Gephardt announces candidacy

[SpencerH]

Gephardt has finally thrown his hat in the ring. Announcement

Every time I see this guy I wonder who could possibly vote for him? Words fail to express my disgust with this slimeball. Him, Kennedy, Daschle, Lott, and Armey. I feel the need to shower.

[Boris Godunov]

Ok, why is he such a slimeball? He's stood up for what he believes, often in the face of greater opposition within his own party.

I certainly don't think he's any more of a slimeball than Bush or Hastert or Dole, and he's certainly not as much of a slimeball as Lott, DeLay or Phil Gramm.

[Stefu]

He looks incredibly smarmy. Don't vote him.

I mean, we have Prez the WonderMonkey, and what can Democrats find to face him? Mutant-headed Kerry, this smug-looking git and Lieberman, who looks like a ventriloquist's puppet. Aren't there normal-looking folks in American politics?

[Shi Huangdi]

Gephardt is probably too left-wing to prevail.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Ok, why is he such a slimeball? He's stood up for what he believes, often in the face of greater opposition within his own party.

I dunno... the fact that Lott gets slammed for speaking in front of 'white supremecist' groups, but Gephart can do the same thing and get away with being thought of as a minority friendly candidate?

[Lancer]

Except for Gore, ALL democrats over the age of 35 are currently running for president.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

Ok, why is he such a slimeball? He's stood up for what he believes, often in the face of greater opposition within his own party.

I dunno... the fact that Lott gets slammed for speaking in front of 'white supremecist' groups, but Gephart can do the same thing and get away with being thought of as a minority friendly candidate?

So, an old Newsmax article complained about Gephardt's debating of a primary-election opponent in 1988 at a meeting of the Metro South Citizens Council, which was primarily at the time focused on "states rights" issues, and because people who complained about Lott aren't complaining about this, that makes Gephardt a slimeball?

Please. Remember that Lott's racism was backed by both his words and deeds. Unless you can find me a transcript of the debate in which Gephardt pandered to the organization's views on race (if they had any official ones at the time), I'd say the comparison is pretty damned weak.

[SlowwHand]

John Kerry is the pick of the litter.

[Static Universe]

Gephardt doesn't stand a chance in the Presidential election. Believe me, I live in the 3rd District in St. Louis and have followed this clown my whole life.

The Council of Conservative Citizens, which Lott got in trouble for dealing with, is practically headquartered in his district. It may even be actually be headquartered there, but I can't remember right now. Cross membership between the Metro Council and the CCC was very high.

Gephardt's district includes the southern part of the St. Louis City*, much of St. Louis Country, and 2 large rural counties further south, predominantly white.

Most whites have fled the City of St. Louis proper out into the County, and the ones who remain, who are heavily racist, blue collar middle class/poor (e.g. my family), reside within his district. Racial politics here in St. Louis are extremely devisive. Ending desegregation is a major issue, also.

Gephardt has played a major role in keeping his district white. The fact that the area got an influx of tens of thousands of Bosnian refugees, all of whom hate blacks, is no coincidence.

The 3rd District have also been gerrymandered to put most of the blacks into the 1st District, which includes North St. Louis, predominantly black. (Also Missouri's smallest district.)

Plus, Gephardt has never run against a genuine Republican challenger in his life. Politics in the 3rd District is a Democrats only affair, and gerrymandering has kept it this way for years. The Democratic primary pretty much decides who will win the Congressional election.

Gephardt is heavily in the pocket of the Unions, and this is where the majority of his money and support are likely to come from.

Finally, he looks like a clown. What's up with those eybrows?



* A long time ago, St. Louis set a boundry on the city limits so their taxes wouldn't go towards paying for stuff in the rural surounding area. Now those farms are all affluent suburbs, and most of the whites with money** have moved out of the City proper into the surrounding St. Louis County area, which is more or less a group of suburbs incorporated into a single bloc with it's own mayor they call a County Executive. The City itself has less than 1/2 million people, mostly working class, and is still depopulating.

** And blacks too after the unspoken real estate conspiracy to keep them out of the white areas was finally broken.

[Bosh]

Gephardt is probably too left-wing to prevail.

Yup, he'll be squished in the primaries. In a lot of states independents can vote in primaries, and they'll all be voting in the Dem primary since there's no way Bush will lose the Republican one which will give the more right-wing dem candidates an edge.

[MBD]

And then you've got Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) trying to position himself to the left of Gephardt, while targetting basically the same constituency. Kucinich probably won't get far, but he could siphon off some of Gephardt's supporters, and Gephardt needs all of them that he can get.
Plus, Gephardt has been sniffing around the Democratic nomination since 1988, so he's old news, and unlikely to get the nomination.

[DuncanK]

You guys are too tough on him. I bet he could win in France or Germany.

[Imran Siddiqui]

So, an old Newsmax article complained about Gephardt's debating of a primary-election opponent in 1988 at a meeting of the Metro South Citizens Council, which was primarily at the time focused on "states rights" issues, and because people who complained about Lott aren't complaining about this, that makes Gephardt a slimeball?

It's more than that, and I didn't hear it from Newsmax. Gephart has praised the group many times and has gone to meetings by himself.

It makes Geppy a slimeball, that he decided to go after Lott for the CCC thing (and if you don't believe that the House Democrat leader has a role in just about everything the party does, you have your eyes closed).

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
(and if you don't believe that the House Democrat leader has a role in just about everything the party does, you have your eyes closed).

Not necessarily.

Can you be sure about that statement? After all, in a parallel universe, House leaders might have utterly no power to influence what their party does.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Perhaps they might not .

But if we define the debate to this universe and dimension, US House Majority Leaders usually have a big hand in formulating party policy, but that isn't an absolute rule... I'm sure some Majority Leaders were kept out, but not Geppy.