Why I support Dean, and switched from Clark a week ago

[Rulergirl]

I support Dean because of these reasons below:

Where the Dean campaign was on January 1, 2003:

$157,000 cash on hand
Seven paid staff
432 identified supporters nationwide
0 state offices
No congressional or labor endorsements

Where the Dean campaign is now on January 1, 2004:

Approximately 400 paid staff nationwide

Paid and/or full-time volunteer staff in VT, IA, NH, SC, DE, AZ, NM, OK, MI, WA, NY, ME, WI, ND, NV, MN, PA, TX, CT, VA, GA, MD, MA and CA.

552,930 identified supporters.

More than 280,000 people have contributed $40 million to the campaign in 2003--and for two consecutive quarters you've broken the record for the largest quarter ever by a Democratic presidential candidate.

More than 164,000 supporters are signed up to Meetup at more than 940 locations nationwide.

Also, I support Dean because he is the only candidate with a financial war chest that opted out of the primary matching funds system that can withstand the Bush-Rove attacks for three months after the primary nomination. Dean won't sit on his hands or have very very little money like Clark, and can fight back against the negative propaganda machine.

This small point was what made me switch from Clark to Dean when a friend of mine who is a Dean supporter brought this up in conversation. I hadn't known about this vital point before, and it makes me concerned as to why Clark has not opted out when faced with the likely possibility of having exceedingly low funds (35 or 45 million) after the primaries to fight back against Bush's $200 million dollars. It seems to me that Dean can raise upwards to $150 million if he is nominated and stands the best chance to fight back against Bush as seen in the recent CNN poll, where he is five points behind Bush, just eleven months before the election.

It is simply political suicide to opt in, and even though Clark has the general thing going for him, and all the wonderful things on his resume, it does not change the fact that opting in is political suicide. That is why I am now a Dean supporter.

Okay....tameszu found me out. I'm really Slinkerwink. This is a sock puppet name. It's easy to create sock puppet names and then post on DU. Creating a sock puppet name can be done by switching your e-mail address in your profile, and then re-registering under your old e-mail address.

I did this to prove to you that any "conversion" posts when a low number, say....under 50 basically is suspicious. I apologize to the Dean supporters who nicely welcomed me here to DU, but I had to make this point that "conversion" stories are meant to demoralize supporters on DU and to create the illusion that there are alot of supporters for one candidate when there might be not.

[Justice]

1. So Your Support Has Nothing To Do With Issues?

Just the opt-in/opt-out position?

[Rulergirl]

13. Clark and Dean's issues are pretty similar

I agree with most of Dean's issues, and I like his plan for taking back Congress which Clark hasn't articulated in his campaign.

[jumptheshadow]

36. I noticed something else

There wasn't anything said about who was the best man for the job.

[mzmolly]

2. Welcome aboard

:toast:

[goobergunch]

3. Welcome to the campaign of the next President of the United States!

:hi:

[Scott Lee]

4. Couldn't have been better stated. Welcome to the winner's circle

[Duder]

5. Welcome to a winner Rulergirl.

:toast:

[MidwestTransplant]

6. Hallejula!

You have seen the light. Don't remember you advocating for Clark recently, as you post suggests.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

8. Kind of like this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=57078&mesg_id=57078

[Upfront]

7. Welcome

We are proud to have you on board. Well stated thoughts are always welcome and you spoke well.

[Sean Reynolds]

9. Welcome!

[cavebat2000]

10. Good for you

I really do like Clark. I will support either one if they are the nominated. I really don't like the other candidates.


LoL. I guess im easy.

GO Dean!

GO Clark!

[tameszu]

11. Very cute babe--didn't you think that I'd recognize this alternate handle?

Or didn't that night mean anything to you =P

Come on, girl--yeah, some of the recent "I switched from Dean to Clark" posts have likely been bogus, but there's no need to do eye for an eye.

Anyway, we should go out for a drink in NH sometime...hope all's going well at the campaign...

(Edited to remove my mention of your other DU handle)

[Rulergirl]

15. what other DU handle?

:shrug:

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JNelson6563]

45. if you're smart you deleted such a charge

to avoid involuntary deletion. It's against the rules to make such a charge. ;-)

Julie

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

12. Don't remember you supporting Clark.

:shrug:

Proclamations like this have zero effect on the election. Thought I'd let you know.

:hi:

[TeacherCreature]

19. D'oh!

Look at her post count. Do you think everything happens here on DU? She didn't say she had been supporting Clark here at DU.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

33. Everything doesn't happen here at DU?

[incapsulated]

14. What's with all the newbies...

And their "candidate conversions?"

First there was the "I was for Dean now for Clark" (also under 50 posts)

Now this.

Since neither has any posts to dispute their "switch", they could have been for their "new" guy all along, you know.

I'm suspicious. But I don't know what about... ;)

[Rulergirl]

18. I just switched a week ago, and found DU today and registered

the link to DU was mentioned on the Dean blog.

[incapsulated]

21. OK...

But I don't understand the need to announce this personal message to the forum the moment you get enough posts to start a thread. You see the problem here?

[Rulergirl]

23. yes, and re-read the thread---I just edited it.

[incapsulated]

26. Slinkerwink, you need a new hobby

The other guy was probably bs as well, but you are normally tireless at being yourself, heh.

[Rulergirl]

27. heh, just wanted to make my point, and I think I got it across.

It's why I think sock puppet names should be banned on DU.

[incapsulated]

28. I had to wait...

over fifty posts to start a thread! Humph!

I guess they suspected me of sockpuppetry...

[slinkerwink]

29. oh really?

:tinfoilhat:

[incapsulated]

30. Supposedly, it's different for everybody..

So you can't post nonsense Xnumber of times in order to get your thread. But I hardly start any, heh.

[TeacherCreature]

25. Is there a problem here?

What are you suggesting? :tinfoilhat:

[TeacherCreature]

16. Good to have you!

Have you signed up at the web site to send letters, or hold a house party?

[tameszu]

20. Well, I know exactly who this is

She's too adorable for me to blow her cover and to ask a mod to lock this thread, though.

[Rulergirl]

22. heh, came clean.

[madfloridian]

31. You made a point that needed to be made.

Sock puppets needed to be brought to the attention.

But we are glad you are back to your old self again.

:D

[slinkerwink]

34. thanks!

Rulergirl felt like a dirty sock to me, heh....I much prefer this handle ;-)

[calimary]

24. Welcome to DU, and your point is VERY well taken.

As superficial as this may seem, to some, it's a big deal. Dean opting out of federal matching funds means he has no ceiling imposed over his head, above which he can't go, financially. Clark does. I'm at a loss to understand that one - I mean I understand the inducement to get a quick financial fix with the matching funds, but there's a limit of 45 million, and that's less than a fourth of what the bushies will have at their command. And as appealing as Wesley Clark is as a candidate, he'll run out of money early, while the bush juggernaut rolls right on, and over, him.

Frankly, it makes me suspect that perhaps he knows he's not in this one for the long haul because he's preparing to team up on somebody else's ticket. Otherwise, WHY would he not try to go for NO limits on fundraising, if he doesn't think he'll be campaigning all the way by himself? He's certainly gonna run out of money soon.

It's a big deal, and a major, serious consideration. It is indeed political suicide to subject yourself to campaign funding limits. Dean's fundraising potential has none, now. And that's what we're
ALL going to need, BADLY. Because we're up against Fort Knox.

[madfloridian]

32. Most of the contributors we know are not near limits.

I almost am, hubby is not. It is an important consideration.

[slinkerwink]

35. exactly.....and even clark's fundraising this quarter doesn't save him

[DancingBear]

38. Cue The Everly Brothers

"All I have to do, is dre-e-e-e-am, dream, dream, dream...."

(ask your parents) :)

[shance]

39. Yes. Unless Mose comes back to part the seas, Clark cant compete now.

I was pretty stunned that all the candidates but Kerry and Dean failed to see they would be totally out funded and outgunned if they accepted matching funds, which they did. Im surprised their campaign managers didnt fight them harder on this.

And in the long run, if someone other than Dean or Kerry wins, we are essentially toast, because the other candidates wont have the funds to get through the election, much less win it!

If all candidates were serious enough about the most important aspect in winning this election which unfortunately is the dollar sign, seems to me they would have seen and learned from the fact that Gore was literally house bound the last forty days of his election because he had already met his contribution/campaign limits.

Now the only two candidates that can truly compete are Governor Dean and Kerry. Governor Dean is the frontrunner and we have other less eligible candidates attacking him and now they dont stand a chance in winning.

[creeksneakers2]

37. I switched

I was upset with Dean so I posted my switch. It was an honest statement. I really got flamed. If you guys are talking about me I am not some kind of plant from the Clark campaign.

Would anybody actually change their mind because some newbie switched?

[NV1962]

41. Relax

Nevermind, Creek - and welcome to partisan message board dynamics 101. :)

No really, I myself saw or heard or read about someone saying that politics is cool, so I ditched that dumb quarterback.

Now don't anybody get funny ideas about saying nice stuff and all about W because, well, I'm that easy. Plus I don't read much here anyway, I just hit the "reply" link and say nasty stuff about the other guy, ya know, like, "boo."

Plus, my mommy says it's good for me, something about meeting other people.

Okay, I have to go to the mall now, swing pompoms for my honeybunch candidate!

Good thing I have a picture with his name or I'd forget who that is...

[seaglass]

40. It doesn't prove anything, except for something about you.

Why would you want to deceive DUers?

In the real world there are people who don't support Dean or who may have in the past and don't any longer, are you suspicious of all of them too?

It was such a trivial matter for you to expend your credibility on.

[janx]

43. My advice to you is to stick around. You'll find that people

do this on DU a lot more often than you know about yet.

[seaglass]

48. Though my post count doesn't show it, I've been here since

the summer of 2001. I know there are posters that have used multiple names, I think it's a deceptive practice.

It's not just using multiple names, but the entire post to start the thread was a (now admitted) lie.

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[creeksneakers2]

46. Welcome

to Democratic Underground.

[janx]

47. Welcome to DU!

You're a former Clark supporter? Did you decide that in between your selection of screen name and your first post?

;-)

Edit: Now I see. You're a former Clark supporter who now supports Dean.

[janx]

49. I'm curious. What made you switch?

What was it that convinced you that Dean was the better choice?

[Clarkie4Dean]

51. Clark's support for a flag-burning amendment is what did it for me…

as a liberal, there's nothing I like to do more than get together with some friends and set a flag or two ablaze… unfortunately, even though he claims to be a liberal, Clark doesn't approve of this pastime, and in fact seeks to prohibit it.

[Name removed]

52. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Clarkie4Dean]

53. what's a FREEPER?

:shrug:

[Name removed]

54. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[robbedvoter]

56. Well, liberal, read more about HD then:

Dean's cute flag flap
http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2003/11/14/friday/?ref=http://images.salon.com/src/ads/aol/aol_ splash2.htm
Joe Conason's Journal: Nov 14, 2003
Several readers distressed by Wesley Clark's remarks supporting the flag desecration amendment wrote in to declare that they had dropped their support of the retired general in favor of Howard Dean. But others pointed out what I didn't know about Dean's own record on this issue. Two years ago, as governor of Vermont, he brokered a legislative resolution that urged Congress to "take whatever legislative action it deems necessary and appropriate to honor and safeguard the United States Flag." While a bit vague, that sounded much like an endorsement of the Constitutional amendment.
Around that time, Dean rather pompously declared that politicians should declare their positions on the flag issue before voters went to the polls in 2002. That requirement didn't apply to Dean himself, as he "coyly" told the Rutland Herald, because he wasn't on the ballot that year. So now that he is running for president, the candidate who prides himself in speaking bluntly should explain the limits of his support for the First Amendment -- in plain English.
<8:22 a.m. PST, Nov. 14, 2003>

[janx]

58. What attracted you to Clark initially? Specific policies, what?

?

[Clarkie4Dean]

59. his shiny medals obviously…

there's not much more to the man than that.

:)

[janx]

61. I don't know that I can agree with you there. There must

have been something more than medals, anyway. What was it?

[BobbyJay]

60. Why continue the discussion? The guy's a freeper

just looking to disrupt.

[goobergunch]

50. Okay, welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Skwmom]

44. No amount of money

will save Howard Dean in the general election. The man is your typical dishonest politician who will say anything to get elected. We won't replace a Republican liar with a Democratic liar.

[robbedvoter]

55. If $ is your issue, you are in the wrong camp - Clark's got more!

  It appears that the campaign has the following funds available:
October 1, 2003 money in the bank = 3.4 million.
Funds raised in 3rd quarter = 11.1 million
FEC matching funds for Sept., Oct., & Nov. = 3.7 million.
FEC matching funds for Dec. = 2.0 million
Clark's Total 3rd Quarter 20.2 million - 10.5 million est. expenditures = 9.7 million balance 1/1/04.
Howard Dean's money!
10/1/03 money in bank = 12.0 million.
Funds raised 3rd Quarter = 15.5 million
Dean's Total 3rd Quarter = 27.5 million - 18 million est. expenditures = 9.5 million balance 1/1/04


OTOH, if issues matter to you - you are still in the wrong place.

[NV1962]

57. That's exactly what I mean

More money in the pocket, plus men in uniform look better, and his supporters are wittier!

That, and his son looks like Martin Sheen.

Can't lose the elections!

[TorchTheWitch]

62. this is really low

Who would have thought that I'd ever see a DUer actively keeping funding away from DU... or did that not occur to you? By posting this drivel you're encouraging people to be skeptical of anyone with a "low" post count thereby discouraging new people from feeling welcome here. And if they don't feel welcome they'll leave and never donate to the site.

Such genius. :puke:

Even after all the absurd and annoying basher tinfoil crud I've seen on here, this just takes the grand prize for pond scum.

[bicentennial_baby]

63. How disingenuous of you Noelle

I don't give a crap what your point is or was, but doing this is soooo lame. Way to lie to your fellow DUers...much appreciated. :thumbsdown:

[Moderator]

64. Locking...

In light of recent posts, the subject line of this thread is now misleading. It is also a continuation of a previous flame war from another thread.

Thanks,
DU Moderator