scrubbedexpat091

I think it may be awhile before the republicans find their way into the White House, the party seems to be largely nuts these days who shouldn't be in power of any sort.

Jerseygirl

Don't bank on it. IMO Clinton will get the Dem nomination...hopefully it will be a hot day in hell before she is POTUS.

WEBlue

Not sure I understand this... these two statements seem to contradict each other.

Are you saying that W tainted the Bush name beyond redemption?

sir_eccles

One could argue both parties seem to be exhibiting a suicide wing right now. Which side will have more stay at home?

FlaviusAetius

I don’t think so. Jeb’s support for Common Core and his stance on immigration causes a loss of support amongst the purists on the right. That is, I believe, why so many on the right will refuse to vote for him. Democrats are far more pragmatic (and their ranks are crammed with people who are almost entirely devoid of any knowledge as to the issues), that is why I think Hillary would win in a Bush – Clinton match-up.

On the other hand, Jeb is a much better politician than W – some say streets smarter than W – and could explain his policies to the centrists and independents – but not to the satisfaction of hard conservatives. Had he run and been elected President in 2000 rather than W, I have no doubt that the country would have been better off.

sir_eccles

Careful when generalizing, there are plenty on both sides who are entirely devoid of any knowledge of the issues.

One might point to the Republican voters in relatively poor states who are desperate for the repeal of the ACA despite the fact they will lose their recently gained health coverage.

Wouldn't be hard to be smarter than W! I suspect though that whichever president was in charge on 9/11 would still have been railroaded into pointless wars and the resulting mess would likely have been very similar.

FlaviusAetius

Noted, as to the generalizing. Sorry, a tendency hard to resist. The Republican Party is the party of the Middle Class - where educational standards are valued.

It's hard to blame people for disliking the ACA when, because of the "ACA," they have lost health care they were perfectly content with and now have to buy much more expensive health insurance on the exchanges where their co-pays are much higher than before. Others dislike it because their hours were cut so that their employer could end their coverage - a double whammy.

Considering that George W. Bush graduated from both Yale and Harvard, where he earned an MBA, he really isn't a dummy, although his speech patterns make him sound deceptively stupid. He is, in fact, the only President to have earned an MBA. It was just unfortunate for him that 9/11 happened on his watch. His book "Decision Points" explains his actions fairly well.

sir_eccles

Hmm, current evidence of various Republican governors cutting education in states like Kansas and Arizona would seem to suggest otherwise.

I believe the Republican party of today is most certainly not the one of perhaps even as short a time as a decade ago.

scrubbedexpat091

Rumor from New York is Jeb will be announcing tomorrow in Miami.

The source was some rich democrat on a radio show reported by NY Post, so who know's if true.

SultanOfSwing

According to his arsebook feed and a few other news sources, Bernie Sanders is intending to run as a Democrat and will announce this tomorrow.

This is very encouraging, IMO. He will cause Hillary to pull left somewhat, in a bid to secure the support of the progressive Democrats. He will also be (should he win the primary) a strong candidate against any of the current crop of Republicans, so he may force them to put forward more moderate candidates themselves.

If he wins the presidential election, it could be just what the US needs to start getting their arses in gear as a world power again.

FlaviusAetius

This is interesting. Please explain to us your theory as to how America moving as far as possible to the left (Bernie's position) would get America's arse in gear as a world power.

Now if the end result of a massive move to the left, while keeping America as the focus (National Socialism) is the idea, sort of like the path certain nations took in the 1930s, then perhaps your theory is correct...do you want that?

It's more likely that Bernie's real idea is to create a vast majority of parasitic voters who will keep the Democrat Party in power forever, a sort of one-party system like the former German Democratic Republic (DDR). Not sure how that makes us a world power - but you can expand on that.

I think if Bernie becomes their candidate (an impossibility), the Republican primary voters will likely nominate Ted Cruz. Otherwise, either Jeb Bush or Scott Walker will be the standard bearer.

SultanOfSwing

If he were as far to the left as you say he was, there would be no way he'd have been able to be the longest serving independent member of the Senate.

I would address the rest of that post but quite frankly it is ridiculous to suggest that a man who supports a Scandanavian-style social democracy to National Socialism. Clearly you're another typically reactionary conservative and it really isn't worth my time.

Oakvillian

I was only popping into the Trailer Park en passant to check if anyone had said anything interesting on the car thread, but felt the need to comment here that in his second paragraph Mr Aetius has, in all but name, invoked Godwin and therefore lost the argument by default. All hail President Bernie, I suppose, in that case

Anian

Today I learned that Bernie Sanders is Hitler in disguise.

zargof

Well the Muslim Obama was Hitler, so it makes sense that the Jewish Sanders is also Hitler.