Who are some people of the opposite political persuasion you respect?

Tony Campolo. I listen to his podcasts on a regular basis. I don’t always agree with him, and we’d probably never be happy in the same church, but he is a smart man. I’ve met his wife and I tend to agree with her more. Still, Tony is well worthy of respect.

I always did like Colin Powell. I especially cheered when he confronted the “Obama is a Muslim!” by pointing out that it shouldn’t matter whether he was or not. Instead of acting like, “No, no, he’s a CHRISTIAN!!!” Which, while true, shouldn’t be the point. I was glad that to see that someone finally pointed out what should BE the whole point.

The conservatives don’t want me and my fellow liberals annoy me so I’m picking two - both of the candidates in the last Presidential election. I’m glad it fell the way I voted but I could have lived with either (until you get to that Vice-President thing) and developed quite an admiration for both.

(I went into the opening primaries a solid Obama supporter so that says something for the influence McCain had)

As a conservative I like and respect Susan Estrich. I think she is still considered a liberal.

That’s dishonest of you. I **specified **the **2008 **election. Or were you unaware that McCain campaigned for President more than once?

I was still 17 during the 2000 elections, but I would have voted for Gore. However, I would not have had a major problem with McCain winning at that point, had he been the Republican nominee.

I sympathize, but we urgently need her to beat Perry in the primary.

No it’s not.

Exactly as I said, respect for a Republican on the SDMB is in inverse relation to his proximity to the White House. McCain was fine - until he got the nomination. Once there was a serious chance he could win, he becomes persona non grata.

It will be the same for any other Republican. If it looks like he might actually make it to the White House, he’s scum.

Regards,
Shodan

How about I claim that you like Black people, as long as they don’t rank higher than you, because you don’t like Obama and he’s the President! It correlates, so clearly it’s the reason. :rolleyes: You’re being dishonest because you’re focusing on one potentially unrelated factor, instead of the stated reasons. Either you’re calling everyone a liar, or you’re picking and choosing evidence to fit the outcome you’ve already decided.

Sarah Palin was a sick joke. **Gandhi **could choose her as a running mate and I wouldn’t vote for him.

That’s ridiculous. I specifically said in my post that I was pleased he got the nomination. (Well, actually that I was pleased when it became clear he would get the nomination, but it’s the same difference.) I genuinely liked McCain. Even if I don’t agree with him on lots of issues, he’s always struck me as a genuinely good person, honest, and willing to stand his ground.

It was his choice of running mate that horrified me. And a lot of other people as well. If he had chosen someone who didn’t have views that seemed to violate a lot of his own opinions (which kind of destroyed his “maverick” reputation and made him look like a panderer to the right-wing) and didn’t come off as - let’s be honest - a complete moron, I wouldn’t have had an issue.

Oh, balls. I voted for McCain in the 2000 primary. I still admire him, though I was distressed by the turn he allowed his campaign to take last year. (I phrase it thus because I don’t think the descent into dishonorable behavior was at his prompting, but nevertheless he is ultimately responsible for it.) For that matter, I like Bush Senior.

It’s not Republicans qua Republicans I despise. It’s Rush Limbaugh, Karl Rove, and their vile ilk, who have hijacked a noble party.

Shhhhhh, you’re popping the fragile bubble of Shodan’s beloved Weltenschauung. That’s not very polite.

P.S. Thank you so much for demonstrating that I’m not the only person who uses the expression “X *qua *X.” That makes at least three of us now.

I have a hard time answering this, as I find I’m more and more of a centrist. So my opposite would be the loonie left or raging right. I can’t really respect them, though I admit I respect the right less.

But, then again, there are quite a few people I respect that watch Fox news. But I respect them because they never talk about politics with me.