Congratulation to Dean Supporters. Great Numbers in Washington.

[WiseMen]

Looks like you will spit the delegate pot with Kerry. Good job, I know it was a lot of hard work.

No candidate could wish for a stronger, organized and more dedicated group of supporters than all of you who rallied to Dr. Dean, especially in States such as Washington and Michigan.

There are only a few ways in which Kerry volunteers surpass you (and I won't mention those here).

[jpgray]

1. Testament to your hard work that he's still in the thick of it

:toast:

[George_Bonanza]

2. Yes, making me a little uneasy =)

Dean deserves some success for all his hard work, even if he is now a longshot for the nom.

[maxr4clark]

3. Dean was expected to walk away with Washington

as of mid-January; he has had a lot of support here for a long time. Kerry, in contrast, had virtually no support here before Iowa, and it hasn't been visible since, either. I'm more surprised that Kerry has bounced that high than that Dean has held on to that much support.

Congrats to both Kerry and Dean for their good results here.

[texasmom]

4. Yes, the Kerry bounce

has been extremely surprising to me. I'm going to have to go review my history of primaries to see how much of an anomaly it is. It's baffling to me considering where he was two weeks before Iowa.

Congratulations to Dean supporters! As I'm looking at it right now, Dean has 30.5%. Excellent showing!!

[progressivebydesign]

5. I caucused in Washington today.. here's my take on that Kerry Bounce.

I noticed in my caucus, that Kerry drew some very conservative voters to his camp. It was funny, because I know Bush is painting him as a liberal, yet several of the people were like.. Bush was my first choice, but now I'm with Kerry. Hmmmm.

Also! Lots of people were pro-Dean, but going with Kerry because of that catchy new thing, "electabilty". Many of them used that term repeadetdly. People are afraid of giving Bush four more years, and they feel as though they have the magic key by going with Kerry. Because he's polling well against Bush right now, it makes sense to them. The Kerry people were extremely aggressive (I'm being nice). They were outright disparaging to Kucinich and Dean in their speeches to convert voters to their group. They used a lot of the lines about Kerry being the only one to beat Bush.. and likening Kucinich and Dean to Nader in 2000.

Caucuses are folksy.. but they suck. Most of the people that came were retirees. Most of the people my age said they were disappointed that everyone they knew never did the caucuses, because no one could get away from.. kid's sports, clubs, activities, jobs, etc.

[texasmom]

6. That is very interesting...

thanks for explaining it. It's a certain demographic that is most able to caucus at the given time.

[philosophie_en_rose]

9. Kerry is getting a lot of conservatives.

I caucused today also and there were quite a few people there for Kerry. Most of the older adults supported Kerry. I heard a lot of "I don't like that man Dean. He's so mean." :shrug:

Also, there was a large faction that I remember from the "Support the Troop" pickets I drove past. There was a person there in my precinct that is basically a freeper, but has had such a hard time looking for work that he couldn't support Bush any longer. He actually said "Screw the war, what about my kids?" It was very heartwrenching.

As much as I supported Dean in the caucus, Kerry had the support of another large faction in the room: the veterans. I made a joke about AWOL Dubya that made the freepers cringe, but the veterans went on and on about Dubya's fake aircraft carrier landing.

I don't know how I feel after today. I'm disappointed that the reasons that people weren't supporting Dean were based on O'Reilly rumors and media spin. However, I am happy that so many diverse groups came together as Democrats and discussed politics without physical violence. I honestly have no clue why Kerry is gaining so much "Joementum" (c), but I will happily cast my vote for him if he can carry that energy to the general election.

I want Dean to win, but we have so many good people and any of them are better than Bush.

p.s. I'm a delegate to the County convention. I can't wait for that drama to begin. :)

[calimary]

18. I hear ya, philosophie - I want Dean to win, too, but I realize it's the

longest of long shots at this point. And it escapes me, too, how Kerry came back from the dead so effectively. But yes, I too will support Kerry if he's to be THE guy. Just wish it coulda been "Hollerin' Howard."

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

13. Got a "My heart is with Dean but I'm worried about 'electability'"

at my caucus, too.

Pervasive. I wonder where that notion came from?

[JNelson6563]

7. hell how about paid staffers

Here in northern MI we have a Dean staffer and a Kerry staffer (an aside, Kerry's campaign called the Dems before sending staffer and the first thing out of their mouth was "Is Dean sending staff?").

The Dean staffer has been organizing events, making calls and just busy as can be. She worked caucus sites all day today, splitting her time between the two in this county.

The Kerry staffer has done a lot of shopping and sleeping, organized no events and didn't bother to show up at any local caucus sites today.

We had three candidates represented by volunteers staffing tables today, Clark, Kucinich and Dean. I wish I had a Euro for every time someone asked me why Kerry didn't have a table.

Yes, some work real hard for their votes, some do not.

Julie

[shance]

8. Has Kerry already bought this primary? Whats up with not showing up?

Unbelievable. Although, I appreciate your posting. More Dems are going to get wind of this and see it for what its worth.

I cannot see how I could vote for this guy, or if it would even make a difference. I know it would between him and Bush, but hes going to get smoked by Bush. Electibility my ass.

[WiseMen]

16. Try my posts on Why Kerry will win. I have been right before.

[pacifictiger]

10. Interesting

post response numbers at the moment: kerry 18; Dean 67; Clark 78; Edwards 17; Kucinich 49; Sharpton 14. I also find it interesting that the medias "mean dean" image is still being reflected by voters.

[mrdmk]

11. It rhymes

:hi:

[Uzybone]

14. not really

Dean and Clark supporters are known to post back and forth to each other, inflating their numbers. Thank goodness DUs primary forum doesnt decide the primary.

[mrdmk]

15. That is the sprirt

:shrug:

[frustrated_lefty]

12. Thank you, Wisemen.

You offered genuine support, in a way, and I offer you genuine thanks. Really.

[NV1962]

17. Congrats: 30%!

With 92% of results in, that looks very impressive.

Well done Dean Teamers in WA!