It should be Romney/Palin! McCain blew it!

[MeaganM]

John had the opportunity tonight to dominate and he blew it. His comfort zone in a town hall style debate was very disappointing.

He needed to strike home, put a question mark on Obama, and show the people that Obama is nothing but an inexperienced, corrupt politician and he didn't follow through.

Obama was suave, presidential and well prepared. We might as well start getting use to the idea of President Obama...puke!

I'm so frustrated!...urggg!

[papajaxxx]

Meagan M said:

John had the opportunity tonight to dominate and he blew it. His comfort zone in a town hall style debate was very disappointing.

He needed to strike home, put a question mark on Obama, and show the people that Obama is nothing but an inexperienced, corrupt politician and he didn't follow through.

Obama was suave, presidential and well prepared. We might as well start getting use to the idea of President Obama...puke!

I'm so frustrated!...urggg!

MeaganM:

You and I see it the same way. And, yes I am frustrated also. A Romney/Palin team would win the election.

[MamaCat]

Not likely that Romney would have chosen Sarah as a running mate. Romney was my first choice, but we can only guess how he would have matched up against Obama.

[Darhawk]

Coulda, shoulda, woulda........... doesn't matter to cry in the beer now. We got what we got so get over it. I look at it this way, my vote for McCain, though I do not support the man and never have and never will, is simply a vote against Obama.

[TXN4EVER]

After listening to the two debates(I was driving both nights),The only question I couldn't find an answer for was,How in the name of all that is holy did we saddle ourselves with such an uninspiring and bland person as our candidate?
Were we that blind or mindless(not that the other candidates were that uplifting)?
Like others here and elsewhere I do not like him and can never trust him,but I feel compelled to vote for him because the alternative is just too horrible to contemplate.
And to be perfectly honest,without Sarah Palin as his running mate(his only wise move so far in my view),I would be sitting out this election.
I guess we better get used to saying "Dear Leader" for the next four years,if not longer.

[Terri]

After listening to the two debates(I was driving both nights),The only question I couldn't find an answer for was,How in the name of all that is holy did we saddle ourselves with such an uninspiring and bland person as our candidate?
It was a combination of things.

Elite moderates in charge of the primary schedule.

Ron Paul who siphoned off a lot of voters for his suicide mission.

Mike Huckabee's determination to see Mitt Romney lose because of his religion.

Fred Thompson's lack of campaign wisdom and lackadaisical approach.

Duncan Hunter's absolute lack of personality and issues beyond one.

I could go on but you probably get the picture.

[Thundercat505]

Coulda, shoulda, woulda........... doesn't matter to cry in the beer now. We got what we got so get over it. I look at it this way, my vote for McCain, though I do not support the man and never have and never will, is simply a vote against Obama.

AMEN!!!

we were handed this crap sammich by a bunch of "good ol boys" that decided that mccain should have another chance at it since he lost his bid against bush. the only palatable part of this sandwich is palin who imo would be better off running on her own ticket!!!

I don't much like mccain either but we were handed this and the alternative "is just too horrible to contemplate!!" just one look at him is enough for anyone that isn't brain dead to know what he is, what he will do and what he stands for.

personally--romney??? he may have been a better choice but with so much anti mormon sentiment running around that would have been a total loss, not that I wouldn't vote for him but many would not have. running mate?? he may have made a good one but with someone other than mccain.

the rest of the field that was whittled down prior to the primaries, well we had a couple that fit many of our ideals but the votes just weren't there for them to be seriously considered.

[Terri]

personally--romney??? he may have been a better choice but with so much anti mormon sentiment running around that would have been a total loss, not that I wouldn't vote for him but many would not have. running mate?? he may have made a good one but with someone other than mccain.
Maybe this is a good opportunity for those with anti-Mormon sentiment to wise up.

They couldn't stand the thought of a Mormon in the White House. And now it looks very much like we're going to have a terrorist loving socialist.

[Thundercat505]

Maybe this is a good opportunity for those with anti-Mormon sentiment to wise up.

They couldn't stand the thought of a Mormon in the White House. And now it looks very much like we're going to have a terrorist loving socialist.

I agree terri!! you cannot convince me that osama is not a muslim due to several factors.
1. he was raised by two of them until around age 9.
2. he went to a muslim school and was registered into another school with the brand "muslim" on his entry papers.
3. a boy is never more like his father than he is at age 5 and after that he is pretty much set in his mannerism and thinking like the father.
4. he is backed by muslims due to their either knowing or believing he is muslim.

then you have him hanging with terrorists and the like, and being backed with money to go to school and politics from some of them and so yeah, people will get a big wake up call if he is elected!!!!

so according to my figuring romney would have been by far the better choice if just judging by religion, but unfortunately many don't see it that way but should wake up prior to making such a big mistake as putting osama into office over something so piddly!!!

[Paddington Bear]

As Sean Hannity said, "It was too little, too late [for Romney]."

Romney was gaining ground toward the end of the primaries, but Huckabee stole his spotlight, and McCain seemed more like the "experience candidate." Mitt, hands down, would have beat the snot out of Obama in these debates, and would have a true plan for this horrid, wretched economy.

The conservative base rallied behind Romney a little too late.

However, this isn't the end for Mitt. I expect him to run in 4 or 8 years from now. Hell, maybe even Palin herself!

[Terri]

The conservative base rallied behind Romney a little too late.
Yes, that's a good point. We were all split on the choices and it took too long for the base to settle on one candidate.

Actually, I don't think we ever did really rally round just one until McCain chose Palin for his VP.

[lpara]

The trend though (speaking of Romney in 8 years) is that we get a little less or maybe sometimes a lot less conservative as a country each election cycle. It seems like either a Romney or Palin won't have a prayer by that time.

[Darhawk]

The trend though (speaking of Romney in 8 years) is that we get a little less or maybe sometimes a lot less conservative as a country each election cycle. It seems like either a Romney or Palin won't have a prayer by that time.

I disagree. I think however it goes this cycle, the country will receive one heck of a wake-up call. And I think conservatism will rear up its head and strike hard in the upcoming elcetions.... congressional, senate and presidential. A severe political shock, just like a good revolution now and then, is needed to turn the country back on course (think Carter). I truly believe the "United Socialist States of America" will be short lived and we will return to the "United States, a free capitalistic democracy".

[MamaCat]

The trend though (speaking of Romney in 8 years) is that we get a little less or maybe sometimes a lot less conservative as a country each election cycle. It seems like either a Romney or Palin won't have a prayer by that time.

Unless we change the Primary schedule, force closed primaries, and toss out the "good ol' boys" who seem to pull the strings at the top of the GOP, we will have more of the same. I think the only reason it appears we become less conservative each election cycle is that we are stuck with candidates that were chosen either by the GOP bigwigs who are totally out of touch with the base, or by democrats who vote in our primaries.

[Thundercat505]

we are stuck with candidates that were chosen either by the GOP bigwigs who are totally out of touch with the base, or by democrats who vote in our primaries.

this is a very valid point!!! by the time our primaries were held, we had lost most of the crowd and had been left with 4 valid candidates and three of them were on the rocks. romney, the huckster and ron paul were the only ones left in the running and they were on the rocks big time so no use in voting for any of them.

mccains numbers up to that time had far outweighed the amount of repub voters--at least here. they had done to us what some had done to shrillery--they cross voted.

[Pillar of Salt]

I have a couple of points to make that I have been thinking about over the course of reading posts for the last week.

1) I don't think being a preacher/ pastor should automatically discredit you from being a president. A pastor deals with many of the social ills that a president often doesn't look at deeply enough. I also don't think that is democratic and I think it's a very biased view. We can vote an actor in as president, but a former pastor won't do? We want our presidents to go to church, as long as they aren't up in front? Add to that the fact that the pastor became a governor for 7 years.
2) I don't think Romney could have won. It's not that he's Mormon. I just felt that he was very cold and I saw a lot of that reaction. I also heard a lot of Christian people say they wouldn't vote for him, and right or wrong, that would have been against him. I am a Christian and I would have voted for him had he been our candidate. I don't believe in his faith, but I know Mormon people to have very high moral standards and that could be a bonus as a president.
3) I think we have to get past the fact that McCain isn't attractive (anymore) and isn't great at public speaking or hammering someone. He isn't a forceful speaker. When I watched him on Rick Warren's interview, I liked the McCain I saw there. I don't agree with everything he says, but I think he has been honorable in a majority of his career decisions... much more so than Sen. Barack Hussein Obama. He has stood up for his beliefs, more often than not. I believe that if he gets in office, he has the experience and knowledge to really make a change and stop some of the ridiculous spending. With Gov. Palin at his elbow, he will have someone to hold him accountable as well.
4) I overheard a guy talking in a coffee shop yesterday, in a very liberal town. He said that one big difference between Republicans and Democrats is that the Republicans stand behind their president through thick and thin, but Democrats turn their guy over if he screws up. He said he respects that. So do I.

[Billary2004]

The trend though (speaking of Romney in 8 years) is that we get a little less or maybe sometimes a lot less conservative as a country each election cycle. It seems like either a Romney or Palin won't have a prayer by that time.

The decision on how this country will be governed will come within the next 16 years. The fact is that the taxpayers will not be able to pay for the baby boomer's entitlements, no matter how high our taxes go. In theory the tax payers could tax themselves to death, but there would be no incentive to work. I feel that the only scenario that can play out is that the working voters will migrate to the polls and vote to end entitlements as we know them. With so many retirees, there will be no economic room for a limited entitlement process. I just imagine that voters will leave it up to the states to determine how to help the retirees. The working voters may also decide to privatize SS for future generations.

I do feel that the retirees have to accept this as fact. There will be a huge divide in this nation regarding how to manage the retirees, but make no mistake, the workers (doctors, etc) won't want to be taxed to the point there is no reason to work.

Look for a return to federalism at that point. Let states decide what liberal policies to initiate.

[Terri]

I don't think being a preacher/ pastor should automatically discredit you from being a president.
It does though. There will always be enough people who have a problem with a certain religion to keep a candidate from winning.

I also heard a lot of Christian people say they wouldn't vote for him, and right or wrong, that would have been against him.
Not sure how you can say that and also say that the reason he couldn't win was because he was Mormon. It's a contradiction.

I don't think we have 16 years, Billary. In fact, I think the decision for our future was made last week. If Obama is elected that seals the deal for good.

[papajaxxx]

Romney did not do a good joy of supporting McCain after the debate Tuesday night. IMO, he could have done a whole lot better.

One would ask, "Why didn't he?"

[Terri]

Maybe he was in as much shock as I was when I heard that McCain wants to pay for everybody's house.

Romney is a fiscal conservative. So am I.

McCain is not.

My jaw hit my moccasins when I heard him announce that not only do I have to bail out Wall Street but now I have to bail out every individual who can't make his mortgage payment. Why are we paying for these things twice?

Besides, Claire McGaskill had just spit on Romney's earphone. :yes:

You know, Romney doesn't need this nonsense. It doesn't help him to be out there supporting socialism no matter who thought it up. I wouldn't blame him if he locked down his own finances and told McCain to shove it.

[Paddington Bear]

Which, if McCain has any brains, he'd make Romney his Treasury Secretary.

[schillerbjr]

It should be Palin/Romney...hindsight, of course!

[MeaganM]

McCain did a much better job in his interview with Hannity last night. Why couldn't he be like that at the debates? He talked about Obama's inexperience, unreputable associations and even called him a "Chicago Politician".

Most of the American people don't know how deep Obama is involved in the Illinois corruption unless they are political junkies like most of us here on this forum.

I still think Romney would have thrown it in Obama's face and McCain is too considerate to do just that. And, unfortunately, right now, the world needs to know the real Obama or he will be the next President.

[Paddington Bear]

Right now, we have "poll fever."

These polls are nothing.

Oh, and did I mention that the reason why Obama is ahead in the battleground states is because of ACORN?

[Paddington Bear]

Romney's RNC Speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw5BKH6iFFs

[rushbaby]

All I heard people talk about where I work was McCain's medical plan. Many of the one's that I though were pretty solid for McCain have changed their mind. They don't want anything to do with his plan. I don't either!!!!!! The difference is that I know that his plan doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of ever being enacted.

My question is how would he ever pay for it. A $5,000 refundable tax credit for every family. Even those that don't pay any tax. Plus doubleing the deductions for children. I heard each family's share of the debt is already $455,000. I don't want to hear a damn thing about any new programs or tax cut's until they start doing something about the debt.

[Pillar of Salt]

Terri, I respectfully disagree with your assertion that..

There will always be enough people who have a problem with a certain religion to keep a candidate from winning.

It seems to me that we EXPECT our leader to have at least a basic faith in God and will trust him more if he does. Why do all of these politicians attend church when the cameras are on? To get our votes! By your statement, you are admitting that Romney would never have a chance. He’s a higher-up in the Mormon church and has discussed in an interview that he participated in such things as the “baptism of the dead.” That obviously is going to freak a good many people out.

You quoted only a small portion of my statement about his chances of winning. I said,

“It's not that he's Mormon. I just felt that he was very cold and I saw a lot of that reaction.”

Maybe I wasn't clear enough. I will add that people thought he was too smooth, too rich, too perfect, too upper crust……. In other words, he doesn’t appeal to the masses. I do think that a lot of people wouldn’t vote for him because of his Mormon faith, but I don’t feel it was the main determining factor. I think it was mostly how he comes off as being cold. I don’t think I was contradicting myself. (There are also a lot of people who WOULD vote for him because he IS Mormon.)

It is too bad that we have such weird standards for our candidates. I’m sure that if Romney got into office, he would do a respectable job in many ways. I think the advent of TV made it harder to decide because we can SEE the guy. Most Americans are so visual and critique every tie and shoe and spend less time looking at the issues. If he gets chosen to be Secretary of Treasurer and shows his stuff, he might get a chance at it again.

Personally, I'd like my dad to be president. He's smart, 72, knows economics, and doesn't take crap off of anyone. But you know how it is... the ones who would be REALLY good at being POTUS, don't WANT to be!

[Terri]

Ok, I won't quote you. I wasn't replying to every word you said, but just to parts of it. I was using the quote to point out what I was responding to but I don't like it either when someone misses something that seemed more important to me.

Disagreement is fine. Debate is what we are about here. But, what I said is true.
Evangelicals are a large enough segment of the Republican base to keep a Mormon from being the candidate. At the same time, I know there were quite a few evangelicals who realized that Romney's religion would not affect his performance in any negative way.

On the other side of it, there are enough Republicans who were horrified by the way Huckabee used his religion for his own benefit to keep him from being the candidate.

Mitt Romney didn't run on his religion. But those of another religion chose to make a big issue of it. And I do think that was the main factor against him. We will simply have to disagree about that.

The worst hatred I've ever seen posted on this forum came from anti-Mormon evangelicals. One was a preacher. One was a conservative Republican mother of a small child. They were people that I had respected for a long time. Another was a Republican county chairman who spilled his bile to all the Republicans in his county as well as on this forum. He was reelected as county chair.

Those are just a few examples. There were many others. There were those who sent me hate filled articles on Mormonism asking if they could post them here.

I will always remember this experience of how evangelical Christians acted when a Mormon ran for office with a lot of disappointment. It was a paradigm changer for me.

Yes, Romney may have seemed cold to some, although I'm not sure how you can be perceived as cold when you're a family man who has successfully raised 5 boys who are also responsible family men, and when you have been married to the same woman for 40 years. Those are attributes that evangelicals should embrace and they would have had he been of their religion.

I can't see any reason for Mitt Romney to accept a position in a McCain administration even IF there is one. McCain doesn't have the first clue about the economy and he's stubborn and hard headed. :banghead:

Bottom line, Romney was the ONLY candidate we had with private market experience, the only one who ever met a payroll or turned around an unsuccessful business, the only one with international financial experience. Now here we are in the biggest fiscal mess in decades and we have 3 senators running for the most important office in the world. If there is anything on earth of less use than a senator I have no idea what it might be.

[72yearsyoung]

If there is anything on earth of less use than a senator I have no idea what it might be.


I agree Terri ! The appraval record of the Congress is at a all time low; about 1/3 that of a President who is near an all time low !!!!

Why is the Congress's approval rating so low ?
(1) they can not get anything done on anything [example: Rep. Barney Frank said he would rather 'roll the dice' with Fannie and Freddie - now that is the dumbest and riskest idea/statement any reasonable, responsible person could make - surely sounded like a democrat though];
(2) entirely too many democrats in Congress - who BTW only make decisions for their own gains and power seeking as opposed to what is best for America - and BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA is at the top of list of those dumb-axx idiot communicrats.

We need to get mad and fight back or America is LOST, DESTROYED FOREVER. America WILL NOT EVER RECOVER FROM A BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA presidency. Only the insane could believe otherwise. This is America's last chance !

Listen carefully to these words of wisdom! Yes, it will take 10 minutes, these are words that need to be heeded if you care about America, yourself, your family, your children and grandchildren or your life and life's work! Only a fool would do otherwise !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw5BKH6iFFs

POINT: My stock is down 55% in the last 12 months, the value of my home down over 20% in several years, a great friend of 56 lost his job -- because of barney frank (the idiot) and his idiot, reckless democratic communicrats in the democratic controlled Congress led by harry reid (the war is lost) and big mouth nancy pelosi.

NOW, STARTING TODAY ... THAT IS THE MESSAGE THAT NEEDS TO GET TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, IF NOT BY JOHN MCCAIN, THEN BY US ! IF IT DEPENDS US, THEN WE MUST ACT AND HANG THE WORDS AND ACTIONS OF THE DEMOCRATS AROUND THEIR NECKS. THE EVIDENCE IS CLEAR, STRONG AND IN THEIR OWN WORDS ... ON AUDIO AND VIDEO. LET'S USE IT AGAINST THEM !

ANYONE OUT THERE WILLING TO FIGHT TO SAVE AMERICA ????

[Pillar of Salt]

Terri, Seeing your experience, I perfectly understand. I have gotten my fill of the kind of judgemental attitudes put out there by so-called Christians, too. My dad is Mormon (although, to clarify, he says he's not a "Salt Lake" Mormon,) and I live in a town that is predominately Mormon, so I obviously have a lot of Mormon friends. Despite what many Christians think, I know that most of my Mormon friends believe the main tenets of Christianity, that Jesus died for them and they are saved by grace. So I get sick of the hype. I see the same sort of hatred against gays. I don't understand it. I mean, I don't believe they should have a "right" to get married, but I don't judge them. I don't think that is what Jesus is about. He's about "Love God and love your neighbor." We Christians really fall short on that!!

I'm glad that on this forum we have the ability to agree to disagree. If I didn't think so, I wouldn't have responded to what you said. I would have been afraid of retribution or being called a "troll." (I reserve that name for my former bil, frankly.)

I also reserve my right to change my mind. So, in the light of that, I will say you are probably right about Romney not getting in their because of his faith. From what I've seen in our town, that's not true, but on a national scale... yeah, I can see that.

Thanks for keeping this forum a safe haven for discussion. I wouldn't have signed up for this forum if I had seen any bile. I've read the forum for.... a long time!

[MeaganM]

They don't want anything to do with his plan. I don't either!!!!!! The difference is that I know that his plan doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of ever being enacted.

What you said scares me. Are you actually saying that the people you work with are not going to vote for McCain because of his medical plan? Obama wants to govern medical. That will no doubt cost the American people more money and be a disaster.

England has free medical for their people. I have been there and most of them have to wait weeks to be seen by a doctor. Not only that but, their taxes are outrageous!

I would have rathered Romney at this point but, McCain is definately the lesser of two evils.

[Bigdog]

mccains numbers up to that time had far outweighed the amount of repub voters--at least here. they had done to us what some had done to shrillery--they cross voted.


Of course they did, and Huckaby staying in when he had no chance just to keep Romney from winning didn't help either.

We are stuck with what we have, but I, for one, believe that Romney/Palin would have been a killer ticket.