<p>TD:</p>
<p>Don’t need to hang on the Rep blogs to know that there is no Rep passion for any of their candidates. Just look at the state turnouts, which are down. If McCain is the nominee, any Dem will win handily since the Rep base will stay home.</p>
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<p>I’ll second that, chedva! :)</p>
<p>“Moreover, I think a lot of ****ed off Democrats will ultimately come home. The Clintons have a deep reservoir of good will among the black community and the college-educated elites will stop and consider the Supreme Court.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately, blacks and college-educated “elites” are vastly outnumbered by cretins who listen to Limbaugh and Hannity for their news.</p>
<p>"Unfortunately, blacks and college-educated “elites” "
Do we know if those blacks and college-educated elites (can blacks be elites? The quote wasn’t clear on that.) are cretins who get THEIR news from Olbermann and Matthews?</p>
<p>I thought Obama missed a “headline” moment:</p>
<p>“Headline: Experienced Democratic Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee votes for War without Reading Intelligence Report; Says It was Unnecessary.”</p>
<p>“If McCain is the nominee, any Dem will win handily since the Rep base will stay home.”</p>
<p>Depending upon who the Dems nominate, there may be some truth to that (except the the “any Dem” part). Right now the Republican media (talk radio, blogs) are doing an all-out hit job on McCain. However, McCain can get the base back if the Dems nominate Hillary. The base may not rally behind McCain, but it will rally against Hillary.</p>
<p>Also, if Hillary is the candidate, there are a LOT of Dems who will either stay home or vote for McCain, since in many ways he is one of them. My brother is an example. He is a HARDCORE Dem, but he says that a) he would consider voting for McCain and b) he would never vote for Hillary. I know others (females) who have 100% Dem voting credentials who say that they will not vote if Hillary is the candidate.</p>
<p>The way that I see it, the Dems have the inside shot at the White House. The one combination that keeps the White House in Republican control is a Clinton-McCain match-up.</p>
<p>“The quote wasn’t clear on that.) are cretins who get THEIR news from Olbermann and Matthews?”</p>
<p>Or, more likely, the Comedy Channel.</p>
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<p>Disagree. John made a fatal error and lost a big part of the base by not supporting Bush’s tax cuts. In Bush 1’s reelection bid, the base stayed home due to his (Don’t) Read My Lips pledge on taxes. I submit that will happen again.</p>
<p>"Disagree. John made a fatal error and lost a big part of the base by not supporting Bush’s tax cuts. "</p>
<p>I disagree here. I’m no fan of John McCain, but I will be at my polling place to pull the lever for him on election day, should he be my party’s nominee. I think most republicans feel that way. Even a nominal conservative is more attractive to conservatives than a liberal. There’s always the issue of Bill, too. Many of us want him gone from public life in the worst way and would vote for McCain to make sure that he doesn’t get back in the White House.</p>
<p>I voted for McCain in the Republican primary in 2000. I doubt that I’d do it again, or vote for him for Pres. But I am sure I won’t vote for Hillary, and would vote for any other Dem. So the Dems will definitely have lost one “positive” vote, and may just have a “negative” as well.</p>
<p>Of course, where I live, my vote doesn’t count.</p>
<p>“Of course, where I live, my vote doesn’t count.”</p>
<p>Mine doesn’t either, at least above the local level. But I’m still going to vote for President, and my Congressional race is important to me this year.</p>
<p>Democrats Abroad is more active this year than I’ve seen them in any previous election. They are having a global online vote in 100 countries on Super Tuesday for the first time ever, and will have delegates at the convention in August. There is a huge effort at getting ex-pats registered to vote in the November election, and with an estimated 7 million around the world, it will be interesting to see what impact this may have. This election is generating a level of interest that I haven’t seen in many, many years.</p>
<p>“Mine doesn’t either, at least above the local level. But I’m still going to vote for President, and my Congressional race is important to me this year.”</p>
<p>Mine doesn’t count Congressionally, or for state legislature, or for state senate. Might for Governor, though I doubt it.</p>
<p>“the base stayed home due to his (Don’t) Read My Lips pledge on taxes. I submit that will happen again.”</p>
<p>1) Recall that when they protested against Bush the elder, the opposition was an unknown candidate with a likeable personality, running on a “centrist” platform who was promising a “middle class tax cut”. They have since learned that unknown candidates and their spouses can become known commodities that they loath and who break their promises about tax cuts with tax increases.</p>
<p>2) It’s been many years since McCain voted against the tax cut and has since consitently voted to make them permanent.</p>
<p>fundingfather, i thought Clinton did give us middle class tax cuts. Maybe, my memory is faulty.</p>
<p>One thing is clear. All the politicians lie and/or break promises. From both parties.</p>
<p>Do you really think the younger Bush didn’t lie? Nations Building? Smaller government?</p>
<p>The older Bush? We all know about the “read my lips…”</p>
<p>Reagan? Did you look at the budget deficits under Reagan? Do you remember David Stockman quitting? You know, the budget director?</p>
<p>Voting for candidates that have views similar to yours is one thing.
Accusing one side of lying and implying the other side doesn’t is bs.</p>
<p>I hate that bs.</p>
<p>ff:</p>
<p>you (and z-mom) may be correct, but H is running today and the rep turnout in SC was quite low, so many are already staying home; perhaps they’ll be energized by Nov, but I’m guessing not.</p>
<p>“Accusing one side of lying and implying the other side doesn’t is bs.”</p>
<p>No, I didn’t say that or mean to imply it. I was responding to the way the “base” would view McCain versus how they reacted to Bush Sr. They were naively standing with their principles thinking that the worst outcome was a somewhat benign middle-of-the-roader who promised lower taxes. With the Hil/Bil redux, they won’t have that naivety anymore.</p>
<p>As far as Bush Jr, “lies”, I don’t recall him running on a small gov’t platform. He was quite open about NCLB - in fact it was a cornerstone of his platform. With respect to the nation building issue, 9/11 changed everything from his perspective. Being at war tends to change one’s perspective - at least it should.</p>
<p>“you (and z-mom) may be correct, but H is running today and the rep turnout in SC was quite low, so many are already staying home; perhaps they’ll be energized by Nov, but I’m guessing not.”</p>
<p>Bluebayou, I don’t think the party will be energized. I think it will be a matter of a lot of republicans/conservatives holding their noses and voting. But vote they will.</p>
<p>“perhaps they’ll be energized by Nov, but I’m guessing not.”</p>
<p>What will be interesting is to see if the Dem base remains energized if the ultimate nominee is Clinton. I think a lot of the energy that is seen now is a result of the Obama/Hillary issue. If Hillary gets the nomination, will she be able to maintain that energy or will all of the Obama supporters feel that the era of change that they were so passionate for has escaped them? Remember that what energized the Dem party in 2004 was certainly not John Kerry - it was George Bush. Bush won’t be running in 2008. Will the Dems be as energized coming out against a soft-speaking centrist who speaks their language on many topics - including his revulsion for Don Rumsfeld?</p>
<p>As a Republican, I am rooting for a Hillary candidacy. I think the energy that an Obama candidacy evokes may be too much to overcome. Hillary, on the otherhand, has such high negatives that I don’t see a lot of real passion building for her.</p>
<p>“They have since learned that unknown candidates and their spouses can become known commodities that they loath and who break their promises about tax cuts with tax increases.”</p>
<p>Every candidate and politician lies. Everyone.</p>
<p>John McCain lies. Remember the Keating Five.</p>
<p>Hilary Clinton lies. I’ll let you fill in the blanks.</p>
<p>Today’s president lies. I believe he did campaign on smaller government. He sure didn’t campaign as the president who would be the biggest spender since when, Johnson?</p>
<p>And in case we get into egos, every presidential candidate is an egomaniac. Everyone.</p>
<p>So I hope I don’t read that Hillary is an egomaniac and some other candidate isn’t because if I want to read fiction, I’ll pick up something by Somerset Maugham, John Steinbeck, or somebody who can write.</p>