Is Dean/Kerry The ALL-STAR Team That Will Win?

[Sensitivity]

I have been looking at John Kerry recently and I think a Dean/Kerry could not be beat. Their combined endorsements are incredible -- Al Gore for Dean, Ted Kennedy for Kerry. Individually, both Dean and Kerry are Ivy-leaguers, highly educated and probably share similar social circles. They should be able to get along personally (as opposed to Gephart or Clark). For the sake of the party Kerry should be able to put difference aside and work with Dean in the Whitehouse the way he has worked well with Ted Kennedy in the Senate.

As candidates they are incredibly complementary ? where Dean is weak, Kerry is strong and visa-versa. Together they should be able to sew-up enough electoral votes and take back the Whitehouse and win back the house and senate.

Here is my take on the Dean/Kerry advantage:

ON PERSONALITY:
Dean can face-down Bush with confidence and toughness.
Kerry can be nuanced, measured and reassuring.

ON ISSUES:

Dean can better champion Health-Care and other social issues.
Kerry can better articulate national security and foreign policy.

ON MONEY:

Dean's machine can generate a ton of money from small contributors.
Kerry's connections can generate a ton of money from Wall-Street.

ON GETTING OUT THE VOTE:

Dean can rally the labor vote with fair trade commitments.
Kerry can comfort Wall-Street and the business types with his free-trade record.

Dean can use his Vermont record to at least hold-off the NRA attack dogs and perhaps even get some of the ?fiscal conservative? voting block.
Kerry can use his Senate record to keep the environmentalists and super-liberal types motivated.

Dean can use his country-doctor appeal to the Southern Voter in their ?pickups?
Kerry can use his tall soft-spoken stranger image to appeal to the Western and Mountain Voter.


Another factor on the horizon is NADER. Nader has said he would back Kucinich. Nader and Kucinich have both said the Dean is hijacking the progressive movement. With Kerry on the ticket, I think the green party would be reluctant to jump in with Robert Kennedy and all the major environmentalist groups supporting Kerry. Kerry could save us from a Nader run.

AGAIN, KERRY COULD BE THE BEST PARTNER ON THE TICKET. The only other choice seems to be Clark, to get the Southern vote. But I don?t think we can trust Clark.

[JohnKleeb]

1. I hate to say it but those two dont like each other

and the ticket is bad geography. I do like them keep in mind but they wont share a ticket.

[fofer]

2. I agree

I like them both, too, but I think the geography would doom them as a ticket.

[JohnKleeb]

3. yeah

besides they seem to dislike each other.

[cbua34]

9. they will never be together

there is too much bad blood in that relationship for it too happen, just like Kucinich would never run with a pro-war VP.

[JohnKleeb]

12. yes

[Raya]

23. Dean is Too Much Like BUSH for KERRY

Numerous debates with my Dean-supporting friends have convinced me that Dean is much more a mirror of BUSH than a complement of Kerry, Clark or any of the other major candidates. For example:

Dean’s arrogance and pugnacity is much like Bush's swagger and shoulders-squared jauntiness.

Dean’s Vietnam draft-dodge to the ski-slopes is much like Bush’s “daddy swung” sweet vacation in the Texas air national guard.

Dean’s death-penalty and NRA lobby record is only exceeded by Bush’s Texas hangman career.

Dean’s anti-war activist campaign is matched in phoniness by Bush’s compassionate conservative rhetoric.

Dean is man of shallow thought depending on Joe Trippi for direction, as George “let me check with my …” Bush depends on Karl Rove to direct his every political move.

Dean refers to “my advisors” for national security expertise just like George “the dictator of Pakistan is “the general,” Bush needed Cheney, Rumsfeld and the Wolfowitz to tell him what to do.


NEXT ….

[Raya]

13. Kerry has too much INTEGRITY

I think Kerry has too much integrity to join a Howard Dean ticket. His record suggest he'd rather fight a loosing battle.

[JohnKleeb]

14. personally of the two I prefer Kerry

They will either be at the top of the ticket or not on the ticket.

[molly]

15. Yep

he would NEVER be second place to Howard Dean.

[loyalsister]

26. I think you're right kleeb

Perceptive as always. I think some diversity in geography is important to the ticket.
I have begun to get the impression that Kerry doesn't like anyone but people who support him. His disposition can be pretty nasty. The jab at Clark's military record is one of the most obnoxious things I've heard in this campaign.

[AntiCoup2K4]

4. Far too much bad blood.

...and if Kerry has even the slightest connection to these bullshit ads, it would be all but impossible to build that bridge. And besides, 2 New Englanders on the ticket wouldn't fly anyway.

I'm still going with Dean/Clark. If that doesn't work out, for whatever reason, Graham or Edwards are alternates, especially with the strategy of having a Southerner on the ticket.

[BertrandL]

7. Yeah, it would be like two Texans

except one of them quickly changed residency to Wyoming

[patricia92243]

5. Is Kerry in on the ad..

that featured Dean/ben laden? If so - then forget him as veep.
I still want Hillary as veep - she would get votes on her own - and her husband would campaign for her!

[boxster]

6. Nope. Too much focus on the Northeast.

If Dean wins the nomination, he needs someone who can pull Southern voters - Edwards, Graham, Clark, etc.

[sandnsea]

8. Wow, you've sure stereotyped Kerry

He's winning the union vote in Iowa. In the words of DK, helloooo!!

In any event, this ticket wouldn't work because their main platforms are diametrically opposite. And they're both northeastern liberals. And Dean can't support a D.C. cockroach in the main election. He'll probably choose Richardson, if he wins.

[VT70]

10. Well

I personally think that Gephardt/Clark would be the strongest ticket, but that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

[SahaleArm]

11. Or the other way around.

I think Clark has the most National appeal of any of the candidates.

[VT70]

18. Yeah

That would work too.

[Township75]

16. If Kerry can't even lead in his own state, how is he helping the ticket...

what state would he bring to Dean that Dean couldn't get on his own?

I think the best ticket is Dean/Graham...both against the war

[mndemocrat_29]

17. I like them both

But the geography doesn't work. Dean will need someone from the South, Midwest, or West on the bottom of his ticket (as will Kerry).

[VT70]

19. Hmm

Two guys from a region which we will carry solidly? How are we supposed to play to the heartland when our presidential and vice-presidential nominee would be rich Northeasterners? Gephardt/Clark or Clark/Gephardt, because both of these tickets will dominate in the South.

[Tony_FLADEM]

20. You have the wrong Kerry. Bob Kerrey (D) Nebraska should be the vp

[OneBlueSky]

21. two New Englanders on the ticket wouldn't cut it . . .

if either Dean or Kerry win the nomination, they'd probably do best by having Clark as their running mate . . .

[Upfront]

22. Won't Happen

Dean is to smart to team up with another B*** lite.

[cindyw]

24. You mean since he would be on the ticket, there would already be one.

The VP would need to be a real Democrat. So I guess Kerry does fit that bill.

Would it be like Bush/Cheney. Kerry running the country, while Dean is the front man who gives interviews?

[maxr4clark]

25. Clark not like Dean

Clark is not a Bu$h Lite like Dean, although I don't see why you think Dean wouldn't pick another Bu$h Lite as his running mate.

Clark also probably won't accept a VP role no matter who asks. Look at what the VP does: he plays second-fiddle to the President and he runs the Senate. Someone who has been in the legislature would make a much better VP, and Clark would probably feel he could be more useful doing something else.

Don't expect to make up for your candidate's lack of vision on foreign policy via Clark. The nominee should be strong on that himself to Beat the Bu$h.

[cbua34]

27. Edwards/Gephardt

I think Edwards/Gephardt would do well