[tomder55]

McCain who has already campaigned from the center and needs to convince the right wing that he is the best candidate left for them ?

Or

Obama and Evita who have drifted further left and the campaign progressed trying to attract the wing ?

[George_1950]

McCain is the favorite if he packages and markets correctly, and the economy behaves.

[RickJ]

I agree. I think McCain will be the candidate.

And I think that if Hillary is the candidate for the Dems then McCain will win.

... UNLESS the Dem ticket is Hillary/Obama or Obama/Hillary.

[speechlesstx]

McCain. I think his resurgence has shown security is still crucial to Americans and they will not accept surrender, they find his candor and the fact he's not the panderer the others are refreshing, and they're looking for a strong leader - not a bunch of obscure rhetoric, "change" and "Day One" slogans.

Whether we like it or not one of McCain's strengths is his appeal to independents and moderates and he is the only candidate on either side to take a commanding lead. Add Hillary's character issues and Obama's inexperience and vague plans for change to the fact the Dems are running the most liberal and 16th most liberal Senator of last year and I think McCain is a lock.

I heard someone say McCain's turning point was the Bhutto assassination and it could be, Americans do not want to trust Evita or Obama with their security. Do you? Anyone?

It's going to get ugly though, the DNC is already running with showing "the American people that he's (McCain) not who they think he is" and portraying a win for him as "nothing more than a third Bush term." The GOP hasn't even begun to fight Hillary or Obama and that bodes well for McCain if the GOP will get behind him and give him some time to just be McCain while the Dems battle each other.

On the other hand the Democratic grass roots has become a machine and I think the Republican side is way behind in that area.

Steve

[George_1950]

I will wager that more will be made of McCain's anger problem than Hillary's; the press will not treat him fairly.

[speechlesstx]

I will wager that more will be made of McCain's anger problem than Hillary's; the press will not treat him fairly.

That's definitely a no-brainer, they'll be brutal before long.

[tomder55]

I'm not concerned about the DNC attacks on him . I'm more concerned about unfair attacks by NewsMax ,other conservatives and Vets groups who plan to smear him .

John McCain's Temper Preceded Vietnam

Newsmax.com - Limbaugh Keeps Up Fire on McCain

Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain

[speechlesstx]

I'm not concerned about the DNC attacks on him . I'm more concerned about unfair attacks by NewsMax ,other conservatives and Vets groups who plan to smear him .

Yep, and they might as well get used to the thought of him being the nominee. They aren't going to get their guy - whoever he is - back in the race unless it's as VP.

[excon]

Hellooooo:

Is anybody home?? It's the WAR, people! Your party is busted beyond recognition. HALF your party HATES the nominee. The other half might just vote for the Democrat.

Whomever the Democrats nominate will sweep the boards. Plus, they're going to get their 61 seat majority back in the senate and take a lot more house seats.

Bush has soooo screwed you, it's going to take YEARS for you to recover.

excon

[tomder55]

Isn't nothing like the prospect of Broom Hilda in the White House to unify the Republicans .

[speechlesstx]

aint nothing like the prospect of Broom Hilda in the White House to unify the Republicans .

It definitely trumps my reservations of McCain :D

[magprob]

YouTube - Hillary Clinton Cackle

[BABRAM]

It appears John McCain will be the nominee, but this is not sitting well for the Republican party. Huckabee's support appears to have only strengthened and it's very telling that both Paul and himself are continuing in the race. McCain, provided he's not railroaded by his own party and ends up with the nomination, had better pick a very fiscal conservative partner that's also somewhat of social conservative. At this point I think short of Ronald Reagan resurrecting from the dead or Hillary disenfranchising Barack's supporters, we will have a Democrat president.


Bobby

[Wondergirl]

It will end up McCain vs. Obama.

**EDIT**

Obama will win.

[magprob]

McCain vs Clinton. Clinton will win.

[inthebox]

McCain vs Clinton, McCain. Too much Hillary antipathy.

McCain vs Obama. Obama if 1] the money keeps coming in and 2] the "youth" actually vote.

[tomder55]

You make an important point about the youth vote. To illustrate it ;the girl who had a YouTube hit about having a crush on Obama was a no show at the NJ Primary(a State Obama lost ) . She claimed she got sick on a plane back from the superbowl... but that did not stop her from attending a party Super Tues night.

[NeedKarma]

aint nothing like the prospect of Broom Hilda in the White House to unify the Republicans .

It's amazing how you simply cannot get past the fact that she's a woman. It permeates your every comment about that candidate.

[Allheart]

Mcain vs. Hillary ( I still don't understand why she's referred to as Broom Hilda... I honestly don't see her acting any different than any of the other candidates. I actually asked about the Broom Hilda Term on another thread and did get good responses but how does one know the negative stories are true?)

There are times I think Hillary will be going against McCain but the past couple of days
Seemed like Obama is picking up great momentum.

So I guess it's a toss up. But if push comes to shove...

McCain vs. Hillary

With Hillary winning.

[tomder55]

Actually I usually use Evita or Madame Defarge (who knitted the names of people she would deal with later in a quilt) ;just thought I'd change it up with Broomhilda . But if you prefer I will use Hillary Rotten Clintoon .

Evita is my preferred name because she is reminiscent of former First Lady of Argentina Eva Peron ;who also latched onto an up and coming politician ;furthered her own ambitions through the relationship and tired to parley her connection into elected office.

That is Hillary's bio in a nutshell. She actually has succeeded far beyond what Eva Peron did (she died before her ambition was realized ) . But Evita was much more beloved in her country (there is hope for us yet) .

She has been an integral part of the Clintoon political machine. She ran interference for hubby when " bimbo eruptions " (their description of the many women who accused him of assault /rape or other sexual perversions )threatened to derail his political rise. Who can forget her blaming the Monica Lewinsky scandal on the "vast right wing conspiracy " .

During her time in the White House she was given a task of reforming Health care . Her radical leftist solutions would've been a disaster and the country realized it . She bungled the effort so badly that she was never given any other serious issue to manage beyond as I said ,the Clinton sexcapades.

Yet , she moved like a carpetbagger to New York after their term and browbeat other Democrats like JFK Jr. who were planning on a Senatorial run to back off.

She got lucky in that Rudy got prostrate cancer and had to bow out of the race . There were no other Republicans with the name recognition who could compete with her in the state. Still Rick Lazio made a good effort.

But during their debate there was an incident that illustrated how she would handle the gender issue. Lazio approached her podium and asked her to sign a pledge to not use "soft money " during the campaign . The incident was treated by her and the NY Slimes and other press as Lazio "muscling into her space" . Lazio's actions were later pronounced to be "almost like a physical assault.....a huge turnoff to women."

MR. PENN also said Mrs. Clinton benefited most famously during the first of three debates when Mr. Lazio strode over to her side of the stage, waved a paper in her face and demanded she sign it to disavow the use of soft money in her campaign. ''You cannot be in a woman candidate's face,'' said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who is researching the nature of the women's vote. ''Women feel like guys are always in their face like that. It's almost like a physical assault. It's a huge turnoff to women.''

The Election: It Took a Woman; How Gender Helped Elect Hillary Clinton - New York Times

Bingo... she forever has the female victim gender card at her disposal ;and she has used it very effectively in this race . Every time she sheds a tear her approval rating goes up.

Maureen Dowd ;one of the leading voices for women's rights in the press figued this out a couple of months ago.

If the gender game worked when Rick Lazio muscled into her space, why shouldn't it work when Obama and Edwards muster some mettle? If she could become a senator by playing the victim after Monica, surely she can become president by playing the victim now.

Gift of Gall - New York Times
She played the men against the helpless women very effectively when John Edwards was still in the race. After one of their debates she complained to Katie Couric that the men were using a "buddy System"against her.
Clinton On Her Win, Rivals' "Buddy System", Hours After Her N.H. Win, Comeback Clinton Raps Her Opponents - CBS News

She later returned to Wellesley College and in a speech said :

"In so many ways, this all-women's college prepared me to compete in the all-boys club of presidential politics."

Before her New Hampshire win she said during a debate that she had "her feelings hurt" during the debate, followed by suitably downcast eyes and said "... but I'll get over it." I am convinced that her girlie act was what helped her defeat Obama in New Hampshire. New Hampshire women over 40 years old defied the pundits, and rushed to the polls in untold droves to vote for their trampled, tired sister.

As Dowd points out you can't have it both ways .You can't both be tough enough to be the President and then pull out the helpless women act when it suits the purpose.

It is of course very manipulative .But that has been a halmark of Hillary's life. She weeps when she is attacked(even though she claims to disdain appearances of emotion) ;meanwhile she sends her attack dog hubby and his goons all over the country to smear her opponents . Her operatives have played the race card against Obama ;the drug use card , and were one of the first to suggest that he has some deep dark secret that he is a Muslim in the closet card .

That is just one of the many problems I have with her. She is a scary person. How did FBI files end up in her White House offices and what did she do with them ? Why is it that many of the leading Democrats like Mark Warner of Va. Back out of this race because "he wanted to spend more time with his family " ?

She knew that New York's Orthodox and Hasidic communities would be a hard sell, as they were expressing their personal dislike for her and her positions, particularly regarding Israel. During her Senate race she campaigned in the conservative Hasidic community of New Square where she met with community leader Rabbi Twersky .All the polls showed Lazio having a comfortable lead in the community before her meeting .But election results showed that Hillary won by over 99% of the vote 1359 to 10 .What Happened ?

Turns out that 4 members of the community were convicted of starting up a fake religious school and embezzeled $40 million in Pell grants . Guess what... hubby added these 4 criminals to his end of term pardon list just 1 month after Hillary won . Oh and how did 2 similar Hasidic communities in the area vote ? Lazio won them 3500 to 150 . Quid pro quo ? I think so.

I could go on and on . How did she make a killing in cattle futures scandal ; Whitewater scandal; Records from her law firm disappearing and ending up in her office ;the horrible way she treated her secret service contingent ;the many campaign finance scandals she has been involved in.. I just don't have enough time to detail all of the problems I have with her.