I think anyone who calls for any candidate to drop out of the race...

[blueraven95]

I think anyone who calls for any candidate to drop out of the race before the campaign is over is undemocratic.

There I said it. And I mean it.

This isn’t about what candidate I like or who I voted for. I’ve already had my vote.

This country is based on the principle that the citizens as a whole are smart enough to pick our leader. It’s the whole cornerstone for our way of governing. That’s what makes what definitely happened during the 2000 election and probably happened during the 2004 election so shocking and the fact that we haven’t fixed those egregious errors so disturbing. And it’s what makes me saddened when I see so many people I admire calling for a candidate to pull out of a race before everyone has had their chance to vote.

Personally, I wish Edwards and Biden and Kucinich had stayed in the race; I wish Gore had entered the race and, to be fair, I wish Romney and Huckabee (and yes, even Guiliani) had stayed in – because otherwise, people are being disenfranchised, and that is something that we, as citizens, are supposed to fight against. Similarly, I am more than happy to work to protect Nader’s right to enter the general election as the Green Party candidate, even though I believe he helped make things more difficult for the candidates I supported in the last couple of elections, and I’m hoping (really hard!) that someone as crazy conservative as Pat Robertson steps in (to split the conservative vote, of course, but that’s beside the point). It’s because I believe that we all have the right to a choice – and the more options there are, I want to believe, the better off we will all be in the long run.

If there should be any change to our election process, it’s that we need to find a way to take us out of perpetual campaigning. This campaign cycle had gone on for a year and a half before the first primary happened. Instead of calling for it to end prematurely, let’s figure out how to delay the start so that we aren’t all so sick to death of all the candidates by the conventions.


All right, flame suit on.


edit to fix stupid typos.

[Nitrogenica]

1. It's the Republicans who have tried to stamp a "negative" on a continuing race.

That's just more perception control bullshit from the righties.

I don;'t think it matters. We're going to have a political swing to the Left in America that lasts for a generation. It may take longer than that to fix what the right has broken.

[BeatleBoot]

3. There must be a lot of Republicans on this forum then

backing Obama.

That's all I can say.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. Does That Include Nader?

Just curious...

[blueraven95]

4. I'm not sure what you mean...

If Nader has been calling for people to drop out of the race, then yes I think he is being undemocratic, but I haven't seen anything that suggests that he has.

I said in the OP that I think if he wants to run, then he should run. I'll just be working against him, as I would for anyone who is not my candidate. (In this case, the Democratic nominee.)

[MannyGoldstein]

7. Ooops - Sorry

You covered Nader. Ate too much tonight - food coma has set in.

[blueraven95]

8. no worries

:hi:

[BeatleBoot]

5. Did you read the post?

[mrJJ]

6. The DLC candidate supports McCain

The longer the Dem candidates do battle the longer McCain gets a free pass. But at least Sen Clinton & ex President Bill Clinton keep giving their tacit support to the Republican nominee for the CIC position. Interesting way to fight a Dem Primary.

[blueraven95]

11. that's an interesting argument, but

this thread is not about defending or attacking any particular candidate.

You could say that McCain still having to deal with not knowing which candidate will be opposite him is a weakness for him - because he has to work against both of them, while the Democratic party, as a whole, knows who it will be fighting, so it can already put its resources towards figuring out the battle plan.



Oh, and I think that implying that any Democrat is working for/rooting for the Republican to win is insulting.

[baldguy]

9. The race is over when the candidate can't win.

If they stay in after that the stop being a "candidate" and turn into a "spoiler".

[Jim Sagle]

10. Thanks to an airtight media blockade, my candidate already dropped out. Let the other two fight on

as long as they wish.

It's called democracy, check into it.