US presidential election...

[Stealthy]

Hi All,

**NON MULTIBOXING TOPIC**

As someone living outside the US (Australia), and having a passing interest in the upcoming US presidential election, all the international media coverage I have seen so far has only covered Obama vs Clinton for the Democratic nomination. In fact I had to go to good old Wikepedia to find out who the republican candidate was (John McCain).

Since most of you live in the US, I though I would ask - is it the same there? I.e. is John McCain getting any press coverage at all? Does the upcoming election look to be shaping up as a close one? What are your thoughts on the two cadidates (Obama & McCain)

Just curious...

Cheers,
Stealthy

[Elili]

It's a tricky topic, and heated, but as far as press coverage go, It's all about Obama and Hillary everywhere, that's just the natural drift that all media is going to fall into. I'm sure McCain doesn't mind, Hillary and Obama dragging out eachother's dirty laundry for 3 months while he raises money and campaigns in places no Republicans ever go to, has to be great for him. He gets the benefit of not having anyone attack him, while having both potential opponents ripped apart.

Personally my opinion on how close of a race it will be is simple, It won't be. I think McCain has already won, regardless of your political affiliation, there are not enough people nationwide that would vote for A) a woman, or B) a black man, in America. There are too many people that just won't do it, and since the vote is so split, a lot of voters Pro Hillary, or Pro Obama, might not even vote for the other if their candidate isn't in the race. Unless something major comes up soon, I don't see either Democrat pulling off a victory. Just my opinion.

[Basilikos]

May I suggest the off-topic forum in the most friendly way possible?

[Vyndree]

May I suggest the off-topic forum in the most friendly way possible?

Done.

The media thrives on "interesting" subjects. Because there was little to no actual conflict on the republic party, it wasn't "interesting" enough to report about.

Meanwhile, the Clinton/Obama thing was a pretty neck-and-neck race for a while there, with strong opinions on both sides. That made it something interesting to report about.

[Kissell13]

Personally my opinion on how close of a race it will be is simple, It won't be. I think McCain has already won, regardless of your political affiliation, there are not enough people nationwide that would vote for A) a woman, or B) a black man, in America. There are too many people that just won't do it, and since the vote is so split, a lot of voters Pro Hillary, or Pro Obama, might not even vote for the other if their candidate isn't in the race. Unless something major comes up soon, I don't see either Democrat pulling off a victory. Just my opinion.

I actually believe the exact opposite of that statement. In my opinion, there is a lot of people out there who have had enoughh of the bad economics that the current presidential staff has so kindly created for us over the last 8 years. Personally I say put Bill C back in charge. He had the economy going strong and I believe that the American populace is ready for democratic party in the white house again. That being said, I know jack about politics and its all just my 2c

[Anozireth]

The reason there has been so much Obama vs. Hillary coverage is because the race for the Democratic nomination has been closer and lasted longer than any in modern history. Usually both major parties would have decided their candidate a couple of months ago. Also, both candidates would represent a historic first to receive the nomination of a major party, being a black man and a woman. Early on there was pretty even coverage between the two parties, but McCain certainly hasn't gotten the focus that the two Democrats have since he secured the Republican nomination. Now that Obama has secured the Democratic nomination, we should see a lot more even levels of coverage.

[Anozireth]

Personally my opinion on how close of a race it will be is simple, It won't be. I think McCain has already won, regardless of your political affiliation, there are not enough people nationwide that would vote for A) a woman, or B) a black man, in America. There are too many people that just won't do it, and since the vote is so split, a lot of voters Pro Hillary, or Pro Obama, might not even vote for the other if their candidate isn't in the race. Unless something major comes up soon, I don't see either Democrat pulling off a victory. Just my opinion.

I actually believe the exact opposite of that statement. In my opinion, there is a lot of people out there who have had enough of the bad economics that the current presidential staff has so kindly created for us over the last 8 years.

I think that's very true. McCain doesn't stand a chance unless he can distance himself from Bush as much as possible. Not just on economic policies, but on international relations too. Still, it is far too early to call the race.

[Occam's Razor]

The reason you didn't know about John Mcain was that he kept his mouth shut and let Hillary and Obama have their little slap-fight these past few months.

What better way to make BOTH of the DEM candidates look bad than by keeping quiet and letting the two of them look like a couple of spoiled brats arguing with
each other over the SAME IDEALS in the SAME pARTY.

There's a couple of sayings I've heard.

1. The Democrats are doing a good enough job making each other look bad, WITHOUT the help of John McCain and the Republican party. (That why McCain has been quiet)
2. Democrats operate on the principle called a "Circular Firing Squad" (The firing squad stands in a circle around the opposing candidate and fires, and instead shoots each other)

Seriously, that's what's been going on here Hillary thinks she's entitled to be President because her Husband was President for a while,
(If that's the case, then Robin Givens should be Heavyweight Champion of the World because the was married to Mike Tyson, and Tony Blairs wife should be PM of England)

And all Obama says is "change change change" but never really says WHAT he'll change, it's kind of like eating a jpg of a sandwich. It looks good....but that's about it.

[Stealthy]

One thing that confused me when I was reading up on this in Wikipedia - The Democrats currently hold a mjority in congress, both in the senate, and the house of reps. Yet the president is a Republican, and has the power to veto any bills that come through congress.

How does any legislation get passed like this? I mean since the president is from the opposing party, wouldn't he just veto any bills the Democrats pass up trhough congress?

Cheers,
Stealthy

[Ðeceased]

was catching up on some US election news the other day, and came across one of those /facepalm moments inch:

I tend to listen to both sides of the story.. well I say both sides.. Fox news vs every other news channel in the US :P

Can't remember the guy's name, but it was definitely a fox news presenter.. He was talking about the democrats and recapping on some debate they had had. He acctually tried to be diplomatic and say something seemingly pro democrat but came up with this: inch:

"What you have to realise is, the democrats may make history this year. This could be the first time ever, that we have either a woman president or a black president. Personally I think it's great. I dunno about you "....." (can't remember his co-presenters name), but I applaud the democrats putting two candidates from minority groups forward for candidacy."


Not even sure it even registered with anyone at fox tho, cos they didn't even try to correct him, or weren't at all taken aback! inch:

Congratulations ladies ur a 3,338,781,960 strong minority! or 151,912,323 in the US..

I despair sometimes :S


EDIT: back to the topic tho

I have to say I rly hope it's a democrat this time.. Not just because I'm liberal myself, but for the sake of you lot over there in the US. thing is over here, even your democrats sound conservative! :P (well ok, not quite, but nearly)
I get a lot of feedback from my brother (who lives in the states), and he's considered a democrat by most of his friends over there, but whenever I come to visit they have a wale of a time ^^ I must seem nearly communist to his friends inch: - don't think I made it any better by acctually wearing a CCCP T-shirt when I was talking to them ^^ (oh yeah.. and PS: don't wear that when ur going through immigration- the guy there was kind enough to say "So you might want to put a sweater on" - think had it been anyone else I would have faced deportation :S )

When did the word "Social" become a bad thing? I see countless selfless acts on some of your TV channels about people helping each other, simply because they have no money or no home or whatnot. But yet somehow, when it comes to politics, these same people vote for those that most damage the ones they are trying to help. I dunno maybe it's just my point of view but you guys could benefit from some left-ish policies.
Minimum wage (at an acceptable level), Free health care, free schooling/university (altho here in England they are moving away from that :S ) etc

Actually this applies to pretty much every country in the world, I'm just mentioning it as the elections is relevant in the US atm.