When John Kerry conceded, we lost our direction. Now what?

[Ladyhawk]

I don't want this to be an incendiary post, but I'm afraid it will be. If John Kerry started fighting again, I'd be the first to rally to his side. But he stopped fighting for us too soon and quite frankly, it was more than disappointing, it tore the Democratic Party into shreds. He bears the responsibility for that.

I felt abandoned when he conceded despite the evidence that something screwy was going on with the election. Many of us were ready to hop in our cars and drive to Ohio to back him.

Then he conceded.

And DU erupted in a huge flame war that blamed everything from gays to youths to blacks to God knows what else for our loss. We had no leader. Leaderless, we fought amongst ourselves. Kerry's concession was a direct cause of this in-fighting (along with some freepers masquerading as DUers).

Yes. I am angry at Senator Kerry for abandoning us. He, of all people, should have known how important this election was. We were keyed up. We were going to march on Ohio. We were going to march on Washington. Then he gave up and we turned on each other.

Now what?

Do we still march on Washington? Do we wait for Nov3.us to tell us what to do? I am no leader, but I will throw my weight behind someone I trust.

Norquist doesn't have to castrate us. The Democratic Party was castrated as soon as Kerry conceded.

The only thing I can do is pursue what I feel to be the #1 problem: black box voting.

But wouldn't it have been grand? Millions of people marching, fists in the air, demanding a free and accurate election.

Shame on John Kerry.

And shame on us.

[kikiek]

1. I have been hearing different responses to that. Those of us who

didn't under estimate the importance of this election and were very passionate about it were upset. Others were happy he did and felt it was dignified. Only thing I can say is I believe he knew somehow that it would go on without him, and didn't want to divide the country further. I think things could end up pretty crazy in this country. I hope not, but feel it's a real possibility. Thank you GWB.

[Lucky Luciano]

2. He did the right thing

If he was seen as a whiner, it could hurt him. This way, if an impropriety comes out, and he then raises his voice, it will not be like he came looking for the cheating and as if he used lawyers to gain the momentum towards proving bush cheated. It would be better if it appeared that he did not need a lot of lawyers to do prove there was cheating and the cheating came out another way. Then he could raise hell when the evidence comes in.

[yorgatron]

3. here's what i said on another board

"November 03, 2004 - 02:49 PM
what happened to "no surrender"?

what a fucking letdown.fuck you john kerry,you are a candyass sissygirl mama's boy.if you had said you were going to fight i would have been ready to take a bullet for you.instead you leave us hanging.fucker.fuckity fucking fuck." i still feel pretty much the same :(

[PretzelzRule]

5. This is EXACTLY

what I think his strategy is.

Very shrewd.

[pacalo]

8. I hope you're right because I like your reasoning.

I still adore Kerry & I have to have faith that there's a good reason for how he has handled this.

I do wonder, however, if he was threatened in some way if he didn't concede early -- the coWard-'n'-thief was chomping at the bits to put a lock on the election.

I'd like to think that our leadership is working diligently behind the scenes for the very reasons you stated.

[ewagner]

4. Well, I don't agree but understand why

you feel that way.

Here's the problem. For the election, Kerry was our leader. He was the person we had to rally around. When he judged that winning the election was hopeless, he conceded and dropped into the background leaving us in a leaderless situation.

John Edwards can't step in because Elizabeth needs him now.

Where the hell is Terry McAuliffe?

Where is the rest of our leadership?

In a sense, we are rallying around Bev Harris, Mike Malloy and Randi Rhodes now because there isn't anybody else to help us focus our anger and resentment. Whoever steps forward now to focus and lead the Democrats will be the odds-on favorite for 2008.

[Syrinx]

6. hear that Howard Dean???

This is your chance to step up to plate.

[Pachamama]

9. Paging Dr. Dean...Paging Dr. Dean....To the ER - STAT!

I will admit, I felt like I was sucker-punched and hit with a 2x4 when I got the word that Kerry had conceded...I had just returned to the Bay Area from Ohio, spent the previous day working in the pouring rain as a poll monitor/voting rights team member for nearly 14 hours from start to finish with a stryofoam tasting lunch and then staying up all night after that watching the election results come in on the TV and then catching an early morning flight from Ohio back to the Bay Area....I was so angry at him, but I got over it pretty quickly...It was then that I realized it was the only thing he could have done....I also don't believe that he stopped fighting....we don't know what he is doing behind the scenes...I realized if I trusted him then with my children and their future, I wasn't going to doubt him now. Meanwhile, like a lot of things in life, we have to take matters into our own hands....I like many here am ready to go march on Washington....hold mass strikes and demonstrations....we will not be silenced....We need to mobilize - and fast. Listening to Mike Malloy and Randi Rhodes today was energizing and empowering. I took Randi's advice, donated money to Bev Harris and her organization blackboxvoting.org to help them out with the FOIA requests and possible lawsuits and investigation into the computer voting machines. I spent some time on Randi Rhodes' website to see what else she was suggesting. I meanwhile called my Senators and Congresswoman. I wrote a letter to my papers' editor...I wrote and sent an email to everyone I knew to get them to do the same....If we all take these actions and we start making enough noise, we can get the mainstream media (or atleast Dan Rather, Aaron Brown etc.) to cover this story. We will get things happening and meanwhile have the hope that Kerry is working diligently behind the scenes for us....if he is not, then he may lose us and his "base"...but meanwhile, lets beat this and all stick together, not tear at eachother and denigrate John Kerry.

As the header in this post suggests, it might be a good time to have the good Doctor step in with a prescription....I'm going to contact the folks at his organization Democracy for America....Maybe them or MoveOn.org can help lead the way into some democratic action....

[BUSHOUT]

7. Go here for direction:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2613138#2614882

John Kerry may have conceded, but we do what we want. Maybe he'll be called back for duty.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. Focus on the goal of democracy: Fair elections.

John Kerry is irrelevant for the moment. Let's just once, for the hell of it, see the process of democracy run its course and lets count every vote.

[lessthanjake]

11. He lost!

How can you blame the guy that lost for conceding. There is no concrete or even real evidence of voter fraud except for the one thing with 4000 votes. Its fishy but it didnt happen 35 times in ohio and thats how many times it wouldve needed to happen.

He didnt tear us into shreds. You guys tore us into shreds by blaming him.

[Generator]

13. Hey Buddy-George Bush is the loser

Always was, always will be.

Your posts show a dramatic misunderstanding of how Democrats feel.

If you don't understand the anger at Kerry, or those that still believe in Kerry, and those that are fighting for a real Democracy then I know you aren't a Democrat.

Ever heard of complexity?

You can adore someone, believe in them, be angry at them, have hope and pain all at the same time.

I don't need anybody's help in finding the loser. The loser is this country and the losers are those that think George Bush is competent to stand.

[lessthanjake]

19. Look man i feel pain too

Dude i admit i was among the people who actually cried when kerry lost. I havent cried in years. It was devastating.

But it wasnt anyones fault and we should stop acting like it is.

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. How would you know there were no voter irregularities if you

don't look? The last election came as close to 532 votes. If you don't shake out the bugs for this election, next election will also be lost and people like me won't even bother voting because we simply don't trust the system. Nor will we trust the Dems to see the process through. Good luck getting Independent votes next time.

[lessthanjake]

20. I wholeheartedly agree

Yes we do have to look for fraud but its not kerrys job to not concede until we have spent sufficient time looking for fraud.

[amazona]

12. i don't feel we lost our direction

I feel Kerry did the right thing. It is not his job to overthrow the government if the election doesn't turn out the way he wanted. We'll leave the coup detat to the evil-doers, thank you.

My feeling is that we need a hell of a lot more evidence of vote fraud and suppression. Crimes leave physical evidence. We need to get that evidence. I sent my donation to blackboxvoting.org for what it is worth.

A protest or march isn't a bad idea if we can get the turn-out. I like the idea of marches with people wearing black on Inauguration Day.

[sangh0]

14. I just love it when people try to speak for me using the word "we"

but I haven't lost my direction. I didn't lose in 1980, 1984, 1988, 200 or 2004. And I'm not going to lose it over something a politician does.

[leesa]

16. We do exactly what we've been doing. Don't let up now.

Think of how many people are more aware of what's going on. It took forever to wake people up to the scam of 9-11 and the evil of Bush, but they are starting to come around.

Why do we need Kerry? It's not like he was being a true leader and pointing out the corruption and immorality of the war. Though better than the pure evil of Bush and the Republicans, he was still part of the corporate machine that the media chose to allow us to run.

WE are the ones who will bring our corrupt government down if it is at all possible. It won't be someone like Kerry.

[funky_bug]

17. I'll keep posting this picture until I don't feel this way any longer

This is how it feels for me today. Without direction... I agree with your post, but I'm not so quick to blame Kerry or Edwards. I just wish someone would start a cause... they want us to stop whining, stop pouting, start working...

Working for what? Where the hell is our leadership (not just Kerry or Edwards b/c God knows they need some time) now that we REALLY need them? We had a packed primary with lots of people ready to take on *... where the HELL are they now? Dean...Clark...Gephart...Lieberman...Sharpton...Kucinich...Ginnie...
Graham...WTF?????

[baltodemvet]

18. Horse Hockey

John Kerry conceded because he's a responsible leader. Noboby castrated the Democratic Party. We need to reflect, re-group and get busy.