You can't live with a political scientist very long without considering elections. Maureen Dowd today had a op-ed piece where she contended that the contest between Obama and Clinton was most useful in preparing Obama for his ultimate fight with McCain. Defeat Hillary and McCain is a piece of cake (pardon the cliche).
But I wonder if the general election will be about the same set of issues at all. In the primary season, it's been mostly about personality. Whom do you trust? Who has more experience?
I wonder if those old unsettling issues the Dems faced in 2000 and 2004 will rear their ugly heads.
In particular, when did the Republicans begin to own the issue of patriotism? My husband says, "Always," Is this true? Will Americans look at the candidates and say, "Well, I hate the war and the economy stinks, but damn it I'm a patriotic American and I'm voting Republican." Will their priests/ministers remind them about issues such as pro-life and gay marriage, those old bugga boo concerns? What do you think? Can a national candidate triumph over these issues? Can we elect a candidate who triumphs liberal concerns? If Obama is rated as the most liberal Senator in office, can he win?
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10 comments:
It depends on whether Obama comes across as a "true" liberal - simply wanting to change the status quo - and can convince voters that 1) McCain will mean 4 more years of the same and 2) Obama's policies will improve the country.
The NYT ran an interesting op-ed a few days ago about how each candidate's proposals on finance may be the best indicator of what kind of president they will be, based on past presidents and their promises/policies. Obviously the NYT is very pro-Hillary, having endorsed her, but the observations were certainly interesting. And the columnist did believe that McCain would be 4 years of "more of the same," not a maverick at all.
So you have McCain cakes in the US, too? What a funny company, still family-owned and still run out of a small town in New Brunswick.
Not in my neck of the woods but we do have Tim Horton's, which has about driven Dunkin Donuts out of town.
I think that McCain and Obama differ enough on policy that they will be happy to duke it out on those grounds. Neither of them seems willing to turn it into a mud-slinging contest.
Of course, Obama has to get by Hilary first. She's not going to go quietly.
Graham-I think she's made that pretty clear. Anyone taking bets on an actual date?
A date? I don't see any way she quits before the convention.
My short answer is no to the questions you asked.
Living where I do it is almost taboo to say you are liberal and those issues you mention are THE issues in my neck of the woods.
As a life long Democrat, I am much encouraged by the number of new Democrats who are registering to vote - almost two to one over Republicans. If they go to the polls, November should be super for Democrats and our country will be saved. Otherwise, four more years of increasing misery for the average Joe.
It was a Democrat who said: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country," and it is Republicans who launch brutal attacks against war veterans who happen to be Democratic candidates. I could be wrong, but I have a sense, too, that more Republicans than Democrats have been caught in lies about their military records. Patriotism, in other words, is something not quite what it seems to be in vulgar media portrayals.
John McF.: I'm a lonely Canadian here in the U.S. No one ever gets my McCain references. There is a great joke out there to be made about the Republican candidate and frozen French fries, but no one in the U.S. would get it.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Just like they will do nothing to help babies once they're born.
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