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Post by Jane on Jan 23, 2007 13:41:03 GMT -5
If you had to vote, right this very minute, for the next POTUS, of the people who have declared (and only the people who have declared; no, wait, let's include Obama too since we know where he's headed), for whom would you vote?
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Post by slb2 on Jan 23, 2007 14:17:37 GMT -5
jane, could you make this into a poll so that we know who the choices are?
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Post by Jane on Jan 23, 2007 14:51:26 GMT -5
Well, no, because I don't know how. But I think that the people who have announced (or have announced they will announce) are:
Dems. Bill Richardson John Edwards Hillary Clinton Tom Villasek (? not sure of his name) Barak Obama Oh, heck, let's add: Al Gore John Kerry
Repubs. John McClain Sam Brownbeck Mitt Romney (Is his first name mitton?) Rudi Giuliani
Am I leaving out anyone?
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Post by booklady on Jan 23, 2007 16:40:01 GMT -5
Al Gore.
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Post by doctork on Jan 23, 2007 16:50:13 GMT -5
The news last night said there were 9 Dems and 9 Reps, and showed 18 little pictures real quick. We must be forgetting someone. I don't think Gore or Kerry was one of the nine dems either.
Maybe they will show those little pictures again tonight?
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Post by gailkate on Jan 23, 2007 18:35:03 GMT -5
I tried my own list, but then Googled. You can finds pics and bios here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_and_potential_2008_United_States_presidential_election_Republican_candidates
Reps: John McClain Sam Brownbeck Mitt Romney (Is his first name mitton?) Rudi Giuliani
George Pataki Newt Ginrich Duncan Hunter, Rep. from CA Tom Tancredo, CO ? Huckabee, ARK?
Dems. Bill Richardson John Edwards Hillary Clinton Tom Vilsack (former gov. of Iowa) Barak Obama Oh, heck, let's add: Al Gore John Kerry
Joe Biden Christopher Dodds
I'm always very impressed with everybody at first. (Not so much the Reps, of course ;)though I think I'd be ok with Giuliani)
My choice was Edwards in '04 and I still like him a lot. Saw an interview with Richardson yesterday, and he's a great cadidate if he can get enough money to tell his story. Joe Biden is smart, capable, but has some very old dirty laundry that might get dredged up. (He plagiarized a paper in college.) Hillary was looking really personable and hard to beat in a CNN interview this morning. Boy oh boy, who knows?
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Post by juliastar on Jan 23, 2007 18:48:34 GMT -5
Bill Richardson.
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Post by liriodendron on Jan 23, 2007 19:43:35 GMT -5
I'm not voting yet, since I think one should be well-informed and there are people on that list about whom I know next to nothing. However, having seen first-hand what he managed to accomplish in Times Square, I am intrigued by the concept of having Rudy Giuliani take on some larger issues.
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Post by joew on Jan 23, 2007 20:57:47 GMT -5
Today I'd vote for Mitt Romney.
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Post by slb2 on Jan 23, 2007 23:19:27 GMT -5
Today, I'd vote for Hillary. Just think of the experience she already has! Let's keep this politically minded, pls.
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Post by doctork on Jan 23, 2007 23:35:59 GMT -5
I like Richardson. Congressman for 14 years - he understands Washington, DC. UN Ambassador and other international experience - he understands global issues and the US role. Cabinet member and governor - proven experience at the executive level. Hispanic and governor of a state where that is an important issue, at a time when it's becoming an important national issue; but not visibly Hispanic - avoid bigot backlash.
We'll see. It's an interesting discussion, but we're just beginning. One year to the first primary/caucus and almost two years to the election - a long time, and a lot can happen.
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Post by SeattleDan on Jan 24, 2007 0:22:30 GMT -5
In this order of preference: 1. Obama 2. Richardson 3. Gore 4. Any other Democrat who gets nominated. Please, Lord, don't let that be Kerry.
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Post by mike on Jan 24, 2007 4:50:11 GMT -5
I'm interested in Richardson.
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Post by Jane on Jan 24, 2007 13:16:56 GMT -5
Any Democrat in a storm.
I would love to see a Clinton-Obama run of eight years, and then an Obama-? run of another eight years. Ah, the joy! The rapture!
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Post by edsfam on Jan 24, 2007 13:22:51 GMT -5
So far it's "NOTA" for me.
Unfortunately, somebody will be elected.
_E_
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rmn
Sleepy Member
Posts: 75
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Post by rmn on Jan 24, 2007 15:33:33 GMT -5
I would vote for J. McCain, although I think he could be far firmer on border security. We weren't queried further; nonetheless, I pose the following:
McCain won't get his party's nomination. That'll go to Romney. Edwards will be represent the Dems. Edwards will win, though not by a convincing margin.
Jeez, I'm already depressed.
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Post by joew on Jan 24, 2007 16:38:59 GMT -5
Sorry to hear it, rmn — I, mean that Edwards is the next POTUS. Actually, I'm also sorry that you're depressed, although you have good reason.
Edsfam, if NOTA, then who?
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Post by liriodendron on Jan 24, 2007 17:48:03 GMT -5
Please, Lord, don't let that be Kerry. Apparently your prayers have been answered.
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Post by hartlikeawheel on Jan 24, 2007 17:52:59 GMT -5
Oh-oh. Good thing I don't have any Girl Scout cookies in my mouth.
Is someone leaving Al Gore out?
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Post by dwarnold on Jan 24, 2007 17:55:06 GMT -5
Can we profer write in votes yet?
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Post by scotbrit on Jan 24, 2007 17:55:32 GMT -5
Rather than appear foolish (again) by asking what the acronym NOTA was, I googled it. Guess what I got? www.nota.co.uk/PS, I've worked out y'all meant none of the above. I also found a site with a play on the words: Not A Bean www.nbreview.com/nbabout_us.phpAt annually £350 ($695) per subscription, that's got to be worth more than a plate o' beans. OK. Fun's over, back to Vote Here Now!
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Post by gailkate on Jan 24, 2007 19:16:29 GMT -5
Good grief, Brit, how is it all you folks across the ocean think we're crass and materialistic and self-indulgent? $695 for a subscription to a travel advice mag? Am I getting that right?
Anyway, yeah, Kerry has said he's out and so has Gore. His 2 Academy Award nominations have raised speculation that he might reconsider, but I have a feeling he's devoted to what has been a passion for a long time. He doesn't want to be president anymore; he wants to save the planet. Good for him.
I suppose the people who hate Edwards are reflexively enraged by the term "trial lawyer." I'm not a bit. He won some extremely important cases that made him rich because the defendants were scum. Okey-doke by me.
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Post by mike on Jan 25, 2007 6:46:19 GMT -5
Todays political thought:
When the opposition is riding a wave of popularity, best to step aside and let that wave roar toward the beach; crashing onto the coral reef, spin drift, flotsam, scum and foam, swirling every which way... until it is sucked back in the undertow.
There are plenty of waves, the trick is catching the right one... timing is everything.
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Post by scotbrit on Jan 26, 2007 15:30:38 GMT -5
No Gailkate!
I was just drawing attention to the ridiculousness of such a subscription. Right now, on the TV next to me, a couple are looking for a town house and somewhere to spend their free time Marbella Spain.
They have agreed to buy a two-bedroom basement flat at £1,300,000 ($2,600,000) and it will cost a further £40,000 ($78,750) to have ONE permit to park their Chelsea Tractor* in the neighbourhood. (Chelsea - a fashionable suburb of London teaming with very upmarket shops).
They have also agreed to buy a ground floor flat (you call it first floor) for £513,000 ($1,010,000) in Spain.
That is just obscene.
*Chelsea Tractor is the none-too-polite way of referring to giant 4-wheel drive Range Rovers that have never seen a blade of grass. Sloane Rangers and Hooray Henry's drive them.
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Post by gailkate on Jan 26, 2007 15:47:24 GMT -5
//That is just obscene.//
Indeed.
But thanks so much for the new slang. I don't think I know any Sloane Rangers or Hooray Henry's, but I'm going to start peppering posts to other forums with these delectable epithets. Do you think Brad and Angelina belong in this club?
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Post by scotbrit on Jan 26, 2007 16:57:58 GMT -5
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Post by doctork on Jan 26, 2007 17:32:28 GMT -5
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
I wouldn't choose them first for the Sloan Ranger title - they seem to dedicate a lot of time and money trying to help poverty-ridden third world areas. Not so much flaunting their wealth.
I'd nominate TomKat for the title (Tom Cruise and Katie what's her name, for you Brit).
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Post by mike on Jan 28, 2007 5:27:26 GMT -5
They came to listen To them politicians Their eyes were brighter than their stars They drank from the trough Of political speeches Like hogs gone days without slop
Clearly the politicians are on the right track With speeches worded to delight... "I'll start the things that need to be started, I'll stop the things that aren't right, A vote for me is a vote for your future, I'm the one who'll get in there for you and fight"
Such ideals, such charisma, such crap And only two years to go, Until it's a wrap!
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Post by doctork on Jan 28, 2007 14:22:27 GMT -5
Reminder of another candidate surfaces - Newt Gingrich on the (R) side.
EEEEWWWWWWWWW!!!
I have been to a number of his speeches and talks; he has many ill-conceived proposals of how to fix healthcare, so he frequently appears at doctor meetings.
If it is a smaller group, I never go to the reception to shake his hand. I would feel very soiled.
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Post by gailkate on Feb 7, 2007 10:50:02 GMT -5
I said I'd start a new thread about candidates, but here's one made to order. J* posted a piece on Joe Biden that was maybe too serious for Mike's Elections thread. So here it is for those of us who can't help thinking about the blasted '08 election because it keeps smacking us in the face.
J* //I wish Biden didn't say what he said about Obama, that made me wince, but I think he was right on about Hillary. Maureen cuts him some slack://
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February 7, 2007 Op-Ed Columnist This One’s for You, Joe By MAUREEN DOWD
NY TIMES SELECT -- WASHINGTON
It’s not double jeopardy exactly, but still, I’d prefer not to kill the same man twice.
And I wanted to follow William Safire’s advice on writing about gaffes and graft: Only kick people when they’re up, not when they’re down.
So I decided to do something completely radical and not pile on.
Having played a role in derailing Joe Biden’s ’88 presidential bid with stories on his overreliance on the speeches of Neil Kinnock and Bobby Kennedy, I feel compelled, now that the guy has slipped on another presidential banana peel 20 years later, to lend him a hand.
I wanted to give him a chance to wipe the slate clean and articulate his positions — without dredging up any painful memories of the words “clean” and “articulate.”
The senator called me between New York fund-raisers last night. After his rough week, he sounded a bit chastened, not at all in the mood for a columnist’s probing questions. He needn’t have feared.
“So,” I asked him sweetly, “why has everyone been so mean to you?”
“Well,” he demurred, “they haven’t been mean. The truth is, a lot of people in the African-American community were hurt by what I said. I really feel lousy about it. I got involved in politics because of civil rights.” (He said a lot more, but hey, it’s a 750-word column.) I had another penetrating question ready: “Is Delaware big enough to launch a president?” “I think it is,” he replied.
I had a tough follow-up: “Will your first act as president be to get rid of those tollbooths on I-95?” He laughed. “I get asked that a lot by people. I can’t help ’em — they’re on their own.”
That’s the straight talk I like to see. No pandering, like Hillary’s telling Iowans she likes ethanol, and John McCain’s telling Christian conservatives he likes Christian conservatives.
“People don’t seem to appreciate your verbal generosity,” I said. “Are you studying Bogie and Steve McQueen movies to become less wordy, or do you just hope people will come to see it as part of your charm?” “We’re in a political culture where everything is reduced to bumper stickers and sound bites, and it’s a lot more complicated than that,” he said. “I’m fairly candid, and sometimes I’ll cause controversy and sometimes I won’t. It’s who I am. I’m not going to change who I am.”
That’s my man. He stares controversy in the eye and chats with it.
“In one sentence, with no more than two dependent clauses,” I instruct, “tell me why you would make a great president.”
“I really believe the American people get the fact that with the next president, there’s no margin for error. He’s going to inherit a world and a nation where this guy is going to leave him in a real deep hole. The next president has to get us out of Iraq without ruining the Middle East, so Americans should be looking for the person with the most experience.”
O.K., that’s three sentences, but who’s counting?
“You’ve been a truth-teller on Iraq for years, so tell the truth,” I said. “Are we cooked?” Citing the soft-partition plan he co-wrote, he noted: “Any country that comes into being as a consequence of the pen of a diplomat has never been able to be stable except by (a) an imperial power dominating it, (b) a dictator or strongman, or (c) a federal system.”
Aren’t Americans going to be angry at a Senate that’s bending itself into a procedural pretzel, rather than seriously tackling the future of Iraq?
“They are going to be angry,” he agreed. “Republicans are trying to avoid embarrassing the president. If you took a secret ballot, I’d be dumfounded if 20 senators thought sending 21,500 troops made any sense.” He said John McCain wouldn’t think it made sense either “because he has called for sending many more.”
Do you agree that Dick Cheney is barking mad?
“Cheney is a very smart guy who’s kicking the can down the road here,” he replied. “He’s concluded that this administration’s policy can’t succeed in Iraq and he’s handing it off to the next guy.”
Things were getting way too serious. “What’s your ideal day?”
“It would be corny,” he said. “Just taking off to the beach with Jill.”
Trying to boost his dented confidence, I said I was sure he looked better in the Delaware waves than Barack Obama in the Hawaiian surf. The 64-year-old laughed, saying, “Like the Paul McCartney song, ‘When I’m 64.’ I don’t look as good as I once did, but Jill does.”
“Who would make the best president?” I coaxed.
“Me,” he crowed.
I think his confidence is coming back. Excellent.
I'm especially interested in the ups-and-downs of Biden, Richardson and Obama because now is the deciding time for a campaign treasury. It seems so brutal that money is what finally determines our candidates.
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