GOP debate

[Viking]

The looney lefty yooro will hate all republicans, but atlanticists like myself will hate this guy as well... basically, those of us who were willing to give "W" a chance 11 years ago will not be willing to give this guy a chance at all. Expect not having allies for the period of a Perry or Bachman presidency.

I count on having zero Euro allies with any Republican president in office.  You guys will assume the 'worst' of anyone with an R next to his name

No we do not. The looney left in Europe will hate anybody with an R, but the sensible majority will deal with whatever president as is. Bachman, Perry, Paul, Palin and other Batshit candidates will be treated like the loons they are. Eisenhower and George H.W. Bush were both much more popular in Europe than they were in the USA.

[Neil]

Eisenhower and George H.W. Bush were both much more popular in Europe than they were in the USA.

Given that Europe was completely dependent on Eisenhower and Bush I for their freedom and economic well-being, that's not especially surprising.

[DGuller]

This cannot last though right? Bachmann and Paul scoring a combined 57% of the vote? Please tell me the average republican has more sense than sending either of those two looney tunes to face Obama.

Straw polls are meaningless.  Ron Paul used to sweep them last time around.

[DGuller]

Gonna have to see how Perry polls vs. Obama, but I may switch from Romney to him.  If Rudy seems likely to be his VP, then I'd pretty much support him by default.

You are an immaculate judge of character. 

[derspiess]

Gonna have to see how Perry polls vs. Obama, but I may switch from Romney to him.  If Rudy seems likely to be his VP, then I'd pretty much support him by default.

You are a flawless judge of character. 

Oh please, tell us once more how horrible Giuliani is

[Eddie Teach]

Perry is in, it's official. Now the man who called for secession in April 2009 is going for President. After looking over his wiki article, he manages to hit the wrong button on all issues.

- Creationism
- Lack of fiscal good sense
- Pro Life
- Anti Gay
- Against Planned Parenthood
- Believes Israel has a divine right to exist
- Against the HPV vaccine
- At least 234 executions (I'm not against the death penalty, I'm just against diluting it's effect by killing the innocent and the guilty guilty of lesser crimes)
- Global Warming denier

Sounds like a Republican.

[alfred russel]

Bachmann won the straw poll. http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/13/7366544-bachmann-wins-ames-straw-poll

And Kleves moves one step closer to joining the party of treason. 

Don't let me get in your way, but wtf? Straw polls in Iowa in August don't mean anything. If you could hang with the republicans when Pat Buchanan won the New Hampshire(!) primary, this should bother you much.

[Sheilbh]

Yep - the Dems went through this when they were all forced to comete with one another over who would abandon Iraq faster if elected.

But the current reality that no Republican can contemplate any kind of tax increase is going to make it impossible to vote for one.

The Democrats went through this and nominated Kerry.  Tell me which Republican candidate isn't to the issue of the debt* what Kucinich was to the war?  They all, from what I can tell, are way out beyond Coburn and unwilling to even countenance something like Bowles-Simpson.

This is a party like Labour in the 80s.  And it's sad that there's now a number of pragmatic ex-Governor's basically saying 'that sounds nice in practice but will it work in theory' while pandering to the Derek Hatton's of the right.

*Because as far as I can see the idea that you can start to pay off the debt or seriously balance the budget without some form of tax reform simply isn't credible.

[DGuller]

Gonna have to see how Perry polls vs. Obama, but I may switch from Romney to him.  If Rudy seems likely to be his VP, then I'd pretty much support him by default.

You are a flawless judge of character. 

Oh please, tell us once more how horrible Giuliani is

Nah.  To get you to not vote for Giuliani, I would have to convince you what a decent and reasonable human being he is.  I'm not that good of a liar.

[Razgovory]

This cannot last though right? Bachmann and Paul scoring a combined 57% of the vote? Please tell me the average republican has more sense than sending either of those two looney tunes to face Obama.

The straw poll is a totally manufactured event.  To cast a vote you have to travel across the state to the polling site and you have to pay ($30?).  So what it's really measuring is the financial ability of each candidate to pay for free bus rides and polling tickets, as well as the hard-core groupie support.

That being said Iowa Republicans are a pretty wacky bunch so a Bachmann victory in the caucus (which is a lot more real than the straw poll but still kind of fake) is not out of the question.

Yeah, the Straw Poll is silly.  Utterly useless.  I mean, Ron Paul always does well.  He doesn't have that much support but his supporters are fanatical.

Hey, Yi.  I read about how your state's Republican party has endorsed the reintroduction of the "original" 13th amendment.

If there is an aspect of the human condition that is unaddressed by the platform of the Republican Party of Iowa, adopted last month at the state convention in Des Moines, you'd have to look awfully hard to find it. Its 387 enumerated planks and principles range widely over politics, culture, and economics, from sweeping statements of belief ("America is good") to the fine nuances of agricultural policy ("We support the definition of manure as natural fertilizer") and touching on the mythical "North American Union" (against) and the gold standard (for). Even so, it's a little startling to come upon section 7.19, which calls for "the reintroduction and ratification of the original 13th Amendment, not the 13th amendment in today's Constitution." Since the existing 13th Amendment bans slavery, while the "original" one was about something else entirely, the wording might give the impression that Iowa Republicans wish to reverse emancipation, which is not at all the case, according to state GOP Communications Director Danielle Plogmann. Like many aspects of Republican politics this year, it's actually about embarrassing President Obama. But you have to wonder whether the delegates knew what they were getting into. In making common cause with "Thirteenthers," as those who seek to restore the long-lost amendment are known, the party has ventured beyond the far fringes of conspiracy theory, into a mysterious lost land without lawyers or taxes. Maybe they knew what they were doing after all.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/07/27/why-some-republicans-want-to-restore-the-13th-amendment.html


Republicans are such kooks.

[alfred russel]

This cannot last though right? Bachmann and Paul scoring a combined 57% of the vote? Please tell me the average republican has more sense than sending either of those two looney tunes to face Obama.

I can't vouch for the sense of the average republican, but this was a straw poll! The people there either had their way paid by a campaign or are political psychos. This meant nothing, except that Pawlenty's campaign sucks (he actually blew a bunch of money trying to win, and still came in third).

Nonamericans need to stop following the Republican primary. Nothing good is going to come from it.

[CountDeMoney]

This cannot last though right? Bachmann and Paul scoring a combined 57% of the vote? Please tell me the average republican has more sense than sending either of those two looney tunes to face Obama.

The straw poll is a totally manufactured event.  To cast a vote you have to travel across the state to the polling site and you have to pay ($30?).

Actually, you have to attend a fundraising event, so it's not like you're just dropping $30 on the vote.  Punch was served!

[sbr]

Perry is in, it's official. Now the man who called for secession in April 2009 is going for President. After looking over his wiki article, he manages to hit the wrong button on all issues.

- Against the HPV vaccine

What?  Perry enacted an executive order that forced all 6th grade girls in Texas to get the HPV vaccine before the entire state rebelled against him.e

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/02/06/6hpv.html

[Liep]

So how many votes did Rick Parry get?

[Admiral Yi]

Actually, you have to attend a fundraising event, so it's not like you're just dropping $30 on the vote.  Punch was served!

I'm not sure I see the point of selectively quoting my post then rephrasing the part you omitted.