Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[ice grillin you]

i think most all republicans should be napalmed so youre asking the wrong person

the one who has the best chance of losing would be my answer

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

he the biggest fraud in the race....he used to be essentially an independent or at most a centrist rebublican...then he decided to run for president and knew he had no prayer at the repub nomination as the radical base that runs that party would assasinate him before they elected him...so he he reinvented himself and started leaning way right on all kinds of issues that he used to be quite liberal on...hes a disagrace and a shell of his former self....

I agree with everything in this post except for the spelling mistakes.

[mussa]

im registered democrat...but its really embarassing representation IMO.

[Geowhizzer]

whats everyones beef with McCain?

is it cause he still thinks we should be in iraq? im just curious.

i look at clinton, obama and edwards and see a woman, I have nothing to contribute, a unexperienced politically correct puppet and a rich, high class, piece of shtein lawyer. clinton has more experience than any of them, but she's got a vagina. all the other republicans are idiots. Guilliani? Are you serious? He's playing off his so called " handled the 911 " great role. Thats bullshtein. He never did shtein before and got way more credit than he deserved after. Anybody in his position would of handled it the same way. Its the people around him that deserve credit. cut me a break.

McCain is more like the average american than any of the major nominees. He's been a senator for years and served the country. He not trying to be someone he's not, he's honest and straight forward.

Mussa,

Here's what I see as the major weaknesses of McCain in running for the presidency:

1.  He has changed his opinion on several issues over the years.  Without going into detail about specifics (just pressed for time right now), this gives the impression of "flip-flopping" that make him unattractive to those on the "extremes" on both the left and right edges of the Republican Party.  This could also be seen as weakness of conviction to the general voting public.  He is seen as too conservative for liberal republicans, and too maverick for the conservatives.

2.  His age will be a factor to some, as he'll turn 72 during the election year.  He would need a strong V-P candidate, which would probably have to appeal to the conservative base (i.e. Giuliani would probably not be a good V-P, though personally popular).

3.  He has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth.

I'm sure that there are some who disagree with these points, and there are probably things that could be added or corrected.

[Phanatic]

He's also lost the independant vote by playing to his base. That independant vote was what got him enough press to be where he is now in the first place. Now he just looks like another pandering politician where as before he looked like a maverick who'd do what he fealt was right no metter which party he was in.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Let's face it... the Republicans are all fighting for 2nd place anyway.

If the Democrats can't get someone in the White House after 8 years of Dubya...

...

[SunMo]

they're trying their best to make it an even fight

[Phanatic]

It's kind of like watching a retard fight...

[mussa]

It's kind of like watching a retard fight...

haha...minus the retarded strength

[Diomedes]

I like Huckabee.  His catch phrase is "authentic." 

That makes him at least as good as that lunatic Bush doormat McCain, or seven times divorced faux republican Guliani, etc.

[Geowhizzer]

Guessing the election just 18 months early.

[rjs246]

A candidate with no chance addressing a question that none of the other candidates seem to be paying attention to.

Education.

[Geowhizzer]

A candidate with no chance addressing a question that none of the other candidates seem to be paying attention to.

Education.

Related to his call for a tuition program to allow more students to attend college:

Florida actually has a pretty good program to help defray the costs of a state university, called Bright Futures.  The top tier pays for 100% of the tuition for a state-run university (Florida or Florida State are the best known of these - University of Miami is actually a private institution), along with books.  A student needs to maintain a 3.5 GPA, score 1200 on the SAT and perform 75 hours of community service over the course of high school.  There are other awards (75% and 50%) with less stringent requirements.

I was pimping this program to my advanced class (8th grade) a couple of weeks ago, saying how this was a great program and how much college cost when I went (I graduated in 1993 - shut up MDS) and how I had to pay nearly $200 per month in student loans for ten years even with a partial scholarship.  When we got to the 75 hours of service, one of my students said, "That's too much.  I'm not doing that."  I pressed her on it, asking her where she could get a job that pays upwards of $10,000 per year (or more nowadays) for getting good grades and doing a token bit of community service. 

Her response:  "My parents will just have to pay for it." 

I would like to chalk this up to norman teen snottiness, but she was deadly serious.

[rjs246]

The problem with public education policies can be solved (by and large) in one simple step. Pay teachers more.

Do the country's most intelligent and capable people want to go to school for 6 years to get a job that pays less than just about every entry-level position in the corporate world? Hell no. They want to use their education and ability to make a decent living. Sure you have the occasional person who put social responsibility ahead of financial gain, but ultimately we all have to pay our bills. If becoming an educator were more financially beneficial, there would be many more intelligent and qualified people teaching.

It's one of, if not THE most important profession in society and it's a farging disgrace what teachers are paid.

[SunMo]

you're sexy when you care about society's woes