Democratic Debates

[Tony]

Did everyone get to see the debates last night? What did you think of Kucinich? I thought he was superb. It's a powerful indictment of us as a country that his campaign is not taken seriously.
Thoughts? Impressions?
Tred

[Dardedar]

DAR
I didn't catch it.

[Betsy]

I did see it, and I agree that Kucinich did a fine job.

All the talk was about Hillary and how she recovered from fumbling a little last time -- she did do a really good job, too. Her best line (and probably the best line of the whole debate) was: "They're not attacking me because I'm a woman; they're attacking me because I'm ahead."

Really, we have a pool of great contenders in the Democratic race this time, which is so wonderful.

[John Galt]

I listened to the debate on the radio. Kucinich is a sad, sorry case- what a complete fool. This guy would be in homeless shelter if he was not in congress.

You could turn off the debate- and say "They're a liar" turn it on again and sure enough- the candidate would be spinning a falsehood.

The Republicans would not be much better, all politicians (especially if they're named Clinton) are liars. At least most of the Republicans have a clue- the current democrat crop have virtually no real world experience.

They make government provided healthcare sound so good. It's sad that people long for socialism. (usually people that already pay virtually no income tax)

[Dardedar]

What did you think of Kucinich? I thought he was superb. It's a powerful indictment of us as a country that his campaign is not taken seriously.

DAR
It shows that the country has a dangerous level of childish rightwing nutbars who can't think straight. That's the hand we have been dealt. It's what we have to work with and we have to make the best of it. Long term trends our in our favor. America, as with Europe decades ago, is growing more secular. Homophobes are increasingly seen as the laughable ignorant bigots they are. US health care is such a bloated disaster something sensible along the lines of what grown up countries do is going to have to be done.

Take a little heart in the following. Something I posted in July:

***
Quote:

"This is about what you’d expect, but Democracy Corps has released yet another survey demonstrating that the Republican Party is losing young people in droves. Among 18-29 year olds, 50% have a favorable view of the Democratic Party compared to only 35% for the Republican Party. There are plenty of reasons for this, but basically they hate George Bush, they hate the Iraq war, and they hate religious conservatives.

The good news, of course, is that people are brand loyal. Once they make up their minds in their twenties which party they like better, they generally stick with it for the rest of their lives. So the Republican Party’s deal with the devil to embrace the Christian Right might have helped them out for a while, but in the long term it’s a disaster."


In 1984, Reagan won 59% of the youth vote. Four years later, H.W. Bush won 52% of voters in this age group. It’s been downhill for the GOP ever since, and now only 25% of 17- to 29-year-old voters identify themselves as Republican.

LINK

D.

[Betsy]

I was just wondering if Mr. Galt would like to back up his claim that the current crop of Democratic candidates "have no real world experience". And if possible, compare their experience to the Republican crop and see which ones actually fare better in the "having a clue" department....

[Dardedar]

DAR
Bush's real world experience. Looks pretty presidential eh?

***
COLLEGE: Graduated from Yale University with a low C average. Was a cheerleader.

MILITARY:
Joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. Refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.

CRIMINAL HISTORY
Was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the influence of alcohol. Pled guilty, paid a fine, and had driver's license suspended for 30 days. Texas driving record has been "lost" and is not available.

* Ran for congress and lost.

* Produced a Hollywood slasher B movie.

* Bought an oil company, but couldn’t find any oil in Texas, company went bankrupt shortly after he sold all his stock.

* Bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using tax-payer money. Biggest move: Traded Sammy Sosa to the Chicago White Sox .

* With fathers help (and his name) was elected Governor of Texas.
Accomplishments- Changed pollution laws for power and oil companies and made Texas the most polluted state in the Union. Replaced Los Angeles with Houston as the most smog ridden city in America. Cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas government to the tune of billions in borrowed money. Set record for most executions by any Governor in American history.

[Doug]

* Bought an oil company, but couldn’t find any oil in Texas, company went bankrupt shortly after he sold all his stock.

DOUG
And don't forget: the Bin Laden family--yes, Osama Bin Laden's family-- was a partner in the business. The Bin Laden family and the Bush family are longtime business partners.

Now, all of a sudden, the fact that GW can't find Osama Bin Laden, and the fact that he made sure the Bin Laden relatives were rushed out of the U.S. at government expense without being carefully interrogated, all makes a lot more sense.

[Savonarola]

MILITARY:
Joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. Refused to take a drug test or answer any questions about drug use. By joining the Texas Air National Guard, was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam.

By joining the Texas Air National Guard, he was able to avoid duty, period.

[Barbara Fitzpatrick]

Don't forget W applied for UT Law School and was told to get lost.

Kucinich handled himself well, considering the questions he was asked. Wish he had a chance, but he doesn't.

As to Hillary, the Rs have been after her since she basically wrote the articles of impeachment against Nixon. The fact that she's still here and still fighting makes me think she may win the election, even with the Left Wing as well as Right Wing Hillary Haters out there. Hillary is still a Goldwater Girl when it comes to security/military issues. That's why she's voted the way she has. In the current situation, this is not good, since the "experts" she is believing were all hand-picked by W. As president, should she make it, it won't be a problem, since she will have chosen the experts. (And will prevent problems like Kennedy's Bay of Pigs problem, where he followed a "they'll greet us with flowers" scenario from Eisenhower's people about a Castro overthrow and then looked "weak" when he saw they WEREN'T greeting us with flowers and pulled out.) Her votes anything to do with children (which is just about everything domestic) are aces on solid and always have been from the time she went to work for the Children's Defense Fund while she was in law school. R treatment of kids is why she changed parties.

That said, she's still my 3rd choice (Kucinich if he could win, Edwards, then Hillary) - but I will work hard for her, should she get the nomination.