Let's get practical, shall we?

[BushOut06]

I see a lot of bickering - actually, downright nastiness - going on over some of the Democratic candidates. I know there are many people here on DU who can't stomach the thought of Hillary Clinton being president. There are others who have equally harsh thoughts about other candidates. There is talk about not voting at all, or voting for a 3rd party candidate if certain people win the nomination.

Let's get practical, shall we? Know that no matter how much you detest the thought of a Hillary presidency, the repugs detest it even more, and they will rally around whoever their nominee is. Do you really want to take a chance of having someone like Gingrich, Tancredo, Brownback, or even McCain for your next president? It may sound noble to say that you would rather go with your conscience and vote for a 3rd party or even stay home. But in the real world, such an action only takes away desperately needed votes, and helps the GOP.

IMHO, the stakes are far too high to allow the GOP to retain control of the White House, and to continue (or even expand) Bush's policies. I really hate to use the cliche "hold your nose and vote", but in this case, not doing so can have disastrous consequences. This isn't merely about differences on tax cuts, education, social security, health care, etc. This could very well be about the survival of the Constitution as we know it, our civil liberties, and even potentially nuclear war.

[silverweb]

1. Well said!

:applause:

[BushOut06]

3. Thank you

Even if McCain does somehow get the GOP nomination, you can be sure that most repugs will "hold their nose" and vote for him if it means keeping Hillary out of the WH.

[AtomicKitten]

2. of course the stakes are too high

I just wish the tolerance level for Hillary-hatred was the same as for the other contenders - their supporters policing these boards for alleged "bashing" 24/7.

I heard Hillary is at 41% today and the next closest contender is at 17%. I really wonder if people have mulled over the implications of that. If she does get the nod, is this the best we can hope for here at DU? Wow.

[BushOut06]

4. Personally? I'd like to see someone else as our nominee

My primary choice is Al Gore, if he can be cajoled into running. Beyond that, I'm not quite sure, I'm not going to rush into a quick judgement.

That being said, if Hillary Clinton is our nominee, I'll vote for her.

[WI_DEM]

5. I'll support the 2008 Democratic nominee--period.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

6. Unfortunately I Fear Those Willing To Vote For Some Dumbass Green Are Too Narrow Minded To Heed Your

wise words to begin with. Sigh.

But I for one agree with you completely.

[Lost-in-FL]

11. AMEN!

:kick:

[motocicleta]

15. Perhaps if they are not angered by good-

hearted DUers calling them names, they'll stick around and not vote for a 3rd party candidate, eh? More flies with sugar, and all that?

And I agree with you and the OP as well.

[Parche]

7. brownback

Brownback has as much chance at being President as Ann Coulter being human.....

[BushOut06]

12. Nobody thought * would get re-elected either

Can't leave these things to chance. You know that the evangelical base would rally around Brownback in huge numbers, perhaps more than they've rallied around anyone else. After all, he is one of them, about as evangelical as you can possibly get.

[cynatnite]

8. Seems like it helps the repukes with all the Hillary bashing...

I expected a lot of disagreement over the candidates and I'm sure it'll be a long campaign season with all these threads.

I just hope that when the time comes, no matter who the nominee is, that we as Dems rally around him or her.

To keep the repukes out of the WH we must unite.

[CTD]

9. My issue isn't really about her being president

While I think most other Dems would more accurately reflect my views than Hillary, my biggest problem with her is not the idea of her winning the presidency. It's her winning the Dem nomination. Because if she gets the Dem nomination, we will be assured of another Republican president. She is simply unelectable in this country with her image.

I happen to think a woman could win the presidency in this day and age. Just not Hillary. She is too loathed by too many people.

If we nominate her, we lose. Period.

[AndyA]

10. Great topic - rec #4 - only one more for Greatest Page!

I also agree. Even if the Dem candidate is not to your liking, you must vote for them in order to prevent another GOP pResident in the White House. Too much damage has been done, and we must start repairing that damage right away.

We must make sure a Dem gets the White House in 2008!

[Pharaoh]

13. Well if The DLC

wants to continue losing the presidency for us, then I guess we just have to accept whoever they decide to anoint :yoiks:

[BushOut06]

19. Gee, I'm sorry - I didn't realize the DLC annointed the nominee

Here all along, I figured it was us voting in the primaries who determined who our nominee is. Silly me, what was I thinking.

:sarcasm:

[Lisa0825]

14. Hang onto your seat.... It's gonna be a BUMPY RIDE!

Just wait until primary season is going full-swing... I've been through one presidential primay here and one mid term... if messages on a bulletin board could draw blood, it would be during the presidential primary!

You ain't seen NUTHIN' yet! :evilgrin:

[tblue37]

16. The next president will determine the Supreme Court majority for a

generation. That is a good enough reason to vote for any Democrat. But I hoenstly don't think she can win the nomination, and if she does, I doubt she can win the general election.

[Warren DeMontague]

17. So, has she already won the nomination?

Because if not, I think it's pretty damn presumptuous of you to prematurely crown her. The primaries haven't even started yet. It may be the DLC, Hillary boosters who have to do the nose-holding in the voting booth... at which point we'll see how good they are at it.

[BushOut06]

18. read the damned OP again, willya?

Where in my OP did I prematurely crown her? I swear, some of you anti-Hillary types are so friggin sensitive. Some of us are merely trying to inject some reality here. The premise was that IF she (or any other candidate that isn't quite as popular here on DU) wins the nomination, we should support her (or him).

You really think that if Hillary doesn't win the nomination, her backers are going to sit on their ass come election day? Sorry, most of us aren't quite as petty as that, we've already stated that we're going to support the Democratic nominee no matter WHO it is.

[Warren DeMontague]

21. Okay. Sorry, I did misread it. On first read it sounded like the idea was "get behind her & shaddup"

Two points, briefly:

One, I'm not "anti-Hillary". I Like Hillary, I just think she would be a disaster as the nominee, and I think if she's ever going to get there she needs to stop putzing around with things like flag burning and articulate a clear, cogent, morally consistent position on how (and why) to END the war in Iraq - something I happen to think it may be too late for her to do, actually. (That's not a bash. That's an argument against her being the nominee)

Two: I, like you, have stated that I will support the Democratic Nominee no matter who* it is.

* Of course, that's assuming they're really a Democrat. Joe Lieberman doesn't count, because by ignoring the results of his Senate Primary, I don't consider him a Democrat anymore.

[JeffR]

20. If we really want to get practical about this

we'd ignore the '08 election entirely right now. It's so far out that polls are meaningless, background conditions right now will be yesterday's fishwrap come primary season, and we have a new Dem majority in both houses that's already engaged in serious and important work. This '08 shit is meaningless at the moment. We should treat it that way. Just sayin'.

[WinkyDink]

22. Let's get practical, practical, I wanna get practical. LET'S get to practical.