US Presidents Debate.

[Teaos]

The Democrats are more right than NZ's right wing party. Calling them socialist is like calling Taco Bell Mexican food...

[Captain Seafort]

I was talking to one of our American customers the other day, and he told me he did not like Obama because he felt he was too much of a "socialist"...

He is. Then again, by US standards so's Attila the Hun.

[Praeothmin]

Yes, but, say, compared the the French, how Socialist is he?

[Captain Seafort]

Yes, but, say, compared the the French, how Socialist is he?

They're just as bad, albeit the other way - they probably consider Scargill right-wing.

[Mikey]

Yes, but, say, compared the the French, how Socialist is he?

Not at all. As Teaos said, the what America would consider the far-left fringe would probably called moderate in most of Europe. When you hear someone calling Obama a "socialist," nine times out of 10 it's being done by a right-sider trying to use the term as a hyperbolic insult.

Anyhow, I'm probably going with Obama again; not because I'm impressed with what he's accomplished, or because I'm happy with all the planks from his first campaign which he subsequently swept under the rug once elected. As Jerry Garcia once said, "Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil;" unfortunately in this case that's where I'm left. I wasn't born wealthy enough to do well under a Romney administration; his plan to cut taxes mostly comprises the elimination of capital gains tax and estate taxes... while he claims that such cuts will apply to all Americans, any fool knows that while they may legally apply to anyone they will generally only benefit the wealthy. No working-class, or even middle-class, family has enough of their tax burden made up of capital gains for things to be otherwise. Finally, I'm a bit scared of someone who wants to run the nation as a business and forgets some of the non-quantitative things that go into it. How many breast cancer patients won't get care because of Mitt's intended Planned Parenthood cuts? How well can families which include women fare when you've got a team that thinks that since a rape in progress is inevitable, the victim should just "relax and enjoy it..." or that a pregnancy resulting from a rape is "G-d's intention..." or that pregnancies don't result from "legitimate rape" because the female body has some mystic mechanism to "take care of that?" How can our trade status, not just our P&L, fare in an administration that intends to take an adversarial stance to one of our biggest trading partners and has already insulted the PM of our staunchest ally?

[Deepcrush]

As with any election, I don't believe that Obama has done anything wrong and he hasn't done anything great in return. Often enough if you just stablise your spending and public faith, the rest will work itself out. With the Romney/Ryan we'll have a return to pre-women's rights New England politics which has the south in a major worry. Last time that kind on control was put up, the North invaded the South so not the best of memories.