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Why the Democrats Could Lose in 2008

By Robert Parry, Consortium News. Posted December 12, 2007.


Democrats think the public is just interested in new social programs, but voters are looking for something more inspirational.

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National Democrats are upbeat about their chances in Election 2008, citing George W. Bush’s unpopularity and the weirdness of top Republican presidential candidates bogged down in squabbles over who has the right religious outlook or who is the most hostile to illegal immigrants.

But the smug Democratic hierarchy may be inviting defeat, again, by ignoring the fact that many Americans want leadership that appeals to them on the higher plane of principle. Instead, Democrats often treat Americans more like consumers than citizens, selling them new social programs rather than articulating an uplifting national cause.

Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York summed up this consumer-over-citizen approach when she announced her health care plan on Sept. 17:

"We can talk all we want about freedom and opportunity, about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but what does all that mean to a mother or father who can't take a sick child to the doctor?"

Perhaps a different question might be: why would a presidential candidate see the founding principles of the United States as somehow at odds with the desire of parents to want health care for their children?

With her dubious dichotomy, Sen. Clinton suggests that it’s an either-or situation -- and that the founding principles must take a backseat to health-care policy.

One outgrowth of this pragmatism-not-principle approach is that national Democrats have shied away from rallying the American people around the ideals of the Republic, even when they have been under assault by Bush and his administration.

These Democratic leaders don’t seem to think that ephemeral notions -- like checks and balances, the rule of law, and inalienable rights -- matter that much to the average Joe. In this view, health insurance and other social benefits should trump all.

Iraq War Sellout

Congressional Democrats have operated in a similar fashion, teasing the American public with promises to stop the Iraq War but then treating the issue as just another bargaining chip, albeit one covered in the blood of nearly 3,900 American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

While many Americans oppose the Iraq War on grounds of morality or as a matter of legal principle, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, told the Washington Post that Democratic leaders were ready to drop their promise to deny Bush any more blank checks for the war if they can get another $11 billion for domestic programs.

“Everybody knows he [Bush] has no intention of signing anything without money for Iraq, unfettered without constraints,” Hoyer said. “I think that’s ultimately going to be the result.”

Ironically, however, the Republicans are now so accustomed to the Democrats caving in on Iraq War funding that the White House is signaling that it has no intention of giving the Democrats anything extra for their predictable collapse. Bush seems prepared to veto the domestic spending -- and pocket another Iraq War blank check.

In contrast to this ever-waffling Democratic leadership, the Republicans do understand the political value of appealing to Americans on a higher plane.

The GOP -- the party of tax cuts for the rich -- has convinced millions of average Americans to vote against their own financial interests in order to advance their principles, from protecting gun rights to outlawing abortion to breaking down the barriers between church and state.

The Republican CNN/YouTube debate on Nov. 28 was dominated by questions and answers that emphasized right-wing goals over programmatic details. Though one may disagree with those priorities, they do go beyond the voter’s pocketbook and address a larger purpose for the nation.

Fear of Flying

National Democrats have been reluctant to engage on this higher plane for many years, beyond occasional feel-good speeches stressing non-controversial values like community and inclusiveness.


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See more stories tagged with: congress, democrats, hillary clinton, election 2008

Robert Parry's new book is Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq."

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If Hillary Gets The Democratic Nomination
Posted by: NoPCZone on Dec 12, 2007 12:41 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
1- I will not vote for her or any other Democrat in any race, local to national.

2- I will not donate one thin dime or a minute of my time to any Democrat in any race.

3- I will sit at home and look for overseas employment on election day and watch the Repugnicans take another election.

I'm quite sure I am not alone. I categorically am ready to say that I am as sick and tired of DINOs (Democrats In Name Only), Blue Dog Democrats, DLC Democrats and others that are willing to vacillate, equivocate, triangulate, compromise, sell-out and generally screw over the vast majority of Americans and our nation's future in order to cling to power, position and career.

BushCo couldn't have done a fraction of what he has accomplished without enabling Democrats. Put up a slate of real progressives or I am through with the party. Enough is enough.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» No, you're not alone Posted by: vox persona
» Nader has been vindicated Posted by: CUnknown
» WOman! Posted by: zooeyhall
» RE: WOman! Posted by: MobileSucks
» RE: WOman! Posted by: left_libertarian
» RE: WOman! Posted by: MobileSucks
» RE: WOman! Posted by: MobileSucks
We humans love to join up sides
Posted by: vox persona on Dec 12, 2007 1:21 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Constitution never even so much as mention the concept of 'parties', so by definition parties are other-than-Constitutional. Being the 'I'm-not-Bush' party made for a landslide election result in 2006, but they will need to bring considerably more to the table next year. The Democrats seldom miss opportunities to miss opportunities, and as the author said, they have a tendency to surrender a winning hand. I'd love to play poker with them. The sound of this disgruntled populace is deafening, but the Dems act like they are in the minority and not sure of their principles. I would have had more respect for them if they bucked up when Reagan decimated all of Carter's alternative energy programs, the Dems could have kept sending up high profile alternative energy bills to be vetoed time and again, boxing in the Repugs as the anti-Earth, anti-common-sense, pro-oil company party they are. Remember, Reagan didn't assume office until 1981, and we'd had at least two major gas crises back in the 70's, so it's not like we didn't see this slow train coming down the pike. Wherethehellwerethey? If we went full force into developing solar, wind and other renewables, and creating an Apollo program style project to develop battery storage capacity and new energy sources, we could have been weaned from the demon fossil fuel addiction by now. But noooooooo. Dems have shown to be as bought and owned by the same big money interests as the Rethugs, too bad for us. Now, here we are, 27 years later and at the mercy of countries like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and invading a country like Iraq for a piece of the oily pie. I hope the profiteers spend half their eternity swimming in the crude sludge. As for the Dems, GROW A SPINE. This dictator/deciderator isn't invincible. You have the momentum and the nation's majority on your side. DON'T BLOW IT.

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Another Example of MSM Punditry
Posted by: armorypk on Dec 12, 2007 1:42 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
So now my choice is between Clinton and Obama, is it? Like so many of your myopic peers, you've missed the real story here - The surging grassroots support for Dennis Kucinich. My God, you don't even mention Edwards! Though not in the same league as Dennis, he certainly represents an alternative to Clinton/Obama. Democrats do have a choice in the primaries, as long as they refuse to fall for the "conventional wisdom" BS found in articles such as this.

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» It IS strange Posted by: war_on_tara
» correction Posted by: war_on_tara
» RE: It IS strange Posted by: Lauren
On Sale!
Posted by: rocketman on Dec 12, 2007 2:51 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There is a very real chance that the repubs are going to take this next election. Clinton embodies much of the same we've seen in the past. Edwards doesn't seems to have much substance.Obama? who knows.A fresh face and an unknown.. could America be thinking Kennedy?

On paper the repubs field a much stronger team of candidates. Security, religion, values etc speeches make the democrats seem opposed to these issues - which America is definitely for.

But I still say, the one that comes up strong in the helath care department combined with a bit of rationality has my vote and I'm sure the vote of most of Americans! Could that be Obama? Thats the sell job!

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Could? *WILL* Lose...
Posted by: Louisa on Dec 12, 2007 4:11 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Pelosi has no guts and has not done the job for which she was elected - stop this president in his tracks and get us out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Impeachment is off the table? Fuck her!

It's all been empty rhetoric on the one hand and backroom deals in the other.

Golden parachutes for all!

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» RE: Could? *WILL* Lose... Posted by: opeluboy
» RE: Could? *WILL* Lose... Posted by: Lauren
Go figure.
Posted by: kepstein7777 on Dec 12, 2007 4:21 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Hillary's comment is spot-on. We should give all of the values crap a rest, and focus on the day-to-day realities that are killing some of us physically and financially, like lack of health care. All of the blabbering so far about values and national causes has yet to pay any bills or produce any helpful changes for the average guy.

All the values rhetoric is meaningless coming from these folks anyway. The values of a country are cultural, and aren't going to be changed in 4 or 8 years by a president babbling on about them.

I suppose the point of the article is that Americans would rather hear glittering generalities about values than nuts and bolts, and that's how you win elections. In that case, it's too bad, and it goes back to the idea that Americans get the politicians they deserve.

Of course, Democrats, including Hillary, are no strangers to selling out in attempts to win elections, so as a practical matter, maybe they should pay attention to this article.

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» Salesman vs. Statesman Posted by: newtype_alpha
» RE: Salesman vs. Statesman Posted by: Lauren
» RE: Go figure. Posted by: opeluboy
Wrong Title
Posted by: Tom Degan on Dec 12, 2007 4:28 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"Why The Democrats Will Loose in 2008"

That's Much more like it. Here I go again but the question is just screaming to be posed: Why do you think The big drug companies and Rupert Murdoch have been funding Hillary Clinton's campaign? Here are the only two possible answers to that question:

1. They know she can't possibly win next year and they're determined that she be the Democratic nominee.

2. They have her in their pocket.

It's either number one or number two or (even worse) both. The Democratcs need to nominate someone who will energize its very fed up base. Is Hillary the one who will do that? The Queen of the focus groups? Are you kidding me?

Every recent poll has John Edwards killing any potential GOP rival next year. The reason the corporate media isn't reporting this fact is because they don't want registered Democrats to know about it. They are also determined that she be the standard bearer next year.

If the Democrats foolishly nominate Mrs. Clinton in 2008, they'll deserve every thing that happens to them. Not since 1932 have they ever had a better chance at reclaiming the White House and yet they seem hell bent on blowing it.

I need an asprin.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
Spin, Smoke and Mirrors

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» RE: Wrong Title Posted by: Mauimom
» RE: Wrong Title Posted by: LeeAnnG
» RE: Wrong Title Posted by: SufiLizard
» RE: Wrong Title Posted by: Rod in 83706
Don't follow, LEAD with a new message!
Posted by: warrior woman on Dec 12, 2007 4:34 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
In speaking of the Democratic (or Republican) Congress, recognize that the actions that have been taken thus far are purposeful. Don't allow that they are simply being stupid or insipid. They aren't. Every step is a careful strategy.

Don't think of them as reacting or doing as you would. This contemplates that they are acting w/ morals and convictions such as we might have. They are not. Either of their purposes is different from the vast majority of citizens in this country.

What we need to do is try to think as they do in order to thwart their actions.

The media is treating us as though we are sheep, and to date, we have been. Any time that we react to their messages as fact, such as Hillary or Guiliani being front runners, we act as though what they say in that instance is fact. B.S!

If we know that they are not telling us the truth most of the time, what makes anyone think that the polls are correct?

Think of this. If Kucinich or Edwards were elected, they would be a threat to corporations. What would the media then need to do? Paint them as lower tier candidates, unelectable, a little off center, any number of imaginable characterizations. In doing so, they are afforded less donations and eventually the campaigns cave. Is this what we want? I don’t.

Hillary is the old Republican. Huckabee is an evangelical, need I say more?

Blogs and bloggers need to think out of the old box and create their own message. Don’t harp on the big media messages. STOP! IGNORE THEM! We need CHANGE! It must happen in the next election. We are either going to create our own message by doing or we will talk our way through the same old thing as big media is expecting and has led us to do and that means either Hillary or likely Huckabee, not Guiliani. More war, high oil prices, the environment speeding to who knows what, Christian “ethics” in the courts and government, jobs gone and life as we know it substantially less. And that is an understatement.

Don’t follow. LEAD!

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» RE: Yes Posted by: oregoncharles
exoz350
Posted by: exoz350 on Dec 12, 2007 4:49 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The public is totally fed up with INCOMPETENCE. The winning word for 2008 is COMPETENCE - promised and delivered. Competence covers the whole range of what the voter desires.

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» RE: exoz350 Posted by: Lauren
Complicit in power
Posted by: Hovey on Dec 12, 2007 5:28 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It has been increasingly obvious to me that the Democrats are complicit in Bush's war. They spout some rhetoric from time to time but in the end vote in his favor. Is it that they have cut some back room deal? Are they afraid they will lose constitutional issues in the heavily weighted Bush Supreme court? I think probably the second, they know that as long as they don't don't mess things up too bad that they will have control of the White House Senate and House after the 2008 elections. They see challenges as legal and are pretty sure that the court is not necessarily deciding impartially, there are a bunch of freshly appointed ideologs in there. Pushing and challenging the Bush power grab could end up backfiring in that the court could legitimize the powers. If they wait until a Dem is President and then use those same powers the Republicans will challenge them and the Courts will deny the legitimicy of those very same actions. Brilliant!
Oh wait this is the democratic party they are not thinking that far ahead. Never Mind!

If the Dems put a common farm cow up for President, its got my vote over a Republican. Staying home will only make matters worse.

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» RE: Complicit in power Posted by: oregoncharles
» RE: Complicit in power Posted by: Lauren
If the Dems wanted, they could play the Values card too...
Posted by: Farasien on Dec 12, 2007 5:37 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
...But they won't. The repugs have a glaring log in their eye- GREED- and everyone knows it. If the progressives wanted to, they could easily mount a major values campaign based around the idea that greed hurts people both individually and collectively, and contrary to Gordon Geckgo's line, it isn't good. I think the reason they don't do something like this- and likely WIN the next election by doing it- is because they are guilty of it too. They live in a glass house and dare not throw a stone. Its pretty damn sad when the supposed guardians of our freedoms and liberty- the progressives on both sides of the asile- have allowed themselves to be bought by the lobbiests with the same check they bought the hearts of the repug and dem parties with. This country needs a third party to do this. If they do, they are going to win the popular vote. If THAT happens, all hell's going to break loose in the beltway when the money party realizes its BS has gone too far.

Unfortunately, I doubt we're ever going to see any of that happen. The call of lobby dollars is simply too strong of a temptation to pass up, and the american people have become too spineless, comfortable and fat to mobilize against it in any meaningful way. It seems to me there was an empire sometime in the past that went down this way... somewhere in Italy, if memory serves. Maybe we should look into that... when we're not watching American Idol...

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Oh for God's sake, the reason Democrats are going to lose is simple !
Posted by: maxpayne on Dec 12, 2007 6:11 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We voters made it clear that we were in dire need of a Congress that would take away Bush's war-mongering toys and so we held our noses and voted Democrat. Well !?!?!?! Look what we got in return. They've been caving in to Bush even more after getting a "majority" status in both chambers of Congress. In fact, if I didn't even know that the Democrats had won last year, I would have thought that all branches are stacked with heavy GOP majorities. Eisenhower and Gerald Ford would not settle for either one of these parties if they were alive today ! In any case, people are going to be stuck with one of two choices:

A. The GOP aka The Big Bad Wolf

B. The Democrats aka The Big Bad Wolf in Sheep's clothing

Now you tell me which choice people will go for when they sick and tired of back stabbing bastards giving empty promises before the election and then going the other way once in office.

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» RE: A boycott will NOT work Posted by: rfrancis@godisdead.com
» RE: A boycott will NOT work Posted by: Lauren
Johanna Moren
Posted by: Johanna Moren on Dec 12, 2007 6:37 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Democrats in America are making the same mistake as the Democrats in Europe. Because they have become immoral Selfish, power at any price, they think their people are all like them. They are not. They seem to have lost all contact with the people they govern.

Why don't they ask the question..."How do we feel when we see our leaders of both America and Europe get together for their unending meetings about a peace they have no intentions of giving the world. Peace isn't profitable.

They have to be protected by thousands of police and soldiers and security guards to keep them safe, not from enemies but from their own people. People who only want to tell them that they are not happy with what they are doing, in their name."
When you see fences being built six feet high with barbed wire on top. That is not to keep out terrorists, no, no, no. But the people.

They better take notice, because one day they are going to get enough courage to storm the barricades, they have done it before.

Millions went out on the streets against this dreadful war in Irak. Do they really believe we have forgotten???
The backlash is, we have no faith in them anymore.
Somebody had better come up with a bit of idealism or brotherly love, or our societies are going to rot from within, it is already happening. All Empires fall from within.

Keep the picture in your mind of those thousands of police, soldiers, security guards,walls with barbed wire.
Those pictures tell a story that isn't very nice to hear. Leaders beware!!!
Johanna Moren.

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» RE: Johanna Moren Posted by: vssmith
No brains, not guts, no heart: the Democrats
Posted by: Moore Hognutz on Dec 12, 2007 6:43 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I disagree. Nancy Pelosi permanently upstaged all the presidential candidates when she said impeachment was off the table. The Democrats have become the party of the stupid, the pusilanimous, and the uncaring. They should do well in 2008 because they have correctly seen that the "American people" (I hate it when they say that) have become perfectly dumb, gutless, and insensate.

I would like to see these leaders of ours cut to pieces by laughing Chiricahua second graders armed with dull knives and sarcasm. But we, the people, have not earned the right to see that pleasant moment, nor will we.

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Dennis Kucinich is not like the others
Posted by: newmoonnaturals on Dec 12, 2007 6:53 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Readers, please check out Dennis Kucinich. I encourage you to watch a video so that you can hear him speak. Google him or go to his website because you won't find it anywhere else. This man is getting no coverage in the media for a REASON!!! Because he openly speaks out against the mega-corporate-industrial-media-propaganda-war-machine, of which he is NOT (I repeat NOT) a puppet. He voted against the Iraq war from day ONE. There is hope .... please do your own research and stop following the media. Get to know Dennis and his message. Thank you.

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» Eh... Posted by: kepstein7777
» Cut Kucinich a break Posted by: CUnknown
» RE: Cut Kucinich a break Posted by: Lauren
» This is not a beauty pagent folks Posted by: newmoonnaturals
Democrats: 2008 Is Your To Lose
Posted by: SufiLizard on Dec 12, 2007 6:59 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Republicans have a thoroughly uninspiring slate of candidates for the 2008 presidential race so Democrats HAVE to realize 2008 is theirs to lose.

Unfortunately, it seems that's exactly what they're trying to do.

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Beltway BS
Posted by: Urstrly on Dec 12, 2007 7:01 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
How many elections must the Democrats lose before they walk away from people like Celinda Lake and Mark Penn? The only polls that matter are held on Election Day, and the last one indicated that the American people want this war ended. Instead, the Dems (or enough to swing the vote) caved again this week.

Pelosi threw away the most powerful weapon she held when she took impeachment off the table. One thing the Republicans have is the strength of their convictions and the will to power. If Democrats really believed what they say they do—that the power is with the people—they'd quit entrusting the future to pollsters who measure whimsy when what people crave is conviction and courage.

You won't get that with Hillary, and, frankly, this is no time to quibble about the best health insurance plan. If we attack Iran or there's another terrorist strike, we're toast.

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» RE: Beltway BS Posted by: Knot_Rich
One party 2 wings
Posted by: Azraelsjudgement on Dec 12, 2007 7:37 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There is only one political party in the USA and that is the unconstitutional, warfare, welfare, taxation, corrupt party. It just has 2 wings to create a nice divide and conquer strategy. Both sides promise and promise and when elected laugh their way to the bank as the majority loose power, rights, and money.

Only the "fringe" candidates such as Paul, Kucinich, Gravel and a few scattered here and there actually believe in following their own principles, which is why they are labeled as fringe because they make no sense to the MSM and status quo. These are the types of people that need to be voted in.

Maybe in fact we need to throw out party politics in general.
I think it is insane that the more corrupt the federal government gets the more power people want to give it over us with things like Universal healthcare. It makes so sense. We need to reduce the power and money that goes to government and give it back to ourselves.

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One-Party Government
Posted by: Dianka on Dec 12, 2007 7:51 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Democratic party leadership is the best thing that ever happened to Republicans. President Clinton gave the right wing the thing they wanted most of all---ending basic aid for our poor, transferring public dollars from welfare into covering the cost of "tax breaks" for corporations. It took a man like Clinton to effectively remove the discussion of US poverty from the table. Any opposition to the worst of the Republican policies, from social policies to the war, is guaranteed to be kept to a minimum---token grumbling, but with votes kept below a level needed to override a veto by the Bush administration.

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"Over the rainbow...."
Posted by: Col. Jackleg on Dec 12, 2007 8:05 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Who can ever forget the magical and heart-rending singing of Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz. The simple tale of deliverance to a world of love and respect seems so dated today as we witness a once great nation plummet in shame. Where is the Judy to deliver us again? Listen to the candidates and hear what I hear....it begins with "Imagine" and it wafts just as loudly and worthily as that precious girl of yore and leads us not to the "Grand Wizard" but to Dennis Kucinich. Will we listen or will we be abandoned and ignored....again.

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» RE: "Over the rainbow...." Posted by: Lauren
Anti-Hillary Liberals UNITE!
Posted by: QQOblivion on Dec 12, 2007 8:11 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The liberal anti-Hillary voters are split. That is why H Clinton is the frontrunner among Democrats.
If the Democratic base is going to get their way in any way EVER again they are going to have to unify behind a candidate who is not Hillary. Hillary would/will lose to the Republican nominee in the general election. (And EVERY Republican nominee, besides possibly Paul, is MUCH WORSE than even Bush.)
I don't care if the anti-Hillary Dems unite behind Kucinich or Obama or Edwards or whomever. But they are going to need to unite behind SOMEONE NOW. Or else!

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Paul, Kucinich or third party
Posted by: James W. Harris on Dec 12, 2007 8:14 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Republicans have waged war on America since 2000.

Americans voted for Democrats in 2006, in the hope they would stop the war on America as well as the Iraq war. To stop the corporate welfare, stop the pillaging, stop the torture, stop the corruption....

Instead, the Democrats too betrayed America and did... nothing.

I will vote Ron Paul in the primaries, and tout Kucinich as an honorable alternative. I will vote for Paul or Kucinich should they, by some miracle, become our candidates.

Otherwise, I won't support the "two" parties that operate exactly the same. I'll vote for an honorable third party candidate, and work to build grassroots alternatives, whether in or out of the two older parties.

But I'm not going to vote for the people who so savagely betrayed America, whatever party they happen to have aligned their lust for power with.

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» Shooting Posted by: CUnknown
whoever wins will have to address peak oil
Posted by: Missing Piece on Dec 12, 2007 8:44 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
and that will mean sacrifice, big time sacrafice on a scale no american is ready for. Like no more cars and no more energy for the masses. which ever party wins in 08, they will definately have to address the biggest most immediate problem america has ever had to face. Why do you think america occupies Iraq? Because we want to spread freedom? No I'm afraid its because militarily the worlds most powerful country has to if it wants to stay the most powerfull, and even alternet readers will be praising the action of the neocons when they figure out what peak oil means (the starvation of millions of people). we should have followed Carters lead when he tried to get us to sacrifice after america's oil production peaked.

Its not going to be pretty and the answer is wind, solar and nuclear in that order, but it still means no cars and no energy for the masses. My advice, build an earth home buy wind if you have #3 wind and solar if you don't. Learn to live without oil and electricity and plant a garden with knowledge of how to store seeds, ya you could trap animals but they'll be the first to get wiped out when people are starving. just remember if it wasn't for peak oil we would have outrun our resources to the point of collapse atleast this way the planet can start to heal.

good luck, this is my optimistic view of the future because more than likely resource wars and more false flags to take away our rites will be the norm. we will likely become a police state using propaganda and prisons to control the masses, its worked well so far, (WT7, need I say more).

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Wouldn't it be a gas
Posted by: willymack on Dec 12, 2007 8:53 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If the 2008 election came down to a race between Kucinich and Paul? Wouldn't it be fun to see the "business as usual" applecart turned upside-down? Wouldn't it be nice to have to choose between two candidates who are HONEST AND DECENT, instead of the lesser of two evils? We, the people, have the power to do just this, if we can shake off the cobwebs of perceived inevitability and do what we know is right, we can make this happen. Well, got to go; the REAL world is demanding my attention.

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» RE: Wouldn't it be a gas Posted by: CUnknown
» Please take no offense Posted by: newmoonnaturals
» No Offense Taken - but need ADVICE Posted by: profedwards
Here is who and what we are up against ...
Posted by: TarryFaster on Dec 12, 2007 9:11 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
with a special page on how Hillary can cost the Democrats the general election. Click here.

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AlterNet, get your head out of your ASS
Posted by: Flora Gael on Dec 12, 2007 10:30 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
AlterNet, YOU are as responsible for betraying American values as most of the Dems are, for you NEVER give any coverage or credit to the ONLY PROGRESSIVE in the race - Dennis Kucinich. You claim to be for all these progressive values, and then you screw over Democracy by only reporting on Hilbama. It's YOUR responsibility to cover the lesser known, PROGRESSIVE candidates.

You make me sick, truly. You have no claims to any legitimacy when you cavalierly overlook TRUE PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATES.

Dennis Kucinich represents a break from the mainstream Democrats and is garnering lots and lots and lots of support - no thanks to you, of course, you who claim to be so progressive and then toe the mainstream Democrat line.

www.kucinich.us

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We seem to get this bunk on a regular basis
Posted by: ReallyBearish on Dec 12, 2007 10:34 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
No, the Dems aren't going to lose unless the election is rigged (or we don't have an election).

Virtually every Presidential election since 1912 has correlated to one factor: the increase in personal income. If it was below 4.5 percent, the party in power was voted out.

There was only one exception, and that was the election of 2000 where our idiot-in-chief lost the popular vote but the Republicans on the Supreme Court gave it to him anyway.

How is personal income doing? If you use the fraudulent stats coming out of Washington, not that bad. But 57 percent of the public thinks that we're in a recession, and they are right. The economy is tanking, inflation (using real measures) is approaching hyperinflation levels, and the subprime mess is about to freeze up the financial system.

Republicans can start looking for new jobs, no matter who runs against them. That doesn't make this batch of Dems much better, but the public isn't in a mood to quibble.

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Bet the farm: Obama and Hillary will lose.
Posted by: opusuno on Dec 12, 2007 11:39 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If I were placing a bet, I would bet the farm that either Hillary or Obama will lose in a landslide of Goldwater proportions.

The Democrats are just weak idiots..

They don't seem to see the need to pick someone that can win, and not some media puffed up fake like one of these losers.

I'm not voting.. but Joe Redneck definitely will, and I know it won't be for either of them.

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Yep-the Democrats can still lose-
Posted by: WitchyNy on Dec 12, 2007 11:47 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
if they keep acting like they OWN the votes of progressives.
Go to your local Caucas and support Dennis Kucinich! If you are Green or other drop out/register Dem-support K at the Caucas and
then re-Green.And then work on getting young people to vote.
Don't forget to bring friends to the Caucas.

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We the people
Posted by: solrev on Dec 12, 2007 12:44 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
We hate Bush but we hate that nest of fork tongue vipers called congress even more. Bushies come and go but the vipers are always with us. What are my choices, a repuk governor or a demon senator? We know a rigged game when we see one. I guess we will wait until 2012 to see if some person will stand up and say, “I am going to stop the vipers from embezzling your tax money”. Once that person has our money then that person can tell us what they would do with it. Less than that is a waste of our time.

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Attention all passengers on the sinking ship of state!
Posted by: Rune on Dec 12, 2007 1:47 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is your conscience, er, captain speaking.

As most of you know, after steaming full speed ahead into heavily mined waters, a hole was blown through the right side of the ship, where it has been taking on water. Many of you followed suggestions to stand on the left side of the ship to prevent it from listing to the right and to lift the hole out of the water to stop the ship from sinking. I am sure that is working, it just doesn't show because not enough of you have cooperated. So, once again, I implore all of you to take any place you can find on the left and just stand there until everything is OK. That is our only hope.

Now, some of you have mentioned that it doesn't make sense to follow the instructions of a captain and crew that got you into this mess. Others have pointed out that not only has this strategy not worked so far, but that the entire ship is leaning so badly to the right that it has turned sharply in that direction and will soon crash into those rocky cliffs just over yonder. And, finally, more and more of you have considered jumping into the lifeboats, carefully picking your way through the mines and regrouping on shore or safely out to sea to make plans to save yourselves.

Don't do it! You will endanger us all by causing the ship to lean ever more rightward and, besides, its much safer to stay on the sinking ship and see if it somehow stops sinking than to assume it will sink and do what you can to survive that event by abandoning ship. So, I repeat, do not abandon ship by using the lifeboats that were put in place just for moments like this. That is the most important thing.

Trust me, I know what I am doing. Really, I do. Why, despite the unfortunate circumstances I, uh, got us into, I see no reason to suspect I won't get us safely uprighted and sailing smoothly into port. All that is necessary is for all of you to avoid the starboard side of the ship and cluster on the left. Just do that and I am sure the ship will stop sinking, it will be possible to steer again, I'll manage to miss the rest of the mines, and we won't crash into those rocks that are now so close you can hear the waves crashing against them. I really mean that. Trust me!

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Remember Ohio 2004, Florida 2000
Posted by: sofla100 on Dec 12, 2007 3:07 PM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
In 2000, we all know Bush won because of what happened in Florida, and in 2004, it was because of what happened in Ohio. Bottom line, the election can and will be thrown, as it was in the past. America has nothing up on the third world when it comes to the shennenigans. I still remember 2000 here in Florida, the thousands of black voters "dumped" from the roles, the thousands of votes to Pat Buchanan by the most liberal democratic county in the state (aka: hanging chads), and in 2004, the Democratic precincts that "lost" thousands of votes. I remember what the President of Diebold, the electronic voting machine king said, that he would do "whatever it takes" to elect GW Bush. The power of the Presidency is going to ensure this election goes to the Republicans. It is already in the bag.

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» RE: emember Ohio 2004, Florida 2000 Posted by: monkeywrench
Kucinich: Low in the Polls Yet High on Principles
Posted by: left_libertarian on Dec 12, 2007 3:32 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Dennis Kucinich: Low in the Polls Yet High on Principles

He’s the only Democratic candidate with the BALLS to call for the criminal Cheney’s impeachment.

He’s the only Democratic candidate who calls for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq. No Bull Shit timetables or phased withdrawal.

Yet his polls numbers are low. What gives Democrats?

Do you support Cheney and a continued US presence in Iraq?

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The only smart republican is a rich republican!
Posted by: Landbaron on Dec 12, 2007 3:49 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If you're not rich, and you're republican, you're more or less shooting yourself in the foot.

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Democrats need to stand on principle
Posted by: Democritus on Dec 12, 2007 4:25 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What the Republicans have going for them in 2008 is that at least they stand for something. Forget about it's being for a never-ending war on terror, or endless tax cuts for the rich. They continue to insist with fervor that they are the best defenders of our country.

The fact that they are completely mistaken will not hurt them. What will hurt them is for the Democratic nominee, whoever he or she is, to speak out against the imperialistic state and for our Constitutional principles. The era of "It's the economy, stupid," won't fly anymore. Americans need to be galvanized by a new day dawning--by a return to the principles enunciated by FDR and not the profits of Wall Street. That's what the Democratic nominee has to stress, over and over, against the corporatist, war-mongering minions of the right. Standing up for principle, and not for greed, should be enough to win the day against the most hapless coterie of mangy dogs imaginable that the GOP has trotted out to do battle on behalf of the rich.

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One term
Posted by: Melvin on Dec 12, 2007 6:59 PM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The best thing the Democrats can do is to lose the next election.
The GOP is setting them up for a huge fall in Iraq & Afghanistan plus the sub prime mortgage fiasco. Could it be that the Democrats will do so poorly that they will only last one term?

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Democrats in trouble
Posted by: Staggo on Dec 12, 2007 7:20 PM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Dems. in Congress blew it. America will return a nasty split Congress in which Dems. will cave regardless which party has the WH. Clinton is GOP. If she gets the nomination, I will write in Kucinich. I won't vote GOP, but I won't roll over to Democratic arrogance. Such arrogance and condescension lost the WH twice. Dems. don't know how to talk to the people. Also, they have no abiding principles.

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Another Nail in the Coffin
Posted by: armorypk on Dec 12, 2007 8:45 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
And now, on a technicality, Kucinich has been booted from the Iowa debate. Soon, I suspect, only Clinton and Obama will be invited to debate - Sponsored by Halliburton and Merck.

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All dems are electable. NONE of the GOP pres. candidates are electable
Posted by: bjobotts on Dec 12, 2007 10:14 PM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I am so tired of running into articles that make this suggestion that dems could lose in '08. After the horror of Bush and with the present GOP hopefuls being such a joke it's absurd to suggest the next president won't be a dem. Whoever wins the democratic nomination will be the next president. Nor are we sitting back thinking it will just happen. The public is motivated by great anger at what Bush and the current republican obstructionists have done to our nation. We are furiously impassioned to make sure no repub is elected president. Even if we don't like the dem nominee we will vote for them because we will not have another repub for 4 more years. Quit making people paranoid..you just help the corporate media increase profits and spread fear and paranoia. No matter which dem gets the nomination they will be the next president. Electability is not an issue in this election...period.

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Media determination
Posted by: herbal on Dec 13, 2007 2:33 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
American media is corporate and ruling class owned. The Democratic primary election of 2004 featured judgements of the candidates 'electability'. All candidates in turn were declared in-electable, one at a time. The last man left was John Kerry; married to a billionaire, Wall St. friendly, Yale graduate, Skull and Bones club member. Hillary will be the designated nominee, not by rank and file Democrats, but by Rupert Mudoch, Disney, GE, Westinghouse, CITI Bank and the war industry. See: www.thought-criminal.org/article/node/909

Hillary has paid her dues to the corporatists and is biding her time. Does it really make a difference if she is President rather than a Republican? We can hope that the other Democratic candidates can begin to torpedo Hillary instead of coddling her. Hillary's war record needs to be flaunted and no mercy shown. Gravel and Kucinich need to step up to Edwards' qualities in his excellent dissing of Corporations as agents of corruption.

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NEO-NAZI-ZIONIST Nightmare!
Posted by: williameon on Dec 13, 2007 5:08 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Blame Game!

Everything is controlled by The Reptilians.
They Spew Hypnotic Garbage
24 X 7 X Forever.
What about Georgie's
Veto's and signing statements.
That is the real problem!
The system has been co-oped by special interests.
Billionaires-R-Us
Are you listening B.Gates?
We live in a Corpirate stupid state.
AmeriKo! With a capital K.
Part of some NEO-NAZI-ZIONIST Nightmare.
Where the rich get richer and the poor suffer.
They hate us.
They terrorize, torture and berate us.
Dead Eye Dick, The Shrub, Carly Rove and Rum Dumb are the chosen ones who run the system for the power elite.
Yes the Corpirate Puppet Masters who have us dangling on a string.
The soap opera history is written thirty years into the future.
They write it and rewrite it as they go along.
Bankers who get a % of whatever you do.
They do nothing.
They get a % of everything you do.
For what?
So they can live high on the hog while you live in squaller.
Work tax.
House Tax.
Look where your money is going.
Banks and Pharmacies springing up on every corner.
Limits have to be put on wealth accumulation.
We are headed straight into a whole.
A huge depression.
Because it is so lopsided.
The Shrub will move to Argentina.
And the FAUX MEDIA will
Blame it on The DEMOCRAT'S.
The poor working class.
Yes everything is our fault.
Because we let them do it.
They stick a finger in our face and we let them get away with it.
They are larcenous, lying cowards.
Stupid front man.
We lost WWII!
The FASCISTS won.
Fascist Corpirate Swine have ruined this country and are trying to destroy the world.

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Democrats need leaders
Posted by: tokeke08 on Dec 13, 2007 12:58 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I personally think that the Democrats need a leader.. I think they're lost in their own principles, and there are some that are posing as democrats.

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Article a Sham
Posted by: Ben Sen on Dec 14, 2007 8:01 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This article is nothing more than a collection of Republican cliches used to discredit Democrats prior to the election. It fails to note that the GOP retains enough seats in the House and Senate to block Dem initiates on major issues and that is the source of "whaffling." It's conjecture with a hidden spin--nothing more than a collection of Rep. talking points.

It's incredible that no respondents are pointing it out. Rather, they are using it to pile on. The pretense of some "in depth" analysis is not the same as that analysis when the premise is false. Clearly, it is meant only to appeal to those disposed to discredit Dems regardless of the truth.

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» As a matter of fact Posted by: herbal
Steve
Posted by: dutchs@uwgb.edu on Dec 14, 2007 11:05 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's not just values, it's THE SPECIFIC values that are important. Unfortunately, the values that drive me and many other voters are values that the Dems won't espouse in a million years.
1. You are responsible for your life and your actions.
2. There is no such thing as a right to anything external to yourself.
3. Facts, not procedure, should determine guilt or innocence.
4. Criminals are not victims.
5. Regardless of how bad your life has been, you do not have the right to vent your rage on innocent people.
6. "Consent of the governed" includes granting consent to be taxed. Letting people with money influence how much they pay in taxes isn't corruption. It's how democracy is supposed to work.

I know the Republicans fail miserably at personal morality, but personal failure is a long way from simply abandoning moral principles in general. A soldier falling asleep on guard duty is completely different from not posting guards at all.

I don't vote for President, I vote for the Supreme Court. And I just cannot imagine a Republican bad enough to make me vote for another Warren Court.

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» RE: Steve Posted by: Thucy
Democrats serve those who fund them
Posted by: brianct on Dec 14, 2007 4:59 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If the democrats lose the next election, it will be a well deserved slapdown. Theyve routinely ignored those who elected them, and show themselves more than ready to serve a foreign country: israel. What a contrast with Russia:

'Little hope for Jews in Putin’s succession plan

by matt siegel
jta

moscow | By uttering a single sentence on national
television this week endorsing Deputy Prime Minister
Dmitry Medvedev for Russia’s next president, President
Vladimir Putin appeared to have decided the race for
president in March.

But the answer to the real question on everyone’s mind
— how Putin will maintain control of the country after
the presidential elections — came the next day when
Medvedev returned the favor and announced that he will
name Putin as prime minister following his anticipated
electoral victory.

Praising “the course of economic and social stability,
the course that avoided civil war, the course of
Putin,” Medvedev asked Putin to stay on after March.

In an instant, the questions the Jewish community had
been asking since Monday — about Medvedev’s
relationship to Israel, his position on Iran and the
potential influence of a Medvedev-controlled Kremlin —
were overshadowed by questions about presidential
succession in Russia.
....

Under the current government, anti-Semitism mostly has
disappeared from the political arena, but groups like
Hamas have been welcomed to Moscow for state visits
Russia shows her independence

If they win, The neocons will just shift allegiances, and business will go on as usual.
Persons like John Conyers have shown that Flip-flopping is a habitual trait of the democrats. On anything remotely progressive, they sooner or later back down.

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Hillary should and probably will win
Posted by: johnp on Dec 15, 2007 5:36 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Parry is dead wrong. Gore "did" win the election. Parry erects his weak argument on the grounds that Gore lost the 2000 election. All the evidence suggests the opposite. Hillary understands that there are "higher" issues, and Parry's absurd notion that republicans are aware of this and will offer those issues to Americans is preposterous. The republican party doesn't have "higher" concerns. Hillary rightly provides life and death, health care, and survival issues first, the "higher" concerns will certainly follow. It seems that the Left, has joined the Right in attacking Hillary for no better reason than that she's a pragmatist, and is hated by both extremes, precisely because her pragmatism, and her greater experience being able to get it for us, virtually insures a Hillary victory, were it not for the bitterness she arouses in people that simply will not get along with anyone but a progressive candidate, or someone very close to one. Apparently Hillary isn't close enough, and it's now all the rage to pretend that Obama fulfills the function. The problem is, Hillary is likely the only democrat that can win the election. But winning the election has to mean something to you or it's hopeless. Nader, a near lunatic, stated near the end of his arrogant and destructive campaign for the presidency, that it didn't matter that we won, what mattered, apparently, was mouthing rhetoric pleasing to the Left. As long as Leftists got to "hear" what they wanted to hear, they were content to let the election fall into the hand of the insane republicans. What can anyone say, in the face of this madness. It's hopeless.

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There Is One...
Posted by: Lewis3 on Dec 15, 2007 5:43 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It seems everyone has ignored D. Kucinich, just as the press would have it. Look up his background. He means what he says, and is not afraid to die for his beliefs; That's pretty inspiring.

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The Democrats could lose in 2008 because they are indistinguishable from the Republicans.
Posted by: timemachinist on Dec 15, 2007 6:57 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When will the people realize the USA is really a one-party system? The Democrats could lose in 2008 because they are indistinguishable from the Republicans. But it won't matter who wins the election anyway, because before we ever get to vote the corporate media and big-money campaign-funders will have narrowed the choices to 2 business-as-usual candidates offering only superficial differences of style but none of substance.

The differences between the pseudo-parties is about the width of my finger, considering the range of political possibilites that should be debated.

The Democrats are worse than the Republicans because they occupy the position of an opposition/alternative but do not effect it, thus obstructing genuine multiparty democracy.

The Democrats are complicit in everything the Bush Administration has done. They've dutifully funded and approved every war move and police state measure that has ever been proposed in the name of the phony hypocritical "war on terror." Those blaming "Bush-Cheney and all their cronies" --and thus exempting the Dems and implying they will be better-- guarantee the one-party Republicrat Empire will continue its slow train wreck. All with the weird electoral approval of many who speak against the policies but then support the politicians who carry them out.

Last time we had "anyone but Bush," we had Bill Clinton, the guy who continued the genocidal US-led sanctions against Iraq's civilians and whose VP (Gore) threatened the poorest African countries if they dare violate pharmy patents for AIDS drugs. The Democrats are the left hand of the Emperor and you "Bush-haters" who shill for the Dems are just as complicit in the imperial crimes you DO vote for every time you pull a Dem lever.

Welcome to the Empire of a Republicrat auction to the corporate and militarist interests that only know how to wage phony hypocritical wars: war on terror, war on drugs. When will a political movement emerge that actually has a positive vision for a better world instead of hysteria-mongering clampdown agenda?

Vote Schmote. The Republic is dead.

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The only candidate who is voicing the true democratic position is Dennis Kucinich
Posted by: janjop31 on Dec 20, 2007 3:57 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
So far the only candidate who is voicing the true democratic position
is Dennis Kucinich. He's been written off as unelectable and gets
very little air time!

Hillary isn't prepared to call for Cheney's or Bush's impeachment.
Kucinich has already called for Cheney's impeachment

Hillary isn't prepared to get us out of the Iraq ASAP. Kucinich's
plan depends on us getting out of the middle east ASAP.

Hillary supports Ethanol and Clean Coal as our fuel solution.
Kucinich has plans for rapid descreases in oil, gas and coal use. He doesn't support
Ethanol as a long-term solution and wants to moves us into alternatives fast.

Bill Clinton got the NAFTA WTO thing happening so I doubt Hillary would do
much to end it. Kucinich wants to end NAFTA and WTO.

Hillary wants Universal Health Care. Kucinich wants a not for profit
Universal Medicare Program.

Kucinich wants to push for free public education through college at a time when
college tuition is becoming unaffordable for low and middle income families.

I'm voting for Kucinich in the primaries mainly because I don't feel
that any other candidate represents my position as a Democrat regardless of their electability.

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