Did Gephardt Save His Campaign ????

[JasonBerry]

Being a Kucinich supporter, I ask this because I thought - rose garden stunt aside - Gephardt was the clear "winner" of the debate. I have talked to several who felt the same way. All the candidates had good things to say at one point or another. However, my feeling is that Gep maybe saved his campaign with this performance. Tough and came across "presidential." Any thoughts?

[JohnKleeb]

1. I dunno but I myself had problems with the rose garden

but Ive liked Gep he other than that is pretty good.

[Sweetpea]

2. I have to give it to him tonight. He was strong in the debate.

Emphasizing that Bush is a miserable failure was great.!!!!

[WindRavenX]

3. I agree

I think of all the canidates he clearly came across the best; Dean came in a second. Kerry lost no ground, although he didn't impress or do anything to lose my vote. He was solid, but Gephardt stole the spotlight. He sounded presidential and he sounded like he knew what he was doing.
I also have to say I was impressed by Dean :)
Kuchinich...eh, I can't say I was impressed by him, honestly. He came across a bit rude to me, IMHO.

[terryg11]

4. Gephardt looked good

he made good answers for the most part and was really engaged a couple of times. really think Gep and Kucinich outshown the others

[kayleybeth]

8. I agree

Gephart did well tonight. Did anyone else see his New Hampshire House Party/Rally on CSPAN the other night? He continues to surprise me. I hadn't really considered him a top-tier candidate but he's been doing much better lately. I'm still waiting to see if Clark runs before I get behind a candidate. If Clark runs, I'm there. If not, I'll just go with whoever has the best chance of beating the Resident. I just wish Clark would make up his mind already!

[ibegurpard]

5. Key words in your post:

"rose garden stunt aside".
Those words say it all for me. If Gephart hadn't scuttled the Senate debate on the Iraq issue then I might agree with you. As it stands, although he sounded great tonight, I just don't believe him.

[Cha]

9. I know!

Glad to hear he sounded so strong...but I wonder if he has had any ephiphanies about what happened in the "rose garden"?

[JasonBerry]

12. Good question, zidzi! N/T

~

[JasonBerry]

11. Actually, that's why I said that

That's why I said, "Rose garden stunt aside." I TOO have serious problems with that. But, I added that - meaning - if we put that aside (knowing that it troubles many of us), we can view the debate objectively. In other words, feelings about that aside, agree or disagree on the debate. Whew! I am tired and don't feel like going back to rewrite that. I hope it made some sense.

[tedoll78]

19. BINGO>

What kills me is that the people who voted for the resolution whine that they insisted on Provisions A, B, C, et al.. as conditions to going to war, and yet they didn't insist that those Provisions be included in the resolution itself, instead handing-over a blank check.

Don't come whining to me about Bush lying to you, Congressmen. You didn't do your jobs.

[JI7]

6. he does great with trade and labor issues

he has been great on other "debates" or debate type appearances when he talks about these issues. that's typical gephardt. that's why he was congress leader and so popular among labor groups.

[lameone]

7. But can he win???

Gephardt sounded truly grand tonight, however I do not have much faith in him, seeing in he lost Congress in 94 and never gained it back

[JI7]

10. yeah, he can win

congress was lost because of many things. the people turned to the gop with their false promises. the nra targeted many members for gun control votes, and other things.

[poskonig]

24. Gephardt looks the best electorally.

Gephardt takes states like Michigan hands down and is competitive in the south.

The Rose Garden thing is a wound I'm not sure Gephardt can recover from, though.

[kentuck]

25. He will have the Super Delegates....

If he can win a couple of states, that alone would make him pretty formidable...

[newyawker99]

26. Ho lameone!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[OneBlueSky]

13. I hadn't given Gephart a thought until tonight . . .

really kicked some butt . . . I thought he and Kerry came across as the most viable opponents to Bush . . . I still don't have a real favorite, but Gep certainly got back on my radar screen . . .

[John_H]

14. You're right. But my thought was, "what a waste"

Dick, ya coulda been a contender. But you made the calculation that you had to repeatedly blow chimpy. Bad calculation. Have you met Mr. Price? He need's paying.

[Flying_Pig]

15. Dean needs to learn to put a bit....

of a smile on his face. He has all the facial warmth, ......well, let's just say, ...he doesn't have a lot it. I wish somebody would work with him. If he doesn't warm it up, he is going to seriously affect his candidacy, ...and yes, warmth does count among a lot of voters. In close elections, it could mean an extra 5%, enough to bring home the bacon.

[Rooktoven]

16. Gephardt was too loud and over-eager

Despite his passion, he went on too long, too.

My full take:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=278694#279311

[Cha]

17. I liked your take on Dean! But then everybody knows I'm

Biased! Maybe you can tell me about Dean and his speaking Spanish?

I heard he did...was it very long? Thanks!

[niceypoo]

18. Gephardt has no chance

of beating Bush.....he voted for war. He is Bush lite. If he wins nomination Im not voting. Bush lite is not an option

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

28. So you won't vote for Gephardt, Kerry or Graham or Lieberman?

You'd let Bush get into office because of one vote? Wow, talk about cutting of your nose to spite your face.

Of course the only reason that Graham voted no is because the resolution wasn't "strong" enough for him.

[Dookus]

20. I'm watching it now...

yes, i cheered when Gephardt called Bush a "miserable failure". I thought he really grew a spine.

Then I remembered that he voted to GIVE bush the power to fail in this war, and that he was a push-over for Bush all along.

If he had treated Bush as a "miserable failure" as Democratic house leader, I'd be impressed. Instead, he didn't act that way until he was a candidate.

He has no power as a candidate. He had a lot of power as house democratic leader - he should've used his voice then.

[ibegurpard]

21. And this is why it is SO frustrating to hear this kind of stuff

coming from him NOW instead of THEN when it really mattered. Why should he expect me to believe him now?

[ikojo]

22. Gephardt's words are cheap

It's his actions that really define who he is...

The action of not being present (along with SIX other Democrats) on July 10 to vote in favor of saving overtime pay shows me that he could care less for working Americans. The Repukes won by a vote of 213-210. Working people lost because Gephardt couldn't find it in his schedule to defend us.

This is a man who has flipped flop more often than a pancake.

He obviously was afraid of standing up for working people lest he lose a corporate contribution. G-d forbid he go against the corps on an issue so important to THEM! Workers be d*mned!

I don't care what he did regarding NAFTA because I think that was all for show. Clinton sold the farm (literally) to get NAFTA through and Gephardt knew that it was going to pass regardless of his actions.

If you value overtime pay then we don't need Democrats like Gephardt.

:mad:

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

29. Total crap about Gephardt

"I don't care what he did regarding NAFTA because I think that was all for show. "

You obviously have no idea what you're talking about.

[jos]

23. Campaign didn't need to be "saved"

I keep trying to tell people that Gephardt is in a lot stronger position than they think. His support from labor and a great deal of the party establishment and his midwestern base puts him in a strong position. The problem for him is that he has to win Iowa. If he does that, he will be in it for the long haul. Probably head-to-head with Dean.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

27. Among DU members? No. Among regular Democrats? Yes.

Let's not forget that DU represents a *tiny* little fraction of the Democratic party, with the majority of us whiter, richer, and more socially liberal than most Americans.

I'm sure Gephardt's base in union members, moderates, and regular Democrats was quite happy with his performance, and now a lot more people are talking about Gephardt. Good for him.