Romney in 08

[_Bond...James Bond]

Romney is raising money and getting endorsements and is obviously going to run; so I ask the question:

How will Romney do in 08?

Personally I think he will do better than expected and looks like a good fundraiser (he already has 6.5 mil) but I still think he will fizzle out in the primaries against McCain. He may get the VP spot as a bone to the more conservative areas of the Republicans. At best I think he may get a Cabinet spot....but he may just retire if he loses.

It will take a while for it all to shakeout, but I think the Evangelical right will get behind Romney (who's more conservative than McCain or Guiliani in my opinion). Of course the election is 22 months away...alot can happen. And personally I think a Democrat is going to win (Bond weeps silently).

---On the poll please use one of the primary ones where he concedes if you think he'll leave public life. Of course he could lose in the primaries and still get a Cabinet position or the VP or whatever.

Bond

[_Rollo Tomasi]

How will Romney do in 08?

I voted for his winning a few primaries and then conceding -- I still think his religion will be a big negative for him. I don't think the EV's and other far-right Republicans will vote for a Mormon to be prez.

And personally I think a Democrat is going to win (Bond weeps silently).

Depends. Hillary has her own baggage, and if she becomes the Democrat's nominee I think she'll have a hard time winning (although I would vote for her) against a strong Republican nominee. The contest is wide open this time, in my opinion, so it should be fun.

[_Bond...James Bond]

How will Romney do in 08?

I voted for his winning a few primaries and then conceding -- I still think his religion will be a big negative for him. I don't think the EV's and other far-right Republicans will vote for a Mormon to be prez.

And personally I think a Democrat is going to win (Bond weeps silently).

Depends. Hillary has her own baggage, and if she becomes the Democrat's nominee I think she'll have a hard time winning (although I would vote for her) against a strong Republican nominee. The contest is wide open this time, in my opinion, so it should be fun.

Hard to say on the Mormon religion issue. Alot of average folks (in my opinion) don't really know much about the LDS religion beyond the missionaries and those TV commercials. In my opinion most Christians don't know much about other religions except that they're different, and thus can be disregarded. I think the issue of him flipflopping on abortion is a real problem though. It hard to explain religion and its consequences to the average people, but a politican changing his mind==lying or having weak opinions, which anyone can grasp. People don't want weakness of opinion in their President.

I think the Democrats are going to win because Bush is just too damn stubborn. If he was to pull out of Iraq even a little bit at a time (say over the next year or year and a half), the Republicans could make some political gains. But Bush is going to stay the course come Helen Highwater or any of her sisters.

In 08 when we've lost 5,000 soldiers or so anyone will be better than a Republican. The problem is the two Democratic front runners have issues working against them. Hilary is a woman and a Clinton and Obama is an African-American (not that I'm biased for those minority/gender reasons...just that alot of people are--Hilary being a Clinton is the biggest factor, and Obama's inexperience). If a conservative southern Democrat were to start right now building money and name recognition, they could win.

Bond

[_Bond...James Bond]

I think the Democrats are going to win because Bush is just too damn stubborn. If he was to pull out of Iraq even a little bit at a time (say over the next year or year and a half), the Republicans could make some political gains. But Bush is going to stay the course come Helen Highwater or any of her sisters.
Bond

Just to prove my point Bush goes and sends 20,000 more soldiers to Iraq.

Bond

[_beastie]

I'm so depressed over the state of international politics I can barely stand to think about any of it anymore.

Unless the Democrats just out and out shoot themselves in the foot, no republican will win in 08. McCain wants even more escalation than Bush. Besides, I think his who-ring as become so pungent and obvious that it's working on no one. Rudy has far too much baggage, personally and politically. Mitt looks like the next best, although he's as much of a flip-flopper as Kerry ever was. (more pro-gay rights than Kennedy at one point, according to Mitt).

But I think that the talking heads who believe Mitt can get the republican nomination underestimate the EV distaste for Mormonism in the south. I've lived in the south most of my life and know how much they distrust Mormons. My still LDS family all adamantly agree with me on this point - no matter what these conservative EVs may tell a pollster on the phone, ain't no way they're going to vote for a Mormon in the end. They'll just stay home.

I would gladly vote for Harry Reid, though. But my heart belongs to John Edwards.

[Anonymous]

I'm so depressed over the state of international politics I can barely stand to think about any of it anymore.

Unless the Democrats just out and out shoot themselves in the foot, no republican will win in 08. McCain wants even more escalation than Bush. Besides, I think his who-ring as become so pungent and obvious that it's working on no one. Rudy has far too much baggage, personally and politically. Mitt looks like the next best, although he's as much of a flip-flopper as Kerry ever was. (more pro-gay rights than Kennedy at one point, according to Mitt).

But I think that the talking heads who believe Mitt can get the republican nomination underestimate the EV distaste for Mormonism in the south. I've lived in the south most of my life and know how much they distrust Mormons. My still LDS family all adamantly agree with me on this point - no matter what these conservative EVs may tell a pollster on the phone, ain't no way they're going to vote for a Mormon in the end. They'll just stay home.

I would gladly vote for Harry Reid, though. But my heart belongs to John Edwards.

John Edwards was who I was thinking. He's southern (every Democratic President since Kennedy has been southern), handsome/young, will get some sympathy (his wife's cancer), and he made a good show of it in 2004. I would vote for him over Clinton anyday of the week even though I'm pretty conservative fiscally.

I like him, he seems to be honest in a way Bush isn't (despite everyone falling in love with Bush as being this extremely moral guy---he was just more moral than Clinton, who was not far from Caligula in some people's eyes)---Bush just seems greasy in an "oily" way.

I wouldn't underestimate the EVs though. If it were to come down between Hilary and Mitt (not going to happen, but theoretically) they might just decide to vote for one of those evil Mormons compared to outright voting for the Devil.

Bond

[_beastie]

I wouldn't underestimate the EVs though. If it were to come down between Hilary and Mitt (not going to happen, but theoretically) they might just decide to vote for one of those evil Mormons compared to outright voting for the Devil.

LOL!

Of course the EVs wouldn't be voting for Hillary in the first place, ever. But will they bother to show up at the polls if they have to vote for a Mormon?

I think many would feel as if he could be a brainwashed Manchurian candidate, satan's proxy. Mormons aren't just evil according to the conservative EVs - they're satan's dupes.

[_Bond...James Bond]

But will they bother to show up at the polls if they have to vote for a Mormon?

Some people are just voters. They want to vote because they've been voting for decades and have it instilled as part of their civic responsibility. Especially traditional people---and religious people always have tradition to fall back on. But if EVs were to vote Mitt it would probably only be to block Hilary. Lesser of two evils in their opinion.

Me? If it came down to Hilary and Mitt, I would vote for Mitt and then go get drunk for 3 1/2 years. Then I'd wake up, see who was running for re-election, vote against them, find out the results, and possibly get drunk for another 3 1/2 years.

Bond

[_harmony]

Hard to say on the Mormon religion issue. Alot of average folks (in my opinion) don't really know much about the LDS religion beyond the missionaries and those TV commercials. In my opinion most Christians don't know much about other religions except that they're different, and thus can be disregarded. I think the issue of him flipflopping on abortion is a real problem though. It hard to explain religion and its consequences to the average people, but a politican changing his mind==lying or having weak opinions, which anyone can grasp. People don't want weakness of opinion in their President.

I think the Democrats are going to win because Bush is just too damn stubborn. If he was to pull out of Iraq even a little bit at a time (say over the next year or year and a half), the Republicans could make some political gains. But Bush is going to stay the course come Helen Highwater or any of her sisters.

In 08 when we've lost 5,000 soldiers or so anyone will be better than a Republican. The problem is the two Democratic front runners have issues working against them. Hilary is a woman and a Clinton and Obama is an African-American (not that I'm biased for those minority/gender reasons...just that alot of people are--Hilary being a Clinton is the biggest factor, and Obama's inexperience). If a conservative southern Democrat were to start right now building money and name recognition, they could win.

Bond

Is Obama a Muslim?

[_Bond...James Bond]

Is Obama a Muslim?

No, United Church of Christ.