Which Republican are you supporting in the primaries?

Archived discussion from Toril-2.

Who are you supporting?

Sam Brownback
0
No votes
Rudy Giuliani
3
12%
Duncan Hunter
0
No votes
Mike Huckabee
0
No votes
John McCain
8
32%
Ron Paul
10
40%
Mitt Romney
4
16%
Tom Tancredo
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 25
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Which Republican are you supporting in the primaries?

Postby Lathander » Sat Oct 13, 2007 7:29 pm

For the Republicans on the forum, who are you supporting and why?
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Postby teflor the ranger » Sat Oct 13, 2007 7:39 pm

Good lord, I don't want to throw my support behind any of the Republican candidates this year. I'll be waiting for the primaries before I toss my vote.
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Postby Sarvis » Sat Oct 13, 2007 7:56 pm

What's wrong Teffie? No one as good as Bush? :roll:
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Postby teflor the ranger » Sat Oct 13, 2007 8:05 pm

Sarvis wrote:What's wrong Teffie? No one as good as Bush? :roll:


Please remove your post Sarvis, I don't think it contributes very much to the thread.
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Postby Kifle » Sat Oct 13, 2007 8:12 pm

teflor the ranger wrote:
Sarvis wrote:What's wrong Teffie? No one as good as Bush? :roll:


Please remove your post Sarvis, I don't think it contributes very much to the thread.


Hypocrite much?
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Postby Corth » Sat Oct 13, 2007 8:13 pm

Ron Paul, though I disagree with him to some extent on foreign policy. I identify with his libertarian domestic agenda.
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth

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Postby Lathander » Sat Oct 13, 2007 8:16 pm

Part of the reason I made these posts was to see what folks are thinking. When I talk to a lot of people, most do not have someone they really support yet. I think a good discussion will get that process going.

I have not yet chosen myself, but I've considered some of the candidates. For me, the choice comes down to who I think will create an environment that will benefit my family and the country as a whole.
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Postby Lathander » Sat Oct 13, 2007 8:19 pm

Ron Paul seems to be popular with some especially C-SPAN. I looked at him, but he seems to be a gold standard supporter. He wants to get rid of the Federal Reserve, and on economics, he is way off from what I've seen.
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Postby Vaprak » Sat Oct 13, 2007 8:59 pm

While I consider myself to be mostly a moderate leaning towards Libretarian, I cannot in good faith vote for anyone who favors the Gold Standard over the Federal Reserve.

I refuse to register as a republican or democrat because I'm neither, but if I was forced to register as republican I couldn't in good faith vote for any of these guys. I'd probably have to go with Chris Dodd on the "democrat" side, although I could maybe persuade myself to vote for John McCain.

I want someone who is
    extremely fiscally conservative
    for small government at the federal level
    against starting new wars but finishing the ones we have already started
    pro-education and education funding
    pro-choice
    pro 1st ammendment
    NRA member and anti-gun control
    lower taxes
    wants to keep federal government out of the state's business
    legalize marijuana
    anti-gold standard
    anti bailing people out of their stupid mistakes (ie not bailing out mortgage companies or people who default on thier mortgages)
    get rid of farm subsidies
    keep government out of people's private lives

Unfortunately there will never be a candidate this well rounded and well, moderate. [/list]
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Postby daggaz » Sat Oct 13, 2007 10:04 pm

He wants to get rid of the federal reserve as it stands now, Lath.

Currently it is a privately owned, mostly foreign entity which unconstitutionally prints our money for us and charges us interest to do so. Basically, the US borrows all their money from these central bankers. This is the core of the elite, as well. Rothschild, DeutchBank, Bank of England, DuPont I believe, Rockefeller, to name a few.

Ron Paul wants the American money supply back in the hands of America. He has been pushing for this for decades. He did a great presentation on how the entire system is both illegal and detrimental to American interests, but the corrupt congress just voted him down. Im pretty sure you can find a tape of it somewhere.

I recommend Aaron Russo's "From Freedom to Fascism" for a real in depth look at this monumental crime.

Anyhow, I was always a dedicated Democrat until I first saw him on Farenheit 9-11 talking about how congress passed the 1000+ page "Patriot" Act without even reading it, and how he thought that was a criminal act which belied their lack of dedication to the Constitution, and he had me hooked from then on out. I love the guy, I don't agree with everything he says or all of his positions, but he is a real American hero who speaks nothing but truth and America needs this guy now more than ever before. Everybody else is corrupt and they are going to sink the states if they can get away with it.
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Postby Lathander » Sun Oct 14, 2007 2:16 am

Being quasi-private is what allows the Fed to do it's work with limited political pressure. If it was a government agency, that would scare the hell out of me.

I don't know where you get the foreign owned stuff. The member banks are the owners of the Federal Reserve System. Basically, they have a self regulating system which makes alot of sense. Also, the Fed does not print currency; the Treasury Department does. The Fed then buys it from treasury.

The gold standard is a bad idea, and luckily, the "gold bugs" have been out of favor for almost a century. Ron Paul is wrong on the economics of the Fed and in general. How in your opinion is the Fed detrimental to the US?

Sadly, you're right about the Congress not reading the Patriot Act, or most any other legislation. Unfortunately, all of them are like that and most people in that position would be as well. It is what it is.
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Postby Corth » Sun Oct 14, 2007 3:41 am

Not sure why people think the Fed is so important. Would seem to me that republicans should be in favor allowing free markets to determine interest rates.
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Postby Ashiwi » Sun Oct 14, 2007 3:45 am

I'd swear we were just discussing the housing market... was I dreaming that?
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Postby Kegor » Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:02 am

Vaprak wrote:I want someone who is

    extremely fiscally conservative
    for small government at the federal level
    against starting new wars but finishing the ones we have already started
    pro-education and education funding
    pro-choice
    pro 1st ammendment
    NRA member and anti-gun control
    lower taxes
    wants to keep federal government out of the state's business
    legalize marijuana
    anti-gold standard
    anti bailing people out of their stupid mistakes (ie not bailing out mortgage companies or people who default on thier mortgages)
    get rid of farm subsidies
    keep government out of people's private lives

Unfortunately there will never be a candidate this well rounded and well, moderate.


Looks almost exactly what my list would look like. This is a tough list to even get half checked off for a canidate in either party. One thing I have noticed over the years is that the of the office of president is much better suited to a democratic canidate. Much less volitility in general and less repercussions from the decisions made.
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Postby teflor the ranger » Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:34 am

I am incredibly concerned about where the Republican Party is headed. Generally speaking, I don't really care about who is voted into office so long as they have the two major traits:

Charisma and Integrity

The seat of power of this country is filled with incredibly intelligent, well educated people of all walks of life, political affiliations, and ideals. They will do their best to influence the thinking of the President, Congress, and the Supreme Court - they always have, and they always will.

Despite what may people like to believe about x administration, each administartion has always opened their doors to experts, think tanks, and ideas.

What our nation really needs in a President is someone who will decide with integrity and be able to convince the public that it's the right course.

Integrity was always hard to find, but charisma these days... lacking.

I think something happened to social skills in the last few decades - and this goes for both parties.
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Postby Sarvis » Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:59 am

Charisma? So then Mary Carey for president?

Hell, she doesn't hide what she is... so she's probably got more integrity than half the politicians out there too!
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Postby rylan » Mon Oct 15, 2007 12:07 pm

Well I'd probably prefer Romney, but I think that Rudy has the best chance of beating the evil bitch in the general election.
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Postby Ragorn » Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:20 pm

teflor the ranger wrote:Despite what may people like to believe about x administration, each administartion has always opened their doors to experts, think tanks, and ideas.

One of the major flaws of the current administration (which has been well investigated and documented*) is the preference for loyalty over competence. One of the things Republican candidates will need to do in the next election is prove that they're more interested in facts and progress than the current "good ol' boy" club.

*If you're interested (or you feel like calling me out), googling "bush loyalty competence" will give you all the reading material you could want.
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Postby teflor the ranger » Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:59 pm

Ragorn wrote:One of the major flaws of the current administration (which has been well investigated and documented*) is the preference for loyalty over competence.


By whom? It's nice rhetoric, but hardly so simple.
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Postby Ragorn » Mon Oct 15, 2007 6:50 pm

teflor the ranger wrote:
Ragorn wrote:One of the major flaws of the current administration (which has been well investigated and documented*) is the preference for loyalty over competence.


By whom? It's nice rhetoric, but hardly so simple.

Didn't I just tell you how to answer that question?
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Postby kiryan » Mon Oct 15, 2007 9:44 pm

the only thing that would make me vote for rudy giuliani is hilary clinton and even though I intensley disagree with her views, I still might vote for her over giuliani, its that tight. I'd even consider voting for Obama if I had to pick between Giuliani and Obama (although not as VP).

I like some things about Mitt, Thompson, mccain and Paul. My favorite is Ron Paul followed by mccain although I'm a little concerned about whether we actually can get back to the ideals he trumpets without major problems / revolution especially with the financial system reforms.

The whole system, particularly the financial system, is built upon a bunch of crap. The gold standard would replace that crap with substance. I don't know whether we should or should not go back to the gold standard because of the impact on people all over the world especially the poorest. Ultimately the gold standard may make a better world, but its going to be a whole lot of hell getting there.

I'm scared of the Fed; I'm scared of retail investors. The FED erased 1,000 point loss in the stock market in about 3 days... Chicken or the egg, I don't know but its just scary. Interest is supposed to be based on the risk you take for loaning money. How the FED can unilaterally decide what that is and get the entire world to agree is mind boggling. The scariest thing is that there is a price for what they do and they know it. They just try to choose the lesser of two evils.

I'm really not very comfortable with the volatility in the world markets. I'm not happy with the republican party, and I can't get behind the socialist agenda of the democratic party. Americans are stupid and lazy. The proof is in politics, the expansion of social services, the lack of participation in the political process, the flip flop in public opinion/support for the war in iraq / afghanistan and the patriot act.

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Postby rylan » Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:51 am

Australia seems pretty cool, and they don't have the illegal immigrant problem we do since the country is basically a huge island!
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Postby Corth » Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:53 am

Heh, yeah.. the fed erased a 1000 point drop in a matter of days.. and I noticed my supermarket bills went up some 10-15% as the dollar started to crash. Robbing Peter to pay Paul?
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Postby Corth » Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:55 am

rylan wrote:Australia seems pretty cool, and they don't have the illegal immigrant problem we do since the country is basically a huge island!


A huge Island... Thats not going to make you better friends with Ssar! Crikey!
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Postby Kifle » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:02 am

Corth wrote:Heh, yeah.. the fed erased a 1000 point drop in a matter of days.. and I noticed my supermarket bills went up some 10-15% as the dollar started to crash. Robbing Peter to pay Paul?


I've heard that peter/paul comment a few places and was wondering where it came from/what it pertains to.

Also, Rylan, while they don't have the immigration "problem" we do, the aboriginies, from what I understand from talking to a few natives, are a huge drain on society just like republicans claim the mexicans are here.
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Postby teflor the ranger » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:12 am

Ragorn wrote:
teflor the ranger wrote:
Ragorn wrote:One of the major flaws of the current administration (which has been well investigated and documented*) is the preference for loyalty over competence.


By whom? It's nice rhetoric, but hardly so simple.

Didn't I just tell you how to answer that question?


I followed your instructions to google "bush loyalty competence" and what I got was a dilbert comic and a you-tube clip, and also something from teh St. Cloud Times.

Hardly A-game material.

I figured I'd give you another chance?
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Postby Sarvis » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:20 am

So do you typically only look at every third link when doing a google search? Or just when you're trolling?
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Postby teflor the ranger » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:32 am

You didn't look through them at all. Good job, Sarvis, the actual troll.
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Postby rylan » Tue Oct 16, 2007 12:08 pm

Kifle wrote:Also, Rylan, while they don't have the immigration "problem" we do, the aboriginies, from what I understand from talking to a few natives, are a huge drain on society just like republicans claim the mexicans are here.


I don't think you'll find a house full of 20 aboriginies running a meth lab and dealing drugs like the illegals are over here in some of the towns not far from me.
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Postby Ragorn » Tue Oct 16, 2007 1:56 pm

teflor the ranger wrote:I followed your instructions to google "bush loyalty competence" and what I got was a dilbert comic and a you-tube clip, and also something from teh St. Cloud Times.

Hardly A-game material.

I figured I'd give you another chance?

Your response was already anticipated.

Keep reading.

Edit: And don't just skim every third link looking for something from a source you think is easy to discredit. I mean, of course that's what you're doing, because you don't actually care about the issue, you're just looking to argue. If you actually care, go do some reading. If you're just a troll, then don't respond and we'll both pretend this conversation never happened.
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Postby Birile » Tue Oct 16, 2007 1:59 pm

rylan wrote:
Kifle wrote:Also, Rylan, while they don't have the immigration "problem" we do, the aboriginies, from what I understand from talking to a few natives, are a huge drain on society just like republicans claim the mexicans are here.


I don't think you'll find a house full of 20 aboriginies running a meth lab and dealing drugs like the illegals are over here in some of the towns not far from me.


You mean the ones right next to the legal white guys running the crack house?
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Postby Corth » Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:35 pm

Kifle wrote:
I've heard that peter/paul comment a few places and was wondering where it came from/what it pertains to.


Arbitrarily and capriciously choosing to benefit one person at the expense of another. No idea what its origin is.

In my example, the fed is arbitrarily and capriciously benefitting investors at the expense of the public who are being hit with a hidden tax in the form of a weakening dollar.
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



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Postby Vigis » Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:49 pm

Corth wrote:
Kifle wrote:
I've heard that peter/paul comment a few places and was wondering where it came from/what it pertains to.


Arbitrarily and capriciously choosing to benefit one person at the expense of another. No idea what its origin is.

In my example, the fed is arbitrarily and capriciously benefitting investors at the expense of the public who are being hit with a hidden tax in the form of a weakening dollar.


I did some quick checking on the origin of the phrase and found it being discussed on a different forum found here: http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/fo ... hread/485/

The post by Dr. Techie states:
[quote="Dr. Techie "]It’s one of a number of old sayings that pair Peter and Paul, possibly for no better cause than alliteration, although both are, of course, names or prominent Christian saints. Indeed, the earliest version of the phrase recorded in the OED refers to them as saints, although there is AFAIK no Biblical incident that this could refer to. The idea simply seems to be that there is no merit in doing good to one person if you thereby harm another.

Early OED cites:
c1450 Jacob’s Well 305 Þei robbyn seynt petyr & È
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Postby Sarvis » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:11 pm

Corth wrote:
Kifle wrote:
I've heard that peter/paul comment a few places and was wondering where it came from/what it pertains to.


Arbitrarily and capriciously choosing to benefit one person at the expense of another. No idea what its origin is.

In my example, the fed is arbitrarily and capriciously benefitting investors at the expense of the public who are being hit with a hidden tax in the form of a weakening dollar.


Err... wouldn't the dollar weaken anyway though?
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Postby Corth » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:29 pm

Dollar weakened considerably after the Fed dropped rates as investors sold dollars which weren't yielding as much.
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Postby Sarvis » Tue Oct 16, 2007 4:12 pm

I'm not sure that answers my question...

I guess I'm thinking that if the stock market goes down 1000 points, people will pull money out of that and the dollar would lose value anyway due to declining stock investment...
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Postby Corth » Tue Oct 16, 2007 5:33 pm

Sarvis,

The value of anything, including money, is determined by the intersection of supply and demand. When interest rates are lowered on a currency it decreases the demand to own that currency, relative to other currencies, as the currency yields less than it did in the past. Thus, unless some other factor is driving demand for the dollar up, or for some reason the supply of dollars is decreasing, then typically a decrease in interest rates would decrease the value of the dollar.

I don't think there is any such direct correlation between a falling dollar and a falling stock market. In fact, it could be said that as the dollar diminishes in value, the US stock market becomes a better bargain for overseas investors who have more purchasing power in their own currency, and thus a falling dollar could theoretically push the stock market higher. In fact, the prevailing trend seems to be higher stock prices as the dollar weakens. And getting back to my original point, higher commodity prices (remember, commodities are tangible items which are the perfect hedge against inflation and/or a weakening dollar), and thus, more expensive supermarket visits.
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Postby kiryan » Tue Oct 16, 2007 5:45 pm

do you remember the gold / silver standard from history? Basically for every dollar there was an equal amount of real wealth (gold or silver) stored in the federal repository that you could cash out against. This gave paper money a real value and backing and kept it from being artificially inflated or deflated.

That was done away with for a variety of reasons depending on who you talk to. The real effect is that the US government now has the power to inflate / deflate your money directly by using the Fed to regulate interest rates. Some conspiracy theorists believe that is how the US government plans to get out of debt, inflate the currency a ton so the trillions of dollars of debt becomes actually less valuable.

If the rates go down, you are being paid less for the risk you take when you loan money, your return on investment is lower. People all over the world inveset in US debt because it has been seen relatively safe debt because of the strong economy / natural resources. I got burned buying south american debt in the late 90s because Argentina decided to go bankrupt. Imagine investing in Venezuela where Hugo Chavez can just decide what he wants to pay you for your investments...

When the rates move down, the returns become smaller, less valuable as an investment. So the investors cash out and go invest somewhere else leaving a larger supply of dollars in the market relative to other currencies. Simple supply and demand, dollars become less valuable compared to other currencies. This is of course an oversimplification, and one of many reasons the dollar is continuing to weaken. A weak dollar today can also encourage foreign investment (because they can buy more) and increase our exports which can gradually lead to a stronger dollar (look at what is happening with China's and India's currency).
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Postby Birile » Wed Oct 17, 2007 4:03 pm

So what's with the epidemic no-shows from the GOP candidates? Last night most of them skipped town on a rather big RNC fundraiser where they were scheduled, and many more times they've cited "scheduling conflicts" when they cancel appearances or decline invites--whether it be for forums/debates or anything else for that matter. Don't these guys care about listening to what people have to say? Don't these guys want the chance to make their views well-known and distinguish themselves from the others?
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Postby Sarvis » Wed Oct 17, 2007 4:12 pm

Birile wrote:Don't these guys care about listening to what people have to say?


Probably not.
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Postby rylan » Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:24 pm

I can't blame them for avoiding some of the obviously shady invites ... why would a republican candidate go to an all black or all immigrant debate/forum when they know its just an attempt to blast them and they won't get any votes from it anyway.

However it seems pretty dumb to skip out on an RNC sponsored fundraiser.
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Postby Birile » Wed Oct 17, 2007 6:59 pm

rylan wrote:I can't blame them for avoiding some of the obviously shady invites ... why would a republican candidate go to an all black or all immigrant debate/forum when they know its just an attempt to blast them and they won't get any votes from it anyway.

However it seems pretty dumb to skip out on an RNC sponsored fundraiser.


While I agree that some minorities are less likely to vote for a Republican, there are Alan Keyes types out there, and the Univision forum was a great chance for McCain to basically sweep any Conservative-minded Latino vote with his support of some sort of immigration reform, even if the Latino community didn't think the reform idea of this past summer was perfect. It was also a chance for them to reconnect with the Latino community on faith and conservative moral values, which is much more in line with Republicans than Democrats. *shrug* Seems like a lost opportunity--they really had nothing to lose.

And skipping an RNC fundraiser? It's just strange to me, especially given the fact that a lot of conservatives haven't made up their mind on a candidate yet.
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Postby Lathander » Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:53 pm

See the big GOP win in the LA governor race?
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Postby Birile » Mon Oct 22, 2007 2:23 pm

Lathander wrote:See the big GOP win in the LA governor race?


That was to be expected. The Democrat governor was extremely unpopular. And it's Louisiana, after all, I'm sort of surprised there was a Democrat in office to begin with!
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Postby Birile » Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:17 pm

A little over a month since the last post (which *boggle* was from me)... what are you Republican-minded types thinking nowadays? I'm still not voting for any of them (I'm voting for Clinton), but a lot's changed on the Republican side of things lately.
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Postby Vooku » Fri Nov 30, 2007 5:28 pm

I honestly don't know right now. I liked Rudi until I found out he was pro-choice. I'll never vote for someone who thinks it is ok to kill babies.
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Postby Ambar » Fri Nov 30, 2007 7:20 pm

Vooku wrote:I honestly don't know right now. I liked Rudi until I found out he was pro-choice. I'll never vote for someone who thinks it is ok to kill babies.


He may personally be against abortion, he may feel the same way you do, that it is killing a baby, but he merely acknowledges that it is a right of choice .. At this point in my life, I cant fathom how a woman could abort .. 15 years ago my opinion was different, but if my daughter were raped and impregnanted, I'd probably drive her to the clinic myself. I feel it is a choice that she'd have to live with for the rest of her life ..
"When a child is born, so is a grandmother."

-Italian Proverb
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Postby Corth » Sat Dec 01, 2007 12:08 am

Rudy has a very complex abortion stance. Personally he abhors it. As a matter of privacy rights, he used to take a very vocal position that a woman should have a legal right to choose. Now he seems to retain that position, but isn't as vocal about it. Nonetheless, he states that he will appoint supreme court justices out of the John Roberts mold... when such judges are likely to overrule Roe v. Wade.

So yeah, Rudy has a difficult time on this point. Probably would cost him the election if he were nominated.. as the conservative base would not come out for him.
Having said all that, the situation has been handled, so this thread is pretty much at an end. -Kossuth



Goddamned slippery mage.
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Postby rylan » Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:46 pm

I think if it was Rudy up against Hillary, the conservative base would come out since they hate Clinton so much.
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Postby Imis9 » Sun Dec 09, 2007 4:35 am

Looks like Huckabee is taking a commanding lead after a bad move by Romney to talk about his religion. This is really sad, if Huckabee was running against Biden or Obama, I'd very likely vote for a Dem for the first time in my life.

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