I'm changing my candidate

[jmowreader]

I have been a very strong John Edwards supporter since he started making indications that he'd run in 2004. Still am. I think Edwards would make a wonderful president.

However, I also think that running someone with no military background against Bush would be a disaster. All Dubya has to do is pull out some old snapshots of him in his old TANG uniform, add a few shots of him post-2000 surrounded by troops, and hey presto! you have a Real Military Hero. Hero in his own mind, perhaps--I am well aware of the AWOL chickenhawk problem--but a hero to some. And who are the Democrats running? Why, someone who has never served!

This is why I have decided to support a Clark-Kerry ticket.

In Wesley Clark you have military experience no other candidate can match, on either side, unless the BFEE dumps Cheney for Powell. Kerry adds civilian leadership experience, as well as a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and a few Purple Hearts.

John Edwards has a very important role to play in the Clark administration: pulling a Starr on the BFEE as a bulldog Special Prosecutor. After he puts the whole BFEE in Terre Haute* where they belong, he'll be ready to be Attorney General; this post will provide him with a launchpad for his successful 2012 campaign.

This is the ticket that will send Bush to a federal lockup.

* Terre Haute is the only federal prison with a death chamber.

[dobak]

1. Welcome!!

We just keep getting stronger!

[LTR]

2. Welcome to the party

Good assessment. But I'd keep Kerry in the Senate. He's too powerful there, and we need all the dems we can get there.

I do like Bob Graham for VP candidate. He's popular in his home state of Florida, and would be a slap in the face to the Rethuglicans.

On edit: I kinda like corporate crime fighter Elliot Spitzer for AG. Sounds like a modern-day RFK.

[Bucky]

3. Welcome to the Clark movement

Terre Haute is a nice bedtime story I tell myself, but of course won't ever happen. I'll settle for them going to Crawford and hitting the lecture circuit in Japan a la Ford, Reagan, Poppy.

I hope our now-shared candidate never disappoints you. I strongly believe he won't. I shall burn a flag in your honor tonight.

[mikehiggins]

4. Welcome to the Party

Just play nice.

[La_Serpiente]

5. Hey,

Welcome :-) Most of us here at DU are generally supportive of the idea of change.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

6. no executive experience in your choices

Governors go to the White House. Give Bush another year and you wont need a candidate with military experience because it will be painfully obvious that Bush is a miserable failure of a human being.

[La_Serpiente]

7. Go make your own thread

[DemBones DemBones]

24. Go to Google, type in "miserable failure", click on "I Feel Lucky."

Generals do have executive experience, btw.

[OldSoldier]

34. Some presidents who weren't governors

Richard Nixon (was vice-president after a stint in the Senate)
George HW Bush (was vice-president after a stint in the House)
LBJ (was vice-president after serving as a Senator and a Representative)
JFK (was a Senator and a Representative, was never vice-president)
Ike's first elected office was President. He was Chief of Staff of the Army
Truman was vice-president for a short time after his service in the Senate
Hoover was secretary of commerce before he was president

And don't kid yourself: Four-star generals are all in executive positions.

We're going to need a military man in the Oval Office with a senator backing him up because the most important issue in this campaign is "how do we get out of the mess Bush put us in?" The two major subheadings of this mess: Iraq and the economy.

[CO Liberal]

8. Just About Now, Somebody's Changing Ronald Reagan.....

:-)

[DemBones DemBones]

27. Tsk! Tsk! You

are so bad! :evilgrin:

[David Zephyr]

9. Terre Haute is the Home of the Great Eugene Debs.

n/t

[robsul82]

10. Thank God Clinton was a general.

;)

Later.

RJS

[lyonn]

12. where's our democratic spirit?

Come on kids, remember the elections of 2002? We were all complaining because the democrats were weak and talkin' the "me too" with Bush. Deans comes on and makes real statements that most of us are agreeing with and are so glad a democrat is speaking for what we believe and then all the other candidates notice he is getting somewhere in the polls and they all begin to speak up. Sorta reminds me of the Perot syndrome. Perot got all the candidates off square one. Dean has done that I believe. I do like many of the other candidates but there is that "me to" thing in the back of my mind.

[DemBones DemBones]

22. Before 9/11, Clinton didn't need military experience. Now, it

is something that many voters will want. (Not me, I'm just giving the pragmatist's answer.)

[bluestateguy]

11. Thank You

And we extend our invitation to Kerry, Gephardt and Lieberman supporters to join us.

[usregimechange]

13. Don't forget to sign up for meetup

if you haven't already: http://clark2004.meetup.com/

[Hope4]

14. How come we do not support dems

I think we should support dems that have worked in the party for years and not someone who was for bush until a few months ago. It just does not seem right. We have dem senators, congressmen, etc here running and why does a small powerful group have to go and find someone else? Please explain to me.

I am going to change from Dean to Dk, something is wrong.

[Kanary]

20. Hello, Hope4!

Welcome to DU!

:hi: :hi: :hi:

Kanary

[Hope4]

23. Thanks

I have been watching, and tried to sign up a week ago but they were not letting anyone on. I was for dean but something is wrong in my gut and I am leaning now towards DK.

There are so many strange things happening and I do not understand why we can't support dems and have to go outside. In companies with unions, unions stick up for senority and if a DK had work a long time and Clark outsider who was friends of the one of the bosses came in and tried to take a promotion away from DK, then the union would stop it. Am I making sense or am I the only one.

I used to laugh at DK's chances but then I saw that poll of where Clinton was at the first time he ran.

Clark really bothers me. I read so many on here griping about zell miller and Joe L., but clark could be a zell miller and what would they say then?

DK should take it to the people of NH and they are a group of voters that do not like power groups of men telling them who to vote for.

[DemBones DemBones]

26. Hi, Hope4! Dennis Kucinich is a great candidate and I have

proudly supported him since before he entered the race. He will get my vote in the primary, no matter what Al Gore, Ted Koppel, or anyone else says. If everyone who believes that DK speaks for them "but can't win" would vote for him, he could win. Nobody should be voting a compromise candidate in the primary. And if everyone votes their heart in the primary, maybe no one will have to hold their nose to vote for the Dem in the general election.

[ajacobson]

43. www.clarkmyths.com

[elsiesummers]

15. I'm thinking of this change also

I am a huge Edwards fan and have been for a long time. He is still my favorite candidate because of his emphasis on fair play, his positive message and his populist campaign.

But - the Gore endorsement of Dean sort of woke me up to the reality that the not Dean supporters have to make a choice - either chose Dean or coallesce around another candidate.

I am not yet convinced that Edwards can't win the nomination, but nearly there. If I am convinced of this I will switch to Clark since he seems best able to beat Bush in the General Election.

Dean, while at times he sparkles, and I absolutely think he should be the vp of any nominee because of his ability to rally the base, I think that at the top of the ticket he will do more for Republican turnout than Hillary ever could. And frankly, his campaign never reaches me in the way that Edwards, Kerry or Clark have - on detail and knowledge of issues.

So I may shortly jump off the Edwards train and onto the Clark train, out of necessity and realism, but it will be difficult because Edwards would be a great president. Unfortunately, I think that we are in a time where domestic issues garner little attention, so in this manufactured environment of fear, Clark is the best man to beat Bush.

[rhino47]

16. I changed also.I supported Edwards at first

I finally decided to go with the General.

[AP]

21. You'll be back.

I'll bet a dollar you'll be back with Edwards after SC.

[OldSoldier]

36. I may move to Edwards as VP

Gore almost selected Edwards as VP; I think that if he would have, we wouldn't be in the mess we are now. And if Clark totally drops out of the race, I will revert to Edwards for standardbearer.

But Clark is the most promising candidate we have now. This is the guy who can kill Bush's campaign before it starts.

How Bush will run: "I am a wartime president. The Democrats are weak on national security."

Which will be hard to do when the man behind the other podium is a retired four-star general.

[AP]

44. If Clark makes it past the first round, there will be an Edwards vs Clark

compare and contrast which I'm confident that Edwards will win. I think that if it came down to a debate between those two candidates, after an informed debate, more Democrats would be thinking that Edwards needs to be on the top of the ticket.

I'll save that debate for later...unless you really want to get into it now.

[ResistTheCoup]

17. Welcome!!

I'd love to have a Clark-Kerry ticket as well. I think it would be the strongest match-up possible. Graham and Edwards would also make great VP's.

Thanks again for your comments!

[DemOutWest]

18. The Only Thing

wrong is you have the wrong person listed first! ;-)

Senator Kerry is the most experienced and knowledgeable candidate that can truly deliver the White House.

Kerry/Clark! How does that sound? :-0

DemOutWest

[OldSoldier]

37. "Vietnam Vets Against The War"

They've got all those pictures of Kerry speaking at antiwar rallies.

They also have a picture of Clark with Ratko Mladic, which may be a slight problem.

Of course, we have those neat pictures of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein. Which we need to keep handy, along with the photo of Bush in front of the "Mission Accomplished" banner and all the pictures of Bush throwing the Hitler salute.

[Clark Can WIN]

19. Welcome to the CLARK side..................................

Nice to have you here. I love Edwards myself. He did such a nice piece on the evening news tonight. He's personable and funny and very genuine. I also believe he would make a fantastic president but this is the wrong election for him. There's the foreign policy experience thing but mostly I believe he's a victim of his own good genetics. The guy doesn't look 50 does he?

I love JE in a Clark administration and I believe he would be there. Have you seen how well they get along?

[Rocinante]

25. Good for you

As a Clark supporter before he even announced-Welcome!

[kayleybeth]

28. Welcome aboard!

Wise choice, Clark is the man to beat shrub, IMO.

BTW, Edwards is my second choice for nominee, and I still think he could break out and give the others a run for their money. He has this Clinton thing going on and it really works for him. I'm surprised he hasn't already busted out into the top 3 or 4 candidates. He's very Clintonesque. I like him a lot.

[Myra]

29. jmowreader, I truly believe that Clark is the best candidate

And one of the most impressive people I've ever seen.

I'm glad you're supporting him.
Thank you.

[SeveneightyWhoa]

30. Great choice! Clark/Kerry..

..is exactly what I'd love to see!

[Jerseycoa]

31. Whoo Hooo!!

This is great. Welcome to the cause! Kick Bush to Terre Haute.


:dem:

[Indiana_Dem]

32. Me too

I went from Edwards to a short-short time with Dean then Clark wholeheartedly. I must say though, if Clark chooses Hilary as VP, I might switch to Kucinich. I don't think Clark will win against Bush with Hilary just as I don't believe Dean will win against Bush with Gore endorsing him. I think people are looking for outsiders not those with inside connections. Dean and Clark appear as outsiders but that may change since Gore has already endorsed and there's talk of Hilary possibly being VP for Clark (but maybe it's just hype). Now I know Kucinich isn't an outsider but he has outsider ideas--he thinks outside of the box of the establishment.

Regardless, as I always want to remind everyone, I (and we should) will stand behind our Democratic nominee no matter what. Anything is better than Bush! I just feel at this point in time, Clark is what people are looking for, military/outsider/intelligent/compassionate. The only thing that worries me is his ability to stand up to Bush in the debates. His soft-spokeness might be a liability up against Bush's smirkiness. Alot of people appreciate Bush's smugness but I am not that type of person. I look for virtue not pompassness! Dean to me is the other side of the same coin as Bush. That means he is just as smug as Bush but only he's on our side. That's what scares me about him. I would rather my leader have the virtues of humility, respect of others despite the others'differences, and knowing when to speak and not to speak, diplomacy, justice, etc. I don't feel Dean has come to that point yet. He is more apt to say the wrong thing at the wrong/right time and have it stick with him. I think Kucinich and Braun have the desirable virtues as well. The only thing with them is I think they won't capture swing voters. Well, Deanies, go ahead and flame me. I am only stating my opinion and gut feelings I have on the candidates. That doesn't mean I won't vote for Dean if he wins. Like I said, I'll vote for the dem nominee regardless of who it is.

[OldSoldier]

40. Hillary as VP would be bad

Because then the Repug spin would be "//fill in the candidate// will be nothing but a figurehead for the socialist Hillary Clinton."

That conveniently sidesteps the fact that Dubya Bush is nothing but a figurehead for the fascist Dick Cheney.

Hillary's fine exactly where she is.

[in_cog_ni_to]

33. Welcome!

:hi: :bounce: Excellent decision!

[phillybri]

35. From a fellow Clark convert, welcome...

:kick:

[Enjolras]

38. The question is not "why is Clark better than Dean?" ....

but "Why is Clark even better than Bush?"

Remember, this guy wasn't even a Democrat until 2 months ago. He had, and I understand still has, some fairly conservative views on some issues, like trade. Now, I'm a moderate myself, but even I can see that for the Democrat party to survive, it will have to offer a clear alternative to the prevailing conservative agenda. It also needs to satisfy its base, some of which is likely to go Green again is Clark or Lieberman is nominated.

Moreover, and speaking as veteran of nearly 10 years in the USAF, I don't think military experience, while imporatant, is a critical qualification for a candidate to have. Bush's barely qualifies while Gore is a Vietvet. Jimmy Carter was a Navy vet, and Clinton never served. John McCain is highly decorated Vietvet and former POW, and look what happened to him.

Finally, I'd like to point out once again that there's a lot more to look for than just electability. It's not necessarily true that anybody who can beat Bush is automatically best qualified. What if we had solid evidence that Joe Lieberman (a northern, Jewish Zell Miller) was the only one who could? What do we do after the election? A pyrrhic victory is not better than defeat.

[Jacknife]

39. You made a huge mistake

Edwards is the only one who has a shot to win.

[OldSoldier]

41. Any of them have a shot to win

After a couple more raisings of the debt ceiling and a few hundred more troops killed, we could take down Bush with Jesse Jackson. We could take down Bush with Martha Stewart. Hell, I could take him down easy.

Seriously, though, I think anyone in the field of nine except maybe Carol Moseley-Braun has a shot. (Sad to say, we could win with a white woman except for Hillary Clinton--HP's Carly Fiorina might be good, but she's probably a Republican--or a black man, but not a black woman. That's just too much of a stretch for one election cycle.)

[molly]

42. I think you are correct about the military background

however, I still like Edwards - he is among my top 3 choices. They are Kerry, Clark, and Edwards. A Kerry-Clark ticket would be good too! :hi:

[mmonk]

45. Welcome

[Q]

46. There's a big flaw in your logic...

...in that Bush* pulling out a picture of himself in 'uniform' wouldn't impress anyone but the FReeper mentality.

- Isn't the Democratic party looking for votes from Democrats?

[Tatiana]

47. I love Clark/Kerry.

That's my secret wish and I think the ticket that gives this country the best chance for getting back on its feet. I think Clark and Kerry are also very astute people who would balance each other out wonderfully.