In Canada, Pres. Obama would probably be at home in the left wing of the Conservative Party, to the right of the Liberals and far to the right of the New Democrats. American's who call him a socialist or communist have zero political knowledge outside their pathetically narrow, bigoted and fanatical fundamentalist dogma.

Exactly.

I think all the Republican candidates right now share some degree of toxicity, for various reasons. For the Tea Party, Romney and Gingrich are "the establishment". For "the establishment", Paul is an anathema to neoconservative politics. For libertarians, both the religious right and the "establishment" are suspect.

I don't think team R could be any more fragmented right now, over its identity most of all. A far cry from a 'bubble' - I honestly can't see anything remotely resembling a consensus emerging. There are at least 2 conflicting versions of economics and foreign policy and 3 different versions of social policy revolving around GOP circles right now, all under bitter attacks from within party ranks and their main electorate. That's a bad situation, and the ones who built their politics on far-reaching and supposedly-unassailable interpretations religious morals are very much to blame. They don't budge, and IMO that's a very bad thing for everyone. It might look like a great thing if you're in the target demographic for those types, but the reality is that most of America is no longer that demographic at all, and you won't win democratically on that sort of platform.


Pretty much. I would actually say that the mainstream of the US Democrat party is either even with or even a little to the right of our Conservative party, which is our furthest-right party with realistic chances of governing. That is also the case with most of the world's developed democracies (Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Japan, South America, etc. etc.) So, looking from the outside, US mainstream politics does look grotesquely skewed to the right...

Because it's not about religion. The fact is, the economy still sucks. The housing market still sucks. Infrastructure is still crumbling. The deficit is still rising (And Obama has increased this ten fold.....and wants Trillions more). And businesses are still showing a reluctance to hire because of things like the costs of Obama's healthcare bill. Obama is toxic. To the Democrat party and the country both. People are ticked off. Don't fool yourself into believing Obama is a guarantee. He's lost a vast amount of the white independant vote, and will not get it back. I'm not saying they all go Republican....some of them will, others don't show up. That hurts Obama more than any GOP candidate. GOP voters want to drive Obama out of the White House. This race is for the Republicans to win or lose.

It's not Reagan "romanticism". This happens every presidential election regarding GOP outsiders from the beltway East Coast. Reagan was an unelectable senile actor. G.H.W. Bush was a "corrupt" unelectable and unworthy VP (time for change). George Bush was an unelectable "bumbling idiot". This is a pattern. Now anybody but Mitt is unelectable. The same people will say he's unelectable if he wins the nomination. Cracks me up. :DL

Reagan ran on his version of hope and change. He won. Clinton ran on his version of hope and change. He won. John Kerry ran on 'I'm not Bush' during an election that he probably should have won. He lost. Team R is running on 'I'm not Obama' in an election that they probably should win. Instead of new ideas, they are recycling the same neoconservative politics that have been in place since the Reagan administration; the very budget-busting policies that helped move us into this mess.

My personal view is that this race is not about Obama. This race is a contest for the soul of the Republican party. The party must not be permitted to return to the White House until the Reagan NeoCons are purged. This Reagan worship must end, and we must return to the roots of fiscal responsibility. This includes the bloated military budget, not just civil programs and services. For that to happen; for the Republicans to start acting like Republicans again they must recieve the message that we will not tolerate neoconservative politics any more. Obama must win, and I am confident that he will.

You can't run on 8%-10% unemployment and win. Small business owners cannot hire and have uncertain prospects for future hiring. This election will be about economics, the housing market, and jobs. Obama has nothing. Contrasting from Obama equals change. I don't believe Obama is worthy to be re-elected. And people I know who voted for him last time seem to share that sentiment.

After reading through this thread and some of the thoughts presented here in opposition to my own, it has occurred to me that it's probably a good thing Democrats are comfortable and confident in Obama's re-election.

Cheers. :woot:

I think it's funny that you think I'm a Democrat.

The answer to that is not to present a religious right candidate who offers the same neoconservative ideas that drove people to elect Obama in the first place. I think the Kerry analogy is very fitting here.

The real political power in this country rests with its legislatures, not it's executive. So IMO the Republicans would do far better by getting control of Congress.

As a "Recovering Republican", this is what I find most disheartening. The RNC is telling me that these guys are the best of the best of the best that the GOP has to offer.

Really? These are the best?

I just hope that the RNC has already written off 2012 as it is hard to unseat an incumbent, and they are concentrating on 2016, when the office is truly up for grabs.

I submit that the best thing that could happen in American politics is to somehow get away from the current 24/7/365 election cycle. The day after the election, the runs for the following November start to form.

The requirement for non-stop electioneering causes the nut bars to rise to the top just so that they can stay in the news. Only someone from the lunatic fringe or who is desperate for office can maintain the rhetoric long enough to remain in the front pages until the inevitable skeleton's in their closets causes them to stand down so the next bozo can take their place. This crosses party lines and pretty much excludes the best and brightest from elected office.

The entire process should take 4-months or less and with the election dates fixed years in advance it should be easy to do. National politics should not vie with Comedy Central as an entertainment circus.

That along with ending gerrymandering electoral districts and the election of the President by the electoral collage rather than by popular vote.

Never happen though...

Funny when some of the most insightful and balanced political news is broadcast on Comedy Central's The Daily Show

Agreed. But the circus act should involve what the clowns in office are doing rather than the annual 364-day zoo dominated by the wanna-be's.

I think you miss the point about your severe lack of thoughts.

I blame the 24 hour news cycle. With the rise of cable news, they have hours and hours of programming time to fill. Pundits muse on the most mundane details, they infer meaning to every word, every action, and the politicians realize this. They've found that they've become a brand, and they need to manage their message and their image needs to be as carefully crafted as any shoe or car brand. In order to resonate with people, they've become marketers who cater to the lowest common denominator and as a result we have the ridiculous antics that we see from career politicians.