Obama Presidency Discussion Thread

How would you vote in the 2008 US Presidential Election?

  • Obama-Biden (Democrat)

    Votes: 67 59.3%

  • McCain-Palin (Republican)

    Votes: 18 15.9%

  • Barr-Root (Libertarian)

    Votes: 14 12.4%

  • Nader-Gonzales (Independent-Ecology Party / Peace and Freedom Party)

    Votes: 5 4.4%

  • McKinney-Clemente (Green)

    Votes: 1 0.9%

  • Baldwin-Castle (Constitution)

    Votes: 7 6.2%

  • Gurney-? (Car & Driver)

    Votes: 1 0.9%

  • Other...

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    113
  • Poll closed .
Touring Mars

Touring Mars

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As the race for the 2008 US Presidency hots up, I'll update this post to include links to relevant discussions/issues. There is now also a poll where you can register your preference...


__________________________

Poll Results:

Obama-Biden (Democrat) - 67 (59.29 %)
McCain-Palin (Republican) - 18 (15.93 %)
Barr-Root (Libertarian) - 14 (12.39 %)
Nader-Gonzales (Peace and Freedom Party) - 5 (4.42%)
McKinney-Clemente (Green) - 1 (0.88%)
Baldwin-Castle (Constitution) - 1 (0.88%)
Gurney-? (Car & Driver) - 1 (0.88%)
Other... - 6 (5.31%)

No votes: La Riva-Puryear (Party for Socialism and Liberation); Jay-Smith (Boston Tea Party); Stevens-Link (Objectivist); Harris-Kennedy (Socialist Workers Party);
Amondson-Pletten (Prohibition); Keyes-Rohrbough (America's Independent Party); Moore-Alexander (Socialist)

Total Votes Cast: 113
 
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I just wish there was someone I could get behind in the whole bunch. US politics is quite painful these days.
 
Is there a None of the Above option?

I figure that after Super Tuesday we will be down to Romney/McCain for the Republicans.
 
Funny we had to have one of the UK members start the US presidential thread. I still who I'm going to vote for come Super Tuesday.
 
My hopes before Super Tuesday:

- John Edwards backs Obama
- Al Gore backs Obama
- Guiliani backs John McCain
- Huckabee drops out and backs McCain

Make it a McCain vs Obama fight and it should be interesting. I'm regularly a Republican, but even I would consider a vote for Obama over McCain. Our Republican field makes me sick...
 
What a year it has been here stateside. It's very exciting knowing that George W. Bush is almost on his way out of the White House. I hope the door slams on him on his way out.

Democrats will win this election year by a landslide. It doesn't matter who the two nominees end up being for either party, the Democrats will pull out the win without a doubt. Hillary is looking good in polls nation wide. That sucks. John Edwards needs to back Obama when he concedes. Obama rules.

Republicans. I'm sorry. The only candidate worth a hoot in your running party is Ron Paul. He's certainly not going to win. John McCain is climbing in polls and who saw that one coming? Guiliani will more than likely back McCain when he concedes. Ron Paul rules.

I for one hate John McCain and any person who will keep us in war for the next 100 years. Thus, when voting time comes, I'll be voting Democrat. No matter who the nominee is. I want out of this war we waged on false information.
 
Matt R
Obama rules.

Ron Paul rules.
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These two statements are very contradictory.

I for one hate.... any person who will keep us in war for the next 100 years. Thus, when voting time comes, I'll be voting Democrat. No matter who the nominee is. I want out of this war we waged on false information.
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Ah, I see now. Obviously you are not making your decision on domestic policy.

How would you vote if the war was not an issue?
 
FoolKiller
These two statements are very contradictory.
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If I had to pick one Democrat. It'd be Obama.

If I had to pick one Republican. It'd be Ron Paul.

Not contradictory.


Foolkiller
Ah, I see now. Obviously you are not making your decision on domestic policy.

How would you vote if the war was not an issue?
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I'd vote Republican if the war were not an issue.
 
Huckabee is fizzling out with Giuliani. Hopefully Romney will now also realize that he can't buy this office. Hopefully it'll be Paul vs. McCain soon. If that happens, there could be a real schism in the GOP. Conservative principled republicans vs. the republicrat imperial party. Dr. Paul would represent CPR and McCain would represent the RIP.

The main factor in the republican race now is Romney. He has the money to continue but he's really just elitist scum, and I don't know what other states he'll win (besides Utah).

I'm still looking forward to seeing how Ron Paul rope-a-dope strategy plays out. McCain and Romney are fighting over who is the more liberal, and now the Paul camp is taking the gloves off for the Super Tuesday states.

I'll tell you what, though, McCain has some ballers working for him. I'm baffled at how well he's done given the meltdown of his campaign in Q2.
 
FoolKiller
Is Obama worth voting for over Hillary?
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On a personal level, I'd say yes. I find Obama far more interesting, and at the very least, he seems to have a kindler/gentler attitude than Mrs. Clinton. A lot of people like to invoke John and Bobby Kennedy when they talk about him, and I can certainly see where they're coming from. He gets the young people excited, which I find to be one of his most important qualities.

Generally speaking, I don't think Obama and Clinton have that many differences when it comes to policy. I really do not support either of their healthcare solutions, but by the alternative, I don't think either McCain or Romney have it right either. And I certainly don't like McCain's record on illegal immigration...

So, we're kinda in a catch-22 at the moment I guess.

*sigh*

At the very best I can bet on Obama and pray that he assembles a balanced cabinet. Caferty last night mentioned an e-mail that wanted Edwards as the Dept. of Justice head, which would be AWESOME, since we know he'd go after the problem areas, finally. We already know Obama and Paul have a fairly decent relationship, maybe he gives him a job?

Knowing that Ron Paul won't win, I'm finding it harder and harder to vote for a Republican. Looks like I'm gonna be one of those Obama-Republicans you hear about on CNN...
 
Matt R
If I had to pick one Democrat. It'd be Obama.

If I had to pick one Republican. It'd be Ron Paul.

Not contradictory.
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OK, it's just that aside from the war they are almost nothing alike.


I'd vote Republican if the war were not an issue.
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I just hope you have weighed that decision carefully and made sure there aren't other issues that affect your life much more.

I understand why the war is so important to some but I fear the results when people vote on one issue only. Sure we get out of the war but what happens domestically?

At least you have an issue and not just an, "anyone but X candidate" stance, as seems to be all too common nowadays. Of course, when voting comes down to, "I don't like anyone, but I dislike this one the least" it isn't surprising.
 
YSSMAN
On a personal level, I'd say yes. I find Obama far more interesting, and at the very least, he seems to have a kindler/gentler attitude than Mrs. Clinton. A lot of people like to invoke John and Bobby Kennedy when they talk about him, and I can certainly see where they're coming from. He gets the young people excited, which I find to be one of his most important qualities.
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Am I the only person who doesn’t care about a politician’s personality? As far as I’m concerned, a politician can be a meany poo-faced bastard, and I don’t care as long as they have the political positions that I support. I think these articles are infinitely more important than anything shown on the news.
 
I have to say that I'm torn between Ron Paul and Barack Obama in this, now that John Edwards is out. :( The ND caucus is an open caucus, and I can vote on Tuesday. They both have policies that I agree with, but I'll have to look depper into myself and what's most important to me. One may ask, "how in the hell can he be torn between Paul and Obama?" But I'm a fence rider, and I have beliefs scattered all about the political spectrum.
I do think that Obama's charisma and inspiration can only help. He's the first person in a long time to get noticed for saying that our American ingenuity and Can-do attitude are still with us, and that our best is yet to come.
 
Sage
I think these articles are infinitely more important than anything shown on the news.
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Thank you:tup:. Now I can vote more educated.

And I honestly don't care that "oh, he's black" or "oh, she's a b***h" or whatever. I really don't care about personality so long as they can refrain from running the country with their emotions and actually use reason. (That's also why I don't hold the evangelical republicans very highly).

And on the issue of the war, I might be the only person who thinks we can't just pull out. So that's not really an issue when it comes to voting since all the candidates will want out because all the voters do. Or how about Kucinich who wants to pull everybody out of Iraq and put them in Kuwait thus ending the occupation:dunce:.
 
For everyone torn between Obama and Paul: If you want a welfare state like we have now, but with our civil liberties in tact and without the iraq war, vote Obama. But, if you want sound money and a roadblock for socialism in addition to the more humble foreign policy, vote for Paul.

I don't see how that's a very difficult choice. Most people are gung-ho in one direction or the other.
 
I already did my part and voted for Ron Paul, no worries there. Fast-forwarding to the presumed showdown between Obama and McCain (one can hope?), yeah, things get to be stupid and difficult.

Actually, it kinda makes me hope that Bloomberg will run for President as the Independent candidate. That, however, will shut the door almost completely for the Republican party.

*sigh*
 
oh boy, another "pick the lesser of two evils" election in America. The two party system has been, and will be the downfall of america. The Electoral College: Making Votes not count since the begining!

I'm going to write in Mickey Mouse on my ballot this year. It's about the same as voting for one of the two puppets the system chooses for us anyways.
 
87chevy
oh boy, another "pick the lesser of two evils" election in America. The two party system has been, and will be the downfall of america.
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There is no reason that having only two major parties at a time will end the country. Sometimes it's not fun, and if it's not fun for enough people, things will change.

87chevy
The Electoral College: Making Votes not count since the begining!
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The electoral college system is an attempt to balance regional issues with population. I assume that you'd prefer a voting system based solely on population, but that sort of thing more easily ends up disregarding low population states. To pretend that there's an easy answer to that problem is to misunderstand the problem.
 
I do not like the way any of the candidates are shaping up.

Hillary seems to be to intrusive into the sale of violent and sexually suggestive video games, the responsibility should be placed on the parents for watching what their kids are playing and the stores should be checking ID's like they are supposed to.

She voted in favour of the Iraq War but then said she was against it after things went south. What is it Hillary? Are you for it or against it? Or are you just saying what people want to hear, this issue really annoyed me.

She is to soft on illegal immigration and she is still in favour of the Cuba embargo for some reason even though Cuba isn't going to do anything to the US. If Cuba was allowed to actually be a nation then you wouldn't have them getting on rafts to come here illegally.

She is also to concerned with the world's problems when it comes to intervention. She supported Bill's decision in the Kosovo War, a war I did not particularly agree with. She also supports action in Darfur, whatever that mean I do not know. I agree genocide is awful but cramming good old fashion western democracy and human rights down the throat of a country that wants neither isn't going to work...Iraq is a case in point.

I also can not see a Middle Eastern country's leader taking her seriously because she is a women. I mean there are still countries over there that won't allow a women to even show her face, does anyone honestly think they are going to care what she has to say?

McCain just comes across like Bush 2.0 to me and I do not like that.

I will probably vote for an independent candidate even though it will not do any good (I'm thinking realistically here).
 
Joey D
I also can not see a Middle Eastern country's leader taking her seriously because she is a women. I mean there are still countries over there that won't allow a women to even show her face, does anyone honestly think they are going to care what she has to say?
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💡 I think they'll take her seriously if she gets elected. Why? She would have control of enough weapons to level the world twice over. That's why.

Maybe if she gets elected, people in countries that have nonexistent civil rights will realize that women are people and they deserve to be treated just as well as men are.

I hope they let me vote on Tuesday.. I've fulfilled the requirements to be declared a resident of ND.
 
Sage
Am I the only person who doesn’t care about a politician’s personality? As far as I’m concerned, a politician can be a meany poo-faced bastard, and I don’t care as long as they have the political positions that I support. I think these articles are infinitely more important than anything shown on the news.
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I disagree. Integrity in a position as high as the president is certainly valuable. They do, in essence, put a face on this country, and a meany poo-faced bastard wouldn't cut it for me, regardless of the issues. I don't want someone who's liable to be corrupt.
 
Watched a special edition of the Politics Show this morning, regarding 'Super-Duper' Tuesday... they asked a guy in a New York Sports Bar, "So who's going to win?" and he replied "THE GIANTS!"... (doh, Super Bowl tonight of course :P)

Anyway, they raised an interesting issue about endorsements and running mates etc. Giuliani has already dropped out and is endorsing McCain... who would Ron Paul endorse in the increasingly likely event he drops out after Super Tuesday? And what about Huckabee? (or Romney for that matter)... a leading commentator on the Evangelical vote made the rather obvious but important point of saying just how critical it will be for any candidate to get the Evangelical bloc on their side - and McCain has a bit of work to do on that front, apparently... but ultimately, don't they all have to come down behind just one Republican in the end anyway? Given the current bias towards the Republicans of the Evangelical bloc, are the Republicans more likely to 'get behind their man' more so than the Democrats (who already seem split right down the middle in an increasingly bitter campaign?)... have they already picked their running mates, or could McCain try to play the 'I'm Evangelical-Friendly' card by running with a more Conservative running mate?
 
Zrow
I disagree. Integrity in a position as high as the president is certainly valuable. They do, in essence, put a face on this country, and a meany poo-faced bastard wouldn't cut it for me, regardless of the issues. I don't want someone who's liable to be corrupt.
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Honestly, if you're doing what it takes to get elected to high office of any country, you and integrity have parted ways years before that.
 
Ron Paul spoke at NDSU today, and I went to see him.

He was pretty good, and his policies of restoring our liberties and upholding the Constitution to make this nation even better than its previous best resonates well with many young people. I believe that Constitutionalism makes the most sense, even two hundred twenty-one years after it was drafted. I don't agree with his saying that terrorist attacks are rational responses to our presence in Saudi Arabia.
 

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