Why am I starting to feel disgusted and bad about this year's election?

[Cascadian]

I do not feel good about Joe Trippi leaving the Dean campaign. The Dean/Trippi formula worked. We have a man who is a Washington outsider, who started his grassroots campaign,a great track record governing in Vermont, a man who cannot be bought by corporate intrests, and was coming on strong until the media and fellow Democrats started slamming him, calling him a "loose cannon" or whatever, and certain people using dirty tactics like calling people in New Hampshire at 4 AM claiming they were from the Dean campaign. Spreading all sorts of disinformation. It just sickens me.

It is obvious to me that Howard Dean has panicked and this could actually hurt his campaign. It is also obvious to me that the DNC and DLC does not want Dean to be the nominee otherwise he would have not been attacked as much as he had been. Dean is not a "corporate Democrat", he has not fallen into the "Republican Lite" catagory. And also, once again......he is NOT a liberal!!!! Forget what tactics the Republicans have been doing or are doing now in this campaign. I have never seen such dirty tactics in a campaign in my life.

Despite it all, I will continue to support Howard Dean until the day comes when he is no longer in the race. I hope he can pull off the nomination. I will also vote for the Democratic nominee no matter who he is. However, I am still convinced that Dean is the only one who could beat Bush. It looks like it may be down to Kerry or Edwards if not Dean. I have some strong reservations about Kerry. No matter how liberal he appears to be, it still does not change the fact that he voted for the Patriot Act and Iraq invasion. He missed out on voting against the drug company/AARP rip off of seniors. Kerry also strikes me still as aloof and a definate Beltway insider. Somehow, I am more keen to see Edwards up there. There is something Clintonesque about him. He plays that feelgood factor very well, but he needs to get more forceful against what Bush has done. In fact both Kerry and Edwards should have been more forceful against Bush from the get-go. I honestly do not think they could succeed in beating Bush.

I just get a strange and awful feeling that all of this could play into the hands of Bush and his handler Karl Rove. If that happens, God help us all!

John

[krkaufman]

1. No love affair

Certainly, there's no love affair between the Dem establishment and the truly outside-the-beltway candidates.

But "Don't Panic!!"

[jsw_81]

2. The Dean/Trippi formula worked?

So far, they have spent $35 million only to come in third in Iowa, and second in New Hampshire. And the latest polls show Dean losing everywhere on February 3. Sorry to burst your bubble, but their formula hardly worked. Dean is finished.

[ibegurpard]

3. And so are our chances for 'O4.

eom

[windansea]

6. geez

like to hit people when they're down?

Dean/Trippi revolutionized grass roots campaigning and using the internet that all present and future campaigns will emulate

maybe they failed to win but they created a new model for organizing a base and fundraising

[jsw_81]

9. They didn't "revolutionize" anything

It was all hype. Howard Dean's campaign was like Crystal Pepsi. Remember that? Didn't think so.

[windansea]

10. sure they did

they built a grass roots campaign thru the internet and set a record in democratic fundraising....pulling in $40 million from small grassroots contributors (56% of the donations were under $200 and only 13% from $2000+ donors)

That's remarkable and admirable in itself...what they did with the money is another story, but doesn't negate the fact that they created a new internet grassroot fund freakin raising machine that all the other candidates have tried to copy.

[isbister]

12. They did a good job

tapping into the anger about... everything bush... of the Democrats, and others. I just disagree with how they went about it.

Credit where credit is due: Great job recognizing the Internet's value and using it.

[Old and In the Way]

4. As a Kerry supporter, I'm looking forward to this election.

I can understand the frustration and maybe even the disillusionment of Dean supporters, given the ugly news breaking tonight.

I hope that we all remember that the real fight remains beating Bush in November.

[ibegurpard]

5. I wish the DNC and the DLC felt the same.

But they are obviously more threatened by a candidate that could jeopardize their positions of influence than they are by the prospect of 4 more years of Bush.

[Cascadian]

7. I am not ashamed to admit I am disgusted with the DNC/DLC

I am just livid. This just tells me that if you don't have corporate connections, if you don't have center-right views or similar platform, then you should not be a candidate. I would not be surpised if Terry McAuliffe had a lot to do with Dean's stumble. Remember that Dean said earlier in the campaign that McAuliffe and those who have turned the Democratic Party into the Republican Lite Party should be replaced.

[isbister]

13. Blame Dean

Its bush lite-like to blame others for your mistakes.

[Cascadian]

14. Dean was not the problem!

Look how the press just spun the hell out of him and his campaign and how some of the other candidates just trashed him. They trashed him because he is a straight-shooter and called B.S. on what the Democrats have become and what Bush is doing. You cannot deny that the Democrats (most but not all!)have become so timid toward Bush and the neo-cons. Dean exposed that fact! I say that is damn good that he did!


John

[OhioStateProgressive]

16. great

if this all was truly your concern you would have been a Kucinich supporter

[Cascadian]

8. Not only that guess who may get into the race if Dean goes down?

Ralph Nader! The left and center left will be divided again.


John

[MMT]

18. There's an easy fix for that: back Dennis Kucinich

If Kucinich is the nominee, Nader won't run and the Dems will get the endorsement of "the most important intellectual alive today": Chomsky.

[Bombtrack]

11. The Dean campaign played as dirty or dirtier as any other

he set the tone, he went negative from the beginning and never let up.

He was arrogant the entire time. He was never an intellectual the entire time. He was a hothead the entire time. And because of a combination of many things from his personality to his personal background and upbringing to his hypocracy and flip-flops to his middle-class tax raise and other policy proposals he was always the least electable major candidate on paper.

But none of that matters to people who have baught into and are obsessed with his and others hypocritical anti-war and anti-moderate spin and propaganda directed at his opponents which his campaign was founded on and consisted almost entirely of

[OhioStateProgressive]

15. basically this is how I see it

all Dean supporters should have been Kucinich supporters


because those people chose the wrong candidate, I don't care about their pitfalls of being Dean supporters

[w4rma]

20. You can't be serious.

:freak:

[Iverson]

17. You have answered your own question.

Where your individual well-being is concerned, Trippi leaving Dean's campaign should have passed almost without notice. Instead, it was a critical incident that compelled you to examine the broader situation.

Some of it comes from attachment to a candidate, who must inevitably have changing fortunes.
Some of it is this: "It is also obvious to me that the DNC and DLC does not want Dean to be the nominee ..." since you are concerned that "all of this could play into the hands of Bush and his handler Karl Rove."
Some of it is feeling that you don't have a voice. (see your post #7)
Maybe there's other stuff that you're not telling.

Look: if you have any ideals at all that you plan on keeping, then get used to that feeling of disgust. On the other hand, if you want to attach yourself to the coattails of power and money, you will be rewarded for it and you can join the chorus of those who currently sneer at you, with the only risk of disgust being the thought that there are still people like you now who cling to old-fashioned notions of wanting something better.

Happy choosing!

[Cascadian]

19. kicking it up