Why don't people encourage Sharpton and Kucinich to drop out

[Hoppin_Mad]

to the same extent as they encourage Dean ?

Could it be our delegates ?

Could it be our 600,000+ supporters ?

Could it be our record-setting fundraising ability ?

Could it be our power ?

Could it be your 'fear of Dean' ?

It's likely ALL of the above !

We're NOT dropping out.

We're going to Boston.

DEAL WITH IT !

Support your OWN campaigns instead of trying to coopt and steal ours !

[Dookus]

1. many do

I support Kucinich and Sharpton dropping out, as well as any other candidate who has no chance to win.

[revcarol]

4. $5.00 more for Dennis!!

Pledged to give $5.00 for each thread that says he should drop out.

NOT a part of the national campaign financing <disclaimer>

[pezcore64]

23. lol

i wouldnt openly say that...
someone mite go crazy with threads and try to bankrupt ya ;)

lol

[youngred]

5. no chance to win?

DK outpolled Clark, Edwards and Sharpton in Washington and Maine.

Its not about chance to win, its about smart party-wide electoral strategy and bringing all parts of the party together instead of marginalizing the left (because that worked so well in 2000!)

[Terwilliger]

28. red

you know I'm with ya...the left is already marginalized

The left is relegated to just basically waiting around hoping that Kerry can actually win and not become Bush-lite.

[cheezus]

2. because Dean was supposed to win

DK and AS were supposed to get delegates and fight it out at the convention. Dean was supposed to have won by now.

DK & AS are drawing small numbers. We can have a two man race plus these guys. In order to narrow to a two man race, 2 of 3 out of Dean, Edwards, Clark need to drop out.

[youngred]

3. Well considering you are one who has encouraged them both to drop

I find this rather disingenuous.

You don't have that many delegates

Your supporters aren't showing at the polls

Your record setting fundraising is only matched by your recordly stupid spending

Your power is limited as has been shown of late

Our fear of Dean? hahahhaha what's to be afraid of a moderate in progressive clothing?

Don't drop out, stay in and keep your voice strong but why are you attacking other Dems who have just as much right to voice their opinion as Dr. Dean.

As for co-opting campaigns....Dean has stolen all his progressive issues from DK...now who's co-opting

[Hoppin_Mad]

6. I've never encouraged DK or AS to drop out !

I've merely raised the question that if Dean is 'supposed' to drop out - then surely these candidates need to also.

IMO, NO ONE should drop out.

I would have liked to see ALL the candidates, including Joe, go ALL the way to the convention.

Don't misrepresent what I say

[youngred]

11. I apologize then

I may have confused you with someone else, but its that kind of disrespect for the campaigns of all the non-frontrunners to say they ought to drop out because they "can't win" or because they have no chance.

[dsc]

8. We have more cash on hand than any other canpaign

and the second most delegates.

[youngred]

14. yes, and the point is?

I'm not advocating Dean drop out, he still has a legitimate chance. You have the most money, but you've wasted so much of it that its hard to believe, and the second most delegates but a long way back from Kerry unfortunately

[Robb]

26. You want to talk disingenuous?

How about "You don't have that many delegates"? :eyes:

Dean's got 3 times as many pledged from CA and IL as Kerry, 4 times as many from Ohio, 6-0 from Vermont, and 2-1 going into Wisconsin.

Everyone who's running is afraid of Dean. And they should be. This is far from over.

[no name no slogan]

27. Where did you get those numbers for CA, IL, OH and WI?

I thought CA, IL, OH, and WI didn't have their primaries/caucuses yet. How can you claim these delegates as Dean's when there hasn't even been a vote on them yet.

That was the same mistake Dean's campaign made in IA and NH-- counting votes that had not been cast. And we know where that left him and the campaign.

Dean should stay in, and his supporters should stay with him. But it's not in their best interest to count votes that have not yet been cast.

[Robb]

31. CNN.com has pledged delegates

Check out this link for a fuller picture. Also, surprisingly good explanation of the Democratic party's primary process here.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

7. Uhm, where have you been???

We've been telling Sharpton, Kucinich, Braun, Lieberman, and Graham to get out of the race from day 1!!! You just didn't notice because you had a legit candidate, until now.

[macedc]

9. Sharpton Yes

He is a waste of space or worse (anyone remember Tiwana)

Kucinich is a real progressive pressure on the Dems for slipping too far into Kerryland or DLCland

[LuminousX]

10. Dean still represents a threat to Kerry.

Dean is the zombie that JUST WON'T DIE!

So, even as Kerry is running away in an enviable collection of delegates, they still keep their eyes on Dean. He is unpredictable, and fundamentally, his grassroots are a source of unknown energy.

[diamondsoul]

12. Um. I sympathize except I think you're

overlooking the several times a day threads about how Kucinich should drop out, and we've been dealing with them for months.

FTR, I don't encourage any of them to drop and, despite my personal dislike, that includes Governor Dean.

What does worry me a great deal is the intensity of the friction between Kucinich and Dean supporters. I have to admit I see it mostly here at DU and not so much in face to face meetings with Dean supporters. Localy they've been terrific for the most part, signing petitions for Kucinich to be on the ballot (and I naturally did the same for Dean), complimenting my speech on Dennis' behalf a couple of weeks ago, and one Dean Meetup Coordinator even invited a local Kucinich Coordinator to their meetup to get signatures when he heard we were still short in that district.

Seems to me both our campaigns have been on the recieving ends of some lousy treatment and we all need to stop sniping at each other.

[Guava Jelly]

13. For selfish Reasons

I'd like Al Sharpton to stay in the race.
The Reverend is a Remarkably Beautiful Speaker I have laughed out loud and cryed listening to that man.
Will he get the nod no!!
But man he's a great speaker.
I think Al is the Heart and Soul of the Democratic party.

GO CLARK!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tom Rinaldo]

15. On second thought, I fully agree with you Hopping

On another thread I did say something slightly different I realize. I guess I am internally processing my own strategy about how we can get the best candidate nominated, starting out of course by fighting for my favored one.

I don't think any of the Candidates should drop out. They all have important things to say, even the ones with no chance of winning whatsoever. I suppose it gets more complicated for some of us voters in the later primaries to decide who to vote for, if our guy seems obviously out of it by then, and the wrong guy is in front but not a lock.

It is much cleaner to leave that up to each individual supporter, for whatever candidate, to wrestle with. All of the campaigns have earned the right to continue for as long as they see fit.

[David Zephyr]

16. Well, The NY Times Actually Advised Kucinich and Sharpton to Drop Out.

But the piling on ontop of Howard Dean makes me ashamed to be a Democrat. It's vile.

CNN, more than any of the televised media, seemed to have made destroying Dean a mission.

Don't give up, Hoppin_Mad! I am hopping mad with you. :thumbsup:

[Mairead]

17. You're joking, of course. We DK supporters have heard nothing BUT

'he should drop out' 'when's he going to drop out' 'he has no business still standing' 'he's a loser' since he declared last year. And quite a lot of that --most, actually-- came from Dean supporters.

So: puh-leeze. Put a sock in it.

[Hoppin_Mad]

19. Thats just BS ! Most Dean supporters like DK (not Iowa though) -nt-

[Mairead]

20. No, actually, it's not BS. Ask any of DK's longtime supporters

and check the archives. It was very irritating.

Edit: I'll change that to 'claimed Dean supporters' if you like, since I don't in fact know more than what they said of themselves.

[Hoppin_Mad]

25. Poo ! Not True - Some reaction might be to the several "DK Supporters"

Who spend much more time attacking Dean than anything else, including one frequent poster who is so 'dedicated' to DK that he rarely even bothers posting in the pro DK threads, but NEVER misses an opportunity to viciously attack Dean - frequently even hijacking congratulatory Dean threads with his vitriol.

Some reaction is probably due to this, and the "One bad apple' Syndrome.

Overall DK is well liked by Dean supporters, and is the second choice of many of them.

[Terwilliger]

29. Now is not the time...

for Kucinich and Dean supporters to be fighting

[Lydia Leftcoast]

18. I'm adding an additional $5.00 to may monthly contribution, too

That's $35.00 so far, $5.00 for each negative thread about DK this month.

For the record, I have never urged Dean or anyone else (maybe Lieberman, come to think of it) to drop out. The more points of view presented the better.

[Raya]

21. Blowing $40Mill and Major Endorsements leaves some obligations

to being responsible to the future of the party not just yourself.

[geniph]

22. I don't want any of 'em to drop out

because all of them are raising issues that I want kept on the table. At this point in the process, all voices need to be heard.

Well, okay, I'll admit I'm happy about one person who dropped out...but I'm hoping all of the remaining candidates stay in there helping raise the issues we need to defeat the neocons in November.

[Nadienne]

24. It wasn't that long ago when

"We need to unite now behind Dean the Front-Runner" was very common here.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

30. Because Sharpton and Kucinich have worthwhile views that add

to the discussion. They are running to publicize those views, and most Democrats welcome a variety of viewpoints.


Dean, Clark, and Edwards are all running to be President. Personally I wouldn't encourage them to drop out because I think it will help Kerry if they stay in. But others who think it will hurt, may encourage those three to drop out.