Which three candidates do you like the least and why?

[Former Republican]

Lieberman - praised Reagan, has a conflict of interest in foreign policy, supported war

Graham - Patriot Act, embarrassed himself in front of Syrian foreign ambassador

Dean (not that I dislike him at all) - stutters a bit too much, moderate economic/trade policy

[maha]

1. Bottom Three

My bottom three are Sharpton (fun in debates, but puh-leeze), Kucinich (I don't trust him; demagogues issues; changes opinions for political expediency) and Lieberman (weasel).

[wyldwolf]

2. I really only dislike Lieberman...

...

[mndemocrat_29]

3. Three candidates

Lieberman-Reagan and Bush praising, his overall campaign has really made me angry.

I actually like the rest of the candidates. I have concerns about all of them, but basically I like all of them far more than I dislike the rest.

My three favorites are:

Kerry-Because he's a strong speaker and would be great on the ticket. He's also fairly liberal (Iraq vote aside).

Moseley Braun-Because she's the best speaker, she supports many great liberal causes, and because she seems like such a nice person.

Gore-OK, so he isn't running, but if he were I would immediately join his camp. He's smart, nice, a good solid Democrat, and his wife would be one of the best first ladies we've ever had. (Now all he'd have to do is pick a better VP this time...)

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. I Know You Didn't Mean Any Harm

but this thread will only polarize people.....

I like em all even Lieberman....He makes me laugh....

[Deja Q]

5. 3, in order:

Lieberman - agreed.
Clark - Trojan Horse worthy of Norm Coleman.
Dean - He's pro NAFTA and the upcoming FTAA; pro-business. We need somebody pro-consumer, pro-worker, pro-PEOPLE. I'm sick of this country being "by, of, and for the corporation." Fucking sick of it.

[boxster]

15. Norm Coleman? Oh, please....

Norm Coleman hid nothing. If the people of MN didn't realize he was a right-wing wacko, they weren't paying enough attention. He is perhaps the world's worst liar.

Remember - this is the same state that elected Jesse Ventura.

[mndemocrat_29]

18. We all knew that Norm was a right-wing wacko

I didn't like him when he was a Democrat either. He was always so smarmy and sneaky.

[leftofthedial]

6. Bush Bush and Bush

all the others would be a quantum improvement

[xJlM]

7. Lieberman, Dean, and Clark

Lieberman isn't much of a democrat, in my book. He's also a war monger.

Dean seems to be getting a pass on all of his flip-flops and revision of former statements. Well, I'm not blind. I've seen a level of dishonesty from Dean that I can't possibly support.

The General, Clark, who suddenly becomes a Democrat when it's expedient to his political future. Anyone who supported Nixon or Raygun just gave themselves three strikes in my book.

[Brucey]

8. Joe is bad, but I still want him on our side, because

he does represent the views of some Democrats. I don't like Gep very much, except for his support of labor issues, because I don't think he has the image or tenacity to win, and I didn't like his sucking up to Bush on the war resolution and other issues. I love Sharpton's rhetoric, policies, and style, but do not think he would be a good candidate because of his past (see Molly Ivens columns).

[Fixated]

9. .....

Dean, to me just doesn't seem like a nice guy.

Kucinich needs to give it up already.

Gephardt: liked him before, but after reading some articles I realized he was a massive hypocrite.

[IndianaGreen]

10. Let's see... Bush, Cheney, and Bayh

in that order.

[clar]

11. I've saved all

my dislike and contempt for bushco. And frankly, those of you who can't see that each and everyone of our candidates is better than the cabal currently running things, amaze me. If for only one reason; the appointment of judges, particularly Supreme Court Justices, is a critical matter. The next President will have the opportunity to nominate at least 3, and probably more, Justices to the Supreme Court, thus shaping this country for years to come. Potentially we could see Roe v Wade reversed, privacy laws rolled back, Miranda gutted, and much, much more. If you can't see this, as far as I'm concerned, you're not seeing much.

[Brucey]

12. 99% or even 100% of those on DU (legitimately)

agree that any Democrat and most repugs would be better than Bush*. We agree, but like to debate our views on the Dems. We will support whoever is nominated, even Joe.

[mndemocrat_29]

21. I totally agree

Probably Justices Rehnquist, O'Connor, and Stevens will retire, and we need a Democrat to select who replaces them. I will elect whomever we select, whether it be Moseley-Braun, Kucinich, Lieberman, Graham, Gephardt, Clark, Dean, Kerry, Edwards, or Sharpton.

[library_max]

35. YES! THANK YOU!

Perfect reply, clar. This thread is so destructive.

[Terwilliger]

13. three

Lieberman - nuff said

Kerry - if this man is the choice of the mainstream party leaders and pols, then Democrats have SERIOUS problems

Graham - No PNACers

[Darranar]

14. These three, worst last...

Clark: As Lieberman, but a little less so; in addition, he supported too many Rebuplicans.

Lieberman: DLC fool, right-wing hawk.

Bush: Biggest right-winger of all, foolish idiot, Ppathetic, horrible, one of the worst presidents ever.

[KaraokeKarlton]

16. Kerry is my least favorite

I hate his proposal of forcing highschoolers to do community service in order to graduate and his claim that he will try to recruit more kids into the military. I also think he only cares about the image and status the presidency would give him instead of actually wanting to do the job. He also lies non-stop and makes excuses for crappy votes. He isn't fulfilling the requirements of his current job and I don't trust him as far as I can throw him. His membership in Skull and Bones concerns me as well.

The other two would be a toss up between Kucinich and Gephardt. Kucinich is too radical for my tastes. I don't trust radicals to be good presidents because they tend to hold views that aren't consistent with the majority of Americans. Being in Congress and the Senate is a much better place for people like Kucinich because all "factions" of the political map should be represented, and it helps keep lawmakers honest and balanced. Gephardt is also lying through his teeth and Vermonters can't stand politicians who lie to the people.

I am neutral about Clark, but have to admit that I am a little concerned about his speech complimenting the current administration. I'm not going to take a position on Clark until he gets his positions together and has official statements out. This is going to take a little time since he just entered the race. He probably should have been better prepared with these things, but I'm not going to hold it against him since he's not a politician.

Dean is my favorite, mostly because I think he's best suited to handle the current problems our next president will face. I trust him because I know his politics and know that he is fair, leads for all people and always does what he believes is best for the people he serves. He has integrity and is a great problem solver.

After Dean, right now my second favorite would be Edwards. I do have some concerns that he doesn't have enough experience, though. I'm also disppointed that he isn't going to try to hold his current position should he not get the nomination. He stands a very good chance of being president in the future, but he's going to need that experience. Maybe he should run for governor of NC instead of president to get the executive experience under his belt.

For third favorite it's a tie between Graham and Braun. Graham has the executive experience I value, but he comes off too stagnant to go anywhere. Braun is a gem, but is too nice and would get walked all over in Washington.

Lieberman...I agree with the person who said he can't be impartial about foreign policy. He's also too big on censorship for my tastes. I hate his voice but do respect the fact that he at least sticks to what he believes in. I just don't agree with him. I don't think he's as horrible as many on here think he is, but at the same time I wouldn't vote for him.

Sharpton...love his zingers but he's too scandalous.

Clark could either go into the top three or the bottom three, depending entirely upon his positions. He will never be my first choice because he lacks the executive experience that I consider to be a necessity in a president. He might be a good VP or cabinet member...but I need to learn more on his positioins before deciding. As it stands right now a Dean/Edwards ticket would be my ideal.

[greenwow]

17. Only three?

There's only one real Democrat running, so we should dislike many more than only three of them! Sharpton is the only candidate that represents us. He is the only one that is a real change from this "more of the same" type of candidates the party has run the past few decades.

[Loyal]

19. Why does Lieberman have a conflict of interest

in foreign policy? Because he's jewish? No offense, but if Lieberman wasn't Jewish, he'd still be a hawk about the middle east.

[Darranar]

22. Completely agreed...

He's the wrost, but that has nothing to do with his Jewishness.

[KaraokeKarlton]

26. Lieberman is clearly

biased in favor of Israel. He puts his religion above the presidency of the US even on the campaign trail by refusing to take part in important events that conflict with his religion. This is an indicator that he is unable to put the best interest of this country above the best interest of his religion. In light of the significance of the problems between Israel and it's neighbors in the middle east, we can't afford to elect someone who is going to put his religion above the country. It's not the fact that he's a Jew, because the same thing would apply to any other religion. If a Catholic put his religion above his public service as a politician, he would also have a conflict of interest regarding family planning and abortion issues. This is part of the problem we currently see with the religious right's control over too much. It influences the country in a way that isn't just or fair to all citizens.

[Loyal]

20. I dislike these three, I'd say:

Kucinich - Because he's friends with Nader and had him at a rally of his.

Sharpton - Because of his anti-semitic past.

Dean - Because he's not Kerry.

[Darranar]

23. What's wrong with being friends with Nader?

That will help the Democrats, not hurt them; if the Greens are behind Kucinich, all the more reason to support him.

[JohnKleeb]

24. It would be a good thing

if we got the greens back. I am a dem you bet.

[Loyal]

25. But Kucinich won't be nominated,

under any circumstances, so it will only hurt us, Darranar. And you ask, "What's wrong with being friends with Nader?" Maybe what's wrong with it is that Nader was a Republican enabler in 2000. You know well that Gore would have won NH and FL had Nader not been in the race. Don't tell me that all of the Nader voters would have stayed home. If even half of the Nader votes had voted for Gore in NH or FL then Gore would have won. I'll never forgive the traitor for that, I'm sorry. Maybe you don't have as much to lose as a lot of us, Darranar, but it DID make a difference who was elected president in 2000, as we're seeing now.

[Darranar]

37. How will it hurt anyone?

Kucinich suported Gore in '00. The Nader voters didn't know that they were enabling Bush; if they knew how close it was going to be, at least 99% would have voted Gore.

[quaker bill]

28. Bottom 3

Lieberman - He supports the war

Gebhardt - He supported the war and his excuse to cover his vote is lame

Kerry - Same reason as Gebhardt.

[djg21]

27. Leiberman, Leiberman, and Leiberman.

I would vote for Bush (gasp) before voting for that ass.

[DemPopulist]

29. In descending order: Lieberman, Dean and Clark

Though I can see good qualities in all three and would certainly vote for them over Bush.

Lieberman: I don't like his anti-populist, pro-corporate politics. In particular, I'll never forgive him and the DLC for running away from Gore and sabatoging the Democrats in 2002 with their "let's not play class warfare" Republican-lite bullshit when we could've made great headway on Enron and corporate corruption issues. I liked his speech yesterday though.

Dean: Simply not my type of Democrat. A Paul Tsongas-Bill Bradley neo-liberal posing as a populist, and I simply don't identify with that New England deficit hawk/"last honest man in politics" self-righteousness that he embodies. Don't like his gun control stance either, and he seems to have no personal camaraderie with the other candidates in debate, which doesn't bode well for how he'd relate to Congress.

Clark: I like the man, I like what he has to say and how he says it but I don't like the contrived nature of his candidacy. I'm not crazy about cult-of-personality candidates with zero political experience, whether it's Perot or Schwarzenegger. I don't like the idea that he can sweep the field simply by getting a lot of big-name backing. And I wasn't reassured by the Nixon/Reagan/Arkansas Republican party revelations. I thought he was a longtime Democrat, not a newcomer, so I was pretty disappointed when all that came out after he announced.

Alright, enough bashing...

[ozone_man]

30. Lieberman, Clark, Kerry.

Least favorite:

Lieberman - He voted for the war in Iraq. He is not much different from Bush in most views. He is way too religous and probably beholden to Israeli interests.

Clark - He appears to be a DLC candidate with alot of shady connections like NED and Homeland Security that scare the hell out of me. He is a general, good, let him stay in the military or maybe take a cabinet defense position.

Kerry - He voted for the war in Iraq. I was very against this war, it was senseless. He has no spine, yet he complains that he was given faulty intelligence information. Having said that, I might vote for him if he won the nomination, but not Lieberman or Clark.

Most favorite:

Dean - He is the best overall candidate. Dean is a centrist and will draw left wing Democrats (some Greens) and liberal Republicans. He is good on the environment as well, which is very important to me. He has the governing experience, which none of the others have. He and his wife are physicians and he is exceptionally well qualified on health care issues. This is very important. He is a public school advocate. His two kids went all of the way through VT public schools. He is a fiscal conservative and we need someone to balance the budget (Bush can't), or at least not spend what little money there is on the military. If it needs to be spent, spend it on creating JOBS. Dean has passed gay rights legislation. The liberal Republicans backed him on this effort. I understand that the Republicans intend to make an issue out of gay marriage. They are desparate IMO.

Kucinich - I wish I knew more about Dean Kucinich, but what I know I like very much. He is my ideal candidate in the progressive sense. If he can make it closer to the front of the pack, I would vote for him. Seems very genuine. I wish him good luck in the Houe bill that rejects this $87B. Force Bush back here to face the economy.

Moseley-Brown - Don't know enough about her, but she sounds very progressive.

[grasswire]

31. there's a difference between...

...."liking" and "considering not electable."

Most of the candidates I consider unelectable. The ones who might have a chance are Dean, Clark, Kerry, and perhaps Gephardt.

Only one candidate, in my opinion, has an overwhelming chance.

Two candidates give me extremely negative vibes. Kerry and Lieberman.

[ozone_man]

32. Yes, there is a difference.

Clark and Lieberman give me extremely bad vibes (DLC, ..., ?). Kerry just doesn't have the spark or the guts to stand up to issues like the Iraq war.

[West Coast Democrat]

33. Here's A Question For 'Former Republican'....

Can you point to a thread you've started recently which hasn't been about one of the follow topics?:

Going easy on Schwarzenegger
Discussing which Democratic candidates are the worst and why
Whether Republicans lurk here at DU

[linazelle]

34. Who do you like?

What's with your nonopinionated threads?

[sangha]

36. I prefer NOT to do Rove's homework

.

[Skinner]

38. The person who started this thread has been tombstoned.

I'm locking.