Presidential Candidates '08

[Lordender]

I wouldn't be so sure about democrats not being able to win some of the southern states especially louisiana just because the whole katrina mess down here in neworleans changed people, people kinda felt betrayed by bush, i hear talk all the time in stores about how they won't be voting for a republican next election after they voted for bush.

[Fuuko]

Edwards: How anyone can even want to vote for him is amazing. He would probably make Carter look amazing as president.

Obama: Empty suit, might have been a really good candidates if he had waited another cycle or two. As it stands now he is simply to naive to make a decent president.

Hilary: Probably going to be the Demo's candidate, also a empty suit(Dress?) Aside from bombing health care as first lady, has little to show on her own. The election might simply revolve around how many people really do hate her, and not much else.

Gore: I honestly doubt he will run. I would have voted for him in 2000, if I had been old enough. Now though, I think he has kinda, well, gone insane to say the least.

Giuliani: Probably the Repub candidate as it currently stands. Was good in New York, gotta give him that. Aside from that though, pretty much a Demo socially which is not going to really excite the Repub base. To me, he seems to base to much of how great he will be on how he handled 9/11. The president is a much different beast than mayor of large city, not sure how he would handle it. So, semi-decent at best, to horrid at worst.

McCain: Somewhere, at some point, somehow he has pissed the hell out of everyone. Thats all that really needs to be said.

Romney: I doubt he will get it, which is sad. He seems fairly conservative, but not hard right-wing. He would probably make a decent president overall.

Thompson: If he ever actually runs, he has a decent shot I think. He has some problems with the conservative base, but honestly they all do. As for president, he really does not have that much more experience than Hilary or Obama in politics. So ya run the real risk of all talk and no substance with him.

[Demosthenes11]

America doesn't vote for Hilary, they are sexist

America doesn't vote for O'bama, they are racist

There is no win here. No matter what the real reasons are that america may not vote for either, the stories will be "is america racist/sexist???" America is ready for a minority president - as many people that will not vote for one, there are so many that will vote for one based solely on the fact that the candidate is a minority. But it doesn't matter, because they supposed "non-racists/sexists" will continue to solely look at that issue, creating something out of nothing. Let's stop looking at shit through race and sex cards, I don't care if someone is the first black coach to win a superbowl, or the first woman to go to the moon. I, and I think most of america, just cares that someone wins a superbowl and someone is going to the moon. The constant reminders of race/sex is what causes all of this nonsense.

My personal thoughts on the election so far:
Hilary or Obama win dem primaries, if hilary wins primaries, she loses election (there are so many anti-hilaries out there, there is no chance she wins). If Obama wins primaries, he wins election. As far as the conservative vote goes...nfc

[aurik]

I'm with Septimus on this one, let's draft Gore.

[Beckwin]

Ron Paul seems like a decent human being and seems to possess some individualism and integrity, but I just can't agree with his politics about abortion and social security. His war policy is good however and if a Republican had to be prez, him or McCain would be the most tolerable to me.

I like Obama. Sometimes he seems overwhelmed by the atmosphere of a potential presidency, but he wants what I want- an end to the war, socialized/universal healthcare, etc. He's charismatic and it feels like he gives a shit. What I'm hoping for is that he surrounds himself with the absolute best and brightest to help him along the way; I don't see a Bush-style cabinet being assembled of business buddies and dad's old friends.

He also represents a wake-up call symbolically- not only is he black, but he's mixed race. It's absolutely ridiculous to think about how monolithic our government still is. That and I like to think about racist assholes getting pissed off about a black guy running their country. Just to clarify though, his race is more of a "cool bonus" kind of thing.

[Andarvi]

America doesn't vote for Hilary, they are sexist

America doesn't vote for O'bama, they are racist

There is no win here. No matter what the real reasons are that america may not vote for either, the stories will be "is america racist/sexist???" America is ready for a minority president - as many people that will not vote for one, there are so many that will vote for one based solely on the fact that the candidate is a minority. But it doesn't matter, because they supposed "non-racists/sexists" will continue to solely look at that issue, creating something out of nothing. Let's stop looking at shit through race and sex cards, I don't care if someone is the first black coach to win a superbowl, or the first woman to go to the moon. I, and I think most of america, just cares that someone wins a superbowl and someone is going to the moon. The constant reminders of race/sex is what causes all of this nonsense.

My personal thoughts on the election so far:
Hilary or Obama win dem primaries, if hilary wins primaries, she loses election (there are so many anti-hilaries out there, there is no chance she wins). If Obama wins primaries, he wins election. As far as the conservative vote goes...nfc

These constant reminders of race and sex are extremely important, especially in a country like america which has a horrid history of issues pertaining to those two categories. I look at things in the grand scheme of things. For example, America participated in slavery of some sort for hundreds of years, and only 41 years ago segregation still existed. If we had a black president, that would be nothing short of amazing considering this time scale. It would be a major testament to progress for not just blacks and other minorities but the country as a whole.

But while examing that very time scale I say to myself that America is still not capable of electing one of these leaders. I agree that black people would definately support a black leader because he is black, but there better be an enormous increase in minorities voting to actually make a difference. The biggest thing going for a minority president to elected next year to me is the failure of the current administration. It will be interesting to see if that failure would be enough to push America into a precidency that I dont think it would otherwise consider.

[Enkidu]

These constant reminders of race and sex are extremely important, especially in a country like america which has a horrid history of issues pertaining to those two categories. I look at things in the grand scheme of things. For example, America participated in slavery of some sort for hundreds of years, and only 41 years ago segregation still existed. If we had a black president, that would be nothing short of amazing considering this time scale. It would be a major testament to progress for not just blacks and other minorities but the country as a whole.

It'd be a major testament of what's wrong with this country. Not that we would have a black president, but that we'd elect someone who is unqualified for the job and simply getting votes because he is black. Maybe 4-8 years down the road, but right now he simply doesn't have a platform to stand on.

[Khamsin]

It's apparent what must happen. The minorities must breed like crazy to outpace the majorities until the minorities themselves become the majority. Once white people are the minority, they will no longer be voted into office since America is not ready for a minority president. At this point, we will have a female african-american president because they will no longer be considered minorities.