Summary of presidential race

[Tolya]

As a foreigner, who generally does not follow the presidential race in USA as close as I would need to have an informed opinion on the candidates, I would like to know about the Obama vs. Clinton issue.

I've been noticing on this board that Obama has considerate amount of support among members, while Clinton is being portrayed as a total ass.

I don't want to ask who is better, because opinions would be biased, but if you guys could spare a few moments to explain why do you like/dislike each democratic candidate...

[Patrick Degan]

For myself, Barack Obama has demonstrated a considerable grasp not only of basic political skill but also an ability to speak to the common people in ways that matter to them instead of being talked down to. His policy plans are detailed and well laid out, as well as pitched to a level that anybody can understand, and he's pro-technology and pro-science, which is vital for anybody seeking that chair in the Big White Jail these days.

Hillary Clinton... At the beginning of this race, I was willing to consider her greater experience both in politics and in the Senate, but her campaign has shown levels of ineptitude I find simply staggering for anybody claiming to be "ready to lead on day one". She has also shown an arrogance I find off-putting as well as a willingness to throw people and even whole states under the bus if they "don't count" in her view. Suffice to say, her actions on the campaign trail and her blundering have destroyed any confidence I ever had in her suitability for the presidency.

And John McCain... a whore. Spent eight years being Bush's cabana boy (after being the target of a backhanded racist attack by Karl Rove in 2000) and tossed out whatever integrity he had left to claim just so he could claim the White House one day. Pathetic little man, not at all the same man who had the guts to stick it out in a box in Hanoi for five years. His essential promise he holds out for America is "more of the same". It will be as if we'd elected Chimpus Caesar to a third term.

[Guardsman Bass]

Obama seems reasonably capable as a politician and is a good speaker. Not so much a great debater (worse than Hillary Clinton, at any rate). He has a pretty solid policy platform, although most of what I've read suggests that his health care plan wouldn't be as extensive as Hillary Clinton's in coverage (but better than the status quo). He's avoided some of the personal attacks you've seen with the Clinton campaign, but his campaign has struck me as a little shrill whenever the issue of race ever comes up; witness his response to the Geraldine Ferraro argument. He has no executive experience in office, but in terms of campaigning he's run an excellent campaign (although he's had trouble winning over certain demographics of Democrats over to his side throughout the primaries, primarily older, white, less educated voters), and in terms of fund-raising he's been unmatched. Win or lose, his campaign's fund-raising methods will probably be used by both parties in future campaigns.

Clinton is not a particularly good speaker, but a better debator. She has more experience in the federal government than Obama, but her experience is belied by the incompetence with which much of her campaign has been run (notice Pennsylvania being called a "major victory", even though it was considered a "Clinton" state from well before the Ohio Primary in early March, and full of people from "her" demographics), particularly in the financial area after February 5th. A lot of the reason why people don't like her is because

A)Her husband acted like an ass, making possibly racist insinuations throughout part of the campaign particularly in South Carolina;

B)Her campaign has this way of "insinuation". Like going onto a "60 Minutes" interview and answering, in response to a question about whether she thought Obama was a secret muslim, "Oh no. To the best of my knowledge, no" or something like that. This has been part of a fairly negative strategy she's done, although Obama doesn't have completely clean hands either.

C)She went into the primaries with this kind of "entitlement mentality" that you could see in the words of a lot of her supporters; I remember a bunch of Hillary supporters in December 2007 talking about how the "upstart Barack" would drop after Hillary won in Iowa and New Hampshire, leading up to a coronation on February 5th.

[Kanastrous]

I believe it's irrational, but that sense-of-entitlement-and-expectation-of-a-coronation attitude does a lot to push me away from Clinton.

Well, I'm not in love with some of her policy ideas, either.

[Darth Wong]

As a foreigner, who generally does not follow the presidential race in USA as close as I would need to have an informed opinion on the candidates, I would like to know about the Obama vs. Clinton issue.

I've been noticing on this board that Obama has considerate amount of support among members, while Clinton is being portrayed as a total ass.

I don't want to ask who is better, because opinions would be biased, but if you guys could spare a few moments to explain why do you like/dislike each democratic candidate...

Have you tried looking at their respective campaign websites? Obama's website has much more substantive policy ideas than Clinton's website does, despite Clinton constantly bragging that she's the candidate of substance.

The thing is, Clinton's continuous claims of having decades of "experience" in politics are buttressed by her husband's former presidency, which is a double-edged sword: we can probably get a pretty good idea of what a Clinton presidency will be like by looking at the previous Clinton presidency, good or bad. And if the previous Clinton presidency was any indication, a future Clinton presidency would be characterized by highly skilled political gamesmanship, but indifferent and unprincipled statesmanship. Bill Clinton's presidency only looked good in retrospect because Bush was much worse than being indifferent and unprincipled; he was a corrupt, deranged ideologue with a God complex.

[Tolya]

As a foreigner, who generally does not follow the presidential race in USA as close as I would need to have an informed opinion on the candidates, I would like to know about the Obama vs. Clinton issue.

I've been noticing on this board that Obama has considerate amount of support among members, while Clinton is being portrayed as a total ass.

I don't want to ask who is better, because opinions would be biased, but if you guys could spare a few moments to explain why do you like/dislike each democratic candidate...

Have you tried looking at their respective campaign websites? Obama's website has much more substantive policy ideas than Clinton's website does, despite Clinton constantly bragging that she's the candidate of substance.

The thing is, Clinton's continuous claims of having decades of "experience" in politics are buttressed by her husband's former presidency, which is a double-edged sword: we can probably get a pretty good idea of what a Clinton presidency will be like by looking at the previous Clinton presidency, good or bad. And if the previous Clinton presidency was any indication, a future Clinton presidency would be characterized by highly skilled political gamesmanship, but indifferent and unprincipled statesmanship. Bill Clinton's presidency only looked good in retrospect because Bush was much worse than being indifferent and unprincipled; he was a corrupt, deranged ideologue with a God complex.

Yes I did and I noticed differences. But I treat all those declarations on both sides with a grain of salt.

The problem lies in the media coverage. Americans get their daily feed of all the news on debates, meets, events, the whole lot. Meanwhile, the rest of the world cares only for the results of primaries.

For the last year I've been working as a journalist at the biggest and best (although the standards arent really high I admit) information TV channel in Poland. We (meaning people who worked on foreign news, as I was a sports guy) would only be interested in the most major events, like the results of important primaries.

I know that I can only blame myself for not following the news which are readily available on every goddamn information portal in USA, but I wasn't really that much interested until it started to go towards the end.

Anyway, thanks for the heads-up guys.