I like what Jon Stewart said on the Daily Show last night, something along the lines of, Both candidates would roast their grandmother over Kennedy's eternal flame and feed the meat to Jesus to get elected. Although rather crude, I couldn't stop laughing!

Also, you poli-sci majors will be able to correct me on this probably, but haven't we had one 3rd party president, Teddy Roosevelt? Also, of course, Washington didn't have a party affiliation, I don't think.

------------------
Steve Corbin
Lambda Chi Alpha
Theta Kappa Chapter
Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech.

Corbin,

John Daily is probably right!

Yes, I can't remember what president changed the election process. It used to be there were no parties. . . who was it that formed a party? Goodness, I can't remember, but I do know that the president it began with didn't really want to start a party, it was his supporters that did.

Somewhat correct. Teddy Roosevelt was a Republican when he assumed the presidency upon the death of president McKinley. He made a public statement that he would only seek two terms in office. he later regretted this statement. he was a Republican president both terms, but after he left office, decided to run in 1912 on the Republican ticket. the nomination went to someone else, so he formed his own party, the Bull-Moose Party (a progressive/grange type party; populist-based) and effectively split the republican vote and getting Woodrow Wilson elected as the Democrat.

Washington was not affilliated with a party, however there were factions at the time, to which the other founding fathers belonged to, namely the federalists, and those opposed to the federalists (states rights), which then became the Whigs and Democrat-Republicans (one party), the Democrats emerged, and the republicans emerged onto the national scene about 1856 or so.

I tried to be brief. It's not exact, but close. Feel free to correct me if I am in error on dates or anything.

Mikki,
Dead on...a two-party system keeps the "extreme" stances of either party in check...hence the moderate presidents that we have had since Reagan.

My view on the military (being slightly biased as I am a veteran myself):

If you want peace, prepare for war. That's the only way to keep the foreign "despots" (Saddam/Khadafi/binLaden) from taking more extreme actions against the United States.

My other favorite military quote: Peace through firepower.

Well, I looked it up last nigth. It was Hamilton and Jefferson. With that election came the begining of the party system. Federalists and Republican. Before them (only 2 presidents) there was no party system.

If Bush doesnt win its only because the Demos steal it from him with the Courts permission. All the fuss by Gore is just more whiney-baby demo stuff. The liberals talk about fairness, but they dont know how to live it when its not in their favor.

Exactly, how many recounts will it take to get the result they want. They are just being poor losers and should have stuck with the first count. How can they possibly have an accurate count now, or how can you validate the truthfulness of the florida votes in question. I think its a conspiracy. They have definitely learned from slick willy.

I wanted to stay out of this but...
My opinion is this. What Republicans have shown me as an African American, Woman, taxpayer, student, is that they DON't care.
About:
Affirmitave Action
Children
Homelessness
Health care
senior citizens
Public Schools
Race relations
Gun control
freedom of choice re:reproductive rights,
the condition of the earth,
people who are not of European heritage,
do I need to go on?
I live in California. Pete Wilson(past governor) put more money into jails than schools. What kind of sense does that make? Educate all of our children so they can make wise decesions and not end up in the penal system! Our public schools are falling apart, literally. Old books, depleting buildings, not enough qualified teachers,low pay for teachers, overcrowded classrooms, lead poisoning in plumbing fixtures, low test scores..the list goes on.

Remember when Ronald Regan closed those state and federal funded mental care hospitals? Put a lot of people on the street and in some cases, stopped or limited treatment and/or medication? My family has to constantly fight to get the state to give my brother the basic medical treatment he needs. He is mentally disabled and a parinoid schizophrenia.
Am I angry? Damn right I am.

And as far as reproductive rights are concerned, that is a DECISION that is left up to that INDIVIDUAL. Years ago, I was raped.I became pregnant. Where was the government (Bush) when I was going through all the anguish and dispair and roller coaster of emotions? It was a decision I and I alone had to make. Yes, I had an abortion. All by myself. It was the BEST decision and CHOICE for ME. I don't make choices for other women, only myself. All I'm saying is have all safe options avalible.

I'm not even going to get into Bush Sr. or Nixon.

So, if it takes recounting ballots, then fine, do it. If that makes me a "poor loser" then call me that but I think I have good reasons. It's too personal for me.

There, I'm done. I'll get off my box.

ps.
I'm not apologizing for any of my views nor do I expect anyone else to.


X marks the spot

X girl

[This message has been edited by theXgirl (edited November 18, 2000).]

now there's a strong, opinionated woman for you... way to go X girl

in 1828, is the elction you are looking for, wher the "era of good feelings" ended, i can't remember the candidates I think it was Van Buren, andrew jackson, and someone else. Jackson won, establishing what is now the Republican party as a main party but at the time, was a third party. At least as much as I remember AP US history.

X girl,

I'm sorry I brought you into this, but I'm just saying what I feel about the current situation. I'm not apologizing for my views, nor do I expect you to either. I respect that you have your own opinion and your reasons. I do disagree that Bush doesnt care about children. I understand you have your reasons, but I feel that he is would be a great role model to the children of this country. At least he will bring more integrity to the office than the Bill C. Administration. He is a family man and he is human. I just feel that Bush is more of a modest man than Gore. I dont really see how Bush is bad for our country in terms of race relations. I believe he would bring some great vision, reform and growth to the education system in our country too. Despite what Al Gore and his party thinks. I want to add that my dads family is from Northern California and that I lived there for a brief time after I finished school. I voted for Dan Lungren. Unfortunately he lost, but I do agree that California has some real problems. I suppose every state does. However, I dont think that they should necessarily spend less money, but I do think they need to make major reforms in that area. They do need to spend more money on Education and Rehabilitation. Although there are always going to be people that pose a safety risk to the community that can not be reformed. Whether it be rehabilitation or incarceration. I am speaking from experience(correctional officer and psych counselor) both in Ca. and in Va. I resent your comparison between Bush Jr. and Nixon. Again, I want to say that I do respect you have your own opinions.




[This message has been edited by kmullini (edited November 18, 2000).]

As many as it takes to get Gore elected - which has been the point all along. I know the LAW mandates the recount, but the LAW also mandated that 5pm Tuesday was the deadline. All we've heard since is suit after suit to keep the counting going. At the beginning of all this a lot of Gore supporters were saying it was a conspiracy set up by Jeb Bush...if anything, the recount has been a conspiracy by the democrats. They want to keep counting until they can change enough votes to say Gore is the winner. If the law clearly stated the recounts were due at 5pm Tuesday, then they should have been in. Our paper headlined a bunch of people holding up "Sore/Loserman 2000" signs - it was pretty funny, but sad none-the-less because of what it represents.

kmullini-
Bush, a former drug user and alcoholic, is a better role model for children? http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/confused.gif

I, for one, am ready to find out who the president is going to be. From what I've heard from the media, whoever is elected is not going to be able to do much in office. At this point they are going to just have to lay low and do minimal work. Not make any sudden changes and basically keep the country as it's going now. If that's true, it doesn't really matter who's president.

I want to touch base about this electorial college thing again. First, my opinion is, it should be done away with. Living in a rural state (west virginia) I hear so many people complain about doing away with it "if they do away with the electoral college--then we will never see another presidential candidtate in this state." That's a good argument. BUT--all of you worried about this, I don't know about the statistics in YOUR state, but in mine I do. This was a close presidential election--obviously--so each candidate made a visit to WV 3 times. I think that's a record. Anyway, the only reason they came here was because they KNEW it was going to be tight. Last presidential candidate to visit WV before this election? John F. Kennedy!!!!! It's not like presidential candidates vist our state ANYWAY so it doesn't MATTER if they don't come here, it's not like all that many did in the first place!

Ok, on ANOTHER note, I have more info on the presidents elected in a year ending in 0. It's called 'the X factor'. Tucumpsa (indian--I don't remember how to spell) put a curse on the presidential election process--so to say. Any president elected in a year ending in 0 will die in office. After looking through one of Bryan's many history books, we found that every president elected in a year ending in 0 HAS died in office--except Reagan--and an attempt was made. So again, maybe we should have been electing a Vice President instead of a President! I thought I'd just add a bit more info for those of you wondering.

Thanks Iowa http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif