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McCain, Clinton Win New Hampshire
Well the title says it. I figured some of you guys might be interested in the results of New Hampshire. Next week is Michigan, where I live. Somehow I don't expect any of the campaigns to ring me up.
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We foreigners appreciate slashdot posting this news - after all, your election affects us (this is not facetiousness, unfortunately).
Commodore64_love: I don't comprehend people who're so frightened of death that they'll bankrupt themselves to stay alive
While it is no replacement for doing real research and finding out where candidates stand relative to you on specific issues, there is a very interesting site called "Political Compass" at http://www.politicalcompass.org/ It gives a Cartesian representation (2 dimensional rather than just left/right) of your political values based on a questionnaire in terms of Authoritarian vs Personal Liberty AND Economic Right vs Left.
In addition to providing info on where you stand (you might be surprised) it shows were historical figures and the current candidates fall (based on their statements and voting records.)
You can also compare US politicians to the current crop in countries such as Canada, Australia, and England.
Very neat site!
The only candidate who has a grasp of economics....
No, He's not the only one, by a long shot. And as for your other points, Kucinich has him beat, also. He was the ONLY candidate there to vote against the patriot act both times. Paul abstained from one. Obama voted for the other. And the rest? There they were, voting for almost everything the president wanted. Not to worry. Neither Paul nor Kucinich have a snowball's chance. The well oiled machine shall thunder on, and we'll get four more years of Nixon/Agnew.
What?
Outside of Ron Paul I have zero enthusiasm for anybody on the Republican side and even at that I doubt I could bring myself to vote for him. I used to have a lot of respect for McCain even though I disagree with him in a lot of areas (his being pro-life comes to mind) but I lost that respect when he started kissing the ass of the religious right, sometime around the 2004 elections. As a New Yorker I previously held Giuliani in high regard. Then he decided to run his entire campaign on 9/11.
On the Democratic side I was undecided for a long time with leanings towards Edwards. In the last week or so I've jumped on the Obama bandwagon. I don't know if he can actually pull off everything that he advocates but I do know that he is a breath of fresh air. You realize that less then three years ago he was a state legislator? Can you picture your Assemblyman or State Senator running for President in the next three years? I know that I can't. Yet somehow he has managed to do it.
I read an interview where his wife said that up until about a year ago they were still paying off student loans and she worries that even if he loses this race that they won't be "real" Americans anymore, i.e: they won't have any of the concerns that the middle class does (debt, health care, education for their kids, etc, etc). For some reason that hit home with me and I think is one of the fundamental problems with American politics -- how many politicians can you think of on the Federal level that even know what it's like to be a normal person anymore? Between the rich ones (who have never known want for anything) and the career politicians I doubt you can find more then a handful of "real" people in Congress or the Administration.
He's got my vote come Super Tuesday. I've never disliked Hillary and even voted for her twice (for the Senate) but I know that if she manages to win it all we can look forward to four more years of slash 'n burn politics in Washington. I don't know if Obama can actually change that and make Washington responsive to the people again but I do know that Hillary can't -- the Republicans will crucify her.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Look into Obama. You might be pleasantly surprised. I dismissed him for a long time and didn't pay much attention to what he had to say. That was a mistake on my part.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
With respect, maybe you should bother to read my post history and/or journal before you accuse me of karma whoring.
I like Ron Paul because of his position on civil liberties. Ending the drug war, repealing the Patriot Act, getting us out of Iraq, etc, etc. I also like him because he has the balls to actually state his opinions, no matter how unpopular they might be. It takes a rare sort to do that in politics.
Notwithstanding the above, I have serious reservations about the Libertarian economic platform. There's a reason why we got away from Laissez-faire economics and I do not agree with the concept of a completely regulation free economy. In fact, given the events of the last decade or so and displays of corporate greed, I'm less inclined then ever to trust the "free market" to do anything in my best interest. I also completely disagree with the idea that we need to privatize everything.
I came to like Obama after watching some of his speeches and reading some of his interviews. I won't apologize for that and I realize it makes me the unpopular person around here because I won't tote the /. party line of "both parties are the same". I hope Obama wins the nomination and the general election. That said, I'm still rooting for Ron Paul to do well, because even though I disagree with him on a lot of stuff I think it's a good thing that he is bringing public attention to his platform. And even though I completely disagree with and would oppose their economic platform, I think it's a good thing to get Libertarian ideals into the public debate.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.