# Who will be the next U.S. President? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 4, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658 "2007-04-04T02:14:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![benny73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@benny73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benny73)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/1 "2007-04-04T02:14:54Z")
I’d say whoever has the deepest pockets (sad to say), probably Mitt Romney. I wish though that the brilliant Dr. Michael Savage would be the next one to hold that office. He says he’s “mulling it over,” but for the sake of this country, and the world, he really ought to take a run at it, or at least participate in the debates! (Gosh, he’s soooo dad gum smart!!) What an amazing thing if we were to go from Bush to Savage! From the worse to the best! “IF” Savage does join in the debates, there’ll be no question that Americans are going to love the guy, as he’s not only brilliant but is TOTALLY fearless and is a man with many, many great ideas … and tells it the way it is (most of the time). I really admire the guy, and there’s no one like him on the American landscape. In fact, I quite likely won’t even vote unless he runs for the office (as I’m tired of the same old PC, visionless people that we seem to always get).🆒 Who would YOU like to see as our next president? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/2 "2007-04-04T02:19:10Z")
Can you see if I dropped my keys under the bridge? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/3 "2007-04-04T02:27:15Z")
The next President will be Fred Thompson—unless he has a weak stance on illegal immigration. If so, it will be Newt Gingrich. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/4 "2007-04-04T02:28:37Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] The next President will be Fred Thompson—unless he has a weak stance on illegal immigration. If so, it will be Newt Gingrich. [/QUOTE] Tom Tancredo announced yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/5 "2007-04-04T02:32:48Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] Tom Tancredo announced yesterday. [/QUOTE] I opted to relay fact instead of personal preference. 😉 On a more serious note, Newt’s got a pretty good handle on the illegal immigration issue. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/6 "2007-04-04T02:34:35Z")
[QUOTE=benny73] I’d say whoever has the deepest pockets (sad to say), probably Mitt Romney. I wish though that the brilliant Dr. Michael Savage would be the next one to hold that office. He says he’s “mulling it over,” but for the sake of this country, and the world, he really ought to take a run at it, or at least participate in the debates! (Gosh, he’s soooo dad gum smart!!) What an amazing thing if we were to go from Bush to Savage! From the worse to the best! “IF” Savage does join in the debates, there’ll be no question that Americans are going to love the guy, as he’s not only brilliant but is TOTALLY fearless and is a man with many, many great ideas … and tells it the way it is (most of the time). I really admire the guy, and there’s no one like him on the American landscape. In fact, I quite likely won’t even vote unless he runs for the office (as I’m tired of the same old PC, visionless people that we seem to always get).🆒 Who would YOU like to see as our next president? :dubious: [/QUOTE] Interestingly enough, I have listened to Savage for quite a while. I am also firmly convinced, that if he actually believes what he is saying, that he is the closest thing we have to an actual Fascist today. ---
**Author:** ![benny73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@benny73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benny73)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/7 "2007-04-04T02:40:57Z")
[QUOTE=Tristan] Interestingly enough, I have listened to Savage for quite a while. I am also firmly convinced, that if he actually believes what he is saying, that he is the closest thing we have to an actual Fascist today. [/QUOTE] How so? ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/8 "2007-04-04T02:44:34Z")
Get real. The next President of the United States will be either Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or whatever non-descript (currently) Republican manages to establish himself out from under the shadow of the Administration. It damn sure won’t be anyone from within the current administration. Unless I’m wrong. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/9 "2007-04-04T02:45:42Z")
[QUOTE=benny73] How so? [/QUOTE] He rather vehemently tries to stir up hatred of a minority group, he seems to be blind to any faults of a rightist administration (except that we’re not carpet bombing places like Fallujah), he uses straw man arguements to support his positions, he is hiding his own past (as a hippy). The big one is the using of a minority group (Muslims right now) to stir up the populace and create a unifying “enemy”. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/10 "2007-04-04T02:48:53Z")
I see that Mitt Romney will have lots of problems with many Republicans regarding his past support for abortion and gay rights. As for Tancredo: This bit told me what kind of character he is: [http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/20/173848/644](http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/20/173848/644) > [@](#): > > Tancredo’s head explodes > by kos > Sat Jan 20, 2007 at 02:50:58 PM PDT > Sen. Ken Salazar delivered the State of the Union Address “pre-buttal” Friday. > > … > > [He did the speech in English and in Spanish] > > … > > Xenophobic racist Rep. Tom Tancredo – the GOP’s face on immigration issues (thanks you very much!) – wasn’t happy: > > [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN\_15\_5293480,00.html](http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5293480,00.html) > > > [@](#): > > > > “I must admit to you, the first thing that comes to mind is this is the kind of thing that would happen in a bilingual country - for instance, Canada,” Tancredo, R-Colo., said when told of Salazar’s plans. > > > > “I’ve been saying for a long time, we’re fast approaching that status: a bilingual country. I don’t think that’s a good idea. I think it’s something that brings us apart, not together.” > > See? By demonizing an entire class of people and their culture, it “brings us together”. While being part of a nation that has been historically multi-cultural and - yes – even multi-lingual, “divides us”. > > In any case, Tancredo should first take care of his own house before whining about what Democrats do. Props to the Rocky Mountain News’ M.E. Sprengeimeyer for pointing out the obvious: > > > [@](#): > > > > \*\*Using Spanish is nothing new in politics. Even Tancredo’s Republican Party runs a Spanish-language Web site - www. [gop.org/espanol](http://gop.org/espanol) - and Spanish-language television programs to translate the party’s message. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/11 "2007-04-04T02:50:45Z")
[QUOTE=Tristan] He rather vehemently tries to stir up hatred of a minority group, he seems to be blind to any faults of a rightist administration (except that we’re not carpet bombing places like Fallujah), he uses straw man arguements to support his positions, he is hiding his own past (as a hippy). The big one is the using of a minority group (Muslims right now) to stir up the populace and create a unifying “enemy”. [/QUOTE] I think the question was, how is he a fascist? ---
**Author:** ![Gentle\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gentle\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gentle_Robot)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/12 "2007-04-04T02:51:13Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] Get real. The next President of the United States will be either Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or whatever non-descript (currently) Republican manages to establish himself out from under the shadow of the Administration. It damn sure won’t be anyone from within the current administration. Unless I’m wrong. 😛 [/QUOTE] My money’s on the third, mostly because of snowballs melting in hell and [this pic](http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20070403/capt.b4b5a1b033c2404988ae94a88ad57ea9.clinton_2008_iasp117.jpg?x=380&y=227&sig=y3OzEt0qkELhBGjlJkiRmw--) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/13 "2007-04-04T02:58:56Z")
Romney has more money than McCain or Giuliani, but his cash is all for the primary; he’s not allowed to spend any of his current funds in the general election, because that’s how he filed his reports. He’s not really the richest candidate, and his polling numbers suck badly. Romney has 40% in UT, but can only break into the double digits in NH and TX, sometimes in AZ, CA, CT, ME, MI, IA, and NV (in one poll, he ties McCain for second place). Overall, he’s not doing well; he’s not winning in any of the traditional early primary states, and it’ll be hard to recover from that in only a couple of weeks when another dozen or so states have their primaries. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/14 "2007-04-04T03:00:36Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] I think the question was, how is he a fascist? [/QUOTE] [http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/05/20/savage/index.html](http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2004/05/20/savage/index.html) > [@](#): > > America’s laziest fascist > > _Infamous shock jock Michael Savage bombed in a bizarre, half-baked stage show this week, but his 6 million listeners just heard him call for the U.S. to murder millions of Arabs. Does the FCC care?_ > > Not that he’s the shy, retiring type. Lately, as the Iraq torture scandal has dominated the headlines, he has taken to calling Arabs “non-humans” and has called for the U.S. to kill “thousands” of Iraqi prisoners and nuke a random Arab capital. Deciding whether to pay attention to Savage has always been tricky, though. It’s never clear whether he really believes what he says in his tirades or if they are simply ploys for public outcry. His is currently the third-most-popular radio program in the nation. Nonetheless, it may be hard for Savage to sit by and watch the FCC’s crackdown against fellow jock Howard Stern effectively lift Stern’s profile even higher into the stratosphere. But Savage’s outbursts are often so unhinged, so vicious, that ignoring them seems irresponsible, especially when so many Americans apparently are nodding in agreement. So when I learned that Savage would be making his first public appearance in three years Saturday night, it seemed worth checking out, if only to see who was paying attention to him and why. > > “Savage Uncensored,” as the event was called, marked the end of what’s been a crummy year for the once-hot Savage. Last March, MSNBC gave him a weekly program only to cancel it after four months when he labeled a caller a “sodomite” and told him to “get AIDS and die.” Then the San Francisco radio station that gave him his first big break dumped him and rubbed salt into the wound with billboards that depicted Savage morphing into Sean Hannity, beneath the slogan “Out With the Old, In with the New.” When a couple of anti-Savage Web sites started a boycott of his advertisers, his syndicator, Talk Radio Network, tried to revoke their domain names. When that failed, it tried to sue them for $1 million. That failed too. > > Savage’s star may have faded, but it’s still too early to write him off, with “The Savage Nation” pulling in 6 million listeners a week. His latest screed against fifth columnists such as liberals, gays and atheists, “The Enemy Within,” debuted at No. 8 on the New York Times nonfiction list. But when it comes to the true measure of a talker’s cachet – buzz – Savage has slipped several notches in the past year. The anti-Savage sites are now dormant, their owners apparently satisfied that he would never make it back on TV. Fans and foes who once duked it out in Internet chat rooms appear to have moved on. These days, it seems the only people paying attention to Savage are diehard fans and perhaps a few incorrigible rubber-necking journalists. > > … ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/15 "2007-04-04T03:03:57Z")
[QUOTE=benny73] Who would YOU like to see as our next president? :dubious: [/QUOTE] Bill Clinton. Yeah, yeah… I know. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/16 "2007-04-04T03:10:54Z")
[QUOTE=GIGObuster] I see that Mitt Romney will have lots of problems with many Republicans regarding his past support for abortion and gay rights. As for Tancredo: This bit told me what kind of character he is: [http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/20/173848/644](http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/20/173848/644) [/QUOTE] Correct me if I’m wrong, but Tancredo was talking about the language used _inside_ government. (And his point is a very practical one: why not everything in two languages? Then, why just two? Etc.) That has nothing to do with providing information in another language. Assuming, of course, that the taxpayers don’t foot the bill. (My opinion, not necessarily his.) ---
**Author:** ![benny73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@benny73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benny73)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/17 "2007-04-04T03:12:20Z")
[QUOTE=Tristan] He rather vehemently tries to stir up hatred of a minority group, he seems to be blind to any faults of a rightist administration (except that we’re not carpet bombing places like Fallujah), he uses straw man arguements to support his positions, he is hiding his own past (as a hippy). The big one is the using of a minority group (Muslims right now) to stir up the populace and create a unifying “enemy”. [/QUOTE] Well, rather than try and take apart your comments ('cause I’m too tired for that at the moment), I’ll just say that I’ll look forward to watching him in the debates, and letting the chips fall where they may. However, I will at least say that Dr. Savage has NEVER tried to “stir up” anyone against Muslims. But he has, rightfully, helped a lot of us to wake up to what RADICAL Muslims are doing all around the world … and that’s a good thing that doesn’t make him a fascist, IMO. Okay, one other thing … about two weeks ago he talked about his hippy days and basically said that he was young and following the crowd, but, like many of us, he grew out of his young foolishness and saw the light. He was open about it and so I don’t know how you can say that he’s hiding his past. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/18 "2007-04-04T03:24:33Z")
> [@benny73](#): > > And his point is a very practical one: why not everything in two languages? Then, why just two? Etc. You appear to have mistaken the ‘slippery slope’ fallacy for an actual point. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/19 "2007-04-04T03:25:53Z")
Money isn’t nearly the big issue it used to be. Find a candidate with big grassroots support and a savvy team that knows how to use the internet, and the money will be there (see: Howard Dean). Also, money isn’t as important as it used to be - in the last election, the Democratic candidate with a huge war chest wiped out (again: see Howard Dean). This next election could be a big crapshoot, for one reason - the primary season has been compressed and front-loaded to the start of the year. It used to be that the primaries and caucuses acted as a sort of filter - candidates would try out in one place, run their ads, do their campaigning, and then the results would either filter out the weak sisters or catapult a second-tier candidate to the top tier (see: Howard Dean). Then there would be time to vett the candidates again, another campaign would start in the next state, etc. It was a protracted shakedown cruise that would (hopefully) let the cream rise to the top. But now, the primaries are earlier and compressed. That could give someone a big slingshot out of the first primary that carries them through subsequent ones. Or, it could give the front-runners a chance to close out the second-tier candidates. Either way, it’s going to be a different election season than we’ve seen before. Tommy Thompson announced his candidacy yesterday (he won’t win), but he’s got a smart strategy: He’s pumping everything he’s got into Iowa, knowing that if he can win there he can ride the win to subsequent primary victories and really gain momentum. And if he doesn’t, he can go away. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658/20 "2007-04-04T03:28:41Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] Correct me if I’m wrong, but Tancredo was talking about the language used _inside_ government. (And his point is a very practical one: why not everything in two languages? Then, why just two? Etc.) That has nothing to do with providing information in another language. Assuming, of course, that the taxpayers don’t foot the bill. (My opinion, not necessarily his.) [/QUOTE] A rebuttal to a presidential speech is indeed as political a message as it can be. I don’t think any government policies can come from them. When even his party does not see a problem in spreading the political message in Spanish too, then you bet I see someone that will do more harm to the party in the next election by making many moderates jump ship. IOW, I’m glad Tancredo is running. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-will-be-the-next-u-s-president/398658.md?page=2)