OK..GOP candidates suck...so enlighten me...

[Jarhead]

he was selected to head teh harvard revue.

They dont pick dummies.

i could tell he was smart from his words.

I said that he would be president someday the first time I heard him speak.

My Bro gave me shit for saying it and called to eat crow they day he was elected.

So you chose him based on the words of his speech writers and the message designed by the man who was paid to come upo with one that would win an election.

Furthermore...as you just admitted....you made a judegemtn call on him without knowing anything about him....just based on his ability to speak.

Fine....no criticism here....just not what I would do.

 

[HUGGY]

You have all taken apart all candidates that are running for the GOP nomination. You have educated us as to why Cain is a poor choice...why Bachmann is a hypocrite.....Newt is not worthy....Rommey.....and I can go on and on.

Fine...thank you.

What you have done is reviewed their years in politics, or thier years in business, their years as a privatye citizen, the actions when they were younger, the actions of their spouses...etc..etc...etc...

So now lets go back to 2008.....

Obama had a mere 2 years as a state senator and less than 18 months as a US senator.

He had a very spotty voting record in Illinois...voted present quite often and voted party lines pretty much the rest of the time...so it was difficxult to see what his thought process was
As a US senator, he voted against the surge...something that was successful and he doubled down on when he was President....so that vote was the wrong vote at the time.
The rest of his votes were either present or along party lines....so again, one can not evaluate his thought process.

So what did we want to know about him......

His acadedmic successes....but we were told no...none of our business.
His writings with the law review...we were told none of our business
His relationships with other people...we were told it is irrelevant and that we should not judge him by the actions of his mentors and supporters.....and we are racists if we try to
We asked who his friends are...we were told none of our business (anyone know of ANY friends that he has?)


SO I must ask all of you....you have dug deep to knock and find fault in the GOP runners...

So what of Obama did you evaluate when you opted to vote for him?

Being a life long (62 years) republican but more so a citizen of this country I had to make a choice between Obama and the possibility that Sarah Palin could ascend to the oval office if an old man were faced with the challenges and stress of POTUS and his health failed. I had no illusions of "hopey change" but we, our co.untry had been set on a clear course of destruction by the previous two administrations. If I would have to choose between my worst presidential votes it would still be my vote for Bush compared to that for Obama.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Brains and what he talked about

Well...ytoiu did not know if he did well in college...you assume he did.
Afterall, Bush went to Yale but you do not see him as "smart"...

So then it was just the words of his speech writers? The message of his campaign manager who was hired to help him "win" that won you over?

OK. Thanks for your honesty.

Well, the difference here is that Bush got in on the Daddy credit, not his performance.

Bingo!!!​

"His business career was marked by mediocrity or failure which nonetheless resulted in him getting lots of money from his father's political allies. And his political career has been handed to him on a platter by his famous name, and by his dad's cronies."

The Rise & THUD Of Lil' Dumbya​

 

[Jarhead]

I evaluated him based on his grasp of policy; whether his vision for the US and the world was more in line with mine than other candidates; whether I agreed with his policy prescriptions relative to the candidates and whether or not I trusted his decision-making skills.

A year long campaign gives you more than ample time to evaluate how a person will function. I find that period far more relevant than whether he owned a pizza chain, went to State U or smoked pot when he was in high school.

I disagree...

A year campaign...a ten year campaign...all it gives you is the qualioty of speech writers and the message designed by a third party to win an election.

ACTIONS is what I use to determine the viablity of a candidate.

You are bright enough to know that Axelrod is the one who developed his message...and his speech writers developed the approach.

But you had nothing of his actions to truly evaluate.

 

[Truthmatters]

Yeah hs is smart and a good talker TM, However he has mostly followed the path Bush set out.

You are right USC but a republican in this day and age means tea party pandering the entire time.

Obama has disapointed me repetedly but a republican ( in todays world) would mean disastor.

Even Romeny who I think may be a decent guy deep down is a tea paarty clown out of nessesity.

 

[Jarhead]

You have all taken apart all candidates that are running for the GOP nomination. You have educated us as to why Cain is a poor choice...why Bachmann is a hypocrite.....Newt is not worthy....Rommey.....and I can go on and on.

Fine...thank you.

What you have done is reviewed their years in politics, or thier years in business, their years as a privatye citizen, the actions when they were younger, the actions of their spouses...etc..etc...etc...

So now lets go back to 2008.....

Obama had a mere 2 years as a state senator and less than 18 months as a US senator.

He had a very spotty voting record in Illinois...voted present quite often and voted party lines pretty much the rest of the time...so it was difficxult to see what his thought process was
As a US senator, he voted against the surge...something that was successful and he doubled down on when he was President....so that vote was the wrong vote at the time.
The rest of his votes were either present or along party lines....so again, one can not evaluate his thought process.

So what did we want to know about him......

His acadedmic successes....but we were told no...none of our business.
His writings with the law review...we were told none of our business
His relationships with other people...we were told it is irrelevant and that we should not judge him by the actions of his mentors and supporters.....and we are racists if we try to
We asked who his friends are...we were told none of our business (anyone know of ANY friends that he has?)


SO I must ask all of you....you have dug deep to knock and find fault in the GOP runners...

So what of Obama did you evaluate when you opted to vote for him?

Being a life long (62 years) republican but more so a citizen of this country I had to make a choice between Obama and the possibility that Sarah Palin could ascend to the oval office if an old man were faced with the challenges and stress of POTUS and his health failed. I had no illusions of "hopey change" but we, our co.untry had been set on a clear course of destruction by the previous two administrations. If I would have to choose between my worst presidential votes it would still be my vote for Bush compared to that for Obama.

So that is two of "by default"
Thanks for your honesty.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

As far as the GOP candidates are concerned, only one who does not practice social reforms based on the fringe right wing voters will get my vote. I want fiscally conservative policies, not right wing social policies.

Give me a candidate who follows those two simple points and you've got a vote.

I want a centrist president. It's something we've lacked for a long time.

Ron Paul is the only one for you then.
However he has not a chance in hell of winning the nomination due to his views on useage of the military.

Fuck.

I've studied Ron Paul a fair bit because he piqued my interest, I love his courage and his honesty, but some of his policies are out of wack. Don't get me wrong though he is probably the most experienced politician in the world though.

Just not sure I want him as president.

He's a Doctor.

It ends....THERE!!!

He's an icon to
self-centered PRICK$!!!!!
​

 

[8537]

I evaluated him based on his grasp of policy; whether his vision for the US and the world was more in line with mine than other candidates; whether I agreed with his policy prescriptions relative to the candidates and whether or not I trusted his decision-making skills.

A year long campaign gives you more than ample time to evaluate how a person will function. I find that period far more relevant than whether he owned a pizza chain, went to State U or smoked pot when he was in high school.

I disagree...

A year campaign...a ten year campaign...all it gives you is the qualioty of speech writers and the message designed by a third party to win an election.

Well, we'll just disagree then. Running a campaign, responding in debates, engaging in town meetings and the public dialogue process requires more than a skilled speech writer. It requires one to make split second decisions with significant political implications, it requires you to formulate ideas and understand the consequences of those ideas. It puts you under a microscope and forces you to be very deliberate in every action. And it forces you to consider how to address concerns about you raised by others - all things I believe Obama did exceedingly well, which is what allowed him to win the Democratic nomination.

ACTIONS is what I use to determine the viablity of a candidate.

But what actions? Magna Cum Laude from Harvard? Which Republicans display "actions" that make them qualified to be President? No, it's not actions that draw people to a candidate - it's a belief that your core values and beliefs match more closely with them than their opponent. John McCain's post-military life involved no private-sector actions with which to evaluate him - people were left to decide if his values matched theirs and if they believed he could deliver on those values and beliefs.

on a final note, I don't think all the "GOP candidates suck". In fact, I think there are some good, smart people in that field.

 

[naturegirl]

he was selected to head teh harvard revue.

They dont pick dummies.

i could tell he was smart from his words.

I said that he would be president someday the first time I heard him speak.

My Bro gave me shit for saying it and called to eat crow they day he was elected.

Yea, Affirmative Action got him to be the president of the Harvard Review. Can you give me an idea where I might be able to find some of his articles, writings or reviews??

<snip>

Here’s how the Crimson describes the circumstances that may have lead to Barack Obama’s rise to prominence:

In 1981, all 80-some editors except one were white, and it would be another decade before the Review elected its first black president, Sen. Barack H. Obama, (D-Ill.) Fewer than a dozen of the editors on the Review were women, although Susan R. Estrich, the law professor and Democratic political operative, served as the Review’s president in 1977.

It was then that the saga of the Law Review’s affirmative action program began, when the editors adopted a race- and gender-conscious policy by a 45 to 39 vote, to the vehement opposition of some faculty members.

<snip>
Under their modified plan, the top four students in each first-year section would still be elected to the Review, but the fifth spot would be reserved for the top-scoring minority student among the top 25, and if no such minority student existed, the fifth spot would go to the woman with the highest grades.

Two days after the adoption of this policy, three editors—including one woman—resigned in protest.

Several months of intense debate and negotiations ensued between the Review and the faculty, at the end of which the Review began for the first time considering factors other than merit in choosing its members.

Affirmative action in action: How Barack Obama became President of the Harvard Law Review

 

[G.T.]

The platform he ran on. It doesn't matter who wrote it, he said it was his goal. It was better than risking someone as dumb as Palin being near our big red button.

His past in school is proven, WITHout seeing his transcripts, unless you're honestly going to sit in your chair and claim that Harvard Law is somehow a part of some conspiracy, or that it's easy to get into with no scholastic accomplishment(ridiculous).

I also liked his approach.


I also didn't want another Bush, even though we got him.

I also know that if he had any real dirt of significance on him, the obsessively partisan radio hacks would have uncovered it in a heart-beat.

He also had a couple of books out, and you could have read about his life pretty easily and took at least a majority of it at face value. Obviously not all of it. (politician).


He wasn't unvetted. That's completely ridiculous. He had Senatorial Campaigns and a Presidential campaign opponent(s) gunning for him at different time periods, and if he was some sort of obvious idiot or danger we all would have heard about it.

 

[kiwiman127]

You have all taken apart all candidates that are running for the GOP nomination. You have educated us as to why Cain is a poor choice...why Bachmann is a hypocrite.....Newt is not worthy....Rommey.....and I can go on and on.

Fine...thank you.

What you have done is reviewed their years in politics, or thier years in business, their years as a privatye citizen, the actions when they were younger, the actions of their spouses...etc..etc...etc...

So now lets go back to 2008.....

Obama had a mere 2 years as a state senator and less than 18 months as a US senator.

He had a very spotty voting record in Illinois...voted present quite often and voted party lines pretty much the rest of the time...so it was difficxult to see what his thought process was
As a US senator, he voted against the surge...something that was successful and he doubled down on when he was President....so that vote was the wrong vote at the time.
The rest of his votes were either present or along party lines....so again, one can not evaluate his thought process.

So what did we want to know about him......

His acadedmic successes....but we were told no...none of our business.
His writings with the law review...we were told none of our business
His relationships with other people...we were told it is irrelevant and that we should not judge him by the actions of his mentors and supporters.....and we are racists if we try to
We asked who his friends are...we were told none of our business (anyone know of ANY friends that he has?)


SO I must ask all of you....you have dug deep to knock and find fault in the GOP runners...

So what of Obama did you evaluate when you opted to vote for him?

Naturally, there has been extreme vetting of the GOP candidates by the left, I mean what does one expect? Particularly, because of all the founded and unfounded criticism/accusations of Obama. It's more or so a reactionary impulse.
But, I also see founded and unfounded criticism by folks on the right about the GOP candidates and potential candidates. Specifically directed towards the more moderate GOP candidates/potential candidates, (see the most recent Christie thread).
Now USMB reflects most political boards as it's population is heavily weighed with strong ideologues, with very few centralist. So all of this criticism of far right, right, moderate, left and far left political candidates is expected and something one has to accept.

 

[G.T.]

Also, he was the obvious better family man, and that speaks to his character. Also, he was a big Community man, which also speaks to his character.

 

[Paulie]

Yeah hs is smart and a good talker TM, However he has mostly followed the path Bush set out.

Which is what you'll get with any establishment politician. Something I would think you would know by now at your age and with your obvious political distrust.

 

[Sarah G]

Yeah hs is smart and a good talker TM, However he has mostly followed the path Bush set out.

Obama is very smart and has a grasp of the issues and political strategy, he's communicative, he talks about any issue with a clear understanding. He had an agenda that required deep thought and goals that could move the country forward.

Bush clone? I don't see it. He has a spirit of cooperation and wants to work with the Right, which was important to me and is now but he was giving up too much to Repubs. Bush had people who guided him through his presidency but he had no apparant strategy or understanding of real issues.

As a person, I thought Bush had a good sense of humor, he had a way with people and he never meant to hurt anyone. He simply wasn't up to the job.

Obama is once again working his way back to relevency and I believe he will amaze us all at how easily he will take this second term.. The Right will just have to think up something else to try and get him out of office.

Go Obama!

 

[VaYank5150]

You have all taken apart all candidates that are running for the GOP nomination. You have educated us as to why Cain is a poor choice...why Bachmann is a hypocrite.....Newt is not worthy....Rommey.....and I can go on and on.

Fine...thank you.

What you have done is reviewed their years in politics, or thier years in business, their years as a privatye citizen, the actions when they were younger, the actions of their spouses...etc..etc...etc...

So now lets go back to 2008.....

Obama had a mere 2 years as a state senator and less than 18 months as a US senator.

He had a very spotty voting record in Illinois...voted present quite often and voted party lines pretty much the rest of the time...so it was difficxult to see what his thought process was
As a US senator, he voted against the surge...something that was successful and he doubled down on when he was President....so that vote was the wrong vote at the time.
The rest of his votes were either present or along party lines....so again, one can not evaluate his thought process.

So what did we want to know about him......

His acadedmic successes....but we were told no...none of our business.
His writings with the law review...we were told none of our business
His relationships with other people...we were told it is irrelevant and that we should not judge him by the actions of his mentors and supporters.....and we are racists if we try to
We asked who his friends are...we were told none of our business (anyone know of ANY friends that he has?)


SO I must ask all of you....you have dug deep to knock and find fault in the GOP runners...

So what of Obama did you evaluate when you opted to vote for him?

He was running AGAINST McCain and Palin. Simple as that. While Obama may not have had all of the credentials one would hope to find in a POTUS candidate, the thought of McCain dying in office, and turning the reigns of our country over to Caribou Barbie was simply too much to overcome.

 

[Photonic]

You have all taken apart all candidates that are running for the GOP nomination. You have educated us as to why Cain is a poor choice...why Bachmann is a hypocrite.....Newt is not worthy....Rommey.....and I can go on and on.

Fine...thank you.

What you have done is reviewed their years in politics, or thier years in business, their years as a privatye citizen, the actions when they were younger, the actions of their spouses...etc..etc...etc...

So now lets go back to 2008.....

Obama had a mere 2 years as a state senator and less than 18 months as a US senator.

He had a very spotty voting record in Illinois...voted present quite often and voted party lines pretty much the rest of the time...so it was difficxult to see what his thought process was
As a US senator, he voted against the surge...something that was successful and he doubled down on when he was President....so that vote was the wrong vote at the time.
The rest of his votes were either present or along party lines....so again, one can not evaluate his thought process.

So what did we want to know about him......

His acadedmic successes....but we were told no...none of our business.
His writings with the law review...we were told none of our business
His relationships with other people...we were told it is irrelevant and that we should not judge him by the actions of his mentors and supporters.....and we are racists if we try to
We asked who his friends are...we were told none of our business (anyone know of ANY friends that he has?)


SO I must ask all of you....you have dug deep to knock and find fault in the GOP runners...

So what of Obama did you evaluate when you opted to vote for him?

He was running AGAINST McCain and Palin. Simple as that. While Obama may not have had all of the credentials one would hope to find in a POTUS candidate, the thought of McCain dying in office, and turning the reigns of our country over to Caribou Barbie was simply too much to overcome.

I'll be honest here, I voted on Obama only because I didn't want Palin to be the Vice President.

Yea it was shallow. But was it wrong?

HELL NO.

 

[Claudette]

The first time I heard him speak I was impressed and thought now here's someone I could vote for as Hilary wasn't and isn't a favorite of mine.

I watched him climb up the polls but still figured Hilary would get the nod.

Was flabbergasted when they went for Barry instead.

I watched and listened to him when he spoke but though he's a good speaker the more he talked the less I like what I was hearing.

When none of the media went whole hog over Ayers and Wright that raised my eyebrows also. The media was in the tank for him from the getgo. Not a good sign in my eyes.

I must say when he wanted to spread the wealth that did it for me.

I held my nose and voted for McCain.

 

[auditor0007]

As far as the GOP candidates are concerned, only one who does not practice social reforms based on the fringe right wing voters will get my vote. I want fiscally conservative policies, not right wing social policies.

Give me a candidate who follows those two simple points and you've got a vote.

I want a centrist president. It's something we've lacked for a long time.

So you want someone left of Bush and Obama.

 

[Caroljo]

Brains and what he talked about

Well...ytoiu did not know if he did well in college...you assume he did.
Afterall, Bush went to Yale but you do not see him as "smart"...

So then it was just the words of his speech writers? The message of his campaign manager who was hired to help him "win" that won you over?

OK. Thanks for your honesty.

Well, the difference here is that Bush got in on the Daddy credit, not his performance.

Maybe the first time, but the second time too?? Doubt it!

 

[eflatminor]

So what of Obama did you evaluate when you opted to vote for him?

He talked real purdy, had a nice smile, and went to a fancy school. What else matters?