Vets Cleland & Clark in Alabama for Kerry

Now Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam, is trying to forge support for Kerry in Alabama - a pro-military state that voted overwhelmingly for Bush in 2000.

"This part of the world, the South, sends more people to the American military than any other portion of our nation," Cleland said. "They are very patriotic. But it is criminal for a president of the United States ... to send American troops into combat not properly armed and with no strategy to win and no strategy to get out.

"That's Vietnam. I will not stand by idly and see another Vietnam happen in my lifetime, and neither will John Kerry."

Cleland had meetings scheduled Tuesday night with fellow veterans and state Democratic leaders and plans to return next week alongside former Democratic candidate Wesley Clark for the state party's spring fund raiser.

Source: AP 5/4/04

Other parts of the South are more fertile for Kerry, but not Alabama. Let Bush have it.

Fight should go to all 50 states.

They should have to spend money everywhere. Besides, this is not a normal election year. Anything could happen anywhere this time around.

They'll do the most good. But we shouldn't concede a single vote, much less entire states and regions.

Bush and Kerry are tied there. That could spread through the region with a little push.

He could do the job without spending much time and money.

no use. State is full of bigots who only vote for people who talk like them.

You're the one who sounds bigoted against Southerners.

Look - if you solid Dems want to get into the Heartland - stop being biased AGAINST the South. Welcome it with open arms, learn our differences like you do with other groups. Look, our country's military is here, afterall, and you're gonna pick up some votes with, oh, say, a Kerry/Clark ticket.

Or even a Kerry/Cleland ticket.

Cleland was at the Tennessee Jackson Day Dinner:

''Most of the casualties that we've lost have come in the wake of the president taunting those terrorists and he did not know what he was getting us into and he doesn't know how to get us out,'' Cleland said.

http://www.tennessean.com/government/archives/04/04/50684358.shtml?Element_ID=50684358

There really is a lot of prejudice against the South.

>There really is a lot of prejudice against the South.

There are braindead redneck assholes everywhere, it's just that they seem to comprise 90% of the population here in the South. I would have to say 99% in Alabama.

That makes 99% of Alabama Democratic voters in the last gubernatorial election braindead redneck assholes, give or take a half a percentage point. Do you really want to stand by that remark?

Sexism and racism are handled with an iron fist at DU, I wonder why regionalism is allowed to flourish? I'm all for free speech, but I'm also in favor of consistency.

the same way */Guiliani would be too obvious trying to exploit 9/11, Kerry/Cleland would be too obvious trying to exploit Vietnam. Clark is fine since he was also a candidate, but Cleland could seriously backfire, plus with Benedict Miller campaigning for * Georgia is probably lost anyway.

Did you know the last gubernatorial election vote was 50R/50D? That our previous governor was a Democrat? I admit we have more than our share of wingnuts, but there are also plenty of good liberals, but bullshit, bigoted posts like yours will not help the Democratic cause down here, and that's for sure. So do you want to win, or do you want to feel superior?

as your Avatar.

My great-uncles played for GENERAL Neyland (God - I just thought of a fantastic marketing promotion for a Kerry/GENERAL Clark ticket... OMG!!!! I'm going now!)

I always enjoyed the Tennessee/Bama rivalries much more than those rude Florida rivalries!

I liked it better when 'Bama was the dominant team. Maybe one of these days the universe will return to natural order.

Just kidding. I love the third Saturday in October -- even though it doesn't always fall on the third Saturday of October anymore. :)

Don't judge us all by our accents or by where we live. There are plenty of people here who are disgusted by Bush* and his lies and his war that has killed almost two dozen of our sons. Four Alabama soldiers were wounded together this week in an attack on their vehicle.

Alabamians are sacrificing in this hellish war just as much as other states.

NEVER give a state up to Bush* just because you don't like the way the people there talk. If the Repugs want my state, they'll have to fight for it or steal it.

There is frankly nothing sillier than regional stereotyping. That being said, there are an overwhelming share of bumpkins and hillbillies in Alabama and the South in general. Some are just ignorant having suffered under a pitiful educational system and back-wards leadership for years, some just embrace the whole rube mentality as a lifestyle. I have been all over the states, however, and there are plenty of rednecks all around - saw them in Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, Colorado, Vermont, Pennsylvania even Massachusetts.

Stereotyping is so foolish. For a great deal of my life I heard how rude and condescending "yankees" were and listened to the myth of how genteel and friendly southerners were. Then my wife and I spent some time in New England. I can honestly say that the people there were friendlier on the whole than 98% of the Southerners I knew in over 30 years. As a result, Boston is my favorite town and, as you can see by my chose avatar (and the pun of my username) that I am a Patriots fan.

Anyway, the point is - lose the stereotypes and you'll learn alot.

Do not underestimate the disgust of the military, the veterans, and their FAMILIES who vote.

They seem to have a great fondness for one another....what a wonderful personal history they could speak about.

Forget it. Waste of time. He can take trip there but it makes no sense to spend money there

And their families. Add to that families with children fighting and dying in this war. It makes great sense to me for vets like Clark and Cleland to go there and speak for Kerry to try and erode the military vote for Bush in the South and in the Southwest. These people are losing faith and the time is ripe. This is not 2000 and ANYTHING might happen this year. Let's not be short-sighted.

But to simply concede it creates two problems. The first is that there are no headways made for next time, which means we will ALWAYS lose it. The second is that if the Republicans can COUNT on ALWAYS winning a state, then they don't have to fight for it and can use THEIR resources in solid blue states.

This year we have an advantage that's not monetary (like we ever have that), it's veteran outreach and the fact there is so much dissatisfaction with Bush. You play up both of these and we lay the foundations for future elections in areas we SHOULD be winning based on our economic policies. And we build those foundations real cheap, half-price or whatever, because of the ideological momentum we have.

We need to win this election, but we need to win EVERY election after it. If we don't start thinking like that, we're going to win less than we are comfortable with (like the present state of affairs).

The Democratic economic philosophy is biased. Biased towards the middle and working classes. In the past, cultural issues have been effectively manipulated to sway some of these voters, especially in the South. We need to hammer back, and put SOME of these issues on the back burner.

LBJ said after the Voting Rights Act that we'd lose the South for a generation. And we did. But that generation is almost over, and it's time to head back down to Dixie. (but not forget our other strongholds, of course)

You explain my thinking much better than I do. :)

a 19 point lead in Alabama right now. It is going to be difficult for any Democrat to take a state in the deep south.

While the argument is that the Republicans do not have to worry about solid red states, the same is true of Democrats in a number os states that are solid blus and have been since the beginning of polls this year. Kerry has had a solid lead in a number of states in double digits, and has maintained them and those states have a far larger electoral vote count than most of the states that are solidly Republican. IN fact, there are several states which seem solidly Republican in which Bush could suffer a large defeat if minorities come out in large numbers. Kerry could easily take South Carolina if minority Democrats come out in full force. South Caraolina also has the largest percentage of veterans, and Kerry has the largest number of veterans actually working to support his campaign in that state. 47 percent of registered Democrats in South Carolina are black, and would be a major political force for Republicans to contend with if they came out in force. They could change the entire political balance in that state.

don't have a pot-to-piss in, nor a window to throw it out of...yet they continue to vote republican. Beats the hell out of me!

Make them fight for every state!

Last week, John Kerry ran ads in LA and CO. Some questioned that, this week the Bush campaign announced they will run ads in LA and CO. BTW, LA and CO went to Bush the last time.

Let Clark and Cleland and Edwards(for that matter)campaign all over the South for Kerry. Send Clinton into the upper Midwest, send Gore out to the Pacific coast. Get every Democratic congressperson, governor, mayor etc, out there.

This is the defining election of American history and I'm not usually given to hyperbole. If Bush and the NeoCons win, the ramifications will be felt for generations to come.

..they are appearing at a state Dem function, so thats going to be a great morale boost to the Alabama Democrats...who do have some good populists in their past, lilke Big Jim Folsom.

Maybe this is a trial run for Wes. See if he can gain some momentum in the South. I also agree with many others that Alabama Dems need support and if Dems can narrow this race, then * will have to spend money and time there. It's a great Dem strategy this early in the campaign.