Will you really refuse to vote for the democratic nominee?

[Youphemism]

Someone with polling privileges should start asking these two questions each week.

If Hillary Clinton stands next to Barack Obama on stage and implores her voters to support him, will you really ignore a passionate request made by your preferred candidate?

If somehow Hillary Clinton were to pull this out and Barack Obama begged you to honor him by supporting her, would you really ignore that and not vote or vote against her?

Both of these candidates are very different. It's understandable that people are strongly in one camp or another. But their stand on most of the issues is not *that* far apart. (I think the difference is a little more than pundits and republicans claim, but not that much.) Their stand on issues compared to those of McCain is a chasm you could drive Rush Limbaugh's ego through.

Would you be so "bitter" about your candidate losing that you'd allow the already hardline Supreme Court to be a slam dunk for every right wing issue it puts on the agenda? All those things Bush has done that make you so mad -- you want them to keep going on, just to get even?

This isn't a football game, where you root for the other league in the Superbowl just to spite the team that knocked your home team out of the playoffs.

I think people have an unhealthy tendency to "imprint" on their candidate to the point they forget the issues that reflect their core values.

[Eagle_Eye]

1. I will vote for which ever candidate that is nominated at the convention

But at the moment, Obama does not hold the nomination.

[rove karl rove]

2. a common threat

during a contested primary. I'm sure there are some Clinton voters that would go to McCain or just not vote at all if Obama gets the nomination, but the majority of them will come home in the end.

[Youphemism]

3. I asked what *you* think...

...not what you think other people think.

I can think about that myself. If I thought my thoughts were close enough to what others think, I would have thought the better of thinking to ask what you think.

[rove karl rove]

4. ohhhhhhhhhhkay

Yes. There's no way I'd vote for McCain.

[floridablue]

5. The answer is two words

Supreme Court

[bluetrain]

6. Barack Obama is, at this point in his career, unqualified for the position of

President of The United States. It's that simple. He comes across as an egomaniac by refusing to even serve out a single Senate term before running. He is not electable at this perilous moment our nation's history because of his lack of resume.

As I've said before, both Clinton and Obama are way to centrist for me. But she is the more progressive of the two despite the false hype surrounding the phony.

I have seen no data which indicates he has a shot in hell of winning the general. On the other hand, based on the data, I do think Clinton could handily with the GE.

I think Democrats have been frighteningly gullible during this primary and have irrationally sided with a known to be corrupt Corporate Media to ensure, yet another, Republican victory in November.

This is my 3rd DU election and I've never seen so much Right Wing Bullshit in my life. Everyone is following the Neocon party line down to fucking Mike Malloy who oughtta know better.

This election is not about racism. I don't deny that there are racists who will not vote for Obama for that reason alone. But the fact of the matter is that were Obama a woman with all the same life circumstances, message (HOPE, CHANGE, UNITY) and the same (lack of) resume, etc. he would NEVER be in the position he is in right now. This is an election which SADLY shows just how misogynistic America is. And will, apparently, continue to be. The majority of the charges against Clinton have been fueled by amazingly (and amazingly "acceptable") hateful anti-woman rhetoric.

It's both disgusting and disheartening.

Judging by DU-Primaries, the Democratic Party is more hateful, short-sighted and ill-informed than the site which shall not be named. I refuse to believe that most of the Obama supporters on here (the ones who cannot spell or argue a point whatsoever, the ones who hit and run with vicious insults) are anything more than GOP sock puppets. Or (and there's not much difference) Obama sock puppets who are on his payroll and we know he has some money to go around...hard to believe that's all from voters...never will believe it...never have...he's been suspiciously propped up since he arrive in the Senate...hasn't bothered to spend much time there...

[UndertheOcean]

7. Any democrat is better than any fucking republican anytime

If the democratic nominee was Donald Duck I will still vote for him

[rug]

9. It looks like it.

[Perry Logan]

8. Let's face it, the utter and unremitting sleaziness of Barack's supporters gives one pause.

There's a thread up right now accusing Hillary of being a racist, implying that millions of Democrats are supporting a racist.

If Obama's supporters realy believe that, we have no party.

[Tesha]

10. We haven't had a party since 1992 when the DLC hijacked it.

It only appeared we still had a party because a lot
of us on the left were willing to hold our noses,
suspend disbelief, and still ote for the "D", even
though real Ds had been substituted with DLC pod
people.

But no longer.

Tesha

[democrattotheend]

13. DUers don't speak for the campaign

If Obama stood up there and called Clinton a racist, I could understand your not wanting to vote for him. But to punish him for the behavior of online message board posters he has no control over seems silly.

A week ago, when it looked like Obama's support was collapsing and Clinton might actually get the nomination, some of her supporters here made me so mad that I felt tempted to withhold my vote just to show I could not be taken for granted. But I actually visualized myself going into the voting booth in November, and I couldn't imagine not voting for her even if I threatened not to, because I know that later that night, when I am watching the election returns, I am going to want the Democrat to win no matter what, and I'll feel guilty as hell if I don't vote for him/her.

[elocs]

18. If you actually somehow believe that Obama supporters have a corner on sleaziness,

then you probably should not be allowed out of the house unsupervised. I am willing to bet that Senator Clinton also has her fair share of sleazy supporters. Exactly how is it that both Obama or Clinton are responsible for the words and actions of all of their millions of supporters? They both could have spent the entire campaign refuting one after another of their nutty backers.

In a sense, we really do not have a party, but more of a confederation of somewhat like minded people who sometimes hold together and sometimes do not. As Democrats, too often we do no seem to have enough of a common purpose (electing a Democrat to the presidency even if that person is not our first choice) nor are we pragmatic enough to understand that the next president will either be a Democrat or a Republican and the person who wins gets to guide and direct where the country will go and its future (can anybody say "Supreme Court"?)

Republicans do seem to be more pragmatic than Democrats and want the next president to be a Republican. For the most part they will not threaten not to vote of to back another candidate. Republicans seem more united in their purpose (Remember the old Will Rogers quote? "I don't belong to any organized party, I'm a Democrat). This is one trait of Republicans that as Democrats we need to emulate--the determination to get our candidate and candidates elected. Just as Republicans believe that any Republican is better than any Democrat, we know that any Democrat is better than any Republican and we should act and vote accordingly. This election is far too important for pouting or having hurt feelings over what somebody posted on the internet.

[cornermouse]

11. Better question.

Why did you post this? Is it an attempt to create a loyalty test? If a person votes for every democrat on the ticket except Obama does that make them a republican or are they grassroots voters?

Are you aware of what Obama has said about core issues, in places and occasions other than his website, that the Supreme Court will be looking at over the coming 4-8 years? Maybe you should because between that and his overly strong desire to reach across the aisle I see a strong potential for more of the same.

Whether you realize it you, yourself, appear to be trying to imprint others so that they forget the issues that reflect their core values and adopt yours instead.

[Youphemism]

15. I posted this out of curiosity

I know people are very upset about how things have gone in these primaries.

You're right that I sort of "push-polled" in that I suggested things to consider when responding. That's not objective, and I might have left out those comments had I been taking an actual DU poll.

Don't mistake me for some party loyalist -- I'm not. In 2000, I was equally disgusted by both Bush and Gore during the election troubles because *both* of them tried to change the rules in the middle of the game and both tried to discount votes to favor themselves. (I doubt that's a popular thing to say in here.)

I also did not agree that Ralph Nader ruined things -- probably even more unpopular. I think anyone, even a dufus, should be able to run for President. I think that Al Gore was handed an election and managed to let it slip away in spite of that.

It just seems so clear that after eight years of what we've been seeing, no matter how little anyone likes the democratic candidates, we need a change in direction so bad that it should constipate us to death to do anything that might keep us on that same path.

If you put any candidate's name up here, people will be happy to post a litany of reasons that person should not be president. And there's some merit in all of those arguments.

What I can't understand is any argument that suggests we keep going in the same direction. It makes no sense to me. It fits the definition of insanity, doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result.

I can't help taking issue with one earlier statement, though... As far as "unqualified" goes, that's what they said about JFK. I like "unqualified." Although every candidate is corrupt by virtue of the fact they've gotten to where they are, the one who has spent the least time in Washington is the one who owes the least number of people the least amount of favors. To me, that's a plus rather than a minus.

[Mezzo]

20. I agree with this response wholeheartedly...BO is the DLC guy, and anyone with a clue knows it.

open to privatizing public schools. Some say his recent quotes regarding the investigation of W showed how tough he'd be on crime, while I thought it looked like lawyer speak to let W walk scot free. He couches the "out" in "if-then" scenarios. It's weird how they fall for it.

[LWolf]

12. I will really vote for someone who earns my vote.

I won't be making any decisions until after the convention, but I can guarantee this much:

Obama has not earned my vote, and is not likely to do a reversal on most of his major policies to do so between now and November.

Clinton? The same.

The bottom line is this: if "you" (the party) want my vote in November, nominate someone worthy of it.

It's that simple.

It's also too late, but then, I gave plenty of advance notice. I announced publicly and frequently, for the first 6 months of the primaries, that exact same thing, and that HRC and Obama (as well as some others) would not get my vote.

I can write in a Democrat who HAS earned my vote in November. I can vote for a 3rd party candidate.

Or, while the odds are against it and growing more so, we can go into the convention without a nominee, nominate a compromise candidate who CAN unite the party and win in November, and, not incidentally, earn my vote, and I'll vote for the nominee.

I'll know more after the convention.

Thanks for your concern.

[ccharles000]

14. I will vote for the nominee no matter what.

[Arkansas Granny]

16. A lot of things are said in the heat of passion and this primary season has definitely

been passionate. In the end, I believe that many of those who threaten not to vote will be swayed by their candidate's support of the nominee. I intend to vote for the Democratic nominee, regardless, and I see more people on this board who share that view than those who say they won't vote for anyone other than the candidate they support.

[Youphemism]

21. You sound like a cool head, Granny

I tend to agree, especially when Obama -- or even Hillary, if she somehow pulled it out -- sits next to McCain in any debate... McCain can affect a likable personality, but both of the democrats have a significant grey matter advantage on him. I think some of the debates might get downright embarrassing for him.

Also, I think that the same ire that is now driving people away from the democrats will be raised and redirected when the plans and foibles of McCain are prodded in the general election.

Still, all this frothing on these boards is not entirely healthy. It's good that people are involved and paying attention, but even a relatively small percentage of democrats who "take their ball and go home" could hurt in November.

My bet is we'll soon see a photo of both candidate families onstage, with Chelsea kneeling down to talk with the cute little Obamalings. Maybe that image will help. You know the media folks are waiting for that moment.

[Arkansas Granny]

22. I could be wrong, but I think the many of those who claim that they will

"take their ball and go home" are not really Democrats at all. It's no secret that this board has been attracting trolls and disrupters during this primary.

[WeDidIt]

17. I would only do so under a single circumstance

If Florida and Michigan are seated in any other way than 50-50 and Hillary wins the nomination, I will have no other choice but to consider Hillary Clinton the greater evil on my ballot.

That's the only way I won't. Under any other set of circumstances, such as they are seated 50-50 and the Super Delegates hand it to Hillary, I'd vote for Hillary.

[WeDidIt]

23. One addendum to the above

If the Obama campaign has agreed to the conditions of seating that are not 50-50 and Hillary wins, I would accept those results and vote Hillary in the GE.

[ShortnFiery]

19. If the SD don't act *very soon* then we won't have A DEMOCRATIC PARTY to worry about ... we're

hemorrhaging now while NERO "superdelegates" fiddle completely OUT OF TOUCH. Telling us "little people" that "oh this is GOOD."

HEY! This is NOT GOOD!

ACT NOW Democratic SD or lose YOUR SEATS and the POWER of The Democratic Party. :grr:

I am coming to the realization that we merely have two "very similar" parties within one Mega-Corporate RIGHT WING POLITICAL DUOPOLY. :thumbsdown:

May God have mercy on our DARK political souls within these fully corrupt Corporate United States of America.