Kerry supporters: Honest question, do you sometimes have doubts?

[sfecap]

about your chosen candidate? If so, what are they?

Follow-up question: is it healthy to maintain a critical perspective on the campaign and your candidate?

[realFedUp]

1. Nicely framed

question sfecap.

[molly]

2. No doubts

and yes we do need to maintain critical perspective. Kerry has an outstanding record that cannot and will not be challenged by anyone else running.

[JVS]

3. I'm not a Kerry supporter, but I have a question.

How can someone claim that a person who voted for the Iraq war would not have gotten us into the war? Isn't voting for a war getting us involved?

[brainshrub]

I suggest you read William River Pitt's essay:

"The Trail of Kerry"

It's on Truthout.org.

I feel bad for Kerry, he was one vote away from being the front-runner.

[La_Serpiente]

5. There was a discussion about his vote

here yesterday.

[Monte Carlo]

9. Well, it's ultimately the President's power to make war...

... as he is the Commander-in-Chief. Congress' power is to declare/authorize war, but they have no power to wage it. In this case, I think that Bush took a legitimate concern about our national security - Saddam Hussein - and corrupted it for his own ends. Kerry had to make a critical decision without knowing the consequences of either a yes or a no.

[brainshrub]

4. the more I know about Kerry, the more I like him.

I now think that Kerry would be a better VP than Clark.

If Kerry had been more vocal against the Iraq war ealier this year, I might have been an activist in his campaign instead of Dean's.

[Monte Carlo]

6. About his odds in the race? Sure. About his ability or intentions? No.

I'd think you have to be either crazy or stupid to know that Kerry has a LOT of catching up to do if he wants to go up against Bush in November. But what I do not doubt is Kerry's ability to fill the Oval Office or to defeat Bush, nor his intentions behind his voting record.

I'd like to think I'm maintaining a critical perspective on Kerry, but being that he's my state's Senator, I have the benefit of having a better knowledge of his history than most people.

[creativelcro]

24. But because of that it is also easy to be more biased

and less objective...

[Monte Carlo]

28. Absolutely, I'm totally biased.

I make no bones about it, I'm looking at this whole thing from a skewed point of view. But otherwise, I still think that Kerry holds up best against Bush, though I have become partial to Clark, as well.

[LuminousX]

7. Follow-up Question: Even if you had doubts, would you admit them?

Especially in this forum.

Do you find questions like this to be disingenuous as they seem to be probing for weakness?

How would you like to come to DU every week and see someone else asking about your level of commitment to your candidate?

[molly]

8. I would not support a candidate that I doubted

and I doubt anyone else here would.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

10. =u (

At one point, I was actually volunteering for Kerry very early in the campaign. I have to say though - this is one of the worst run, most invisible campaigns I have ever seen. The only person more invisible than Kerry is Braun, and I don't think she even has a % in the polls any more. I think he has what it takes, but he certainly isn't campaigning as if he wants it.

[molly]

13. If you thought his campaign was one of the worst run

it was very wise of you to leave. On the other hand - for having such a poorly run campaign, he seems to be a great big threat to many candidates and has more superdelegates than anyone else.

:shrug:

[KaraokeKarlton]

15. I don't view him as a threat at all.

He doesn't have very many more superdelegates than Dean does and I suspect it will get even closer as time goes on.

I heard Kerry talking like a hawk all over the news yesterday. I think he's very, very insincere.

[creativelcro]

25. Asking somebody if they are going to lose

is the wrong type of question. Nobody who is serious about what they are believing/doing would admit that. One needs to find out indirectly, by asking other questions (e.g., about their specific plans etc)...

[NewYorkerfromMass]

11. That he can beat Bush? yes. That he's our best shot? no.

Kerry has a lot of negatives to overcome in the eyes of 'one minute shoppers', but those who take the time to listen to him come to the realization that he is an incredible person and would be a great president. Today's NYTimes article provides testament to Kerry's power to persaude this way:

On Saturday night in Davenport, he talked briefly before taking questions for an hour and 45 minutes....

-"I just like his straightforwardness," said Tom Kelly, 61, a steelworker who said he had never been to a political event before. Mr. Kelly said he would buck his union, which is backing Representative Richard A. Gephardt, by caucusing for Mr. Kerry. "He's got the right answers as far as I'm concerned."

-Pat Schilling, 48, declared herself a Republican no more. "I decided that to stand on the sidelines, do nothing, and allow Bush to have another four years was unacceptable," she said, after telling Mr. Kerry she would be caucusing for him, too. "I think he has integrity, and experience. And I think he cares about the average American."

-"a week ago, Mr. Kerry finished his 15-second tête-à-tête with Paul Flanagan, 29, a counterman at a delicatessen in Dover, N.H., by saying he wanted to win the man's vote. Mr. Flanagan blurted, "I think you just did."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/16/politics/campaigns/16KERR.html?pagewanted=print&position=

He's IMO, THE Democrat who can make the case against shrub.

[bearfartinthewoods]

12. little sir echo, is that you?

n/t

[JI7]

14. well

i don't doubt him as a person, such as whether he wants to do good or not for the people. most of the things i don't like that he does are things such as riding his bike without a helmet. i also don't like it when his hair gets all big and poufy, but recently he has been good at keeping it trimmed. those are personal things though. as for his campaign, he does a great job just about anytime i see him, but the problem is getting out that exact message through the big media without their spin and lies.

[mzmolly]

16. I'm not a supporter but am still trying to figure out his position on the

war?

[KaraokeKarlton]

17. good luck on that one

I don't even think HE knows what his position on the war is. :shrug:

[NewYorkerfromMass]

18. You know you can threaten war and not fire a single shot

it actually happens you know.

[curse10]

20. I, for one, am tired of explaining it to Dean supporters

if you haven't figured it out by now that's your problem, not Kerry's, nor his supporter's.

[curse10]

19. No

I've been a Kerry supporter since 2001. I am willing to admit he's not perfect, but I still think he's the best man for the job.

Not one of the candidates is perfect. But Kerry, besides DK, is by far the most liberal. I'm a liberal. I'm not a moderate- even though it's obviously trendy to be one right now.

Kerry has the best education plan (both lower and higher), his community service plan is brilliant, he's the first candidate to talk about corporate responsibility and come up with an actually plan to hold people accountable, his healthcare plan is actually implementable, and for the last 30 some years he's been fighting the good fight. He's not bush lite. He's not a member of the BFEE. I don't give a flying fuck if he was a member of skulls and bones. And I don't care one iota how much money he does or doesn't have. If Kerry doesn't win the nomination I will be heartbroken because in my soul I know that Kerry should be the next president.

[indigo32]

21. Why are there so many Dean supporters on this thread

come on people... give it a rest.

[bearfartinthewoods]

26. if i believed in current popular theory, i'd say

they can't help themselves, they are programed to intrude while at the same time complain about intrusion into their positive dean threads.

[La_Serpiente]

22. I like John Kerry

He had good intentions when he committed himself to something. He brought justice to those that did wrong. He has a record of fighting those who would try to take him down and succeeded in the end.

This year has been a turbulent one for him. Of course, there is the frustration towards those who voted for the Iraq War Resolution in the party (If you want to see his rationalization for that decision, click here).

I think Kerry has learned a lot more while on the campaign trail. It is a big question mark in my head as to what he was thinking while campaigning earlier this year, and I think one could sense the frustration in him. He just needed a break. It is good that he took a rest and sat down with those journalists because it gave him a different perspective. He is now listening to more voters and listening to their concerns. He now realizes how important this election is, and how much people out there are looking for a voice. Maybe his stay on the bottom of the pack humbled him, I don't know, but he is showing a lot more humility (I believe) now and is benefiting from it. Whatever what was going on personally, I now know that he overcome it, and that is all that matters.

I don't care whether Kerry has the most money or not. I just know, in my heart, that he is one of the best candidate out there.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

23. He took questions from Iowans for 1hour 45 minutes this weekend

He's winning voters over one by one.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/16/politics/campaigns/16KERR.html?pagewanted=print&position=

[La_Serpiente]

27. thanks

:-)

[Octafish]

29. Not about Kerry — he's the best qualified candidate in two generations.

John Kerry has a track record as a true Liberal who believes in using the power of government to make life better for ALL Americans. The guy is a war hero, who has been willing his entire adult life to put the nation's interest ahead of his own. Kerry's vision for the future is shaped by the ideals of my own political guru, John F. Kennedy.

In answer to your FU: Of course it's important to be critical and objective. That's why I point things out about Coward Dean, for example, that are important to consider. In Kerry's case, I've wondered who the heck is helping him in his communications department.