***************If you are thinking about voting for Edwards tomorrow, read this first***************

[Freddie Stubbs]

If you really don't care have a preference between Hillary or Obama, go ahead and vote for Edwards.

If you just want to cast your ballot as a protest, go ahead and vote for Edwards.

But if you think that Edwards is going to get any delegates out of this, you are mistaken. After Iowa he was getting just barely enough votes to get delegates. Now that he no longer running, it is safe to assume that he will receive significantly fewer votes than when he was running. Therefore it is highly unlikely that he will win any further delegates.

[TexasObserver]

1. correct on all counts

I say vote for one of the two remaining, but it's a personal choice all have to make.

[Clarkansas]

2. Edwards isn't trying to be president anymore

and I won't vote for someone who isn't trying to be President. Obama for me.

Who did you end up voting for after you did that poll here?

[Freddie Stubbs]

23. I voted for Obama

[redqueen]

29. Be honest... you supported Obama before Edwards suspended his campaign. (nt)

[Bjornsdotter]

3. Gee thanks

....I'm not sure what I would have done without your approval.

[Freddie Stubbs]

25. I am only trying to give some advice to potential Edwards voters who

arr laboring under the illusion that if they vote for him tomorrow that he will get delegates. An informed voter is a better voter.

[jtrockville]

4. My vote for Edwards (Feb 12th, not 5th) is a protest.

I'm on the fence about lending legitimacy to this process by participating. At this point, I feel the protest vote is the best way to make my dissatisfaction known.

For me, the choice isn't which of the two remaining candidates to vote for. The choice I'm grappling with is whether to vote or not.

[LiberalHeart]

11. I made that choice, reluctantly -- but it's the right one for me. Here it is...

The day Edwards withdrew, I unregistered to vote. My view is that the current crop of candidates is exactly what we'll always be stuck with in every future election if we accept them. The party needs to lose those it takes for granted if they're ever going to recognize that folks like Dean, Kucinich and Edwards are the ones with the truly progressive agenda. Marginalizing them is destructive to what's best for America. I do not want to watch this march to the center or even to the right being presented as a good thing, a unifying thing. Unifying is really nothing more than surrendering essential issues to the other side in order to have everyone getting along. We've all seen how lousy it is to have the Dems getting along with the GOP. The lack of backbone since the mid-terms has been disgusting.

Yes, it's important the Dems win this presidency, which would at first glance seem to make it mandatory to vote this time. But I think all our future elections are even more important when viewed by how this current election will affect them. If we settle for Republican Lite now, we'll just have more of the same for generations. We need someone in office who'll shake things up, not try to make nice with the other side. Maybe the country is finally ripe for a third party to make serious inroads. I've never thought that possible before, but now I'm wondering.

In any case, I cannot vote for either Hillary or Obama, nor can I vote for a Republican. And all those who claim that not voting is a vote for a Republican are refusing to see that a vote for Hillary or Obama is also a vote for Republican (or at least not Democratic/progressive) issues for generations to come. I'm not gonna go along with that.

[bpeale]

16. thank you LiberalHeart! you speak for me too!

i'm tired of the status quo. i want REAL change not just platitudes about it. there is no choice now.

[Bjornsdotter]

27. Yep

...that's pretty much how I see it also.

Cheers

[question everything]

30. Think of the Supreme Court

Do you really want to not vote for the party nominee and let a Republican nominate more of the same? Do you really want to cement Bush "legacy" of a supreme court full of Thomases and Scalias? Do you want a Supreme Court that further erodes our constitutional rights, where DU can be outlawed?

[surfermaw]

5. That has been my thought, I vote in N.C

And if Hillary is running far ahead , then I will vote a protest vote.. If John wants us to vote for him, I think he would have alerted his voters of the fact. I really don't know. I do know that David early on the morning on Cnn after Florida vote said Rudy was getting out and that Edwards would probably be pushed out ) can't remember his exact words.. I think he said by other dem, I took it to mean someone in the party ...not necessarily Obama or Hillary.

[Solon]

6. Eh, I don't give a shit anymore.

Seriously, I'm frankly sick of this bullshit, we have two center right candidates in this race, that, to be frank, both suck ass. I don't even want to show up for my primary tomorrow. FUCK! x(

[mirrera]

7. In Maine he can get delegates to send to the State convention.

I am very torn. Randi Rhodes put out the info that our votes would be wasted or thrown away if we voted for Edwards. My biggest concern is that Hillary will give us McCain. Every Republican that I know or have heard being interviewed expresses a willingness to consider Obama, and an irrational dislike of Hillary. I wish that were not part of the equation. When Edwards dropped out I was so heartbroken and so afraid that people would not vote at all I immediately urged people to vote Obama, who I really like and who was my second choice. I am helping set up my caucus and re-learning how it works here, so I asked about voting for Edwards. We are still double checking, but it looks like if enough votes come in for Edwards, including absentee, we can go to the State convention as Edwards delegates, where we can have an effect on the party platform.

Bottom line it seems to me there is some value in voting for Edwards in my caucus on the 10th. I have the luxury of seeing how super tuesday plays out. If Obama is a landslide which i just think may happen (the young! Finally here comes the wonderful young!), then I may vote for Edwards.

If it is close, I think I have to vote Obama.

[Freddie Stubbs]

33. Doesn't Maine have the 15% threshold?

:shrug:

[grantcart]

8. If Edwards supports (and I was one) want to protest in the

primaries it is fine. But they cannot complain about who the nominee is after.

[jtrockville]

14. Sure we can complain. In fact, we can start now. (nt)

[bpeale]

17. anyone who votes can complain

if you don't vote, then you have no right to complain. i'm voting FOR edwards. if that happens to be a vote against HRC or BHO, then so be it. but i have a right to complain.

[grantcart]

18. Yes your right my meaning should have been clearer. You should

feel free to complain both nominees equally. Once the rest of the party has chosen you should not offer an opinion that the other nominee was better. If the republicans win because we didn't pick the right nominee that should be ok with you also, because when you had the chance to pick better (and I leave that entirely up to you) you didn't want better you wanted perfect.

[jtrockville]

19. I don't expect "perfect". I do expect "progressive".

While I am free to offer whatever opinion I like without your permission, I'll have to hold my nose to vote for either of them. If I actually thought one was better than the other, I wouldn't consider withholding my vote.

[PurityOfEssence]

9. I want the one with the best chance in the general election to win

and since I can't figure out who that'll be, I'll leave it to the people. Thus, I'll vote for Edwards since it won't affect the tide of the time. Hopefully we'll be able to escape a McCain victory.

[Shine]

10. Gosh, thanks so much for your PERMISSION. That changes everything.

:sarcasm: :eyes:

I'm voting for Edwards because he speaks to my CONSCIENCE, not because of any calculation about delegates. The primaries are for voting one's conscience, imo.

[rateyes]

12. I'm writing in Minnie Mouse even though she apparently was unfaithful to Mickey...

I heard him say that she was "fucking goofy."

[onehandle]

13. Every minute on DU convinces me more and more to vote for Edwards.

Thanks for furthering my clarity.

[bpeale]

15. i don't care what you say. it's edwards all the way! get over it

[MorningGlow]

20. I absolutely, positively cannot...

vote for Clinton, nor can I vote for Obama. I do not like either one. I object to their policies. I do not like their campaign tactics, either. However, I supported Edwards in every way, and I will continue to do so on Super Tuesday. It's not about delegates, nor is it about a protest vote over Edwards being pushed out of the race; instead, it is about voting my conscience as a committed Democrat: I can only support Edwards.

As for the general election...well, I won't stay home--this vote is too important for me or anyone else to sit in a corner and pout. So I will support whoever the Dem nominee is. But while I still have a say, I say EDWARDS.

[balantz]

21. I'm voting for the only progressive/populist liberal on the ticket here...

and that be Edwards.

[Auntie Bush]

22. Good advice. I made myself that promise yesterday but, I

just broke my vow. :spank: This place is f****** hostile and full of lies. I don't like the company I have to keep on GDP. See you on GD.
If we all abandon GDP there won't be anyone there but the chorus. They will find something else to lie, exaggerate or make up. That's the Fairy Tale site full of imagination and creativity and psychic readers. I want no part of them! Thanks for reminding me of my vow. I hope I can keep it better than my News Year's resolution.

[radfringe]

24. the only vote that is wasted

is then one not cast.

[nancyharris]

26. There is no difference

between not voting, and voting for someone not running as a candidate for office.

[radfringe]

31. sure there is

voting is form of expressing your opinion,

why do you think there are spaces for WRITE-IN candidates? It allows people another option other than those printed on the ballot.

I'd like to see a "NONE OF THE ABOVE" place to check

as far as not running, so what? If that person is who YOU think is best for the job, then you should be free to show your support.

[nancyharris]

32. Voting for Edwards

or writing in "Jeb Bush" will have the exact same effect on your Democratic primary. Vote for whomever you want - but don't claim it is not a wasted vote.

[redqueen]

28. I don't even care about the delegates... I'm voting for him just because I can.

:)