Meet The Candidates: 2012 GOP Thread

I think what Romney was more than likely referring to was Solyndra, the solar company that received a loan from the Department of Energy as a part of loan program to fund green energy start-ups.

Whether or not Mitt Romney is electable and can beat President Obama next November remains to be seen. I seriously doubt it. Romney and the GOP are betting on the economy getting worse to boost their argument that President Obama's policies haven't worked. I think that's a bet the White House is willing to take.

The issues isn't whether or not Romney is smart or capable of running a profitable cooperation; He's done that. But he's not applying for CEO, he's running for President of the United States. Can he govern the country from the Oval office given the complexities and challenges facing the country. And we haven't even gotten to the Commander in Chief test where Romney seems all too eager to go to war with Iran, extend the wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. I guess what I'm saying is, for all of Romney's so called smarts on some very key issues he seems to be out of step with broad public sentiment on where to take the country.

I'm middle class and I'm not getting poorer. It helps me when the left thinks like you.


Are you getting richer? If you are then you're an exception to the trend. I doubt you are getting richer considering the current economic environment and if your income is at the same level it was back in 2007 you have been getting poorer.

Romney is the devil I know. I mean he scares the crap out of me on some stuff but in general he's best for the most important issue, the economy. I watched a speech the other day where he criticized Obama's energy policy for giving grant money to certain developers saying that the free markets would decide then talking about drilling and other ways to get fossil fuels. Isn't over-dependence on fossil fuels why we got here in the first place? And with no short term incentive to build up the infastructure when will the free market get us out from under?

A lot of this has made me realized that Obama got elected at the wrong time. He would have been great back in 1996 when the economy was starting to pick up and progressive policies would have benefited the greater good.

Unfortunately now we have to settle for the more business friendly Republicans in hopes that businesses will start hiring people again. The problem with the Far Right is that their constitutions are mostly loons that think Christmas is under attack and that support for an unconstitutional amendment banning gay marriage is a good thing.

Not to mention the war on Planned Parenthood, an organisation that helps kids in terrible situations. It's funny how they complain about people on welfare but don't want legalized abortions.

Basically if they select the wrong candidate because of their extremist ideals they'll loose the election.

Dirtbag, i used to think very much like you; when people took positions on things that I personally disagreed with, I wrote their opinions off as extreme. But one day I realized that extremism has to be thought of in a relative context. Examples: Many of the progressive policies that have destroyed the economy of Greece are extreme in the views of most Americans. Just like how most American’s believe that banning women from driving in Saudi Arabia under Sharia law is extreme. These may be extreme examples of “extremism” but the crazy thing is theyre not considered all that extreme in their respective countries.

So all the extremist positions you identify as a segment of the far right isn’t really all that true, rather theyre just positions you adamantly disagree with.

The US is split when it comes to the War on Christmas:
Poll: U.S. Split On 'Happy Holidays' Vs. 'Merry Christmas' (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/16/poll-us-split-on-happy-ho_1_n_797795.html)

Americans are also pretty split when it comes to allowing same sex marriage:
Civil Rights (http://www.pollingreport.com/civil.htm)

And Planned Parenthood even touts a poll that found only a slight majority of Americans oppose cutting off their federal funding:
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/two-new-public-polls-nbc-wsj-quinnipiac-show-majority-support-planned-parenthood-36392.htm

Meanwhile agreement with Obama’s most recognized progressive policy, ObamaCare, continues to tread closer to an extremist viewpoint:
AP Poll: Obamacare support hits record low of 29% | Campaign 2012 | Washington Examiner (http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/ap-poll-obamacare-support-hits-record-low-29/261326)

Just because things don’t make sense logically or emotionally does not mean theyre extreme. My point is that just because you (or i) think something is an extreme viewpoint doesn’t necessarily make it one. Extremist viewpoints can only be extreme if theyre sharply in opposition to the conventional social norms. Everything, with the exception of ObamaCare (and the individual mandate in particular) are pretty evenly divided, so neither side can be extreme.

Are you getting richer? If you are then you're an exception to the trend. I doubt you are getting richer considering the current economic environment and if your income is at the same level it was back in 2007 you have been getting poorer.

My income is up between 15 to 20% over last year. It was a personal choice I made to work harder to drive up my business. I also think it helps that so many people are convinced that the economy sucks so bad. What's more surprising is my increase in income has come from products like Life Ins. and other products customers don't have to buy so people do have cash to spend.

Looks like Smoot's old co-worker, at ESPN, Craig James is running for the Senate seat in Texas.

A Vision Unveiled on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/25427131)


A cheat, liar and a jerk off. Should fit in well with politics.

My income is up between 15 to 20% over last year. It was a personal choice I made to work harder to drive up my business. I also think it helps that so many people are convinced that the economy sucks so bad. What's more surprising is my increase in income has come from products like Life Ins. and other products customers don't have to buy so people do have cash to spend.
Amazing what going back to basic's will do for a person . I have done well , working more , 55-60 hrs / week sometimes . Hell I even workout a little more consistantly than last year . By the way , why would people buy insurance from you .... isn't uncle sam taking care of everyone yet ?

Are you getting richer? If you are then you're an exception to the trend. I doubt you are getting richer considering the current economic environment and if your income is at the same level it was back in 2007 you have been getting poorer. So .... you say that since the DEMS took control of Congress ( 07 ) , and had a " Super Majority " in 2008 , people are getting poorer ? Yet everyone should want to re-elect the President ? That is the new slogan for the President , hope for Obama's sake you are not running adds for him next year .... talk about a buzz kill ! Vote for more .... unemployment , more debt , more gov't takeover ( it works so well ) and higher gas prices ... CHANGE we can live with :) Maybe they should stick with what works " we want economice justice " ... we want free education , free housing , free medical care .... you are entitled to it all !!!! :)

Looks like Smoot's old co-worker, at ESPN, Craig James is running for the Senate seat in Texas.

A Vision Unveiled on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/25427131)


A cheat, liar and a jerk off. Should fit in well with politics.

Never once met him, but I'd always gotten the sense he wouldn't be greatly missed.

Craig James is a prick but almost made Maryland football relevant again.

"War" on Christmas and gay marriage bans are two issues that are motivated heavily by religious beliefs. Now I'll be the first to admit that the War on Christmas is petty and a pointless cause for those that believe heavily in separation of church and state. Maybe it's to distract the far right from pushing creationism in public schools. I don't know. Personally I don't care for it either way. To me Christmas is purely a commercial holiday.

Gay marriage on the other hand is simply motivated by mass-hysteria promoted by religion and virtually every argument for the ban is motivated either by religious beliefs and/or pure homophobia. Neither of which provides just cause to produce such a ban. Scientific, peer reviewed studies on the other hand fail time and time again to produce any factual evidence for the myth's about gay marriage produced by the far right.

According to a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics, "A growing body of scientific literature demonstrates that children who grow up with 1 or 2 gay and/or lesbian parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social, and sexual functioning as do children whose parents are heterosexual. Children's optimal development seems to be influenced more by the nature of the relationships and interactions within the family unit than by the particular structural form it takes."

The constitution states, plain as day, that religion is not to have a place in determining policy. That means that if the Far Right can't provide anything beyond the Leviticus passage they can't seek legal means to invoke a ban on civil unions and gay marriage.

And even if the majority of Americans were opposed to gay marriage there are controls in government designed to protect the interests of the minority. Provided those interests aren't based in religious beliefs and/or hate unless said issue is explicit religious persecution, which is a violation of the first amendment.

The only legitimate arguments I've seen against gay marriage cite potential exploitation regarding spousal privilege in criminal cases and green card marriages. And even then we have to admit that spousal privilege is a huge exploit in our legal system. Not to mention an outdated concept that shouldn't have existed in the first place.

Anyway bottom line is this. Anyone with a far in front of their name should encourage you to run like hell.