In this thread, we discuss Political Implications of the Capture of Saddam

Originally posted by russellwarshay
I seriously doubt that WMDs will be found. Iraq maintained the capability, but may not have the finished product. Besides, we did not go into Iraq for WMD. We went in for geopolitical realignment in the region.

Finding Usama bin Laden will have nothing to do with Bush's reelection prospects. If bin Laden is found, and we are experiencing 2% growth with 5.5% unemployment, Bush will be a 1 term president. Guaranteed.

I also doubt that hard WMDs will be found. What i believe will be revealed that they did have them at one time and that they were shuttled to Syria.

And i do think that UBL being found will give Bush more momentum going into the election.

Like you've said though, "It's the economy, stupid".

Kitso
KS 361

[The1calledTKE]

Originally posted by russellwarshay
No, any one who choses to ignore 3/4 century of metrics in favor of diatribe is indeed uneducated.

Well I pretty much agreed with you earlier that if Bush met those metrics he would be relected unless he did something to piss the people off but you got all offened someone didn't 100% agree with you so they are uneducated. So if someone from any party disagreed with what the great Russell formulated then they are uneducated? Even if the roles were reversed and let say Bush was a Democrat?

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by The1calledTKE
Well I pretty much agreed with you earlier that if Bush met those metrics he would be relected unless he did something to piss the people off but you got all offened someone didn't 100% agree with you so they are uneducated. So if someone from any party disagreed with what the great Russell formulated then they are uneducated? Even if the roles were reversed and let say Bush was a Democrat?

I didn't formulate the correlation between macroeconomic performance and presidential elections. And yes, it applies to the reverse political situation as well.

The only time this did not bear out was in 2000 because Al Gore (what an idiot) distanced himself from Bill Clinton, and forfeited his association with the state of the economy.

[The1calledTKE]

The only reason I never 100% agree with anything because of chance and hope. I agree the economy is the factor just like it was in Clinton's upset of Bush. If having hope and believeing in against the odds chances is uneducated, so be it.

[enlightenment06]

Hopefully, people will open their eyes and not see this event as a reason to vote for Bush

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by russellwarshay
No, any one who choses to ignore 3/4 century of metrics in favor of diatribe is indeed uneducated.

And most of the voters in the United States have a high school diploma or less.

The economy is the most important issue we face right now in my opinion -- but there are a miriad of things that can happen to affect the election in the next year.

A lot of folks, unfortunately, vote one way or the other because of some word that they may or may not understand -- like Republican or Democrat -- no matter who the candidate is.

To assign ANY single issue or outcome as the absolute reason that any given person or party will win an election is, again in my opinion, misguided.

[AchtungBaby80]

Originally posted by enlightenment06
Hopefully, people will open their eyes and not see this event as a reason to vote for Bush

THANK YOU!

[Kevin]

Originally posted by enlightenment06
Hopefully, people will open their eyes and not see this event as a reason to vote for Bush

That comment standing alone seems just bitter and with all due respect.. pointless (as in, what was the point of that comment?).

What are the people opening their eyes to?

1. Our foriegn policy is doing just fine?
2. Our economy is improving after it declined at the tail end of the Clinton presidency?

What vast right wing conspiracy is there to open our eyes to?

[Rudey]

Well a lot of Arabs are sad that Saddam was caught.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/14/in...D-ARAB.html?hp

Perhaps the leaders of these countries should stop worrying about Iraqi self-rule and about the power of their own citizens.

-Rudey
--Caught in a hole like a dirty rat.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by Rudey

--Caught in a hole like a dirty rat.

I loved the quote from one of ABC TV's reporters which alluded to not only the place of capture, but the famous deck of cards:

He called Saddam, "An Ace in the hole."

[enlightenment06]

Originally posted by ktsnake
That comment standing alone seems just bitter and with all due respect.. pointless (as in, what was the point of that comment?).

What are the people opening their eyes to?

1. Our foriegn policy is doing just fine?
2. Our economy is improving after it declined at the tail end of the Clinton presidency?

What vast right wing conspiracy is there to open our eyes to?

1. Our foreign policy is horrible. Every other country hates us with a passion (even Britain). Bush has alienated everyone.
2. Millions and millions of people still have no jobs and are getting laid off.

As far as the conspiracy check out http://www.newamericancentury.org. Plans for the United States to achieve complete global domination, which, in my opinion, is wrong. Power breeds corruption. All empires must fall.

[GeekyPenguin]

In case anyone was wondering, Howard Dean has NOT yet won the Democratic nomination, nor will the party platform be based off of his ideals.

Just a friendly reminder from Babs the Fembot.

[enlightenment06]

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
In case anyone was wondering, Howard Dean has NOT yet won the Democratic nomination, nor will the party platform be based off of his ideals.

Just a friendly reminder from Babs the Fembot.

huh? How did Howard Dean get involved?

[Sistermadly]

Originally posted by enlightenment06
Hopefully, people will open their eyes and not see this event as a reason to vote for Bush

Dream on, brother. I would hope that this would remind people that it was this administration that got us into the unwinnable, unfixable mess in the first place (Saddam's capture notwithstanding - Osama Bin Laden anyone?).

Hopefully people will remember those young men and women who gave their lives in what's shaping up to be the Viet Nam of the 21st century.

[Kevin]

Originally posted by enlightenment06
1. Our foreign policy is horrible. Every other country hates us with a passion (even Britain). Bush has alienated everyone.
2. Millions and millions of people still have no jobs and are getting laid off.

As far as the conspiracy check out http://www.newamericancentury.org. Plans for the United States to achieve complete global domination, which, in my opinion, is wrong. Power breeds corruption. All empires must fall.

Reading it, it talks about democracy achieving global domination. The United States being a force for freedom and prosperity for everyone in the world. I guess global domination would be one way of looking at it.

Stating that our foriegn policy is "horrible" and that every other country hates us is silly. It's simply not true. The US is viewed as a powerful country in the world and for many is their only hope of getting out of desperate situations. The UN currently is a failure. It was given every opportunity to stand by its own resolutions. It allowed Iraq to ignore 17 separate resolutions with little more than a slap on the wrist. The most irresponsible thing for the US to do in this situation would be to not use its power for the betterment of the world.

As far as the economy.. yes.. millions are out of a job. The only way the government can directly influence that situation would be to create more government jobs. Fortunately, they're not pursuing that course of action. We've created a better situation for businesses here in the US to stimulate the economy and job growth. The DOW seems to be trending upwards. This tends to be an indicator that precedes (and is followed) by unemployment numbers.

In the past 3 years, I don't care who the president was or his politics. The economy was trending downwards after Clinton's presidency. 9/11 didn't help it much. To be shooting upward like we are in such a short time is actually pretty impressive.