Dead man walking

[writestuff13]

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20030725-112224-8791r.htm

[Mari333]

1. LIEberman and Gephardt

for petes sake...its time for them to get off the train...they are losers, as simple as that....

Its going to boil down to Kerry or Dean...

and Ill vote for anyone but Bush,
tho I certainly hope Dean makes it.

[Dover]

2. Kucinich beat Kerry in the MoveOn vote. I don't think he should step down

Besides, the GOP have a Dead Regime Walking. Not much competition there....unless the electronic voting machines get used.

[twilight]

19. Kucinich has no intention of 'stepping down'

He has now raised about $3+ million dollars!!!

His campaign is growing rapidly.

Do not underestimate Dennis Kucinich ... he is far from DONE and certainly not considering 'stepping down'!

:kick:

[Eloriel]

3. I do NOT want people to be urged to drop out

They'll drop out soon enough on their own.

This annoys the hell out of me. I WANT all those diverse voices. They add to the dialog, and help the whole party. I don't want them silenced.

Eloriel

[Rowdyboy]

4. That's what primaries are for....

You should fight as long as you can before conceding. Now, if you draw llittle or no support, then-to keep from further embarrassing yourself-you should drop out. But not BEFORE the first vote is cast!

[Flubadubya]

16. You mean like the way Gephart doesn't vote...

on the House bills because the Repugs are going to win anyway? Yeah, that's really fighting for what you believe in.

[jamesinca]

5. I agree with you whole heartedly ELoriel

The more people speaking the better. On a much lighter note I think they should all have positions in the next administration. I love the idea of Al Sharpton as press secretary.

[DFLforever]

6. I agree, we need diverse voices

and we need diverse constituencies to be united together at the end to defeat Bush...candidates will drop out as they see fit..we don't need to push anyone out.

[JNelson6563]

17. Exactly!

All these candidates equal the power of many voices able to address many issues! They can all contribute to the cause. I think Mosley-Braun, with her quiet dignity, Sharpton with his humor and effective speaking style as well as everyone else really helps to draw so many in to the process. Hopefully they will all help to stir folks up, get them interested and involved.

Never to early to be thinking GOTV!

Julie

[dajabr]

7. Please take the "Moonie Times" with a grain of salt...

Moon owns the Times and UPI (why Helen Thomas left...) and is a Bush benefactor.

[Dover]

8. Bushco is the only Dead Man Walking......n/t

.

[lfairban]

9. This part I agree with.

At present, Mr. Kerry and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean appear to be leading the pack nationally, with Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut behind them.

I think Gephardt and Lieberman should drop out.

[JackSwift]

10. I disagree, it is too early for any to pull out

So far they are all getting us good press and not attacking each other as much as they have in the past (let's hope Jerry Brown stays out of it, because he loves to go negative). I think their variety of opinions and breadth of experience is getting us good exposure.

[Spirochete]

11. Isn't that the

stupid Moonie newspaper? I'm sure they'd like all 9 of them to drop out.

[PurityOfEssence]

12. I love the subtext of the Edwards coverage in the monarchist press

They're thrilled that his numbers have dropped off from January, and if you listen closely enough, you can almost hear them questioning whether they should even mention him, hoping that they can keep the media blackout on him. They've deliberately tried to not mention him at every turn, hoping that he disappears. They're very scared of him.

What's happened is that, since the primary season's so toploaded, we're in a de facto primary season now. Fine. Let 'er rip. That'll mean that we'll either have a candidate in February, or a couple to await a brokered convention while we can concentrate on thumping on Junior.

By all means, let's keep it open.

[alaine]

14. I find it interesting that Bush announced the bill to cap

malpractice awards in NC. Many see this as a direct message to Edwards who made his fortune representing victims. The RNC is obviously very worried about Edwards and his REAL good ol' boy roots.

[w4rma]

13. IMHO, Rosenberg (president of the DLC) is correct on this

...
Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network, agreed. "I think the shakeout is coming after the third-quarter September fund-raising filing," when the candidates will report how much campaign money they have raised.

"The next filing is going to be critical. At that point, if you haven't raised a lot of money, it is going to be very hard to stay competitive," Mr. Rosenberg said.

[union_maid]

15. Pardon my ignorance, but a question

I've always cared a lot about politics, but never have paid so much attention to primaries before. The talk about monies raised and where that puts everyone confuses me in terms of the fact that there seem to be two heavy hitters that still might or might not enter the race. Everyone seems to want Wesley Clark to run and Joe Biden says he's going to make his decision this August. Where does that put them in terms of fund raising?

[davsand]

18. This is just my opinion--take it as that--ok?

Traditional wisdom in some campaign circles is that you either want to be the first to announce or else the last.

The first guy (or gal!) who gets out there with an announcement gets all the attention early out. It's a great place to be if you are a new face or somebody trying to undo a negative image issue. You also have the advantage of being the first to ask for cash from what is really a finite pool of donors.

The last one to announce has the advantage of having seen the types of campaigns the others are gonna run. You can set up your message to seem "different" or "innovative." You also have to scramble for funds because you are trying to tap into that same group of people that the earlier guys have already hit up for contributions.

When you get to campaigns at this level, these guys have a track record to either defend or trumpet. They also have a group of loyal supporters that they have collected over their political career.

To cite one example, Gephardt has made a career of soliciting support from labor. It is expected that he will get a certain amount of cash from labor for this race. He probably has a budget created for his campaign, and he knows how much he needs to raise to get to the finish line (Primary election day.) Usually the fundraising schedule is broken out to coincide with the reporting periods required by election law.

If he fails on a fundraising goal, he has to decide if it is a matter of late contributions from donors or if the support has evaporated. If it a case of funds being late comeing in, then it is not a biggie, it is a matter of getting on the phone and calling the contributor and explaining how bad you need the check. If the cash is never gonna come, then the candidates generally pack it up and quit the race.

My opinion is that Clark has had a strategy of being last to announce all the way thru it. He's been plastered all over the TV with jobs as a talking head, and he's getting his message out there along with his image. Shoot, I bet a lot of CNN viewers know way more about him than they do most of the other candidates--and he hasn't even announced yet!!!

The best part of it all? By waiting to announce there is a buzz on WILL he announce and WHEN, plus it is all free!!!! It isn't costing him a cent!

Biden was floating a trial balloon, IMO. I'll be mighty surprised if he jumps in at this point.

Again, it is just my opinion, and I've been wrong on stuff before. Do not take this to the bank--ok?

Laura

[umcwb]

20. Locking- LBN rules violation

As per DU LBN rules (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1&mesg_id=1&page=), the title of a thread must be the title of the article posted. Therefore, the title of this should be "'Dead men walking' urged to quit '04 race".


Thanks,
UMCWB
DU LBN Moderator