Monday, August 06, 2007

8 for '08

Although I have not written about politics in here much lately, my recent conversations with the guy sitting next to me on my very long plane ride over here and with my uncle have prompted me write an entry about the 2008 Presidential election. No deeply profound thoughts, just eight musings that have been on my mind. (Warning: I have had a lot on my mind, this will be long)
  1. I do not have a candidate yet. Last time I jumped on the Kerry wagon early, but since I do not plan on working or donating to anyone, there is no reason to pick anyone now. As Kos (of Daily Kos) said, it is somewhat liberating not being attached to a candidate. Watching the debates and following the news is more interesting when I am not biased and cheering for one particular person. Of course I am not completely objective; I am going to vote for a Democrat and I prefer and dislike some more than others. For example, I have an unexplainable disdain for Mitt Romney; just ask my roommate who hears me rant about him all day.

  2. My friends are campaign all-stars. Although I have thus far been a spectator for this upcoming election cycle, I have friends on the Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Biden, Richardson, McCain, and Romney campaigns. I have tremendous respect for people willing to work long hours for little pay, move to the middle of nowhere, or deal with naysayers like me because they believe in someone. It is also entertaining to hear their stories from the road and witness their efforts to lobby me.

  3. Orange County is red. So this is not new news. But I was amused to hear that people started flipping off my brother after he put a Barrack Obama sticker on his car. I will be interested to see what stickers people will be slapping onto their Hummers. I have yet to see any GOP stickers, but I have seen a giant Ron Paul banner.

  4. The YouTube debate was great. The year that I ran for student government VP, a guy dressed up in a chicken suit ran for President. Although we called him the joke-candidate who had crazy ideas, he actually raised good points at the debate. The point is, good questions can come from a person dressed up as a chicken or a YouTube question from a snowman. "I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman," Romney said. Please, not answering questions from people for an hour is what's demeaning, and there are people on both sides who agree on that.
  5. My one prediction. I think I have overthought the Democratic ticket so much that I have a million different combinations of who could be President and Veep. I also do not know who the GOP Presidential nominee is. However, I will go out on a limb and predict that Governor Mike Huckabee from Arkansas will be the GOP VP nominee.

  6. My "gut feeling." I cannot see a Democratic ticket of two white males. I do not know how exactly it will work out, but after having a woman, a black, and a Latino in the race at the top, I feel like there would be uproar if we went back to conventional wisdom. The one exception would be of course if Gore decides to run, but he won't.

  7. I would love to see a bipartisan cabinet. During the youtube debate, a person asked the Democratic candidates, "If you had to pick any Republican members of Congress or a Republican governor to be your running mate, who would it be?" I know that the candidates were afraid to answer this question, just like any elected Republican or Democrat would be afraid of actually picking a person from the other party to be in their cabinet. But if Socialists will join President Sarkozy's cabinet in France, I hold out hope. This article has some amusing suggestions for bipartisan pairings.

  8. West Wing knows all. CJ: "Everybody's stupid in an election year, Charlie." Charlie: "No. Everybody gets treated stupid in an election year, C.J."

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