Stem Cell research is a dead end.

[undercover_brother]

I support stem cell research myself but it is not one of those topics which fire me up. I dare say it will not fire up a lot of voters either. Looks like Kerry is trying to drive it home this week. The media is not going to pick this one up and it will be time and money wasted unless he somehow gets a big emphasis on it from the next few debates. We are 4 weeks out and it seems like he is drifting. The Republicans have been so successful not because they have good policies but because they are able to stay focussed on message and drive it home. I hope Kerry does not wander from message to message every few days leading up to the election. This confuses many voters who can only cope with a few topics when thinking about who to vote for. Overload some voters and they get confused about your candidate.

I don't want Kerry to wander too much, on the other hand it does seem a good idea to move the topics to help highlight his debate message. Domestic issues are coming up next. I just hope his campaign can effectivelly tie his stump messages to the debates.

[Shopaholic]

1. I disagree--

if you've got diabetes or someone you love has Parkinson's or Alzheimer's or any of a number of diseases I could rattle off, this is a very important issue and could actually swing some voters our way. But I wouldn't bet the farm on this entire issue alone-it's just one of many issues that we need to be talking about in regards to domestic issues.

[undercover_brother]

5. The topic is important AFTER the election

Kerry is not going to get media face time from this topic. The topic is important to correct once Kerry gets in the White House, but he has to get there first and this topic does not rally voters.

I hope I am incorrect, but Stem Cell Research seems like an awefully risky topic to center around so close to the election. I hope his campaign advisors know something I don't.

[AIJ Alom]

10. This may allieve your fears.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/20/health/main644470.shtml
Calif. Ballot Battle On Stem Cells

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/assignment7/060404_assign7_stem_cell.html

And it's on the ballot in several other states.

Remember Ron Regan spoke regarding Stem Cell Research at the DNC.

[Booster]

49. I disagree also because it shows Kerry in a more

compassionate light than the "compassionate conservative" in office. It shows Bush's stubborness in his own beliefs and screw whoever doesn't agree with him - he's right, everybody else is wrong. It fits right into his "resolute" even if you're wrong thinking. Go for it, John.

[klook]

11. Stem cell research is an important issue

Not only because it offers hope to victims of debilitating illnesses and their families, but because it's a glaring example of the Bush administration's focus on religious/social conservative issues at the expense of science, thus putting our future at risk.

Scientists and Engineers for Change are working to make voters aware of the importance of scientific inquiry as one of the cornerstones of our society. Stem cell research is one component of that.

Personally speaking, the only case where I prefer Superstition to Science is this:

[Bleacher Creature]

25. I agree with your disagreement --

As baby boomers approach old age, this issue will only get more play.

[CrowNotAngelGRL]

63. Definietly agree

it could help us as humans in the near future and I think Bush is a fool for not letting scientists do this. I read about Michael J Fox talking about it on Kerry's site and I have a great-grandfather who has really bad alzheimer's and a family friend who has it bad too. :( Kerry definietly should use this as much as he can along with the other issues.

[AIJ Alom]

2. I don't agree. I think he's setting Bush up for the domestic debate.

Stem Cell research is important to a lot of people. Perhaps not the MSM, particularly CNN who seems overjoyed to report on natural disasters. Love to see those "morans" near the volcano when it goes off.

[arcos]

48. MSM? first time I've seen this here...... n/t

[GumboYaYa]

3. The reason it does not fire you up is that it does not matter enough

in your life personally. If you were diabetic or had a family member who was diabetic (not to mention any number of other afflictions), you would care a lot more about stem cell research. I dare say that there could be enough voters swung by this single issue to swing the election for Kerry. To many of these people, stem cell reserarch is the main issue.

Stem cell research is a giant issue here in St. Louis. A few months ago one of the preeminent researchers in the area (the doctor who treated Christopher Reeves) announced he was leaving in part because of the archaic position on stem cell research in Missouri. Medical research is the life blood of this community.

Moreover, hitting stem cell research is just one more good example of how Bush is out of touch with the rest of the world.

[cheshire]

4. Noppity nope nope nope, nice try.

[autorank]

6. Respectfully disagree. It's huge if you or a family member...

have a disease that would have been cured by uninhibited stem cell research in about 1 year. That's right, 1 year. Researchers are not normally giddy or over confident. They are about Parkinson's, for example, which they said could have highly effective treatments in 4 years (that was in '81). How about Alzheimer's? The researchers tout huge opportunities for this condition also. The list goes on. I've worked with single issue parents (of handicapped children) or patients (with chronic Lyme Disease). Get them motivated and they'll tear anyone a new you-know-what to get a cure. All Kerry has to do next debate is list the diseases and nail *'s tail to the floor. It will be devastating.

[ixion]

7. I disagree. I think Stem Cell research, and more importantly

genetic research is the forefront of medial technology, and may be one of the only things that saves us from becoming obsolete once computers learn how to reproduce and repair themselves. :-)

However, in terms of an election platform policy, stem cell research could provide a great gateway to discuss how the Bush maladmin has obfuscated science for political purposes.

[tishaLA]

8. A dumb question, probably...

what is the history of stem-cell research (i.e., when did it begin? when did it first show promise?)? I ask because a friend says this is a bad issue because george is the only president who has ever funded it, even if he bans embryonic stem cell research. I understand the importance of using embryonic stem cells (as opposed to adult stem cells), but I don't know enough about science to say that nothing indicated the viability of stem cell research before george managed to fuck it up with his decision.

[Julien Sorel]

9. It's an attempt at creating a wedge issue.

Trot it out on the national stage of the debate, and it could become one.

[Gelliebeans]

12. I have to respectfully disagree

Stem cell research polls indicate a whopping 60% of Americans think that this research is important and the Bush message of "fuzzy science" doesn't hold up. My family and friends regardless of their political bias feel it's an important issue enough to sway them away from Bush this election. They are insulted by the idea that Bush has ignored scientific evidence in favor of his own agenda.
John Kerry is promoting this research because scientist do. People that could be helped by this research are already set back by 3 years since Bush signed that piece of paper in August of 2001. Another 4 years of his "politics" is just precious wasted time. To be honest I have a personal stake in this. So my view is a little slanted, but I think we should listen to the scientists. I'm glad John Kerry is for progress. <IMHO>

[AIJ Alom]

13. Check this out. it's in the news !!!

http://news.google.com/news?q=stem+cells+on+the+ballot&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=nn&oi=newsr

World news too.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/110030/1/.html

And local media in NH.
http://www.wmtw.com/Global/story.asp?S=2384239&nav=7k6rRbXr

[Gman]

14. The stem cell research issue has a niche market

For no other reason, those many of those votes would go to Bush. But because of the stem cell research issue they will almost all vote for Kerry.

Rest assured that if Reagan were still alive, Nancy would be voting for Kerry. She may still do so.

[mondo joe]

34. The niche being those who love someone with diabetes, alzheimers...

This is a BIG issue, especially in our country with so many people now tending to their parents or looking to their own elderly years.

[Rowdyboy]

15. Tell that to people dying....maybe they'll understand the necessity

to ignore the issue.

[Gelliebeans]

17. thank you Rowdyboy

for saying so that is the heart of it for my family and our friends.

[Warren DeMontague]

16. Tell that to my niece with CP.

Hate to disagree with you, bro, but I think letting the Christian Taliban dictate what kind of research we can and can't have in this country is the 'dead end'. The American people don't want a President doing the bidding of Pat "9-11 was caused by secular humanists" Robertson. Those folks are wildly out of touch, and just because they motivate a particularly rabid subsect of the GOP base doesn't mean we need to walk on eggshells around the subject of them. I respectfully dissent- I think telling people that we have a neo-luddite president who listens more to people who believe they're going to be teleported, star trek style, out of their minivans any minute now, than he does to scientists who could be saving lives if they were permitted to do their research, I think that does fire people up. I think pointing out that we have a flat-earther in the White House who believes "The Jury is Still Out" On Evolution (not to mention Global Warming).. Yeah, that fires people up..

Oh, and by the way, most americans are pro-choice, too. I don't think Kerry should have any compunction about using the "A" Word. Maybe, just maybe, his alleged 'slippage' among Female Voters is the fact that he conspicuously hasn't been mentioning the fact that, for example, if the GOP platform was written into law, the birth control pill would become a controlled substance.

I can't imagine that's a 'win' for the GOP if we start talking about it.

[VOX]

18. Eloquently stated, impeachdubya...

Word for word, right on the money.

Thanks! :toast:

[blondeatlast]

33. People don't understand that those of us who might be helped by SCR

are CONSTANTLY slowly deteriorating. I may look healthy, but my kidneys are at risk, I've already lost sight in one eye, I have very mild neuropathy, and have been treated for heart disease.

You would never know it to look at me though, that's why people don't think diabetes is slowly killing everyone who has it.

And I'm a HEALTHY diabetic, in many ways.

You nailed the issue, impeachdubya.

Not to mention, even if it is a "wedge" issue, President Kerry had the decency to show up and raise a loud cry in support of the issue.

It sure as hell ISN'T a losing issue for us.

[Ladyhawk]

60. Nice post.

I have diabetes and would like to see a cure. After hearing Ron Reagan's passionate speech at the DNC, I fully support stem cell research. And I'm SICK of fundamentalism holding us back from helping people. The same fundies screaming about stem cell research and abortion don't care about the kids once they're born. "Don't raise MY taxes!" Geesh.

[Barney Rocks]

19. SCR is OK as an

issue--but the domestic issues that will work best for us are the economy, jobs and health care. We especially need to emphasize health care every chance that we get. Most people are tired of being screwed over on health care costs.

[CrowNotAngelGRL]

64. Maybe when

Kerry talks about health care he can slowly add in the stem research since it kinda goes hand in hand.

[TexasSissy]

20. I think this is a big issue to some. Besides the specific issue, it also

represents how backward this administration can be, when it comes to science, and represents what happens when religion gets mixed up in governmental administration.

Not a HUGE issue to me, but I care about it. I wouldn't base my vote on it. Too many other issues that matter to me.

Could be that Kerry has some research on this that shows a lot of people care. It also fits in with his health care emphasis.

[undercover_brother]

22. I think you understood my point

People keep chiming in that stemcell research is important. "Of course it is. I know that". My point is that it may not be a strong enough campaign issue. Important policy issue? You bet. Will it garner Kerry continued positive coverage by the media? I am not so certain.

[tishaLA]

23. Yes. This is a huge positive for him

and it's an especially strong issue with women voters, on whom the burden of caregiving is frequently placed.

[TexasSissy]

37. Yes, I thought that's what I was talking about. It IS a huge campaign

issue for SOME. I just don't know how many. Since the Reagans are involved, it has generally gotten a lot of press this year. I would hope that Kerry has done some research to show that lots of people care about this; if a lot of people care a lot about it, IT'LL MAKE THE NEWS when he speaks about it. It is a highly controversial topic, which is always good for news. It also attacks the religious thingie.

[Bluebear]

42. He gained fantastic media coverage in NH today

Tearjerker town hall meeting. Older lady saying it's "too late for her" but she hopes Kerry helps those who still have hope.

[Gelliebeans]

21. bottom line is

Bush wants to skew scientists towards his own agenda and Kerry wants scientists to be allowed to their job.
I do get fired up.
It's not a dead end issue.

[cheezus]

24. How old are you?

There are a LOT of baby boomers out there who have had to take care of elderly parents with all manner of terrible diseases. They realize that THEY will be in this spot very soon and see stem cells as a ticket out.

[enki23]

26. whether it's a big "issue" or not, it's certainly not a "dead end"

.

[Princess Turandot]

27. Let's say your a baby boomer in your 40's..

..if it takes 15-20 years for stem cell research to come up with cures for diseases that begin to affect you when you hit your late 50 or early sixties, it may be in the back of the minds of more people than you think it is.

[BlueNomad]

28. wrong and

ridiculous..We have a young child who injects insulin. For diabetics it's not a dead issue....Virtually every person in America has or will be touched by diabetes, alzheimers, parkinson's and a host of other diseases that may be aided by such research... And everyone is living longer. It's a good issue to bring up and to focus on.

PS: It kills alot of birds with one little stone. Kerry today skillfully slam dunked it by saying Bush is sacrificing science to extreme right wing religious ideology. That covers pro-science, pro-health, pro-life and anti-right wing extremism. Good combos.

[blondeatlast]

35. Exactly. And on a personal note,

I was diagnosed with diabetes (in a coma as well) at the age of seven.

I'm 45 now, but still grasping to the hope of a cure. Your child will see the cure, I'm sure of it.

[BlueNomad]

40. thanks...

he's doing really well (11 now --has not been hospitalized in 4 years) but all it takes is one low blood seizure in front of your face and in the dead of night and well ---you know what I mean....When you've seen it, you're just sad inside. You just know he could die for all the wrong reasons.

[Lugnut]

29. I have spinal cord injury

This issue is pretty important to me.

[soothsayer]

30. Feh---it's a great issue, as scientists and smart people and those who

NEED this kind of research NOW, and those who see the need for this research for the FUTURE, and those free thinkers not beholden to radical christian fundamentalist propaganda, will see how Kerry is head and shoulders above dumbya in this area---as he is in ALL areas that help the US.

Bye bye, shrubbie! Don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out of the WH.

[BlueNomad]

36. Folks see the forest from the trees

... The issues around stem cell are:

Science vs. Fantasy
Intelligence vs. lock step dunderheadness
Freedom in research vs. government bans
Healthier senior citizens vs living forever ILL

GOOD HEALTH CARE!

[Piperay]

31. I agree

this issue is not going to fire people up enough to make a difference, Kerry needs to hammer away on the economy.

[mondo joe]

32. I think Stem Cell research is a CORE issue. Or should be.

I think Kerry needs to define himself apart from Bush on just a handful of key issues, and I think stem cells are one of them.

The question should be: Do you want to live with the same diseases in 20 years? Or do you want to support science and develop a means to end Alzheimers and Diabetes?

[blondeatlast]

38. Lots of birds, one stone (issue)

Support of scientific inquiry over religious dogma, and FLAWED religious dogma at that.

Medical research unrestricted by misguided governmental interference.

Victory over the predatory practices of the pharmaceutical industry.

HOPE.

I'm a PROUD, very liberal Christian, btw.

[Shopaholic]

41. My cousin died last year of complications from diabetes

at the age of 50. I have a form of arthritis which requires that I shoot myself up twice a week at a cost of $150 per shot. Thank goodness I've got great health insurance or I don't know what I'd do because there's no way I could afford this drug otherwise and every other arthritis drug had failed. I was diagnosed at the age of 29. Believe me, if you have some sort of disease like this or you've seen someone you love suffer horribly from one of these diseases, stem cell research is very, very important to you.

[blondeatlast]

51. Yup; I've taken insulin for FORTY years now.

Basically healthy, but have suffered some complications already; and nothing I already have is apt to improve. I have SEVEN specialists that I see regularly.

Our health insurance costs have risen 40% in the last two years, and Rx copay has been rapidly increased.

I know of uninsured who buy insulin only--they reuse their syringes (I pump, so I can't help them) and NEVER test their glucose. God help them; I don't even know how they manage.

Scary stuff indeed.

[GingerSnaps]

39. My Moms whole family died due to diabetes

I was the only kid in grade school that didn't have Grandparents. I also lost my aunt, uncle and my mom before I hit 20 years old. I don't have diabetes but my cousin has it and she is a young woman that has to inject herself with insulin several times a day.

It would be nice to have a cure for diabetes and other diseases.

[TheDonkey]

43. No way does it seem like we are drifting. Kerry's turned gold

this is definetly Iowa Kerry. Sharp, compassionate, clear.
The stem cell research speech is only one issue out of many and he handled it VERY well. Having MJ Fox there gives the media a celeb to google over, and his speech along with the sick womans were heart breaking.

[girl gone mad]

44. I couldn't disagree more.

Polls show a vast majority of people disagree with Bush's stem cell policy.

There are a lot of people in the scientific community who are looking to see where a Kerry administration would differ on funding. There are a lot of moderate Republicans who are increasingly unhappy with the control fundamentalists are exerting over their party.

[phish420]

45. Im mixed about Stem Cell Research

the main reason being, where do we draw the line? Do we use Stem Cells to cure Alzheimers so people live well into their 100's? Then when they start to weaken again, do we use more stem cells to take them to 200? I think there has to be a line drawn somewhere...

[Gelliebeans]

46. I don't want to live to be 100 years old

I just want to live a "normal life again". Maybe that is too much to hope for.

[blondeatlast]

53. It isn't, and the previous poster needs to speak to one of us, or do some

He/she is terribly misinformed.

[Gelliebeans]

59. we will keep fighting the good fight

no matter what...I know diabetes is a silent killer, I have had severe Crohn's disease-and I don't "look sick" either.
But adult stem cells (autogloulous) (sp) are looking promising in my case according to research being done at Northwestern University.
Money for this kind of research needs to be large scale. I think with all the potential cures for diseases with stem cells, diabetes looks the most promising. I hope for your sake and millions of others that we find a cure. I know I personally may not benefit with this type of research (stem cells) but ONE cure for ONE dreadful disease is worth it. My best to you!

[Ladyhawk]

62. Right. It's quality of life, not quantity.

I'd like to not have to experience the glucose roller coaster. I would like to have an end to the pain caused by degenerative disc disease.

Personally, I believe in the right to die. When I'm in too much pain and there's no chance of getting better, I plan to find a way out. There's no reason for people to live in pain when they are terminally ill. I would like to see doctor-assisted suicide legalized. That's another area where the religious right has TOO MUCH INFLUENCE. ARRGGGGGHHH!!!

[blondeatlast]

52. Do you know anyone with long-term diabetes, Parkinson's,

spinal-cord injuries?

Diabetes is a slow, silent death from the moment it starts. We may look healthy (I look very healthy and youthful, but ...) our kidneys, heart, and eyes are deteriorating from the moment of onset.

I'm 45, I have a 7 year old son, and I pray to God to see him graduate and perhaps marry. I don't really anticipate ever seeing my grandchild.

Do some research. Google it; European research is WAY ahead of the research here, and there is real progress being made.

And find someone afflicted by such diseases, and spend an hour talking to them.

You will gian a new perspective.

[Hamlette]

47. It fires me up.

Just watched my Dad die of Parkinson's. Horrid 6 year battle.

didn't have to be.

Sad. (He was a Wesley Clark type. Died a year ago the 20th of this month.)

Damn.

I hate Bush.

[MADem]

50. It fires up Nancy Reagan, too

And she mitigates any wedge that shrimpy the weecowboy might try to drive .... he has to step lightly, piss off Nancy by banging the issue too hard and she just might come out and tell weewee to begone!

[Strawman]

54. This is a no risk issue for Kerry, plus it's important

Bush is so far out of the mainstream here, Kerry would be foolish not to highlight it. And I think it also serves the purpose of making Bush look like a stubborn zealot who can't be trusted to make sound decisions in other areas. Kerry did a very effective job of framing Bush's position on this in that kind of context today when he spoke about it.

And it does fire me up, and I think seeing Kerry with someone as universally liked as Michael J. Fox helps him alot.

[dave123williams]

55. You sound like the guy in 1940...

...who thought we shouldn't be pursuing virology because Polio couldn't possibly be cured.

[slackmaster]

56. How could you possibly know where research might lead?

In the late 19th Century people thought gasoline was a useless by-product of petroleum. Kerosene, now THAT'S the shit!

:dunce:

[dogman]

57. W is for wrong and you are too.

This polls well with independents and undecideds. More importantly it is humane and vital to those with the diseases mentioned here. This one item points out the extremes B$$$co are willing to go to in order to cater to the Far RW. Hammer this point often. I was so glad tosee Kerry come back to this.

[theorist]

58. As a scientist, it's a real slap in the face.

Although I am no geneticist or medical scientist, I am personally insulted by a ban on fundamental, basic science. Even if there are no cures developed in the short term, the understanding of the human genome will clearly be developed rapidly if American universities were given federal funding to start up their own stem cell lines.

[gauguin57]

61. Not only do most of us know and love a diabetic, an Alzheimer's patient,

a Parkinson's patient, making this a vital issue ...

It's also symbolic of the larger issue -- Kerry as a president who does not allow right-wing loony-tune politics to affect government decisions about science.