THANK GOD John Kerry doesn't agree with me on every issue

[Hippo_Tron]

Because if he did, there is not a chance that he would win this election.

The fact is, that John Kerry needs to appeal to roughly 55 million voters to win this election. There are not 55 million even close to 55 million voters who agree with most of my opinions. If there were, Martin Sheen would be president, the democrats would have a 3/4th's majority in both houses of congress, and most people would not be accept religious teachings as absolute fact.

But of course, this is not the case, in fact the country is quite the opposite of this. John Kerry must appeal not only to me, but also to 55 million other people. I can't expect the President of the United States to do everything that I think is right. Hell, if that were the case I could be President of the United States (if I were old enough).

So those of you who criticize Kerry for "pandering" to certain groups, remember that to actually win this election, he has to appeal to 55 million other people who don't share views that quite reflect those here on DU.

[unblock]

1. that's actually not true

kerry's overriding primary attribute in this election is that he's NOT BUSH.

i think, easily, at least 55 million people will be voting NOT BUSH in november.

in this light, kerry can say just about anything, provided he appears to be at worst mildly insane. with this subtle proviso, people will find him an acceptable alternative to bush.

even if he agrees with you on EVERY issue.

[Hippo_Tron]

2. We like to believe this, but it's not completely true

Despite what Chimp has done to this country, there are many people outside of his base who still support him, because they simply don't get it. Remember also that this is a president who had 70% approval ratings a year and a half ago. We may be ahead in the polls because of the ABB vote, but we aren't significantly ahead with it because of the people who didn't vote or voted Gore in the last election, and are now convinced that we need Bush to "fight terra" or the few that buy into Bush's lies about Kerry. This election will be VERY close and we do need all of the swing votes that we can get.

[sandnsea]

3. No, that's actually not true

People are looking to get rid of Bush, but Americans are fickle. They can turn on a dime and if Kerry says anything remotely extreme, they will decide to take the known over the unknown. A majority of people are unhappy with Bush, but they don't hate him with the vitriol DUers have.