2004 Elections: Democratic Party Contenders

There is no Bible verse that justifies slavery. There are mentions of slaves in the Old Testament, because there were slaves at that time. I realize that some people may have tried to use the Bible to justify slavery (and perhaps that is what you mean), but that is a very different thing, and they are wrong to do so.

On Slavery and the Bible. http://home.inu.net/skeptic/slavery.html

damn i hate it when you do that C.I. it just confuses me.

dys, Don't blame the messenger.

Careful now, maybe this is the time to start a new thread on this topic.

FULL ARTICLE

The whole stew in that article of CI's about how Christianity and slavery both started in this nation at about the same time, how Jesus never condemned slavery, how the "founding fathers" railed about liberty while owning slaves; all that is very thought-provoking. It ain't like I've never had occasion to think about it before, being of color and all, but it's always fascinating to me the semantic acrobatics that transpire out of these facts.

Christians who don't have the intelligence to discern between some of the left over passages in the Old Testament (it has been edited many times, dropping many of the really ridiculous dogma) and what Jesus advocated abound today. What would one expect in the late 18th Century?

back to the topic, my current preferences are
1. Dean
2. Edwards
3. Kerry

1. Dean
2. Dean
3. Kerry

Here's Howard Dean's web link. Looks like my kind of president.

http://www.deanforamerica.com/dean.cfm?section=about&page=issues

c.i.

READ COMPLETE ARTICLE

READ ARTICLE HERE

Mapleleaf, Early polls taken now have very little or no meaning, because things will change during the next year. IMHO, I think polls taken this early is a waste of time. However, I did note that the only candidate that shows an increase is Howard Dean, while all the others show a decrease. I hope that's the only meaningful aspect of this poll. c.i.

Gephardt is showing surprising strength, and Kerry's poor third to Lieberman is unexpected. Still, it is early in the pre-race, fer chrissakes. Clearly, Kerry, Ghephardt, and Lieberman are the current leading contenders, however they rank among one another. I see no chance for any of the others, with the possible, but not likely, exception of Dean. Dean's tie ranking with Sharpton, beneath Mosely-Braun, is not encouraging for his prospects.



timber

on the News Hour tonite they posted a poll from today showing Dean has risen to the number 2 spot

Not surprised at all, Dys, are you?

nope, pushing for the number 1

We still don't know how big a player Senator Bob Graham will be in the nomination fight. He has no organization or experience in the key early states (including Iowa and New Hampshire), and he is a blank slate to a lot of Democratic activists around the country. But he'll be able to raise a lot of money in Florida, and as a former governor and national security expert, he has a good resume. A brief look at his economic and social policy record shows that while he votes with his party more than ninety percent of the time in the past few years, he occasionally has diverged from the flock of Democratic primary voters, who tend to be more socially and economically liberal than other self-identified Democrats.

"Also, Graham lacks the close-neighbor status other candidates will enjoy in three states that start the presidential voting in January ?- Missouri Rep. Richard A. Gephardt has it in Iowa, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry in New Hampshire and North Carolina Senator John Edwards in South Carolina," the Los Angeles Times ' Mark Z. Barabak writes.

"Graham, 66, is a Democratic icon in Florida, where he has never lost an election. With a proven ability to win over moderates and Republicans, he won each of his last five statewide races by at least 9 percentage points and three of them by more than 25 points," The St. Petersburg Times reports. "But in Washington many people say he's not a player. His longtime focus on Florida issues gave him little national profile. It wasn't until he headed the congressional inquiry about the Sept. 11 terror attacks that he became a regular on Meet the Press, the sort of show that signifies political heft in Washington circles."

"Inside the Beltway, Graham is seen by some as a curiosity. People wonder whether he has the fire to mount a grueling national campaign. They remark on his odd habit of keeping detailed notebooks that include the minutiae of his life. They speculate that he's really aiming for vice president."

"Most observers, though, acknowledge that a political powerhouse in a critical electoral and fundraising state can't be written off. Add that he's a former governor, a Southerner and an authority on terrorism and national security, and Graham appears to some as a real contender."

ABC News' The Note

Thank you for making my point.