I have decided to vote for Obama

[Horse with no Name]

because my candidate is not there and I won't "not vote".
I'm not happy about it. I have major reservations.
I still think he is somewhat of a Manchurian type candidate and agree with the Pied Piper syndrome.
I won't campaign for him, I will still criticize what I feel is wrong, I will not change my avatar, and I reserve the right to change my mind at any time.
Caroline Kennedy sold me.
That is the only reason I am doing this.
But why does it leave such a bad taste in my mouth?:(

[Andrea]

1. You are always welcome to change your mind

and come back! Honestly, it sounds like you don't really want to vote Obama, and you don't have to. You can still vote for Edwards and there are good reasons for doing so. I'm not going to harangue you, but if you are not familiar with the pro-Edwards-vote arguments and want to hear them, let us know!

[Horse with no Name]

2. Please let me know what they are

I read something at the last of the week that said he had asked us not to waste our votes on him?Was that not true?
It bummed me out so bad I have hardly even been around.

[zalinda]

8. I read that, and I wasn't all all convinced

that it even came from Edwards. I have found that Obama people will lie like crazy to get the Edwards supporters. I don't understand it. Edwards supporters do not necessarily prefer Obama over Clinton, but it seems like some Obama supporters think that we OWE them our support.

Until, or unless there is something on the John Edwards web site that says don't vote for me, I say, vote for him.

In fact, I am voting for him in the GE. New York is solid blue, so the dem nominee really doesn't need my vote. Now, I won't have to hold my nose. :woohoo:

zalinda

[bpeale]

10. a vote duly cast is NOT a wasted vote no matter what anyone else says

[waiting for hope]

13. I don't think it's true -

My OneCorps captain here knows them - she's voting for Edwards and if he had said something different, I would know, trust me.

[MissDeeds]

15. It's not true

He has requested to be left on the ballots in the states holding primaries Tues. He wouldn't do that if he didn't want your vote.

[asdjrocky]

3. Thank you for coming here with this.

The Edwards Supporters I know, will not slight you for your vote. In fact, my good friend and One Corps Captain is supporting Obama now because his boss, an Asmy Member in Ca was with Edwards, and he now endorses Obama.

I respect your honesty, and I commend you for coming here and anouncing it. Godd luck to ya Horse, and good luck to your candidate. Me, I still gotta go with my heart, and vote for the guy I've worked so hard for over the last year.

[Horse with no Name]

4. What was that post about last week that said the Edwards himself

doesn't want us to waste our vote?

[Andrea]

5. Horse - I haven't seen that at all

In fact, quite the opposite. Edwards contacted Bd of Elections officials in RI and I believe SD to have his name put back on the ballot. It's not like he's said he's back in, but he's certainly not discouraging people from voting for him.

Here are some of the arguments in a nutshell. Look around the forum and you'll find more.

1) He's still on the ballot and can still win delegates.

2) Delegates give him influence at the convention and on the platform.

3) The party should know what people want - not what is being forced on us.

4) The election is still so much up in the air that a brokered convention is highly possible. More delegates for Edwards makes it more possible. A brokered convention opens it up for us to get a better nominee - Edwards, Gore or someone better than Clinton or Obama.

5) Votes for Edwards make it more likely he will have a powerful place in the next administration, even if he is not the president (though we still hope he will be and are trying to make that happen.)

Since you haven't been around in a few days, please check out the new threads on the forum. We've been very busy!

[Horse with no Name]

7. I guess maybe I need to catch up on my reading

:D
Thank you for this. I haven't watched anything political...read here very little, since I read that piece.
It was very discouraging.:(

[Andrea]

14. I'm so glad that we could

Re-encourage you! :applause:

[benny05]

6. If if leaves a bad taste in your mouth

Why eat the food and vote your conscience? If your conscience is Obama, then just do it and accept your gut on this.

I got word this afternoon that JRE is pulling over 20% in many districts in California in the voting!

[Andrea]

12. you know what that means...

Delegates!

[saracat]

9. Edwards is still on the ballot. He has NEVER asked anyone NOT to vote for him Horse.He wants those

delagates to influence the platform.Please reconsider.THe only thing he told us was to "keep out poweder drive" and basically don't be too quick to make switch. Notice he hasn't endorsed.He wants to keep those delegates as long as possible. He is still drawing over 20% in Oklahoma. Don't have a bad taste! Vote for John.

[CaptJasHook]

11. Edwards today, Democrat all the way

Doesn't matter between HC and BO. Vote the one that will get the voters in your district excited to vote on local measures.

[Catchawave]

16. My problem with Caroline's endorsement.....

Like Craig Crawford stated, paraphrased, of course, ....all the old liberals are coming out to lose again :(

Caroline should stick with the very respected, non-partisan, Profiles in Courage annual awards.

What's funny Horse, her endorsement had the opposite effect on me.

[Yael]

17. If you read through that whole thread (depressing, I know)

you would have seen a host of nuggets from the Senator's own mouth about "keeping our powder dry" because we don't know what tomorrow holds and all of that. Add to that statements and requests to keep his name on the ballot in MARCH primaries. You can do the math.

Forget the nominee -- we have the opportunity to not only shape the agenda, but if I may copy a loose example from jgraz today:

-- Candidate A gets 45%, Candidate B 43% while Edwards gets 8%

-- Edwards gets no delegates -- but guess what? If only 3% peeled from Edwards to Candidate B, guess who wins the state?

There are a lot of ways to keep our voice heard. This is the loudest.

I know in my heart what happened with this, and if you get past the "historic" race/sex element -- a HUGE statement was made about who owns this process. Take a moment to think WNY you are voting and WHAT you are voting for (message/primary vs party/general) and keep in mind that your one vote is SUPPOSED to be equal to the one whose ego was bruised.

Make it so.