Would you support Kerry in the primaries?

[MrCoffee]

Poll question: Would you support Kerry in the primaries?

I'm just curious (not trying to start trouble). After his announcement today, would you support Kerry in the Democratic primaries? It's an abstract question, *NOT* "well, if so-and-so didn't run".

In the interest of full disclosure, i would not support Kerry in the primaries, but would support him if he won the nomination. But i won't vote here.

Thanks for your input.

[zanne]

1. Only if the other candidates were worse. nt

[Imagevision]

2. Mr. Coffee, would YOU support Kerry in the primaries??

[MrCoffee]

3. I stated in the OP that i would not, but would support him if he won

the nomination.

[slackmaster]

4. Bob Dole answer

"Depends" (on who else is running).

[MrCoffee]

8. No fair! It's theoretical...see the OP

:hi:

or is it hypothetical?

[slackmaster]

21. OK, then it would depend...

On how I felt on Election Day.

(I change my mind often.)

[LSparkle]

5. What announcement?

[MrCoffee]

11. His statement that he's "pretty much feeling what you feel"...

when you run. I interpreted that to be an announcement. He may not.

[Mass]

24. It was not. He was saying the same thing he has said for months.

He has not made his decision, but is seriously considering it.

Biden and Mike Gravel are, as far as I know, the two only ones who have said definitively they will run.

[MrCoffee]

27. Thank you. Perhaps i misinterpreted it.

Edited to add that it has inspired some passionate threads in GD-Politics today, which is the reason for the poll.

[Mass]

28. Not your fault. The ABC title that led to the thread this morning was

very misleading, but it is ABC, so we should not be surprised.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

76. ABC = Another Bad Choice.

I don't get fanatical about boycotting everything and anything that doesn't fall in with my views, but I'm very angry with them right now and I don't want to give them any viewer ratings from my televisions. I'm just a drop in the bucket and I know they don't give a flying ---- about me, but it gives me a tiny bit of pleasure to boycott their shows.

:rant:

[Imagevision]

6. Not if Obama was running...

[MessiahRp]

7. I would support Kerry.

I have met the man, worked hard for him and am very loyal. That being said if my home state Senator Feingold ran, I would have to vote with Russ.

Rp

[skipos]

9. Depends. Id like to have a good candidate who is NOT a senator and IS from

a flippable red state. I realize the best candidate might not have these characteristics, so we will see. Regardless, if Kerry or Edwards was a governor of Ohio, they'd be sitting in the oval office right now. If Gore had picked Graham from FL as a running mate, they'd be sitting in the oval office. I hope we can find good candidates with some electoral benefits.

[butterfly77]

10. This is not the time for the

same warmed over soup.

[MrCoffee]

12. Well, given his statement today, I was curious.

[fedupinBushcountry]

30. What statement?

He answered some college kids questions, where is that a statemnt. Did you even go and watch it?

This poll proves nothing, he lost every poll on DU back in the primaries, this doesn't prove a thing, especially on here.

[MrCoffee]

31. Of course it proves nothing. It's an internet poll

i just wanted to get a feel for the room, is all.

[iamthebandfanman]

39. sure it proves something

DU'ers in general dont care much for john kerry(edit : as a president).
lol.

im with the original poster tho, id support him if he was the nominee.

[wisteria]

73. Actually, DU didn't support him before either. This time the opposition

is less. Happily, DU and the blogs are just a small slice of America.

[MrModerate]

13. The way you've framed it makes it hard to answer . . .

Suffice it to say, he's not my first choice, but I do believe he'd make a perfectly adequate president (by the usual standards, not based on the most recent White House occupant).

[MrCoffee]

14. I know...i tried to make it abstract.

[LSparkle]

15. I think a Cabinet spot is a better option -- Defense/State?

[serryjw]

32. I agree

NOT everyone can be president. I have posted before and was flamed, BUT people( dems that did vote for him) don't like him..sorry, but not everyone sees beyond the elitist exterior. You have to win to do your good work. Kerry can't win, IMHO.

The truth is I have no idea what I will do in 2008.Clark is my favorite NON senator.

[iconocrastic]

70. Water

[rockymountaindem]

16. Sure

Why not?

[patricia92243]

17. Did not, would not.

[Fridays Child]

18. Gore, Dean, Clark, Feingold...

...maybe Clinton. Kerry? Doubtful.

[peace13]

19. Do the words ' count every vote' mean anything to you?

I wish we could drop the Kerry running for president thing around here. It is oh so tiring!

[MrCoffee]

25. Well, after the statement he made, and some other threads re: same,

I was curious as to what the general feeling was concerning a Kerry run.

[peace13]

37. Fair enough, it's me, not you.

[Mass]

20. I guess we all know the answer on DU. It was pretty much the same thing

in 04.

For the record, I would support him and he is one of only 3 or 4 I would support with pleasure.

[grasswire]

22. no, for two reasons

1. I will not support anyone for president who has the capacity to draw Republicans to the polls to vote AGAINST who might otherwise stay at home and sit the election out.

2. I will not vote again for any Skull & Bones member. Never.

[Sugarcoated]

71. Just curious

why no Skull & Bones member?

And no, I would not vote for Kerry in the primary, and yes, I'd vote for him, or any Democrat, in the general. I don't think I'd work to elect him, though. I put my life on hold to get him in and it didn't happen. He wouldn't motivate me again to so a second time.

[rox63]

23. Abso-friggin-lutely!!!

He's been my Senator for 22 years, and I've voted for him in each and every election he's run in. Except for the one in '72, 'cause I was too young to vote then.

[OneBlueSky]

26. no . . . we desperately need Al Gore as our candidate . . . n/t

.

[underpants]

29. Yes

The more I learned about him the more I respected him but he really should have fought it out in Ohio.

[elfin]

33. I would support clark -- eom

[Sam Odom]

34. Kerry did not fight for himself in '04 - So I won't in '08

[IndianaGreen]

48. But Kerry is fighting now like a tiger

and we can't blame Kerry for suffering in 2004 of the same malaise that aflicted the vast majority of Democratic office holders, appeasement.

Kerry's leadership in the Alito filibuster, much to the chagrin of Democratic leaders, and his attacks on Bush's failures as President and Commander-in-Chief are not to be casually dismissed, at least not by me.

[welshTerrier2]

35. i have NOT ruled him out yet ...

i almost never respond to these '08 threads but i thought it was important to respond to this one ...

here is what is mostly wrong:
1. we are stuck in a perpetual war
2. we are not earning the respect of the rest of the world
3. our alliances have been shattered
4. we are an imperial power that takes oil whenever and wherever we want to
5. global warming is destroying the planet
6. the rich get richer and the poor get nothing
7. corporations and big money have poisoned our government
8. our voters are often ill-informed on the issues
9. the "political class" is more interested in winning than in leading
10. we need a new American revolution to restore American values
11. our electoral process is badly broken
12. few have hope
13. 70 million have stopped voting
14. healthcare should be a right not a privilege
15. the political class is badly out of touch with the people
16. our media have become way overcentralized
17. our political process is biased against new, not-yet-popular ideas
18. we need to reduce automobile use and increase mass transit
19. we need to balance the budget and make deep cuts in unnecessary weapons systems
20. we need to put "people before profits"

OK, that's enough for now ... a good list would probably be endless ...

no one President is going to "fix" all of the above overnight ... and we should NOT expect any candidate for any office to propose a laundry list of solutions for all the problems we face ...

what we should DEMAND from our candidates, however, is that they speak to all these issues so that we understand that, fundamentally, they agree with these issues as "perspectives and values" ...

in April, Kerry made an excellent, detailed speech about the Iraq War ... in my view, he has badly backtracked from that position ... i won't debate this point (yet again) in this thread ... i have this hopeful feeling that buried under all Kerry's cautionness beats the heart of a solid progressive ... it just always seems that he keeps it buried presumably for what he views as politically pragmatic purposes ... who knows?

i will probably be voting Green (for the first time ever) in 2008 ... if i do so, however, it would be in the General Election ... i'll almost certainly vote for a Democrat in the primary ... I have NOT ruled out a vote for Kerry at that time ... my vote will go to someone who demonstrates a real appreciation for the issues i listed above whether they are politically viable or not ... Kerry seems either unable or unwilling to move left ... that's where my next vote is coming from ... i'm always hopeful one prominent Democrat or another will find themselves meandering into my "political neighborhood" ... at this point, i'm sick and tired of moving right to go looking for them ... the next vote i cast is going to have to be earned ... am i willing to compromise? sure,to a point ... so far, i don't hear anyone making any offers ...

[MrCoffee]

36. Thank you for posting.

[dtotire]

38. Would you support Kerry in the primaries

No, I would vote for the person I think would get the most electoral votes. That would be Mark Warner, who I feel is unbeatable. With his record, it would be nearly impossible to Swiftboat him. However. I would support Kerry if he is nominated, also Clark, Bayh, Edwards. etc.

[zulchzulu]

40. I would support the other candidates who will lose to Kerry

Kidding...

[Awsi Dooger]

41. No, Kerry should have waited until '08

An open race is much better suited for someone who has a personality drain. You're not going to knock out an incumbent if you are considered bland, unless that incumbent self-destructs with horrid approval ratings in the 40% range. Katrina came a year late for Kerry's chances.

If Kerry runs in '08 he will be stunned at the lack of support.

[iconocrastic]

72. He will run.

[wisteria]

74. I find there is a lot of support for him. perhaps you mean DU.

Why wouldn't he have support? He would be a great, experienced candidate with the important credentials to be President. He may even be given a fair chance to let people get to know him. I think you may be stunned by the enthusiastic support he does have.

[bigwillq]

42. No (nt)

[paulk]

43. I wouldn't rule it out

like so many on DU

but, I'll make that decision in 2008, after listening to what he and the other candidates have to say, and what the political realities of the day are. Just like 2004...

[TheWraith]

44. Depends on who else is running.

I honestly really do like Kerry. But there are other people I'd consider supporting over him, depending on how things played out. I'd make my decision based on who's in the field, who looks to have a chance of winning, and who's got the juice. Though chances are that by the time NY rolls around, the primary will have been more or less decided, so I may end up with a symbolic gesture vote the way I did last time.

[IndianaGreen]

45. By the time the Indiana primary rolls around in May, it is all over...

but the shouting. A more proper question to Hoosiers would be who would we support in the run up to the primary season. At this point in time I don't know the answer to that. I am more certain as to who I will not vote for, than as to who will I support.

There are many fine prospective candidates that have distinguished themselves by opposing Bush instead of appeasing him. Three of them were previous Democratic nominees for either President or Vice-President (not Holy Joe), one served in the military with great distinction and has shown tremendous poise when confronted by Faux News propagandists, another has the distinction of voting against PATRIOT Act.

For the purposes of this binary poll only, I will answer "Yes" to the question.

[Ignacio Upton]

46. I will NOT support him in the primaries...

Nor will I even considering voting for these people in the primaries:
Hillary
Biden
Bayh
Dodd
Daschle

If any of these folks are nominated, 2008 will look like 1988 for us.

[hayu_lol]

57. Ignacio, like your list!

Clark/Feingold

[zulchzulu]

77. So...um...who would you support...

Additionally, who did you support in the primaries in 2004...

[Sapere aude]

47. It depends on who else is in the primaries. It's too early to answer

a question like that unless you either love or hate Kerry.

[MrCoffee]

50. That's fair. I started the poll because there were some pretty heated

threads in here earlier regarding a possible Kerry run, and I wanted to get a general idea of how people felt. I freely admit that it's a hypothetical question.

[WildEyedLiberal]

49. We had this exact same poll last week

You must have missed it. I'm not being snarky to you, but it's just that this crap gets old and is just a big platform for a bunch of people to whine about how much they don't want Kerry to run.

If they vote for someone else, fine... that's what primaries are for. But it's beyond stupid for people to bitch about him RUNNING. If they don't want to vote for him, don't. It's that simple. No one whines about any other candidate's right to run - I never see this kind of poll for Clark, Edwards, etc etc... no, it's always Kerry and the same people show up and give the same tired reasons for why they hate him.

[MrCoffee]

51. I did miss it. My bad. I posted it because of some threads earlier today

and i wanted a general idea of where people were. Sorry for the duplication.

[WildEyedLiberal]

52. It's ok, not your fault

And FWIW this thread is actually more respectful than such threads usually are; why that is the case is beyond me. Perhaps because you're being careful to be fair and not posting obvious flamebait, which is again more than can be said for most of these polls. Kudos.

May I ask who you would support, out of curiosity?

[MrCoffee]

54. As i stated in the OP, i would not support Kerry in the primaries, but..

would support him in the general if he won the nomination.

ETA: I really tried to keep it neutral. It's such a wild hypothetical (not including any other candidates, assuming he will run, etc), but I was just interested to see the results.

Thanks.

[WildEyedLiberal]

55. That's fine, I was just wondering who you liked better

Not trying to interrogate you, just geniunely curious...

[MrCoffee]

56. I'm undecided at this point (and i did not vote in the poll)...

but personally, and this is just me, i got burned by Kerry and Mary Beth Cahill waaaayyy too badly in 04 to support him again for the nomination. After he conceeded without a fight...that hurt.

That being said, if he did run and did win the nomination, i'd work my ass off for him all over again.

[WildEyedLiberal]

58. Well, there's a lot of info you should read about election 04

It's not as cut-and-dry as that. If there had been proof to overturn the election, you can bet they would have gone to court. Hell, they STILL went to court, but in Republican Ohio, the case has dead-ended.

And you can bet Mary Beth Cahill will NOT be making a return appearance for Kerry '08. Give the man credit for learning from his mistakes.

Well, I'm out of this thread because I really don't feel like getting into another big debate with people, but... just read thru the RFK article and Conyers' election reform stuff... even they agree there wasn't much Kerry could have done. What SHOULD have been done was securing the machines BEFORE the election, which is the DNC's job. Kerry was just the candidate, he can't do the entire infrastructure work of the parry, too. Anyway, nice chatting with you, peace.

[ourbluenation]

53. In the primaries? no.

[Tom Rinaldo]

59. If Clark, Gore, and Feingold were out of the running, maybe then.

I prefer Kerry to some other possible nominees and would certainly support him again in the General Election, but to be honest at this point I would prefer he stay in the United States Senate and fight for our issues from inside that institution. I like John Kerry better than I liked his 2004 campaign. I'm just being honest, not trying to slam him.

[stevedeshazer]

60. It's WAY too early for this. Focus.

But, hell yeah, I would. :)

[MrCoffee]

61. Once again, I only asked due to some pretty heated threads earlier.

[blm]

62. You think this didn't go on in 2002 and 3? There's a FACTOR nobody likes

deal with on a message board:

Democrats generally are opposed to being told how they should vote - so they do the intelligent thing and wait to hear the candidates out during a series of debates, and whoever has their chops down and crafts the more solid positions is likely to move up to the top spot no matter WHAT a forum board says, no matter what bloggers think, no matter what op eds are written in the months before, and no matter what outside attempts are made to circumvent their candidacies.

Try crafting a poll that asks, During the primaries, which candidate do you expect will perform most solidly over the span of the debates? And see how it turns out. That may be your best indicator, if indicators are what you're looking for.

[Az_lefty]

63. No, Clark is the man...

[rpannier]

64. I would...

It would depend on who else is running.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

65. Against whom?

Tom Carper? With joy.
Bernie Sanders? Never.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

68. Editorial comment.

*If Bernie went on a killing spree I would retract my support. So "Never" is slightly over-the-top.*

[Lydia Leftcoast]

66. Only if the other candidates were noticeably worse

He lost me when he conceded so easily.

[AtomicKitten]

67. Nope.

I'm praying Al Gore throws his hat in the ring, otherwise Clark.

[nickinSTL]

69. depends on the other candidates...

I like Kerry, but I think there are other, stronger candidates out there. But, if they didn't run...yes.

Would Gore, Clark or Feingold be running? They'd all likely get my support over Kerry.

Would Biden and Clinton be running? I'd support Kerry over them.

It really depends :shrug:

[wisteria]

75. Absolutely! He has unfinished business and he wants to run for the right

reasons. I would enthusiastically support him again- even more than before. I know more about the man now and I like what I have learned. I can think of no other candidate I could support as wholeheartedly.

[TayTay]

78. Oooh, that is hopeful

Kerry never had that much support at DU in 02 and won the primaries anyway.

This is a very hopeful sign to see him doing this well here.

Thanks Mr. Coffee for doing this poll!!! I feel a lot better and will make a campaign contribution to him to celebrate.

This was a nice thing to do. Appreciate it.

[karynnj]

84. I agree - there are at least 7 candidates mentioned

Kerry has 23%, that's not bad. It was a big victory to win 38% in Iowa last time. consider that some candidates mentioned won't run. 23% at this point in time is great, A few weeks ago someone posted an awssome thread that had all the threads in one forum for a day 3 years before - in 2003. THere were 2 polls - in one Kerry had 3% in the other 9%.

[newsguyatl]

79. depends on who he's against

against hillary? yes

against feingold? no

[rep the dems]

80. I like him, but I think we've got some better options.

So I voted no.

[featherman]

81. John Kerry is a fine man but I did not support him in the 2004 primaries

and would not be a supporter in 2008. I worked hard to elect him in the general election and hoped he would be a strong candidate. He and his staff were very disappointing in their weak, slow, and pathetically inept response to the Swiftboat attacks. I find it impossible still today to respect a candidate and team who so failed to recognize either the importance of that moment or the opportunity those attacks represented and who failed to counterattack without mercy or quarter and show true leadership. It was as clear as day. And they did nothing but shrink into a corner and hope it would all blow over soon so they could go back to "their message" (whatever the hell that was). I'm still furious...and embarrassed.

John Kerry is a excellent Senator and I hope he represents us for many years as such.

[Joe Bacon]

82. No.

He had his chance.

[sandnsea]

83. WOW! 22%!!!!

That's a HUGE DU improvement over 2003 - he was lucky to break 5% back then. This is a great start!

:woohoo:

[Tom Rinaldo]

85. People should keep an open mind

I think that is what you are seeing, and no reason why you shouldn't be happy about that and the degree of both real and potential support for Kerry that it shows. But this type of poll tends to bring different results than head to head competition polls where people are forced to chose one specific Democrat to vote for when there are several who they could conceivably support.

I think that is reflected in some of the comments given. Some of us actually voted no though we could support Kerry over some other candidates, while some of us voted yes though we might prefer one or more other possible candidates. Kerry's support I suspect would register a little lower if the question were instead phrased: Is John Kerry your first choice to support in the 2008 Democratic Primaries, yes or no? But that of course would be true for any of the Democrats that people advocate for here on DU. We tend to splinter more when all of the choices are laid out before us. That's one reason why I'm not so keen on running those type polls here right now, shortly before the mid term elections.

[Red Right and BLUE]

86. I didn't vote. It depends on who else is running. nt

[BlueIris]

87. Of course! (He's still the only one worth supporting.)

Virtually all the rest are cheap hacks. HACKS.