The trend line in Iowa seems to be favoring Sen. Clinton. The only way the Democratic candidate isn’t Hillary Clinton is if one of the other two hopefuls - Sen. Edwards or Sen. Obama - wins IA. They can’t come in a strong second. They have to win. Clinton already leads in NH, so an Iowa win combined with that leading into the big primary clump strongly favors her.
The thing is, the lack of oppositon is Edwards/Obama’s fault. They both dawdled within their window of opportunity and frankly they’re cannibalizing voters from each other. While I think the criticism that Sen. Clinton has run a safe and steady campaign over a “bold” one is valid, I think it’s also true that Sen. Obama almost pathologically offers up “new politics” as the solution to everything when it isn’t and that Sen. Edwards has done a poor job of responding to the noise machine in a timely fashion - something post-Bill Clinton, post-Gore, and post-Kerry that Democratic primary voters are looking for in a candidate.
I still have my reservations over whether a) the country is ready for a woman president and b) the country is ready for Hillary Clinton to be that woman. But this election is so much about the choice between staying the course of the Bush presidency or turning the page on that whole mess, that simply being a Democrat almost wipes all that out for her.
For the record, here are my candidates in order of preference, leaving in mind that the difference between them is less than 1/100 of a micron.
1. Al Gore (I’ve been a Gore fan since ‘88)
2. Clone of Bill Clinton
3. Barack Obama
4. Hillary Clinton
5. John Edwards
6. Alternate timeline FDR where his brain was loaded into RoboCop.
“Alternate timeline FDR where his brain was loaded into RoboCop.”
Remember this line for the next time someone complains that you are too serious.
Here are my rankings.
1. John Edwards
2. Al Gore (I’ve been a Gore fan since ‘88)
3. Clone of Bill Clinton
4. Barack Obama
5. Dennis Kucinich
6. Hillary Clinton
7. Chris Dodd
8. Joseph Biden
9. Bill Richardson
10. Mike Gravel
11. 1999 John McCain
12. 2007 John McCain
13. Random person taken off the street
14. Random Republican candidate
15. Ron Paul
Shit, I hadn’t even thought of RoboFDR. Can we get some polling done?
“The only thing we have to fear is… my armor piercing railgun!”
Had I known Zombie!Robot!FDR was even an option, I wouldn’t have bothered exploring any others.
FDR/USA!!!
A.
Would a clone of Bill Clinton be able to run in the first place, or could it be successfully argued that he was essentially the same entity as the first, and therefore ineligible due to term limits?
Also, I wonder if…assuming at this point that the clone has been programmed to be as good as policy as his original…he could or should be programmed to keep Li’l Willy in his pants? Although one wonders if his regular sexual dalliances were part of what made him an effective leader (I’ll say it again, you don’t want the man in charge of the nuclear weapons to be sexually unsatisfied) in the first place?
Maybe the clone could be programmed for greater discretion.
Although I think I’d place the cyborg FDR up there before Clone-tin.
If you guys get your way and the Democrats say take over everything, what happens? Here are a few of the Dem points that stick out in my mind now that we are talking about the presidential election.
A: With open borders, who and how is it determined who pays taxes?
B: With socialized Medical care who gets to go first, citizens or people that just came across our borders?
C: When we start having the suicide bombings here (because it WILL happen because Al-Quida hates us) will the government be able to afford the cost? See question one.
D: Will the government still issue passports? We will still need passports to be able to visit EVERY other country in the world because we will be the only country without borders.
E: With no guns who will defend us? Oh yea, the government. I remember one other country that took away all the citizens guns, Germany in the late 30’s. (Hitler, for those of you that are under 30 and grew up in the public school system)
F: If John Edwards or if Al Gore were running (looking at your list above) where to win the 2008 election, would you feel bad that they could still have their SUV’s and their hugh (28000 sq ft) houses, Gulfstream jets and on the other hand they ask you to quit driving your SUV and not to use any more electric power than necessary?
Oliver, I am looking for an adult answer. Please don’t call me stupid, racist or liar. I have not accused Democrats of anything, I havn’t played the race card in any way and I have not stated anything about Democrats. I have simply asked questions from statements placed by you candidates.
I am looking for your answer. I hope you don’t answer around them.
Will the government still issue passports?
Don’t you mean, “Will the government RESUME issuing passports?” The answer to that is “yes,” because Democrats will place a priority on having government agencies that function, because we believe government should work, not that it is evil and should be destroyed.
Honestly, I think you’re putting way too much stock in the state polls at this point, especially in Iowa, where caucus participation is more demanding than a primary and therefore it’s harder to gauge who will vote, much less the intensity of support or engagement with the campaign generally that could actually gauge the outcome.
Iowa and New Hampshire are up for grabs at this point, and in my view are likely to remain so up until the last couple of weeks. This was the pattern in ‘03-04, and has been in the past. Voters in both places don’t like to be told who they should (or do) support, and they are often almost deliberately contrary.
Well, we do plan on forcing abortions and taking your guns and all your money away. Look, your questions are mostly absurd but since I’m feeling sporting today I’ll actually answer them.
A: No Democrat favors open borders. Mostly they favor reform involving a guest worker program as well as beefed up security on the border.
B: It’s not socialized medicine, it’s universal health care that will bring our medical system up to the level of the modern world. The beneficiaries will be American citizens who deserve a decent no-nonsense system of medical care, finally.
C: The worst terror attack in U.S. history happened under a Republican president. When a Democratic president receives a memo detailing a planned terror attack, he or she will likely actually do something instead of staying on vacation.
D: This question is too dumb for words.
E: If any modern political movement compares to Hitler’s disregard for rights and the law, it is the Bush administration. Every Democratic candidate supports the right to bear arms, just not the right to keep your own personal nuclear arsenal.
F: John Edwards and Al Gore have both been tireless fighters for the poor and raising the awareness of global warming. The idea that being rich automatically disqualifies one from commenting on important social issues is bullshit. Furthermore, the candidates with the most wealth tend to be Republicans, and they exhibit an almost universal disdain for the middle class and poor as well as clear scientific evidence of global warming and evolution.
Gee: If you look back to 2004, the polls in Iowa accurately predicted the finishing order despite all the talk about the wild gyrations of the caucus system.
If Robert from Dallas wants adult answers, he should ask adult questions.
If you want to keep illegal immigration lower, then go after the corporations that benefited from hiring and barely paying illegal workers. They come here because we offer them jobs. If there are no jobs, they wouldn’t have it any better here than they do in their home countries, and maybe they’d be more inclined to improve those home countries.
I can’t believe that anybody has the gall to worry about how we’d find the money to rebuild after a terrorist attack if we were to institute a system of universal health care. We’ve already instituted a system of perpetual war fiasco and you don’t seem to give a damn about where those trillions of dollars are going.
We have more guns than we need right now, and all the guns in the world failed to stop 3,000 Americans from perishing on 9/11. The US military is armed to the teeth and still we can’t force a halt to the bloodbath in Iraq. There are ways to keep people safe without resorting to guns guns and more guns.
I would love to see statistics that tell me how often guns are employed in a self-defense situation versus an intent to harm others.
Because I am at work and only have a few minutes of my break left I will only respond to one point.
I am sick of you guys talking about the poor and the “RICH”. I too work hard for my money, and according to you guys I am “Rich”. I am tired of paying for the poor. Let them get out and get a J O B. Six years ago I was making a good living and was debt free. I didn’t own a home and didn’t have a whole lot. I was hurt on the job. I broke my back and now I am a paraplegic. I could not do the job anymore because I had to use my legs.
I was 43 years old and had to start a total new career. I now make good money in a totally different career. I was able to buy a home and I am now sending my daughter to college. I had ‘NO’ help. I am a white male. I had no government program that would help me. I have not used the fact that I am disabled to get a job or get a promotion. I do not have a college education.
This just goes to show that anyone CAN get out of being poor. I know there are a few that can’t for one reason or another. I am just saying that I am tired of hearing that we have to help the poor. Let them help themselves.
All the Dem leaders are doing is keeping the pot stirred. They have to keep you guys (minorities and poor) beat down. If they get you guys fired up and help you realize that you don’t have to be in the ‘group’, you can do what you want. As long as you sit back and tell yourself that you can’t do stuff because ‘DA MAN’ beats you down, you deserve what you get.
As far as descrimanation goes, the disabled didn’t get ‘Freed’ many many years ago, we got our freedom in the early 90’s. Handicapped people have taken the opportunity and run with it, not sit around and complain about all the many years we, couldn’t drink at the white water fountain, we couldn’t drink at any of them, couldn’t sit at the front of the bus, we couldn’t ride the bus at all, couldn’t go to the white school, we couldn’t go to school at all. Get my point? Get off your butt and make it happen!
You guys make me sick. The democratic attitude is give, give, give. I believe that President Kennedy said “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”
Take the advise…..
My initial instinct was right. You are an idiot. The middle class white guy just can’t catch a break, right? You guys have always had to carry the burden, right? Sheesh. Listen to yourself.
We already have a Cyberdyne T-800 as governor of California. Why not Robo-FDR? All we need is to make the Predator UN Secretary General and we’d complete the trifecta!
“I am just saying that I am tired of hearing that we have to help the poor. Let them help themselves.”
10 to 1 this asshole calls himself a Christian…
Robert, did you suddenly decide that you felt the need to vent and went off to post in the first set of blog comments you clicked on? Because nothing you said has anything to do with what we’re discussing.
> Robert from Dallas stated:
>I had ‘NO’ help. I am a white male. I had no
>government program that would help me. I have not
>used the fact that I am disabled to get a job or
>get a promotion.
I’m sorry to hear about your disability.
Tell me, are you railing on people who go to the government seeking help to improve their situation just because you didn’t do it yourself? You noted that no government program would help you. (It looks like you forgot about the benefits you receive from the Americans with Disabilities Act.) I’m wondering because your disability seems to qualify you for government program or two that could have helped. I’m thinking that a paraplegic would qualify to receive some benefits from Medicare, depending upon your income level.
After reading your response I can see that you are no different than all the rest. I in no means was saying that po’ol’ white boy was carrying the burden. But in your perverted world you will never be able to see anything other then what your leaders tell you.
As anyone can see by your past posts, all you and your buddies know is what you have been told by your leaders in Washington. You guys ‘are’ the product of evolution. You can’t think on your own, but you sure know how to call people names, the same names over and over.
Wake up, get a life, and start thinking on your own. Oh, sorry that’s impossible. I’m not the idiot, I can think, you may not like it, but I am my own person, not the robot that Hillary, John, Jesse and Al keep telln’ u folks that u is.
Tyro, No I didn’t. I was reading some of the past posts for research I was doing and just wanted to ask some questions.
locus, the American with Disabilities Act is just that, and Act, it does not provide me with anything personlly. What it does, is provide a guideline for business and government to follow to try and tear down the barriers. Things like ramps and railings, big stalls in bathrooms for wheelchairs (of which is always taken by normal people) things like that. It does give us the right of employment, but I did not use it to get my job. I don’t want to get a job over someone else just because I am handicapped.
Medicare yes, I have my own insurance so I don’t use it. I want to say that after my helicopter crash I spent all our savings and spent alot on a credit card just to not get kicked out of our apartment. I did not get any settlement. I did not have a job for two years. I couldn’t.
Getting hurt on the jopb is not fun, it’s hell. All I am saying is that I could have sat back and let the government take care of me, medicare, welfare, SSI, Social Security, but I chose to go back to work, I hurt so bad by the end of the day I sometime have to stop on the way home and lay down in the back of my van and rest for an hour or so just to make it home. When I hear people say we need to let government take care of us it makes me sick. I have a since of pride and work ethic that tells me what I get, I work for.
I tried to reason with Robert but got this in response…
>You can’t think on your own, but you sure know how
> to call people names, the same names over and
>over.
>
>Wake up, get a life, and start thinking on your
>own. Oh, sorry that’s impossible. I’m not the
>idiot, I can think, you may not like it, but I am
>my own person, not the robot that Hillary, John,
>Jesse and Al keep telln’ u folks that u is.
So now you’re calling us robots? I also see by the insinuation asleep, without a life, and without independent thought. Remind me again again who calls people names?
loucs, that response was not for you, it was for Oliver. After reading some of his posts, when someone disagrees with him he winds up just calling them a name, insulting them and never really answering their question or responding to their point.
I’m not even sure why I wound up on this page other than I did a google and got here (on another one of his posts making fun of everything republican). I asked him some questions, albeit in his tone of hatred, and then got upset and went off. To that, I apologize to everyone with dignity that may be on this blog. I would suggest that you find another blog that presents intelligent dialog that can present BOTH sides with dignity.
I was reading some of the past posts for research I was doing and just wanted to ask some questions.
Well, learn what weblogs are and how they work. Oliver posted about a topic, and we can leave comments on the topic. Randomly spamming the weblog comments with a random rant, especially one that doesn’t even make any sense, is inappropriate. Learn to behave appropriately before participating.
Robert from Dallas: “Please don’t call me stupid”
Then don’t say something so stupid. Your questions are nothing more than strawmen, this makes you either stupid or a liar, it’s as simple as that.
“I had ‘NO’ help. I am a white male.”
If you want to be taken seriously, you shouldn’t contradict yourself in the next sentence.
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