Race vs. Gender (a USA political thread) - by ChickenMcOwnage
Starrfall on 8/2/2008 at 22:08
Quote Posted by Ko0K
(edit) I'm not sure if that reads as I intended. What I mean is that Obama seems to be perceived as a noob. I'm not saying that he's incapable of setting this country on the right track, but rather he needs to overcome the perception of him as such.
I'm certain that people don't care as much about "experience" as candidates seem to think. This is because whether they admit it or not everyone thinks that if they had a pack of advisors they could do just as well as any other president.
Pyrian on 9/2/2008 at 01:00
Quote Posted by Ko0K
The funny thing is, all one has to do to win this election is come out and say that he/she would chase all illegal immigrants out of the country. I guarantee that you'll see a sea of red at the polling places, then.
I do not agree with your assessment of the anti-illegal immigrant voting bloc. Like Ron Paul supporters, they aren't all that red, and they aren't all that many, especially compared to the noise they make. A chunk to reckon with, sure, but there are good reasons why there's essentially no major candidate running with such a plank: (1) the latino pro-immigrant vote alone dwarfs them, (2) significant numbers of Americans are still idealistically pro-immigrant - aside from the natives, we all started that way, most of us within a few generations, and (3) business interests - i.e. rich prolific donors - want as little immigration restriction as possible; I think they view it the same as any other trade quota on a necessary, fundamental resource.
Quote Posted by Starrfall
This is because whether they admit it or not everyone thinks that if they had a pack of advisors they could do just as well as any other president.
Aye, but the choice of trusted advisors is pretty important and is the president's responsibility - quite possibly his most important one, actually. Trust is something inherently very difficult at that level of power, and experience can at least potentially be very useful for separating the skilled from the yes-people. Bush has a long record of appointing some remarkably incompetent bureaucrats, chosen apparently for their political philosophy and contacts without even the most basic knowledge of the fields they're overseeing.
Stitch on 13/2/2008 at 05:13
FOR THE RECORD
Obama's speeches are even better when you're standing about thirty feet in front of the man :cool:
Scots Taffer on 13/2/2008 at 05:51
hahaha rock on buddy
looks likes obamafication is sweeping the nation
now as long as your super-delegates approve...
on that note, what's the deal can they fly and shoot laser beams with their eyes and shit
Shug on 13/2/2008 at 06:21
He's no President Palmer, but I'm sure he'll perform admirably
Scots Taffer on 13/2/2008 at 06:43
jack bauer for vp
Ko0K on 13/2/2008 at 07:01
Those super-delegates probably think of themselves as king-makers. To me, what they represent is that there is no true democracy here. On the upside, this is the best election-year drama in my recent memory. There's some serious shit going down in this soap opera.
paloalto90 on 13/2/2008 at 19:25
Would someone care to enlighten me about anything substantial Obama has said to right the American sinking ship of state?Any platforms any programs and positions besaides feel good speak?
SD on 13/2/2008 at 19:41
Policy-wise, he's not substantially different to Hillary. But then it doesn't take a genius to know that there are a multitude of things - health, social security, education, foreign policy etc - that need to be reformed, or how.
What Obama has is the means to actually effect change. The way US politics is polarised at the moment, it'd be difficult for any president to get anything done, because each side hates the standard-bearers on the other side. Obama escapes this because he's not saddled with Baby Boomer baggage, and because he preaches unity and is respectful to those he disagrees with. He was also against the Iraq war from the start (for the right reasons) so he's not tainted by any of that either.
Moderate Republicans in the North East, non-evangelicals in the midwest and libertarian GOPers in the sunbelt would find it incredibly difficult to get behind a 60s culture war relic like Hillary, but Obama transcends all that.
So it's not so much the message as the messenger.
Stitch on 13/2/2008 at 22:37
Quote Posted by paloalto90
Would someone care to enlighten me about anything substantial Obama has said to right the American sinking ship of state?Any platforms any programs and positions besaides feel good speak?
Better education regarding spelling and post-punctuation spacing, I'm hoping.
Other than that, what Strontz said.
