The 2008 presidential field at-a-glance

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by scbelle

Is it right that Hillary is the only candidate on the Michigan ballot for the Democratic primary? I feel sorry for y'all! But at least you get to decide which primary to vote in... in SC, you must be a registered Republican or Democrat and then you are only allowed to vote in your party's primary. Sux.

Well, the democrats aren't counting the Michigan primary at all.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by AGDee

So, I have one week to decide what to do about this primary situation in Michigan. These are my options, as I see them:

1) Vote in the Democratic Primary for "uncommitted" since neither of my preferred candidates are on the ballot.

2) Vote in the Republican Primary for the candidate I could most tolerate as President.

3) Vote in the Republican Primary for the candidate that I think can't beat any of the Democrats to just skew it for them.

4) Don't vote at all.

I wouldn't really do 3 or 4, but the ideas cross my mind. So, it's 1 or 2. One week to decide... hmmm.

3 seems like it would be really hard to pull off effectively. I mean, you could obviously vote for one of the bottom vote getters in the earlier primaries, but then there's little danger that candidate would end up in the general anyway.

In the same situation, I'd probably go with option 4 but option 2 is probably the better choice as far as being a good citizen. You'd be using the political power you actually have to try to ensure better government.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1d4_1199722032&p=1

But then there are these guys...

Some of Paul's most vocal supporters (I don't mean you, SWTXBelle!) hurt his cause so much that I wonder if they could possibly really support him. Surely you couldn't be that committed to campaigning and also that clueless about the effect you were going to have on other voters.

(How could we regard the Paul signs going by the windows in the back of the stupid audience forum on Fox as anything other than ridiculous?)

I suppose one of the downsides to being a party about unfettered personal liberty is that you can't then spend your campaign micromanaging your supporters, alas.

[SWTXBelle]

Drole, I just have a yard sign and a bumper sticker. Have yet to feel the need to chase anyone - but I reserve the right to change my mind!

And I think there is some frustration about him not being taken seriously by the mainstream media - not that that should be an excuse for stupid behavior.

[PsychTau2]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

I will vote for Fred in the Georgia primary, but I'm really hoping that Huckabee does something to make the evangelicals mad before Feb. 5th.

(or some skeleton in his closet is exposed. I'm not saying there is one, but I find him insincere and wouldn't be surprised to find some hypocrisy in his past. I mean, to some degree, we've all got them, but not everyone runs hyping Jesus. I want anything that might come out to come out while Fred can still pick up votes in the South.)

DISCLAIMER: I was born and raised in Arkansas, and moved out of state in 2004.
I'm sure something will come out. Do you ever wonder how/why, with American politics being quite corrupt, underhanded, and scheming...why does Huckabee say that he was "called by God" to get into politics? Seems like a juxtaposition in there somewhere...

I like this quote from his website:
Under Huckabee’s direction, Arkansas has been recognized as having created one of the nation’s best school accountability programs. Huckabee pushed through reforms in Arkansas that have significantly increased the number of charter schools and established new approaches to workforce education.

So, lets talk about this for a second. Yep, there are more charter schools in Arkansas, but it's not obvious about how they've changed AR education overall. They aren't that big from what I understand. I do know that in AR school districts, if a child fails the requirements to pass a grade, the parents can override that and allow the child to be promoted. My sister, who is an elementary school teacher, had a child who could not even SPELL OR WRITE his name, and he was promoted to the next grade because his parents didn't want him to be stigmatized by being held back. I have other personal examples of parents who don't want their child to be in special education, so they are placed in regular classes. Someone who reads on a 3rd grade reading level got an A in high school journalism. How in the hell does that happen? Well, it's easier just to pass students along...less hassle from parents, less paperwork. Huckabee worked on a state law (this may be a federal law though, I'm not positive) that states that teacher salaries are directly related to their students' performance on standardized tests. We all know how unmotivated students can be to perform on those tests. So, a teacher's salary is somewhat out of her control. Not to mention how a teacher can get a classroom full of students who didn't learn anything in the second grade, so is there any hope for them to perform well on the third grade standardized test (for example)? And students aren't randomly assigned to the teachers...if you have pissed off the school principal, you get all of the "known bad kids" in your class, which puts you at a disadvantage. Teachers will teach the students answers to test questions, encourage the low performers to not come to school on test days, or will change test answers.

I don't know how any of that increases school accountability.

As Huckabee was leaving the Governor's office, he used the last bit of money in the "Governors Emergency Fund" (whatever that is) to destroy all of the computer hard drives and electronic storage that he and his staff members used. No good reason from him, other than "It is within the rights of the Governor to do so." Makes you wonder what was really on those hard drives.
He says on his website: "My faith is my life - it defines me. My faith doesn't influence my decisions, it drives them. For example, when it comes to the environment, I believe in being a good steward of the earth. I don't separate my faith from my personal and professional lives. What part of his faith directed him to do that? (story about the drives here: http://www.computerworlduk.com/techn...fm?newsid=1356
An ethics committee determined that he did nothing wrong or against the law, but you have to wonder what was up with that little decision he made.

So yeah, based on a few little things, I'll bet someone will find something. The media seems so in love with Huckabee leading into the primaries, but honestly he's not that impressive to me. He's just not "all that" in my mind.

(and yes, anyone who paid attention in Little Rock when Clinton was governor knew that he had all sorts of little trysts. Monica Lewinsky wasn't surprising, but his stupidity about it was.)

PsychTau

[UGAalum94]

I have mixed feelings about the computer drive thing. On one hand, it seems creepy and like he's hiding something; on the other, even though I don't feel like I have anything to hide really, I'd want to wipe anything off a computer that I had used before it went to another user. And if I served in a leadership capacity and everything my subordinates did could also reflect on me, I'd want to clear theirs even more since I'd have no idea what they had posted on GC, er, I mean used them for.

About the educational reform, there's a big difference between governors doing it and the federal government doing it. And as much as everyone is angry about NCLB, I think it's been good for a lot of students in terms of getting greater numbers to a basic level of proficiency, particular in the sub groups that used to get less attention. It just wasn't something that a conservative should have used the federal government to do.

[FSUZeta]

fox just announced that mccain has won the n.h. primary

[FSUZeta]

have any of you tried the candidate calculator? they were talking about it on tv so i googled "candidate calculator" and several sites came up. i could not open the first listing, so went to the 2nd one listed-it did not work properly-it got all my answers wrong when i compared my answers to the candidate it was telling me i most nearly matched in philosophy. if you use any of these, be sure to closely check the answers they are listing as your own.

[UGAalum94]

Does it seem to anyone else that TV channels calling the race with about 15% of the vote counted should have gone out with the 2000 presidential election?

Seriously, why not continue to post the updates and have the talking heads but not call it until it's all actually counted?

(If anything calling the race encourages people to watch something else.)

I'm happy about McCain and Romney results so far, but even though I knew he hadn't campaigned in the state, I was still dreaming that Thompson would statistically show up. Oh, well. If someone will get on that Huckabee scandal for me, I look forward to South Carolina.

I kind of think it's fun that in three states (Iowa, Wyoming, and NH) we're getting three different winners. Wouldn't it be great to take it to four with Fred winning SC? (yeah, I know it's pretty delusional, but it's a happy thought for me.)

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

Drole, I just have a yard sign and a bumper sticker. Have yet to feel the need to chase anyone - but I reserve the right to change my mind!

And I think there is some frustration about him not being taken seriously by the mainstream media - not that that should be an excuse for stupid behavior.

I understand their frustration to some extent. But the idea that it's some vast conspiracy (something I've seen suggested repeatedly)... not so much. I don't see crazy as much as annoying, online particularly. Some of RP's ideas, now those are a bit out there.

You sure I didn't see you in that video?

[SWTXBelle]

HA! It'd be great to get out of the house, but alas no.

[nittanyalum]

Wow! Now it's McCain and Clinton winning in N.H. Interesting!!!

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by PsychTau2

I like this quote from his website:
Under Huckabee’s direction, Arkansas has been recognized as having created one of the nation’s best school accountability programs. Huckabee pushed through reforms in Arkansas that have significantly increased the number of charter schools and established new approaches to workforce education.

Interesting about the charter schools. In Washington, we've voted down charter schools a couple of times now...Huckabee's bragging about that would actually bring him harm here, not kudos.

[LeslieAGD]

Does anyone else think Mitt Romney seems like a tool? IMO, he comes off looking like a jerk in every interview or debate.

[Tom Earp]

Well, the trees shook and look at the leafs that fell out here!

Amazing how some are invited to debates and who are not?

A female customer was unhappy as she stated, "how is going to look when and if we get a President whose name is Barak Heussain Obaman a early on Musilum?"

Hillary wept and swept by a slim margerine in N H!

Mitt, the money candidate is a tool, a screw driver and what do you do with that tool, screw! People maybe.

New ball game now folks!