the "crowding out" effect - when the oxygen gets sucked up

[sweetheart]

I recently had a chat with a leader of the UK Democratic voter organization "democratsabroad.org"

He posed to me this question, on hearing that i supported Rep. Kucinich.

"The right thing to do for minority candidates is to bow out. It is a waste of resources, and we need to get a winner amongst the four frontrunners. (kerry, clark, edwards & dean)"

I said i thought it a mistake, as without Rep. Kucincich, the democratic party risked losing his supporters to a green party sort of thing like happened in 2000... yet i was a bit flummoxed as to what to say?

He's sorta right that running separate candidacies wastes resources that could be used for the "big runoff fight, ABB and all that good stuff" Yet by giving up too early, Does not a candidate who has such principals as dennis merely chuck them in to the waste bin, as the "big 4" completely ignore the dennis supporters as irrelevant.

That makes me pissed off and i want dennis to never give up, but that's my foolish hard headed stubbornness speaking, and maybe not the wisdom of winning in 2004 as a unified party.

Please what do you think about this crowding out effect?

[el_gato]

1. DK tells the truth

and that is more important than running in a rigged election

We need people out there giving air time to the truth

[Maddy McCall]

2. This early, I would say no.

Even New Hampshire shouldn't force any of the top four candidates out.

The South will be a battleground, though, and anyone who doesn't do well in Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina should leave the race and commit his support to one of the other candidates--or all of the other candidates.

I think the next real test will be South Carolina.

[Guaranteed]

3. Kucinich is awesome.

I always respected him, but I've come upon a new, profound respect for him. No way in HELL should he bow out. He gives this race legitimacy.

[Mistress Quickly]

4. Lieberman should drop out

there's already a Repub running.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

5. Now that the field has thinned a little, it is less of a problem.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

6. True. Plus we need Dennis to keep Dean straight

on what it REALLY means to be anti-war.

[sweetheart]

7. Ok, so when it DOES occur

As we are going to have "ONE" candidate soon enough, i would hope that that person suddenly realize that they must take on board the voters who opposed them originally, perhaps with cabinet posts, with policy back room arrangements.

I am concerned that the frontrunners think they can just grab the fringe voters without doing any politics.

[Virgil]

8. The country needs to hear the Kucinich message

Kucinich is in until the convention. He made that clear. Lieberman will soon be gone and his tired voice is just mud in the water. Edwards could easily go next. Then Kucinich will be heard.

In his State of the Nation Speech he even spoke about ending the use of depleted uranium. Now how is anyone with any sense going to believe we were trying to help the Iraqis when we shoot their country up with DU that will be killing and maiming them for 2 billion years? The Nazi media does not even speak of it and the question surely isn't going to be raised in the tri-annual press conferences the Bush handlers stage.

Kucinich is in all the way to the convention. He will be heard and people at least need to give the guy a listen. He has a sincerity that the others don't. He sees it the way it is and speaks to the problems directly.

The other candidates have to adopt the little man v the big corporations, but why did they not speak out earlier? Lieberman and Edwards will go. Dean will fall off and not be a contender even if he stays around to spend his money.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. - Mahatma Gandhi

[DemLikr]

9. "oxygen gets sucked up" = Big Media meme. Fuck them. Ignore it.

What that phrase actually represents is the SCLM's abominable laziness which prevents them from effectively covering a nuanced story involving multiple characters; ie. REAL LIFE.

Editors and reporters prefer made-up story lines manufactured by themselves which resemble mini-soap operas.

There is plenty of oxygen for Dennis and anyone else.