A vote for Dean is a vote for Kerry

[PurityOfEssence]

from now on, that is.

Like it or not, it's a two-person race now, and the momentum is such that Kerry has to be stopped now if he's to be stopped at all. (I don't hate the guy, I just like Edwards' policies much more, and consider him MUCH more electable.)

Anyone voting for Dean instead of Edwards in the oft-overlooked primaries next week or the really Super-duper Tuesday the following week will be helping Kerry. Make that REALLY helping Kerry.

Dean's voice will be heard in Boston, and a few more die hards aren't going to help it be heard any louder.

Kerry needs to clamp the lid on this on Super Tuesday, because if he doesn't, the following Tuesday is Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi with no other states voting. If Edwards is still viable when the smoke clears after Super Tuesday, he's not only very much alive, he's in really good shape.

Who do you want, folks? It's a choice between the two. A vote for anyone other than Edwards is a vote for Kerry at this point, make no mistake about it.

If you don't like either and want to make a statement for the future, then vote for someone else.

[robsul82]

1. REALLY good point.

In the GE, a vote for anyone but the Democratic nominee is helping Bush, then...voting Dean in primaries that matter IS a Kerry booster, like it or not. It does stand to reason.

Later.

RJS

[BourgeoisPig]

2. So I can't vote for Kucinich then ?

is that a vote for Kerry ?

[newyawker99]

30. Hi BourgeoisPig!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Anwen]

3. A vote for Dean is a vote for Dean.

Call me crazy, but that's the way I look at it ;-)

[goobergunch]

24. Why are you being so logical?

;)

[edzontar]

25. Me too. A vote for Dean is a vote that Kerry does not get.

As for the two-man race, you may be right, but I don't really care who ends up winning, since i have a similar opinion of each one.

So my vote goes to the man who has earned it.

Dean.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. Hahaha!

I think you know I favor Kerry more than Edwards but this really is a great post! :D

[JI7]

7. yeah

i want to see what some of the dean supporters have to say about it. i guess using the nader/bush/gore reasoning there is something to it. but can the same be applied to voting for kucinich also ? a vote for kucinich is a vote for kerry ?

[BurtWorm]

5. What is to like about Edward's policies?

Pro war? Pro banks? Pro Patriot Act? What's to like in that mix?

[jpgray]

6. This is one thread title I never expected to see

And now I am really going to bed.

[Terry_M]

8. I disagree

A vote for Dean is a vote for Edwards, using the same logic...

[newyawker99]

32. Hi Terry_M!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[katieforeman]

9. Very true.

Dean doesn't like Kerry, and he really doesn't like Bush. Dean is already on the record saying Edwards is more electable than Kerry.

It follows that Dean would want you to vote for Edwards.

[oasis]

10. Please don't deny Dean supporters their day in the sun.

[PurityOfEssence]

12. The last year of Dean supporters damn near gave me melanoma

I don't want to take anyone's dreams away from them, and I respect the yearning and enthusiasm I've seen. It's been a long haul, and we've still got a long way to go.

I hope the mods don't flush this one for treading the line on characterizing factions, but the purpose of this thread is quite earnest. Voting one's conscience is very important, but recognizing the obligation of one's mandate is too. We do not live in bubbles (that's what conservatives think) and our actions reverberate as we make our various choices.

This is serious business, and I think people should entertain the reality of the situation.

[madfloridian]

16. Dean supporters are cancer-causing? LOL

Thanks, that is a new one. Boy,we are powerful. Just kidding.

[oasis]

17. A play on words: "day in the sun".

[GodHelpUsAll2]

31. Next................

We will be the cause for the spread of Monkey Pox! Ahhhhh the desperation. For a campaign that is so insignificat and nothing at all what it was portrayed to be there sure are a lot of folks trying their damndest to win over "the non existent" support base of the Dean Campaign. I will be voting for the one who earned my vote. Howard Dean.

[SerpentX]

11. Does that mean my vote for Kerry is two votes for Kerry?

[Terry_M]

14. I'm not sure..

Using the assumption of this thread that 0 = 1, your one vote for Kerry might count as 0 ;)

[Feanorcurufinwe]

13. What is it about Edwards' policies that you like more?

[PurityOfEssence]

18. The college initiative, the taxation of passive wealth,

incentives for companies that keep jobs in this country, the rural initiatives to entice teachers there and have better access to medical care and the pre-emptive reforms for frivolous lawsuits are some.

More than anything else, I see him as a healing influence for the country; his essential message is that the country is good, but has been hijacked by monied interests that want to reduce opportunity and shift the tax burden from great wealth to the workers. He wants to equalize the playing field, and his platform has planks that are truly beneficial to the working poor and middle class. Predatory lending and usury are in his sights, and this is important not only as a winning issue, but as a stabilizing change to the country.

This country is designed to function with everyone actively participating in the economy, and if some more opportunities are there for the underclass (and better safeguards are in place) it's better for all. Remember: 66% of the GDP is consumer spending, thus, if you can have people working and not just fighting to keep their heads above water, the economy will grow.

If you listen to him and dissect the priorities of his very detailed platform--all of which is paid for, incidentally--you'll see that his ideas are grounded in the practical. Not only will that resonate with people, it's best for us all. Getting rid of legacy admissions isn't just a sop to the disenfranchised, it's a mechanism by which those of talent and ambition are allowed to rise to places where they're more beneficial to the society at large, as well as to themselves.

There's a curious blend of quite left liberalism and functional pragmatism to the man; he's fueled by a sense of right and wrong in a romantic way, yet it's all methodically planned out in practical steps. He knows that we can't leap too far at once, and he's biting off just what can be chewed.

Beyond that, he's a coalition builder; his warmth isn't just political maneuvering, he's genuinely interested in people.

With the exception of Kucinich, his plans are the most innovative and wide-ranging; there's a reason why the two like each other as much as they do.

[George_Bonanza]

15. What is so much more appealing about Edwards?

Truth be told, there is hardly any difference between Dean, Clark, Edwards, and Kerry save for a few individual strengths that are balanced by individual deficiencies. Edwards can rant all he wants about NAFTA but the fact is that he is in favour of China's admittance into the WTO and free trade in the Andean countries. Kerry is not an extreme neo-liberal as some may make him out to be. His Kerry Amendment, and his opposition to the current state of the proposed CAFTA and FTAA are evidence of that.

On issues like the IWR, Patriot Act, the death penalty, the environment, foreign policy, small business, etc., I'd say Edwards is the inferior to Kerry.

[Guava Jelly]

19. cool then i guess i am voting for DeAn then

sorry couldnt resist

[LosinIt]

20. Please quit telling me who to vote for.

I will not sit down.
I will not shut up.
I will vote for the candidate I believe in.
That does not happen to be the annointed one.
So sad.

[JackRiddler]

21. a vote for John....

is a vote for John.

The Johns are interchangeable: both stand for IWR, PATRIOT, Plan Colombia, Homeland Security, capitulation to Bush during the first two years, 9/11 coverup.

Howard? Was he for real? Does it matter anymore? You can vote down Bush in November. Vote your conscience today!

[lojasmo]

22. What Jack said.

My vote for Dean will be a vote AGAINST kerry, because I won't be able to bring myself to do it in November, though I would like to.

[NNN0LHI]

23. Which policies of Edwards do you like better than Kerry's?

Oops. I seen someone asked already. I will go read the answer now. Sorry.

Don

[LuminousX]

26. A vote for Dean is NOT a vote for Kerry as it is a vote for delegates

[Cuban_Liberal]

27. That's absolutely ridiculous!

A voye for Dr. Dean is a vote for Dr. Dean, and I would never in my wildest moments have the audacity to suggest to a Dean supporter that they should not vote for Dr. Dean, if that is their preference.

[DianeK]

28. dean still has the second most delegates...

the primary process is not an all or nothing situation as is the general election process and as dean earns his 15% or more of the votes, he continues to accumulate delegates. Gosh, that really disturbs the status quo establishment!

i, for one, refuse to roll over to the conventional wisdom...my vote will go for dean and i am urging all of those who supported dean to continue with their support

[mrgorth]

29. Sorry

I'm leaning Kerry anyway so this doesn't bother me too much.

[Deansspecialinterest]

33. A modest proposal

As long as our newly-invigorated grassroots network is advocating election reform, how about this... each voter gets 2 votes, 1 positive and 1 negative. One vote for the idealist in you and one for the realist. At the end of the day, the number of votes a candidate gets credit for is his (or her) positives minus the negatives.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

34. Wait. So is a vote for someone else a "statement" or 'for' Kerry?

you contradict yourself in that last sentence.

[pezcore64]

35. Well

Im sure that makes sense to alot of Edwards supporter, but unforutnately Dean supporters are Dean supporters. Not edwards supporters. If they were, they wouldnt be called Dean supporters anymore.

Stop trying to pick up people, you just make yourself look desperate and whiney.

[diamondsoul]

36. Oh fer cryin' out loud!

:eyes: :puke: :mad:

Leave them alone!

A vote for Howard De4an now is a vote for Howard Dean to be heard at the convention. It makes no difference whether you or I or anyone else agree with that vote or not, it's theirs to cast! Every vote cast for Dean now is a delegate Kerry and Edwards don't get. Unfortunately the same applies to Kucinich, but again it's their choice.

I'll welcome any Dean supporter who wants to help Kucinich now that Governor Dean isn't expecting the nomination, but I'll stop far away from telling them how to vote or what that vote means. It's some of the lowest manipulation I've ever been unfortunate enough to witness and it makes me ashamed.