adopt more progressive positions.

Watch video, courtesy of The Uptake, below: