"If I were to vote in a presidential primary today, I would vote for:"

[MineralMan]

That's what it says next to the picture of Joe Biden on all of my posts in this forum. That's all it says. It doesn't say:

"When I vote in November, this is the only candidate I would vote for:"

It doesn't say:

"This is the only candidate who would make a good President:

It doesn't say either of those things. It says just what it says. Of course, I'm NOT going to vote today. I'll be voting on March 3 in Minnesota's primary election. But, that's not today.

What is says is:

"If I were to vote in a presidential primary today, I would vote for:"

That's all it says.

[LakeArenal]

1. BIDEN.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

2. Champ.....

A man of principle and morals.

[Perseus]

4. I would have to say that all the Democratic candidates are people of principles and morals.

I do hope you understand those attributes are not exclusive to Biden.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

6. I do know that...

Joe Biden has been a favorite of mine since before Obama picked him for VP in 2008.

[Perseus]

29. In other words, what he says or does will not change your mind

It doesn't bother you that he doesn't dismiss having a republican as his VP, or that he believes "America needs the Republican party".

I do care about those comments, I don't want a republican as VP, and no, the USA does not need the republican party, they do more damage than good, why would we need them?

[emmaverybo]

31. All supporters compliment, sometimes lavishly, their preferred primary candidate. I don't think it

every time a supporter praises a Biden attribute it should be necessary to qualify the statement.

[Perseus]

3. By having made your decision for Biden that is exactly what you are saying, you will only vote

for Biden in the primaries, it looks like you have made up your mind. You may write "If I were to vote in a presidential primary today, I would vote for:", but you have already made your choice, which is fine, it hopefully shoes you have done your due diligence and you find Biden to be, in your honest opinion, the best candidate for the Democratic party, but you are already inferring you will only vote for Biden in the primaries, no one else.

My apologies if I am misinterpreting your post, but to me it is kind of confusing.

[DownriverDem]

5. Absolutely fine

My focus is on who can win enough states to beat trump. Seriously, that is all that matters to me.

[lark]

7. Do you get that voting in the primary is not the same as the general?

You seem to be confused by that. I believe she/he is saying will vote for Joe in the primary but will vote for whoever is the Democratic candidate in the general.

I feel the exact same way. Biden isn't perfect, but he's got the best heart and experience to pull in the most votes and beat drumpf IMO. If our party doesn't agree, and picks someone else, I will 100% support the D nominee and work hard for her/his election.

[Perseus]

16. Yes, I do get what it means to vote on the primary, his/her comment is about the primary

Not sure where you get that I don't understand it, he/she has already chosen Biden in the primary which infers he will only vote for Biden in the primary, not for any of the other Democrats, so the premise of the argument is confusing, the fact that he/she has made a choice infers the "only" he/she is trying to avoid writing.

I just know that I will vote for a candidate in the primary that doesn't scare me by saying he/she may consider a republican as a VP...Being that Biden seems to like "Mitch", it scare me that "Moscow-Mitch" could be a possibility in his mind. Just imagine the ticket Biden/McConnell, or Biden/Jordan, or Biden/Romney, etc...

[Zeus69]

37. He certainly has more heart than Bernie

(I'll show myself out...)

[LongtimeAZDem]

9. No, it say that's who I would vote for today. That's all.

[TwilightZone]

10. No, it doesn't say that at all.

It means "if my primary was today, I'd vote for Biden".

It doesn't mean that the poster can't or won't change his mind.

[MineralMan]

11. You are misinterpreting it. I don't vote in a primary until March 3.

That is the day I will actually make the final decision. Today? Today, I think Joe Biden is the best candidate for me to vote for, based on what I know today. Two months from now, something may have happened to make me change my mind. I think that's what I said in the post that started this thread, indirectly, at least.

The picture at the bottom of all my posts reflects my opinion TODAY! That's what the words say. That's today's decision.

[LongtimeAZDem]

8. Exactly; that's why "undecided" really doesn't make any sense to me

[MineralMan]

12. Well, not really. Some people haven't made any choice regarding

their primary vote yet. Even on DU. Out in the general public, most people have not made a choice yet. They will, but many may not until they are walking into their polling places or marking their ballots.

DU's Democratic Primaries Forum is what it is. It doesn't reflect how most people think about the primary elections very much at all. Most of us who are bothering to read in or post in this forum think about politics a lot. Most people not here don't think about politics much at all. We're oddballs here.

[LongtimeAZDem]

13. I'm just tired of the "I can't make up my mind" attitude I hear every election.

[Perseus]

18. Some of us take more time to vet, to hear, to see what the candidates do before a final decision

For example, I know I would not like a VP from the republican party, when looking at Butigieg I find that his time may be later, even though I like him as a candidate, and then the others left in the field I continue to study very closely, I want to make sure we get a candidate who will really move the country forward to more progressive resolutions. The fantasy that we cannot make radical changes is wrong, why do the bad guys always make radical changes and the good guys can't? The fantasy a candidate may have in his head that he or any of our candidates can negotiate with republicans is a put off for me, republicans never negotiate in good faith.

So, you may be tired of people who have not made up their minds yet, although I salute all of us who are taking our time to try to make the best choice while having already made a decision of who we don't want.

[LongtimeAZDem]

19. That doesn't change the question, "If I were to vote today . . ."

It's not about down the road; it's about what you would do today.

That's all.

[Perseus]

22. What I would do today is what I am doing today

Listening, observing, eliminating from my list of choices those I don't want, and when I am ready then I will be at a point where my choice is 99% solid, that 1% of changing my mind would only happen if the candidate suddenly withdrew. That is what I am doing today, taking my time and vetting the candidates.

[Shrek]

14. You're right

I'm almost positive that if a primary were held today, everyone here would vote.

Unless someone literally wouldn't make a decision until entering the voting booth, "undecided" is an incoherent or dishonest response.

[targetpractice]

15. I don't think "undecided" should be an option the way this question is framed...

... Undecided is not a helpful choice, because 44% of us are undecided here. Does that mean 44% of DU primary forum participants truly don't have a preference at this point? I think everyone should pick a candidate about how they feel today, and switch if they change their mind at some point. I switched once from Pete to Bernie a few weeks ago. I'll switch back or to another, if I feel like it, but I won't chose "undecided" because I always have a preference.

[LongtimeAZDem]

17. Agree completely

[Perseus]

20. Why? who says one has to make a decision now? How good does that do if you think you could change

your mind at a later time. Making a decision just to make a decision not only creates confusion in the DU statistics/polls, so what good does it do?

I can speak for myself, I am narrowing my choices, to this day I know who I don't want, so my choices have narrowed and I will make a decision when I feel it is a solid decision.

[LongtimeAZDem]

23. So, to clarify: if you had to vote TODAY, are you saying you wouldn't be able to make up your mind?

[Perseus]

25. I would, there are only a couple of candidates that I will vote for in the primary

I tend to favour one more than the other, so that candidate would be choice.

There is one thing people who want to know other people's choices should also consider, maybe many of those people don't want you to know who the favour, have you thought about that? As liberals we should respect that, don't you think? This thing about being tired of people not making choices? Who gives anyone the right to demand that?

[LongtimeAZDem]

27. Nevermind

[targetpractice]

40. I'm not demanding it, but this isn't a poll...

I understand why people wouldn't want others to know their decision, but this preference option was created to allow participation in the primary forum... I may not remember correctly, but I think the undecided option was added later after feedback. However, the option goes against the spirit of the question asked "If the primary were held today, who would you vote for?"... And, the fact that 44% of primary forum participants chose "undecided" makes the other results totally meaningless.... The results of the other 56% don't reflect any professional polling that I've seen.

And, yes, the "undecideds" participation in this forum annoys me a bit... Just like I don't listen to anyone complain about politics who didn't/doesn't vote.

[LongtimeAZDem]

41. +1

[crazytown]

21. Only Joe will win.

It's repeated ad nauseam and offensive.

[Perseus]

24. Its almost fanatic, almost as if what he says or does doesn't matter

I worry when members of DU to continue to support a candidate who may say "he can shoot someone on fifth ave and never loose any votes", or "I would consider a republican as my VP", or "America needs the republican party", or things like that which are disqualifying to me.

I know he did not say the stuff about 5th ave, but I use it as an example.

[Zeus69]

39. False dichotomy

Don't be so dismissive... Republican does not equate to "willing to shoot someone on 5th avenue"

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/there-are-plenty-of-anti-trump-republicans-you-just-have-to-know-where-to-look/

This remains a two party system. If you want to have hope of getting anything done, you have to be willing communicate with the opposition.

I'm not saying I prefer a Republican VP (I don't and, frankly, Biden doesn't either).

[Eliot Rosewater]

26. I wish I could vote for Michelle Obama...

[MineralMan]

28. Well, some state primaries allow you to write in a candidate.

However, it would be a waste of your vote.

[Dan]

30. Hillary Clinton

Sixty-three million people voted for the class clown and we have had our circus,
Now it is time to vote for the most competent, knowledgeable person possible.

[Laffy Kat]

32. I said I was staying out of it until we had a candidate...

Because what difference does it make? I'm voting for the Democratic nominee regardless of who it is, even if I despise them. That said, I would vote for Warren. Bernie is my second choice. I'm still bummed Harris is out of it.

[TruckFump]

34. Kamala was my first choice. However...

...when we go Blue in Nov 2020 I am sure that the new Dem POTUS will find a place for many if not most of those who ran. I can see Kamala as AG. Or on the ballot as VP.

She is a winner wherever she is!

[Laffy Kat]

35. She would make such great VP candidate.

There would be no downsides whatsoever.

[TruckFump]

36. Totally agree.

I still have one of her "Kamala for the People" bumper stickers and I am so sad she is no longer running. She is great.

[Zeus69]

38. Sometimes better to have

A VP candidate from a swing state. CA is not in play.

[TruckFump]

33. Nov 2020

My ballot will be totally blue. I will vote for every candidate with a D by his/her name.

We need to save our democracy.