GOP Primaries

[El Pibe]

Is anybody else eyeing up the candidates, watching the debates, reading the policy pronouncements and as a result getting an almost misty-eyed nostalgia for Bush?

Be afraid, be very afraid......

[????]

I think Obahma's been hugely disappointing (although expectations were stuuuuupidly high too) but god save us from this lot and hope he gets back in.

[david_carnell]

Obama has been hamstrung by Congress, and as Quidsy says, unrealistic expectations on what he can do whilst essentially campaigning for a second term from day one.

Ron Paul, the ultra-libertarian, is looking like a dark horse in Iowa and has been fundraising at a very high rate. Considering he's 70 the amount of young people supporting him, due to his "bring the troops home now" message is very high.

Romney and Gingrich are off the scale.

[El Pibe]

I'm with D_C, Obama has only ben dissappointing if you thought he was ever going to do that much.

Domestically he has indeed been hamstrung, and internationally he has spent most of his time quietly rebuilding bridges with his allies and quietly decimating al qaeda's leadership, whilst extricating his country from now deeply unpopular wars (and is savaged for it by his rivals, despite only honouring commitments made by the previous administration).

All told, not bad.

Given how polarised the States has become, and how removed from reality much of the discourse is it's anyone's guess whether will Obama will get a second term, but I think the sheer lunacy of many of the rivals, and the aforementioned extremity of the discourse, may get reasonable middle-ground voters with republican leanings to stick with the incumbent.

We can but hope.

[david_carnell]

An interesting article on Ron Paul's chances here.

[Annette Curtain]

I quite like this "candidate"

Nope

NETTE(tu)

[david_carnell]

GOP primaries are today in Iowa.

Bat-shite mentalist Rick "No abortion even if Daddy raped you" Santorum has been rocketing up in the polls in the last week. His anti-gay, pro-gun, pro-life, anti-immigrant extremist message has found a home amongst the gun-totin', god-fearing Evangelical folk of ultra-conservative Iowa.

My early pick, Ron Paul, is ahead by a nose in a few polls and has not only defied a media intent on ignoring him but also confounded a party who are now praying he doesn't keep this momentum going into the more liberal states.

Romney is still the nationwide leader but if he falls outside the top 2 here his campaign will panic that it isn't attracting the bible belt voters in sufficient numbers and could precipitate a collapse.

Meanwhile,

explains why Obama will probably sneak it home for another 4 years.

[geoff.b]

I cant decide if i want the romney to win, as the sadly best of a frankly appauling bunch, or buchanan, paul, grinch etc, on the hope that they are pretty unelectable to the wider american public.

[Undisputedtruth]

Obama would make a great stand up