Bricker ,RandRover, and Shodan dont like him though personally I do .
But dont worry I cant vote cos I’m only a foreigner.
No, you are not.
The one thing that really grates me is that …
If you’re a conservative, and you name any one issue as a reason for voting McCain, and an Obama supporter will be able to tell you why you’re stupid to not to support Obama because his position on that issue is closer to conservative than McCain… while, of course, simultaneously having the liberal position on the issue. :rolleyes:
Sorry, not gonna cite or break it down. This is how I -feel-, and I’m willing to take the abuse on it silently.
Obama–shallow and vapid. I’m with the op.
The fact that he’s a total lunatic isn’t a dealbreaker?
The 2004 Illinois senate race was surreal in any number of ways, but my personal favorite moment was when some Keyes volunteer in the Rosemont el station handed me a printout of a political cartoon of a man standing at the altar with a tree. Because that was obviously Illinois’ future under Senator Obama. WTF? Dude is CRAZY. (I feel sorry for his lesbian daughter.)
Although, really, that whole election was one giant WTF.
I’m conservative-libertarian.
Here’s the thing; what I’ve noticed in my years of watching politicians and politics is that to a point, the ideological position of a potential executive isn’t as important as you might think. It’s not totally UNIMPORTANT, but two things often trump it for me:
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Irrespective of a person’s ideology, positions of executive power are primarily about competence, not policy. Obama’s (or McCain’s) specific plans around taxation are not nearly as important as his intelligence, grace, willingness to learn, and adaptability.
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You need different people at different times. Sometimes, a change of power has value in and of itself.
I’m Canadian, so my personal voting examples might not resonate with you, but I’ve voted for both the Liberal AND Conservative parties in my lifetime, based on which party I felt was putting forth the more effective candidate for Prime Minister and based on when I felt change was needed. I’ve always been much more conservative-libertarian than the Liberals but they got my vote three times in a row - in 1993 because change was needed, and ion 1997 and 2000 because their governance was more competent than the other option likely would have been. In 2004, when the leaders were different, and the Liberals’ leader was not competent and their overall leadership needed changing, I switched my vote.
Looking at Barack Obama’s platform I wholeheartedly agree, as an external observer, that it’s not very strong, mostly a set of lavish spending ideas with a touch of protectionism, both generally stupid ideas. There isn’t really a lot in his platform that’s really all that impressive. But then, McCain’s platform isn’t any hot shit either. And in the grand scheme of things they aren’t THAT far apart; it might seem like a wide gulf in the context of American political discourse, but, really, there’s not a lot of actual variance in American political discourse.
I’d be asking myself… who’s smarter? Who is likelier to learn from his own mistakes? Who will react coolly and logically in a crisis? Who will more impress foreign leaders? Who will have the nads to retreat from error or back down on a promise when it’s needed? Who will understand his role in government, rather than overmanaging (a la Jimmy Carter) or undermanaging (a la Dubya) his administration?
Your call to make.
I’m going to answer this simple question with a simple answer, instead of arguing the actual politics, that is kind of pointless for us right leaner’s on this board. No, you aren’t the only one.
Can’t stand him.
He’s a gun hating religious nut, what’s not to love?
I actually liked the guy until he started laying out his positions and how much his Christianity rules his life.
>Sometimes I feel I’m the only conservative-libertarian here on the SDMB. Not that I mind.
Crafter_Man, I think that if somebody had asked me before I opened this thread, Who is the most independently minded Doper, I’d have said you are. For which I have long admired you, in spite of our apparently pretty different politics!
Seeing as I don’t like any politician at the national level and am conservative to boot, I would like to subscribe to your news letter.
Unfortunately, I am one of those people that you cringe when they say they agree with you or are on your side because they are generally looked on as a fool or idiot or some such so I am not claiming to be with you, I’ll just take the newsletter and go away …
I don’t like Obama or McCain.
At this point, I’d settle for a leader that won’t embarrass the nation while addressing a group of grade school students. Unfortunately, that leaves me with about half a ticket.
I agree with RickJay; the personal ideology of the executive in question is somewhat secondary to said executive’s ability to manage and delegate. George H.W. Bush had no overriding ideology as far as I could discern, but he was eminently qualified as an executive. Clinton was renowned by many as being some kind of return to neo-liberalism even though any objective reading of the achievements of his administration demonstrate a distinctly conservative bent. Eisenhower was an avowed Republican but was ideologically moderate; one can barely tell between Johnson and Nixon from their actions. Reagan was a flyer, one of the few who significantly modified American policy by dint of his ideological convictions, and only in the wake of significant failures of then-current American policy and Soviet action.
Personally I think Obama says some very intelligent, measured statements that don’t fit nicely into soundbites, which is incredibly refreshing. I also doubt that this will translate into effective policy, and will probably be undermined by his own party *a la * Carter. C’est la vie. This is representative democracy in action.
Stranger
I’m more or less in the same boat (except I don’t like Barr either, writing in Paul).
I can take him or leave him. But for exactly the opposite reason as the OP. He’s a long way to the right of me. But he is infinitely preferable to his opponent. I’m a left-libertarian. I live in the US but don’t get to vote. I’d probably write in Chomsky
I’m an enthusiastic Obama supporter, in spite of all the times I have to cringe when exposed to his ideas. For the first time, I’m supporting someone without supporting his ideology (I’m a libertarian).
RickJay said it much better than I ever could. A Canadian also, I’m far less in to politics than he is but like him my vote doesn’t belong to a party and has to be earned each election.
I tend to see U.S. citizens voting like they root for football teams: it doesn’t matter that their team is losing badly, the coach is incompetent, and the quarterback is up on charges… it’s their team and they’ll back it come hell or high water. In fact, it’s worse than that because there’s only two options, which seems to extend further to all choices. It’s A or it’s B. It’s up or down, black or white, for or against. Obama actually gives complicated topics the credit they deserve, where McCain just gives the “correct” party answer.
A few days ago I saw an interview on UK Channel 4 News with Ken Adelman. He said that Obama “will immediately restore (some) of the lost American prestige overseas”. Now I’m not overseas, but I’ve certainly felt my respect for the U.S. in general waning as GWs presidency continued. Related, it also doesn’t help that I keep seeing McCain supporters interviewed calling Obama an Arab, Muslim, terrorist, etc. That kind of public, wilful, brutal ignorance in supporters would sink a campaign up here (though even if it were true, he could certainly still be running here (minus the terrorism)). To disappoint such jerks, I can only hope that Obama wins or they get punched in the cock.
Anyway, as to why the 'Dope is “so left-leaning”… I dunno. 
Yeah, I know Keyes is a nutter, but he’s an intelligent nutter, and I’d rather have the intelligent kind running things than the stupid kind.
No, you’re not the only one who feels that way. Obama is an empty suit: all style, no substance.