Democrats on campus are uniting behind Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) after his landslide victories Super Tuesday.
“It’s not just that Kerry won, but that Democrats have come together and we are ready to move on together,” Don Eggert, co-chair of Students for Kerry, said.
Although Kerry supporters campaigned that their candidate was the Democrat most electable in a race against President Bush, Eggert nevertheless felt the field of Democratic contenders this primary season was extremely strong.
“Howard Dean made it OK for Democrats to be angry. Wesley Clark made it OK for veterans to be angry at the president. John Edwards showed that Republicans don’t own the South,” he said.
Sen. John Edwards’ (N.C.) decision to pull out of the race was disappointing to the senator’s supporters. Even though he finished strong in the Wisconsin primary, polls showed he trailed heavily behind Kerry’s momentum in states holding primaries Super Tuesday.
“John Edwards had too much ground to cover in too little time,” Jonathan Mandell, chair of Students for Edwards, said.
Mandell said Edwards supporters would now back Kerry because of their shared desire to defeat President Bush.
“Whoever supported Edwards is definitely ready to rally behind Kerry to beat George W. Bush … Edwards supporters want what all Democrats want: someone to beat George Bush. And they are going to rally behind Kerry,” Mandell said.
Edwards is expected to formalize quitting the primary contest today in a press conference from North Carolina. According to Mandell, Edwards will likely endorse Kerry for the presidency.
Now that Kerry is the assured Democratic nominee, the question remains as to who will fill the spot of the vice presidential candidate. Although many have mentioned Edwards as the best choice, Edwards previously denied he would accept the position.
Additionally, some Democrats feel that despite Edwards’ popularity, he would not necessarily make the Kerry ticket more electable.
“It’s not enough just to balance the ticket; we need to be strategic about it. I don’t know that Edwards is necessarily the best vice presidential candidate,” Eggert said, adding that a candidate from a state with a large amount of delegates would make the most sense. “[But] I’d like to see him as attorney general,” Eggert said.
Kerry was not the only winner Tuesday night. Former Vermont Gov.Howard Dean, who pulled out of the race after his winless campaign lost the Wisconsin primary, took his home state of Vermont by nearly 24 percentage points over Kerry.
His win may not factor into the primary race, but Dean’s victory in Vermont still proves to some of his supporters that he was a strong candidate in the primary race.
“It’s definitely proof of the good he’s done in Vermont. All that he has been saying about his record being fantastic was true,obviously,” Shira Roza, chair of Students for Dean, said.
Although Roza said that she is drawn to a candidate’s stance on the issues rather than a party affiliation, she indicated she would probably work to elect Kerry in the fall.
“I feel like getting Bush out of office is the main point. I mean, it’s getting ridiculous,” she said.
