I know many of you are politically center, but even then you must have a slight tendency towards one side or the other. So, who’d you pick to be the next POTUS from the opposite party.
For myself I’d have to go with John McCain. He stood up against any form of torture from day one. He’s an experienced organizer and multilateral statesmen with international experience. He equally pokes his finger in the eyes of liberals and conservatives. He’s been in government forever and still has principles. He’s just the kind of piss and vinegar I’d like to see in power if the Dems manage to fuck this one up.
So if your side doesn’t win, who’d you want in power and why?
Bill Richardson. He understands the benefits of lowering taxes (he pushed through some good tax reductions as Governor) and is also decent on Second Amendment issues.
Ron Paul. At the very least, he would shake the shit out of “business as usual” U.S. politics. I’m to the point where I almost believe it would be worth taking a step back (which Paul would almost certainly bring) to sort of “reboot the system.”
I’ve been a registered independent since I was 18, and I vote for both Dems and Pubbies. Therefore, I get two picks, and you can’t stop me.
For Democrats, I like Barack Obama right now. He’ll probably get my vote as long as he actually starts talking about his ideas and positions on key issues. (Mark Warner had my vote until he announced he wasn’t running.)
For Republicans, there’s just something I like about Mitt Romney. He just seems like the fresh face of the Republican Party. He’s Mormon, so you can trust the hell out of him. He’ll reign in corruption in his party.
Adam
I thought that pretty much summed up the current occupant of the Oval Office!
I guess I could live with Chuck Hagel, apart from his anti-abortion stand. He was an early GOP proponent of withdrawing from Iraq and has called for an end to the boycott of Cuba. And he claims to be a fiscal conservative (don’t they all?)
Are you serious? God, that’s a wake-up call. That all but two of the GOP candidates are **pro-**torture is reason enough to run screaming for the exits.
if it doesn’t have to be a declared candidate: Olympia Snowe
ETA: or Pete Domenici /ETA
If it does: Rudy Giuliani
I’m not a registered Democrat but I’ve tended to vote in that direction especially for national candidates.
I’d say Brownback because we’d frickin’ kill him.
Seriously, I guess Rudy. Lesser of all the evils. McCain is just brown-nosing every constituant ass he can find. I liked him some last time, but this time he is just such a lump of moldable clay, for sale to the highest bidder (in votes). Brownback is a dinosaur. I can’t stand the nothing that is Fred Thompson. Reagan II. Ahnoldt II. The rest are forgettable and hold to the Pub talking points. Giuliani at least has a spine.
As a screaming liberal Gay Democrat, I have to admit that if Rudy won, I wouldn’t slash my wrists…yes, I know most liberal New Yorkers hated him (pre- 9/11) but there is something about a guy who, during his ugly divorce, moved in with two Gay guys while Mayor of NYC and didn’t give a flyin’ fuck what anybody thought about it. Plus, I have never once gone in drag, but Rudy has photo after photo after photo of him in drag…if nothing else, the guy can take a joke.
Hahaha! This board generally sits well to the left of the American political spectrum. That makes it pretty centrist here in Britain, though.
As a Brit, I guess I get two picks too. But I will say that the main candidates of both parties are pretty good. I think America will do well whoever is picked. Apart from Hillary Clinton. She reminds me of Margaret Thatcher without the intelligence or the charm. I also think she’ll cave under pressure.
For the Democrats I’ll go with Barack Obama. He has something of the air of JFK.
For the Republicans, I’ll go with Fred Thompson. A chip off Ronald Reagan’s block.
Ron Paul seems like a decent guy, and he’s right about the war and torture and the like, but his domestic policies are, to be polite, ill-conceived. There isn’t one of the declared Republicans I’d like to see in office. McCain lost me on the war and the sucking up to Falwell. Guliani is a vindictive asshole. Maybe I’ll take that nice Arthur Branch. He sure did a good job sending a lot of evil people to jail when he was DA of NY.
Seriously, I wouldn’t mind Chuck Hagel, but he’s not running.
I’m right-of-center (which on this board is pretty damn unusual) and I’ll say that I could live with John Edwards. I think he’d do OK. Barack Obama is all style and no substance; his speech in Detroit a little while ago revealed a near-total ignorance of the needs of American industry (in my region, the economy is the dominant election issue, to hell with the war), and in general he seems to have no ideas of his own. Hillary won’t get anything done because too many people in Washington already hate her.
Ron Paul would be an interesting candidate. I’d wonder who he’d pick for veep and who he’d use to fill cabinet posts. If he brings in a breath of new people, faces, and ideas, that could be the most interesting out of them all. McCain seems to try to be everything to everyone, a criticism that Obama gets as well. Giuliani has too much of an authoritarian streak in him and I feel that he’s capable of some big evil. Richardson is an interesting choice, but I, unfortunately, don’t know a lot about him. I do know that he has a big international resume, and I’d like to hear more from him.
As a Dem, I’ll vote for Dennis Kucinich. I voted for him last time (look where it got him), and, as a plus, his wife is cute.
