A Question for Kerry and Clark Supporters [View All]

[Tom Rinaldo]

I will try to use neutral terminology because my intent is not to be divisive. Do you feel under any circumstances either Kerry or Clark should consider suspending his campaign to back either the other man, or someone else? If so when should that point be? How would you recognize it when that time arrived? Finally, who do you think either man should back if he felt that he no longer had a realistic chance to win? Personally I think that last question boils down to either Kerry or Clark throwing their support directly to the other man to establish a more viable alternative to Dean, or conversely closing ranks behind Dean to promote party unity with Dean as the expected standard bearer. Obviously whoever it was could remain officially non committed upon withdrawing, and even more obviously no one can make either man withdraw if he doesn't want to.

I start out with some assumptions, the first being that it is premature for that bridge to be crossed right now. Both men and their supporters believe victory is still possible, and it would be foolish to realistically expect either man to stop fighting weeks before a real vote was cast. I am also working on the assumption that both men appeal to many of the same voters, which is why I focused the question on just Kerry and Clark. Because of their similar appeals, as military veterans with strong foreign affairs and national security credentials, I believe there is a group of undecided voters that waver between supporting one or the other of these two men, and an endorsement of one by the other might have significant impact, and even a simple withdrawal would help clear a path for his rival to appeal to those voters.

Another assumption, and this is the easy one, is that Dean is still the man to beat for the nomination, and that sooner or later the field will narrow to three, and then two viable candidates. My last assumption is that the later the field narrows, the more likely it is that Dean will get the nomination. So timing may be important. Even if both men stay in the fight through the last primary contest, that doesn't mean that supporters have to go down with the ship if it appears to be sinking. At what point would you consider jumping ship? Where would you go?

I thought through these questions some on another thread, but I will hold back my own further comments for a bit, or at least keep them out of this lead post, to encourage people to react more freely with their own.