Bylimet Spiritwalker

Is it just me, or does anyone else wonder wtf is going on with the Republican field of candidates?

Huntsman is the most qualified, truly consistent conservative of the bunch; he has the best track record of accomplishment from his days as governor; he has the best resume as far as foreign policy, having been President Obama's ambassador to China, and is best equipped to face the next 4-8 years of dealing with Asia; and he rides a Harley!

Seriously, why is it that everyone keeps flocking to the laughable candidates that have no shot at winning? Gingrich has so much baggage he needs a U-haul trailer to carry it on the campaign trail; Perry is a minor leaguer trying to break into the majors without sufficient game to play at that level; Paul has both his age and his attitude regarding Iran that will keep him from being on the ticket; Bachman has done nothing to show she is not a "flake" (in fact, she has done pretty much nothing at all in two terms as a member of congress); and Romney has his flip-flopping/health care issues that will be difficult to overcome.

If the party does not open it's collective eyes and see what they have in Huntsman, I would hope at the very least that following his re-election President Obama would tap him to serve as Secretary of State, given Ms. Clinton's statement that she will not continue another four years.

But I would vote for Huntsman!

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Live like it matters!

Elemak the Enchanter

Rick Perry: We've had one marginally educated semi-retarded president from Texas already; do we really need another?

Ron Paul: A bit nutty, and I don't like his stance on cutting defense

Newt Gingrich: Hell fucking no, I'd take Obama before this fucktard. He's such a slimy piece of shit he is the definition of what's wrong with Congress and DC politics.

Mitt Romney: I wish instead of changing his stance on his healthcare /compromise success with the Democrats of his state he'd say "Fuck you, I met them in the middle and we made good policies and that's what we need" instead he's playing a bit to the audience which I can understand but it hurts his credibility.

Huntsman: Seems pretty solid, but I haven't heard much about him or from him and that's not the way to win an election.

Herman Cain: One word - Token

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Kanyli

The fact that Cain was allowed to stay in the race and be taken seriously for so long should tell us how screwed up the current field is.

Malse

The entire circus is just another reality show throwing red meat at people proven to be extremely gullible and profoundly ignorant. The game is who can say the most shockingly stupid and racist thing -- current winner is probably Newt.

The GOP machine decided Romney was their man (it's his turn, after all) like six months ago -- that's why you're seeing all those "Hey, I'm a Mormon!" billboards in major cities. They're priming all the bigoted evangelicals that Mormons are people too, so no one asks too many questions about whether or not Jesus being from space and fighting the Aztecs is really kosher. Note how Mitt doesn't really say all that much? That's because he's a politician and doesn't believe any of this crap.

The only thing remotely debate-like about this is when they occasionally forget to ignore Ron Paul and he comes out of left-field with one of those reality-oriented statements and rhetorically annihilates one of those money-whoring sock puppets.

If you're still a Republican, you need to take a really good look in the mirror about this one. Maybe you're the same, but the Southern Strategy and the Neocons have turned your party into the horsemen of Idiocracy-style fascism. You have so few serious candidates because none of them want to even touch that clusterfuck of a book-tour gladiator gossip hour because we record this shit and can play it back later to discredit you in front of anyone who made it out of the 3rd grade.

(I don't like saying I'm voting for anyone because a lot of things can happen between now and then, but I am registering Republican to vote for Ron Paul in the Texas primary because he's the only R candidate so far that isn't going to take us to another pointless war for oligarchy profit while burning the Constitution and starting witch-hunts. I've buried enough relatives already, thank you. In the general election, I really can't say).

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I saw innumerable hosts, foredoomed to darkness, dirt, pestilence, obscenity, misery and early death.
Dickens, ‘A December Vision’, 1850

Elemak the Enchanter

Something I never in a million years thought I'd say: I hope Hillary runs again. I don't think she will, but she'd annihilate Obama and she's proven herself as secretary of state. Even my die hard republican father said he'd vote for her before most of these other jokers.

If nothing else if she ran maybe she'd be able to thin out the GOP herd some because the nutjobs would get tossed out in favor of someone who could compete. But instead we get the anybody but Obama race.

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Kelraz Bladesinger

Well, with our good President Obama our expectations were high. Probably too high, but that still doesn't make up for the 2 years after he was elected how little they accomplished with a Democratic House, Senate and White House. Since then, its been this ugly stalemate which is accomplishing nothing.

Who, of all of them, would be able to accomplish goals that all sides could agree with? I don't see anyone standing a chance. Gingrich as front runner is such a poor choice its unbelievable he is even an option. Cain and Perry were horrible and it didn't make sense they were concidered viable by anyone. There are some good ideas in the crowd, but those are few and far between.

Long and short though, whomever wins we're still fucked unless all of the Congressional incumbants lose (which, after the gerrymandering this past year, is near impossible). Best we can hope is Obama gets a decent Supreme Court nominee or two in second term.

LummusL

Its called politics as entertainment. How else could Donald Trump grab so much attention? The guy models himself a kingmaker, if only in his own head. Probably the best thing he could do is say "You're Fired" to Congress if he really wants to be productive.

Malse put it best. There is not much to separate this Presidential race from "Keeping up with the Kardashians". Ron Paul gets smothered because no one has time for logical solutions. Huntsman is trying to distance himself from the circus, but then he ends up not getting the exposure.

Ultimately who wins will be whomever can fear monger, manipulate as well as shock and awe the most sucker voters out there and not who might have the best credentials or the best ideas for moving things forward. If the Presidential hopefuls are just tapping into their perceived demographics, than the assumption is that we are all stupid. Stuff that everyone on this board seems to know but doesn't translate well into the rest of society. That is this cynics point of view anyway.

PS: Hilary would never run as long as the assumption is of having the Democratic party be a unified front. Hilary running against Obama represents that things have gotten so low as to not even have solidarity within parties, let alone the government as a whole. The parties have their factions but Hilary running would be wearing that on their sleeves. Its doubtful the public would stand for it but anything goes probably.

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"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!"

"If you're gonna shoot, shoot. Don't talk!"

Bylimet Spiritwalker

Regarding Hilary running, President Clinton has said a few times while being interviewed that she has no intention of any further political involvement.

However, there have been a few political "analysts" that have proferred the idea that President Obama should pass on a a second term if he is able to convince Hilary to accept the nomination of the party and throws his support behind her; that is believed to be at this time the best scenario for a winning candidacy.

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Live like it matters!

Kelraz Bladesinger

The reality is, though, that there isn't any chance in hell that Obama wouldn't run, and its really too late for anyone else to run on the Democrat ticket. Obama would have to give back a lot of money he has raised, while no one else has raised anything, for starters.

Malse

You have to wonder if these people ever leave their TV studio. Incumbents have such a strong advantage that Obama could probably not campaign at all and the odds are in his favor unless a dark horse like Kucinich or Nader finds significant traction in the near future (and neither of them have any stated plans to do so). In recent history Carter lost his incumbency thanks to Reagan committing treason, and Bush Sr lost due to Ross Perot and a tax revolt by loonies in his own part. Unless something seriously breaks the Democrat base, no right minded independent is likely to think about voting for Mittens and certainly not for Bachman Gringrich Fascist Jesus Overdrive.

That does sort of remind me of the 1912 election though ... both Roosevelt and Wilson were running as progressives against Taft (oligarchist) and Debs (one of the last times we actually had a socialist candidate for major office).

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I saw innumerable hosts, foredoomed to darkness, dirt, pestilence, obscenity, misery and early death.
Dickens, ‘A December Vision’, 1850