What were the top issues in the 2008 presidential election?

[Astronuc]

Maureen Dowd challenged Steven Colbert to do a column in the NYTimes.

I Am an Op-Ed Columnist (And So Can You!)
By STEPHEN COLBERT

Surprised to see my byline here, aren’t you? I would be too, if I read The New York Times. But I don’t. So I’ll just have to take your word that this was published. Frankly, I prefer emoticons to the written word, and if you disagree :(

I’d like to thank Maureen Dowd for permitting/begging me to write her column today. As I type this, she’s watching from an overstuffed divan, petting her prize Abyssinian and sipping a Dirty Cosmotinijito. Which reminds me: Before I get started, I have to take care of one other bit of business:

Bad things are happening in countries you shouldn’t have to think about. It’s all George Bush’s fault, the vice president is Satan, and God is gay.

There. Now I’ve written Frank Rich’s column too.

So why I am writing Miss Dowd’s column today? Simple. Because I believe the 2008 election, unlike all previous elections, is important. And a lot of Americans feel confused about the current crop of presidential candidates.

For instance, Hillary Clinton. I can’t remember if I’m supposed to be scared of her so Democrats will think they should nominate her when she’s actually easy to beat, or if I’m supposed to be scared of her because she’s legitimately scary.

Or Rudy Giuliani. I can’t remember if I’m supposed to support him because he’s the one who can beat Hillary if she gets nominated, or if I’m supposed to support him because he’s legitimately scary.

And Fred Thompson. In my opinion “Law & Order” never sufficiently explained why the Manhattan D.A. had an accent like an Appalachian catfish wrestler.

Well, suddenly an option is looming on the horizon. And I don’t mean Al Gore (though he’s a world-class loomer). First of all, I don’t think Nobel Prizes should go to people I was seated next to at the Emmys. Second, winning the Nobel Prize does not automatically qualify you to be commander in chief. I think George Bush has proved definitively that to be president, you don’t need to care about science, literature or peace.

. . . .

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14dowd.html

 

[turbo]

Priceless!

 

[BobG]

I think it will be Bill Richardson (D) verse Mitt Romney (R), the two governors.

Richardson lacks obvious flair but is a good experienced choice.
http://www.richardsonforpresident.com/home

Romney scares me, reminding me of a young Reagan but with religion overload.

It's probably time to start making outrageous predictions.

I'm predicting Huckabee to defeat Clinton in November.

I don't have any idea how Huckabee's going to compete if has no money, even if he makes a strong showing in Iowa (which looks likely). Still, a choice between Giuliani, McCain, Romney, and Thompson is leaving the GOP split and it's certainly possible for Huckabee to step right in if he somehow comes up with campaign money.

In a battle between Huckabee and Clinton, Clinton doesn't stand a chance. Huckabee's just too likeable, while Clinton's just too unlikeable. (Kind of ironic that Giuliani and Romney are both hoping Clinton's the Democratic nominee - she could beat both of them).

Even with Clinton's sudden supposed vulnerability, her campaign is just run too well for any of the other Democrats to really threaten her.

As to my own personal choice, that's probably kind of ironic, as well. I'd prefer McCain or Giuliani to Huckabee, but both would lose to Clinton. But, with a choice between Huckabee and Clinton, I might vote for Clinton.

 

[chemisttree]

And don't leave out Maureen's part! She paints wonderful pictures with prose, doesn't she? Oh, wait a minute... that was Colbert she was quoting!

I was in my office, writing a column on the injustice of relative marginal tax rates for hedge fund managers, when I saw Stephen Colbert on TV.

He was sneering that Times columns make good “kindling.” He was ranting that after you throw away the paper, “it takes over a hundred years for the lies to biodegrade.” He was observing, approvingly, that “Dick Cheney’s fondest pipe dream is driving a bulldozer into The New York Times while drinking crude oil out of Keith Olbermann’s skull.”

I called Colbert with a dare: if he thought it was so easy to be a Times Op-Ed pundit, he should try it. He came right over. In a moment of weakness, I had staged a coup d’moi. I just hope he leaves at some point. He’s typing and drinking and threatening to “shave Paul Krugman with a broken bottle.”

Perhaps I should rethink Colbert's presidential aspirations... Of course he might have a little problem with the ultra right wing vote regarding his stance on Olbermann.

 

[kach22i]

New life to an old thread.....UPDATE: 11/27/07


Zogby: Hillary Defeatable by 5 GOP Frontrunners
(11/26/2007)
- By: Newsmax Staff , NewsMax.com
http://www.zogby.com/Soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?ID=16107

All five of the leading Republican presidential candidates — including John McCain — would beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head match-up, according to a surprising new poll from Zogby International.

............

And about Bill Richardson;

The Nation put it this way:
His numbers are dramatically up in other categories, as well, especially on measures of trust -- the New Mexican now leads Clinton in this category.

 

[turbo]

That's been evident to the GOP for some time. They keep portraying Clinton as the inevitable Democratic nominee because that's who they want to face. They have all the sincerity of Bre'r Rabbit pleading not to get thrown into the brier patch.

 

[WheelsRCool]

I would prefer Fred Thompson, but I don't think he has a chance of getting the nomination, or of beating Hillary if he did. I have a feeling that the Republican nomination will go to Giuliani. I like certain of his stances, but he is too much of a gun-grabber IMO.

Abortion I agree with him on, in that I don't like it, but I think it should ultimately be the woman's right to choose.

BTW, the Republican debate is tomorrow at 8 PM I believe on CNN for those who want to watch.

 

[BobG]

It's probably time to start making outrageous predictions.

I'm predicting Huckabee to defeat Clinton in November.

I don't have any idea how Huckabee's going to compete if has no money, even if he makes a strong showing in Iowa (which looks likely). Still, a choice between Giuliani, McCain, Romney, and Thompson is leaving the GOP split and it's certainly possible for Huckabee to step right in if he somehow comes up with campaign money.

In a battle between Huckabee and Clinton, Clinton doesn't stand a chance. Huckabee's just too likeable, while Clinton's just too unlikeable. (Kind of ironic that Giuliani and Romney are both hoping Clinton's the Democratic nominee - she could beat both of them).

Even with Clinton's sudden supposed vulnerability, her campaign is just run too well for any of the other Democrats to really threaten her.

As to my own personal choice, that's probably kind of ironic, as well. I'd prefer McCain or Giuliani to Huckabee, but both would lose to Clinton. But, with a choice between Huckabee and Clinton, I might vote for Clinton.

Huckabee winning isn't looking quite so outrageous now. Surging to 2-1 lead over Romney (39% - 17%) in Iowa is shocking only because of the margin. The bigger news is that he's up to second in the national polls (Polling Report).

Win or lose the nomination, I think it's to the point that Huckabee sinks any chance Romney had of turning some early victories into momentum for the big primaries. Thompson had his moment and didn't have anything to say so he's going to slide on into oblivion. It's down to Huckabee, Giuliani, and McCain.

Obama looks like he might do well enough in Iowa to at least make it look like there's a Democratic race, but I still just don't see him really threatening the Clinton machine.

 

[Astronuc]

For those interested -

The Democratic presidential candidates on the stump
http://wordforword.publicradio.org/programs/2007/12/21/

Joe Biden in Portsmouth N.H. (11/27/07)
Hillary Clinton in Cedar Rapids Iowa (11/05/07)
Chris Dodd in Iowa City, Iowa (11/06/07)
John Edwards in Portsmouth, N.H. (10/30/07)
Mike Gravel in Bedford, N.H. (06/09/07)
Dennis Kucinich in Concord N.H. (11/27/07)
Barack Obama in Manchester, N.H. (12/09/07)
Bill Richardson at the Iowa State Fair (8/14/07)


The Republican presidential candidates on the stump
http://wordforword.publicradio.org/programs/2007/12/14/

Rudy Giuliani in Manchester, N.H. (11/5/07)
Mike Huckabee in Concord, N.H. (11/30/07)
John McCain in Concord, N.H. (7/13/07)
Ron Paul in Manchester, N.H. (9/29/07)
Mitt Romney at the Iowa State Fair (8/10/07)
Tom Tancredo in Somersworth, N.H. (3/10/07)
Fred Thompson at the Iowa State Fair (8/17/07)

 

[Astronuc]

Change?

Stirred, Not Shaken - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/opinion/06kinsley.html

By MICHAEL KINSLEY, Seattle

IF it’s a question of “experience” versus “change,” change will win every time. Hillary Clinton, of all people, should have known that. Doesn’t she remember 1992? That was when her husband made “change” his mantra and chanted it all the way to the White House. This year, Mrs. Clinton tried to suggest that Barack Obama does not have enough experience to be president. He hung her experience around her neck and chanted the change mantra himself.

An Obama presidency would, in fact, be a huge change in all sorts of obvious ways. Yet on the Republican side as well, there is talk of change. Of course it is trickier with a sitting Republican president. But that hasn’t stopped one of the candidates from seizing on the word and using it as the centerpiece of his campaign.

It’s not the candidate you would have guessed if you haven’t been listening to them: it’s Mitt Romney. Nothing better illustrates the mystical power of “change” in American politics, and its malleability, than its selection by the expensively engineered Romney machine, even though the word doesn’t seem to apply in any way to the man or his campaign.

It’s hard to say what Mr. Romney’s campaign is really about. He would clearly do or say anything or its opposite to become president. But, in general, he seems to be trying to make himself as conventional a Republican as possible, calling for tax cuts blah blah blah, supporting President Bush 100 percent on Iraq, shedding any aberrant views on abortion or gay rights that he may have picked up by accident in Massachusetts.

. . . .

So what "Change" do Americans want?

What "Change" does each candidate represent?

Or do we get status quo - "the more things change, the more they stay the same"?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

If Hillary is elected in November, that would mean that two US presidents had sex together. Now that's a first. This hubby/wife thing didn't seem all that strange until I thought about it that way!

 

[denverdoc]

Ivam,

Now how do we lnow this is a first?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Well, everyone including ex-presidents have been screwed by Bush!