US President - Barack Obama or John McCain?

danwells · #1 (**permalink**) 24-07-2008, 04:34 PM

Hey all, I'm dan!

I know many British Conservatives are torn over who to support over the pond. I think Obama should be president because he will work best to fix americas relations with the world.. tho i do think he is a bit young and inexperienced hopefully he will have a good team of advisers

Mark Milksnatch · #2 (**permalink**) 24-07-2008, 06:37 PM

I'm sick of US foreign policy and I'm sick of neoconservative traditions that support old men's wars for young men to fight. I'll support Obama purely over Iraq, and his healthcare policies aren't bad either. Really looking forward to watching the speech he gave in Berlin today.

I've heard the campaign banned political protest at the speech though - not a particularly canny move. It sets a rather sinister precedent for the difference between what he says and what he does. Reminds me of something Hunter Thompson wrote (and I'll clumsily paraphrase) - it's so difficult to find someone you genuinely want to vote for in an American presidential election, rather than just the lesser of two evils.

bricker · #3 (**permalink**) 25-07-2008, 08:47 AM

john mccain is the only one of the two that has the experience to be president. they are in middle of a war and need an experienced commander in chief not somebody who can speak well and has no rhetoric

trance · #4 (**permalink**) 26-07-2008, 01:09 PM

Obama has no experience at all. You need more than charisma to be a good president.

Oigen · #5 (**permalink**) 26-07-2008, 04:55 PM

Obama, clearly. He'll bring the change America desperately needs. Anything is better than McCain

trueblue · #6 (**permalink**) 26-07-2008, 08:57 PM

Fantastic satire video of Barack Obama

YouTube - He Ventured Forth To Bring Light To The World

Andrew Allison · #7 (**permalink**) 26-07-2008, 11:09 PM

With all this support for Obama, I was wondering if all the Tories in the room would stand up and show themselves.

MikeSz · #8 (**permalink**) 27-07-2008, 10:05 AM

One should never be sucked into assuming that those characteristics favourable to a domestic government/leader will apply when deciding who you want to lead another nation. Conservatism at its very roots means the best for your own country. It would be silly and incorrect to imply that this should mean at the expense of other nations though its a good idea to be reminded once in a while that our first concerns are to rest with the foreign policies of would be leaders of foreign governments. Their domestic policies, be they rooted in conservatism or socialism should be of secondary, though still considerable concern.

Politics in the US is far more conservative by nature than in Europe irrespective of what may be bounded around by the media. If you were to put both the Republicans and the Democrats on the same chart as we put the Conservatives and Labour, the US parties will both be placed proportionally to the right.

Mark Milksnatch · #9 (**permalink**) 27-07-2008, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trance

Obama has no experience at all. You need more than charisma to be a good president.

Think of the insane amount of aids and advisors that they have, though. A single person can't run a whole country, but they can lead it. Charisma is pretty important for a place the size of the US.

trance · #10 (**permalink**) 27-07-2008, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Milksnatch

Think of the insane amount of aids and advisors that they have, though. A single person can't run a whole country, but they can lead it. Charisma is pretty important for a place the size of the US.

The President doesn't get to run the country without passing it through Congress anyway. The President does however have to be commander in chief and deal with foreign issues of which Mccain has far more experience.