What do you think your candidate needs to improve?

What is he doing wrong? Where could he be better?

None of these guys are perfect. Trust me, if you can't see their flaws, Rove will. Pretending like somebody is flawless doesn't make it so, nor is it realistic.

I am sick of hearing what the Kerry people think is wrong with Dean or why the Dean people think that Kucinich isn't viable or why the Kucinich people think that Edwards is a sell out for voting for the war.

I am equally leery of hearing every single time someone even suggests that a candidate could change something or do something better, all of his supporters here instantly leaping on board and yelling how that just isn't so.

It is almost as creepy to think a candidate is perfect as it is for people to trash candidates.

his past pro life record
his vote on a flag amendment
On Edwards, not sure but I dont use the war as a litmus test because my backups are people who supported the war, and no my reason is not that, its their economic populism. So on Edwards, I think many Kucinichites like him and we know Dennis himself does too. Btw I found it ironic that Dean supporters do that to us when they were once viewed the same.

make a clear statement on the Middle East. That is an important issue for me. I would also like him to step up his campaigning and for him to play a little less nice. Ok, that is not a 'real' criticism, but he never touches how he differs from other Democratic nominees, just how he differs from Bush. You can figure it out if you are willing to read through stuff, but maybe he would do better to find a way to stand out in the crowd.

like most Americans and to be from the same place from which most Americans come.

I think America still has this star struck thing which is probably a result of having evolved from a monarchic culture which has subsequently gotten rid of monarchy both socially and politically.

America is still kind of confused. Sometimes we think we can only be governed by our social betters.

When people say Edwards is too young or too inexperienced, I think they're really saying, "Who do you think you are to think that you're better enough than me to rule me? Your daddy wasn't rich, and you weren't a Rhodes Scholar with a Yale degree? Who exactly do you think you are?"

I think a lot of problems with America right now are the opposite of America of, say, the sixties, when everybody felt they could be a Kennedy or James Bond -- when increasing wealth made people think they could move up social classes. Now, the problem is that opportunities to better your situation are being foreclosed, so I think there's real power in the message that John Edwards represents -- that one of us, someone without privillege, and with apparently few opportunities, can rise to the top.

So, I think the thing Edwards needs to do to win is the thing that will ensure victory. Ie, once he does this, it will tap into some very deeply rooted feelings people have about why America isn't working right now.

What he needs to do is show America that he is everyman, and that everyman is actually a very good person, and that Americans should probably prefer to be governed everyman, and that it's probably not a good idea to be ruled by an American prince. Clinton did this in 92 (although Clinton had broken into the corridors of power, by attending Yale and becoming a Rhodes Scholar -- there was something still "Prince and Pauper"-esque about his rise to power). Edwards needs to take what Clintod did a step farther.

And Clarence Thomas was in their class too, I think.

Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford between graduating from Georgetown and attending Law School.

That's why he got elected. (Even though he's from money, real money.) So I would say people want to be governed by their 'peers', but Bush proves the concept sounds better than it really is sometimes. And by the fact that Bush got elected, it sort of rejects the notion that people want to be governed by 'social betters'.

I love John Edwards, I don't know why more people don't. What's not to love? Great guy, straight-forward, basic values, wonderful family, absolutely honest, he is truly the 'what you see is what you get' guy.

For me it is foreign policy experience. If we didn't have this pesky global terrorism problem, along with a couple of wars to get out of and countries to clean up, and N Korea and Iran to resolve, I might well be right behind him. I might yet, 6 months is a long time. But for now, because the world is soooo screwed up, I want someone who I know is going to be able to handle it from the second he takes office. And that would only be Bob Graham or John Kerry. If Bob Graham hadn't suggested lobbing a couple of missiles at Syria, I might take him a little more seriously. So for me, it's John Kerry because he's got the experience and the record to prove what his policies are and that he does what he says he will do. We don't have time for any false starts or goof ups in 2005.

Improving the detailed quality of his policy proposals.

I'm a numbers guy. I loved it when Al Gore put that book of policy wonk stuff on his website. It showed to voters that he did indeed have a vision for America's future.

If Dean can do this with healthcare, the economy, and especially national security, his campaign would be exponentially better to me. That way, when the GOP starts screaming, "it's easy to criticize when you have no plan," Dean can point to his plan. It'll remove the accusation of "uncontributing whiner" from their arsenal.

Just kidding :) I'd like to see some of Perot's charts come back myself. I was about 9 or 10 for the '92 election, and that's about all I remember about the election, besides going into the voting booth with my mother and watching her vote for Clinton :)

I'm a Dean supporter and I have two suggestions (although I think they'd probably be good for all of them.)

1. Get some new material and snappy one-liners. Yeah, yeah, I know that stump speeches are given over and over. But if you ARE a supporter (as opposed to hearing someone for the first time) you have heard the same catch phrases ad nauseum and it's hard to drum up enthusiasm. Plus, your opponents have ALSO heard them and have come up with ways to spin 'em.

2. This will no doubt bring howls of derision, but so be it. Quit stressing Bush lied/deceived and push the "Bush is Incompetent" meme. I don't mean to abandon the deception issue altogether, but I think there are a lot of people out there who refuse to believe he purposely deceived but WOULD agree that he's made a mess of things. A "he doesn't know wtf he's doing" will resonate with a lot more people (especially those who "like" him personally) than "he's a lying SOB."

"Bush says he's a compassionate conservative. Most people just wish he was a competent one."

eileen from OH

I've written in the Dean blog about refreshing his stump speech with new material regularly.. maybe changing a few paragraphs twice a month.

Kerry is prone to make sarcastic quips much the way Gore did. The press will always use those against Democrats.

For Dennis I'd say get more of your real personality into the media. When they see you for you are, you are unbeatable.

in 2004

but not blues or classical, or else he'd be copying Dean and Kerry. Maybe jazz guitar for Gep.

Gephardt thats German isnt it, and is mostly if not all German. How about German music lol. Kucinich likes polka :)

Yep, my candidate needs to learn when to shut up. And to not frame everything in terms of vietnam or fighting; although maybe that appeals to a different 'target' group than me. And get more personal, which I think we're about to see more of in the coming up phase. And continue to speak so warmly of the other candidates, it's very appealing. That's enough for this minute....

I agree with the above posts and would add:

1) needs to start the outreach to minorities by using the many meetup volunteers....that includes voter registration drives and going into the neighborhoods to give the poor (in addition to minorities) a reason to vote for the dems...watching Seabiscuit, I marveled at how the American public had forgotten what dems have doen for this country...we need to remind them..

2) loosen up.....relax, you're in the race...now go with it...

3) if you're gonna roll up your sleves, lossen your tie....or better yet, take it off!!!

I really wish he'd get vocal about the Diebold voting debacle. He has the power to reach so many people, and sadly most don't know about how horrible these machines are. I wish he'd address it, do a web petition, or something!

Hopefully he puts up some "goal to reach" in the last two weeks of september(q3) to raise 5 million dollars in that time.

Money is how Dean got popular...money is going to be how Kucinich breaks into the mainstream media(and his great platform as well)...he must challenge his supporters to do everything they can.

Otherwise, I think he is solid on the issues and has the best chance of beating Bush out of all the candidates. Kucinich offers a vision of the future that no one else has offerered: One of peace, prosperity, justice and liberty. Kucinich is the way to go, if you're supporting someone else right now...I ask you to reconsider and take a look at the vision at www.kucinich.us

Thank you!

needs to work on those remote interviews and specificly his posture during them. I suspect his back is part of the problem but it gives him a tight look which isn't good.

He also needs to reach out to minorities aside from gays and lesbians. I know his campaign is trying and they will do it but it needs to get done. I have suggested him challenging Bush to a bilingual debate (Spanish - English) and using his treatment of LGBT people as an analogy for his treatment of other minorities.

He also needs to start campaigning in rural areas. A sleepless summer tour part 2 to rural areas would be genius. His gun position could get him traction there plus his history governing a rural state. Even states like Ohio and PA have significant rural populations.

as far as all of his stands go at this point. What can I say? That's what drew me to support him. There is nothing he has said that I could disagreee with.

Now what should he improve? Easy enough, there are questions he really needs to issue clear statements on, such as the Flag Burning amendment vote, and how he intends to fund military needs while making a Pentagon budget cut.

I'd say he should probably make a stronger statement about scrapping all Bush's tax cuts, at least initially. There isn't much choice to it, and the entire foundation for his platform is honesty and integrity. He needs to be more clear on the tax cut repeal, and why it will be necessary if he's elected.

Mainly it's just little stuff that voters are asking to have clarified, though.

NAFTA, he needs to explain why it doesn't work and has to be scrapped. I'm stunned at how many people don't understand that!

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I'd like to see him polish the public speaking. I've seen him speak in person and in several different venues. When he is just talking to people, he draws them in. Some better choices about when to be fiery and when to let people see the rest of who he is.