US Presidential Election 2004

…circle jerk

[quote=“Cold Front”]Not if Bush is hoping little brother Jeb will take up the Republican banner in 2008. If that’s the case, then Cheney is a perfect VP. He apparently has no presidential ambitions of his own, and even if he did, it’s doubtful he could take the nomination. George, on the other hand, can’t pick his younger brother to be his V.P. That leaves Cheney as the perfect VP candidate to secure sixteen years of Bush. A young attractive VP might use the office to wrestle the 2008 presidential nomination away from Jeb.

So instead of sixteen years of Bush/Cheney, you can look forward to sixteen years of just Bush. :laughing: :laughing:[/quote]

That’s interesting… but its difficult for me to even imagine Jeb being elected President, especially right after W. Even if Jeb were perfect, I can’t imagine the American people feeling comfortable with the idea of a family in charge of the White House for so many years… and don’t forget, Bush I occupied the WH too. I just don’t see it happening. And because I don’t see it as a possibility, I can’t imagine that W would have such designs.

Last night the Republicans Abroad Taiwan had dinner with the Co-Chairman of the Republican National Committee and her delegation. We talked about how we could trump up charges in order to imprison Democrats in the US and then start taking control of the world… :laughing:

I asked one delegate whether Cheney would be the VP candidate next year and he laughed and said he didn’t know. He wondered aloud whether Cheney might be on the ticket and then resign after the election so that another person could be appointed VP.

I’d like to see Condi Rice be the VP. And then I’d like to see her run for president in 2008. I really want the first woman president and the first black president be a Republican!

Proof positive that Republicans are RATs. :laughing:

Tigerman –

I don’t think it’s likely either, and I’m only kidding about the designs Bush has for his younger brother (I like teasing the conspiratorially-minded liberals with fears of four consecutive terms of Bushes).

Nevertheless, Jeb is an attractive presidential candidate; in some ways he is better than his brother – he’s more articulate and has a better public presence. I can’t think of another Republican right now who could beat him. Tom Ridge? Not likely. George Allen? Possibly. Schwarzenegger can’t be elected. There are a few others and I’m sure there are some rising Republican stars who will become more prominent as 2008 closes in, but for now Jeb Bush looks like the best possibility.

And I think it’s more likely Jeb will not be elected president for other reasons than because he’s the brother of the current president.

Coldfront:

Thought you might find this editorial by William Saffire of interest:

iht.com/articles/117418.html

WASHINGTON Both power centers of the Democratic establishment - the Kennedy left and the Clinton middle - are frantic at the prospect of losing control of their party to Howard Dean. They fear a McGovernesque debacle that would hand the Republicans a super-majority in the Senate.

But both Democratic power centers are surely considering the other possibility: that Bush is lucky. What if the war on terror begins to succeed by next summer, casualties decline, Saddam is found or Osama bin Laden is killed? In that case, Bush would campaign on both growing prosperity and impending victory.
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In that case, the Clinton-Kennedy establishment would be better off maintaining control and losing respectably with Kerry, Clark or even Gephardt than getting buried in a landslide with Dean. And in 2008, as Jeb Bush and Condi Rice fight out their Republican primaries, Hillary will be tanned, rested and ready.

Dean supported Medicare cuts in 1995 and was lambasted by fellow Dems in September for supporting Gingrich at the time. When people start comparing him to McGovern and Gingrich in the same breath it shows me that he must be doing something right to scare the establishment in such a way(by the way McGovern, the World War II bomber pilot, could teach Bush a thing or two about fighting for your country rather than snorting coke) This label just shows me how right wing the US has become. Now, if Bernie Sanders was running for President, then Safire could properly use the “McGovern” label. But anyone who properly analyzes Dean’s record as Vermont Governor would rightly see him as a middle-of-the-roader.

That being said, in politics impression is everything. So what some “Old Milwaukee drinking Joe Idiot in the heartlands” thinks will decide the election. For this reason a Clark-Dean, Clark-Edwards, Clark-Kerry, or Clark-Gephardt ticket would be the wiser choice.

Chewy

Ah but Chewycorns:

Who’s saying that we want the Democrats to make any wise decisions? :wink:

As to whether the US is too far right or not, that is debatable too and not just by Joe Sixpack, though I am sure that you did not mean to stereotype or suggest that Republican voters are in some way less intelligent than oh I don’t know Teddy Kennedy, Barbra Streisand, George Clooney, Ed Asner, William Baldwin or was it Alec, Kim Bassinger, Susan Sarandon and the other leading lights of the Left? :wink:

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

The shirt should read “Hi I am an amiable dunce with Alzheimers. Charleton Heston and I can’t hold a decent conversation now. Poetic Justice for all the sicky, needy, and handicapped people I neglected during my administration.”

Chewy

Fred Smith wrote you did not mean to stereotype or suggest that Republican voters are in some way less intelligent than oh I don’t know Teddy Kennedy, Barbra Streisand, George Clooney, Ed Asner, William Baldwin or was it Alec, Kim Bassinger, Susan Sarandon and the other leading lights of the Left?

Well, you know what precedes Republican in the dictionary? Reptile. Present company excluded of course!!! :laughing:

Chewy Corns:

Remind me of your American educational experience again. When and where? There is something horrifically familiar about you. (I mean that as a compliment naturally). That or send me a private message detailing same.

Strange reading today’s newspapers. Could not be farther apart. I am reading in the Guardian (which I am sure you read can I say it “religiously”) and the Telegraph. One details how there could be 50,000 insurgents in Iraq and how America is losing the war, the other details the extensive progress in restoring oil, water, electricity, schools, etc. while noting how many kills and captures the Americans have gotten in Iraq. Whadya think? Will this go away or be a big problem for George W. come election time. Or in deference to Tigerman, should I say quando el eleccion something or other?

fred

[quote=“fred smith”]Coldfront:

Thought you might find this editorial by William Saffire of interest:

iht.com/articles/117418.html

WASHINGTON Both power centers of the Democratic establishment - the Kennedy left and the Clinton middle - are frantic at the prospect of losing control of their party to Howard Dean. They fear a McGovernesque debacle that would hand the Republicans a super-majority in the Senate.

But both Democratic power centers are surely considering the other possibility: that Bush is lucky. What if the war on terror begins to succeed by next summer, casualties decline, Saddam is found or Osama bin Laden is killed? In that case, Bush would campaign on both growing prosperity and impending victory.
.
In that case, the Clinton-Kennedy establishment would be better off maintaining control and losing respectably with Kerry, Clark or even Gephardt than getting buried in a landslide with Dean. And in 2008, as Jeb Bush and Condi Rice fight out their Republican primaries, Hillary will be tanned, rested and ready.[/quote]

Fred, I don’t see Condi Rice as a serious possibility to win the Republican primary. To get through the Republican primaries, you have to provide the red-meat conservatives with what they expect: no on affirmative action, no on abortion, yes on the religious/cultural issues. Can Rice do this? I don’t know, maybe she can, but she has never divulged these views before and she doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who would be comfortable playing down to the red-meat crowd. Plus, Rice has never ran for any office. She’s basicially a foreign policy bureaucrat. As General Clark discovered, it’s pretty difficult going out on the hustings after giving nothing but foreign policy speeches to select groups of audiences (military officers or academics or government bureaucrats) for most of your life. That’s not quite the same as talking to a bunch of Iowan farmers about farm subsidies just before you sit down on a stool in their barn to milk their cow for a photo op.

I like Rice, but I don’t consider her a serious possibility to ever win the Republican presidential nomination.

Coldfront:

I take your point. Perhaps, then Rice could run as someone’s vice president? Let’s see today is Nov. 13 (one year to go for the Americans) and then March 20 for the Taiwanese. Should be interesting.

I suppose. Does anyone know if she is even interested in running?

There was some pressure on her to enter the Californian gubernatorial constest. In the future, I could see her entering such a race (post-Arnold of course). However, I agree, she would have an uphill battle in any Republican primary. She is a “Rockefeller Republican” like Colin Powell. However, she is from the South, is quite religious if I’m not wrong (father a Minister?) and does not reveal much about her private life. This could prove to be benefical to her in a national race. However, I don’t think she could count on as much African-American support as Powell could have had. Most African Americans tend to admire Powell regardless of their ideology. Is it the same with Rice? I think they tend to regard her as more of an Oreo.

Chewy Corns:

You did not answer my earlier question. Second, when I come back from sunny destines such as the Middle East, people tell me that I am very much like an Oreo myself. :wink:

Chewy –

Pressure from whom to enter the California gubernatorial race?

One large mark against Rice is that she has no natural political base. Yes, she’s from the south, but she has no political base there. George Bush had Texas; Jeb Bush, if he were to run, would have Florida; Tom Ridge would have Pennslyvania; George Allen would have Virginia. These are important states with sizable numbers of electoral votes.

Rice is a Southerner and somewhat traditional (she’s an unmarried woman, after all), but I doubt she will be able to turn that into much political support without putting out social policy positions convincing to the red meat conservatives.

The Rockefeller wing of the Republican party, comprised of what used to be called the gypsy moths, is pretty much dead. Occasionally someone like John McCain (who’s not really a Rockefeller Republican anyway) or rumors of a Colin Powell candidacy revives it a bit, but until I see it alive and kicking, I think it’s safe to assume they are down for the count.

bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/6114136.htm

Chewy,

Thanks, that’s interesting.

If Gray Davis had beaten the recall, I suppose Rice would have been a solid candidate for running in 2006 and, if she had won, a serious presidential candidate for 2008 (or sometime later). Although this “[s]he’s a well-known and respected African-American woman, a self-professed moderate on several key social issues, including abortion and gay rights…” probably would have done her in for any run on the Republican national ticket.

Here is a good example of the absolute hysteria that grips some of the anti-Bush crowd:

[quote]Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, launched a stinging attack on President George Bush last night, denouncing him as the “greatest threat to life on this planet that we’ve most probably ever seen”.

Mr Livingstone recalled a visit at Easter to California, where he was denounced for an attack he had made on what he called “the most corrupt and racist American administration in over 80 years”.

The mayor said: “Some US journalist came up to me and said: ‘How can you say this about President Bush?’ Well, I think what I said then was quite mild. I actually think that Bush is the greatest threat to life on this planet that we’ve most probably ever seen. The policies he is initiating will doom us to extinction.”

news.independent.co.uk/uk/politi … ory=464783[/quote]

Apparently the mayor has never heard of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot or even Saddam Hussein.

And I wonder if these folks ever even think about what they spout off about… I mean, how exactly is the current Bush administration “racist” at all, let alone the most racist in 80 years?

Do these people take themselves seriously?

Contrast the mayor’s views with those of many other people in the UK:

[quote]A majority of Labour voters welcome President George Bush’s state visit to Britain which starts today, according to November’s Guardian/ICM opinion poll.