[QUOTE=Merijeek]
We could have Marx in the candidate pool
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The last man nearly ruined this place, he didn’t know what to do with it
If you think this country’s bad off now, just wait 'til I get through with it!
I’d like to see Al Gore as President. We elected him once, and by God, we can do it again.
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
Hm? Stood up to organized crime? Details?
And how is NYC any safer for tourists now than it was before Giulani took office? (I’m sincerely curious here, I haven’t visited NYC since about 1990.)
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He cracked down on a lot of petty crime, like squeegee men, and helped get the police working more effectively. When Dinkins was in office, a lot of people thought NY was inherently ungovernable. Before he was Mayor he was a prosecutor who went up against the mob.
My understanding was that he wasn’t all that popular before 9/11. As for social views, the Dems could probably get an acceptable candidate to the right of Rudy. Besides all the other stuff, he went through a messy divorce, and stayed in the apartment of his gay friends. The Inquisition wing of the Republican party would have a fit, and I can’t imagine he’d win too many primaries.
[QUOTE=An Arky]
I think that the next POTUS should be Obama. He’s got the moxy and the mo right now. Hillary, while I think she’s fine, would engender so much hateful vitriol from the peabrain contingent that she’d be unelectable.
I won’t vote for him, but I wouldn’t be terribly bothered if McCain won it. Anybody but that crooked, two-timing f*ckface Giuliani.
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I’m with you on Obama. I heard him on Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, and that quy is quick. And funny. And he communicates well.
He wouldn’t have hardened into the Washington process too much by 2008, and he’ll have had twice the Congressional experience as that other President from Illinois.
I used to like McCain, but after he kissed Bush’s and Rove’s ass after what they did to him in the campaign, I’ve got no more respect - plus he caved on the detainee bill. The North Vietnamese may not have broken him, but Rove sure did.
[QUOTE=BwanaBob]
Remember, for the Democratic Party to win it has to take states it didn’t get before. Hillary or Obama are not going to get you GOP states.
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Why would Obama not win over GOP states? By all accounts he has great people skills. His charm wins people over, both in face-to-face meetings and on TV. He has the necessary moderate positions and he’s been reaching out across the aisle successfully. Further, we know now that tons of working class people in places like Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri have already been won over to the Democratic Party; it’s merely a matter of holding on to them.
[QUOTE=BwanaBob]
Remember, for the Democratic Party to win it has to take states it didn’t get before. Hillary or Obama are not going to get you GOP states.
[/QUOTE]
Have you looked at Obama’s results in Illinois? People thought he didn’t have a prayer in downstate Illinois, which borders a couple of “red states,” and he cleaned up there.
[QUOTE=BwanaBob]
Remember, for the Democratic Party to win it has to take states it didn’t get before. Hillary or Obama are not going to get you GOP states.
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Perhaps not them specifically. But any candidate who campaigns on economic populism, without coming to be identified with cultural liberalism, would stand a pretty good chance in the red states. And the midterm election might reasonably be interpreted as a new mandate for economic populism; see here.
[QUOTE=Marley23]
Have you looked at Obama’s results in Illinois? People thought he didn’t have a prayer in downstate Illinois, which borders a couple of “red states,” and he cleaned up there.
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Yeah, but lets remember whom he ran against. We really don’t know how well he would’ve done against a more typical GOP candidate-- and I don’t even mean the fact that Keyes is Black.
OBama in 2007 for the Dems. The guy actually, like, says stuff when he speaks. And I’m hoping that, as a Muslim, he might actually have a smidgin more credibility in the Mid East than a bible-thumping white guy.
The Republican candidate pool is irrelevant, the GOP couldn’t get the win this time around even if they reincarnated Abe hisself. Well…maybe they could. But given their frothy revulsion of things homosexual he may turn coat.
[QUOTE=John Mace]
We really don’t know how well he would’ve done against a more typical GOP candidate.
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We do know that no “typical” Republican could even be found, in *Illinois * mind you, to run against Obama. Not even a mini-Ditka. The election itself meant nothing; he’d already won by a landslide in the runup to it.
[QUOTE=Inigo Montoya]
And I’m hoping that, as a Muslim, he might actually have a smidgin more credibility in the Mid East than a bible-thumping white guy.
[/QUOTE]
Obama isn’t Muslim.
[QUOTE=Inigo Montoya]
The Republican candidate pool is irrelevant, the GOP couldn’t get the win this time around even if they reincarnated Abe hisself. Well…maybe they could. But given their frothy revulsion of things homosexual he may turn coat.
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The original Log Cabin Republican!
[QUOTE=Captain Carrot]
Obama isn’t Muslim.
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Yeah…don’t post when exhausted and rushed. I am duly humiliated. Still…a nice Irish boy like Mr. O’Bama would make a fine president.
[QUOTE=Marley23]
Have you looked at Obama’s results in Illinois? People thought he didn’t have a prayer in downstate Illinois, which borders a couple of “red states,” and he cleaned up there.
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One of the reasons he cleaned up there is he does his research. He pays attention. He not only knew there was an issue with the lock and dams, he knew which ones were in the worst shape and spoke to a couple of different approaches to the situation. He spoke intelligently about issues that mattered down state. Very few candidates do that. So many seem to step through the paces to show they are just plain folk or try to sway voters based on fear.
He also spoke with compassion. He seemed to care about Galesburg and their predicament without pretending that he had a real answer that would make everything better.
It could be a good year for New Mexicans. Pete Domenici would make a formidable Republican candidate, and Bill Richardson would look good heading up the Democratic party.
It will be interesting to watch Obama. He’s got the charisma, so if he has the depth and the campaigning skills he could go the distance.
Same for Clinton, except in reverse: she’s got the depth and the experience (and the back-room negotiating skills…she’s another policy geek), but it remains to be seen whether she can inspire and impress.
[QUOTE=AHunter3]
It could be a good year for New Mexicans. Pete Domenici would make a formidable Republican candidate, and Bill Richardson would look good heading up the Democratic party.
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As much as I love Pete Domenici - and I say this as a man who has had a picture of Pete on his wall for fifteen years now* - he falls into the same problem that McCain does with his age: Domenici is in his mid-70’s. But, yeah, I’d love to see a budget hawk like him as President.
*At a press conference in 1990 or so, Domenici tried to explain the danger and destruction of our ever-expanding budget deficit. To illustrate the problem, he used Cookie Monster as an allegory. So I’ve had a picture of Pete Domenici wearing a Cookie Monster hand puppet on my wall ever since.