What Defeat Will Do To The GOP (Op-ED)

[General Zod]

Gosh, I hate the idea of a two term limit. At the least make it a three term limit. Two term is way too short for a person to rebuild an economy after a depression.

That logic cuts both ways. Under a three term limit, as unlikely as a third re-election would have been, Bush the Dumber would have been able to run as incumbent to keep his position yet again to fuck up the economy for another 4 years.

[ArcturusMengsk]

I'm in favor of a one-term limit of six years in duration, myself.

[Patrick Degan]

Gosh, I hate the idea of a two term limit. At the least make it a three term limit. Two term is way too short for a person to rebuild an economy after a depression.

That logic cuts both ways. Under a three term limit, as unlikely as a third re-election would have been, Bush the Dumber would have been able to run as incumbent to keep his position yet again to fuck up the economy for another 4 years.

Bush... against Obama.

You REALLY think the Chimp would have won that one?

[General Zod]

Gosh, I hate the idea of a two term limit. At the least make it a three term limit. Two term is way too short for a person to rebuild an economy after a depression.

That logic cuts both ways. Under a three term limit, as unlikely as a third re-election would have been, Bush the Dumber would have been able to run as incumbent to keep his position yet again to fuck up the economy for another 4 years.

Bush... against Obama.

You REALLY think the Chimp would have won that one?

There's a reason I specifically said "as unlikely a third re-election would have been"

[Wyrm]

On the subject of what the presidency did to FDR, I'd like to add the caveat that FDR was not in the best of health anyway. He'd been crippled with SGD (Some Goddamn Disease) — well, it was probably Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Anyway, he was confined to a wheelchair and despite self-motivated hydrotherapy, the importance of physical rehabilitation wasn't really grasped back then. There was basically nowhere to go but down, especially in a high-stress job like the PotUS.

[Broomstick]

Right, but he was hardly the only president with health problems. His cousin Teddy, for all his stoicism, wasn't the healthiest character either. JFK had a serious metabolic disorder that without ongoing treatment would have certainly killed him in short order, never mind his back problems. Reagan's Alzheimer's was manifesting towards the end of his second term, if not earlier. Clinton wound up with a bypass shortly after leaving office. Lincoln had Some Damn Disease, too. William Henry Harrison fucking died a month into his term. Let's just accept that the guys who get elected aren't spring chickens, alright? The stress of that job is going to exacerbate ANY health problem, and given that most of these guys are 50+ when they get into office (at 47, Obama is one of the youngest ever elected to PotUS) and most 50 year old men are starting to have some sort of health problem the issue of the job killing people isn't totally outlandish. Goodness knows, the job isn't getting any easier either.

In the old days the president's health problems were hidden - these days, if the president has a colonoscopy they'll broadcast the pictures of his rectum on the evening news. I'm not sure either situation is ideal, but concerns about the health of the PotUS is one reason why such a big deal was made about McCain's age and health records. It does not serve anyone's interest to elect to that office someone who won't survive the term.

[Dark Hellion]

Careful what you say broomstick, pretty soon GOP hopefuls may be claiming they are the most fit for office because there colon has the least impacted shit in it.

But in all seriousness, even amongst some of my more Republican friends there is starting to set in a dissatisfaction with what the GOP has become. Maybe my friends are just not as far right as I think they are, but I think defeat will start to set in sometime in the next two months, and that some portion of the party is going to start placing that blame on themselves.

Sorry for the limited contribution, but I think we can all use a good poop joke in this climate.

[Drooling Iguana]

Which is very very scary. If this guy was nominated, Obama might faced his greatest challenge yet in an re-election.

I don't think so. Any GOP candidate will still have the Bush legacy around their neck in four years' time and Obama will have the incumbents' advantage, plus the biggest criticism against him this election, that he lacks experience, will no longer apply. Combined with the fact that Obama is one of the most skilled politicians of this generation I don't see much of a chance of him being a one-term President unless he manages to seriously fuck up in the next four years. Given that, I really hope that someone like Palin or Jindal will be the Republican nominee in 2012 as that will increase the chances of rabid fundamentalism being associated with failed election bids and no longer being considered a sound political strategy in years to come.