I am not that excited about Kerry

[neoteric lefty]

Note: Whoever becomes the Democratic nominee will get my full support in the general election. However, I am not super-enthusiastic about John Kerry being our next president. When I see him, I see a guy who has great ideals but doesn't seem to have stuck to his principles over his career as much as I would hope. I really think we need an outsider to come into the White House (one that is not a puppet of his VP and political strategists ::cough:: Bush ::cough::).

I am not really choosing one candidate Ive another, they are all 10x better than our current pREZ. Yet, when I look at Kerry and read about his actions in office my head says "o.k., that's good" but my gut says "he's not what we need right now". It is more of a feeling than a reasoned argument. I had the same feeling when Bush II was nominated. "This is the guy that conservatives are going to rally behind??? I may not like their ideals but the must be able to do better than this." I thought. I have the same uneasiness about Kerry (to a lesser extent). Again, I am not trying to badmouth Kerry or trot around another candidate. I am just letting you all know how some of us feel.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

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[Guaranteed]

2. You can't call people out like that.

He has the same concerns as me- and I'm no Republican.

[spooky3]

6. I also share the concerns and am worried that his communication skills

and style, while more than offset by strengths--for appealing to Democrats--are going to be problematic in the GE. I wish that were not true, but we have seen it happen in several previous elections.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[Cheswick2.0]

3. bush or kerry is our only choice?

This early in the year? Did you know that Clinton didn't lock up the nomination until june?
We have other choices besides Kerry.

[MercutioATC]

8. I'm not excited about Kerry either...

...and I find your characterization of anybody who isn't "a Repug invading a Democratic website" to be objectionable.

We still have a right to an opinion, don't we? I see Kerry as an example of exactly what's wrong with this party. Politicians like him are why politics stopped interesting me quite a while ago. If he's the nominee, he has my vote in the GE, but until then, I'd like to see him get passed over.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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[spooky3]

5. If all the "democrats bore you", why are you here?

[VermontDem2004]

7. I guess he wanted to show us something

:shrug:

[neoteric lefty]

9. I got back to the party late

so i don't know what was there in front of those "Deleted messages" but I think have an idea (I am sure I am called a republican infiltrator b/c I don't have 1000+ posts under my belt). As I said before, I just want to let you know about how some of us felt. Kerry is not a bad man or a bad politician. He has been good for our party and his service over the last 20 years has been worthy of our praise. I don't think, however, he is the best choice for us in these times. If you disagree with me then that is wonderful. Tell me why you think I am wrong and I would love to read it. However, calling me names is just petty and it has no purpose except to inflate your fragile ego.

[He loved Big Brother]

19. Agreed.

You can be a Democrat and still wish for more accurate Democratic representation.

Ignore sheeple who crucify those of us who refuse to settle for less than we rightfully deserve from our party. Demands for rank-and-file support for politic-as-usual do not resonate with me. That is a message of fear, not hope.

If we end up having to settle for less than the best (I know I will end up voting for the Dem nominee whoever he is), don't expect us to just shut up and be happy about it. Democrats disappointed with the current state of Democratic "leadership" are still Democrats. And we want representation. And for some odd reason, rank-and-file Dems always think "now isn't a good time" to start demanding such. Well, when will the time be right? Because frankly I'm wondering if these people will ever think it's a good time, and I'm only 24. I figure I have about forty or fifty years worth of voting ahead of me, and I'm not going to spend it wasting time waiting for change. I am going to vote for change.

Any Democrat will be better for the country than Bush, that's a given, and it's no large task to do so. But eventually there needs to be a nominee that's the BEST at representing the middle-class/poor, instead of just settling for "better than Bush". Higher standards in our party would be nice.

And damn, a little ferocity once in awhile would help wake up the bored and apathetic. Dean is proof of that. The party should be thanking him, and Kucinich, because they energized many new voters, and I believe if Dean ends up not being the nominee, the majority of those new voters (not all, but most) will vote for whoever is, whereas before they probably might have voted at all.

And contrary to popular opinion, we DO need their support, and it has to be earned. We could have definitely used the votes of Nader's progressive supporters *and* the Democrats who stayed home in 2000. But nobody wanted to rock the Beltway boat and put some effort into earning their support. It looky where it got us.

[rucky]

10. If you smile when you push the lever....

your vote doesn't count any more than if you do it with your other hand over your nose.

[neoteric lefty]

12. hehe

thats funny. If Kerry is our nominee, then of course I will support and vote for him. Inaction is just the lazy man's form of protest.

[Straight Shooter]

13. If inaction is the lazy man's form of protest,

was Gandhi lazy when he went on his hunger strike to protest the British colonialism of India?

BTW, Welcome to DU

:hi:

[NoPasaran]

14. Not at all

Gandhi's hunger strikes were forms of action

[retyred]

15. So tell us, what else doesn't excite you

Inquiring minds want to know!



retyred in fla
“Good-Night Paul, Wherever You Are”
So I read this book

[George_Bonanza]

16. I am not excited by Dean's hoarse, and snarky style

And you're not exciting by Kerry's droning monotone, or whatever you want to call it. People are different. No leader has ever had a 100% support.

[Alinsky]

17. Kerry will not win in 2004 Bush unofficial winner 2004

Karl Rove and the Republican leaders are laughing and laughing. They know that bush is the unofficial winner of the 2004 election. Do you all believe all the polls your reading in the paper? It would be difficult for them to outright fix the election like they did in 2000 in Florida and running Nader to take away liberal votes in swing states, so they fixed the 2004 election by the next best thing the media. Get over it Bush is the unofficial winner, in 2004.

Once Kerry has the official stamp of approval the real numbers will come out and they will be Bush 74% Kerry 26%.

Clark whom I had supported was the only Democrat that could of won against Bush in 2004.

[Kool Kitty]

18. Well, alrighty then!