This might be a little premature, but...

I was a strong Dean supporter during the primaries. His positions just seemed to jibe with mine more than any other candidate. When it became clear that Kerry was going to be the nominee, I was very nervous.

The one thing that kept me paying attention and willing to keep an open mind though, was the fact that some very smart people on DU had great confidence in Kerry. Last night I saw that that confidence is deserved.

So, thank you long-time Kerry DUers for being patient with the Deaniacs. It was rough sometimes, but just look how far it got us. You now have a staunch Deaniac who is busting butt to get Kerry elected and who is armed to the teeth with knowledge of why Kerry will be a great president. Thank you.

:toast:

Now, I never disliked Kerry, so much as felt he'd make a great chief executive but I feared he'd campaign without adequate force against Bush*. He was on my 'short list,' so I wasn't too disappointed he wound up being the candidate. I guess you could say Kerry was my 'head candidate,' and Dean was my 'gut candidate,' if anything.

I won't get into my judgment on whether I was right about that -- largely, Kerry's been hampered by poor coverage, so that even when he did attempt to 'fight back' it was watered down or ignored. Many of the problems Kerry's had, in other words, haven't been problems he's caused -- some have, but that's true of any opposing candidate in any national election.

I am incredibly pleased to see that the Kerry campaign took the debates very seriously, and that Kerry acquitted himself well. I told Mr. Nownow last night before it started, though -- it's not a matter of Kerry screwing this up, he won't. It's a matter of how well Bush* performs. I figured Kerry would come through -- I'm actually kind of surprised Bush*'s handlers didn't do a better job with him somehow. It was a microcosm of Iraq, in a way -- they've known this was coming for nearly four years, they knew they'd have to put him up naked on a stage to face an opponent at this point. I can't figure out why they didn't do their homework and train their 'soldier' properly to face his opponent. Bush* performed miserably, just like his guys have performed miserably in Iraq. I don't get it -- all that money and all those advisors, and they couldn't do any better than that?