and another one bites the dust

[plumapen]

Romney Suspends Campaign.

Now there's a bit of a shocker. I thought surely Huckabee or Paul would drop out first.

Comments

[plumapen]

I think you need not fear for the Dems. I haven't been this excited about a presidential election in a very long time, and I know I'm not the only one. The voter turnouts on the Dem side alone have been record breaking in most states. Both Hillary and Obama's campaigns are very exciting and Obama's momentum is pretty unreal right now--he's igniting the American imagination again, and not just among Dems. As for McCain, though a Rep, the conservatives here all hate his guts b/c they view him as too liberal. Seriously, even Rush Limbaugh and James Dobson are speaking out against him--Limbaugh went so far as to say he'd vote for Clinton or Obama before voting for McCain. Honestly, McCain scares me a lot less than W does. He may be trying to spin the "I'm a conservative" talk now to try can capture that voter base, but no one believes him. Personally, of the rest of the Reps, part of me likes him if for nothing else than what he went through in Vietnam. Huckabee also seems less scary.

What outlets are you using to get info on the candidates and campaigns? I know that when I was in England, the attention was being put on HIllary and Giuliani (who's thankfully out). The BBC coverage I've seen has broadened, but I don't know if this same coverage is being aired in Europe CNN had a piece the other day on European nations being nostalgic for the Clinton administration and, thus, hoping Hillary comes out on top; does that seem like a fair assessment to you? If she gets the nomination I think much will depend on who she chooses as running mate.

[canutius]

McCain scares me a lot less than W does

W? Willoughby? Wickham? My brain is dead.

Actually, most of what I’ve been getting Is out of the Fresno Bee. I don’t really trust European sites to give me an accurate view of how Americans see things (just as I don’t trust American perspectives of themselves sometimes which is why I read other news to see how the rest of the world is really seeing things instead of trusting what the Americans think about European views of themselves, see what I mean?) Anyway, Fresno Bee really.

Maybe the impression of McCain is a personal one, like with Hillary. I don’t like Hillary. Just don’t like her. I don’t trust her, but not because of any one thing or another. It’s just my instinct not to. That doesn’t make it right or fair, but I can’t get over it. It could be the same with McCain and frankly, I’ve been reading more of the Dem stuff because I’m assuming the American public will wise up and vote Dem this time, so the outcome of the Dem race is more important. Again, could be wrong, but I hope not. Oh, and the coverage here also seems to be top heavy on the Dem side. It’s almost like the GOP doesn’t exist or is totally inconsequential. I think they’re all depending, hoping, assuming it will be the Dems who come out on top this time.

I also suppose I’ve been wanting to discount both Romney and Huckabee from the race completely. I think they’ve been playing heavily on the religion card and I don’t think (or maybe I just hope) that it will get them as far as they think it will. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-religion, but I don’t think it has a place in politics. I wouldn’t want a Muslim (e.g.) leader telling me he’s praying to Allah for guidance, so why should the Mulims or any other religious sector want to hear how their leader is praying to something they don’t believe in? The point being that I’ve discounted them in my mind and am rather assuming McCain will win the GOP.

Now I do like Obama, but I’m afraid he just doesn’t have enough experience. I feel like he needs to come back in a few years and then he’ll be great. I’m also slightly afraid that I like him because he is personable and not because of his political agendas, although frankly, anything has got to be better than G.W., as long as it’s not further right than he is.

So, as you can see, my views of the presidential race are really very subjective. I’m just having a hard time saying “this guy is better than the rest” because there are things I like and dislike about all of them and no one really stands out as someone I feel could lead the country properly.

[plumapen]

I gotcha. I think the next president will need experience as well, especially with all the things s/he'll have to face once they're in. (Oh, and W = Bush, you know, Dubya? lol) I've been watching A LOT of CNN and utilizing their website. Of all the outlets, I think they're being the most balanced, which is saying something. I ignore Fox News completely and MSNBC is really falling heavily on the left, imo, which is sad as I used to like them. Me, I like to get a balanced perspective as much as possible too so I try to mix it up as well. Incidentally, Anderson Cooper had a really good special report tonight on the challenges facing the next presidency (not sure if the podcast will have it but if you're interested, scroll down on the AC's program page; tonight's podcast isn't up yet though). Have you checked out the candidates' websites at all? Btw, will you get to vote in this election? I know in the past there've been some quirks.

[canutius]

Oh, no, I won't be voting. You can't vote if you've lived outside of the US for more than 4 years. That's why I haven't put much more effort into following it. It would just frustrate me to constantly know that I could change nothing. Theoretically speaking, it's wrong of me to get involved in any political discussion because of this. I really should be better informed before dipping my oar in instead of just adding my very subjective oil to the fire.

[plumapen]

Ah right! I really have to remember that; I seem to ask you this every time an election comes up, lol.

Theoretically speaking, it's wrong of me to get involved in any political discussion because of this

I wouldn't say that. It's not like US policies don't have ramifications elsewhere (as Mr Dunderhead has taught us well the past 8 years). This year's race seems to have the global "everyone" interested. God, I hope we don't blow it.

[canutius]

They're ALWAYS interested to know who will win. They have to be since the US does have such far reaching influence and can make life easier or more difficult for everyone. (see Dunderhead) Like it or not, they do have to recognize that America has a lot of influence. Just look at Iraq. They went in despite the rest of the world being more or less against it. Not only did that have wide-ranging ramifications for the whole world, but just imagine what the US could do if their leader became totally incontrollable. Sadam in the US would be a ture horror. OK, yes, that is going a little far, but I was just making a point as to why the US elections really are a world news item nowadays.

[plumapen]

Right, that was my point. :D

[canutius]

Oh, and seriously, with the amount of coverage we get here, I am SOOOOOOO glad that I'm not in the States where you've got to be getting it 24/7.

[plumapen]

Meh. It's basically 24/7 if you follow the cable news networks (like I do cuz I be a political junkie :p). It's certainly making the national and local news here, but the 24hr news channels obviously give it more attention and in-depth analysis. I'm also following it as much as possible since I was out of the country for six months and feel like I need to catch up now.