Attila the Hun is also to the left of George W. Bush, that doesn't mean Kerry deserves my vote. People like Amos, Brucie, et al just can't get beyond mainstream thinking, so they say things like their last cupla posts above.

Fact of the matter is, the majority of true progressive leftists aren't supporting Kerry. They are supporting Nader as an independent, Cobb for the Green Party, or the SWP's Calero.

Then there are the Libertarian wild card votes this year too, which will likely swing against the Republicans this time, though they usually side with the Repubs more than they do the Dems. This time, they want Bush out, real bad.

Like Bobert said, enough people may go off and vote for a variety of independent and third party candidates who otherwise would have voted for Bush, but who are as pissed off at the B/C camp as the Dems, so will vote indie or 3rd party instead of Repub this time.

The more the media ignores this group, the more likely I think it is they MAY have a more significant impact on the election (when you combine all those right leaning 3rd parties) than Nader and Cobb will. The SWP just isn't organized outside the Northeast and some areas of California anymore to have much effect, except in those pockets where they have deep roots, like NYC.

I'm really hoping that this election will be the high watermark for hate. In our local MN races it is so far beyond the pale of decent and civilized, I just can't stand it anymore. Too many "Wellstone's Dead: Get Over It" bumper stickers, and attacks on a woman running for the Dems who became a beloved crusader against child exploitation and advocate for missing children, after her son was abducted by a stranger, and never found. The local Republican Bushman whom she is trying to unseat in a House race has gone on the typical Republican attack against her. I really hope it blows up in the faces of the Republicans this year.

But no matter how vile I believe the Republicans to be at the national, state, and local levels, it doesn't mean I support the Democratic endorsed candidates. In Minnesota they have a tendency to run as a Dem to get elected, and then switch parties once elected, like Norm Coleman did, and Norm's clone in the St Paul mayor's office has done (Norm Coleman, who defeated Wellstone/Mondale in the wake of Wellstone's death two years ago).