USA Politics

Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Kerry had no idea how to connect with the average American.  He is very upper class and, yes, snobby.  He also looks like a member of the Munsters.  Obama has none of those issues, which makes him very much like Bill Clinton - Bill can walk into a room of farmers, or steelworkers, or PhD and hold a conversation at the appropriate level with that person.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

LooseCannon said:
Kerry had no idea how to connect with the average American. 
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You're a master of exagerating (or even changing history by looking at the facts), LC...

Maybe Kerry had even more votes than Bush. He lost by an inch, or not?

Remember this? -->

In the 2004 Democratic Presidential primaries, John Kerry defeated several Democratic rivals, including Sen. John Edwards (D-North Carolina.), former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and retired Gen. Wesley K. Clark. His victory in the Iowa caucuses is widely believed to be the tipping point where Kerry revived his sagging campaign in New Hampshire and the February 3, 2004 primary states like Arizona, South Carolina and New Mexico. Kerry then went on to win landslide victories in Nevada and Wisconsin. Kerry thus won the Democratic nomination to run for President of the United States against incumbent George W. Bush. On July 6, 2004, he announced his selection of John Edwards as his running mate. Democratic strategist Bob Shrum, who was Kerry's 2004 campaign adviser, wrote an article in Time magazine claiming that after the election, Kerry had said that he wished he'd never picked Edwards, and that the two have since stopped speaking to each other. In a subsequent appearance on ABC's This Week, Kerry refused to respond to Shrum's allegation, calling it a "ridiculous waste of time."

On November 3, 2004, Kerry conceded the race. Kerry won 59.03 million votes or about 48 percent of the popular vote; Bush won 62.04 million votes, or about 51 percent of the popular vote. Kerry carried states with a total of 252 electoral votes. One Kerry elector voted for Kerry's running mate, Edwards, so in the final tally Kerry had 251 electoral votes to Bush's 286. Although, as in the previous election, there were disputes about the voting, no state was as close as Florida had been in 2000 (see 2004 United States presidential election controversy and irregularities). Though the states of Florida and Ohio certified returns with a nearly twenty percent discrepancy from exit polling (see 2004 United States presidential election controversy, exit polls), the campaign accepted the results.

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2004 United States presidential election controversy and irregularities

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2004 United States presidential election controversy, exit polls
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Forostar said:
You're a master of exagerating LC...
Maybe Kerry had even more votes than Bush. He lost by an inch, or not?
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:blink: you're sure you don't confuse him with Al Gore ??  :huh:
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Maybe an inch was exagerating from my side ;)

But it's not that he had no idea of connecting. Nonsense to say of someone who got this far.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

I think that the votes gap betwenn Bush and Kerry, was the biggest in the American elections history
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Forostar said:
You're a master of exagerating (or even changing history by looking at the facts), LC...

Maybe Kerry had even more votes than Bush. He lost by an inch, or not?
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Yawn.  Kerry's support was not a reflection of his charisma, but a reflection of the distaste for Bush.  I think it's very sad that General Clark didn't win the nomination, because I think he would have trounced Dubya out of office.  John Kerry lost the election - I have no doubt that there was some voting irregularities, but I don't think that it would have been enough to tip the favour.  Al Gore *won* the popular vote, and Kerry lost it, despite Bush's middle of the road popularity.

____no5 said:
I think that the votes gap betwenn Bush and Kerry, was the biggest in the American elections history
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Huh?  Not even close, percentage wise or people wise.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Right, but there was only a 3 million vote differential.  In 1992, Bill Clinton beat George H. W. Bush by 5.8 million votes, and that's with Ross Perot gathering almost 20 million votes.  And that's just off the top of my head.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Well, I saw LC's comment more in the vein of something like:

"Last Olympics, the dude who got the silver medal on the 100 meters had no ability to run". I find it unlogical judgement and disqualifying all those who voted for Kerry.

Someone who becomes 2nd in a race can run, can connect, esp. if the difference pretty small.

There was controversy, it was a close race between Bush & Kerry.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Forostar said:
Well, I saw LC's comment more in the vein of something like:

"Last Olympics, the dude who got the silver medal on the 100 meters had no ability to run". I find it unlogical judgement and disqualifying all those who voted for Kerry.

Someone who becomes 2nd in a race can run, can connect, esp. if the difference pretty small.

There was controversy, it was a close race between Bush & Kerry.
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No, Forostar.  You don't understand the American political system.  It is both possible and logical for a boring, disconnected candidate to run and succeed in the American system.  Plus, Kerry didn't win the nomination because he was super awesome - he won because his opponents divided the vote, and he had the financial backing to pull himself through the early states whereas his more personable opponents dropped out due to lack of funding.  Kerry was (and remains) a distant political figure, who's manner of speaking did not endear him to swing voters.

Look at it this way: before the race starts, you can guarantee that the Republicans will win Texas, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, the Midwest, etc.  And you can guarantee the Democrats will win Washington, California, New York, Massachusetts, etc.  In the end, only about 15 states are up for grabs, because people vote for parties in the US, not for personalities.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Forostar said:
Alright, didn't look at it that way.
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Yeah...it's different than to what we have in Canada as well.  I can't imagine voting for someone because of their party without weighing the person or the issues.  But that's just how it is in the USA.  Reference Powergirl.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

LooseCannon said:
Right, but there was only a 3 million vote differential.  In 1992, Bill Clinton beat George H. W. Bush by 5.8 million votes, and that's with Ross Perot gathering almost 20 million votes.  And that's just off the top of my head.
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I don't know about the popular vote, but the biggest electoral vote landslide was Reagan's second election vs. Mondale. Reagan won 49 states; Mondale only won his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia.

Edit - I just remembered, there was one bigger...
George Washington was unanimously elected by the Electoral College for his first term.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

Technically, Washington had a greater % win but not a greater Electoral Vote win.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

wasted155 said:
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?
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If I remember correctly He (Quayle) could not spell the word potato.  But the scary thing is that a 4th grader corrected him.  Something like that. 
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

LooseCannon said:
Technically, Washington had a greater % win but not a greater Electoral Vote win.
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How can a unanimous vote be "not greater"? Forget the number of votes. It's the one and only unanimous electoral vote ever. That can't be beat. It's greater than anything.

You have entered into the realm of American irrationality about George Washington, the Father of our Country. Don't even mess around with Washington. Americans don't care about the truth; Washington is a legend, and we like him that way. If we could find his DNA and clone him, we would. We'd have a nation full of George Washingtons and we would be AWESOME.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

SinisterMinisterX said:
How can a unanimous vote be "not greater"? Forget the number of votes. It's the one and only unanimous electoral vote ever. That can't be beat. It's greater than anything.

You have entered into the realm of American irrationality about George Washington, the Father of our Country. Don't even mess around with Washington. Americans don't care about the truth; Washington is a legend, and we like him that way. If we could find his DNA and clone him, we would. We'd have a nation full of George Washingtons and we would be AWESOME.
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What do you mean "if"? Go dig him up and get it!
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

SinisterMinisterX said:
You have entered into the realm of American irrationality about George Washington, the Father of our Country. Don't even mess around with Washington. Americans don't care about the truth; Washington is a legend, and we like him that way. If we could find his DNA and clone him, we would. We'd have a nation full of George Washingtons and we would be AWESOME.
Click to expand...

I save my adoration for TJ, myself.
 
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison

SinisterMinisterX said:
I don't know about the popular vote, but the biggest electoral vote landslide was Reagan's second election vs. Mondale. Reagan won 49 states; Mondale only won his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia.

Edit - I just remembered, there was one bigger...
George Washington was unanimously elected by the Electoral College for his first term.
Click to expand...

Didn't Nixon win 49 states as well?
 
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