Would have, could have, should have don't exist but I am gonna take a stab at it any way in "What Kerry could have done.
This was the most important election in our life time and we lost. This election saw new frontiers open in small donor and grassroots activism.
These two entities combined on one day to change the face of politics forever, when Dean asked his activist whether he should pull out of federal funding. In that action and Kerrys decsion to follow suit was the only reason Democrats could compete toe to toe in this election.
Taking a cue from this historic occasion this is what I think Kerry should have. done on November 3...
Kerry should have gone back to the people who brought him to the party and asked them what he should do.
I remember a lot of nasty comments from the other candidates in the primaries that Dean was just looking for cover in backing out of the federal funding...uh YEAH!!!!... and we gave it to him in spades.
Kerry should have done the same (and still could). If on 3 November he asked us "What do you want me to do?" I have 7 million dollars set aside and an army of lawyers at the ready.
This would have given him all the cover and protection he needed from the Republican media onslaught...and I would have been the first person praising Kerry for showing great leadership. It would have meant that not only my vote counted but my opinion...I too have to live with the results for the next decade.
There are too many separate factions in this party and none of them will surrive if they act alone. Kerry's actions of quick consession was protecting himself from the Republican onslaught and trying to save some sort of bipartisan unity. Kerry forgot he also had a constituency that he had to reckon with and that UNITY BEGINS AT HOME
A great example of DEMANDING UNITY in the party is Gregoire... she sounds like she is going to be one of the "greats". Definitely, presidential material in the future. Not only did she demand unity but she also demanded that her party stand up and do the right thing.
On Thursday, Gregoire had said that she would concede the race to Republican Dino Rossi if her party chose to ask that only some counties or precincts to counted..
"If they can't raise enough money to do a statewide recount manual recount, then I'm not interested in a recount at all," said Gregoire.
"I want the voters to feel good about the results because all of the votes have been counted in every part of the state and they have confidence that the next governor is the dually elected governor," Gregoire said.
In a sternly worded public statement to her party, Gregoire told party leaders on Thursday to stop talking about a partial recount of an election that ended with her 42 votes behind Republican Dino Rossi.
"My request of the state Democratic Party is simple: Count the entire state or don't count at all," she said in the statement released by her campaign office. "Counting every vote is the only right thing to do."
In an AP interview later, she was even stronger, "I'm saying that at 5 o'clock (Friday), if they haven't called for a statewide recount, I'm done."
Does this woman have balls or what!!!!
Kerry could have blamed me for the recount I really wouldn't have minded.