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Worst Presidential Candidates

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Well, Kerry needed to at least pick up Florida to win the Presidency. Florida would be a bit easier to take than a "Yee-Haw" Southern state. Of course, carrying Ohio would've won Kerry the Presidency as well.

 

But who in the world could carry Florida or Ohio that is currently a Democrat?

 

It was extremely pivotal for John Kerry to win either Florida or Ohio, it would've also been helpful to carry the South in place of those states. I definately see why Kerry chose Edwards. The only Democrat that I can think of that would've taken the South was Mark Warner and he was too busy governing Virginia.

 

It also didn't help John Kerry that his VP was from a state that hasn't voted Democrat since the mid 70s. I do think that it would've been a much more sound strategy for Kerry to focus on Ohio and to forget the South because the South is too full of Jesus freaks and they're too hard to persuade while Ohio can at least by swung one way or another. But could Gephardt or Vilsack (Kerry's other choices) help him carry that state?

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I almost said Bob Graham, but even though he's never lost an election in Florida, I don't think he'd have helped any.

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I almost wonder how much success that the Democrats would have if they could talk Ron Reagan into running. I mean, could you possibly confuse people into thinking that they were voting for RONALD Reagan despite him being dead?

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What kind of idiots would vote for someone just because their father used to be president?

 

 

I think that was part of his joke. Seriously I think the name Regan only would pick up a few percent points. Win an election? Hell no, but trick a few dumbasses but not win an election. Especially since Ron Regan's an atheist and the day America elects an atheist president will be the day pigs fly.

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If Ron Reagan ran as a Democrat, the benefit would be Sean Hannity having a heart attack over having to criticize the name of his lord and master.

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If Ron Reagan ran as a Democrat, the benefit would be Sean Hannity having a heart attack over having to criticize the name of his lord and master.

 

 

And I'd vote for him, solely for that reason :D

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I think he would have a better chance trying a different state. He's not going to carry the City and, therefore, stands no chance of moving to Albany. Is Rudy anything but hubris?

 

For the record, he was the answer to this thread's question. Worst ever.

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David Paterson is getting to be really unpopular here, so Rudy has an outside shot. The senate picking made him look really bad (though it wasn't all his fault), and all the cuts the state is going to make is also going to make him look like an asshole

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Paterson is clearly struggling, and it will only continue. The Senate thing turned out really bad (although I personally liked his pick) and was handled like high school. It will provide Rudy Giuliani's only sliver of hope. He's going to have a hard time trying to remember not to milk 9-11 for all he can while stumping in New York.

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I'm certainly no expert on NY politics, but I'd think he'd be able to do well upstate just because of his party affiliation. And certainly there are people in NYC who still like him.

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It's hard to judge the others that I haven't really lived through, but Kerry's was enough of a God-awful wreck that it is at least in the top 2. His damage control was beyond atrocious, and his image marketing relied on the charisma of PAST CHARISMATIC DEMOCRATS (Remember "John F. Kerry"? Seriously, who thought that up?). It didn't help that the Republicans came up with the most obnoxiously simple way of labeling him.

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Cuomo will probably end up as Governor (assuming he runs) since Paterson is doing everything he can to make himself less popular than Pataki was. I can't imagine a scenario where Bloomberg & Giuliani run this state. Maybe I should say I don't WANT to because that shit is frightening.

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Remember "John F. Kerry"? Seriously, who thought that up?

His parents.

Except no one referred to his middle name until the campaign picked up. And no one refers to him as "John F. Kerry" anymore. It was the lamest attempt at trying to make a Kennedy parallel, nothing more.

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(Remember "John F. Kerry"? Seriously, who thought that up?)

I'm convinced that if his name was John Fucking Kerry, he would have won the election.

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John McCain in 2008. He was pretty much Bob Dole in 1996 redux:

*Too old, but was essentially there because it was his turn

*Didn't really let you know what he stood for clearly enough in contrast to Barack Obama

*Was too (whether he liked it or not) associated with the oft criticized Bush/Cheney group

*Had Sarah Palin (who was too much of a polarizing figure and didn't display a lot of depth foreign policy knowledge) as a running mate

*Was too reluctant to attack Obama on his various associations (i.e. Wright, Resko, Ayres, etc.)

*His temperment was put into question besides his age

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*Was too reluctant to attack Obama on his various associations (i.e. Wright, Resko, Ayres, etc.)

 

I don't agree with this. First off, Palin was doing the attacking (usually the VP pick's job anyway), the campaign always *stopped short* of actually making their point with it (that he was a radical black militant and possibly a terrorist sympathizer)--and that point was utterly ridiculous anyway, and lastly, the weeks leading up to the election the voters wanted to hear about only one thing: what will you do about the economy?

 

The "fundamentals" comment really killed, him, and the spin control was terrible ("I meant the American worker!"). Now it's being parodied for freakin' Wendy's ads, for crying out loud.

 

The Palin rallies and even the Republican convention were just terrifying. It really made the R base look like ignorant bigots and racists. I also remember them all but wheeling a golden idol of Reagan and worshipping it.

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I often wonder how Howard Dean would have done against George Bush in 2004, had he won the democratic primary. He atleast would have stood up to Bush and wouldn't have let the personal attacks fly.

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The Palin rallies and even the Republican convention were just terrifying. It really made the R base look like ignorant bigots and racists. I also remember them all but wheeling a golden idol of Reagan and worshipping it.

 

Yeah, exactly. The footage of Palin rallies in places like Iowa was just insane. "If'n we elect Obama, the blacks is gonna take over!"

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Remember "John F. Kerry"? Seriously, who thought that up?

His parents.

Except no one referred to his middle name until the campaign picked up. And no one refers to him as "John F. Kerry" anymore. It was the lamest attempt at trying to make a Kennedy parallel, nothing more.

I'm not disputing it was a silly tactic, but it was not unheard of for him to use it (though usually while running for office in Massachusetts), since it really was what his parents named him.

 

 

 

*Was too reluctant to attack Obama on his various associations (i.e. Wright, Resko, Ayres, etc.)

 

Maybe someone realized if she went any further she'd sound exactly like Joe McCarthy.

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I often wonder how Howard Dean would have done against George Bush in 2004, had he won the democratic primary. He atleast would have stood up to Bush and wouldn't have let the personal attacks fly.

 

It's an interesting question I've asked many times, but the Bush machine was able to convince voters in 2004 that if Kerry became president all gay people were going to get married. Since Dean was governor of a state that allowed for civil unions that may have done him in, but I agree that Dean would not have let the Bush machine roll over him as easily as Kerry.

 

I give Bush's victory in 2004 more as a credit to the smackdown Dick Cheney laid on John Edwards in the VP Debate. After the first presidential debate Bush was on the ropes and nearly down for the count, but Cheney helped to correct the ship in the nick of time and saved the race.

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Remember "John F. Kerry"? Seriously, who thought that up?

His parents.

Except no one referred to his middle name until the campaign picked up. And no one refers to him as "John F. Kerry" anymore. It was the lamest attempt at trying to make a Kennedy parallel, nothing more.

I'm not disputing it was a silly tactic, but it was not unheard of for him to use it (though usually while running for office in Massachusetts), since it really was what his parents named him.

 

Okay, I'd never heard of him using it before. But we both agree it was silly.

 

*Was too reluctant to attack Obama on his various associations (i.e. Wright, Resko, Ayres, etc.)

 

Maybe someone realized if she went any further she'd sound exactly like Joe McCarthy.

 

Of course, Michelle Bachman didn't see the line quick enough...

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