I've done a 180 on Kerry for pres..

[wtf]

I've done a 180 on Kerry for pres..

I never thought I would like him this much. A few months ago, I made a post questioning his support, as he seemed completely uninspiring, but now I feel like his biggest fan. Also a few months ago, I would have said, "Of course I'll vote for Kerry if he gets the nod, but I'll do so holding my nose" but right now, I can't wait to vote for him...sure, there are still issues I disagree with him about, and he's not my "ideal" candidate, but damn it feels good to have a democrat showing some balls..I think a lot of us were worried he wasn't up to the task of taking on * co, but, so far at least,I think he's doing an excellent job.

It looks like the days of democrats running and hiding from the republicans are slowly but surely coming to an end, and it feels great!

[wryter2000]

1. I'm feeling the same way

The only stumble for me was his statement about Spain yesterday. Otherwise, he's better than I'd hoped.

[caledesi]

2. Yes, it feels wonderful to know that * will be gone and we can

have our country back.

[surfermaw]

3. I am with you

I was for Edwards, but something happened on day, I look at Kerry that night when he was behind and thought, that is the man we need, he has experience, he is articulate, and he will know who to put in his cabinet, I noticed as he was around Edwards, he acted like his father... I think they will be a winning ticket, however I will accept and vote for the Kerry ticket no matter his choice.

[rockymountaindem]

4. Good for you.

Welcome aboard the Kerry bandwagon. I was for him from the beginning, but I started to prepare for a Dean candidacy when it looked like he was going to breeze through the primaries. I'm happy Kerry's back on top (which isn't to take away from Dean, he's a great guy and I'd have supported him equally).

Make sure to share your good opnions of Kerry with all your "undecided" friends!

:toast:
:yourock:

[dennis4868]

5. To be honest...

i dont think Kerry has shown the balls it takes to win me over. Statements he puts out on his website are tough against Bush but then his public statements seem like he is scared to knock bush, especially when it comes to Iraq and the war on terror. For this reason I dont like Kerry at all. However, I would vote for my dead dog before I would vote for Bush (or not vote at all). Therefore, I will happily vote for Kerry so that Bush and his criminal thugs will leave the WH!

[Feanorcurufinwe]

9. Could you please quote

a statement from Kerry that "seems like he is scared to knock bush, especially when it comes to Iraq and the war on terror." ?


Is there such a statement? Reference please.

John Kerry, the Democratic rival to President Bush, issued the following statement on the one year anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

"Today marks the one year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. It is an important day to recognize the courage and enormous skill of the United States military. Our men and women in uniform are the best and the brightest the nation has to offer, and their efforts to defend Democracy should be honored each and every day. We also must remember those that have given their lives in the fight for freedom.

"Before the war started, I repeatedly called on the President to build a genuine coalition to reduce the military and financial burden on the United States, to go to war only as a last resort, and to have a plan to win the peace. I voted to give him the authority to go to war only when he promised me and other members in Congress that he would do these things. He broke those promises.

"He misled the American people in his own State of the Union Address about Saddam's nuclear program and WMD's, and refused - and continues to refuse - to level with the American people about the cost of the war. Simply put, this President didn't tell the truth about the war from the beginning. And our country is paying the price.

"It's time for George Bush to start being consistent on Iraq. It's time for him to finally find the right policy for Iraq. It's time to take the target's off the backs of U.S. soldiers, reduce the burden on America's taxpayers, and finish the job in Iraq."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114658,00.html

[worldgonekrazy]

12. his comments today were pretty critical, i thought

on a day when the press wants to get into a war love-fest and talk about how great iraq is now that hussein is gone, kerry is sticking to his guns and critizing the president for the way he has conducted the war. americans can certainly see the virtue of having saddam hussein ousted, but they can also see that iraq was not and will continue to not be anything like the "cakewalk" the administration sold it as.

[dennis4868]

13. Please read my post more carefully....

I stated that it "seem" like Kerry is scared to knock Bush on Iraq and the war on terror. If this was not the case why the heck is Kerry not saying in public when explaining his vote to authorize Bush to invade Iraq that, "I was lied to by Bush regarding Iraq's WMD and the threat to our homeland, and Iraq's connections to al Qaeda and 911 and that is why I voted for the war. If I had known the truth, which Bush and hus thugs went out of their way to hide from me and other senators, I would have never voted for the war." But instead he says the same old bullshit....he says, "well there was a right way to go into Iraq and a wrong way, and Bush chose the wrong way." WTF? You understand my point now? Kerry is worried that he will seem to be weak on defense if he goes after Bush to strongly and so instead he says things that can piss of alot of us Dems who knew from the begining that the war in Iraq was and always will be a fraud!

[Feanorcurufinwe]

14. I read it carefully. It's bullshit.

Your words: " then his public statements seem like he is scared to knock bush, especially when it comes to Iraq and the war on terror. "


Could you please quote one of these public statements? Do they exist? Or are you making it up?



Your words: "why the heck is Kerry not saying in public when explaining his vote to authorize Bush to invade Iraq that, "I was lied to by Bush regarding Iraq's WMD and the threat to our homeland, and Iraq's connections to al Qaeda and 911"


That's after I quoted you the following statement issued today:

"Before the war started, I repeatedly called on the President to build a genuine coalition to reduce the military and financial burden on the United States, to go to war only as a last resort, and to have a plan to win the peace. I voted to give him the authority to go to war only when he promised me and other members in Congress that he would do these things. He broke those promises.

"He misled the American people in his own State of the Union Address about Saddam's nuclear program and WMD's, and refused - and continues to refuse - to level with the American people about the cost of the war. Simply put, this President didn't tell the truth about the war for the beginning. And our country is paying the price.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,114658,00.html

:eyes:

[RetroLounge]

17. Careful, you criticized the annoited one...

prepare for righteous indignation from the usual suspects...

RL

[Old and In the Way]

19. "annoited one"?

As in the person who has won 28/30 primaries and has the backing of the majority of rank-and-file Democrats?

No, Bush was "annoited", Kerry is the people's choice...except for those whose prefered candidate lost. Sounds like sour grapes from the usual suspects....

[Doomsayer13]

20. didn't you know?

any candidate who's not Howard Dean or Dennis Kucinich becomes the anointed one merely because they won.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

22. All those millions of votes for Kerry are irrelevant.

Those stupid Democrats have been fooled again, sheep that they are!

[Gman]

6. I glad to see sentiment toward Kerry here at DU getting

changing and getting stronger and stronger every day.

[Adelante]

28. You know, it really is

There are a few very vocal holdouts, but overall the climate has changed in Kerry's favor.

[Monte Carlo]

7. President-elects tend to take a hard turn once their in office...

... and we all saw the screeching turn to the political right that Bush took once he puffed and primed and slimed his way to the top office.

What kind of turn would Kerry take if he won in November? I'm not sure myself, but Exhibit A is the 20 year alliance between himself and Sen. Ted Kennedy. He's done very well for himself over the years.

[worldgonekrazy]

10. good point

my concern with kerry though is that he won't work nearly as well as a "stealth candidate" like bush or even clinton. he's got quite a long voting record that can and will be used against him in a number of ways by the neo-cons to paint him as an "out of touch liberal." whereas bush got away with running as a centrist in 2000, the neo-cons will not allow kerry to do any such thing.

having said that, bush is quite clearly an extremist, so they don't really have a leg to stand on if they are going to criticize kerry for being too left-wing. hopefully, this time, the american public will grasp this concept and even the right leaning moderates will decide it is better to have an unabashed liberal in the white house than an extremist right winger.

[worldgonekrazy]

8. i'm with you man

during the primary i was pretty anti-kerry, i even went so far as to say that i would not vote for him if he got the nomination. why? because i was pissed off at him for the iraq war vote and the patriot act vote.

i have since come to realize that no candidate is going to pass a purist test, and if there were even to be such a candidate they would stand no shot at getting elected. with the way our political system is you just have to make compromises sometimes, i suppose even if it does mean the death of thousands.

howard dean's failed candidacy opened up my eyes. here was a guy who told it like it was and "shot from the hip," and i loved him for it. ultimately, it was his downfall though. maybe someday it will be possible for a guy like dean, somebody who wants to do the right thing whatever the costs, to win the presidency, but today is certainly not that day.

[Qanisqineq]

11. I've done a 180 too... only in the opposite direction

I wasn't a Kerry supporter during the primaries, but after my candidate of choice (Clark) was gone, I became a Kerry supporter. However, recently I have become more anti-Kerry. Well, that isn't completely true, maybe apathy is a better word about my feelings towards Kerry. Perhaps it is because of what I perceive as blunders he has made or that he hasn't been fighting back at the republicans as much. I don't know. Perhaps it is constantly hearing anti-Kerry ads and pundits, etc.

I hope my feelings will change in the near future and I begin to feel more hopeful about his candidacy. I would like to state that I will be voting for him no matter how I feel. My hate for Bush outweighs my feelings towards Kerry.

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

15. Don't worry. After the convention, it will be "on".

Kerry knows he has to attack in order to win. The fight really hasn't started yet.

[waldenx]

16. Kerry is fighting for his career

he isnt fighting for anything else.

[emulatorloo]

21. And what is it you're fighting for

with your unsupported one line slam?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

23. Excellent question! Will it receive an answer?

[R3dD0g]

27. You seem to be forgetting that Dems

throw away their losers.

Remember the second runs of Hart, Kennedy, Kerrey, Bradley etc, etc? No? I wonder why? Could it be that we don't allow losers a second chance like the Repukes?

Now ask yourself, what kind of career move is losing the presidential election as a Dem candidate?

Saving his career, My Ass.

edit: added more names.

[no name no slogan]

18. Me too, but it's the other way

I was more supportive of Kerry six months ago, but don't feel the same way today. I feel he's already planning to play the Republican's game, just like Al Gore did in 2000, and I fear the results will be the same.

I will still vote for him, however, and I'll encourage others I know to do the same. But I don't see myself sending him any checks or knocking on any doors for him. There's a number of important local races where I could be much more effective, IMHO.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

24. As long as you are fighting the fight, it doesn't matter at what level

you do it. We're all in this together.

[emulatorloo]

25. Cool and Welcome to DU!

He is an excellent candidate, and he is tough and will not stop fighting. There are going to be some ups and downs over the next 7 mos, but I feel pretty confident.

Welcome to DU, wtf! :toast:

[VOX]

26. Good going, wtf...it took me awhile to get on board with Kerry...

The cool thing is that he *is* a fighter, and the campaign hasn't even gotten out of the starting gate just yet.

Best to you, and welcome to DU! :toast:

[AgadorSparticus]

29. ME TOO!!!!

Kerry was not my first, second, or third picks. But since he's our guy, I'm for him 110%. I still don't agree with everything but he's a HELL of ALOT better than chimpy. I don't expect a complete overhaul of the political process in 1 or 2 presidential terms but I do expect to see movement in that direction. It is a realistic goal.

I've changed my avatar to show a unified support for the democratic party. So many of us bitch about not having unity in the party yet we don't do anything to correct it.

[NightTrain]

30. I just linked to Kerry's website from my (non-political) homepage

You can see it at the very bottom of the page, if you're so inclined:

http://home.comcast.net/~soulexpress4/

[Hippo_Tron]

31. My support for Kerry has little to do with being ABB...

This man truly inspires me and I have high hopes for what he will accomplish as president. I can't wait for when I will be able to watch the state of the union or hell the lighting of the national christmas tree and enjoy what I'm watching instead of puking when I see the chimp.

[nicecakes]

32. Me too

I love how he covers all sides of the issues and leaves an opening for all to join him in his opinions. If he can satisfy all comers then he can only win in the end.

[Meshuga]

33. You freed your mind...

and your ass did follow! :-)