DKos Thread: Kerry was right. Showing some respect here

[TayTay]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/4/29/225127/448

Serious Kery appreciation going on here. Only a couple of knocks. Good stuff. (When I get tired, my sentences get shorter.)

One sample reply:

I personally believe in John Kerry (none / 0)

I didn't vote for John Kerry because he was anything but Bush. I voted the first time IN my life because John Kerry reached me. Now was I naive about voting for Kerry? I don't think I was because I believed in him.

I was also able to vote in Gore vs Bush, but didn't find or feel a need to vote like I did during the last election. I'm only 23, but as long as John Kerry keeps fighting for the people I will believe in him because he HAS never demanded my vote during the election.

I also don't hold any anger towards Kerry because even now he is still fighting for us. You call him a Dino I call him a Hero. John Kerry is the reason I'm interested in politics. You can yell at me all you want about him, but I will stand strong and believe in John Kerry.

[JohnKleeb]

1. but but young people dont like Kerry

The writer soms up how I feel pretty well, he's one of the reasons why I believe in the American Political way, I got myself involved.

[WildEyedLiberal]

2. There was one dumbass who confimed all my suspicions

"You can't tell me that Kerry didn't round up every Democratic insider to be had and form the huge "anti-Dean" movement that took down my man Howard."

Someone call the WAAAAAAAAHMBULANCE, we have a code blue WHINER here!

Hahahahahahahhahaha, I always suspected that a good majority of rabid, irrational Kerry haters were just bitter Deanbots. Now I have proof!

[kerrygoddess]

3. Code Blue Whiner! LOL !

[JohnKleeb]

4. thats pathetic

Dean had the support of the one time second most important man in America, Al Gore, thats as establishment as you get, I am sorry Dean folk but Dean had establishment backing, he had a great way of getting people in to politics and such but he wasn't some anti establishment candidate, politicans do that to distinguish em selves from tehir opponents.

[sandnsea]

5. That's a nice thread

I'm all better now. At least for a day or two. :)

[whometense]

6. I spy... CATNIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Do you think they know where Latin America is? It is all part of the same problem," Kerry said. "It is the distinction between what is cosmetic and what is real. In the 20 years that I have been here, I have learned to distinguish between the two.

Kerrysnark. Love it.

[TayTay]

7. More Kerrylove from DKos

I did listen to Kerry (none / 1)

I started off as a Dean supporter and voted for Dean in the Primary here in CA long after it was clear Kerry was going to be the nominee.
Having made my "statement" re Dean, I started really listening to John Kerry. I searched his web site, I did Google background stuff, I spoke with people who know him, I read his pros and cons on Dkos and other sites, I went to hear him speak in Reno.

Ya know what? When I started listening to him and to his underlying message--I fell for him hard. He had a great message, and if you had really listened closely (not saying you didn't--that's the generic "you")you would have heard that he was a great messenger. No tinfoil hat here, but the media did him no favors.

Would I have been happier if he'd fought harder after the many questions regarding vote fraud? You bet, but that doesn't negate his message and his vision for our coutry and the world in my mind.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

[whometense]

8. That thread reminds me

once again that there are an enormous number of ardent Kerry supporters out there. In a perverse and weird way they sort of remind me of Nixon's "silent majority." They don't seem to be the most aggressive people, and it seems they are largely reason-driven. I picture them as a mindful and alert mob - if such a thing is possible.

That said, you can tell by the comment ratings that they don't put up quietly with insults to him.

[karynnj]

14. In addition to the ardent Kerry supporters, I think there may

be an even larger number of people who were impressed by what they saw at the debates, who have a positive opinion of Kerry, but are not involved in politics as there is no upcoming election now and they are simply living their lives. If Kerry is areiously running, it will be interesting to see how many of these people will back him in the early primaries. (I think the early polls will understate his numbers as people have a tendency to answer as they perceive the questioner wants - so I expect Hillary's numbers to be inflated and Kerry's deflated. There will probably also be Hillary to Kerry ballot box conversions where people at the last minute move to a "safe" choice.)

One group I wonder about are the people who attended the gigantic rallies in the swing states and then heard the national press saying that no one likes Kerry. As a blue stater, I saw it on C-Span, which is not the same - for one, you don't get the interaction with others. I wonder if people in the swing states felt that there was a huge gap between what they were seeing and what was reported. I wonder if Kerry is possible better thought of by Democrats in those states than by Democrats in blue or red states where people didn't meet him. (Mass not included as I would hope meny people there have seen him over the past 20+ years).

Two to three years ago, the press seemed to push that the Democrats would renominate Gore. The press now almost belittles the idea of renominating Kerry. What's weird is that although Gore came closer, he had every advantage in his favor (expect for a positive press), while Kerry had an uphill battle where the administration had many strings to pull. Knowing that the press (and especially the pundits) are not our friends, I wonder what to make of this.

[ginnyinWI]

9. I followed a link from Kos to VoteMatch

http://quiz.ontheissues.org/Quiz.htm

I took the quiz: very interesting. This site mainly profiles the 'O4 candidates, but you can also click on "Political Leaders" at the end and see others, such as Hillary Clinton.

Interesting bits: Dean and Kerry are on the same spot on the graph--Left-Liberal. Bill Clinton is Moderate, Al Gore is a Populist. (I would have thought he was further to the left, given his recent affiliation with MoveOn.) Nader is further to the right than Kerry is, on the border between Liberal and Moderate! And Hillary--not so surprisingly, is a left-leaning Moderate, a little further left than Bill. Clark and Kucinich are on the same spot together at Left-Liberal, a little more toward Populist than Kerry and Dean. John Edwards is slightly to the left and toward Populist than Kerry and Dean.

If you are really fascinated with this, do what I did and print out a graph and plot all the people on it together. Otherwise you get a separate graph for each one.

The results of my quiz line me up with Dean and Kerry--no surprise there!

[politicasista]

10. It was positive until the Anti-Kerry people started replying in it.

I have been reading about the vote fraud thing and how people wished he would have fought harder like Gore, but people still respected Kerry. You can't please everyone I guess.

[TayTay]

11. The anti people always show up.

Don't let it get to you. The point is to support all the folks who argue FOR Kerry and who worked so hard for him last year. Send some love to the supporters and try not to over-engage with the detractors. The detractors are immune to commentary. The supporters need some shared support in order to have the heart to keep fighting.

[politicasista]

12. Thanks for the advice Tay Tay

:hi:

[Dr Ron]

13. I added my comments

Most were brief hits on the troll, but I did include a couple of longer posts. One looks at Kerry and Dean's positions on the war. Another looks at reasons why Democrats (not just Kerry) compromised with the Republicans--pointing out that with Dean's record in Vermont he would have likely been leading the charge to compromise.

I see that at least one of my pro-Kerry responses has been troll rated by a Deanie.