Well, that’s what my head says, if I supported candidates on the issues only. I think I knew this already, before I took this 11-question survey that determines how compatible your views are with those running for President. (The list is a bit dated; no Fred Thompson).
I doubt North Carolina will have a meaningful primary, but if it did, I’d probably still go with John Edwards at this point, although I haven’t been gung-ho about him in awhile, probably because I know he’s not my ideal candidate. Chris Dodd might be the most impressive candidate that Americans and even most Democrats don’t really know. I think the Democrat with the best chance of blowing what should be an easy electoral victory is Obama. He’s simply not polished enough to lead right now, and that’s going to come through in a tough general election campaign. I’ve never been more than luke-warm about Hillary, but I actually think she’s capable of convincing enough “Clinton-haters” to vote for her that I don’t worry about her electibility.
And how about Rudy being my top Republican? That’s a bit like me picking my favorite episode of Saved By the Bell or my favorite menu item at Chili’s.
Summary of my results (candidate and score):
1. Dennis Kucinich (53)
2. Chris Dodd (47)
3. Hillary Clinton (44)
Barack Obama (44)
Mike Gravel (44)
6. Bill Richardson (42)
John Edwards (42)
8. Joe Biden (36)
__________________
9. Rudy Giuliani (26)
10. Ron Paul (23)
11. Mitt Romney (15)
12. Sam Brownback (8)
13. John McCain (7)
14. Duncan Hunter (5)
15. Mike Huckabee (1)
Vote with your head, Toastie! If everyone who said that they would vote for Kucinich if they thought he could win would actually vote for Kucinich, then he could win! I’m tired of compromising my values to vote for someone less than what I want. The primary is the time to get your voice heard.
I suppose I might change my mind if it came down to the primary and someone was close to beating Hillary, then I’d vote for that someone to beat her. I have to hope that people won’t follow the media hype surrounding Clinton. She is the Republicans’ favorite candidate.
Well, it’s a moot point. The N.C. Primary likely won’t matter, and if it does, I’ll do what you said you’d hypothetically do and vote for the non-Hillary opponent, although not if it turned out to be Obama.
I’m just being realistic about not going out of my way to show support for Kucinich. I don’t have a loud enough megaphone.
I’m actually an elected Democratic party official (a precinct vice-chair, for whateve that’s worth), so I’ll look forward to try to work hard to elect the Democrat in the general election. I honestly don’t have the energy right now to put behind a underdog candidate for the nomination.