Presidential Candidates .. Who Do You Like?

I would love to have to choose between Ron Paul and Obama, I would have to think a long time about that one. Both candidates are pretty good for me, and both have some things I really dislike.

If anyone else ends up winning GOP, it's an easy vote for Obama. I'm really ticked lately at his budget efforts, but he's still leagues better than anyone else running on the GOP side imo.

I can tell you this also.

People on the far right truly believe that the entire country hates Obama as much as they do.

They DO believe that whoever gets nominated will steamroll Obama in the next election, Romney, Newt, or Santorum.

IMO Paul is the only candidate from the GOP that can hang with Obama in the general election. Paul has strong pull w/you the middle and young voters.

Everyone hates Romney, and only the faaaaaaar right will vote for newt/santorum.

This is where I'm leaning to as well. Earlier in this thread I mentioned voting for Paul, but I just don't have any confidence that he'd have a chance. He's the only Republican candidate so far that I would want in charge. So it's looking more and more like I will be voting for Obama.

I thought that Obama was definitely not a perfect president. But who is? He didn't fix he economy or job situation, but in my eyes it was more the fault of senate/congress than him. I feel that under his leadership the country has moved forward in terms of accepting gays, particularly because he repealed 'don't ask don't tell.' For that I like him a great deal.

What he did wrong was make too many promises going in. Back when he was just a candidate, he promised to be Superman on a silver platter for America, pretty much. And he's not superman, so he couldn't keep those promises, and no one else could have kept them either. So Republicans hate him for being a Democrat and for trying to give everyone equal healthcare and for repealing DADT. And Democrats are mad at him for not following through on all his promises. But who could have done better? No one in the GOP that I can think of could have done a better job these past four years.

When I look at the GOP candidates, I am frightened by their bigotry against religions and sexual orientations that are not their own. And I am angered at that bigotry. I would vote for one of them only if I wanted the world to move backwards in terms of basic human rights.

It doesn't matter how much I agree or disagree with someone on purely political issues such as foreign relations or economy. If I disagree with someone's view on basic human rights, I cannot vote for them. I just can't. Perry is an obvious example, even though he's out of the race. Had he made it to the final voting, it wouldn't have mattered who was on the other end. I'd have voted against him because he is against human rights. If Santorum makes it to the final voting, it doesn't matter who's on the other end because I'd vote against him because he's against women's rights.

It's a sad state of affairs and says a bit about our country if presidents are selected based on whether or not they are going to oppress the people. We should be past this crap by now. We shouldn't have to worry about our president refusing contraception to women or telling gays that they somehow are less worthy as people because of their sexual orientation. A president's religious affiliation should be of no consequence because they should never be allowed to rule a country based not on human rights, but on religious beliefs. It's disgusting. Ron Paul is the only republican candidate that did not disgust me, but it would be a throw-away vote to vote for him. Unless something changes drastically between now and the final voting, I do believe I will be voting for Obama. Not because I'm loving Obama-- he did good and bad. But because if it's at all in my power to keep bigotry out of the government, I will. And GOP is a whole lot of bigotry.

Up until I read the 2013 budget, I tended to agree with that. But the budget proposal is all him. Sure, he's going to get advice on it from the rest of Congress, and he'll want to put in things he think will pass. But ultimately, he can put in anything he wants. And he wants to keep the deficit, for the next 10 years, at ~1 trillion per YEAR. I'm sorry, that's not ok.

The budget has got to get balanced. I realize that's going to mean some tough cuts, but they need to do it. Here's how it should go: "I want to cut the military by ~300bil/year. Disagree? Ok, please tell me where you'd like to save 300bil, and we'll do both of our ideas by half." Problem solved. Why is that so hard?

If you don't want to be that drastic, at least make a f(*^ing plan to get it lower. Say "We can't get to 0 deficit in 2013, but our plan is to get 200 billion closer every year for the next 4 years."

I am embarrassed to admit that I haven't even read the 2013 budget. Oops!

There is something ridiculous going on somewhere with America's budgeting, though. I'm no genius, I can't fix it. But why does the US spend more than the entire world combined on military? I can definitely understand having a military. I'd rather have a military and not need them than to need a military and not have them. But why so much? Are we planning to go to war with the entire world anytime soon? I truly don't understand these things. I don't have a mind for politics, never have, so some of the stuff they do is just baffling to me.

Ok I lied, it's not more than the rest of the world combined. But it's close. And it's from 2006 according to that small print (even though the title says 2008) so it might have (hopefully!) changed since then. I really hope it's changed since then.

Wanna know what we are fighting against from the far right?

Ive heard this line a few times.

"Its impossible to ever run out of oil, because oil is a gift from God. We should continue to use it"

I.. I don't even...

I'm seriously not lying or trolling, despite my Avi.

There is at least a segment of the population that believe natural resources are from God and it is not possible to exhaust them.

When you say "voting for Paul is a throw away vote", are you referring to the primaries or if he would run as a third party candidate in the general election? I would disagree in both cases but especially in the primaries. The delegates are decided by a relatively small number of voters. I personally don't think Romney, Gingrich, or Santorum has much of a chance to beat Obama. I would consider them more of a throw away vote. Paul has a huge disadvantage in the republican primaries due to the fact his largest group of supporters are young people that either just don't participate in primaries, or aren't registered as republican and in some cases independent so they are not eligible to participate. Winner take all states are also disadvantage for collecting delegates.

In the unlikely scenario that Paul got the nomination, I think he would be the best adversary to Obama. The red states will still vote for Paul even if they don't like him much. Paul could likely steal a large share of young voters (independent and even democrat) from Obama which he relies on.

He could never win as a 3rd party candidate just because of the electoral college, even if he got a popular vote and of course the mindset that it's a throw away vote. The Blue/Red love that.

I would vote for a libertarian if they are on a ballot even if they have no chance. If only to send a message that there is a demand for someone with libertarian views to represent us.

I was referring to primaries, Scragg. If there was a third party option, especially if it was libertarian, I'd definitely vote for that even if it hadn't a chance. That's just like why you would, to let people know that there are those of us who want a libertarian. I am part of the problem with the primaries though, I'm independent. :/

If Paul makes it all the way to the final voting, I would seriously consider voting for him. I just don't have any confidence that he will make it that far. If the Republicans I know are any indication, they have no idea who Paul even is. Too much Fox News and not enough of their own research is the problem there, I think.

Ron Paul is actually in Idaho today. He's coming to speak at my University. I doubt that we'll go, but maybe at least the people around here will finally notice him! ^^

It hasn't. It's still at about that level. It went up some, and has come back down again some, but the graph still looks roughly like that.



I'm all for having a military - but I feel confident we can do everything needed with half of what we currently have.

how about we cut congress and senate pay checks instead of mil spending.. thats an idea..

I do this typically as well. I used to think it was sending a message that we want libertarian values brought into mainstream politics as well, but now I know that democrats and repubs just see 3rd parties as complete jokes because they will never win.

The only way to get a 3rd party elected in the US is to use the alternative vote. So all of these people who claim they are libertarian but vote demo/repub can actually vote libertarian.

But the reason why the alternative vote will never be used is because of what happened in Europe. The alternative vote is just slightly more complicated than the average person can understand sadly. They will also lie about how much it costs to operate and what happens when alternative vote is used. Because it would be a nightmare for the people in power. They would have to actually work for our vote, since we wouldn't be afraid to vote for who we really wanted.

You can watch all of the disgusting videos when it happened in Europe not that long ago. It just sickens me that people are that gullible and wont even research it on their own.

http://www.youtube.com/user/officialNO2AV

Nice idea, but far, far, far short of the size of cut needed. The salary of all of Congress & Pres. is only ~100 million for 535 people. While I admit that a good chunk of change, that's about 0.01% of the military budget.

There are only 3 main areas of the budget that matter when it comes to the US's spending - military, social security, and medicare/medicaid. If you aren't doing the bulk of your cuts there, then you fail. Yes, there are lots of other places where we can make cuts or make things more efficient - but to ignore what 75% of the budget is going to is just stupid.

An interesting look at how parties have shifted over the years. Notice how both Democrats and Republicans are closer together in 2008.

If this is accurate, it does a good job showing why I hate everyone in gov.

And why most people my age are so disenfranchised with them.

Neither party lines up with my personal beliefs at all really.

This is completely true and part of the reason why the budget is so out of control.

Military spending is the only spending that you can reasonably cut from without voters grabbing their pitchforks and torches.

Every time someone even talks about revising medicare or social security they are accused of hating old people and poor people and nothing ever happens. Even though the two programs aren't sustainable and need major revisions.

you must not be from the south.

Not directed towards you, but most people your age don't know s*** about politics and government, especially when the ones that regurgitate Jon Stewart and Michael Moore consider themselves among the elites. The Ron Paul movement is a welcome counterweight to the decades of liberal propaganda from the teachers, professors, networks, and entertainers, but it, too, is bloated with people with excessive passion where their logic should be. Getting most people to have an honest perspective about politics first involves untangling the knot that requires more intellectual dexterity than most people have the patience for, be they the misinformed or be they the ones trying to do the untying. Mix in the tendency for most people to take the easy path, with people refusing to challenge political correctness and propagated misinformation about science/religion/history/etc. and voila, you have the current state of blissful ignorance. MOAR WHITNEY HOUSTON FUNERAL COVERAGE!!

Romney is the only candidate with the pull to challenge Obama in this race. Paul's stances are just too extreme for your run of the mill voter looking at talking points and reading biased sources.

All of the red meat Romney has been throwing out to placate his base has been hurting him because it's inevitable that Mitt will shift back towards the center and it's why so many right-wingers hate the guy if you put the Mormon thing aside. And I say put aside because I know alot of Christians look at Romney and write him off just on his religious beliefs.

The more hardcore Republicans aren't looking for a moderate but a neocon and that's what will doom the Republican advance on the WH come November if Romney doesn't get the nod. I'm still betting Romney clinches it and this Santorum surge fizzles out like Bachmann/Perry/Cain/Paul/Newt before him or worse it goes to the convention and they hand it to Romney.

People in Republican circles must be losing sleep at the prospect of Santorum going up against Obama because outside his mastery on his social beliefs Santorum is pretty vanilla and his beliefs are also a huge cinder block around his neck. I feel like he'd be an easier candidate to stomp than Gingrich.

The party is split. Part of the party wants a social champion that will turn this country around and send us back to the good old days of social theocracy and the other half just wants a more business friendly president that Romney would be.

Most independents don't even hate Romney but the damage he has sustained in the primary to keep up appeal alongside his more fanatical counterparts has been his greatest problem. Half the stances he's taken he only took because everyone else was doing it, he's not charismatic or inspiring and the flip-flopping has all been a painfully obvious plan to get through the primaries.

The above is a pretty apt analysis of Romney and his current woes. I will only add in addition to having to try to run to the right of his competitors, he also has the huge misfortune of being the longest sustained front runner throughout what we have seen of this primary. Since Cain/Bachmann/Perry had their short stint in the lime-light, all remaining candidates have relentlessly attacked Romney. He has been able to bury Newt, but the 15 million in negative advertising also cost Mitt a hike of 10-15 points increase in his unfavorability rating.

Santorum is surging now because no one took him seriously as a competitor while Newt and Mitt duked it out the last few primaries. Now that Newt has been Newtralized (har) Santorum will face the brunt of Romney's huge super-pac and its going to be awesome when they go at each other. I'm thinking that Romney has the ability and means to take Santorum out as well, but hes gonna come out bloody.

Every primary where voters reject Romney is politically good for Obama which I appreciate, this race is nothing but fun.

http://roseanneforpresident.com

I bet Tom Arnold will cry himself to sleep every night with regret if she gets the nomination.

You should have seen his interview on Conan the other night about it.

I will have to look this up!

to be fair; most people don't know ***about politics or reality for that matter.

most can't even do their own taxes much less be expected to understand anything as complex as world/national politics.

I think some people underestimate how well Ron Paul would do in a general election. I don't know if he could compete with Obama but as a 22 year old gamer who plays with 18-23 year old friends everyday on Call of Duty, every time a discussion about politics comes up with them all I hear is Ron Paul. I think he has a lot of appeal to some young voters.

Why is this? I really enjoy engaging in political debates with people from the other side of an argument. You may not agree with my position, but I'd love to go through the details and understand more about both sides. Perhaps I'll even change my mind!

Yet, I feel like most people don't feel this way. They would rather blindly believe some stance, never do any research, and are happy with that.

Obama isnt getting this Monk's vote. Thats for dang sure!!!