I dunno. He is nothing if not optimistic.
Airman Doors: Just curious-- how much of your OP was sarcasm? It was a little hard to tell. You really don’t blame Clinton for Gore’s failure, do you? That makes no sense at all-- especially as you are a strong proponent of personal responsibility.
Doesn’t sound that far-fetched to me; I’ve heard various folks defend voting for GWB with the eye-rolling “I’d have voted for the Dems if they had nominated a better candidate.” As if boring-but-competent isn’t as important as a folksy-faux-cowboy-personna when it comes to selecting a President… :rolleyes:
Jim, thanks for your in-depth answer.
I, too, find myself at odds with the left-most members of the Democrats, as I am a believer in a strong military. I do think that we need to stop fighting WWII and start understanding that the kind of action we’re going to see in the future requires a very different skill set, one which we have clearly not yet mastered. But I respect and even admire most members of the military as solid professionals whose grasp of the reality and horror of war is far greater than that of the civilian population. The military, even the REMFs, were not in favor of going into Iraq, at least as I understand it.
That being said, it sounds like the policies you advocate for the most part are far more in line with contemporary Democratic thinking than Republican thinking. Forget about Teddy Roosevelt; there was a polar switch in the parties’ conservative/liberal alignment around the time of FDR. Prior to that, the Republicans had been the liberals and the Democrats had been the conservatives. So when you say the party of TR, realize that it’s not even remotely the same party anymore.
Nixon, while a personally reprehensible guy who played fast and loose with the law when it came to re-election, was a fairly decent president. But you have to remember that things have changed hugely since then. By 1970 standards, the Democrats of today are far right-wingers. That shift came primarily during the Reagan era, during which the social conservatives and the slimiest of businessmen realized that they could use one another to great effect.
I personally thought Reagan was a dreadful president, but of course that was before W, compared to whom Reagan was magnificent. But he did everything he could to completely de-regulate business, leading to a gutting of environmental protections, the Enron-type scandals, the S&L debacle, and the telemarketers who interrupted your dinner ten times a night until recently to tell you that you wanted to switch phone companies. He was a union buster, and his administration was remarkable at the time for the corruption of its members, as well as the unsuitability of a number of his appointees, not to mention Iran-Contra. I know it’s said that he “ended the Cold War,” but I seriously question that. Certainly the keep-up-with-the-Joneses military expenditures of the USSR contributed to its fall, but I strongly believe that it was simply an idea whose time had come. Note that China, not at all threatened by the US nor influenced by the USSR, gave up communism in everything but name at roughly the same time.
In any case, my point is that considering yourself a Republican for historical reasons doesn’t work. You have to deal with the Republican party as it is, not as it was. Fortunately, you seem to be doing that, in that you are not knee-jerkingly voting R regardless of the many policies with which you disagree. Good on you!
Well, in some respects I do. Al Gore was his own worst enemy inasmuch as he was stiffer than Woody from Toy Story during his campaign, but at the same time, for all of his popularity, Gore perceived Clinton as a liability (I guess I got that wrong, by the way- I thought Clinton hung him out to dry). I’d say that Al Gore can shift some of the rap to Clinton in that respect. I mean, there had to be some reason why Gore didn’t ask Bill to stump for him all over the country, and it’s either that he was ashamed of Bill or Bill told him to go to hell. Those coattails should have been plenty strong enough to ride right into the White House, and yet it didn’t go down that way at all. You tell me.
As another ‘Bush apologist’ I’ll just add my 2 cents. I voted for BC in 1996 also and would vote for the man again, flaws and all if the choice were between him and our current lovely president. I don’t think BC was the reason Gore lost however (as others have said)…I think good ole Al was his own reason for losing. The guy had the appeal of day old fish during the election, and ran (IMHO) as if the thing were already in the bag. That he let that schmuck Bush win (and no, I don’t believe the BS about ‘stolen elections’) was one of the great fuckups of our time. Gods know how he’d of handled 9/11…but he couldn’t have done worse with the succeeding years than Bush has done.
BC, for all his flaws, was a very good president. He’s the last president I have voted for from either of the major parties, and the first one I voted for from one of the major parties since Reagan’s first term. I wish he could run again…I wish he could seriously be in contention as the UN GS for that matter. C’est la vie, it is not going to happen either way and gods know what the two major parties will serve up to us this go round. SOSDD most likely.
-XT
no. No indeed.
Reagan is a tough one. I join the Navy in 85. I grew up in the 70s with the military hitting its all time low point. I thought after Carter’s failed rescue of the hostages due to simple mechanical failure the country might be heading downhill quick. Our best Ally Britain looked like it was on life support. I actually wondered, incorrectly, if Western Democracy was dying. Reagan’s domestic policies were very bad. His environmental policies still give me fits. However, his foreign policy and his ridiculous military build-up were needed at the time, IMHO. He really restored the military and surpassed any prior levels of strength. His Foreign policy placed us first in the world again and while hotly debated on this board, I still believe he won the Cold War my escalating the arms race. I think the positives of his admin outweighed the many negatives. I was also young and much more staunchly republican at the time.
I am sadly well aware of the fact the existing Republican Party is not the party I want it to be and the one it was even 30 years ago. It is far from TR’s and that is why I often mention the Bull-Moose Party. Rudy G. is not the average Republican by any stretch either. If he were not a hero in the public eyes, he would be ostracized by the party. I believe that someday the moderates will take back control of the party, because American politics is known for being cyclic and I am in the end, an optimist. In the meantime, if the Democrats run Hillary, another moderate, or even a Liberal I respect, I will vote for them over any candidate of the Religious right. I voted for Kerry and I strongly dislike the man, just not as much as Bush. In 2000 I voted Green which is in keeping with my core values.
Thank you for this exchange, it is strangely cathartic,
Jim
Inigo, even if I allow that he should have been the President in 2000, eking out an election by such a small margin does not demonstrate the hallmarks of strong coattails. An example of such a loss is 1968 where Humphrey made up 7 points or so and very narrowly lost because of LBJ’s announcement of the bombing halt. He went from an also-ran to a contender overnight. Al Gore went from a shoo-in to a punching bag by refusing to play off of Clinton’s popularity. Again, why do you think that is? I can only surmise that Al wanted to disassociate himself from Bill or vice versa, and again, you tell me which is which.
People who have taken note of my opinions on the SDMB may be surprised to learn that I regard Clinton has the greatest and smartest US president of my lifetime of 56 years. I’m not American, but I hope to hell that Hillary runs for 2008.
So does the Republican National Committee…
It’s been gone for years. There is nobody more stand-up honorable and honest on this board than Airman, as he has just shown us once again.
Well said, Dave.
The pleasure has been mine, sir! Another time (but not here and now), let’s have a go at welfare. Maybe I can bring you a little over to the dark side. 
I don’t know about the rest of you miscreants, but I keep seeing this thread and reading it “Sinton.”
Nope, must just be you, I guess.
Hilarious and true.
Can you cite this please?
Absolutely not, the Edison thing was a long time ago, I heard it live while she was still first lady. This is the pit, I was explaining why I do not really like her, despite the fact that I would vote for her against many Republicans. I was not attempting to convince others. I doubt you can Google it and in was probably back around 1998. Good Luck.
Jim
Well, Edison campaigned to make alternating current the format of choice for the electric chair, in order to smear Westinghouse and make AC look life-threateningly dangerous. After all, old Tom had a DC scheme to sell…
Wait, DVsickgirlDV wanted a cite about Edison’s dirty business practices?
Wow, just try the leat bit of googling DVsickgirlDV, his business practices will be an eye opener.
Jim