2012 Republican Presidential Candidate Race

[Elvis]

you guys have too much faith in people

http://cdn.mos.totalfilm.com/images/...-04-645-75.jpg

[Correction]

Why does no one question the nature of the divisiveness of this kind of rhetoric when it boils down to "vote for me because the other guy is a godless liberal heathen who eats aborted fetuses and spreads socialist AIDS with transsexual girl scouts." At that point you win just because you aren't that guy, never mind what your own beliefs are.

Our politics are seriously like that episode of Family Guy where Lois gets the town to approve a tax increase by claiming the money is going to stop the Legion of Doom from selling yellow cake uranium to unwed teenage mothers. Shouldn't we be able to vote for the guy who can eloquently express why he's the better choice, not why the other guy is worse? Or at least a guy who can express why he's better without citing his religion as a reason?

Candidates do not have much time to campaign between primaries and it takes a long, long time and a fuckton of cash to trigger rational responses to important and complicated issues via education and informed dialogue, like the impending economic collapse in Europe and what it could mean for the United States. Therefore the best way to spend your money is to go for those hot flashes of intense, irrational fear/anger/lust for trivial, bullshit causes like giving the young HPV vaccines or funding Planned Parenthood. Takes less time, money and convinces more people to vote for you in a shorter timespan.

Welcome to the Major Leagues, sonny.

[Sera]

sad that it has become more about reaction and sensation than about CAREFUL consideration of our country, our society and our collective futures.

[Tyche]

Candidates do not have much time to campaign between primaries and it takes a long, long time and a fuckton of cash to trigger rational responses to important and complicated issues via education and informed dialogue, like the impending economic collapse in Europe and what it could mean for the United States. Therefore the best way to spend your money is to go for those hot flashes of intense, irrational fear/anger/lust for trivial, bullshit causes like giving the young HPV vaccines or funding Planned Parenthood. Takes less time, money and convinces more people to vote for you in a shorter timespan.

Welcome to the Major Leagues, sonny.

I think it probably has more to do with getting facetime by the media. When a batshit crazy statement is made such as Vaccines causing MR or having to keep your rape babies or that separation of church and state makes you vomit, the national media pounces. Fox news then has to cover it and bring in 50 commentators to justify the remarks. Fox's sheep (I never realized the irony of these two words until just now) eat that shit up, and Santorum starts to move up to the forefront.

Generally, even bad press is press, but fox news will flip almost anything they say into something positive for the viewers. It's almost impossible to say something too religious or too far right.

[Lucavi]

This upsets me because I want to enter politics and do so in order to address a number of issues which I believe matter to the American population as a whole. If I run on these issues, I don't want to lose because my opponent points out that I'm Jewish.

Politics aren't for you, then. You go into politics because you have the stomach to lie and mislead for a paycheck; kind of like a sports columnist, but on a grander scale. The people that actually went into politics to actually do good works have long-since either been converted (making a cool mil a year'll do that to you) or have dropped out, out of frustration, by now.

[ronin sparthos]

Why does no one question the nature of the divisiveness of this kind of rhetoric when it boils down to "vote for me because the other guy is a godless liberal heathen who eats aborted fetuses and spreads socialist AIDS with transsexual girl scouts." At that point you win just because you aren't that guy, never mind what your own beliefs are.

Our politics are seriously like that episode of Family Guy where Lois gets the town to approve a tax increase by claiming the money is going to stop the Legion of Doom from selling yellow cake uranium to unwed teenage mothers. Shouldn't we be able to vote for the guy who can eloquently express why he's the better choice, not why the other guy is worse? Or at least a guy who can express why he's better without citing his religion as a reason?

The reason the rhetoric gets so intense from Republicans is because the majority voting block (non-college whites) is seeing a slow creep of minorities taking away the power they once wielded. What once was a country where things were simple is now a country of different ideas, contested beliefs and a future that may *gasp* have to be shared with other races, belief systems and platforms. This scares the shit out of people who feel it is their "God-given" right to be the dominant group within the USA.

Gay Congressmen? Atheist Mayors? Bisexual Senators? Hindu Assemblywoman? Muslim Representatives? Too. much. variety. to. process....

Barack Obama winning in '08 was just a snapshot of the America that lay forth in the future. You don't have to agree with his policy or even like the guy to come to the realization that a Black man winning the office of POTUS opens the door for many different people bringing their own perspectives to a leadership position in the country. We just may see a Hispanic, Asian or non-white Female president in our lifetimes and this is troubling when your worldview is as constricted as many of the people that you see supporting a Rick Santorum.

Being only educated to a certain degree leaves you wide open to being manipulated by politicians like Santorum who double down on religion and "tradition". The guy says on national TV that he compromises his values to "take one for the team" and that isn't a huge tip that he's a blowhard liar? Yet many of the suburban voters cling to him because he seems familiar, friendly and holds the same hateful values that they have been raised to possess. All Santorum is doing is stirring the innate fears within those people, promising them the status quo of 50 years ago and wrapping it in the warm embrace of scripture and man is it working at the expense of the more rational members of the Republican party.

Many of the (better educated) youth will cling to Ron Paul as he inevitably goes down in flames, rational guys like Jon Huntsman who I thought would have given Obama a real run for his money weren't even considered and the lunacy of the party will end in a spectacular GOP loss if they field Rick Santorum. The very voters trying stop Obama are giving him the election on a silver platter.

[Dimmauk]

I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I vote D mostly. I look for Jewish and Hispanic last names first then black. If no D then I using the same process.

[Kurokikaze]

I'm not mad at these idiots for running for office... I'm mad at the idiots that vote them into that position.

[Headspace]

Spoiler: show

[archibaldcrane]

Yep, one-note cultural warriors are fighting an uphill battle when "It's the economy, stupid" should be the obvious order of the day.

[Kuya]

Rick Santorum would make me vote for Obama, so if you're a democrat party partisan you should probably hope someone as far to the right as possible wins. Like Santorum.

[quannum]

where's ross perot when you need him right?

[archibaldcrane]

Rick Santorum would make me vote for Obama, so if you're a democrat party partisan you should probably hope someone as far to the right as possible wins. Like Santorum.

Absolutely, I desperately hope he wins the election. Santorum or Ron Paul would be ideal. Gingrich or Romney winning will just be boring gigantic-money-wasting ugly soul-crushing politics.

[Ragnus]

Well, an election like that would probably be a good segway for finding reasons to promote campaign finance reform.

[ronin sparthos]

Absolutely, I desperately hope he wins the election. Santorum or Ron Paul would be ideal. Gingrich or Romney winning will just be boring gigantic-money-wasting ugly soul-crushing politics.

I could only imagine who would be picked to be Santorums VP. lol

Watching Santorum debate Obama would be painful seeing how easily Romney dismantled him last week. It'd be like watching someone fall into a meat grinder.

[Andalusian girls]

Rick Santorum would make me vote for Obama, so if you're a democrat party partisan you should probably hope someone as far to the right as possible wins. Like Santorum.

Obama is a half step ahead of you, this was put up on his facebook today

Mitt Romney was ready to give up on the auto industry. Michiganders haven’t forgotten.

p clear the Republicans can only throw up one real threat and the administration knows it, doing what they can to engender a Santorum victory in Michigan

[archibaldcrane]

I think it's funny that Romney is getting hammered on this "let them go bankrupt" when they, um

went bankrupt even with the stimulus

[Cantih]

I could only imagine who would be picked to be Santorums VP. lol

Watching Santorum debate Obama would be painful seeing how easily Romney dismantled him last week. It'd be like watching someone fall into a meat grinder.

Oh man.
OH MAN.

Hell, I remember when the president had that transparent roundtable meeting with the GOP back during the healthcare debate, the bloodbath that resulted in it never happening again. It'd probably be better than that.
But I still don't think it'd be worth letting Santorum any closer to a shot at the presidency to get it.

[Jaybar]

I think it's funny that Romney is getting hammered on this "let them go bankrupt" when they, um

went bankrupt even with the stimulus

Should have put those industry workers into factories for restoring street cars and the other alternative modes of transportation that Ford systematically/illegally destroyed.

[Moss]

Politics aren't for you, then. You go into politics because you have the stomach to lie and mislead for a paycheck; kind of like a sports columnist, but on a grander scale. The people that actually went into politics to actually do good works have long-since either been converted (making a cool mil a year'll do that to you) or have dropped out, out of frustration, by now.

CORY BOOKER