[aftermathman]

the US election process, all these Primaries, super tuesday, God knows what its all about.

Anyway its usually the guy with the most money who gets elected so why bother with all the preliminaries.

O'Bama is a real revelation to me and (almost) restores my faith in US politics, (crushed by Dubya, Ronald Reagan, and the John Kerry Vietnam ads). Just how much more dirty can an election process get I wondered. Then I saw O'Bama and I watched on the BBC his grandmother living in a small village in Africa, and to think this chap is now standing for President. This is something the American people can be proud of IMHO.

Hilary C. sounds and looks like a nagging housewife, no warmth or passion, the juxtaposition of O'Bama.

I cannot believe the Republican guy can get elected, whoever he is. Surely 8 years of "no passport" Dubya must have killed their chances. It certainly defined Tony Blair's career, all the good things he achieved, (Ireland, the economy), dwarfed by his "too close" association with Dubya.

In the way OJ was too rich to have murdered someone (allegedly), we will see if money buys the top job again.

Neil.

[Virginia Therese]

Neil...it's not that you're not clever enough to understand our political system. As an American citizen, I definitely am NOT "getting it" this time around. I cannot remember a time when there was so much "ado"preceding an election. I have never been particularly interested in politics, but I certainly have been "drawn into" this one. I tend not to believe ANY politicians so that, based on honesty, it's always difficult for me to make a choice. I enjoyed your "story" about Obama...I seem to be tending toward him...but, if I had to vote today, I still would be clueless. The "Republican Guy" to whom you referred is John McCain who many feel is too old for the job...but, with age comes wisdom...AND...I seem to feel a degree of comfort about having someone at the "helm" in the "climate" in which we find ourselves, i.e., war...terrorists...someone with hands-on knowledge related to this aspect. Now...I have to tell you...I really laughed when I read your description of Hillary..I'll say no more..and, in fact, I have been watching this thread very carefully not knowing if I should become involved at all since it usually is against my philosophy of not discussing religion or politics unless I feel comfortable about the people who are discussing these topics, i.e., that they genuinely want to have a civil discussion with possibly something to learn...and it seems that this thread, thus far, is being guided by that principle. Just remember...you're entitled to your opinion...as long as it's the same as mine!!!!!! lol

Therese

[rosebud]

can someone tell me the difference betweeen a caucus and a primary? Why do some states have one and other states the other?

I had another question too, but I forgot what is was...I will remember two seconds after I hit the submit button....

[indigogo]

A caucus is a meeting held by each of the two main political parties, the Democrats or Republicans. It is a complicated process, and is held at the very lowest level of political organization in the US - the precinct level, which is basically your very neighborhood. You gather with your neighbors (Dems with Dems, Repubs with Repubs), talk about the candidates, vote - publicly - for one of them, tally the votes, and determine how many delegates for that candidate will be sent to the next level of discussion, which in my state, would be the Legislative District Conventions that are being held about 2 months after the original caucus votes in February. The process then continues until our state's alloted number of delegates is chosen for the big presidential conventions held in the summer - the Dems are meeting in Denver, Co., the Repubs in Minneapolis, MN.

A primary is a straight vote - you vote for the candidate of your choice on a ballot. States that use primaries will allocate delegates to the presidential conventions based on the outcomes of these elections.

The confusion arises because each state is allowed to have their own process for determining delegates - some use the caucus, some a primary, and others use a combination. And each state is also allowed to determine the date of their election "event," - this year, for the first time, many states moved their "events" to February 5 in order to have an earlier say in the outcome.

It's a crazy quilt of weird democracy in action that occurs every four years. If I didn't live here - and grow up with the process (immigrants must be going nuts!), then I would be baffled. Sometimes the popular vote does not translate to the winner (Al Gore in 2000), but somehow, we just remain disgruntled and move on to the next election. In many ways, it is the great genius of the fluid nature of the American-style of government, based on a Constitution that has been open to evolutionary interpretation, and an organization that has adapted to every sort of change in population and ideology. What we have now could never have been envisioned at the beginning, but it always seems to work (sometimes better than others), and has remained immune from coup or other revolution. That our current government thinks we can impose our system on other nations by mandate seems naive; our achievement is truly organic.

By the way, I absolutely love politics! Grew up in a Republican household; voted Republican from Ford- Reagan the first; changed to Democrat during Reagan 2, and have never looked back! Have many Republican friends; my circle tends towards political involvement locally and nationally. Still have long and lively discussions with my father, conservative to the core but fed up with Bush!

[Howardh]

has hit the Parkies forum...good stuff.....The guy has no policy...but his.."there ar no blue states or red states blah blah there is only the Uuuunited States of America" dynamic say nothing mean even less charismatic speechs has Americans packing out his meets with some even fainting in the stadiums.

Carey..the Dems stance on Embryonic Stem cell research using blastocysts destined for the scrap heap would probably get my vote on the one issue. It would hurt that socialism would advance in the U.S. as a Clinton or Obama government would grow even bigger government and usurp more of our earned revenue by incremental tax hikes. That would hurt the economy. At some stage the Huckabee fair tax must get through. There are many dems in favour of the Fair Tax proposal.

Paula, another free market thinker fantastic stuff. We can enjoy that. Religion.....well, we wont go there

Tena, great quotes particularly from Ayn Rand

Niel, yur right mate the individual with the most money has a big head start, although the Republican guy who saved the Olympics spent $40 mil of his own money chastizing Mckain only to pee in his pocket
not too soon after pulling out of the race to the white house. Incidently I see England are up too their usual tricks in the Rugby. Fancy loseing to Wales..and on yur home turf...Shame

GO HARD>>>>> SCIENCE

[Vegas]

Maybe too late for this, and not sure iof this is allowed, but here is what I found about stem cells and political views:

pewforum.org/religion08/compare.php?Issue=Stem_Cell_Research

Sort of goes against what I said about relegion and politics, but it has some good info.
Again, just my opinion....
Wasn't able to post link, but you know how to fill in the rest.

[paula_w]

Rosebud, I think more people in the US know or are getting to know the voting process right now than ever. The conversation still began with a Canadian...lol

There doesn't seem to be a happy medium. All the candidates are behaving, but no matter who you vote for - it's almost an extreme to someone else. Maybe we should go back to manners.

Just the abitrary way some states are disqualified and the differences in the number of delegates you earn in some states, some are doled out depending on the vote; others are 'winner take all' states, are cconfusing - we have many freedoms tho.

paula

[randy]

cast a compelling big vision...

the thing about obama is that he connects with the postmodern culture in america. hillary looks clueless to that group.

randy

[paula_w]

Giobal Ceasefire
new leaders settle in
make initial suggestions
don't mess with taxes
health care and veterans care top priority

then if we go back to war, it's our own fault.

sleepy,
paula

[lou_lou]

http://link.brightcove.com/services/...ctid=422561644

barack's mother died from cancer age 53
he speaks of her:
Barack speaks of his mother
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aR3Gpsn4v4