activities of daily living

i grew to like kucinich more watching that debate. although he'll never get elected.

I think that I would like Kucinich if I didn't want so badly for anyone to beat G.W. Bush in 2004. That's pretty much left me feeling so pragmatic that I see all of the unelectables as distractions and haven't really given myself the option of liking them, despite their ideals.

When I think about why I like Dean, it's mostly because I think he has the best chance against Bush. I don't have any major problems with his policies, but I'm not necessarily in love with him on the issues.

right, that's why i think i'm going to vote for clark, because i think he has a good chance of being elected. i even registered as a democrat recently so i could vote in the primaries.
on choice quote from clark on the newshour
"i never thought i'd run for president, but then i never thought our country would be in the condition it's in."
(the quote may be a bit off)

My favorite Clark quote (paraphrased):

Assault weapons should be banned in this country. If you like shooting automatic weapons, we have a place for you. It's called the army.

that's a fantastic quote. absolutely.

why are you choosing dean over clark? i'm not trying to get in an argument or anything, just looking for perspectives.

Dean got in the race first and has built a terrific grassroots organization that has raised more money than any of the other candidates. I think that all of that will help him win. Governors are great candidates for president too.

Clark was dismissed as Supreme Allied Commander in a really sketchy way. Even though it might not have been his fault, I'm afraid that might come back to haunt him.

Mostly similar to what Josh said. I think when people say candidate X is "more electable" than candidate Y it's a load of crap, because any of the 9 candidates are more electable than Bush, in that they would do a better job than him and they stand for values that a majority of Americans believe in. However, simply logistically speaking, Dean has so much grassroots support, that if/when he wins the primary, he will already have a well-oiled machine of supporters in almost every single district around the country "getting out the vote" for him. That will be just as important as a candidate's platform and resume.

Is Clark more of a moderate than Dean?

I don't think of either as particularly liberal; so it's hard for me to say which candidate is more moderate.

http://www.votebyissues.org/ has a quiz that lets you pick a candidate by his or her statements on fourteen issues. I didn't have the patience to go through it when I had to choose between nine almost identical positions on social security, but there's a summary by candidate or issue.

tell me your take on the debate. i didn't get to watch. mostly everyone tells me "they all ganged up on Dean" what does that mean?

by "ganged up on Dean" I think they mean that everyone used their question time to ask Dean something. I don't know, maybe it's good because it let Dean have more speaking time.

We'll see. I should mail some postcards to Iowans!

Yes, do! The polls are so close right now, all the letter writing we can do will help.

I just dropped off a stack of postcards, but I realized that it's hard to fit any substantial information on such a small piece of cardboard. oh well, I reminded them of the caucus and gave them a URL. Better than nothing!

Yes, I'll bet those postcards made some difference. I have a contact at the DFA headquarters in Iowa if you want to make some phone calls today let me know. I've been making them all weekend!

I should have made calls, but you know how much I love the telephone. I'm a little nervous about Iowa, but mostly because I don't know how well Dean will do in South Carolina, etc.

Yes, I thought about that after I suggested it to you. I like the telephone and had a hard time calling them, so I can't imagine how much hell you'd be in if you were to call them.

The press keeps saying to disregard the polls b/c they aren't true of what's going to happen in the caucus, so we shall see.

Since I've talked to the Iowans, it makes me more nervous b/c I know where they are at as far as their feelings for Dean.