President of the US of A, the Poll

[StrongInTheArm]

Originally Posted by Rankenstein

Oh, I know. But, as Julie says, it's the principle. I definitely think there should be a 'none of the above' option. Or you should be able to use your vote as an 'against' instead of 'for'. So you may not be bothered about voting for anyone in particular, but there may be a candidate you really don't want in power and you could do that. In which case, Julie could vote against Obama or McCain depending on how she feels.

I agree there should be a none of the above option. Of course in the UK we have the lovely Monster Raving Loony Party which kind of acts as the same thing.

Its so arrogant of candidates in an election to think that people want to vote for only them. It makes a nonsense of democracy if the people don't have their preferred choice on the ballot paper.

Julie: A paper trail is essential for true democracy, I don't know how they provide this with electronic ballots or if they actually do at all.

[Julie]

On the Diebold (evil!) machines we had around here, there's a little part where it prints out your ballot. But its under glass part and you as a user can't really even read it... so who knows what the heck it is printing out either. *sigh* Either you've got the damn punch ones where sometimes they don't line up properly (or the hanging chads issue), which can screw you up, or you've got the electronic method where you don't truly know if your vote is being counted properly.

[navyfalcon]

The topic was what do you think the outcome would be when one of the principle players gets in ??
How would it effect the main issues ??
What effect on abortion ??
U.S. security (the illegal aliens issue) ??
Terrorism (who and how would they address this issue) ??
Economy (would we go into a recession, depression or recover) ??
War in Iraq (would we pull out or continue) ??
Would Congress support or oppose the new president ??
interesting topic - hope to obtain many views - then we can see who was correct on most points.
What do you think the main issues are and how would you correct them - not easy !!!
falcon

[phlegm]

Shouldn't the poll be updated, now that Giuliani was sent back cowering to the corrupt, special interests law firm that he had been "working" for? *smirk*

[Brian]

Any poll until the official party winners are crowned would be kind of pointless I think

[South]

I mentioned this earlier in this thread and wanted to update now that the video is on youtube. This is not a group of random voters. It's not even a group of random democrats. These are Barack Obama supporters. They are rallying for him. They are proudly and vocally supporting him for the highest position in the world. These are the men and women chanting the "change, change" he's branded in their minds like zombies at his rallies. Not just one or two of them, this group is made up exclusively of Obama supporters.

One simple question. Name one thing he's ever accomplished. Classic.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=NgXPVmlXKQI&feature=related

and

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PzFOOcEQtP0&feature=related

[Atom]

I was going to laugh but, really, that's pitiful.

[Futo]

Think we can rule out John McCain then.

[ara]

i vot for John S. McCain

[phlegm]

Originally Posted by South

One simple question. Name one thing he's ever accomplished.

A cynic could ask that question of any of the candidates who are running. Has Ron Paul accomplished anything?

[zeruel]

Who do you think would win? I don't want Hillary to win...

[South]

Originally Posted by phlegm

A cynic could ask that question of any of the candidates who are running. Has Ron Paul accomplished anything?

A cynic? All people are obligated to ask that of any and all candidates running for office, particularly that office. If you're going to ask to be president you'd better:

A) Bring an impressive resume
B) Pander to a base that can be lead around like zombies with flowery words.

I'm NOT cutting on Obama. He's just another lawyer / politician running for president. I'm cutting on his supporters who are wide-eyed and lathering at the mouth for someone they know nothing at all about. It is a shining example of the face of liberalism as I've always seen it....now caught on camera. Baseless, paper thin fanaticism without reason.

I'm not an Obama supporter. I recognize him as a dangerous choice for that particular office for a variety of reasons, yet I COULD HAVE ANSWERED THE QUESTION. The man is not totally without accomplishments in his life. It's a true testament to the kind of people who support him that they couldn't.

I do understand the liberal plight right now. They've backed themselves into a corner. The only possible tickets they've left themselves with are Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I'm pretty sure that secretly they're thinking that maybe that Mondale / Ferraro ticket wasn't so bad after all. If that's what I was left with I might close my eyes and embrace ignorance as well.

[Rankenstein]

Originally Posted by South

...wide-eyed and lathering at the mouth for someone they know nothing at all about... Baseless, paper thin fanaticism without reason...

Hmm, that describes the fundamentalist right who voted for Dubya too. It's a bad sign whatever side you find it on. He couldn't have made it without baseless paper-thin fanaticism.

Anyway, to address the point:
I think it's just the mood, the sign of the times. People do want change, people really are sick of the same old Washington crowd. And you've got this rather charismatic, brilliant orator who embodies a dream (A black man as President? Hell yeah, it'll prove the American dream is real, etc. Which it does, of course) and people just latch on. We had exactly the same thing with Tony Blair. I mean, exactly the same thing except 'call me Tony' was a white guy, obviously. The ideas of change, optimism and exuberance are great, but the reality is there's a nation to run and certain political realities to deal with.

So in the UK we learned all about this kind of thing - idealism and the promise of a new dawn gave way to cynicism. I hope it doesn't go that way should Obama get elected...