PLEASE! Cease and desist with the '08 Election Talk

[heidiho]

I am going to scream if I see another post, poll or whatever concerning the 2008 election. For God's sake, most of us are still shell shocked over the election a mere three weeks ago.

To keep putting forth ideas about who will run in '08 is not only premature, it's downright silly.

We as a party have alot of work to do before '06. Let the dust settle on this election before we go off to argue whether or not Hillary would be a better candidate than Howard Dean, or whatever.

Sorry for sounding off like this but it's making me nuts. Thanks, I feel better now.

[Kolesar]

1. The only reason we are talking about '08 is

this election was stolen!

[FloridaPat]

2. And so is the one in 2008. We have bigger problems than worrying

about who is going to run. And I also am tired of worrying about 4 years from now. The USA is dead. Time for Plan B. We are living in a dictatorship.

[Kolesar]

18. I was making fun of those who hijack threads with "election fraud" ...eom

[Stinky The Clown]

3. Look, over there ... in that red ring ....... and in that blue ring ......

.... hats are being tossed in. Some by actual potential candidates.

I agree we have other issues .... not the least of which are stolen elections and the '06 midterms.

But the field in '08 will be as wide open as at any time since 1952. No incumbent. No potentially-succeeding veep.

Positions are being taken and turf being fought for ... already.

I want us to have a reasonably well supported candidate identified and declared our front runner long before the primaries .... way long before. My avatar tells who my candidate is, but make no mistake, I will, as I did in this election, vigorously support the **Dem** candidate.

So no, it isn't, in my view, too early to start this sort of talk.

Just now, in other threads, are reports about Vilsak, Schwarzenegger, Hagel, McCain, and Ghoulianni. Only one of those is our guy. So yeah, thinking of '08 now is fully appropriate. In the end, a large enough margin for our guy can overcome a rigged election if our margin is so huge that the cheating would have to be extraordinarily widespread and laughably obvious.

[welshTerrier2]

4. celebrity fetishes ...

a little speculation is fine but talking about '08 candidates to the exclusion of building the party, finding a clear message, developing a more effective media presence etc. is like reading the headlines without reading the article ...

it's sensationalism with little or no depth ...

let's get over our "celebrity fetish" and start addressing the more mundane but more important changes that are needed ...

[deminflorida]

5. Only one solution....

his time has come, and it's come now....

If we're going to win EVER again, we need someone who's willing to fight for us.

www.draft-clark.com

At least we are gearing up NOW for the RETRO-METRO political civil war that this country is in for.

I for one am falling in behind a General. A Progressive General who's not afraid to fight for his party.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Much as I support

Clark, that was not the point of this thread. (And I do support Clark strongly.)

I think this is about a party-wide issue in which all candidates and their supporters should participate. Do we look forward to '08 now or later? I would welcome a debate now. So that, in the end, everyone can back a single candidate. Maybe their original one, maybe not. But one we can support with at least the unity we had this time. No one will be perfect for all, but we have to get the very best. One who is acceptable broadly in the party and who can win the persuadable voters who we missed this time.

Early vetting of our '08 standard bearer now will only serve to help us.

[catbert836]

6. C'mon! It's better to think about the future

than what idiocy * is pulling at this very minute.

[janx]

11. Thinking about it is good!

Arguing about 2008 when we don't know who will be running is pointless.

What are the options for 2006 where you live? We have some exciting possibilities in my state.

[Stinky The Clown]

14. I'll be working to rid Annapolis of the aberration (abomination) that is

our governor, Robert Ehrlich (R-Nazi) and see him replaced with the Mayor of Baltimore, the honorable Martin O'Malley (D-Good Guy).

[FrenchieCat]

8. Sorry....

But I'd like to think I'm in a party that can chew gum and blink their eyes at the same time. Fight wars on two fronts and solve economic problems while they are at it. discuss the 2006 Congressional elections and the 2008 Presidential elections. We need to be a full 24/7 service party....our doors should never close....subjects should never be limited. To be myopic would be failing to connect all of the dots.

Part of the problem with your lament is that the 2008 Republican candidates are alraedy starting to line themselves up NOW (check out McCain in NH on C-Span). Sen. Hagel is also doing some "fingerinthewind" testing. Should these Republican candidates be allowed to define themselves in the voters' minds and establish distinct identities, while Democrats play political etiquette while waiting by the door? I just don't think so.

The advantage that an incumbent has is that he/she is familiar to the voters. Now if Repugs start out too much earlier than Democrats, we will have a similar problem although the 2008 election is supposed to be the first election whereas no incumbent or VP is running. The last time that happened was in 1952!

We must allow our prospective Dem candidates to come out and make a name for themselves. They must be bold and agressive....a trait that voters obviously find admirable.

But first things first....we must discuss who the potential candidates are as we are doing. We cannot allow the media and the Republicans to decide who will run from our camp.

This election was not a funeral. No one has to wait till the corpses are cold.

I would like to see candidates declare the day after ignauguration day......

It's all about having whatever edge we can find....and that's not going to be ours if we are just going to "wait till the time is right".

Timidity and hesitancy will not win us an election...either in 2006 or in 2008.

[janx]

9. I've been harping about 2006 again and again.

There's a lot of work to be done, and there are some very exciting possibilities ahead! For instance: I'm hoping we can work to elect a Dem governor here in Colorado--we just got our legislature back after 40 years!

And I hope that whoever runs Dem for that slot gets the full endorsement of Democracy for America, because that organization is a ray of hope during a very dark time. I hope to encourage my party on a local, county, and state level to get candidates to apply to DFA for support--everybody from dogcatcher to school board member to governor to Congress.

It's an exciting time, and there will soon be so much to do! I got a wonderful email from our state senate chair majority leader today, and it really cheered me up.

So I couldn't be more sympathetic. These "my dog is better than your dog" threads are getting really ridiculous, and I can't hide the them!

Good grief, we don't even know who is going to run in 2008 yet, and we won't for a long time. A lot can change in a few years.

[Niccolo_Macchiavelli]

10. Talking about 2008 elections has as much sense

as it would have had for the germans at christmas 1934.

You'll have to get rid of YOUR LEADER before any serious consideration can be given to the next election. Else chimpy will still be in office, probably with martial law with his gestapo-pendant, his pretorian-SS', and whatever cronyorganizations.

No time to build air castles dudes and dudettes.

[CatWoman]

12. If we don't elections in this country fixed

THERE WON'T BE A FUCKING 2008!!!!!

[greenohio]

13. The discussion is therapy for some

and I believe the objective is to learn while the election is fresh in our minds, lest we forget.

[Q]

15. I agree: let's decide where we're going before...

...we choose a driver.

[Sparkly]

16. How about using "hide thread?"

I don't think we should censor topics on the board due to what makes somebody nuts.

[Tweed]

17. Here here, we have important House races to look at