^

Quote :

"what does each of you expect of a President"

I think when I was younger I wanted a president who was "ideologically correct." That is, I had a set of notions about what the ideal world would be like, and therefore the ideal President. Therefore the Presidential politics -- and politics in general -- were very frustrating. I viewed them as futile.

As I've had more life experience, I've converged somewhat more with my parents' view of politics. They'd rather elect someone they feel they can personally trust over, say, a person who matches their ideology in a certain way.

Being a creature of the private sector, I like people who are serious, fast-thinking, and pragmatic. Not to mention smart. A President who can embrace change is important to me. I am frustrated with the popular notion of "flip flopping" because, as I think many people know, a lot of business decisions that appear externally to be "flip flops" are in fact the result of careful, pragmatic consideration.

Of course values and ideology still matter to me. But I think electing someone is inherently a multi-axis problem. I want the President with both the personal attributes and a shared ideology. But I am comfortable with a middle ground depending on the circumstances.

For example -- I would consider Hillary over some of the Republicans (like Huckabee, Giuliani, or McCain) because I think she's (these days) fairly centrist and leads with a pragmatic edge. But my ideal candidate is Romney; he embodies the intelligence and executive experience I'd like to see in the White House.

[Edited on December 11, 2007 at 12:45 AM. Reason : foo]

12/11/2007 12:44:40 AM

Quote :

"I am merely making the statement that I can be much more sure that there is at least a chance he is standing on principle because of fluidity with which he answers questions that touch on faith."

Well, to give you an analogy ...

I think if you go to any car lot and talk to the salesperson there about a particular model, well -- they'll speak with fluidity on matters of faith ... faith in product, deeply held by necessity, but faith nonetheless. But you won't necessarily believe they're sincere in matters of, say, money.

The point being -- Mike Huckabee naturally speaks with fluidity on matters of faith, because as a Baptist minister, it's what he does professionally. Where faith is concerned, the deck is rather stacked in his favor. Ministers are generally very good at asserting faith while remaining "likable." They have to. It's their job.

Which is one reason I brought up the Jesus thing -- it was a tricky and serious question, but Huckabee's training kicked in and he answered it with grace. Probably because any number of kids in Sunday school have asked him something similar. It came off well, but I don't think he brought a lot of substance to the table. And I stand by my original point about the theology.

In general, though, I think it was symbolic of what I know about Huckabee so far. He doesn't bring a lot to the table in substance.

Now, Hillary, she doesn't answer questions of faith fluidly and gracefully. She has handlers. But does she have more substance? Well, yes. She's got a record in the Senate dealing with matters of geopolitical weight. She was the First Lady. She's not seriously talking about doing things like FairTax.

I think Robert Novak said it best -- paraphrasing -- if the Republican party nominates Huckabee, it'll be the worst-case scenario where the Religious Right finally nominates someone not because they're conservative, but just because they're religious.

And on the subject of GWB again -- I think he embodies the President who stands on ideals and is uncompromising, and that is primarily why his approval rating is so low. For all his foibles I personally can take a step back and have tremendous respect for the man; I honestly think he'll be a hard act to follow.

[Edited on December 11, 2007 at 12:59 AM. Reason : foo]

12/11/2007 12:56:35 AM

On CNN their is an article detailing the financial assets of each presidential candidate. I never realized Romney had so much money. He DWARVES all the other candidates with a net worth of $200 Million compared to $35 Million for Hillary, McCain $40 Million, Obama $8 Million.

^^ what is wrong with McCain and Giulianni. So you eliminated the most moderate republicans and would vote for the liberal Hillary, Bush Jr aka Thompson, or the Mormon.

^ I think his approval ratings are so low b.c of fucking over the taxpayer and troops by sending us to Iraq, encroachment by the federal gov't into civil liberties, various scandals among his administration, playing corporate welfare, and his conflict of interest when it comes to giving gov't contracts to companies like Halliburton.

If Cheney is Darth Vader then Halliburton is the criminal syndicate Black Sun who gets underhanded contracts from the Empire.

[Edited on December 11, 2007 at 11:12 AM. Reason : a]

12/11/2007 11:04:01 AM

^

Giuliani is an obvious sleazebag? I mean, I wouldn't vote for Al Capone if he ran as a moderate Republican. And McCain? Seriously? The guy looks and sounds like walking death!

12/11/2007 9:05:58 PM

I was actually really impressed with some of Romney's response regarding education and the economy today. My opinion of him definitely went up. Romney > Huckabee

I still like McCain better but Paul 08' >>>>>>>> Romney & any other clown running for president.

12/12/2007 3:30:13 PM

too bad mccain didnt win in 2000

12/12/2007 11:37:40 PM

yeah this country would be in MUCH better shape

12/12/2007 11:58:18 PM

Too bad the McCain of today doesn't even remotely resemble the McCain of the 2000 election.

12/14/2007 3:33:00 PM

i guess he just learned from Bush that you gotta do a little dick sucking to the christian right if you want a shot at the white house.

12/14/2007 3:34:35 PM

i pray (and i'm atheist) that future politicians will actually have read things like the federalist papers, democracy in america and the fucking constitution

12/14/2007 5:07:48 PM

this is one of those quotes that makes me immdiately decide that there is no way i could possibly vote for this person. it doesn't matter what else he says at all - my mind is made up. it pisses me off just as much as when people say morality requires religion. it seriously offends me as a human being.

just like when bill richardson said being gay is a choice, without even hesitating. fuck, i was kind of starting to like him until he said that. at least the other democrats at that forum were wishy-washy about it. he lost my vote in one sentence.

things like this make me question a candidate's judgment on anything else so much that there's just nothing they could do to make up for it. although....if i really pay attention i'll probably catch every other candidate saying something equally retarded before long.

12/14/2007 5:23:31 PM

If he'd made some statement about Freedom in general being interdependent with Freedom to worship he'd have made a fine point.

Sadly, he did not.

[Edited on December 14, 2007 at 5:33 PM. Reason : .]

12/14/2007 5:33:41 PM

Quote :

"He also clarified some of his recent remarks on faith, saying that "for America to be a great nation and lead the world, we must have a religious base," but added that he does believe it is possible for an individual to be both moral and atheist."

is that a serious quote? how wonderful of him, he thinks that it is POSSIBLE for an atheist to be moral....and for america to lead the world, we need a RATIONAL base, because rationality will be the only thing that keeps us from tearing ourselves apart

12/17/2007 12:36:16 AM

Quote :

"he thinks that it is POSSIBLE for an atheist to be moral"

actually, i am happy to hear him say that. Many people believe that morality derives directly and only from religion, therefore making atheists immoral, by definition.

Bush 41, for example, I would guess believes this (he hasn't said that directly, that I know of, but you can see what his thoughts on atheists are in general from this quote)
http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/ghwbush.htm

Quote :

" I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."

12/17/2007 1:34:31 AM

yea i remember when he said that.....unbelievable

12/17/2007 8:27:49 AM