Quote from: shewolfI want a guy that's a real Christian.

I want to be completely unconcerned with a candidate's personal religious convictions.  I want it out of the political arena, just like the Founding Fathers intended.  What I want is a qualified candidate who can get the job done.

Quote from: KoltarMany of the other campoaigns (both Democrat and republican) are leaking or saying things that they have to apologize for 24 hours later. Imagine that when they are in office....

Imagine?  Just take a look at...well, every presidential adiministration that I can recall.  Nature of the beast, I'm afraid.

!i!

...just now really waking up after an unintentional nap . (LONG two days at work, merging two inventories of game product into one inventory)

So the winners of the Iowa shindig appear to be Obama and Huckabee.


 Interesting.


I'm hoping we DO NOT not have any clear fron runners by June.

- Ed C.

IME the people who most want Hillary to run at all are Republicans, because they're acutely aware of the fact that there are snow balls who have better odds to go an all night bender in hell with Randy Rhoads than she has of ever winning an election.  

I can't think of a political figure more universally reviled on both right and left than Hillary Clinton.

I just find it entertaining in the same way other people find Football or Basketball seasons entertaining.

Truth may be that many people don't think about who they are really going to vote for until sometime late August before the election day.

I just really rather that the choice actually be INTERESTING this year.


- Ed C.

Quote from: J ArcaneIME the people who most want Hillary to run at all are Republicans, because they're acutely aware of the fact that there are snow balls who have better odds to go an all night bender in hell with Randy Rhoads than she has of ever winning an election.

I think the Republicans will ultimately be happy with any 3 of the Democrat frontrunners at this point because both Obama and Edwards are hurting their chances in the fall elections by running to Hillary's left in the primaries and both are weak in the experience department.  That might go over well with young Democrat primary voters looking for big changes but I don't think it's going to wear so well over the next year, especially because the Republicans are not going to be so tame in hitting the Democrats as they've been at hitting each other so far.

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaI want to be completely unconcerned with a candidate's personal religious convictions.  I want it out of the political arena, just like the Founding Fathers intended.  What I want is a qualified candidate who can get the job done.Imagine?
!i!

By my statement, I meant a guy who shows his religious convictions in his actions, not by his words.

I think Thompson could do the job. The only issue is getting the asshats in Congress to think about the country, not their reelection chances.

Quote from: shewolfBy my statement, I meant a guy who shows his religious convictions in his actions, not by his words.

I understand, and, by and large, I agree.  However, I'll also stand by something I said to my wife a couple of weeks back when she voiced her doubts about voting for a Mormon: I'd vote for a fucking Satanist if I thought he (or she) would do the job well and honestly and uphold the Constitution, without his religious beliefs undermining those duties.

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaI understand, and, by and large, I agree.  However, I'll also stand by something I said to my wife a couple of weeks back when she voiced her doubts about voting for a Mormon: I'd vote for a fucking Satanist if I thought he (or she) would do the job well and honestly and uphold the Constitution, without his religious beliefs undermining those duties.

QFT

Quote from: John MorrowI think the Republicans will ultimately be happy with any 3 of the Democrat frontrunners at this point because both Obama and Edwards are hurting their chances in the fall elections by running to Hillary's left in the primaries and both are weak in the experience department.  That might go over well with young Democrat primary voters looking for big changes but I don't think it's going to wear so well over the next year, especially because the Republicans are not going to be so tame in hitting the Democrats as they've been at hitting each other so far.

I disagree. Republicans (and Republican-leaning independents) simply aren't committed to their dislike of Obama and Edwards in the same way. Hiliary is a uniting, galvanising force for the Republicans. If she's nominated, you can guarantee a high GOP turnout on election day, no matter who the Republican candidate is. Fundamentalists will vote for Mormons, homophobes will vote for gays, Ku Klux Klansmen will vote for Al Sharpton, it doesn't matter: all that will matter is stopping Hiliary.

The same isn't true of Edwards or Obama. If the choice is, say, Obama/Huckabee (or Obama/Romney, or Obama/Giuliani, or Obama/Paul, or Edwards/any of the above four Republican candidates), then I bet there'll be a weak as piss Republican turnout on election day: many Republican supporters will look at the candidates and say "Well, I don't like Obama/Edwards', but not enough to make me vote for that damn Baptist/Mormon/New York moderate/libertarian".

Well, I voted last night at my caucus for Obama.  

My analysis:

Of the three viable Dem candidates, Hillary is too polarizing and Edwards just doesn't have what it takes to be a front runner.  Plus, Obama gives great speeches.

And so does Huckabee.  It's no surprise to me that he won on the Republican side after hearing him talk.  I don't think he has enough of a national support structure to win, though.

Ron Paul is a libertarian, and thus will only attract the more fringe elements.  Plus, half of them are probably too libertarian to actually want to do things like register with the government to vote.  

Romney won't win because he's Mormon, he's a flip-flopper, and he lacks the charisma to pull that off (if he had the tongue of Reagan or Clinton or even GW Bush, he'd be OK).

Guiliani would do better, except he's too moderate for the party core.  If he can convince them he's the most viable for the general election, he could still pull off the primary.  But so far, it seems that voters would rather vote for someone further to the right.

McCain might pull out a last minute victory, provided he can convince the voters he stands for change and not the status quo, despite his age.

And then there's Thompson.  Someone that I think could do very, very well in the election except for the fact that the man seems to be running the laziest campaign I've ever seen.  He's a decent actor, but his public appearances have been lethargic at best.  He just seems too half-hearted about wanting to win to actually do it (like he was expecting them to just hand the election to him).

As of this post Hillary wins the Democratic Primary and McCain wins the Republican Primary for New Hampshire.  Obama dogged Clinton to the end, with Edwards as #3; Romney and Huckabee are #2 and #3 with Guiliani, Paul and Thompson trailing in that order.

At least MSNBC's live coverage had its funny moments.

I think that the Republicans might still run Romney if they think they can't win, thus saving a better candidate for the next election.  As George Burns said "Never go on following children, animals, or George W. Bush."

But I mostly follow Canadian politics because I like slapstick more than standup comedy.

I just love the fact that its still something of a race right now - nothing has been decided.

This just makes things more interesting.


- Ed C.

Just remember kids, polling data is worth precisely as much as you pay for it - in most cases, nothing.

Quote from: KoltarI just love the fact that its still something of a race right now - nothing has been decided.

With only two state primaries out of the way, it sure as shit had better be a race still.  This is something that bothers me about the structure of the primaries -- individual states are so eager to tout themselves as king-makers, they keep pushing their primary dates earlier and earlier, undermining the effective influence of other states.  Now, states like California, New York, and Texas don't worry so much about being beaten to the punch in the primaries, because they're king-makers in the actual elections.  I'd rather like it if "Super Tuesday" was the date of primaries for all states.

!i!