The 2008 US Presidential Race Thread - let's not screw it up this time

[Eientei]

Every four years, US presidential candidates from one or both parties go to Iowa to try to win over constituents for the all-important first official vote of the election season.  Yes, a largely rural state with a population of just about three million (with less than ten percent of the population actually turning out to vote) gets to have a huge say in the next president of the nation.  That makes sense, right?

So if you have any opinions about the candidates or predictions for the outcome of tomorrow's votes, feel free to post them here.  I'm hoping Obama makes a strong showing on the Democratic side, and that Romney doesn't on the Republican side (not because he's Mormon, I just disagree with pretty much everything he says and almost every vote he's made.)

[Allama]

Clinton - For the love of all that is just and holy, she should drop out of the race immediately and give a decent candidate a better chance.  We need no war-hawks-in-disguise in the White House to kowtow to corporate interests even more than the others are likely to do.  I won't even get into her other dubious qualities, as I'll probably get too upset to continue to function.

Dodd - Marry me!    Not likely to get many votes in the primaries, but certainly the best choice as far as competency, reliability, and morals are concerned.  If he gets any degree of support in Iowa I will be as pleasantly surprised as humanly possible.

Edwards - I'm more-or-less ambivalent towards Edwards.  He'd be fine, I suppose, but not thrilling in any degree.

Kucinich - The most likely "second-tier" candidate to garner sufficient support and one I would be happy to endorse personally.  Kucinich is a man of principle and one who would not bow down to the Republicans in any way I can forsee.

Obama - At this point, probably the Dems' best hope.  I'm not 100% behind him on everything and he's not as progressive as I would like, but he has a fresh vision of optimism and a desire for positive change, not to mention the public support that would be necessary to win the election (albeit much more would have to be thrown in between now and November).

[Zimmerwald]

I've come to the conclusion that whoever the Democrats' nominate, that person will win unless he or she hires Bob Shrum.  That man is a fungus to any campaign.

[Meridianland]

I'm voting for Annex.

[Allama]

Bwahahaha!  Last night's Iowa caucus results are in!

Barack Obama - 37.6%
John Edwards - 29.7%
Hillary Clinton - 29.5%
Bill Richardson - 2.1%

In the immortal words of that random flight attendant in Snakes On A Plane, "Who's your daddy now, bitch?"  Oh, and here's a couple graphs so you can the breakdown of both primary parties' primaries (say that ten times fast):


(Giuliani = SERVED)

[Delfos]

wow, I wouldn't expect Hilary being so matched or even down from the 2nd.

[Allama]

I'm not quite sure how much I "expected" it, but I sure did hope.    This much of a lead by Obama is even more than I had hoped for, though, so I'm extraordinarily pleased!

[Delfos]

hm, interesting...

[Anniane]

I'm waiting for the rest of the primaries. I don't like to believe the Iowa caucus as much of a predictor. Still, it's pleasantly surprising to see Clinton get so little support in Iowa, and even more wonderful to have Giuliani get so little support.

Huckabee's success is clearly due to the endorsement of Chuck Norris. Hopefully Norris will be Huckabee's running mate if he wins.

[Myroria]

Hahhaha, even Ron Paul beat Guiliani. I'd expect he'd get last because he doesn't live, breathe, and eat the Bible.

And I thought that was Chuck Norris on the BBC today. Though even the nomination of Chuck wouldn't distract me that I'd probably have my citizenship revoked for being atheist.

Oh, and I don't know if anyone else saw this on Youtube, but here's the Political Video Title of the Century:

"Time to Ask that Question: Will Bush Cancel the 2008 Election?"

Because, you know, he can just cancel it.

If it's Obama vs. Huckabee in the election - which I hope it's not - I'm actually rooting Democrat.

[Eientei]

I'm happy about the results, but it should be interesting to see whether they carry over to New Hampshire on Tuesday.  Obama is in a strong position, which I'm happy about.  Let's hope he keeps that position!

As for Huckabee, he's going to have a much harder time in New Hampshire, as everyone's said - there aren't too many evangelical Christians up there to boost his numbers.

[Gulliver]

From what I've seen of polls, Clinton and McCain are presently ahead in NH.

[The Empire]

If Huckabee wins, I belive the world is screwed big time... It's too much as it is with the heretic jihadists (heretic to their own religion) And then a 'christian' heretic gaining access to enough nukes to incinerate us all is just too scary to imagine. I wouldn't put it beyond him to start WW3 with a 'crusade' against Iran.

[Delfos]

Norris standing there was disgusting, why don't Republicans pay Raul Castro to come in the back too?

[Gulliver]

I'm not so sure Huckabee would start a global thermonuclear war. Rather, I'm concerned about his social conservatism and his wacky fiscal policy. A 23% federal sales tax in place of income tax would be horrifically regressive, and the tax refunds to poor families he proposes to remedy this problem would require a monstrous bureaucracy.