Election '08 - Republicans

[IrishCanadian25]

Republican Primary

In control of the White House for two consecutive terms but recently no longer in control of the House of Representatives and the Senate is America's republican party. As they face their first primary since 2000, the race itself is extremely heated and pretty close.

Rudy Giuliani. The former mayor of New York City was undoubtedly helped by his leadership on 9/11. Ran for US Senate in 2000 but dropped out. Supporters include Steve Forbes, Kelsy Grammar, and Adam Sandler. The only Republican candidate who supports Abortion Rights. Supported Bush's plan to send extra troops to Iraq and is against a timetable for removal. Supports domestic partnerships for gay couples but says marriage should be defined as a male and a female. Supports Bush tax cuts and a combination of private retirement accounts and government secured benefits for social security. Currently supported by approx. 24% of Republican primary voters.

Mike Huckabee. Baptist Minister and former governor of Arkansas. Supports include John Tyson (Tyson foods) and Scott Ford (CEO of Alltell). Opposes abortion rights. Supports Bush's immigration plan but criticizes some Republican plans as impossible. Has supported Bush Iraq policy stating "The President has access to information the rest of us do not." Opposes same-sex marriage. Supports Bush's Social Security plan to allow people to divert some retirement savings into private accounts. Supports "fair tax" plan. Cuurently supported by 22% of Republican primary voters.

Mitt Romney. Harvard Grad and former Massachusets governor. Supporters include Meg Whitman (president / CEO of eBay) and David Neeleman (CEO of Jet Blue). Opposes abortion rights except in cases of rape, incest, and protecting the life of the mother, though he supported Abortion Rights in 1994. Generally opposed to making immigration easier and supports better system for employers to verify status. Supports Bush plan for troops in Iraq. Opposes same-sex marriage but supports civil unions and pushed for unions in Massachusets. Wants an independent, bi-partisan panel to explore social security issues. Supports Bush tax cuts. Backed by 16% of Republican voters.

John McCain. Senator of Arizona and a US Navy vet. Ran against Bush in the 2000 primary and lost. Supporters include Evelyn Lauder (from Estee Lauder) and Dreamworks Chairman Roger Enrico. Opposes abortion rights except in the case of rape, incest, or protecting the life of the mother. Co-sponsored the Bush-backed Immigration reform to increae border security and provide a path for current immigrants to citizenship. Voted for use of military force in Iraq though has criticized the White House's handling of the war. Defines marriage as between a man and woman but feels the states should decide and opposes a constitutional ammendment. Supports Bush's social security plan. Voted against Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 but later voted to extend cuts until 2010. Supported by 13% of Republican primary voters.

Fred Thompson. Lawyer and actor on "Law and Order." No major supporters to note. Opposes Abortion and says Roe vs Wade was "a bad law." Supports troops in Iraq but criticized the US for entering with too few troops and the wrong strategy in the first place. Opposes same-sex marriage and civil unions, but says the states should decide on civil unions. Wants to use budget surplus to create supplement to social security. Voted in favor of Bush 2001 tax cuts. 10% of voters support him.

Ron Paul. US Representative from Texas. Supported by a number of mid-sized corporate CEO's. Opposes abortion rights but says states should decide. Says Roe vs Wade was "wrongfully decided." Voted for fence around US / Mexico border and was opposed to a path for current illegal immigrants to gain citizenship. Voted against military force in Iraq, and says victory there is "unattainable." Opposes same sex marriage but also opposes any constitutional ammendment. Opposes Bush's Social Security plan rather supporting a cut in payroll taxes for workers to invest. Supported all Bush tax cuts and is a known tax-cut advocate. 6%.


If you were to vote in the Republican primary, who would get your vote and why? Who should the American people avoid and why? What are your thoughts on the candidates?

 

[X]

Ron Paul. Hands down. I've been supporting the man for almost a year now, and I will continue to. I understand you just had to whip up quick summaries for each candidate, but that small paragraph doesn't even begin to shed light on Ron Paul. He is the only candidate who will be able to fix the unbelievable damage that Bush has put on our country in terms of Iraq & our constiutional rights. He's the only candidate who voted against the Iraq war, and his policy is of non-interventionism. He's worked hard for years and is currently constructing bills to dispose of wasteful government departments such as the IRS, EPA, and Department of Homeland Security, not to mention the Federal Reserve (nothing more then a private corporation). This man knows whats best for our country right now I think. And he's got my vote.

All of the other Republican candidates with the exception of maybe John McCain are pigs. If Giuliani is elected President, I'm moving to Canada. What an unbelievable piece of shit that man is.

http://www.RonPaul2008.com/

 

[NYSandman]

I like Rudy, but I don't think I can bring myself to vote Republican. In fact, I don't think I can bring myself to vote period.

 

[Batistabomb10]

Huckabee is my candidate. He won Iowa. I'm only 16, which means WHEN HE WINS, I can vote for him when he runs for re-election!

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Huckabee is my candidate. He won Iowa. I'm only 16, which means WHEN HE WINS, I can vote for him when he runs for re-election!

Are you an Iowa man, BB10?

The Huckster is putting on an impressive grassroots campaign right now in Iowa, but safe to say he won't carry New Hampshire unless his "honest, down to earth persona" appeals to social conservatives and moderates.

I don't mind the guy, but I'd never vote for somebody who could potentially rule the country based on religion. I am very socially liberal, and I believe in the separation of church and state.

 

[X]

Agreed. Mike Huckabee isn't right for any sort of government position IMO. No one is when they take their religion into the playing field so much as men like him do. Why can't evangelicals understand that you can be religious without having to wave it in everyones face all the time?

Ron Paul had some pretty strong numbers in Iowa for being a relative nobody. Double digits in fact, right around Giuliani's numbers I believe.

 

[Shocky]

Huckabee is playing a smart game though. You have to remember, the conservative christian voters come out, and they come out hardcore for elections. It doesn't matter what everyone does as far as the youth vote or whatever, because the old Conservative Christians out number everyone.

It's a good strategy by Huckabee. He is playing to the majority of voters. We may not like it, but it's smart politics. If he makes all of these promises, and tries to make them happen, Congress will not approve of them, and Huckabee would come out looking like Gold.

Personally I think Huckabee is a douche, but you can't deny he's being very very smart with his strategy.

 

[X]

True, but this doesn't change the fact that I doubt any Republican will win this election. Our country has just grown tired of the GOP and all of the scandals that seem to come out atleast once a month, usually involving a Republican and gay sex and/or crystal meth.

New Hampshire is tonight, and I'm guaranteeing you right now that Ron Paul is going to easily be in the top 3 vote getters for Republicans, considering New Hampshire's independent and libertarian politics. Hell he could even pull off a monster upset.

I just wish the mass media would spend maybe five fucking minutes on the man instead of interviewing Rudy Giuliani every twenty fucking minutes (when in fact Ron Paul has raised more money, and got more votes in Iowa then Giuliani did). No mention whatsoever of him. The man could win every primary and the news networks would still ignore him.

Watch Jay Leno tonight, Paul's gonna be on.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Ron's biggest advantage is the fact that the other candidates don't take him seriously at all, probably because he is still viewed as a Libertarian. If you saw the Channel 7 debates on Saturday night, they all tried to laught at him to discredit him, but nobody responded to some very well made points. He came off as the '08 Ralph Nader.

That could work in his favor. If nobody else takes him seriously and his grassroots campaign continues to go this well, he will break the top 3 and even beat out guys like Giuliani. If he finishes behind McCain, Huckabee, and Romney in the final election he's in a bad way, but if cracks the top 3 it's a success.

With all the talk of Bloomberg talking to people about the inclusion of a 3rd party in debates / elections, I wouldn't be shocked to see a Paul / Bloomberg Libertarian run in 2012.

 

[X]

So it appears John McCain wins for the Republicans in New Hampshire. Bit of a surprise there, everyone thought McCain was dead in the water. He's a fairly liberal Republican, so I can see why he won in NH.

Ron Paul once again hit double digits for the Republicans and tied for third place among Republicans. And as usual, not even the slightest word of him on any major news outlet. I've seen more coverage on fucking Duncan Hunter then I have Ron Paul. Don't know who Duncan Hunter is? Exactly my point, he barely cracks over 1% of the vote, yet he gets more time then Ron Paul who has been cracking in at around 10-13% of the vote. Such ridiculious bullshit.

I'm really getting tired of the 5 people who run every news outlet in America (thats a real fact right there, look it up, every media outlet can be traced back to five men)

 

[Gus]

I'm really getting tired of the 5 people who run every news outlet in America (thats a real fact right there, look it up, every media outlet can be traced back to five men)

what about CNN? Ted Turner, there may be more people behind him, i dont know, but anyway...

It's going to be hard for any Republican candidate to win the presidency, but it could happen if everyone gets behind the candidate, i personally would like Huckabee in there, he says hes going to get rid of income tax, and just make a flat tax on everything of 23%, which eliminates the IRS, tax day, H&R block, turbo tax, all of that, I also believe we should finish what we started in Iraq, if we leave now, the insurgents would probably organize an attack on the US, and thats the last thing we need right now to fix the economy...

 

[edge=ratings]

Now im not a republican but if Huckabee makes it to be the final republican against a democrat, then i will vote for Huckabee, and ill tell you why. Five words.....Stephen Colbert as running mate. And if, god forbid, something happens to Huckabee then guess who our prez is. Lol thats kind of a strange thought but hey.

 

[Electric Wizard]

Ron Paul for sure.

I've been supporting him since last June and I've met him in person twice since then when he's come here to Vegas.I'm not a republican or a democrat, I'm a libertarian so he best fits my views and he's the dream candidate I've been waiting for.

Funny how Rudy has dropped out so I got to spit in the face of all the Rudy supporters and prove them wrong.Ron Paul got second place in the Nevada caucus and 2nd place in the Louisiana caucus/primary so we're doing pretty good I think.We've raised 6 million dollars in one day before and that's just great.

I've been supporting him because like I said he fits my views and is probably one of the most qualified.Because honestly being a mayor or governor doesn't make you all that qualified since you're only making choices that best your city or state.When your in congress or senate you're making choices for the whole country and dealing with things on the big map.