It's going to be Gore vs Romney.

[smoogatz]

You heard it here first.

[SharonRB]

1. I hope you're right.

I do think Romney is going to get the Repuke nomination, and a lot of women are going to vote for him just because he's good looking.

[smoogatz]

3. The same women who think Bush is good-looking, maybe.

The rest of y'all aren't that dumb.

[Dollface]

38. I'll go for Gore, smart guys are really hot...

[Marrah_G]

72. I totally agree, smart IS sexy

[terisan]

9. Maybe a lot of men will vote for him because he is good looking. nt

[Warpy]

10. And men won't vote for him because he's tall and has hair?

Give me a break.

[SharonRB]

12. I'm just sayin'....

there will be women who will have no idea about the issues, but who will vote for him because they think he's handsome. I'm not saying it's right, but that's just the way it is.

[Warpy]

40. And I'm just saying they won't all be WOMEN!!!!!

To suggest they will is unbelievably sexist.

[SharonRB]

45. I never suggested they'd ALL be women

I don't know where you got that from what I said.

I just said a lot of women would vote for him because he was good looking. I didn't say men wouldn't vote for him.

[JenniferJuniper]

60. If you edited

your post to say "REPUBLICAN women", I think you'd be on safer ground.

Sure the Freepers - who are mostly male - are attracted (in a manly way of course!) to Thompson. But they are not the majority of Republicans. It just seems that way to us sometimes. Romney is a much more attractive package for the non-Freeper Republicans. Smooth, articulate, attractive, and utterly superficial. Rudy's a cross dresser and his wife makes Kerry's wife look like Donna Reed, McCain is done (didn't he go insane or father a black child or something? I'll have to check with Rove), and the rest have no shot.

So I say it's Romney. By default.

[SharonRB]

61. You're right, Jennifer.

That's what I meant, but maybe I needed to be more specific for the less intuitive folks around here. I certainly wasn't including Dem women -- at least not those who pay attention to the issues. I was referring to uninformed women in general, but I assume most of them will be Republicans.

[movonne]

15. stupid women....and the others will vote for hillary....I hate it when

we predict who is voting for whom....

[MADem]

21. My little old lady friends call him "That goddamed Ken Doll"

Of course, he was the bastard that took away their circuit breaker tax credit for a year or two, costing them a grand or more in taxes.

They don't find him attractive, they think he looks like an alien--one from another planet, not one from over the borders. They use words like "slimy" and "greasy" and "slick" to describe him--so he ain't winning over the Democratic seniors, at least not in his "home" (cough, snort) state.

[janx]

25. Good looking?!

HE CREEPS ME OUT! :scared:

[jobycom]

27. Good looks don't make people vote for you, they only get people's attention

so that they listen more favorable to you. You still have to convince them to vote for other reasons. Otherwise, Ted McGinley would be president, and we'd all be afraid his appearance would mean the same thing for the nation that it does for sitcoms...

(Link for those who don't understand my weird, free-associating allusions): http://www.jumptheshark.com/forum/ted-mcginley/22

[Nye Bevan]

33. Ted McGinley........ now *there's* an idea!

Run Ted Run!

[Nikki Stone1]

70. You gotta be kidding, Sharon.

You are kidding?

[AndyA]

2. Finally got that crystal ball fired up, eh?

I get the feeling Gore is in no hurry to announce, one way or the other. He keeps saying no, but it's the way he's saying it. He's leaving himself plenty of wiggle room. At this point, I think he's smart to wait.

[smoogatz]

6. He's got nothing to gain by jumping in now.

He'd just be giving the media and his Dem opponents more time to smear him. I expect him to announce in October, or thereabouts.

[CrazyForKucinich]

4. I'm thinking corporate Democrat whore vs. Ron Paul or

Dennis Kucinich vs Rudy McRomney.

[smoogatz]

8. You'd be wrong on all counts.

Ron Paul has less than no chance to win the R nom, and Gore is no corporate whore. McCain is sinking like a stone and Rudy's pro-choice AND pro-war--a deadly combo in the current environment. Also, Romney's leading in NH, Iowa and Nevada.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Half right.

Gore v. Thompson. (The lesser-known Thompson--not Tommy :evilgrin: )

All the Bushies are rushing to Fred's campaign. Bet Rove does too. The wingnuts, wackos & warmongers are still strong enough to capture the Puggie nomination, although they'll crash & burn in the General Election.

[smoogatz]

13. I don't think so--

Thompson's got a name-recognition problem, and was a late-starter to boot. The beltway insiders love him, but I think he's ultimately too much the gruff daddy, even for the Republican rank and file (to the extent that there is such a thing anymore). Romney's big strength is that he's got a decent managerial track-record--he may actually be capable of governing, despite having no identifiable core beliefs of any kind. After the current fiasco, the few remaining Republicans with any sense may want a guy with a record of executive achievement. Romney also has much better hair than Thompson.

[MADem]

30. He was a disaster as MA governor. He line item vetoed tunnel inspections and KILLED a Dominican

woman on her way to the airport as a consequence--she was a newlywed, too. He hacked away at safety on those tunnels (eh, they're new, what could go wrong?) and one of the concrete ceiling tiles CRUSHED a woman. When we had killer floods here, where was he? Out fundraising. His do-nothing LtGov did what she does best--nothing. He is a "Heckuva Job Brownie" type leader. He manages to inspire absolutely no confidence whatsoever in any sort of crisis. It's a remarkable lack of talent, truly.

And Mister Tough on Immigration had a shitload of illegals/undocumented workers grooming his Belmont lawn for the whole time he was governor. His wife used to give them ice water, how sweet of her. They'd say "Buenos dias" too--how international of them!!!

Everyone in MA fucking hates the guy and found him to be a lame wuss. The legislature routinely wiped their ass on the guy. He's a flip-flopper, too. Or a liar, take your pick. He was prochoice before he was anti-choice. He was for gay marriage before he was against it.

Of course, that shit's slow to percolate out to the wider world....he very well might snag the nom before people become aware of it all.

Romney does have that greasy attitude, though, and he really has a huge pole up his ass, too. But then, the GOP tends to LIKE that kind of guy...

All things being equal, I'd say they'd warm to/like old Law and Order Thompson better, because the second they see and hear him, they will know who he is, but they may not be able to deal with his whole package--the Cuban cigars, the Boobsy McTitsy granddaughter-looking new wife, and some of his off-the-cuff remarks.

If Romney gets the nom, we should be VERY nervous, IF Bloomberg jumps in. Everyone is assuming that a D will be the next president, but Bloomberg could spoil it for for our party and we could end up with Storming Mormom as our Commander in Chief. That WOULD be horrible.

[smoogatz]

35. Bloomberg won't draw many Dem votes, I don't think.

Even if it's not Gore, the Dem candidate will be a national figure, well known by most voters and well-credentialed within the Dem party. Bloomberg, running as an indy, will have literally no base of support, no name recognition, and no constituency outside of a few rich moderates on the upper East Side.

[MADem]

43. Three words: H. Ross Perot

When he first burst onto the scene, ALL of the people I knew said "WHO??" I knew who he was because we were both in theater at the time of the revolution in Iran, but I was an exception to the general rule. NO ONE had heard of the guy. No one knew who he was--by the end of the campaign, he had more name recognition that the incumbent AND his challenger. The guy was EVERYWHERE. Had he chosen a running mate who didn't come off like an addled old man (he really did come off badly--and he really wasn't addled--he just had hearing aid problems and was woefully unprepared) who knows what might have happened with that race?

H. Ross Perot had tons of money, and he had charts, and he had friends in the business and political spheres, and faster than a wink, he had followers, too. Next thing you know, EVERYONE knew who he was. And he cost G.H.W. Bush, the incumbent president, the election.

Mike Bloomberg is a secular Jew from Medford, MA. A self-made billionaire. He was a Democrat for most of his life. He only changed his designation to Republican so he could run for Mayor of NYC. When people voted for him, they knew that's why he did it. He could use his money as toilet paper, he has so much of it. He could put a Bloomberg For President ad on every channel, every hour, round the clock from now until the cows come home and not even feel a pinch in his wallet. He can fly anywhere on his fancy jets, he can throw LAVISH parties and ask for your vote but not ask you for a dime. He can hire the very best media people, the best spinners, the cleverest politicos, he can craft himself an image in two shakes of a lamb's tail. His "base" will be people who have money, and want to keep it, and people who don't have money, but think they will someday, and want to keep it.

He's pro-choice, he's gay-friendly, anti-death penalty, he smoked pot--and enjoyed it, he's GREEN (witness the recent NYC cabs business), he's pro-education, he's pro-jobs, he's pro-booming economies, he's plain-spoken, he doesn't go for histronics or loony pandering, and he could EASILY split the centrist-to-liberal voting bloc. He shouldn't run as an independent, though, he should run under the banner of the Corporatist Party--that would be a bit more transparent, really.

This guy is no Rudy--he doesn't talk, talk, talk, the way Rudy did, he walks, walks, walks the walk Rudy says he walks, but actually doesn't. He doesn't just flap his gums, he delivers.

Read this stuff--he sounds just like a Democrat: http://www.mikebloomberg.com/news

I am VERY worried about his party switch. Check out this site for even more about him--this is how he shakes out there:

http://www.ontheissues.org/Mike_Bloomberg.htm



Mike Bloomberg is a Moderate Libertarian Liberal.

[smoogatz]

47. Perot was incredibly dynamic--a gifted speaker with a drawer-full

of great one-liners. Until he revealed himself, finally, as a total nutcase, I was even thinking about voting for him (his line about NAFTA was prescient, turns out). Bloomberg's no ross perot, and no Al Gore, either. His positions are already the positions of all of the Dem frontrunners--unlike Perot, who filled the center-libertarian niche with which neither Bush nor Clinton else seemed able to connect.

[MADem]

49. He doesn't HAVE to be, though--he has enough money so that the spinmeisters can craft a

wonderful "can't be bought, not at the mercy of ANY interest group" type image. And between all of the hectoring and bullshit and industry sucking-up and parsing and 'dinosaurs walking the earth with man' shit that everyone else is forced to deal with, someone who quietly says "Well, I think that's horseshit, but you go ahead and believe it if it makes you happy" is someone that a lot of center to liberal people WILL vote for.

Bloomberg is NOT without charm. He's plain, but that's appealing when you have a field of people pretzeling themselves into absurd contortions to "appeal" to blocs of voters. He won't do that kind of thing, and that, in itself, is appealing to some.

The people who like the D positions but not the candidate, for whatever reason (too female, if HRC gets it, too Black, if BO gets it, too southern, if Edwards gets it, for example) might find themselves drawn to the 'little billionaire who could.' And if he pairs himself, as anticipated, with plain-spoken Chuck Hagel (who knows how to fix a voting machine or two) it could be real trouble.

I've also seen plenty of anti-dynasty whiners right here re: HRC, and more than a few "Lack of Experience" gripes about BO as well. Those complainers are the people who might peel off to Bloomberg. And then, there are the contrarians--the "Oh, they're ALL alike, those political parties" who will pull the lever for Bloomberg just to be different. And then, there's the YOUTH vote; the kids who don't pay attention but who want to be "outside the mainstream" in immature/rebellious fashion--Perot got a lot of that demographic (so did NADER, come to think of it). Bloomberg could do it, too, by finding "their" issue and pandering to it with heavy ad buys and strategic endorsements.

It doesn't take long to craft a national image. Perot managed it easily. And seriously, who thought George Fucking Bush would get the nomination at the outset? Who had even heard of him, outside of Texas? Many people didn't even KNOW that GHWB had a son named George, and they sure couldn't figure out how he managed to talk so funny...and next thing ya know, the Supremes gave him the job. Everyone figured it would be McCain, at least initially. And Porgie got it because he had the money, the machine, he was able to trash McCain early and the rest of the GOP field really STUNK up the room (Lamar!!! Orrin HATCH!! Elizabeth DOLE!! Dan Quayle!! I mean, really--what a pathetic selection....!) All that was left was for Rhenquist and Scalia, etc. to seal the deal.

I think Bloomberg could be SERIOUS trouble. He could end up handing the Presidency to Romney.

I'm, quite frankly, worried.

[PassingFair]

62. Sounds like a great running mate for Hillary.

Or Hagel.

He will only screw up the numbers in
the Beltway and NY, NY.

Yawn.

[Jackpine Radical]

44. He'll have the fundies

He'll have the demagogues of the far right, the neocons & Rove. He'll inherit the Bush machinery, which may not be very helpful in winning a general election, but could very well net him the nomination.

[smoogatz]

48. Bloomberg? Or Romney?

Not sure who you're talking about, JPR.

[Jackpine Radical]

54. Neither, Thompson.

I don't think either Bloomberg or Romney is anywhere near being in the running. I think it'll be Thompson.

[smoogatz]

57. Could be. He's certainly the wild card at this point.

Apparently he's failed to impress, for the most part, at personal appearances so far. And has a habit of saying frank but unfortunate things in front of microphones--so a macaca moment may be in the offing. We'll see. He strikes me as less polished and perhaps more principled than Romney, which is likely to be a problem for him (Thompson) given the Republican base's love of superficial slickness. If it comes down to a manliness contest (which it very well may), then Thompson probably wins. Except that he's bald, of course.

[MADem]

50. Bloomberg is a pro-gay marriage, pro-gun control, pro-education, former pot smoker, liberal.

He won't get a single fundie vote. He'll clean up on indy voters from moderately conservative to very liberal who think they are tired of "politics as usual." He'll get the shrinking moderate to liberal wing of the GOP, too.

They'll get the very same politics as usual, but in a nice new independent wrapper.

Here. Read: http://www.ontheissues.org/Mike_Bloomberg.htm

[Jackpine Radical]

53. I was talking about Thompson.

He's the new King Wingnut.

[MADem]

55. Bwahahahaha!! OK, now THAT makes sense!!! NT

[Virginia Dare]

7. Who are the running mates?

I'm thinking Fred Thompson or Jebby with Romney, who is Gore gonna pick, please God don't say Joe Lieberman.

BTW I'm still not convinced Gore is running.

[SharonRB]

11. I can guarantee you it won't be LIEberman.

Al definitely knows better. Could be Obama, Edwards, Clark, Richardson or a number of others. I can also guarantee you it won't be Hillary. Beyond that, the field is open.

[Virginia Dare]

17. You're right, probably not Hillary,

but I would love to see a woman or a minority (or both) if he does.

[SharonRB]

23. Boxer? Pelosi?

Wait -- I've got it. Donna Brazile! :sarcasm:

He needs to stay as far away from her as he possibly can.

[Labors of Hercules]

24. I like Gore/Boxer! Hell yeah! n/t

[Pastiche423]

56. Now, that is something I can agree w/you on!

[Virginia Dare]

29. What about Eleanor Holmes Norton?

she's been a hoot with Stephen Colbert, I think she'd be a great campaigner, and she's a tough, smart lady.

[smoogatz]

14. Romney would have to pick a fundie running mate, I think--

either that or ex-military; someone like Schwarzkopf, maybe. It'd have to be a pretty creative choice, and would have to exclude both Giuliani and McCain. Gore/Obama would appeal to my wife; Gore/Clark would appeal to me. I doubt Big Al would repeat any of his positioning mistakes from 2000--he's already positioned in a way that's likely to win; why deviate?

[Virginia Dare]

22. Maybe Jim Gilmore?...

I think he's basically auditioning for V.P. at this point anyway, and he's a rabid fundie and a southerner to boot.

Al Gore, I really have no idea who he would run with, but at any rate, at this point I don't think he will.

[MADem]

32. I think we may see running mates from the field, at least on the D side.

The GOP winner will probably look for a combination of regional balance and fundraising talent.

[smoogatz]

36. Or diversity and youth (Obama); or military cred (Clark).

There are lots of ways to look at it.

[ourbluenation]

16. Gore/Clark 08

you heard it here first.

[smoogatz]

18. Sounds good to me.

:toast:

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

42. They've got my vote n/t

[Initech]

19. That would be pretty much a no-contest election.

Do you vote for the one guy who has the will to clean up W's mess or do you vote for a staunch "pro-life" warmongerer who will most likely pick Jeb as his running mate?

[MADem]

20. Gore v. Romney v. Bloomberg??? nt

[mzteris]

26. oh puhleeze

The Fundy south will never vote for a Mormon.

They think they're the next step up from a Satanist.

[smoogatz]

31. There's really only one important primary in the Bible Belt,

and that's in SC. If Romney wins NH, IA and NV, SC won't really matter. Besides--who's he running against? You have to go all the way down to second-tier guys like Huckabee and Tancredo to find any fundie cred in the current crop of R candidates. They may not vote for Romney, but they probably won't turn out in droves to vote against him, either, as long as he professes to be anti-abortion, etc.

[mzteris]

34. I don't think the pubs are that

stupid. They know they can't win without the Fundies. (Of course, I don't think they can win anyway, but they definitely need their fundamentalist base.)

[smoogatz]

37. So the question is, how do they snag it?

The big money boyz seem to be pushing hard for Romney or Giuliani, neither of which have much fundie cred. Of the two, Romney comes closer because of his New, Improved! positions on choice and gay rights (for them before he was against them). Fundies hate McCain, Rudy's pro choice and pro gay, and Huckabee and Tancredo aren't likely to be of interest to the money boyz because they're actual hicks--unlike Bush, who was just pretending to be a hick--and because they don't give very good TV. Romney's quite smooth on TV, and seems perfectly willing to say whatever he needs to say to get elected. Who else is there? Fred Thompson? He's about as fundamentalist as I am.

[janx]

39. "actual hicks" versus

"pretending to be a hick"... :rofl:

[mzteris]

41. hmmmmmmmm -

maybe I should go read up on some of my old "fundie groups" (long story) and see what they're saying. If I find out anything, I'll let you know.

[jobycom]

28. Well, if Romney is in, it will be Gore-y...

I'm here all night. Try the veggie veal.

[Rosemary2205]

46. My money is on Tancreado. (sp)

Yes I know he's a longshot but there are A LOT of righties yapping about how impressed they are with the man.

For us, I would like to see Clark in the mix somehow.

[Alexander]

51. No. Gore/Feingold vs. Hagel/Romney.

You heard it from me first, a long time ago. Search the archives.

[sellitman]

52. You are all wrong.

* attacks Iran and declares the election on hold after a signing statement is secretly signed into law on a late Friday afternoon.

Probably will happen the day Paris Hilton is let out of jail and no one but DU will notice.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

58. There's Probably A Good Reason Why You're The Only One Saying It.

If ya think about it hard enough, the reason might come to you.

:rofl:

[smoogatz]

67. That's hi-larious!

I can tell because you've got the little ROFL guy at the bottom of your post.

[JenniferJuniper]

59. I totally agree with you....

In fact, I was at a business dinner with a several Freepers from Texas last night (my life sucks) and for fun, I announced the very same thing to them. I was afraid their heads would explode. (okay, honestly, I was wishing their heads would explode so I could go back to my hotel room and get the hell away from them.)

Of course, we don't know for sure what Gore's intentions are. It may be mostly wishful thinking on my part. So I told the Texas boys that if Gore didn't run, it would surely be Hillary v. Romney.

For what it's worth, they all said they would prefer Hillary over Gore. Gore will take more of their freedumbs away, they said. He's a pinko!

And for what it's worth again, these good Christian men detest Romney (the guy who has been married to and and had children with only one woman) because he is a Mormon and are madly in love Thompson (the Hollywood guy who dumped his old wife for the young babe.) I tried to point out the contradictions here to these Good Christian Men, but alas, the word "irony" apparently does not appear in the Bible.

[Radical Activist]

63. Wrong on both counts.

Romney won't win a single Southern primary. The Southern Baptist Church teaches everyone that Mormons belong to a non-Christian cult. Romney can't win there.

Gore won't get into the race and if he does the most likely result would be throwing the election to Hillary by splitting the progressive vote.

[smoogatz]

65. Gore's going to run.

And he'll win the nom easily. And Romney doesn't have to win a single southern primary in order to win the nom except Florida, which doesn't behave like a normal southern state. But hey--I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is. You name your picks for the noms, and I'll bet you $20 (payable through PayPal) that I'm right and your picks are wrong.

[Radical Activist]

80. A bet?

heh Since I'm posting anonymously on a message board I think we'll just have to play for bragging rights. I can't say I'm as sure about who will win as I'm sure that Romney and Gore won't.

But my guess is that it will be Obama v. Thompson

[sampsonblk]

64. No Mormon will get the GOP nomination

You heard it here first. I'd bet my house on it.

[BlooInBloo]

66. I don't see it happening either. Of course, what wll *actually* happen, I can't say.

[smoogatz]

68. Describe this house of yours.

I might take you up on it. C'mon--Romney is a "person of faith." Don't tell me the Republicans are going all denominational on us...

[sampsonblk]

76. OK well I don't actually OWN it. :)

I stand by what I said though!

[JenniferJuniper]

71. No Mormon will become the governor of Massachusetts

said I to my father.

He laughed.

Damn Goldwater democrat was right.

[BlooInBloo]

75. lol! The things that "DUers" try to pass off as logic. You slay me guys, you really do.

[sampsonblk]

77. MA ain't MS

One word: fundies.

The GOP is so out of wack, there's no way a GOP candidate can get enough votes without getting solid support from KJV-only 'christian' fundamentalist wackos. And Romney is a Mormon. It played in Massachussets. But as time goes on, it will not play in the south. The fundies will bolt the party. Many feel that mormonism is a satanic cult. And they have literature to 'prove' it.

[Radical Activist]

79. Exactly.

Some people don't get the extent that conservative protestants dominate politics in the South and just how much they have been taught to believe Mormons are evil.

[RestoreGore]

69. Wow, another post of substance

[smoogatz]

78. To which you felt compelled to respond.

[RestoreGore]

81. well how else can one express themself here?

Did you read The Assault On Reason? If you did you should know why I felt so compelled to respond.

[flyarm]

73. RUN AL RUN!!!!!!!!!! I WILL WORK MY ASS OFF FOR YOU!! eom

[BenDavid]

74. I have a quote from the movie

Braveheart that I think is right for those that believe only Gore can win in 08. " Just when we thought all hope was lost,our noble saviours have arrived." I would think this too would be how the repubs see Fred Thompson.
Gore will not be the democratic nominee....For all of you that have this fire in your tummy for Gore, where was this fire in Gore's belly? Hell, the man did not fight for it and you think he has the fire now to fight for the presidency. Hell, the only one that is willing to fight is HRC. And all of you haters that think HRC canot beat the repub nominee then you have bought into the right wing spin. Seems like since HRC said that the Big Dawg was going to campaign with her in Iowa next month, the polls in Iowa have turned around. Clinton ahead of Edwards and Obama....Last week it was joy in Mudville as Edwards had the lead....Just imagine the Big Dawg next month being the opening act for HRC.....You want a winner in 08? Then once we have chosen HRC as our nominee, then get behind this campaign, cause it is going to rock America.....
I do thank you...
Ben David

[Redneck Socialist]

82. It's going to be Thompson vs Hillary

With Bloomburg in to make things interesting.