Dean supporters: if he doesn't win the nomination?

[MaddogTerp]

would you support whoever the nominee is, or would you support Dean if he starts a third party (Green Party?) campaign?

I'm not sure where I stand on this yet, I'm just looking for other opinions on it.

[MercutioATC]

Welcome to DU!

This has been covered quite a few times here. The point is moot because Dean's not leaving the party. However, the overwhelming response has been that we'd support whomever the Dem nominee turns out to be.

[MaddogTerp]

5. Thanks!

Sorry to ask the question again. this board flips so fast its' hard to keep up, much less read any archives.

[LuminousX]

1. Dean won't go 3rd Party, he's said this more times than any other

candidate.

Dean supporters, for the most part, will vote ABB. Why is everyone so afraid about this? WE are the ones who brought spirit and life back to the party. WE aren't about to abandon that which we've started.

[Carl21014]

2. I would support whoever runs against Bush....nm

nm

[slinkerwink]

3. I'll throw my support to Clark if Dean drops out, and Clark is still in

I won't vote for the nominee if it's Kerry.

[Ninga]

13. I love Howard too,

but do you really think he would not want you to support ABB?

This is so very hard to deal with, I understand your feelings. This election is so imporatant.

Just think of it this way, if you vote for ABB, then we may get out of Iraq sooner than if the prez was Bush.

One vote for ABB, might save one more soldier.

Does it not make a case for ABB?

[MaddogTerp]

18. I dunno, I really think Kerry would actually

fuck it up worse than the Bushies. he'd do like he did in vietnam -- go fight, get hurt, and then later decide that he's really anti-war. I really don't think I could vote for Kerry, or Clark either, so I guess I'm not really ANYBODY BB

[Old and In the Way]

32. "fuck it up worse than the Bushies"

Is that what you really think? Or are you on loan from the RNC?

25 posts.

[Snivi Yllom]

43. not fair

25 posts or 2500 posts, it changes nothing.

Kerry has some serious issues and flaws that make many,especially some Dean supporters have a hard time accepting it.

[HereSince1628]

4. Make a donation, then you can find the last 100 threads on this

6. I would not support a third party this time

& I voted for Nader in '96.
Also voted for John Anderson way back when.

[HereSince1628]

7. I'll back a Democrat...even if I have to write one in!

gahd, I am really tired of this.

The undependably democratic southern states get undue influence for their volatility...

I think Dean supporters should begin to use the same strategy...

Hey---rest of the party pay attention to us. Take on our positions on our issues and we might support you!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Anti-war. Dean, Clark or Green.

We don't need bush or a bush collaborator in the white house.

[westcoastbias]

9. Definitely not Kerry

It has to be someone not so connected to the establishment.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

And my I suggest voting for Kucinich this weekend if you want to REALLY piss off the establishment.

[MaddogTerp]

21. Thanks for the welcome!

and I'd love to vote for Kuchinic (someday I'll learn to spell his name!) and Dean both! But my primary isn't until March 2nd, so I just hope it isn't over by then.

[NoPasaran]

10. I am 100% ABB

Dean has stated he will support the nominee, whoever it is. I will be disappointed if it not Dean but nothing is more important than getting Busholini out.

[liberalnurse]

11. By the look of things in play......

the behavior of the other candidates, I'll just have to write-in Dean's name at the GE.


The slander here and in the media by other candidates has convinced me that they do not deserve the Presidency.

I would of switched over to Edwards up until this very day.....

... but there is a poster here at DU who convinced me otherwise......If Edward supporters are reflective of the candidate.......I want no part of his message.

You know, Edward may of wanted Ohio votes....I guess not.

[progressivebydesign]

14. I'll be bitter.. but..

I'll support the eventual nominee. EVEN if I feel as though he was shoved down our throats. And even if I feel bitter toward the people that swooped into DU for months with relentless attacks on Dean. And even if I feel angry and disappointed that the Democratic Party is moving further and further to the right, and seem to be no better than AARP, when it comes to losing their original focus.

I'll still be ABB when it comes time to vote. But It'll take me a long time to recover from seeing a very good, qualified, true man of the people, taken down in a most disgusting way. And, I'll realize that now that corporate america controls every freakin' move we make, we'll NEVER have a real man of the people again in the White House. We're all style, no substance. But.. I will never believe that there is NO difference between a corporate Democratic candidate, and the likes of Bush. That is just stupid. And that his why I'll vote against Bush.

[Skip Intro]

15. IF Dean started a third party, would Clark, Kucinich, even Gore join in?

That would be hard not to look at, as would a party started by Dean period.

But he has said repeatedly he'd support the nom because getting bush out is the ultimate, and urgent goal. And, I have to say, having just watched the moron in chief speak, I have to be agree with him.

In the meantime, however, I am with Dean, solidly, as long as he's running, up to the convention, and hopefully as the nominee. I have never been more in support of Dean and his message.

[MaddogTerp]

24. If Dean took them with him, that would be hard to ignore

and if he could get everybody who endorsed him to follow along... it could split the party, but IMO Kerry is just Bushie Lite, and him getting the nomination would be splitting the party anyway. it's much harder to argue against the stupidity that would be a Kerry presidency when it comes from my own party.

[Greylady]

25. I just watched the speech also

and I cannot take four more years of that smirk. I want my candidate to win but I will support the others regardless. Anyone who is not ABB needs to be forced to watch Bush smirk and bully his way through his speeches until they relent <kidding> I know this board gets edgy.

[DinahMoeHum]

16. Check out the following Salon link, it will help. . .

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/02/04/deaniacs/index_np.html
(Use the Free Day Pass for the whole article)

While there may be a handful of "diehards" who say they won't back Kerry, no matter what, most "Deaniacs" have indicated they will support whoever's the nominee.

(snip)
Ron Rapoport, a professor of government at the College of William and Mary, says his research supports the idea that many Dean supporters will go on to become energized party activists like Jabara. "Maverick candidacies recruit new constituencies for the party," he says. "The role of a maverick candidate is to enlarge the party."
(snip)
Watson, the founder of Deaniacs.org, has seen this firsthand. A Dean volunteer, she wanted to do everything she could to help defeat Bush, so she began volunteering for her local Democratic Party. "I started doing their Web site, helping them organizing precincts," she says. "I was the volunteer they couldn't get rid of." Finally, they hired her. She's now executive director of the Wake County Democratic Party, a job she makes sure to keep separate from her Dean activities.

Watson says she's not the only activist who's found a place in the party through her involvement with the primary race. "People from the Kucinich campaign and the Clark campaign, they're beating down the door of the county party, asking, ‘How can we organize precincts? How can we get out the vote? How can we get rid of George Bush?' All the ways you've seen Dean people volunteering, that same energy and strength is coming into the party as a whole."
(snip)

:kick:

Last night at the local Dean Meetup, we took a poll to find out if after Super Tuesday March 2, if Dean did not make up any ground, or if he dropped out, if we were still interested in volunteering in local campaigns as well as in the general election for the eventual nominee. EVERY HAND SHOT UP.

So, for those of us in our area who still support Dean, even if he drops out of the race, it is not the end for us. . .it's just the beginning.

:kick::kick::kick:

[progressivebydesign]

17. Maybe the Dean supporters can harness that energy..

..to get control of the Senate or House this year. There is a GREAT network already in place... perhaps we should vote ABB (naturally), but focus our efforts on a REAL problem. Our lack of majority in D.C.

I'm really pissed about everything that has happened to Dean. BUT.. I have to vote ABB, because I was one of the people that whined about Nader campaigning in Florida, and diluting Gores' vote. And, I was one that whined about Nader's suggestion that there was no difference between Bush and Gore. I have to show that when given the choice, I would do the right thing, if it means tossing Bush back to Kennebunktport (you don't really think he'd be living on that ranch for real? He built that thing during the election).

[bluedog]

19. My support

will go to who ever is running...Dean will and is gettinf praised on networks for lighting a match under our party..to get the movement against bush and all the evils he has done....Dean is the voice I think we have been waiting for...to Unite this Party...

[kerry-is-my-prez]

20. I'd hate to see both Clark and Dean both die out at the same time.

This is what could heppen.

Wish there was some way we could do a vote swap like they did with Nader. Clark people will vote for Dean in Wisc and Wash if the Dean people vote for him in Tenn and Virginia. All of the anti-war and anti-DLC people are split...

[edzontar]

22. I'll vote for the non-Dean nominee, but if it is Kerry

I will not donate or work at all for the campaign.

For any of the others, i would work very hard.

[Duder]

23. If Bush wins...

Will Dean supporters be blamed or will it be the fault of those that nominated a weak candidate?

[Greylady]

27. If Bush can

generate three million jobs, bring back the dead, convince America that Iraq really had WMD, cut the deficit in half by November and institute national health care for all, I will vote for him. Most people are not democratic purists, they only know that they are hurting and Bush did it to them. Bush will not win.

[deutsey]

26. I'm voting for the nominee, but

I'm also leaving the Democratic Party. I'll still vote Democratic until a viable third choice comes along, but I don't want to be a part of this Party anymore. Instead, being a small "d" democrat, I'm going to get involved in community grassroots organizing.

[Larkspur]

28. I felt the same way you did over 10 years ago when I left the Dem Party...

but I returned to the Dem Party in July 2002 because being outside the Party did not help it either.

I helped my local Dem Town Comm with the 2002 races and they invited me to join the Comm later that year. I don't plan on running for office but I feel that by being in the Party I can position myself to help candidates who I can support as well as give a voice to us unmarried and child-free folks.

Change is not a linear process. Most often it resembles an evolving cycle of progress-setback-progress. But participating in the process and building alliances with like-minded members is the key to making change a reality.

[deutsey]

29. I'll vote Democratic, until something more viable comes along

I just want nothing to do with being a member of the Democratic Party. I felt this way back in college in the '80s, although I registered Democratic. I've been with the Party until 2002 when I felt they were just becoming a rubber stamp for Bush. Then Dean's campaign came along and made me reconsider, and I've been enthusiastic about the grassroots part of the campaign. I'll vote for whomever is nominated, but I will do so as an Independent.

[Larkspur]

30. I support ABB because Bush has got to go but

my enthusiasm is not a commodity to be traded, like stock on the Stock Market. A candidate has to earn my enthusiasm and only Dean has earned it. However, my vote is crucial to removing the worse president in our nation's history and that ABB will get that without hesitation.

My Dean money most likely will return to MoveOn.org, NOW, and local/state Dem candidates I support. Of course if Dean turns his campaign into a "Take My Country Back" PAC, I'll support it as well.

I will refuse to donate to Kerry's campaign, assuming he wins the nomination, because 1) he supported the war and 2) he took out a mortgage on his home to keep him in the race. I refuse to support Kerry's "borrow and spend" habits.

[JaneQPublic]

31. Another "Nader-Trader" vote exchange?

On Election Day 2000, I voted for Nader here in a Gore stronghold state, in exchange for a Gore vote cast by a Nader supporter living in a swing state.

It hurt like hell miss a chance to vote for Gore, but this year I would welcome the opportunity to vote for Anybody But Kerry without actually helping Bush get re-elected.

Barring that, I guess I would have to get sh!tfaced drunk in November to vote for Kerry, or any of the others who voted for this horrific war.

[Padraig18]

33. I'm ABB.

That said, I will make my choice among the remaining candidates in IL's primary, but will only vote for JFK if Lyndon LaRouche is the only other Democrat remaining in the race at that time.

[TexasSissy]

34. It won't happen. Dean needs the Dem. Party for the future, and he said

on Meet the Press last week that he would support whoever the nominee turns out to be.

[MaddogTerp]

44. If that's the case, then Dean would be selling out

after everything he's said about the establishment, how he could just roll over and support "whoever the nominee" is -- like Kerry or Edwards (thankfully Little Dickie G is out)

I can understand the ABB vote, but a wolf in a sheeps' clothing like Kerry is just Bushie Lite and is worse than Bushie, IMO

[Kamika]

35. Lol sorry I don't want Bush again

It's abb for me then.

I have to Admit Kerry doesn't look that bad


(yes I'm a victim of the snowball effect)

[Melinda]

36. If he doesn't win, I'll write him in - but I'll not vote Kerry....

although I might be more forgiving of JE's IWR vote. Time will tell.

[Fleshdancer]

37. too early to tell

anything can happen between now and November. I guess I'll just have to sit back and see how everything unfolds. At this point, I assume I'll vote for the Democratic nominee, but I'm not making any promises in February.

[mvd]

38. My opinion of Dean would drop big time if..

he became a third party candidate during this election. I'd vote for our nominee.

[bowens43]

39. It would depend on who is the nominee.

[Anwen]

40. Dean has already said

that he will support whoever is the nominee. He's not going third party.

As for who I will support if Dean drops out, I'm leaning heavily towards Clark.

[PAMod]

41. Please vote for the Democratic nominee.

This is too important if for no other reason than to re-defeat Bush.

I'm not thrilled about the way this is unfolding, but we have to be behind the nominee, no matter how bad he might be.

Think about how screwed up the SCOTUS will be if Bush is making appointments; think about all of the no-bid contracts for his cronies, think about the alienation of our allies, the further division alongs racial & socioeconomic lines.

I could go on and on.

ANY of our candidates would be an improvement.

[Snivi Yllom]

42. write in Dean in or third party

and im in NY.

[nini]

45. I will support the Dem nominee

I will NOT take the risk of wasting a vote that may not get that bastard out of the white house.. Too much is at risk to make some kind of 3rd party statement this time around.

[GobGoober]

46. If Dean doesn't win the nomination, I dunno what I'll do.

As an independent, I have no party loyalty. I was drwan to the Democratic Party because of Dean. Without Dean, I'll be an undecided.