Rank the Candidates!

[poskonig]

It is time for another obligatory ranking thread!! Rank the candidates with any criteria you prefer!

My rankings, based on personal likes, campaigning ability, and issues--

1) Kerry

2) Dean
3) Clark
4) Edwards

5) Kucinich
6) CMB
7) Gephardt
8) Lieberman
9) Sharpton

[Zynx]

1. Here I go.

1. Dean
2. Clark
3. Edwards
(BIG GAP)
4. Gephardt
5. Kerry
6. Kucinich
7. CMB
8. Sharpton
9. Lieberman

[AP]

2. E --- Ku/Ke/Cl -- Sh ---- CMB ------ Gep -------- L/D

[Clark4VotingRights]

3. I'll play!

1) Clark
2) Kucinich

3) CMB
4) Edwards
5) Kerry
6) Sharpton
7) Dean
8) Gephardt
9) Lieberman

[dorktv]

19. This might be an odd question but Kucinich is pretty much a pacifist

and Clark is the opposite by being a retired general who has directed a war. So how can you put Kucinich on the second spot?

[Clark4VotingRights]

26. Well, since you asked...Clark's a humanitarian, not "the opposite"...

He fought the *one war* in US history that was waged for humanitarian
reasons. (WW2 is a possible exception. FDR's motive for maneuvering us into that war were likely humanitarian, but it's hard to say 'cause official history of that period is so warped and spinned.)

Clark shamed Clinton into stopping "ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo.
This calls for background info.

"Samantha Power is a Lecturer in Public Policy. She was the founding executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy (1998-2002), and the Pulitzer prize-winning author of A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide (Basic Books, 2002), which examines U.S. responses to genocide in the twentieth century. From 1993-1996,
Power covered the wars in the former Yugoslavia as a reporter for the US News and World Report and The Economist. She is the editor, with Graham Allison, of Realizing Human Rights: Moving from Inspiration to Impact (St. Martin's, 2000). She is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School."
http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/degreeprog/courses.nsf/wzByDirectoryName/SamanthaPower

"General Clark is one of the heroes of Samantha Power's book. She introduces him on the second page of her chapter on Rwanda and describes his distress on learning about the genocide there and not being able to contact anyone in the Pentagon who really knew anything about it and/or about the Hutu and Tutsi. She writes, "He frantically telephoned around the Pentagon for insight into the ethnic dimension of events in Rwanda. Unfortunately, Rwanda had never been of more than marginal concern to Washington's most influential planners" (p. 330) .

He advocated multinational action of some kind to stop the genocide.
"Lieutenant General Wesley Clark looked to the White House for leadership. 'The Pentagon is always going to be the last to want to intervene,' he says. 'It is up to the civilians to tell us they want to do something and we'll figure out how to do it.' But with no powerful personalities or high-ranking officials arguing forcefully for meaningful action, midlevel Pentagon officials held sway, vetoing or stalling on hesitant proposals put forward by midlevel State Department and NSC officials" (p. 373).

According to Power, General Clark was already passionate about humanitarian concerns, especially genocide, before his appointment as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO forces in Europe. When genocide began to occur in the Balkans, he was determined to stop it.

She details his efforts in behalf of the Dayton Peace Accords and his
brilliant command of NATO forces in Kosovo. Her chapter on Kosovo ends, "The man who probably contributed more than any other individual to Milosvevic's battlefield defeat was General Wesley Clark. The NATO bombing campaign succeeded in removing brutal Serb police units from Kosovo, in ensuring the return on 1.3 million Kosovo Albanians, and in securing for Albanians the right of self-governance.

Yet in Washington Clark was a pariah. In July 1999 he was curtly informed that he would be replaced as supreme allied commander for Europe. This forced his retirement and ended thirty-four years of distinguished service. Favoring humanitarian intervention had never been a great career move."

http://blog.forclark.com/story/2003/11/28/81836/095

Yes, this is from the Clark community blog. But it's all factual.
I've seen Samantha on CSPAN introduce General Clark after his war crimes testimony against Milosvevic at the Hague. She said the same thing. I saw her on PBS NOW, she said the same thing.
I've seen her book.

So, regarding my support of a retired general who pressed for humanitarian intervention in Rwanda and Kosovo at the expense of his career:

-Clark is a diplomat first and foremost.

He respects our soldiers (unlike Bush), and will put them in harms way, only as a last resort:

"Wesley Clark: The anti-war general

...Colleagues and critics of Clark say the general's experience negotiating the Dayton Peace Accords changed him for good, transforming him from a military man into a general-diplomat who could never simply salute and follow orders again.

Another experience from that period, the unwillingness of the U.S. or United Nations (news - web sites) to intervene to stop the massacre of 800,000 people in the Rwandan civil war in 1995, seared in Clark a personal conviction to never let inaction have such grievous consequences again."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2027&ncid=2043&e=7&u=/chitri
b_ts/20031230/ts_chicagotrib/wesleyclarktheantiwargeneral

-I'm not so naive that I think the US can survive without a military.

However, I do think our current military has been misused despicably
and treated horribly.

Sending them to invade Iraq, kill Iraqis, and steal their oil is one of the worst war crimes ever. Clark has said as much. He was a commentator on CNN for months before the invasion, and was militantly (heh) opposed. I've read many of his quotes from that period; I've read columns he's written, mostly in the London Times.
He was dead set against that invasion. And even after Baghdad fell he was warning that the horror was just beginning.

Now we're stuck with the horror and he has a plan to get us out. Only a high ranking military man like him, and a superior diplomat (which he is) could have a viable and realistic plan to get us out of Bush's imperial invasion.

-I don't believe that military people should automatically be dismissed from consideration for public office. Do you?

-And the fact is, Bush has plunged us into "war."

Bush is the one that's created the need for "wartime" leadership, which he can't provide. He's given us: War in Afghanistan (for the Caspian pipeline, but still war), war in Iraq (for oil, but still war), war on "terra,"...war war war.
And the Pugs will claim the Dems are weak on national defense.
You know, wimps.

How will they make that claim stick if the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, a four star General is our nominee?

Picture a debate between Bush (the rich boy who got out of Vietnam by
having his daddy get him a slot in the national guard, then went AWOL...from the friggen national guard!) and Clark.
Clark will tear Bush's spleen out thru his left nostril.

Did you see Clark's interviews with the standard media whores a few
weeks back: Russert, Mathews,...everyone on Faux News?
He ate them for lunch. They never knew what him 'em.
But he did it with poise and dignity, with a professional presidential
demeanor.

Now when they interview him they're downright differential.
They practically roll over to get their bellies rubbed.
They've learned that he will fight back. Unlike the traditional spineless
Dem.

Why elect a General who has "directed a war" to end "ethnic cleansing"?
I believe in fighting fire with fire.
Clark is fire.

He's also a passionate humanitarian, an accomplished and experienced
diplomat, and a man of uncommon compassion and integrity.

[Clark4VotingRights]

47. Or, to quote Michael Moore...

"I have decided to cast my vote in the primary for Wesley Clark. That's right, a peacenik is voting for a general. What a country!"

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php

Woo hoo!

:bounce:

[kerryistheanswer]

4. here's mine

Kerry
Kucinich
Edwards
Clark
Gephardt
Dean
CMB
Lieberman
Sharpton

[Kathleen04]

5. Okay, here goes:

1) Clark
2) Edwards
3) Dean
4) Gephardt
5) Kerry
6) Kucinich
7) Braun
8) Lieberman
9) Sharpton

[Rainbowreflect]

6. 1) Kucinich

2)Clark
3)CMB
4)Dean
5)Edwards
6)Kerry
7)Sharpton
8)Gephardt
9)Lieberman

[goobergunch]

7. Mine

1 - Dean
2 - Kucinich
3 - Edwards
4 - Moseley Braun
5 - Sharpton
6 - Gephardt
7 - Kerry
8 - Lieberman
9 - Clark
6538099850508945809 - Bush*

[Bucky]

16. Goober, you're too hard on Bush. He's only about 6 billionth w/ me

Bush is right ahead of Slobodan Milosevic in my book. But only because Milosevic looks so damn similar to Gingrich.


Yeh, but which is which?

My ordering is this:
1st - Clark
2nd - Edwards
3rd - Kucinich, Moseley Braun (tie)
5th - Sharpton*
6th - Dean, Kerry, Gephardt (tied, for too much negativity)
9th - Lieberman (not tied, for having nothing but negativity)

*I love Sharpton--his wit his spectacular and he's my soul's choice for the man to share a stage with Bush in a real debate/slaughter.

[goobergunch]

17. Those pictures are truly scary.

:scared:

Meh...maybe I am a little hard on Chimpy McCokespoon. ;)

[LuminousX]

8. Simple

1. Dean
2. Kerry
3. Gephardt
4. Kucinich
5. Lieberman
6. Edwards
7. Mosley-Braun
8. Clark
9. Sharpton

[jmaier]

9. My rankings have changed recently:

1) Clark

2) Edwards
3) Kerry

4) Gephardt
5) Dean

6) Kucinich
7) Lieberman
8) Braun
9) Sharpton

[curse10]

10. See the sig

1. Kerry 2. Edwards 3. Kucinich 4. Clark 5. Gephardt 6. Sharpton 7. Mosley-Braun 8. Lieberman 9. Dean

[dolstein]

11. My ranking

1. John Edwards
2. General Clark
3. Joe Lieberman
4. Dick Gephardt
5. Howard Dean
6. John Kerry
7. Carol Mosely Braun
8. Dennis Kucinich
9. Reverend Sharpton

[poskonig]

12. When did you switch from Joe?

I believe I missed that!

[dolstein]

22. I still like Joe

He's probably closest to me on the issues. But I think Edwards and Clark could be more competitive than Lieberman in the general election -- particularly in the South.

The fact of the matter is that I've never been solidly behind any one candidate. Lieberman, Clark and Edwards are the only guys I could enthusiastically support. Gephardt is OK. I dislike Dean. I REALLY dislike Kerry.

Right now if I had to vote I'd pick Edwards, but I won't have to vote until March, and by then I'd be suprised if more than one of my top three are still in the race.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

13. My turn!

Interestingly enough, my views have changed considerably in the last week or two.

1) Edwards
2) Kerry

3) Sharpton (I LOVE watching him at the debates. He manages to bring humor into serious policy... However, I wouldn't vote for him- unless he was the party nominee of course!)
4) Kucinich

5) Gephardt
6) Dean
7) Clark (BTW- what DOES he really think about Don't Ask, Don't Tell?! I couldn't tell after all of the waivering that he's done over the years...)

8) Lieberman/ CMB- I don't want either, but would support them if they were the eventual nominee.



666) Bush*

[Hoppin_Mad]

14. Dean, DK, CMB, JK, JE, DG, AS, WC, JL -nt-

[kayleybeth]

15. My rankings

General election: ABB!!!!

Primaries:

1) Clark
2) Kerry or Edwards
3) Edwards or Kerry
4) Kucinich
5) Carol Mosley Braun
6) Gephardt
7) Sharpton
8) Lieberman
9) Dean

[progressiverealist]

18. kerry, clark, edwards, gephardt, kucinich, cmb, dean, lieberman, sharpton

but will strongly support any dem who gets nominated. Yes, even Lieberman.

[oldleftguy]

25. I was going to offer a list--

--but our lists are identical! :toast:

[LuminousX]

20. I'm going to capture this data in a database

I would love to do some correlation study on candidate placement.

[poskonig]

21. There is a lot of 'putting the contender in 9th place'

going around. If a campaign is threatened or is getting the shit kicked out of them by another campaign, many supporters act like the offending campaign is the devil.

I don't know if this is cognitive dissonance or just a way to "get back" and "win" against against a competitor.

[LuminousX]

27. That is exactly what is going to be interesting.

How many Dean as #1 put Clark as #8 or #9? And all the other fascinating variations. Also interesting is how the #2 stacks up. Someone once posted that our #2 would unite the party. That is patently absurd as if my #2 is your #1, then you (generic you, not actually YOU) are more likely to push that theory.

[LuminousX]

28. Quick Analysis Through Sorting

No real correlation data as of yet, but this is kind of interesting.

No Clark supporters have Dean as their #2. Edwards seems to be the most favored second choice for them.

Kerry supporters are all over the place with their #2, from Kucinich to Clark, though Edwards is still favored.

Among Dean supporters, Kucinich has the edge.

The top pick for #9 is Sharpton followed by Lieberman and then Dean.

[Bucky]

34. Did I crap up your count by awarding ties? Should I sort 'em further?

I'm willing. And keep in mind that Dean dropped down a notch by calling my dude a Republican today. Give me a night to lick my wounds and a month to kick his ass and I'll start to feel different. Yesterday he was doing much better with me.

[LuminousX]

38. I'm sorting ties by the order in which they were listed

I figured that betrayed some sort of bias. I'm not too concerned about #3-7 as really, that is a crap shoot for most people. First and Last are key with 2 and 8 being 'interesting.'

Besides, I'm entering the data raw, I wouldn't know which entry belonged to you. I did think about tying it to username so I could haunt people with their choices in a year, but that would be wrong. lol

[adadem]

66. Your analysis

confirms my belief that Dean is not a uniter, at least at DU. We seem to love him or hate him here.

[cindyw]

23. Here goes

1) Kerry

2) Edwards
Clark

4) Kucinich
5) Braun

6) Gephardt
7) Sharpton
8) Dean
9) Lieberman

[Mz Pip]

24. Here goes

1. Clark
2. Edwards or Kerry (back and forth on this)
3. Gephardt
4. Everyone else in no particular order, maybe Kucinich a little bit out front here.

MzPip
:dem:

[arewethereyet]

29. I'll play 1-JE 2-JK 3-RG/JL 5-DK/CMB/AS 8-HD/WC

based on ability to unite the party and the nation and lead us to greatness

AND

make a positive impact in the "coattails" department but thats somewhat tied into the first thing

[LuminousX]

30. Your's, so far, is the most interesting

[arewethereyet]

43. I'll take that as a compliment

n/t

[Renew Deal]

31. Clark, Kerry, Kucinich, Gep, Edwards, Dean, CMB, Sharpton, Lieberman

Since the last time I did one of these...

Dean Down 3

Kerry and Kucinich swap.

[isbister]

32. Kerry's #1

2) Kucinich
3) Edwards
4) CMB
5) Gephardt
6) Dean
7) Sharpton
8) Lieberman
9) Clark

[BootinUp]

33. Clark, Kerry, Edwards, Kucinich, Dean, Gep, Lieberman, CMB, Sharpton

Cheers for all our great candidates

[RetroLounge]

35. Easy

1) Dean
2) Dean
3) Dean
4) Dean
5) Dean
6) Dean
7) Dean
8) Dean
9) the other eight

[LuminousX]

36. thanks for playing

[Khephra]

37. mine

1 Dean


2 Kucinich

3 Clark

4 CMB




5 Sharpton
6 Kerry
7 Gephardt
8 Edwards
8 Lieberman

[texasmom]

39. Mine

Clark
Edwards
Kerry
Dean
Mosely-Braun
Kucinich
Sharpton
Gephardt
Lieberman
Sharpton

[LuminousX]

42. Is Sharpton 7 or 9?

[texasmom]

63. woops

Thought I'd cleaned that up. He's 9.

[LWolf]

40. Oh, all right.

But 2-9 are constantly changing; they'd be different every day!

1. Kucinich

2. Edwards

3. Kerry

4. Clark

5. Gep

6. CMB

7. Sharpton

8. Dean

9. Lieberman

[SadEagle]

41. OK, here are mine

1) Dean
2) Edwards
3) Clark

4) Kerry
5) CMB

6) Gep
7) Kucinich
8) Lieberman
9) Sharpton

[Renew Deal]

44. Shit, CMB dropped out. Now I have to start over.

:evilgrin:

[adadem]

45. Kerry - Gephardt - Edwards - Clark

Kucinich - Sharpton - Lieberman - Dean

[funky_bug]

46. Well, Clark for starters...

1. Clark
2. Edwards (still love him, even though I jumped to the Clark train)
3. Kerry (Okay, he attacked my boy, but hell, he attacks everyone)
4. Dean (not in my top three, but electibility wise is a true contender)
5. Kucinich (I'd love to punch him up higher, but I fear the dark horse is on a foreign battlefield, and not much hope against the Bush Train WRECK)
6. Gephart
7. Brown (Sweet gal, but a bit on the silly side)
8. Lieberman (some days I still like Uncle Joey)
9. Sharpton (Great speaker, great preacher... but come ON)

IMHO
R~

[Nashyra]

48. Clark first

1. Clark
2. Kerry
3. Edwards
4. Gephart
5. Dean

Would vote for all these and work for them.

[mndemocrat_29]

49. Rank the candidates

1. Wesley Clark
2. John Edwards
3. John Kerry
4. Carol Moseley Braun (even though she just dropped out)
5. Dick Gephardt
6. Al Sharpton
7. Howard Dean
8. Dennis Kucinich
9. Joe Lieberman

[PassingFair]

50. No Surprises here...

1. DEAN


2. Gephardt
3. Edwards
4. Kucinich
5. Sharpton*
6. Kerry
7. Clark
8. Lieberman

*NOTE: Believe CMB just announced that she's out of the race...CNN

[kerry-is-my-prez]

51. Clark, Kerry, Kucinich, Gephardt, Edwards, Lieberman, Dean

n/t

[carpetbagger]

52. CL GE KE ED LI DE CB DK AS

Clark, Gephardt, Kerry, Edwards, Lieberman, Dean, Mosely-Braun, Kucinich, Sharpton.

I'm surprised that I put Lieberman above Dean. While both of them seem to be flailing against the Democratic Party, at least Lieberman hasn't called the candidate I support (read: the candidate who I'm ideologically closest to) a republican, which is basically the same as accusing me of being a republican.

I think Gephardt and Kerry would be the other two who would run strong campaigns against Bush, although I think Lieberman might run strong as well. Gephardt gets the edge on the "West Virginia litmus test" (having lived there, I get the feeling that Gephardt and Clark would run the strongest campaigns).

Six months ago, it was Kerry, Dean, Lieberman, Graham, Gephardt.

[Supormom]

53. I love them all... except Lieberman

1 - Dean
2 - Kerry
3 - Edwards
4 - Kucinich
5 - Clark
6 - Sharpton
7 - Moseley Braun
8 - Gephardt
9 - Lieberman

[bhunt70]

54. the list

Clark
Edwards
Kerry
Dean - Kucinich
Gephardt - Braun
Lieberman - Sharpton

No hate to any of them but thats just my 2 cents.

I think it would be good to see a Clark/Kucinich ticket...I might be the only one. I also like Edwards/Kerry or vice versa. Of course Dean as the #2 is great also because of his base and less scrutiny.

[KaraokeKarlton]

55. Here's mine

1) Dean
2) Edwards
3) Lieberman
4) Sharpton
5) Kucinich
6) Larouche
7) Gephardt
8) Kerry
9) Clark

[DjTj]

56. E-Ke-C-D-G-L-Ku-S

The candidates I like:
1) Edwards
2) Kerry
Getting pragmatic:
3) Clark
4) Dean
And the rest:
5) Gephardt
6) Lieberman
7) Kucinich
8) Sharpton

[George_Bonanza]

57. Kerry, then...

1) Senator John Kerry

2) General Wesley Clark

3) Rep. Dennis Kucinich

4) Ex-Governor Howard Dean

5) Rep. Dick Gephardt

6) Senator John Edwards

7) Reverend Al Sharpton

8) Rep. Carol Mosely-Braun

9) Senator Joseph Lieberman

[Zero Division]

58. My first listing, actually

based on my perception of electability, political stances, non-political reputation:

1)Clark
2)Edwards
3)Kerry
4)Kucinich
5)Gephardt
6)tie: CMB, Sharpton, Dean, Lieberman

[jdawgg182]

59. Here's mine

1. Clark (the more I know about him, the
more I like him)
2. Gephardt (fellow midwesterner and fellow son of a
milk truck driver)
3. Dean

4. Kerry

5. Edwards

6. Lieberman

7. Kucinich

8. Sharpton

[w4rma]

60. My ranking of the 8 candidates

Top Tier) Dean
Second Tier, in alphabetical order) Clark, Edwards, Gephardt, Kerry, Kucinich
7) Lieberman
8) Sharpton

[Lexingtonian]

61. Hmmm....

1) Kerry
2) Clark

3) Kucinich
Sharpton
5) Edwards
Gephardt
7) Dean
8) Lieberman

[Maddy McCall]

62. Mine

Clark
Kerry
Edwards
Kucinich
Gephardt
Dean
Sharpton
Lieberman

[dusty64]

64. OK.

Dean
Kucinich
Clark
Kerry
Edwards
Gephardt
Sharpton
Lieberman.

[molly]

65. Kerrry-Clark-Edwards

[kerry-is-my-prez]

67. Is it time for another poll?

I'm not sure how to do one - otherwise I'd do it....

[spooky3]

72. how about picking the most popular of the groupings that people

have posted here, and giving people the choice of them?

[Cheswick2.0]

68. mine

1) Dean
2) CMB
3) DK
4) indistinguishable bland guy
5) *see 4
6) *see 4
7) *see 4
8) Sharpton
9) Clark

[LTR]

69. Here's mine

My rankings have changed a bit. Dean slides because of that uncalled-for 'Republican' slam at Clark yesterday, as well as some of the recent tactics by his supporters. Edwards rises, since I have learned more about him and I think he's a pretty good guy.

Kerry stays as my #2, because he's 'French-looking' and that's enough to piss off Rush.

I have a mostly favorable opinion of Gep, since he's a champion of the working class and farmers.

Sharpton slides, since his campaign is turning into self-parody.

CMB is last, since she is leaving the race anyway.

And Lieberman? well, he's just Lieberman.

1) Clark
2) Kerry
3) Edwards
4) Gephardt
5) Kucinich
6) Dean
7) Sharpton
8) Lieberman
9) CMB

[ModerateMiddle]

70. My list hasn't changed much

Since Clark entered the race.

1. Kerry
2. Clark or Edwards

4. Gephardt

5. Dean

6. Lieberman
7. Kucinich

8. Sharpton

I would be thrilled to see any of the first 3 as our candidate. I strongly believe that Kerry would be the best President for many reasons, but if any of my first 3 are chosen, I will, for the first time in I dunno how many years, be happy to vote FOR a candidate, rather than AGAINST a candidate, as I have done for years, and would frankly have to do if Dean was the nominee.

[spooky3]

71. JE--HD--WC/JK--DG/JL/AS/DK

based on how much I like the candidate and what I think his (now that CMB has dropped out) chances would be in the general election based on what we know now.