2 weeks until my caucus and I'm still undecided.

[cheezus]

Which I'll generously attribute to there being too many good canidates. I'm very strongly ABB and plan to support the nominee in the GE.


My wife and I had pretty much settled on Carol Mosley-Braun. The combination of her views and presence made her the "not-crazy Dennis Kucinich" in my mind. I seemed to agree with her on all the issues, and every time she opened her mouth in the debates I was impressed by her. Now that she's out, I guess my next favorite is...

Dennis Kucinich. Holy crap, I may have found someone who is more liberal than I am. That probably (I hope not, but I'm not going to kid myself) means he isn't electable. Unlike B* who lied about being moderate and compasionate and then turned out to be ultra-right, I don't think Dennis could stomach lying about being moderate and pragmatic and not ultra liberal. I also have two small policy concerns:
1 - Getting out of Iraq. He says the UN will take over and that our troops and money will stay home. I need to know more about how the UN will be funded and what support we will give(after all, it's pretty much our fault alone).
2 - Getting out of NAFTA and WTO. I don't like the big trade agreements, and I think they've been bad for us, but just up and yanking out of them sounds like a bad idea too. I think we need international labor and human rights standards, and I think we could use our muscle to renegotiate the agreements, but I don't understand the wisdom of getting out all together

next up...

John Edwards is currently in my #2 spot. The positive campaign and the positive message have something to do with it. He's young and charismatic, that has something to do with it. What I like best is how he addresses the class struggle. It really resonates with me when he talks about the two Americas. He also makes the distinction between work and wealth. I'd like to see that become a major campaign theme - Democrats, like most americans, value hard work and think it should be rewarded. The republicans are the party of wealth, and they don't value hard work. That's why they want to cut capital gains and raise payroll taxes. Top that off with Edwards being viable in the south and he's a pretty attractive canidate. I do think his youth and inexperience may be a hinderance. Edwards is still young and will have another shot at this. VP or AG would suit him just fine if he doesn't get the nomination

then..

John Kerry. He too gets to use some of the Iowa Mo on me. He looks presidential, and that's sometimes the biggest thing with voters. He clearly has the experience both foreign and domestic working for us as a legislator. Earning medals in Nam while W was skipping guard duty high on coke is a nice contrast to Mission Accomplished Flightsuit presidents. He seems like a solid democrat, but there hasn't been any policy that's getting me excited. My parents like him.

and I have mixed feelings about...

Howard Dean. I LOVE his campaign. Not so crazy about the canidate. So first I'll gush about Dean for America, then rag on the good doctor.
As a computer geek, I love the organization. I love they way they've tapped into a very solid core of people who are fed up with the direction that america is going. This is the sort of thing that gets young people like myself started in politics and makes lifers of us. The energy and even the "anger" are great. When I look at the Dean campaign, this is the message I see: "No. We're tired of taking your shit and we're not going to take it any more". This campaign has balls. Balls and fundraising ability. Every time they put up the bat the people pull out their wallets. The small individual contrubitions will be huge this year, and I think whoever is the nominee can harness that. I've been wanting to give $ to stop bush but don't want any of that being used to attack other democrats. As soon as we have a nominee I'll pony up- I'd imagine there are a whole lot of people in the same boat.
But Howard Dean... boy, I don't know. Another governer? One who thinks things like gun control should be left to the states? Aren't democrats supposed to be federalists? And sorry to get personal, but I don't like his look ... like he needs some chin lipo. (I don't vote based on things like that, but a lot of people do). He doesn't come off as particularily likeable , unless you are on his side. He doesn't really come off as anti-war as he'd like to , I think. Sure he didn't vote for IWR. Was he in congress at the time, or did Vermont make that decision? Looking at his record, he seems to not really be all that liberal (civil unions --NOT gay marriage-- aside). I guess I'm overwhelmed by the campaign but underwhelmed by the canidate. Dean guys, set me straight.

okay, who's left

Gephardt - I assume he's out of it after Iowa. I think poor Dick's time had just come and gone already

that leaves

Gen Wesley Clark.
Good: He can whoop the snot out of W when it comes to foreign policy
and... that's about all I can think of. Aside from, "hey, I'm a retired General", I don't know why I should vote for him. Is he actually a democrat? On top of that, his voice sounds waaaay too much like W's for my comfort. But I DO think he could win the GE.

and last (and least, actually)

Joe Lieberman.
Living proof that putting a (D) by your name doesn't make it so. I respect the guy, and I think he honestly wants what's best... we just have differing views on what that is.



Okay guys, convince me!

Edit: I forgot Al Sharpton! Heh, I guess that in itself says almost enough. Actually, I love this guy. He's not afraid to be confrontational. He doesn't roll over. He stands up for the truth. Unfortunately he's too much of a character to be a serious canidate. Hope he does well in the southern states and carry some political weight in the democratic party

[davidinalameda]

1. take a look at Clark's website

http://www.clark04.com/

I think that you'll find what you need to support him

the biggest thing, though, that has attracted me to Clark is his willingness to take the high road in this campaign

he's been subjected to attacks by others and he refuses to sling mud

I think he's a good man and a great leader who is head and shoulders above the other candidates.

[cheezus]

2. substance

I looked on his Issues page and it seemed to only address things in terms of broad democrat friendly answers. Man, I wish people would HTMLize pdfs on their websites.

It seems like this guy just up and decided to become a democrat so he could then be president. I agree that taking the high road is good, but he didn't compete in Iowa, so how much mud-slinging is there actually going on. I haven't seen him debate policy. In fact, the only thing I ever see is that he's a General.

[hilzoy]

3. Try this:

Go to this website: http://www.us4clark.com/mediaclips.html . Find any town meeting video. Watch it. -- There are two points about town meetings. First, the questions are in general much better than those asked in interviews. Interviewers tend (as best I can tell) to be interested in 'gotcha' questions; ordinary citizens want to know about issue. Second, if you want to get a feel for who Clark is, and why you should consider voting for him, listening to him answer questions off the cuff, without notes, and with more than 30 seconds per question is absolutely the way to go.

[in_cog_ni_to]

4. I agree.

He really SHINES in his Town Hall Meetings. Once you see and hear him at one of those...you have a very good idea of who he is. He's just incredible.

[Ficus]

5. Go Dennis

and go John if you gotta choose a #2, like I had to.

on edit: Edwards. There are too many Johns in politics.

[sandnsea]

6. Kerry and Edwards are good choices

I like Edwards' two Americas message too. And if this were a normal election, well, it might be tougher for me.

I like Kerry's health care plan. There's actually alot to it, but simply, every American has access to the same plan Congress has. It's can't be painted as "socialized" medicine and that's important in the GE. And how can a Congressman go home and tell his constituents, you can't buy into my plan. (It's for people with no other options, the uninsured, income rated)

I like his Energy Independence plan and I noticed alot of Iowans like it too.

I like his community service plan. Because of the practicalies, but mostly because it'll bring generations together again. Seniors and young people working together and learning from each other and taking an interest in each other. Good stuff.

I like his active engagement in world environmentalism thoughout his whole life. International relations isn't just peace treaties. It's so much more than that and Kerry has done the other work as well. Environment, AIDS, poverty, business development, all of it. He's got the edge on Clark here too.

And we know his credentials on defense. He wrote some of our laws to break up money laundering, etc. He is adament about stopping WMD proliferation, etc. He knows what needs to be done here and has for years.

He's the whole package, the real deal, he'd make the best Prseident in decades.