I have no candidate favorite ..... and **that** is liberating!

[Stinky The Clown]

The last go-round I had a candidate I favored - until I learned he wasn't running. That person is not in the race at all this go-round. Who that is doesn't matter.

What **does** matter is that I have no horse in this race except 'Generic Democrat'. Generic Democrat is my favorite right now.

I can vote for any of the Democrats who have so far announced. I am most philosophically aligned with Dennis Kucinich. I kind feel Hillary Clinton will be the strongest against any Republican and has the tenacious, pit bull fight instinct needed to win. I also feel she'll be a throwback to the era and politics of Bill - which, on balance, was pretty damned good, a few clunker policies aside. I feel Obama represents the future of the Party and of the country. If he wins, I'll feel even more hopeful for my kids' futures. The rest of the field, each one of them, have strengths and weaknesses.

But here's the liberating part. I can ignore the feces flings launched by each candidate and the supporters of those candidates. Instead, I can look at each candidate in my own way, form my own opinions, and be ready to support the eventual primary winner even if that person isn't my favorite.

In the 04 cycle, by the time the primaries were over, I was so worn out and bruised, I just didn't have the fight to work very hard for Kerry, who was not my first choice. I was hugely invested elsewhere and just couldn't make the switch.

08 will be different. And ya know what? I'm more confident than many that we will win. I've been far more free to pay attention to the bad guys (spelled R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-A-N). When the real candidate wars begin (the ***GENERAL*** election), this foot soldier will be armed with actual facts and strong opinions, ready and willing to work for the Democrat, and reporting for duty to do just that.

[Eurobabe]

1. It's truly freeing isn't it, unlike 2004

I was a demon for Clark. :hi:

I support GC too.

[cali]

2. yep. I love not having a candidate.

And I don't intend to "get" one. I'll just vote for whoever the nom is.

[gateley]

3. That's hard for me to imagine now because I've never been so sure of a candidate

before this. Previously I had the same attitude as you guys - and it IS nice -- but I find it exhilarating to be so committed this time around.

Keep us apprised on what we need to know about the R's.

[cuke]

4. Good for you

IMO, the important thing is that you feel comfortable with your decision, even if the decision is to not make one

[Debi]

5. It's driving me crazy!

I want someone to back. I have three that I'm comfortable with and none that I'd say NO WAY to :crazy:. How do I choose? I've taken all those little surveys and that's how I got the three, but how do I choose from the three? :shrug:

[Stinky The Clown]

8. Sometimes its just a gut feeling.

No candidate is perfect. Not one of them. You just trust some more than others. or maybe you find this one or that one has a nuance on policy that yu favor. but at the end of the day, it might just come down to old fashioned gut feeling.

As I said, I am closest, philosophically, to Kucinich. I am prevented from getting all crazy for him because my gut tells me he can't win. So that's a 'negative gut feeling', but it illustrates it well.

[Debi]

9. Yeah, my problem is that the three I like all 'feel' right on one day

or another and then not so right on a different day. If I go to an event or see them on TV or see a new plan, then I'm all gung-ho. Then they say or do something (or I read something) bad and I think 'hmmmmmm'.

I may have to wait until January 3rd and hope the mood strikes me :shrug:

[Crunchy Frog]

12. Well, you're in Iowa.

I'm grateful to be in a place where my vote probably doesn't matter anyway. :)

[Debi]

15. Where are you? When is your primary?

:hi:

[smoogatz]

6. What he said.

Though of course it all goes out the window in the (increasingly) unlikely event that Gore jumps in. Then I'm all Gore, all the time.

[spanone]

7. i'm with you ......no horse yet

[Justitia]

10. I'm exactly where you are, and it feels good. The '04 primaries were soooo painful.

Maybe it's because we have a real good crop of candidates.

I fell in love in '04 and my heart was stomped in a million little pieces - ugh.
All I did was wage war with my fellow Dems and I hated it.

This time, I'm sitting back and liking all of them, they could all do a good job.
I have quibbles with all of them, none of them is perfect, but I'm looking ahead to the General when we rally all the troops and kick repuke ass.

[Stinky The Clown]

13. "All I did was wage war with my fellow Dems and I hated it."

SO true! I know I felt awful, too. Used up. And it was against my FELLOW DEMS. I kinda think someone may have encouraged that sort of squabbling. It still goes on today. HOPEFULLY, it is just a small number of people doing it.

[Crunchy Frog]

11. Me too!

I'm so glad that I can go through this primary season without having to worry about all the shit flinging and flame wars. What a relief!

I will support whomever gets the nomination, but probably will not be voting in the primary. Even if I do vote in the primary, it will not involve any kind of intense committment.

[bain_sidhe]

14. Ditto here, too

Although, this way, I have a hard time not being appalled by *all* the feces flinging. Back in '04, I was only appalled at the feces flung at *my* candidate, and pretty much ignored the rest of it. Now I can't ignore any of it, so I pretty much ingore this whole forum (usually). :shrug:

[Alter Ego]

16. Absolutely.

At one time, I leaned towards Obama, but now I'm just back in the center of the ring...it's incredibly liberating to be able to hate the GOP candidates more than fellow Dems.