Another Presidential Poll: McCain or Obama (1 Viewer)

Presidential choice.

  • John McCain (R)

    Votes: 48 48.0%
  • Barack Obama (D)

    Votes: 45 45.0%
  • Third Party

    Votes: 4 4.0%
  • Not Voting

    Votes: 3 3.0%

  • Total voters
    100
I'm a little bit shocked at how similar my politics are to SBTB.

He's said about everything I've been thinking.
 
Like Shawn, I think SBTB has covered just about everything I'd say on this topic. I would add one concern I have about voting for McCain (who I chose in the poll, fwiw):

Looking at the Supreme Court, the next president will likely nominate between 2 and 6 new justices.

Roberts, Thomas, and Alito are all under 60 and would likely remain on the court beyond the term of the next presidency.

Stevens is 87 now and would be 92 and 96 at the end of each of the next two terms. He's almost certain to retire in the next 4 1/2 years.

Ginsberg is 74 now and would be 79 and 83 at the end of each of the next two terms. I could see her trying to hold out if McCain is elected, but I'd still have to believe she's likely to retire during the term of the next president.

Kennedy and Scalia are both 71 and will be 76 and 80 at the end of each of the next two terms. I think it is likely both will retire sometime after the 2012 election.

Breyer is 69 now and would be 74 and 78 at the end of the next two terms. He could retire after 2012.

Souter is a year younger than Breyer and could also retire.

So, if McCain is elected, he almost certainly replaces Stevens and likely Ginsberg. If he's re-elected, he probably gets to replace Scalia and Kennedy and possibly Breyer and Souter. Of course, it's never guaranteed that Supreme Court justices will turn out to be exactly what the President believes, but there's no arguing that they certainly tend to be more-or-less in line with expectations.

I'm uneasy about the prospect of having a Court whose justices were entirely nominated by McCain and the Bushes. This trepidation is certainly magnified by the fact that I tend to vote Republican despite their stance on many social issues (and lately, their stance on both federalism and civil liberties, generally).

McCain's image as a moderate Republican mitigates the problem only slightly. While presidents tend to get a great deal of deference from the opposing party on Supreme Court nominees (something I've really never quite understood), they usually face a great deal of opposition from their own party if their nominee doesn't conform to party norms on a number of hot-button issues (e.g., the "Roe v. Wade Test" put to both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates).
 
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Rumors starting to circulate about an Obama - Bloomberg ticket now that Bloomberg has officially said he's not running.

That's a ticket I could get behind.
 
Don't hold back.....link? Anecdote?

Came from Morning Joe this morning. Very good show by the way. They did a segment on possible VP candidates. According to the segment there is an under current in Democrat inner political circles for Obama or Hillary to go with Bloomberg as VP.
 
Came from Morning Joe this morning. Very good show by the way. They did a segment on possible VP candidates. According to the segment there is an under current in Democrat inner political circles for Obama or Hillary to go with Bloomberg as VP.

I don't know that that would really help. I mean let's be realistic here, Obama isn't suddenly going to become a fiscal conservative just because Bloomberg is on the ticket. Obama's positions simply don't allow for a shrinking Federal Government. I don't see what Bloomberg brings other then appearances.

I would actually be significantly more influenced by Biden or Lieberman, both of whom I think would influence Obama in the area where he is weakest at and where he has the most wiggle room.
 
Whomever I decide I can actually trust to shrink the government as opposed to wildly expand it like has happened the past 16 years.
 
Whomever I decide I can actually trust to shrink the government as opposed to wildly expand it like has happened the past 16 years.

Clinton did a very good job of staying fiscally conservative. The argument could be made that the Republican Congress helped, but then Bush had 8 years of a Republican congress and couldn't keep himself from spending wildly (and I don't mean just the Iraq war).
 
I don't know that that would really help. I mean let's be realistic here, Obama isn't suddenly going to become a fiscal conservative just because Bloomberg is on the ticket.

It doesn't really have to be all or nothing, does it? It might be a boon for the second most powerful personage in an Obama administration to be able to say with authority: "Mr. President, we really shouldn't do that..." when it comes to economic policy. Americans are more concerned about their wallets than they are whether the president is gonna have tea with Raul Castro anytime soon. 9/11 is yesterday's news, or at least it will be until the Republican machine resurrects specters of terrorists hiding in every corner should Barack Hussein Obama become president.

If Obama doesn't select a running mate with strong national security credentials, it would be a clear indication he's banking solely on the Iraq War and McCain's relative hawkishness to at least stay competitive in debate. I can see arguments for and against such a strategy. I'm not quite sure of my own preference. There's always the Secretary of State position.
 
It doesn't really have to be all or nothing, does it? It might be a boon for the second most powerful personage in an Obama administration to be able to say with authority, "Mr. President, we really shouldn't do that..." when it comes to economic policy. Americans are more concerned about their wallets than they are about whether the president is gonna have tea with Raul Castro anytime soon. 9/11 is yesterday's news, or at least it will be until the Republican machine resurrects specters of terrorists hiding in every corner should Barack Hussein Obama become president.

Yeah but Obama's social programs slate is his campaign. I mean he's taking an essentially passive strategy on foreign policy (I won't do the Iraq war), isn't really touching anything socially progressive publicly at least (gun control, abortion, gay marriage, etc), I mean his campaign is wrapped up in things like health care, education, etc.

That's why I said it'd be totally different if we were talking someone like Lieberman. You know Lieberman would have a strong influence on Obama's campaign because Obama's "foreign policy" is basically an empty vessel. Obama even went so far as to leave wiggle room on Iraq (responding that he would send troops back into Iraq if Al Qaeda re-established a presence there, etc). But I don't see any give on the economy.

By contrast, McCain/Bloomberg makes tremendous sense.
 
Yeah but Obama's social programs slate is his campaign. I mean he's taking an essentially passive strategy on foreign policy (I won't do the Iraq war), isn't really touching anything socially progressive publicly at least (gun control, abortion, gay marriage, etc), I mean his campaign is wrapped up in things like health care, education, etc.

But it's become increasingly about trade, infrastructure, and so forth. Obama's newfound populist emphasis may clinch him the Democratic nomination, but as the general campaign approaches Americans will want both candidates to articulate in detail how they're going to address the subprime mortgage crisis, the damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't quagmire of stagflation, et.al. That's a gap that can be bridged by either candidate with a guy like Bloomberg on the ticket.
 
But it's become increasingly about trade, infrastructure, and so forth. Obama's newfound populist emphasis may clinch him the Democratic nomination, but as the general campaign approaches Americans will want both candidates to articulate in detail how they're going to address the subprime mortgage crisis, the damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't quagmire of stagflation, et.al. That's a gap that can be bridged by either candidate with a guy like Bloomberg on the ticket.

:dunno: We'll see. Obviously what this is really about is I want McCain/Bloomberg :hihi:
 

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