If the Primaries were Tomorrow.. who would you vote for?

[RoadRage]

So, what are you planning on doing for the Primaries next year? With Obama a pretty sure lock (the idea of him getting Primaried might appeal to many here on DU - but the likelyhood of that actually happening appears to be quite slim due to the fact that his approval ratings amoung Democrats is still quite high), what is the best way to proceed to ensure a Democrat is again elected president in 2012?

[Jackpine Radical]

1. "Any Dem running against Obama?" No way.

SOME Dems running against him, maybe.

[RoadRage]

3. Well, since I'm not privy to a list of potential candidates at this time..

That's how I worded it. I think my point was made - if a Democrat is running in the Primaries, you would potentially vote for him/her over Obama.

[Tesha]

16. I agree. But given the limited choices offered by this poll, that choice...

...came closest to my true answer.

Tesha

[murielm99]

2. Sitting out primaries is a really bad idea.

There are a lot of local office holders, and sometimes referenda that need our support. Also, people within the party sometimes get proportional votes based on turnout. This is how the other side wins school board, county board and other positions. They count on a lot of people not voting.

[brooklynite]

5. Ah, but this is a FAKE primary...

...since it's tomorrow...


...and since some other Democrat is actually running against President Obama...

[RoadRage]

12. Well.. since I don't have a Crystal Ball..

and as far as I know.. no one else on DU does either - yes.. I stated the question on if the Primary were TOMORROW. Because who knows what could happen between now & the ACTUAL date of the primaries. If the primaries were tomorrow - I'd vote for Obama. Could something change in the next year to get me to change my mind? Yeah - possibly.. nothing is set in stone.

Further, although I think it is unlikely that Obama would be challanged in a Primary - it's a YEAR away... and a lot can happen in 1 year. So, I thought i'd throw out all possible options.. ya know.. 'cause it's a friggin' Internet poll.

[davidinalameda]

4. my state doesn't have open primaries

and I can't register as a republican since I'm one of a few Democrats that work the poll in my republican county so voting for either Tweedledee or Tweedledum in the republican primary is out

I'd say SOME Democrats

[Kennah]

6. As much fun as "Operation Chaos" sounds ...

... I'm reminded of a joke Eddie Murphy told in "Delirious".

"White guys get drunk and go vote for Jessie Jackson for President. Hee-hee-hee. I'm gonna vote for Jessie Jackson. Hee-hee-hee. Next day, they wake up and be like, 'He won?'"

[RoadRage]

9. Yeah.. I know.

But I think to myself.. seriously - could Palin or Bachman win??? And as soon as I've convinced myself that there is no way in hell.. I google "George W. Bush", and dump a cold bucket of water on my head.

[Kennah]

22. Much as I want to believe the answer is no, it's not possible for Palin or Bachmann to win, but ...

[Marsala]

30. It's not possible for them to win. It's really not.

Seriously. It can't happen. Current polls show that Palin would be lucky to win deep red states from Obama.

[quiller4]

7. My state won't have a primary but I intend to caucus for Obama

as I did in 2008. I have not missed a caucus since 1972.

[polichick]

8. I'd vote for someone who is proud of Dem principles & doesn't kiss Republican ass...

So far that candidate has not come forth.

[totodeinhere]

10. Obama all the way even though I disagree with some of his policies. n/t

[RoadRage]

11. Yup.. my choice too..

The guy isn't perfect, but he's as close to perfect as I'm going to get. 1/2 of this country is on the Right.. and a far left libral isn't going to get elected in this country - no matter how much those on DU wish it were so. I'm actually still in awe of the fact that we got Obama in the White House right now.

I'll definitely be voting for him on Primary day, 2012!

[Tippy]

13. Those who voted for

Any Dem running against Obama...you realize you will be voting for whoever the Republican canidiate..

[sharp_stick]

15. They know

believe me they know and they really don't give a shit

[Tesha]

25. Ahh -- the line that just never gets old! (NT)

[Name removed]

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[craigmatic]

14. I'd vote for Obama and hope we can win back congress so he'll go left.

[comtec]

40. if he had a trace of liberal in him it would have shown

Obama has done nothing to show he's even a little liberal.
he's straight up the middle moderate.
and that's a flaming liberal to the tea partiers.
he's too conciliatory.
and he won't change.
he HAD a majority in congress (yes i know, the spineless reid let the GOP walk all over him) and he didn't even TRY to push through liberal-ish-kinda legislation.

everything he's done has benefited the corporations wile throwing a bone or two to the average person.

There are things he can do as president that would increase revenue.
All he has to do is be willing to stand up to his corporate masters, and there's no way thats going to happen.
He SHOULD have ended the patriot rape act when it came up.
he hasn't. instead he's embraced all it's fascist powers.

god help us if he's the best we can get.

vote for him in the general? of course.
Believe he's a liberal? not even a tiny bit

[NorthCarolina]

52. If you want left, then VOTE for left. Voting for a conservative, and then HOPING they will go left

will disappoint you every time, and is bad for Democracy.

[CakeGrrl]

17. "Any Dem running against Obama?" Not too bright way to run into a wall.

"I don't care who it's gonna be or if they'll even know how to maneuver in Washington, but at least they say they're a Democrat and their name isn't Barack Obama!"

:eyes:

[AtomicKitten]

18. derp

[CakeGrrl]

28. ...

That's it!

:rofl:

[Tesha]

26. Well Obama has already thoroughly proven *HE* has no idea how to maneuver in Washington. (NT)

[CakeGrrl]

27. Relative to WHOM, based on what results?

For someone you think doesn't know how to maneuver, the President has put up an awful lot of accomplishments that his predecessors couldn't manage.

[Tesha]

32. Why yes, he did!

He managed to turn the largest Democratic majorities
in quite a few years into a Senate that allowed almost
nothing through. Then he created one of the largest
Republican turnovers of the House that we've seen
in years.

Here in New Hampshire, the Obama Effect was to turn
all of our majority-Democrat branches of Government
into two veto-proof Republican majorities in our
House and Senate and a 100% unanimously-Republican
Governor's Council.

Yeah, he has a lot of historic accomplishments under
his belt!

Tesha

[JoePhilly]

34. Obama did that to Maine?

I guess ... Obama didn't go far enough to the left, so the folks in your state decided to go "hard right" ... smart move on their part.

:sarcasm:

[Tesha]

39. Much of what happened in 2010 was a reaction to the Democrats complete...

and utter failure in 2009-2010.

They compromised far too soon, completely capitulated
on a great many other things, and failed to defend
their plans and programs.

So the Republicans, who actually know a thing or
three about politics (in contrast with the Democrats,
who don't seem to know shit from Shinola about
politics), took full advantage of the Democrats'
obvious weakness. And they took advantage at the
Federal, state, and local levels.

Tesha

[JoePhilly]

42. "complete and utter failure" ... sure, that's it.

Or, the GOP took advantage of the low information voters in an off year mid-term, by screaming that Obama and the Dems were "socialist, commie, fascists, out to kill grandma", and lots of sheep bought it.

And now those sheep, and sadly those around them, are getting fleeced.

[Tesha]

44. The the GOP is able to "take advantage of the low information voters"...

...is yet another example of the complete and utter
failure of the Democrats, in this case to get their
message out. Most low information voters could
benefit from the Democratic program, yet they
routinely vote for the Republicans.

Tesha

[CakeGrrl]

48. Gee, I wonder if the Republiacan-friendly NATIONAL MEDIA could've been of help?

:eyes:

Other than that? Obama didn't turn any majority into anything. Voters cast votes for the wrong people. Or DON'T cast them for the right ones. It's their own stupid fault either way.

[Tesha]

50. Follow it to the next logical step: Why is the media "Republican friendly"?

That would be:

1. Because Republicans *BOUGHT* all of the media
as it became available for sale, and

2. Democrats collaborated with Republicans to
pass laws that allowed this vast consolidation
of the media into Republican hands.

It didn't have to be this way, and Democrats were
essential in making it happen this way.

Far too many people here are far too willing to blame
the entire mess solely on Republicans. Me, I'm done
with that fantasy.

Tesha

[CakeGrrl]

55. Yeah, you're now blaming everything on President Obama instead.

At least you actually mentioned "Democrats" as being complicit in the MSM takeover, but to blame him for 2010? No dice.

[Tesha]

57. Believe what you like.

But talk to people who voted for the Democrats in 2008
but didn't in 2010 and the (in)actions of the Democrats
during 2009-2010 was a big factor. Another was the active
driving-away of many of the core Democratic constituencies.

By the way, it was Clinton who signed the Telecommunications
Deregulation Act even though he should have understood its
ramifications (and quite possibly *DID*!).

Tesha

[bigwillq]

19. Most likely another DEM

In the last four presidential primaries, I did not vote for the Democrat who went on to win the nomination. That's a trend that's most likely going to continue for me.

[RoadRage]

61. Do you think that there will be another dem who runs against him next year?

And.. is it worth the money? I honestly think it would better suit the party to save all $$$ for the General Election, and hope that the Republicans waste their money in the primary between the Tea Party Candidate and the Social Con Candidate.

[cottonseed]

20. I don't stand with the 16 percenters. I stand with the base!

[JoePhilly]

21. Result as of this post, roughly matches Obama's approval among all dems.

[Arkana]

23. I'd vote for Obama in the primaries, but since he won't have any serious opposition

I'll just be adding one to the pile.

[Armstead]

24. Other -- "Obama but I sure wish he'd start standing up more"

[Marsala]

29. Bachmann!

I've lost hope for a Palin nomination, but Bachmann seems to combine Palin's total lack of electability with the freshness needed to delude Tea Party voters into thinking they can pick her without ending up with a repeat of Goldwater's electoral annihilation.

She can get the current Palin AND Huckabee vote if, as is likely, they don't run. She can win Iowa. She can win South Carolina. And history has shown that anyone who can win two out of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina will get the Republican nomination (heck, South Carolina by itself has been pretty determinative).

[RoadRage]

59. Part of me hopes your right...

And part of me is terrified by that prospect...

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

31. Maybe not "any" Democrat, but ...

if the name was Dean ...

[JTFrog]

33. There will be no Dem running against Obama next year. n/t

[BlueIris]

35. No, there won't.

But there is no way I can believe he will be the 2012 nominee.

[JTFrog]

45. Might as well take your fingers out of your ears now.

He will not only be the 2012 nominee, he will win by another landslide.

:shrug:

[vaberella]

36. What does other mean?! DONALD DUCK?! n/t

[RoadRage]

60. Ive learned with DU polls

To always include an "obligatory other" option. If you want Don Duck... Knock yourself out! :)

[VoteProgressive]

38. Obama has been a huge disappointment but this country will not elect a real liberal. nt

[comtec]

41. DK got votes when people were INFORMED about him

the thing is that the INFORMERS don't like liberals.
the media is conservative, almost completely.
whenever i heard DSK speak, I liked him better.
but it was fucking rare that I heard of him!

Dennis Kusinich was defeated by silence, not lack of interest.
The media didn't give him fair time.
it's how it always is with national politics. see the country is in fact very liberal, but the people who manage to get elected do so because they can afford to get THEIR message out.

Liberals tend to be a poor lot, in that we're content to live within our means, and works hard and honest... hard and honest work doesn't pay well...ask a teacher.

If the election system ever gets fixed so that private money is impossible, then we WILL see more liberals in office. that's WHY the system is being kept broken (personal fortunes aside)

Information is power... and the internet scares the ever living fuck out of them!
that's why the need to pass these laws regulating it.
"The most dangerous thing to a (conservative) government, is an educated populace" - Ronald Regan

[DutchLiberal]

47. Kucinich talks about impeaching a president for preventing genocide by a dictator...

That's the moment I lost all respect I had for him.

[LWolf]

43. Other: "Many Dems running against Obama." nt

[CakeGrrl]

56. Which ones are stepping up? n/t

[LWolf]

58. None that I know of.

There are many, though, that I would support over Obama if they did.

Not that I expect that to happen. This poll, though, is about a fantasy primary.

In my fantasy primary, a LEFT-LOVING Democrat runs and wins, and goes on to win the GE.

In the real world, I'd love a real primary. I'd vote for any non-neoliberal Democrat over Obama.

[DutchLiberal]

46. Voting means participating in the illusion that elections mean anything in the US...

It helps the 'powers that be' legitimize their charade.

[Godhumor]

49. Really should be an option for there will be no primary opponent for Obama

I think it is the most likely answer on the Dem side.

[old mark]

51. Obama, of course. No Democrat will seriously run against him,

and there are no real republican candidates in sight...of course they wil run one of their clowns, but they have no one in sight who would be a good president.


mark

[Beacool]

53. I don't think that any Democrat is going to primary Obama.

Furthermore, I think that he will be reelected. Although none of that means that I have changed my opinion of the man.

:shrug:

[Name removed]

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