A question about Dennis not endorsing Kaptur.

[freshwest]

This was on a big forum with a video, and the feeling by some was DK showed bad sportsmanship or party disloyalty by not endorsing Kaptur in the general election against 'Joe the Plumber.'

He mentioned that there had been some dirty politics involved; and that he did take his former district by a vast majority. Last year, he saw the writing on the wall, and it wasn't the first time his seat had been threatened or he'd lost an election.

The conversation went back and forth and I joined in. The thread got long. But soon after that thread, I had a question to ask of those accusing Dennis:

Is it possible his not endorsing Kaptur was in order to help her?

After all, the same district has enough support for Palin supporter's Joe. And the people who voted against Dennis in the newer parts of his district, may have been making a resounding statement about his beliefs and policies.

If he endorses Kaptur, might not the GOP candidate tar her with the slurs that they used on Dennis and not vote for her?

I ask this because although DK has had to be a scrapper, I don't believe that the video proved he is not endorsing her out of spite or sour grapes, so to speak.

In that thread I mentioned that when I met DK and watched the floor questions, it was clear he also supports Obama, despite not being able to change his positions on some things that DK people see as essentials. So he sees the big picture and that may be why he didn't endorse her on television.

And I'd love to see DK in Congress in Washington state. Let's see how that works out. In the meantime, he will do what he can until his term is up.

[LWolf]

1. I don't know why he didn't endorse her.

It doesn't really matter to me.

His loss matters.

[phantom power]

2. What upsets me is that the GOP gerrymandered and forced them to compete for a seat.

Is anybody in OH worried about *that*?

[jeff47]

4. It's what happens when D voters stay home in years divisible by 10.

As far as gerrymandering, it's not that badly drawn of a district. Ohio lost a district, so somewhere two incumbents would be running against each other. And since D's stayed home, R's got to draw the lines.

[eridani]

5. You mean connecting the Kucinich residence to Toledo by a thin strip of beach

--which is underwater at high tide is acceptable? Puleeze Louise!

[jeff47]

6. Believe it or not, there's much worse districts. (nt)

[jeff47]

3. Kaptur's already known as a liberal and it's a blue district

So an endorsement or lack thereof isn't going to help or hurt Kaptur - Kucinich voters should have a very easy time pulling the level for Kaptur based on her record, and the few conservative voters in that district aren't going to pull the lever for her whether or not Kucinich endorsed her.

Joe is set up to lose badly to Kaptur, which is why the R's are running him. Might as well toss aside a useless weight and maybe he'll finally fade away.

[freshwest]

7. That will be good. Still, we've lost an important progressive voice by GOP tricks.

[jeff47]

8. It's not really a dirty trick

There's redistricting after every census. It's not really a dirty trick when it happens every decade.

[freshwest]

9. Tom DeLay. n/t