I Will Bust My Ass For The Dems In 2008, Even If "My Guy" Isn't On "The" Ticket. Will You?

[Dinger]

Wesley Clark is my guy (Yeah, you know that already, but I had to say it). A long time ago, I thought I'd "plug my nose" for this candidate or that candidate, & wouldn't do a damn thing to help them,but I WOULD vote for them. Well, that was a long time ago. We have to make gains in the Senate & House, and pray like hell or really hope that * doesn't get to appoint another criminal to the Supreme Court. I reaqlized a long time ago that "holding my nose & voting," and "not doing a damn thing" could make this long national nightmare even worse (Yes, that's possible). Oh well, I'm rambling, so I guess I'll stop (for now).

Peace,


Ding

[Lautremont]

1. Well, of course. Oh, unless it's Hillary.

(kidding...)

[Arugula Latte]

20. That was my first thought, only I wasn't kidding ...

:hide:

[Virginia Dare]

42. You'd rather see Romney or Giuliani in there?...n/t

[skipos]

51. Hillary supporters should be smart enough to look around and

see that a Hillary nomination appears to upset more party activists than any other Dem nomination. She has a larger block of people saying "I will not vote for her" than any other announced candidate, and it isn't just Republicans.

I'll certainly vote for her, but I hope *if* she is nominated, that no one is surprised by the number of people deserting her for a 3rd party candidate.

[Virginia Dare]

53. I won't be surprised, but I'll still be disgusted...

we went through this with Gore, who is now a saint in many people's eyes here, and look what it wrought.

BTW, I'm not a Hillary supporter, but I'd vote for her in a heartbeat over any Repuke out there, declared or otherwise, and we all know that a 3rd Party candidate would mean sure victory for the GOP, regardless of what some wide-eyed optimists and idealists out there might think.

[Learn2Swim]

66. Nader has stated

already that he has plans to enter the race if Hill is the nod, so be prepared for it.

I understand the possibility of that makes you disgusted. But we do still have time.

His words:

Nader said Clinton, a Democratic front-runner for the White House, has "no political fortitude."

"Flatters, panders, coasting, front-runner, looking for a coronation, not taking on the huge waste in the military budget as a member of the armed services commission, never going after the corporate crimes against pensions, against workers. ... She has no political fortitude.''

I guess Nader isn't much of a Hillary fan. Whoda thunk it? ;)

As for me, I'll be honest. I'll bust my ass, and GLADLY work, donate, sweat, bleed for any Dem candidate. Any Dem candidate, save, you guessed it, Hillary. It's been a long past decade or so for me. And I'm not going to pull the lever for anyone named Clinton or Bush. Can't do it. I've had enough of all of them, and want a fresh start, and new leadership in this country, whoever it may be.

And I do apologize for that. But it's the truth.

[Clark2008]

60. I think some of us would rather see a person of the people in there

It's not an "either/or" proposition.

[Captain Hilts]

2. I'm a Clarkie also, but YES, I will support the nominee with enthusiasm no matter who. nt

[Erika]

3. You better believe it. We have too much to lose n/t

[Alamom]

4. Absolutely & happily. I can't wait to get the garbage out of the WH. n/t

[Supersedeas]

54. that's my focus too.

[wtmusic]

5. Yes, but...

it's only natural to bust a little harder if "your guy" is the one.

[mtnsnake]

6. Damn right, Dinger

Once they get the nod they're immediate family.

Glad to recommend

[TomInTib]

7. My races are pre-determined (I am in Marin County), but I am not sure about...

this White House deal.

I think maybe I would like to give the WH to the 'pubs for the next 4 years and let them be the Administration of Record for the Aftermath of the Colossal Disaster of the Bush Years.

Let this thing puke in their laps.

[Greyhound]

83. You make an interesting point. If a corporate Dem gets in in 08 and does

the typical corporate thing, which will be nothing to change the obscene system they've paid for, who's going to get the blame for the ensuing disasters?

At best the blame will be shared, and more likely the media will successfully spin it to being all the Democrats fault. If that happens, I think it very unlikely that the republiks would install another idiot as incompetent as arbusto_®, and we might look back at this period as "the good old days".

Terrifying.:scared:

[Bryan]

8. Absolutely.

Sen. Kerry was "my guy", but I'm foursquare behind whomever we manage to nominate, even if it be the devil (heck, especially the devil; he's no friend of fundamentalists, he's got plenty of lawyers on his side in case it comes down to a recount, and he can be very persuasive...).

[saltpoint]

9. I'm in. Voting blue all the way. Early and often.

[NoAmericanTaliban]

10. Yes. I sick & tired of the Grand Oil Company nt

[GregD]

11. Not for Hillary

No way, won't happen. I have better things to do.

[Captain Hilts]

15. The RNC is counting on folks like you. nt

[GregD]

26. I find her disgusting due to her abusive and destructive

positions on electronic voting. For that reason alone I will not vote for her, much less work for her.

Worse yet, we all know how polarizing she is to the right. I live in a very red county. There is no way I'm running around begging Repugs to vote for her.

Give me a Gore or an Edwards or Kucinich and some strong policy positions which would benefit everyone, and I may have something to sell to them. But I'm not working for Hillary.

[Captain Hilts]

33. You think Republicans would actually vote for Kucinich?

Many suburban Republican women WILL vote for Clinton.

[GregD]

50. says who?

[MaineDem]

37. So you'd prefer a Republican again?

You'd vote for a Republican?

[Alexander]

12. Yes, even if it's Hillary Clinton.

Because whatever jerk the GOP nominates is bound to be worse. Much, much worse.

[Bitwit1234]

13. I can't see my self on the stump for Obama he is turning in to a con

[LynneSin]

46. So you'd rather just put a real con in the white house instead

:crazy:

[onehandle]

14. Yep. nt

[kansasblue]

16. No, my money and my time.....

is going to the election fraud fighting groups. Unless..... the candidate speaks openly about election fraud concerns.

[Shoelace]

17. I'm a Gore gal but any Democrat would be better than Dub & Co

any single one of the runners would be a welcome relief from 8 years of lies, cheating, stealing and temper tantrums of the rethugs in there now!

[calimary]

28. Welcome to DU! You took the words straight outta my mouth.

I'm still holding out hope for Gore, also. But if it's not him, I'll support WHOMEVER he/she is.

The alternative is NOT an option. AT ALL. And that means, if it's Hillary, you bet I'm in! Gore would be best of all, but I'll support our standard-bearer regardless.

[SharonRB]

80. Welcome to DU

:hi:

Run, Al, run! But if he doesn't, I'll support whoever gets the nod.

[K8-EEE]

18. YES!!! Yes I will.

Hillary or whoever, yes I will bust my ASS!

[AtomicKitten]

19. I will.

[sampsonblk]

21. NO

I will only support a candidate I can support. We have a decent selection, but there are some people I will just NEVER vote for. Principle over party. Otherwise we are no better than Republicans.

[Zavulon]

65. This is my answer as well.

I'll never vote Republican again (as I used to before 1992), but there are some people that the Democrats could nominate that I just wouldn't support or spend time trying to help, Hillary being chief among them.

[nevergiveup]

22. Sure,

it will be easy because I have total confidence that "my guy" is going to win!

[leftofthedial]

23. I'll vote for the Democrat no matter what

but I won't "bust my ass" anymore


Kerry and the centrist war-mongering free-trade worker-hating corporatist Democrats in Congress (and in the lead in the polls for 08) have cured me of any ass-busting inclinations.

[emilyg]

24. of course

especially Hillary -

[eridani]

25. Yes, I will. Even for Hillary

That 5-4 decision on global warming ought to make it clear why. We'll just need to focus on many other ways of fighting back against her corporate backers.

[jgraz]

27. I'm tired of the right-wing dems using the court to hold us hostage

We need to face reality. The Supreme Court is lost to us for at least a decade. The lower courts are in worse shape. The only way to fight this is to elect real progressive leaders.

In this election, there is one candidate who stands out from the rest of the field as someone with no moral compass, no progressive values and really, no goals at all aside from her personal ambitions to hold power. I'm already working my ass of to make sure she never makes it through the primaries. If she does happen to make it to the nomination, that will be my cue to find another way to effect change outside of electoral politics.

[eridani]

32. Lefties and progressives dropped out of electoral politics for 30 years--

--after 1972. Hey, how's that strategy been working out for us lately? :sarcasm:

[ShortnFiery]

40. Not well, but put downs and intimidation will not win you any liberal friends either. n/t

[eridani]

69. I'm criticising myself here as well.

I was pretty much out of it from 1973-2003. How many progressives in the 70s bothered to get into the electoral politics pipeline? Wellstone, Sanders, Kucinich---a few more, but not many. What if more of us had, and more of us had fought back with the Rainbow Coalition in the 80s?

[jgraz]

56. Riiight...cuz spineless triangulation has done so much better for us

As have sarcastic misrepresentations of the left...

[eridani]

72. So, your reaction against triangulation has been not voting?

Thanks for promoting triangulation, then.

[jgraz]

73. Never said I wouldn't vote

My reaction to triangulators is that I won't donate massive amounts of $$ and time to their campaigns. I violated that rule in 2004 to work for Kerry's election, and my efforts were completely wasted.

I won't do that again. If Hillary is the nominee, I'll concentrate on local and state elections, letter writing and supporting organizations like TrueMajority.org. It just might be the case that a presidential election is not the best place for progressives to make their mark.

[eridani]

74. I understand

However, even the worst Dem will be able (like triangulator Bill Clinton) to block some of the worst Repub initiatives. Even though Congress is nowhere near where we want it to be, I think it's great that Waxman and Leahy are finally getting to dig into the huge piles of crap that need cleaning up. They are able to do so because "D" is after the names of the majority of representatives.

[Phrogman]

29. It doesn't have to be "my guy", just as long as its not "that woman"!

please......!

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Phrogman]

31. Right on!

e0m

[mtnsnake]

43. They're not war mongers. Not by any stretch of your imagination. nt

[LynneSin]

47. So you would rather enable Republican war mongers

that will continue the reign of corruption in the white house while tossing away our civil rights, women's rights, environmental rights and a list way too long that'll make your head spin.

[mrgorth]

34. I won't work for HRC

period. Not a call, not a sign, not a doorknock.

[mtnsnake]

44. I'm sure when she finds out, she'll be cancelling her campaign

[JNelson6563]

35. Well, yes and no

Since I am a hold out for Gore I don't really have a candidate, kind of like you. But here's my view of it: No matter who the candidate is swag of all sorts will be in high demand (lawn signs, bumper stickers, etc.) In 2004 we had an inkling this would be the case and fortunately my county party has worked long and hard to build a nice fundraising ability. We invested in swag and then asked for suggested donations, explaining to the people that we had to purchase it. (BTW we bought all our Kerry/Edwards stuff at Demstore.com and they were GREAT to work with!)

We were buying lawnsigns for $2 each (the plastic sleeve kind with wire) 1000 at a time. We asked for suggested donation of that much too and many gave us more, a lot more. Not uncommon for people to grab a bumper sticker and a lawnsign and give us $10 or $20. As I saw the cash people threw at us I realized we could help our neighboring county parties (many of them much poorer, our county's pretty affluent) by giving them the signs for $1 each. They could get 100 signs for $100 and we would take that $100 hit with no pain. That's how generous our retail donors were with us.

We made buckets of money off the stuff which we supported state and local candidates with. It was a great boost to our other counties and the Kerry/Edwards campaign to get their stuff up throughout the whole region. It was also instrumental in our new ability to keep our store-front office permanently.

While I had no enthusiasm for Kerry as our candidate I simply put that fact aside and pushed on like there was no tomorrow, largely for the benefit of my home county party. It was the smartest thing I could have done and, after having seen such remarkable results, can't imagine ever choosing any other path.

No matter who our candidate is in 2008 you can bet my county party's office will be stuffed to the gills with their swag and it will once again be the clearinghouse for the stuff to many counties throughout the region. Everyone will have an opportunity to raise money and support their other candidates while boosting the Prez. candidate.

It's a win/win and let's face it, there are not nearly enough win/win situations in life. Take 'em when ya get 'em!

Julie

[mmonk]

36. I always do.

But right now I'm trying to correct some wrongs in this country. I'm not quite ready to jump into the media spectacle yet.

[MaineDem]

38. Yes indeed, unequivocally yes!

Without question, I will work my butt off for our nominee, whomever he or she happens to be.

[ShortnFiery]

39. No, not if they don't IMPEACH this criminal Executive Branch. Nope!

They've made a choice: Their careers are more important than the onset of fascism. I'll vote for the least corporate of them but I will NOT bust my ass for them. No way. :(

[LynneSin]

48. Good - we'll just keep corrupt repukes in the office until they get this impeachment thing right

:crazy:

[ShortnFiery]

71. If that's what it takes to bring The Democratic Party back to "people" before "corporations"

then, it may have to be that way first to wash out the right wing (DLC and Third Way) of our beloved Democratic Party. :shrug: Right now, far too many of our Democratic representatives are serving their careers and choosing corporate contributors over us "little people." If our party does not come back to The Average American Worker, we might as well let these two parties morph into one because they will both serve large corporations before the best interests of their constituents.

[DFW]

41. Supreme Court, Supreme Court, Supreme Court, Supreme Court....

Yes, yes, and again, YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gore (my wish candidate) to Hillary and any one of the others.

AbsoLUTEly!!!!!!!

[jgraz]

61. Iraq War, Iraq War, Iraq War, Iraq War, Iraq War, Iraq War, Iraq War, Iraq War, Iraq War

Republican Congress, Republican Congress, Republican Congress, Republican Congress, Republican Congress, Republican Congress

Don't Ask Don't Tell, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Don't Ask Don't Tell

Insurance-Run Healthcare, Insurance-Run Healthcare, Insurance-Run Healthcare, Insurance-Run Healthcare, Insurance-Run Healthcare

Flag Burning Amendment, Flag Burning Amendment, Flag Burning Amendment, Flag Burning Amendment, Flag Burning Amendment, Flag Burning Amendment

President Jenna, President Jenna, President Jenna, President Jenna, President Jenna, President Jenna, President Jenna, President Jenna, President Jenna

[LynneSin]

45. Absol-fucking-lutely 1100% damn straight I will

:D

[flpoljunkie]

49. Why pick a nominee we have to be cajoled to support and who will energize the R's like no other?

[skipos]

52. For RIchardson, Edwards, Obama, Dodd, Kucinich, Biden..yes. Hillary?

I gotta admit, it will be harder to get inspired to work for her. Any Dem has my vote though.

[sojourner]

55. hell yes. NO matter which dem is the candidate, they'll get my full support.

Because that "principled" stand -- like in 2000 when so many wouldn't support Gore cuz he "wasn't any different" than * and so voted Independent -- doesn't do any good, rather it does real harm. The only Dem I couldn't support is Lieberman and thank Gawd he's not running so it's not a question.

Not that I don't have my favorite picks...but winning the race HAS to be our objective. If anyone here thinks that another Republican administration is a better choice than even Hillary, I got news for you..........eom

[Seedersandleechers]

57. I trust my party will nominate the candidate mostly likely to win;

whomever that is will get my support. After all they were right about Gore, and Kerry. IMO Gore and Kerry won, America lost....

[Name removed]

58. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Clark2008]

59. Not if it's Edwards or Hillary.

I don't trust Edwards and Hillary hasn't a shot in hell to win my state (neither does Edwards or Obama, for that matter).

If it's Edwards, I won't even vote for the Dem (nor the Republican - I'll write in - won't make a difference in my state regardless). If it's HRC, I'll vote for her holding my nose.

I'm sorry - I simply don't share in the excitement some here feel for the front-runners. I simply don't think any of them can win.

Sorry to be a downer, but it's my opinion and it, and a buck might buy a cup of coffee. I think any Dem (with the exception of Edwards who is just all over the place in his stances) is better than any Republican, but that doesn't mean that all the swing voters will agree with me.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

62. Yes. I too will bust your ass...

Sorry. I thought I was in the Lounge.

I hope that it goes without saying that even your least favorite Democrat (Joe Lieberman and Zell Miller excepted) are going to be an improvement over your favorite Republican -- I'd give an example but none comes to mind.

What I hope is that the Democratic candidates -- all of them -- can keep personalities out of the race. Leave the cheap shots for the bad guys.

[DancingBear]

63. Um, no n/t

[MODemocrat]

64. I won't exactly bust my butt, but I will definitely vote Democratic

It scares the wits out of me to even think about a Republican winning the presidency. Those people are completely out of hand. There's going to be nothing left of the Constitution as we know it; if
any pub is elected/selected.:scared:

[Az_lefty]

67. Not if it's Hillary, Nader will run if she gets to nom and I'll support him.

Hillary is nothing but a pandering, bought and paid for politician. No way!

[lojasmo]

68. I'll work my ass of for the candidates who legislate well.

I'll vote for whatever democrat gets the nod for the POTUS, but I'm very unlikely to work hard for Clinton, Edwards, or Obama.

[underpants]

70. Where do I sign up?

is there a meeting place? maybe an office or something?

I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.
-Will Rogers

:bounce:

of course I will

I'm not here just for the jokes in the Lounge about dryhumping

[DFW]

75. Even if he suddenly adopted every position I agreed with

I still would never vote Nader. A Supreme Court justice can occupy
the bench for 30 years, and we'll have less than 2000 military personnel
left in Iraq within 6 months of the inauguration of a Democratic president
in 2009.

Not even to mention that his "There is no difference between Bush and Gore"
in 2000 gave us the Bush nightmare.

Someone very close to me was in the midst of that whole scene in 2000, and
told me Nader was putting on a show for the headlines--a pure ego trip. If
we're going to support an ego trip, I want it to be one that will nominate
another Stephen Breyer and not another Sam Alito to the Supreme Court. Nader
helped give us Roberts and Alito. Gore would have given us more of the likes
of Breyer and Bader-Ginsburg, and two more like those two would have stopped
half or more of the stuff the Rehnquist-Roberts court let Bush (Cheney) get
away with.

So Nader wants another ego trip using the same old tired lines? Fine. Let him
go campaign for McCain. Two guys in their mid seventies working essentially
for the same goal--to make sure there is no Democrat in the White House in 2009.
Tell me no Republican money went to Nader in 2000 or 2004, and I'll sell you
some great real estate halfway between California and Hawai'i.

[qwlauren35]

76. No - I'll take the candidate who opposes war in the Middle East

If, by some miracle, the Republican candidate is more moderate than the Democratic candidate, I'll flip. I'm not proud to say this, but the war is my top agenda right now. I want a candidate who believes most strongly in exploring diplomacy in the Middle East.

Bush hasn't touched Roe vs. Wade. Despite "promises" to the right. Bush hasn't crusaded against gay marriage, despite promises to the right.

I need my candidate to believe in bringing jobs back to the US. And I'd like a candidate who doesn't think that "tax relief" is going to help people secure health care or a college education.

But I honestly believe that this war has done significant damage to the American infrastructure. We have over 1.3 million Americans serving in the US military. I sense that up to 50% are reservists and national guard members. With 139 million people in the US workforce. 1% are in the military. 0.5% are reservists. That's a lot of messed up lives. A fraction of those people will sustain injuries that will prevent them from ever going back to their jobs.

This needs to end. And that's my number one priority.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

77. No, the next election I care about won't be till 2009 or 2010, probably.

And looking at the likely choice of candidates to vote for, I doubt I'm going to care much even then, sadly.

[Le Taz Hot]

78. Ah, another deleted post when I

responded in the negative. I see the primary season has started and the mods have taken their positions. Next up: people will begin to be banned because they don't support the "right" candidate. That's what happened in 2004 with Dean supporters.

[Skinner]

86. Please retract your bias accusation against the moderators.

In your deleted post, you said you would not support someone in the general election even if they were the nominee. Read the rules. The post was removed properly.

[SharonRB]

79. Gore is my guy, but

I'll be right there busting my ass for whoever gets the nomination right along with you.

[Greyhound]

81. Depends on who gets the nod. I will vote for whoever it is, but there

are a couple that will not get anything else from me.

[lpbk2713]

82. I don't know about busting my ass but .....

I have been a registered voter since 1963 and have always voted Dem in the Presidential elections. I sure as hell see no need to change now.

[WCGreen]

84. I always have and I always will...

I served as the Treasurer of the Democratic Party for a very large midwestern county and believe you me, with upwards of fifty candidates on the ticket at anyone given time, I definatly had some reservations...

But for the good of the party and the good of the people, a conservative democrat is better than any republican, I never once went against the party line...

Even now, six years after I filed my last campaign report, I always, always support the democrat...

[tinfoilinfor2005]

85. Yes.

Lieberman would be the exception.