Barack Obama has not been the President we have hoped for and after his craven and spineless betrayal of the Palestinians in order to appeal to the American Christian voters and gain a second term as President, i am hoping against hope that he is turfed out of the White House next year but as it is highly unlikely anyone will challenge him from the Democrat Party, we should look at which of the Republicans would be an acceptable replacement to the left for the disappointing dud.
The BBC website lists the nominations as Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Gary Johnson, Thaddeus McCotter and Fred Karge. Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani are pencilled in but have yet to declare whether they will run but what of the men and woman who are in the game already on key left issues of the Environment, Foreign policy & Israel.
Current favourite is Mitt Romney who scores quite high on environmental issues, favouring fining businesses who exceed emission limits but loses out with views that include increasing the size of Guantanamo Bay, doubling the level of US military spending and being a strong supporter of the dividing wall between Israel and the West Bank. Left rating: 1 out of 3
Next up is Rick Perry who scores nil for environmental issues, calling climate change a 'contrived phony mess' and another zero for his policy on Israel which he supports for religious reasons, stating: "I'm a big believer that this country was given to the people of Israel a long time ago, by God". His foreign policy is not widely known but he has been quoted stating that North Korea and Iran present an imminent threat and leftists in Latin America are threatening democracy and all of them require attention. He also advocates sending the US military into Mexico to control drug violence. Left rating: 0 out of 3
Michele Bachmann is no environmentalist, describing Global Warming as a hoax and stating strong opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency and supporting increased domestic drilling of oil and natural gas, as well as being a strong proponent of nuclear power. Bachmann says in dealing with Iran, 'diplomacy is an option, but that other options, include a nuclear strike, are on the table'. She has also said that she is a long time supporter of Israel and America should defend it regardless. Left rating 0 out of 3
Newt Gingrich thinks that Israel has every right to maintain a blockade of Gaza, maintaining that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza but merely a political effort to undermine the safety of Israel. His foreign policy is one that is clear about the evil America faces as 'we are still the last, best hope of mankind on Earth' which doesn't sound very welcoming although he advocates a more robust approach to climate change. Left rating: 1 out of 3
Ron Paul has a long held foreign policy of nonintervention and opposed the Iraq War, is against any potential war with Iran and criticised U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. He called Israel 'our close friend but it should not be the place of the United States to dictate how Israel runs her affairs'. A promising start is tripped up by his views on climate change which he regards as 'not a major problem threatening civilisation.' Lefty rating 1.5 out of 3
That is the five main runners at the moment and quite a sorry bunch they are and we can't garner much hope from the remainder of the field which include Rick Santorum who is seeking to promote the teaching of intelligent design and questioning evolution.
Not good so maybe we should look outside of the main parties next.
6 comments:
So you're "hoping against hope that he is turfed out of the White House next year" yet his only potential replacement (and even then, not a realistic one) only scores a 1.5 from you? That's proof positive that politics is always about choosing the 'least bad' (rather than the 'best') candidate!
I can’t believe this Perry guy is a serious candidate. Does the electorate not remember what happened the last time they sent an angry, inarticulate, god-bothering Texan to the White House?
It is a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face i agree but the short term 'hope he doesn't get what he wants from this' is pulling stronger than the 'best man for the job' long term.
There is the counter argument that once he is elected the second time he can really go to town without having to appeal to anyone but by then the damage would have been done.
I did read that Jon Huntsman is a pretty moderate right winger but couldn't really find out much about him.
has obama really been better than bush? really? was clinton really better than reagan? really? was LBJ really better than nixon? really? was carter really better than anybody?
what is the difference between a republican president and a democratic president?
- they both use the military when it suits them
- they both attack the civil rights that they don't care for
- they both make economic policies that favor their donors (rich people)
q
First, whoever gets nominated will move miles to the center once the primaries are over. Now, it's about who is the most conservative conservative who isn't completely unelectable. That's how primaries work.
Second, you pick the wrong 5 main frontrunners. Paul is the habitual #3 candidate. Gingrich was something in 1998, but not so much today. Bachmann is a loon who has managed to do a decent job of pulling to the center; but she'll fizzle out.
I'd throw in Santorum and Huntsman as 3 and 4. They aren't polling well at the moment. But in 3 months when Republicans remember that electability matters, they'll do much better. Of all 11, Huntsman would definitely be your favorite. He's the only one who is dumb/smart-enough to run as a centrist from the get-go.
Third, you've got Rick Perry wrong. He's a center-right book in a far right cover. It's ironic now, because all of his candidacy troubles of the moment stem from his relatively sizable record of non-conservative positions (i.e. less anti-immigration).
And anyone who knows a whiff about Texas politics knows that Rick Perry (a native Texan) isn't George Bush (a carpet-bagging Yank).
But I'm a bit confused about Perry's recent troubles being inarticulate. Rick Perry is sharp. I suppose it was the same with Bush. They were both masterful in gubernatorial debates. Rick Perry qua 2004 Texas Gubernatorial Debates out-orates Barack Obama qua ever. I have a sneaking suspicion that Perry is dumbing down on purpose to appeal to that segment of the Republican Party.
-Nog
Nog, from looking around, it did seem that Huntsman was less right wing than the rest but there just wasn't enough about him for the criteria.
Ron Paul did seem to have a very wide fan base but you can see how he wouldn't appeal to many on that side of the fence.
So the Evil Empire is electing another President, eh!
The five you've detailed sound much like all those who've gone before. Left or Right, they all imagine themselves controlling the world.
They all want to make greed a virtue and elevate killing to the same status as godliness.
When is the world going to get rid of this deranged pariah nation?
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