On A Scale Of 1-10, How Confident Are You That We Can Beat Bush?

[THUNDER HANDS]

With any of our candidates?

Lets say (1) is not confident at all, it's hopeless, lets all go to the Lounge now and talk about sex (please Skinner, please).

And lets say (10) is absolute confidence and metaphysical certitude.

What do you think?

I say a 10. Guaranteed. Book it. We're winning in 2004.

[Renew Deal]

1. Depends on the nominee

Clark, Kerry and Edwards all have good shots. The other 3 are sure losers.

[Warpy]

14. It depends on how badly "freeped"

...the anti-Bush demonstrations during the GOP convention are.

There's nothing like showing rioters and forgetting to tell the public who started the trouble to get Mr and Mrs Middle America to vote fascist.

This is what got us two terms of Tricky Dick. It's coming. Prepare for it, all DUers who plan to be there.

[MercutioATC]

24. Ah, see, I feel the same way with different candidates...

Kerry and Edwards have no fight to bring to the table. Any of the others would work better against bush.

[JohnKleeb]

2. 8

Got a damn good chance I think but Chimp could still spin some shit but for the most part I am confident but can we have the sex threads please :evilgrin:

[yella_dawg]

3. Bush will be "president" in December

Whether it takes black-box voting, more traditional election fraud, or martial law with suspended elections, Chimpy is it.

[mohc]

Of course he will

...but not by the end of next Jan. when they inaugurate the new Democratic President.

[followerofFRANKJ.]

26. why do they even bother to campaign??

Bush will win presidency again--so the democratic candidates are just wasting their time.

[Bombtrack]

4. it all depends on the nominee

With a Clark-Graham ticket, by far our most formiddable possibility, I'd say we have a 70 - 80 percent chance of victory.

With a Kerry-Edwards ticket, one I think is really, really, dumb but the media whores(and many people here) won't stop talking about, I think our chances are less than 50 percent, around 40-45

[AntiCoup2K4]

5. With Dean or Clark as the nominee, great! With Edwards, possible

With Kerry, hopeless.

[MAlibdem]

6. Depends on what happens

In the world this fall.

If things are quiet, we win.

If things go kaboom and Bush can effectively deny responsibility, we lose.

[AndyTiedye]

10. It's a Very Long Shot

Sure, we can get a majority of the voters to vote against Bush*.
But that is not enough. We did that last time. Much good it did.
We have to get so far ahead that any attempt to Diebold the election
will get the Shevardnadze treatment.

We need the biggest landslide ever. Nothing less will do.

[AlinPA]

7. With media on Bush*'s side, it will be very tough.

[mlawson]

8. Can't say, until I know who is on the ticket.

Needless to say, I have my preferences.

[tobius]

9. over in November

with the deficit spiraling out of control and no wmd, the conservatives will sit on their hands.

[spooky3]

11. depends on who's on the ticket and

--whether Osama Bin Laden is "caught" in October 2004
--whether the economy continues to ride on the refinancing wave plus the short term stimulating effects of tax cuts and big govt. spending, vs. the longer term effects of complete fiscal irresponsibility begin to show this year.

[Lefty48197]

12. I'm 99% confident that we can win

Unfortunately, I'm about 75% confident that we can blow the victory as we did in '72, '80, '84, '88, and '00.

[kevinam]

13. 1...sorry.

I really wish this wasn't the case, but unfortunately, that is what I think. The pRe$ident, is going to continue to run on a card of fear. Even in the state of the union, he was preaching fear. I like virtually all of the Dem candidates, and have my favorite. Unfortunately, the people are going to be afraid that change will lead to terra. I wonder for how many weeks prior to the election, there will be red alerts. Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if the monday before the election, there is an alert to stay away from groups or gatherings of people, or schools, and libraries. Folks in the military were quoted as saying, they think they are gonna get Osama THIS YEAR. They might already have the bastard. Which is great, but Bush will announce it in September or so. This will be an awful awful thing for the country and the world. There would be almost nothing better than seeing the smug white house occupant kicked out of Al Gore's house, I just don't have much faith in the people. Again, I hope I am completely wrong...Kevin.

[TheDonkey]

15. Whoever wins the nomination when America votes, 9/10

Unlike some who wish DU could pick the nominee I'm going to trust Americans who are out there voting.

We have a VERY good chance of destroying bush, we just need to untie, and mobilize. But it could be stolen.

I voted 9

[fleetus]

16. I voted 7 but 9 also needs votes.

Especially if we are going to make this chart look like an inverse log function. I think everyone can agree that is the effect we want.

Or maybe I meant inverse exponential. Whatever. It was awhile ago, okay.

[laruemtt]

17. i say 10 but

we won in 2000, so it really depends on whether *co are going to leave....

[GodHelpUsAll2]

18. Depends.....

Our chances depend on who gets the nomination. Someone told me of a re-occurring nightmare they had been having and I thought it was an excellent question. The nightmare goes like this. Morph ahead to one of the presidential debates, assume John Kerry or John Edward (either one will work) has got the nomination. Each candidate gets to ask the other a question. Bush asks Kerry (or Edwards):

You have built your campaign attacking this administration about the Iraq war, the Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, Tax Cuts and lobbyist money. Can you please explain to the American people how you are not a hypocrite when you yourself voted in favor of these things and you have been benefited millions by lobbyist money and not be a complete hypocrite?

Kerry is in the top 4 beneficiaries of lobbyist money. He has made millions. And Edwards is fueling his campaign now with "bundled money" from trial lawyers that represent the interest of lobbyist. Both Kerry and Edwards voted in favor of Iraq, Patriot Act and No child left behind. I was mis-lead as an answer won't cut it. Bush is planting that very same defense as we speak. IE, it's all the CIA's fault for giving me bad intelligence. Carl Rove and the Bush attack machine will chew both Kerry and Edwards up and spit them out.

[genius]

19. He's going to cheat and we're going to have to take the White House anyway

Are any of our guys willing to do that?

[sistersofmercy]

20. 10 because we're framing the debate!

:toast:

[BootinUp]

21. Only if Bush runs an incompetent campaign

The incumbent generally controls the debate on most issues.

[MurikanDemocrat]

22. Depends on the nominee

I think Kerry or Edwards would beat Bush

[molly]

25. I think both of them - as a team - would beat him easily

[MurikanDemocrat]

28. That WOULD be a formidable ticket!!

[LuminousX]

23. Bush is unelectable.... 10!

[Faygo Kid]

27. Fair election? We win. But, look for martial law, or massive voter fraud

If it becomes obvious that Bush can't win, he will manufacture a crisis, and declare martial law. If he can swing it, he will use massive voter fraud, and when that comes out after the election, THEN he will declare martial law. Of course, the right wing Limbaugh/Hannity orcs will be right there for him, as will the corporate media conglomerates. That will by their payback.

[OneBlueSky]

29. one the merits, I'd go with a 10 . . .

in reality, I have to go with a 6, because of the power of incumbency, the $200 million war chest, the very real possiblity that elections in certain states can be manipulated through BBV, and the complete lack of any sense of ethics or morality that will allow BushCo to instigate whatever kind of crisis they think will help them win . . .

[no name no slogan]

30. ANY of our candidates can beat the Shrub

According to CNN, Bush's approval rating has dipped below 50%. Now, with the "intelligence failure" in Iraq and the "jobless recovery" of the economy, it's going to be like shooting ducks in a barrell.

Remember, he DIDN'T WIN in 2000. He had to steal that one. More people are aware of that now, and the scrutiny will be tighter.

Does anybody honestly thing that a Gore (OR Nader) voter from 2000 would vote for Shrub? HONESTLY? And does anybody believe that there won't be some defections from Dubya's camp to the Dems, too?

This election is ours for the taking. All we need to do is prove that we are the CLEAR alternative to BushCo. It doesn't matter if the candidate is Joe Liebermann or Al Sharpton. WE WILL win this one.

[NoPasaran]

31. I voted 8

If I didn't think we are going to win I'd shoot myself now. Why wait until November 3?

[Auntie Bush]

32. We'd positively win if it were Clark/Bush

However, we will probably win with Kerry. I don't think we could win with Edwards or Dean. All the Democrats would be better than Bush on the economy and jobs etc. But Clark could steamroll him regarding the Iraq War and security. Who could ever think Dean could go against Bush regarding the war.

[Seldona]

33. I agree. 10

I may be overly optimistic here, but I think Bush is going to implode and beat himself.

There are just to many lies out there. And though he is, and has been, getting the kid glove treatment that appears to be at an end.

Just to many investigations. To many insiders who know how full of sh*t he is and are not going to let him slide.

I have my doubts on certain days to be sure, but I really can see us taking back the Whitehouse.

Edited for clarity

[patricia92243]

34. Our party seems hell-bent to put establishment nominee-we lose

[Bucky]

35. Sorry, gang, but it's a three. They're planning something...

Bush hasn't started running yet. And he's got a new trifecta up his sleeve:
(1) new terrorist strike, call it mid September and probably stopped before (too many) fatalities occur--in this case Bush is the "hero";
(2) capturing Osama bin Laden, late September/early October--I don't think they have him on ice, but I bet they have him pinpointed and are waiting for item #1 to unfold a bit first;
(3) something else--something we haven't thought of. While the first two are real damn obvious, I can't begin to guess what the last surprise is, but my impeccable gut instinct tells me Rove's got a new rhino in his Bullwinkle cap. Possibilities:

• Reagan kicks the can right before Halloween, prompting a big sympathy vote
  
• a huge defection of conservative go-along Dems (not Lieberman, but a couple of old Southern Dems) who denounce our nominee
  
• a drop in unemployment starting in mid September, brought on by a bunch of jillionaire corporations who suddenly remember who's buttering their bread
  
• a rapproachment with North Korea, Iran, or (God help us all) France to plug any holes in Bush's foreign policy creds, or
  
• a dramatic revelation against our nominee--Kerry's certainly got a couple of skels in the closet; Clark may be more bullet proof, but a man who's fought wars will have something to hide--General Skelton may suddenly remember what the "character issues" were with Wesley; Edwards is trial lawyer--one misrepresented ex-client could help derail his whole train and certainly among the hundreds he's helped there's got to be a disgruntled Republican with a need for sudden fame and cash

Tag onto this list the usual character attacks that all Democratic nominees go under and we're gonna be up against one mutherfucker of a machine this summer and fall. Just because the beast is sleeping doesn't mean he doesn't know how to use his teeth. Let's play a real game here people. We're in the running, but the other guys still got their tricks.

[Piperay]

36. Not confident at all

no matter who the nominee is. Chimp and his gang have lied, cheated, stole and committed murder to get into the Whitehouse and they are not about to let it go without the battle to end all battles. I believe they will do whatever it takes to remain in control and it will take a miracle for the Democrats to throw them out. :cry: All I am hoping for is that it is not a total roust and that we can hang on to a few Senate seats.

[mvd]

37. An 8

Even with David Kay trying to cover for Bush, I think the people are beginning to distrust Bush. It is hard to recover from that. And remember, the Bush campaign will really assualt our nominee - but it's not like our nominee doesn't have things to say about Bush. And our nominee wouldn't even have to lie. Barring any big surge in the economy, I think we'll win. Even a Bin Laden capture would look suspicious. And another attack would mean we're not winning the "war on terror." Bush got his good will with the 9/11 attack.