I've looked at the candidates again.........

[pnziii]

I'm a Dean supporter and I was looking at the candidates again. I have to say I think the Senator can beat Bush. Look at his qualifications.

Great military record. Even recognized by many as a war hero.

Great record of standing up in DC for what is right.

Strong supported of Social Security and wants to stop politician from raiding the Social Security fund to finance other programs.

Strong in Foreign Policy matters. Hailed by some for his leadership regarding Kosovo and his support for it.

Last reelection to the Senate he got almost 70% of the vote. The other impressive fact is in that vote he also got 65% of the women. 55% of the minority vote and even 40% of the opposing party voted for him to represent them in the Senate.

I don't see how this guy could lose to Bush. He's a military hero, stands up for Social Security, strong foreign policy credentials, strong support from women and minorities.

How can he lose to Bush?????????

But he did. I just described John McCain. Something to think about.

[gWbush is Mabus]

1. Kerry would get CRUSHED in a GE see below

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040129/ap_on_el_pr/bush_politics

[KC21304]

17. Did you happen to read the last line of your own submitted piece ?

[JI7]

2. mccain would kick bush arse

if it was mccain v. bush in a national election where everyone could vote. bush only won because it was a republican primary which mostly brings out the right wing types.

[girl gone mad]

3. Sorry..

I don't think Kerry has what it takes to beat Bush. People love Bush. People love Dean, Clark, and even Edwards. No one loves Kerry. He's dull, and he's been a disappointing Bush enabler which reeks of political opportunism.

[ShaneGR]

4. Well, the polling shows Kerry with a 3-5 pt. lead over Bush

Via Newsweek. And climbing. I do have reservations about Kerry, but not because I don't think he can win the electoral college (He could lose the whole south including Florida but win Ohio and still win the election).... I'm concerned about Southern Candidates for the Senate who need campaigning help (John Edwards VP?).

Of course, if Edwards gets the nomination I will declare a national holiday and run down the street.

[cid]

5. I just saw a a little blurb on the Dean blog that I think says it all

Dated Dean
Married Kerry
Woke up with Bush

:)

[Kathleen04]

27. LOL

Thanks for the laugh. :)

[NewYorkerfromMass]

6. Republican primaries and GE's 2 different things

They are 2 completely different sets of voters.

try again.

[lovedems]

7. I can't even believe who the actual candidate is really makes a difference

from all of the exit polls, the number one item on people's agenda in to get the chimp out. That is number 1, that is number 1! Yes people are concerned with the economy, the war and the tax cuts but that is all secondary to getting the chimp out. We can all moan and complain about who the candidate should be but the fact of the matter is, there aren't striking differences between any of these candidates and the democrats are going to vote, as they already have, in record numbers this year. I would be willing to bet there are alot more people who are ABB then you would realize. My entire family is of the mindset, "for the first time, I don't care who gets the nomination, I will support any democrat going against bu$h."

[bullimiami]

8. support kerry?

well
yes kerry has a good record.
my only real worry with kerry is that he was so passive and enabling of the bush regressive policies in the senate.
he talks tough now but that is new and he learned it from dean.

maybe a kerry / dean ticket would be able to keep the fire stoked. Im afraid if kerry is left to his own he gets trampled again with a wimper instead of a growl.

im a dean supporter and i will stick with him as long as he is in. then i support ABB.
I hope the dem / dlc doesnt blow it again. they have a bad track record in my mind.

-they didnt stand up to bush hard enough in the 2000 debacle.
-they chose to support a dullard insider (mcbride) instead of the outspoken outsider (reno) for florida governer and got beat bad without a real fight.
-2002 they pussied out to the bushies and lost the congress.

so the track record says they would rather take their chances and lose with insider / power players than take a chance that an outsider wont play ball.

that is the stupid wing of the democratic party.


YEEAHHHHHH GO DEAN!

andy

miami fl

[creativelcro]

11. Good records? What are you talking about?

Kerry's record is all over the place... Spineless shell....

[pnziii]

12. You didn't read the whole post

I was taking a dig at Kerry.

I will only support Dean!!!!!!

[lovedems]

14. I am not suggesting that you support anybody in particular. I am saying

that we should support the dem nominee once the voters have made their choice. Kerry is not my #1, nor is he my #2, but I am willing to support him if he does win the nomination.

My main point is whoever wins the nomination, the dems have already shown that they want the chimp out.

I am not suggesting that you throw away your support for Dean, the primary is still early and who knows what events will unfold, but in the end, the candidate who wins the nomination will get the votes of the dems because the first priority is to get the chimp out. We can't change ANYTHING until that change is made first.

[mourningdove92]

9. you beat me to it, lovesdems.

If the democrats will only "fall in line" when the candidate is finally selected, ANY of the candidates could beat Dubya. If we can't win this time, that is a really scary scenario. Right now, we have serious Democrat anger working for us. Many, many people, such as myself, are taking a more active role in the political process this year. Repugs are falling away from Dubya in large numbers. Dubya just keeps on screwing up, WMDs are back in the news, the subject of his AWOLness is actually being discussed, more soldiers die every day, the economy sucks, unemployment is getting worse and his immigration proposal has both the left and the right screaming for his head....it seems to me that if all of us Dems will keep our focus on our most important objective, which is cleaning the vermin out of the White House, we should have no problem walking away with the election.
Dubya is more that beatable. We just have to make sure we all pull together at the right time.

[lovedems]

15. ...

:hi:

[Eloriel]

22. If that's what you think

there aren't striking differences between any of these candidates

Then you haven't been paying attention to Dean and his campaign -- at all.

From a certain point of view there aren't terribly many differences in all the candidates' policies, but the difference between Dean and all the other candidates is unbelievable -- gargantuan. He's literally the politician I've been yearning for all my adult life.

[krkaufman]

35. Huhwuh?

> there aren't striking differences between any
> of these candidates

That sounds like Nader, Michael Moore and all the pundits who said there wasn't any real difference between Gore and Bush in 2000. Please.

I will concede the remainder of your point, however. (i.e. ABB) It's just that given this opportunity, I'd prefer going into the Super Bowl with my starting quarterback.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. You've gotta be kidding

McCain may have integrity, but except for the votes you mention, he's an arch-conservative. He's lousy on environmental issues and strongly in favor of the Republicanites' social agenda.

Admire McCain's survival as a POW and his current honesty, but if you're seriously thinking that he would be a good Dem nominee or would even accept such a nomination, you must be smoking some leftover weed from the Vietnam era.

[pnziii]

13. Guess you missed the message

McCain couldn't beat Bush, why do People think Kerry can.

[lovedems]

16. Because the bu$h that was running in 2000 is not the exposed bu$h

that he is today. People know the man behind the image now, it was just image in 2000.

[KC21304]

20. Right on, lovedems, but you know some people here are not into nuances.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

34. Your Bush is showing

LOL. I agree with your posts on this thread 100%. It is almost surreal to me reading these sniping threads, all the attacks on Kerry, and the people saying they wouldn't vote for Kerry or whomever vs. Bush... I can hardly believe what I am reading. Makes me want to stand there like the Native American dude with a tear rolling down his face in that pollution commercial from the 70's...

The corruption and wickedness of this administration are so evident to any thinking American now. The wickedness of an unprovoked invasion and occupation. The corruption of the media through fear and intimidation. The systematic lies of its propaganda machine, and its destruction of any credibility of our nation abroad. The rapid destruction of decades worth of international alliances and good will. The rapid depletion of a huge surplus into massive debt through reckless fiscal policy. The rapid destruction of any semblance of environmental policy. Seizing authority to imprison foreign and AMERICAN citizens without a charge or due process! So many reasons. A few of these reasons in and of themselves would be sufficient justification for the URGENT removal of this president. Taken all together (along with many things not mentioned), the importance of turning out Bush cannot be overstated. How much worse can the erosion of the media get with 4 more years of corporate consolidation and more intimidation? How much more power can the administration gather to itself if they are already suspending habeas corpus? Does anyone want to hang around to find out the answers to all this? Not me!

Would I have predicted 1/4 of these things to happen during the 2000 election? No way, figured Bush for a benign mediocrity. He's mediocre all right, but far from benign. So I guess it's true that we could be fooled by one of these candidates. But the devil we do know is so bad here that the course of action is clear, we HAVE to vote ABB!

[sandnsea]

31. That was the primary

It doesn't even compute to the GE. McCain would have kicked Gore's butt and swept the country. Just like Kerry would do.

[Rhiannon12866]

18. I have always liked John McCain

In fact, I voted for him in the 2000 primary, though I voted in the election for Gore. He was on "The Daily Show" a couple of nights ago and he came out swinging. He said that he is supporting Bush*, but his words and actions speak otherwise. I will support anyone who can defeat George Bush*, but think that John McCain agrees with those of us on DU.:shrug:

[kerry-is-my-prez]

19. Kerry wil be painted as a NE liberal. He will have to win big in the South

to convince me that he can win in all regions. He has seemed very impressive lately - he has gotten a lot of confidence and it wears well on him.

[KC21304]

21. And it won't take much for a first rate debater like Kerry

to make the most of that liberal label. You know, all those dreadful liberal ideas like Social Security, GI Bill of Rights, Medicare, Civil rights, good environmental policies.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

24. To do that, he would have to move even farther right.

So, we'd be stuck with bush vs not-quite bush.

No thanks.

[Virgil]

23. The next president will be a Democrat

Bush won because big money chose him as a representative. Now that they see the idiot was stupid enough to listen to everything they said, they will be happy with the billions saved in taxes and regard his $75 million campaign contibutions a wise investment.

I say that is why Kerry is ahead now. He is the big money candidate now that Bu$h is doomed.

Any Democratic nominee is going to beat Bu$h. He did not win last time and that was with Nader in the race and now we know he is the worst president ever. I would have to vote for Kerry if he were the nominee, so that shows you how bad Bush is. Kerry voted right along with Bush and the PTB are now coming out to endorse him. They want the same old stuff to keep on keeping on.

[eridani]

25. Indeed. If Kerry and Clark think that a chestful of medals--

--is adequate as a defense against the Republican slime machine, they need to have a chat with McCain and Cleland. Dems will never win that game. We need an entirely different game.

[democratreformed]

26. Both Kerry and Clark

have brought much more to their respective campaigns than "a chestful of medals".

[eridani]

28. I was speaking to the reasons--

--why people consider them 'electable,' not casting aspersions on their platforms.

[Rhiannon12866]

29. I think Kerry is gaining momentum

But I also think that he needs a running mate who can help him get the Southern vote. That would be my chief concern if he gets the nomination.:shrug:

[Auntie Bush]

33. So he should ask Clark , if he beats him.

[sandnsea]

30. The far right beat McCain

Not Democrats and Independents. If McCain had been the candidate in 2000, Gore would have lost. All aross the country.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

32. Not sure about the Far Right

The Republican Party Big Money Machine for sure--they wanted to anoint a Bush early just because of the name, and got their wish. McCain is much more appealing as a person and candidate than Bush would ever dream to be. Without any consideration of his politics McCain actually seems like a human being unlike the empty suit that is Bush...

I sure hope that if Bush loses (for him to "win" is almost an unthinkable nightmare for me), among many other things one of the effects is that the "Bush political dynasty" is buried forever and salt thrown on its grave...

[Eloriel]

36. LOL - That's downright cruel, pnziii

Very clever. Cute, too.