That's me hometown!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1657697

All these people who think nobody could possibly have voted for Bush, and therefore Kerry ran the "worst campaign ever", should all have a healthy dose of red-state odd-ness. That'll give 'em a healthy respect for what Kerry had to overcome.

everyone thinks like us. Duh <sarcasm>

Seriously, there are people out there who think Bush is a fucking prophet or something. Kerry had to overcome a lot of weirdness. He did a pretty damn good job of it too considering how many votes he really did get.

and the other think he's God.

Those who say Bush was ripe for the picking or that he was the worst president ever aren't considering that the Red Staters, or some of them, think he's the best president ever. There is a definite cult of personality working here. They love their cowboy.

Then there are those who will support anything under the "Republican" umbrella. I'm dealing with a courier now who thinks it's a big game. He want to talk politics every time he comes in. Well, that's being kind. He wants to go "nyah, nyah" every time he comes in. This is the guy I talked about who bounced his overweight frame around going "flippy floppy flippy floppy" when he saw my Kerry button.

He also mentioned that one of the other couriers is also a Conservative, so he'll be "out to get me too."

Oh really. I'm considering telling him to knock it off. I don't have to be harrassed at my place of work. And this is not a game. It pisses me off no end when people I know seem to consider it some kind of sporting event that they can cheer and boo.

No, people are living and dying by these choices. It is NOT a game.

Also, I think that attacking Bush backfired for us as well. People went into defensive mode, and I think we got some "protective" votes from angry people who needed to "support the president" regardless. The negativity did NOT help, I don't think. As I've said before...

That Newsweek issue that talked about the whole General Election did have some good stuff in it. One of the chapters that dealt with the Kerry campaign in September mentioned that the whole campaign was stuck in the doldrums because of all the negativity coming at them from all corners. When John Sasso came back, the first thing he did was ban Kerry from talking to all the negative people. This was a huge help in the debate prep that happened afterwards. (And the debates were what turned that into a close race again.)

Nobody, but nobody wants to vote for Wendy Whiner or Debby Downer as a candidate. Kerry tried so many times to talk about Americans as the 'Can-do people' and to state that our problems are bad, but that we can solve them with some positive action. I sometimes wonder if all the people who self identify as ABBers realize how negative and hurtful that sounds. There have always been the equivalent of ABBers in every race. (That's politics. Voting against someone can be a powerful motive.) But this impulse to turn on and attack our own is not helpful to the cause.

My husband doesn't have to worry about shotguns or other firearms at SChool Committee meetings. (And it's a damn good thing that we can't carry loaded firearms into Town Meeting or there would be big trouble.)

You have my sympathy. Not that you know this, but any idea why people seem to think they need guns in public buildings. (They miss them when they aren't there? Paperweights? Neighbors are dorks? Communists might attack and they would be the only line of defense against the evil red tide? What?)

1) If they ban them in public buildings, they'll think they can ban them anywhere else.

2)This is America dammit! I can take my guns anywere, especially public buildings, because they represent the government that is SUPPOSED to PROTECT my RIGHT to own firearms.

As for that one particular gentleman in Colorado Springs, he took the shotgun everywhere because he thought the police were after him all the time. He was a minor-league conspiracy theorist with a bird gun. However, I think that reasons 1 and 2 were probably on the minds of the 4 city council members (all republicans) when they voted to allow that crazed fool to continue to tote his loaded shotgun into their chambers.

You'd be surprised how many people's response to Columbine was "Arm the teachers, fer Chrissakes!" Their line of reasoning is that if guns are a problem, the problem can be solved by giving everyone else guns.

That being said, I'm firmly in favor of responsible of responsible gun onwnership for self-defence and recreation. However, I don't see why these people are so protective about their "right" to carry loaded guns into the lone city office building or any of our eight public libraries, or why they think it's a good idea to have more guns in school.

Not a mis-type. Guns are owned, sold, repaired and fondled by many people in MA. Fine by me. Most people are responsible gun owners. But that doesn't mean there isn't a problem. But that problem is in bad guys, teens and apparently terrorist getting guns. That's where the problem is. Dems have to find a way of making that crystal clear.

side to it. how terrorists are able to get easy access to weapons in the United States and use them around the world.

Kerry himself did bring it up a few times. but it should have been part of a bigger campaign message.

it would have helped with the accusations of weak on terrorism while also having a great reason for supporting gun control.