Who is the best democratic candidate?

[IWant2BHappy]

I've noticed that several people on this message board volunteer for the various democratic candidates and was wondering if those of you could post something about the candidate you work for and why we should vote for him? I live in Iowa so our caucus is just around the corner and honestly, I don't know anything about any of the candidates. Please educate me! thanks

[SunDevil]

As a Howard Dean volunteer, I may be a little biased here.

But vote for you you think will lead America in the right direction in the 4 years as they are President. Don't let the media or anybody else control your vote. Vote for who has close to the same morals, beliefs, and visions as you do.

Each candidate has a website with where they stand on the issues outlined in beautiful propaganda form. Pick what issues are important to you and research where they stand, or watch the debates and see how they anwser in person.

But I have to try and control you now, ha ha. Check out www.deanforamerica.com

/Dean in '04

[kitalyn414]

this post inspired me to do some research to find out who is the favored candidate... here is what i found:

http://www.gallup.com/subscription/?m=f&c_id=13970

gallup says that as of 10/10/03 Wesley Clark leads the polls. does anyone know if this is still the case?

i am very surprised as i thought Howard Dean was the favorite as he seems to be getting the most buzz.

here is clark's site: http://www.americansforclark.com/
and kerry: http://www.johnkerry.com/

dean and kerry seem to share some of the same standpoints on various issues. one thing that is questionable is clark's call for a civilian reserve. not sure i'm liking that one.

i would be interested to know if anyone here could give a quick outline on how the top 3-4 candidates differ on some key issues, or where we could find a comparison online.

[pumpkins1979]

This site gives a pretty quick and good comparisons of the issues that each candidate stands for:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/issues/index.html

It even has a quick bio on each one. I haven't been following the campaigns all that closely, but from what I gather Howard Dean is the strongest candidate. The 10/10 Gallup Poll is probably too old, considering Dean is only now gaining momentum (with the Union Labors backing him and all). Still, he's probably not the clear favorite as they make him out as some of the polls that I've read has him leading but it's still within margin of error.

Personally, I like Dean. The issues that he stands for closely resembles mine, and I like the fact that he has been getting a chunk of his campaign money from the people rather than big companies. Now, I don't know whether he can sustain that, but it's still good in my book.

[Rainster]

I'm also a Dean volunteer. What I like about the campaign is that it's bringing in people who don't vote, people who don't normally go to caucuses, people who don't normally give contributions.

[Maraschinored]

I have to agree with Rainster on how great the Dean campaign has been on getting people involved. I went to a Dean Meetup last week and it was amazing how many people said that this was the first time they had ever been interested in getting involved with a campaign, and it wasn't just younger people! I think one of Dean's best gifts has been his ability to get people thinking and wanting to be involved in the changes that go on in our country. We really do have a voice! This weekend I get to go volunteer at the Howard Dean Washington State Campaign Headquarters, I'm totally excited!

[Rainster]

That's awesome! I was there on Monday for the first time. :cool:

[cazort]

I think Clark, Dean, and Kucinich would all be good candidates. I like Kucinich, being only a short walk from his district office here in Lakewood, OH. He's a good guy. Maybe he'd be another jimmy carter though...good guy, not effective. Personally I don't think he's gonna win...but I hope he gets a lot of votes (I'm probably voting for him) because I think if he did--it would influence the party platform in a positive direction. And maybe land him an appointment. Maybe he'd be a good vice president.

I think Clark is actually the best candidate. His military experience would bring something much needed to the leadership of this country. (The fat cats running things now don't know sh** about military action--and look what they've gotten us into). And he's a solid liberal without being a wacko leftist. Smart, reasonable, probably well able to work the political system.

My only thing is that...I'm glad Lieberman doesn't have a chance because he'd be awful. He's a conservative wearing the coat of a democrat; he doesn't stand for anything. I think he's the reason Gore lost.

[jku]

Maybe, but I still want Bush in office.

[leoncour]

Hey sundevil and rainster,
I was wondering how you guys were volunteering for the dean campaign? I was thinking of joining myself, but I am not sure how to get involved.

[Maraschinored]

One way to get involved is to go to Dean's website. www.deanforamerica.com and then click on get local. This should connect you to your state's dean website (if they have one) from there you will find all kinds of links for even more local groups and you can pick one in your area, they will have all kinds of things going on and you can get involved. If you live near your state campaign office you can call them or go down and just say that you want to volunteer, they are always looking for people. Make sure you pledge to go to your state caucus too and you can also sign up to be a Dean Counter or Precinct Victory Captain. (It explains these more on the website). Good luck and have fun!

[SunDevil]

I'll agree with Maraschinored that the website has a lot of information on it on how to participate. And where you live does matter, since there will be more going on in big cities compared to little rural towns. But we don't descriminate, you could start something in a small town.

I would suggest going to a meetup in or close to your hometown. They happen the first Wednesday of each month. They are usually informal gatherings at a resturant or bar where you meet other people who are connected with the campaign at a local level. (think happy hour) They usually have ideas or come up with ideas about what to do during the next month.

Most of the volunteer stuff is just like talking to friends, neighbors and family about who they are voting for and to get them to register to vote(for Dean hopefully). Going to a local event as a group to get exposure for the campaign. Handing out signs at a rally. Debating with people who support other candidates on the issues. Stuff like that. You should study where the candidates stand on the issues and be able to talk politics though, you don't need to be an expert, but you should have some opinions on current topics and be able to debate.

Here are some other websites to check out: http://www.generationdean.com/
http://dean2004.meetup.com/

And jku, it is an interesting article, but there are some problems there. Getting rid of Saddam was a good thing, but it was poorly executed. The military did a great job, but the diplomatic process wasn't there. The international community wasn't behind us. And the rebuilding effort has a lot of American commanies getting contracts questionably. There was no plan on how to get the different groups of Iraqis to unify, and if Iran was to get Iraq to create an Islamic state you would see a lot of dead Iraqis. And the media isn't giving credit as to how improved business, utilities, schools, and health care are over there. I'm not sure what the quality of life is because it seems the media only reports on the negative aspects. I do know that it is going to cost me $310 though. With Bush's $87 billion plan devided by 280 million citizens it will cost everyone that much.

But the one reason that we went to war that was buried in a non-glamorous press conference by Rumsfeld is pretty important. It's the fact that we removed(or reduced) our troops from Saudi Arabia in August. Bin Laden, the "terrorist" was upset about us having our military within striking distance of Mecca, and being on Islamic holy ground. But we couldn't get rid of the troops in Saudi Arabia with Saddam running around. So we had to go in. And we couldn't admit to giving in to the terrorists demands, so this issue wasn't very prominent. That's my conspiracy theory on the whole Iraq war: part 2.

And didn't Kennedy want special and equal rights for black and minority citizens. I think most of them would say that life is better now than it was in the '60s. I don't have a problem with lesbians and gays, as long as they keep their personal life at home and are professional at the office. I don't know any, but if they are happy why can't they be together.

It will be interesting to see them debate next year...

[SunDevil]

Here are the news articles to back my conspiracy theory on Iraq.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s843121.htm
http://kapio.kcc.hawaii.edu/archive/v36/36_28/saudi_arabia.html
http://www.ginx.com/~pierre/archives/000009.html

[jku]

Oh don't worry, I'm on your team, I'm convinced Bush must be defeated in 2004 for the well being of this country. Contrary to what I may write here, I'm pretty moderate on most issues - which is similar to Dean. My major concern is the machine that will start churning once Dean gets the nomination. I think the editorial touches on that
I suggest you listen to shows like Sean Hannity, just to see how much brainwashing, revisionist history, and total lack of critical thinking go into what is considered a "consevative" argument.
They sprinkle the pixie dust of "GOOD WAR" from WWII on every thing related to Iraq - when the reality is that Iraq is more like our debacle in Central America, Vietnam, and the Spanish American War.

Dean's Anti-war message will be processed, not unlike sausage, into this bizarre argument that Bush's mad dash solo War (which has polarized Muslim fundamentalists even further, increasing the amount of terrorists) - is PROGRESS, and that Dean's message on going to WAR with allies and having a true coalition is "apologist" and "weak."

It will come down to this: Bush will keep you alive, Dean will allow the terrorists to invade and you will be dead.

It's total nonsense considering that our ports, airlines, nuclear plants, chemical factories are all open to terrorists 24 hours a day in this post 9/11 world. We have terror warnings every long weekend, we have color codes of fear, people are afraid to travel - and yet the Bush team will argue we are safer because we spent billions on the other side of the world to secure limitless military contracts for Bush Pioneer donors.