Presidential debate

Saw the Dems debate tonight. Other than some typical Al Sharpton humor and a few disturbances by the Lyndon LaRouche crowd, it was not that substantive. If I liked Democratic Party politics I would say Carol Mosely Braun give the best responses. She didn't come across as programmed using sound bites but give pretty methodical, sound, well-thought out answers. Lieberman continues to impress me but I think he is beginning to say some things he really doesn't believe in an attempt to derail the Dean momemtum. Kerry is the biggest "politician" running and Gephart comes in a very close second. Where's Gary Hart when you need him?

 

Jimmy

Carol became a master at response during here time on the stand regarding fraud and abuse of funds while in congress.

When it comes to criminal fraud she makes the founder of the defunct LaSalle look like a saint.

It's getting scary Jimmy, it's getting scary!!!!

What was the old western movie title.

"The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"???

God save us all!!!

 

Re: Jimmy

Hi Veteran,

Oh, I know she had a horrible history as Senator. I lived in Illinois for a time and she was my Senator. I voted for her anyway against Fitzgerald because I felt him too far right. I voted for Lolita Didrickson in the primary. Fitzgerald has not been that far right though. Mosely-Braun has a shady history, especially her cozying up to dictators. All in all, she has a nice smile, is very intelligent and did give the best answers tonight. But, my vote goes to Bush in 2004.

 

I watched The New Detectives on the Discovery Channel, followed by The Belzer Connection on Sci-Fi; completely forgot that the debate was tonight, but I'm sure it'll be replayed plenty of times down the road.

I'm afraid Bush has designs on the Supreme Court that would make the Ayatollah Khomeini blush, so I'm relatively confident that I won't be voting for him; and since it's unlikely that a viable third-party candidate will enter the running, it's a safe bet that I'll be picking my candidate in the Democratic primaries early next year. It's far too early to say who that might be, but I still think Lieberman is the most viable candidate at this point.


Cheers,

 

I was in a hotel room and only caught part of the debate. There seemed to be some people screaming, what was that about?

Ultimately it looks like if things keep going economically Bush will lose to any of four candidates. If his approval rating drops into the 40's (a few points away) then I would not be surprised to see Al Gore enter the race.

I think Gore/Lieberman could win this time around. Unless Iran does not comply with the nuclear demands.......

Ah, the Heck with it. How was The Belzer Connection?

 

Hecklers

The screaming was by supporters of Lyndon LaRouche, the perennial candidate. LaRouche, headquartered in Virginia, but now in prison, I believe, used to be a Marxist. He is now a very far- right person. In 1986 in the Illinois Democratic Primary, two LaRouche candidates won for Lt. Gov. and another office, I believe it was SOS. Adlai Stevenson won the Gov's. primary. He had to repudiate the ticket and ended up running under a Solidarity label. LaRouche's people have disrupted many Presidential debates in the past few election cycles.

 

My suspicion is that the economy will probably recover (though not to pre-recession levels, at least not in time for the election), but I totally agree that his approval rating will probably drop to the 40s pretty soon now. Up until 9/11, Bush wasn't really a very formidable candidate; national unity boosted his rating, but as Bush has no doubt known all along, that wasn't about him as much as it was about the United States, regardless of the officeholder. They say that when you build a close relationship based mainly on shared crisis, the "crisis bond" starts wearing off in about 7 months; Bush's rating has stayed high anyway because of the two wars (which also qualify as crises), but now that things are settling down a bit, the honeymoon is ending. He'll have to win this election on his own merits.

I will be very surprised if Gore changes his mind and enters the race, even if polls show that he would beat Bush in the "were the election held today" polls (which he probably will); I think the final slate of Democratic candidates will end up being what we have now, plus (maybe) Wesley Clark.

Not bad, but it needs a little work. Think Politically Incorrect for the conspiracy theory bunch. Richard Belzer is a trip to watch, he had pretty interesting panels (Ice T, Janeane Garofolo, etc.), but the major flaw of the show was that it was too rushed. The clipping was pathetically obvious (you would hear the last 0.5 seconds of audience laughter at random times, for example), most glaringly in the Majestic 12 segment where Belzer referred to one speaker bringing up Project Mogul, a part of the segment viewers didn't actually get to see (which meant that the whole skeptic side of the argument didn't really make sense). I get the feeling it was supposed to be a one-hour (44min) show, and that it's been clipped in half to thirty minutes (22min) out of fear that the longer version might seem boring; if they go with the longer version, they'll probably have a hit on their hands.


Cheers,

 

I just now noticed this. I like this wording. It does seem more appropriate than my my self-aggrandizing "in progress." How are the studies going? How much longer do you have. Mind sharing your dissertation topic?

 

Reagan won California in 1980.