Democratic field taking shape

[sbp]

http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/11/27/democrats.2004.ap/index.html

http://www.lemonizer.com/uploads/dem.jpg
Dean, Gephardt, Gore and Lieberman

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is expected to open an exploratory committee soon for a likely run for the Democratic presidential nomination, and Rep. Dick Gephardt, too, is expected to tell colleagues whether he plans to run.

The Democratic field for president in 2004, now occupied only by Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, is about to begin taking shape.

The Thanksgiving holidays probably offer a last lull before the field starts taking shape. Al Gore, the Democratic nominee two years ago, says he will decide over the Christmas holidays. Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who was Gore's running mate in 2000, has expressed interest in running but says he won't if Gore does.

"John Kerry has never been coy about the seriousness of his potential candidacy," said spokesman David Wade. "He's traveled the country having honest discussions with folks from all walks of life and it's convinced him many Americans are hungry for a better kind of politics."

While Kerry won't make a final decision until after the New Year's holiday, aides say the formation of an exploratory committee would be a significant step.

If he runs, the Massachusetts senator can count on an experienced team of political advisers.

Michael Whouley, a senior adviser for the Gore campaign in 2000, is expected to play a similar role for a Kerry candidacy. Jim Jordan, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, is likely to be campaign manager. Among Kerry's top fund-raisers will be Robert Farmer, who helped raise money in the campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.

Kerry has more than $3 million in his Senate election committee that can be rolled into a presidential effort, associates said.

Dean, the Vermont governor, formed a presidential committee in May and has made it clear he will run.

Gephardt, the former House Democratic leader from Missouri, is talking with supporters and advisers, and he is expected to start telling associates in the coming weeks of his decision. Those who have talked to him expect him to make his second run for president, after an unsuccessful bid in 1988.

People close to Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle say he should be considered a possible candidate but many Democrats say they'd be surprised if he does run.

North Carolina Sen. John Edwards is considering his options and expects to make a decision after the Christmas holidays. Associates say he's leaning toward running but the freshman senator hasn't finally decided.

The big question for the Democrats is what Gore will do, and people close to him indicate he hasn't given a clear indication. Recent polls suggest Gore has an advantage over others in the field among Democrats overall, but has work to do among party activists who were as likely to pick Kerry as Gore in a recent Los Angeles Times poll. Gore acknowledged in a recent interview that he has to convince party insiders and the media that he can be a more effective candidate.

The other potential candidates dismiss any suggestion that Gore's decision will affect their own. When Edwards was asked last week whether he is waiting for Gore to make a decision, he responded: "No, absolutely not."

The early presidential contests such as the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire primary in late January and the South Carolina primary in early February, are expected to narrow the competition quickly in 2004 and Democratic activists in those states say the race will be very competitive.

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Well someone has to run and lose. http://sbp777.homestead.com/files/winkie.gif

[UDawg]

True. That is soo funny. "Algore" had a book signing here last week and about 15 people showed up. Was pathetic. I didn't even know he was here. If I did know I would have stoped by and showed my support for..... President Bush. lol!!! Al is such a joke.

"pweeeeze pweeeeeeeeeeze can I play president in two years"?

[styles-T]

I have a feeling Bush is going to get re-elected cause there is never any contention after a first term..atleast thats the way it always seems..

I hate Bush..but I have a feeling hes going to do 2 terms..

Just out of curiosity I wonder what Colin Powell would be like as a first president.. :\

[LORD-eX-Bu]

Originally posted by !plonk*
I have a feeling Bush is going to get re-elected cause there is never any contention after a first term..atleast thats the way it always seems..

I hate Bush..but I have a feeling hes going to do 2 terms..

Just out of curiosity I wonder what Colin Powell would be like as a first president.. :\

He'd still be takin' orders from Bush.:p

[sbp]

Colin Powell considered running for president years ago. His wife didn't want him to do it.

Unfortunately it appears Al Gore is going to run for the presidency again in 2004. This will be a sure loss for the Democrats and already negativity is being dredged up again. http://sbp777.homestead.com/files/disa.gif While Gore has the name recognition (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51481-2002Nov28.html), the spectre of having a divided Democratic party could happen.

It would be better for the Democrats to choose someone fresh to run. But they'll stay true to history and offer up yet another weak or lukewarm candidate. There hasn't been a good Democratic candidate for decades now.

Saw an interview with Gore on tv. He still has the personality of a doorknob.

Gore would be thought of better and be in much stronger shape if after the second recount he didn't put the country thru that and gave that great concession speech. But what did Gore do instead? He went on like a darn baby (http://home.earthlink.net/~sbp777/pics/crybabygore.jpg) and didn't know when to say when.

If Gore was smart he may want to sit out this next presidential election and allow someone else to run. Let someone else like Gephardt {tried to democratic presidential nominee in 1988} be the sacrificial lamb going against a popular president. Just like Bob Dole in 1996 against the popular Bill Clinton. After the person loses it can be said hey he had his shot. But being smart is not one of Gore's strong points, revising history (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17863-2002Nov20.html) is. And there's a good chance of the power hungry Hillary Clinton running in 2008. That will be a fiasco with seeing as many despise her.

[PsychoSy]

Originally posted by sbp : Gore would be thought of better and be in much stronger shape if after the second recount he didn't put the country thru that and gave that great concession speech. But what did Gore do instead? He went on like a darn baby[/url] and didn't know when to say when.

Maybe it's the rock of crack I smoked this morning but isn't funny how Gore is blamed for the 2000 election debacle when Mr. "I trest da peepull" George W. Bush was the first to hightail his Texas hide to a courtroom full of his daddy's friends the moment his rigged election was starting to go south? :)

I hate Gore & Lieberman as much as anyone. I voted for Nader, which according to me dad was "another !&@*&ing vote for Bush, ya SOB", but as far as I'm concerned, Gore won that election by a landslide. Republicans will confess this fact...but only if you get them drunk enough. After a good bottle & a half of Scotch, they'll whisper to you, "Yessh, we re-really wanted to do a s-statewide recount in flo-flo...*ulp*...Florida but we wooda losht big time if dat actualy-ly-ly took plashe...p-pour me another!"

I don't like any of the Democrats in that list..well...maybe Kerry. He's alright. I can settle for Gephart I guess. He's no idiot. At least he has brains - Gore doesn't.

Personally, I fantasize about "dream team" for 2004. These two men would thrash Bush & Cheney so badly that it would look like a train wreck. Nah, it would actually be worse than a train wreck - remember how Bush & Cheney took our huge surplass (thanks to Clinton) and thrashed it as if it were a Hitler pinata at a Massad picnic? Well, picture Bush & Cheney as those proverbial pinatas because the two men I have in mind would do just that! :D :p

The PsychoSy "Thrash Bush/Cheney Soundly" dream team of 2004 is...

James Carville & Michael Moore!!!

These two would beat them so bad that there would be nothing left to send back to Texas and if there was...our postal service could handle the delivery duties with just a simple stamped letter-sized envelope. :) We'd have nothing to worry about...except one thing: Texas sending that envelope back thinking it was anthrax. :eek:

*ponders* Hmmm...is there any landfills in Texas?
If so...what's the address? :p

[LORD-eX-Bu]

Al Sharpton in '04 w00t!!!:p

[outriding9800]

James Carville & Michael Moore!!!

Actually i think Carville will just about thrash just about anybody by himself.

I have only seen Carville lost for words once. He was on crossfire and some republican was trying to convince everyone that a large Mcdonalds fries is heathly than a organicly grown tomato.
after about a minute of arguing he just totaly gave up. it was probably the funniest thing i have ever seen.

[LORD-eX-Bu]

Originally posted by outriding9800
Actually i think Carville will just about thrash just about anybody by himself.

I have only seen Carville lost for words once. He was on crossfire and some republican was trying to convince everyone that a large Mcdonalds fries is heathly than a organicly grown tomato.
after about a minute of arguing he just totaly gave up. it was probably the funniest thing i have ever seen.

was this yesterday? I think I might have seen it. If it was, then its not like you said, it was just the guy rambling and going on and on forever and not listening to the news reporter when he kept on telling him to give the other person a opportunity to speak. It ended up not going anywhere and the news reporter just ended it. But I don't think thats the same show anymore.;) :D

[sbp]

Originally posted by PsychoSy
Maybe it's the rock of crack I smoked this morning but isn't funny how Gore is blamed for the 2000 election debacle when Mr. "I trest da peepull" George W. Bush was the first to hightail his Texas hide to a courtroom full of his daddy's friends the moment his rigged election was starting to go south? :)

I hate Gore & Lieberman as much as anyone. I voted for Nader, which according to me dad was "another !&@*&ing vote for Bush, ya SOB", but as far as I'm concerned, Gore won that election by a landslide. Republicans will confess this fact...but only if you get them drunk enough. After a good bottle & a half of Scotch, they'll whisper to you, "Yessh, we re-really wanted to do a s-statewide recount in flo-flo...*ulp*...Florida but we wooda losht big time if dat actualy-ly-ly took plashe...p-pour me another!"

I don't like any of the Democrats in that list..well...maybe Kerry. He's alright. I can settle for Gephart I guess. He's no idiot. At least he has brains - Gore doesn't.

Personally, I fantasize about "dream team" for 2004. These two men would thrash Bush & Cheney so badly that it would look like a train wreck. Nah, it would actually be worse than a train wreck - remember how Bush & Cheney took our huge surplass (thanks to Clinton) and thrashed it as if it were a Hitler pinata at a Massad picnic? Well, picture Bush & Cheney as those proverbial pinatas because the two men I have in mind would do just that! :D :p

The PsychoSy "Thrash Bush/Cheney Soundly" dream team of 2004 is...

James Carville & Michael Moore!!!

These two would beat them so bad that there would be nothing left to send back to Texas and if there was...our postal service could handle the delivery duties with just a simple stamped letter-sized envelope. :) We'd have nothing to worry about...except one thing: Texas sending that envelope back thinking it was anthrax. :eek:

*ponders* Hmmm...is there any landfills in Texas?
If so...what's the address? :p What happened in 2000 was reminscent of 1994 governors race in Maryland. In a close election the Republican candidate Ellen Saurbrey lost by a few thousand votes to Parris N. Glendening. Alas she wouldn't concede, demanded recount after recount and turned to the court systems to overturn what the voters had decided. By the time she had accepted reality of the lost months later, it had left a bad taste in everyones mouth. So what happened when she and Parris N. Glendening had a rematch in 1998? She lost and lost bad (http://www.elections.state.md.us/past_elections/gov_candidates_1946.html).

As for Kerry, he has has embarked on his 2004 Presidential Bid (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021201/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_kerry_5)

[outriding9800]

Originally posted by [eNv]-LORD-eX-Bu
was this yesterday? I think I might have seen it. If it was, then its not like you said, it was just the guy rambling and going on and on forever and not listening to the news reporter when he kept on telling him to give the other person a opportunity to speak. It ended up not going anywhere and the news reporter just ended it. But I don't think thats the same show anymore.;) :D

no it was about a month ago.

[PsychoSy]

Originally posted by [eNv]-LORD-eX-Bu
Al Sharpton in '04 w00t!!!:p

That's exactly what my Dad's been saying lately! He says, "If Bush, Gore and Lieberman is ALL that America has to offer in 2004, I'll vote or write in Sharpton!" :p

Kinda scares me a bit...

Not the idea of Sharpton winning...well, a little bit. :D
What's more scary is that I don't think my Dad was kidding. :eek:

And sbp, I just don't buy that "look what they put the American people through" garbage. The truth is what else did they expect? Regardless of political party affiliation, it's against human nature to concede if you believe you're being short changed. If it were I running in 2000, I would've done the same thing Gore did, but with much more tenacity as well as a mix of Truman thrown in for good measure in my concession speech. Personally, I identify with Truman alot - maybe even too much - but one thing is certain; he'd give anyone and everyone a dose of hell, regardless of the cost, be it personal, political, popular.

Truman flat out didn't care. :D
That's why I love him! :)

My speech?

Simple.

"I don't settle for second best and I fight tooth and nail for everything in life. It appears, however, that Bush's propaganda machine is working overtime and sucessfully convincing the people that my actions in Florida are in the wrong. As a result, I hearby concede to Bush but only on this basis - I personally find it strange that in a world where the American people can handle such things as Jerry Springer, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, and Beavis and Butthead, somehow the bid for the Presidency is something that Bush believes America suddenly can't handle. To me, he is implying that America is too weak, and it appears to be working. If the American people can be so easily lulled by the Hitleristic propaganda by the GOP...then they uiltimately deserve Bush - a weak President for a weak populace - and who am I to stand in the way?

I was advised not to use such harsh words by my campaigners because it may prove to you that I AM a sore loser and would ruin what's left of my political career. As I told them and as I'm telling you now, I'm not here for a career in politics - I'm here to serve my country for a time, hopefully change the world, and then move on with my life and let someone else take over. Career politicians always say they want to make this country better for their children but refuse to move out of the way when those very children grow up and desire their job. I have no problems moving out of the way, which is what I'm going to do very shortly after this speech. But before I go, I feel the real sore losers are those that bought Bush's Americans are too weak for this propaganda hook, line, and sinker. Without further ado, I present to you the next President of the U.S - George W. Bush. Clearly America - you deserve this {rectum} and I hereby consider my servitude for this country complete."

Man, too bad no one in politics today has the brass to say something like this! :( The world would be a better place!

[pelly]

I imagine Colin Powell would make a fine President....he just seems to fit the mold of a good president well....and you can be sure he wouldn't take s*@! from anyone!

:D

[LORD-eX-Bu]

Originally posted by pelly
I imagine Colin Powell would make a fine President....he just seems to fit the mold of a good president well....and you can be sure he wouldn't take s*@! from anyone!

:D

Except Bush.:p

[DaveW]

I think Bush is Powell's puppet :)

[LORD-eX-Bu]

Originally posted by DaveW
I think Bush is Powell's puppet :)

Oh yeah! well, explain why Powell is following Bush's beat!:p
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