2012 US Presidential Election

[Giggles]

He does have his good points but, he's also a get back in the kitchen kind of dinosaur guy along with some other strong old school Christian right slant from what I've kept hearing. Not sure if this is true or just slander by opponents but, I wouldn't be surprised. Also, if he does get in and cuts some of the depts in the gov that he's talked about, man... there'll be a big loss. Even if the individual states pick up the slack you're loosing a lot of capabilities.

[Zalis]

Is it just me, or does Ron Paul seem less crazy than he did in 2008?

[Giggles]

haha, that's the funny thing about him. he starts off well and people get all riled up behind him, then he comes out and says something and then everyone's like wtf?

[Alaris]

Nice speech so far.

I like some of the ideals he's advancing, but here's something that bugs me. He talks about stuff that anyone would agree on. We need to cut spending? Oh sure, people will rally with that, until you cut something they want.

He talks about freedom too, but he remains pretty wishy washy about it. Nothing concrete in that speech.

You can get people riled up by pointing fingers at the stuff people know went wrong... but he's not really telling us how he's planning to do this.

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What I want to know is whether he'll fix the problem, or actually make it worse. The last charismatic guy with good intentions they elected (Bush) actually made a big mess of things.

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For the moment, I think the current president has been good enough that they can stick with him rather than take their chances on a new guy.

[Zalis]

Ron Paul kind of reminds me of Ross Perot. Paul's benefit is that he isn't doing what Perot did, which was split/weaken the moderate-to-right-leaning and essentially hand the election to democrats.

Also, I don't remember Bush W being very charismatic. He had more of an All-American Texas thing going on, which contrasted with both Gore and Kerry, who appeared more stiff and white collar. When I hear the word charismatic, I immediately think of candidates like Obama. Speaking of candidating, Obama won't have much to ramp up for his next campaign, since he's essentially continued campaigning for the past 3 years...

Keep in mind that living here is different, Alaris, and that there is a large portion of our country that is dissatisfied with Obama. (some with justifiable reasons, some not) Obama is certainly intelligent and well-presented, but that doesn't mean that I want to vote for him. Like most candidates, I think his biggest asset is the idea of Obama, rather than what he actually brings to the table or accomplishes in action.

[Alaris]

I think a lot of people are dissatisfied with the current situation, regardless of who is at the head.

To blame Obama for it seems unfair, especially given how much opposition he's had to deal with from republicans and congress alike. From where I am standing, it looks like he's done more good than bad. Yes, he signed a few things that he should not have signed, it'd be a big boon to a republican candidate if he promised that he would get those bills removed.

But so far in the debates I see a lot of finger-pointing and not much actual concrete solutions.

[RD]

I like Obama. I think he's had a crappy run, mostly through no fault of his own. But he's done a few things (renewing Patroit Act, signing NDAA), that may lead me to vote for a different candidate.

Ron Paul DOES indicate where he will cut: Military spending and wars. In his speech, openly says "We are not one bit safer for all we are spending fighting wars." He's pretty open about not wanting to be in any wars. Here's his full plan for cutting $1 Trillion in his first year. There's stuff in there I REALLY don't agree with (extending Bush Tax Cuts, repealing Obamacare), but the guy is saying a lot of great things.

I don't know. The real problem is Congress.

[Zalis]

I don't know. The real problem is Congress.

The opposite of Progress. Zing.

[Alaris]

Yeah, still conflicted about Patriot Act and NDAA... I want to believe that he had no choice in the matter, but I admit that I would have liked to see him fight against it.

As for Ron Paul, he's just cutting gov spending across the board. Why not hand over the white house to corporations while at it? I think he needs to read Jennifer Government. Spending cuts is nice, but any half-decent president will be forced to do this anyway. What I'd rather see is how he plans to regain democracy from the grasp of corporations.

@Zalis: omg lol

[RD]

NDAA I could give him. But Patroit Act? Why do you say he had no choice? I'm also a bit disappointed he hasn't come out stronger to support the protests. He's supported, but he hasn't spoken out against all these arrests and garbage. I know he has to be political (LMFAO~~), but that's part of what is disappointing.

Yeah, I'd like to see a democracy plan, too.