Mondale to endorse Kerry

[Zomby Woof]

Breaking on CNN's Inside Politics.

The momentum has shifted.

[XanaDUer]

1. Great news!

:)

[Zomby Woof]

2. if anyone asks who Mondale is...

I'll :nuke: :D

[XanaDUer]

3. Yeah, I know

lol!

[Feanorcurufinwe]

4. Who's Mondale?

just kidding

[XanaDUer]

6. Har har

:)

You just want to see ZW go ballistic, dontcha?

[askew]

5. That is very disappointing as a Minnesotan who really admires Mondale

and is supporting Dean. But, congratulations to Kerry.

[WilliamPitt]

7. Does throw the Wellstone army behind Kerry?

Mondale took that baton and ran with it in 2002. Will the Wellstone folk follow Mondale, or is this a stand-alone?

[Zomby Woof]

19. no details yet

The announcement was a "teaser" by (pains me to mention the name) Judy Woodruff. The story will flesh out soon, and will be interesting to see if that occurs.

Despite the naysayers here, it is a sign that the Dean momentum is stalled, and Kerry goes into Tuesday with a decided edge.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[blm]

29. Kerry and Wellstone worked on great legislation together.

Public financing of campaigns being one of them.

They also worked on veterans issues together, and environmental issues.

They were very close, and I'm surprised that so many ignored the closenes of the two, even on their voting records.

[KittyWampus]

31. Their Voting Record Certainly Divurged

I wonder if Wellstone would have missed that Medicare vote.

[blm]

33. Their voting record is the closest of all the candidates.

What makes you think differently?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

37. He certainly would have joined the cloture vote and filibustered

as Kerry did.

[no name no slogan]

38. a few ex-Wellstone staffers work on Kerry's MN campaign

I heard this around town last fall, so I guess it's not suprise that Mondale is endorsing Kerry. They're both cut from the same cloth: big-business, pro-labor old-timey "party Democrats" who have a lot at stake in keeping control of the party away from "the rabble".

Keep in mind that there are two types of Wellstone supporters in MN: the ones that were with him in 1990, when the party machinery was trying to keep him down, and the ones who bandwagoned on after 1990, when Wellstone became part of the "establishment".

Most of the 1990-era supporters were ex-Jackson '88 delegates, and came from the peace and justice movement. By 1996, most of these fold had dropped out of party politics and became disenchanted with the "Washington Wellstone". As a matter of fact, I distinctly remember one peace activist saying in 1999 that the P&J community didn't really have much in common with the late-model Wellstone anymore, as he'd pretty much become part of the Clinton machinery.

However, I'm seeing a lot of the 1990-era folk coming back out this year, mainly for Kucinich, but a number for Dean, as well. As far as I can tell, those are the only two campaigns that have any visibility in MN this year-- Kerry has a formal "organization", but the only Kerry supporter I've ever met is Hubert H. Humphrey IV (aka "Buck" Humphrey).

Mondale is not nearly as popular in MN as Wellstone was, and there was little overlap in their support base, other than the "Party Democrats". Mondale just doesn't have the same appeal that Wellstone did. His endorsement means something, but not a whole lot unless you're already a part of the party machinery.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

25. I don't think so.

Wellstone was one-of-a-kind.

[West Coast Democrat]

28. Kerry is my #2 choice behind Clark

I think Clark has a better chance in the swing-states. My goal is to get shrub out of office.

[Ficus]

39. I think the staff is broken up

and around the country on these various campaigns, and working for Wellstone Action! but that's something interesting to think about.

Would the average volunteer attracted to Paul Wellstone be attracted to John Kerry? Good question!

[returnable]

8. Congrats to Kerry

:toast:

[Buffler]

9. Great

America's only 50 state loser. Not an endorsement I would be trumpeting.

[Zomby Woof]

20. He won MN

No one has ever lost all 50 states, not even Goldwater.

He lost to Reagan, and unless one is a Reagan worshipper, there is no shame in a principled loss to that charlatan. It was America's loss, more then Mondale's.

[Adjoran]

10. It could help in Minnesota

Mondale is almost as popular there as Harkin is in Iowa.

Oh, wait, never mind.

[no name no slogan]

60. No he's not

but I see your point :evilgrin:

As a MN native, I can tell you that Mondale is not nearly as popular as Paul was. Paul was a true activist from the streets-- Mondale is a party insider who's got plenty of support from the party and business elite of Minnesota. Paul represented "the little guy", Mondale represents the party elite, big labor bosses, trial lawyers, and the more "liberal" business establishment.

Mondale is much more like Kerry than Wellstone was. Kucinich is more like Wellstone in most respects-- in fact, DK campaigned for Wellstone in MN in 2002, before the plane crash.

Paul was seen as the agent of change, while Mondale is just seen as "politics as usual". Paul was seen as principled, and not afraid to stand up for what's right, while Mondale is seen as the "don't make waves" type that was more concerned about his career that what was right.

Both were great senators for MN, but only one will be regarded as a true hero by future generations.

[maxr4clark]

11. Great

Clinton and Carter aren't endorsing until nomination, and:

Dean was endorsed by Gore, who lost;
Clark was endorsed by McGovern, who lost;
Kerry will be endorsed by Mondale, who lost.

That sure evens the playing field!

Edwards is looking left out here. Is there still a Democratic presidential hopeful out there, looking for a candidate to succeed where he could not?

[maxr4clark]

12. I neglected to mention

that I believe Kucinich has been, I think, endorsed by Nader, who lost. But Nader isn't a Democrat, so that doesn't count.

[Zomby Woof]

16. Not an official endorsement

Nader gave him some props, but he is not listed as one of the offical endorsers on DK's site.

[overground1]

13. Dukakis I'm sure will endorse Kerry too, leaving poor Edwards out

[curse10]

24. he already has

he goes to Kerry events all the time in Mass

[Name removed]

64. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Freddie Stubbs]

14. Mondale came with 4000 votes of losing MN in 1984

And the voters there thought even less of him in 2002.

[dolstein]

15. If Mondale REALLY wanted to help Kerry, he'd endorse someone else

NT

[genius]

17. It certainly has. Now we just need to get some publicity

for Dennis.

[Zomby Woof]

22. Pitt's article

That would be a great way to get the word out.

[LWolf]

53. It sure would.

How do you get something like that into the mainstream, where the voters who don't know who he is can see it?

[curse10]

18. Cool beans!

:-)

[goodhue]

23. very big

Ted Mondale endorsed Dean last June and is one of his lead campaigners here in MN. Walter had not endorsed anyone as yet but I think many figured he would follow Ted to the Dean bandwagon. But that was before the wheels began to fall off.

A whole lot of MN politicians including Minneapolis Mayor Rybak tied themselves to Dean last summer. It will be interesting to see how they finesse it, if he doesn't pull it off.

[Cocoa]

26. second Fritz in two days for Kerry

he got Hollings yesterday.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

35. Hey, that's funny!

:)

[Karmadillo]

42. Too bad Fritz the Cat is dead n/t

n/t

[Bush loves Jiang]

65. That's not a good thing...

Fritz was a Klansman.

Byrd's respect for liberty suggests that he has reformed.

Fritz's contempt for liberty (as shown by his support for TCPA and the infamous Fritz Chip) suggest that he hasn't.

[CalebHayes]

27. What did Clark do wrong?

[wyldwolf]

34. nothing, why do you ask?

[CalebHayes]

41. I thought he endorsed Clark?? hm? am I right?

[maxr4clark]

44. Edwards is so cute.

[wyldwolf]

50. Yes, but why do you equate that with doing something wrong?

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

very cool nt

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

30. Mondale got destroyed

So will Kerry - what a disaster for our party.

32. I admire Mondale

but I think that he tends to play it safe. So, I'm not surprised at his endorsing Kerry. I don't think he is a conservative democrat, he's an old style democrat, which is why I admire him. However I do think he tends to play it safe, so I don't see it as a sign that the momentum has shifted. It is a continuation of the trend all along, that the more established (I do not mean establishment or conservative) part of the party will go with Kerry. This, for me, explains Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Kerry as well.

Kerry is my second choice. I would not be uncomfortable with him or Clark as the nominee, but I still prefer Dean.

[Demo Gog]

36. Would somebody,

please, for the LOVE OF GOD, tell these former Democratic losers to stop endorsing great, viable candidates!!! This is getting ridiculous. It's like people like Braun, Mondale, Gore, McGovern, etc. need one more chance to be in the limelight. DO YOUR PARTY A FAVOR, AND DISAPPEAR INTO HISTORY! PLEASE!

Kerry, Edwards, Dean, Clark in '04!
No more loser endorsements!

[kerryistheanswer]

40. Great News

I wish Mondale won in MN in 2002 after Wellstone's tragic death. This will serve as a big boost in Minnesota.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

45. Mondale losing was like a 'double death' in 02

that was hard.

[no name no slogan]

63. It better, for Kerry's sake

I've not seen hide nor hair from Kerry's campaign in MN since last fall. And he's one of four who actually have campaigns on the ground here.

[xultar]

43. You would think these people would have learned something,

Don't endorse wait for the nomination

[Feanorcurufinwe]

48. I have the feeling

you wouldn't be saying that if Mondale had endorsed someone else.

[Cuban_Liberal]

46. A nice endorsement. Congrats to the Kerry folks!

An honorable man, Vice-President Mondale, and a nice pickup for Sen. Kerry. :)

[rumguy]

47. boy that's gonna get a lot of us fired up

[IndianaGreen]

49. From one landslide loser

to a future landslide loser!

Kerry will lead our party to ignominious defeat!

[windansea]

51. trivia question

Today's Question:

What presidential candidate won the largest electoral vote total and what was the total and the year?

The Answer:

Republican incumbent Ronald Reagan in 1984 won 525 electoral college votes and Walter Mondale, his Democratic opponent, won 13. Reagan won every state in the union except Minnesota and Washington D.C.

[jsw_81]

52. True

But President Washington won every single electoral vote when he ran. President Monroe got 99 percent of the electoral votes in 1820.

[windansea]

54. interesting

:thumbsup:

[poopyjr]

55. But Dean WOULDN'T??? LOLOLOLOL

[JohnKleeb]

56. I heard

:)
Sweet isnt it.
BTW ZW, I still support DK but Kerry is my co choice, much like I think you made Edwards when I saw your DK-Edwards ticket. Good stuff.

[Zomby Woof]

57. we non-purists should stick together

;-)

[JohnKleeb]

62. heh

All great guys dont ya think those 3.

[flaminbats]

58. Mondale endorses Kerry, McGovern endorses Clark, and Gore backs Dean..

Does this mean that Mondale and McGovern are shifting to the right, or that Gore is shifting to the left? :eyes:

[Zomby Woof]

59. hmmm

Dean is further to the right than Gore, so I don't know where your analogy is going, other than a superficial comparison of past defeated Democrats and some kind of derision because of that. The "winner" mentality in America equates character with victory. Fact is, sometimes the winners have it, and sometimes they don't.

Mondale served with honor in the Carter administration as VP, and landslide loss notwithstanding, who here will deny he was on the right side of history opposing Ronald Reagan? All these people gloating about Mondale's loss just to take a dig at Kerry ought to wish American voters were a bit wiser in 1984.

I have to wonder if we are really that much wiser 20 years later.

[Doomsayer13]

61. I'm still waiting for LBJ and JFK

to raise from the dead and endorse somebody.