I'm wary of Obama and Romney for promising radical change. I don't want radical change, I want pragmatic change. McCain and Clinton are the more pragmatic ones, at least so far.
Hillary Clinton is a lot more high-profile than John McCain or Barack Obama. I think there are a lot more Americans who know who know the name Hillary Clinton than there are Americans who know the name John McCain or Barack Obama. As for Romney and Huckabee, I imagine that a sizable percentage of America has no idea who those people are (I myself had never heard of either of them until a week or two ago). Also, Senator Clinton's negative reputation is pretty widespread (especially because of how well-known she is). Think of all the negative things you've heard about Senator Clinton -- all the jokes about her -- everything. McCain and Obama aren't even close to Clinton when it comes to people having a negative image of them. I have yet to hear anybody taking personal knocks on McCain or Obama like I've heard plenty of people do with Hillary Clinton. But yes, as McCain and Obama become more-and-more known to America, it will be interesting to see what negative things about them stick. I don't think Obama's lack of experience is going to matter to the average American. If I was in charge of making him look bad, I'd try to paint him as some crazy left-wing liberal. As for McCain, it will be interesting to see how big of a deal the issue of his age becomes, like it was for Bob Dole in 1996. I can see it going either way -- I can see people making a big deal about his age just as easy as I can see people not really caring about it too much. With Bob Dole, I think the underlying problem was not really so much his age, as it was how lame his personality seemed compared to Bill Clinton. But McCain does look a lot older than Bob Dole did. I've seen pictures of McCain that make him look like he's 90 years old. Smear pictures of McCain looking like some guy in a nursing home all over the place, and that'll hurt him.
What radical changes is Obama promising that Clinton isn't? From the debate last week, they basically agree in principle on almost everything with some minor differences in the details.
To me, it's an obvious example of her caring more about herself than she does about the people of the state of New York. That's the whole reason I brought it up. Smart political move on her part, of course it was. The single fact that Hillary decided to start her political career by trying to become a U.S. Senator from a state that she had no ties to will not big a big deal to too many Americans during this election. What's going to be a big deal to people is that Hillary Clinton's personality doesn't come across as that great. I told you why I thought I felt that way. Other people can tell you why they think they feel that way. Honestly, it'd be interesting to see why Hillary Clinton's personality doesn't come across as that great to a lot of people. But the fact of the matter is that a lot of people in America have a negative image of Hillary Clinton's personality -- regardless of what exact reasons they have for thinking that way. If Hillary Clinton becomes President, I don't see it as very likely that she will ever have strong approval ratings. That's why I think the Democrats would be foolish to make her their Presidential nominee.
I don't like Clinton because she jumped on the change bandwagon. She panders. And I just don't trust her. When Obama speaks he seems genuine. When Clinton speaks, she seems deliberate.
I am definitely for Obama, he has the ability to bring together Democrats, Indys, and Repubs. He is very smart. Just the fact that people say he is inexperienced well so was Clinton 1 and Bush 2. I dont agree with some of his answers and policies. However, getting things done is the point of this whole election. Clinton, will not get it done. The right will line up against her like she was the plague. She is very smart, but doesnt transcend many ideas, she is running on her husbands coat tail which is good and bad. She has a lot of negatives in the eyes of Repubs and Democrats. Its like she is a robot, with all the crying and such. Thats very staged. McCain is a pretty good guy, he is kind of a moderate in my eyes. However, anyone wanting to continue this war, I am definitely against. Not that I want to just up and leave, but the amount of money we are spending there is really hurting us domestically. So with that said, I didnt get to vote in my own primary because the Democratic primary in florida didnt really count towards anything. I wasnt going to vote for Hillary, so I didnt show up.
She's doing pretty well for such a negative reputation. Perhaps it's just a negative reputation in your circle. Do you listen to Rush? Rush is hard on her all right. Have you forgotten how McCain was swift-boated in 2000 and 2004? His war record was attacked and he was accused of having an illegitimate black child. Pretty negative, eh?Anatomy of a Smear Campaign Or how about the "Obama is a muslim" attacks from last year. If you aren't hearing negative things on the other candidates, then you aren't listening to a broad range of media outlets. FOX alone will leave you with a anti-democrat taste. CBS alone will do the same for republicans. Foes Use Obama's Muslim ties to fuel rumors about him If 2004 is any indication, it could get ugly. Teddy Kennedy did that for us. Dole, hell, McCain is older than Reagan! 72 is pretty old to run for President, he would be 80 at the end of two terms . . . if he still here. A President dying in office would be bad for the country. Melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer known to man. So deadly, in fact, survival rates for it are calculated not in terms of surving indefinitely, but in terms of surviving five years. While melanoma only accounts for 5% of all skin cancers, it is responsible for 71% of all skin cancer deaths.
Obama's mantra is change. He even has a website for it. http://www.obamaforchange.com/ Hilary had to add it to her campaign speeches in response to Obama's accusation that she didn't represent change. I think Obama is right. Clinton doesn't represent change for the sake of change. It is just one of the planks in her platform.
Like Bill Richardson was saying live on TV last night, the most important thing in a Presidential election is that people feel a connection with the candidate. Charisma, personality is huge in Presidential election. I just don't think Hillary Clinton's personality comes across as that great. It has nothing to do with Bill, who I think has outstanding charisma (and who I think was one of the better presidents in U.S. history). And it has nothing to do with the fact that Hillary is a woman. From what I know of Nancy Pelosi so far, I think she's be a great candidate for the Democrats to put up for President. That female Governor of Kansas also seemed pretty impressive from the little bit I got to learn about her in the past couple weeks.
But in terms of policy, they are pretty much the same. The really big difference is Obama never supported the war as Hillary did. The change thing is just a slogan to contrast the difference between him and the Clintons, and it has been very effective. In with the new, out with the old.
