[luke warm]

i know, i know, we'll never see mccain/lieberman break... but assume they do

[bid_em_up]

Other.

[hrothgar]

bid_em_up, on Sep 2 2006, 12:14 AM, said:

Other.

Agreed

Personally, my dream team would be Russ Feingold / Eliot Spitzer, however, I don't think they'd have a snowball's chance in hell of carrying an election.

Personally, if I were chosing the ticket it would be two out the following three

Al Gore
Wesley Clark
Barak Obama

Clinton would be a terrible choice for the Democrats. She'd immediately galavanize the Republican base which is last thing you want when the Republicans are so demoralized.

[BurnKryten]

None of the above.

[mike777]

I think we will see more from the Gov. of New Mexico and Al Gore.

Barak has a shot at the VP slot but is is very very early for him, the VP slot may go to one of the front runners who stick it out to the end.

Nevada comes after Iowa now and before NH for the Dems .. making Iowa, Nevada, NH and then SC really front loading the process. They are going to need a ton of money and only a few of them will have the dough.

What will really be interesting is if the Dem's win the House and spend the next 2 years holding hearing and making the Reps do the perp walk up to the hill. Will the show grow boring and backfire if they focus on revenge and not leading? After all the Dems have the "I hate Bush" voters already.

[hrothgar]

mike777, on Sep 2 2006, 01:36 AM, said:

>What will really be interesting is if the Dem's win the House and >spend the next 2 years holding hearing and making the Reps do >the perp walk up to the hill.  Will the show growing boring and >backfire if they focus on revenge and not leading? After all the >Dems have the "I hate Bush" voters already.

Once again, I agree...

There is very little that would make me happier than seeing Bush, Cheney, and their ilk in jail, however, this would be far too divisive... I'd prefer to see that the new congress focuses on digging the US out of the hole that we're currently in rather than prosecuting Bush...

As for the primary schedule, I find the whole thing highly annoying

I wish that it were possible to separate the primary schedule from order in which states held primaries... I'd like to see some informed discussion regarding a density function that defines the number of delegates that would up for grabs at different points in time. For example, is it better to

1. Front load the schedule
2. Backload the schedule
3. Have a uniform schedule
4. Use something weird like a normal distribution

(Personally I'd prefer to backload the schedule operating under the assumption that this provides the most time to vet candidates... I'm more concerned about selecting good candidates than conserving funds). Once a schedule has been agreed upon the position of individuals states would be randomly assigned each electoral cycle.)

Hell, if it were up to me, I'd probably prefer to do away with statewide elections. I'd find it much more useful to mix and match counties from different states so that the first primary might include 10% of Texas, 15% of New York, 100% of Delware, 40% of Oregon, and 30% of South Carolina...

[luke warm]

i'll admit i'm a little surprised that nobody (but me) seems to care for the independent ticket i imagined... i'd have voted for lieberman last time, had he gotten the nomination... true, he doesn't exactly galvanize the left's base, but he is a statesman and, imo, a leader...

[pbleighton]

"Hell, if it were up to me, I'd probably prefer to do away with statewide elections. I'd find it much more useful to mix and match counties from different states so that the first primary might include 10% of Texas, 15% of New York, 100% of Delware, 40% of Oregon, and 30% of South Carolina... "

We should do away with the Electoral College, and have a national primary in late September, and the elections in mid November. The whole thing is way too stretched out.

My choice for Dem candidate is John Edwards. He's right (left), and he would be a great candidate.

Peter

[hrothgar]

luke warm, on Sep 2 2006, 02:37 AM, said:

i'll admit i'm a little surprised that nobody (but me) seems to care for the independent ticket i imagined... i'd have voted for lieberman last time, had he gotten the nomination... true, he doesn't exactly galvanize the left's base, but he is a statesman and, imo, a leader...

McCain is extremely socially conservative. He's anti-choice, against gay rights, you name it. He's not going to find much support from Democrats. Back in 2000, McCain was doing the whole straight talk express / "speaking truth to power" thing. More recently, he's flip-flopped on any number of positions in an effort to suck up to the Religious Right... Its almost laughable to compare McCain's statements about Bob Jones University and Pat Roberts 8 years ago to his positions today. Trust me... Pat Roberts hasn't changed (and I doubt that McCain has)... McCain is simply courting a different constituency. Throw in the whole age thing and there is no way that I could support him. We had one president with Alzheimers. We don't need another.

As for Lieberman, I have no use for the man... He spends his life spreading his legs for big Pharma and the Insurance industry, occasionally rising to his feet to deliver some sanctimonious lecture about the evils for rap music and video games.

[mike777]

I fail to see why John Edwards gets any votes except perhaps for best looking.

He did nothing for the state of NC. To be fair Mrs. Dole the Republican has also done nothing.

Hillary has alot of money and favors to call in but the primary, Democractic voters seem to dislike her.

I really would not be surprised to see Gore come back and I would like to see how Richardson of New Mexico does under fire.

As you can see many find McCain a social conservative while hard core party members think of him as Mr. wild left wing liberal .

Count me as one vote for the Electoral College and our wild Primary process with all its many faults. I hope we never go to a Popular vote structure.

Our current structure really gives the smaller states greater power as opposed to having NY, Calif, Texas decide all of our elections.

[Al_U_Card]

McCain vs Edwards and Edwards wins by a (prettier) nose. Shades of Nixon/Kennedy except McCain is an honorable man and war vet. Edwards, with the proper handling, is a media darling who will use the internet to get momentum (Creeps on a plane???) going for his campaign. Welcome to the new millenium.

[Gerben42]

McCain as president sounds like the horror scenario for me as European outsider... Better vote him out early!

[pbleighton]

"McCain as president sounds like the horror scenario for me as European outsider... Better vote him out early! "

Horror scenario for everyone. He is a very cunning politician, using a couple of carefully chosen issues plus "straight talk" to give the impression of "moderation". He is actually very hard right, and he is also the phoniest politician in Washington (and there's a LOT of competition for that honor - Hilary is pretty phony herself).

Peter

[Al_U_Card]

pbleighton, on Sep 2 2006, 12:36 PM, said:

He is a very cunning politician, using a couple of carefully chosen issues plus "straight talk" to give the impression of "moderation". He is actually very hard right, and he is also the phoniest politician in Washington

Using words like cunning and phony and deceiving in the same sentence as politician is the ultimate in redundancy. Everything is relative and Bush-Cheney is the lowest common denominator so unless they amend the constitution to allow for a 3rd term......things can only get better.

[keylime]

I choose "other". I doubt very strongly McCain will win the Republican nomination.

I tho am eagerly awaiting the '06 elections. I have a feeling that there will be some surprises coming.

[pbleighton]

"I choose "other". I doubt very strongly McCain will win the Republican nomination."

Why "very strongly"? I don't think he's a lock by any means, but he's definitely the frontrunner, especially after George Allen's "macaca" blunder.

Peter

[whereagles]

'leeza Rice vs 'lilly Clinton

That would be something

[pigpenz]

to me its not a question of who will run but how is America gonna get out of this mess that Cheney/Bush has gotten the country into!!!! To me the Republican party is just as splintered as the Democratic party.

To me the main things are
1.war-gettin out
2.stem cell research
3.pro choice

both partyies pander to select groups to harness their votes leaving nothing more than puppets in the wake.

[Al_U_Card]

pigpenz, on Sep 2 2006, 04:57 PM, said:

to me its not a question of who will run but how is America gonna get out of this mess that Cheney/Bush has gotten the country into!!!! To me the Republican party is just as splintered as the Democratic party.

To me the main things are
1.war-gettin out
2.stem cell research
3.pro choice

both partyies pander to select groups to harness their votes leaving nothing more than puppets in the wake.

Perhaps my out of country perspective is skewed somewhat but if those 3 subjects are America's main concerns.....it may already be too late. What about:

Global Warming
Economic development
International diplomacy

The second two items on your list seem to be more religious/ethical concerns drummed up by B/C to divert attention from the first item on your list.....

[luke warm]

Al_U_Card, on Sep 2 2006, 10:18 PM, said:

Global Warming
Economic development
International diplomacy

global warming will play absolutely no role in the election.. zip, zilch, zero... the economy, yeah - it always does... and int'l diplomacy also, if by that you mean things like nat'l security, military, etc

just my opinion