A Feb. 3 Vote for Clark is a Vote for Dean

I have talked to all of my fellow Dean supporters here in SC and asked them to vote for Clark.

I feel that the only hope for Dean, is to slow the momentum on Kerry and Edwards with a Clark victory.

Is this a good strategy or not?

before clark, though I'd like to see Dean win delagates here.

I don't think Clark can win SC, if you want someone to beat Kerry in SC, I'd go edwards.

Edwards will win, a better showing by Clark closer to Kerry will slow Kerry's momentum. Clark first Dean second I like how Dean has come back fighting. I hate being told what to do and the Dem power brokers are trying to shove Kerry down our throat. The longer the primaries go the better because the * is getting pushed out of the spotlight and everytime one of them quits the race he seems to take a huge pot shot at * that the other candidates can expand on.

I'm a Clark supporter, but would agree with 1floridademocrat's opinion that Dean voters shift their vote to Edwards in SC, to insure an Edwards victory.

I'd go further to say that Dean supporters in other non-competitive states shift their votes to Clark/Edwards, as well, depending on which is best-challenging Kerry in that state. (see Post 8)

SC => Edwards
OK => Clark
AZ => Clark
ND => Clark

MO => just make sure the target candidate is viable; Kerry's
theoretical lead is big there, so you probably couldn't
steal the win.

DE => ?
NM => ?

and we welcome any votes we get.

However, it would be better to vote for Dean and keep his numbers up. Even if he doesn't win in states he's not contesting you don't want him to appear deserted by his supporters.

Negative momentuum is a real as the positive kind.

From your perspective, at best you help Neel work his rope-a-dope strategy by stopping Kerry's steamroll. At "worst" you help a guy who can definitely beat Chimp and make a great president.

I like him. He is the best choice. Its my privilege. Dean is a loser. Nothing can help him. Dean couldn't win with Diebold machines.

who is the ultimate threat to Dean!!! :eyes:

:)

> Vote for Kerry to stop Clark

Just plain silly.

Kerry, the DLC and a biased/lazy media are the ultimate threat to democracy for the Democratic Party. Kerry's so-called "inevitability" needs to be forestalled in order for all Democrats to get a better look at all the candidates available to them.

And it would be best for Dean to have Clark continue in the race, since Clark/Kerry compete for similar demographics.

I really don't understand how Kerry can be accused of being forced on voters. A) There are still viable candidates in the race with a real chance to appeal to voters and fight for the nomination
B) Dean was racking up the endorsements before Iowa by some big names (Al Gore, Bill Bradley, Tom Harkin, Molly Ivans, etc) and b/c of them is still in the lead in the delegate count
C) I believe the voters have had and will have the ultimate say (in the primaries, who knows what votes will be counted in November)
D) I haven't seen a major national name announce for Kerry since Iowa. (True, he has received the support of numerous state officials and a few US Senators like Corzine, but Gephardt,Graham, and others with national name recognition have let the race take its course.
I believe (and most polls reflect this) that people truly want a candidate that can beat Bush and they seem to think Kerry has the right mix of progressive ideas and broad-based qualities. Heck, if it were just about idealogical pie-in-the-sky agenda I would think most true Liberals would be queuing up behind Kucinich.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

... is to vote for your preferred candidate. END OF STORY.

Don't tell me we're injecting all this hare-brained "strategy" into primary voting now, too! :eyes:

Hey, it's a new paradigm; think outside the box; get your ducks in a row.

Dean's strategy is unconventional, to say the least, and it makes sense for his supporters -- in those states where they won't hit the 15% threshold, if applicable -- to shift their votes to a "viable" non-Kerry candidate, in order to minimize Kerry's build-up of delegates.

*Who* they shift their votes to would depend upon each state, as they'd want to make sure that the target candidate would be viable post-shift. Ideally, states where a Dean vote-shift would insure Kerry to drop from 1st to 2nd would be the best states to target (SC, AZ, OK), as it would lessen the media hype over a "sweep" and might even bring some attention to the frustration over the media and DLC's need to end the primaries before they've started.

Vote for Dean. Kerry will fall on his own. Vote for the right guy.

Dean needs to look strong in the south. How can he claim to be electable in the GE, if he cannot claim to be competitive in the south? Dean needs his meet-up people in the south to be strong and show up in numbers. Enough to make him look competitive.

IMO voting for Kerry works too. ;)

We'd welcome ANY supporter of Dr. Dean to vote for us tomorrow--or after tomorrow, for that matter! :D

B-)

But at this point, any vote against Kerry is a good vote. :)

If Kerry wins 5-6, the media will annoint him, the DNC (which wants it over) will help them, and both Dean and Clark will be done.

Dean supporters helping Clark win a couple keeps your guy alive to see if Neel's strategy will work.

It's just common sense.

Do you have any idea how delegates are chosen?

I think the OP was trying to help your guy stay alive. There will be no delgates for Dean anywhere if the media annoints Kerry.

why would you ask if it's a good strategy after the fact?

Reminder meetup tonight Feb 02, 2004
find an event near you

http://www.clark04.com/meetup/

Join 3 people in your area for mediocre political chats about how your candidate got a raw deal!

You don't even want to hear the adjective I would use to answer your question.

Edwards won't last past the south, at least I keep telling myself that

As if he were important or something. I almost lost my dinner.

Edit: ;-)

I'm voting Dean in SC tomorrow because I back Dean with my time and money. I do like Clark second but when I cold called Dem supporters I never asked them to switch if they are sure of who they want. No one should either.

If Dean attracted you by being anti-Iraq War, then Clark has the same position--only, he has a military background to make the accusation stick. So in this sense, a vote for Clark may be a vote for what you liked about Dean.

I don't think Dean is nearly as liberal as his campaign made him out to be. Clark, however, has a very progressive platform. He isn't radical, which I am glad about; he is also level-headed, and has run the same campaign on the same positions on the issues since his book came out last fall.

If you like Clark enough to vote for him, please do. But don't think of it as a vote for Dean; it's a vote for Clark.

What would Clark do?

I don't hear Clark saying "The only hope for Dean is votes for me."

:eyes: