Can I be both a Kerry supporter and a Dean supporter?

This is not a rhetorical question. I seriously want to hear people's thoughts.

Out of the 9 candidates in the race, my top favorites are Dean and Kerry. I'm not sure who I'll ultimately be voting for in my state's primaries, but it will most likely end up being one of those two.

I've been supporting and advocating candidacies for both of them since February 2001. Both have strong points and weak points, and it's hard for me to conclude that one decisively outweighs the other.

Dean

Strengths: makes a special effort to reach out to Independents and disenfranchised voters while bringing hoards of new younger voters into the process, supports IRV, will have crossover support from Republicans who regret voting for Bush, has Executive-level experience as a former Governor, places emphasis for health care reform on children and the uninsured.

Weaknesses: apologizes for himself too much, will incite smear campaign against him by organized fundamentalists (because he specifically helped to pave the way for "gay marriage"), can come off as too partisan (but not nearly as badly as Lieberman), has no defense/military background, little to no experience in foreign policy.

Kerry

Strengths: strongest environmental platform (and environmental credentials) of anyone in the field, military background will give him heavy appeal with veterans, dynamic and outspoken spouse with special connections to the U.N., has more leeway in who he can choose as his running mate than Dean does, excellent health care plan for coverage comparable to members of Congress.

Weaknesses: his vote for IWR is viewed as unforgivable by die-hard anti-war activists, will be victim to easy comparisons to Dukakis and as a "Massachusetts LIBRUL" in his ideology and voting record, more of his appeal seems to be concentrated amongst older voters who - - while voting loyally - - are already inclined to vote against Bush, his vote for the Patriot Act will come back to haunt him, will be easier than Dean to portray his personal background as heavily "elitist."

Right now, I am actively involved in BOTH the Students for Dean and Students for Kerry campaigns on my college campus, as well as maintaining contact with the field directors for both of their Wisconsin campaigns.

My dilemma is this: I'm afraid that people are going to expect me to commit to one or the other fairly soon, and will accuse me of "playing both sides" if I don't pick one. How am I supposed to build productive coalitions if people are suspicious of me?

I really think both of them would make excellent presidents, and both Kerry and Dean each have their own unique strengths. I think either of them could easily defeat Bush with the right campaign strategy. Yet, I do realize that a Kerry/Dean or Dean/Kerry ticket in the General Election is unrealistic, so it makes it difficult for me to line up 100% behind one or the other.

I ended up registering to go to the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner next weekend with the Dean contingency from Madison, mainly because there were virtually no solid committments from Kerry supporters in my area to carpool to Madison so we could leave for Des Moines on the Kerry bus, and I'm solely dependent on others for transportation. That left me with an awkward choice: confirm for the Dean campaign that I'm traveling to Des Moines with them, or sign up to go with the Kerry campaign but risk not having anyone to drive to Madison with. If I had told both campaigns I'd go with them, ultimately I would have had to tell one at the last minute that I wouldn't be going with them, and risk alienating the field directors and/or campaign team.

Also, the Dean campaign was more accomodating to me as an individual (I spoke personally with both campaigns).

Any thoughts on what should I do? Especially ideas from other Wisconsin DUers?

..."you can't like both Marvin Gaye AND Art Garfunkel!" Name that movie, get a cookie! lol

Later.

RJS

Now where's my cookie? :9

But I think lots of the candidates are great. Why can't you be behind both of them?

It would be hard to side with people in the crossfires though. I am a big Kucinich supporter but I like Kerry a lot too.

and yes, you can like and support both men but you can only vote for one in the primary. You need to determine which one of these two gentlemen really speaks to you and what you believe in and choose accordingly. In the end ABB.

Our primary isn't until February 17, which gives me 3 months to make any final decision.

Do I really have to make a decision now? I'm not confident that I'll have picked one or the other unti the week before Feb. 17.

See the dilemma I'm in?

what I would suggest is that you go to a Dean and a Kerry Meetup. Dean meetups are the first Wednesday of every month at 7pm--I'm not sure which city you live in, but if you visit www.wisconsinfordean.com you can find one near you!!

I'm not sure when Kerry meetups are held but here is a link to his blog--http://blog.johnkerry.com which should have that info.

Meetups are great because you can meet supporters and talk to them and find out more about the campaigns.

I'm in Eau Claire, and the Dean meetups here have been going strong since May. I've attended as many of them as circumstances have allowed. I'm also the Campus Outreach person for the Dean Meetup group.

All of our Kerry meetups have been canceled by meetup.com because not enough people signed up electronically.

Don't let anyone try to pressure you to make a decision until you are ready. Who knows what may happen before the primary.

For one thing, you're going have to watch one of them defeated by the other, which wouldn't be the case if you supported say Dean and Edwards who aren't in such direct contention.

The second thing is that the two camps are hostile towards eachother, so you're going to get heckled by your friends in both camps. Do you really want to put up with seeing one of your candidates savage the other, and vice versa, while trying to stay positive about both?

I realize that's a part of the primary, and just because one could trounce the other doesn't mean I will hold that against the victor.

If one of them is the nominee, then we'll need supporters who campaign for the other (in other words, Dean will need Kerry supporters, and Kerry will need Dean supporters).

My main concern is I don't want the campaigners in my area or the campaigns themselves to distrust me personally just because I like both Kerry and Dean. I'm afraid of being left out in the cold.

twice as much chance of winning.

I don't care if it's Zell Miller, ANYONE BUTT BUSH!!!

Lu

All this back-biting is silly.

Until you walk into the voting booth you can support more than one candidate. Also, you can "commit" to one campaign right now, but not vote for that candidate. Your vote is your own!

Don't worry about alienating a campaign team. If you change your mind later, any decent team will be happy to have you. Look at this way, currently there are nine campaign teams which will be combined into one and everyone knows that former supporters of other candidates will be added. I promise, it's expected and welcomed! :)

I know that any campaign team of whoever gets the nomination will be happy to have supporters of the losing candidates aboard. Whatever happens after the primaries is irrelevant.

What I'm referring to is the period of time leading up to February 17. I'm concerned that either the Kerry campaign or the Dean campaign in my state will be suspicious if I'm volunteering for both of their campaigns.

What they might not understand is that I've been emotionally invested in both of these candidates (Dean and Kerry) ever since the immediate aftermath of the 2000 Election.

It depends what volunteer work you want to do. There are a couple people on my team who actively support more than one candidate. For example, in my area there is a professor of environmental studies who has spoken to groups on Kerry's and Kucinich's environmental policies during the same lectures. If you want to talk to people, hand out lit, or do petition lists, I can't imagine there would be a problem.

I would urge you to be honest with both campaigns. I did have a situation where someone pretended to support Kerry and volunteered to phonebank. I found out later she just wanted a copy of my supporter list for her own candidate. Luckily, I hadn't given the list before I found out. Tell the truth and if one candidate says they don't want you, that might be a sign of how the campaign views undecided voters. (My gut tells me this won't be an issue.)

Mainly by being at as many events/rallies for the candidates as I can.

More significantly, bringing the candidates and any of their surrogate speakers to my university.

I'm afraid that the field directors won't trust me to be a contact person if they know I support both Dean and Kerry. The thing is, I'm one of the best organizers on my campus (not bragging, it's just true) with some of the broadest-based connections.

You absolutely should attend any rally for any candidate who interests you. I think it's a great way to learn more and meet supporters.

As for bringing people on to campus, I am one of Kerry's supporters who goes to colleges to discuss his positions and pass out lit, so I understand how this works. You 100% positively can and should contact different candidates to have them come to your campus. One of my college contact people is a Dean supporter and another supports both Kerry and Clark. I went to a Young Dem. right before the last election and there were local and presidential supporters present. Campaign workers love to go to campuses because everyone is so enthusiastic, so plan your events for whomever you want! :)

Kerry is my third choice, Dean my first. Both have things I like about them, and both have things that I don't like about them. I live in Indiana, though, so by the time our primary roles around, the race is likely to be decided and my vote will be useless.

then you can do anything you want, including dividing your loyalties.

and you should also. Granted some more than others but if you criticize too heavily, who you are really supporting is Bush*.

Hmm... this is tough and there's a ton of divisiveness on these boards over candidates but this is what I am doing in my area and you can maybe take from this whatever positive you'd like.

I am going to the local party meeting tonight. Frankly the fact that you have to search for these parties shows me that they are WAY too passive right now. The election is less than a year away and there's a TON of anger against Bush and his policies. This is precisely the time to strike a chord with these people and get them involved in the party and the election.

I am working for Kerry but I think I am going to attend the next Kerry meetup and talk with the Dean, Clark, DK meetup members and start to form a Democratic Party meetup where we can gather together united for the party and united against Bush. This way, no matter who gets the nomination you have a large crew of people working for a common goal. I think you should do the same thing. Gather the people from ALL of the candidates support groups and get them together. Let's try to make this not just about supporting one candidate, let's make this about supporting the premise of taking our country back...

Anyways if you want to communicate further, Private Message me and I'll get you my contact info. I'm in Appleton. :)

Rp

We've done exactly what you're suggesting in Columbus, OH. There is a rather large (100+ members) Democratic Party meetup here. We talk about the candidates, but more important discuss the Patriot Act, voter registration, and BBV. I started attending because the host went to the candidates' meetup boards and requested representatives for each attend. We've had someone from all the major campaigns, except Dean, come almost every month. Another idea is to have someone attend and pass out lit about other liberal groups (i.e ACLU, rescue jobs, environmentalists).

It's a great way to keep the ABB movement going and allow everyone to continue volunteering after the primaries. :)

Will bump for the info share.

The right decision will come to you when the time comes.

I'm sure both camps are happy to have you as a volunteer, and they will be happy to have you after the primaries. Any good campaign office would welcome you. Neither camp should view you suspiciously because you are undecided; if anything they should be bending over backwards to win you over. Three months is a long time in politics; a lot could change from now until February. Study the issues and the candidates carefully and vote your conscience. Good luck! ;-)

there were two Democrats running against each other, both hoping to go up against Republican Congressman Nathan Dean in the fall. One was Charles Jenkins and the other was Ken Poston. I first met Charles Jenkins, and while I didn't like the fact that he talked mostly about bringing home the bacon while avoiding specific issues..I was impressed. He was the brother of former Congressman Ed Jenkins, and at the time I was so pissed at Deal for switching that I would support anyone!

I promised to help his campaign. Then...on the same day I encountered his opponent. His opponent was a state legislator, and an advocate of most of Georgia's campaign discloser laws...which had almost destroyed his career! More importantly he was interested in me, in the issues, and answering every question that I had. I switched sides..and ultimately Poston won the primary...although we lost the fall election.

I later re-encountered Jenkins, and he asked me if I was still backing him...I had to say no. He was quiet angry with me, and to this day I don't blame him. I had promised to work as a volunteer on his campaign, but then left him hanging!

I learned something important...never pick your candidate until you've learned about each one of them. And don't say you're going to help someone, and then switch sides. Choose wisely, and stick with your candidate until the last dog dies! Otherwise you're making a bad name for yourself, and doing a disservice both to your candidate and his hardworking, loyal campaign workers!

I haven't made that goofy mistake again, and I don't recommend it to anyone else... ;)

Had you told Jenkins that you were 100% behind him as part of his campaign? Or was he under the impression that you were going to work for him and only him?

Because I've been very upfront with both the Kerry and Dean camps that I like both their candidates and am working to get out as much info as possible on (both) their behalf. I wouldn't say that I've "switched sides" in any way, because I consider myself a supporter of both Dean and Kerry (although I consider myself a supporter of Edwards, Gephardt, and Clark, also).

Both field directors know this...I've just found myself frequently questioning whether or not they trust (or distrust) my motivations and/or work ethic.

but I didn't say I would support only him, but having worked on campaigns I can't even imagine working for two opposing candidates..even if they are in the same party. In other words, that thought never crossed my mind.

If you have told both campaigns about your situation, then I don't doubt your in demand...for now that is. But you are right to be concerned about how this treatment will begin to change. If you have not considered this, let me suggest you think about it...

First...look at the issues that are most important to you, look at which campaign you will be treated better in, and look at which candidate you like best over the coming weeks.

Second...decide which campaign is better for you, and try to make a final decision by the new year or at least before the first primary!

Third...when you leave one of the two campaigns, leave on good terms and..well you know the rest!!! :thumbsup:

if you want to work on more than one campaign, working for opposing candidates is not the best approach. If you selected one campaign to stay with and still wish to do work on another campaign, why not work on a Congressional Campaign in Wisconsin...or work on Feingold's re-election as your second campaign. Not only will this not hurt your Presidential candidate, but clearly it would help him..whether you pick Dean or Kerry to work for!

I will definitely be working for Feingold once the primaries are over. But up until March, my main concern is making sure the Democrats pick a respectable presidential nominee (in other words, doing everything I can to make sure that Lieberman ISN'T the nominee).

negative ads, opposition research, and effective rapid-response from a loyal, low-budget campaign team. :spank: And all Demos need to save money for the fall, even during the rough primaries!

But you can donate to both and say good things about them I guess.

The Kerry campaign has you hand out negative info on Dean in one street. And the next week the Dean campaign has you handing out negative info on Kerry on this same street.

It might benefit your candidate if you only pick one! But if you do this for both candidates, then instead of helping both campaigns this would help only shrub or their other opponents. At some point you should pick sides.

And if you refuse to hand out negative stuff about Dean because your work for Kerry, and viceversa...you reduce your importance to the campaign.

Well if they want a yesperson to slander each other for them, I have no interest in participating. I hope they realize that.

As a Dean supporter, you will be under a constant barrage of bullshit lies and sleaze thrown at you from the Kerry and Clark camp.

As a Kerry supporter, you will feel urged to keep the Dean supporters under a constant barrage of bullshit lies and sleaze.