Non-AABBs Only!!

That was the "the monkey-armed idiot started the namecalling" thing.

We've done a fair job of moving on, hope to continue it, as the responses here have been most interesting to me and I want more of 'em.

Phoenix's test for me puts Dean first, and a mythical Socialist candidate second... Farther down the list, Kucinich trumps both Edwards and Kerry... Bush is dead last with 6%...

Interesting. Not what I expected. Also, the fact that I agree with what Dean, the Socialist, etc., said doesn't mean I think they'd make a good President. I still don't know who I'll vote for.

Wy, are you not sure which of the Democratic candidates you'll vote for, or not sure whether you'll vote for Bush or someone else?

I sure am! I especially like their dump-Bush&Cheney, legalize-all-drugs, let-gays-marry, anti-war-on-Iraq wing. But I've heard this particular Republican wing is still a rather exclusive club.

On another note, I took Phoenix's test. Number one was "Libertarian candidate" (no surprise), number two was Al Sharpton . Number three was Howard Dean. Then came the whole list of Democratic candidates; George Bush and Joe Lieberman finished last. Sounds about right.

soz, thanks for invite, bbl

Acquinuk: When I responded to your post yesterday, I thought I knew what you meant by "would have had to weight the vote". Now, having slept a night over it, I find that I actually have no idea. Would the vote have been too low to bother counting it? Would it have been such a landslide that people would have counted forever, so had to settle for the quicker method of weighting? I thought the former, but which one did you actually mean?

Powell was immensely popular and as one acquaintance of mine said, comparing him to the other candidates, "he's an adult".

You mean he would've won, then?

onyxelle, looking forward to your contribution!

I dunno Soz. Right now Bush and Kerry are 50/50 for me. Clark might be a possibility as well but I doubt I'd vote for Edwards and there slim chance I'd ever vote for Dean for any office.

(btw, on the SelectSmart page Phoenix listed I come up with Libertarian Candidate, Bush and then Kucinich as my top 3.)

Great, thanks, fishin'!

Any thoughts on what would push you off the fence one way or the other?

The biggies for me are consistancy and consideration of options in decision making. Right now I'd give the nod in both of those to Kerry (even with the few flip-flops that he's been caught with so far). Knee-jerk decision making isn't something I find desirable in a President so things pretty much hinge around that.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Cool. Thanks!

I see, and I agree about him being an adult. So I got you exactly wrong yesterday. Thanks!

Re Powell I know a lot of people who didn't vote who said they would have for the first time had Powell run back when he was being pressured to.

I think Acquiunk is right, we'd have had to weigh the vote.

Thomas
I expect that Powell's performance as a member of this administration has taken much of his glitter. I might have voted for Powell in the past however there is no way I would now. IMO he has proven to be someone who goes along to get along.

tidbit...Bush will be (if the pattern holds for a few months longer) the first president in 180 years to go through a full term without vetoing a single bill.

AU: I get your point, but grown-ups are having such a hard time in this administration that I'm willing to cut the Powells, Mankiws, etc. a large amount of slack.

One thing I'd like to hear from the Bush-supporters: How vulnerable is your support to new developments in the department of hyping-up-of-intelligence-on-Iraq? Everyone agrees that misleading a nation into a war is much worse than the burglary and the cover-up that cost Nixon his job. The difference between me and the Bush supporters seems to be that I find the evidence against Bush convincing, while the Bush supporters don't.

So my question is, what is your standard of proof here? Which evidence would lead you to reconsider your opinion on this issue, and how would that affect your vote?

thomas

That's a good question, but there is a pretty simple Machiavellian/Straussian escape which we already see used quite commonly. Namely, the cause was just, enough so as to justify what was done and said.

Blatham -- I know. But let's see how they think about it. In the context of this thread, the point of the excercise is to learn what would make Republicans switch camps -- not to show that the Anything-but-Bushers are right and the Bush supporters are wrong.

Actually, it's not the point of the exercise. The point of the exercise is to find out which of the four possible candidates non-ABBs would consider voting for. I have been curious about whether Edwards or Kerry would be more popular in that group, for example.

What I'm thinking of doing is, once I get responses from more of the people whose opinions I have asked for (onyxelle, Occam Bill, etc.,) opening this up for a free-for-all, whatever wants to be discussed, kumquats and all. But until then, I'd really like to keep it focused. Thanks.

If you are NOT in the Anyone But Bush category, which of the four top Democratic candidates appeal to you the most?