Umm, Iran. I don’t think there’s any other option, really.
Naw, the main issues will be the economy and unemployment. The election will hinge on these things. There will be plenty of political rhetoric and plenty of side issues (the price of gas, for instance), but really it hinges on how the economy is doing and what the unemployment rate is…and whether people think that we are going in the right direction right now, or whether they believe that we need a change to get us on the right track.
Everything else is just part of the circus, including Iran.
-XT
Well, Romney is trying desperately to make it all about the price of gasoline. Based on my not having switched the TV channel fast enough last night, Fox News is going to be banging on that nail all summer ("Blonde female anchor breathlessly opining “And some analysts are saying gas will hit $4.20 by summer.” ).
Even by election year standards, Romney’s “Everything is Obama’s fault” schtick is getting old.
Afghanistan?
What, you can think of a better way to handle it?
Looks like I’m right about Afghanistan.
We might have to declare victory and pull out . . .
. . . 
No option but for Iran to be an issue? Or what?
Aren’t unemployment and the cost of gas aspects of the economy? That’s like saying that the decisive states will be the Midwest and Michigan.
It would be helpful if, when you quote you’d actually attribute it to whoever posted what you are quoting, if you have a question about what they were saying.
[QUOTE=Chronos]
Aren’t unemployment and the cost of gas aspects of the economy?
[/QUOTE]
It depends. Technically, I suppose they are all related, and that ‘the economy’ can be broken down into several aspects, including unemployment and the price of gas. But in people minds and perceptions they can be discrete issues (i.e. they can think of ‘unemployment’ as being a key issue while ALSO thinking of ‘the economy’ as being a key issue, even if in reality they are related). The price of gas, while also related, seems to be another thing that people think of separately, and seems to be a political football in THIS election so far, which is why I mentioned it.
So, I don’t seem to be getting your objection here. Could you expand on it? Are you merely picking nits, or do you disagree with my overall statement that it’s not going to be about foreign policy (Iraq or anything else) that the election will hinge on, but instead on domestic issues such as unemployment and the economy, with side shows focusing on stuff like the price of gas?
-XT
Oh, I agree that those things are going to be most significant. I just thought it odd the way you were breaking it down like that.
I think the issue people are going to vote on is the issue of how the country is doing. That, and the economy.
I think the issue people will vote on is which candidate they would rather have as president.
So, it turned out the correct answer was contraception. Who saw that coming?
Everyone who brought contraception. [rimshot]
Well, the economy is improving, Obama kicked the Republicans all over the map on the national security issue, the number of people who get the heebie-jeebies about gay people is falling slowly but significantly, flag-burning is a non-issue, and personal scandals aren’t sticking. So the usual GOP hot-button points aren’t working.
When in doubt, talk about sex.
What ever happened to federal-deficit scaremongering!?
They decided that they’d rather focus on cutting taxes than dealing with the deficit, plus people are more worried about their own debts than the national one.
“Bill Clinton”
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007
And same-sex marriage.