We don't have an explicit thread for this so I thought I'd kick-start one. I can see the discussion being rather one-sided but I'm intrigued to hear what our American members have to say about the election.

 

Oh and speaking of explicit:

 

 

 

There should be an IQ test that you have to take before you can run for president. Any one who complains about not being able to open windows on an aircraft while in flight is not suitable to be the leader of the largest western economy/'leader of the free world'.

 

 

The last person to have an IQ in single figures that ran as the republican candidate got 8 years and invaded two countries, a mess that is no where near being cleaned up a decade later, so I'm a little worried about America's track record when it comes to voting for idiots in red.

And Bush was running against a fairly charismatic candidate after eight years of fairly successful Democrat rule so I SHOULD be worried about Obama losing - I certainly was a few months ago but Romney seems to have lost all momentum thankfully.

 

On a side note, how did Bush ever survive the campaign without a series of gaffes?

And Bush was running against a fairly charismatic candidate after eight years of fairly successful Democrat rule so I SHOULD be worried about Obama losing - I certainly was a few months ago but Romney seems to have lost all momentum thankfully.

 

On a side note, how did Bush ever survive the campaign without a series of gaffes?

 

Al Gore charismatic? This Al Gore?

 

 

Obama is going to win. The moment that it became apparent that he would win in 2012 was when he won in November 2008. Here's what I wrote about it in the other thread:

 

The reason why Mitt Romney got the nod is because all of the high-profile Republican candidates declined to run. Because of the 2-term limit, it is very rare for the sitting President to be defeated. As a result, most of the high profile candidates from the opposing party won't run against them, as losing the election effectively rules you out of ever running for President. It's only in exceptional circumstances that a President fails to get a second term i.e in 1992, Ross Perot running as a major 3rd party candidate took votes away from George Bush, gifting Bill Clinton the win (who in a stroke of luck, actually turned out to be one of the best Presidents of modern era, cigar business notwithstanding).

 

That's why I disagree with the analysis in some circles that the Republican Party will continue to move further right. As the more "moderate" candidates didn't run, the ones who were left to fight for the nomination were the stragglers, the fringe members, and those who wanted to boost their profile to make money from book sales. In four years time, the next Republican candidate will be a little bit more reasonable (believe it or not).

 

 

Some of the names being banded about include Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee (who despite losing the nomination in 2008, has seen his profile rise exponentially) & Leader of the House John Boehner. Although Sarah Palin declined to run this time around, if she was to run for the nomination in four years time, I cannot see her getting the Republican nod.

 

Looking at the bigger picture, I would like to see the ruling that a President can only serve a maximum of two terms being eliminated. Had the rule not been in place in 2004, then the Democrats would have had the incentive to run a more prominent candidate that year, which would have meant that Bush would not have made it to the 2nd term. It seems a bit strange that what amounts to inertia can see a President serve more time than he really should.

Oh I agree with what you wrote in the other thread. The Al Gore thing I mainly based off "An Inconvenient Truth", I can't imagine many Presidential candidates holding something like that together.

Also, George Bush did make several gaffes in the run-up to the 2000 election. I caught an old (1999) episode of Have I Got News For You on Dave a few months back which showed clips of several of those he made on the campaign trail (although I cannot for the life of me remember what they were). The difference between then and now is that as the internet and camera phones weren't as prevalent then, the gaffes couldn't be disseminated as quickly as they can nowadays.

Off-topic, but Ronald Reagan was the worst US president. Who would reduce taxes for rich people/companies and cut welfare benefits for people who needed it? :mellow:

 

That's not a matter of ideology, that's a matter of common sense.

The first Presidential debates are on this evening/very early tomorrow morning. It will be an interesting competition - Obama has admitted he is not the strongest at debates, whilst Romney, for all his many, many, faults, can usually put up a decent fight in the arena. Hopefully I can find a stream to watch it unfold live.

It's on the BBC News Channel. That should mean it is on the BBC website as well.

Gah I can't find anything on the bbc website.

There's a continuing feed of the BBC News channel on the website so you should be able to watch it if you're up at 2 a.m.

Gah I can't find anything on the bbc website.

 

Try this link:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/

Live on Sky News. In fact they're taking the CNN live feed already.

I like Obama but his performance was kinda weak. :/ No mention of the 47%?

 

A lil nervous tbh. Hopefully he goes harder in the next two debates (I'm sure he will)

Surely the final debate is the most crucial, I wouldn't be surprised if he was holding a fair bit back.

 

Romney was worryingly sharp and coherent from the little I've seen.

Romney has always been a strong debater. But even if he did, as many pundits seem to agree, win the debate, I cannot see it having that much of an effect come election day.

 

Also, if you haven't already used it, Politifact is a great site that fact checks all the statements that the presidential candidates have made. Interesting that so far, neither Obama nor Romney have made statements in the debate that are either completely true or completely false.

Also, I hope to God that "I like big bird" becomes the next presidential race meme:

 

 

AAccording to the news this morning most pundits gave victory to Romney. The first poll of voters suggess the people (and, most crucially, independent voters) think otherwise.

 

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/04/1...th-independents

President obama all the way!!!!!!!!!!!

It's the VP Debate this evening, with Vice President Joe Biden going up against the Shadow Vice President Paul Ryan. Joe Biden is always entertaining, albeit slightly gaffe-prone, so I imagine it will be an interesting contest.