Will Kucinich supporters vote for Dean if he's the nominee?

[bluestateguy]

It's pretty obvious that Kucinich has been picking up support here at DU for the last few weeks, perhaps cutting a bit into Howard Dean's support on the Left. Dean, however, has more of an ability to appeal to the center-left both within the Democratic Party and in the general electorate.

Dean is now a first tier candidate, with a real chance to win the nomination. Kucinich is still at the bottom of the pack. If Kucinich won the nomination, unlikely as that seems, I would vote for him--along with about 40% of the general electorate.

My primary concern, of course, is the replacement of George W. Bush with a Democrat as president. The argument that Dean, or even Kerry, are nothing but Bush-lite is difficult to take seriously. I am sensing a belligerence in some, but not all, of the Kucinich supporters' posts which leads me to fear that they may not be team players in the November election. I hope I am wrong, but I want to stress the importance of uniting behind one candidate and putting aside all intra-Left battles during next year's general election campaign.

[dflprincess]

1. I will support the nominee

I can't think of any of the candidates I wouldn't support against Bush*. Except Lieberman - if he gets the nomination I might just give up and become a member of the uninformed masses.

[juajen]

2. Don't know about anybody else, but

I will vote for anyone but *, thank you very much. I would even swallow my whatever and vote for "Holy Joe" if he won the nomination. I'm sure most Kucinich supporters would do the same. Dennis would expect it, that's for sure.

[blm]

3. You can put that fear to rest...

I've known Dennis for over 30 years and he is a true blue Democrat. He would never let down the working men and women he works for everyday. If you notice, DK never puts down any of the other candidates to glorify himself in any way.

Most of Kucinich's supporters would probably trust whomever he endorsed.

[JohnKleeb]

4. no only because I cant vote

[jpgray]

5. Those who say "only this guy!"

Are the tiny, nutso minority. Remember that Dean poll where his supporters were asked if they would vote for another candidate if Dean were not the nominee? They overwhelmingly said yes. I believe those Democrats who support Dennis will be the same. Can't speak for the Greens who support him, they may bolt for Nader. But Dennis himself will support the nominee.

[Paulie]

6. I think it's a little early to start picking

It's a long way to January, let alone November 2004. I think this assumption that any canidate can either win/not win at this point is BS. Who knows what will come next week, month, quarter, etc.

* has to go, but I'm not going to do anything but support my canidate for nomination at the convention. I want MY canidate to be the one, undermining that with saying "well, I know my canidate is a loser, but I'm going to sit here and support a lost cause than support the current favorite of the week by publically saying this."

Support your canidate, stop being negative on others choices. If your canidate has nothing positive to say in regards to their OWN campaign and positions besides berating their potential rivals IN THEIR OWN PARTY, they can count on one thing, not counting on my vote.

[robbedvoter]

7. Support the nominee - surprise, surprise!

We all will. :kick:

[leftofthedial]

8. I'm a Kucinich supporter and will support the nominee

whoever it is.

[Ohio Dem]

9. I would think so,

unless they want Bush for four more years.

[Lefty48197]

10. Will the Dean and Kucinich supporters vote Democratic...

...if THEIR candidate isn't nominated? Personally, I'll be there on election day, and I WILL be voting for the Democratic candidate. I wish everyone in here felt the same way.

[ThirdWheelLegend]

11. Yes, I would vote for Dean but for now support the best candidate..

and that would be Dennis Kucinich. Dean is one of the remaining candidates I would vote for without holding my nose...much.

People need to read Dennis Kucinich's stance on the issues.

http://www.kucinich.us/issues/issue_10key.htm

He speaks for all of us. He speaks for the people.


TWL

[midnight armadillo]

20. Amen!

Well said, 3rd wheel!!

[AnAmerican]

12. If Dean wins....

Yes, I will support him. Whoever the candidate is (excepting Lieberman) I will support them.

As for right now, my energies are devoted to putting DK into that position.

The nomination is still a long way off, let's all work for our chosen candidate and keep the sniping at eachother to a minimum.

[twilight]

13. Will Dean supporters vote for Kucinich if he's the nominee?"

<It's pretty obvious that Kucinich has been picking up support here at DU for the last few weeks, perhaps cutting a bit into Howard Dean's support on the Left?>

Good for you DK! Your picking up more endorsements and votes than most of the others out there. Ghandi is GOOD, very good! :) Feminist endorsements, GOOD! Willie Nelson - GOOD!

Now they are hoping you will fade away into the woodwork ....

:evilgrin:

:dem:

[Nazgul35]

14. Not only will I support him...

or any other dem candidate...I will give money and hit the pavement canvasing and getting out the vote for the dems at every level of elected office...

I have already started giving cash to the ePatriots fund so that any candidate will have cash to fight GW....as i've done the math...if only 1.25 million dems gave $5 a week for 32 weeks, we would raise $200 million....the same GW wants to raise!!!

[David Zephyr]

16. Yes!

Next question.

[DemBones DemBones]

15. You write: "I am sensing a belligerence in some. . . of the Kucinich

supporters' posts."

Perhaps that's because Dean supporters like you write things like this:

"Dean is now a first tier candidate, with a real chance to win the nomination. Kucinich is still at the bottom of the pack."

We have a long way to go to the convention and Dean does NOT have the nomination sewn up, no matter how much his supporters may wish it so.

I see threads complaining about Dean-bashing, yet Dean supporters have made a habit of hijacking Kucinich threads, sharing sentiments and opinions such as "I like Kucinich but Dean is more electable so I'm supporting him," "Kucinich hasn't got a chance of winning," etc.

It seems that some Dean supporters want it both ways. They want to extol Dean's virtues and ignore the virtues of other candidates as if the candidates did not exist, they want no criticism of Dean yet they criticize other candidates, and they want those of us supporting Kucinich, Kerry, et al., to bow before their Holy Deity, Howard Dean, and pledge *now* that we will vote for him in November 2004 if he's the Democratic nominee. That's presumptuous. Let's let the primaries go on and see who emerges as the best candidate, and hope that that person becomes the party's nominee.

[revcarol]

17. May I hear an AMEN?

AMEN.

[kayell]

19. AAAMEN, AAAAMEN, AMEN, AMEN

well said.

[jos]

18. Definitely

:hi:

[Isome]

21. I'm a Kucinich supporter...

in light of his endorsements, his affilliation with Barbara Lee, his positions on the issues near & dear to me. But, I'd vote for anyone over Bush or Lieberman.

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

22. Since Dean is the opposite of Kucinich on most economic issues

I can't see why? I hope and pray the Dems don't nominate the Conservative Dean or the Skull & Bones Kerry. Give me Kucinich or Gephardt or Mosley Braun or even Sharpton any day.

I'll probably vote for whoever the Dem nominee is, but I'm not making any promises.

[MA_firebrand]

23. im a dean supporter who would vote for kucinich but..

my vote would be wasted. Kucinich is not nearly charismatic enough to capture the vote of the independents. I agree with most of his policies, but he shares gore's problem, and on top of that, he doesn't have vice-presidential experience.

Peace!