The mind boggles.

[cali]

Every time I think about the repuke candidates for president, I'm startled by the fact that this crew is stunningly, historically bad. They make bushco in 2000 look formidable:

Fascist,scandal ridden Rudy.

Flippety floppety Mormon Mitt.

Jesus freak corrupt Hucky.

Mad McCain.

Grandpa Fred.

Xenophobic Tommy the tank.

War, war, war Duncan.

and

1929 Ron.

Yeah, I know I should be wary about being over confident, but even the MSM can't get themselves to swoon over any of them.

They're a train wreck derailing all over the political landscape.

[subsuelo]

1. It really does

These people are on another planet from the rest of us

[alteredstate]

2. Excellent descriptions of the 2008 Repug bunch

Scary, too.....

[jgraz]

3. Jesus freak corrupt Hucky is the only one who worries me

Jesus Freak? Repug voters love that

Corrupt? He's accused of ethics violations in ARKANSAS. Now think...which candidate might have a problem calling him on that? :shrug:

If the GOP corporate masters let him through AND we're stupid enough to nominate Hillary, we're going to see Pretzledunce Hucklebee in 2008.



What really scares me is the candidate we haven't seen yet. If they "retire" Cheney, * can pretty much pick his successor.

[BeyondGeography]

4. He's also good at appearing not to be freaky

even though he embraces a literal view of the Bible, complete with Armageddon and End times.

But, as we've seen with Bush, it's difficult to get traction with the media and the culture at large by exposing these views.

[jgraz]

6. He's VERY good at appearing not freaky

And we have no "anti-xtian freak" echo chamber to counter the right's constant attacks on Hillary.

Plus, there's every indication that Hillary is a bit of an xtian freak herself.

[cali]

5. I'm not too worried about the little lovebug

Yeah, I know he's likable; I heard him on the excreable "Wait, wait don't tell me", but I don't think he'll play in a general despite his likability. And I don't think Clinton will be the nominee, but even if she is, she can beat him. He won't have the money to do it for one thing, and the corporate masters won't fund him. Plus all the Clinton dirt is recycled and Huckabee dirt will be fascinatingly new to the American public.

I have to admit I join you in worrying about Cheney being replaced. Never thought I'd be in the position for hoping the old bastard hangs in there.

[jgraz]

7. I think anyone but Clinton will beat him

They'll be able to draw sly parallels between that other Arkansas governor that all the Repugs hate.

As far as new vs old dirt goes, when's the last time you saw a right-wing bloviator who was tired of talking about Whitewater and the Rose law firm? Those old, tired stories will be rolled out again and again to neutralize any ethics complaints against Hucklebee.

[cali]

11. nah, you're projecting too much

If it came to Hucky v Hill, establishment power brokers, including the MSM would show a marked lack of enthusiasa for jesus-loves-you-hucky. The bloviators would be neutered. Hucky's too unpredictable for the establishment right to get enthused about.

[jgraz]

13. Well, there's also the actual voters

I know that's a bit naïve, but they may actually want a say. How do you think Hucklebee's public persona will play against Hillary's?

[cali]

15. he's definitely more likable

but she comes off as having more gravitas and dignity. And I think the actual voters will be more cautious about going for likability over "gravitas" this time. And although the actual voters count, so does the repuke power establishment. They were firmly behind bushco in 2000 and dead set against McCain- someone else they considered too unpredictable: look what happened to McCain. So I don't consider it likely Hucky will make it through their gauntlet to emerge as the nominee. And I don't think hillary will make it through the actual voters to be the nominee either. I'd put more money on the former, but it's beginning to look as if now that dems are tuning in, they're not flocking to her side.

[jgraz]

17. "actual voters will be more cautious about going for likability over 'gravitas' this time"

:spray:

You owe me a new keyboard.


I do hope you're right about Hillary, though. Aside from the fact that I personally can't stand her politics, I think she's a guaranteed lose in the GE.

[cali]

20. but see that's not aside from your dislike of her

no offense but strong dislike actually does throw your analysis and objectivity into doubt. It's just not credible to say that your dislike doesn't bleed into your perception of her chances.

And I will not buy you a new keyboard just because you can't keep liquids in your mouth. :evilgrin:

[jgraz]

23. Of course I'm not objective. Never pretended to be

But I still think I have a point on her electability. No one can deny that Hillary has some of the highest negatives of any potential Dem nominee. I also think that many of those negative perception (at least on the Dem side) are fully justified.

All that has to happen is for Hillary to have her version of the "I was for it before I was against it" moment and you'll see a huge portion of undecided voters turn against her. She may be able to avoid that, but that doesn't change the fact that her nomination is a huge risk for us.

[asdjrocky]

8. Funny story-

I remember a little over seven years ago looking at Bush and saying-

"No way America is going to elect this idiot. Just look at him. He's a fucking chimp!"

Lo and behold, not only did it happen once, it happened twice. (Now I know people are going to come out and tell us he was not elected, in fact both elections were stolen.)

I agree with all of that.

But what did the American people do about it? Picked up their remotes and turned the channel. So sad.

I agree that they are all nuts, but they still scare me. But then, maybe it's the American public scares me.

[cali]

12. see, I knew bushco would be elected. I'll NEVER forget

drinking manhattens and 12 of us squeezing into this tiny room to watch the Gore/bush debate where Gore blew it. We all sat there in stunned silence.

Yes, it was stolen, but Gore should have run away with it. And maybe I am being over confident, but I never have been prone to that before.

I really see the repukes crumbling all over the place, and the data backs up that impression big time.

[asdjrocky]

19. Yeah, I really shouldn't listen to the voices in my head.

It just seems we've been burned so many times. I think it's important that this time, we get it right.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[cali]

22. I just see the landscape as being very different from either

2000 or 2004. Maybe I'm wrong but all the evidence supports that position. Repukes are fleeing their party, and there are now many more dems than repukes. I know you're really vested in JE, and I certainly think he could win, but I also think Obama and Clinton could as well. And you know I have a concern about the funding thing with JE.

[asdjrocky]

25. Cali,

I do think, for the first time perhaps ever, we are in total agreement.

Good post by the way.

[cali]

27. Thanks, rocky

thought that is a bit scary.

[jgraz]

14. Seriously, if it was Bush v Huckabee, who would you vote for?

There really is no lower point than what we have now. Huckabee looks so good against the Chimperor that most people won't even notice the crazy.

[cali]

16. yeah, but what if it was bush v hucky in 2000?

[jgraz]

18. I don't get your point

All I'm saying is that Huckabee's flaws are nothing compared to what the 24-percenters have been swallowing for the past 7 years. He'll get all the current * supporters plus the rest of the Rethugs, along with a good portion of independents and Hillary-hating Dems.

[cali]

21. ack I misread your other post

I thought you were talking about repuke primary voters now if bushco was running. And I disagree that hucky will get any dems or too many indies. There's zip out there to support your contention.

[jgraz]

24. I'm basing it solely on public personae and the stupidity of the electorate

You just KNOW that millions of people will be basing their votes on the "having a beer" test. How does Hillary fare against Hucky in this case?

[cali]

26. ok, now MY keyboard is a mess

hucky wins the beer prize- unless people fear that he'll give fat old Americans a lecture on how fattening beer is why'll they sit at the picnic table with him. But again, although likability is a factor, there's no guarantee that'll be the fashionable meme next year that it was in 2000 or even in 2004. To a large degree that depends on the MSM.

[HughBeaumont]

9. Edwards/Obama, or the reverse, would be a "Take it to the bank" ticket.

These Puke nutjawbs would be a mere afterthought.

Collectively, they have nothing to offer non-wealthy America except smoke-and-mirrors trickery. Diebold would almost have to pull off blatant theft instead of the close-enough-to-steal debacles that kept Bewsh the resident Treasury burglar, because Lord knows these collection of clowns couldn't win an election on their own . . . merits.

[jgraz]

10. I don't think that will happen

If Edwards or Obama wins the nom, they're going to pick an elder statesman-type as a running mate. I think Biden is almost a lock if Hillary loses the primaries.