Currently, Who Is Your Favorite Politician??

by minimus 102 Replies latest social current

• 

  SixofNine

  Forget Wes "bomb 'em from on high" Clark.

  If that is an attempt to draw a negative based on reference to the way Kosovo was prosocuted, I expect better research from you expat. Clark can't be faulted for Kosovo, it worked, and his "ground force" mentality gave it some teeth, in spite of the politics going on in Washington. It's a rare war America can be very proud of.

  I have a real problem with the "football team" mentality of politics. This aint a game, your children and grandchildren's futures are at stake too. You would all do well to actually get to know the candidates, because some are better than others. And in this case, I believe one is demonstrably better than all the others. You may decide differently, but if you decide differently whilst your head is firmly up your ass, you'll deserve what you get. At least make your decision in the light of day.
• 

  crownboy

  Six:

  Besides which, John Kerry would fulfill the military angle just as well,

  Just the fact that they both were in Vietnam? Both wounded? The comparisons stop there it apears to me.

  A person doesn't have to be some sort of career military man to be able to successfully work the "military angle", especially when you have Dubya as an opponent . But I was thinking more along the lines that Kerry has both military experience and political experience, whereas Clark is just a military man (not to minimize anything Clark did in the military of course). Even if being a high ranking military offical indeed put him in a position of being an administrator and a somewhat politican, the entire culture of the military is much different than anything Clark would face as president, so overall that would give Kerry more of an advantage than Clark, but obviously that does not disqualify him (and infact I favour Clark over Kerry).

  As much as I like Al Sharpton ( ), there aren't a whole lot of new people being attracted to his campaign. There is also very little evidence that Dean has been actively repelling anyone (surely you don't buy into the "too liberal" label that our "liberally biased" media has attached to him?) that would normally vote Democratic. Only Sharpton, Kuchinich (too liberal) and Lieberman (too conservative. Or in reality trying to convince us that he is) have accomplished this. Clark is my number 2 choice because next to Dean he seems to be the guy most likely to bring in new voters. Dean's biggest problem will have to be overcoming his "too liberal" label brought on by his civil unions bill. The Republicans will try to make this into a wedge issue, and I think it will backfire in their faces (they'll force any Democratic nominee to take a stand on this issue BTW, and they'll all of course take the tepid "civil unions, but not gay marriage" stand that Dean has already taken), because I think most Americans can be convinced that civil unions won't bring about the end of western civilization. They can't point to anything else in Dean's record that could make him look "radical", so at some point they'll have to start debating on some real issues and quite frankly any Democrat with a real shot at the nomination can win those circumstances. And of course it doesn't hurt that Dean is the leading fundraiser of all the candidates.
• 

  SixofNine

  btw, Crownboy, if you get a chance, watch the debate tonight. Al Sharpton spanked Tom Brokaw like I have never seen a man spanked! It was beautiful (and I'm not particularly "anti-press") (watch for his answer about Tawana Brawly). I think all the candidates (Clark especially) will do better if they realize they don't have to give straight, respectful answers to questions the media dummy should have researched better. We end up stuck on faux issues that have been answered but that the media people can't seem to get past, since they have such a ridiculous need to reduce everything to a soundbite.
• 

  minimus

  I don't know what Sharpton said about Tawana, but I think he reeks of opportunism. I did like the HBO special about him, though, this year!
• 

  SixofNine

  but I think he reeks of opportunism.

  yeah? How so, specifically?

  He got that Central Park jogger one right though, eh? Maybe he just takes every "opportunity" to tell America that not all black people are criminals? Sure, it's partisan, lol, but can ya blame him? He sure takes every "opportunity" to get minorities voting; you can't fault him there. It's not as if he thinks he's going to actually win the election y'know.
• 

  czarofmischief

  Bush in 04

  Cheney in 08 and 12

  Powell in 16 and 20

  ahhh, nothing but paradise as far as the eye can see... it's like being in the millenium, you know... ahhh...

  at all the lefties... love you guys anyway...

  I like Vladimir Putin. Not because of anything he's done, he's just got a cool name. Knock knock, who's there, Vladimir, Vladimir who?, You are under arrest...

  CZAR
• 

  minimus

  Sharpton reminds me of Don King with good hair. He's always in the middle of a race controversy. When the cops plungered that fellow a few years ago, he jumped right in to get involved. Anything racial in NYC, it seems he's got something to do with. The Tawana thing stunk to high heaven .Al Sharpton should stick to preaching. The only thing he might be able to do is siphon votes off a candidate that could make it....like W. Clark..
• 

  expatbrit

  Six:

  Indeed Kosovo was a successful war. In war success is measured by victory, not by methods. Nevertheless, I will be ROFL if the political left, after screaming so loudly about civilian casualties in Iraq, nominates a man who was responsible for tactics in Yugoslavia that not only did not minimize civilian casualties, but actively targetted them. And it doesn't take much research to confirm that: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hayden.htm

  Expatbrit
• 

  SixofNine

  You're far too smart to "blame" the methodology of Kosovo on Clark, expat. He was SACEUR of NATO forces, not the person who chose the methodology for the campaign. He pushed for using helicoptors, he lost. He pushed to have ground troops ready if needed, and as it turned out they weren't (which is good because they may never have been aproved); but it seems the threat helped. His bio may read like J. H. Christ, but he's not, although he is a hella swimmer. He had bosses, lots of them. None of them had any stomach for seeing any losses on our side, and indeed, there were no losses on our side.

  BTW, check out the last paragraph of the essay you posted. It is hardly an unbiased writing. Albanians seem to view Clark as a hero, so evidently they didn't come to the same conclusion as the writer of that article.

  Maybe those people on the far political left have realized that sometimes, people die, and ugly as it is, it becomes a numbers game. I read the blog entry yesterday of a woman who described herself at the farthest left of the spectrum, and then go further left to find her.... who now finds herself suprised to be supporting a general, after starting at Kucinich and moving thru every other candidate (trying to avoid the "military" guy).

  I have no doubt she knows that bombs kill people. When the blog gets back up, I'll point you at her thought process, I think you'll find it interesting.
• 

  Badger

  Cheney? Will he live that long?

  Powell? God, I wish...I would vote GOP then.

  Dean in '04 and '08

  Hillary in '12 and '16

  Badger in '20 and '24