Kerry Wants To Be the Next Big Mistake that Americans Will Die For
US Democratic primary votes reveal growing popular hostility to Bush
By Patrick Martin
6 February 2004
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts widened his lead in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination February 3, winning five of the seven primaries and caucuses and the majority of the delegates at stake. Senator John Edwards won the South Carolina primary, while former general Wesley Clark won a tight three-way race in the Oklahoma primary.
Kerry won over 50 percent of the vote in Missouri, North Dakota and Delaware, and over 40 percent in Arizona and New Mexico. Democratic Party officeholders and big financial contributors have begun to swing behind his campaign, and on Friday he was slated to receive the endorsement of Missouri Congressman Richard Gephardt, who abandoned his own presidential campaign after losing the Iowa caucuses January 19.
In terms of delegates won, however, the results of the third week of primaries were well short of conclusive. Kerry now has 261 delegates, just over 12 percent of the 2,162 required to win the Democratic nomination. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean follows with 121, then Edwards with 102, and Clark with 81.
Dean, the frontrunner nationally until mid-January, polled a derisory 9 percent and received no delegates in Missouri, the most populous state among those voting Tuesday. In South Carolina and Arizona, states with large black and Hispanic populations, the turnaround was even more dramatic. Dean topped the polls in both states a month ago. But on Tuesday he won 4 percent in South Carolina after spending $1 million on television ads, and 14 percent in Arizona, where he won three delegates at the cost of $1.4 million in TV ads.
Dean initially suggested that even without winning any states he would carry on his campaign through the March 2 “Super Tuesday” contests, which include California, New York, Ohio and four New England states. He was quickly called on the carpet by key supporters, including officials of the two major unions that have backed his campaign, AFSCME and SEIU, and announced that he would quit the race if he did not win the Wisconsin primary February 17.
Kerry’s two other major opponents, Clark and Edwards, were reduced to the status of Southern regional candidates, winning Oklahoma and South Carolina respectively, and moving on to campaign in Tennessee and Virginia, which vote February 10. Neither is expected to challenge Kerry effectively in such northern states as Michigan, Washington, Maine and Wisconsin.
There has been some effort by the media to build up Edwards as Kerry’s main rival in the wake of the South Carolina vote, Kerry’s only sizeable defeat, where Edwards won by 46 percent to 30 percent. Edwards, however, had predicted he would win delegates in each of the seven states voting Tuesday, and failed in four of the seven, falling short of the 15 percent threshold.
The most stridently pro-war candidate in the Democratic campaign, Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, quit the race Tuesday night after poor results. He polled less than five percent of the total votes cast in the seven states and did not win a single delegate. Lieberman’s right-wing campaign, pledging to continue the “third way” policies of Bill Clinton and enthusiastically backing the invasion and occupation of Iraq, won little support.
In Delaware, for example, Lieberman campaigned extensively, had the backing of the state’s senior Democratic politicians, and still won less than 11 percent of the vote. In Arizona, he was endorsed by the Arizona Republic, the state’s largest newspaper, but won only 7 percent, and no delegates.
The other Democratic candidates fared even worse. Reverend Al Sharpton, despite concentrating all his efforts in South Carolina, where half the Democratic primary voters are black, won only ten percent of the vote and not a single delegate. He trailed Edwards and Kerry by a wide margin even in the Sixth Congressional District, with the largest concentration of black voters. Dennis Kucinich won no more than one percent in any primary (although slightly higher in the caucuses), and no delegates.
Anger and illusions
Tuesday’s balloting continued the trend shown in Iowa and New Hampshire, with heavy turnouts in many of the states by voters deeply concerned over joblessness and economic insecurity, opposed to the US war in Iraq, and hostile to the Bush administration.
This opposition at present, however, takes the form of illusions that one or more of the Democratic candidates represents a genuine alternative to the policies of the Republican right.
The vote in South Carolina was a record for a Democratic primary, while the turnout in Arizona doubled the total of the 2000 primary. The most striking result was in Oklahoma, where 300,000 voted in the Democratic primary in a state where only 470,000 voted for Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 general election. Primary turnout is normally a fraction of the general election vote.
Exit polls confirmed the widespread anger at the Bush administration. The figures were so stark that the Washington Post—a fervent supporter of the war in Iraq—headlined its analysis of voting patterns: “Rising Anti-Bush Sentiment Driving Democrats to Polls.” The Post wrote: “The Democratic presidential contest went national yesterday, and what was true in Iowa and New Hampshire proved true coast to coast: Voters in these elections are deeply dissatisfied with President Bush, and defeating him in November is their prime issue, according to exit polls.”
In all five primary states—Delaware, South Carolina, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arizona—exit polls found that eight out of ten voters described the US economy as “not good” or “poor.” (The two caucus states, New Mexico and North Dakota, had no exit polling). Nearly 50 percent said their families were worse off financially than four years ago, before Bush took office.
More than half of Democratic voters in Delaware described themselves as “angry” at the Bush administration, with slightly lower figures in Arizona and Missouri. One-third of voters in Oklahoma and South Carolina said they were “angry,” while another 40-50 percent said they were “dissatisfied” with the Bush White House.
More than 80 percent of those voting in the Delaware Democratic primary opposed Bush’s decision to go to war with Iraq. The figure in South Carolina—home to many military bases—was nearly 75 percent opposed to the war, and over 80 percent among black voters. Two thirds of those voting in Arizona and Missouri opposed the war, and this figure was nearly 60 percent in Oklahoma.
Given that the states voting February 3 are largely rural and generally considered to be among the more politically conservative states, the exit poll numbers are all the more significant. (Bush carried five of the seven in 2000 and lost New Mexico by only a few hundred votes). Particularly significant is the opposition to the Iraq war in both South Carolina and Oklahoma, where more than 70 percent of the voters were from households with at least one active-duty soldier or veteran.
The February 3 primaries and caucuses coincided with the publication of several new national opinion polls on the presidential race, showing Kerry would defeat Bush by a comfortable 53-46 margin if the election were held now, with Edwards as well holding a narrower edge on Bush. The polls also showed a majority opposing the war and a dramatic decline in Bush’s approval rating, which fell below 50 percent.
The primary turnout, the exit poll results and the national opinion polls all belie the image of the Bush administration which has been systematically cultivated by the American media over the past three years, portraying Bush as a political colossus with widespread popular support and unchallenged standing on the fundamental issues of war and peace.
The initial weeks of the presidential campaign have begun to reveal the real state of popular opinion. Bush is an unelected president, regarded by a substantial fraction of the public, if not a majority, as illegitimate. Installed in office by the Supreme Court after losing the popular vote, Bush nonetheless behaves as though he had an overwhelming public mandate for his extreme-right policies. This pretense has been sustained by the cringing of the congressional Democrats and the adulation of the media, especially since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Link to entire story....
By Patrick Martin
6 February 2004
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts widened his lead in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination February 3, winning five of the seven primaries and caucuses and the majority of the delegates at stake. Senator John Edwards won the South Carolina primary, while former general Wesley Clark won a tight three-way race in the Oklahoma primary.
Kerry won over 50 percent of the vote in Missouri, North Dakota and Delaware, and over 40 percent in Arizona and New Mexico. Democratic Party officeholders and big financial contributors have begun to swing behind his campaign, and on Friday he was slated to receive the endorsement of Missouri Congressman Richard Gephardt, who abandoned his own presidential campaign after losing the Iowa caucuses January 19.
In terms of delegates won, however, the results of the third week of primaries were well short of conclusive. Kerry now has 261 delegates, just over 12 percent of the 2,162 required to win the Democratic nomination. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean follows with 121, then Edwards with 102, and Clark with 81.
Dean, the frontrunner nationally until mid-January, polled a derisory 9 percent and received no delegates in Missouri, the most populous state among those voting Tuesday. In South Carolina and Arizona, states with large black and Hispanic populations, the turnaround was even more dramatic. Dean topped the polls in both states a month ago. But on Tuesday he won 4 percent in South Carolina after spending $1 million on television ads, and 14 percent in Arizona, where he won three delegates at the cost of $1.4 million in TV ads.
Dean initially suggested that even without winning any states he would carry on his campaign through the March 2 “Super Tuesday” contests, which include California, New York, Ohio and four New England states. He was quickly called on the carpet by key supporters, including officials of the two major unions that have backed his campaign, AFSCME and SEIU, and announced that he would quit the race if he did not win the Wisconsin primary February 17.
Kerry’s two other major opponents, Clark and Edwards, were reduced to the status of Southern regional candidates, winning Oklahoma and South Carolina respectively, and moving on to campaign in Tennessee and Virginia, which vote February 10. Neither is expected to challenge Kerry effectively in such northern states as Michigan, Washington, Maine and Wisconsin.
There has been some effort by the media to build up Edwards as Kerry’s main rival in the wake of the South Carolina vote, Kerry’s only sizeable defeat, where Edwards won by 46 percent to 30 percent. Edwards, however, had predicted he would win delegates in each of the seven states voting Tuesday, and failed in four of the seven, falling short of the 15 percent threshold.
The most stridently pro-war candidate in the Democratic campaign, Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, quit the race Tuesday night after poor results. He polled less than five percent of the total votes cast in the seven states and did not win a single delegate. Lieberman’s right-wing campaign, pledging to continue the “third way” policies of Bill Clinton and enthusiastically backing the invasion and occupation of Iraq, won little support.
In Delaware, for example, Lieberman campaigned extensively, had the backing of the state’s senior Democratic politicians, and still won less than 11 percent of the vote. In Arizona, he was endorsed by the Arizona Republic, the state’s largest newspaper, but won only 7 percent, and no delegates.
The other Democratic candidates fared even worse. Reverend Al Sharpton, despite concentrating all his efforts in South Carolina, where half the Democratic primary voters are black, won only ten percent of the vote and not a single delegate. He trailed Edwards and Kerry by a wide margin even in the Sixth Congressional District, with the largest concentration of black voters. Dennis Kucinich won no more than one percent in any primary (although slightly higher in the caucuses), and no delegates.
Anger and illusions
Tuesday’s balloting continued the trend shown in Iowa and New Hampshire, with heavy turnouts in many of the states by voters deeply concerned over joblessness and economic insecurity, opposed to the US war in Iraq, and hostile to the Bush administration.
This opposition at present, however, takes the form of illusions that one or more of the Democratic candidates represents a genuine alternative to the policies of the Republican right.
The vote in South Carolina was a record for a Democratic primary, while the turnout in Arizona doubled the total of the 2000 primary. The most striking result was in Oklahoma, where 300,000 voted in the Democratic primary in a state where only 470,000 voted for Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 general election. Primary turnout is normally a fraction of the general election vote.
Exit polls confirmed the widespread anger at the Bush administration. The figures were so stark that the Washington Post—a fervent supporter of the war in Iraq—headlined its analysis of voting patterns: “Rising Anti-Bush Sentiment Driving Democrats to Polls.” The Post wrote: “The Democratic presidential contest went national yesterday, and what was true in Iowa and New Hampshire proved true coast to coast: Voters in these elections are deeply dissatisfied with President Bush, and defeating him in November is their prime issue, according to exit polls.”
In all five primary states—Delaware, South Carolina, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arizona—exit polls found that eight out of ten voters described the US economy as “not good” or “poor.” (The two caucus states, New Mexico and North Dakota, had no exit polling). Nearly 50 percent said their families were worse off financially than four years ago, before Bush took office.
More than half of Democratic voters in Delaware described themselves as “angry” at the Bush administration, with slightly lower figures in Arizona and Missouri. One-third of voters in Oklahoma and South Carolina said they were “angry,” while another 40-50 percent said they were “dissatisfied” with the Bush White House.
More than 80 percent of those voting in the Delaware Democratic primary opposed Bush’s decision to go to war with Iraq. The figure in South Carolina—home to many military bases—was nearly 75 percent opposed to the war, and over 80 percent among black voters. Two thirds of those voting in Arizona and Missouri opposed the war, and this figure was nearly 60 percent in Oklahoma.
Given that the states voting February 3 are largely rural and generally considered to be among the more politically conservative states, the exit poll numbers are all the more significant. (Bush carried five of the seven in 2000 and lost New Mexico by only a few hundred votes). Particularly significant is the opposition to the Iraq war in both South Carolina and Oklahoma, where more than 70 percent of the voters were from households with at least one active-duty soldier or veteran.
The February 3 primaries and caucuses coincided with the publication of several new national opinion polls on the presidential race, showing Kerry would defeat Bush by a comfortable 53-46 margin if the election were held now, with Edwards as well holding a narrower edge on Bush. The polls also showed a majority opposing the war and a dramatic decline in Bush’s approval rating, which fell below 50 percent.
The primary turnout, the exit poll results and the national opinion polls all belie the image of the Bush administration which has been systematically cultivated by the American media over the past three years, portraying Bush as a political colossus with widespread popular support and unchallenged standing on the fundamental issues of war and peace.
The initial weeks of the presidential campaign have begun to reveal the real state of popular opinion. Bush is an unelected president, regarded by a substantial fraction of the public, if not a majority, as illegitimate. Installed in office by the Supreme Court after losing the popular vote, Bush nonetheless behaves as though he had an overwhelming public mandate for his extreme-right policies. This pretense has been sustained by the cringing of the congressional Democrats and the adulation of the media, especially since the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Link to entire story....
posted by A. J. Franklin @ 00:16
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