USA Politics

Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Which is why he scares the hell outta me.  And is also why, even with the name recognition he has, I can't see him as president.  Maybe I'm wrong and its just my own beliefs that keep me from believing that, but I have a hard time seeing that enough of the US will really want him in that capacity.  Though, I have been really wrong on that before. I really thought the country had enough of Bush and would elect anyone to replace him-- missed that one by a mile.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

In the one debate video clip I saw, Huckabee says "I don't know" when asked whether the earth was literally created in six days and is only 6,000 years old.  He also said, when asked by Bill Maher in a separate interview, that the earth "may be six billion years old, I don't know."  Sounds like a hedge and a backtrack from an earlier statement, but I don't know what that prior statement was.  He does confirm that he doesn't think humans evolved from primates.  More troubling, he says that his beliefs on the subject have no bearing on whether he would be a good president.  (I respectfully and strongly disagree). 
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

cornfedhick said:
More troubling, he says that his beliefs on the subject have no bearing on whether he would be a good president.  (I respectfully and strongly disagree). 
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And I agree with you on that account! 

So, Looks like Huckabee won Kansas and Obama won all of the Democrat races today.  I haven't seen a recent delegate count, but I know Obama has (obviously) closed the gap on Clinton.  Huckabee still feels he is in the race with the win; I don't quite see it that way.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Huckabee needs to win the upcoming races with something like 70% majorities to get enough seats, otherwise McCain's proportional and district delegates will hand him the nomination.  Huckabee is not campaigning to the the Republican presidential candidate in 2008; he is campaigning for 2012 or 2016.

Barack Obama closed the gap to within 30 delegates tonight by winning all four Democrat races convincingly.  He will likely leap ahead of Hillary on Tuesday when the Potomac Primary occurs and Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia all vote for him.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

LooseCannon said:
The other key thing to remember is John McCain's age and physical condition.  He is not exactly young and spry.  In fact, he is old, abused, has "more scars than Frankenstein" (his own words), and suffers from reoccurring melanoma.  It is entirely likely that McCain will die in office (the first president to die of natural causes since FDR), or that he will not see re-election due to his health. 
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Did people also say this before Ronald Reagan was elected as president. When he took the office he was a few days away from his 70th birthday. Perhaps Reagan was a more healthy man but he sure did not look like it!
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Forostar said:
Did people also say this before Ronald Reagan was elected as president. When he took the office he was a few days away from his 70th birthday. Perhaps Reagan was a more healthy man but he sure did not look like it!
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They sure did.  However, Ronald Reagan had no health issues, nor had he spent 5.5 years being imprisoned and tortured by the North Vietnamese.  Plus McCain will be older - 72 if he takes office.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

That is true.  However, and I don't remember this exactly, but I was thinking there were a lot of questions as to Reagan's capacity to accuratly fill that position towards the end of his second term.  Now, that could be just propagand that I am remembering, but I think a President does have a responsibility towards the country to be in proper mental and physical health. 
@LC, I get what you are saying about Huckabee trying to garner name recognition for an attempt at a future election, much as McCain did in the year that Bush won.  He was on Meet the Press this morning saying that he didn't want to be VP, and that he thought he still had a chance, even though the math of the situation was very bleak for him; I believe he would have to win almost EVERY remaining delegate to secure the bid.  The only real hope (for Huckabee) is to keep McCain short of the automatic bid quantity (1191 I believe) and put it into the hands of the Republican convention.  However, I think McCain only needs 300(ish) and there are a little over 800 delegates available.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Forostar said:
Reagan took the office again when he was 73. ;)
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Reelections don't count according to the official US records.  Oldest president at date of inauguration will be John McCain; if McCain serves to the end of two terms he becomes oldest sitting president.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Voting is still voting. It counted for millions of Americans and it proved that they found age less important than anything else.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

That is correct at that time.  However, the Democrats had a long bout of putting up presidential candidates that wouldn't have won an election for High-school class secretary.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Oh, you are correct!  The following election wasn't that much better, but I think Dukakis (sp?) got at least 5 or so states.

What that brings back are memories of Dan Quayle... Now that was a perfect example of how a VP really doesn't mean much to an election.  And, how I miss some of those quotes!!  I don't remember exactly one of them, something about it was too bad he didn't speak Latin while visiting Latin America?
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Remember that Reagan had been a celebrity since the 1940s. He had some popularity long before he became President. That overcomes the age issue with some voters - they feel like they're voting for an old friend.

And don't discount the assassination attempt on Reagan. When he survived that, it made him seem like an iron man. In fact, the sympathy he got from that boosted his image all the way through the 1984 election.

Also, the presidency wasn't as big of a deal in 1980. Starting with the Watergate hearings, Congress had been re-asserting its control of government through the 1970s. It didn't seem so bad to have a frail president, since more power was in the hands of less-frail people.

Today, the presidency matters much more, since Bush and the neocons have specifically worked to centralize power in the executive branch with their loony unitary executive theory. Even if a decent person gets into the oval office, they'll still have all that power in their hands to use or abuse.

Finally, Reagan had weak opponents. Mondale has already been mentioned. But remember Reagan was running against Carter in 1980, and Carter's presidency suffered too many disasters to survive. An old movie star seemed better than a failed country bumpkin to most voters.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Good points, you point out some parallels but also differences.

SinisterMinisterX said:
Remember that Reagan had been a celebrity since the 1940s. He had some popularity long before he became President. That overcomes the age issue with some voters - they feel like they're voting for an old friend.
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McCain has been popular since Vietnam.

SinisterMinisterX said:
And don't discount the assassination attempt on Reagan. When he survived that, it made him seem like an iron man. In fact, the sympathy he got from that boosted his image all the way through the 1984 election.
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McCain survived Vietnam. He became a hero.

SinisterMinisterX said:
Also, the presidency wasn't as big of a deal in 1980. Starting with the Watergate hearings, Congress had been re-asserting its control of government through the 1970s. It didn't seem so bad to have a frail president, since more power was in the hands of less-frail people.

Today, the presidency matters much more, since Bush and the neocons have specifically worked to centralize power in the executive branch with their loony unitary executive theory. Even if a decent person gets into the oval office, they'll still have all that power in their hands to use or abuse.

Finally, Reagan had weak opponents. Mondale has already been mentioned. But remember Reagan was running against Carter in 1980, and Carter's presidency suffered too many disasters to survive. An old movie star seemed better than a failed country bumpkin to most voters.
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These are different aspects indeed. The charm of his opponent(s) will decide if McCain will make it or not, not his age.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

McCain is also not as charismatic as Reagan was.  As one Farker put it on a thread I was reading last night, "John McCain has all the charisma of a week-old lettuce sandwich."  He is not likely to mobilize the youth vote, that's for sure.  He's just another old white guy.

I like McCain, but in a debate forum, Obama will run laps around the man.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

The same was said about Bush last time. His opponent wasn't that bad either. But I prefer Obama as well.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Sadly Bush did appeal to the average American, because like him, they are redneck idiots that can't say "Nuclear", while Kerry did come off as a bit snobby and arrogant.
 
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