<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t think Guiliani or McCain or Romney are in any position to level “flip-flop” charges.</p>
<p>^^^The whole bunch of 'em–a pretty sad lot, if you ask me.</p>
<p>What happened to the Guiliani love?</p>
<p>^^^I’m flattered.
Yeah, he’s still my pick.
It is my civic duty to vote.</p>
<p>I predict this story will go nowhere. Politically, or otherwise. The possibility that his mother’s distant relatives might have had slaves isn’t nearly as interesting to me as the fact that she had an ancestor named “Overall.” … If it turned out that Attilla the Hun was my great-great-whatever grandfather, I’m hoping it wouldn’t be held against me. But then again, I’m not running for president. … Personally, I think the Swiftboaters will slime Obama on religious issues, not ancestral, and Hillary will bare her teeth in every other aspect.</p>
<p>One thing I appreciate about Giuliani is that he’s not a religious zealot. (Those people scare the dickens out of me, especially when they carry political clout.) He’s a social liberal, so he’ll be chewed up pretty badly in the primary campaign, but if he survives, he’ll be a strong Republican candidate. … At this point, my civic duty tells me that either Obama or Edwards will end up being my guy.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m really hoping that Guiliani will be the Republican’s pick. Because after that, in the words of Mitt Romney’s Powerpoint Presentation: “We can’t disqualify Dems like Hillary on social issues ever again” if Giuliani is the nominee.</p>
<p>Something to look forward to.</p>
<p>With reference to the original post: here’s a perfect example of bulls*** atmospheric issues predominating over real debates. I’d personally rather know what Obama has planned for 1) dealing with the massive federal deficit that ballooned under this Republican President and a Republican Congress 2) Iraq 3) American foreign policy in an age of increasing competition for energy resources and apparent scarcity 4) American energy policy in the same age 5) dealing with radical Islam 6) securing our country against terrorist threats and the detonation of a nuclear bomb on our soil 7) health care for our citizens, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t really care that he smokes, that he has slave-owning lineage, or that he’s black. I care that he’s smart, that he has real leadership skills, that he can communicate to the electorate intelligently about issues that they hold to be of concern, that he can project strength.</p>
<p>Thank goodness that, so far as I’ve been able to tell on either side of the political spectrum we don’t have anyone declaring their candidacy who’s such a rank amateur as the current Officeholder. </p>
<p>I also am, in principle, against another legacy type candidate such as HRC represents. Bush got all sorts of breaks because of Poppy. And fundamentally, though she’s smart, Hilary has gotten breaks 'cause of Willie. It’s time to move on. We need someone who earned his/her own stripes.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t see it that way. Bill is an extraordinary salesman. But, IMO, Hillary has always worn the pants in that partnership. She’s the tough one.</p>
<p>BTW, I had to laugh at someone above suggesting that it is unusual for Hillary’s campaign to be working 24/7 to find dirt on her opponents. Well, duh! Come on people, read a few campaign books. It’s a presidential race. The whole idea is to apply enormous pressure on these candidates to see if they’ll crack. Of course, they are going to shovel dirt on Obama. Why should he be the first presidential candidate to be immune from that? How else are we going to find out if he can handle the job? From his TV ad bullet points? Puhlease.</p>
<p>BTW, Obama would have to be insane to talk about the issues. He wants to talk about talking about the issues without actually talking about them and exposing himself to body punches and uppercuts. He’s trying to “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”. He doesn’t want to stagger back into the ropes and get pummeled.</p>