Obama 2012?

Ideologically, I align much more with Obama than with Romney. My key complaint against Obama was my key concern when I voted for him 4 years ago. I was worried that with his lack of executive experience and his lofty goals, he needed a strong Cabinet and inner circle to make up for his deficiencies. In the past four years, the only brilliant staffing choice he made was Hillary as Secretary of State. The rest have been lackluster choices at best, and downright ludicrous at times.

I also don't like how he handled pushing Obamacare through. I agree that something had to be done, whether it was a shrewd political move or not, and I understand why he pushed through so quickly, but the representative democratic process exists for a reason; to bypass Congressional debate and much of the typical legislative process by strongarming the Republicans with a supermajority was a terrible political move, and I didn't like it.

There are other things I could say, good or bad, but right now I'm still leaning toward voting for him (not that my vote matters in crimson red Utah). I like Mitt as a person, I respect him as a businessman, I actually think he did a great job as governor in Massachusetts, but I don't agree with him on a lot of key issues. Religion doesn't factor into my analysis (nor has it ever). For me to vote for him because he is Mormon would be nearly as stupid as people who refuse to even consider voting for Obama because they think he is a secret Muslim.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I hate how Romney's campaign has been run because at the heart of it, he seems like a moderate who had to pander to the far right to survive the primaries, and is stuck now.

I do think he's a better businessman than a politician, but I think a business approach to the economy might be a good thing. Honestly, I think that if Obama wins, he should make use of Romney's business expertise and put him to work somewhere he can make a difference. It would be a great symbolic step in healing the rift our idiotic two-party system has caused at the very least.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I have a hard time blaming him for pandering. It's one of the stupid byproducts of our political system. In order to survive the primaries in either party, you have to appeal to the base, which often includes taking a more extreme stance than you normally adhere to, and generally aligning with the party's platform whether you like it or not. Then once you've survived the primary, you have to try to scoot yourself closer to center so you can appeal to all of the people in the other party that you just spent months alienating. Let's be honest, he would never have beaten Santorum if he had touted his moderate side. People who don't align and stick to their guns end up marginalized or demonized like Ron Paul.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Pangalin

Do you think Mitt is planning on doing that anytime soon?

Sadly, it doesn't look like it. I think he's banking on the anger of the Right to galvanize them and get them to the voting booths. His choice of Ryan as a running mate really facilitated that, and left him the option of staying right or moving back to center. I think that it would be a big risk for him to move too far back to center, as he will be accused of flip-flopping (not helped by the fact that people are on notice, with his famous etch-a-sketch comment from a few months back). However, if there is any time that he'll move back to center, it will likely be during the debates.

LeHah: I agree at this point. If Mitt's campaign had been managed better they would probably still be in a dead heat. Before the GOP primaries, I had thought that the polling was ludicrous because Obama hadn't started flexing his moneybag power, but then Romney surprised me and was matching him on the fundraising front. I don't know what they've been doing with that money, but it hasn't been trying to win the election. There's the chance for Romney to make up some ground in the debates (especially on issues like the economy and national defense), but at this point there's too much ground there.

Although, the voting bloc that pushed Obama through is less motivated to vote this year, and the Right is angry. There is a chance (however statistically insignificant or improbable) that the polling numbers won't reflect the actual voting numbers, in which case it's feasibly up in the air. I don't personally buy it, but it's within the realm of possibility.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Jessykins

Shit, if Republicans had their way, 90% of Americans wouldn't be ALLOWED to vote.

Or simply wouldn't be American.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I just hope I have time to watch it at all. If I do, I might take the opportunity to pop into chat purely because I'll need people to complain to.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by LeHah

If by "better managed" you mean "wasn't subject to the insane opinions of the Tea Party", then yes.

Also true.

FELIPE NO