Who would've been your favorite First Lady of the 2004 candidates?

[mtnsnake]

Poll question: Who would've been your favorite First Lady of the 2004 candidates?

My favorite would've been Gert Clark. I think she would've made a perfect First Lady. She sounded great, and she was simply likeable in the most wholesome kind of way. Hopefully she'll get another chance.

BTW, Kucinich isn't listed because he's divorced.

[Clark2008]

1. Gert rocks!

And she's such a sweet kind woman who is so full of life!



Loved her ever since she tapped me on the shoulder to inquire about my son. Bless her!

[Adelante]

22. I love that picture of Gert

It really shows her personality. :)

[flordehinojos]

2. teresa heinz kerry has all the pizzzaaazzzz and spark that was lacking in

kerry. she's got spark and i liked that. (elizabeth edwards, whom i also liked, has the real compassionate heart)!

[mtnsnake]

8. I agree she had the spark in her that Kerry himself lacked, but

months into the campaign she was making me cringe. Half the times the camera was on her she looked like she just wanted to get the hell outta there, or like her mind was on anything else but the campaign. She seemed flat-out bored at times. First Ladies are the kind of people you just wanna relate to, and Teresa just didn't do it for me. I'm not sure what it is, but she didn't make me feel comfortable like some of the others. Maybe too intimidating or something.

BTW, you're so right about Kerry lacking spark. Who's that comedian who used to get up there and talk in the somberist monotones and never crack a smile during his entire routine?

[bunkerbuster1]

19. I was THIS close to voting for THK...

then I realized that much of my love for her was based on how incredibly upset she made the wingnuts. Man, oh man, that would've been so sweet for them to have endured her as our First Lady.

But then I remembered what was being asked, and in truth, I think Elizabeth was the most talented, and the most comfortable in front of a crowd. I saw her moderate a town hall meeting, and she was such a pro, it seemed like she'd been doing nothing but that her whole adult life.

[journalist3072]

3. Elizabeth Edwards

I just love her spirit. She seems so down to earth. And I think she would have done a lot of good in the White House. She has common sense values. She "gets its."

[ultraist]

4. I agree with you on all points about Elizabeth Edwards!

Teresa is also very intelligent and sophisticated. But, honestly, when I met her, I felt a bit uncomfortable, she has a certain heir about her.

Elizabeth really knows how to connect with regular people. When I met her, I felt like I was talking to my neighbor, she is so down to earth and genuine.

I do however, think that Teresa would have made a very gracious First Lady and that her 'internationalism' so to speak would have gone a long way for the US.

Mrs. Clark never came to my area & I've very seen little of her on tv.

[henrik larssonisking]

10. all i gotta say is that my wife hated tereza with a passion

no idea why, but everytime she was on the box, my wife would scowl act all mental.

[Jai4WKC08]

25. Your post gets me to wonderin'

Altho it is by no means directed solely at you, ultraist. In fact, maybe more some of the other comment here, but it didn't gel until I read:

Mrs. Clark never came to my area & I've very seen little of her on tv.

Gert Clark was on C-SPAN a lot. Almost always whereever he husband was, and a number of times by herself, campaigning in SC and Tennesee, and at least one time that I know of on Washington Journal. She was also on a couple of the morning news shows by herself.

Anyone who doesn't think she every bit as smart or as down-to-earth as either Teresa or Elizabeth (and I'm taking nothing away from those two--in fact, I agree with whoever said that Teresa had the "spark" her husband lacked and I think Elizabeth is brilliantly savvy), has like you, just never seen her in action.

'Course, most of us Clarkies are also fortunate enough to have met "the general's general" as she's been called on at least one occassion, and know what a truly sparkling personality she has, how she can take control of a situation when she thinks she needs to, without overshadowing her husband. We've heard her speak passionately about issues, and disdainfully about how uninvolved the current first lady has been. We know she was active politically long before her husband was, that she played a key role in improving education for military families, and continues to work on environmental and other problems where they live now in Arkansas. Things I wouldn't expect anyone but a Clarkie to necessarily know about her.

But if you folks (collectively) don't watch C-SPAN enough to know something about who Gert Clark is as a person, it leads me to wonder, did you watch it enough to really know anything about Wes Clark? Because you sure couldn't get the measure of the man from the corporate media. And I also have to ask, are you the very ones repeating the "bad campaigner" meme? Because, again, that was the line of the mainstream, but a totally different picture than what most of us got watching him on the stump or in townhall-type Q&A.

Not trying to start an argument here, for all that I will not shy away from one. Just musing out loud....

[imenja]

5. I'd like to see her run for office

She is smarter than any of them and has a great deal of political sense.

[journalist3072]

6. Definitely!!

Maybe after she gets her health together, she could run for office! She would be a brilliant candidate.

[Straight Shooter]

7. I love Elizabeth Edwards.

She is so sharp, so capable. She "gets it." I really feel like she had that "common touch" which is so important in the political realm, whether we like it or not, and she reminds me of so many women I know. And, unlike Laura "Stepford" bush, Elizabeth has a great expansive mind and a heart to match.

Teresa, I have great admiration for her on so many different levels, but Elizabeth, to me, she was the best.

[soup]

9. You've said it much better than I could.

So, I'm just adding a quick "What Straight Shooter said."

[hollowdweller]

11. I voted Edwards cause she would have been popular but I liked Ms. Dean

Cause she had her own life and didn't want to campaign and Howard respected that. I think a lot of times as far as first ladies we want the one that represents something nobody really is. I think Dean really represented the independant self reliant woman that wanted to stay with her patients rather than go out and dirty her hands in politics.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

12. I watched Elizabeth Edwards on C-Span, holding a town meeting,

and she took my breath away. She was incredibly knowledgeable, brilliant, warm and caring. She is Woman!

[Stinky The Clown]

13. Mrs Edwards or Mrs Clark

Both are real women. Down to earth. Honest and unspoiled by DC inside-the-beltway-think. They're both sharp as a tack. Neither is "glamorous" but both are delightful and disarming.

I can imagine them both as a next door neighbor **or** a First Lady.

Wonderful, wonderful women.

[CBHagman]

14. I confess I don't know much about some of the ladies.

It amuses me greatly that Gephardt and spouse are literally Dick and Jane. Isn't that a White House couple we're more than overdue for? However, as a Catholic, I did not read Dick and Jane readers in the first grade; it was all David and Ann and Baby Mary (Yes, really).

The only things I know about Gert Clark are that she's tough and resilient, and that her husband is devoted to her. I suspect that if she were first lady, she would not suffer fools gladly and would either be resolutely private or have Betty Ford's outspokenness.

Hadassah Lieberman made a good impression on me during the 2000 campaign.

I've actually attended a speech by Teresa Heinz Kerry and liked her very much. The press made that woman a cartoon character during the 2004 campaign, for which they deserve our everlasting contempt.

But I picked Elizabeth Edwards, simply because she is such a straightforward, level-headed, likeable person on camera. I realize that the state of U.S. politics is meaner than ever, but this woman would have a reasonable chance of uniting the country at least some of the time, since she is so obviously a survivor of some of the harsh life experiences millions of us know. Even the most ruthlessly partisan Republican or pundit would have to be a pretty cold bastard indeed to attack someone like Elizabeth Edwards.

If the Kerry-Edwards team had won the election, the Republicans would have had their knives out and the impeachment plans in place. But the country would have had a chance to see what Elizabeth Edwards was made of, and she would have been a great VP's spouse. Maybe someday she will be that, or first lady.

[karynnj]

28. Impeachment plans? - RW nonsense

I voted for Teresa, although I would have liked any as first lady. That said I don't really place much importance on who is first lady so I picked the wife of my choice for President. But, I wanted to comment on the previous post.

Why repeat nonsense from the far right. It is true that they would be out to create chaos from the start if K/E won. But to impeach Kerry, he would have to commit an impeachable offense. Nixon went to great pains to try to destroy Kerry as an anti-war activist. If Kerry had broken a law, he would have been arrested faster than anyone in the country. The FBI concluded after following him for over a year that he was not a threat. (In fact, the Nixon tapes, complaining that he was clean and the FBI surveillance report simply prove he was a moderate, anti-war activist strongly arguing for working within the system - ie influence Congress and the people.)

The problem the RW has is their heroes broke laws in Iran/Contra, Watergate etc. Some of them were convicted or indicted, but were then pardoned. In their mythology aiding the Contras, for example, although illegal was consistent with American values. Oliver North and other alumni of these actions were among the people questioning Kerry's patriotism and going as far as calling him a traitor. Kerry's values, however, seem to come from things like the Constitution. The RW are outside the law. Kerry, as much as anyone, was holding the government to its laws.

I know the poster was most definitely NOT claiming Kerry would have or should have been impeached if he won, but even repeating the possibility seems wrong in that it in a strange way lends credence to the notion that it would be a likely thing to happen. I apologize in advance, if these comments offend. Thant was not the intent - The intent being that even facetiously it's not good to repeat some of the RW slanders.

[Orangepeel]

15. Mrs. Edwards, definitely (and not just because she visited DU!)

So smart, so articulate, so "real".

[Crunchy Frog]

16. Gert Clark, but I guess that goes without saying.

I really loved Teresa alot too. I think she would have been a really vibrant, interesting, and outspoken first lady. The right would have absolutely detested her, and maybe that would have made me like her even more.

[Gemini Cat]

17. I liked all of them. I like smart women.

None of the woman are stepford wives, like the sofa wearer now installed in the people's house.

I liked Teresa and Elizabeth a lot, but the woman I wanted to see as first lady, was Gert Clark.

[ICantBelieve]

18. I liked them all...

I voted for Gert, but I loved most of the potential first ladies. None of them are Stepford wives.

[Skwmom]

20. Gert Clark

Articulate, smart, compassionate and REAL. They didn't call her the General's secret weapon for nothing.

[Adelante]

21. I liked them all

I love Teresa Heinz especially. Elizabeth Edwards is terrific. Judy Dean, too. But I gotta go with Gert. Gert as first lady means Wes as prez. :)

[FrenchieCat]

23. Gert should be first lady, Elizabeth Edwards should run for office

Gert is the perfect first lady, with her plentiful resume in meeting world leaders, moving 31 times with Wes, making a home on a salary of $50,000 for years and $90,000 till 2000....all the while raising a child.

She is flexible, resourceful, understands the hard life that so many of us live, and is a real woman from the Bronx. Although an attractive woman, she still rediates "everyday woman". I noticed that she is not vain, and wore the same particular black pantsuit with an embroidered jacket a number of times during the campaign. That tells me that she doesn't feel like she has to project the image of a glamour woman, and she has no obvious problems with it. Means she can stretch a budget....and that's the type of voice we need sleeping next to the president everynight.

Elizabeth Edwards is almost too qualified to be First lady. She should run for her own office. She is tremendously articulated.

Theresa Heinz is also a wonderful woman, but radiates an aura that is contrary to who she really is. She appears, many times, to be out of it, bored, or slightly sick of it all....although I realize that she actually didn't feel that way....but that's what she projected. My husband really didn't like her at all....and I am not sure why. I think she came off as too worldly for a lot of everyday type folks.

[mtnsnake]

33. Perfectly said, Frenchie

and I agree with your husband about Teresa. Sometimes, ya just don't need a concrete reason to have someone turn you off. They just do it naturally. As much as I appreciate her superb intellect, she came off as portraying it just a wee bit too much, that is, a little "too worldly", like you say, for most people to relate to.

Gert, OTOH, you could feel right at home with.

[ultraist]

24. I do believe this poll has been Clarked! LOL!

Elizabeth Edwards was in the lead for days and then all of a sudden, Gert Clark who is much less known, jumps way out front. You all are an organized bunch!

I've been wondering for a while, why it is Clarkies are so organized on the net, yet Clark didn't do too well during the primaries. Dean, Edwards, and Kerry grassrooters were out there in the field more I suppose.

[loudestchick]

26. You don't want to go there.

[Jai4WKC08]

27. I believeyou suppose incorrectly

We were there.

You have to remember that Clark came from nowhere in a few short months. That his grassroots originated in the draft, and his campaign staff of "left-overs" from the other campaigns didn't always know what to do with us. That there was never time for the normal "shake-down" period for the campaign staff that Kerry, Dean and Edwards had. And finally, that Clark's campaign was building steam up until the day of the Iowa caucus, almost catching Dean in NH polls, raising as much money as he did in December '03, more than Kerry or Edwards for the entire fourth quarter, and more than Dean for January '04.

But when Kerry came rolling out of Iowa into his own backyard in NH, it was all over for everyone else. Some just realized it sooner than the rest.

If Clark had entered the race in time to compete in Iowa, maybe if he had done so anyway (since there was an Iowa grassroots campaign, but not strong enough without official backing to get him out of single digits), it would have been a different race and you'd have seen us more clearly perhaps. Or not... there was still a corporate media problem. But he (and us) would have certainly been harder to ignore.

Be that as it may, and regardless of whatever might have been, the core of Clark's grassroots, his base, are organizing ourselves now, and have been since Nov 3rd. If he decides to run again, we intend to be ready.

[Clark2008]

29. Where'd ya hear he didn't do well in the primaries?

Because he did - he beat Edwards five times of nine in the races in which both competed.

Clark came in first in OK.
Second in New Mexico, Arizona and North Dakota.
Third in New Hampshire, Tennessee and Virginia.
Fourth in Delaware and Maine.

He didn't compete in Iowa. He dropped out Feb. 12 after Tennessee and Virginia.

So, how is coming in first, second or third in all those states doing "badly" in the primaries - particularly for a relative "unknown?"

[Skwmom]

30. It's really amazing

considering the corporate right wing media was pushing Edwards and either ignoring or trashing Clark.

[ultraist]

34. Check the primary results, Edwards came in second far more than Clark

Let's not skew the facts. Five times? I really don't care to dwell in the past but the facts are the facts. CNN still has the primary results posted if you are interested.

Delegate Totals
Edwards 534
Clark 57

[dogman]

38. Figure it out, Edwards stayed in longer. EOM.

[Crunchy Frog]

39. That's not so difficult when you remain in the race

long after all the other credible candidates have dropped out. If you're one out of essentially two candidates in a race, you're going to tend to come in second rather alot. I would have been more impressed with Edwards' performance if he had actually managed to win more than one primary, especially after the field had been cleared of competitors, particularly running in Southern states.

However, this is absolutely irrelevent to the discussion on this thread. Maybe you should start a new thread to discuss it.

[ultraist]

41. Edwards did win more than one primary

He won two and came in second in nearly every other primary. Clark dropped out earlier than Edwards because he wasn't doing as well as Edwards.

PRIMARY RESULTS: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/candidates/1803/index.html

It's absurd to say Clark did better than Edwards in the primaries when the actual results show otherwise.

I understand your loyalty to Clark and I admire that. But distorting the facts does not help your cause nor will it attract new Clark supporters.

I have respect for Clark, I really do and I think it's great Clark supporters are organized on the internet. That's a GOOD thing!

[ICantBelieve]

47. It's also absurd to show results...

When one candidate dropped out so much earlier than another. Clark was the only candidate to win a primary that was not in his home state, although it's a little unfair to call both Carolina's Edwards' home state.

It's all silly to argue about at this point.

[Crunchy Frog]

49. Edwards won one single primary

in his birth state of South Carolina. After he dropped out, he also won the North Carolina Caucus, but I'm not counting that because it was not a primary, was after he dropped out, and the caucus itself only involved a tiny fraction of the electorate. Once again, Edwards only won one primary. If you can show me any evidence otherwise, I would like to see it. I do not believe that I am distorting the facts, but I will admit to it if you will provide me with actual evidence. Looking at the link you provided, I see alot of 2nd places after other major competitors were out. I see alot of 3rd and 4th place finishes before major competitors were out. I see one single win listed, Edward's birth state of North Carolina.

I appreciate your admiration for my loyalty to Clark, but this post has nothing to do with it. And I'm not sure where you think I'm saying that Edwards didn't do better than Clark? Maybe you're referring to someone else's post. We're not all interchangeable. And I am not "organized on the internet". I'm just a regular poster here like anyone else. I'm also not cheating in DU polls (ie, "Clarking") when I vote in them, any more than you are.

I will reiterate that it's hardly surprising that Edwards came in #2 in so many primaries, since it was down to just him and Kerry as far as credible candidates went for a large part of the primaries. I would have been more impressed if he had actually won a few when it was down to just those two.

By describing Kerry and Edwards as the two credible primary candidates, I am in no way attempting to denigrate Dennis Kucinich, who I respect a great deal, and who I voted for in my state's caucus.

[julialnyc]

48. Just like the Joementum in NH

[mtnsnake]

36. haha, no way! If anything, it was Heinzed 57ed in the beginning!

While I wasn't surprised at the amount of votes Elizabeth Edwards got, I couldn't believe how many Teresa got at first. I thought she was more of a hindrance than an asset to the campaign. Oh well, I guess I underestimated her popularity here :)

[quaker bill]

31. Judith Dean

Because she would have kept her day job. What an empowering statement that would have been. Nancy Reagan bought new china, by contrast Judith Dean helped sick children, personally.

[phillysuse]

45. Judith Steinberg Dean is an internist not a pediatrician.

While I certainly admire Judith Dean, she does not help sick
children in her professional career.

She is an internist who takes care of adult patients over age 18.

She is not a pediatrician.

Get your facts straight.

[stanwyck]

32. Admire them all, voted for Elizabeth Edwards

though this is a wonderful group of women. So different than the frozen conservatives like Lynn Cheney, Barbara Bush, and Nancy Reagan -- steely dowagers who truly believe they're better than anyone else. Their artificial demeanor and lack of understanding of real issues make them anachronisms. They just want to be adored and not have anyone challenge their "beautiful minds". Their time is past. They're dinosaurs.
All the Dem. First Lady hopefuls are inspiring. They remind me of my favorite First Lady, Rosalyn Carter.

[Stop_the_War]

35. I think Teresa Heinz Kerry would've been a better PRESIDENT than Kerry LOL

[julialnyc]

37. I voted for Gert, but I liked all of them

some of them I preferred to their husbands

[greendog]

40. Mrs. Kucinich

n/t

[julialnyc]

44. he is divorced

[greendog]

46. So?

I'm sure he could find someone to marry him. She'd be my favorite. :)

[tishaLA]

42. Haven't Rev. Sharpton and his wife separated?

I couldhave sworn they had. Maybe I'm wrong.

[mtnsnake]

51. Last I heard they were on the road to divorce

but I think they were still together at least as recent as a couple months ago, anyway. Not sure if they split for good or not.

[julialnyc]

55. I thought during the campaign

he had a "win a date with Kucinich" thing.

Anyway, I love Dennis!

[cg]

43. Gert Clark for First Lady; Elizabeth Edwards for Senate

Gert would be a natural as First Lady. She's gracious and supportive, while remaining a strong individual presence.

Elizabeth Edwards could run for the Senate herself when her health is fully restored.

[youthere]

50. THK all the way baby..

She was gutsy and fresh. She didn't take any crap from anyone. I'm sick of the stepford wives we always seem to get for first ladies (Hilary excluded). Hilary was a blast of fresh air, but even she managed to frequently paste a mealy mouthed simper on her face at times. I think I was more disapointed at not getting Teresa as a first lady, than I was about not getting Kerry as my president.

[Phoebe_in_Sydney]

52. The women were top notch

I actually preferred both THK and Elizabeth to their husbands.

But Wes was my candidate and Gert a woman of real authority coombined with warmth (not easy to do) so she got my vote.

Know nothing about the others. Never saw any of them apart from Dean's wife, once, and she didn't make much impact on me one way or another. I respected her decision to stay out of his campaign for the most part and quite simply that made it hard to choose her in this kind of poll.

[FrenchieCat]

53. Amen to the "Top Notch Women" comment.

The worst of it, is that none of them made it to the White House!
:cry:

[Greylyn58]

54. Elizabeth Edwards is a wonderful lady

She's looks like most women. She's not thin and looking like a Stepford wife. She's a mom and her husband adores her.

Plus she has an incredible heart and soul and she's articulate, smart, well spoken who seemed to generally care.