GOP Nominee

[drone]

I thought we were going to get the Constitution changed so naturalized citizens can run for President. Arnold in 2012!

[Hosakawa Tito]

I'd prefer Marco Rubio or Chris Christie, but neither feels ready to run yet. Doesn't matter, I'll vote for Elmer Fudd over Obama anyday.

[Xiahou]

Hmm, while I still believe Palin is a non-starter for a general election, she's bouncing back in Republican primary polling. Maybe I need to retract my "spent force" evaluation? And she reportedly just sent a 400k mail solicitation for SarahPAC. Tea leaves very hard to read.

Herman Cain has some very enthusiastic supporters it seems. I still don't know much about the guy, but a glance at his Wikipedia page shows a pretty decent resume.

[Ronin]

Gingrich's kamikaze like Meet the Press appearance just provided one of the best daily show segments in a couple of weeks!

nice going Newt!

[a completely inoffensive name]

Herman Cain has some very enthusiastic supporters it seems. I still don't know much about the guy, but a glance at his Wikipedia page shows a pretty decent resume.

yes, he seems like a great businessman, but what does that have to do with politics? Business experience has no bearing on political office. Being a CEO is nothing like being a president. As a CEO your decision is final and the board of directors are your friends as a president your decision is tentative and half the Senate and House hate you.

His page looked rally nice until he started saying reactionary right-wing statements just to have the public like him:
Collins tried to paint Cain as a moderate,[17] citing Cain's support for affirmative action programs, while Cain argued that he was a conservative, noting that he opposed the legality of abortion even in cases of rape and incest.

[Ice]

yes, he seems like a great businessman, but what does that have to do with politics? Business experience has no bearing on political office. Being a CEO is nothing like being a president. As a CEO your decision is final and the board of directors are your friends as a president your decision is tentative and half the Senate and House hate you.

I'd rather have a seasoned busiess man who actually knows how to successfully run organization than just another souless politician with "political experience". Than again, I'd really prefer a successful businessman who is also an achieved academic.

See Michigan's new governor as an example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Snyder

[Lemur]

Herman Cain has some very enthusiastic supporters it seems.

He's beginning to be noticed by the general media. Here's a lamentably short but well-thought-out evaluation of him as a candidate.

Herman Cain has "it." At pre-campaign appearances—part rally, part revival—he's had nonbelievers and businessmen alike leaping to their feet shouting "Amen!" And at high noon on Saturday at Centennial Park in Atlanta, this self-made American success story connected with 15,000 of his closest friends, who roared with approval throughout a stemwinder of a sermon, notably delivered without a teleprompter.

Announcing his candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, the plainspoken but passionate Tea Party firebrand taps into a growing voter frustration. His address in Atlanta touched on economic policy, foreign policy, tax policy, the role of federal government and entitlement reform, but all wrapped in beguiling Southern charm and inspirational rhetoric about "a new American dream."

-edit-

Here's his announcement video. Not bad, not bad at all, and I give the man points for correctly saying "May God bless the United States of America," which is far less blasphemous than the usual "God bless [...]"

[Louis VI the Fat]

He's beginning to be noticed by the general media. Here's a lamentably short but well-thought-out evaluation of him as a candidate.

Herman Cain has "it." At pre-campaign appearances—part rally, part revival—he's had nonbelievers and businessmen alike leaping to their feet shouting "Amen!" And at high noon on Saturday at Centennial Park in Atlanta, this self-made American success story connected with 15,000 of his closest friends, who roared with approval throughout a stemwinder of a sermon, notably delivered without a teleprompter.

Announcing his candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, the plainspoken but passionate Tea Party firebrand taps into a growing voter frustration. His address in Atlanta touched on economic policy, foreign policy, tax policy, the role of federal government and entitlement reform, but all wrapped in beguiling Southern charm and inspirational rhetoric about "a new American dream."

-edit-

Here's his announcement video. Not bad, not bad at all, and I give the man points for correctly saying "May God bless the United States of America," which is far less blasphemous than the usual "God bless [...]"

Pft. You culturally backwards Americans will never elect a Black president. We, enlightened Europeans, shall therefore continue to lecture you colonials on your social conservatism and on moral matters in general.

Speaking of 'continue', Seamus once taught us that the exact correct phrase is 'May God continue to bless the United States of America'.

[Crazed Rabbit]

He's beginning to be noticed by the general media. Here's a lamentably short but well-thought-out evaluation of him as a candidate.

Hey, he supports the NRA!

In rising from humble beginnings in the segregated South, graduating from Morehouse College and then Purdue University, working as a mathematician for the U.S. Navy, climbing his way up to the top of the corporate ladder at Coca-Cola, Pillsbury, Burger King, and Godfather's Pizza, heading the National Restaurant Association

Hmm, I hadn't heard of him before, but I think he's one of my favorites now.

CR

[Lemur]

Cain is interesting. I've been doing some idle Googling, but right now the coverage is either fawning hagiography or mainstream gotcha. Checking around to see if anyone's got a real, worthwhile profile of the man. Not finding anything worth reposting just yet.

[PanzerJaeger]

Saw Cain's interview with Chris Wallace this morning and was less than impressed. Wallace attempted to go beyond his polished talking points and there was nothing there. He had no real answers for seemingly simple questions about his own platform and seemed surprised that anyone would ask specifically how he would fix the debt situation, etc. The man had no plan for Afghanistan; and by that I don't mean his plan was crap, but that he had no plan at all and seemed proud of it. (His excuse was that he couldn't even formulate a conceptual stance on the issue without having access to the classified information the president has.) He didn't even know what 'right of return' referred to when discussing the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

I still like T-Paw, but he doesn't seem to be garnering much support - not sure why. Huntsman's speech in New Hampshire was pretty good.

[Lemur]

[Cain] had no real answers for seemingly simple questions about his own platform and seemed surprised that anyone would ask specifically how he would fix the debt situation, etc. The man had no plan for Afghanistan; and by that I don't mean his plan was crap, but that he had no plan at all and seemed proud of it. [...] He didn't even know what 'right of return' referred to when discussing the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Well, that's disappointing. The last thing the race needs is another know-nothing.

-edit-

Haven't time to watch it yet, but this appears to be the interview:

[Subotan]

Yeah, I realize there are no women on that list but who are my options? Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachner? Call me a sexist but I'll stick to men before I vote for them.

That's a far more enlightened opinion than trying to pretend that Palin and Bachmann are feminist

I like Romney but I just want him to flesh out some of his moderate beliefs a little more so I know exactly what I am voting for. Also as someone stated as wrong a sit is he would never win a National election as a Mormon let alone a nomination by the Republicans. Wrong? Yes, but that is how it is right now. A woman has a better chance than a practicing Mormon at winning an election in America.

There are six Mormons in the Senate. Sure, they're all from Utah and the vicinity, but they are becoming more integrated into American society. And their beliefs aren't that much more unusual than any other religion.

I'd rather have a seasoned busiess man who actually knows how to successfully run organization than just another souless politician with "political experience". Than again, I'd really prefer a successful businessman who is also an achieved academic

A political operative is far more likely to get stuff done in government than a businessman. Sure, the former might be slimy, but it's not a necessary condition for a professional politician.

[Lemur]

Here's an overview; a bit harsh on the current crop of candidates, IMHO. Reminder: Nobody knew who Bill Clinton was. "Not nationally known" seems like a poor basis for writing someone off.

Everything about Daniels suggests that he’d be a perfectly fine general election candidate -- generic and inoffensive enough to defeat Obama if economic anxiety is high and voters are looking to toss Obama out.

The same cannot be said for most of the other candidates now in the GOP mix. Gingrich, Santorum, Cain, Bachmann, Paul and Johnson all flunk the basic viability test. All of them are far too ideological, too polarizing, or too inexperienced (or some combination of the three) to be good November bets. They each, in their own way, evoke Christine O’Donnell, Sharron Angle and Ken Buck, whose profound deficiencies cost Republicans statewide elections they should have won last fall. It is unimaginable that the GOP’s elites will unite behind any of them in 2012. [...]

Of the remaining candidates, only Romney, Pawlenty and Huntsman pass this basic test, which is why it’s so likely that one of them will end up winning. The scarcity of options for GOP elites is one of the reasons I’ve argued Romney can overcome his "healthcare problem" -- the fact that he signed (and refuses to apologize for) a universal coverage law with an individual mandate when he was governor of Massachusetts. Elites may have their doubts about Romney, but they know he can win (again, provided the general election climate is right) and they know he’ll be a team player. They may not be thrilled with the idea of nominating him, but he’ll do. And that may be good enough -- especially when you consider how little enthusiasm Pawlenty, who has been running aggressively and trying extremely hard to capitalize on Romney’s healthcare problem, has thus far stirred. Pawlenty may end up being the "good enough" candidate too, but right now he is surviving only on potential.

[PanzerJaeger]

Love it.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Come on PJ, I expected you would be rational enough not to buy into a two minute cheesy ad.

He says he will talk about solutions...herp derp lets hear them bro.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

The GOP canditians are lousy. Good luck trying to beat Obama next year.

[Samurai Waki]

If I was alive to recollect the 1938 Elections, I'd be feeling a very strong sense of deja vu right now.

[Strike For The South]

Love it.

[Ice]

A political operative is far more likely to get stuff done in government than a businessman. Sure, the former might be slimy, but it's not a necessary condition for a professional politician.

Get what done exactly? Many of these political operatives I see don't seem to understand how things work in the real world.

[Samurai Waki]

The thing that seems to be missing from all the contenders so far (Except for perhaps Romney) is Charisma... they all sound like generic GOP Sound bits when an issue is raised. Right now would be an especially good time for a Republican Presidential Contender to stop toeing the same typical party lines. People don't like voting for a leader they perceive as being "an insider" as it implies weakness of character.

[PanzerJaeger]

Come on PJ, I expected you would be rational enough not to buy into a two minute cheesy ad.

He says he will talk about solutions...herp derp lets hear them bro.

Read the thread bro, and the couple of others we've had on the subject. I've been favorable towards T-Paw for months, and long before the video was released. I posted it because Pawlenty officially kicked off his campaign today. I liked the video because it seems to indicate that he will make entitlement reform the centerpiece of his campaign, which, imo, is the single most important issue threatening the long term viability of the nation and one which the current president has not only shown no desire to seriously address, but has made considerably worse.

He also seems to be taking the whole 'truth' theme seriously too. He called for ending ethanol subsidies in Iowa, and is scheduled to speak in front of seniors in Florida about the necessity of making changes to Medicare. Bold moves...

Another thought. The TEA Party has been relentlessly dogged for years now by the usual suspects in the media for supposed racist intentions, despite little solid evidence. Guess who the current TEA Party favorite is?

[a completely inoffensive name]

Read the thread bro, and the couple of others we've had on the subject. I've been favorable towards T-Paw for months, and long before the video was released. I posted it because Pawlenty officially kicked off his campaign today. I liked the video because it seems to indicate that he will make entitlement reform the centerpiece of his campaign, which, imo, is the single most important issue threatening the long term viability of the nation and one which the current president has not only shown no desire to seriously address, but has made considerably worse.

He also seems to be taking the whole 'truth' theme seriously too. He called for ending ethanol subsidies in Iowa, and is scheduled to speak in front of seniors in Florida about the necessity of making changes to Medicare. Bold moves...

Another thought. The TEA Party has been relentlessly dogged for years now by the usual suspects in the media for supposed racist intentions, despite little solid evidence. Guess who the current TEA Party favorite is?

Lol doesn't matter if you have been excited for this dude for months. The video said nothing bro. I am excited about that new zombie game Dead Island but I'm not gonna get all infatuated from the trailers.

PJ, I am not trying to bash Republicans for the sake of bashing Republicans when I say this but... every single republican has been and is going to say that the debt and entitlement programs are the biggest threat to our well being today. They say it for political points, just like when Obama said he was going to close Guantanamo bay. It's pandering. He can talk about ending subsidies here and there and about restructuring and reforming bu until he gives a concrete plan, it is just a talking point. One that is expected of a Republican candidate and one that he will probably break.

The part of about little racist intentions is wrong but we have had that conversation before. I see the bigger meaning (the real meaning) behind the language that the tea party came out with during 2008, 2009 and early 2010 and you reject that there is a bigger meaning behind the word "kenyan".

If we want to be honest about what is threatening the long term viability of the country then let us be realistic here. The US is not a fragile country. The debt will not suddenly reach some unknown poisonous level. Social Security is actually fine until 2033-2045 depending on where you get your numbers, it is only medicare that is really needing a good look over right now because the possibility of it's funds exceeding its costs could happen as soon as 2019.

Our empire right now is too big. Our defense budget could be cut by a fourth and still be paying out more then the vast majority of the rest of world combined when it comes to defense spending. The crisis causing this medicare problem is high medical costs coupled with the wave of baby boomers that will slowly subside sometime over the next 30-35 years.

Let's look at this chart:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped....1909.2003.png

And we can see that the unsustainable reaches of Johnson's Great Society are from an unstable shift in the population birth rate, where the baby boomers created a peak that must be fulfilled by the newer generations that were not born at such high rates. However, the baby boomers will eventually die, thus making this scenario an unfortunate but ultimately temporary problem that will be gone in the long run, no matter how we tackle the situation.

The entitlement program isn't a problem of funding or spending or taxing or anything that Republicans or Democrats want to portray it as. The entitlement problem of the next 30 years is a problem of priorities. Nothing more. If we divert 1/4th of our defense budget to social security, then the social security situation will be solved given we also make some minor tweaks here or there like paying less towards high income individuals who don't even need the SS paycheck.

Medicare will not be solved by the defense budget shift, but that is because the situation with medicare is from a broken health care system in the first place not from any inherent government wastefulness or problem with the structure of medicare itself.
Our health care system is a patchwork of an HMO system that has little to not incentive to provide good coverage, laws that promote a monopoly of a few health insurance companies which accordingly jack up the price and try to kick sick people off coverage since there is little stopping them from doing so and well intentioned but ultimately hurtful laws and regulations that promote wasteful use of hospital resources.

All problems regarding entitlement stem from the health care issue and empire of defense spending, the health care issue is something that Obama has tried to tackle. Ironically, he tackled with Republican policy from the 90s and got chewed out for it, because the Republicans simply didn't care enough about the country to accept their own ideas from 20 years ago (government mandate of insurance).

All other solutions of trying to restructure the government itself is pure political ideology and not pragmatism working. It is thought candy to those small-government minded citizens who never seemed to read too closely to Adams and other pioneers of free market thinking and missed out on the part where their classical liberalism background produced statements supporting the use of government within the economy as long as it ends up serving a role that protects the benefits of a spontaneous economic interaction between individuals (citizen or corporate) without the nasty self destructive side effects that could ultimately lead to removal of such spontaneous interactions (such as natural monopolies forming).

Whoo, that was a long post. Sorry about the rambling there.

[Strike For The South]

I just want to see a debate between Paul, Palin, and Huntsman

The lulz, they would be had

[a completely inoffensive name]

I just want to see a debate between Paul, Palin, and Huntsman

The lulz, they would be had

Need to throw in the Bachmann and you got yourself comedy gold.

[Strike For The South]

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I would, provided she didn't talk. The midwestern accent makes me want to punch kittens

[PanzerJaeger]

Lol doesn't matter if you have been excited for this dude for months. The video said nothing bro. I am excited about that new zombie game Dead Island but I'm not gonna get all infatuated from the trailers.

'All infatuated'? Are you serious? I guess I should have said 'I'm generally in agreement with the theme of this video but I do not have an irrational passion for it' to avoid any confusion. There's literalism and then there's just trolling.

I'm also not sure why you would expect a 3 minute campaign rollout video to include detailed policy proposals, which are pretty easy to find.

The part of about little racist intentions is wrong but we have had that conversation before. I see the bigger meaning (the real meaning) behind the language that the tea party came out with during 2008, 2009 and early 2010 and you reject that there is a bigger meaning behind the word "kenyan".

I don't even know what any of this means.

As to the rest of your post, if I wanted to put my head in the sand and pretend like 107 trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities will pay for themselves, I'd be spending my time at Kos. I don't.

[Strike For The South]

Bros, let's stop sniping

I'm sure Kos is just a bad habit for ACIN, Hell I still haven't kicked Drudge

[a completely inoffensive name]

'All infatuated'? Are you serious? I guess I should have said 'I'm generally in agreement with the theme of this video but I do not have an irrational passion for it' to avoid any confusion. There's literalism and then there's just trolling.

You said "Love it" in reference to the video and that was it. I guess I interpreted that differently then what you meant. When you put those two words there with nothing else behind it, all I thought when I watched the video was, "Hmmm, why is he loving this? I thought he would want some more substance."

That's my bad. I apologize.

I'm also not sure why you would expect a 3 minute campaign rollout video to include detailed policy proposals, which are pretty easy to find.

I wasn't expecting detailed policy proposals in a 3 minute campaign rollout video, I was just expecting that any video that you would post here would have more meat on the bone, and not be a standard campaign rollout video. I respect you PJ, you got balls, you own and use guns that half I people I know would be too scared to even be in the same room with. Also, you got some brains behind your opinion. More then the average voter. Maybe I just expect too much from people on this forum.

I don't even know what any of this means.

Reference to a thread that is old by internet standards. I will see if I can find a link, but there was a conversation couple months back (maybe back in mid 2010 right before the midterm elections) regarding the TEA party and I made a post talking about some of the racist terms they were using and you chided me for making links between "Birth of a Nation" to a modern political movement like the TEA Party.

As to the rest of your post, if I wanted to put my head in the sand and pretend like 107 trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities will pay for themselves, I'd be spending my time at Kos. I don't.

Well, PJ this is where I hope to differ from your average Kos lurker (never have even been there myself but that is beside the point). What is your argument on the nature of the entitlement crisis and what is the solution you would like to see implemented.

I don't see my view of the situation as left leaning at all. I don't want to see taxes raised to pay for the shortfall and I argued that much of the problem on the medicare/healthcare issue is from too much government protecting insurance companies and implementing systems like the HMO system. My argument actually seems more libertarian to me but maybe I have a distorted view of what the libertarians position is. Enlighten me please.

Also, thank you for the link, I will take the time to read it.

[PanzerJaeger]

You said "Love it" in reference to the video and that was it. I guess I interpreted that differently then what you meant. When you put those two words there with nothing else behind it, all I thought when I watched the video was, "Hmmm, why is he loving this? I thought he would want some more substance."

That's my bad. I apologize.


I wasn't expecting detailed policy proposals in a 3 minute campaign rollout video, I was just expecting that any video that you would post here would have more meat on the bone, and not be a standard campaign rollout video. I respect you PJ, you got balls, you own and use guns that half I people I know would be too scared to even be in the same room with. Also, you got some brains behind your opinion. More then the average voter. Maybe I just expect too much from people on this forum.

Well I appreciate the sentiment, but shooting guns is only scary when people are shooting back.

Unfortunately I haven't had much time to devote to detailed discussions on much of anything lately. I spent some time putting the Gunrunner thread together, but it was promptly DOA.

I just posted the video because it seemed relevant as he jumped in today and it was on Google news and the message was somewhat refreshing. It doesn't get any deeper than that.

Reference to a thread that is old by internet standards. I will see if I can find a link, but there was a conversation couple months back (maybe back in mid 2010 right before the midterm elections) regarding the TEA party and I made a post talking about some of the racist terms they were using and you chided me for making links between "Birth of a Nation" to a modern political movement like the TEA Party.

Oh ok. It just seems funny to me that some of the most strident TEA Party backed candidates are black. Allen West is from an ultra conservative Florida district and Cain has recieved far more support from the far right than any of the (white) establishment candidates out there.

I was at a pigeon shoot over the weekend at a plantation in rural Alabama and was amazed at the enthusiasm Cain received. It was quite surreal to listen on as the entirely white group of well off businessmen whose fathers were most assuredly Wallace voters claim Cain was the only true conservative in the race.

Well, PJ this is where I hope to differ from your average Kos lurker (never have even been there myself but that is beside the point). What is your argument on the nature of the entitlement crisis and what is the solution you would like to see implemented.

My biggest issue with entitlements is that they have moved from actual safety nets to... well... entitlements. A safety net should be a measure of social insurance against the possibility of falling on hard times, not a retirement windfall that sends you to Greece every summer.

Social Security and Medicare taxes should be cut in half, but the benefits should only be made available to people who have a solid work history but enter their final stage of life in poverty. Just like home insurance, if your house never burns down, you never see any of that money back.

If the safety nets only applied to the 40 million Americans in poverty (and catastrophic illnesses that would put a person into poverty) and the government incentivized personal savings throughout a worker's lifetime (plus implemented other simple fixes like interstate insurance purchases, liability reform, pay-for-performance metrics, transferable insurance, etc.), they would be far less cumbersome.

I don't see my view of the situation as left leaning at all. I don't want to see taxes raised to pay for the shortfall and I argued that much of the problem on the medicare/healthcare issue is from too much government protecting insurance companies and implementing systems like the HMO system. My argument actually seems more libertarian to me but maybe I have a distorted view of what the libertarians position is. Enlighten me please.

Also, thank you for the link, I will take the time to read it.

I was referring to the tone of your post, which seemed to minimize the entitlement/debt issues we're facing. Obviously they're not as dire as the far right projects, but they shouldn't be ignored in hopes that they will somehow correct themselves either.