Lets Just Say There Are Three Major Parties In the U.S.

[THUNDER HANDS]

A conservative, moderate and liberal party.

All get somewhere's around 30-something percent of the vote. No clear majority for anybody.

And in the 2004 election, the three major candidates running are:

George W. Bush for the conservative party.

Bill Clinton for the moderate party.

John Kerry for the liberal party.

For whom do you cast your vote. (note - I'm not even entertaining the lurkers here and putting Bush as an option, so it's between Clinton's moderate party and Kerry's liberal party.)

And yes, I do think Kerry is significantly more liberal than Clinton, enough so that if this were a European parlimentary system of government, Clinton and Kerry would probably be in different parties.

[bif]

1. I just wish there were TWO major parties in the U.S.

n/t

[DuctapeFatwa]

2. amen! and that one of them would run a "liberal" candidate!

[THUNDER HANDS]

3. Kerry is a liberal

He's the first real liberal with an excellent shot at the White House that I can remember.

Granted, I haven't followed politics that long, but I think Kerry has a better chance than Mondale or Dukakis did.

[DuctapeFatwa]

4. bush will try to smear him with that label, in fact, he already has

It will be up to Kerry's supporters to expose the lie.

[THUNDER HANDS]

5. so tell me Mr. Fatwa

Who's more liberal than Kerry with a viable shot at winning the White House this year?

[DuctapeFatwa]

6. Well, who wins is up to the nice man who writes the check to Diebold

but the small fraction of Americans who vote do not tend to see being "liberal" as a good thing.

You may recall that Al Gore did not win by a landslide, and the voting class has shifted considerably to the right since 2000.

[THUNDER HANDS]

7. they have?

When did this great shift take place?

Right now you have a single Democrat, John Kerry, polling even with Bush. That doesn't sound as if the country has moved further right.

This country moves in circles, not right or left. It's all a matter of catching the voters on the right day. This week Bush may win, next week Kerry may win.

The election is gonna come down to the last 72 hours. There is no ideological shift involved. Just short attention spans.

[DuctapeFatwa]

8. Yes, it has. Think back over some things. Patriot Act, Gitmo,

No-fly lists - all popular with voters. There's even been a shift to the right on this message board!

[THUNDER HANDS]

10. you mean stuff that was passed after 911

When the country was in hysterics?

I'd call that political opportunism, not necessarily a reflection of a rightward shift in this country.

And a lot of conservatives don't like the Patriot Act either, BTW.

[DuctapeFatwa]

11. The reason for the shift is irrelevant. What is relevant is that both

parties are running pro-crusade, pro-Patriot Act candidates.

Look back over the Super Tuesday numbers. Compare Kerry's results to those of candidates who proposed even a slight deviation from the status quo.

[sangh0]

12. Yep, everyone's voting for a new President

because they want to same thing they've been getting.

Sort of like the argument put forward that Kerry is going to continue pushing the Crusade, but won't say that unless DU approves first.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x462743#463296

[DuctapeFatwa]

16. that was about Kerry bombing Pakistan, his plans to continue the crusade

as it is now are available on his website, or by listening to his speeches.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

24. THe plans that you made up out of whole cloth

and can't quote or cite? Those plans?



lol, your tirades are ignorant rantings, nothing more.

[THUNDER HANDS]

13. the status quo is an insane meglomaniac

All our candidates were deviations from the status quo

[DuctapeFatwa]

15. Kerry offers a change of spokesman, and there are some indications

that quite a few voters are becoming disenchanted with bush - not his policies, just him. Kerry is a better speaker, more telegenic and has a gift for putting some pretty appalling things into much nicer words.

And that's all the change the vast majority of voters need.

[sangh0]

17. So why won't Kerry just say he will continue Bush*'s "crusade"?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x462743#463296

Is he waiting for DU to approve?

[DuctapeFatwa]

19. He does. his difference is, he will share the loot with other countries

And that's a promise that has already paid off for him :)

[rock]

9. Kerry

He's what's happening

[messiah]

14. Kerry is a liberal moderate just like Clinton is

[THUNDER HANDS]

18. Clinton was an extreme moderate

He was practically nailed to the center. Kerry's instincts are way more liberal than Clinton. Plus he has the military career and gravitas that Clinton didn't - which will let him seem more moderate than he really is.

Clinton was a moderate in liberal's clothing. Kerry is a liberal in moderate's clothing.

That's the difference, I think.

[messiah]

21. It all depends on how you define the word "liberal".

Kerry is not a true "egalitarian" so he is not left he is a moderate that's the way I see it.

[THUNDER HANDS]

23. Kerry is a liberal in the Ted Kennedy mold

Not exactly like Ted in all things, but from the same school of classic liberalism.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

20. I Voted For Clinton Because He WON

You offer a false dichotomy....

Clinton "moderated" his policies to meet the demands of the political environment he found himself in...


Hot Springs ain't Cambridge...


If there were three parties I would join the moderate party...


I don't think the left has the monopoly on common sense but I know the right sure doesn't...

[jsw_81]

22. Kerry

[AntiCoup2K4]

25. The Clinton DLC vs the Kerry DLC. You call that a "choice"??

What would be more interesting is a 4 party race.

REAL Liberals

REAL Conservatives

DLC Neocon slime

PNAC Neocon slime

Now let's throw REAL campaign finance reform into the mix. Guess which the top two parties would be. And of those two, guess which one would emerge the winner. (Here's a clue : NEITHER would be DLC Neocon slime!)