Burnt Orange Report
News, Politics, and Fun From Deep in the Heart of Texas
|
|
Burnt Orange ReportNews, Politics, and Fun From Deep in the Heart of Texas |
|
 |
 |
February 04, 2004John Kerry Uniting the Democratic PartyBy Byron LaMastersYeah, he's not my first choice, and no, the blog community probably isn't united behind John Kerry, but ordinary Democratic voters across the country certainly are. And I'm not just talking about geography. Yeah, Kerry's now won in the midwest (IA, MO, ND), the northeast (NH), the east coast (DE), the southwest (AZ, NM) and he was competitive in the south (OK, SC). In two major swing states, John Kerry has united liberal and moderate Democrats, Black, White and Hispanic Democrats, young and old Democrats, male and female Democrats, union and non-union Democrats and pro-war and anti-war Democrats. Take a look at the exit polls of the two Red States that voted yesterday where Democrats need to seriously compete in order to beat George W. Bush - Arizona and Missouri. Via CNN. Take a look at Arizona. Kerry won the votes of 44% of men and 41% of women. Young voters (18-29) went 34% for Kerry, 30-44 gave him 40%, 45-64 gave him 39% and 65+ gave him 48%. Kerry had 42% of Whites and 43% of Latinos. Kerry had 43% of Union households and 41% of non-Union households, 45% of liberals and 40% of moderates, 35% of those who approved of the Iraq war and 44% of those who opposed the war. Moving on to Missouri, Kerry won 51% of men and 50% of women. Young voters (18-29) gave Kerry 49%, 45% among 30-44, 50% for 45-64 and 59% for 65+. Kerry won 50% of Whites and 53% of African-Americans, 52% of Union households and 50% of non-Union households, 51% of liberals and 53% of moderates, and 44% who approved of the war in Iraq and 54% who opposed it. Kerry's not my first choice, but if exit polls are to be believed (and they were pretty accurate today), it's begining to look like John Kerry is the candidate that can unite the Democratic Party to beat Bush. On the other side, Dean, Clark and Edwards are begining to look more like niche candidates. Update: There's a good discussion going on my cross-post on kos diaries. I'd encourage anyone interested in commenting on this story to check it out over there as well. Posted by Byron LaMasters at February 4, 2004 12:58 AM | TrackBackComments
I remember seeing some of the same types of poll results when Dean was the big man on top. Seems more like the natural effects of being the frontrunner, but whatever. Posted by: Karl-T at February 4, 2004 01:11 AMBut when do you think the media will train its guns on Kerry? At least with Dean, they were getting it out of their system. Now if Kerry is nominated, we will have to watch him face all kinds of ridiculous charges as he tries to beat Bush. Posted by: Jason Young at February 4, 2004 01:21 PMI don't know that Kerry will be treated the way Dean was. For one, I think the media personalities just didn't like Dean for whatever reason. And Kerry has the support of the DNC, which I don't think Dean had. Also, I wouldn't take much comfort from these primary numbers. A general election is wholly different thing. As we sat eating hot wings last night (I was somewhat fascinated that my four year old son listened the reports and asked questions), I was very intrigued by Edwards numbers among independents. If we're not going to have someone to help rethink the Democratic party (as I think Dean would), then I want a Democrat who can win the presidential election and help in other races. Edwards long interested me, so I'm reconsidering him, even though I disagree with his stance on Iraq. Posted by: Tx Bubba at February 4, 2004 02:11 PMI read on the net somewhere several days ago that Lieberman announced days ago that he was only hanging around until Feb 3, 2004 because if was officially running as of that day, he was eligible for the latest round of federal funding, which he needed to pay campaign debt. Interestingly, that item was not carried around and people actually thought he was continuing for real. He gave up after NH and was just hanging around so that Uncle Sam could pay his campaign debt. Posted by: WhoMe? at February 4, 2004 09:54 PM"Now if Kerry is nominated, we will have to watch him face all kinds of ridiculous charges as he tries to beat Bush." I am scared of that, too. I am concerned about Bush getting yet another free ride as the "liberal media" scrutinizes Kerry. Hopefully, he and his staff have learned from 2000, so that he does not become Al Gore II. "If we're not going to have someone to help rethink the Democratic party (as I think Dean would), then I want a Democrat who can win the presidential election and help in other races." TX Bubba, I could not agree more. We still have a lot of delegates yet to earn, BUT if Dean does not get the nod, I think that Kerry will do an outstanding job as a candidate. Posted by: leodem at February 5, 2004 09:45 PMPost a comment
|
|
|
