Who I'm voting for and why...


Bart, there are at least two reasons I support Kucinich embodied in this email
(others will occur to your thought, as they say:) Will Pitt is his press secretary,
and the mainstream press is actively ignoring him.

Dick P


Hi Bart,
Just got back from the WA caucus, and I am a Clark delegate.
 
There were more than 600 people there - about three times as many as there were last time.
In fact, there were so many people in attendance wanting to end the BFEE dynasty that it was SRO
and my precinct had to meet in the hallway! People of all ages, races, abilities and sexual orientations
attended, and I'm proud to say that we had several brand-new citizens in my precinct as well.
 
I'm fired up and feeling the momentum!
 
Lisa in Seattle


I signed up to support Dean exactly one year ago. I bought the bumper stickers, printed out his positions
and put them in my truck. When people would ask me, because of the Bumper sticker, who is Dean?
I would ask them to wait a moment and pull out a set of position papers and hand it to them. One guy stops me
one day last March and said "Never Heard of Dean". I told him "YOU WILL". I have converted more than
a dozen people to Dean and I work everyday to convert more.

I do not want "elect ability" I want a Democrat back in the White House. I want that guy that the Press hates
because he is an "outsider" that they can’t control with their drivel and snippets. I want someone that is going
to piss off Rush the lying pig and Sean the lying liar, every single day that he sits in the White House. I want those
hypocritical assholes to suffer as much as this administration has made the majority of good Americans suffer with
WARS, national security failures and tax cuts that go to the rich. I want someone there that I can believe and start
to trust our government again. I want a man that will take back America from this regime and start on the road to
healing the festering sores created by those that have hijacked the greatest country on earth.

The present crop of democrats running for president save maybe two ( Kucinich, and Sharpton) had no fucking voice
until Dean gave them a voice. Dean set the agenda, pointed his finger at Rove and flipped him off. Dean lifted those of us
that had a vision, that, just maybe, with a little luck we could make a difference.

I for one am not lying down and surrendering to the press and pundits that what “elect ability”. I want someone with
balls and a message that I am not embarrassed by if it is shouted from every mountain in the world. Someone who will
bring back the pride in America not only to Americans, but to those around the world that the present regime has
disenfranchised with its exportation of greed and hate.

That man for me is Howard Dean.

Tman
 

Tman, damn well said.
If I was a fence sitter, you would have convinced me.


I'm voting for John Edwards. He appeals to me because when I hear him speak, he has a gentle, genuine manner to him.
When he is talking to a crowd, he is truly talking, not giving a speech. He speaks well, unlike President Bush who butchers
our language, not only in structure but pronounciation as well. Mr. Edwards seem to be a very positive person.
He does not take cheap shots and well, in general he does not act like a politician. Just a guy asking for a temp job.
 
He seems to me to be in many ways like Jimmy Carter.
Though President Carter may not have had much luck in world policy and other problems, he was a very likable person.
Which, I feel is much the same about John Edwards.
 
Thanks, have a great day!

Tim Ruf


(Reposted from DemocraticUnderground -  By Dancing Bear)

I think back now to the phone lists, and the signs, and the hope in my heart when the polls showed positive news. I think back to the bitter cold of New Hampshire, when we stood for hours on the street corners, and for hours at the polls on Election Day, hoping those signs and placards would bring the uncommitted our way. I remember the glee we felt when the Keene Ward 5 results came in, and we got third place. We hugged each other in the warmth of a church, and rushed back to a cramped office full of life and smiles.

It is over for us now, as the voters did not see what I saw. From the first time I saw you, thinking of running for President, I saw political hope come back to me. You would listen to those who asked you once again to serve, and you of course would respond, not out of vanity, but out of love. Love for this country, and respect for her beliefs. You would run because you truly believed it was your duty to do so, and you would give everything you had, lest you disappoint even one person. You would be beholden to no one, and there would be no handlers shaping your message predicated on what the electoral map looked like at any given moment. You would speak from your heart, for that is all you know how to do.

How I wish the results were different today. How I wish the chance would still be here for you to look into the eyes and souls of America and speak from the heart once again. Maybe this time they would see the steel resolve, the humble honor, and the quiet dignity that I see at every turn. Maybe those whose control what we hear and read would let your message come through unfiltered, without the caustic spin that they so easily disgorge, all the while patting their own backs for their political wisdom given to them each day off a teleprompter. Maybe, for once, honesty would win out.

We shall now turn our hopes towards another, but we will keep you in our hearts all the while. Perhaps the chosen one will look to you for support and guidance – if so I know you will be there for him. Perhaps, if he is wise, he will make you a part of the next great Democratic administration, where we will watch you shine. Perhaps, if all goes well, we will watch your name be entered into nomination a scant eight years from now, and we will watch as you get the chance to lead this nation. There will be many of us watching then, all beaming with pride and trying to not to cry.

I am doing poorly at that now, as the tears of what could have been are copious. The tears are for everyone in America who you could not reach, and for everyone who could not see. How we wish we could have taken them to you, one by one, and let them see what America could become. We tried as best we could, but you could not get the coveted media darling endorsement, and we never could roll the rock to the mountaintop. The cynics amongst us say that this is the game we play, and that those who falter did not have the strength left to continue the fight. They are wrong, and we know it. Soldiers do not lack strength, nor character. Sometimes, however, the rules change, and honor on the field is replaced by dishonor behind it. You could not play in such a disgraced arena, and sadly the will to clean it up is still nowhere to be found.

I am not a religious man, Wes, but I know you are, so I say this for you. May God bless you with everything you deserve, and may He shine His blessings on you for as long as you have life on this earth. It was an honor to work on your behalf, and should fortune allow you another chance at leading this nation I shall be honored to do so again. I speak for everyone who worked so long and hard on your behalf when I say it was truly special. You and Gert gave us hope in the face of despair, truth in the face of dishonesty, and most importantly a reason to believe in America once again. Live your life now with joy, amongst family and friends. Watch your grandchild grow, and spend time with those you love, for you deserve nothing less. Please accept our heartfelt thanks for everything, and if you are asked at some point down the road to enter the arena again, it will not be hard to find us.

We are all around you.


So what do we do now that our big money-loving Democrats have brutally assaulted the only two candidates in the primary
who stood for something and could stand up against Bush?  I cried last night when I heard General Clark was leaving the race.
We need him in there, and we need Governor Dean in there.  The pieces are coming together now, and it's as ugly as anything
Rove could put together.  Apparently lots of big media corporations are financing Kerry's campaign

Media Chiefs Back Kerry Campaign
http://media.guardian.co.uk/city/story/0,7497,1144464,00.html

And now we have irrefutable proof that the scummiest players in the Democratic Party (Torricelli?!) joined with Kerry in Gephardt's
murder/suicide attack on Howard Dean, producing the "Dean loves Osama" ads that aired in Iowa, New Hampshire and SC.

Instead of nodding their heads in agreement with the cable news shows ("Howard Dean is unstable", "Howard Dean is not electable," etc)
why the hell aren't Americans asking why so many of the Dem. party insiders and the media have been so anxious to torpedo Dean!
What are they so afraid of?  They'd rather put forward a sure loser like Kerry, who'll roll over under the Rove attack, than support
someone with class and backbone like Clark or Dean.

"We did more with $600,000 than Howard Dean did with $41 million," said David Jones, the group's treasurer and a Democratic fund-raising
consultant, referring to the Democratic record campaign fund Dean raised and largely spent last year. In all, the group spent $500,000 on ads.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/ap20040211_1287.html

Do we really just have to shut up and accept Kerry and not fight back "for the good of the party?"
This party has fought my interests tooth and nail for the last several years, and I'm sick of it.
Ralph Nader is a self centered asshole I'm not voting for him or his ilk.  So what the hell can we do?

For now, I'm going to stand and fight with Howard Dean.
Call me a patriotic sucker, I just can't give up on representative democracy yet.

Anne S
Madison WI
 


To my fellow Clark Supporters, who've I've come to know and love as much as the General himself. It has been a real pleasure to be in the same league with such a wonderful group of people. Thank you for always making me smile even in the worst of times and always making me proud to be a Clark supporter.
 
As a salute to the General and how I think he will handle this, here's a poem by his favorite poet, Pablo Neruda.

You are the product of your self

Don’t blame anyone, never complain about anyone or anything
Because fundamentally you have made what you want in life,
accept the responsibility of educating yourself
and the courage to accuse yourself of failure.

The triumph of the truthful (real) man
rises from the ashes of error.

Never complain about your poverty, your loneliness, or your luck
take courage and accept, that in one way or another
they are the result of your actions and the evidence of what has to be overcome.

Do not be embittered by your own development
nor impose it on another
accept yourself now; or you will forever continue
to justify yourself like a child
remember that any moment
is good for beginning
and that nothing is as terrible as to be untrue to one’s professed principles (to halt)

Do not forget that the cause of your present is your past
just as the cause of your future is your present.

Learn from the strong ones, from the bold ones,
imitate the brave ones, the lively ones, the victors,
those who do not accept situations
thosa who overcome in spite of everything.

Think less about your problems and more about your work
and your problems, without nourishment, will die.

Learn to be born from pain
and to be greater than the greatest obstacles
look in the mirror at yourself
and you will be free and strong
and you will cease to be a puppet of circumstances
because you yourself are your destiny
and noone can replace you in the building of your own future.

Wake up in the mornings to see
and to breathe the light of dawn
you are part of the life force
now wake up, struggle ahead and make up your mind
and you will triumph in life.

Never think about luck
Because luck is the excuse
of the failures.

Debra R


Hey Bart,

I'm voting for Wesley Clark.  This guy's balls would require a flight suit of their own.

Or John Kerry.  He's bright, solid, and has more than enough experience to steer our country back to sanity.

Or John Edwards.  He seems like a genuinely concerned man whose mass-appeal would go a long way
 towards mending our country's growing political disunity.

Or Howard Dean.  Clearly an intelligent, tenacious man, Dean's also a fighter - something we liberals need nowadays.

Or Dennis Kucinich.  I sense almost an unmatched kindness to this man - a heart dwarfing the collective "compassion"
 of every last "compassionate conservative" on Capitol Hill.

Or Al Sharpton, who would eventually convince the world you don't have to have a short haircut or throw around
 five-dollar words to be an incredibly perceptive observer of the world around you.

Or Joe Lieber... GODDAMN I'm desperate for a new president.

Phil Thompson


In the end, I'm voting for whoever wins the Democratic nomination.  Dean
has Zionazis running his campaign.  Clark believes that the SCHOOL OF THE
AMERICAS is a fantastic organization to promote our best interests.
Lieberman?  He's just a Zionist wearing a Democrats tutu.

Either way, in the long run, Israel will still get billions of taxpayer
dollars to continue its campaign of genocide in Palestine.

I'm so tired of choosing the lesser of two evils.

Dan
 

I still don't understand the School of the Americas.
People say that's where they teach the bad guys how to torture women and children.
As far as I can tell, that's like hating America because people like Bunnypants are from here.


It's interesting to me that my impression of the Iowa Caucus was that the
Democratic establishment stepped in and gave us the Kerry/ Edwards ticket.

Then, I thought -  I can hear it now - "John Kerry can't even tell America
the truth about what his real name is, how can you trust him to tell you the
truth about what he's gonna do as President? He's just a fine little
Czechloslovakian Democrat who will raise your taxes."

Kerry can't attack Bush on the big money issue. He is big money. (By the
way, where do these guys get off pushing the Bush moneygrab as a middle
class tax cut? The middle class got chump change. The millionaire's got the
cut)

Wesley Clark will get smeared by his friends in the Pentagon who stand to
win big off four more years of war. They'll paint him out as a shifty
powermonger.

Dean's got foot in mouth disease so bad, he's not gonna fly.

Edwards? The Dan Quayle of the Democrats. No chance.

I won't even get into the Republican from CT.

We got nobody. We're gonna get four more years of this shit.


I'm voting for Dean.  I know he's flawed, he's human, and he sometimes sticks his foot in his mouth.  That's WHY I'm voting for him.
I think he's real, he's honest, and he's brave enough to say what he really thinks.  Everyone else but Kucinich and Sharpton is trying
to out-calculate the White House, and it can't be done, not when they have people like Rove calculating 24/7.  I think Kerry is a man
with real possibilities, but if he didn't step out from the pack in the last 3 years to speak the truth, I'm afraid he doesn't have the guts
to go the distance.  I know many people really admire Clark.  But he of all people has to know what the School of the Americas is about,
and he supports it enthusiastically.  He lobbied/lobbies for Acxiom but says he will gut the Patriot Act, and those two things just don't jibe.
So I'm afraid I really can't trust him.

I don't know if Dean has a chance, but I think it's possible, if he sticks, that gradually a lot of other people will come to see that
bellowing once in a while about things you care about isn't the worst thing to have in a leader.   Good grief, remember what was
overlooked in Bush in the 2000 campaign, and he came real close to getting elected.

Linda O.


Like many others I became more interested in politics during the Starr Scandals of the 1990's, and intensely interested when the US government
was overthrown in 2000. That sort of thing tends to wake you up. I’m for anyone who can beat Bush, and I think one critical skill they
must have is a good understanding of words ? and the ability to use them. Bush has won his popularity on the deceptive use of words ? death
tax, resolve, bold, etc. They must be able to control the conversation with the media and beat Bush badly in debate.
My candidate must also recognize that voter registration and the election of Democrats to Congress in 2004 are a critical part of the mix.

I like Dean’s ideas but his thinking and experience are too regional and I don’t see him winning the war of words.
I like Kerry’s ideas but he isn’t a good enough speaker and he’ll end up getting the Gore treatment in the media and not know how to counter it.
He might win a debate on facts but come off as losing. I like many of Clark’s ideas but he lacks a clear image outside Kosovo.
He also lacks a southern accent because he’s career military and not really Arkansan, and is not good enough with words.
I’m uneasy that all of them don’t quite get it and think that Bush is a normal politician. As if they haven’t read Phillips, Franken, Moore and
the key web sites.

Lieberman, of course, is hoping to be picked for Vice President, assuming Cheney won't be healthy enough to run.
I like Edwards’s ideas, his ability to overcome the incompetence of the Republican National Media, his ability to give an inspiring speech,
his intelligence, his understanding that this is a plutocracy, his lawyerly debating skills and his southern roots.
He can win it. I don't think the others can.

Bill Wilson


Edwards' optimism would never overcome media whores branding him "an
opportunistic trial lawyer with NO FOREIGN POLICY EXPERIENCE."  In times
of war, that's a perception impossible to overcome.

Now that Gephart's gone, Kerry would be the best candidate to inspire
the Democratic base but are swing voters ready to elect a President who
was a former Vietnam War protester (hero or not)?  Too risky a bet.

During his Iowa concession speech, Dean revealed the most serious
weakness a Presidential contender can have, or be perceived as having,
which happens to be the General's strength--the ability to exercise
sound judgment while under fire.  Did you tire of the Willie Horton ad?
Well, how many times can you endure the Iowa meltdown?  Dean's had his
Muskie moment, and he can no longer be considered a viable candidate for
President OR Vice President.

That leaves Clark, whose foreign policy strengths trump the President's,
in reality AND perception.  The reason the GOP looks, acts and talks
like the Racist Party is not because all Republican are racists.  The
GOP panders to racists because it needs the South's electoral votes to
win.  But if the General is the nominee, the South is suddenly up for
grabs.  A Clark/Edwards ticket would force Bush into pinning a
Confederate flag on his lapel, and repeal the Voting Rights Act which
would inspire more Dems to vote.  That's triangulation, and the winning
formula.

Macbob in Long Beach


Bart~

  I know that you support Clark, but I let me tell you why Kucinich deserves it more.  Not only because of where he stands on the issues, or the firmness
with which he stands, but because he honestly has a better chance of beating Bush in November.
  I know you're probably rolling your eyes after reading that, but after we talk about the issues for a second, you'll see what I'm talking about.
  I know that Clark, Dean, Kerry, and the rest of them claim that they will protect American jobs, but when you mention the root causes of our job
hemorrhaging, namely NAFTA and the WTO, there is only one candidate with the cojones to end them.

  All of the candidates claim that they will expand health care to cover more Americans, and most (including Clark) claim they can save money at the same
time.  It can be done, but only by standing up against the big insurance companies that gouge 15-30% out of every dollar meant for care.  Only one
candidate has the courage to say so.

  Iraq.  Campaign reform.  The PATRIOT Act.  The list goes on.  On every issue, Dennis is the only one proposing specific plans to change America for
the better.  Nearly everyone I talk to agrees when it comes to the issues.  It's electability that they're worried about.  They say he's too liberal, but tell
that to his constituents in Ohio.  In a very middle-of-the-road district, he won his last two elections with more than 70% of the vote.

  But I can see why people like you go for Clark.  He's not a bad guy, and the four stars on his shoulder would certainly be a challenge for Chimpy McAWOL.
However, that still won't make him win.  Most Americans aren't concerned with Bush's courage under fire (or lack thereof).  They're worried about terror,
about Saddam (Osama who?), and about 9-11.  And that's what George W. Bush will use to win.  Fear.

  Sending a general up against him will just make more Americans vote with fear.  Republicans can win with fear, but Democrats need hope.
We need someone who can remind us that there is nothing to fear but fear itself.  I respect Clark's courage to stand up against enemies
carrying guns, but this is a different enemy.  He's not in fatigues, he's in a suit, and his weapon is big money.  And, no offense, but only
one candidate is standing up to this wnemy.

www.kucinich.us

Thanks.

Peace,
~Adam Zmick


I'm voting for any ward-heeling dog catcher the Damn Ole Crats care to
nominate, because -anything- is better than Beorge Gush.

Ed


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