News of the Day

[RSchmitz]

Originally Posted by Donnie D

Sarah Palin says she could defeat President Barack Obama if she seeks the White House in 2012.

In an excerpt of an ABC News interview released Wednesday, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee says she's considering a presidential run. When asked directly if she thought she could defeat Obama, the former Alaska governor replied, "I believe so."

Sadly, I think she may be right. We were willing to elect a guy who ran a health care business who defrauded the federal government as our governor, so why not a bubble head as president?

I really really really hope she runs and wins the Republican primary. As much as I hate even the slightest prospect of her becoming president, I think that would pretty much seal up Obama's second term much the same way Christine O'donnell cost the Republicans the senate as soon as she won their primary.

[Donnie D]

I'm afraid that I lost all faith in the American voters to make quality decisions this past election. It's one thing to disagree with who they elect because you don't agree with the positions of the candidate (George W.) but it's another thing to have them elect an individual running a company that was involved in fraud.

[Hoek]

He only won by a percentage point and didn't even win half of the vote. Not exactly a ringing endorsement by the voters.

[Donnie D]

Originally Posted by Hoek

He only won by a percentage point and didn't even win half of the vote. Not exactly a ringing endorsement by the voters.

I can't help but notice that the legislature was planning to move the auditors from the executive branch to the cabinet and he convinced them to keep them under his control.

Gotta watch them auditors.

Why we allowed the change of the election process that allowed a person to be declared a winner without 50% plus 1 votes is beyond me. This is something that needs to be changed.

[the_narrow_way]

Originally Posted by WaiverWire

Why we allowed the change of the election process that allowed a person to be declared a winner without 50% plus 1 votes is beyond me. This is something that needs to be changed.

Some races would never be decided if 50%+1 was required.

[Hoek]

Originally Posted by Donnie D

I can't help but notice that the legislature was planning to move the auditors from the executive branch to the cabinet and he convinced them to keep them under his control.

Gotta watch them auditors.

He just needs to make sure they don't "get to work."

Originally Posted by the_narrow_way

Some races would never be decided if 50%+1 was required.

No, you go with what you used to do.....a run off of the top two.

[pete]

Palin's absolutely unelectable, and the GOP leadership knows it. They'll torpedo her candidacy and Huckabee and Gingrich will end up not running, I think. Under normal circumstances, I'd say Romney would be next in line. Republicans don't fall in love, they fall in line. And, they're big on selecting the next guy in line no matter how boring and flawed a candidate they are, which is why Dole made it through in 1996 and McCain in 2008. So, if the Democrats and Obama stabilize their numbers over the next year, and I suspect they will, I expect a conventional choice like Romney from the Republicans and Romney will lose. However, if blood is still in the water, they might go for it and choose someone else like Thune, in which case it'd be a pretty tough race.

I also have a problem with elections not being a 50%+1 scenario. To me, the simplest and most cost-effective solution to that is to have instant runoff voting, though, where voters get to log their second and third choices. The biggest selling point for a system like that, in my mind, is that it would have averted the abject disaster of the Bush presidency, because Nader voters would've listed Gore as their second choice and he'd have won walking in Florida, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about how much better off the country would be if Gore had been in office and not Bush.

[Flycoon]

Originally Posted by pete

I expect a conventional choice like Romney

Also unelectable. After an exotic, Kenyan, secret Muslim, a Mormon would be almost as vilified. Most people have little idea as to what Mormons are and would be quite surprised. But their history of racism and gay hating would play well with many.