2008 Presidential Candidates

I am a Canadian. I don’t get to vote in the US presidential elections even though their outcome affects my life more than any Canadian election. I am putting out my thoughts hoping to influence those with a vote.

US presidential candidates
US presidential candidates
Rank	Name	Party Affiliation	Positives	Negatives
1	Barack Obama		Opposed the Iraq war from day one. Solid mainstream values. Has not accepted PAC (Political Action Committee) money. Oprah likes him.	The USA is still a racist country. Bigots might not vote for him because of his skin colour and allow a Republican in. He used cocaine early in his life. That shows extreme lack of judgement and a potential weakness his enemies might exploit after he got in office. Bush succumbed to the temptations of drugs and alcohol under the stress of office. Refuses to be specific about his policies.
2	John Edwards		Intelligent. Acquitted himself well in the presidential debates. He has no unknown skeletons. They would have come out in the last election.	He was running third. He has withdrawn.
3	Hillary Clinton		Safe choice. We know what to expect. This is basically an extension of the Bill Clinton presidency.	She is a hawk as Democrats go. She did not abandon the Iraq war until she was forced to and is still voting to funding to keep it going. She is right wing as Democrats go. However, that helps ensure victory which requires taking the middle ground vote. Her presidency could be looked on as a way to bypass the rules designed to keep one man from office longer than eight years.
4	Ron Paul		He is a most un-politician-like politician, willing to talk about the elephants in the room everyone else is ignoring. He will bring up disturbing topics like the cost of the Iraq war, the decline of the dollar and public debt. He brings a whiff of honesty and candour to the debates. He opposes the Iraq war.	He has almost no chance of winning. He has silly and extreme views on reduction of government. He imagines everything will just run itself. Corporations can’t properly run things. They have no moral compass. They have only profit motive. Unchecked, that leads to insane behaviour. We need more regulation of corporations (e.g. mortgage lending, truth in packaging) not less.
5	Mitt Romney		A typical rich look-out-for-the-rich Republican. As a Mormon, he is unlikely to force his personal religious beliefs on the public as other Republicans are wont to do.	Has no understanding of or compassion for the plight of the average man. He has no moral center. He flip-flops with the polls. He has dropped out. His exit line was an outrageous lie — that he dropped out for his country because it was at war. It was a war when he threw his hat in the ring. He withdrew because he had already blown 40 million dollars and was sinking fast.
6	John McCain		Tends to be on the left of the Republican party, thus more appealing to the middle of the road voters. He is hated by the Rush Limbaugh conservatives and the flat earth creationists. He might thus split the Republican party.	Loves war and torture. Does not care if the country goes bankrupt to let him play general. He would be over 80 when he left office. The presidency is too strenuous a job for someone so old. He has such an ego, he refers to himself with the royal we. Has promised not only to continue the Afghanistan and Iraq wars but to start new ones.
7	Rudy Giuliani		Has experience as mayor of New York city and was successful at cracking the whip. The lack of experience of his competitors is distressing.	Giuliani has some serious explaining to do about all his foreknowledge of 2001-09-11. It would be foolish to trust someone with such a cloud over his head that he was in on 2001-09-11. He has withdrawn.
8	Mike Huckabee		Personable, good story teller	This guy is a complete fruitcake. He has less than a grade 2 understanding of science. For example, he thinks bumblebees fly only because of divine intervention. He announced he planned to change the constitution to bring it in line with the bible, presumably to enforce capital punishment for abortion, adultery, homosexuality, eating lobster, failing to get circumcised… He does not respect the notion of freedom of religion or separation of church and state.

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