This place looks like I'm feeling - subdued

[Jersey Devil]

I'm a Dean supporter, love the guy and will always know that he was the one person who managed to turn the party around from a bunch of hesitant, scared mice into a lean, mean fighting machine. He's my kind of guy and I can't blame those who feel the same way for wanting to go to the barricades with him. He'll always have a special place in my heart.

But I am also a realist. The Fat Lady is backstage warming up her pipes, getting louder and louder by the second. Oh, I surely do not want to hear her sing, not just yet, but the feeling I have is that it is inevitable and that any minute now the curtain will open and she will begin her aria.

So I am going to say what someone long ago told me to think about saying when things get tough and stress is almost overwhelming. I am going to say nothing.

But I am going to think - think about where to go from here, think about what will happen if I do not give support to the one who gets the Democratic nod, think about the Supreme Court 4 years from now under Bush, think about the difference in civil liberties under Bush and a Democratic (any) President, think about the possibility of the reinstitution of the draft and my 18 year old son, think about the environment my grandchildren will inherit, think about..., well, you know the rest.

Right now I am thinking I have no choice but to be ABB. Tell me why my thinking is wrong.

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. It's not.

I, too, am saddened by Dean's collapse. However, I think that his legacy will be that HE got the party energized this year, and that HE got the other candidates to stop fearing Bush.

It's ABB now, but a huge thanks to Dean for pointing the party in the right direction.

[Sugarbleus]

3. I'm sorry for your candidate too..and

you are right; He DID get the party started! I appreciate him and hope there is something for him later on down the line.


~Peace~

[Shanty Oilish]

11. Dean's legacy

Quite right. Plus he is a national figure now and relatively young. We will see him again, the sooner the better.

[w4rma]

2. Only one candidate is going to win and supporters of 9 other candidates

will have to fall behind that one.

I was prepared to ask supporters of other candidates to back mine if he won, and I am prepared to support the nominee if, as appears likely, that nominee is not my 1st choice in the primary.

[GodHelpUsAll2]

4. The fat lady is singing?????

People give up way to quickly. The media is calling it over so the entire country falls right in line. Does anyone realize that ony about 15% of the population has voted? Does ANYONE think it's a tad bit too soon to call this thing especially when the BIG delegate states haven't voted yet. Remember Texas, California, New York etc.? Remember super Tuesday? Right now Kerry has only about 1/6 of the delegates need to cinch the nomination. Deosn't remotely resemble a blow out to me.

[krkaufman]

9. Nothing is required

> Only one candidate is going to win and supporters of
> 9 other candidates will have to fall behind that one.

No, they won't *have* to, and -- hopefully -- the eventual nominee will realize that.

[Piginzen]

5. You're wrong!!!

As a Dean supporter, I can't believe I'm hearing all this crap coming from you and the rest. Dean lost it not because of anything he did or anything the Repubs did. He lost because he was betrayed by his own party. Kerry ripped off his message, the DNC dragged the carpet under his feet, and all the other candidates trashed his character.

And now we're left with an insider...I repeat, an insider who is just as much of a whore as Bush and his cabal!!! How could we let this happen? We want to change the country and instead we just go along like obedient mice towards the pipes of Washington's gutters.

Sorry, I'm going down with Dean until the bitter end. And then I might go along with Nader unless Edwards shows me that he is blossoming into something special.

[Frances]

6. One word: Judges

Do you really want another Scalia, another Renquist, another Thomas.

Not a single Dem candidate will give you that calibre person.

Bush will. The one thing he was honest about when campaigning was to say that Scalia and Thomas were the kind of judge he wanted.

[revcarol]

7. Kucinch didn't impugn anyone's character...

which is why I am supporting him, he's so honorable.

I feel for Dean supporters, but he's not down and out yet, unless you think he is and don't support him. Let's keep all those "big tent" Democratic voices going.

I, FOR ONE, AM NOT WILLING TO LET THE MEDIA MAKE MY CHOICE FOR ME.

[lcordero]

12. Impugn what character?

[lcordero]

13. Kucinich impugning anybody's character in the race is like

trying to put a headlock on the headless horseman.

A person can't assassinate what doesn't exist.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

8. ABB = Anybody But another Bonesman

Subdued? I'm feeling suckered.

[Michael Harrington]

10. You're not wrong.

I feel the same way. I've seen a good man slandered and dismissed by people who can't hold a candle to him and it infuriates me. But if the choice is between any of the rest of the field (especially w/ Jomentum stopped), and that scum in the office now...we've got to be pragmatic (signature aside).

And all of this is from someone who hasn't voted for the Democratic nominee since 1992, so you can tell how important I think it is. Bush must be removed from power. I voted for Clinton in '92, misgivings aside (and he spent 4 long years kicking me in the groin), but I did accomplish my minimum goal: getting Dan Quayle away from the levers of power.

This is so much more important.