Democratic Voters See Kerry as 'Electable'

[isbister]

Anti-Bush Sentiments Fuel Endorsements of Front-Runner Despite Previous Loyalties

Among the hundreds gathered at a John F. Kerry rally here Monday were a self-professed "Deaniac" who intends to work for the Massachusetts senator in the general election, a former Wesley K. Clark supporter who now thinks Kerry has a better chance of winning the White House and a man from California who chanted: "ABB -- Anybody But Bush."

"Dean is the candidate in my heart, but I am so desperate to have Bush out of office," said Debbie Prusa, a nursing assistant who said she will volunteer for Kerry in the fall. "My emotions are with Dean, but practicality tells me Kerry."

More than fears over terrorism, the economy or health care, the growing platoon of Democrats supporting Kerry sum up their decision as first and foremost an anti-Bush vote.

"It's electability," said Edward O'Reilly, 54, after hearing Kerry pump up the troops at the University of New Mexico on Monday morning. "I want a new administration."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6894-2004Feb2.html

[onebigbadwulf]

1. That's funny...

Because I see him as Bob Dole who is going to lose to Bush's chimpish charisma alone.

[Skwmom]

2. I can hear the jokes now

When asked Democratic voters said they were most concerned about nominating someone who could beat George Bush - so they went to the polls and nominated a Massachusetts liberal who was Dukakis's running mate (when he ran for gov), had a higher liberal rating then Ted Kennedy, and voted against military funding for equipment critical to our success in Afghanistan. I guess people thought Kerry’s service during a time of war would keep the Bush administration from portraying him as weak on defense. Have they ever heard of McGovern?

[FreeperSlayer]

3. Sorry, but America sees Dean..

...as Dukakis cubed. Right or wrong.

[Egnever]

29. I love how its always Dean

Kerrys defense is hes not Dean?

That how hes going to beat bush? You should elect me cause I am not Dean!

Guess what Bush isnt Dean either.

[isbister]

18. Massachusetts liberals

were instrumental in the founding of our country. We convinced the rest of the country to get rid of George III and we'll do the same with George II!

[SahaleArm]

27. Pulling out 200+ year old info in support of Kerry? n/t

[isbister]

56. tee hee n/t

[CWebster]

4. He managed to monopolize that "most electible"soundbite

with the help of the media to sell that he owned it, but he is the same old loser.

[Atlant]

5. Some do, some don't.

Speaking for myself, I think he's not electable.

Atlant

[AntiCoup2K4]

6. Fucking goddamned media whores

And some of you actually have to ask where the term "Sheeple" comes from?

Where is the evidence that Kerry is "more electable"?? THERE IS NONE. Except for the lies the media whores are telling you.

The media whores work for BUSH. They do not give a flying fuck about what is best for this country. Neither does the DLC.

Don't buy into their bullshit. Vote for the candidate YOU feel is best qualified. And in making that decision, you must consider the fact that the nominee has to run against Bush. Has to debate BUSH.

Kerry has NOTHING to debate Bush, because he voted for most of his fascist corporatist crap.

[Virgil]

8. People do not even know Kerry's policies

The sheeple have been herded once again. Kerry is just one of the suits that serve the establishment. Kerry has experience. Yeah right. What does that tell him where the country is and how did we get here? It may end the Repblican looting, but what else will change? The power brokers in the Democratic Party played the whole scenerio to get the establishment someone they could count on.

DK is for single-payer universal health care. Sure the health care system is broken, but DK might not get elected. DK wants to end NAFTA. Just because he addresses the top two priorities of the economy and health care with a brain, is no reason to think he can get elected. How can he get elected people when people think he looks like a Munchkin even if they know who he is. Kerry says he will make it all better and Bush go away. What more do you want?

[poskonig]

10. Democratic voters in Iowa and NH are not sheeple.

yeeeeeeargh! :+

[NewHampster]

15. Yes we NH voters are too Sheeples

We watch the same garbage news as you and jump on the almighty band wagon just as fast as the next guy.

[Egnever]

33. You make your point by repeating the media mantra?

Yeaaargh!!!

Sory but there was nothing wrong with that speech except the media told you it was bad.

All that speech showed was he had passion for his suporters and his message.

Remember speeches like "we have nothing to fear but fear itself!" Lots of passion in that speech but you see absolutely nothing wrong with it.

How bout Churchil and his speech about "we will never surender!" Damn near the same thing as Dean but yet Deans was horible and churchils was great.

Sory the idea that passion in a speech to a room full of thousands of suporters is bad is pure media hype and you prove the sheeple theory with your post.

[progressivebydesign]

57. Well.. yes they are. Sorry.

Hmm. Iowa. In the caucuses, other canidates would have been okay, except for that badgering done on them about who could REALLY defeat Bush. How many of those Iowa people chose their second choice that day? How many, in the exit interviews said that they supported another candidate, but were swayed by the worry that only someone like Kerry could defeat Bush. Sounds pretty weak minded to me.

New Hampshire? They voted based on Iowa's results, and the manufactured argument that Kerry was somehow more electable.

Frankly, I think this who electable nonsense was a strategy born in the Kerry campaign. It's brilliant. But it also minimizes the primary process, and reduces voters to nothing more than bobbing head dolls.. all nodding in agreement that Kerry is the only one to beat Bush.. whether they support Kerry's ideas or not. Or frankly, if they even KNOW Kerry's ideas. We're going down in November if we become obsessed with this sure thing mentality.

[corporatewhore]

7. well if electable means repub lite well yes but if electable means being

able to stand up to bush with your record well no
I do agree with that mass liberal Iraq was the right thing to do he wont apologize why should i and he didnt know there were no wmds either

[Anwen]

9. "It's electablility"

I've been biting my tongue trying not to use the word "sheeple" but this just sends me over the edge. "My emotions are with Dean, but practicality tells me Kerry."

Now where did she get that idea? Did she come up with that all by herself? What happened to thinking for yourself? Damn I'm losing faith in people.

[Raya]

12. Media Tried to Bury Kerry. That is widely acknowledge. Kerry Beat it.

[Egnever]

38. Horse dooky

Kerry didnt beat squat. The media took Dean down for him and he was left to pickup the suport. No sory Kerry did nothing to get his lead besides avoid controversy.

They pounded Dean for months and let kerry slide on his Fuck bush comments. Painting Dean as unpresidential while totaly letting Kerry slide.

Like Fuck bush Is presidential?

They also let him slide on his pot smoking video another Very presidential moment. Cant wait for that one to be Brought out full force ion the General. It will make the YEAARGH look tame.

[progressivebydesign]

58. You're thinking of Dean.. They haven't even started on Kerry yet. n/t

[Ivote]

14. Democratic Elect ability?

But we also need independents and yes even Republicans. We cannot put all our eggs in one basket. There are still a lot of people that think bush was right, and since Kerry voted with him, those issues will be off the table. We still can't get it through the general population that Saddam didn't have anything to do with 911 or obl.
Yes Kerry is pulling in the Viet Nam Vets, and I applaud him for that, but I don't think he will get many active duty military. I believe Clark can bring both votes in our camp. At my meet ups there are both and plenty of them, IE: Green Beret, Air Force, Navy, Army etc. So please think carefully before you vote. Our future depends on us making rational decisions.

[Taeger]

48. Independents and Bush ...

But we also need independents and yes even Republicans. We cannot put all our eggs in one basket. There are still a lot of people that think bush was right, and since Kerry voted with him, those issues will be off the table. We still can't get it through the general population that Saddam didn't have anything to do with 911 or obl.


Well, Bush's degree of correctness will be judged by how many body bags continue to stream home containing dead soldiers. It should also be judged by how many soldiers have been MAMED, a figure intentionally avoided by the news media.

The situation in Iraq is GETTING WORSE!!!! The Kurdish north has been calm thus far. But the Kurds are getting restless and Washington is now hedging on the Kurds. When the Kurds believe that they will be denied autonomy, they will go into resistance mode.

[corporatewhore]

11. haha is this the best you can say about your man kerry pretty sad .....

[rucky]

13. I'm so glad they told me to feel this way!

:)

[BigDaddyLove]

16. The funny thing about this whole 'electability' thing is.....

that the only ones who are pissed off about it are the ones who support candidates who most don't consider electable.

If it was 'your guy' who everyone thought had a chance to beat Bush, 'electablility' would be the first word out of your mouths.

[corporatewhore]

17. it is a cop out for selling america out

when a cannidate is challenged about his record umm electabilty is the most common cop out

[BigDaddyLove]

19. Nonsense..........

America is in serious trouble as it is, and if Bush isn't out of office next year we may lose most if not all of what makes America America.

For this election, electability is King.

[Anwen]

20. All of the Dem candidates could beat Bush

So why has the media declared than only Kerry is electable? They tried (successfully, I might add) to destroy Dean's character over that ridiculous scream flap, they never even mention Clark, rarely mention Edwards, and they openly ridicule Kucinich and Sharpton. The only one getting a free pass seems to be Kerry. I don't hate Kerry, and I know he can beat Bush, but I think it's an outrage to have the media telling people what to think.

[BigDaddyLove]

23. Do the media tell you what to think? Do you listen?

They certainly don't tell me what to think, I ordinarily find that I can do that myself.

All of the Dem candidates cannot beat Bush....I wish they all could, but they can't.

[Anwen]

37. Of course not.

But you would be surprised how many people don't pay attention to what is really going on and how they take everything said on the news as solid fact. My best friend can't even name one Dem candidate, and my brother was under the impression that Kerry is already the nominee. Another friend of mine said she thought Dean was too angry, even though she doesn't pay any attention to politics. Most people don't pay attention to the facts as thoroughly as we do here on this message board.

Of course people listen to the news and it sways their opinion. I think the article above proves that. Why would someone who wants to vote for Dean or Clark vote for Kerry instead? Obviously they are listening to the mantra that Kerry is electable, Kerry is electable.

By the way, which candidates do you think can't beat Bush, and why?

[BigDaddyLove]

45. .....and you'd be surprised by how many people know.....

EXACTLY what's going on.

Regarding which candidates I think can't beat Bush, I'm honestly torn on the matter. That is, on the one I think that the majority of Americans are so sick of Bush that a ham sandwich could beat him....on the other I think that a lot of people are taking this election very seriously, and while a candidate like Sharpton might light their fire, they want to be sure that their vote counts, so that their vote contributes to a Bush loss in the General Election......right now, Kerry is the frontrunner so why not vote for him?

Any of the Big Four (Kerry, Dean, Clark and Edwards) COULD beat Bush.

Kucinich, Lieberman and Sharpton couldn't. Dennis because he is too Liberal for Moderates (yes I said it)...Joe because he is too conservative for Liberals, and Al because he is too black for America.

[Anwen]

47. I agree with you except for one thing...

I agree that the three candidates you mention who couldn't beat Bush is probably true...in a perfect world they could, and with Bush's low popularity they just might have a chance, but most likely they are too "controversial" and wouldn't appeal to middle-of-the-road Americans, a large majority.

But I do disagree with you on how much people know. I forget the percentage of people who actually though Saddam was responsible for 9/11 -- it was well over 50%. As for the election, unfortunately most people don't do the research -- they hear Kerry is electable and are so desperate to beat Bush that they vote for him -- even without finding out his stance on the issues or his ideas for the future.

[elb77]

50. sadly

i have used the word electability myself. i just don't agree with the media about who is and isn't electable.

[henslee]

21. Electablility -- what a vague stupid term.... If Kerry is who we

are going to get behind, I hope something happens to change my perspective that we are stuck with 4 more years of chimp.

I do hope that Kerry takes a big hit somewhere today... I don not think he stands a chance. In a one on one debate.....the sheep will go for Bush's chimpish energy. Frankly, Kerry puts me to sleep.

"BRING IT ON?"........ yikes....

[abburdlen]

22. When I think of Kerry

I don't see how the average american voter gets excited about Kerry

[BigDaddyLove]

24. Well, the average American voter got excited enough.....

about Gore to give him enough votes to win the last election, and according to the Media he was more boring than Kerry.

[corporatewhore]

26. if you rember it was a narrow win people were disgusted and still are

about the dem party

[BigDaddyLove]

30. I remember all too well.........

but what are the alternatives?

At this point (though it can change), Kerry looks like the most viable candidate to beat Bush.....no matter how one feels about Kerry, I can't believe anyone actually thinks that Bush is better.

[corporatewhore]

32. Actually i think kucinich in Ge he is from OHIO

not liberal haven like mass or vt he apealed to reagan democrats because of his labor and trade policies he appeals to old school conservatives (who are pissed at bush) because of his stands on patriot act and free trade he also can take shrub on with his record (i kne there were no WMDs) he also appeals to greens libertarians and reform party membersand hell even my anarchist friends who dont vote on principle said they would vote for him and plus he could real excite the base during GE but dems wont vote for him in primaries

[BigDaddyLove]

40. I've been in Kucinich's camp from the beginning.........

with additional great fondness for both Sharpton and Braun; trouble is, in the General Election I don't think any of them would get enough of the moderate vote to win.

[oasis]

25. A few posters on this thread are applying a "sheeple" lable to ABB.

I respectfully suggest they redirect their energies to help defeat Bush, the real enemy.

[corporatewhore]

28. the real enemy is imperalism social economic injustice which dems ...

perpetuate

[BigDaddyLove]

31. More than Republicans?

?

[oasis]

35. Getting Bush out of the White House would somewhat alleviate the problem.

That would be a start in the right direction. Glass half full.

[Horvo]

34. Kerry is the Perfect Candidate

The nomination process was starting to appear too complicated for me, so I decided the best thing to do would be to just list all of the positions and traits my ideal candidate would have.
I want the Democrats to nominate someone who:

-voted for the War in Iraq

-voted for the Patriot Act

-voted for No Child Left Behind

-believes that Bush's tax cuts helped the middle class

-wants to significantly increase the size of the military

-has a Health Care plan that has no chance of passing

-received the most money from lobbyists of any member of the Senate, Democrat or Republican

-is an expert on national security issues, so he can write to his constituents and tell them that he was both for and against the same policy

-can support Bill Clinton by saying that anyone who uses their Vietnam experience to try to get elected is ruining the memories of the men and women who died there, and then turn around and base his entire campaign on his own Vietnam experience

-wants to execute Osama Bin Laden without a trial

-is a multi-millionaire (almost billionaire), who can spend $7 million of his own money, while other candidates have to actually raise money from voters

-promises us we can increase the military, expand health care, maintain tax cuts, and balance the budget

-can say that Al Gore's mistake was trying to win in the south, and then say in a debate that he never used the word mistake

-is vane enough to cosmetically alter his appearance and then lie about it

and finally for purposes of electability, since beating President Bush is so important, follows the same winning formula that has worked for Democrats in the past

-is a strange-looking, uninspiring speaker, from Massachussets, who supports Gun Control

Now I know there is no way I can find someone who can fit all of these and be my dream candidate. But I do believe that the Democrats need to set the bar this high when picking a candidate to make sure that we can take back the White House and Congress.

[abburdlen]

36. But how do you like Kerry?

:)

nice first post

[oasis]

39. Here's a useful guide: Kerry=Real Deal/Bush=Real Enemy.

[BigDaddyLove]

41. Even more simply.........

Bush=Real Enemy.

[oasis]

44. You're right. We should focus on the "real enemy".

[BigDaddyLove]

46. Amen.......

:hi:

[AntiCoup2K4]

51. You mention Bush as the enemy, but fail to acknowledge the fact that....

....Junior is just the frontman for a criminal organization which has been committing treason against the United States since the 1930's if not before. That criminal organization is rooted in a group called "Skull & Bones" and is today tied to a fascist cabal called PNAC.

Jesus Christ asked "If Satan cast out Satan, then how would his kingdom stand?". Point being that you cannot remove the influence of these criminal bastards from our government by electing another one of their own. And Kerry is exactly that. Take the blinders off.

[oasis]

55. "I" have blinders on? Why don't you try "focusing" on short term goals? I

guarantee that it will be less frustrating.

[scheming daemons]

43. Bravo...

Great first post.

That's why I've been trying to tell people that Edwards is the best bet... followed by Clark, Dean, and then finally Kerry.

Kerry is better than Bush (my dog is better than Bush), but not enough to inspire the masses like an Edwards can.

We're shooting ourselves in the foot if we nominate Kerry. We might win anyway, since Bush is so loathsome, but I wouldn't bet the house on it.

Kerry is a weak national candidate.

He has experience, but its not the kind that plays outside of New England. He seems elitist and aloof.

Edwards seems like a regular guy... like most of America.

[lastliberalintexas]

60. Wonderful first post

Welcome to DU! And thank you for stating so succinctly my problems with a Kerry nomination.

[YNGW]

42. Kerry is the candidate with which the Republicans can feel comfortable.

Should he be elected, things won't change. Status Quo.

[Monte Carlo]

52. So who will change things, then?

Who will smash the status quo?

[elb77]

49. if we all support...

the democratic nominee, electability is a non-issue. vote what's in your heart. who do you think will change this country for the better?

[progressivebydesign]

53. Okay.. what's the John "F. " Kerry thing?

Is this a new strategy to give him a boost from JFK??? Suddenly he's gone from John Kerry to John F. Kerry? Hmmmm.. Just wondering.

[progressivebydesign]

54. Save us from ourselves!!!

ARRGGHH! THis electabilty thing is our ticket to hell!!! People are voting based on a GUESS of who could be Bush.. rather than who's America they'd like to live in. This is so frustrating! We go with the safe bet, regardless of the candidate, and we are giving the Rove crew carte blanch to rip us to shreds. A safe candidate cannot beat Bush... This isn't American Idol folks!!!! Vote with your heart and head in the primary. Guessing is not allowed!

[GalleryGod]

59. I-List Getting Incredibly Long; Keep it coming JARK Fans!

:silly: The memes are now at Sperm Whale Defecation levels:shrug:


Sittin' in the S.U.B.,:donut: Markin' MORE Blue books,
:hangover: G.G.:hangover: