Thread: Republican Primaries Coming Up--Grab the PopCorn and a Coke!

Okay guys, Mitt Romney just formed an exploratory committee to run for president (which for all practical purposes means he is running for president). The first candidate to do so was Tim Pawlenty. The Republican primaries are getting underway.

Although I am not a Republican, I am interested. The outcome of this primary could determine:

1.) What chances the Republicans have of seizing power again, based on whether or not they elect an extreme person with little ability to move the masses towards him/her (think: Palin or Bachmann) or a moderate who could very well pose a huge challenge to Obama (think: Mitt Romney or Marco Rubio).

2.) Obviously: Future American policy.

I'm one of those people whose lives become better and more full/interesting when elections come around. Elections are my "March Madness." I'm eagerly awaiting great discussions in my political science classes, tussles with other students on politics, and (don't hurt me and please forgive me) forum debates.

As for me, well--if I had to support a Republican, I would support good ol' Mitt. Heck, depending on how much Obama keeps looking like Bush 2.0 I might even vote for him in the general election. But if Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Mike Huckabee, or any of the other religious far-right loonies run, I'm flying to Obama like a baby to its mother's tit.

This should get interesting.

I get too mad and sad over politics and stay as far from them as I can manage. Have fun though.

I don't think a hard-line Republican could clinch it this time 'round. As the recent midterm elections suggest, it's the moderates who'll get the show here.

And Palin? She doesn't have a chance. Her party knows she doesn't really bring in the votes.

But hey, I'm not a Republican anyway, nor am I a US citizen for that matter, so I guess whatever floats their boat, huh?

1.) What chances the Republicans have of seizing power again, based on whether or not they elect an extreme person with little ability to move the masses towards him/her (think: Palin or Bachmann) or a moderate who could very well pose a huge challenge to Obama (think: Mitt Romney or Marco Rubio).


Obama will be a one termer. He rode in strongly on the anger against Bush, garnering the votes of the independents-who truly thought he was about change. He rammed through his pet project (against the wishes of many) and he’s been on vacation ever since.

Obama has lost the middle, and the right has gained. In addition, ACORN, which elected him, is no more. The key is who will be the GOP candidate.

In the early 08 election, many dems crossed lines to vote in GOP primaries. Stupidly, the GOP went along with their pick-McCain. Because the dems already have their candidate, look for them to tamper with GOP primaries-again. The keys here are Palin and Romney.

Right now, it doesn’t look like Sarah is running. Matter of fact, she’s been very quiet the past month or so. If she stays out of the race, she stands to make serious coin $$$$ by stumping for certain candidates. If the dems choose Romney, they’ll do it because they know that he is least likely to pummel Obama in a debate. Any other GOP candidate will hammer him on his poor choices and associations. So, it’s wait and see time.


2.) Obviously: Future American policy.

Will swing to the right. Although the dems have their heads in the sand about it, right now the Tea Party is making the calls on future policy. Future policy will be to cut, cut, and cut the fed budget. The era of entitlement is over.

Obama likes to think that the unemployment rate is 8.8%, but in fact, it’s somewhere in the vicinity of 17%. A big part of that problem is that the boot heel of Wasshington is on the necks of employers. Even in a recession, this is the most anti business administration since the days of Jimmy Carter. Since the GOP will take over the Senate in 2012, and lose just a couple of seats in the house, look for GOP decisions on everything, heavily influenced by the Tea Party. Don’t discount doing away with the Department of education and seriously cutting the fed work force by 10 to 20 percent.

Boy, hearing this really makes me want to have real political parties which people can discuss about. If you want an overview of how politics works over here then listen to this. the first time I saw our parliment I thought it was a comedy replication of it. Why? Because the were carrying lotas (that is what we use to clean ourselves after doing our business). Only after my dad told me that it was the actual parliment that I realized that they were all real politicians. I have prayed for the future of my country ever since.

Originally Posted by Custard

Boy, hearing this really makes me want to have real political parties which people can discuss about. If you want an overview of how politics works over here then listen to this. the first time I saw our parliment I thought it was a comedy replication of it. Why? Because the were carrying lotas (that is what we use to clean ourselves after doing our business). Only after my dad told me that it was the actual parliment that I realized that they were all real politicians. I have prayed for the future of my country ever since. [-o<

Don't be fooled. Our political culture is just as often an unintentional tragicomedy.

Obama will be a one termer. He rode in strongly on the anger against Bush, garnering the votes of the independents-who truly thought he was about change. He rammed through his pet project (against the wishes of many) and he’s been on vacation ever since.

The anger against Bush, I have to agree with. He has definitely been at the right place at the right time, and his rhetoric nailed his presidency down spot-on. His vacation... not so much. But then again, I'm not living in the US, so I can't say for sure.

Obama has lost the middle, and the right has gained. In addition, ACORN, which elected him, is no more. The key is who will be the GOP candidate.

The way Obama worked the shutdown really put the nail in his coffin. Much of the moderates were trying to prevent a shutdown, whilst Obama was saying he was willing to face it as a matter of principle. In the end, he still compromised and this lost his support in the middle. Come to think of it, Obama already lost the moderates when he tried to pursue the health care bill, so nothing new.

On another note, I'm pretty sure Palin is out of the picture as far as the presidency is concerned. It's either Romney or Huckabee come the primaries. And while the polls list Romney as the popular vote, I'd tend to pick Huckabee. After all, coming in second last presidential election primaries should mean something.

And as for Palin... She has the Tea Party support, right? That could urge her to run nonetheless. But for the GOP sake, I pray she doesn't win the nomination, or they might as well have Obama sit in for his second term.

If Palin wins the nomination then the Democrats could run a broken toaster and win the Presidency.

If they nominate anyone else, it's the Republicans' election to lose. Still, you never know these days. The illuminatii seem more fickle in their election fixing this last decade or so.

I think President Obama's support is stronger than the Republicans realize, perhaps because they hate him so much they cannot understand how anyone but "diehard liberals" like him.

Candidates who cannot beat him: Palin, Gingrich, Santorum, Huckabee, Trump, Pawlenty, Bachmann

Candidates, who might, if the stars aligned: Romney, Daniels, Huntsman

Unfortunately for the Republicans, their primary system is set up to encourage, in their current political climate, the selection of a hard right social conservative such as those in my first list, and the moderate center's distrust of and distaste for such candidates is growing. The Candidates which most energize and inspire the active base of the Republican party are those which are likely to be least palatable to the moderate votes needed.

*Of course, my view is affected by my own perspective. I renounced my lifelong membership in the Republican party (which has included Young Republicans, Pachyderms, managing a legislative campaign, and being solicited to run for state office) last July after my state organization kept the criminalization of sodomy in its party platform. I am now a member of the great American middle, a political conservative who thinks that social conservativism should inform the lives of those who adhere to it, but not be the basis for governmental policy or law.

I think Capulet is 100% right on.

Alanmt- I’m going by a state to state count. Obama will win the Northeast, Illinois, the west coast, and either Ohio or Iowa. The GOP will win the rest. Obama has lost the middle and he’s lost ACORN.

Your perspective is clouded because of your affection for your partner. I ran into a similar thing during the Reagan administration. Here I was a campaign worker, at a meeting where they make what I consider an unusual request of us. After the meeting, I talk to my precinct chair.

Me: So, because I’m not married, I’m being required to be celibate ?

Her: If you were married, you wouldn’t have this issue, would you ?

Boy, talk about non inclusiveness, wrong headed thinking, and flat out discrimination. Still, I didn’t abandon the cause, or my principles. I am also, today, not a blind follower of the Party. I’m a card carrying independent who is very much a conservative, who will vote for the dem when the cause is right-case in example. My county precinct chair, despite rightfully being indicted on 24 counts of corruption was easily re-elected. I voted against him. I don’t understand how people will vote for someone like that.

Originally Posted by TheFuhrer02

The way Obama worked the shutdown really put the nail in his coffin. Much of the moderates were trying to prevent a shutdown, whilst Obama was saying he was willing to face it as a matter of principle. In the end, he still compromised...

Obama never took that position. It was he and Senator Harry Reid who were trying to prevent the shut down. Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner had already informed his tea party republican caucus to be prepared...

Originally Posted by Helicio

Okay guys, Mitt Romney just formed an exploratory committee to run for president (which for all practical purposes means he is running for president). The first candidate to do so was Tim Pawlenty. The Republican primaries are getting underway.

Although I am not a Republican, I am interested. The outcome of this primary could determine:

Today, or yesterday, was the 5th anniversary of 'Romney Care' in the state of Massachusetts, which provided the working model for the Affordable Health Care Act, better known as 'Obama Care'. He'll have a tough time explaining that to conservatives.

Originally Posted by Blood

Obama never took that position.

Not exactly. He was actually willing to risk a shutdown if Boehner insists on the $60M budget cut. To quote AP correspondent Ben Feller, "Obama used a veto threat to make clear he would not accept the scope of GOP spending cuts." A veto would send the government to a fiscal shutdown, regardless of whether Congress submits a draft budget or not. (Ben Feller's article is here: Analysis: So Much For Change Coming to Washington)

But then again, he wasn't instigating a shutdown, either. It was just that he was willing to face a shutdown, much to the dismay of the moderates and even some of the fellow democrats, who aren't exactly siding with the cause of the White House. In fact, they were "non-committal," (accdg. to AP correspondent David Espo) as they saw that the proposed cuts of the Republican party will be passed anyway, whether with compromise or not. (Espo's article is here: White House, GOP Predict Approval for Cuts)

Originally Posted by Blood

Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner had already informed his tea party republican caucus to be prepared...

Agreed. Boehner was readily proposing a shutdown if their cuts were not approved. I guess each side has its faults, yes?

How do you guys understand this? Its harder than..... MATH! And math is pretty hard to understand. But shouldn't they try to improve the economy and try not to cut any budgets unless they are useless. A shutdown wold be the worst posssible scenario, they should try and work for the 'greater good'.

Obama has made a mockery out of our country, sucking up to the Muslims, turning his back on Israel and not following through on any of his promises. He rammed health care down everyone's throat, Pelosi herself said, "We have to pass the bill so we can see what's in it."

He refuses to consider us becoming energy independent when it is completely within our means, but wants to "Be your best customer" when it comes to buying foreign oil. He offers dreams of clean energy years in the future and vows to cut our energy use but doesn't have a clue as to how to do it.

He is arrogant beyond belief. He told the other side to "Sit in the back of the bus, not to talk," and "I won" He didn't want to listen, now he says we need to compromise. He has raised the national debt more than any president in our history and still wants to spend our way out of debt. He even refuses to cut Planned Parenthood's tax payer abortions against the majority of the tax payers wishes. They lied and said that Planned Parenthood paid for mammograms when they don't. Over 90% of the "assistance" that PP did was to perform abortions, yet they say cutting this entitlement will "kill women." They want a 90% tax on anyone making over $106,000.00. 90%

The man took office with no experience whatsoever, he has never even managed a Burger King or met a simple payroll, that's why he has no problem appointing people to key roles who also have no experience.