To all my leftist brothers and sisters

[Dhalgren]

Here is how I am going to deal with the upcoming presidential elections. I am going to support Dennis Kucinich 100% throughout the primaries and hopefully all the way through until he his inaugerated in 2005.
However, I will vote in Nov. '04 for whichever Dem. candidate is nominated - but only this one last time. This primary season coming up is THE struggle for the Democratic Party. whichever side wins the nomination, left or right, it becomes their party. If the party goes right, then I will leave the party (after 28 loyal years). But, if the party does not represent me, then I need a new party. I will have no hard fellings against the right-wing Dems. It will be their party.
I will also not take part in "bashing" anyone. If I disagree with a position or strategy, I will say so. But it is never necessary to personally attack anyone because of a difference of opinion. I could never (under normal circumstances) support any politician who had sided with the Republicans on the issues of war, tax cuts for the wealthy, the Patriot Act, ect. But these are not "normal" times. So, I will support whomever the Dems put up for president, and if it is one of (what I consider) the right-wing candidates, then that will be my last Democratic vote.
And before some of you guys say, "Good riddence!" let me just say I hate it that the Democratic party has become such a sad shadow of what it once was.

[enki23]

1. why waste your vote on kucinich

when you could vote for a semi-leftist candidate who actually has a chance of getting the nomination? don't make the perfect the enemy of the good. don't hold liberal democrats hostage by throwing your vote away on someone who can't possibly get the nomination, giving someone like lieberman, or other "moderate" a better chance of capturing the nomination.

</sarcasm>

[AnAmerican]

37. With all due respect

the idea that a vote for Dennis is wasted is total BS. A vote for Dennis is the only way we can save the Democratic Party from the clutches of the DLC and those who think we need to be more repub-like or "moderate" in order to win elections.

This election we finally have a real choice, we have a candidate who can return the Democratic Party to it's roots.

I hate defeatism, and your post reeks of it.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

2. Giving the Democrats one last chance?

I have to admit I'm starting to feel the same way.

[Rainbowreflect]

3. I agree with you to a point.

I love Kucinich and will proudly & excitedly vote for him in the primary. If he is not nominated I will work for & vote for the dem candidate no matter who. If it is a repub lite that gets the nom, then I will work like hell to bring the dems back to the left where they belong. I will not give up my party to conservatives. If all of us left leaning lefties leave we have just left the party to the repub lites.

[Dhalgren]

8. I am thinking of a third party

(after Nov. '04) that is made up of Greens, leftist Democrats, progressives of all stripes - even libertarian-leaning individuals. A truely Progressive/Populist/Peoples Party, dedicated to Truth, Justicce,and the American Way! Where the platform of our party might be written by someone...oh, I don't know...Dennis Kucinich, maybe? People say he will never leave the Dem party, well, his ideas can!

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

10. I won't join up with libertarians

People who support a dictatorship of property owners are not in any way progressive. If you want to talk about a people's party of progressives, populists, social liberals, than I'm all ears. That's what I want to Democrats party to be.

[Dhalgren]

16. There are many

Libertarian - leaning individuals who no more espouse the "hardline" Liberarian platform, than many Democrats support NAFTA. Many of these individuals are against Government intrusion into people's bedrooms and drug stashes, they are against the Government evesdropping on citizens, they are for equal rights and freedom of choice. Now if t an individual cannot embrace the Progressive/Populist platform of a new hypothetical party, then they would not be welcome - I agree with you there.

[leftofthedial]

57. i couldn't support the "Propertarians" either

(my name for Libertarians)

Personally, I think idealistic libertarians are more dangerous than neocons.

[dpbrown]

4. You're right about the battle

The soul of the Democratic Party - workers' rights, a living wage, a social safety net, protecting our liberties...these fundamental planks have been eroded as the "focus group" politicians drive voters away with their faulty 40/40/20 rule, and their subsequent senseless struggle over "each other's" 20% in the middle.

Universal Health Care, an end to the Death Penalty, closing the School of the Americas, providing some security to our seniors in their old age, regulation and investment in our public utilities, withdrawing from NAFTA and the WTO and returning to bilateral trade agreements, protecting half our population from having their uteri put into forced servitude, and standing up against the lie that is the inevitability of violence - these are the things that make the Democratic Party the party that fights for the betterment of all of us, instead of the Republicans' manta, "Me first, and if there's not enough, then me only."

A Zogby Poll done in the last few days shows Bush tied with an unnamed Democrat. The person we nominate is going to be the next President of the United States. And yet we're being told to "settle," to dull our hopes for ourselves and the future of our nation and the people who come after us.

We don't have to "settle." We should be rising up against the dread tide pulling our nation and our consumer-laden inertia ever to the "right" into the "me-first" camp. As Democrats we should be demanding from our candidate a clear vision, a clear departure from the horrid and morally bankrupt path that Reagan, and Bush, and Bush have dragged us down.

We are spending $4,000,000,000 every month on military adventurism while the energy grid fails at home - a victim of privatization, monopolistic multi-nationalism, and looting corporate pirates. We are paying for full health and dental coverage for every citizen of this nation and not getting it, because the giant ponzi schemes of corporate CEO looting in private insurace strip the profit out and burden the system with inane paperwork.

We are pouring money into a Pentagon that hasn't been able to meet its obligation under the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 to certify that it's spending the publics money in the way Congress directed it to spend that money, not even once in the last 14 years. The same Pentagon that couldn't even account for $1,000,000,000,000 of that tax money. And yet we're being told it's "unpatriotic" to ask that the Pentagon be made just 15% more efficient, and more accountable to the taxpayers.

Dennis Kucinich represents the sea change we need at this point in our nation's history to correct for the wrong direction we've been dragged towards by Reagan, and Bush, and Bush.

We need him now more than ever.

Dan Brown
Saint Paul, Minnesota

[Dhalgren]

7. It is a rarity in my experience

to have a candidate who hits on "all cyclenders", but Dennis does. I read things he has written or I hear one of his (for me) rarely affailable speeches and I find myself saying, "Yes! By god, yes!" I honestly cannot understand how anyone who earns under $100,000 a year, or loves their freedoms, or in concerned with the environment, or wants justice in the world, or etc., ect, could support anyone else.
But, this is the time - if Democrats aren't motivated to put a real Democrat in the WH, then whenwill that time be.
Let us be careful and not talk about the "BFEE" when what we're reallt talking about is the American Evil Empire.

[JasonBerry]

13. I agree! Well Said!!

Dennis is special - no question.

[leftofthedial]

15. yep, Dennis is advocating exactly the right things

I agree with him more completely than any candidate I can remember.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. I feel the same way

I'm in my early fifties, and I've never seen a candidate who matched what I believe in so closely--except perhaps Robert Kennedy, but at that time, I was more conservative, being ignorant of the world and all that, so RFK was a case of "You don't know what you've got till it's gone."

[leftofthedial]

54. wow. someone on DU agrees with me!

I love it.

We're close to the same age and supporting the Democratic candidates has almost always presented me with some level of a "lesser-of-evils" choice, Sometimes, as with Clinton's free-trade policies, lukewarm commitment to environmental issues, and abandomment of health care (though not entirely his fault), there were quite substantive trade-offs to be made.

But I haven't found an issue on which I disagree with Kucinich.

[JanMichael]

12. Well stated.

Settle for nothing now, you'll settle for nothing later.

And so on, and so on.

[Dhalgren]

14. That's one of the reasons

I think it's pointless for leftists to continually beat their heads against the wall of the conservative Democratic party. This election coming up, however, is a slightly different issue. I, personally, can only, in good conscience, vote against Bush. If that means voting - this time - for the lesser of two evils, then so be it. This will be the last time I do this, however.

[western mass]

5. preach on, brutha

Part of me is 100% with you. Part of me keeps on with the nagging argument, if we don't stay and fight for progressives in the party, who's going to do it? I can't help but feel that having Wellstones and Kucinichs fighting the good fight in the mainstream and in the public eye makes building progressive movements outside of the Party that much easier.

[gully]

6. Zogby is one source...

Here is another with a few different perspectives.

http://pollingreport.com/wh04gen.htm

I do agree that a person (in the primarys should vote their conscious.) But, in the General Election one must vote ABB

The Dems are not guaranteed a win by any means IMHO.

Great topic!

[newyawker99]

46. Hi western mass!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Kamika]

9. So which candidates are "right" to you

Im curious.. would like know know why they are right too.

Ok except for joe

[Dhalgren]

18. IMO (and just MO)

anyone who voted for Bush's war resolution, has no p[lace in a Democratic WH. Anyone who voted for Bush's tax cut for rich, has a problem with me. Anyone who voted in favor of the Patriot Act is either right-wing or is only pandering to power - either way - not my cup o' tea.

[Yentatelaventa]

23. How about the tax cuts for us non-rich?

Are those ok to keep? Please?

[JanMichael]

26. *sigh*

I think you got caught on the wrong thread while looking for a nice DLC "Party Line" discussion:-)

[Yentatelaventa]

34. I take that as a no

Do you instead want to raise my middle class tax rate?

[JanMichael]

35. I take it you missed my other response to you.

Plus, you're being rather vague, what exactly is "Middle Class" to you?

I'm not to good with fuzzy accusations.

[dansolo]

39. Like Paul Wellstone?

He sure was a right-wing power panderer, right? While I believe that the Patriot Act was an abomination, and I am diappointed that it wasn't properly reviewed, you have to admit that its passage was dure to the unusual circumstances of 9/11. You seem to be painting with an awfully wide brush, and frankly if your standards are so high that even Paul Wellstone couldn't even acheive them, then I say good riddance.

[Dhalgren]

45. Thank you for the send off.

I would be willing to listen to, understand and forgive any Democrat who had made a mistake and was willing to explain his/her error and pledge to be more vigilant in the future. The "right-wing" candidates of today are not willing to admitt that any move they have every made was an error - instead they try and explain away the non-Democratic-like vote as some sort of "right thing to do at the time". I don't accept that.

[JanMichael]

11. I lean to DK & agree that whoever the candidate is, I'll vote for her/him.

As to the future? Tough to say. If the DLC Repuke II types make a clean sweep then I'm really not that interested in participating in that sort of sellout "Party".

But I doubt that'll happen. I see a real hard Left turn approaching, BushCo is our guarantee.

[tlcandie]

19. Voting for DK here in the primaries...

Not yet settled within my own heart and mind what I will or will not do after the primaries. He resonates with all that is good and hopeful for all beings. Many good arguments have been made, so I guess this is one where only time will tell according to what happens between now and then.

I was 45 years old when I first registered to vote. I was torn between the Greens (I was a bit uncomfortable with Nader, but loved his VP choice!) and Dems because my husband (Dem-left leaning) felt that ONLY Gore held a chance to beat the toxic Texan (born and raised in Texas here). At that time it was to stop the tt. I was never so disillusioned in my whole life after it was all over, said and done. In fact, my husband and I moved to Florida to make a difference and to get Jebbie out. Voted against him last year and he's still in!

Now here we are yet again, being asked to look at voting w/o our hearts fully engaged and it is deeply troubling for me. I'm with the original poster of this thread in that after 2004, I'm ready to move on with something new...not Green, Dem, Repub, liberal, conservative, centrist...or whatever you want to label it. It is past time for us to rise up in rebellion with a new hope and a new promise for our country and our world. If for no other reason than it seems to me the term Green revulses a lot of people :shrug: You have to forgive me as my history in politics is in its infancy, but I've always been told that seeing through the eyes of a child are sometimes the best.

So, maybe for those of us desiring to support DK, should concentrate on supporting him with your guidelines. I wholeheartedly agree to no bashing n/m what someone thinks. Discussing is another issue. But maybe OUR light at the end of the tunnel, if for some reason DK doesn't make it through the murky waters, is to concentrate and be prepared AHEAD OF TIME, to move forward with a NEW party FOR THE PEOPLE that has no links to the former catchey phrases that make people shudder when mentioned :)


The old saying, 'Damned if you do, damned if you don't', comes to mind here. Yet it my heart, I keep hearing, 'Go for the Gold'!

[Yentatelaventa]

24. How hard left?

Any tax increase for us middle class? $5.00 a gallon gasoline? Please say no.

[JanMichael]

25. Whatever.

Nice projection on the Left for what the Right has been doing, with abandon, for decades.

Ever wonder why property taxes keep going up? Why benefits keep going down? Why 40,000,000 remain uninsured? Why the unemployment rate goes up everytime a Repuke take the helm?

That's the Right doing that to you, all that's left is the Left sweety (sorry if you're a guy;-) )!

[Yentatelaventa]

28. Because taxes are too low?

Am I correct?

[JanMichael]

31. What a simplistic question!

"Because taxes are too low?"

WTF?

Which taxes? Regressive or Progressive? Property (Which Locality?) or Sales? On which quintile? Payroll or Income? Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Let's keep it really simple and stick with the US Progressive Income Tax (Ie. the higest rate: 35% 2003) on the Top 1% of "earners".

Answer: Yes.

Rebuttal?

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

48. No one wants to raise your taxes yenta

So please, stop.

[Ardee]

20. I ,too, love Kucinich

and only he, of the "mob" running for the nomination.We have gone far past the point now where electing a conservative is an option.I dont wish to bash anyone but those who voted for the various Bush agendas, including the godawful invasion, are unacceptable regardless of their political history. The current frontrunner (according to polls and his cult-like followers)doesnt pass my smell test, frankly. His conversion from conservative governor to Wellstonian democrat is too damn smarmy and convenient for my taste, and his statements re national health care and the military budget are almost republican in nature.

This nation is facing a crisis, this election will be only one small event in the overall need to overthrow the special interests that are running this nation and this world. With Ashcroft out stumping for this new "victory act" as his patriot act is being gutted in the legislature we have gone beyond the reasoning that any democrat is better than Bush...I just dont buy it anymore, Bush is a fifth rate intellect fronting for the same group of fat cats that are being wooed by McAuliffe and From, thus any figurehead democrat in the WH just continues the sellout of our nation. Id rather see a continuing polarisation, Id rather see peoples faces rubbed in the blatancy of Bush and company than have them go back to sleep thinking that a Dean, Gephardt, Kerry or Lieberman in the WH means an end to the power of the special interests, it doesnt!

I know that this is not a popular stance and I suspect that it will bring all sorts of aprobation from those who support the right wing takeover of the democratic party for whatever reason. Fine, get your rocks off, but ,if we are to have a nation that treats its citizens and its neighbors with respect and dignity, with fairness and honesty then we need to turn this damn political system around, we need to get voter turnouts far above the abysmal 35% or so that we see,we need
a new and exciting message not the same old tripe from the same old liars.

[tlcandie]

22. Agree with the following pulled from your response...

<quote>
Id rather see peoples faces rubbed in the blatancy of Bush and company than have them go back to sleep thinking that a Dean, Gephardt, Kerry or Lieberman in the WH means an end to the power of the special interests, it doesnt!

I know that this is not a popular stance and I suspect that it will bring all sorts of aprobation from those who support the right wing takeover of the democratic party for whatever reason. Fine, get your rocks off, but ,if we are to have a nation that treats its citizens and its neighbors with respect and dignity, with fairness and honesty then we need to turn this damn political system around, we need to get voter turnouts far above the abysmal 35% or so that we see,we need
a new and exciting message not the same old tripe from the same old liars.
<quote>

Maybe with the exception of, '...get your rocks off...' : )

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

49. Don't throw Gephardt in there

The "special interests" that Gephardt promotes are the "special interests" called the union workers of America. There will *always* be special interests, that's what politics is about. Now, criticize him roundly for his pro-war votes and "bipartisan" BS, but give the man credit - he's one of our best friends in Washington. We pretty much own him.

[Ardee]

58. labors best friend.....

but I will forever remember that picture in the Rose Garden of Gephardt selling us out while some democrats still fought tooth and nnail against that bill...sorry.

[Dhalgren]

36. I really don't think that we should dispair about our erstwhile

party. We should each of us vote with our time, our bodies, our voices, our money (what little there is), and our ballots for what we believe in. If we lose, then we regroup, consider our options and begin the fight anew. I truely believe in the platform espoused by Kucinich. If we can't get him elected this time (and we still can, no matter what some people think) then we work for a new start for him or his ideas. It is the outline of the country he invisions that is the prize - and it is achievable. It will take work and sacrefice, but I think that in the days ahead sacrefice will become more and more the only avenue open. Let's take it.

[Ardee]

44. Thanks for the response

Gee, no attack from the right, perhaps they have me on ignore for my continued rants against their destruction of my former party......

Dhalgren, I spent forty years as a registered democrat, I survived the defeats,the wars, the sellouts ,the Clinton years where we saw increases in prisons, the curtailment of the welfare safety net without corresponding job training, NAFTA and GATT, etc.Perhaps the continued attacks from the right on all things Clintonian fueled my loyalty. But the absolute last straw for me was the support for the Homeland Security and Patriot Acts, the supression of any dissent ,the lack of support for the eloquent and absolutely correct stance of Senator Byrd and Waxman, the ousting of Al Gore for his "traitorous action" in going against the DLC game plan and the rest .

The Democratic Party has abrogated its responsiblity to the nation and the world,imo, and, for those who refuse to see the big picture or are willing to remain within "the belly of the beast", you have my admiration and rsspect but ,if you wish to restore your party then you must face the fact that ousting the panderers, the GOP-lite from leadership roles in the party is priority one! As for me, Ive taken the long view, realising that we no longer have a two party system here in America, and have chosen to work for the restoration of an opposition party, namely the Green Party.........at least they closely mirror the ideology one used to find within the democratic party, used to......

[Dhalgren]

47. Sadly,

I couldn't agree with you more.

[Booberdawg]

21. Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into your decision

Good for you, and I hope others can show the common courtesy to respect your choice.:hi:

[Isome]

27. "...a sad shadow of what it once was."

Well said, from start to finish! I agree completely.

[Raenelle]

29. I ... will ... not ... vote ... for ... Lieberman--ever, no way.

Otherwise . . . what you said.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

30. i'm with you 100%...you echo my heart

[KG]

32. one last chance.

yep, vote to get the chimp out, then be prepared to find a new political home. coz since the dem party became a wholly owned subsidiary of the RNC in 2000, it ain't swinging back left for a while if ever.

[SPICYHOT]

33. please let me say this

i don't know more of the elections that its sayd on the news, you see, i'm not american and i'm not gonna vote of course, not because i can't, but because there is not a good party that helps the people instead of doing what they need to do for themself ( gov ). My country is under the US hand and we can't decide for ourself, cause we need the american gov's aprooval.
So this is the thing, you guys can change or have the opportunity to change what is wrong with US goverment, the way they do things and lie just to justify their desires. They missrespect even the ONU, human rights and send their troops to fight for something that one person ( if we can call him person ) wants. I can say that he is the only want who wants war, instead of peace, we all feel the same, of course there are the people who help him to do it, but those guy receive something too, and without him they are not that important to be scared of them.
So please i ask you guys to make everything as possible to take the chimp out of the power. And make possible that this never happend again.

[Devlzown]

38. My plans are the same as yours.

DK is the only candidate I'm concerned with now. If Dean or Clark or Kerry or whoever is nominated instead, I will vote for them. But don't count on it next time.

[Section_43]

40. My wife and I are supporting Kucinich.

I do not understand the fear of supporting a left leaning candidate.

Isn't the Democratic party a left leaning party?

"Moderate" drives me nuts, in politics and in life.

Where has the passion and doing the right thing in this party gone?

My union members would not vote for Gore because he was "going to take our guns away." I told them, "OK, vote for Bush, you'll be pawning yr guns to pay the bills and forget abt buying new ones."

[BrewerJohn]

41. I'm a Democrat and a leftist

And I support Dennis Kucinich as the best candidate for President.

But, come what may, we must elect a Democrat next year, whoever it is. If we do, we may have some time to thrash out all the issues and either restore the party to its traditional values or form a new party or coalition that will represent us and be a real force in politics. If we don't, I fear that we will be spending all our time for the forseeable future in lockdown mode, just struggling for individual physical and spiritual survival in the grip of the Bush cabal.

Indeed, these are not "normal" times, by any stretch. And it's going to be interesting times, in the Chinese sense, whatever happens.

[proud patriot]

42. Brothers , Sisters

I will take no part in bashing any opposition
candidates in the Democractic Primary .

I respect everyone's reasons for their choice
I hold you all so close to my heart and begrudge you
nothing .

I will support any who gets the nod to beat bush
in 2004 .

Former Green voting for Dean .

[Ein]

43. Agreed

My vote is most likely going for the Dem in 2k4, but when the Dem wins (and he will) the direction that administration takes the party in will determine if any major party gets my vote for quite some time.

[MadHound]

50. You're where I was four years ago

I was truly disappointed in the Clinton administration, not for his personal life(hell, almost every President has had a mistress), but for the actions he took regarding NAFTA, WTO, "welfare reform", the WOD, the prison "industry" and others while merely paying lip service to traditionly Democratic issues. Quite frankly I felt that he and the DLC had yanked the Democratic Party way right, and was pandering to his corporate backers. I felt that we would be in for more of the same with Gore, yet held my nose and voted for him anyway, in some sort of mistaken ideal of the lesser of two evils.

Since then I've read and researched and watched as the Democratic Party has abandoned it's liberal base and the very people of America in a rush for corporate money, putting the interests of corporations and the wealthy ahead of the vast majority of people in this country. People like to point out that we had peace and prosperity under Clinton, yet if you look at the numbers behind this notion you will find that the picture they paint isn't quite so rosy. The disparity between rich and poor rose to it's highest level both in the modern world and in history, surpassing the robber baron days of the Gilded Age(late 19th century). The average Americans' standard of living went down 3.1% while consumer dept skyrocketed to an average of $8000 per household. And while 40 million jobs were created, the vast majority were in the lower paying service sector, since most of the well paying manufacturing jobs went overseas, along with the start of the tech job flight. Clinton's biggest break is that he was able to preside of the high tech boom, which could have happened under any president. If you wish to go into more depth with this, pick up Wealth and Democracy by Kevin Phillips, he gives a really great breakdown of this phenomenon.

So quite frankly I became sick of any politician who danced the corporate tune. I will vote for Dennis Kucinich because I feel that he is the Democratic Party's last great hope to reverse the direction that it has taken(provided the DLC and others don't totally ruin the platform at the last minute). However I feel the rest of candidates in the race(excluding Sharpton) are going to be nothing but Democratic corporate whores and I will not trust my country's future to them. I will vote Green because their values are closely alligned with mine and they take no corporate money. Flame me if you wish, but after you are done here, go out and do your own research. Read the Phillips book, read some Hightower and Palast. Then try to come back and tell me I'm wrong.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

51. Gephardt and Moseley-Braun aren't corporate whores

Gephardt is owned by the AFL-CIO - thank God - he's one of our best friends in Washington. Moseley-Braun voted *against* NAFTA and GATT, good for her. Sharpton is obviously no corporate tool.

Clark and Edwards are middle class guys that worked their way up into the elites - Clark as a General, Edwards as a trial lawyer turned Senator. As far as I can tell, they're both centrists, and it's hard to tell where their loyalties lie. Both have political histories similar to Clinton, for good and ill.

Dean, John Forbes-Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman are just typical aristocrats on the liberal side. (Don't bash Lieberman, he's hardly any worse than the rest)

Dennis Kucinich has all the good qualities as far as I can tell, not only is his platform right on, his voting record on the economy is damned near perfect, and he's a true blue working class American. By far the best candidate.

[Dhalgren]

52. I agree with you on each count.

I have always felt Gephardt was very "old-time" Democrat in the best sense and his support of and by labor is admirable and to his credit.
I would really need for him to express himself on his votes regarding his support of Empire for me to come back around to his candidacy. That is an obstacle in his path, as far as I am concerned.
As for Sharpton and Moseley-Braun, their various and distinct positions are entirely supportable and neither of their records give me a problem - unless I've missed something.
But, Kucinich, for me, is the complete package.

[MadHound]

53. To some extent you are correct

I had forgotten about Mosely-Braun, and I don't think that she is in corporations' pocket. However if she wins the nomination, there is going to be only one person who would be more suprised than me, and that's Carol herself. I'm from Missouri, and quite frankly it is a well known fact that Gephardt took up the pimp mantel for Ralston Purina(now part of Nestle) when Danforth retired. Also Gephardt's sucking up to Bush after 9/11 and before the Iraqi invasion is simply despicable.

You are also right in that Lieberman is not much worse than Dean, et al. That is what I find so dispiriting about the Democratic Party anymore. Not that long ago we had true blue fire-eaters out running for the nomination, any of which would make fine Presidents. Now we are stuck with only 1 or 2 genuine choices with the rest of the field made up of corporate lackies. And unfortunately it seems like the lackey is the one who gets the nod. Of course it helps that the DLC money machine gets behind him to the exclusion of all others.

And then to make matters worse, in a classic smokey back room, the Democratic "leaders" remake the platform into a corporate friendly structure as possible without actually having to call it 'Pug document.

So I'm still left with my choice next year. Kucinich or Green Party. Truly a shame, for I've been working, voting and donating to the Dems for thirty years. Maybe they'll get the message and change. Or maybe not and they'll fade into irrelevancy, for there are many millions of others out there just like me, who are fed up and will make their voice heard.

[Dhalgren]

55. You are right, across the board,

but this particular time of crisis in our nation's history will make me suppress, once more, my feelings of abandonment by my party. I think it is morally imperative that Bush be removed from office. I will have to follow my conscience on this one, but I greatly respect your views and support you in your following your conscience.

[MadHound]

56. Thank you for that sentiment

And likewise, I support you in your decisions and that you are listening to your conscience. I suppose that I'm a little more skeptical, for I've heard and seen people think that all hell will come down to earth if X candidate wins, so I must vote for the lesser of two evils. I even bought into that idea with Reagan, Bush I and Bush II. And while things will undoubtably get worse quicker under a second Bush administration, it would be just a slow down in the slide if we put a corporate Dem in(and maybe not even that). I would rather at this point work on the root problem of having virtually all legislators and candidates bought and paid for by various corporations, and the best vehicle that I can see for this is the Green Party. When you finally get truly disgusted with the morass we're in, come on over and we'll work together to get our country back.