2004 Elections: Democratic Party Contenders

At this stage of the game, my guess is name recognition is a key factor. See Gallup poll re

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How closely have you been following the news about the candidates running for the Democratic nomination for president -- very closely, somewhat closely, not too closely, or not at all?

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The more I see of Kerry, the less I like him. He's got a bean up his nose -- has the angry smile of W.

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Have you noticed when he talks, it seems like he has one tooth hanging down in the middle? He needs to have that sucker filed.

He should gain weight. He used to be sorta goodlooking. Now, he looks like he has wasting illness.

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That's true -- at least from what I see in the NYTimes photos! (Don't get TV, so I miss the pleasure of the drooping tooth in motion!)

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Something which needs to be said: a person's physicality is important, says quite a lot about one.

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women doh!

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It infuriates me, but it seems to be true. Looks or speech delivery shouldn't be important. (Speech content being a completely different issue.)

I keep thinking of Lincoln, and wonder if he could pass muster in a televised political campaign...

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If anyone is disheartened after watching the Kerry and Dean campaigns explore the fine art of mudslinging, well...two things: 1. Get used to it. 2. It's not all bad.

Yes, ideally Dems should not bloody each other when they should be sighting in the Fraud-in-Chief.

Realistically, presidential politics is a nasty game filled with humongous egos. When someone sees an opening to land a punch, there's gonna be a punch. With a nine-way race, such squabbling will be rampant. It will be unpleasant to watch. But it's unstoppable, and hence, not worth grousing about. And by no means does it ensure defeat in 2004.

[Historical sidebar: The race in 1992 between Bill Clinton, Paul Tsongas and Jerry Brown got real mean. Clinton was quite bruised at the end of it, running behind Bush and Perot in some polls. But he still won. And in 1988, the Poppy Bush-Bob Dole race was no tea party. After Bush used misleading ads to beat Dole in New Hampshire, Dole told Bush to "stop lying about my record." But Bush still won.]

Despite the negative punditry that surrounds such fighting, there is an upside. It's good practice for the general election.

Most presidential candidates have never embarked on anything as daunting as a national campaign. As such, they have never experienced life when every position and every utterance is mercilessly scrutinized, and often oversimplified and occasionally distorted.

Kerry probably thought he was brilliantly threading the needle by supporting the war resolution while hitting Dubya on unilateralism. In turn, he probably wasn't expecting to be slammed by a no-name governor from a small state, let alone have that governor cut into his NH lead.

Dean probably thought saying out loud "we won't always have the strongest military" was simply a harmless observation. And he probably didn't think another campaign -- by slyly using the word "suggesting" -- would arbitrarily extend his comments to imply Dean plans to personally degrade the military.

As unpleasant as it may seem, what Dean and Kerry are doing to each other is a sliver of what Karl Rove will do in the fall of 2004.

So it's good that they are getting their bumps and scrapes now, early in the race, when very few voters are paying attention. Certainly, the Kerry-Dean rivalry will get tenser. They both need to win NH desperately. And so they will get pretty desperate. But now that the two of them see what they are up against, you can also bet that they will be much sharper as the race progresses.

And if one of them isn't, that one will lose.

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The reality is: any field of candidates going up against an incumbent has got to differentiate themselves from the pack. The noted differences have got to illustrate his positives, and their negatives...

Elections 101. Nothing new is happening here.

Who looked best last night? Who had the best one-liner? Did anybody say anything new? (I read Dean's closer. Not bad.)

About Dean and Kerry-- Both are fighting for their lives. Dean is leaching enough from Kerry to deliver the nomination in a doggie bag to Lieberman or Graham. Kerry has got to mortally wound Dean, and quick to remain a viable candidate. The battle, for Dean, is a cheap way to keep media attention focused on him--that he could not afford through commercials. And, Kerry's responses elevate Dean to Major Player Status.

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Sofia, aren't you pretty much resigned to vote for Bush in 2004? As such, what is the nature of your fanlike fascination with the dem candidates?

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No, never 'resigned' to vote for anyone. I listen to everything I can get my hands on during political season, and make a decision, based on that info... My vote mostly goes into the GOP column, but I don't take that for granted. My mind isn't closed to any of the possibilities.

And you?

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Sofia wrote:

No, never 'resigned' to vote for anyone. I listen to everything I can get my hands on during political season, and make a decision, based on that info... My vote mostly goes into the GOP column, but I don't take that for granted. My mind isn't closed to any of the possibilities.

And you?

I'll probably vote for whoever the dem candidate is.
So, I take it, you're saying you're open to the possibility of voting for Kerry, Dean, Gephardt or Lieberman?

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At his moment, I am open to voting for any of them. It is highly unlikely I would vote for Edwards, Dean, Kerry or Dick-- though I think Dick is a likable guy, and respect Dean's hutzpah.

If I were to vote for a Dem., it would most likely be Lieberman.

But, I reserve the right to change my mind at fifty junctures, based on what I see, hear and believe.

I am no shoo-in for any political party. I voted for Carter in '76, and strongly considered Independent ticket in '92. Bush I pissed alot of people off. I was a screaming Reagan hater, during his first term--but calmed down after things started improving. I will never forget how I felt when farmers were blowing their heads off every time I turned around.

OMG! What if some emergency occurred on a Sat??? Has Lieberman said anything about this? How strict are his Sabbaoth rules?

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How are the Dem candidates shaping up? Take a look:

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/7712

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Tartarin - interesting, but now I've been hearing Graham's name more, yet he's not mentioned. Why?

What the republicans have is a well-seasoned bunch of advertising people who know about crowd movement, mantras, and the like. That is also what the dems need. It's not enough to have well-intentioned people - the pusher is desperately needed. People need a reason to vote democratic, and that is where Dean is beginning to come in. He's giving it a face. One of the things that might work is the fact that seems to be one of the people, and, at the same time, he's occupied higher office.

Lieberman and the Sabbath - well, as an observant Jew he would observe the Friday sundown to Saturday sundown sabbath. But he's also savvy enough to know he would have to present trusted aides who would always be on call, as he would too in an emergency. Or maybe the presidency would be a higher calling. After all, Kennedy was able to be very well accepted even though he was Catholic. Although, come to think of it, that's still Christian. And here I stop.

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Another take about the Democratic candidates debate...Scott Larson weaves a skeleton of quotes.

Quote:

Differences in Democratic candidates emerge

The first debate in the campaign for the Democratic nomination focuses on health care and war in Iraq

By Scott M. Larson
[email protected]
912-652-0397

FULL ARTICLE

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Sofia wrote:

Who had the best one-liner?

Al Sharpton's claim that Bush's proposed tax cut is similar to
the cult leader Jim Jones' Kool-Aid; "it tastes good but it will kill you."

And: "I know I can beat George Bush. Why? Al Gore and I already did it." -- Joe Lieberman

The candidate who got the best debate reviews hands down -- Senator Lieberman -- has two campaign stops in Cleveland today (Monday).

Rep. Kucinich is in Davenport, Iowa. Rev. Al Sharpton is also there. The two are speaking to a state letter carriers convention.

Senator Kerry is in Illinois.

Tomorrow, Howard Dean chats with seniors in Hanover, NH, and then stops at Dartmouth.

And Senator Bob Graham announces his presidential candidacy from the Shula Hotel in Miami Lakes, FL.

On Wednesday, Lieberman will give what's billed as a "major" energy policy speech, and the first of several topical addresses. Dean travels to Concord.

On Thursday, Kerry meets students at Manchester Central High in New Hampshire and then does some taping at WMUR. Friday night, Kerry attends the Story County Big Band Swing Fling.

Hadassah Lieberman is scheduled to campaign in South Carolina.

(above is all courtesy of ABC News.com's The Note)

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Coming up on NPR's Talk of the Nation, live, in one hour from this post is:

"In the show's second hour, a look at the first Democratic presidential debate of the 2004 political campaign."

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From David Corn's piece today on the Dems' debate -- some excerpts:

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[...] And it yielded no moments of truth. Not that the wannabes were hawking only spin. But there was not a single breakthrough maneuver, in which a candidate says something or takes a position that commands extra attention. The nine stayed chained to their respective scripts.

[...] Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. The stately, most presidential-in-manner one. He invokes why-not idealism while trying to convey tough-mindedness.... "I believe," he said of Dean, "that anybody who thinks that they have to prepare for the day that we're not the strongest is preparing for a day when we have serious problems." He was bayoneting a straw man to position himself as a strong-on-security candidate. Coming from the stately frontrunner--who boasts years of foreign policy experience and a solid combat record--this assault seemed even more of a cheap (and trivial) shot.

[...] Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. The hawk who voted for both Gulf Wars and wrote the homeland security bill. He claims to be Mr. Electable... as he was campaigning in South Carolina, Lieberman boasted he was the most "conservative" candidate in the race. At the debate, he did not use the C-word. But he argued he was the field's fiercest--in terms of going after both Saddam Hussein and Hollywood.

[...] Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.... With just four years in the Senate, he might be light in experience, but he possesses the inspiring qualities of leadership. ..."what will [Bush] do in the post-Saddam Iraq? Will he in fact engage the international community in the reconstruction effort?" Edwards was the only candidate who raised these sorts of questions at length.

[...] Representative Richard Gephardt of Missouri. The old warhorse with new ideas ...His less-than-adequate defense of it in South Carolina was less heartening.

[...] Former Governor Howard Dean of Vermont. The passionate realist, the doctor-and-governor who knows how to make systems work... claims to be the Democrats' Democrat and wants his party to kick Bush in the teeth on taxes, healthcare, homeland security, education, and foreign policy.

[...] Senator Bob Graham of Florida. The centrist with experience who wants a real war on terrorism. ...Graham left not much of an imprint.

[...] Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. The progressive rebel-and-visionary peacenik who decries a corporate-dominated America where NAFTA and the Patriot Act rule ...His message was firm and forceful, but came across as a bit abrasive, unlikely to appeal to those not already fully in his camp. Kucinich has not yet shown the ability to campaign as a happy warrior. American voters seem to like their doom-and-gloom candidates upbeat.

[...] Former Senator Carol Moseley Braun. The barrier-breaker. ...Her best moment came when she asked Edwards, who had previously noted his concern for civil liberties, whether he would vote to repeal the Patriot Act, which he had voted for

[...] The Reverend Al Sharpton. The Jesse Jackson stand-in... Sharpton was no bombthrower and interacted well with others. His maintained his best-lines monopoly...

[...] The event did show how the aspirants have all locked into their campaign characters, and how difficult it will be for any of them to stand out any time soon.

http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=643

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Gary Hart chooses not to run.

Washington Post

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2004 Elections: Democratic Party Contenders

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