For President, that is. Confining the answers to political figures.
I’m sorry to end a thread title with a preposition. Anyway, people seem to complain every four years that both nominees are lame, I can’t believe we have to choose between two losers that were this bad when there are so many better people, etc. So: who’s out there who you actually WANT to have the chance to vote for?
This is technically a poll, but I figure there is plenty of room for political debate. For example, I think a lot of people may mention John McCain, so I’ll say in advance that I’d never vote for the guy.
The Tweedledee/Tweedledum or lesser of two evils comes up every election. I find it to be a silly and useless argument. The people who make this argument tend to fall into two camps. First of all there are those who like their politics very pure. They hold a candidate to strong litmus tests and thus find it impossible to find a mainstream candidate to support. Or, they use this as an excuse to not vote. The two main US parties don’t have a huge ideological gap between them.
I tend to research the various candidates during the primaries. I’ll usually have them ranked in my mind. However, unless something out of the blue occurs, I’ll be voting for the Democratic nominee in 2008. If I still live in Texas then, it won’t matter since TX will go Republican in 2008.
I was more than happy to vote for John Kerry last time.
I was not very happy with Gore in 2000, to the point that I voted for Nader (since my state was solidly for Bush, and it was the only way not to throw my vote away). I would be happy to vote for Gore in his more recent persona, though.
I’d vote for John McCain over some other people. Pat Robertson, for example.
Right now, I don’t think there’s anyone I can think of really like enough to say I’d vote for him or her in 3 years. I probably shouldn’t be posting solely to play devil’s advocate, but there it is.
I’d hold my nose and vote for McCain if it were a “McCain vs Robertson” or other hypothetical with him and a greater evil.
My perfect candidate would be a fiscal conservative who is more socially moderate. Sadly, the only people who seem to fit this bill are the odd ducks of American politics. Many of them come with their own baggage. Arnold in CA, Rudy in NY, even Mitt in MA if he toned down the religion a bit.
I’m not pleased with Republican leadership these days, but I’d vote for Bush again if he were running against someone as liberal as Kerry. I’m terrified of what a liberal president would do to the country. Enough that I’m willing to tolerate a lot of mis-behavior from the conservatives.
I like Giuliani, he’s my first choice.
I would be happy to vote for Dean, McCain or Bill Bradley.
I would vote for Colin Powell, I need to find a few more I like.
Can someone tell me more about Hagel? I don’t even know who he is, other then a Senator from I think Nebraska?
I would be thrilled to see Mark Warner run. I like the track he’s set my state on, and I think he would make an awesome president. He really knows how to run things, and believes in bipartisanship and a balanced budget.
Plus, if he ends up as President, I can say “Look! Here’s a picture of me with the President way-back-when!” That’s not my only reason for wanting him as president, but it would still be pretty damn cool.
I should answer my own question. I’d be happy to vote for Barack Obama, though I’ve said on many occasions that it isn’t his time yet. I was happy to vote for him for the Senate. Mark Warner is a maybe. I was glad enough to vote for Kerry in 2004, but I’m not sure how I’d feel about doing it the next time around.
I could be wrong, but that is what impressed me about Howard Dean, He seemed very honest and smart. In theory he is to liberal for me but a smart honest Doctor was a great choice for me.
The only politician I can think of who I would actually be happy to vote for would be Jesse Ventura. Since he’ll never run, I’ll stick to voting for Democrats (not because I like them, but because I hate them less than I hate Republicans) and liberal independents.
Anyway, people seem to complain every four years that both nominees are lame, I can’t believe we have to choose between two losers that were this bad when there are so many better people, etc. So: who’s out there who you actually WANT to have the chance to vote for?