I started out backing Kerry early on, but he never seemed to gain any traction & I'm looking to back a winner. Kerry's sense of entitlement & (I admit it) his move from scruffy anti-VN War vet to the wife of the catsup queen really began to bother me.
So I was sliding toward Dean there for a while. I don't buy the Dean--is-unelectable meme. I think he's one tough little dude who would take it to GWB. But when Clark enetered the race I was swept away & for a while there believed Clark was the Dems best hope. I still think he'll make a good president if he gets the nomination, but I'm moving back toward Dean as the guy who has the staying power & organizational skills to put together a strong campaign against Bush.
I actually don't think the stuff going on inside the Clark campaign matters to your average voter, though; what it does reveal, however, is organizational weakness & that can translate into foul ups as the primaries rev up. Still, one good showing & Clark will take off again.
In any case, as a Democrat & political junkie, I've narrowed my preferences to Dean / Clark. (I have begun to suspect that a congressperson or senator can't compete in the 2004 election. This is going to be an outsiders' election.) So I find the passion with which the Deanies battle the Clarkists here at dKos surprising & a little troubling. Eyes on the prize. Eyes on the prize. Say it with me, now: Eyes on the prize.