All right people. Help me out here. I gotta pick a candidate.

We have a deep bench this time, an impressive array of talent. I'd be happy with any one of them, but none has gotten me to my feet like Howard Dean did in 2004. I'm liking Edwards' populism, Obama's ideals and HIllary's pragmatism; Richardson is very intriguing; Biden has surprised me with how much I like him; Kucinich stands for much I believe in (except UFOs :-) ).

According to you, what makes one rise above another?

Please no mudslinging posts. Posters of calumny will go on my ignore list.

Our primary is early February.

Not supporting choice or gay rights is a deal-breaker.

Not that strong on women's rights since his daughter only changed his position on choice a few years back, but he's got everything else covered.

And, if more people would actually vote for him, he might actually win, which would be a shot into the bow of the DLC.

I really don't have a candidate - no one I'm backing feverishly, but, if nothing changes by the time I vote on Feb. 5, I'll be casting a ballot for Kucinich because he best represents me.

He's not a phony populist (who was DLC the whole time he wa sin the Senate) or voted for the war or usurps GLBT rights. He's just who he is.

station yesterday and I can't tell you how much I was impressed with his intelligence and knowledge of worldly matters. First chance I get I'm gonna buy his book, Nemesis

Have you read any of his books? If so, what did you think of them?

whose focus has been the preservation of the Constitution. Chris is taking brave steps (filibustering the Senate virtually alone) in support of his beliefs.

To me this exhibits the leadership Democrats and the country need.

More: http://www.chrisdodd.com

Affordable and of high quality. Teaching should be one of the most respected occupations in the land.

she put it on her website, she i think is really cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08iKrQOqzxc
she is strong on womens issues.

As for the top 4 candidates, so you have people left for super tuesday (in case Kucinich drops out)
health care: Edwards and Hillary seem to be the most serious on Universal health care coverage
hil/edwards/obama are going to be good for the enviro, edwards probably a little stronger
Hil has gotten GLBT endorsements
and for education, definitely hillary, it's in her genes, she's worked for childrens issues and education since law school, and very much in arkansas.

so personally i think Hil and edwards are your best bets. jmo. :).

Obama is a different breed of politician. Classy, poised, "above the shit". As Biden said, he's a rock star. He's fresh and sincere.

Edwards is a tiger. He's feisty and smart. He cares.

Biden is solid and experienced. He's pissed off for sure but he his emotions don't get the best of him.

Did this help or hurt?

to have cornered the market on the good ones :-)

to be able to rally around even one of their own, we have a whole field of excellent candidates.

Now I would've voted for him in a heartbeat.

Wrote him in both in 1976 and 1980. But I'm going for Edwards this time.

I took that and boy, do I know myself. Kucinich was my first choice on that thing and my last choice among the Democrats was Edwards, whom I despise.

(FWIW, all the Dems ranked before any Republican).

Because record and experience *do* matter.
www.2013IsTooLate.com
wwwthedifferenceoniraq.com
www.richardsonfor president.com

and is a big fan of Richardson. I'm intrigued. I do have to find out more about him.

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/35485.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19863018/

http://www.nowpublic.com/new_mexicos_nuclear_governor_grooming_bill_richardson_bob_anderson

Richardson may criticize other
Democratic Party presidential contenders for their past actions
and votes on the war in Iraq but his record is much the same,
not different enough to warrant notice. This is important because
when a voter evaluates a public official for truth it is the
experience and past record of the candidate that tells us a lot
about future possible actions. Richardson's man selling point
is his experience in public service. If Richardson applied his
yardstick to himself he would come up short and working more
for the private sector than the public.

There's also that whole impeachment thing.

Thing is, I like a lot of the other candidates too. So having a hard time making up my mind!

The immoral and illegal acts that the repukes will pull to rig the 08 election will require someone who will stand up and resist. What if the repukes take it to the Supremes again? What if the repukes rig the voting machines in a large electorate state again? Though I think Hillary is a fighter, I think she is too much in the corporatist pockets. She may back down if the corporatist offer her a sweeter deal.

Obama is pushing a let's all get along ideology. I don't believe you can get along with fascists. The repukes are fascists and only want their own way. Their idea of compromise is to wait until the other side takes the bait and then reel in their corporate give aways. Bill Clinton backed down on investigating Bush Sr. and look what resulted - the corrupt man's son stealing two elections.

The rest of the group are all pretty much willing to go along to get along, except for Dodds. But Dodds doesn't have the poll numbers to beat out the top three Democratic candidates.

That only leaves Edwards. The media are afraid of him, the repukes don't like him and the corporatist and CEOs wish he would go away. He is a proven fighter and his populist ideals will win over independents. I say Edwards is this country's best chance of not having another repuke steal the presidential elections again.

The system itself is not trustworthy. And we're not about to let UN observers in to monitor our elections, nooooooooo :eyes:

He's polling well below HRC and Obama nationally.

BTW, I wouldn't want press if I were an Edwards fan. The press will only show how his record doesn't match a damn thing he says today, which is seems most people don't know.

You have a while to go.

Your right, we have a fantastic set of candidates. Any one of them, including the non-top tier ones, would do well against the abysmal republican field.
Staying undecided at this point helps me keep my blood pressure down. I understand the appeal of jumping in to one of the camps to be part of the excitement but until I have to pull a level (being here in NC I imagine it will be decided by then) why settle on any candidate yet?

"I'm not ready to buy, so why start shopping?" as it were.

Obama's ability to reach out to independents and repubs. puts him a nose ahead of the other in my opinion. He has a clear track record in Illinois and Washington with working with the other side to get things done. But like I said, you can't go wrong with any of those three.