61 replies to this topic

[Valerie Valens]

All the experience in the world could not save Palin from being an incompetent idiot, so it's a moot point.

Chief : Doesn't really matter, does it? All I wanted to say is that Louis was an annoying prick with his endless whiny thumping of his political views.

[Vlad Yvhv]

I might be in the minority here, but honestly...I didn't really go for Obama. I mean, I think it's great we have a black president. It's the man's questionable character that I'm worried about.
My Mom and Dad were Democrats but have never believed that a Democrat President could ever ultimately work for this country.

To give McCain and Palin credit, they were outspent and just didn't hit Obama where they should have if they wanted to win. Obama simply was too big to defeat. He's the male equivalent of Oprah. Now, I'm not saying McCain's my man either. I voted for him just because I didn't like any of the other candidates. McCain's a war hero and has seen a lot of action...I took experience over looks and fancy promises. I went with my gut.

I've asked a lot of people why they went with Obama and their reasons are pretty simple...he's more likable, McCain's too old, Palin is too dumb (she's the governor of Alaska and the last time I knew was enjoying favorable ratings), he'll lower taxes for 95% of Americans, etc...but they also reiteriated that they weren't too knowledgable of his politics or character, which is scary to me...you should know where a man stands and what he believes before you hand him the keys to the White House.

I don't claim to know the man personally and through and through...it's just that I find it worrisome that a lot of Americans seem to vote for Obama simply because he "looks and feels better" than TEH EVIL President Bush. He's promising CHANGE, something that has been brought up in past elections as a gimmick to sell on those willing enough to fall into the trap. Well, over 50% of Americans bought into the gimmick.

Now that Obama's president, I think he's going to realize how difficult it really is going to be to implement the CHANGE that he promises. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt...but he needs to do a lot to make me change my mind about him totally. I'll respect him as our leader, but not for the values that he carries personally. He's just too far to the left for me.

I do hope you see my point...as Americans, I believe it is our right to do and say as we please as is our right granted by the U.S. Constitution. But I also believe it is our right to defend that which we believe in on an individual basis...our moral center. I just hope Obama's moral center is one that leads America in the right direction.

In general, Obama at least appears to be the lesser of 2 evils. This fact is not lost on people like me, who know that we can't trust McCain. Though an unfamiliar person may not be the ideal one to root for, they're often the preferable choice over a known enemy. As the saying goes: "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". Obama is at least someone who people can be optomistic about, which is just what people've been needing these past 8 years...

Additionally, he is now under pressure to maintain that image. It if turns out to be false, then he likely won't see a 2nd term (or possibly even make it through the first). Just because he's won, doesn't mean that he's got the gold key to the crapper. There are many Obama supporters who will turn on him if he betrays their trust. As such, I seriously doubt we have to worry about him purpously making things worse for all of us... Just those of us who politicians always make things worse for...

[furrykef]

As for the experience thing: if your experience consists of making mistakes, then your experience doesn't do terribly much for you either. The point being, what matters is not experience itself, but what that experience consists of.

[randomizer]

Obama is at least someone who people can be optomistic about, which is just what people've been needing these past 8 years...

Depends on who you talk to. Some thing he's gonna try and turn the country into a socialist regime I dunno though, I don't know much about his character or even what he "says" he's going to do. I just know that he's a politician, and that I'm cynical about politicians, no matter how well they can speak. Lots of politicians promise much and deliver the opposite, or promise much and give way more than you wanted.

[Vlad Yvhv]

Obama is at least someone who people can be optomistic about, which is just what people've been needing these past 8 years...

Depends on who you talk to. Some thing he's gonna try and turn the country into a socialist regime I dunno though, I don't know much about his character or even what he "says" he's going to do. I just know that he's a politician, and that I'm cynical about politicians, no matter how well they can speak. Lots of politicians promise much and deliver the opposite, or promise much and give way more than you wanted.

Politicians should always be distrusted. But when there's really no choice but to choose between 2 politicians and live with that choice, it usually pays off to choose the one that is at least not known to be your enemy... When you don't have proof that someone is your enemy, then you can be more hopeful about them than you can be about someone who's proven themselves to be your enemy. Obama is one such person. McCain is a known enemy and Obama is an unknown. While it would be foolish to go out and become a rabid Obama supporter, it does make sense to be somewhat hopeful that he's not as much of an enemy as McCain is.

At the very least, he's not an old white man...

[randomizer]

At the very least, he's not an old white man...

Very true, I'll give him that. I wonder how he'll deal with the perpetual problems in New Orleans. I suppose if he does anything, he's doing more than Bush did.

[The Man]

I'm unsure what new information I can add but when it comes down to it you have to wonder why it happened this way? Why some people were meant to be leaders while others became scientists?

I also like to continue to thank the CIA, FBI, Police and any other government agency I didn't mention that makes the U.S. Presidency possible? Could I thank all government agencies actually?

[Jason Ryan]

...I just know that he's a politician, and that I'm cynical about politicians, no matter how well they can speak. Lots of politicians promise much and deliver the opposite, or promise much and give way more than you wanted.

Still seething with anger about Australia's internet eh? I know I am.

Still, a black American president! That's progress anyway... right?

[randomizer]

Still seething with anger about Australia's internet eh? I know I am.

I think the Coalition and the Greens are gonna block censorship in the Senate though, so we should be ok. This is one time where the "let's make everything ok" attitude of the Greens was advantageous. Still, anything can happen in politics.

Still, a black American president! That's progress anyway... right?

If there was any completely "good" reason to vote for Obama, this was it. I can't see any downsides, only upsides. McCain would just be more of the same old, same old (pun intended).

[Cheezmatt]

Hooray for America!

[fishtheimpaler]

A lot of people used Palin to defuse McCain's "experience argument" against Obama, which was always a little weird to begin with. If the problem was that Obama had only been on the national political scene for two years or so, Palin had been in a governorship for an even shorter length of time. If the problem was executive experience, then McCain didn't have any himself aside from a brief stateside stint in a training squad in the 70s. If the problem was being really old, familiar, and vaguely conveying a sense of American military strength by virtue of a past POW ordeal, though, then he had it locked down.

(PS: I think it's a little unfair to say that Obama only won the 2004 Senate election because Jack Ryan once asked his super-hot wife to have sex with him in public at a BDSM bar. (On a personal level, I was almost a little surprised he dropped out--it was the first major political sex scandal that involved (a) not having sex, and ( having it with your legal spouse. There was the creepy sexist vibe due to their respective economic positions, but I assumed the Republicans wouldn't be able to pickup on that. Guess ZOMG DEVIANCE was enough.) On the Illinois scene, Jack Ryan was basically Al Salvi 2.0 ("socially leftist, economically conservative Republican with a history of business success and youthful good looks") and by 2004 Salvi had developed quite a record of losing to everyone the state Dems tended to throw at him. And the Republicans came back by running well-known conservative ideologue Alan Keyes, who . . . heh, well, he's been called the Ludwig Wittgenstein of Homophobia. So I'll give you that one.)

[randomizer]

Let's listen to what the wise old G-Man has to say:



Now... what is the wrong place, and what difference is he referring to?

[Valerie Valens]

Bush is an easy punching bag, the presidents have always been a target for media derision whenever something goes wrong, it's not just your precious Dubya. End of story.

[Dakota Bob]

Sweetus.

First on his list of people to thank for helping him win the presidency should be Sarah Palin, lawlz

[Tristan Palmgren]

Correction: John McCain for choosing Sarah Palin.