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Do the Democrats really have an electable candidate?

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battleknight24 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 05:48 PM
Original message
Do the Democrats really have an electable candidate?
Hold it... before you flame away, I just want to let you guys know that I am a hard core Democrat myself... but I just haven't been feeling very confident lately... and a lot of the polls lately have had Bush ahead of almost all the Dem nominees (strange...???)

I guess am asking, what should I be confident about? What are some major advantages we will have coming into the next election?




Peace,
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Jack_Dawson Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 05:49 PM
Response to Original message
1. Be confident about this guy
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Touchdown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 05:49 PM
Response to Original message
2. Yes we do. Any questions?
Edited on Wed Jan-07-04 05:55 PM by Touchdown
n/t....EDIT: Actually, let me expand on that. I wrote this last Saturday, and nobody read it, so I'll try again....


My strident little pep talk...humbly presented FYC.



I'd like to be inspired today (it's snowing in Denver). Too often I see these defeatist and doom & gloom threads, lamenting about our
chances because the big media echo chamber has already anointed Chimpy another 4 years, before we even get out of the starting
gate. Yet I see very little posts on the positive side of our chances, and even less participation in those threads.

So let me examine why the Republicans win, when their agenda is good only for 22% of the electorate. That's the number they won with
in 2002. No, it was hardly a mandate. remember they barely won. An extra 2 seats in the Senate is not a landslide.

They (Repugs) have belief and confidence in their cause!... How more obvious can it be? They have adopted a belief system that
their cause is just and nobody is going to stand in their way. Consequently, that absolute surety of their beliefs, as wrong as they are,
and their confidence that the majority of America agrees with them, like it or not, translates into votes. Think about it. We see the trogs
paraded onto the shout shows and they speak in platitudes, can't defend their positions with actual argument, they just shout the
challengers down. They never detract from the inevitability of their righteousness. Aside from John McCain in the primaries, you never
hear a Repug dissing another Repug, explaining away a faulty position, apologizing for any platform they might have, or backtracking on
a questionable agenda their putting through.Dismissing them as just lockstep automatons misses the fact that this confidence is
appealing to much of casual voters out there.

It's this one aspect of the Repugs that I envy above all others. We need to adopt that kind of confidence. I'm not saying adopt their lies,
and simplistic ideologies, but their beliefs, their arrogance, their confidence, their surety of their cause, and their morale. We need to do
the same thing.

Never explain ourselves!When the question of gay marriage comes up, we state our position ( pro-civil unions, at least right now) with
absolute moral clarity, and no mushy seeking of approval from the electorate...we DEMAND that approval, or we question the
fair-mindedness of the dis-approving.

Once the primaries are over, never criticize any Democrat until the election is OVER! And especially don't criticize (publicly) the
next President, whoever he may be. You know their not going to criticize the Chimp, so why should we put up with that for our own
candidate?

Talk as if we already have it in the bag. what, do you think people are going to remember, much less care what you said 11 months
ago? Fugadaboudit! You come forward and say, without flinching or any sign of uncertainty, that Kerry/Dean/Clark/whoever is going to
not only win this election, but he will take 43 states in the EC. Regardless of whether or not it really happens is irrelevant, the key is to
display such a confidence, and surety in your candidate (Senate, House, Local too) that it rubs off on those fence sitters, and they'll
start to believe it too, and hopefully seek out some campaign information, which further bolsters their support.

Never underestimate the intelligence of the "majority". Americans love the underdog. They love the man who stands up to being
attacked, and they love watching him fight back. Americans love self confidence in a person, and the convictions in his beliefs. If we
look and act like we're winners, then they will respond positively, and just like it worked for the Repugs, it will work for us.

Happy new President's Year!
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stinkeefresh Donating Member (563 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 06:14 PM
Response to Reply #2
10. this post rules
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rbnyc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 08:53 PM
Response to Reply #2
17. you go!
I'm glad you re-posted that. I never saw it first go 'round.
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MysticMind Donating Member (279 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 05:56 PM
Response to Original message
3. not yet
I'm not sure if anyone we have now can beat Bush. They're all weak.
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battleknight24 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 05:57 PM
Response to Reply #3
5. Dean looks like he's the front runner... but...
... no offense to anybody, I don't see enough fire and passion in him...
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dkf Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 06:04 PM
Response to Reply #5
9. Well Dean's got the most fire and passion in the bunch.
I think he's got more than enough.
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Granite Donating Member (195 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 08:58 PM
Response to Reply #3
19. What?
They're all weak? Why the gloom and doom? I think we have great candidates top-to-bottom.

Look at poll numbers from January of 1992 - you'll see GHWB well ahead of all of the Democratic contenders, including WJC.

We'll be okay in the General - what Blue states are going Red this time around?

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0007 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 08:58 PM
Response to Reply #3
20. What do you know?
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corporatewhore Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 05:57 PM
Response to Original message
4. Personally idont see how dubyas electable
he has singlehandly fucked americas credibility economy jobs environment and not to mention allowing the leak of the identity of a cia agent (which in poppy's book is treason)
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battleknight24 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 05:59 PM
Response to Reply #4
7. You're right, Bush has f*cked a lot of people, but here's the problem...
... there are a lot of stupid people in America.

At least that's my hypothesis...

How else did Bush get elected???




Peace
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ThomWV Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 06:28 PM
Response to Reply #7
14. He Didn't
Here is what we learned in 2000. There are about 337,000 more smart people in the country than there are dumb ones.

Thom
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mlawson Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 06:27 PM
Response to Reply #4
13. Electable? If I had a dollar for every 2004 voter who votes for bush
Edited on Wed Jan-07-04 06:27 PM by mlawson
simply (and I mean SIMPLY) because they LIKE him, I would be quite wealthy. Multimillionaire, that is.

Just like with Ronnie in 1984.
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knight_of_the_star Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 08:55 PM
Response to Reply #4
18. For once, Poppy is right
Treason as the Constitution includes "aiding and abbetting enemies of the United States of America."

I think that leaking the identity of a CIA agent would qualify as aiding and abbetting, would you?
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Cocoa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 05:59 PM
Response to Original message
6. where have you been?
Haven't you noticed how great all our candidates are?

Never mind MessedUpMind, they're all strong.

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Iverson Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 06:01 PM
Response to Original message
8. yes and no
Any of them are "electable," but without serious attention to the likelihood of electoral fraud, that won't much matter.

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Spirochete Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 06:18 PM
Response to Original message
11. Only 9 of them.
Assuming we have a fair election. (Yeah, right)
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i_am_not_john_galt Donating Member (229 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 06:24 PM
Response to Original message
12. "absolute moral clarity"
"we state our position ( pro-civil unions, at least right now) with
absolute moral clarity"

You defeat your goal right in your very sentance. If you really believe in full marriage rights for all, you state THAT with perfect moral clarity. Otherwise your moral is not clear at all, much less perfect.
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Touchdown Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 08:29 PM
Response to Reply #12
15. You responded to the wrong guy.
It was me. You're right of course. I was just using gay marriage as an example, in terms within the current platform that most of our candidates are taking right now. I, personally am for full marriage (including the term) because we don't need symbolically separate drinking fountains.

I'm not well experienced in writing screeds, so any criticism is appreciated.:-)
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rbnyc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 08:51 PM
Response to Original message
16. We need your confidence.
What will give us the edge in election '04 is not to have the perfect, pre-approved, poll-proof candidate. What will give us the edge is our ability--yours and mine and the people we know--to be confident and act positively toward electing a Democrat.
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jsw_81 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 09:24 PM
Response to Original message
21. Absolutely
We have a field that includes a five-term governor, three US Senators, two US Representatives, a four-star General, and a former Ambassador. Don't let ANYONE tell you that our field is "weak" or "unelectable." The fact is that we have one of the strongest fields in decades.
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w4rma Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-07-04 10:00 PM
Response to Original message
22. Dean and quite a few others. (n/t)
Edited on Wed Jan-07-04 10:00 PM by w4rma
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