2008 U.S. Presidential Election - Primaries

[mr_pikachu]

I honestly disagree with the majority of your post, but I do see where you're coming from in some areas. I'd like to bring up a few specific things...

immigration is no longer the issue that was. Its a republican issue and will not be a national issue, it may be an issue in southern states but those typically go to the Republicans anyway and not democrats. [...] Immigration may well be an issue where you live, but its not a national issue.

I get Roy's point of view here, as we both do live in what would be considered the southern half of the country (fairly near Mexico). It does seem like you're right that it's no longer a Democratic issue, but I think that's largely because they've pushed the issue aside in order to quell the attention. If people aren't thinking about border security, they're not going to do change the current system, and that was the typical left side of the debate anyway. If a Republican gets into office and, more importantly, if that Republican can sway Congress a bit, this issue may be brought back up on the national level. That's the concern here, I think; will it be a future issue, or will it continue to be a non-priority?

I don't agree with anything the democratic party really says, my thoughts particularly on economic issues are more in line with the republicans. But of course republicans are so conservative and hardly could be called progressive.

This is precisely why some analysts describe fiscal conservatives/liberals and social conservatives/liberals. Fiscally, I personally lean way to the right. Socially... not really. For all I know, I may be a little to the left in that category. Anyway, I definitely get what you mean there.

But I want a Clinton win. Obama has enjoyed nothing but praise and good press, where are the people taking a look at what issues he wants to bring to the table, who are going to be his people in the white house and exactly what does this guy have that is so great? He is bound to burn at some stage. If its not in the democratic primary race, then its the national election, if its not that, it will be as President. Do you really want someone like him in the white house? I would think its scary.

It seems to me that his charisma is what's attracted people to Obama thus far rather than policies in and of themselves. That's part of the problem with the Clinton strategy; she's gotten so embroiled in fighting with Obama that she's not making him prove his "change" message. It's all an abstraction thus far, with few explicit plans. And by this point it's too late... anything Hillary does or says to challenge him now probably won't affect the polls until after Super Tuesday. I'm not sure the idea of him in office is quite as scary as you say, especially since Hillary in that seat is terrifying to me. But to each his own.

The Clintons are a machine but they've also been manufac tured as some dirty team that enjoys nothing more than dirty politics. Obama is playing the race card and the black community is playing the race car. Clinton was right about his win in South Carolina. 53% of all blacks voted Obama.

Only 53%? I assumed it was a lot more. How does this prove Hillary's point, then? I mean, she's been riding the female vote thus far (particularly in New Hampshire, where she was supposed to take a double-digit loss). How is that any different than Obama leading his demographic, or for that matter, than any politician having an advantage in his own race, gender, state, etc.?

Also, I think the "dirty tactics" are largely referring to the spread of rumors, such as Obama being a drug dealer. Now, let's be fair. I assume Obama's probably engaging in some underhanded moves as well; it seems like most politicians have to use some treachery at some point, for better or worse. But I think it says something that we haven't heard about anything like that from the Obama campaign but we get it all the time from his rival. There's something to be said for tact, and that's something the Clinton campaign has seriously lacked.

As for Rudy Guliani - If Rudy can't analyse the primary process in america, how the fuck is going to run as President? I mean what a fool, if he got third placements in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina and then Michigan and Nevada, he'd be on the news and his poll numbers would be up and he would have won the Florida primary and he would have won Super Tuesday and he'd prolly make it to the whitehouse. But no he couldn't even run a Primary caucus.

Agreed. His strategy was more than insane, it was stupid. Even though he's probably the best candidate, Giuliani doesn't deserve to win the nomination.

Mike Huckabee is a christian running a godlike campaign, its disgusting and this guy doesn't seem to have any good skills whatsoever. Hes a loser.

I honestly don't have a problem with running a "godlike campaign." What worries me is, as I said before, he seems to be doing everything he can to avoid talking about the current and future issues. I don't want the president to be a guy who can't address anything without referencing the past. It's the "what have you done for me lately?" rule.

McCain - Now theres someone with conviction, I can't agree with ever going to Iraq it was a stupid mistake that Fox News and all media really liked to propogate until it all went wrong so they decided to go down the other extreme route. If you go into Iraq you really have to stay there, because the last thing anbyone needs is Chaos. And who had the conviction and the know-how even though some republicans were going down the path pulling out troops. McCain. And don't bring up that he wanted an amnesty bill or that he didn't vote for taxes. Thats just bullshit spin from the pathetic far-right, the conservative right. The right side of politics that no other country in the world likes.

McCain's views on the war are right on in my book. You're correct when you say that a sudden pull-out (like what has been proposed by some on the left) would blow up in our faces as well as everyone else's. Even a scaled withdraw would have to be done very cautiously and with great forethought. But fiscally, I disagree wholeheartedly with McCain. Like it or not, I do think he's screwed up quite a bit of stuff there; I just wish another Republican candidate looked as good as he did in terms of foreign policy.

it'll be a long process but that could be good for Clinton. Because Obama will one day crash.

I'm unsure about your situational analysis, but you're definitely right about this. The longer this goes on, the worse Obama's chances are. There's a reason they call it the Clinton machine.

Oh American politics how absolutely phoney, no wonder the rest of the world can't understand Americans you're so stuck on issues the rest of the world has forgotten.

Sorry, but this just demands a counter-comment. If it's so phony and irrelevant, why do you bother talking about it?