I have been sitting here watching all of the "Veep" threads...

and I have been waiting for just one or two realistic people to come through with some semblance of truth. Since that has eluded me at this point, I've decided to add my 2 cents, take it or leave it.

1. It is not up to anyone on DU to choose the VP for Kerry. While everyone seems to have their favorites, it makes no difference in the Grand Scheme of things. Kerry will choose whom he wants to choose. A lot of bandwith has been taken up by all sorts of theories, and none of them hold water.

2. McCain will not be Kerry's choice for VP, get over it.

3. Edwards, Kucinch, Sharpton, et al, lost, they will mot be Kerry's choice for VP, get over it.

4. Clark has a chance, but I don't think he will be chosen, get over it.

5. Lieberman....please...:(

6. Dean.....no way....let's get real.

Kerry has plenty of time to choose a VP, and he is going to choose the person he thinks will help him, and not hinder him. there is time, and people should realize, that it is not up to DU to choose the VP for Kerry. Kerry is doing a fine job watching the current administration self destruct, why waste your ammo?

So....write what you want, but please, spare us all of the bandwith that goes with pipe-dreams. This is Kerry's choice, not ours.

Fight the administration, forget about fighting among ourselves over things we have no control over. GET OUT and do what you can to make sure the admin comes crashing down. Don't preach to the choir....get motivated to get the current cabal out of power. You cannot do that here on DU....You can only do that by getting out and showing people that this group of self-serving horrors of humanity will destroy this nation if given 4 more years.

Now...flame me if you will, but you have got to ACT, and pressing words out on a keyboard will NOT get rid of bush...it takes ACTION!

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realistic actions we all can take here again and again. Give 15 minutes a day for calls or letters to the media, or your representatives.

Give 4-8 hours a month to the organization of your choice. Stuff envelopes, man phone banks, walk your neighborhood or man voter registration tables. There are volunteer opportunities galore, just take your pick!

I am amazed at the amount of ignorance I find here regarding our Democratic candidate. I sit in amazement when it is so easy to go to www.johnkerry.com and read exactly what JK stands for and wants to achieve in the next 4 (and hopefully 8) years.

It is so easy to sit in front of your puter and whine and bitch and moan about things you can work to change. So quit your whining and get off your butts and DO SOMETHING!

Good for you!

And all those like you!:)

Second, I agree with everything you say!

LOL

a comment that is aimed at me. I will give my view, and wil not delete others, unless they break the rules. Let's make sure that is is straight....:)

Sorry for the bad taste in a joke. I have my bad days too.

You're always welcome in my world!

Sometimes, I need a kick too!...:)

...look pretty rigid to me.

Television ads won't do it either. It will take people talking with people; informing/educating them as to why it is in their interest to vote, and who it is in there interest to vote for. This especially goes for "the non-voting public", which could and should, but don't. That is the largest pool out there.
I am not taling about just giving them your opinion, give them some real factual, trustworthy information. "Here is what the Republicans have pushed, passed, opposed and defeated" should go a long way in convincing people.
Remind them that the people who are doing well in this society probably have close to a 100% voting record. The people who are not have a miserable, possibly single digit, voting record. Voting is the only power than most of us have; and the fact is that the people who most need to vote, don't.

your assertion about Clark. I'm a recent convert. With the mess this administration has made of our foreign policy and of the state of military morale, I now believe Clark would be a good choice for VP. I'd love to see those two soldiers running against the two elitist neocons, Bush and Cheney.

powerful force, and I am afraid he would overshadow Kerry. I have nothing but the greatest respect for the General, but I am also a pragmatist. If Clark makes the cut, I will be happy....but the power this man possesses, most people can't fathom.....:)

I would put him in the class a s George Marshall!

I guess he overshadows Kerry when it comes to his likability, though.

but it's a quiet, understated power, as true power always is.

I don't agree that Kerry won't choose him for that reason, however.

If he isn't Veep, it will be because (1) the Mess O' Potamia has miraculously got un-messed, and/or

(b) because he and Kerry have agreed that someone else--Edwards, most probably--would be more likely to put the Dem ticket across come November.

And yes, Wes Clark is absolutely a latter-day George Marshall, and would be a superb Secretary of State. However, Cabinet appointments have to be confirmed by the Senate, and even if McCain and Hagel crossed the aisle & voted to confirm him, it's guaranteed that Zell Miller--and possibly even Lieberman--would vote the other way.

Better that he should be a Veep who acts as a de facto co-SecState, especially if the actual SecState is someone like Clark's good friend Richard Holbrooke--or Jamie Rubin.

"he is going to choose the person he thinks will help him, and not hinder him. there is time, and people should realize, that it is not up to DU to choose the VP for Kerry"

If it were not for lying attacks against Wes Clark in some of these threads, I wouldn't have a word to say on the matter.

like George Marshall... I think if not VP...Sec of State would be the place for Wes to be!...:)

But it really does, as you said in the OP, come down to what Kerry wants and needs. I am not convinced Wes even wants to be VP. I have no reason to think he does or does not. I do believe he wants to be in the forefront on national security and I do believe that's where Kerry wants him. What position best serves that purpose is up to Kerry. However, I disagree with those who see Clark as less than qualified to be VP. If Kerry wants him and Wes wants the job, he would be splendid, of course. Kerry might just decide to create an entirely new cabinet position, for all we know.

Wes Clark will be on CSPAN's Road to the Whitehouse at 6:30 and 9:30 May 16, 2004.



On Tuesday May 11, former Democratic presidential candidate General Wesley Clark (ret.) campaigned for Senator John Kerry. He spoke at the Alabama Democratic Party's annual Spring Dinner. Among the topics addressed were Senator Kerry's qualifications to be commander-in-chief and the proper definition of patriotism.

"a waste of bandwidth"? Why pick on those of us who like to speculate on this most important of all political topics? I fully understand who will make the decision but that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy listening to, and adding to the speculation.

Unless this is supposed to be some sort of disguised message from the Admins.......However, past experience has taught me that if they want to make their opinions felt, they have the power to do so, openly, without using surrogates.

I realize that the Mod icon does hold some 'power' in some things; but I am not using that in any way to speak for DU. I speak for myself, unless there is a Mod situation that needs to be dealt with.

I cannot, nor would I ever, speak for DU in a forum where that icon would hold sway. I hope you understand this. It is up to Admin to deal with things like that, and I would not use that icon to push for my own agends.

Thanks for bringing that up, and I hope that clears the air!...:)

I have the utmost respect for you as a poster (I read you regularly) and as a moderator (all you guys deserve respect). Even suggesting the possibility was rude on my part. I apologise. I know you and the admins better.

...but I do think that speculation is part of the fun.

I will wholeheartedly support this ticket, no matter who the VP is, but I do enjoy stating my views and seeing others.

Sometimes, it just seems like the samr=e old stuff is hashed over and over.

Me...I'm voting whomever is on the ticket, and getting bush out of OUR WH!....:D

How can we on DU possibly pick Kerry's VP when Kerry won't give us all of his internal polling and internal memos? How can we on DU be expected to pick Kerry's VP when Kerry refuses to meet with each one of us to let us know what his thinking is? :)

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those close to kerry might see something here and pass it on to kerry. if a good point is made about whether someone should or should not be vp i think some hope it gets to kerry somehow.

but i think kerry and that guy he is working on the vp selection with already know most of the things said on here and probably have much more info based on their internal polls and other things.

Thank You, Thank You ,Thank You, Thank You! I have been trying to say all that for days! Kerry's choice not ours.Leave it go. You'd think this was a primary, Too much wasted energy. Go get Dems elected instead of wishful thinking!JMHO.