Presidential politics

I hope to God the Dems nominate Hillary, because she doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance of winning any red state. As a social conservative, I would not be too excited about Guliani, and as an economic libertarian, I would have to hold my nose to vote for Mcain. I think one of the Republican governors would have the best shot at winning. As for the Democrats, they will probably nominate a northern senator, and like Lee pointed out, senators have a VERY hard time winning the presidency. The last one to do it was in 1960.

The real problem with Bush is that he has let social spending balloon, hardly a “small government conservative.” But remember, the Federal deficit is a function of the state of the economy. When the economy is booming, the deficit shrinks or disappears, like the mid-late 90’s. When the economy slows, the deficit increases, because growth of tax revenue slows. Clinton had about as much to do with the surpluses of the late 90’s as he did the fall of Rome, and the current deficit from the 2000-2001 recession (who was in office then?) is shrinking due to Bush’s tax cuts of 2003. [B]Our GDP has grown 20%[/B] since then, and [B]revenues INCREASED 13% since those tax cuts[/B]. But all that is still no excuse for spending like a drunken sailor. Somebody needs to put Congress on a very short leash, and quickly.

The problem the Dems have is with the radical anti-war left controlling the power, and the more moderate average Joe Democrat base not feeling the same way. Unless they get it together (they probably won’t), it will be 1968 all over again. And in case you haven’t noticed, Hillary is all about [I]Hillary[/I], and everyone else can jump in a lake. She will do or say whatever it takes to gain power, principles be damned. Joe Lieberman, on the other hand, is a man who sticks to his priciples even when it hurts him politically. Even with his liberal, social outlook, I greatly respect him for that. Too bad his own “inclusive and diverse” party doesn’t.

The Republicans need to present someone who will do the right thing about illegal aliens (eliminate benefits, PUNISH employers who hire them) and cut this runaway spending. The war on terrorism has been 100% effective in preventing another attack on our soil, so that’s a plus. But no single solid presidential candidate comes to mind for the Republicans, either. Whatever you think about it, remember it’s a LONG time until Nov/08. ANYTHING can happen, and it probably will.