It's sort of like the way any ballot in Florida that was marked for Buchanon must have really been for Gore.

You said "Kerry's best asset? He's the “most electable” against Bush."

I think this comment is incorrect, and the fact that it is incorrect is why Kerry will in fact lose against Bush. While I am a dem by birth, a republican by profession (can be argued) and association with friends, I am one of the newest targets in the political world, I am a NASCAR dad (without the kid so that just kind of makes me a NASCAR fan). So as a result, and also due to my living a little closer to the political center of our country than I did when in Cleveland, I have been paying much attention to the election coverage so far. Here is what I see...

The Dems had:
[b]Dean[/b] - He was the front runner until his untimely meltdown that lost him a TON of credibility. He had a chance to recover until his whole campaign turned into a circus, the first public appearance of it came just before the "I have a scream" speech when he told off a heckler in an open forum, a register republican heckler, but a heckler with a good point. Soon after, I guess it was chaos within his campaign as well.

[b]Clark[/b] – What a badass. This dude has my respect at least, but not my vote. If I wanted to aspire to be like someone from the Dem ticket, it would be Clark. Look at him, he leads an Army, then he goes private after retirement and uses his DC connections (even though he was only in DC for like 3 years) to sell for his company. He gets the ear of the VP to make a MAJOR sell of some almost vaporware that he knows nothing about that can’t even be readily used in today’s society due to privacy restrictions. Then he laughs all the way to the bank, and then after cashing his check for his salary of well more than $1,000,000 over the past two years (recall his army salary was somewhere around $100K), then he does an immediate about face and starts a run for president where he burns every bridge he used to get to his gianormous salary, littering the fire with $100 bills just to watch it burn because he can. Badass, just badass, but we don’t need an openly back stabbing badass as our president, I prefer the glorious veil of ignorance when it comes to our Commander and Chief’s sketchy ways. But I digress… Clark came into the race with gusto, so much in fact he shuffled Edwards right out of the race, taking away his chance at any votes since they both had similar points and Clark had the media backing since it was war time and he had the military background. Clark stood against the war in Iraq (even if he was for it a few months earlier) and being military and familiar with Bush, he got the attention

[b]Edwards[/b] – Truly the *most* electable Dem. He stands along the same Conservative liberal lines that Clinton stood on, and this my friends, is the only Dem that the United States is ready to elect right now. Everyone knows a sudden shift in policy from as far right as it currently is to as far left as Kerry stands, will in effect cause a massive quake in the political ground that we stand on. People will slip through the cracks, things will be forgotten, and before you know it, we will have a major terror attack on our hands because we are suddenly many times more vulnerable than at any point during the last two administrations. It is for these reasons that if the Dems were to take back the White House it would have to be with the same type person as Clinton was, a conservative who keeps the ear of the Republican voting conservative libertarians and other liberal republicans of mention (NASCAR Dads).


[b]Kucinich[/b] - Sure he's from Cleveland, but I just can't get behind the guy, he is a nut. Look at his policies, OMFG, where does he think we are, Italy? Just to give you some idea, Kucinich gather the popular vote in one Ohio City during the Ohio primary. That city.... Oberlin. Nuff said.

[b]Sharpton[/b] – Was great on SNL…

The Dems now have:
[b]Kerry[/b] - Was the second most visible candidate in the democratic party, and simply stepped into Dean's role once we went nuts. The thing is, Kerry, while a war Hero, had repeatedly been on the most liberal side of everything. The fact is, that is not what America wants, however, that is what they will get with Kerry. He has some things that are *great* ideas, at least they have worked in Europe, such as his Health Care Plan, at least it isn't as out there as Kucinich, but it is still pretty shaky ground when it comes down to it, ground that most Americans are still too nervous of and won't be supporting for quite a few years at least. Add to it the fact that he can be attacked by Bush on so many grounds, from his voting goofy foot on many major topics in the past, to his swept under the rug but soon to resurface and all to familiar with Democratic candidates accusations of illicit extramarital affairs, that he just doesn’t stand a chance.


Well, in a surprise result, it appears Bush has won the spot to run for President for the Republicans, lets take a look at what he has:
[b]Bush[/b] - Well, his religiously fueled agenda is of the most conservative that has been in office in recent memory. I personally can't stand this aspect of Bush, but he does throw a great smoke screen.
The current hot topic, Gay Marriage. He is in a win win situation with his decision, he just can't take it too far to start pissing off the people who currently don't care enough to sway the vote. On this topic, he has the way right to the conservative libertarians in his corner, and the liberals in general, well, they are just the refs. The only people who will really get pissed off about this are the gay people that it is affecting, who aren't going to vote for him anyway, and the really far left straight people, who also are not voting for him because he already pissed them off and they let him know about it in their last PETA rally. So as I see it, he isn't losing any votes with this, and he may be gathering a few votes from dems who feel the whole marriage is a gift blah blah blah crap. (Personally, if gay people want to get married and get screwed by the god damned two income tax crap, then I say go for it) The fact is, while perhaps religiously inspired, a complete ban on fully federally recognized same sex marriages have a further reaching implication in costing major health care providers, insurance agencies, and other major corporations lots of money. This is the reason, and you are fooling yourself if you think otherwise, that this ban is being considered. If same sex marriages would save billions per year for all involved, I think we would not only not see the ban being questioned, but we would see a steady stream of major corporation CEOs leading the way for their employees and others in divorcing their wives and getting hitched with the hot dude down the street.

You see, smoke screen, I've just spent a ton of time writing about this same sex marriage crap when the real issues haven't even been covered. It provides an excellent mask and I am surprised that you've even read to this section of my comment, perhaps you skipped ahead the same way the rest of the country should. So, the real issues Bush will need to deal with, and the places where he can make major gains against Kerry. Kerry was a war hero, but that doesn't mean he will know how to fight the "War on Terror." You need a true take no prisoners unless you are sending them for extended stays in Cuba mentality. As I said I am a Dem, but I know that a Dem can't kick some ass like a Rep can, and I think we need some good ass kicking. I think leaving the UN powerless as Bush did was a mistake, and perhaps going to war for the reasons presented was not the right choice, but Saddam needed to go and our safety is paramount. People keep saying that Bush is the reason for the terrorism, his policy is what is causing the problems. Time to wake up and smell the USA, it is our own fault, everything the USA stands for is what it causing the problem. The extremists that are attacking us hate the USA, democrat, republican, green, it doesn't matter, they hate that we are materialistic, and free, and not all an extreme version of the Muslim faith. Look at their propaganda, read between the lines, imagine what would happen if they could have their wish and come down with a massive bomb that would seek out and kill all Americans and Jews (and especially American Jews), then what? Oh look, there are other parts of the world they suddenly hate, the entire world that isn't just like them, and oh look, we need to kill them too. And then oh look, there are Muslims that don't go to the same extremes that we do, they are going against the Koran, oh look, we also need to kill them, or at least treat them as they don't exist. Sure they helped in small ways to get us to this point because they didn't realize our true agenda, they thought we were fighting for them, but truly, there are only about 20 people really deserve to Live. I think you get my point, there is a small group of terrorists that need to be dealt with, and at this point, Bush is the one to deal with them.

One other thing, while Giuliani is denying any rumors, a Bush Giuliani 04 ticket is about as sure thing as you can get right now. Sure Chaney has a gay daughter that he can talk about the marriage smoke screen about, but he is more hurting the Reps and Helping the Dems now.

Ok, I've forgotten what I am writing about, it has turned into a rant about Gay Marriage and Muslim Extremists and not so much about how Edwards was the better choice and truly the most "Electable" against Bush. But Kerry took the spotlight and Clark took over Edwards' spot on the stage so that Edwards could not steal the spotlight from Kerry. Kerry is too far left, Edwards would have been the best for the job from the Dem side, but too bad, well, we will probably see Giuliani vs Clinton in '08, and if Bush screws up this term too badly, we will end up with the first female president in a scant 4 years.

Get your own freakin' blog, Santa!

You forgot to even mention Nader, and I don't believe that we'll ever see Madame Clinton in office, unless that Madame is Chelsea or maybe even Chelsea Jr.

And, need I point out, that most of us (us = Muslims) don't fall for that extremest bull-crap. The big issue there is that in many "Muslim" countries the liberals are on the run, the moderates are trying to blend in and not cause trouble, and the extremists have ousted the conservatives and turned them into moderates (who are trying to blend in and not cause trouble). I expect most are just trying to feed their families, or hoping that the extremists calm down after a while, but I think many of them are starting to wake up, and I'm hoping for an Islamic Renaissance to kick-in any day now.

Nader? Who's that? Who was even talking about Nader, did I miss something? :-) Kearns, you just outlined exactly the point I was going for but missed in what I was saying. The Extremists are a small group that get the ear of the larger group, and in some cases a good deal of support, trough threats and force and even overarching promises of something better. Promise someone who is down and out something better that will come easily and you will often win over even the most untrusting of people. They try to use the same methods to get results in the US (just the threats and force part) with their "Kill some, injure more, scare everyone" mentality. This may make people who have little faith in their leadership or no true leadership at all buckle, but the majority of the population of the US has something that many of the countries where Muslim extremists take over simply do not have, confidence in their government and a track record that no matter who is in charge, they feel that they are doing it for the good of everyone. Even the most self serving of presidents in our nations history do not amount to the selfishness and grotesque misuse of power of the heads of state where corrupt Muslim extremist organizations are allowed to flourish. When you get down to it, put Bush, Nader, or Kerry in office and the whole of our society largely has the same amount of resolve and we know that they will try to do their best to make our country a better place. This notion has been destroyed in the fragile Arabic states where decades of corruption and war has caused an alarmingly large portion of the population to take the ideology of "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" absolutely to heart. Sadly it will take longer to remove them from this mentality, you don't just suddenly trust after years of mistreatment. I hope this renaissance does kick in sooner than later, but I think the key, no matter when it happens, is to make sure it happens in a stable enough environment that will allow it to flourish rather than to be stifled by the next extremist group that is able to topple leadership in whatever country it may happen in.

What are you talking about? Are the extremists the Republicans? The Democrats? Nader? Al Queda? I'm so lost. Perhaps if there were more paragraphs to help ouline the structure of your argument, I'd be able to follow.

And I think that your faith in the American people freakin' out all over the place is a bit too much, if (God forbid) Kucinich were to somehow become president, I'd be screaming like Dean the next day, and organizing some sort of resistance...

Please realize I never mentioned Kucinich or Sharpton in any of my hypotheticals as doing this would have invalidated anything I would say from that point on. As for paragraphs, I've never really been a big fan. And yes, I am talking mostly about Irish Republican Muslim Fundamentalist Extremists, I think we have a new partying starting to form here. Count me in.

Also realize that in my word spell check, it does not recognize Kucinich or Sharpton as validly spelled words. I think this should be the true litmus for determining if someone can run for president. If your last name is spelled correctly and word (in its default form) does not question the spelling, then you are allowed to run, otherwise, no thank you.

Also, Gruska, I just went to go check out the latest and greatest from "DaveGruska.com" and received a message "Are you happy now, "Anonymous Coward"?" My response, how am I anonymous? Also, a coward, I was checking a blog? All I know is I am sick of going to websites, namely Dave Gruska's, and getting beat about the head and neck. FINE

It's capital Anonymous Coward, he wasn't talking about you, but some guy named Anonymous Coward. I think his full name is Anonymous Brenton Milford Coward III.

I wasn't calling you "Anonymous Coward". I was addressing the person/program who/that posted a ton of blog comment porn spams under the name, "Anonymous Coward". I've since changed the temporary message to, "I hate blog spammers". Geez, are you happy now, "Santa"?

By the way, thanks Kearns for letting Santa and I adopt your blog :)

Woah woah woah, I am not adopting this Blog. Blog's are a huge responsibility, you have to feed them, change them, maintain them, and then once you think you've worked hard enough, you have to spend all of your hard earned money to put them through college. No thanks, I don't want to adopt anyone's Blog.

My head hurts from reading that stream of consciousness comment from hell.

I think we can all agree we're not voting for alex for president because listening to him make speeches would give us all headaches.

There are many other reasons why we're not voting for Alex for president, this is just one more.

Another good reason is that he's not actually up for election...yet.

Hey, I would venture to say I have about as much chance of being elected for president as Kucinich or Sharpton. As for my speeches, they would not be anything like my horrible comment, in fact, the subject matter would revolve primarly around the Internet and Web programming, computers in general, NASCAR, renovating old houses, Star Wars, baseball and perhaps a little about poop and farts. It is for this reason that I am not very electable by any other population that the largely non voting sub 22 year old youth of the country.

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