Why would anyone support Gephardt?

[onebigbadwulf]

1. He's a previous failure
2. He voted for the patriot act trusting Ashcroft for no apparent reason.
3. He vote for the complete ban of late-term abortions


He sounds more like Bush than bush. I don't care what he says or promises, his actions speak louder than words. And we can see that he will sign things without reading them and challenge women's rights.

[JohnKleeb]

1. His economics are definely not Bush like

now socially he could be better, its that foriegn policy thats been bothering me about Gep. BTW my grandfather supports Gep and opposed the war, I should get him to support DK :D.

[onebigbadwulf]

2. On economics

I will agree to that (minus the 87 billion repug gift bag).

[JohnKleeb]

4. Yeah

and part of what makes me a dem is good old economics. I am disappointed in Gep myself but I wouldnt consider him close to being like a republican. I think Kucinich would be good for my grandfather, both are spirtual, both very pro labor.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

38. Wow, a lifetime career of standing up for unions and the working class

sure doesn't mean much around here does it? But makes speeches about how you're pro-porn, pro-pot, and anti-war and you're fecking Paul Wellstone.

[JohnKleeb]

39. sad isnt it

BTW hes not my candiate as you know but I like him, and I found out today he was my grandfather's pick.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

40. Your grandfather is obviously a brilliant man

Any argument that can be made for Kerry can pretty much be made for Gephardt I think.

[JohnKleeb]

41. Yes he is

Great man. Retired bricklayer and veteran of the Korea war. I think hes a social moderate and a new dealer like on economics, he loves Truman and FDR the most, has a particular like of Truman for relieving McArthur thus saving his ass remember Dougie wanted to invade China and my grandfather was in Korea at the time. Hes always voted democratic as far as I know, he opposed the war very much, and a lot of what Bush is doing. Hes a blue collar guy and Gephardt really is great on unions. I have to admit if Kucinich drops out I will take a look at Gephardt. He's a union person and union issues are big for me. Thanks WCTV.

[JailBush]

3. Amen!

And isn't the Gephardt the one who's been missing in action? I think I remember reading that he has failed to participate in a lot of votes because he was too busy campaigning. I believe he was especially condemned for his failure to protect HeadStart from a Republican ambush.

If Gephardt or Lieberman win the nomination, I'll vote for the, then run for the nearest restroom to puke. But I would NEVER praise these bums. I would tell the world how disgusting they are, but remind them that George Bush is even worse - or just as worse but supported by a political party that is even more corrupt than the Democratic Party.

It's really disgusting that Gephardt and Lieberman are even participating in the preliminary ceremonies. All they do is divert attention from better candidates.

[Scott Lee]

5. Gephardt shows up for pro-war photo ops with President Dumb

He wouldn't miss one.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. I don't get it either, for that matter, I am against anyone

in Congress being allowed to run in 2004...

they have not shown any real opposition so far, why would they start now?

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

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[WannaJumpMyScooter]

8. I don't know why you have to resort to personal attacks like

that. I was not attacking anyone who supported Gep. I said, I just don't understand it.
I know that he has been at the forefront of SS and medicare defense. But at what expense?
One issue doth not a President make.
I fear his support for * shows his ineptatude at understanding foreign affairs, and his support for the Patriot Act should automatically put him in the GOP.

There is no point to having SS and medicare as we slide into a repressive dictatorship... we will have bigger worries than that.

and I stand by my assertion that except for Robert Byrd who was the only Senator with enough balls to vote against the 87B for Iraq, no sitting Member of Congress should be allowed the nomination this time.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

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[WannaJumpMyScooter]

29. edited by an ignorant adolescent

redacted to avoid a tombstone

Let's just say there are lots of ways to serve this country. I have. I know what I have done.

I have no idea what you have done.

Gephardts record shows what he has done.

Good day, sir.

[nuxvomica]

9. I support him because I think he has the best chance of beating Bush

I think he's an honest man with strong, working class values who's had to make some tough decisions for which folks without much responsibility for anything but their own hides are wont to demonize him. I don't see him doing a lot of flipflopping or waffling or polling his constituents to find out what his conscience is going to tell him to do. Demagogues scare me and I'm tired of being scared and so are an awful lot of voters that have lived through the nightmare of the past three years.
Fundamentally, he's more likely than anybody to upend the forces of globalization and corporate greed that are at the core of all the social, economic and foreign policy issues we grouse about all the time here. If he's the man who can do that, I don't care how many times he's photographed in the Rose Garden.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one

I just can't see it in him. To me he represents everything that is sleazy in Congress.

Sorry.

I have tried to understand the man, but I can't.

[kodi]

11. forgive me, i forgot, you're one of those who expects democracy to be tidy

you want purity, go find a priest,

or work in politics and you'll find out that rarely are things black or white....just like life.

[nuxvomica]

16. Hey, you have to go with your gut and I respect that

It's not easy being a Gephardt supporter around here but I have to go with my gut too.

[eileen_d]

12. Yikes, what an un-Lounge-like thread!

Someone talk about sex, quick!

[JohnKleeb]

13. but people dont like sex

:( but I am sure one will string up :D. Sex is fun, stick around you'll like it here.

[eileen_d]

15. Actually the sex threads make me bitter

Because it's all theoretical talk for me at this point :cry:
OK, I'll quit feeling sorry for myself... in a couple of hours! lolx

[JohnKleeb]

19. If you need to feel better after a longday come here I guess

[Faygo Kid]

14. UNION

Those of us who believe the union movement has immeasurably enriched this nation have trouble criticizing Gephardt. He is not now my first choice, but I could support him unquestionably, because he has always stood up for working families.

[JeniB]

17. I support Gephardt because he is the best candidate for the job.

Gephardt has the experience needed to guide us through this tough time and I don't mean only the war. We are at a time when we are not the United States of America, we are the Republican States of America and Dean would like to make us the Democratic States of America. Well, we are the UNITED States of America and that means everyone counts. We have spent far too much time with everyone trying to get things their own way. Gephardt stood with Bush on the war because he knew that if he voted no and walked away Bush would do whatever he wanted. By working with him he got him to at least go to the UN. Bush had to listen to him to get his vote. He TRIED, which is more than the rest did by just voting and walking away. Gephardt understands better than anyone that running a country is a give and take. I have sat with him a few times and talked about these issues and I can see his concern for the things he needs to vote on. He obviously doesn't vote just the party line, he votes his conscience. Sometimes the answer is not just left or right. I like someone who knows his own good heart. He hasn't voted a lot this year, but he knows what is being voted on and when and who is going to vote what way. If he can make a difference he is there, but there isn't much right now that the Repubs can't ram through with or without his vote. How could he possibly run against someone who has no job at all and not miss some of his job. If he was running against Bush right now and not taking time off you would be complaining that it doesn't make any difference if he's there so why doesn't he get out and campaign. And don't try blaming the mid term elections on him, it was all of us. Did you go out and get a Dem elected? I did and he did. The Repubs will have power as long as the Democrat voters don't get off their duffs and vote.

[JohnKleeb]

20. Jeni, Gephardt isnt my guy but thank you for explaining

Hes my grandfather's guy and my grandfather is a good loyal democrat. Gephardt isnt my exact kind of dem although I like him a lot on economics but hes a good guy I think.

[JeniB]

21. Thanks JohnKleeb

I think you are the most fair and balanced guy around here.

[JohnKleeb]

27. Naw but thanks

I perfectly can see why one would go Gephardt you know, on economic issues and that IMO is how the party needs to move forward well Gephardt is great in that respect. I admit I have been a bit disappointed as of late but for me at least being very pro union it would be good.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

42. Gephardt and Kucinich stood up to the corporations and voted against NAFTA

A lot of people won't forget that. I guess Gephardt's good showing in Iowa is bringing out the attack dogs of the Dean and Kerry campaign. I'll take Gephardt over Dean or Kerry anyday.

[JohnKleeb]

46. I heard that too

My grandfather was telling me about it. I like the party socially liberal but I want us to embrace what Gep and DK embrace economically as well.

[Skittles]

18. THEY DIG PEOPLE WITH NO EYEBROWS

THAT'S WHAT IT IS

[Zomby Woof]

25. best answer yet

:D

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

44. Just like Kucinich, Gephardt is attacked for his looks

Any normal human can tell that Kerry and Dean are the ugly people in the race, but only Kucinich and Gephardt get singled out for their looks and "funny" last names - too Eastern European and working class for many people it seems. Much better the good Anglo Dean and Kerry.

The consistency is amazing. In a less polictially correct time, we'd be making fun of Sharpton and Moseley-Braun for their hair and the way they talk. Instead they get faint praise, clever huh?

[JohnKleeb]

45. I thought Gephardt was a German

Actually Ive never seen Gep derided for his last name but its amazing that we have so little diversity in our presidents. I am a proud non anglo :). Both of these two men combined are great union men that is Gep and Kucinich, I tell you of any of the 9 candiates if I could ask any 2 to march with me, it would be those 2 and maybe Edwards. They know their rotos.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

47. hm well look at who is called ugly and who is called telegenic

Everyone praises Sharpton and Moseley-Braun for their TV apperances, and no one dares to make fun of their hair or names, you know, because they are *black*.

Aside from the actual good looking people in the race, Edwards and Clark, everyone else is pretty much ugly old white males. But hearing people call Kerry handsome and Kucinich ugly? A Dean fan complaining about Gephardt's looks? It's ridiculous. I think it's part of a cultural bias, among other things.

[JohnKleeb]

48. I am not sure

Actually I hear Clark and Dean and Edwards being praised as the most handsome. Cultural bias? you mean like Western Europe VS the East? :shrug: could well be, seriously I think its neat that Kucinich isnt an Anglo. I call it superficiality honestly.

[onebigbadwulf]

22. In a repug controlled congress..

we don't want them getting anything done.

[JeniB]

24. That's true.

But Gep is one guy who is not content to just vote against them. He wants to get in there and change their minds. You can't do that if no one has any respect for one another just because they are from a different party. By staying in the game, Gep got Bush to go to the UN. In the end he couldn't get the UN to be involved, but he wouldn't have even tried if it weren't for one guy who wasn't afraid to try because of his political future. You see, if he doesn't get elected, Gep will still feel like he did everything he could do to make this a better place. A lot of politicians won't do those things because they are afraid of what it will look like. I don't want a coward for a president.

[JeniB]

26. On the ban on late-term abortions issue -

I will have to look it up because I don't know the specifics of it but I can tell you that Gep is pro-choice. The only thing I can think of is that he voted yes in exchange for a change in language. I know that he will soemtimes see no chance in stopping a bill so he throws himself on the sword and votes with them in exchange for making important changes in the language.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

30. He did not vote on that one

Or on the 87Bill supplemental spending bill

[nuxvomica]

31. Didn't vote on the so-called "partial-birth" abortion ban but did on 87B

I recall him saying that he couldn't in good conscience deny necessary support funds for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. But I found one site that said he didn't and another said he did. According to the Congressional Record, he did. I lost that link but here's the one that said he did: http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_keyvote_detail.php?vote_id=3329&can_id=H2180103
It's very hard to get the record straight sometimes, even with the Internet at hand (and sometimes because of the internet). When Gep appeared on Hardball, a woman in the audience asked why he didn't appear for a particular vote. He looked surprised and said that he had. There is a lot of misinformation out there and people are making decisions based on it.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

35. That's interesting. The house website said he was abscent.

Who to believe?

[nuxvomica]

50. From the House website:

http://clerk.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.exe?year=2003&rollnumber=562

[Rhiannon12866]

51. I would vote for Gephardt in a heartbeat over Bush*

Doesn't anyone else feel the same way? He has the support of labor, he regrets voting for the war, but supports the troops. He has a plan for universal heathcare. He is a man with a plan and I feel that he has a great deal more to offer than the warmongering Bush*. How can anyone feel otherwise? If he can get the nomination, I will support him gladly.

[sleipnir]

28. No

He's next after Lieberman on my "never would vote for in my life again" list.

[Zomby Woof]

32. I have no idea either

But I also ask, "What the HELL do people see in Howard Dean???" :shrug:

[onebigbadwulf]

33. I like him because he

reminds me of Clinton, and I fucking MISS Clinton right now.

[Zomby Woof]

34. I am still puzzled

Clinton had charisma and charm, and could laugh at himself easily. The most gifted politician of our lifetime, and we may never see his likes for another generation or two. Love him or hate him, even his enemies admit he has gifts and magnetism.

Dean?? He has all the warmth and charisma of sandpaper, and his smirk rivals that of the Chimp. Politically, even more centrist than Clinton and too damn angry. And yes, before you say "Well, I am angry too! Look at what Chimpy has done, blah blah...", I say, well, a candidate must be more than just a vessel for our negative emotions - they must have something POSITIVE to offer. Clinton knew that an optimistic campaign *cue up the Fleetwood Mac* would appeal to a broader base, than one based on anger and bile. Clinton knew WHEN to be angry, but for Dean it is his only tune.

Dean is a bore and a wretch. We're in deep shit if he is the best we can do.

[JeniB]

36. I agree completely!

With Dean you either love him or hate him and I hate him. That smirk so easily changes my mood. It makes me crazy and everytime I mention the word smirk, Bush comes to mind. So I equate Dean with Bush. I sincerely think we are doomed if he becomes the candidate. I will campaign for anyone but him. Although I would vote for him in the general if that's my only choice. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. I heard that the Repubs are giving money to his campaign because they think he would be the easiest Dem to beat. For once I think they might be right.

[JohnKleeb]

37. Jeni I talked to my grandfather today

Hes for Gephardt too. Gephardt has undoubtly disappointed me on like foriegn policy issues but I think hes pretty good socially and good economically. He is more conservative than I am, that is my grandfather but he wants a people's president economically too, you know what I mean. He is just more conservative socially but no not very hawkish at all. Hes not my pick but I like Dick and I can see why my grandfather would support the man.

[Rhiannon12866]

53. I know that you can support a candidate that supports labor, John

Despite the fact that two unions that have just come out in endorsing Dean, Gephardt is still the best friend that labor could possibly have. Edwards comes from a labor family, as well. Could you support a Gephardt/Edwards ticket? This would draw support from both the Midwest and the coveted South.:shrug:

[elcondor]

52. Great post!

"A candidate must be more than just a vessel for our negative emotions." I agree completely! :yourock:

[curse10]

43. LoL

I love you Zomby!

[Kolesar]

49. Cuz NAFTA exploits workers and encourages manufacturers to pollute

Yes, corporate America, with NAFTA you get all that and more:
Denied rights to organize
Less Regulations, and -- the best part --
Higher Earnings!

Yes, with modern trade treaties, your cruelty and short sightedness goes straight to the bottom line!
That means bigger bonuses for you, Mr. CEO and more, better snorkling vacations in the Caribbean*.

*void where imminent revolt may occur