Hillary is the Democrat nominee, almost assuredly. Maybe Al Gore gets in the race late and gets another shot at it, but I'm guessing the Clinton machine will pull Hillary through. So Hillary gets the Dem nod. But, I don't imagine that she will be able to get a majority of the Popular Vote--her husband never did, and she has lots of people who dislike her. Chances are she only gets 45%, tops.
However, the Republican base is demoralized and not real keen on any of their top candidates. Whether Rudy, Mitt, or McCain are the nominee, there are going to be Republicans who are unhappy. Will the fear of President Hillary be enough to keep them true to the party? I don't know. There is a strong chance of a third party challenge from the right--whether it's Tancredo, Paul, Hunter or someone else, I imagine the issue of immigration alone might lead to a party split. So the Republican nominee is likely to only get 40-45% of the popular vote.
Mayor Bloomberg of New York City is talking about running as a "centrist", creating a unity party and using his billions to do so. He will probably get some percentage from people who are fed up with both parties.
So we go into 2008 with a messy, crowded field. There is likely going to be no candidate with a majority of the popular vote--nobody who is President after 2008 is going to have a clear mandate. Now, the electoral college working as it does, the most likely scenario right now is that we will have President Hillary. The Dems are energized, they smell victory, and they are going to coalesce around their candidate, while the Right is divided and demoralized.
The third party candidates are probably going to get zero electoral college votes--though any they do siphon off will probably be at the expense of the Republican nominee. And their presence in the race will likely damage the Republican nominee in getting electoral college wins in important states like Missouri, Ohio, and others.
There it is: the nightmare that we face. Are you ready for 4 years of President Hillary? Do you think the anti-Hillaryites will coalesece around a single candidate? Who?
I tremble for my country....
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I'm not voting for Ron Paul because it's not expressly prescribed in the Constitution.
You know, I really don't want Hillary Clinton for my president either. I mean, I REALLY don't want her. But we survived Bill Clinton (Jimmy Carter, too, for that matter). We could survive Hillary as well. It is easy to get so caught up in the partisan politics and the demonizing of politicians on the other side of the spectrum that we think that the universe will implode if the other side wins. It hasn't yet. I doubt it will in '09 no matter who wins in '08.
And if Hillary does win and it turns out that that really is the end of the world, well, then that just means Christ and the millenium are that much closer.
dilbert President Silver Linings R Us
ps--I also hope that a conservative 3rd party candidate doesn't run and split the conservative vote the way Nader split the liberal vote last time. If a third party candidate could provide a viable (meaning legitimate chance of winning the election) alternative to the Republicans and Democrats I would be in favor of one, but since that isn't going to happen anytime soon I would prefer they stay out of it. I don't know who would win in a two way race. On the one hand so many people hate Hillary that she seems unelectable. But on the other hand campaigning is what the Clintons do best. Anyway, I hope that we get to see a two way race.
The problem with Hillary is that she is far more devious, ambitious, power-hungry than Bill could ever dream of being. As First Lady she went directly for power. Under Bubba's administration, we had a Republican Congress to keep him in check, I don't think that will be the case with Hillary. If she is elected and the Dems in control of Congress with the likes of Reid and Pelosi in there, we are hosed. I think an administration like this would be very dangerous for this country, especially for true followers of Christ.
I do hope Fred Thompson runs.
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Lo, there I see my mother, my sisters, my brothers Lo, there I see the line of my people back to the beginning Lo, they call to me, they bid me take my place among them In the halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live...forever
far more devious, ambitious, power-hungry than Bill could ever dream of being That is what concerns me the most. That she is liberal is incidental in comparison (I know that sounds like heresy, but hey, politics like business and many other things is cyclical and right now since Bubba got power in '92, we are on a bounce and rebound cycle of polar opposites with little place for a moderate middle ground).
Those who are comparable to the wicked kings in ancient days because they lust for power are far more of a concern than just there political facade.
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
I wouldn't be so worried about Hillary if the republicans still controlled at least one house of congress. I worry that with everything in the hands of the dems that some radical changes to our nation will occurr. A Hillary nominee will definitely charge up republicans but will it be enough to get them to hold their nose and push the lever for Gulianni or McCain? Hard to say. I find both very distasteful. Mayor Bloomburg is republican in name only. If I voted for him I might as well vote for Hillary. I'll be getting the same result. I'm still holding out hope for Fred Thompson to get in this thing.
There is no question in my mind that Hillary is devious, ambitious, and power-hungry. But so was Bill. I'm not sure that she is far more than Bill.
Have you forgotten that the first two years of the Clinton presidency had a democratic senate and house? The earth didn't swallow up any major US cities during that time. Bill (and Hillary) tried to impose their will on the nation with little success. The only lasting effect they had was to send the house and senate over to the republicans for a decade (the house had been solidly democratic for many, many years). It took a mismanaged war in Iraq to send congress back. I seriously doubt this nation would leave the Dems in charge of congress for more than one term if Hillary is president.
Besides all of that, the cynical side of me wonders when was the last president who wasn't devious, ambitious, and power-hungry. Will we ever have another president who isn't all of that? Sure there are degrees, but I tend to think that we have had and will continue to have corruption in Washington no matter who gets elected.
I hope I'm being clear on how I feel about Hillary. I'm not arguing that she wouldn't be bad. I'm not even arguing that she wouldn't be worse. I'm just saying it's easy to get worked up into thinking a Hillary presidency would be the end of our nation, but I really don't think that it would be.
We all have different nightmares, Shiz. Mine involves being forced to vote between Kodos and Kronos (for non-Simpsons fans out there, this is a reference to a halloween episode where two aliens took over the political candidates, and even after they were revealed people still voted for them because they didn't want to throw away their vote. Both were intent on enslaving the human race, which is what happened after one of them got elected). Non of the current republican candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul, comes even close to supporting my views. I don't think that any of them, with the exception of Ron Paul, will support the Constitution. I cannot think of a worse way to waste my vote than to vote for someone who doesn't support my views at all.
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If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen! - Samuel Adams
