Busytown: Yes he can (or: Is McCain able?)
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Since you asked, according to Campaigns Wikia, Barack opposes capital punishment, but Hillary doesn't. I have no idea whether or not it's true.
Also, in what I've seen, Barack and his wife talk about unity a lot, whereas Hillary says things like
I am ready to go toe to toe with Sen. McCain whenever and wherever he desires.
I'd be more inclined to vote for unity rather than conflict, but since I'm on the other side of the world, what I see could easily be a very distorted picture of what the candidates are actually like.
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"African American people are just smarter at the job than women." Where to start parsing that one??
Hee! It's so right on in one way, and so horribly reactionary in another!
Obama backed off the death penalty thing slightly, Tim, in saying something about the most heinous crimes deserving the ultimate punishment.
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"Somebody point me towards a paradigm for thinking about it that doesn't take into account each candidate's "first"ness but rather their fitness for office"
Either support the 'new broom' (Obama), or the 'smart political operator by virtue of having had a lifetimes involvment in it' (Clinton).
No mention of ethnicity or sex in that.
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Is McCain able?
And if he were your brother would you be game to be his keeper?
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"Perhaps Obama's father from Africa taught him some different ways of thinking, from that part of the world, not like the way Americans think, so he's more smart about the world than if he was just American. Because people in Africa have to do more things from scratch rather than just buying stuff, like in America, so it makes them smarter."
Now that's what I call a thinking response. What a very intelligent boy you have, Jolisa. I'm slightly sad that it looks like Hillary won't be the Democratic candidate - I think she has huge amounts of experience to bring to the job, and a lot of savvy - but I guess Barack is who the people want to stand for them. He's hip and young and all that stuff. And he's got people excited, so I guess that's good. Still would like to see a woman President, though, eh?
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Still would like to see a woman President, though, eh?
As a very dear sparring partner from a politics list I'm on -- and a self-described 'raging lesbian-feminist liberal from your nightmares' -- tersely puts it:
"Yes, but not her."
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As a very dear sparring partner from a politics list I'm on -- and a self-described 'raging lesbian-feminist liberal from your nightmares' -- tersely puts it:
"Yes, but not her."
Now there's a weird coincidence. I woman I worked for, a while back, and a raging hetro who herself once worked for Bill Clinton says much the same thing (actually she worked for Reich but had a fair bit to do with Bill, nothing like that though).
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Hillary vs. Obama?
This post says it all.
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This post says it all.
Thanks. I do look at his record - and I've got say this as a gay man. Obama supports the complete repeal of DOMA. Clinton doesn't. I don't have a clue where she stands on 'don't ask, don't tell', because it seems to morph depending on the time of day and which fundraiser she's at.
And if Clinton want to cite her husband's administration as some kind of frigging on the job training (and let's not even get started on how fucked up that is on the feminist tip), then she's going to have to accept that her husband signed DOMA in the middle of the night and with token resistance, and then had the fucking nerve to run campaign ads citing how it proved he was sound on 'family values'.
And DADT... Well, when we're seeing desperately needed Farsi translators being discharged under this policy it's not merely obnoxious, but an active threat to national (and international) security.
So pardon me if I politely but firmly suggest Ghost of Violet can go stick the large object of his/her choice all the way up his/her patronising arse. And if that makes me 'sexist', then let me bare my buttocks for the ceremonial kissing. Because if there's an empty suit in the room, I sure think it's a rather charming Donna Karan piece that isn't from her menswear collection.
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Obama supports the complete repeal of DOMA. Clinton doesn't. I don't have a clue where she stands on 'don't ask, don't tell', because it seems to morph depending on the time of day and which fundraiser she's at.
I don't think you need to be a gay man to think there's a huge problem with the 'don't ask, don't tell' non-policy. Personally I think the state should get the hell out of the marriage game - it has no business there.
But if there's an empty suit in the room, it's the one filled by Obama. I have yet to hear anything from him that goes beyond a cloying platitude.
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Mr Grumpy is doing some time on the maximum security naughty step. You hardly assert civility by being incivil, but that post just touched a very raw nerve. If you want to talk about 'binary thinking' it's time to get over, how about the notion that people who vote the 'wrong' way don't deserve to be treated with sneering contempt?
I'm obviously no great supporter of Senator Clinton, but I will do those people who are the courtesy of assuming they made a considered decision (though not one I agree with) not necessarily motivated by racism, ageism or misandry. (Though I do believe there have been some racial button cheerfully pushed by Clinton proxies, it would be dishonest to glibly dismiss all criticism of Obama as racist in nature.)
Now, I do have to thank Violet for the heads-up that Obama doesn't extemporize every speech or dash them off himself. I think the point is that he's not hiring the kind of folks who'd write lines as essentially contemptible as this:
Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.
I don't know if you could even call the dog being whistled for there a subtext. Pretty blatant text, and my opinion of McCain will take a serious nosedrive if he starts singing from that hymnbook. Because, Violet, style and substance do have a relationship. Perhaps some of us are ready for politicians who know the difference between genuine policy differences and the Apocalypse.
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Hillary vs. Obama?
This post says it all.
Hells bells this is good writing! Thanks Deborah, this blog looks like a great read.
Obama's obvious charisma and passion are enormously attractive but surely no one thinks that he writes all his own material? Surely no one thinks MLK, JFK or RFK wrote all of theirs? I didn't, should I?
The comparison with Regan is interesting though; didn't RB link to a SlateV piece on the hope-as-clarion-call-for-all-ages? Obama's only marginally more experienced than Regan was but less likely to develop dementia during his term, should he win. Interestingly for me, all the vox-pops I've seen unerringly refer to Obama's cross party appeal and maybe this is why he's doing so well since Super Tues? Perhaps Graeme can advise if the remaining primaries permit independents to vote for Dems?
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Perhaps Graeme can advise if the remaining primaries permit independents to vote for Dems?
As best as I can figure it, the remaining races are:
Open primaries:
Idaho
Indiana
Mississippi
Montana
Rhode Island (semi-closed)
Vermont
Virginia
Washington (already held caucuses)
WisconsinClosed primaries:
D.C.
Kentucky
Maryland
Nebraska
North Carolina
Ohio (semi-open)
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Dakota
Texas (semi-open + caucus)
West VirginiaOpen caucuses:
Hawaii
WyomingClosed Caucuses:
Texas (+ primary) -
Interestingly for me, all the vox-pops I've seen unerringly refer to Obama's cross party appeal and maybe this is why he's doing so well since Super Tues?
Well, to be fair to Clinton she does have those vital endorsements from Coulter and Limbaugh. :) Your mileage may vary on whether Ann-droids and Ditto-heads are the kind of cross-party support you'd embrace without a hazmat suit .and a long shower afterwards. But in the end, a vote is a vote is a vote. :)
OK, the obvious caveat is that anyone who takes Ann and Rush at all seriously deserves to have their intelligence insulted. But I can't really see the downside in an Obama/McCain match-up causing the worse and most vocal elements of the rabid right and loony left to go home in a huff and stay there until next January. It at least would offer an opening for the sane people to regain control of the asylum.
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Because I'm far too busy and important to do my own research, can someone please tell me what the likelihood of Clinton taking Obama for VP or vice versa is, depending on who wins the nomination?
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Yes, well, I'm for Clinton, but it's a margin call. I think I would like to take back that comment about Obama being an empty suit - that's at least a little unfair of me.
It hardly matters in any case. No vote... even though the eventual winner of the US election will happily declare herself to be the leader of the free world.
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I saw the Coulter endorsement, gwad!
Now that McCain's pretty much sewn-up the GOP nomination, Dems will have to be thinking which candidate presents the best alternative? An alternative candidate or a non-alternative? Perhaps that's a little unkind to Clinton but on several issues, McCain and Clinton occupy similar territory. I think Obama as a relative newbee to Washington, an active opponent of the Iraqi war and a Gen Xer - the Gen X dimension would be important to me if I were voting - presents a real alternative to McCain.
I don't, however, doubt that Clinton is the superior politician.
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It hardly matters in any case. No vote... even though the eventual winner of the US election will happily declare herself to be the leader of the free world.
If you can play the guitar, perhaps we could get a gig playing one of the innagural balls. After that Grammy win, I'm sure the Flight of the Conchords can't fill the demand for Kiwi folk-parody duos. :)
Yes, no, maybe
I don't know
Can you repeat the question?You're not the boss of me now
You're not the boss of me now
You're not the boss of me now
And you're not so bigLife is un-faaaaair
Pair this, with __Istanbul (Not Constantinople)__ and a gem of tortured Franglais or two, we be bangin' yet socially aware!
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If you can play the guitar, perhaps we could get a gig
Can I play the guitar? I don't know - I've never tried.
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Because I'm far too busy and important to do my own research, can someone please tell me what the likelihood of Clinton taking Obama for VP or vice versa is, depending on who wins the nomination?
I understand that, traditionally, the Deputy is chosen to fill the skill gap of the President. IE: Pres has focus on national issues, DPres has background in international stuff. Pres doesn't have eye for detail, DPres should. Etc, etc.
Caution: your experiences may vary... :-)
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I think, often as not, VP is chosen to 'get' an area of the electoral college vote that the Pres candidate can't get. If the President is from the North East, the VP will be from the south etc.
Skill set seems often to be a secondary (or lower) consideration.
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I understand that, traditionally, the Deputy is chosen to fill the skill gap of the President...
Or you pick the rat-bastard you'd rather have down the hall where their potential for trouble-making is limited. About the only reason I can see for Eisenhower selecting Richard Nixon. Apart from their anti-Communist sentiments, it's rather hard to see much evidence that either man could stand the other.
And looking at the field there were running against Eisenhower for the nomination in 1952 -- including California Governor Earl Warren, who resigned the next year to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. (A move Eisenhower allegedly described as ""the biggest damned-fool mistake I ever made.")
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Skill set seems often to be a secondary (or lower) consideration.
Except for the incumbent.
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Sorry...
And look at the field there were running against Eisenhower for the nomination in 1952 -- including California Governor Earl Warren, who resigned the next year to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. (A move Eisenhower allegedly described as ""the biggest damned-fool mistake I ever made.") It's pretty hard to see anyone that would be acceptable to the kulterkampf wing of the contemporary GOP -- and we're talking about a field that included Robert A. Taft, who fought the New Deal every inch of the way. Not exactly a field of limp-dicked, Commie-coddling socialists.
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Meanwhile, if CNN's Virginia exit poll pans out, it looks like the various memes around race and gender are falling apart. Which is not a bad thing, by the way. (Both races have around 40% of precincts reported back. Obama is trouncing Clinton 62-37, with the caveat that some parts of the state expected to heavily favour Clinton aren't in. McCain leading Huckabee 46-45%
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