Wednesday, February 6

Dear Republicans,

I'm so sorry that you'll have to choose between two liberals this November. Don't worry too much though. The Demos will be in charge for just a few years before the country gets fed up again and you take back Congress. What's really amusing about your choice yesterday is that McCain is the same guy who lost to Bush, a president who has what, like a 25% approval rating? Does that mean McCain will hover around 20%? Yikes. Good luck with that. Or maybe you can vote for Obama, and we might get out of Iraq before 2108. I'm also sorry that the moderates have killed any chances of nominating a real (read: pandering) conservative. Maybe this is all just a cosmic yin/yang balance.

12 comments:

  1. Who are we kidding? The race is over- it's no longer Republican v Democrat- it's WHICH Democrat will end up in the white house- Hillary or Obama.

    The Republicans just gave this race away.

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  2. Can you blame them for what W has done? Record deficits for the US, busted health care, bankrupt education, record profits for Exxon Mobil and Chevron, global warming and green house gases, (White House flatulence included), record trade imbalances with China, the growth of Wal Mart, an unpopular and illegal war in Iraq, and the final insult -- Osama is still alive and sipping Sprites and Perrier water somewhere.

    I think any Democrat in November wins by the biggest plurality since LBJ kicked another senator back to AZ, i.e. Barry Goldwater. He was about as nuts as Huckabee and Romney rolled into one.

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  3. Well, as one who isn't a particularly huge fan of anyone in the field, I just have to sigh and confess that at least we have a system of government that does seem to win out on average. And I just have to note that while the president's job approval rating stinks -- lately, appropriately so -- Congress has generally been tracking 5 - 10 points lower than his for the past year. Which makes me reach the conclusion that the candidate who can get us to start coming together, having substative (not political) debates about issues, and getting us all to feel like the stinking United States of America is the candidate who gets my vote. Unfortunately, I don't even know of a politician I can write in who fits that bill...

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  4. "The candidate who can get us to start coming together, having substative (not political) debates about issues, and getting us all to feel like the stinking United States of America."

    I really think Romney could have done that. Despite that I don't love his (necessary) pandering to the right, I think he is the most capable to lead a diverse group, based on his record. And before any liberals reading this say otherwise, let me give an example: A good friend of mine who lived in Boston when Romney was there really liked him. And she voted for Clinton yesterday. He lived in Michigan, and won there too...etc. He's done now, however. Sorry about that Steve. I was really hoping for Obama vs. Romney.

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  5. "Congress has generally been tracking 5 - 10 points lower." As far as I know, that has been the case for a long time. People generally like their own congressmen, but not those from other states...

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  6. They don't like their own congressman or senator so much as they take ownership of him or her.

    If you're from Utah, ask around and see who all really likes Orrin Hatch. He may be a crooked old croney owned by RIAA and other interests, but dang it, he's OUR crooked old croney.

    Democrats who believe Obama is "change" are delusional. Republicans who believe McCain and Huckabee aren't working together to squash Romney are delusional.

    This is the system, though. The two party system was designed to protect our form of government and make sure congress doesn't get bogged down between 25 minority parties. But it was never intended to include intentionally confusing primaries and caucuses meant soley as a barrier to entry for genuinely qualified candidates.

    I personally believe approval ratings are low not because of the person, but because there is a general loss of faith in the entire process.

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  7. Well, I was a little disappointed Romney didn't make it, because I agree with your analysis on his abilities, but he still isn't quite the guy I'm looking for either to be perfectly honest. I also have to say that I agree with Dave's comments on polls tracking so low because there is a perception that the process is broke. But I don't actually agree myself that the system is. Frankly, I still have faith in it.

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  8. I have to disagree that Romney was the guy who could bring people together. Perhaps if he was the Mitt who ran for governor of Massachusetts, but ever since his swing toward the right (whether it was genuine or calculated) he became the candidate who most reflected the Bushian mindset. I would say he has the strongest leadership credentials, but you can't bring a country together when your election strategy is based on the same right-wing religious movement that got Bush in office. I think he might have had a legitimate chance had he ran as the man he was five years ago -- a strong leader, great business credentials and centrist views on social issues.

    Think about it: McCain the Washington veteran centrist versus Romney the outsider centrist. Outsiders win nearly every time.

    That said, I think the Republicans now have a better chance than they could have asked for to win this election. Not that I think they will, but if Hillary gets the Dem nomination, the GOP will have a fighting chance to retain the White House.

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  9. "I think he might have had a legitimate chance had he ran as the man he was five years ago."

    I wish he would have done that, but I don't think he would have had a chance at all due to the party situation. He had to change his platform in order to court the conservatives... I think his shift was very calculated, but it was unfortunate that he had to paint himself so "Bushian."

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  10. Absolutely on the money Adam. Too bad his campaign people could not see it. He was Huckstered by Huckabee who came across as both genuine and a conservative.

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  11. I see, and somewhat agree with your point, Adam, but now that the presumptive GOP nominee is John McCain, I have to wonder what would have happened had Presidential Candidate Romney been Governor of Mass. Romney. No doubt that his strategy was calculated, and considering the way the Republicans voted in the past eight years, not it wasn't a terrible presumption. But in the here and now, when the nominee is going to be a guy who threatened to bolt the party six or seven years ago and is seen as a liberal by many party loyalists, I have to wonder what Romney's campaign could have been.

    It was only six months ago that McCain's campaign was on the outs - his support was in the single digits in many polls. If Romney had been the old Romney then, perhaps he could have cemented early the support that McCain has now.

    But in the end, I'm not really a Romney fan, so whatever. I'm just glad that the perceived power of the religious nuts and right-wingers in the party has been exposed as an anomaly that was able to be exploited by Karl Rove's Bush campaign strategy.

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  12. Thanks for your posting, Adam.

    Have a good weekend

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