Is Kerry electable?

[mojogeorgo]

This is for anyone who is concerned that the Democratic party is rushing headlong into a disastrous general election if the trend continues and Kerry remains the frontrunner. Many people who are not able to explain exactly what Kerry's accomplishments are, have said that they support Kerry because he is the most "electable" among the remaining Democrats who are vying for the nomination.

For some of us this is really disturbing, because we already see the handwriting on the wall. We have seen negative articles about Kerry pop up here and there, but they somehow have not gotten traction in the mainstream media yet.

Seeing Kerry on the cover of the National Enquirer this week was only a small taste of what is yet to come. Will Karl Rove have *any* reservations about insuring a constant barrage of anti-Kerry stories?

A hint of things to come--

--Kerry says Bush was wrong about the war, No Child Left Behind, the Patriot Act, etc., but voted for all of these
--Kerry was associated with "Hanoi Jane" Fonda in protests against the Vietnam War
--speculations about his drug use, Botox injections etc.
--Kerry was not yet separated from his first wife when he was dating Morgan Fairchild and other stars

If you are concerned that Kerry's electability is really an illusion--a bubble that Rove will easily burst once he has sewn up the Democratic nomination, feel free to download, print, and share this flyer:
http://bmgbiz.net/WorstEnemy.pdf

[bigtree]

1. Support and defend our nominee against slander, rumor, and innuendo

Votes already cast matter!Votes already cast matter!Votes already cast matter!Votes already cast matter!Votes already cast matter!Votes already cast matter!Votes already cast matter! Seven wins, two losses. Votes already cast matter!Votes cast matter!Votes cast matter!Votes already cast matter!Votes already cast matter!Votes already cast matter!Votes already cast matter! :)

[eileen_d]

2. I think the whole concept of "electability" is an illusion

I don't support Kerry because he's "electable." I support him because he's qualified.

[zoeyfong]

7. There are a lot of people who are more qualified than kerry.

In fact, i don't think kerry is particularly qualified at all.

[eileen_d]

9. I agree that many of the other candidates are qualified

in addition to Kerry. (along with many people who aren't even running this time around) As for comparative qualifications, he's high on my list along with Clark.

Care to share why you don't think Kerry is qualified?

[corporatewhore]

3. Not to old school conservatives who hate bushfor the patriot act

i worked hand in hand with them trying to get an anti patriot act res. here in austin they are fucking pissed we could really capitalise on this issue and get them to join if we ran an anti patriot act cannidate

[MurikanDemocrat]

4. Rove thanks you for your support

The Democratic nominee is going to be attacked by the dirty tricks machinery of Rove and the Republican Party no matter who it is. Fact of life.

This disingenous thread of yours proves you are only disturbed about one thing -- that YOUR candidate is not the choice of the majority of the voting public.

Sour grapes.

[mojogeorgo]

5. Think what you like, but...

You can think that if you like. People who are not die-hard Kerry supporters know that he has gotten a free ride not afforded to any of the other candidates. Kudos to you for being on the side of the candidate that CNN loves.

The DNC is trying to rush this primary process to an early conclusion before most people have even had a chance to vote.

We *are* allowed to have our voices heard--or is the Democratic party not about that any more? McAuliffe certainly seems perfectly willing to disenfranchise the vast majority of us before we have had a chance to cast our vote. Some of us are not willing to lie down and give up just yet.

Reposting, for anyone who is not a Kerry supporter and would like to help others challenge the electability illusion before it is too late.

http://bmgbiz.net/WorstEnemy.pdf

This *is* the time to question his electability--and there is nothing unfair about it because Kerry has been *more* than happy to question the electability of other candidates.

[MurikanDemocrat]

16. The only one who got a free ride was Dean

The media anointed Dean the front runner and crowned him the inevitable Democratic nominee for the better part of last year. Nobody got more benefit from media coverage that Dean did. The media all but declared Kerry dead during that whole time.

The public didn't buy what the media was selling and made their OWN choice and voted for Kerry instead. Kerry didn't get media coverage until AFTER he won IA and again NH. The media didn't pick him, the VOTERS did.

I'm sorry your candidate didn't do as well as everyone assumed he would. Nobody was more surprised than I was. His support just didn't materialize. That's not the media's fault, it was his. Voters just don't like him.

And trashing Kerry just isn't going to gain you any supporters on his side either. It's only losing you support. Can't you see that? He's sinking like a rock, ever since he started getting nasty and negative in Iowa it's been getting worse and worse. Some people just never learn.

[zoeyfong]

8. Democratic primary voters are not 'the majority of the voting public.'

Honey, kerry hasn't been touched by the $200 million dollar rove/corporate media smear machine. we'll see what the majority of the voting public thinks after that. and btw, there are plenty of dems who are not going to vote for kerry; add that to the repubs and moderates who won't vote for him, and he's not so 'electable' after all.

[janx]

14. Rove and his buddies won't go with this stuff much until

Kerry has the nomination in the bag. Then they'll unleash it with such force that even some democrats will be left open-jawed.

[Crunchy Frog]

17. I have to say I agree with you.

For all our sakes I sure as Hell hope he can stand up under it, and will fight back aggressively.

Unfortunately, I am not at all convinced of his electability, although I will support him in any way I can if he's the nominee.

[MurikanDemocrat]

20. Rove and the Republican machine is going to go after the

Democratic nominee with dirty tricks and smears no matter who the nominee is. Kerry is already getting broad based support from Dems, Repubs, Moderates and Independants. Dean is not.

This election is about getting rid of Bush. I've been prepared since day one to stand behind the nominee no matter who that ends up being. It may or may not be Kerry, we don't know that yet. But it's not going to be Dean, get used to it.

[sandnsea]

6. Not gotten traction?

First, the entire last year of the campaign was about the war, NCLB, and the Patriot Act. Not gotten traction. :eyes:

The Vietnam stuff is just old and there are now more people who agree with him then disagree. It's not going to resonate, especially with AWOL Bush. If they try to make that an issue when our soldiers' families are buying flak jackets on EBay and coming home to hotel rooms instead of hospital beds, they're going to look ridiculous.

The last couple of weeks has been all about special interest Kerry.

They dug everything up and threw it at him in 1996, it's all old news. It didn't work then, it won't work now. $30,000 from AIG? Against Bechtel who gave $800,000 to Pubs? $600,000 in donations over TWENTY YEARS? Against Bush/Cheney who raise a million in ONE night?

The truth is, there's really NOTHING on Kerry and it just ticks people off that there isn't.

[oxymoron]

10. That flyer is extremely offensive.

Kerry has a solid democratic record. It seems some Democrats are their own worst enemy.

[Nicholas_J]

11. The very term electable refers to elections

He has already shown that he can win them, He has recived more votes than all of the other candidates put together in half of the primaries and caucuses so far. So electable means, you can be elected, you can get more votes than the other guy.

By and large, it will be democrats who will be voting against Bush in favor of a candidate that they have supported. SO if he is the most electable democrat aomg Democrats, he is the most electable Democrat to run against Bush. Simple.

Then you look at national polls and state polls that show Kerry being the only candidate who people beleive will beat Bush in November.

These are not polls of just Democrats, but of Democrats, Republicans and Independents. They beleive Kerry will win because they want Kerry to win, otherwise they would say they thought Bush would win in 2004 when polled.

So with both polls saying that Kerry is electable, and elelctions saying that he is electable, He is electable.

Giving Rove and his group more credit than they are due frankly.They didnt win in 2000 because Rove was so smart. If you remember, Rove and these guys got caught fiddling around in Florida rather quickly.

It was a Supreme Court largely appointed by Ronald Reagan who let them get away with their fiddling with the vote.

Now If Reagans people had stolen the election, we never would have known a thing.

[republicansareevil]

12. I also don't think he's that electable -- but for different reasons.

He's not going to be strong with swing voters and centrists because they will see him as a New England liberal with a very high lifetime ADA. He's not going to energize the base because too many people are pissed about his votes on the PATRIOT Act and the IWR.

Because of his wealth, the middle class and poor won't identify with him. I don't think military people will identify with him either, despite the fact that he is a war hero. They may not "blame" him for protesting Vietnam, but I think they will see him as the product of another era.

I don't think Kerry's a bad guy. I don't like everything he does, but that's true of every candidate. But I just don't think he's as electable as everyone else seems to think. Remember the big question from 2000 -- which candidate is the one you'd like to have a beer with? It's shallow, but it's also a big factor. And I don't see Kerry winning that question.

Besides all that, how is he going to criticize Bush about Iraq when he voted for the IRW? Nominating Kerry (or Edwards) will kill us on one of our biggest issues.

[poskonig]

13. Is Bush electable?

You're asking the wrong question.

[Johnyawl]

15. If Kerry is not electable...

...then what does that say about the Dems that are getting their asses kicked by the Kerry campaign? If Kerry has so many negatives, how come Dean is 0 for 11 against him? Oh, I know the mantra right now is that the media has turned on Dean, and are ignoring Edwards & Clark, but do any of you seriously believe that would change when they're running against Bush? Do you think the corporate media would fall in love with Dean's folksy style, and suddenly turn on Bush? Are they going to swoon at Edwards boyish good looks and charm, and decide to expose * for the dolt he is? Is the Clark gravitas going to wake them to the superficiallyity of dim son, and swing them to his side? If anyone beliefs that, I'd like to have some of what they're smoking.

This is not about who's most qualified, or who's principles are the purist, or who's record is the most transparent, or even who's most electable: this is about who can survive, and win a campaign against the rw. And the candidate with the most experience at that is John Kerry. He's survived - and prospered politically - in spite of the mud, and dirty tricks that Nixon, Reagan, and Bush have thrown at him since 1971.

If John Kerry is not electable, then we are well and truely fucked, because the other three can't even beat Kerry, much less bush & rove.

[janx]

18. There's MUCH MORE where that came from--

from RNC research, here's a bit of it:

http://www.gop.com/RNCResearch/Read.aspx?ID=3897

[oasis]

19. Yes. I'm not surprised that most of the "concerned" hand wringers on

this issue, never supported Kerry in the first place.

Kerry leads Bush head-to-head in a majority of recent polls. Maybe Morgan Fairchild will come foward and change that with a paaternity suit.

Who's more electable?