US Presidential Election....

[Thatcherite]

Who do you want to win and why? Can we have some constructive reasoning please not just the I want A because B once said he preferred Baseball to Football etc!

[douglas9401]

Obama, he at least gives the impression of being slightly in touch with reality.

[baza]

obama has been a bit of a non event imo, time for a change but is the other bloke a good choice?

[dotty.]

i have a dozen or so US facebook friends and so i have seen alot of links to the various reports and events of the campaigns, there is quite alot of anger going on thereand alot of that anger seems to be about the way those in the running are treating women as idiots

[emmie]

Obama, better the devil you know.

[LazyGun]

I want Obama to win because Romney once said he preferred Baseball to Football....

[modeller]

Obama as the lesser of two evils. America is a bible bashing , gun toting society and the Republicans are the most extreme of the two.

[jno]

Romney introduced a sort of Obamacare health scheme into his state, which ought to be praiseworthy only of course now he's running for the presidency for the Republicans he's having to pretend it never happened. I don't like my politicians that slippery.

Also, he says a lot of odd things. This probably doesn't matter in the US (George W was far worse); expecting leaders to be able to string coherent sentences together is more a British thing.

http://blog.sfgate.co...y-gaffes-of-the-year/

At the moment he's still trying to explain why he gets binders full of women.

[Clanad]

Here in the western U.S. ranching country we have a saying... "All hat and no saddle..." means a faux-cowboy that wears the clothes and maybe even talks a good story but is as far away from being a true "stockman" as a New Yorker would be from being a cotton farmer. Unfortunately, this can be said for our current President, in my opinion.

Mr. Obama came on the scene suddenly and with little experience. He was a one term Senator from the State of Illinois and his singular claim to fame was a key note speech back in 2007 delivered at the Democratic National Convention in support of the nominee, Senator Kerry from Massachusetts. Everyone was really impressed. One news caster here said "I felt a shiver go up my leg".

What was really happening, in my opinion, is that an attractive, educated well spoken black man was running for President and the national guilt over slavery, although nearly 150 years ago, could finally be assuaged.

Problem is, in hindsight, no ne ever vetted this guy. He came out of nowhere, his funding for this years race is nearly one billion (with a “B”) dollars, of which only about half can be readily accounted for as to origins, and he has spent over 2 million dollars to assure that his college records from both Harvard and Columbia remain sealed.

There are other ambiguities, but some approach “conspiracy theories”.

His accomplishments after 4 years in office are nearly nil. His big claim to fame exists in two events; His decision to kill Osama bin Laden and his signature nationalization of health care, euphemistically called Obamacare.

The bin Laden event was the result of a dedicated group of Seal warriors put together initially by then President, George W. Bush and the true expense and unworkability of the health care issue is only now coming to light.

Although he had a majority of Democrats in both houses of congress for the first two years, nothing else has been done of note. His foreign policy has been and is increasingly a disaster, including a true scandal concerning the deaths of the U.S. Ambassador and three other citizens in Benghazi, Libya on 9/11 of this year. In my opinion (again) this will be the second most serious event for his non-reelection (the first being the national debt, which occurred entirely within his administration… 16 Trillion dollars).

Romney, on the other hand, was Governor of the State of Massachusetts as a Republican in one of the most liberal States in the Union. He worked closely with members of both parties and passed significant legislature, including a modest but workable state government sponsored health plan. After office, he was called upon to “rescue” the Winter Olympics in, I believe the year 2002, which he did in a grand way. He’s wealthy, but all earned by his own efforts. He is a Mormon, but, we’ve had a Catholic President (Kennedy) and that shouldn’t be an issue.

Most important, he’s an open book on his history and accomplishments as well as unanimous agreement of having high character, both in his family and his personal life…

[Bazile]

Oh Dear Clanad - anyone would think you dont like Obama.

So ,what are you going to do , when he returns for a second term ?

[ichkeria]

"He is a Mormon, but, we’ve had a Catholic President (Kennedy) and that shouldn’t be an issue. "

I don't understand the logic of that remark at all.
Anyway, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Obama. By all accounts he rallied in the second debate last night.
In fairness he's taken over the presidency at a very bad time for the US.
But the thought of Governor Romney actually becoming president ...

[jake-the-peg]

There's a heck of a difference between Catholicism and Mormonism!

Have you ever read the book of Mormon??!!

Ancient Israelites running about North America founding cities, revealed to this bloke by an Angel written on gold plates that mysteriously vanish - it's completely barking,real David Icke stuff

but don't take my word for it

http://en.wikipedia.o...of_the_Book_of_Mormon

And people are actually considering electing someone that believes this stuff?!?

[naomi24]

Jake, They've elected people who believed the other stuff - just as potty - but I get your drift.

[Thatcherite]

Many thanks Clanad for a good assessment. Ichteria, "he's a mormon etc.....", US is religious, I think Clanad is saying that it is not really relevant in this context that Romney is a Mormon, ie no more relevant than it was relevant that Kennedy was a Catholic. I must admit to being on the fence a little myself, Obama has been a disaster of course but I still think that ths US would benefit from universal healthcare anything less is not civilised. Ironically Romney has had a go at this in the past but must now deny and avoid in order to not awaken the hysterics that accompany this subject in the US. So forgive me if I continue to fence squatt for now!

[Thatcherite]

Jake, all religion is totally barking dunno why you single out one of the Mormon redicuriositys! What about all this, "let there be light" balloney. Mormons/Christians/jews/Muslims/JW/David Icke/etc all as mad as a box of frogs!

[ichkeria]

All US Presidents are religious so far as I can tell. Comparing one who happens to be a Mormon with one who happens to be a Catholic seems strange.
I'm not making an issue of it necessarily - I just don't see the logic - and I'm certainly not reassured. I'm sure Kennedy's Catholicism WAS an issue to some people in the same way Romney's Mormonism is to others.

[Thatcherite]

well that's exactly why clanad was saying the mormon issue does not matter.

[jake-the-peg]

I think there's a scale

I can't quite place budhism in the same box as scientologists

I can put mormons in the same box as scientologists

[ichkeria]

"well that's exactly why clanad was saying the mormon issue does not matter. "

...in his opinion. It DOES matter to a lot of people, rightly or wrongly.
I think perhaps what he means is that just because he's a Mormon he won't send up all up in a mushroom cloud :-)

[Thatcherite]

Come on jake, are you seriously trying to create a "mumbo Jumbo" scale? If so I'd say that the "let there be light" mob would be way above the gold plate routine! What about all this loaves and fishes business?

[jake-the-peg]

Seriously?

You're telling me budhists are in the same league as scientologists?

Next you'll be telling me that Nick Griffin is just any old politician