Is John Kerry the right choice only if he wins? I think yes no matter what

[bigtree]

I see posts that are reserving judgement on John until he wins. Does that mean these folks will blame Kerry for a loss? What is our responsibility? What is the media's responsibility? What is the voter's responsibility?

Why the fair weather support for our excellent nominee who has offered to carry our causes into the election?

[ibegurpard]

1. I think he has done as well as anyone could expect

against the lying, cheating, criminal Republicans and their media mouthpiece.

[Booster]

2. If Kerry doesn't win (shudder) it's not because he didn't

try; it'll be becaue they stole the election. I think Kerry is the person we need to calm our country down from both Clinton and Bush, and he will need everybody's help to do that. I am 61 and Kerry will be the first candidate I am voting for because I want him to win. In the beginning it was ABB, but not now. I really like him and if he happens to lose, no I won't blame him - I'll blame the entire country.

[benburch]

3. I was a Kucinich supporter, but...

I seriously do not think that anybody else could have done as well in the face of these liars as JFK has.

[mzmolly]

4. John Kerry has my FULL support, but I won't know if he was the *right*

choice until election day. :hi:

[MichiganVote]

5. To go up against the Republican machine is not for the faint of heart

I think that John Kerry will do fine. But hey, lets remember the mess he has been left with. Anyone looking for quick result can forget it.

[seabeyond]

6. no way will i blame kerry, i squarely put that on the american

people. i told a fundie friend today, universe in the last four years has given everyone the info to easily vote bush out, and kerry and his history and what he offers us is a clear choice. if we chose to not elect kerry, then it is theirs to suffer

[democratreformed]

7. No sir. John Kerry is one hell of a candidate and one hell of a man.

I am still reeling from coming face to face with the slime of this election. I don't know where I've been for the past few months, but, tonight, I read a piece on John Kerry that was positively slanderous and borderline insane. Then, I come here to DU and find out this crap has been circulating since June. It has already been debunked on the urbanlegend site. It is some purely idiotic crap pulled from a political parody website. I saw it in a newspaper where someone had a full page ad disguised as an article.

It takes all these crazy made-up quotes and presents them as fact. I swear I don't know how we are going to survive this election. I have never seen so much crazy low-down shit in all my life.

Now, since John Kerry is our candidate and "on the inside" of this election, he has likely known about this crap and God knows what else like it for a LOOOONG time. That's why I say he is one hell of a man. How in the world has he been able to take all this hatred and venom directed at him. How in the world has he been able to withstand the constant putrid peronal attacks? I am so proud that he is willing to take all this for us. Win or lose, he is great. And, I truly believe he was, all along, the strongest and best candidate to take on this task.

[The Straight Story]

8. Elections are ugly any way you go

Kerry was slammed by some here in the primaries. Now he is the golden boy.

bush sucks ass. Kerry is better but what he does while in office remains to be seen (any links to his total/overall record so far?).

He is the right choice - but is that because mainly bush is the wrong one? Or is it because kerry reflects a progressive view? I cannot say myself - I will have to wait until he serves 4 years as president and then see. Maybe he will suck. Maybe he will not.

My question to all is - how much do we credit him/debit him for things? If the economy picks up is it because he changed things? If so expound on those as they come up. I worry sometimes that we give too much credit/power to the president over things (from indian affairs to jobs) and not enough to others who influence policy.

I believe that kerry will do better - that he will hire better people and do more for all americans. But I also realize that both he and * can only do so much. So that leaves me with this:

Are the changes we want so dependent on kerry/bush or are they more dependent on the people of America? If bush wins, can we still make a difference through truthful and honest education on the issues?

Clinton had 8 years. Homelessness rose, Indians are still where they were years ago, and so forth. If we rely on kerry/clinton/bush alone I think we let ourselves down. WE are the solution - the president can help things but to me the people are the real solution. Whoever wins, let us work hard to help all people. I would rather spend less time bashing bush and more time effecting change myself. Presidents come and go - we can chart the course.

bush is an idjit. We all know that. My hope is that we look past him, decrease his power, and work together as a people to make things better inspite of him :)


Thanks for your post, it raises interesting questions and opens the way for people to work for a solution.

[noamnety]

12. The changes we want

Many of them are absolutely dependent on Bush/Kerry. All the corporate responsibility ones, all the judicial appointees at every level, not just the supreme court.

All you need to do is browse this: http://ideamouth.com/appointments_and_disappointments.htm#Judicial to understand how much the decisions of the president directly affect our lives.

We the people still have a hell of a lot of work to do, but some things (fighting media consolidation and corruption, for example) will be far more possible with the right man at the helm.

[democratreformed]

14. Well, here is something that I have just now come to understand.

Sure, I'm a novice. This is my first election in which I have paid attention to every tiny detail - or at least I though I was. Then WHAM! - tonight it hit me.

I am honestly steel shaking my head and fighting back tears. Tonight, I picked a little paper (one of those free ones). Inside, I found an ad - cleverly disguised as an article. It was the most sleezy, slanderous, manipulative crap I have ever read. Come to find out, it was nothing new. The crap in the article (presented as truth) included crazy quotes supposedly said by John Kerry. This stuff has been around since June. It was taken from a political parody site.

Even before tonight, I had come to really like John Kerry and believe that he will do a great job. Sure, it will take him some time and he can't do everything. But, I do believe that he has his heart in the right place.

After tonight, I now realize that the "electability" thing that helped determine that JK would be our candidate was really the most important issue. And, I believe that we chose the right person. For him to have survived the crap that I saw and God knows what else - is a BIG thing to me. However much I LOVE Wes Clark, I don't believe he could have ever survived this. I truly believe that this election is special and requires a special person. John Kerry, so far, has shown that he is that special person. How can someone who is willing to take on this kind of slimy election NOT be a great President?

[The Straight Story]

18. Understand that - which rich white guy will win?

Now that you are more aware, make sure you keep an eye on all these folks.

We have two rich white guys running for office. We are voting for the richest white guy. He is better than bush on things, but we need to keep an eye on him all the same.

The folks on DU and other places I hope will make kerry do a good job for all people. I fear though that some will let him slide, like they do now, because he is not bush.

What has kerry done for us so far? Will he keep that up and if he fails will we blame rethugs in congress?

I want kerry to win, badly. Change is needed and good right now. I hope that we all keep working hard to make chnages in things from BBV to american indian issues and do not make excuses for kerry if he fails us out of fear (ie, if we criticize him than the right will look good). I hope we rise above their standards and do our best - we are better :)

Thanks for the post and insight!

[democratreformed]

22. I understand and I agree. We can do better and we definitely need

to work for that. I don't think I will ever stop paying attention again. And, yes, I fully intend to hold any admin accountable- no matter which party they come from.

I understand about the rich white guy thing. (I'm a poor white woman - lol). That needs to fixed too. The whold damn system still needs ALOT of work, IMO. I still cannot believe all the crap. Sometimes, I feel like we're living in a dream world - where some of this stuff is just too crazy to actually be happening.

The fact that we openenly and without any remorse whatsoever (and without any REAL attemp at disguising our intent) INVADED and TOOK OVER another country still makes my head spin too.

I guess it's kind of like one of my co-workers said after watching the last debate - "To hear them tell it, we don't have any problems - because they're gonna fix them all". We have to make sure that the DO work to fix them. BUT, with *Bush, there will be no making sure - because he has made it very clear that he does not care what we think or want.

[JohnKleeb]

9. Won't be Kerry's fault if he loses

My judgement on Kerry is that we were right to nominate him and that win or lose, I'll always like and admire him. Such a great man he is.

[Iceburg]

10. If he does lose (v. unlikely) we welcome him to be the next Canadian PM

of course there would be 33 other nations vying for him. He's yours ... be proud America!!!!!!!!

[mzmolly]

23. I'm all for it cause I'm thinkin "Canada" if * wins.

:hi:

[bigtree]

26. mzmolly

tough nut, would you really abandon our country to Bush? There's always impeachment. We took down Agnew, then Nixon. The outrage would overcome any disillusionment.

That said, there is a wide divergence of interests and concerns that far outweigh Bush love. These should come together on election day and crush. I've never seen our party so united. I mean, you and me? Miles apart on most stuff, united against Bush. Thanks for your support of John.

[mzmolly]

27. Impeachment? If that were gonna happen, it would have by now.

Would I have abandon Nazi Germany? Hell yes.
Will I abandon the US? I don't know. I am glad the party is united, and I feel that it is, but if Bush gets in again, were in for unimaginable bullshit. But, I have a child to consider, so yeah ... I might leave and I don't think I'd even look back. :hi:

[AlCzervik]

11. I think he is the right choice

look at the absoulute shitstorm he's been through for the past 6 months and he's not only held up, he's help up very well. think about all the attacks he's had to fend off, really nasty still and he's still in there.

[secular_warrior]

13. Kerry was right choice no matter what. Edwards I would question.

I thought and struggled with this alot, and came to the conclusion that John Kerry was the only acceptable Democratic candidate (not too moderate/conservative) who could've won.

And I'm definitely not one of the cheerleaders. I would've preferred a more partisan message, don't like many of Kerry's recent votes (IWR, Patriot Act, etc), and wish the campaign was run tougher and smarter. But he can do what none of the other candidates could've: rid the world of the evil that is Bush. Kerry has the toughness and resume none of the others candidates had.

Edwards is the choice I would question. I like Edwards, but believe we should've chosen someone more experienced and tougher who could've been the attack dog -- the traditional role for the VP candidate.

[fairfaxvadem]

15. I agree "Yes"

And for many of the reasons in the Mark Morford piece from the SF Chron that was posted earlier.

Kerry isn't perfect, certainly not my "ideal" candidate, and I will never live to see my "perfect" candidate, because I'm a fairly bleeding heart, give away the farm, give folks a major hand up in education, healthcare, etc., borderline pacifist but not quite (I have my limits on what kind of shit to put up with), kind of person.

Kerry had the skills and experience to put up as good a fight as anyone in the Dem flock could have this year.

If he is not President of the United States come November 3rd, none of the Dem candidates were going to be President on Nov 3rd.

[skjpm]

16. From a previous Dean supporter, Kerry is the best choice

I probably agree with Dean more, but I don't think he could have withstood Bush's attacks. And I think the press would have killed him. Kerry is fighting back harder than I thought he would, and it's clear he wants to win.

Edwards was my second choice. He's absolutely terrific, but he still needs some seasoning. Kerry looks mature and speaks confidently. Edwards was a little nervous in the debate. But I've seen him speak, and he's marvelous and I hope we have 16 years of this administration.

[Doctor_J]

17. he's the only one who could've withstood the hate machine

i think Dean or Clark or even Edwards would be toast by now.

[Neecy]

19. yes

After the third debate, it was clear that not one of the other candidates going for the nomination could have stood there and been so incredibly impressive, so utterly ready for the job - and mind you, I liked all of the potential nominees.

I'm proud that he's now the head of our party, whatever the outcome. He's out there fighting like hell, and now we've got to make it happen for him. GOTV!

[Smarmie Doofus]

20. He's done much better than I thought....

he would. Frankly, I thought the big red (state) machine would have it all wrapped up by now. I think K's been helped by the fact that Bush is ... well... Bush. And I think the Republicans goofed badly by agreeing to THREE debates. Kerry is probably not a "better" debater than Gore, but I think stylistically he had everything Bush is lacking and I think people saw how ridiculous Bush really is in a way that the Bush- Gore match-up did not make obvious.


Keep in mind, Bush had a record to defend this time, and needed to demonstrate a command of complex issues instead of merely projecting the impression that he is CAPABLE of such a command... which was all that was expected of him in the 2000 debates. And , whatever else, he failed to demonstrate a command of anything. It was a ridiculous performance, especially the first debate ( which was the one most people watched).

JK's other asserts: hugely intelligent, politically savvy beyond expectation, flexible when flexibility is called for.
Also, he benefited from the left's disgust at the prospect of Bush, et al, for 4 more, so there has been plenty of troops and $$$$ ( usually a big disadvantage for the Dem candidate)this time.

Problems include inability to project warmth via tv and, of course, hanging on to anti-war constituency ( including me) while calling for a continued presence ( 4 more years?!) in Iraq.

If elected, this is gonna cause him major political problemas in term #1, no matter what he decides to do about Iraq.


I'm glad K is the nominee; anyone else would have been toast by now.

Paul

[Awsi Dooger]

21. It's the ultimate bottom line endeavor

I won't blame Kerry if he loses. He has given us everything he has, no significant flubs and fantastic in the debates. More than I expected. Even the sentences have (finally) been shortened and sharpened.

Nearly two years ago I argued a personable Edwards was our best chance to oust an incumbent, given the dynamics of that chore. I stand by that assessment.

In the horrific event Kerry does lose, there would be no reason for me to repeat it given the inevitable crushed mood on DU. I hope anyone who feels need to rip Kerry will base it on something they wrote here before the primaries or general election, not pure irrelevant Monday morning quarterbacking.

[The Chronicler]

24. He is a two-termer

He has the gravitas necessary to win two terms.

[Lefta Dissenter]

25. I hadn't realized

what a fighter he is. And strong and thoughtful, and funny, and certainly better-looking in person than on tv! :D

We can all look at the records during the primaries, and get to know some of the candidates to a greater extent, but there's nothing like seeing someone under fire month after month that gives you real insight as to his character.

If we lose this, it's because it's being stolen from us. I think we owe him and Teresa undying gratitude for all the hard work and abuse they've endured for our country.