The Susan's Place Political Caucus

[BeverlyAnn]

It's simple.  Just state who your candidate is (or candidates if you are undecided) and your reason for supporting said candidate(s).  You are not allowed to trash any other person's candidate and this will be heavily moderated.  You may refer to candidates other than your own as a group but not individually.   Any comments not in support of your candidate will be edited.  I will go first.

Currently I am leaning heavily towards Obama with Hillary running second.  Pundits are critical of Obama because he doesn't have the experience but that is what draws me to him.  He hasn't had the time to really owe anyone a lot.  Hillary on the other hand does have more experience in government and in the White House.

Beverly

[Nero]

Undecided. Let's just say I know who I'm NOT voting for.

[funnygrl]

I like Obama, but I don't think he'll make it. Gov. Richardson of New Mexico could be a good canidate if he stay's in.

[Susan]

Gore, if he runs. Edwards if he doesn't...

If Gore does run, I hope he takes Edwards as VP!

[Shana A]

I like Kucinich, however if I had to choose between the front runners, at this time I'd go with Edwards as first choice, Obama as second. If Gore decides to run, the Gore/Edwards ticket sounds great to me.

Zythyra

[Hazumu]

In my perfect world, Gore embodies most of the values I'd like to see a sitting president have.

In semi-private areas with a male locker-room mentality, Gore has been virtually slammed into lockers and had his metaphorical head flushed down the toilet.  I mean to say that I've been in groups of mostly neanderthal-jock-type males who love to recite the I-discovered-Love-canal, I-invented-the-internet urban mythology, shudder, call Gore a whack-job, say thank god the supreme court appointed Bush, and bask in the glow of the shared male camaraderie.

IMNSHO, this would make it very difficult for Gore to get elected, and for Gore to be effective should he get elected.

But, no one else yet impresses me as being my pragmatic frontrunner.

Karen

[lisagurl]

What puzzles me is the lack of understanding of needed qualities in a President.
Intelligent?
Knowledgeable? (education, experience)
Charisma?
Intuitive decisions?
Leadership?
Diplomatic?
Open minded?

What people elect.
Looks
Personal views and religion
Money raised (being bought)
Party
Connections
Their spouse

No wonder why we have problems.

[Skye]

Remember that first and foremost, all elections are nothing more than a large scale popularity contest.
It never is about someone who is qualified.

We(Society) as a whole tends to step on the qualified and label them as something they are not.

[cindianna_jones]

Many of you know me to be fairly liberal minded and fiscally responsible.  So what I'm about to suggest may be a big surprise.

I believe that we need another Republican president.... not to pull us out of the hole we are in, but to dig it deeper.  Before we can really make things better, we need consensus among our people.  Until we are all bleeding, we as a country will continue to be split in mind and direction.

Cindi

[Shana A]

I believe that we need another Republican president.... not to pull us out of the hole we are in, but to dig it deeper.  Before we can really make things better, we need consensus among our people.  Until we are all bleeding, we as a country will continue to be split in mind and direction.

Oy vey Cindi, I don't think I can take another 4 or 8 years like this. They'll get us blown off the face of the planet if we don't stop them soon!

Zythyra

[BeverlyAnn]

I believe that we need another Republican president.... not to pull us out of the hole we are in, but to dig it deeper.  Before we can really make things better, we need consensus among our people.  Until we are all bleeding, we as a country will continue to be split in mind and direction.

Cindi

To be honest about it, I do agree with Cindi but not for the reasons she stated.  As a poli-sci major, I've long felt that when we have a Democratic congress, we should have a Republican president and with a Republican congress, a Democratic president.  The logic behind it is simple.  It basically creates a stalemate between the Executive and Legislative branches and very little, other than the basic operation of the government, gets done.  This prevents the Democrats from chasing their two favorite pets, tax increases and gun control.  It also prevents the Republicans from doing too much damage to our foreign policy (since Republicans don't understand that, unlike their own party, the rest of the world is not composed of right wing bigots and billionaire businessmen).   The drawback is that things like ENDA and the Hate Crimes bill either don't get passed or if the do, they are vetoed.  Is it a fair trade?

So maybe I should drop Obama and/or Hillary to go for Fred Dalton Thompson instead?

Beverly

[lisagurl]

Many of you know me to be fairly liberal minded and fiscally responsible.  So what I'm about to suggest may be a big surprise.

I believe that we need another Republican president.... not to pull us out of the hole we are in, but to dig it deeper.  Before we can really make things better, we need consensus among our people.  Until we are all bleeding, we as a country will continue to be split in mind and direction.

Cindi

Then again democracy does not last forever.

[LynnER]

At this point Im leaning towards Obama, but Im not totaly up to speed on all the canadates stances...  I just know I dont want Hillary in office...

Right now we need a president willing to fight to undo all the damage already done... one thats going to be willing to clean up the mess rather than move on to diffrent subjects....

[Skye]

BeverlyAnn I like your perspective but I disagree with this statement as fact.

It also prevents the Republicans from doing too much damage to our foreign policy (since Republicans don't understand that, unlike their own party, the rest of the world is not composed of right wing bigots and billionaire businessmen).

There is an old Vulcan proverb:  Only Nixon could go to China.  Reagans foreign policy wasnt that bad either.  However if your statement was based on potential candidates / politicians today, then I suppose I would agree completely.

I think regardless of the party of the candidate.  If he is an ass who typically is only in it for himself, then that's what you will get.

If he is a man of principle, patriotism and an undying hatred of government, then usually he will do just fine.  You really want someone that doesnt want to be there.   Then you have someone that at least cares about what is going to happen to him once he is gone.   Ultimately at the end of the day I know its like choosing between the 2am showing of Beastmaster 2 or the 2:30am showing of Beastmaster 3.   

And while I disagree with Cindi about bringing us further in the whole (a matter of perspective in my opinion).   I do agree with her method.

Until we as a whole society get fed up with BS politics, half-assed indecision, financial misappropriation, and all out free-for-all on the 5 finger discount politicians see as the United States, nothing will change.

Nothing short of a Coup anyways.

Just my thoughts.

History Note:  In Sparta, politicians would go on trial at the end of their term of server (before they could serve again).  If they were found to be corrupt or cause misdeed, they were publicly executed by.......   THE PUBLIC!!    Makes you think really hard about who would and who wouldnt survive.

[LostInTime]

If he were not so anti gun to come across as being rabid when discussing the subject, Biden. However, since the government and the police cannot and are not expected to protect us I need access to the cartridge box. Right now I cannot bring myself to back any of those running. There still seems to be a deep split with the Democrats and if the Democrats cannot get a bit more cohesive I fear we are about to end up with a Repub far worse than Bush.

[Jaynatopia]

I like Edwards and am likely going to contribute to his race for the nomination....unless Gore runs. I just like Gore and he just makes sooooo much sense on so many issues. We need a smart person in that office and I think he is the smartest in the whole line-up...Red or Blue.

[ChildOfTheLight]

Ron Paul, because he votes only for legislation that is authorized by the Constitution.  That means no undeclared wars, no war on drugs, no denial of habeas corpus, no secret prisons, and no intergenerational Ponzi schemes ("Social Security" -- which I'll never see a dime from.)

[buttercup]

Gore, if he runs. Edwards if he doesn't...

If Gore does run, I hope he takes Edwards as VP!

Wow, that is great news to me!  I did not know that Gore might run again.  I don't live in the U.S, but if I did, I would definitely vote for him.  Gore has a excellent reputation overseas (we think he was robbed initially!), he has all the characteristics to make a great president, and an humanitarian to boot!

[Skye]

I fear we are about to end up with a Repub far worse than Bush.

Make no mistake, Bush is not a republican.   He is a globalist.   These people are sneaky.  They come in under either party and care nothing for the country they live, but how they can better manipulate their country into taking ownership of the world entire.

It is very elusive, so much so that when people voted for him the first time, they did not know he was such.
Very few republicans approve or even like what Bush has done.

[Jaynatopia]

I find him a little more down to earth than Clinton or Obama, seems to come from humble origins (and that does appeal to me) and he has far better penetration in the South which is good thing as we saw in the last senate elections.

I hope this an acceptable question, but why Edwards?