Reply #22: I know where you're coming from. I like DK as well. [View All]

[TLM]

The abortion thing however is a problem for me. Also a problem for me is DK's desire to immediately repeal NAFTA and WTO without even trying to reform these policies.

NAFTA may have cost us a lot of jobs in manufacturing and hurt some agro jobs as well, but it has also helped create 20 million new jobs in other sectors. My job is dependent on NAFTA. The company i work for exports a lot of stuff to Canada and Mexico. If NAFTA goes away, our sales... sales that pay for my employment... go right down the crapper.

DK is right on a lot of issues, he is as you point out, our conscience. But the fact of the matter is, in politics, conscience alone isn't enough. DK is an extremist. Like it or not he is far far left, so far left he makes even moderate democrats uncomfortable.

We can't win the election with DK. The voters are not going to do a flip flop from extreme right to extreme left. They will however bail on the right and move more toward the center for a more balanced approach.

If I were to vote for the most liberal guy who is farthest to the left, it would be Kucinich. However I'm voting for the guy most likely to both win the general election AND who will have the best chance at getting his agenda enacted and making progress on these issues.

One thing that really struck me in Kucinich's speech yesterday was the comment he made, which was a shot at Dean's pragmatic outlook, saying that we shouldn't worry about what we can get passed. I'm sorry DK, but that's why you won;t get my vote... because that is exactly what a president should worry about. All the idealogical talk in the world means nothing if you can't get it passed. If you can not get it passed, you wind up with 4 years of idealogical arguments, failed legislation attempts, and no progress on these issues.

I do not want 4 more years of talk with no progress. I want a president who will focus on what he can get passed and who will figure out a way to make progress on these issues like that.

I do not want perfection, I want progress.