How about a Gore - Kerry ticket in 08?

[maveric]

I know both are considered losers by some on both sides of the aisle, but do you think that they could bring the party together? Bring in the swing vote?
Do they get along with each other? (not that that matters much on a presidential ticket)

Gore for prez, Kerry as VP.

[bowens43]

1. I really don't get these posts.

Here we have two men who lost to the stupidest man ever to run for the office and you suggest running BOTH of them against a real candidate, a candidate who will most likely be able to speak in complete sentences. No thanks. I want to win.

[marions ghost]

4. Depends on what the meaning of

"lost" is....

[Orrex]

9. The meaning is "didn't get the Whitehouse"

End of story. Regardless of vote irregularity or how clearly their actual victories are proven, a Gore/Kerry ticket would be endlessly billed as "two losers." They would have to overcome their own failure (perceived or otherwise) before they'd even have a chance to campaign.

A Gore/Kerry ticket would all but guarantee another GOP Whitehouse in 2008.

[blm]

10. They bill EVERY Dem as a loser since 97. They IMPEACHED Clinton f/ NOTHING

It took a category 5 hurricane to do it, but most of the public now sees the spin machine that has been at work for the last ten plus years.

And it turns out that since 2000 and 2004, Gore and Kerry have been proven RIGHT about a host of serious issues - and it's Bush and Bush voters who are now proving to be the REAL LOSERS.

[Orrex]

11. I'd like to believe that

I accept that most of the public realizes that openly Conservative pundits (O'Reilly, Coulter, Limbaugh, Hannity, et all) are part of the spin machine, but I don't accept that the public at large recognizes that the MSM spins on much the same cycle.

I would love to be wrong.

[Zensea]

5. What I don't get is all the posts about 2008 n/t

[acmavm]

6. How did they lose?

[WI_DEM]

13. Al Gore didn't lose as I recall it he won by over 500,000 votes and

had the US Supreme Court (yes, he fought it all the way there) by one-vote not decided against him, in all likelihood a recount in Florida would have given him the electoral vote.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

16. I Like A Mondale-Dukakis Ticket Myself...

eom

[Bucky]

18. Heh. Or Ferraro-Shriver?

They're both still alive, right?

[tridim]

2. Kerry might be a bit upset that Gore supported Dean, but he'll get over it

I'm still a bit unsure that Kerry has what it takes, but I'd certainly vote for that ticket.

[Mass]

3. This is actually my dream ticket,

but I do not think they would go for it.

[keta11]

7. Do you guys think Kerry would agree to be

second banana to anyone after being the nominee last time. You dont know how big these peoples egos are.

I dont get these threads too.

Obama this or Obama that when you and I know he hasn't really accomplished anything in the senate yet, the press will rip him if he competes, (including digging up his backround and Kenya etc) and America would not vote for a black president at this time!!

Waste of energy.

[saltpoint]

8. I like Marion's Ghost's comment. A 2nd grader knows you aren't

supposed to cheat, and cheating to win is what Bush-Cheney did.

Twice.

Gore and Kerry weren't the only victims. All the rest of us are also victims, because when one side cheats, it is the nation collectively which is denied the considerable benefit of qualified leadership which Gore and Kerry would have offered.

[marions ghost]

26. thanx for the support Old Crusoe

Some people with their heads firmly stuck in the sand believe that Gore and Kerry "lost" and therefore they have no chance to run again. But with Gore or Kerry in office I think the election system would have the BEST chance to get cleaned up...and that is what we need. We live in a cheating society (see 'The Cheating Culture' by David Callahan)--and so you will see a lot of people defending the status quo because that is where they can best operate to work the system. People who insist our election system is fair and functional are either a) hopelessly naive or b) complicit.

I see we agree on this :)

[saltpoint]

27. Haven't read the Callahan book, but I hear you on your points.

The Republican base, I feel, is complicit, to borrow your perfect word for it.

A strong case could be made that they began in ignorance (which Jefferson warned about), moved to denial (which assured that they would not as individuals be challenged), then to a kind of collective xenophobia. They're often anti-Science (which I assume means they would prefer root canal surgery with a pair of pliers instead of state-of-the-art scientific surgical technologies), and often feel that two women or two men aren't capable of equal affection and love as a heterosexual union. And not least, they often insist that the Ten Commandments hang in every public building, especially in public schools.

That kind of collective ignorance/denial/xenophobia seems to produce a climate where candidates like Dubya can be nominated, and then after some sneaky cheating, steal the White House.

I am hoping in my deepest heart that Ohio voters this time respond as modern citizens and grown-ups and vote for the blue team.

[marions ghost]

28. where we are now

denial is getting to be harder to maintain.

After what has been exposed in Ohio, I hope that voters there have wised up to the incredible level of corruption in the state government. Ohio is going to be watched very closely--it will be a real test of whether voters paid attention and are getting to the "acknowledgment of a problem" stage, which has to precede the improvement stage.

If nothing is done by way of correction in Ohio after all that has been brought out in the news since 2004, I will have to wonder if the complicit may outnumber the deniers.

[saltpoint]

29. Good point. These next three weeks are going to be humdingers

on the political scale in Ohio.

I remember fondly the days of John Gilligan and Howard Metzenbaum and Carl Stokes, and although I no longer live in Ohio, I miss those folks.

I guess I can appreciate Kathleen Sebelious of Kansas all the more (I think she's John Gilligan's daughter) for the beautiful coalition she's built there on the plains. The woman must be a genius.

[Hoosier Dem]

12. Sorry, it won't fly...

While I like Al Gore and comend him for acting like such a class act after he was robbed of the presidency, I don't see the excitement among the average voter for a Gore re-try.

As for Kerry, he ran a terrible campaign. While he was robbed out of Ohio, he could have run a much better campaign.

Hillary should also be a non-starter. Looking at her unfavorables this far out, she starts with a massive problem. She is NOT Bill.

After the total mess in Washington these past few years, I think the public wants somebody NEW, not a re-tread. For a historical perspective, look back to 1976. After the orgy of corruption that was the Nixon Administration, the Democrats nominated a tru outsider. At this time in 1974, nobody outside of Georgia had ever heard of Jimmy Carter.

We need to find a candidate from OUTSIDE the Beltway.

[Bucky]

17. Give us a list, Hoosier! (and welcome to DU)

[Hoosier Dem]

19. Some "Outsider" Choices....

Firstly, thanks for the welcome!!

Secondly, here are some people I would consider "Outsider" choices for the Dem nod in 2008. Just my opinions here.

General Wesley Clark
Governor Phil Bredensen (TN)
Governor Brian Schweitzer (MT)
Former Senator Bill Bradley (NJ)
Governor Tom Vilsak (IA)
Governor Kathleen Sibelius (KS) -- long shot, but a good VP choice??


Clark is the closets thing we have to an "Ike": a straight-arrow military man who could chew up any GOP Chicken-Hawk in 2008

I just like Schweitzer. This is the "Anti-Image Candidate". Plus, the West is slowly turning blue. Can't get much father from Washington, DC than Big Sky Country.

Bill Bradley's departure from the Senate in 1996 was a good move. His campaign in 2000 was shaky, but he still can command a crowd. Unfortunately, he might not play well in the South.

Again, just the musings of one guy in Indiana.

[marions ghost]

21. Not necessarily a good time for an "outsider'

--people will be looking for experience at the highest level of govt IMO. Not many can beat Gore or Kerry on that score. I think the voters might be able to handle a little deja vu to get that level of experience with candidates we KNOW are going to do their best to turn this mess around. We voters are in the reality zone right now, not in the mood for speculation or dark horse candidates. We don't want to "get to know" anybody else. Those choices are for happier times.

[Bucky]

23. Mostly great choices.

I'm a pretty serious Clarkie myself, but Schweitzer, Vilsak, and Sibelius all catch my attention. Bradley I have personal reasons for believing he lacks the character and skills to do the job (which I can't discuss).

I agree with your instincts, too. When Washington starts to stink, people like to vote for outsiders--that's a pretty consistant historical pattern for us. It's easy to forget now, but in 2000 Bush ran very much as a person who didn't get involved in the whole impeachment smear and promised to return civility to government. I didn't buy it for a second, but I really didn't have much to back up my distrust of the man since as governor he really had been pretty good on bipartisanship.

[marions ghost]

25. I think that pattern may not hold true

Things are so bad now, an outsider seems too risky...(maybe later)...

My instincts tell me people are looking for "tried and true." They want some balance, some reality, some stability-- not a bunch of empty campaign promises. The mood is much too black for attempts to whip up any rah rah for 'promising' candidates. We have been through the darkest time in American history. We need a recovery period.

[shadowknows69]

14. Ok, I'm sold. Make it happen.

n/t

[Bucky]

15. Dumbest thing about Pres-Veep threads is that no one picks the VP!

Only one person gets to select the VP nominee. It's a dumb suggestion to make. It's like saying "Here's who I want for president and then HERE is the person I think could make up for all his shortcomings."

Besides which, Kerry wouldn't accept a secondary slot from anybody. He's not a second fiddle type.

[Tesha]

20. Fine by me. Poetic justice. (NT)

[Toucano]

22. I love them both.

I feel, however, that we need to offer voters someone new.

That said, I think Gore has grown and improved ENORMOUSLY as a candidate.

[zulchzulu]

24. Kerry/Gore perhaps...

It will probably be Kerry/Warner that kicks Allen/Gingrich's ass...

Way too early actually...