SHOULD John Kerry run for the 2008 nomination?

He's clearly got it on his mind and is generally well positioned.

I'm breaking down the "NO" along the most common lines I've seen here. Feel free to post your own explanation for YES or NO.

After four more years of this shit fest he'll be able to run the 'we told you so' campaign and I don't think Americans will be able to deny.

He's not a fighter,plus he would be too busy with the "me too" with his opponent. That had to be one of the worst campaigns in history...along with the one Al Gore ran. When are we ever going to get a REAL DEMOCRAT to run...someone who is not a republicrat?? I'm sick to death of our candiates trying to be as rightwing as their rightwing opponents. x(

shitty campaign indeed.

were, both Gore and Kerry still won! Shrub has yet to ever be elected, so, let's not lose sight of that fact. I am sure tired of repub lite myself, though, and would not like to see Kerry run again because he laid down and played dead 12 hours after the polls closed, without even waiting for the mail ballots to be opened, and without demanding a recount and an investigation of the myriad reports of fraud. Now, some people have said they would have called him a "bad sport" if he had demanded the mail ballots and a recount, and to that I answer, "So what?"

Trust me, he can not win anything in the south. And I think that we need to at least win a few in the south. No democrat has been elected in over 50 years without being competitive in the south.

He'll do.

Let's run someone fresh....perhaps even a woman....

Isn't that the campaign managers job?

actually speaks! I, and almost everybody here on DU could have done a better job of answering the controversy about why he voted for the $87 billion!

I happen to think it's a lost effort to run a Senator for a national race. Take a look at history! The last Senator directly elected out of the Senate was JFK! That was over 40 years ago for God sake!!

I am a firm believer in the idea that "if you don't pay attention to history, you'll be destroyed by it. History repeats itself, and over-reaching, power grabbing, will defeat you! The same has happened to both Dems & Pubs. Obciously the PUbs didn't learn anything. The Dems will regain power, probably in 2006. I hope they are paying attention!

"actually speaks! I, and almost everybody here on DU could have done a better job of answering the controversy about why he voted for the $87 billion!"


He answered that in one fail swoop during the first debate. He had a great line in which he said he "made a mistake talking about the war".

John Kerry WON all three debates. The MEDIA, which is horrificly corrupt and one sided looked for anything they could to smear Kerry. The president got caught lying several times in traps set by Kerry, yet they just brushed it aside. The president lost his cool and charged the mdoerator yelling, but I guess that wasn't noteworthy either.


The debates should have won Kerry the presidency. Bush looked like a bufoon. Do you guys remember the losers on Hardball after the 1st debate saying Bush had done well? Then they changed thir minds 3 days later? Thats how bad the media was, lol.

Kerry ran a decent campaign. His only mistake was figuring out a way to combat the Swift Boat lies. He had a 7 point lead in August. He was seen as strong on security because of his war record, and the polls reflected that. The Swift boat liars + the media response to the debates and the "suprise" bin laden video two days before the election cost him votes.

he DIDN'T just make a mistake in talking about the war, he made a mistake in VOTING for the war.

Kerry doesn't convey strength and reassurance to the voters.
That's why Cheney's "vote Kerry and we'll all be killed" approach worked so well.

he conveyed a little too much reassurance during the campaign, perhaps, by not going on the attakc against Bush.

He made the decision between him and Bush "something about which reasonable people could disagree" instead of painting their differences in stark terms. Part of the problem is that there weren't major differences in many important areas, such as the Iraq war.

I wish they had taken the kid gloves off during that campaign. I wish Kerry would have said "Crooks and Thieves!" while facing the camera instead of turned away, but, there is no denying he fully showed his genius in debate! While Kerry was showing his inner genius, Shrub was showing his inner chimp and displaying a technological hump on his back as well. I personally think the debates are why more American's voted for Kerry and why Kerry won. Now what I haven't figured out is why everyone knows Shrub cheated and nobody has ever called him on it, notably Kerry.

It's the newer John Kerry that won't press the issues in his own Presidential campaign that gives me the willies.

-- born in New England but who claims Texas as his home -- someone who thinks of himself as a cowboy. Someone who can barely talk would be good, too. And someone who kind of behaves like a bully to our allies, and likes to shove American weight around. Someone who's utterly flat-spirited, anti-Science and anti-Intellectual.

Someone like that would be really great.

Absent such a candidate, I guess I'd take Kerry.

___

I voted an emphatic 'Yes' on your poll.

I swore I wouldn't respond to another one of these 2008 polls, but, but, today's been another emotional day for me. I picked Kerry because his experience, opinions and positions were precisely what I thought the country needed in a president at this time. We needed someone who was prepared to help us start fixing the problems we were facing as of 2004. By 2008, those poblems will only be worse. I'm confident that he'll be the right person to lead us from there, too. Particularly as he has decided to stay abreast of the evolution of our extant problems in addition to keeping an eye on the emerging ones.

Kerry needs to run a perpetual campaign from now until 2008. He needs to do the right thing and do as much as possible to defend our common good and advance progressive reforms. This needs to be done for it's own sake because it is right and because it will help people, regardless of whether it secures him the nomination or enhances his chances.

If you have been watching Kerry since the election, this is EXACTLY what he is doing.

I personally hope he gets the nomination in 2008 and that he wins the presidency. I think he has taken the bitter defeat of the election and made a conscious choice about it - if he cannot lead by being president, he will do whatever he can to make a difference for the better. He has decided to work for progress and take the initiative in a way that no prior defeated presidential candidate has ever done.

Some will view his activities with cynicism - as publicity for his 2008 bid - but I think Kerry knows he might win or lose in 2008 but the changes he helped to bring about over these next four years will last regardless of the election outcome.

And that is why I think he should run and why I would like to see him elected.

I disagree with the "poor campaign" opinion. IMHO, he was a great candidate running for office in unusual times. He actually came very close. By the time Bush gets done with this country we are going to need someone with Kerry's knowledge and experience to pull us up and out of the mess Bush leaves behind. I thought John Kerry would have made a great president in 2004 and my opinion is the same if he runs in 2008. He will have my vote.

Democrats have this annoying tendency to through away quality candidates, and the truth of the matter is that no president has ever been unseated during a time when the U.S. was in conflict with another nation. That worked very heavily against John Kerry, and I strongly believe that since he's dealt with all the nonsense, they couldn't pull anything new on him. He should campaign hard and he can win in 2008 -- the nomination and the presidency. Nixon did it, and we all know Nixon was no John Forbes Kerry.

Before and after the DNC, many people did not know who he was. Of course it was media bias, but the other candidates will have the same problem of unfamiliarity (with the exception of Hillary). I appreciate the fact that he is keeping his name out there. As far as the campaingn, yes it will have to be ran much better than 2004. Everyone made mistakes, and regardless of who the candidate was, he or she would have been smeared as well. Hindsight is 20-20. We should look to 2006 and support Kerry, Boxer and other Dems that are fighting against this corrupt, criminal, dangerous and evil administration. Back to the subject. I voted YES because Kerry has a right to run again. This is why the Dems will continue to lose elections by treating former nominees like has been trash losers.

I'd work for him again, even.

I thought Bush was there for the taking in 2004... I still can't believe Kerry couldn't beat him. :banghead:

He got out-campaigned, IMO. He allowed the Republicans to paint him as a "flip-flopper". He didn't address his Vietnam era anti-war activities at the start and allowed the whole Swift-Boat fiasco to happen. He came across unwilling to give a straight answer on anything and willing to say anything to get elected. He ran away from the word "Liberal".

"I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it." That's what most Americans remember about John Kerry.

I think he's doing a great job in the Senate, but let's find somebody else for President.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

vote. But I will add my two cents worth to the discussion.

While I chose to ride a different horse in the early primaries, before my guy announced I was torn between Kerry and Dean. After my guy announced, I remained torn ... except it was now a three way tear.

Each had plusses and minuses. My guy didn't make it to the end of the primaries.

In 08? I dunno. So far I see no need to change horses .... but I can always be convinced if the argument's made right. At the moment, though ..... no one's even trying, so why consider it?

I certainly welcome Kerry back into the fray. The more ideas the better. I loved it during the primaries. Generally speaking, the candidates ran against Preznit Precious far more than against each other. Precious' polls went down. I loved that part of it.

But I couldn't so I voted for the one that had the fewest votes.

My whole family has already said they will have his back.

He is possibly the best president this country never had...

I'm working on a documentary on thw 2004 race that has become a monster on it own...so much to say about the passion, the follies, the Lie Machine, the possible downfall of democracy unless we fight back or fall...PNAC... seeing all those for the other candidates that in the end wanted to fight hard in the common goal to end the Bush madness is stirring and monumental.

Watching Kerry speak passionately about the issues when I filmed him in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri in a variety of lucky close inspections and seeing his allies stand up for him has brought tears to my eyes when I see what happened on the tragic Election Day.

There is a lot of unfinished business to attend to, a lot of justice that needs to be done, a lot of lies that need to be squashed about John Kerry's life and legacy... it would be like leaving the Sisteen Chapel unfinished because we wanted to go play a meaningless game of poker instead.

John Kerry is on my side. I know that. If he runs in 2008, I am firmly dedicated to his mission.

Boxer or Feingold

I insist upon it.

I don't know if I'd support him in the primaries, though, it depends on who else is running.

The question is can the man learn from his mistakes--he came so close but sadly, he was playing chess while the other side was playing an entirely different game--cheater's Monopoly.

With the group of clowns crowding each-other to get into the office, I don't see how we can win. Might as well have a proven loser in the mix.

and plenty more

and then people vote in the primaries. If he's the nomination I'd be fine. I think he could do things differently with the campaign but I think having Mr. Dean as chairman will definietly help with this next time around hopefully and what else can they throw at him?

a. NO

b. HELL NO

c. OVER MY DEAD BODY

d. ALL OF THE ABOVE


The Correct Answer: (d)

TC