We know you folks are out there, Bush’s pouplarity sits in the low 20’s, but McCain stis low to mid 40’s in polls against Obama.
This confuses me and I will tell you why. I wonder when the clpabilioty begins? How can the current party in power be given back the reins of power after eight years of abject failure? How can we reward a party that has increased the budget deficit, weakened this country, run roughshod over the Constitution, obstructed justice and now is running the economy into the ground? Ok so the Dems have been in control of the Sentate for a couple of years, but this is the Presidency here and to me it is unfathomable to give the Republicans the PResidency AGAIN after this.
But I also realize this is a very subjective view (as is everybody’s) so tell me where I am wrong or why you are willing to give the Republican’s another chance.
Here is my guesses:
Obama is worse (policies, experience, whatever rationale) and I need to think about what’s best going forward
McCain will buck the Republicans because he has a history of doing so
There are a really just a few key litmus-test issues that are important to me(abortion, gun rights, free trade, etc.) and that is what I am voting
We need a split government (R in the White House, D in the Capitol)
I always vote Republican, always have, always will
I’ve been confused about this as well. Wasn’t McCain the guy who *lost *to Bush back in 2000? Doesn’t this imply that McCain is, actually, *worse *than Bush?
Or does it mean that the people that wanted Bush as a candidate back in 2000 were wrong, then- and, if so, why do they think they’ve got the right guy now?
I think it can be rationally argued that, at least in a few areas (global warming, stem cell research, gay rights (maybe), perhaps even abortion rights, ANWR), John McCain is significantly more moderate than GWB. Also, one can hope (although I would claim that his personal history belies this) that McCain would show better judgment in foreign policy. The one area that I think it is almost impossible to claim McCain is different than Bush is in economic policy, and that is why the last few days have been especially hard on McCain’s electoral chances.
It really shouldn’t be all that confusing…sort of like the folks who held their nose and voted for Kerry, even if they didn’t think he was the best candidate. Because they agree with the underlying philosophy…and disagree with that of the other side.
Probably pretty close here. If you are an economic conservative you are probably not jumping for joy about either candidate, but Obama would probably be considered the worse choice with his laundry list of new programs (of course, McCain ALSO has a laundry list of expensive sounding programs, so maybe it’s a wash). On the social side though Obama would definitely not be the choice of most social conservatives because of the potential for nominations to the USSC this presidential term.
Doubtful. I think it’s more a case of McCain MAY actually move the Republicans back from a neo-con stance that Bush seems to have adopted. IOW, he’d (in theory) move things back to the way it should have been before GW.
Again though I think it’s the converse that’s the case…that folks who vote Republican would rather have McCain vs Obama, despite him looking like Bush.
Yes…definitely
Were I to vote for McCain (HIGHLY unlikely), this would be my main reason. However, I doubt most of my fellow voters look at things this way, so I doubt this would be valid in most cases.
Yup. And folks who vote Republican (or Democrat) are going to be fairly unwilling to cross over without good reasons. It’s really the independents that are key…and they vote the person, not the politics usually (well, IMHO anyway).
I am undecided, but a registered Republican, so I am not sure if my opinion is worth hearing:
Who is only 5 points ahead of him. Don’t make the mistake of exaggerating the lead. It detracts from your argument.
Culpability for what? The Economy? The war? All of the above?
Bush didn’t do this alone. He had bipartisan help.
6 years, if you consider that the opposing party has controlled the Legislature for that long.
I may not. I also do not blame Bush, and Bush alone, for those things above. (Except the Executive Privilege stuff, which by definition, falls in the President’s lap.)
But please do not pretend that the Democrats won’t/haven’t been glow-in-the-dark from purity-of-soul, either.
Would you automatically give your vote to the Democratic Party this year, no matter who the candidate was? Or would you vote for the lesser of two duds?
It’s possible that any Republican would continue Bush policies, but I dunno.
Would Gore have been exactly the same President as Clinton? I am doubtfull.
Possibly. Obama promises a lot of change, without raising my (middle class) taxes. I remain cynical.
The experience factor is a little bit of a concern, and why I am not thrilled with Palin. Obama is a smooth operator. He doesn’t act inexperienced in the political arena (Is that because of the rough and tumble of Chicago politics?), I’ll give him that. It reduces my “experience” concern.
I personally don’t believe he is the Maverick he once was.
I have no single issue driving my decision. The issues I am concerned about today are: Economy, Immigration, Government accountability & waste. Neither candidate stands out here, but McCain has NOT been impressing me with his economy statements lately.
I lean towards government split, when there is no other data on the candidate or issue. (When one party controls both Executive and Legislative branches, it seems that government spending gets out of hand. I like those “pigs feeding at the trough” cartoons.) But usually, enough info seeps through to me by election day, that I end up making my decision based on actual issues and personalities. (Kerry seemed to have the affability of a tree. Heh.)
Pretty pickle they’ve got themselves in. They absitively, posolutely must appeal to the knuckle-walking base, without that rock solid constituency behind them, they’ve got no chance. But, at the same time, they’ve got to appeal to the sane branch of the GOP, and such independents as may be gettable.
Behold, the new! improved! Maverick operating system! Yes, yes, we know that the old Bushy operating system would unaccountably and randomly wipe out your hard drive and send porno to everybody on your e-mail list. These features proved to be unpopular.
Vaporware. All the features you want, even if you don’t. He’s moderate on choice issues, he is also dead set to overturn Roe v Wade. He resolutely opposes government interference with business and finance, unless we need to buy some of it. But just because we own it is no reason to think we will interfere with it.
With the Maverick operating system, you get total flexibility! And, heck, everybody loves surprises!
Really? Tell me, in which mid-year election when the sitting President was a Republican (that would include 1982, 1986, 1990, 2002 and 2006) did you support, contribute to, and vote for Democratic candidates for the Senate and congress to live up to this high-minded principle of governance?
What most confuses me isn’t how a Bush hater can support McCain, what confuses me is how a person who voted for Bush in 2004 can be a Bush hater now. President George W. Bush has fulfilled my every expectation and has done nothing that couldn’t have been predicted from even a cursory glance at his first term policies. How could any Bush voter be disappointed in his performance? You must have known what he would do.
I live in California, so my vote is worthless (or was based on the last poll I glanced at).
That said, my tepid support for McCain is covered by 2-4.
I HOPE that he is different enough from the idiot Bush. I HOPE that he might restrain spending.
I am a pro-gun Libertarian member, with a strong feeling of fiscal conservatism and I am also anti foreign entanglements. McCain at least gives me the guns, and I trust that his Supreme Court nominees will be closer to my ideals than Obamas.
I have said many a time that the perfect setup in my book is a heavily Democratic House, a barely Republican Senate, and a Republican President.
The reality of my household is that we have donated to Obama (I did NOT want Hillary getting the nomination). We continue to donate to Obama (my wife is a supporter, and I don’t disagree with her reasonings). We have given NOTHING to McCain. There are many positive things that could come about from an Obama victory, and I truly don’t know enough about him (thanks to his short track record) to really have a strong reason to oppose him.
I get that that’s why you’re voting for McCain. What I don’t understand how someone who voted for Bush in 2004 could be disappointed in his performance. His policies are as predictable as gravity. What did he do that you did not expect him to do, or conversely, what did he not do that you expected him to do? He is exactly the same president that he was in the first term, why change your mind at this late date?
I must have missed the OP thread. I thought it was McCain supporter, Bush hater.
But just to throw a piece of red meat into the cage…
I actually liked most of Bush’s economic policies. Primarily lower taxes on personal income, capital and dividends. We’re going around and around on this point on a few other SDMB threads.
The protectionist sops to the steel industry and the ever-deepening trough of farm subsidies were depressing. He made some noises to rein in Freddie and Fannie over the years, but never really did much. Probably because Republican and Democratic Congresscritters were both slopping at the lobbyist trough and told him to knock it off.
A lot of the other stuff that Bush did made me roll my eyes at best, and sick to my stomach at worst.
But have you checked out Obama/Biden’s ‘Economic Plan’ on their website? Good gracious. I was enlightened by my friends over in the ‘Obama’s plan for the economy’ SDMB thread to go see that. And thankfully so.
I think that might have pushed me so far over the edge to McCain, he could be caught in bed with a dead woman, or a live boy, and it wouldn’t make a difference to me now.
But of course I always try and maintain an open mind about these things.
Barely if at all in the Senate. They have a 49/49 split there with Lieberman/Sanders as independents. Not sure anyone would count Lieberman in the Dems camp anymore considering he spoke at the Republican National Convention in support of McCain. Pretty sure Sanders is liberal making it a 50/50 split with the tie going to Cheney.
“Control” of the senate hardly gets more tenuous than that.