The Current Crop of Candidates

[warch]

I'm liking Obama...

[classicman]

We should do a cellar poll!

[Griff]

I want Obama v Paul. It'd get my whole scizoid thing out in the open for honest debate.

[Ibby]

I adore Edwards still, but hes starting to look like a longer and longer longshot, so... I'm gonna say Obama with Edwards as veep

[Happy Monkey]

I'll vote for Edwards, not that it'll make much difference, in DC a week after super Tuesday.

[TheMercenary]

Edwards is history, thank fucking God!

[DanaC]

figures one of the few who isn't from/in the us has an opinion.

Well, if you want this to be an American only thread, mark it out as such and I'll be happy to ignore that.

[classicman]

no not at all, Dana - I just found it interesting.

[glatt]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Edwards is history, thank fucking God!

TheMerc is happy about this because if Edwards is out, it means his sweetie, Hillary, is more likely to be on the final ticket. He looooves her.

I'm torn between Edwards and Obama. I was disappointed to see Biden drop out. Not necessarily because he was my favorite, but because he had the strongest foreign policy experience of the Dems.

Obama's talks are inspirational, but I think Edwards has more of a track record of standing up for the little guy and opposing the corporations that are running this country. I'm leaning towards Obama. It's nice to be hearing that he would be more welcome by the rest of the world. We need all we can get in the PR department.

On the Republican side, I think McCain would be my top choice. I think there might still be some maverick left in him. He's pretty damn old though. The rest of that pack is pretty unappealing to me though.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by glatt

TheMerc is happy about this because if Edwards is out, it means his sweetie, Hillary, is more likely to be on the final ticket. He looooves her.

That, and he likes the high healthcare and fuel costs. But you're right - it's the three-way with Bill and Hillary that has his engine revved.

Originally Posted by glatt

I'm torn between Edwards and Obama. I was disappointed to see Biden drop out...

Same here. I took one of those "which candidate's positions most closely align with yours?" tests, and the results were that I should vote for Biden.

Originally Posted by glatt

On the Republican side, I think McCain would be my top choice. I think there might still be some maverick left in him. He's pretty damn old though. The rest of that pack is pretty unappealing to me though.

McCain has the experience, but Giuliani is more scoially moderate/liberal. It would take alot for me to vote repubican, though.

[aimeecc]

Edwards is unfortunately the second place candidate (and I don't mean statistically) . He doesn't have the charisma of Obama, and lacks the experience and exposure of Clinton. It does not mean he's not a viable candidate... and he may have the more complete package of the 3. I think Clinton and Edwards as the final ticket.
I unfortunately think the people currently supporting Obama are not thinking of his electibility as President against a viable Republican candidate. Like it or not, many won't vote for him for President because he is 'black', and many aren't convinced he does not have Muslim ties. And he won't necessarily get the black vote because... he's not really black. He isn't a product of slavery, and had a priveleged international upbringing. I think more people would vote for Clinton as President than Obama. And even more for Edwards.

I am personally for Clinton. She has experience. She has the wisdom to know when to compromise. She has the courage to back down. And the commitment to follow through when she knows shes right.
I see the media bash her for 'crying' - she didn't cry first of all, and other politicians/candidates/Presidents have shown emotion, and cried, so why say its fine for a man but not a woman? I see the media claim she's playing the female card (referring to her reference of boys club in most cases), yet no one dares to claim Obama's playing the race card, even his speeches sound MLKish, and wanting to "unify" the nation has a subtler context of unifying the races. So yes, he is playing the race card. Heck, Edwards plays the "I'm not black and not a woman" card.

No, I'm not racist. I'm not against a black President. But I honestly don't think the U.S. has progressed far enough that a black man will be elected President. And although I'll probably vote for Clinton, I'm not sure the nation has progressed far enough to elect a woman.

I read an interesting column yesterday...

Op-Ed Contributor
Women Are Never Front-Runners
By GLORIA STEINEM
Published: January 8, 2008
THE woman in question became a lawyer after some years as a community organizer, married a corporate lawyer and is the mother of two little girls, ages 9 and 6. Herself the daughter of a white American mother and a black African father — in this race-conscious country, she is considered black — she served as a state legislator for eight years, and became an inspirational voice for national unity.

Be honest: Do you think this is the biography of someone who could be elected to the United States Senate? After less than one term there, do you believe she could be a viable candidate to head the most powerful nation on earth?
......
If the lawyer described above had been just as charismatic but named, say, Achola Obama instead of Barack Obama, her goose would have been cooked long ago. Indeed, neither she nor Hillary Clinton could have used Mr. Obama’s public style — or Bill Clinton’s either — without being considered too emotional by Washington pundits.

The full article can be found at
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/op...rssnyt&emc=rss

[aimeecc]

I like McCain for the experience. And I can't vote for Giuliani - the names just to funny. lol I think Giuliani's over use of 9/11 is really hurting him.

If McCain gets the nomination, he won't be President because he doesn't support troop withdraw. Giuliani... maybe. He does not carry the far right Christian coalition, and they may elect not to vote without a conservative candidate on the ticket. But he will get some democratic votes since he favors abortion and has other liberal stances. Romney can't make it because he's Mormon and definitely won't get the Christian coalition vote (most far right Christians do not believe Mormonism is a Christian religion) but he won't get democratic votes because he's not liberal. That leaves... Huckabee, and honestly, do we want a President Huckabee?

I don't know anything about Ron Paul. I had never heard of him before, and when I first heard Ron Paul was running, I thought "the transvestite is running? And he's got support? What a joke!" Then I was corrected - not Ru Paul, Ron Paul. So my next question was "the guy that owns the hair salon chain?" I was corrected again. I have no clue who the Ron Paul running for President is, although I've been told several times.

[lookout123]

Even if Ron Paul had a chance of making it on a ticket - his blatantly racist statements from the past would shoot him down.

Huckabee is the D's wet dream because he is completely unelectable. He is like a really poor man's version of slick willy with his attempts to be all things to all people and his long record of saying "i wasn't aware..." in answer to tough questions. R's that need a break from strong visible Christianity in the white house will stay home. R's that are fiscal conservatives will stay home. He just won't be able to motivate anyone in a general election.

Giuliani is a goner. He was interesting but never really stood a chance - he's the R's version of Lieberman. "not one of us, but not one of them".

Romney may get the nomination but isn't really electable - not because he's mormon, but because he seems about as sincere as Hillary. His record will be trotted out and words like flip-flop and poll-driven will be used, a la Kerry.

McCain is electable if he can get the nomination, which I'm not sure of. Huckabee and Romney are each stronger in different areas that McCain supporters like, so they'll pull enough into their camps to squeeze McCain out I think. I've never been a huge McCain supporter because I can't stand his media whoring tendencies but I like that he doesn't just take the party line on every issue. He is older than we'd prefer, but I think that will cause him to be more concerned about his legacy from day one, knowing that a second term is quite unlikely. I do think that, if and when he's elected he would be pragmatic about his approach to Iraq and the border issue.

Thompson doesn't stand a chance in hell, but I would like to see him involved in some way, possibly as a VP. Regardless of whether I agree with all of his positions or not he is the only candidate (or politician, really) in years who has put out position pieces which clearly identify an issue and give at least a sketch of his solution. Even if the solution isn't one I agree with I'd like to see someone who is willing to say "This is what I believe!" without consulting the polls first.

It has about a .00000000012% chance of happening but I'd actually like to see a McCain/Thompson ticket. Going in it would be obvious that they are one term guys who have been around long enough to know how the system works and have done their share of maneuvering, both are realist enough to know that they only have a short time to get something done, and because of their age neither is beholden to the party line for fear of future elections.

The D side is harder for me.

Edwards should have skipped this cycle IMO. It was too soon for him to jump back in after the Kerry/Edwards debacle. I honestly believe that if he had taken the cycle off, gone into private sector and just left the limelight for awhile and re-emerged in '12 as either D or Indendent he would have had a great shot at the oval office. A lot of people like his youth (relative) and enthusiasm. They like his down-homey persona. They want to equate him with JFK. I think the guy should have drifted away for a little "seasoning". Hopefully he is smart enough not to accept a VP nod again.

Hillary... I'll freely admit it, I don't like her. I've never liked her, I never will. Is she all bad? No. Is she the anti-Christ? No. Will our nation implode if she is elected? No. I didn't hate Bill Clinton, he had his good/bad just like any other modern president, so that isn't it. I just don't think she has a sincere bone in her body. She has always been for/against whatever the polls suggested was "right" at the time. I don't support a universal health care system. I don't support higher taxes. I don't believe that the government should have any larger role in life that in does right now - I'd prefer to see that role decrease in fact. But from a strictly D point of view, if the R's put up a halfway palatable ticket Hillary cannot win. Every single R mouthpiece would slip into turbo to defeat Hillary. Hannity/Limbaugh/? would work to convince everyone she was growing horns, conspiring with France, and planning to enforce the metric switchover. And it would work. The far right is terrified of the name Clinton. The moderately right are terrified of higher taxes and higher spending (Eff'in joke if you look at the last 7 years, but...). They'd mobilize the nutjobs that don't believe a woman can do the job. They would get every single slightly R leaning person to the polls on election day even if they had to go door to door and drive them. I believe there is exactly 0.0000001% chance of Hillary winning the general election.

Obama. He is the candidate that can win. He's black. So what? That might cost him one or two states that would never vote for a D anyway. He speaks with passion and conviction in words that we all understand. He has "a plan" and unlike Kerry - he might tell us what his plan is before the election. The media will support him. They will play his good soundbytes, not just his flubs. I think he is intelligent and well coached enough to not make the type of flubs Kerry did in the first place. He's been in office long enough that he's not "inexperienced", but not so long that he can't campaign as an outsider.

Again, the D ticket I'd like to see has no possibility whatsoever of happening, but I think it would make a good, electable ticket. Obama/Lieberman. Hannity/Limbaugh and their ilk will still get fired up to defeat the evil democrats but they just can't seem to get as passionate about Obama. They don't hate him the way they hate Hillary. He's not as easy to pick apart as Edwards. He's not a caricature like Kerry. The D's will support and love his anti-war stance and his social ideas as well. The key to this ticket is that Lieberman is a regular guest and friend of the Hannity circuit. A lot of D's would be unhappy with his inclusion but they'd be confident because they'd like Obama and Lieberman is only the silent VP. The right and right leaning R's may fear Obama, but they've been exposed to Lieberman as "a great American" for years now. They've heard him speak in support and disagreement of conservative/liberal policies for years. They like him because he's "one of the good ones". Even the indie's/R's that aren't drawn to the polls in support won't be rabid in their opposition knowing that Lieberman is on the ticket. Hannity will oppose the ticket but he'll have to be careful about his approach and he'll have a harder time playing the fear card to mobilize voters because he has spent so much time praising Lieberman.

Anyway, that is my view on things. Like I said, it won't happen like that, but I think those would be the winning tickets for each party.

[piercehawkeye45]

Good analysis.

If Obama has the ticket I think he will have a good chance even though there is a lack of experience. Also, college kids and people that have been strongly anti-Bush but didn't vote last election will vote for Obama because he is strongly anti-Bush and that he is black (notice how is biggest fan base are white-liberals).

If we get two good tickets, the number of voters might be decently high this year.

[lookout123]

If we get two good tickets, the number of voters might be decently high this year.

Unlikely. Candidates have to move to their extremes to get the nomination so it makes it more difficult to get the best candidates. IMO.