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BigRapidsJackass · February 17th, 2008, 10:37 PM

A weird thing happened over the last few months: the public absolutely refused to accept the pre-ordained candidates the party leaders were handing them, Romney and Hillary.

So we may be left with Obama and McCain. And I hope that happens. I've mentioned before (way too often) that as a libertarian I am constantly forced to accept the lesser of two evils: more government involvement in private "moral" areas and meddling in foreign matters not essential to our security (Republicans) vs. bigger government and higher taxation (Democrats).

And superficially that's what Obama vs. McCain boils down to.

But here's what's weird: voting record-wise (and pre-campaign rhetoric-wise), Obama is more liberal than Hillary. But the electorate ain't buyin' it. Obama gets the more educated and more centrist vote. Hillary is now retreating into a John Kerry old Democratic corner: organized labor. And I think the electorate is right. That's why Obama's comment about Reagan's Rebublicans being the "party of ideas" is so telling. I sense that he doesn't fear new ideas, even if ostensibly non-liberal ones, and the public agrees with me.

A little different with McCain. It's clear that the public wasn't buying the Romney as "movement conservative" crap. Even though McCain presumably committed political suicide by proposing campaign finance reform and immigration reform, the public rewarded him for being more "authentic" than serial liar Romney. And despite what they'll tell you, Romney was the pre-ordained choice, the W of 2008. (Remember where he gave that "critical" speech on his Mormonism? At the George Bush 41 Presidential Library. Not a coincidence.) Weirdly enough, I would've probably supported the real Romney -- the one who was kind of an old-style country club Republican, the one who actually governed Massachusetts pretty well. The phony Romney gained no converts, and he lost people like me as soon as the campaign started for real last fall.

And I can live with McCain or Obama. It's not nearly as much of a stinker of a choice as, say, W vs. Kerry. Seems like the primary process, despite being stacked on purpose in favor of the pre-ordained candidates, actually worked.

February 17th, 2008, 10:37 PM	#864 (permalink)
BigRapidsJackass Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 1,189	A weird thing happened over the last few months: the public absolutely refused to accept the pre-ordained candidates the party leaders were handing them, Romney and Hillary. So we may be left with Obama and McCain. And I hope that happens. I've mentioned before (way too often) that as a libertarian I am constantly forced to accept the lesser of two evils: more government involvement in private "moral" areas and meddling in foreign matters not essential to our security (Republicans) vs. bigger government and higher taxation (Democrats). And superficially that's what Obama vs. McCain boils down to. But here's what's weird: voting record-wise (and pre-campaign rhetoric-wise), Obama is more liberal than Hillary. But the electorate ain't buyin' it. Obama gets the more educated and more centrist vote. Hillary is now retreating into a John Kerry old Democratic corner: organized labor. And I think the electorate is right. That's why Obama's comment about Reagan's Rebublicans being the "party of ideas" is so telling. I sense that he doesn't fear new ideas, even if ostensibly non-liberal ones, and the public agrees with me. A little different with McCain. It's clear that the public wasn't buying the Romney as "movement conservative" crap. Even though McCain presumably committed political suicide by proposing campaign finance reform and immigration reform, the public rewarded him for being more "authentic" than serial liar Romney. And despite what they'll tell you, Romney was the pre-ordained choice, the W of 2008. (Remember where he gave that "critical" speech on his Mormonism? At the George Bush 41 Presidential Library. Not a coincidence.) Weirdly enough, I would've probably supported the real Romney -- the one who was kind of an old-style country club Republican, the one who actually governed Massachusetts pretty well. The phony Romney gained no converts, and he lost people like me as soon as the campaign started for real last fall. And I can live with McCain or Obama. It's not nearly as much of a stinker of a choice as, say, W vs. Kerry. Seems like the primary process, despite being stacked on purpose in favor of the pre-ordained candidates, actually worked.