I think we lost a lot of moderate votes in the election

[PlanetBev]

My sister told me that a friend of hers who is a Democrat, admitted that she voted for Bush. It was the first time she had ever voted for a Republican. She said the she just didn't like Kerry's "looks". (stupidest thing I've ever heard) She also said he was arrogant and pompous and that when Kerry "outed" Mary Cheney, it was the last straw for her. This is a well-to-do Jewish woman with a college degree. I do think that she was influenced by her Republican husband who is all behind Bush because of the Israel thing, but she was looking for an excuse to vote for Bush.

Another friend of mine just found out that her lifelong Democrat mother decided to vote for Bush at the last second. She had a "gut feeling" that he would be more likely to keep us "safe".

I suspect plenty of Democrats drank the Kool Aid.

[RuleofLaw]

1. On the other hand

Plenty of my friends have told me of Republican acquaintances that voted for Kerry, so I don't think that explains the election result.

[Bridget Burke]

2. Did you explain that Kerry did not "out" Mary Cheney?

She & her partner appear at Republican events--some events, discreetly handled, of course.

Mary also worked with Coors to help their relationship with the gay community. So she's gotten paid for being a Republican Lesbian.

[PlanetBev]

3. My sister did explain that Kerry did not "out" Mary Cheney

and that the Cheney's had talked about their daughter and that it was common knowledge that she was gay. So this woman just continued to find other excuses why she voted for Bush. Hopeless.

[AP]

4. That's why Republicans spent so much time saying he looked French.

It's worth a few votes at the margins.

And the "safe" thing -- that's why the OBL video came out, and that's why the media spent so much time on the explosives story the last 10 days of the camapaign. Fear is a very powerful motivator, and that's why running a sunny optimist with a big smile who tells you Happy Days are Here Again is the best antidote to fear. (I'm talking about FDR.)

[WI_DEM]

5. In a modern election even Abe Lincoln couldn't win

if we are basing it on looks. This "outing" Mary Cheney thing is deeper than we think, I've heard several people say the same thing. Nevertheless, it is stupidity since she outed herself, still Kerry probably shouldn't have mentioned names.

[Mike Daniels]

9. Kerry really should have used someone else than Cheney

I don't think it was that big of a deal but by bringing up her name he dragged her into a debate over an issue that to the best of my knowledge she has never made a public pronouncement on.

Why didn't he just use another public figure that wasn't connected to the campaign? Lord knows that there are enough well known openly gay celebrities that could have been used as his example.

[babylonsister]

11. I don't think metioning Cheney's daughter

was a big deal until her mother made it a big deal. Such bullshit righteous indignation!

[rinsd]

17. I kind of understand what he was trying to get at....

He was trying to make a dig about hypocrisy but it came off as dragging her into it to make a political point.

If he felt so strongly about it, he could have mentioned a friend of his or a family member but something tells me he was adivsed to use it as an attck rather than a genuine appeal to people.

[Jade Fox]

6. People who cast their vote for the reasons you mentioned.....

are not moderate. That's giving them more credit than they deserve,
because it assumes some sort of rationality in their choice.

[GOPBasher]

7. I disagree. I don't think we "lost" anything. They stole the election.

They stole the election with their machines, period. Bush won Florida by 5%???? Please. Give me a break.

[Dr Fate]

23. I want an investigation- until then, I have to agree w/ you...

...it's possible that there was no fraud- but we cant know until there is an investigation.

[madfloridian]

8. There was no clear choice on the Iraq invasion.

That might have turned a lot of voters our way.

[TexasSissy]

10. Don't let your sister's friend fool you. She was voting for *, no matter

what, but just felt compelled to "blame" the Democrats for it. What she said is an indication of a true Dem. hater in this election. It wouldn't have made any difference what candidate we had or what our positions were. I suspect she voted for * because of his backing of Sharon. A certain percentage of Jewish people voted for * for that reason alone, incl. a diehard Jewish Dem. I work with who voted for *.

[Eloriel]

12. I think you're misinformed

Aside from your anecdotes, of course.

VOTE FRAUD Links - a DU Compendium
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=201&topic_id=1984#

[George W. Dunce]

13. Your sisters friend is stupid EOM

[Q]

14. Sounds like we lost the 'ignorance' voter...

...and the only remedy for that is a media that does its job of informing the American people about their government.

[EST]

15. E. All of the above are true.

There are so many good reasons the champion we presented could not move the joust beyond the reach of fraud and intimidation. Most of those reasons contain some form or other of the political diseases thet folks get after a brief exposure to the greed, witch hunts, lack of moral clarity, and general meanness of spirit that we have found no vaccine against, and which are endemic to public life. Most of these also include an abject lack of real intellectual curiosity and and a pathetic need to cling to portents, signs and magical spells however claoked in modern-speak.
(Sigh) (Headshake) Can't make an omelette without breaking eggs, rotten eggs though they may be...
I think we all need a brief vacation.

[rinsd]

16. Possible.....

My mother voted for Kerry but she thought it was incredibly low class for Kerry to bring in Mary Cheney to make a poltiical point. It wasn't about "outing" her. I wonder how may other people felt the same?

Edit: spellcheck, spellcheck, spellcheck

[xequals]

26. My parents thought the same thing

Said they didn't think politicians should "talk about the kids' problems. Every family has their secrets." I explained that she was out of the closet, but they said it didn't matter, and that it was a sensitive issue that shouldn't be talked about. I suspect many middle age and older folks think this way - homosexuality was much more of a taboo subject in their day.

[angrydemocrat]

18. Anyone who would vote for Bush has lost their...........

F***ING MIND AND NEEDS TO BE IN A MENTAL WARD!!!!! Especially a woman! Any women in their right mind would never vote for a ticket that was against equal rights for women, equal pay for women, and a womens right to make her own choices about her own body! This outing Mary Cheney is pure BS! It was even known in 2000 about Mary Cheney. That is just a excuse to keep from saying look what a dumba** I am I voted for another dumba**! If these people were real democrats they wouldn't be dumb enough to vote for a real dumba** and they sure as hell wouldn't have to find dumb excuses for there stupidity! Democrats are smarter than that and they sure as hell don't have to make excuses for what they beleive in or how they vote. So please don't try to get any real democrat to beleive they lost something by these dumba**es voting for one just like them! May they all rot in hell!

[Cha]

19. I feel so fortunate that the only Democrats

I know could see Right Through bush and his little..Lyin', Cheatin',Thievin', Murderin', Tricks!

And the ones who couldn't are being Willfully Ignorant and there is no hope for them.

They might see what a Huge Fucking Mistake they made..I know a lot of repukes who said they made a mistake when they voted for bush in 2000.

Kerry got more votes than reagan but the repukes were able to manufacture more.

[mmonk]

20. The dark side controls the media

and that's why the populace is so uninformed they know not what they do. However, we cannot live with what we know. So what happens from here? We just accept that the face of America and its principles are changed forever?

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Dr Fate]

22. I cant know for sure until somone investigates the voting "irregularities"

I cant really know, deep down, what happened until these nation wide "irregularities" are fully investigated & fixed.

Until then, there will always be that lingering question- and I will not discuss any other issue until then.

Doc

[Nimble_Idea]

24. I suspect 56 million other people drank clean water

I don't know what the hell is in the water in the south.
Must be holy water, heard it came straight from jebus.

[bobbyboucher]

25. She's a moran, we don't need her.

If we have to kowtow to morons to win, then we are going to lose the intelligent, rational, progressive vote, and we're fucked for sure then.

Trust me, the Dems are about to give away the house with this "appeal to the middle" horse shit.

[xequals]

27. Mush brain "soccer moms."

Give 'em a few months. They'll realize they made the wrong choice when it all starts to go to hell: Iraq is a mess, OBL is still out there, North Korea has nukes. It's inevitable that all of this will blow up in Bush's face... and the faces of his enablers.