Kerry-bashers...please consider this...

[magnolia]

John Kerry wasn’t my first choice. I won’t say where he fell on my list because NOW he’s at the top of my list. We have had months and months to debate candidates and issues. We all knew that in the end, only one man would win. A small percentage of us would have our first choice...and a much bigger percentage of us would have to support someone who wasn’t our first choice.

Imagine for a minute that the candidate you supported is the front runner...winning most states and heading straight to the nomination. How would you want those of us who DIDN’T support this guy to behave??? The way you’re behaving???

It’s time to stop discussing our differences...we all know what they are. And let’s leave the bashing of our candidates to the republicans. The republicans have one thing going for them that has won them the presidency, House and Senate: single-minded focus. It is not our nature as democrats to all think alike, but we can have single-minded focus about one thing: TO GET BUSH OUT! This election is bigger than any one candidate or issue...or set of issues. If you don’t like what Kerry stands for...let him know AFTER he is elected. Use your passion for issues to elect House and Senate members who will support your views. But PLEASE...let’s not weaken our candidate and our party with wishy-washy, “hold your nose while you vote” support. We’ve been there, done that...and we’ve been paying for it for three and a half years!

I think it’s great that our front runner, who happens to be Kerry, came to the front in such an immediate, definitive and forceful way. It shows the rest of the country that we have a powerful candidate and that the Party is strong and unified.

If we all had our way, ALL the candidates would have won states and racked up delegates more evenly. By the time we got to the convention...one guy would have squeaked through with a minimum of delegates and support....making him look weak and the Party look disconnected. Our nominee would, no doubt, start his campaign against Bush, with the majority of Dems who DIDN’T support him, stamping their feet and bashing him.

Imagine a horse race: five horses leave the gate...they run neck in neck and one of them wins by a nose. Is that the horse you would bet on? Maybe. Imagine another race: five horses leave the gate...one horse immediately pulls in front...creating more and more distance every minute until he gets to the finish line. This is the horse I would bet on!

I don’t want another election where our candidate wins by a hair...but not quite. I want a candidate that is so far ahead that even the Bush election fraud machine can’t catch up. Kerry’s performance is giving the republicans a preview of things to come: the same force that has plowed through the primaries...will plow right over Bush. But he can't do it with only his supporters. He needs all of us...solid, strong...100% support.

[slinkerwink]

1. um, no.....I'd rather have someone than Kerry get the nomination

I live in MA, and you really don't know how most Massachussetts Democrats feel about Kerry.

[StopTheMorans]

6. respectfully, I'd say "most" is a gross overstatement

unless you're referring to "most MA democrats who are also DUers". I'm a MA Dem. also, Dean used to be my first choice, isn't, and I personally know MANY MA dems whose first choice is, and always has been, Kerry. Just my two cents:)

[Monte Carlo]

15. Speak for yourself.

I also know something about how MA Dems feel about Kerry.

[NightNurse]

17. Dirty Jane?

:crazy:

[newyawker99]

22. Hi NightNurse!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Catholic Sensation]

23. Yeah, Kerry only got like 85% of the vote in 2002

Massachusettes HATES John Kerry :eyes:

[redqueen]

2. I how I wish we would see the end of this.

No it is NOT time to stop discussing our differences. That is what happens AFTER the conventions.

:mad:

[WiseMen]

7. Since When. The whole point of running many primaries early was to

allow a wide range of states to vote early so the party could
unite around a leader early and begin promoting its nominee for
many months before the convention.

Do you have some secret information I don't know about?

[redqueen]

10. I don't think it's a secret

that Terry McAuliffe and his stupid as hell 'lets copy the republicans' idea will most likely stand out as the beginning of the death of this party.

[Cuban_Liberal]

12. There's 'early', and then there's EARLY, WiseMen.

Fewer than 25% of the delegates have been chosen, to date, and all these calls for 'unity' are beginning to annoy the living SH*T out of me! It's too doggoned soon to get behind a single candidate.

[Rainbowreflect]

3. Thank you.

You are right that we cannot all have our first choice win.
I just hope the nominee has learned something from each of our fine candidates. If he has, he will be a much better candidate and person.

[HFishbine]

4. No need to imagine

we've been through it.

[Cuban_Liberal]

5. No, thank you.

I'm not willing at all to silence legitimate criticism of the front-runner just for 'unity', or whatever. I believe sen. kerry to be a weak candidate, and I will continue with my criticisms of him until such time as he has locked up the 2161 delegates neccessary for the nomination.

[BL_Zebub]

8. Please save the speeches like this for July.

After the convention, a unified Demoncratic party makes complete sense. But with the majority of delegates unclaimed, it makes absolutely no sense to force a false unity, especially behind the weakest candidate in the mix.

And no, the Devil did not stutter. I truly believe that Dennis Kucinich, even with his "Department of Peace", has a better chance against Bush Jr than Kerry does. For at least Dennis HAS ideas. At least he HAS opposed Bush. At least he CAN debate Bush on the issues. Kerry can't because he voted for Bush's agenda time and time again.

To ask me to support him now is insulting.

(and just to clarify, I'm still a Devil for Dean :) )

[redqueen]

11. LOL

I agree Kucinich is better against bush than Kerry. :)

[magnolia]

19. I love Kucinich...

...if I wasn't already married...well....

In that president match quiz I matched up 100% with Kucinich...BUT...how can you think he's the best person to beat Bush when he hasn't even come within a shadow of beating any of the other candidates???? You are confusing "best person" with "best person to beat Bush"...two different things. Trust me I know. I campaigned for McGovern and there's little satisfaction in supporting the best person when you are being steam rollered!

We need to get real. The best person to beat Bush...is the person who is beating everyone else!!! And you know why that is? Because the independent, undecided, moderate, disgusted republican...isn't looking for the exact opposite of Bush. Between the far-right Bush lovers and the left-wing liberal Bush haters...there's a vast middle ground. The best we can do is sway these people to our side long enough for them to cast their ballot.

[redqueen]

21. hehe

I dunno, magnolia. I wasn't around then but from what I hear the Democrats drummed out the real lefty candidate in the race in order to go with McGovern (Humphrey?). Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway I think the American populace is so sick of politico double speak that Kucinich would be like a breath of fresh air. I think this not just because I agree with you that he's the best person, but also because I know that just with his stand on free trade alone he could kick bush's ass sideways. Republicans will have a very hard time not voting for him on that issue alone.

Add in the fact that he's got nothing to explain away, and you start to realize why so many of us think he's got the best chance to beat bush of any of the candidates. He's real.

[Lefta Dissenter]

9. Just as I wasn't ready to jump on the bandwagon

when "The Call" was to unite behind Dean, I'm not ready to jump on the Kerry Bandwagon either. It's just this sort of lemming mentality that contributed to the loss of the best candidate, the one who would have made the greatest President we have had in (at least) a generation.

So, I'm back to square one, with four days to decide who gets my vote. I am so tired of the media and the polls and the party establishment telling us how to vote. It's MY GD vote, and I'm going to use it as wisely as I can. It's the only thing that enables me to feel that I have even an ounce of power in my country.

When we have a nominee, I know that the entire party will unite behind him, because we recognize the higher goal. But I am not going to be bought, bullied or coerced into throwing my vote behind anyone I don't believe in. If I can't reconcile my concerns about any of the candidates by Tuesday, I'm voting for Clark.

I guess I'm sounding a little sensitive, but that's exactly what I am feeling right now.

edited to add that if Kerry had not LIED about my candidate, perhaps I'd be more open to him. As it is, he's got some real hurdles to leap over to get my support.

[in_cog_ni_to]

16. Vote for WES CLARK!!!!!

in your primary! He's still on the ballot. I'm voting for him next month in my Illinois primary. I cannot and will not vote for anyone who voted for the war and the Patriot Act....I just cannot compromise on that. They will not get my vote. I refuse to jump on the Kerry sheeple bandwagon. Those are the people who were so easily swayed by having Kerry shoved down their throats. I asked a lady at a poll the other day, after she said she was supporting Kerry because "He can beat Bush." My question to her...."Why do you believe he can beat Bush?" Very simple, basic question. HER answer? Uh, uh, uh, I don't know." DAMN! I am just amazed by the stupidity of our voting public. Ask any average Kerry voter if they are upset that he voted for the Patriot Act and I'll bet you any amount of money that they don't even know what the Patriot Act IS! They don't have a clue about WHO they are voting for.

My sister, who lives in Va., told me she was trying to find "something" about Kerry that she liked so she could vote for him in the Va. primary Tuesday........she got an earful from ME and voted for Wes Clark! People just do not know who Kerry really is. My sister now knows who he is. ;)

[magnolia]

13. I appreciate all the input....

...and respect your views. I decided sooner rather than later to drop my first choice and give my support to who I think is the strongest choice. If you aren't ready to switch, then fine. I agree that it's not over, so you may not have to switch. Continue to work for your candidate if that's what you want to do. But you aren't going to win him support by trashing the front runner or the others. Mud-slinging turns people off...especially if it's within the Party.

[Cuban_Liberal]

14. Mud-sling isn't mudlsinging, if it's true.

I've never belonged to the 'move along, nothing to see here' wing of the party, and don't intend to join it now. :)

[Donkey007]

18. I'm voting Clark because...

Right now John Kerry doesn't need any help getting the nomination. Clark is where my heart is. I can't just pull up and move on. This is the primary. WHY NOT? I won't vote for Edwards. I could vote for Kerry, but I feel like that decision has been thrown in my face enought. If I vote Kerry I would feel like "I HAD TO." I could vote DK or Sharpton, but if I am going to do that I am voting for Clark. This is my first passion. My first campaign. AND my first election. I AM VOTING FOR CLARK DAMNIT!

[in_cog_ni_to]

20. Your first election?

By all means..... Vote your heart! DO NOT let the media and polls tell you who to vote for. I'm voting for Wes too.