"Presumptive nominee" John McCain.. I think we may get "Schwarzeneggered"

[SoCalDem]

Out here in CA, for those who do not remember, we had a governor recalled in 2003..Gray Davis..

For MONTHS and MONTHS , we had hundreds (literally) of people running for governor.. We had debates ..we had petitions going around.. It was a feeding frenzy..

leading the pack was Darryl "Crybaby" Issa. He was so sure he would be governor, he could TASTE it. He co-hosted local radio shows, he did interviews.. he was Mr. Important...


until...

The republican party put the hammer down on him, and slipped Ahhhnold into place, and shoved little Darryl off the cliff, without so much as a" thanks, pal"..

Of course, at the 11th hour (so to speak) it was conveniently "too late" for him to participate in debates, or face much real scrutiny, and the opposition research and planning had all been to run against Issa, a lowly congressman...not a Mooooovie star, married to a Kennedy.

The rest is history....


Which brings me to my point..

John McCain is a TERRIBLE campaigner
He has ZERO charisma
He's cranky
He's creaky (not entirely his fault, but it's still a fact)
He's not up to snuff on details, he's lousy on the economic facts
He could only muster 73% as the ONLY (running) candidate in PA
He's showing little or NO energy out on the trail
Once his medical records come out, people will peel away from him as if he bathed in skunk-water

I think he's a place-holder..

The lack of enthusiasm might be because he's been "told" that he will NOT be the nominee in the end, but might be Secretary of Defense (He would like that job more anyway, probably)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, our researchers are planning a campaign against him, but in the end..at the last moment, after a fractious primary season of our own, we may end up facing a well-rested Romney-Jebbie ticket.

Our nominee will be faced with picking a cabinet, a running mate, arranging their schedule for the campaign, and trying to rest a bit..and then face a team they did not even expect.

This team would have had months of rest, and ample time to study up on all the foibles that were so generously put out there by our own party..

All of a sudden the republicans would be jazzed up and excited to have REAL republicans running, and after a protracted fight and probably discordant convention, our party could be rife with wounded dignities and hurt feelings..

See where I am going?

Things may not be what they seem..

Republicans are nothing, if not sneaky :(

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. 1000 words:

[melody]

2. Romney and Jeb would be even worse

Mr Hair Spray and Vice President Secret Invisible Warrior Friend?

At least McCain is an actual war hero. The fact he's a maniacal fiend more than makes up for it, but Romney and Bush well ...

That said, I remember Issa well and it does make you wonder.

[SoCalDem]

6. I don't recall George ever being referred to as "presumptive nominee"

There's just a "sadness"..a lack of enthusiasm in McCain.. He should be grinning from ear to ear.. he "knows" something we don't ..yet..

[LeftyMom]

3. They're not running Mittens or Jebbie.

Mittens scares off the Jebus Camp graduates, and they need them to show up if they have any hope. And with the current mess in the news, running a mormon is probably even more problematic than it was back in the Repub primary.

They're not running Jeb because they'll lose the moderate vote with another Bush on the ticket. And the fundies might stay home, because he's Catholic. And he can't point to his record, because Florida's a fucking mess.

[patrice]

18. OMG, Jeb's a Catholic! I guess I'm ignorant; I didn't know that, but it explains a LOT.

It'd be very interesting to know if he's friends with the Catholic chapter of The Order of the Spur.

[OmahaBlueDog]

38. I wonder if he and Columba are in Opus Dei?

[lostnfound]

63. How about Hagel? Whoever McCain picks as running mate would be the wild card. nt

[SoCalDem]

66. Forgot about Hagel.. but isn't he too much of a rebel? n/t

[Frank Cannon]

67. Mittens is even less of a possibility after the FLDS thing

Like it or not, fair or not, a lot of people are going to associate mainstream Mormons with the crazy child fuckers down in Texas.

[depakid]

4. Sort of begs the question as to what the rules are:

In the event McCain suffers, for example, a debilitating stroke before the convention or after the convention.

or, if it comes out (like I and others suspect) that he's in the early stages of presenile dementia.

[SoCalDem]

5. There's something weird going on with his left eye too

It was not like that before:shrug:

[depakid]

16. Also, watch the speech patterns

when his recall and acuity seem to be functioning poorly. I've noticed that at times he has "lazy speech," or slightly slurred words.

[SoCalDem]

17. preznit instead of president.. my frennnnnnnnnz

He's not "with it" anymore..

He should have run in '96.. I think he might have won. He missed his one opportunity.

[Catshrink]

10. I agree that it will be a medical issue that sidelines him.

Maybe a recurrence of his cancer. Although given his temper, a temper-induced stroke is also a good bet.

[SoCalDem]

13. His medical records will sink his ship..

I read somewhere that THREE doctors will be present to explain it all.

That combined with the temper thing and the shitty-candidate thing will derail him.

[Middle finga]

7. Bring it on, Romney was polling worst than McCain against the

the dem candidates plus Romney is not as well known as McCain on top of that he's Mormon and you got this polygamy thing in the news now... I think Romney would be even easier to beat and he's more of a flip flopper than McCain. And Jeb with a last of Bush the brother of the worst president in America...I don't think the republicans are that stupid.

[Initech]

8. Who are they going to get? Romney? Jeb? Huckabee? Someone scarier?

Of course, Jeb would be an automatic loss considering how much everyone fucking hates W right now.

[Sinistrous]

24. Someone scarier:

Newt Gingrich: high name recognition, master of the sound bite, can support any policy on any given day, totally amoral. In short, the perfect Republican candidate.

Edit: Oh crap. I didn't see posts 19 and 20 below. Sorry folks.

[Initech]

25. Ewwwww.... excuse me while I go...

:puke:

God forbid that fascist motherfucker ever gets his hands on the presidency. :scared: :nuke:

[Ilsa]

27. Add your discription of Newt to Dikipedia. Please, its perfect. nt

[GreenTea]

42. Or Condi? You called it right!

I believe it will one of the five names mentioned, Jeb, Arnold, Condi, Romney or Huckabee!

[SoCalDem]

47. cannot be ahhhhhnold.. he was born in Austria

Newt-Rice would do the trick for the knuckledraggers

is condi on record saying she would not be JOHN MC CAIN's veep?..or just she would not be veep.. If she said his name, I'm putting on my :tinfoilhat: & fastening the chin-strap extra tightly

[aquart]

9. LOL! Oh, sweet Lord, I hope they do!

Just what the country wants, more Bush!

Where did you get this cockamamie idea? Best laugh I've had all day.

[SoCalDem]

11. I don;t put anything past the republicans..and we all thought Ahhhnold was a cockamamie idea too

until we ended up with him as governor..

Maybe it won't be Romney-Jeb..but I smell a switcheroo coming on...

there's just something about Mccain..and the way he always says "presumptive nominee"

[VP505]

32. Same could have been said about Ronnie Raygun

now that you wrote that and got me to thinking.

[ShaneGR]

12. Romney is a worse candidate than McCain, and Jeb will never run for President or VP

The truth is that Jeb was the smart brother, with a much more "human" story, at least for a Bush. He's too smart to run for President. Maybe the Senate, but not the Presidency.

If you're gonna pull someone out of a hat, bring out the Arnold himself.

Say what you want about him being a Republican and sneaking in, but I've read a lot about his Administration out there in Cali and he's not half bad.

His Chief of Staff is a lesbian Democrat who has a heavy voice in social policy. The rest of his office is split down the middle with people from both parties. He meets with like every group in California worth meeting with. He actually built an air conditioned tent to meet with large groups and smoke his cigars. Everyone from tree-hugging green activists, to oil companies, to car makers, doctors, travel industry professionals, teachers... etc. That might just be in a few days. He also gives honest interviews. If Arnold was "forced" to run, he'd win in an absolute landslide.

[TheDoorbellRang]

43. Arnold cannot run. He is not a native born American. See Constitution for details

We win. :)

[SoCalDem]

45. "schwarzenegger" is a verb in my example.. we KNOW he cannot run

too bad it's legal for him to be governor:grr:

[TheDoorbellRang]

68. Many know he cannot run, yet many others keep suggesting he will

or should. I was responding to poster #12, who thought Arnold might get into the presidential race and that he wouldn't be half bad at that. Just wanted to nip it in the bud, so to speak. :)

[ProgressiveFool]

71. as a Californian, I have to say

Schwarzenegger has turned out to be a pretty pleasant surprise, considering the repugnant way he was installed. He governs pretty much as an independent. If more Republicans took him as their model, we could actually start working with them again. That said, he hasn't managed to fix the budget and get things moving in the right direction, so all this touchy-feely-feel-goodness is coming to nothing in the end.

Of course, as a non-native born American, he can't be President.

[SoCalDem]

73. I'll admit that too. he's not as bad as he could have been, but i think Maria

has been a moderating influence on him..and conservative is NOT a characteristic I would attribute to him, so we dodged a 40 caliber..and got a 22..

He has NOT helped the economy out here, and he caved on the energy crisis settlement :grr:..settled for pennies on the dollar:(

[Cleita]

78. You are a progressive fool if you believe that.

He has vetoed very important legislation that could have made a difference statewide and tried to replace it with Republican plans that would empty our treasury for sure, Sheila Khuels progressive health plan for all for instance.

[UTUSN]

14. I like the way you think. Some random responses

I thought "Schwarzeneggered" was going to mean that Ahhnuld got Swiftbotted, which didn't happen. It happened as the o.p. described it (to ISSA)---and down the line, to US!1

I remember the DESPICABLE Tweety *threatening* the Dems that "THEY BETTER NOT go after" Ahhnuld. And nobody did. It was amazing to me that California with such a culture of creativity could not come up with credible Dem candidates.


And the local radio talkshow wingnut replied to one of my ranting e-mails, "How can YOU, a Lib, be AGAINST the recall, since recall was a Progressive/Lib reform from the early 20th century?"

I said to him that the recall was being USED nefariously, that ISSA had fueled it with with cash, that it didn't represent an uprising of the common people. AND other such "Progressive" reforms, like the CAUCUS, can easily be USED nefariously, by a small, very focused and committed group of fanatics or personality cultists to overturn what the many more numerous VOTERS want.

Funny how those Progressive/Lib reforms work.


But from the beginning, I've thought Jeb Crow Shrub will be the VP, then McNASTY will die in office, and -- PRESTO, NO change-O!1

[L. Coyote]

15. Cheney/Bush

[MrSlayer]

19. If they were to do that I thnk they'd pick Newt.

The Bush name is poison, maybe he'd run with Powell.

[SoCalDem]

20. Oh SHIT.. Newt-Powell or Newt-Rice.. that would fire 'em up bigtime

Newt-Rice.. sounds like something on a Chinese restaurant menu:)

[LeftyMom]

22. Newt has been on TV a lot lately, trying to do some Nixonian elder-statesman reinvention.

I caught at PSA with him and Pelosi talking about global warming (could they call the White House to talk about it, or are we just going to get lectured about changing our light bulbs?) Yeah, he's trying to reposition himself as relatively sane and above the fray, and the electorate has a short enough memory that it might work.

Powell's a no-go. The presentation to the UN is pretty much a pre-made negative ad (scary negative ad voice: "What else is he this wrong about? We can't afford to find out.") His only real advantage would be in foreign policy, and the Iraq war took that one away from him, right along with his credibility.

[Clear Blue Sky]

21. Won't be Jeb.

It's the dynasty and fatigue thing with Bushes and Clintons. Plus the unpopularity of the current Bush would be the death knell for Jeb.

Interesting idea though. McCain does seem lacking in enthusiasm.

[OmahaBlueDog]

39. Jeb has time -- look for him in '16

[Clear Blue Sky]

69. Maybe but I doubt it.

I think many are getting tired of the dynasties - Bush/Clinton - leading the country.

Then again, people have short memories. 2016 may be long enough for many to forget.

[SoCalDem]

76. and in 8 more years the Jebbster will probaby weigh over 300lbs

he's ballooning..at least according to the last pics I saw of him..and he would be a little on the "older" side by then too..

he's making plenty of money under the table and under the radar..no need for more :)

[Clear Blue Sky]

83. He'll go on the Huckabee diet and lose all that weight...n/t

[KamaAina]

23. I thought he did bathe in skunk-water

:P

[Ilsa]

26. The blind/deaf/dumb MSM like him. That is why there was zero

coverage of "He could only muster 73% as the ONLY (running) candidate in PA". I didn't hear a word of this on TV political shows.

[Beregond2]

28. People keep

saying things like this, but by what mechanism could this happen? Short of McCain dying, I can't see any way the
Republican Party can replace him, and if they did, wouldn't the rules say the second-place finisher in the primaries would be the nominee?

[SoCalDem]

30. Notice that Romney did not QUIT.. he "suspended" his campaign

he did not withdraw..he "suspended"..

McCain is a party-guy..and if he is asked/told to step aside, he will.. They will poll and poll after his medical stuff comes out, and it will be UGLY.. They will telll him.. "John you are gonna LOSE".. step aside, and we'll guarantee you .....(whatever cabinet position he wants)...

He'll hold a press conference and announce that his health won't allow him to continue, and he'll suck it up once again..

[theboss]

33. Have you noticed that nobody in the Republican Party likes Romney?

There are like 8 'economic' conservatives who like him. But the social conservatives utterly despise him and the national security conservatives don't trust him.

McCain is disliked by the social conservatives, but they don't think he is a cult member.

[SoCalDem]

34. someone else reminded me about Newt

:puke:

In any case, if they think they will lose anyway, why not try someone else..they got nothing to lose..

[theboss]

36. They really don't have a good second choice

Newt is toxic nationally. They would be crazy to run someone with the name Bush right now - maybe in 8 years, it could work. Romeny would win two states. Huckabee would win no states.

The Republican bench is as thin as it has ever been.

[lostnfound]

62. Wellstone: 11 days before election. RFK: 5 months before election.Carnahan: 3 weeks.

What makes anyone think it unlikely?

[theboss]

29. McCain's actually a pretty goddamn good campaigner

You don't win election after election while pissing off your party elders if you are not. Romney - now that's a terrible retail politician.

[SoCalDem]

31. He's a big deal in AZ, and so's Cindy.. so they keep him..but on the national stage

he hasn't got it anymore..

[HCE SuiGeneris]

46. He's Goddammed good, eh?

Ok, Boss

:beer: :rofl: :rofl:

[SoCalDem]

48. I always flash back to this forlorn pic when I think of him campaigning

[HCE SuiGeneris]

52. A man of the people, doing his work.

Can I have an A-MEN?

OMG, that is a great pic!

[SoCalDem]

54. Know why he likes Charlie Crist so much?

[HCE SuiGeneris]

58. !!!

:spray:

Monitor! Yeah, you know what I'm talking about! :grr:

[GreenTea]

50. Anybody would be "good" if the media ignores all your fuck ups and

you have a shitload of money and the republican party smear machine doing your dirty work....

(Not to mention he'll have the republican owned voting machines working for him).

[HCE SuiGeneris]

53. Those

voting end-of-democracy machines are far too prevalent for my tastes. Interesting times.

[Cleita]

35. CA dems should have never allowed the big "S" to happen

or Issa or anything else that is making a big fart, smell in our state. Yet I find the so-called progressive/liberals are toothless because they are unwilling to really fight this.

[SoCalDem]

37. Hey.. can't blame me.. I was in Tahiti when the election happened

and we voted against him before we left.. It was fun watching CNN-I have LONG sensible discussions about how CRAZY we were to be electing Ahhhnold.. THEY got it.. we got HIM :puke:

[GreenTea]

55. Very cool! Think I want to be in Cook Islands or the Maldives after I send in my absentee...Tahiti

has also been a thought, along with New Zealand or somewhere in the Mariana Islands, maybe even Honduras, (Honduras does have some beautiful islands as well as great beaches on the mainland).....I do know I will be far away on some islands sailing at that time.

[SoCalDem]

If you are ever bored.. here is a link to my Tahiti Gallery

http://socaldem.smugmug.com/gallery/29393_UkPda

[GreenTea]

59. Thanks! I always heard Tahiti wasn't all that happy to have Americans though?

[SoCalDem]

60. Papeete' maybe not so much, but we spent 10 days on Moorea

and they were wonderful..friendly, laid-back people.and gorgeous scenery..

[GreenTea]

61. Wow! Not to be redundant or bore you....Moorea, what a beautiful intimimate.....

part of the island(s) it appears...(did a quick Google search, so I may be off a bit)....

But, can one just play it by ear once there, as I always prefer, (meaning, not make any commitments or accommodations, search it out, not have arrangements made prior, once getting there...When I travel I just like to wing it once there). Not to bother you anymore, so I'll just take your advice and look it up on your link....It does look perfect though! No signs of anything....French speaking I'm presuming.

Thanks again!

[SoCalDem]

64. yes.. you can rent a car and just wander around..or do like we did

and hop the buses that go around the island to the ferries all day long.. they are all open air..and it always cost us about $2 no matter how far we went.. We stayed at the Intercontinental...and rode the bus all over the place.. the ferries to papeete are very nice too.. we even saw whales a few times..


http://www.pacific-for-less.com/Vacation_Packages/Interconti_Moorea_Spectacular.php

the do speak French, but everyone we met up with also spoke english and they also speak tahitian.. Their TV stations in Tahitian were a trip :)

The FLIGHT to and from ..drug yourself and try to sleep.. It;s ONE LONG-ASS flight

[LibDemAlways]

70. Yep. The Dems had an opportunity to chase the has-been

B movie "actor" out of Sacramento in 06. Did they do it? Hell, no. Phil Angelides barely even campaigned. It was pathetic. We have the numbers on our side bigtime, but the wienies in Sacramento apparently haven't figured out how to use our plurality to our advantage.

[SoCalDem]

72. The problem is that we always seem to run wonky, milquetoast guys

with all the charisma of a moldy orange...and republicans know how to run "glitzy" guys who appear to have some energy and enthusiasm..

They are empty shells, but the "people" lap it up, like kittens at a saucer of milk.:puke:

[LibDemAlways]

74. The R's have run (and won with) some snoozers too.

Remember Deukmejian?

Would be nice, though, if the Dems could come up with somebody with a personality next time. I'm sick of the damage Ahnold is inflicting on the state.

[SoCalDem]

75. True..he was a snoozer..I don't even remember who WE ran against him

I cannot , for the life of me, figure out wht so many BLUE states (CA,NY,MA come to mind) vote SO damned blue, and yet allow republicans to become governor..and ruin our states in the process..

Few people remember when CA was pretty damned good..before reagan.. We had the BEST schools, near-free college (at state schools), & not nearly as many desperately poor/homeless people.

[LibDemAlways]

77. Part of the problem is that many Californians, particularly in

So Cal, don't pay much attention to politics. My husband spends a lot of time in Seattle on business and he's amazed at how much more politically aware people are up there than in our little corner of Ventura County where people are obsessed with their appearance, buying more and more useless crap, and worrying about what Britney will do next.

When it comes to voting, if they bother at all, you can bet they'll choose perceived glam over substance every time.

[Cleita]

81. I used to live in So. Cal. when people interested and invested in politics.

In the late seventies and early eighties there was a population shift of Californians who moved to Seattle and other parts of the NW taking their politics with them. The replacements who moved into So. Calif. came from out of state places that seemed to have had little or no interest in politics.

[Cleita]

79. We need our own movie star or rock star who can

out glitz Schwarzo and bring some progressive politics to Sacramento as well. Who is smart enough? George Clooney maybe?

[LibDemAlways]

82. That's what it will take...somebody with

charisma who will appeal to the masses. Unfortunately many voters in this state are clueless when it comes to figuring out where a politician stands, and they don't much care. There's really nothing else that can account for how we got stuck with Ahnold. I'd venture to guess that a majority of people in my area don't even know what party he belongs to. The apathy is unbelievable.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

40. On the "place holder", I think you are spot on.

But, Issa?

Please God, no!

[SoCalDem]

51. no.. Issa was supposed to be OUR governor..or so he thought

until they shoved him off the cliff.. My son and I were HOWLING with laughter watching his Crybaby news conference after they told him :)

[HCE SuiGeneris]

56. I lived in Sanity Cruz (circa '80-'01) and have many tugs on the heart strings

watching developments there. Issa, after watching him these past few years on C-SPAN 3, gets my gander up more than any other Repug in the state. He is nothing but a bought and paid for public pig feeding at the trough. I despise him with all my being.

[SoCalDem]

57. We call him the swarthy slug in our house

:)

[GreenTea]

41. VP, a way to get Arnold in through the back door to the presidency?

And a way for the republicans to finally win California?

[SoCalDem]

49. nope.. a veep has to be ELIGIBLE to BE president

Thank goodness

[2rth2pwr]

44. Who are these mysterious people that tell people what to do?

[ForeignSpectator]

65. Why so few recs? It doesn't have to be romney in the end but the placeholder

theory is definitely something to consider.

[madmom]

80. My SO has said from the beginning watch out for the newt.