[shatteredsoul]

A blind person can also tell you that no matter how he wants to position himself, his policies and his stance on issues can't be much different, because it is the same people who are behind him and putting him into power. He will owe them too much to not be loyal.
Moreover, I too would prefer to see other candidates who didn't make it, but this is what we are stuck with. I don't think McCain is as stupid as Bush, but he is as politically tied to big business as he is, and cannot therefore show too much opposition to them, once he is elected.

I would love to see a third political party be represented in the elections. I would like to choose someone who I completely and wholeheartedly trust their interests and their alliances. However as the system is now, there is no way to do that. Too bad McCain hasn't continued to make an issue of election fraud and campaign finance reform, he would be a much more relatable candidate had he chosen that route.

Finally, I think we spend too much time arguing and not enough time coming together as people, as a nation to voice what we want and need. I think the political parties and this country both continue to suffer because of the division that has occurred over the last eight years. My fear is that McCain will create more division here in this country and abroad.

Who knows what will happen in Florida, with the elections and the counting of the ballots. That is a whole different subject entirely. I do know that we have to make sure everyone who votes is counted, although that issue hasn't really been dealt with either.

My point has been the same all along, we need to bring back the POWER of THE PEOPLE.. we must unite to ensure that happens. Without our voices being heard and represented, we all stand to lose more of our grounding and our rights. I don't think McCain represents my voice.

[ordinaryguy]

a blind person could see that McCain is going out og his way to position himself in opposition to amny of President Bush's policies.

With 82% of the populace thinking that the country is "seriously off on the wrong track" Washington Post-ABC News Poll what would you expect him to do?

I wish it weren't so ,but unfortunately my candidates did not win the primary battles.

Poor baby!

[tomder55]

I think we spend too much time arguing and not enough time coming together as people, as a nation to voice what we want and need. I think the political parties and this country both continue to suffer because of the division that has occurred over the last eight years. My fear is that McCain will create more division here in this country and abroad.

The divisions in the country are as old as the country and even predates the Constitution. Nothing has changed about the competing visions about what the country should be. President Bush has not made that either better or worse.

Too bad McCain hasn't continued to make an issue of election fraud and campaign finance reform, he would be a much more relatable candidate had he chosen that route.

McCain's campaign reforms amount to nothing more than a violation of 1st amendment rights. He would stifle free speech in the interest of abstract concepts like "unity " and "coming together" . His reforms would better be called "incumbent empowerment act"

I would love to see a third political party be represented in the elections.

See my comments about 3rd parties here :
https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/politi...es-214558.html

Who knows what will happen in Florida, with the elections and the counting of the ballots. That is a whole different subject entirely.

Yeah ;wasn't it terrible how Gore tried to disenfranchise the military personel of Fla. Serving overseas ?

The truth of 2000 was that the Fla. Vote was recounted ad infinitum and the results did not change. An independent media group counted the ballots again after the elections and found that Bush's lead in the State was undercounted . But you probably do not want to rehash the events of 2000 again. The Fla .Supreme Court did not come out looking very good .

I think Bob Barr will probably play the spoiler role this year and the anointed one ;Obama will become President .Without the 3rd party vote I think McCain could squeek out a win against Obama ;who is creating another McGovern-like coalition.

[tomder55]

With 82% of the populace thinking that the country is "seriously off on the wrong track" Washington Post-ABC News Poll what would you expect him to do?

I don't expect anything from McCain and am not surprised at anything he does. This is a guy who openly courted changing parties in 2001 .It doesn't surprise me at all that he is running as a Dem.

Unfortunately he is the best person left running for the office. I will reluctantly vote for him ;hope he wins ;and then will become one of his harshest critics where he deserves it .

[tomder55]

shatteredsoul

I did some more research on the point I made about the divisions and factions present in our system being as old as the Constitution itself . I came across Madison's writings in Federalist 10 and it made my point better .

The Founders understood that the division of the people into "factions" or groups was a natural development in a free society.

Madison defines a faction as a number of citizens... united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.

Madison explains that there are only two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: by removing its causes, or by controlling its effects.

He says that it is impossible to remove the causes of faction without either destroying liberty, or by giving to every citizen the same opinions, passions and interests, which is impracticable.

Therefore, in order to protect liberty, the Founders chose NOT to try to remove the causes of factions, but to control their effects. Rather than establishing a "Pure Democracy," they created a "Republic" where factions and/or parties exist, but are held in check by constitutional law. Nonpartisan elections would be in conflict then with the constitutional principles under which our nation was founded.

The Federalist, Number Ten (1787) James Madison

[magprob]

I was just watching MSNBC and they showed a clip of McCain walking down the steps, off boarding an airplane. He was hanging onto the handrail for dear life while doing something similar to the Thorizine shuffle all the way down. When he stepped off the last step, he almost fell forward as his right hand jolted forward to break his fall. He didn't fall but I realized the guy is in bad shape. Aside from the cancer in his jaw, does he have any serious medical conditions? He don't look too good.

[tomder55]

Besides the fact that he was beaten to an inch of his life while in the Hanoi Hilton that left him partially disabled where he cannot raise his arms above his shoulders.;he has virtually no cartilage left in his knees... he is otherwise in fine physical shape.He regularly hikes ,swims,and enjoys snorkeling . He plans to hike the Grand Canyon again this summer.

I'm sure his health will be an issue through the campaign. I worry about Obama's anorexia .