In Democratic Strongholds in N.J., Voters Not Yet Sold on Kerry

[newyawker99]

EDGEWATER, N.J. -- Eugene Bradley does not swing. At 50, Bradley, an operations manager for Synagro, a waste management company, has been devoted to the Democratic Party for as long as he has voted.

But these days, when Bradley thinks of the November elections, he almost always thinks of voting against President Bush, rather than for Sen. John F. Kerry. He can let loose a torrent of opinions about the president -- the war in Iraq is an especially favorite target -- but when it comes to talking up the Massachusetts Democrat who would replace him, well . . .

He would like to like Kerry. He would like to sing his praises. He would like to feel -- something -- about him. "I am not that up on him," Bradley said. "I don't feel a connection with him. He's basically another politician. In my heart of hearts, I think they could have dug up somebody better."

The results of a Quinnipiac University poll and random interviews in several Democratic strongholds in New Jersey suggest that plenty of voters, at least in this state, feel the same way. In what is arguably the most Democratic state in the nation -- where Vice President Al Gore beat Bush in 2000 by 16 points without breaking a sweat -- Kerry leads Bush in the New Jersey Quinnipiac poll by just 3 percentage points, 46 percent to 43 percent (with Ralph Nader at 5 percent), with a margin of error of 2.9 percent. That means a statistical dead heat in a state where Democrats control the state executive and legislature, U.S. Senate seats and most congressional district seats.

MORE....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4755-2004May31.html

[lancdem]

1. A lot of Kerry's support right now is bascially anti-Bush sentiment

That's normal for this stage of the race, before he picks a VP and is nominated at the convention. Frankly, this says more about Bush's shortcomings than it does Kerry's.

[MidwestTransplant]

2. Agreed

But the convention can't come fast enough!

[Kahuna]

4. Sad. But true.

nt

[H2O Man]

3. Many of us supported other candidates

in the primaries. But Kerry won. Why? Because more people voted for him, than voted for Dean. Or Clark. Or Sharpton. etc.

Part of winning elections is belonging to a party or coalition where people are mature enough to support a candidate who may not have been their 1st, 2nd, or even 3rd choice. Democrats and associated friends need to reach a higher level of maturity as voters, than we have in decades. The price for defeat is far too high .... it's not just the cost at the gas pump, the grocery store, and for our winter heating bills. It's about war, the draft, the federal courts, the environment, and the America we will leave future generations.