Whoever The Candidate Turns Out To Be...Will His Most Rabid Supporters....

[THUNDER HANDS]

Let said candidate do what all candidates do after they win their party's primary...namely, move to the center?

If it's Dean, he's going to be throwing out his more moderate positions and accentuating his centerist tendencies. Same thing with Kerry, Edwards, Clark or Gephardt.

So are the footsoldiers going to follow? Will Dean's activist anti-war base accept him positioning himself more in the political center?

Will Clark's?
Will Kerry's?
Edwards'?
Gephardt's?

Or will the activist base (ie, us) fight any perceived move to the center and go 'round and 'round in endless fights about how best to run a general election campaign.

What sayeth your gut?

Mine tells me, based on what I've seen so far, that a small percentage of candidate supporters will groan and moan about this position and that position if it moves too far 'rightward', but the majority of candidate supporters will know what the deal is and stick by their guy without complaints.

[Walt Starr]

1. Not only will I support any of the candidates moving to the center

I will DEMAND it of the nominee.

[Lisa0825]

2. What I first LIKED about Dean was his mix of moderate and liberal views

So, yes, I will be happy to hear those articulated, and maybe some people will stop saying he is too far left.

[tinrobot]

3. ABB

I think any rational person will understand the rush to the center. Most of these Dems are only slighty left of center anyways.

Besides, it seems like the center is pretty wide open. The Repugs are driving so far to the right they've gone past the bike line and are killing pedestrians.

[INTELBYTES]

4. Why support them if they try to change their stripes?

Winning may be everything but I won't be able to support a candidate that breaks my trust. I like what I see in Dean. I hope he can stay the course. But if he has to alter his positions to appease the moderates in the party, I'll just sit this one out.

[JNelson6563]

5. Alert: Dean's a Centirst

No change required. He's just not a hand-wringing, whatever-shalw-we-do centrist. ;-)

Julie

[THUNDER HANDS]

8. well...*I* know that

The question is, do a majority of Dean's supporters know how deep his centerist roots run?

And if they don't truely understand how far to the center Dean might have to go, will they still be there for him in the end?

[slinkerwink]

9. I do.

and I'll still be there in the end.

[bryant69]

6. You need to consider this

Every candidate except possibly Kucinich, has both moderate and liberal trends in them right now. You don't get to be a major player in the Democratic party without having some moderation in you, and truthfully you can't govern.

That is not as true in the Republican party where being a religious extremist is often an asset. But it is true in our party.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[MIMStigator]

7. why not be REALLY superior and vote for Bush*

nt