A New Year....
Welcome to the blog for Bouch's AP Government class..... alumni welcome as always!
Remember that blogging regularly helps your participation grade immensely......
1st topic: of all of the current '08 presidential candidates, who are you excited most about? Or are they all lousy choices? Who do you want to know more about? Explain your answer!!
posted by JLBinChicago @ 6:13 AM
20 Comments:
Alright, first comment. So I read the question, did a little research, and this is what I've found. Basically, all of the candidates, Democrats and Republicans, have some large issue that could easily prevent them from winning the presidency. Take the obvious or Barack Obama, the black guy, or Hillary Clinton, the woman (although it's been said that that could be a lie, but that's another story entirely). Rudy Giuliani has that whole 3 wives, not speaking to his children deal and John McCain is ancient at 72. Clearly, we have some outcasts running for the presidency. I consider myself pretty liberal so I look straight for each candidates thoughts on things like gun control, global warming, and same-sex marriage. I don't think it's fair to just say "I'm a democrat, Giuliani is out of the question." Giulani is a supporter of same-sex marriage group! This election has such a mish-mosh of different ideas and opinions in each candidate, it's hard enough for me to understand, none the less pick my favorite.
i'm actually pretty excited about ron paul. i know, i know; some of his platform is pretty radical. and i know, he's under the republican ticket, but that shouldn't detract you from looking into his ideas for political reform: a complete sweep on federal government and a U.S. Constitution renaissance. basically, a history teacher's dream. he'll eliminate a lot of domestic problems by putting the responsibility of management in the hands of the states, as many of our founding fathers intended. while sweeping the Federal Reserve & the IRS might be a little extreme, they are ideas to consider in the very volatile conditions our current economy is experiencing (spiking sub-prime mortgage lending, massive consumer debt, the incredibly huge national debt, unstable stock markets, etc.). I don't know if he's the best pick, but he's definitely one i'm going to consider on when voting next november. and, then again, a lot can happen between then and now.
Thanks to the brave few who have already blogged! My deepest apologies for my absence in class today.... I don't know if the sub told you all, but my house has sustained a major power outage (still going on), and I am trying to deal with it and my little guy while my husband is on a business trip in Europe. I will definitely be back on Monday - thanks for your patience and understanding!!!
Republicans constantly claim to be the moral authority and that the Democrats are corrupt, and then the Republicans turn out to be more corrupt than Tony Soprano or have family problems worthy of Jerry Springer. Democrats are just as screwed up, but at least they admit it.
As Charles Barkley once said "I was a Republican, until they lost their minds."
Those Republicans handled Hurricane Katrina well didn't they? They seemed more concerned that it would raise oil prices than for the safety and well being of those involved.
This nonsense that the Iraq War is a humanitarian effort is total garbage. Why does the US virtually ignore the genocides in Sudan and Rwanda? Because there isn't oil to worry about, at least that's what I think.
Hence, by default, I would consider myself leaning towards the Democratic party.
Let's see who am I excited about...
Well Bill clinton's presidency was somewhat of a Golden Age in American history. A repition of this would be nice. Hmm, how could this occur? Maybe we get his wife in office! Maybe.
She has a history of being actively involved in the advancement of health care, something that is important to the overall well being of our nation. Hmm maybe our money would be better served here than on some war that has no apparent goal, maybe not. I don't know.
She is liberal, but not ridiculously liberal, more of a moderate liberal, which I would consider myself to be.
Obama seems to be mostly on the same page, so I'm fine with him too. No other Democrat has a chance so who cares?
Giuliani is a closet Democrat.
Ron Paul is a whacko conservative who would basically continue Bush's mess.
Mitt Romney also supports the Iraqi War...
Who do I want to know more about? Nobody. It will all come out prior to the election. I get my fix from Jay Leno if needed.
I don't know if I'll be permitted to vote because I am still in the process of getting US Citizenship, but I don't think I'll even bother because Illinois is such a heavily Democratic state that our votes are virtually meaningless.
Special thanks to Wikipedia...
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Well I think that it is a race between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton. If i had to vote for someone right now, I would have to go with Barack. He may lack experience but he does know what he is talking about and he could really do things that are good for this nation.
I think at this point, Americans are ready for a Democrat; there's too much anti-Bush feeling for the country to elect another Republican, and since Obama and Clinton are the most publicized and popular candidates for the Democratic party, I'd say it's really between those two. Personally, as much hype as there is around Obama, I'm not sure why. I know very little about his stances on just about everything, and that makes me nervous, because he has a huge shot at winning. If he's indecisive now, how is he going to make decisions as president? I think he's fascinating and in ten years, he'll have had more experience and be more prepared.
Well, I haven't paid too much attention to all the political candidates and for the most part, I only know the main ones who are in all the major news stories. I'm sure there are plenty others out there with great ideas and reforms they want to carry out. From what I've gathered from the research I have done, no candidate really stands out. Each one has a few good qualities that could be appealing in a President. All have at least one great idea for the country. But at the same time, each one has quite a few flaws or views of concern. I'm not particularly fond of any candidate at this time. But if I had to pick right now, my vote would be between Giulani or Obama. I'm a strong liberal but even I must admit that Giulani has a lot of great ideas, i.e. his views on same sex marriage and other views as well. I can't really make any decision for now though until more times passed and more details come out about each candidate's position. I think it's way to early to even think about a definite choice. A lot can happen in over a year. People could change their mind for running, although I realize for the big ones this is very unlikely, and a lot of new information about each candidate can come out. At this time I'm still very uncertain about it all.
the person i would like to know more about, David has already mentioned: Ron Paul. He's sort of a member of the Constitution Party, but is running as a Republican so people can at least get to know his name. He doesn't get caught up in the political party mumbo-jumbo, and votes the way he feels, only one of 7 republican congressmen who voted against Iraq war and he voted against the patriot act.
That said, I don't like he chances because he will be chastised as a liberal republican. John Edwards seems to be the 'safest' choice, which would be good to finally unite the divided legislators. I think Edwards will be in the white house one way or another (VP?) because I can't see another 4 years with a Republican at this point.
First of all, I think that it is very interesting to note that the biggest issues surrounding Obama and Hilary Clinton is not that they could become the first black president or first woman president respectively. Although they get all the hype, I have a feeling that a dark horse might emerge as the Democratic nomination. Typically, senators don't do all that well in presidential elections. In fact, 4 out of the last 5 presidents were governors of their state before being elected president. People may want to see a relative Washington outsider. Therefore, I think Bill Richardson could have an advantage on the Democratic side and Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee could be the GOP candidate.
In the democratic side of things, the race seems to mainly be between Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. It's also intersting that if one of them wins, they will end up being either the first woman president or first black president. I personally am hoping Obama wins. Although I will not be able to vote in the primary eletion, I will most certainly be voting next November. On the Republican side of things, McCain is extremely old, and Giuliani has plenty of family problems. This is one of the weirdest elections we've had in years because no one knows how it will turn out or who the front runners will be. For all we know, Bill Richardson might end up being the front runner for the Democrats. We'll just have to wait and see.
I think the best way to start looking for the best presidential candidate is by a process of elimination. Such cadidates as McCain or Mitt Romney would be immediately be disqualified in my book because they are against abortion (except for in the case of rape, but I'm still very pro-choice). Ever since reading an excerpt from "The Audacity of Hope," I haven't been a huge supporter of Barack Obama. I think that although some things may sound hopeful or inspiring, a realistic approach is the only way to go. Some of his expressed ideas just sounded naive to me. So right now, the next best candidates in my opinion are Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. I'd have to say that I support Clinton's approach to the immigration issue, taking sides with the bush-backed immigration reform legislation. Giuliani, on the other hand, opposes the idea of gaining legal status. Another important issue to consider is a candidate's global and economic understanding, where I think Hillary lacks. With the downfall of the social security system, Giuliani is in favor of a private retirement account. In terms of Iraq, Giuliani takes a realistic approach, knowing that backing out of Iraq in our current position would result in a broader regional conflict. So just because of the comparisons of pros and cons, the candidate that I agree with the most at the moment would be Rudy Giuliani.
I'm excited to see hillary clinton and barack o bama dual it out for the democratic party. I want to see what rudy guiliani is going to do for his campaign. I think Mitt Romney is a great candidate for president because alot of his views on immigration and the war on iraq i agree with.
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Im not sure Barak being black or Hillary being a women is really hurting them that much. They are the leading democratic candidates and a lot of people are willing to finally look past those facts about them. Also Its true Barak doesn't have a ton of experience, but look at Chaney or Bush their long resume hasn't really done them any good anyway. GO OBAMA!!!
This election will be a great one. Many controversial issues and ideas are being discussed and new boundaries could be broken to make our country more accepting. The wide range of personalities that are running make things very interesting. People from Thompson to Kucinich to Giulani, they are all different and on very different areas of the liberal-conservative spectrum. Right now, I honestly could not say who my favorite or least favorite candidtate is, because the people are all so different. Im very excited to be a part of this years presidential election voting process.
Giuliani has had some peculiar behavior in answering phone calls from his wife during dozens of speeches. The most recent incident occurred during a speech to the NRA. Considering how influential the NRA is, I wouldn't be inclined to try any funny business in front of them. But that's exactly what he did, and the audience bought it. He asked his wife if she would like to say hello to the audience (which he has done before), and said he loved her, and then to make sure everyone got the point, he told her he loved her again. And then he abruptly explained to the audience that being always available is a great part of the "modern age". Personally I think that was creepy and he comes off horrible in front of the camera.
When Giuliani tried to account for his behavior, he cited 9-11 as his motive. "And quite honestly, since Sept. 11, most of the time when we get on a plane, we talk to each other and just reaffirm the fact that we love each other." Yeah, cause planes never crashed before 9-11, right? No matter what the question is, Rudy says 9/11. Coming off bad in front of the camera should be irrevelant if your positions are strong, but everything Giuliani says is complete bullshit. He's a liberal trying to cast himself as a conservative. Being mayor of New York City during 9-11 is his entire campaign platform. He panders to frightful Americans by eliciting their emotions about 9-11 in every statement he makes.
That's one problem all mainstream candidates bring about: they say exactly what they think supporters want to hear. Most of the 08 candidates will be happy to explain how religion is very important to them and that they go to church frequently. They will go out of their way to be seen attending church on the campaign trail. This comes off as unbearably fake to me. I don't want to hear candidates make statements simply aimed at bringing about the broadest consensus possible. I want to hear candidates discuss issues which corporate America and the media are afraid to address. I want to hear candidates question traditional positions. I want to hear candidates offer solutions to issues which most people haven't even considered because they never learned to question authority.
A lot of Republicans would call a lot of Ron Paul's positions radical. But if you think about it, isn't having a huge national debt much MORE radical than balancing the budget? Most Republican candidates these days are more interested in scaring Americans into supporting huge increases in government bureaucracy and spending, such as the Department of Homeland Security and the war in Iraq, than they are in decreasing the size of the government. The neocons are even trying to sell a war with Iran now, and the media needs to do its job by not letting Americans fall for the same thing they sold us in 2003.
Ron Paul is against the failed war on drugs, which has locked up millions of marijuana users next to hardened criminals, thus increasing crime rates and restricting the use of a substance that is less addictive than nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine. Not that I agree with everything he says, but he is at least an independent voice from the Republican and Democratic party. The Democrats were elected in 2006 to fix the mess that Republicans created, but today they are even less willing to take on Republicans than they were before.
The Republicans are seemingly terrified of Ron Paul and are doing several things to combat him (they have already moved beyond ignoring him in some cases). He has been removed from online polls (here, here, and here) because he was doing better than the other candidates. During the debates he was asked loaded questions and given much less time to talk than others, in addition to other candidates audibly snickering at him when he was responding. Unfortunately, these tactics might work with a large percentage of voters, but more intelligent voters should see right through them.
Mitt Romney is completely set up in this video that was headlining AOL this afternoon. He either denies a man in a wheel chair, or he flip-flops. Obviously, a flip-flop would implode his campaign:
http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2007/10/09/romney-doesnt-inhale/?ncid=NWS00010000000001
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