Serious Question and not baiting, OK?

[Hepburn]

One of my major concerns is electability. IMO, the US cannot take another Repiggie Admin. One of the major reasons that I support John Edwards is that I think he can beat ~~ hands down ~~ any of the Repiggie candidates.

Please...those of you who support Hillary or Obama, do you honestly think your candidate can beat a Repiggie opponent? It scares the freaking hell out of me to think of another one of those Repiggie assholes in the WH and raping our nation for a minimum of another four years.

IMO, I think that Obama is more electable than Hillary....and I truly think that if Hillary is the nominee, we will be looking at...

President...Romeny, or McCain, or Huckabee or <gawd forbid the most> President Giuliani....:puke: :scared:

Does it scare the hell out of anyone else that if we do not nominate a for sure winner, we are looking at someone like that in the WH????

[Yael]

1. You are not alone

Why I am standing with Edwards. There are a lot more states to go and a lot more delegates to be assigned...

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. Not alone at all.

[Parche]

2. I agree

not that i dont like hillary or obama
i like them both

My support goes to Edwards....

:hi:

[cali]

4. I think Obama is more electable than Edwards.

I have long thought that Edwards is not the most electable.

[cgrindley]

5. Anyone is more electable than Edwards... he stinks (nt)

[Hepburn]

9. Why do you think to the General Electorate...

...that Obama is more electable and Edwards is not?

I think that to the Dems that Obama is probably more popular, but to a variety of people I have been speaking to who cover all the way from mega conservative to former Kucinich workers, the one person who has the widest appeal is Edwards. Also, what I am seeing is that Hillary is truly disliked by people in general. And it is a personal type thing with a lot of people ~~ they are clueless on her policies, but they know they dislike her. She has so many negatives connected with her...it scares the hell out of me if she is our nominee for POTUS.

I do think that Obama could beat a Repiggie...but I think that Edwards has the better shot because he has more across the board appeal and I an NOT talking race issues here at all. Most of what I hear is the lack of experience....and nothing to do with the color of his skin.

[cali]

25. well, first of all I'm not going by personal anecdotal stuff

I'm going by the extant evidence: obama has demonstrated that he can motivate young people, independents and even repugs to get out and vote for him. He certainly would turn out huge numbers of African Americans. Edwards is actually easier for the repubs to frame in very simple and stark negatives, and having accepted matching funds for the primaries, he'd be handicapped in trying to counter that negative framing. I think he could win, but I don't have the same kind of confidence that he'd prevail that I have in Obama, who's demonstrated his appeal to voters.

[zalinda]

60. Oh, really I didn't know that. n/t

[electron_blue]

6. Yes, it scares me. Edwards doesn't seem like a sure winner to me, though.

I'm still undecided, however. Yes, I think Obama has a better chance to beat the GOP than Edwards. As for Hillary, I'm not sure. I think many Americans are still way too sexist, misogynist to elect a woman. Historically, blacks usually break through the glass ceiling before women do. If Hillary were male, I'm convinced she'd be farther ahead than she is.

[EffieBlack]

7. Why do you think that John Edwards can beat any Republican candidate, but Clinton and Obama can't?

[Cleita]

11. Because in the general election, it won't just be Democrats that

are voting especially if McCain is the Republican candidate. I believe only Edwards can beat McCain.

[EffieBlack]

40. Why do you think only Edwards can beat McCain?

[Cleita]

42. Because McCain will keep the Republican votes that would

be lost if the candidate is Romney, Huckabee or even Giuliani. Those Republicans as candidates will lose the votes of the disgusted with Bush Republicans who will either stay home or vote for a Democrat and any Democrat will beat them. But if the candidate is McCain those disgusted with Bush Republicans will vote for McCain. Many won't vote for Hillary or Obama who would vote for Edwards also. Just MHO.

[EffieBlack]

43. But why?

I'm really trying to understand this. I hear John Edwards say that he is the only one of the three who can beat McCain. And I hear his supporters say it, as well. But I never hear anyone explain WHY that is.

Why exactly do you think that people will vote for Edwards when they won't vote for Hillary or Obama. Does Edwards' have a policy or plan that is so markedly different from those proposed by Obama and Clinton that people will come out to vote for him while they would not come out to vote for the others?

[Cleita]

45. Let's face it there are still a lot of conservative voters and undecideds out there

who might cross the aisle to vote for Edwards because they are so disgusted with Bush, but would never vote for Hillary. They would stay home and if they have a choice of voting for McCain they will vote for McCain as they see him as somewhat of a savior for the Republicans against the neo-cons although he isn't. Also, those same voters if given a choice between Obama and McCain will vote for McCain.

Any other Republican candidate will keep them home, however, many have said they would vote for Edwards if Giuliani or Romney were the nominee. It seems McCain is the only candidate that can keep all the Republican vote intact, so we need the Democratic candidate who can beat him and that's Edwards who will get the votes of those who absolutely won't vote for Hillary.

Anyway I kind of heard a rumor and it may be a garbage rumor that Hillary might pick McCain as her running mate to cover her bets.

[EffieBlack]

46. But you have not said why they would vote for Edwards and not Obama

Neither you nor anyone else who makes this argument ever gives a substantive reason for why these voters will vote for Edwards over McCain but not Obama over McCain.

I really think that what you and some others really believe, but don't want to say it, is that they won't vote for Obama because he is black. Is that the case?

I don't ask that as a criticism or a "gotcha." I'm just wondering if the basis for the belief among some that Edwards is the only one of the three who can beat McCain in any state is that those voters won't vote for a black man or a woman.

[Cleita]

47. I don't know how to make it any plainer to you. There are voters

out there who are Independents, moderate Democrats and disgruntled Republicans who will vote for either McCain or Edwards but won't vote for Hillary or Obama. If McCain isn't running against Hillary or Obama, they will stay at home. If Edwards is running against any Republican including McCain, they will vote for Ewards. So McCain will beat Obama and Hillary with that swing vote. Only Edwards can beat McCain. I hope I'm wrong, but there is a stubborn faction of Americans who do vote against their own best interests and who were able to sway our broken election system to give us eight years of Bush. They could give us McCain in November if we don't win that vote from them with someone they perceive as being one of their own, whom they will go out and vote for instead of staying at home or voting for McCain.

[EffieBlack]

51. You've made it very plain

You are saying that a significant number of voters will go out of their way to go out and vote against a woman or a black man, but won't if McCain is running against a white man - and that the number is significant enough to make a difference in the election. You may be right, but I don't think you are.

I do think, however, that this may be one of the reasons that Edwards did so poorly in South Carolina. He consistently says that he is the only one who can beat McCain - or any other Republican. Of course, he's not going to come out and say it, but implicit in that argument is an understanding that the reason he supposedly is the only one who can do this is that voters will not vote for a black or female candidate (or they will come out to vote against them, which has the same result).

In other words, whether he intends to or not, he is essentially urging voters to vote for him because he is a white male.

Southern votes - especially black Southern voters - have very sensitive antenna and it rubs many of them the wrong way to hear a white man say, suggest or even just assume that he has a built-in advantage solely because he's a white man. Whether he does it intentionally or not - and I have no reason to think that Edwards has done this intentionaly - it is a form of playing "the race card."

I've seen many DUers complain that Obama and his supporters are saying that people should vote for him "just because he's black." I have not heard him say any such thing, but I agree that such an entreaty would be wrong and would clearly be "playing the race card."

By the same token, a white candidate's suggestion, whether tacit or explicit - even if completely unintentional - that people should vote for him because he's a white man, is just as offensive. And that's just the point that is being made when it is argued that Edwards is the only one who can win because voters won't vote for a black or female candidate..

I really believe that Edwards and his supporters, by pushing the argument that he's the ONLY one of the three who can beat McCain, yet not offering any substantive reason other than broad assertions that voters won't come out to vote for Obama and Hillary or will come out to vote against them (but never specifying why), leads to the impression that he is "playing the race card" and has actually hurt Edwards among a large segment of voters.

[Cleita]

54. I would like to see Obama be the Vice Presidential

pick of whoever is the nominee. If it's Hillary she probably will pick him if she's smart. It will give him a much better chance of becoming the first African American President than being elected now. If Obama is smart, he'll pick Edwards. He might beat McCain then.

As I said in another post, there are a faction of working middle class Americans who don't consider themselves Republicans but Independents, but they have overwhelmingly voted for Republicans in the past decades because they are fairly uninformed and will believe anything at face value that the Republican candidates tell them. This is why you have predominantly red states with these voters. I know I lived in one of them Idaho for five years. I worked and lived alongside these people and was appalled by how easily they were duped by their politicians. Larry Craig was once my senator, but I didn't vote for him.

They need to be told what to do and they will vote for McCain because he represents that father figure to them. They have learned that Bush is basically evil and dragging the country down the drain so McCain represents a change to them not a drastic change though which suits them. Edwards appeals to them because of his working class background and they could cross over and vote for him instead of McCain. But you are right, they won't vote for a woman for President and they won't vote for Obama, not because he's African American but because he's too eloquent and they don't trust people with really good English. I know I'm going to get a rash of white outrage by stating this but it's true.

[EffieBlack]

56. Edwards speaks excellent English. He just does it with a North Carolina drawl

:-)

[Cleita]

57. Unlike our grammatically challenged present doofus in office,

he does. However, he is much more plain spoken and he doesn't reach the heights of eloquence Obama does. I often thought this is what happened to Adlai Stevenson. His rhetoric soared on such an intellectual level that he lost to Eisenhower a much plainer speaking soldier.

[EffieBlack]

59. I gotcha

[Hepburn]

18. I have talked to a lot of people who are not liberals...

...Dems, etc., but are all over the political spetrum. And from the general comments I am getting from a lot of different people who politically are not even maybe the same, Edwards is viewed most positively.

Yeah, this is not scientific....but all the time when politics come up, negatives about Edwards are waaaaaaaaaaaaay down the line compared to what is said about Hillary and Obama. Everyone I know dislikes Hillary personally and probably will not vote for her or will vote for her ONLY because she is not as bad as some Repiggie who could be the nominee. Obama...the response is lukewarm, but all seem to like Edwards personally. Kind of like and "I like Ike" feeling...if you are old enough to remember that. LOL, I am!

[Andy823]

52. I can tell you why I think so

Hillary is hated by every republican in the country. Rush made his fortune going after the Clintons, and he will stir them up like you won't believe if Hilllary is the nominee. The republicans have been digging dirt on her for years, and they will use it.

As for Obama they will use his fighting with Cliton to show how he can "unite" the country. Then they will go after the Rezko thing. You don't see the media going for that now, because they are holding back to see if he is the nominee, the all hell will break lose on this issue. Obama supporters say he will bring republicans over to vote beccause they did in the primaries, but every republican I talk to says the same thing, when they can vote in a dem primary they do so for one reason, to help get a nominee they feel they can "beat" big time in the general, and they all think it's a shoe in with Obama or Hillary!

Edwards will not unite the republicans like Hillary. He has a plan that really reaches many republicans. Republcians are just as tired of big corporations taking jobs away, lowering wages, and doing away with benefits. They will back someone that they really believe will fight for the people, and help them keep jobs in this country. Clinton won't do that, and Obama "thinks" he can get the republican leaders in congress to work with him, which will "NEVER" happen.

[Cleita]

8. You are so right.

In the general election, if the candidate is Clinton or Obama, you can say hello to President McCain at the inauguration. Edwards is the only candidate who can beat McCain. Just because Obama is popular among Democrats doesn't mean he will get the crossover votes he will need to beat McCain. I doubt very much if Hillary will either. I wouldn't mind seeing either of them as Edward's VP choice, but neither should be the frontrunner. I hope soberer minds prevail on super Tuesday.

[Big Blue Marble]

50. Have you seen and heard him?

McCain beats no one. Neither does Romney.

The only thing that might help McCain is god forbid a terrorist attack.

[Cleita]

53. To the lightly brain-rinsed who will probably vote for McCain,

he represents a break from BushCo. They don't want to give up being sheep and having a father figure lead them, but even they know Bush is evil and is dragging the country down the drain. Most of these people are not Republican but consider themselves independents. If McCain is not the candidate they won't show up to vote unless the Democrat is Edwards. They see in Edwards someone who backs the working middle class, something they don't see in either Hillary or Obama, and they can vote for him but can't vote for Romney, Huckabee or Giuliani because they represent BushCo too much to them. I'm sorry but I have lived and worked alongside people like this and I know how they think. Unfortunately, it's their ignorance and willingness to believe what a person says to be true that the Republicans have been preying on in predominantly red states all these decades to get them to vote against their own best interests.

[zalinda]

61. It's even easier than that

Edwards is a self made man. He went from nothing to a millionaire. The everyday repub and indie likes that he did it himself and wants to be him. They respect him. This is why he has a large likability factor. Plus, he looks and feels accessible, like he is truly one of them. He is not an elite dem, like Obama seems to be. He talks to people, not down to them.

zalinda

[Big Blue Marble]

62. I know we cannot be overconfident.

And for a while I was worried about McCain with independents. Then I realized
this is not the same McCain that ran in 2000.

This is the guy who has said we will be in Iraq for 100 years.
This is the guy who says there will be lots more wars.
This is the guy who strong on security issues not economic ones.

And most importantly, the evangelicals hate him. I think he will lose independents with his war comments
and lots of religious voters will just stay home.

Also remember Rush and his friends hate him as do the Bush Cheney crowd.
The poor economy will also benefit any Democrat running.

I do think Obama will bring in more Indies and have a wider margin of victory which I think is good for the country.
I also think that Clinton or Edwards will beat him, too. This is our year.

[Arkansas Granny]

10. This is something that has been on my mind a lot lately, too.

I have been watching the head-to-head polls and the way it looks right now, Obama is the only one who can beat McCain. It has been back and forth over the last few weeks. However, it looks like any of them is favored over the other Republicans right now.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/national.html

You have to scroll down towards the bottom of the page to find the comparison of the Republican candidates with John Edwards.

[creeksneakers2]

26. According to the poll averages there

Obama only beats McCain by three tenths of a percent. Hillary only is behind McCain by one tenth of a percent. Edwards is behind 1.7%. All of them are essentially tied with McCain.

McCain has lots of problems that will haunt him later. He's not ten feet tall.

[Clintonite]

12. More belief in republican talking points.

[Yanez Houston Jordan]

13. I also fear that we are running headlong into the arms of a McCain administration

[TheDeathadder]

14. I think Hillary will do just fine in the GE

In my opinion she has the best plan for facing the Repubs directly, turning the tables on them, and winning the White House. I think she will not only defeat the repub candidate, but destroy them, which is a bit closed minded to say, but after what the repubs have done to us these last few years, they deserve it.

I am sure the Obama people disagree with me, and if you are an Obama supporter...well you should :)...but I have a fear (fear doesn't mean fact) a fear that he will not face and be able;e to handle the attacks of the Repubs. I also think Hillary has been clear about her plans as well (and i know there are some who hate when we HRC people say this) that she has the experience to win the White House and is able to perform the job correctly.

[Capn Sunshine]

37. Hillary will be OK- it's her organization that will bumble this away

The same one that has taken her where she is now- from an overwhelming lead to diminishing polling, because of the triangulation issue.
You can't run a 90's campaign inthe 21st century. You just can't.

You can't use yesterday's candidate to bring out the huge swath of non-voters that will sit this out. You just can't.

But knock yourselves out. The Obama campaign recognizes what it takes. Whether we can put it together is what we have to see. There's a lot of status quo mo jonesing for Hillary to keep things in their well charted territory.

[Raine]

15. Totally agree nt

[TreasonousBastard]

16. When it comes down to the finalists, I don't think...

we can tell who's "electible."

Truman, JFK, Carter, Reagan, Both Bushes and Clinton-- all unelectible if you just looked at the numbers. Maybe the only two "electible" Presidents we had post WWII were Ike and LBJ, and they were special circumstances.

Just like every other calculus in trying to come up with the "right" President, this one falls flat.

In the end, it comes down to eliminating the really bad choices and then voting your gut on the rest.

[CK_John]

17. Edwards can't get out the teens in the primaries, how could he beat anybody in the GE. n/t

[Hepburn]

23. Because he seems to have an across the board appeal.

At least that is the feeling I am getting from people with various points of view. They like him and they like Elizabeth.

[TheDeathadder]

27. I'm 100% HRC!!

But I'll tell you what...whoever wins the candidacy has my vote in November. Clinton, Obama, or Edwards are democrats and the repubs must lose. The last thing we should do is stay home for that is the worst of our fears come true. No shows win elections more so than record breaking turnouts, you know?

[Tarc]

19. I think Obama would buckle like a belt in the GE

The incessant bellyaching about how Bill is being a big meanie is not prepping him well for a Rovian-esque onslaught.

[Big Blue Marble]

48. You mean the way he has folded against Hillary?

:sarcasm:

Why say something that sounds so ignorant?

Any of our candidates understand what they are up against in the general.

They are ready to fight the bs. And any of our candidates will win.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

20. Don't think we have to worry about Guiliani.

And all our candidates can win the general IMHO.

[FrenchieCat]

21. There is nothing as a "sure" thing.....as we have learned.

What I do know about is statistics and the importance of personal style.

Obama has the voter numbers in his favor; i.e., he brings new voters into the fore that neither Edwards got in 2004 when he ran, nor Bill Clinton got when he ran. Look at the voter turnout and ask yourself why there are more Dem voters turning out in the primaries than there were in 2004? 2004 was the year that we could get Bush out, and yet, still, we were not as energized. Understand that if you attempt not to give Obama a larger share of why we are seeing the numbers that we are seeing, you are not doing your due deligence!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4225484

In addition, Obama is the only one that can argue why the Iraq war shouldn't have ever happened to begin with, and therefore, he is the only one that neutralizes McCain's argument that the surge worked, and that he, McCain, stood up in the mids of all opposition (to the surge)....because Obama alone was the one that stood up in the mids of all opposition.....at the right time. McCain went along with the war, so his self touted wisdom is mooted with Obama as our.

In terms of the race issue, which many don't want to admit is why they are afraid of supporting Obama, I believe that gives him a leg up. The GOP actually will have to be very careful on how they go against Obama....or the same thing that happened to the Clintons will happen to them.

Edwards with his high voice, years of running for President, his silly smiles given in betwen pauses in his speeches all indicate a persona that doesn't signal commander in chief. Couple that with his many changes in his senate record and his current stance, Mccain will make mince meat out of him. Add to that the matching fund limitations that Edwards accepted, and he will be toast before the toaster is plugged into the wall.

Hillary running on her husband's coat-tail disguised as 35 years of experience will be torn down and stomped on by the GOP. Against McCain, her experience shrinks, and her wrong judgement on the IWR doesn't give her an edge...as McCain will use his support of the surge as the counterpoint of all that is wrong with Hillary's positions.

[no name no slogan]

22. Remember, Kerry was "electable". As was Gore. And Dukakis.

We need to stop trying to select our candidates by "focus group" and by what Republicans want and select a candidate that will appeal to DEMOCRATS, first and foremost.

Despite Dubya and Gingrich, more Americans still identify with the Democrats on the issues. We need to STAND UP for those issues and TAKE STANDS and STICK WITH THEM, instead of trying to poll our way into what we think people want us to stand for.

"Electability" is a ruse to distract us from picking a candidate who'll act like a Democrat.

[mopinko]

24. turnout. it is all about turnout.

they have to suppress our, and bring out theirs. take a look at the record turnout in these primaries. obama will bring a tidal wave of new voters. won't be no wiggle room for the thieves this time.
relax.

[TheCowsCameHome]

32. New Hampshire was supposed to be a rout for Obama

and look what happened.

[mopinko]

36. turnout set records

as it has in every primary so far, and as i is right now in early voting in several states.

[calico1]

28. A lot of people thought it was ridiculous

and hilarious when Hillary moved to NY and then ran for Patrick Moynihan's seat.

[Crunchy Frog]

29. No reason to think that Edwards would be sure winner.

He may poll well against the Repiggies right now, but once the slime machine got aimed at him, I don't think he'd be any more electable than the other two. He has a lot of weaknesses as a candidate, and the fact that he's white, male, Southern, and pretty would not be that much of a factor in his favor, once the shit hits the fan.

I'm not at all sure that Obama can win, but I feel better about his chances than anyone else who's running this time.

[customerserviceguy]

30. I really do think Barack Obama can beat a Republican

I've certainly heard enough right-leaning folks say that they may disagree with Obama, but they consider him honest, and that he will at least listen to the other side of an argument. They believe Hillary to be the devil incarnate, and would even vote for Ron Paul against her.

But elections are not won by converting the hard core from the other side. They're won by convincing people in the middle to feel more comfortable about one candidate than the other. I think Obama exudes that confidence-building feeling. Yes, the Republicans are going to pile on him, but they'd do that even to Joe Lieberman. But we saw how it worked last week when Hillary started getting into personal bashing of Sen. Obama, it backfired.

Senator Obama's message is one of "enough of the way things have been done," and what he means is dividing the United States up into two opposing camps. Sure, it makes dandy sport for some of us, but the folks in the middle are sick of it.

We have an opportunity where the Republicans face having a candidate that most of them did NOT support at the beginning of the election season. Every remaining Republican left has serious detractors among the core constituencies of their base, the kind of which we don't see on the progressive side. The only thing that will unite them all is opposition to Hillary and Bill Clinton, the vitriol we witnessed ten years ago has not mellowed with age, they would love the chance to send them both packing again. Senator Obama's message is a difficult one to fight, Hillary tried to do it with 'inevitability', which is the only thing that destroys hope. The Republicans certainly don't have inevitability as a potential weapon, all they have is old solutions to problems they created. Or mud, and we have seen how that has worked.

I understand that you still support John Edwards, but realistically, he hasn't got a chance at this point. Four years ago, he handily won South Carolina, the state of his birth, even after John Kerry won Iowa and New Hampshire. At this point, Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama have all of the attention in the race, and the nominee is going to be one of the two of them. If John Edwards recognizes that a lot of his remaining supporters are in the "anybody but Hillary" crowd, he will see that by withdrawing, he spares the party an enormous fight, the one that Ted Kennedy was trying to prevent today.

[TheCowsCameHome]

31. Unfortunately, it will be Mitt (R)-money running against the (D) candidate

That is not good news.

[hayu_lol]

34. All this talk of winning against the GOP is just that: talk.

This is primary season. There have been no knock down drag out debates between the Dem nominee and whichever clown the Gop puts up.

Quit trying to see who can defeat who at this time. It is an exercise in futility.

Any one of our three can take on any of the GOP'ers. Hillary would probably be the best fighter for our team. She also has the most reasons for sending them back to their homestates with their tails between their legs.

[OHdem10]

33. Hilary can win. Just as in stock market betting or gambling

HRC"s negatives and positives have been discounted.

Ombama is an unknown so we do not know his floor or ceiling.

[nancyharris]

35. All three of the Democratic candidates

are likely to win in the presidential election.

BTW: The word is"Republican" not "Repiggie" - You diminish your credibility when you resort to childish slurs. Lincoln was a Republican and so was Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower. Some Republicans are just as dedicated to helping Americans as many Democrats.

[chascarrillo]

38. I don't think that Clinton is even close to unelectable, but...

... I do think that if she's the candidate, she presents certain problems for expanding the Democratic majorities in Congress. Having said that, I think that's a lousy reason to vote against a candidate, and in any case I think that our current margins are safe no matter what.

[sfam]

39. Hillary beats Romney but loses to McCain

If its a Hillary-Romney race, Bloomberg probably comes in and gobbles up the middle and middle right. This leaves Hillary with a solid 45-46% with Romney like at 42% at best. If McCain is there, Bloomberg stays out, but McCain gobbles up the independents.

Even if Bloomberg does not come in, I think Hillary has a decent shot at Romney, but virtually none against McCain.

[jlake]

41. That is my biggest concern as well.

I sincerely feel that Obama is being built up by the media because they know they can easily tear him down in the GE.
I also think that Hillary will fight, and will pick an excellent VP (Clark, Biden) to be her attack dog... and will win in the GE.
Edwards would do well in the GE, but I think this is a 2 person race at this point.

[rucky]

44. Naw. Any of the Dems can win.

If Hillary gets the nom, she's is super-organized, good at putting opponents on the defensive, and responds to every single negative thrown at her - big or small. It won't be a feelgood victory - it'll be ugly, and we'll be sweating bullets all the way to November, but she can pull it off.

[chieftain]

49. I've said all along that even though this should be a Democratic

year, electing the first black or the first woman makes it more difficult. Both Barack and Hillary compound the race and gender problems with liabilities which are particular to their individual candidacies.
As an Obama supporter, I recognize the lack of experience will have to be dealt with especially with the economy and national security being the major issues. Will the American people trust someone with a limited background on both matters? Obama will have to demonstrate a mastery of issues that complements his oratorical skill. He will also have to demonstrate the ability to recruit and listen to veteran Democratic policy experts. The selection of a credible vice presidential running mate will be a key factor in combating charges that he is not ready for the job.
Clinton brings all the baggage of the divisive elements that bedeviled her husband's terms in office and will surely drive RW turnout as no other Democrat can. Since the failure to pass health care reform, I have been dubious about her political acumen and nothing in her campaign suggests to me that this concern is misplaced. That said,I watched her exuberance last night in a speech to her supporters where she exulted in the fact that this was W's last STU speech. She would benefit by letting the electorate see more of this side of her. It would help convince independents that the image created by the RW and their abettors in the corporate media is dead wrong.
So I think we have our work cut out for us whichever gets the nod. I hope that all of the vitriol being spewed on DU in attacks on one of the other does not lead to permanent disaffection from the essential goal of electing a Democrat to the WH . It is imperative that we close the curtain on 8 years of immorality, corruption, venality, criminality and stupidity

[MonkeyFunk]

55. well then how

about we stop destroying our own candidates? Let's pledge to support and work for the nominee, whoever it is and MAKE victory happen.

[Yossariant]

58. NO Democrat can win the general election without Bill Clinton's support.