Here's why Kerry may have already won the election

[Generator]

Anger. Passion. All those things that YES! we got from Howard Dean.

As my husband and I were talking about this weekend, we see the Kerry signs in our neighborhood. This is a low income neigborhood. These are some of the "white meat" that would go to Bush in another year. It's not just that these people would vote for Kerry, it's that they feel it strongly enough to have a sign in their yard. They don't care strongly enough to remove junk to beautify their yard (we are talking car parts, old toys, etc,) but they already in September know they want Kerry.

Old pickup trucks with Kerry stickers. Trashed 80's OLDs with Kerry stickers. Pickup that says, "When Clinton lied, nobody died."

And then our paper (yes Portland is generally very liberal) but still it's the only paper for the whole state, the Oregonian had the letters 419 pro-Kerry to 76 for *. 13 were neutral, lol.

Take what you will. Believe your eyes.

[TriMetFan]

1. Yes you are very right about our Newspaper th Oregonian.

I quiet reading about 4 yrs ago cause it's just to much to the right. It sucks that its the only major paper we have here for the whole freaking state.

[sundancekid]

2. Believer here -- checking in. Great post for antidote to gloom&doom crap.

[lancdem]

3. I posted on this yesterday

I live near an affluent area that should be ripe for Bush-Cheney, but I see many more Kerry-Edwards signs there than B-C ones. And I recall very few Gore signs here in 2000.

[semillama]

24. Maybe I missed it here earlier...

...but if it has been mentioned already, i figure it's no harm to bring up Upper Arlington For Kerry, a little neighborhood group in a Columbus, Ohio, suburb that has surprised everyone, as traditionally Upper Arlington is traditionally a republican stronghold. I guess they got Kerry yard signs out well before any Bush ones were even available, so for a while if you drove through UA, it was nothing but Kerry signs!

Any little bit helps.

[lunarboy13]

4. Exactly!!

The momentum has been flowing like an undercurrent against Bush since the campaign season kicked off. Now the spring has breached the surface and our little stream is gaining strength and power. By the end of October, Kerry's river of hope will reach the shores of all the battleground states and it will be a clean sweep.

And not even the Supreme Court can stop it.

[swag]

5. Which neigborhood do you live in?

Up around Alberta, I've never seen so many yard signs, bumperstickers. Big demand for buttons and stickers down at Joe's Louisiana Club where basically the same black folks have been socializing since the 1970s. Damn, but they're dialed in to this election, and thoroughly pissed off about attempts to suppress and/or steal the black vote.

[private_ryan]

6. the other side is angry too.

very angry and passionate. I think Kerry may have lost the election by not fighting back with Bush flip-flops and letting Bush label him.

[starbuck6446]

17. and that's what I don't get... Daily Show said it best...

They've controlled all three branches for the past 4 years but... they're angry as hell and they're not taking it anymore.

What?!?!? They've been in control... why the hell are THEY angry????

[lakemonster11]

30. I know, isn't it bizarre? (nt)

[Imalittleteapot]

7. The Kerry signs in my area are plentiful.

Pretty unusual for Fort Worth. There are few Bush signs. Could Republicans be embarrassed to show support for Bush?

[sfecap]

8. I've got a friend in Portland...

NRA member, former military, moderately conservative, very well educated, voted for * last time.

Not this time. He's very pissed about the quagmire in Iraq, and veterans benefits...

Kerry all the way!

[lunarboy13]

9. kick

:kick:

Keep this one ahead of the doom and gloom threads....

[LisaLynne]

10. Personally,

I have never been so fired up about an election. Don't get me wrong -- I've always voted, been aware of the issues and stuff, but I've never volunteered to work on one, spent time writing letters to the paper about it, or anything like that. I've been doing it all this time around. And I know others who are the same way. I really believe that is going to make the difference. That's why the poles can't get an accurate count of just how many people are for Kerry (or at least voting against Bush). There are too many newly registered/ never voted befores who are determined to get Bush out.

[MrBenchley]

11. Agreed....

I don't think people are fooled....and I don't see anything in the floundering GOP effort that says "winner," no matter how shrilly the hacks claim they are.

[SangamonTaylor]

12. i've been telling my republican friends this for a while now

They like to go around toting Gallup, Time and Newsweek polls to show how great Bush is doing.

I let thme know that their national polls mean nothing and that Howard Dean won the election for the Democratic party, a year ago, last fall, by waking up the spirits inside Democrats all across the nation.

Though Dean was my #2 choice (after Edwards), he was the first politician that (after seeing the videos of him being spread around the 'net) I was excited to go to a rally to support!

Anyone remember how many Democrats flooded the polls during the primary season? The turnout was huge. Thank you Howard Dean.

After a little while, my friends Republican friends will admit (disappointedly) that the Democratic party seems to care more about winning and is just more fired up than the other side.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

13. That's why I igonre the polls. We WANT it more than they do.

The letters ratio you cite indictaes how motivated we are.
We will win Pennsylvania.
We will win Wisconsin.
WE want to and NEED to win

....and we will.

[LittleClarkie]

18. Cue Rocky

Eye of the Tiger.

That's so corny, but that's what I thought of when I read your post.

We got the fever!

[MoonRiver]

14. You are right on!

:kick:

[GoneOffShore]

15. Here in Philadelpia

we're seeing more Kerry/Edwards stickers than we ever saw Gore stickers.
People are definitely fired up.
Young guy came into our office last week and grabbed up the voter registration cards to take back to the 18 year olds that he's in rehearsal with.
"They don't have a clue about voting, gotta get em young. Just have to get them to the polls this year."
(Added on edit)
Thanks for yet more antidote to the doom and gloom. We're going to do this people.
We're going to get our country back and kick those criminals out.

[LittleClarkie]

19. We keep running out of bumper stickers and pins here

And for some reason, they're sitting on the yard signs. The tactic quoted to me at HQ was that everyone is so used to seeing the Bush stuff around that when they "yard sign bomb" the area, they will stick out.

I hope so. But meanwhile we just keep running out of this stuff. People are resorting to buying them off kerrygear.com

[Eurobabe]

16. Yes, sign on car in Hamilton OH yesterday...

"A Village in Texas is missing its Idiot."

I KID YOU NOT. My cousin and I about fell out of the car laughing!!

[lakemonster11]

31. a Texan sighting

I saw a car the other day (in Seattle) whose owner had scrawled all over it in white letters, "ANOTHER TEXAN ASHAMED OF BUSH." In two long weeks of apartment-hunting, I saw hundreds of pro-Kerry, anti-Bush, and anti-war signs and bumper stickers on cars and houses. I think I saw two to four Bush signs.

Morevoer, I've been accosted by volunteers trying to register me to vote everytime I try to go to the bookstore or to a movie or just walk down the busier streets---and the University of Washington Young Democrats have new shirts that say, "Lose your voting virginity" (link = http://students.washington.edu/yduw/merchandise.htm).

Let me tell you, there is going to be a PARTY here in the U-District when Kerry comes out on top.

[uhhuh]

20. I Have No Doubt

That the chimp is going down.

I wish there were fewer threads bemoaning our guy's chances.

He's in a very good position to win this thing. The last thing we need is to get complacent and dejected.

Kerry will be the next president. I have no doubt.

[mreh]

21. I'm with you and I so thank you for this post!

You are right, the folks are tired of * and his hate and his failures.
Anger, passion and a belief in the greatness of this nation and not the fear and destruction of the * admin.

Your post is great and :yourock:

[amjsjc]

22. This is why we'll win

Democrats want this election more than the Republicans do-- there are definitely more people running around with Kerry stickers than Bush ones, putting up lawn signs etc--which should translate into votes come election day. Liberals will go out to the polls in masse, while a lot of people who kinda like Bush for no particular reason won't get around to voting on Nov 2.

[cthrumatrix]

23. i would the medicare scam bill has alot of seniors pissed at shrub

[asthmaticeog]

25. I don't mean to pee on your parade,

but stickers and signs aren't votes.

Just sayin'.

[LittleClarkie]

26. No, not exactly

But they are part of the visibility campaign.

If all everyone sees is Bush/Cheney signs, they might think it futile to vote for Kerry.

[asthmaticeog]

27. You're right, of course.

But I've seen enough campaigns where the yard sign winner wound up wearing his ass for a hat electorally not to be skeptical.

[amjsjc]

28. No...

But they do indicate that you care enough about the candidate to go through the trouble of getting a sticker or a sign. Which means that you'll probably also care enough about the election to show up at the polls come election day. If Democrats as a whole care more about the outcome (which the bumper stickers might suggest) then we have an edge.

[Satchel]

29. I think it's a good indicator

I find it hard to believe someone would display a sign or bumpersticker and not vote for the candidate. I just ordered some bumperstickers last week :)

[Eagle_Eye]

32. Anybody but bush