I need to know more about Gephart and Edwards. As far as those I know about, I'm not crazy about any. Probably Kerry, but his war stance...or maybe stances would be a better description...still are hard to overcome. I can try to reconcile myself with the fact that he was mislead like the rest of us, but it still rubs me the wrong way. If I had to pick now, and assuming that Clark isn't going to happen, or even Powell, it would be Kerry, I guess. If Dean stood for more than standing against Bush that I could get a grip on, he might be the guy, but right now all I really know about him is what he's against.
I need to pay more attention to the candidates myself. However, it is possible for someone to actually hold a complex opinion on a matter. Don't get dissuaded simply because someone includes a 'but' or a 'however' in their speech. Pundits always argue that there are only black & whites and that if someone criticizes the situation in Iraq that we should immediately ignore them if they voted 'yes' on the Iraqi resolution. This is nonsense. It is consistent for a candidate to argue a) that the President should avoid a 'go it alone' approach while b) maintaining that the US must act when we are in danger. Hell, one can even point out that the President hasn't made the case for war, and they'd still be on the same page w/ both a & b above. Even more interesting, a person could say that Hussein is a tyrant and that he is a threat to the ME and that person wouldn't have contradicted themselves. I agree that Kerry is a bit aloof... and he seems to be his biggest enemy. However, I am unaware of his doublespeak re: Iraq.
MacB: Go to www.deanforamerica.com for his positions. There's plenty of stuff he's 'for' there. The Kerry thing bugs me too, but I'm a little heartened that he was one of the earliest to criticize the way the war was waged and the failure of diplomacy. And you can rest assured you're not going to like Gephardt or Edwards better on Iraq. Gephardt was one of the strongest voices in support of the war effort, effectively silencing debate in the House singlehandedly. Further, of the announced candidates, no one has Kerry's credibility when it comes to challenging Bush on foreign wars. My favorite Kerry moment so far was when the Bushies tried to criticize his statement that we needed regime change at home and he came back with that stuff about how he's bled for this country and earned the right to criticize its policies. That was when he brought up the despicable treatment of Max Cleland. More fiery stuff like that and he'll steal my vote from Dean.
Achebe: My biggest gripe with everyone in Congress who supported the war is that they squelched debate. And Kerry's a party to that too. Gephardt was perhaps the worst offender on the Dem side, mostly by virtue of his power. He pretty much said now's not the time to fight, now's the time to rally around the president. And he said it before there'd been any meaningful debate. Robert Byrd (I know, I know...) gave some great speeches on this. Worse, I sincerely believe that many Democrats supported the war for political reasons and that just makes me want to puke. Not saying Kerry or anyone specific did. I don't know their minds. But it was an awfully quick statement of support, virtually devoid of debate, and that gets my cynicism working.
Kerry is an interesting figure. He was once my favorite politician period. This was at a time when he was standing up against the whole Iran Contra thing. I remember one debate(Nightline, I think) in particular where whoever the Republican counterpart debating the other side was, became incredibly flustered and finally asked Kerry if it was all true why didn't he bring charges. Kerry announced that bringing charges was exactly what he had in mind, and intended to do. It was a great moment, and I learned as much as I could about him, then. He was quite new to the congress at that point. However lately the whole war thing and the fact that he voted for the Patriot act, really bothered me. I still like him, and wouldn't mind if he won the primary, but I think that Dean seems to be willing to take a stronger stand at this point in their careers.
Batman, only Graham has come out of the Iraq mess looking like he's worth his weight, imo. The party made a decision, to try to trump the president (in all honesty, had they all voted against the resolution and had the president had something... anything, then the party would have have lived up to the unfortunate stereotype ascribed to it) and get back on message. They tried to talk about things that actually affect people. What can you say? They got outmaneuvered. You pick yourself up... and bring it again on another day. FB, I have the same basic feelings about Kerry. I'd be ok if he took the primary (not ecstatic right now)... but right now Dean is the only one serving meat... and he's the only one that deserves to be the nominee. Al From & friends need to get a clue. The party has felt violated since last November. Patting ourselves on the back isn't going to get us anywhere. Licking our wounds is worse. Dean is here. The rest of the candidates need to take notice.
