olivier in france Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Hello guys! It looks like the US presidential race 's gonna be very interesting this time. Both primaries should be hard fought. But well from here in France ut's tough to have good information about the candidates. So well i hope you can help me... Can you give me in a few words a description of each candidate, how they are positioned compared to their competitors. Thanks in advance it'll help me understand a lot better what's going on in american politics ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molson_golden2002 Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Hello guys! It looks like the US presidential race 's gonna be very interesting this time. Both primaries should be hard fought. But well from here in France ut's tough to have good information about the candidates. So well i hope you can help me... Can you give me in a few words a description of each candidate, how they are positioned compared to their competitors. Thanks in advance it'll help me understand a lot better what's going on in american politics ... From what I understand, Bush's people are working with Mitt Romney. Fox news looks like they are throwing their weight behind him as far as I can tell. I don't watch much of Fox, but seems like whenever I turn them on they are promoting Romney. McCain is dead, as far as I'm concerned. It really looks like Rudy G. just has too much baggage, but he is a fighter and survivor, so who knows. If I had to say, it would be Mitt Romney who wins the nomination for GOP. The Dem race looks close, Hilary and Obama with Edwards still hanging in there. That's all I know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olivier in france Posted April 6, 2007 Author Share Posted April 6, 2007 From what I understand, Bush's people are working with Mitt Romney. Fox news looks like they are throwing their weight behind him as far as I can tell. I don't watch much of Fox, but seems like whenever I turn them on they are promoting Romney. McCain is dead, as far as I'm concerned. It really looks like Rudy G. just has too much baggage, but he is a fighter and survivor, so who knows. If I had to say, it would be Mitt Romney who wins the nomination for GOP. The Dem race looks close, Hilary and Obama with Edwards still hanging in there. That's all I know Romney is the mormon from Mass, isn't he? As Mass is not really Fox News country how this guy has been able to be elected governor of liberal Mass? Is he very talented or has Mass changed that much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molson_golden2002 Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Romney is the mormon from Mass, isn't he? As Mass is not really Fox News country how this guy has been able to be elected governor of liberal Mass? Is he very talented or has Mass changed that much? Yes. One problem for Romney is his conversion to hard rock Conservativism. He is flip flopping from a liberal on social issues to a Conservative. So he won in Mass as a fiscal Con and a lib on social policy. He might get away with flip flopping because his opposition is weak in McCain and Rudy G. has the same problem on the same issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olivier in france Posted April 6, 2007 Author Share Posted April 6, 2007 Olivier...whats the story with the FRENCH Presidential race? Tough question!! This race is very interesting and the end very hard to forecast... So far it looks like Sarkosy has the best chances but he's seen by many as a hard line rightist. The moderates are trying with Bayrou to propose an alternative to the Socialists and Gaullists that have ruled the country for the last 30 years while the Socialists are trying to look more modern with the pretty Segolène while the program looks like their usual BS... and with Le Pen real potential still a mystery, who really knows?!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuntheDamnBall Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Romney is the mormon from Mass, isn't he? As Mass is not really Fox News country how this guy has been able to be elected governor of liberal Mass? Is he very talented or has Mass changed that much? He's shifted his positions with the wind to appeal to Mass including on abortion and gay rights, and now is taking a more right-wing line on them. Religious voters will accept him though, because in this instance it isn't flip-flopping, this is "seeing the light." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olivier in france Posted April 6, 2007 Author Share Posted April 6, 2007 Yes. One problem for Romney is his conversion to hard rock Conservativism. He is flip flopping from a liberal on social issues to a Conservative. So he won in Mass as a fiscal Con and a lib on social policy. He might get away with flip flopping because his opposition is weak in McCain and Rudy G. has the same problem on the same issues. Do you consider Mc Cain as the more moderate candidate for the GOP? And what if at the end the americans have to choose between the all N York: Clinton -RudyG-Bloomberg trio?!!... Do you think a third party candidate has a chance this time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UConn James Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 He's shifted his positions with the wind to appeal to Mass including on abortion and gay rights, and now is taking a more right-wing line on them. Religious voters will accept him though, because in this instance it isn't flip-flopping, this is "seeing the light." Just to clarify, he has not shifted positions on gay marriage/union. The allowance for it was 'legislated from the bench' and Romney has been fighting it from the start. Didn't want out-of-state gay couples married... wanted it put to a referendum (where it would likely fail) rather than it going to the legislature (where it has a chance). He has shifted on abortion and gun rights. And I would hope he shifts his stance on alternative energy (he was opposed to the wind power project). Olivier...whats the story with the FRENCH Presidential race? Don't ask --- you're better off. French politics is a total clusterf--k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PastaJoe Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Do you consider Mc Cain as the more moderate candidate for the GOP? And what if at the end the americans have to choose between the all N York: Clinton -RudyG-Bloomberg trio?!!... Do you think a third party candidate has a chance this time? McCain has moved to the right since 2000, and is now aligned with Bush's foreign policy, which is a reason why his poll numbers went down. There isn't really a true "moderate" running for the GOP, but based on his previous socal positions on abortion, gay rights, and gun control, RudyG is the closest. Whether he would actually do anything on those issues remains to be seen. I don't think a 3rd party candidate has a chance, the 2 major parties have too much control and influence over the process. In a 3 way race I think Bloomberg and RudyG would hurt each other and help Clinton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olivier in france Posted April 6, 2007 Author Share Posted April 6, 2007 McCain has moved to the right since 2000, and is now aligned with Bush's foreign policy, which is a reason why his poll numbers went down. There isn't really a true "moderate" running for the GOP, but based on his previous socal positions on abortion, gay rights, and gun control, RudyG is the closest. Whether he would actually do anything on those issues remains to be seen. I don't think a 3rd party candidate has a chance, the 2 major parties have too much control and influence over the process. In a 3 way race I think Bloomberg and RudyG would hurt each other and help Clinton. But do you think in today's America that if the GOP primaries are won by a conservative he 'll have a chance to be elected as President?! It looks to me that the GOP 'd shoot itself in the foot if it does not give its ticket to a moderate... Or maybe they hope the democrats will make the same mistake and propose a "too liberal" candidate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PastaJoe Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 But do you think in today's America that if the GOP primaries are won by a conservative he 'll have a chance to be elected as President?! It looks to me that the GOP 'd shoot itself in the foot if it does not give its ticket to a moderate... Or maybe they hope the democrats will make the same mistake and propose a "too liberal" candidate... The Republicans have created a bit of a problem for themselves. If they pick a conservative candidate they can lose moderates and independents in the general election. If they pick a social moderate they could lose their evangelical base who usually votes in large numbers. It's going to be a difficult tightrope act for them, especially if they continue to back Bush's Iraq policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Just wondering. Why are all you lefties talking about the Republican candidates? I, for one would love to hear you all talk about your list of hopefuls. After all, I would think you'd know more about your party candidates then the Republican party candidates. Because, that's where your votes going to go, right? See a "D" pull the lever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Coli Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Romney is the mormon from Mass, isn't he? As Mass is not really Fox News country how this guy has been able to be elected governor of liberal Mass? Is he very talented or has Mass changed that much? Romney's win in Mass is actually a really good story. It was an excellent example of political opportunism. The previous Governor, a left-of-center-on-the-issues member of the GOP, left for an ambasador's position, leaving the state in the hands of his Lieutentant Gov, Jane Swift. Swift was an easy target for the media, as she made several political blunders in her short time occupying the corner office in Boston. Despite that, the GOP was going to run her as their nominee going into the next election. Although she wasn't really that attractive as a candidate, the GOP stuck with her because she was the defacto incumbent. Swift's approval numbers were abyssmal, and the Dems thought she would easliy be picked off. Thus, they ran a career state politician, Shannon O'Brien, who was the daughter of a well-loved carreer state politician, thinking it would be a cake-walk. Romney, coming off the Salt Lake City Olympics (which he was credited with for saving) swooped back into Mass, but promised the Swift campaign that he would not get in her way. Of course, that was a complete lie because he entered the race a short time later, but too late for the Dems to find a more attractive candidate of their own. Romney easily crushed O'Brien in a series of debates, and won the election on a pseudo-liberal platform heavy on all the buzz-words. Once in office, he re-emerged as the Romney you see today. His tenure in Mass (when he was here...he's literally been on the presidential camapign trail for a long time) was marked by bitter feuds with the state legislature over just about everything. The GOP actually lost seats in MA becasue of Romney...he became very aggressive in wanting to get more GOP seats in the state legislature...he failed miserably. If he would have run this past election he would have been soundly destroyed. He hates us as much, if not more than we hate him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molson_golden2002 Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Just wondering. Why are all you lefties talking about the Republican candidates? I, for one would love to hear you all talk about your list of hopefuls. After all, I would think you'd know more about your party candidates then the Republican party candidates. Because, that's where your votes going to go, right? See a "D" pull the lever. The GOP race is more interesting. The candidates have to run hard right campaigns, pro war, hate gays, hate modern society really, and will then have to flip flop back to moderates to try and win the general election, all with Iraq exploding in the background. McCain is already looking like a complete fool, if not an insane maniac who has trouble talking anymore, while the others don't really seem to know what to do. I can't wait till the GOP candidates starts attacking each other. Which candidate will be seen as weak on gays? Which one doesn't have the respect of the military? Which candidate will work hardest to eliminate entire federal government? Which one will come up with the next new plan to fix Iraq? Should be good fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 The Dem race is more interesting. The candidates have to run hard left campaigns, pro defete, love gays, hate wealthy people, pro socialism, really, and will then have to flip flop back to moderates to try and win the general election, all with Iraq exploding in the background. Hilary is already looking like a complete fool, if not an insane maniac who has trouble talking anymore, while the others don't really seem to know what to do. I can't wait till the Dem candidates starts attacking each other. Which candidate will be seen as weak on gays? Which one doesn't have the respect of the military? Which candidate will work hardest to eliminate entire federal government? Which one will come up with the next new plan to fix Iraq? Should be good fun! It could almost be.............. Fixed it for you. And you're right, it should be fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Oliver, you really don't want to know. Just back away. Head to your closest bistro and order some cassoulet and a bottle of Burgundy. Life is much better that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ieatcrayonz Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Hello guys! It looks like the US presidential race 's gonna be very interesting this time. Both primaries should be hard fought. But well from here in France ut's tough to have good information about the candidates. So well i hope you can help me... Can you give me in a few words a description of each candidate, how they are positioned compared to their competitors. Thanks in advance it'll help me understand a lot better what's going on in american politics ... The best guy so far is a guy named Tancredo. I'm not sure where he is from and he doesn't have much money but he wants to build a border fence between the Us an Mexico and another one between the US and Canada. This is a great idea and may help him move up the polls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Hello guys! It looks like the US presidential race 's gonna be very interesting this time. Both primaries should be hard fought. But well from here in France ut's tough to have good information about the candidates. So well i hope you can help me... Can you give me in a few words a description of each candidate, how they are positioned compared to their competitors. Thanks in advance it'll help me understand a lot better what's going on in american politics ... Right now the front runners are: Republican: A former Vietnam POW who pretends to be a maverick but is the "establishment" candidate A liberal running around reminding everyone what he did on 9/11 A Mormon from Massachussettes trying to cozy up with Christian conservatives Democrat: A former first lady living off her husband's name A black guy that "White Guilt" liberals are fawning over A pretty boy trial lawyer Other potential candidates: Democrat - Some fat guy running around with a slideshow telling everyone how D MED!!! we are Republican - The DA from Law & Order Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverNRed Posted April 7, 2007 Share Posted April 7, 2007 It looks like the US presidential race 's gonna be very interesting this time. Yeah, if by "very interesting" you mean "America is f*cked." It's probably going to come down to Hillary Clinton shouting ONE. WORD. AT. A. TIME. DURING. SPEE. CHES. FOR. EM. PHA. SIS. and Rudy Guiliani trying to figure out if he's a conservative or not. Maybe Hillary will whip out that horrible Southern accent she was trying to pass off again. I guess at this point I'd take Fred Thompson or Obama. Both could be dumb as rocks but at least they both know how to deliver a speech and that'd be a nice change of pace at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olivier in france Posted April 7, 2007 Author Share Posted April 7, 2007 The best guy so far is a guy named Tancredo. I'm not sure where he is from and he doesn't have much money but he wants to build a border fence between the Us an Mexico and another one between the US and Canada. This is a great idea and may help him move up the polls. Did not know Le Pen's son was american! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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