Call the US election

[Sionnach Glic]

Obama won, 280 something to 130 something.

Obama/Biden: 351
McSame/Failin: 161

[Grundig]

Where were those nicknames when I needed them!

[Sionnach Glic]

Well, McSame (and a load of others, such as McLame, McBlame, McPain, etc) were all floating around the web since he started running for president.
I just made Failin up on the spur of the moment there, but I'm sure I wasn't the first to think of it.

So, anyone think Palin will try for president in '12?

[Grundig]

I think so. She really wants to - don't know how far she'll get in the primaries though. I expect alot to change in the Republican party - hopefully she won't be as warmly welcomed four years from now.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

She'll have a lot she'll need to learn - just to avoid becoming the butt of countless jokes and parodies worldwide a second time through, never mind a qualified candidate.

[Sionnach Glic]

I see two possibilities for Palin if she decides to run in '12:

A) She remains the same as she is now, and keeps the same policies. Since the Republican party will likely move slightly to the left to gather new votes over the coming years, she may well be too far right for the majority of its target base, and thus won't get in.

B) Palin becomes more left-ish along with the Republican party, and thus becomes a possible candidate for the presidencey. Whether or not this more moderate stance is going to remain or disappear if she takes the presidency is something that only time will tell.


On another note, I feel like rambling about McCain for a bit.

On the urging of one of the (very) few people I know over here who supported McCain, I recently took a look at how he was in past years, before he decided to run for the presidency. What I found was actualy quite surprising. It seems that in previous years he was far more moderate than most Republicans, actualy living up to the "maverick" title he gave himself. I knew his ideals weren't exactly as they were presented during the presidency campaign, but I figured that they weren't too far off what he was presenting to the American people now. But it seems he actualy was quite different from how he acted during the campaign.

So what happened to him? After watching his speech this morning where he graciously accepted defeat and even tried to calm the angry crowds of rednecks down, I began thinking to myself "Where was this McCain for the last year?" This resurfacing of what seemed to me to be his old self made me think that he hadn't actually changed during the last few years, he had just pretended to.

From what I can tell, it seems that McCain realised that he was nearing the age where his political career would end, and decided to take a shot at being president, which would definitely be a nice way to end your career as a politician. I think that he looked back at the results of the past few elections, and concluded that he wasn't far right enough to win. As such, he changed his ideals so that he appealed more to the average Republican. In effect, he sold his soul to the right wing for a shot at the presidency. I find this somewhat saddening, as looking back at his career I can't help but think that, in another time, he might very well have made a good president.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

On another note, I feel like rambling about McCain for a bit.

On the urging of one of the (very) few people I know over here who supported McCain, I recently took a look at how he was in past years, before he decided to run for the presidency. What I found was actualy quite surprising. It seems that in previous years he was far more moderate than most Republicans, actualy living up to the "maverick" title he gave himself. I knew his ideals weren't exactly as they were presented during the presidency campaign, but I figured that they weren't too far off what he was presenting to the American people now. But it seems he actualy was quite different from how he acted during the campaign.

So what happened to him? After watching his speech this morning where he graciously accepted defeat and even tried to calm the angry crowds of rednecks down, I began thinking to myself "Where was this McCain for the last year?" This resurfacing of what seemed to me to be his old self made me think that he hadn't actually changed during the last few years, he had just pretended to.

From what I can tell, it seems that McCain realised that he was nearing the age where his political career would end, and decided to take a shot at being president, which would definitely be a nice way to end your career as a politician. I think that he looked back at the results of the past few elections, and concluded that he wasn't far right enough to win. As such, he changed his ideals so that he appealed more to the average Republican. In effect, he sold his soul to the right wing for a shot at the presidency. I find this somewhat saddening, as looking back at his career I can't help but think that, in another time, he might very well have made a good president.

This is very much true from what I've read here where it's actually gone down, and his political shift has been brought up by reputable news sources here at times throughout the campaign. While we will never know whether a President McCain would have been more like the old McCain I could have respected or the warped new one, the very fact that he did go so far astray in his (apparent) desperation I do find somewhat alarming.

[Captain Seafort]

Excellent summary Rochey, and a large part of the reason not only why McCain lost, but why I believe the US chose the lesser candidate. The real McCain was the one who was a real thorn in Bush's side for over six years, the man who advocated the surge in Iraq years before it was implemented, who viciously attacked the tax cuts and torture he later turned t support in his bid for the Presidency. Indeed, from what I've heard over the past week, at the last he went back to his old self, at least partially I suspect because he realised the election was lost and decided he might as well go back to being himself.

As for why he changed, I suspect losing to a certain nasty little shite from Texas in the primaries last time round convinced him that he needed to be a nasty little shite himself to run for the Presidency. A great pity, all told.

[Sionnach Glic]

Thanks.

And I agree with you there. Personally, I'd still rather Obama get in than Classic McCain, but I wouldn't be too unhappy if Classic McCain had won.

Hopefully he can help get his supporters to go along with Obama's presidency, but I doubt it. That crowd at McCain's concession speech was pretty damn ugly.

[Captain Seafort]

Hopefully he can help get his supporters to go along with Obama's presidency, but I doubt it. That crowd at McCain's concession speech was pretty damn ugly.

Wasn't the first time - there was a "town hall" thing a couple of weeks ago where one of the audience was pedalling the old "Muslim, terrorist, foreign, socialist" BS and McCain put the idiot in their place.

[Nutso]

I'd choose classic McCain over Obama. It takes real guts to go against the power of your party the way McCain did in 2000. I was a Democrat in 2000 but I would put party aside to vote for the man with more principles. Instead the Republican Party chose the religious guy whose daddy was once a President. This John McCain who tows the party line, isn't the maverick nor the man who distanced himself from the extreme right. This guy does what it takes to be President. It's unfortunate he followed the Bush path to the Presidential elections. He's better than that.

[Tsukiyumi]

...a certain nasty little shite from Texas...

For the record, he's not from here; he just lives here, unfortunately.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

...a certain nasty little shite from Texas...

For the record, he's not from here; he just lives here, unfortunately.

Yeah, he's from New England (!)

Born July 6, 1946 (1946-07-06) (age 62)
New Haven, Connecticut

[Graham Kennedy]

I think McCain sold out to the right wing, pure and simple. He needed their support, and hence we get the new right wing McCain and his running mate Sarah "I can see Russia" Palin.

From what I read the right are already saying that McCain lost because he wasn't right wing enough. Like I said on my "what next" thread, if they genuinely believe that and stick to it then the Republicans are likely to lose the next election, and lose very badly.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

I think McCain sold out to the right wing, pure and simple. He needed their support, and hence we get the new right wing McCain and his running mate Sarah "I can see Russia" Palin.

From what I read the right are already saying that McCain lost because he wasn't right wing enough. Like I said on my "what next" thread, if they genuinely believe that and stick to it then the Republicans are likely to lose the next election, and lose very badly.

Exit polls showed a pretty extreme split along party lines and liberal/conservative lines, with significantly more moderates going Obama. These people are living in a fantasy world.