If John Kerry Were Elected President, How Good Of A President Would He Be?

[THUNDER HANDS]

Certainly, Kerry is to the left of Bill Clinton, ideologically. And knowing that whomever the nominee is would be dealing with a Republican-controlled congress, it would be interesting to see how much he could get accomplished facing such stiff opposition.

So, assuming Kerry is the nominee and he beats Bush in November, how good of a president will he be? Certainly, I think there's no question he'd be the most liberal president of my lifetime.

So what do you think?

[hippiechick]

1. "Meet the New Boss ... Same as the Old Boss" ...

...comes to mind.

An insider, defending the status quo, throwing a few more crumbs to the proletariat than the Shrubista's have so he can say he's 'a man of the people'.

What's worse, the flu or a really, really bad head cold ?
When it comes down to it, they're pretty simliar but for a few degrees of severity. Same with a Bush or Kerry Admin.

The only way this party, and the people of this country, are going
to see any positive change, is for a radically different candidate to somehow pull a miracle and win next year.


:hippie:

[THUNDER HANDS]

2. it's a shame then

that no radical candidates, short of Kucinich, are running this year.

[KensPen]

3. I disagree

a radical president, without the support of congress would get nothing done.

[THUNDER HANDS]

4. bingo

[hippiechick]

22. Any President with an Opposing Congress will get nothing done.

If the GOP still holds the House and Senate and Kerry gets the nod,
expect NOTHING to change.

The system is fundamentally broken and until we have proportional representation and a people's President such as Kucinich
(BTW, I am not a Kucinich supporter), the average person in this country will continue to get the shaft in favaor of the corporate congloms.

The Establishment believes that capitalism, as it exists now, cannot be challenged and to do so would undermine the workings of this country. They are so entrenched in the status quo thought pattern of 'corporations = jobs = happy voters' that they refuse to see the other half of the equation which is 'corporations = HUGE profits for shareholders and CEO's - small wages = starving employees, bad national infrastructure'.

THAT, IMO is why we need a radical candidate to take office in 2005.

:hippie:

[polpilot]

26. Radical...revolutionary candidate HATED by the DLC establishment &

hated by the repubs. Go to the DLC site to discover who that guy is.

[polpilot]

24. Same ole same ole...establishment re-run...reach-across-the-aisle..blah

Dean '04...

[dusty64]

5. Regardless of his

potential or abilities, the rethug Congress will NOT allow him to achieve anything. I also expect impeachment proceeding to begin somewhere by the beginning of 2006 of some media fabricated rumor. I hate the thought of this and am struggling with it in my mind, but its possible a Democratic win of the WH could be the worst thing to happen. Imagine having to try and clean up the monumental messes these criminals have created while at the same time dealing with the most extreme Congress we've had in 150 years.
All blame will be placed upon the new and elected President and everything including the kitchen sink will be thrown at him. It will make the Clinton/Gore years look like a fond memory and the Pravda press will happily splash every lie about him across the headlines 24/7. I'd love to see our regime forced to deal with their disasters and be blamed completely, however I'm terrified of what 4 more years of this shit would bring. What to do?

[trogdor]

6. Assuming he can win is assuming a lot.

I have serious doubts that he could, for example, win a single eastern state south of the Ohio. My opinion; your mileage may vary. I'm sorry, but he puts me right to sleep.

OK, so he, Gep, and the others made Dean run through most of his $40 million to keep his campaign from going completely into the toilet this past month. Hitler (and possibly Bush) could tell you, having the greatest army on Earth means squat if the rest of the world is united against you. Such is the epitaph of the Dean campaign. I still think he could have kicked Bush's ass, but not with the sort of screwing he got at the hands of his own party. Bottom line: something must be done to re-enlist the Dean Army in the event Howard fails to win the nomination. Can Kerry do this? That question I leave to you as an exercise.

[ModerateMiddle]

7. "made Dean run through most of his $40 million"

this has got to be the sorriest whine I have ever heard.

[trogdor]

8. Not at all.

Tell me, what would you do if you had three or four other candidates hammering you relentlessly for weeks on end? You have two choices. (1) You can grin an bear it. (2) You can do what you have to do to fight back. Thus, you either allow yourself to get massacred, or you run through your whole bankroll in a hurry.

I certainly hope you didn't stop reading after the part you took offense to, because I at least gave a reasonable explanation for what I was saying.

So, you tell me. Which southern state could Kerry carry in November? Please give me a good argument why.

[ModerateMiddle]

9. How about Louisiana?

Dem gov., two dem senators., John Breaux is very well liked and respected in LA and would support Kerry way over Dean (who he has made disparaging remarks about). LA is also a very Catholic state, and Kerry and his wife are both Catholics. LA is also very influenced by French roots, and both John and Teresa speak French.

You underestimate how significant having been a military hero will be in the Southern states. They hold military service in VERY high regard there.

[trogdor]

13. 2000 results in LA

George W. Bush Republican 53%
Al Gore Democrat 45%
Harry Browne Libertarian 0%
Pat Buchanan Reform Party 1%
John Hagelin NLP/Reform 0%
Ralph Nader Green 1%

I understand Al Gore also went to Vietnam. Might not have gotten a Silver Star, but he was there.

Oh, and I did NOT argue that Dean would do any better there, although good organization and a strong message helps.

[THUNDER HANDS]

14. Florida

Because Kerry will appeal to seniors, veterans and minority groups.

Plus, voters in Fla will make sure their votes are counted this time. And we'll actually win.

[trogdor]

15. That's a big if, dude.

I wouldn't bank on Florida doing anything fair, even in broad daylight.

[THUNDER HANDS]

16. if we win by 100,000 votes

that'll be awfully hard to hide in a truck in the swamps. :D

[AntiCoup2K4]

17. Interesting that you compare the DLC attack on Dean to Hitler and Bush

...and frighteningly accurate as well. All three relied heavily on repeating lies often enough to "become the truth".

[polpilot]

29. Bush's WMD speeches immediately reminded me of the Hitler

propaganda machine. The DLC site is truly frightening.

Dean '04...The Decent Party

[polpilot]

27. Go to the DLC site for further confirmation of this EXCELLENT post.

Dean ran against the DLC, the establishment democrats, and the repubs. He is defacto third party and needs to build that party now. The rupukes and establishment demos have ALREADY combined.

Dean '04...The Decent Party

[JohnKleeb]

10. The coveted other

He would be the best president of my life up to that point. Reagan, Poppy Bush, and Dumbya were just awful but I did have Clinton for those middle years and he was all right although I had major disagreements with him on a few things. Kerry I find more liberal than Clinton with the environment, GLBT(Kerry voted against DOMA), I also like Kerry's health care plan, and his education plan like who doesnt want universal Pre K-12 education and etc, and he seems to be willing to ease the war on drugs, some here think hes a drug warrior but hes easily the most liberal on drug use after DK. So in conclusion MR, I think Kerry would make a great president, who knows maybe I will tell the kids about him someday ;), but I would say he would be better than Clinton especially if his cabinet has my dream members.
AG: Elliott Spitzer
Secretary of the Interior: RFK Jr
Secretary of Labor: Dick Gephardt
and some more

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. I think Kucinich should be Sec. of Labor

Minor quibble with your assessment, but it was pretty spot-on John. :)

[JohnKleeb]

25. DK should get HHS

but DK would be good for labor as well.

[THUNDER HANDS]

28. Dean should be HHS

That's right up his alley with Health Care.

[Democrats unite]

11. I had to vote other

The worst Democratic President the U.S. has ever seen.

[AntiCoup2K4]

19. Yep, that about sums it up.

except that he won't win in the first place.

[leyton]

18. Good but slowed down by the GOP.

If we're really lucky, we can parlay our 2004 WH victory into recapturing the Senate in 2006. It will certainly help to have a Democrat in the white house.

It also depends on by what margin Kerry wins by. Congress will definitely give him trouble if he wins 280-260. But if Kerry breaks the 300 mark in the electoral college, then the Republicans will probably give him less of a hard time since he has that much more of a mandate.

I think Kerry's experience will make him a fine President, far better than any recent Republican we've had and possibly better than Clinton as well. I trust him on national security (though I know many in the DU don't), especially compared to the other Democrats.

[Algorem]

20. 4 yrs. of pink tutu

[Renew Deal]

21. Why would you expect anything less than the absolute best from Kerry?

Yeah, the guy has faults. But so what. The change of the presidency is one of the most hopefully times of my life. I hope that the new president will be the kind of inspirational, powerful leader than I would hope. I hope it is the kind of person that will not be forgotten in history.

It makes me sad that anyone would vote for anything other than the top three. The nominee has 10 more months to develop themselves before the GE. He will come to your state at some point before then. You can volunteer in his campaign. You can talk to him about your concerns. You can vote for the third option in good conscious because Clinton is considered great by many. The rest are a joke.

Not good. :shrug:

[DrFunkenstein]

23. Kerry Is A Known Bridge-Builder

As someone on the famously bi-partisan Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry has built a reputation as an honorable man even among Republicans. They may disagree with alot of his (liberal) votes, but he is known for being someone willing to find common ground across the aisle.

A perfect example: Kerry got Jesse Helms on board for his Iran-Contra investigation by playing up the drug connections involved. Helms and Kerry are on opposite ends of ths spectrum, but Kerry could find the common ground, and we all know the results.

The irony is that it was the Democrats that kicked him off the commission because they were afraid he would get Reagan impeached and endanger American democracy itself (I kid you not).

Finally, Kerry is also very known for reaching out to all veterans in Congress, regardless of Party affiliation. He may be a liberal in his heart, but he is more concerned with the public good than with scoring cheap partisan shots.

Which is not to say he won't call out Tom DeLay, et al, when they are being partisan jerks.

[evil_orange_cat]

30. I'm reasonably optimistic... but a tad skepticle

my gut tells me Kerry would just be the lesser of the two evils... anyone but bush, though... ;)

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

31. A mediocrity, just as Clinton was.

He has shown again and again during this campaign that his liberal ideals are based on the polls and his own ambitions. Just as Clinton's were.

However, it is unlikely to occur as Kerry seems to be convinced that alienating the left wing of his party is smart politics.

[jsw_81]

32. He'll be great or near-great

As long as the Republicans don't impeach him over botox or some other such nonsense.

[mikehiggins]

33. Four years of nothing, then another Bush

With all the dynamism and leadership skills Kerry has shown over the years I expect his administration will be four years of "conversations" followed by the Jeb Bush administration.

Kerry and his apologists will always have calm, sedate, logical reasons for not getting anything done but the bottom line is that he is part of the "old politics" and BushCo IS the "new politics."

Kerry will spend four years straightening out the pens on top of the desk in the Oval Office and then will retire to Massachusetts and give speeches about his days in VietNam.

He will be a better President than Bush, but the same could be said for Hamm.

Surely I cannot be the only one in the Democratic Party who sees this?

[adamrsilva]

34. It'll be 4 or 8 years of damage control

like Clinton.

[Zynx]

35. Not a particularly good president.

Better than Bush, but that's not saying much. I don't see Kerry leading on the deficit or international affairs and he lacks any bold domestic vision.