Any But Bush, football, and thoughts on a landslide

[Onlooker]

(I posted this earlier, but the first few lines got cut off.)

I am a member of a website for Superbowl Champ Patriots fans. During the offseason, several of us have debated Kerry, Iraq, F911, and so on. There are only about a dozen participants in this debate, I would estimate there's a fairly even split between liberals and conservatives, with liberals having a slight edge.

Of the conservatives, a few are extremists, and a few are rational. One calls himself Independent conservative and another is clearly Republican conservative. After the convention, the Republican conservative said something like, "Maybe if I had at least 3 beers and was tired, I could consider voting for Kerry," by far his most positive words. Interestingly, this conservative strongly favors the separation of church and state and believes that churches should be taxed. Still, though, he votes Republican.

The Independent conservative last said that he was leaning towards Kerry 55-45%, yet at every turn takes a negative spin on Kerry. For example, he posted a link in which Prince Turki of Saudi Arabia said that Michael Moore was given the opportunity to meet with the Saudis, but declined. I asked this conservative why he would trust a Saudi official more than Michael Moore. He has not yet responded, but certainly will and in a civilized manner.

I think that if Bush gives independents reason to vote for him, they gladly will. They want to vote for Bush. They don't want to agree with liberals. Given that, Kerry's effort to run an intelligent campaign is a good one if there's enough time for people to understand Kerry's philosophy. As the Republicans launch their Kerry-the-liberal campaign, Kerry will have difficulty holding onto the independents and to liberals.

I think for Kerry to win, he has to stay the course with his moderate ideas. It's too late for him to try a Howard Dean approach and bring in new voters. Kerry is responsible for wooing the center. The more he can count on a large Democratic turnout, the more he can woo the center and set up conditions for a possible landslide.

Thus, the Anybody But Bush effort is critical to Kerry's campaign. Just as conservatives used Anybody But Clinton to win Congress, liberals must used the Anybody But Bush to win at least the White House. We must resign ourselves to voting for Kerry under any circumstance and must fight Nader (who the Republicans are trying to set up as an outlet for liberal disenchantment). The process of reliberalizing America will start with a President to the left of Bush.

[AndyTiedye]

1. That Can Be Arranged

> Maybe if I had at least 3 beers and was tired, I could consider voting for Kerry,"

We need to invite these guys to a nice long late-night election-eve party.
With lotsa beer, of course.

[democratreformed]

2. IMO, the new voters are already a given

Everyone I know who is paying attention and getting active has been registering new voters for months now.