Why McCain will Win

[Jonbo298]

Whoa now, calm down a bit Jason. Seriously.

[Jason1]

I guess I just get upset when people for some reason dont have enough common sense to see that electing another Republican would be terrible for this country.

[Typhoid]

I don't think it has as much to do with what someone is catagorized as, but rather who they actually are.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Typhoid

I don't think it has as much to do with what someone is catagorized as, but rather who they actually are.

I agree. If you think you know who someone is by their political affiliation (or only through an anonymous internet forum), then you're just a fool.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Jason1

I guess I just get upset when people for some reason dont have enough common sense to see that electing another Republican would be terrible for this country.

You would help out your cause by basing your arguments on ideas and not purely on feelings. You constantly make blanket statements backed by littlke more than "Republicans have ruined the country!!", which is an easy argument to dismiss as most Americans are still far more affluent and enjoy more freedoms than pretty much any other nation on the planet. I have yet to see a political opinion from you based on reason. Thats not to say there isn;t reason behind it, you just haven't shared it with us.

Your political affiliation should be based on more than your personal distaste for another party. You are not a white knight, and no single party has the monopoly on corruption or "evil". Vote FOR something, not against something else.

[Dyne]

Originally Posted by Jason1

I would hardly call them unwarranted, but fine. I didnt target anyone specifically.

Please, don't boil it down to attacks of any kind. I would expect the same restraint on those wishing to call Clinton supporters feminists and lesbians. It's no different - it makes no sense.

[Dylflon]

Man, aren't people tired of republicans yet?

[Jonbo298]

Originally Posted by Dyne

Please, don't boil it down to attacks of any kind. I would expect the same restraint on those wishing to call Clinton supporters feminists and lesbians. It's no different - it makes no sense.

But...Lesbian's are good, at least in the 'movies'. Right?

[Jason1]

Look, its not that I dont have real opinions, I just think most republicans heads are too clouded by Republican lies to really justify wasting my time.

But I will say Dylflon summed it up pretty good.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Jason1

Look, its not that I dont have real opinions, I just think most republicans heads are too clouded by Republican lies to really justify wasting my time.

You have to try very hard to contradict yourself in one sentence, and you managed to succeed. Excellent work.

And Dyflon, your opinions of Republicans are that we care more for shooting people than social programs, and in reality they have nothing to do with each other. It is a conflict of ideals when it comes to what is best for people.

Democrats believe in a bigger government that provides services for its people because thats how they feel people can best succeed, and republicans believe in a smaller government than allows people to better provide for themselves, and that the main role of government to protect its people to enable that freedom (hence your "shooting" comment).

It's government responsiblity vs. personal responsibility, and that is where the conflict lies at its heart.

And my main issue with Obama is that he has no issues, and avoids speaking on them at any cost. I trust no politician who is not eager to expound on his beliefs, and that is why I chose to post the quotes that I did. Obama's views on the bill lasted 2 sentences and were an attack on McCain. McCain's explanation of his stance was nuanced and contained alternative, sensible arguments.

THAT is why Obama will lose and in the end it has NOTHING to do with Democrat or Republican, but the quality of the candidate that is running.

[Renwood]

I can't vote for a man who can't high-five me.

[Renwood]

That's not why Obama will lose. Campaigning and marketing money builds and then pushes an image. Image pushes votes. If McCain wins, it is the credit of the Republican campaign machine, which is an amazing thing to see in action.

Were it only possible that the same tightly oiled mechanism could be employed once either party entered office. Neither side manages to achieve a fraction of what it promises. Democrats promise more, and deliver nothing. Republicans act, but in ways I sometimes get a headache over.

Lucky am I to live in an area where local government still has the highest impact. Or unlucky, depending.

Do you identify with a party? I usually agree with more moderate Republican ideas, but I do not self-label myself as one. It would feel unnecessarily restrictive.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Jim

That's not why Obama will lose. Campaigning and marketing money builds and then pushes an image. Image pushes votes. If McCain wins, it is the credit of the Republican campaign machine, which is an amazing thing to see in action.

Were it only possible that the same tightly oiled mechanism could be employed once either party entered office. Neither side manages to achieve a fraction of what it promises. Democrats promise more, and deliver nothing. Republicans act, but in ways I sometimes get a headache over.

Lucky am I to live in an area where local government still has the highest impact. Or unlucky, depending.

Do you identify with a party? I usually agree with more moderate Republican ideas, but I do not self-label myself as one. It would feel unnecessarily restrictive.

I just rehgistered as for a Republican for the first time, but that was only for this election. For the first time in my life I found I could not identify a single Democrat as being someone I would ever vote for, and in fact, viewed most of them as dangerous to the constitution. So I knew there was no reason to not register Republican for this election.

Also, I am a big McCain supporter, because he is the only politician I've seen who I believe actually votes by his thoughts and ideals and not by what he thinks will get himslef re-elected. So I wanted to make sure I could vote in the primary in PA, and to do so I had to register as a Republican.

Here is a viref rundown of my views:

National Security - Big stick. Only use it when you have to.

Social Programs - The fewer the better. The basis of a country is not the government, it is the people and the individual. The more you provide for people, the less they provide for themselves and they become comfortable in poverty. I am a fan a few though, and they are as follows:

1) Public Education - Its not as bad as people think and the core issue is broken families, not a lack of funds. We spend more now per student than at any time in history. Money can't make a kid care to learn or succeed in life.

2) Mental Asylums - One of the few areas where I have a huge problem with reagan's policies. He closed down the federal mental asylums, and I think they are necessary but need to be run better than they were before.

3) As Needed Healthcare - We currently provide healthcare for those that really need it, and half the people that qualify don't use it. I believe that those that truly need the government to pay for basic healthcare should get it, but please don't curse the rest of the people who have their care provided by work or payment suffer through the same wait lines and shitty specialist services that other national healthcare plans provide.

4) Roads and infrastructure - No explanation needed.

5) Limited regulation - I am a capitalist, but I recognize that capitalism can be like a starving dog... if you let it, it will eat itself to death. So I believe in anti-trust laws to ensure competitiveness and also to protect the consumer. This is an area where Bush and the newer Republicans disgust me as they destroyed those protections.

This said, I do NOT beieve in taxes or tariffs that PUNISH success. That is nothing more than childish class warfare. We should celebrate success, not have contempt for it. `Contempt for wealth is a trick the rich play on the poor to ensure they will never have it.'

Overall, though, I believe Ben Franklin said it the best:

I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I travelled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.

[Renwood]

Originally Posted by Professor S

Public Education - Its not as bad as people think and the core issue is broken families, not a lack of funds. We spend more now per student than at any time in history. Money can't make a kid care to learn or succeed in life.

I work in a public school system, and in a lot of ways, it is worse than people think. The federal mandates that come down on the states, and then on down to each city cause a stupid amount of red tape and wasted funds on repetitive, often duplicate programs. It isn't that there is a lack of money being injected into the system; its that its being injected ignorantly. Federal government throws out a blanket statement, and we're supposed to believe and act as if that works, without any fine-tuning for individual districts and situations.

As a for instance, we were told by the State here (who were told by Federal), that our population of special education children must not exceed 1%. There are some ideas behind this rule, but it doesn't apply to my area, because of the huge influx of military kids that are flooding in as their parents are assigned to the area; that inflates the percentage, and we've now had to go through audits and all this expensive, useless bullshit to determine that, yes, we are a special case. Its been a waste, and meanwhile, the minorities are still falling through the cracks. A department here actually made up an assessment that was okayed by the State, just to be stricken down at the federal level after an initial greenlight.

And yes, the amount of money spent per student is disgusting given what each child actually recieves.

The problem is both the broken families and the lack of money being spent to do something with them, though not for want of spending in other areas.

Fuckin' hate No Child Left Behind.

[Professor S]

Originally Posted by Jim

Fuckin' hate No Child Left Behind.

It will be interesting to see what happens after NCLB's mandate runs out, and inevitably fails. Its my opinion that NCLB was designed to fail to give the excuse to privatize national education. What do you think?