8 January 2008

Minority US Presidents, and blowing up George Bush

A lot of change is stirring in the US, as the 2008 presidential elections are underway. The candidates have started getting at each others throats, and this year specifically seems to hold a lot of weight. First, the world seems to be sick of George W, and eyes will be peeled to see who comes out on top here. Second, the situation in the US is pretty darn bad, and with it, the rest of the world is affected, so hopefully a new president will be able to shape change. Third, the global policies of the US are not necessarily very favourable in the eyes of the rest of the world.

So what's the deal now? Well, the candidates are fighting it out, going from state to state, trying to gather support. What makes the race to the White House very interesting this year is that, besides the regular candidates, we have 1- A woman, and 2- A black man lining up, and if either of them make it, it would signal the first time the US has had either as a president. Hillary Clinton is running with the backing of her husband, a previous president, and on the marketing tool that you get 'two for the price of one'. Barak Obama, on the other hand, has the support of Oprah Winfrey, which is pretty much one of the strongest marketing tools in the US.

So, there's quite a bit to watch for now. The official voting dates will be November 4, 2008, when the 50 American states hold elections to select members of the Electoral College. The members of the Electoral College will then meet in each state on December 15th to cast their votes for President and Vice President. Phew. A short few months left. Let's see how that goes.



The Current Candidates are as follows:

Democratic Party:
- Hillary Clinton; U.S. Senator from New York and former First Lady
- John Edwards; former U.S. Senator from N. Carolina, and 2004 Democratic Vice Presidential candidate
- Mike Gravel; former U.S. Senator and former U.S. Representative from Alaska
- Dennis Kucinich; U.S. Representative from Ohio
- Barack Obama; U.S. Senator from Illinois, and former Illinois State Senator
- Bill Richardson; Governor of New Mexico, former U.S. Representative from New Mexico, former Secretary of Energy, and former United States Ambassador to the UN

Republican Party:

- Rudy Giuliani; former Mayor of New York City
- Mike Huckabee; former Governor of Arkansas
- Duncan Hunter; U.S. Representative from California
- John McCain; U.S. Senator from Arizona
- Ron Paul; U.S. Representative from Texas and 1988 Libertarian Presidential nominee
- Mitt Romney; former Governor of Massachusetts
- Fred Thompson; former U.S. Senator from Tennessee

There are other parties and other candidates, although for now they probably won't make too much of an impact. The only really interesting one is Ralph Nader, who has ran for president 4 times in a row and so far, still nothing. The dude makes me laugh, but hey, you have to admit, the guy has persistence.

Other interesting points include Obama doing pretty well in the early run, while Clinton got "Hillary, Iron my Shirt Will Ya?" signs raised at her while she talked in New Hampshire. This sure looks like it will be an interesting race to watch.


On other presidential news, George Bushy Bush is leaving the US today to visit our region, and Bahrain is included in the plan too! How exciting. In retaliation, five Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats swarmed three US Navy boats and warned "WE WILL BLOW YOU UP". Both sides later identified themselves, and then went on their merry way with nothing happening.

Lol. Gotta love the iranian sense of humor; you don't always understand it, but it still does make you laugh.


You've been Punk'd!

10 comments:

bint battuta said...

Uh, since when are women a minority? Underrepresented, yes, but even in the US they are a (slight) majority...

Capt. Arab said...

Well documented Bro...
Did you know that Fred Thompson in addition to being a former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, was also an actor?
My money is on Clinton.. Not that I don't doubt Obama "could" win, except that his colour won't get him into the White House, even though him and Cheney are distant relatives (going back to the days of slavery).
American politics are funny, and I love the presidential debates (wish we had them here when voting for MP's). Time will tell.

Redbelt said...

Keep your eye on Ron Paul. He has some interesting foreign policy views. Look him up on you tube.

Anonymous said...

whoever wins won't make much of a difference in the world! lost faith in America all together. A long time ago...

Taqo said...

I'm happy Obama is doing well. But we still have 10 months to go :-| A lot can happen. I'd rather him not do so well now, and then pick up speed and do well later on..

Hopefully he'll keep those numbers up in the polls.

Woozie said...

A short few months left

Yeah, easy to say when you're not immersed in it 24/7 :)

Anonymous said...

no more politics in my life!!

Mrs Dynamite aka Lorena +Wonder Women... said...

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL i go for the women :)

Anonymous said...

obaaama ........ people like him and hes got that black or white? thing going on and i think Americans want a drastic change while Hilary is uh so passé .

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