Californians jump on the Bandwagon?

[windansea]

or maybe they all really studied up on the candidates and reached their conclusions without being influenced by a front loaded media & poll driven contest???

PRIOR TO IOWA, DEAN LED CLARK BY 16 PTS; AFTER IOWA, DEAN TRAILS KERRY BY 5 PTS

* JOHN KERRY DEFEATS HOWARD DEAN IN A DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN CALIFORNIA TODAY, ACCORDING TO LATEST SURVEYUSA INTERVIEWS WITH 582 CERTAIN
CA PRIMARY VOTERS CONDUCTED AFTER IOWA CAUCUS & STATE OF UNION SPEECH.

* TODAY: IT'S KERRY 31%, DEAN 26%, WESLEY CLARK 14%, JOHN EDWARDS 12%.

* COMPARED TO INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO IOWA CAUCUSES, KERRY IS UP 18
PTS, DEAN IS DOWN 6 PTS, CLARK IS DOWN 2 PTS, EDWARDS IS UP 5 PTS.

http://www.surveyusa.com/2004_Elections/CA040123primary.pdf

some related comentary:

So John Kerry has won a convincing victory in New Hampshire, enough to cement his front-runner status and place him only a primary victory or two from claiming the Democratic nomination for president. Kerry accomplished that feat on the strength of about 85,000 votes cast by Granite State Democrats -- far fewer than the 122,000 votes my local state senator received in her last reelection campaign. Howard Dean won a solid second place, with fewer votes than my assemblyman – one of 80 in the California Legislature – got last time. And then there were John Edwards and Wesley Clark, fighting it out for third place with about 26,000 votes each, about as many as it took to finish third in the most recent race for the Sacramento city school board. Poor Joe Lieberman. The senator from Connecticut pulled down about 18,000 votes, leaving him mired in fifth place. If 8,000 or so more New Hampshirites (New Hampshirians?) had felt the “Joe-mentum” and gone with Lieberman, he’d be the surprise third-place finisher and the darling, for the moment, of the national media. Ok, I know we have said this before, but just for the record, it’s nuts. I’ve got nothing against retail politics, and it’s great to put the candidates through their paces up close and personal in a tiny northeastern state that looks nothing like the rest of America. But does it have to be winner take all (momentum-wise, if not in the delagate count)? Can’t we just say, hmm, that’s interesting, people in one small frigid corner of America seem to like the senator from next door and the governor from the state on the other side of them more than they do a couple of fellows from the South. I wonder how the South feels? Or the West, for that matter. Gee, maybe we should see what the voters in the nation’s biggest state think about all of these candidates? Nope. Let the winnowing continue. Next stops: South Carolina, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arizona, Delaware, New Mexico and North Dakota. Go for the underdogs, guys. Keep hope alive!

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/insider

[goodhue]

1. another poll not listing DK

[windansea]

2. I know

:-(

[WiseMen]

3. When Pub Opinion w/out Votes goes for Dean/Clark it show "Strength"

of their candidacies. When Public Opinion goes for Kerry, after extensive nation-wide media coverage on candidates positions and their campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire, if is "Jumping on the
Bandwagon."

Are we being very honest here. Or is this partisan twisting of the
facts.

[windansea]

5. I leave that question

to my esteemed colleagues here in DU...I do not pretend to see inside the minds of my fellow Californians....

[HawkerHurricane]

6. As a fellow Californian...

I would say the effect is more 'who's likely to be active still by the time we get to vote'. Since California votes so late in the process, many locals won't declare alliegance to a candidate that they see as not being viable...
So, Kerry was weak in Cal. because he was seen as unable to win the primary... when he proved that wrong, people changed to him.

[windansea]

9. true..but I agree with Weintraub's comments

the winnowing of candidates is so front loaded it sort of marginalizes who does the vetting and leaves out many states including the 800 lb gorilla of electoral votes and the most diverse state in the nation

[HawkerHurricane]

11. I think the system is set up...

so that California and New York (the 800 and 600lbs Gorilla's, respectively) get as little voice as possible so that the small states can avoid being bullied by the big ones (and therefore get to bully the big ones).

The Electoral College: a good idea whose time is past.

[windansea]

12. ok you see my point

:thumbsup:

[mitchtv]

4. I always liked JK,but thought he was dead

I was wavering between the Gen. and the Dr. Now, it's ok to like the Sen. I still have time to decide-

[DrFunkenstein]

7. They Weren't Paying Attention, But Knew Iowa & NH Were

Many were fence sitters waiting for someone to rise above the crowd. Someone has.

[Mz Pip]

8. I still support Clark

I didn't jump on the Dean bandwagon when he was ahead and I'm not jumping on the Kerry bandwagon now that he's ahead.

Neither Dean or Kerry have done anything to make me change my mind.

I'l vote for whoever the nominee is in November. If Clark is out of it before March 3rd, I'll probably vote for Edwards.

MzPip
:dem:

[Kathleen04]

10. This poll can't be accurate...

nobody called my home! ;)

But anyways...it looks to me like Dean and Kerry pretty much switched places. Dean was the guy with momentum and now it's Kerry.

Also pre-Iowa when people looked at Kerry they asked themselves "Why Kerry?" Perhaps now that he's the frontrunner it becomes more a question of "Why not Kerry?", he may be the first guy they take a look at and they either go "ok, this is the guy" or they keep looking.

[windansea]

13. thats what I say ,,,,!!

:dem: