When it’s all said and done, we all know that the lucky one will have to do whatever the guys who gave him the money for his campaign agreed upon.
True…Just think, we will get to do this all over again in 4 more years!
Different age group, Things are looking up.
The “rest of the world” is pretty much third world shitholes and welfare states. Many Americans know this and Bush will be re-elected because we want the exact opposite of what europeans think is ‘good for us.’
“Well, for one thing, Kerry didn’t get to be hated by pretty much the rest of the world (yet) and might have a foreign policy that doesn’t have you guys ostracized by the rest of the world (hopefully). To me that only is enough to go for the challenger.”
“Me? I’d go for Nader but hey, i’m European, idealist and far too much on the left for most of the Lavender room folks”
The great news for Kerry is that he couldn’t do things any dumberer than President Bush, who has amazingly managed to fail on all levels. The only thing he has succeeded at is in creating a fearful society which has become his base. It appears that may be all you need for 4 more years, brilliant strategery!
Some lowlights of the last 4 years with Bush at the helm:
9/11
Economic Recession
A quagmire of a war based on bad intelligence
Ok, maybe its not all directly his fault, but maybe he is just bad luck?
Are you actually blaming 9/11 on Bush? Was he standing with the security guards when the terrorists boarded the plane? Was he with the FAA when they were trying to figure out what the hell was going on? You can talk all you want about memos Bush may or may not have seen, but you’re talking with a hindsight bias, they get memos like that everyday… and I can bet that Clinton got much of the same and what the hell did he do?
“Ok, maybe its not all directly his fault, but maybe he is just bad luck?”
I suppose the Lindburgh kidnapping was on him as well? Look, if you hate the guy, just hate him, but don’t be so ridiculous as to blame him for things that don’t belong on his plate.
Did the “Democratic leadership” pick Kerry or the or people who vote in Democratic primarys pick Kerry?
Maybe the Kennedy assassination can be blamed on “W” as well.
I’ve been very disappointed with my president this past year. However, I’m still not convinced that Kerry is a “better” choice… only a “different” choice. I have no idea what he stands for. I know that he’s dreaming if he thinks he’ll get us out of Iraq in a year or so, and still have a viable democracy there that won’t collapse into another Taliban.
All I know is that after the fiasco of 2000 and all the ant-Bushism going on in this countrym if the Dems couldn’t put up a candidate who would undoubtedly win in a landslide over Bush, then what does that say about the party?
By “the rest of the world”, I think you mean “the countries that can’t trade with Saddam anymore”. Let’s tell it like it is.
America does not get permission slips to defend itself. And we will never elect a leader that needs to ask permission from the likes of the UN or France or Germany.
All I know is that after the fiasco of 2000 and all the ant-Bushism going on in this countrym if the Dems couldn’t put up a candidate who would undoubtedly win in a landslide over Bush, then what does that say about the party?
I don’t think it says much about the Democratic party, it says more about voters. Look, the country is split practically 50-50 Republican vs. Democrat. The problem is that people are unwilling to switch their allegiances, even if they aren’t happy with the leader of the party they support. A lot of Republicans (even on this board) have stated they aren’t terribly happy with Bush, but they’ll vote for him anyway because a) he’s a Republican or b) he’s not John Kerry or c) he’s not a democrat. For anyone to win in a landslide, voters would have to abandon their party and switch allegiances, but it appears that won’t happen.
Was there a Democract candidate who would cause voters to switch allegiances? I don’t think so. Kerry wasn’t my first choice, but I don’t think any of the others were going to pry Nascar Dad votes away from Bush, either.
More and more, I think people vote for reasons that don’t take into account their own best interests. They vote democrat because they’re black, or vote republican because their father did, or vote democrat because the union tells them to, etc, etc, etc.
It’s all ill-conceived system. By the time the Democratic primary rolled around here, the only candidates left were Kerry and Kucinish (sp?). It’s not like anyone around here had a chance to vote for Dean, Clark, etc. They were all out of the race already.
Perhaps you’re right. It just seems that there are many moderate Republicans who are dissatisfied with Bush. If the Dems could have put up someone (I have no idea who) with more appeal to the moderate Republicans, they could win a lot of those votes. In addition, there seem to be many non-affiliated moderates… like myself… who voted for Bush last time, but are very much on the fence this year. A strong, moderately liberal candidate would be ideal. I’d love to vote for John Kerry because he’s not Bush, but I’m VERY hesitant to do so, because I have no clue as to what his stances on anything might be. They seem to change all the time, depending on who he’s talking to.
I voted for the war… I voted for the war, but it was a mistake… We need to be in Iraq… We need to get out of Iraq… etc… etc…
Frankly, I’m hoping the debates will solidify Kerry’s position so that I can either agree or disagree.
I’m not blaming 9/11 on Bush at all, just stating that it happened during this wonderous presidential term. Bad timing maybe…at any rate he hasn’t done anything to warrant getting re-elected, I don’t care how much of a schmuk everyone thinks Kerry is…let him have a shot before you write him off…we at least gave Bush that chance.
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My point wasn’t to say Kerry would do better. My point was that I can’t imagine him doing worse. But obviously others have the ability to dream up a worse situation than what we are in now.
I don’t contend Bush was responsible for all of those terrible things. Well I guess I hinted at it, but I don’t really think that. They did happen during his term and you can’t overlook that, especially when his entire record is sketchy in my book.
I agree about Kerry. I said before, he’s his own worst enemy. He’s still trying to get his message out 5 weeks before the elections? I think he’d have been better off just coming out and saying something like “I voted for the authorization to go to war, because I wanted to support the president. As more information became available, I realized that this was an error. I should not have voted for the war and don’t support it anymore.” I can accept and respect that, and at least we’d know where he stands.
I can’t wait for the debates. Is Nader going to be there?
– America does not get permission slips to defend itself.
Where do you draw the line in our attempt to defend ourselves? How many countries who aren’t linked to terrorism do we attack before enough is enough?
When do we put more focus on our own borders? I think we should do everything possible within our borders to keep terrorists from entering this country. From the sounds of it, we aren’t doing everything we can…
The point of bringing up all the various bad things that have happened during Pres. Bush’s first term is to fight the Republican mantra that the country is heading in the right direction and that the President has had a good first tour that should be extended for another four years. In fact, he has had a term marked by the worst attack on our home soil since WWII, loss of jobs and economic downturn, conflict in the international arena turning worldwide public opinion sharply against the US and our Pres. in particular, a shift in Republican Party policy that makes it nearly unrecognizable as the party it used to be, and some of the sharpest partisan division this country has ever faced. Not all of that is his fault, of course. Some of it is his fault, and some of it is the GOPs fault, and some of it is due to outside factors, but to keep shoving the “US is headed in the right direction” message down our throats is a joke.
"So to bring things that are not his fault is fair because he is beating you? Odd. "
How the Hell is he beating ME? The GOPs platform is that they are doign a great job and Sen Kerry will allow us to be attacked again and will take this country to ruin. Offering evidence that the country’s not doing that well now isn’t odd, it’s responsible. Open your eyes wide enough to see more than one side of the issues. We’re not just voting for a President. We’re voting for another 4 years of Republican led policy in the White House. Things that aren’t specifically Pres. Bush’s fault are relevant.
How the Hell is he beating ME? The GOPs platform is that they are doign a great job and Sen Kerry will allow us to be attacked again and will take this country to ruin. Offering evidence that the country’s not doing that well now isn’t odd, it’s responsible. Open your eyes wide enough to see more than one side of the issues. We’re not just voting for a President. We’re voting for another 4 years of Republican led policy in the White House. Things that aren’t specifically Pres. Bush’s fault are relevant.
Well, at least the Republicans can’t blame the democrats for whatever has happened the past couple of years, after all, they have control of the house of representatives, senate, and presidency!