If you consider yourselves Democrats...

[madwivoter]

Then you will vote for the Democratic nominee.

It really is very simple.

According to the latest polls (which mean nothing these days, but this one is a bit scary) they're showing that a lot of Dems will cross over to the other side and vote for McCain if their particular candidate doesn't get the nomination.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/105691/McCain-vs-Obama-28-Clinton-Backers-McCain.aspx

I am an Obama supporter, but will vote for Hillary Clinton if she gets the nomination (even if I don't like how she gets it) because I am truly a Democrat and THE GOAL IS TO GET A DEMOCRAT ELECTED.

This is just my opinion, but I did feel the need to remind everyone (Obama and Clinton supporters) what we're really trying to do.

It seems like everyone is taking everything so personally, I'm fairly certain that most of you are not best friends with your candidate. Your passion for your candidate is appreciated and applauded, but we're all on the same side. Support your candidate, communicate to them how you feel, give them money if you have it, volunteer your time if you have it, but stop the childish stomping on the ground as if you are the one getting dragged through the mud by the MSM.

Do not let the MSM hand this over to McCain.

Everyone has a right to choose their candidate when election day rolls around, but this is Democratic Underground and if you are here, then there's an assumption that you consider yourself a Democrat.

:pals:

[NaturalHigh]

1. Whatever...

You don't own my vote, and neither does the party.

[Butch350]

31. Yes I Will...

I know I will. The party couldn't get Gore elected, couldn't get Kerry elected. The party
is weak. It's time to rise up from the fire (Phoenix) and start a new. I'm sure the Repubic
party are laughing their collective arses off at how the Dems are self destructing.

For me it's O'Bama or Mc Cain. The Democratice party does not translate into the so called
progressive party - only the individuals who are ready for a change are the Progressives!

Give me the candidate who is talking about change - are give me the status quo!

[Dhalgren]

33. Dead right!

:applause:

[Strathos]

2. Any "democrat" that votes for McCain needs to be whipped

If we don't unite and get a democrat elected, we'll have 4 more years of the same bullshit we've had for the last 8.

Stop being dicks and support the democrats.

[LWolf]

3. It's not that simple,

except to simple folk who can't see beyond black and white.

If I'm a Democrat, the party means something to me. I won't vote for someone I think is bad for the party and bad for the nation. It sets the party up for future losses.

If I see the party headed down a path that doesn't benefit the party or the nation, I don't blindly join in and race off that cliff like a lemming. I stand my ground. I resist destructive party actions and choices.

I think HRC and Obama are bad for the party, bad for the nation, and I don't think they can win the GE.

I'm going to work for a brokered convention and a nominee that can unify the party and win in November. Someone who will send the current two back to the senate.

I'm going to do that because I'm a Democrat, and I think it's best for the party. If that doesn't work, I will not be voting for either of them in November. I'm not voting for anyone I think is bad for the party and bad for the nation.

This is Democratic Underground, which is not affiliated with the Democratic Party and doesn't claim to speak for the party. Democratic Underground includes Democrats and other progressives, not just Democrats. Should the convention result in a nominee I can't vote for, I will abide by DU rules, and keep silent on the matter. Until then, though, I'll be speaking every single day about what I think the best outcome of the primary is. During the GE, if I can't support the nominee, I'll stick to subject forums and not talk about the GE at all while I'm here.

For those of us who are not quite that simple, it's clear that trying to purge DU of dissenters isn't going to magically grow votes at the polls in November.

[madwivoter]

5. Thanks for your opinion.

I will respectfully disagree with you.

I do think it is that simple, when our entire country has been brought down to rock bottom by the current administration we need to begin somewhere and at this point we have to take small steps and getting a Dem in the white house is the very first of those steps.

What exactly do you mean by "...it's clear that trying to purge DU of dissenters isn't going to magically grow votes at the polls in November."?

[LWolf]

9. I mean this:

reminding all the dissenting Democrats and progressives, who are the natural allies of Democrats, that they shouldn't be at DU if they are not going to vote for the Democrat in November, doesn't generate more votes for the Democrat in November.

It silences dissent, and creates an unrealistic echo chamber that can be misleading going into the GE.

I don't think electing a dlc democrat, in Hillary's case, or a centrist/corporate/3rd way/"new" democrat that eschews the dlc label, in Obama's case, is doing the party any favors.

I think that is more damaging, in the long run, than losing to a republican. At least then, the enemy is without.

I think nominating one of the two currently on the table is bad for the party. Frankly, after the debacle this primary has become, I don't think either of them can win the general election, anyway. They've handed McCain all the ammunition he needs. All those crossover votes won't be crossing over; McCain will look safe and normal to the republican and center swing voters, and the rush to embrace the republican vote will have alienated many of those voters on the left.

You can disagree, and I appreciate you doing so with respect. :)

I'm calling it as I see it, and I don't see any good coming from the path we're currently on.

[NaturalHigh]

10. "I'll stick to subject forums and not talk about the GE at all while I'm here."

I will likely do the same.

[LWolf]

12. There are some great subject forums to choose from.

I'll just spend more time there than I am currently.

[MissDeeds]

30. I agree with you completely

Great post.

:toast:

[LWolf]

37. Thank you.

:hi:

[Dhalgren]

32. I agree with with you completely, LWolf.

:applause:

[LWolf]

40. I'm glad to see that I'm not alone.

:toast:

[madmom]

4. If you don't vote for the dem, you deserve 4 more years of bush!

[LWolf]

14. As I told my mom last month,

"Bush isn't running this time. He's gone no matter who wins, unless he accomplishes a coup."

:hi:

[madmom]

17. mccain = bush III

[LWolf]

20. I don't think that's accurate.

McCain = McCain. Not a cheerful prospect, but he's not a Bush.

The Bush administration is unpopular with many Republicans. Republicans want a non-bush R to vote for. I don't want a McCain presidency, but he's no Bush.

[madmom]

24. He's to close for comfort. IMO

[LWolf]

35. Yes.

I also think the same about Obama and HRC. Not that they are "too close to Bush," but that they are too close to republican for my comfort level.

[JKaiser]

6. It is not the candidates who make me angry it is their supporters...

I liked both Obama and Hillary but I am voting for Hillary May 6th because of the Obama supporters on here. They have completely ruined the chances for me supporting him. Unless the Obama supporters treat Hillary with some respect and stop treating her like a republican I don't think I can support him in the GE. I might vote for him, but I won't volunteer or give money.

[madwivoter]

7. Good point and I think it goes both ways.

I do think there are very solid Obama and Hillary supporters here who are not bashing the other candidate.

[JKaiser]

11. it is very hurtful on both sides.. Honestly I have said mean things about obama

too, just because I was angry at the Obama fans... I regret it.. You cannot persuade people who have already made up their minds.

[democrattotheend]

18. With all due respect

None of us here represent Obama, and I know it can be hard, but I really hope you do not judge him based on our actions. Sometimes certain Clinton supporters here make me so mad that I want to say I won't vote for her in November, but I will, because this election is too important to let my anger at people on a message board influence my vote. It's not about the people here, and it's not even about the candidates as much as it is about the soldiers in Iraq, the people who have lost their homes due to bad Bush economic policies, the people who can't wait four more years for healthcare. That's why I will swallow my pride and vote for Clinton no matter what if she is the nominee, and I hope you will do the same if Obama is the nominee. If he does something so horrendous that you can't in good conscience support him, that's one thing, but to withhold your support based on the behavior of his supporters is kind of silly.

[JKaiser]

26. Like I said I will vote for him but I won't volunteer or give money

[whatchamacallit]

8. I don't consider myself "a democrat". I'm a progressive who has voted for democrats my entire life

If democratic candidates abandon our core ideals and principles, I will not feel obliged to vote for them.

[ginnyinWI]

22. I feel that way, too. I'm a Progressive Democrat. HRC is not.

There are Progressive Democrats and Centrist Democrats in the party. There really should be two parties on the Left. When the primary season starts, I figure out which are the more progressive, then I know who to support. It's hard for me to think about voting for a Centrist, because it does tend to hurt the progressive half of the party. Look at the Clinton years. Bill ended up tarnishing the image of what a Democrat is. I don't think Centrists have the ideals and principles that Progressives do. (Just look at them lately if their White House years weren't enough evidence.)

I don't know if an HRC presidency would do the party any good, either. It would tend to convince Progressives that they once again must get to the back of the bus.

No, I don't want McCain to be president either. But I also don't want to see the progressive side of the Democratic Party hurt. To sum up, it would be a tough call whether to vote for her or just stay home. I know this: if she is the nominee, there will be at least one fewer pair of "boots on the ground" and one fewer person sending in money for the GE. I have not yet gone to any party meetings or volunteered locally for this campaign season, and won't if she is the nominee. In order to be that involved I have to really care who wins--and at that point I would not.

[whatchamacallit]

25. Yeah, monolithic we're not

Maybe that's more a strength than a weakness, but he farther right the centrists pull the party, the less simple party identification make sense.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. I'm a DINO who feels no obligation to vote for the "lesser of two evils".

I've been a registered Democrat since 1966. My first vote for president was in 1968. I voted for Benjamin Spock of the Peace and Freedom Party because the Democrats ran the pro-war Hubert Humphrey.

In '08, I will most likely write in a candidate, or vote 3rd party.

"I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever, in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else, where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all." --Thomas Jefferson to Francis Hopkinson, 1789.

"Were parties here divided merely by a greediness for office,...to take a part with either would be unworthy of a reasonable or moral man." --Thomas Jefferson to William Branch Giles, 1795.

“Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." --John Quincy Adams

[LWolf]

15. I'd kick and recommend this post if I could. n/t

[Dhalgren]

34. Beautiful TyL! I agree 100%!

I would rec your post, as well!

:applause:

[wileedog]

16. If the Democratic Party

can blindly throw my vote away and let the Big Money players decide who the candidate should be instead of the people, then I have to seriously reconsider if I am a Democrat.

I certainly didn't sign up for a party that pulls that shit. In fact I thought I was signing up for the opposite.

[MessiahRp]

19. Strangely enough I have heard mostly Hillary supporters say they'll vote for McCain if she's not the

nominee. Which proves my point that not only is Hillary not a Democrat but likely a good portion of her supporters are not either. I had one email me to trash Obama over "gaps in his healthcare" and I responded factually to why I would never vote for Hillary and she said she will vote for McCain if Hillary's not the nominee. Which is insane because McCain has no health care plan at all.

One of my issues with the Clintons was their taking of RW WI Governor Tommy Thompson's brutal Welfare Reform plan and passing it with the Congressional Republicans (one of the many reasons Bill has no right to call himself a black President. It's clear the discrimination evident in this policy).

But in true Hillbot fashion, she fired back that she believes many blacks have babies to stay on Welfare and that she agreed with the deep cuts to Welfare.

Just like Geraldine Ferraro it appears a lot of Hillary supporters rely solely on racial stereotypes and by those definitions I suppose you could argue Obama's not Presidential material.

Of course I could turn that kind of ignorance around and say Hillary is not either. After all aren't women supposed to stay at home, cook, clean and have babies while the men go and work?

Stereotyping is stupid all the way around and I truly am starting to believe that what would drive Hillary supporters away from the Democratic nominee is their racism.

This does not apply across the board as there are some who will support Obama but if you support Hillary and her proposed policies (aside from the war) rather than supporting her because of her race then there's no way you can credibly claim to support McCain over Obama.

And frankly, let them go. I don't want racists in my party. It's at that point where I say close the damned "big tent".

Rp

[MethuenProgressive]

21. Its only the HillHatingObamaBots who say they'd rather have McCain than Hillary.

Poll after DU poll proves it.

[madwivoter]

23. Gallup poll

http://www.gallup.com/poll/105691/McCain-vs-Obama-28-Clinton-Backers-McCain.aspx

[MessiahRp]

36. That seems to sew up that argument.

Rp

[JKaiser]

27. It is because of the Obama fans if you want to know the truth.. Its a big turn off..

when they say the most awful things about Hillary..

[JKaiser]

28. It is because of the Obama fans if you want to know the truth.. Its a big turn off..

when they say the most awful things about Hillary..

[Butch350]

29. Yes your right...

I know I will. The party couldn't get Gore elected, couldn't get Kerry elected. The party
is weak. It's time to rise up from the fire (Phoenix) and start a new. I'm sure the Repubic
party are laughing their collective arses off at how the Dems are self destructing.

For me it's O'Bama or Mc Cain. The Democratice party does not translate into the so called
progressive party - only the individuals who are ready for a change are the Progressives!

Give me the candidate who is talking about change - are give me the status quo!

[LostinVA]

38. Many of us on here aren't Democrats

Just an FYI, in case you want to change your OP to include more DUers.

[Rubiconski2009]

39. OBAMA is the ONLY DEMOCRAT RUNNING!!

The Clintons are Republicans as far as I'm concerned.

http://www.johnmccain.com/pathtovictory/democrats.htm?s=google&t=electability