So long Baby Boomers

[GuyFawkes38]

The inevitable rise of Obama to the Presidency does show us one thing:

A new, more attractive, more intelligent, more moral, more authentic, and less nihilistic breed of young men and women will force the baby boomers out of power and restore this country to its rightful place after the nightmare of the 1960's.

Screw Dylan.

[waggy]

When will you announce your candidacy?

[DAllen15]

And this ushers in a new generation so naive that they believe what a candidate says on the stump, without actually having a track record to back it up? That's not much of an improvement. If you always rush out and buy the "next big thing", you're going to end up with a lot of useless crap for your garage sale.

[boozehound]

The inevitable rise of Obama to the Presidency does show us one thing:

A new, more attractive, more intelligent, more moral, more authentic, and less nihilistic breed of young men and women will force the baby boomers out of power and restore this country to its rightful place after the nightmare of the 1960's.

Screw Dylan.

Inevitable? Really?

Obama is going to lose, and lose big. He has no real track record of anything, or any accomplishments at a leadership level. He is inextricably linked to Rev. Wright, who is completely insane and on recard as saying that thinks that the white government gave black people AIDS. He may be linked to Louis Farrakhan (wouldn't surprise me that much, since it's not all that big of a leap from Rev. Wright to Farrakhan).

The fact that he is a black man was, and is, an obstacle to overcome with many voters. The fact that he is a black man with links to militant racists, and the fact that he sat in a church for decades with a Reverend that Preaches hate whitey sermons, is going to come back to bury him. I blame the democratic party for letting it get this far before his demons came out.

[Kahns Krazy]

I think you're probably right, booze, but it's going to come down to voter turnout, that is, which ones turn out, not just total numbers like previous years.

I had a weird thought the other day. I was hoping that the race issue wouldn't matter that much, but I was thinking primarily about white people voting against Obama because he's black. However, I fully expect the black vote to go overwhelmingly to Obama, and I really don't have a problem with that. I'm pretty sure if I was black, I'd vote for him, even if I didn't know the first thing about his politics.

I don't know if having Obama as president would be the best thing for the country, but to be honest, a big part of me really wants to see it happen, just to see what would happen. We have had 43 old white men in the office of the President over 220 years. Would things be different? Who knows? Bill Clinton was the youngest president and he left office with the highest approval rating of any president of my lifetime.

I'm just ready for a change. I really don't care if it doesn't work out well.

[The Artist]

I think you're probably right, booze, but it's going to come down to voter turnout, that is, which ones turn out, not just total numbers like previous years.

I had a weird thought the other day. I was hoping that the race issue wouldn't matter that much, but I was thinking primarily about white people voting against Obama because he's black. However, I fully expect the black vote to go overwhelmingly to Obama, and I really don't have a problem with that. I'm pretty sure if I was black, I'd vote for him, even if I didn't know the first thing about his politics.

I don't know if having Obama as president would be the best thing for the country, but to be honest, a big part of me really wants to see it happen, just to see what would happen. We have had 43 old white men in the office of the President over 220 years. Would things be different? Who knows? Bill Clinton was the youngest president and he left office with the highest approval rating of any president of my lifetime.

I'm just ready for a change. I really don't care if it doesn't work out well.

Word.

And it's fine for everyone to makes assumptions. Apparently no track record means he's going to be a horrible president. Better to have no track record than a bad one...

[boozehound]

I think you're probably right, booze, but it's going to come down to voter turnout, that is, which ones turn out, not just total numbers like previous years.

I had a weird thought the other day. I was hoping that the race issue wouldn't matter that much, but I was thinking primarily about white people voting against Obama because he's black. However, I fully expect the black vote to go overwhelmingly to Obama, and I really don't have a problem with that. I'm pretty sure if I was black, I'd vote for him, even if I didn't know the first thing about his politics.

I don't know if having Obama as president would be the best thing for the country, but to be honest, a big part of me really wants to see it happen, just to see what would happen. We have had 43 old white men in the office of the President over 220 years. Would things be different? Who knows? Bill Clinton was the youngest president and he left office with the highest approval rating of any president of my lifetime.

I'm just ready for a change. I really don't care if it doesn't work out well.

If a lot of America feels the way you do, Obama's chances are pretty good. I don't disagree with you either. He is definitely the candidate of change, and it can be argued that not having any Washington experience is not a bad thing necessarily.

He proabably won't be able to do much of consequence anyways. There's no way that the president and congress would actually be able to agree on a plan for universal health care, so that one is out. Same thing with social security reform. Even the republicans are starting to agree that we need to become a 'greener' society (although their reasons for that shift in belief are more aimed toward reducing the dependence on fossil fuel than any genuine concern for the environment). We don't have the money for any of Obama's social programs anyways. We have a huge deficit. The average American is in debt up to their ears, with no savings to speak of. We are dependent on foreign countries, many of whom are hostile, for many of the products we use on a daily basis.

This goes out to both candidates, not just Obama: When you are going to suggest some great program, tell us how you are going to pay for it. Continuing to run up the defecit isn't an option, and we cannot continue to spend at our current rate without the defecit spiraling out of control. We simply can't raise taxes enough to pay for our spending.

[GoMuskies]

I'd like to know what's going to change.

[GuyFawkes38]

I'm 99% positive that Obama will win.

Does America really want another Bush in the White House. The only difference between Bush and McCain is that Bush is a better public speaker (what an awful speech last nite).

Americans don't want that anymore. They want someone they can be proud of.

Even Vegas has Obama as an overwhelming favorite.

McCain doesn't have a chance.

[GoMuskies]

I don't know about overwhelming, but he's definitely the favorite according to oddsmakers. Of course, the oddsmakers favored Hillary pretty strongly not too awfully long ago.

Barack Obama 1 - 2

Hillary Clinton 20 - 1

John McCain 3 - 2

Ron Paul 100 - 1

[boozehound]

I'm 99% positive that Obama will win.

Does America really want another Bush in the White House. The only difference between Bush and McCain is that Bush is a better public speaker (what an awful speech last nite).

Americans don't want that anymore. They want someone they can be proud of.

Even Vegas has Obama as an overwhelming favorite.

McCain doesn't have a chance.

You would have thought the same thing in 2004 though, wouldn't you? Not only did we elect "another Bush" but we reelected the same Bush...

[GuyFawkes38]

You would have thought the same thing in 2004 though, wouldn't you? Not only did we elect "another Bush" but we reelected the same Bush...

True. But this year feels different (and that difference might relate to the economy, which is more stagnant this year than in 2004).

[PM Thor]

It's kind of difficult for a partys candidate to win when said party has a sitting president with such low approval ratings after 2 terms. McCain is trying to separate himself from Bush (which is understandable), but in doing so is alienating a big section of the Republican base too. Heck, just recently McCain asked that a fundraiser for his campaign that President Bush was attending NOT be open to the media. What does that tell you?

All Obama has to do is keep saying "Change", because McCain, being a long serving politico, has to prove even moreso how he is different from the last 8 years. Do I agree with the way Obama most likely will go after the general election? Nope. But it most likely will work.

And yeah, I am interested to see what will happen if that occurs. Hell, it would be great to say that I saw it happen in my lifetime.

Oh yeah, I also hope that this general election is a more gentlemanly affair than we have had recently. I think both McCain and Obama are pretty stand up guys, and won't go for the lowest common denominator. Hopefully. (I doubt their respective parties will do the same though)

[GuyFawkes38]

I'll be honest: On the issues alone, I lean towards McCain.

But on the person, I lean towards Obama. I might sound like a sell out. But to have someone like Obama in office will improve both the atmosphere in Washington and the world.

Obama is really what this country is all about.

[XUglow]

I'll be honest: On the issues alone, I lean towards McCain.


Lean? Guy, you haven't posted an issue on this board that isn't with or right of McCain.

Like most Americans, you are looking for a leader. We don't have one. I wonder if you will feel the same about Obama's leadership after his legislation initiatives come to fruition.

Just asking.

[GuyFawkes38]

Lean? Guy, you haven't posted an issue on this board that isn't with or right of McCain.

Like most Americans, you are looking for a leader. We don't have one. I wonder if you will feel the same about Obama's leadership after his legislation initiatives come to fruition.

Just asking.


I just don't buy the argument that Obama will turn the country into a socialized state. American Presidents don't do that. I know many will cite Roosevelt as a transformative leader who moved the country left during the depression. Yet Hoover made similar moves during the preceding term.

It was not Hoover or Roosevelt who moved the country left. It was the Great Depression.

And we are not in a Great Depression (or a recession). Yes, Obama might briefly hike up taxes and increase worthless government programs. But it won't last long. Obama is going to have to make some compromises. Because Americans don't want to see radical change on domestic issues.

What ultimately moves me towards the Obama camp is that he appears more prudent than McCain. On foreign policy issues (which the President shapes the most over domestic issues), McCain is more hawkish than Bush. And remember, McCain was a NeoCon well before Bush was.

And I'm not going to lie. Having an African American President will be a great thing.

I consider myself a Burkean conservative. Issues matter less than the prudence of the person in office.

[GuyFawkes38]

Speaking of Burke, David Brooks of the NYTIMES (an avid Burke fan) has a new column up which I can't agree more with:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/opinion/06brooks.html?em&ex=1212984000&en=012a3ee7f58827bd&ei=5087%0A

(He also takes a shot at the Baby Boomers in it)

[XUglow]

Guy, I hope that you don't think that I said anything about Obama forming a socialist state. Any attempt to do so would likely put the Republicans back in charge of Congress after the mid-term elections. My only point is that if you take the top 10 economic and social issues, Obama is on the opposite side of maybe 10 of those issues from your posted stances.

[GuyFawkes38]

Guy, I hope that you don't think that I said anything about Obama forming a socialist state. Any attempt to do so would likely put the Republicans back in charge of Congress after the mid-term elections. My only point is that if you take the top 10 economic and social issues, Obama is on the opposite side of maybe 10 of those issues from your posted stances.


I think that's largely true.

But Obama does take some stances which makes a libertarian like myself smile (marijuana legalization, marriage for homosexuals).

Also, I do appreciate some elements of his health care proposals (lowering cost of health care, not forcing everyone to get it). And I do have some hope that Obama has the courage to take on the inefficient supply side of health care (the evil AMA and AHA).