Honestly Curious

[jackofallgeeks]

I'm fairly certain that pretty much no one out there on my friends' list has much good to say about the Republican candidates, but I also know that most of you tend to be well-reasoned and intelligent, so: I'm curious what any of you might have to offer as far as thoughts on these presidential hopefuls. What sounds good, what sounds bad, that sort of thing. I'll accept commentary on the Democrat (or Independent) hopefuls as well, but a lot of what I do know about Them makes me rather uncomfortable as it is. Be that as it may, I'd be curious if you know of things I might particularly like (or dislike) about them.

Comments

[ofthelily.livejournal.com]

i wish i could find a candidate that i liked enough to argue about how cool they are with you. I am a very sad chu who doesn't know what the heck she is going to do next November O_o

[dikaiosunh.livejournal.com]

::Shrug:: This probably isn't the most helpful, but I've got to say that, while in past years there have at least been viable Republican candidates that I could see some good in, this time around I wouldn't even consider voting for any of them. So far, all of them have been falling over themselves to be hawkish about Iraq and Iran and endorse the seizure of executive power. And they've been playing cute on torture.

If I had to pick one of the front-ish runners... McCain has at least stood a bit firmer on torture, and has a sensible stand on immigration policy. He's been very hawkish on Iran, which truly worries me.

Giuliani has pro-choice and pro-gay-rights stances, which is a plus for me but probably a minus for you. But despite that, he's got a stable of advisers who want to bomb Iran the moment he gets the presidency, he says torture isn't that bad, and he betrayed NYC emergency service workers after 9/11. So, I wouldn't consider voting for him even given his domestic policies.

I can see a lot of good in Ron Paul's positions. But he's got no chance. And, there's a reason for that - he does also have plenty of loopy views (yeah, we're not going to withdraw from all international organizations).

On the Democratic side... I'm fairly underwhelmed, too. I'm actually thinking of voting for Kucinich in the primary, largely out of frustration (again, with some things that may be minuses to you - he's the only one that isn't playing cute with gay rights, for instance). Obama says a lot of things I agree with, but I've been unimpressed with what he's actually done on issues he could affect while a senator. The Democrats, in general, aren't too far apart on most of the issues that affect my choice - and where I'm disappointed, it's largely on things (e.g., being serious about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict instead of robotically repeating that we support Israel) that I'm not holding my breath for anyone to break ranks on.

Anyway, that's a bit of a rambling thumbnail. A good one-stop-shopping place at least for the issues *I* care about is the CFR candidate positions page: http://www.cfr.org/campaign2008/candidates.html

[otakulk.livejournal.com]

I thought this was very helpful! Honestly I saw the length of your post and thought it might be a rant. But you laid it out there plane and simple! Well put, sir!

[uhlrik.livejournal.com]

I join the chorus of underwhelmed voters when I look at both sides of the field.

Unfortunately, this includes my take on Mitt Romney, who I really wanted to like. He's been trying too hard to be like the other candidates and hasn't come out enough against things like, oh... torture. If we prosecuted the japanese for waterboarding in WWII as a war crime, we've got no place doing it ourselves to anybody. He's also not solid enough for my tastes.

I don't remotely like Giuliani, who seems to be a> just another politician fighting for a vote rather than his own real views, and b> pretty ethically bankrupt. I can't vote for him.

I used to quite like McCain (I voted for him in the republican primary against Bush II in the campaign that ended up being Al Gore vs. The State of Florida) but I think he's rather lost his touch, which is sad.

I'll be really unhappy if this goes Hillary versus Giuliani. I loathe loathe loathe her, and have nothing good to say about him either. While my political views are highly incompatible with Obama (other than being basically positive), if it's him versus Giuliani I may actually vote Democrat. Never thought I'd say that.

But then, the Republican Party and I have a pretty uneasy relationship anyhow. Most of its contemporary policymakers don't really value the things that I value, though they do pay them the occasional bit of lipservice (things like small government and protection of individual rights... that last being something that most of them seem to be assailing right now).

[ambereternal.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I have yet to see a viable candidate from either side who I feel could make a good president given the country's current needs. However, the republican candidate I dislike the least is McCain. He seems to have a viable (read actually possible despite it's pain in the arse to implement aspects) healthcare plan. He has a strong history of being economically responsible. He might be able to reach an agreement with the democrats regarding when to bring our boys home for good. He doesn't feel that we should wage war on Iran just because PapaBear feels like it. Finally, he at least has the basis of an immigration/immigrant plan that, once heavily adapted, might be plausible.

The rest are simply running on their religion (Baptist vs. Mormon...while I've been waiting to see that fight for years, I think it belongs in a pay-per-view arena, not a presidential race.) or they're not enough of a contender to matter.

Don't worry...I don't like the democratic candidates any more than I like the republicans. I'm strongly considering writing in Mickey Mouse for this election.

[uhlrik.livejournal.com]

I've seen plenty of Baptist vs. Mormon (being a Mormon returned missionary myself), but I really would rather not see that as the political question of the day. I want real political issues to be addressed.

To me, religion is pretty much a non-issue in presidential politics. I'm certainly not sold on the one candidate that shares my own religion.

[ambereternal.livejournal.com]

I agree. That's why I'm pretty anti-both of those candidates.

Of course, I also touting 9-11 has no place in the presidentail race either. Which is why I hate Rudy. Why can't there be one candidate (of either party) that I feel I could actually support?

[uhlrik.livejournal.com]

Well, you see... the impression I've gotten of Rudy is that the one thing that his term as Mayor had going for it was 9-11. I remember at that time hearing news commentators remarking that his term had up till that point been all but hopelessly mired in scandal, and that he was widely regarded as a failed mayor. Until 9-11, when it became unpatriotic to mess with him.

[otakulk.livejournal.com]

I havn't been following the Republican race very closely, but I am sure I'll have an opion after the Iowa debate this week. Will update you then.

On the democrat side, I lean strongly towards Obama. I favor him mostly because of his overall approach: hope politics, but more specifically for his stance on energy in the US. While energy isn't a big issue in this race, I feel it should be. Or at least, it should be higher up because of the similar stance all of the candidates have on other "issues" in the debates this year. I also like Obama because he has something other candidates don't: a fresh point of view. I think his "lack of experience" is actually a strength: he isn't jaded by the cold-war baby-boomer mantality of most politicians. I was thinking of writing a post about this, but figured it would be flamebait. I guess this response is flamebate right now.

If anyone wants to flame this comment, please wait for my post. Legit responses welcome.

Anyway, I'll let you know what I think later this week after the Iowa debates. In the meantime, vote Ron Paul!

[bsgnome.livejournal.com]

I know I won't be much help, but I thought I'd pipe in with the "underwhelmed" crowd.

In general:

I disagree with more of the Republicans' policies than I'd have expected (a few years back, I'd have considered myself Republican. Ask me now? All I can say is "non-partisan". I've become jaded to politics).

Though I find a number of the Democrats to be very likable (particularly Obama and Kucinich), there are too many important (for me) issues which I can't, in good conscience, compromise with them on.

I know next to nothing about any of the "third" party or independent hopefuls ...