Dean's candidacy is enhanced as more evidence comes out

[CMT]

that Bush lied to the American people about the war. CBS News tonight had an exclusive which proved that the CIA warned that claims he made in his SOTU speech in January were false.

The new CBS news nationwide poll indicates that more and more people are beginning to believe that the administration misled the country and that the war was not justified. The WMD have not been found and the country is in chaos. Snipers are killing our troops and families are fearing for loved ones and wondering when they will come home.

Howard Dean not only was against the war from the start but was also skeptical of the evidence that the administration was presenting at the time it was trying to rally the country to support the war. (In fairness, Dennis Kucinich, Al Sharpton, Carol Mosley Braun, and Bob Graham also deserve credit for the judgements they made on this war).

So when I see posters who support other candidates saying that Dean will lead the Democratic party to defeat (another McGovern) or that he isn't strong enough on defense I say that the American people want a president who will tell the truth and not willfully lead this country to war based on faulty or evidence skewered to support the administration line. I think by Nov, 2004 the judgement of Howard Dean on Iraq will be the deciding factor in what elects him president of the US.

www.cbsnews.com/polls

[Andy_Stephenson]

1. I agree

"I think by Nov, 2004 the judgement of Howard Dean on Iraq will be the deciding factor in what elects him president of the"


He has been against the war sincebefore it began. Howard Rocks!

[caledesi]

5. Aboultely. Howard Dean is way ahead of the pack.

[Jack Rabbit]

2. As it should be

EDITED for typing

Simply because Dean was against the war from the start. However, his opposition was a sober assessment. I believe he would use force if it were necessary, but his judgment was that, in this case, it was not necessary.

He has been shown to have been right.

A candidate who supported the war must now talk fast to claim that he was conned. Any candidate who continues to show no daylight between his position and Bush's on Iraq looks gullible.

Dean is standing ten feet tall.

[ChrisNYC]

4. Exactly

I get very frustrated by the theme that Dean is a wimp because he didn't support an unjustified and pointless war against Iraq. Does he really have to go kill some people for no reason just to prove he's willing to defend America? Let's hope he never needs to use the military.

[revcarol]

3. Getting tired of this Dean-everything.

Kucinich, Dean, Sharpton and Mosely-Braun all helped by this.NOT just Dean. Kucinich actually spoke at anti-war rallies. Deanies need to cool it. So early in the political season, why push your candidate down our throats now.

[Jim Sagle]

6. Aw, c'mon - don't hate us 'cuz we're enthusiastic!

:toast:

[DemBones DemBones]

8. Your enthusiasm is much like that one encounters when

Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons are at the door. Those of us supporting Kucinich even received an altar call tonight -- an invitation to confess our faith in Dean by promising to vote for him if he gets the nomination. If this breathless Dean-o-mania continues much longer, I may take a solemn vow NOT to vote for Howard Dean under any circumstances.

[w13rd0]

10. You've received the same altar call...

...from every Democratic candidate who ever ran from office since you were voting age. After all, it's the only way to get Bush out of office, and Bush is very bad. Why would the enthusiasm of a candidates supporters dictate for you how you would or would not vote? I don't much care for any of the "if X gets the nomination, will you support him" threads, after all, I don't just want to vote AGAINST Bush, I want to vote FOR someone. Millions and millions more voted AGAINST Bush in 2000, but the bastard is still in office, go figure. You can freely make your own choices, don't have your decisions determined for you. Most of the "supporters" of any candidate this early in the primary are likely to be pretty 'heated' about their guy, just take a look around DU. Even the Kucinich supporters. But that's ok, everyone should just keep in mind that whomsoever the nomination goes to, that person will have to go on to win the election in the general.

Most all of the candidates, at this point, are influencing the scope and vision for the Democratic party. Be an active part of that, and in the end, we all win.

I'm not willing to say that anyone WILL or WILL NOT win the nomination, it's a wacky crazy world in which we live, and not all that predictable in the past two years. So hold off on your solemn vows, ok?

[CMT]

14. I agree that those promise to vote for a candidate threads are

not productive. But if you have been on the board for a while someone had a post asking Dean supporters the same thing about Kerry and asking everyone if they would vote for Lieberman, ect.

[CWebster]

15. Out of respect for your candidate

I do not piss on your parade when you'll are indulging in a pump it up session - like the thread about Kuchinich winning the straw poll. It was the hostility Kerry diehards started raining on Dean threads that provoked a response.

What Democrats need is to be enthusiatic. Choose your own expression--don't begrudge others.

[AnAmerican]

7. gotta agree with you, revcarol

Dennis gave his Prayer for America Speech where he broadsided the chimps foreign policy in February 2002. He has stood against the war since it was first being debated.

Yes, Dean has been against it as well. But as I mentioned in another thread, no ONE candidate can make the claim that he or she is leading the charge. That type of statement is factually incorrect.

I dislike any post that twists reality to favor one candidate over another. We have a good group of people running, let's not go overboard in our enthusiasm for our given choice.

[DemBones DemBones]

9. Hear, hear! A voice of reason. Enthusiasm is great, but we

don't need misrepresentation of facts from any candidate's supporters.

[ThirdWheelLegend]

12. Exactly, Dennis has been an outspoken critic of Bush since Feb 2002

I am glad Dean has been speaking out. Good for him. But Dennis Kucinich has been doing this for at least a year and a half. WELL BEFORE he was thinking of running. In fact it was his powerful speeches and vocal questioning of the administration that made his acquaintances nudge him into running. People were inspired by what Dennis Kucinich had to say before he was a candidate. I am one of them. In February 2002 when I read Dennis Kucinich's Prayer for America, I said to myself..."Man I wish someone like Dennis Kucinich would run for President."

Dean is doing well, but for those unfamiliar with DK, here is a link and a snippet of his Prayer for America.(remember this is from February 2002)

http://www.kucinich.us/speeches/speech1.htm

snip>>
"How can we justify in effect canceling the First Amendment and the right of free speech, the right to peaceably assemble?
How can we justify in effect canceling the Fourth Amendment, probable cause, the prohibitions against unreasonable search and seizure?
How can we justify in effect canceling the Fifth Amendment, nullifying due process, and allowing for indefinite incarceration without a trial?
How can we justify in effect canceling the Sixth Amendment, the right to prompt and public trial?
How can we justify in effect canceling the Eighth Amendment which protects against cruel and unusual punishment?"
snip>>>
....
"Because we did not authorize the invasion of Iraq.
We did not authorize the invasion of Iran.
We did not authorize the invasion of North Korea.
We did not authorize the bombing of civilians in Afghanistan.
We did not authorize permanent detainees in Guantanamo Bay.
We did not authorize the withdrawal from the Geneva Convention.
We did not authorize military tribunals suspending due process and habeas corpus.
We did not authorize assassination squads.
We did not authorize the resurrection of COINTELPRO.
We did not authorize the repeal of the Bill of Rights.
We did not authorize the revocation of the Constitution.
We did not authorize national identity cards.
We did not authorize the eye of Big Brother to peer from cameras throughout our cities.
We did not authorize an eye for an eye.
Nor did we ask that the blood of innocent people, who perished on September 11, be avenged with the blood of innocent villagers in Afghanistan.
We did not authorize the administration to wage war anytime, anywhere, anyhow it pleases.
We did not authorize war without end.
We did not authorize a permanent war economy."

snip>>>

And there is alot more to this speech, you should read it. Dennis Kucinich has been consistently speaking against this illegal administration. He has consistently been a voice for the people his entire career. All the way back to 1977 when he was Mayor of Cleveland and nearly sacrificed his career to save the publicly owned utily company.

TWL

[CMT]

13. there are plenty of enthusiastic Kucinich people on board too

so check out the posts and many negative Dean posts every day. If you don't like positive Dean posts then don't read them.

[loyalsister]

11. I agree for one unique reason

Not naming names shows class IMO. He doesn't appear to just be trying to take political advantage of the situation. And here we go there's a YOU know who you are statement (could be some lowly CIA agent for all he knows), and big names are popping up the day after the petition was drawn up. It's a fortunate coincidence.
DK named * and VP - grasping at straws and hoping to get lucky. He runs the risk of appearing to be trying to take political advantage of a scandal. They both played it different way. Dean gets points for class.
As for altars and religion, the "Prayer for America Speech" said it all. No thank you! I refuse to have any SOTU speech turned into a church service even if I do like what the pres. does.

[RogueTrooper]

16. I agree CMT

Dean took a very couragous position on Iraq. Currently, he is the candidate in the strongest position to drive home this attack on the Bush Adminstration.

There is no excuse for supporting the war. It was the wrong war at the wrong time. The Inteligence Services were against the warl the military was against the war; the only people who wanted this war were a clique of neo-con traitors who bullied, scapegoated and threatened until they got what they want.

The situation in Iraq is, by no means, past the point of no return but something radical will have to be done soon.

[aneerkoinos]

17. The real question

I think should be when deciding which candidate to support:

Whom do trust to handle best the mess in Iraq that he or she will inherit (=get the troops out ASAP and put UN in charge)?

Dean, Kucinich or somebody else?