2004 Elections: Democratic Party Contenders

cicerone imposter wrote:

nimh, I don't know how other states or counties take care of poor people's health needs, but the county hospital in our county takes care of everybody - with or without health insurance.

Yes, but many uninsured poor will wait with seeking medical treatment, which they know they won't be able to afford, until their problem's gotten acute - so they can go to the hospital, where, they know, they will be helped by that time. (I didnt know any of this before I got to know Anastasia - through her I know these stories are widespread). Thats not just bad in terms of public health - its even bad in terms of public money.

No nationalisation of health care is necessary - an affordable national insurance scheme is enough.

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You're entirely right, NIMH, particularly about waiting until the problem's acute (and, as the bean counters will tell you, until the treatment is increasingly expensive). With respect to healthcare in the US, we shot ourselves in the foot years ago. The limp you see is a festering wound which most prefer to ignore.

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just a quick note...blatham is most pleased to see the pink flower's return

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Red, you pink Mountie.

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Actually shrimpy-orangish...

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Now I understand what Tart arin means.

There's a lesson there for you, Blatham - No good deed goes unpunished here.

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Whew! Was tartness all it was? Thank goodness, as I thought she'd perhaps heard about my under-uniform frillies.

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I've heard, tell, Blatham. I've heard tell...

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Yes, I'm afraid I left a credit card trail at Fredericks of Moose Jaw.

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That's one hell of a franchise....'round here we have Fredericks Of Hooterville.......

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Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

That's one hell of a franchise....'round here we have Fredericks Of Hooterville.......

I would have thought it would be "Aunt B's of Mayberry". Cool

How about that cup of coffee, Bear?

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The Left (of the Dem party) VS The Electables (of the Dem party)

http://www.msnbc.com/news/976026.asp?0dm=N2AGN#BODY

Excerpt:

While some Southern Democratic leaders are backing native son Edwards, others are leaning toward another Southerner, retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark, who they think would appeal to male voters, military veterans and some Republicans in the South.
Film actor and Democratic activist David Keith, who co-starred with Richard Gere in "An Officer and Gentleman" and now lives in Knoxville, Tenn., showed up at the DNC meeting to boost Clark's candidacy.
"The independents and the disgruntled moderate Republicans are going to come over and vote for him, which they will not do for Dean," Keith said. "Dean will do exactly what (1972 Democratic nominee George) McGovern did. He'll polarize the party. We'll lose every state. It will be a disaster. We need a centrist who understands foreign policy."

(Mine: They still don't have one...) Laughing

---------
The article focuses on how Gore left the South out of his election strategy--and how the Dems are trying to figure out how to get Southern votes... Laughing

Clark looks good in his uniform, but ...

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My emphasis in itals:

Ruy Teixeira and David Moore wrote:

In the latest Gallup poll, Wesley Clark is once again the top choice of registered Democratic voters around the nation. Clark garners 22 percent, compared to Howard Dean at 15%, Kerry and Lieberman at 12%, and Gephardt at 10%.

These results are similar to an earlier Gallup poll taken Sept.19-21, so Gallup was able to combine the two polls and run demographic analyses of the different candidates' bases of support. These analyses are quite revealing especially when comparing Dean and Clark.

While Clark receives more support than Dean among both men and women, his margin over Dean among women is just three points (16 percent to 13 percent), but an impressive twelve points among men (29 percent to 17 percent). He also beats Dean in every region of the country, but especially in the south (25 percent to 8 percent). Also intriguing is how well he does among low income voters (those earning less than $20,000 a year), clobbering Dean by 26 percent to 5 percent. In fact, Clark bests Dean in every income group up to $75,000. Above $75,000, Dean edges Clark, 26 percent to 25 percent. In terms of ideology, Dean beats Clark among liberals, 24 percent to 18 percent, but Clark wins moderates by 24 percent to 11 percent and conservatives by 23 percent to 7 percent. The general picture, then, is that Clark does especially well, relative to Dean, among the very groups where Democrats have been having the most problems.

The Century Foundation's Public Opinion Watch (.pdf file, scroll to bottom of pg. 1)

I'm still not certain if Clark is my man (I've liked him from the very beginning) but he seems to be the most potent candidate at this early stage of the game.

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Ashton Kutcher Endorses John Edwards

The star of "Dude, Where's My Car" and "That 70s Show" will join the John Edwards campaign in pushing the North Carolina senator's presidential message, according to CNN:

Quote:

Kutcher is scheduled to attend an October 29 fund raiser for Edwards at the Hollywood home of Victoria and Dennis Hopper, along with "West Wing" producer Aaron Sworkin.

Jennifer Palmieri, spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign, said the event will be Edwards' "best Hollywood fundraiser so far."

The Edwards campaign could use the money. Edwards raised just $2 million in the third quarter, beating only Dennis Kucinich, Al Sharpton, and Carol Moseley Braun.

Palmieri said Kutcher, who was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is expected to join Edwards on the campaign trail in Iowa soon. The campaign is thinking about calling the Kutcher tour "Dude, Where's my Job," to highlight job losses under President Bush.

The hope is that Ashton Kutcher will bring to the Edwards campaign his fan base: teenage girls who can't vote. Senator Edwards, you've been punk'd! Laughing

Seriously though, it's encouraging to see many high-profile young people getting involved in the 2004 elections. If you haven't heard, several popular punk / youth bands are organizing "Rock Against Bush", which sounds a bit more direct and motivated than in years past.

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P

Yes, I like the phenomenon of young people turning on to political matters too. In part, that's my dilemma on Dean/Clark...it's tough to imagine Clark stirring them up. I want mobs. I want revolution. I want to see Bush in an embroidered French gown with lots of cleavage off-handing some anxious advisor with "Let them eat coke".

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Well, that figures!

I think Dean is an attractive, glib, but very lightweight figure. In my guts I believe he is quite unelectable.

Clark has not yet been tested. He was detested far more than most very fast rising stars within the Army, and there is likely a story there - perhaps a modern day Alcibiades, in Nicias' words, "a young man in a hurry". I doubt that his candidacy will survive the scrutiny to come.

On the other hand, the dilemma of choosing among the ten dwarves could yield an unpredictable outcome in the primary. Bush will win a second term.

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I don't think Dean is lightweight (I think he's playing it very smart), believe Kucinich is the man of integrity and that Clark doesn't hold a card in his hand when it comes to principle. With respect to the rest, only Sharpton stands out as intelligent, interesting, and worth watching. I really value independence in a politician.

(It makes a difference never seeing the candidates on TV. Reading them and hearing them makes them so much more interesting. From the reader's and listener's perspective, Kerry, Lieberman and Mosely-Braun are stunningly forgettable, while Edwards virtually doesn't exist. Bush is irredeemably revolting -- on paper, on a monitor, and in print (where he appears to be wholly uneducated.)

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I think Lieberman committed political suicide when he said that the Israeli attacks on Palestinians are not terrorist acts.

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I don't think any of them have such a lousy CV as Bush had. Certainly every one of them would be capable of a townhall meeting or even just a free-wheeling question session with reporters, and Bush very clearly is not.

You have to be pretty darned insignificant to have dwarves towering above you.

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C.I.

Quote:

I think Lieberman committed political suicide when he said that the Israeli attacks on Palestinians are not terrorist acts

.

I don't much care for Lieberman,however, what brings you to that conclusion?

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2004 Elections: Democratic Party Contenders

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