Say something positive about your candidate or SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!

[lame54]

This whole "Vote for my candidate 'cause your candidate sucks" attitude is wearing thin.

[JVS]

1. My candidate spoke out against the war in Iraq from the beginning!

[bellasgrams]

21. No he didn't. When first asked he said he 'didn't know how he

would vote'. Later, of course as usual he twisted what he said, just like he does everytime he misspeaks.

[JVS]

25. Actually, he did speak out against the war in 2002 when it was in the planning stages.

[bellasgrams]

33. That's after he made his first 'I don't know' statement. That is

exactly what i'm talking about. When he holds his finger up and finds the wind is not flowing in the direction of his statements, he changes them and tries to convince people he didn't really make the first comment. Funny how there are tapes making both comments.

[mkultra]

29. Actually, what he DID say

was the he didnt know how he would have voted if he where john kerry. But from his view, the answer was clearly no.


Kind of a strecth to get from this to that.

[JVS]

35. And that was a 2004 statement, but here is his 10/26/2002 statement

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Barack_Obama's_Iraq_Speech

Good afternoon. Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances.
The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil. I don’t oppose all wars.
My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain.
I don’t oppose all wars.
After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this Administration’s pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
I don’t oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.
What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income – to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.
That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.
Now let me be clear – I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity.
He’s a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.
But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.
I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.
I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.
So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work, and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil, through an energy policy that doesn’t simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil.
Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair.
The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not – we will not – travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain.

[krabigirl]

34. where, though?

[JVS]

38. Oct 26, 2002. Chicago anti-war rally

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Barack_Obama's_Iraq_Speech

[rodeodance]

39. 1st he was against, 2nd he didn't not know, 3rd He FUNDED it, 4 the he was against again--yup got it

[jgraz]

42. My candidate doesn't need to be supported through BS spin

[rodeodance]

46. you can't refute the facts as i laid them out now can you.

[jgraz]

54. Your facts may be true but they're completely irrelevant.

You think just because you say something that's technically, parseably true that you've somehow made a point. How very very Clintonian.

The FACT is that Hillary's vote to authorize the war is a far more catastrophic error than Obama's vote to fund it. Voting to defund an already started war is a fairly radical move (though a move I wish he'd taken). Voting for authorization is the move of an idiot, a warmonger or a craven opportunist.

[Dinger]

47. I'm Sorry, But Your (& Maybe Mine) Candidate Was Not In The U.S. Senate

Senator Clinton had a vote, Senator Obama didn't. He was a state senator. Granted, he might have voted against the war, but I think he'd be better making the war an issue, and not Hillary's vote.

[Rageneau]

48. If you support BO today, and voted for Kerry in 2004, you are a hypocrite!

Kerry and Hillary voted the same way on the war.

If you could support and vote for Kerry in 2004, despite his IWR vote, but you can't support Hillary today because of hers, then you are either a hypocrite, a Clinton-hater, a misogynist, or all three.

[Unbowed]

56. Maybe some of us simply prefer Obama on the issues all around.

You're right though. It was the same vote. You can't single out Hillary Clinton on that vote.

However, that vote is a deal breaker for some voters. There are quite a few people here who still haven't forgiven Kerry or Edwards for that vote. If those people now criticize HRC for the same thing, there are being true to what they believe.

There is one difference between Hillary Clinton and the other two senators who voted for the IWR: she hasn't said it was a mistake. That really bugs quite a few folks. I don't happen to feel that way personally, but I understand the sentiment. We've just had a long bout with a stubborn leader who wouldn't admit any wrongdoing or mistakes whatsoever. People are understandably touchy.

And there is also a huge difference between saying you don't agree with someone's vote and saying you will never vote for them because of that vote. It is one factor, among many, people consider when comparing HRC to Obama. It is also true that, there were a number of people who criticized (and still criticize) Kerry for his vote who nonetheless voted for him in 2004. Likewise, many supported (and still support) Edwards who made the same vote. When all is said and done, if HRC is the nominee, most of the critics will vote for her despite her vote on the war. I certainly will. She's not McCain. Not by a long shot.

[jakem]

2. My candidate has a gift to inspire people to expect more from their government.

[bellasgrams]

27. I was listening to C-Span this morning and some lady called in

about how inspirational BO is along with more flowery praises, just like his speeches. I don't want an inspirational president. I want someone who can step in and do the job. It's going to take more than inspiration to clean this country up. People better wake up. Experience 'does' matter.

[jakem]

37. it will more than inspiration, but it WILL take inspiration.

Experience matters in the creation of judgement and character. Ill take those points over a padded resume of '35 years' any day.

'step in and do the job' is a tired talking point. If HRC is running on her record, then she is no more ready to 'step in' to the white house.




When did inspiration become a dirty word?! It is the heart of changing from status quo.

[babylonsister]

44. Dick Cheney had experience. Abe Lincoln didn't. Just sayin'. nt

[Blue_In_AK]

55. Except for some of us who your candidate doesn't inspire. n/t

[fenriswolf]

3. My candidate introduced articles of impeachment

Go Kucinich!

[JVS]

4. My candidate wants to raise the minimum wage and build in a cost of living adjustment

[jgraz]

5. My candidate isn't your sucky candidate

:P

[lame54]

9. Edwards avatar? - your candidate is my candidate

[jgraz]

12. Sorry, I thought you were voting for Beaker

I'm very anti-felt.

[lame54]

17. And why exactly would beaker be a "sucky candidate"?

I take great offense to that :rofl:

[jgraz]

22. I've always viewed him as a Bunsen-enabler

Unfortunately, the Constitution prevents my first choice from running. :grr:

[lame54]

32. Good choice - Here's his running mate

[jgraz]

36. He's already picked a running mate

[lame54]

41. picked or plucked?

[lame54]

6. That's what I'm talking about

[MethuenProgressive]

7. My candidate has the same Iraq War voting record as Barack Obama!

:loveya:

[Moh96]

8. My candidate is not HRC

I think that counts as positive, doesn't it?

J/K

[lame54]

11. keep trying

[jgraz]

24. No, seriously, I thought "Not HRC" was a legitimate candidate

That's who I'm voting for. :P

[lame54]

26. So, if Hillary takes the primary's you'll vote McCain?

[jgraz]

31. I'll switch my vote to "Not McCain", but let's hope it never comes to that

[HeraldSquare212]

10. My candidate runs a kick-ass campaign. nt

[DinahMoeHum]

13. My candidate would be a thousand times better for all of us. . .

than any Republikkkan candidate.

This here voter will vote Democratic NO MATTER WHO WINS THE DEM NOMINATION.
This here voter would rather eat broken glass than vote Republikkkan or GREEN (Getting Republikkkans Elected Every November)

:kick::kick::kick:

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

14. My candidate just took time out of his campaign to go to Washington

and vote against immunity for the spying telecom companies. I'm glad he stood up for civil rights, even on an important primary day. :)

[Kittycat]

15. My Candidate Voted to Strip Telcoms of Retroactive Immunity

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3178823

[DinahMoeHum]

16. sorry, repeat

yeah, things seem to be moving slow with the computers here.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

18. My Candidate Is Gonna Kick The Shit Out Of Your Cult Leader Candidate.

[Apollo11]

19. We will all follow your lead, because you used the F word.

As if! :eyes:

[lame54]

23. I don't expect anyone to follow this lead...

Let the pointless bickering continue

[Guava Jelly]

20. THANK YOU!!!

:applause:

[Catherine Vincent]

28. This thread should have way more recs! nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

30. My candidate is going to end the War in Iraq.

[kestrel91316]

40. My sentiments exactly. Whatever happened to manners?

If you can't say something halfway nice, don't say anything at all. I refer to the screeching and shouting, not reasoned discussions of facts. Obama ain't a Republican. Neither is Clinton.

I put the repeat flamebait posters on ignore and have even alerted on them as disruptors.

[WinkyDink]

45. I know it's not literal, but still: "screeching and shouting"?? What would you call the OP's title,

then?

[lame54]

49. a breakdown

[kestrel91316]

52. It's not directed at a candidate. But then I think you knew that.

I totally understand the OP's frustration.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

43. Amen !!!

[IronLionZion]

50. My candidate passed leg. for transparency and openness in government

by requiring all bills be posted online at least 24 hours before a vote. Watchdog groups and ordinary citizens can know exactly what is going to be voted on. This helps with some of the Orwellian "clear skies act" type of bullshit and poorly written laws like the USA PATRIOT ACT.

My candidate is pulling in new voters and record turnout across America. My candidate is getting lots of new people interested and participating in the election.

[cottonseed]

51. My candidate voted against Telco immunity today.

Check the voting rolls, you'll know who I'm talking about.

[lumberjack_jeff]

53. She doesn't cry very often.

and maybe not even then.

[Neo-wobbly]

57. Cynthia McKinney rocks! /nt

[HCE SuiGeneris]

58. !

:applause: