Has Kerry been the frontrunner all along?

[bushclipper]

He started out as the obvious frontrunner. Then Dean took over. His internet fundraising and activist supporter base was widely heralded. His stance against Bush was widely reported. He has instant name recognition.

Then Clark entered. His resume trumps Bush's in every way. His titles are highly impressive. Instant frontrunner.

But when it came time to vote, they voted Kerry. Polls indicate that the trend will generally continue.

Were voters just trying out Dean and Clark before turning back to Kerry?

Take it easy on me. Not quite as up-to-date on everything like many of you are.

For the record: Clark supporter unless he drops out.

[evil_orange_cat]

1. nobody was the "front-runner" until a vote was cast

the media created Dean-mania, which gave publicity to his cause, but inevitably lead to his downfall...

[MaineDem]

3. Love your sig line(s)

How very appropriate.

[evil_orange_cat]

6. lol thx, I get lots of compliments :D

[onehandle]

2. If you go back and read the news and online opinions...

The Party and the Media said he was. Most regular people who knew anything about politics viewed him as the front runner.

However, polls put Lieberman at #1. Pure name recognition.

[MaineDem]

4. Until Iowa...

No one really cared or took any interest in the candidates until Iowa, other than died-in-the-wool political wankers like us.

I don't know if there really was a frontrunner until that time.

[Lurker Number001976]

9. I'd even say most still don't care

At least that's the case in my personal experience. Most people I work with are blue collar Democrats and plan to vote for whoever gets the nomination, but have absolutely zero interest in the process of selecting the nominee. The heated drama that goes on on sites such as this are for political junkies, but it hardly represents a majority of Democrats.

[newyawker99]

12. Hi Lurker Number001976!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[BeatleBoot]

5. Timing is everything in an election

And for the life of me, I do not understand why the Dean campaign was mailing literature to my state before Christmas of 2003.

My state doesn't vote until next month.

[wyldwolf]

7. Lesson learned for 2008 or, if we win, 2012!

[Eloriel]

8. Only in his own mind n/t

[isbister]

10. I thought..

Lieberman was the frontrunner at first.

[leyton]

11. He was but due to name recognition.

He topped all the polls because everybody was like, "John who? Howard who? Carol Moseley-who?" But I think the expectation was that as John Kerry got more recognition, he'd become the front-runner.

Kerry also probably topped early polls in NH, because during his reelection run in 2002 he flooded the Boston media market with commercials, and that market feeds southern NH.