Democratic primaries (RAR!)

[Lord Zentei]

What the question said. These are the current candidates AFAIK.

Please state party affiliation (or non-American) as relevant.

Oh, and no "tactical voting" by Republicans, please. Assume that the person in question is going to win the election, and so choose the least of evils.

[Turin]

Barack Obama. I'm a registered Democrat... not that I'm really wild about the Democrats (I'd probably vote Green or something if 3rd parties had a lick of a chance in our system), but I want to be able to vote in the primaries.

Obama is the only viable candidate (Kunicich? Please.) who seems like an intelligent and reasonable person with some halfway decent ideas. The recent articles posted here about his views on secularism and his health care plan both speak of someone with some vision and the ability to see reason. He opposes the war and has done so consistently. And he seems to have the kind of charisma needed to speak to the idiot masses who make up a large portion of the country.

None of this is enough to make him the ideal candidate, but I'll take what I can get at this point. I'm actually in the middle of drafting a letter urging him to take a serious stand on energy & environmental issues. I think if he were to make a big enough part of his campaign (and if Al Gore can sell them to the sheep, so can Obama), it could be the issue he needs to push him over the top to victory.

[Raw Shark]

If we're assuming that the winner of the Primary will win the general election, I pick Mike Gravel. If I misread that part, I'll have to pick someone with an actual shot at the big game.

[Spice Runner]

It would be either Edwards of Obama for me. I lean pretty far to the left and agree with Kucinich and Gravel more often unfortunately they don't have much of a chance to win the primaries. The others lean too much to right and are too busy trying to placate conservatives for my taste.

[Noble Ire]

I'm still not really sure right now. I like Barack Obama for his stances on social issues, especially religion; I like John Edwards for his view on ending the Iraq War; I like Bill Richardson for his overall experience with foreign and domestic policy. I suppose I really need to review and compare the details of their respective platforms to make a clear determination. And then there's the issue of electability; I'm honestly not sure who has the best shot in November '08. Quite frankly, I'm still hoping that Al Gore throws his hat into the ring. Still, if I had to chose a canidate from the above pool today, I'd probably pick Obama, even considering his relative inexperience.

For all the confusion it engenders, I'm glad the Democratic field is so large this time around; I'm hoping it makes my first ever Democratic primary vote count a little bit more.

[Darth Wong]

Hell, I want Obama to win just so I can see the look on Bill "white Christian male power structure" O'Reilly's face.

[CaptJodan]

I vote Obama. I suppose Hillary might have the best chance for electability after the primaries.

Incidentally, while I'm not technically registered a Democrat, I intend to get my voter registration changed.

[Glocksman]

Of all the Democratic candidates, I'd vote for Richardson.
In fact the only thing I really don't like about him as a candidate is his support* for the illegal alien amnesty currently up in Congress.

So far, in a Thompson/Richardson race, I'd vote Thompson.
In a Richardson versus any of the Repub Three Stooges race, I'd vote for Richardson.



*I'm aware that he's since changed his mind, but his opposition is because he thinks the bill is too restrictive.
That's not the reason I'm against it.

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

Regged Republican, vote however I damn well please (usually Democrat).

Obama, because he's got the biggest snowball to chance through the Hell of both the Primary and the actual Election.

[MKSheppard]

Bill Richardson

[LadyTevar]

John Edwards. I'm not sure of Obama yet.

[Lord Zentei]

I find it interesting that Hilary Clinton hasn't received any votes yet, with 39 people having voted.

[Medic]

I find it interesting that Hilary Clinton hasn't received any votes yet, with 39 people having voted.

We all know "BO's" (lol /Fox Noise) secular bent thanks to a SLAM thread. Thanks to an OT thread, we know the board's nearly 4/5 atheist. Do the math.

Personally, I want to say I'm not factoring in electability in my decision (Obama btw) but I probably am. FNC, Hillary-bashing books (they're trickling in now), and Hannity have me convinced that Hillary will just be a lightning rod worse than Bill. Maybe technically she's more electable in the actual election than Obama but actually running the country I can't but help feel sorry for her and the Democrat party. The amount of vitriol that seems to be headed her way just can't be conducive to a focused administration, there will be plenty of talking heads, TV news anchors and random pundicrats just waiting for her to trip on a jog or something.

Theatrics and nonsense aside, Bill Clinton did alright but hooh boy the second he did something actually controversial.
So yeah, I'm probably factoring in during and post-election considerations into my vote, but oh well, you deal with the world as it is or appears to be -- I still prefer Obama's stances anyway.

[The Dark]

I like Bill Richardson thus far. I don't think he has a snowball's chance in Hell of getting the nomination, but I can hope.

Oh, and I have no party affiliation. Fuck 'em all

[Darth Mordius]

Obama. Secular, with positive views on health care. Plus, he's black. If he was a woman too, then we could hit two birds with one stone but alas, it is not to be.

Hilary: eh. She joined the anti-video game crusade. Attempts to protect the children do not sit well with me. She would make an acceptable VP.

[Ritterin Sophia]

Obama, right now the Iraq War is going to be seen as the most important part of any candidates campaign, so it's a good bet that if they want to get voted in they'll oppose it, so I'm going with his views on religion.

Obama. Secular, with positive views on health care. Plus, he's black. If he was a woman too, then we could hit two birds with one stone but alas, it is not to be.

There's still enough time for a sex change.

[Vympel]

Of the front-runners, Obama. I like Kucinich on foreign policy though.

[dragon]

Oh hell I don't know I know very little about any of these. Mostly only a couple here I know and mostly for their war stances. I am really need to look up their views on education, science, space exploration, the economy and countrry infrastructure. As well as a whole bunch of other little things.

[Cincinnatus]

Of the front-runners, Obama. I like Kucinich on foreign policy though.

I agree with Kucinich on Iraq, but strongly disagree with him on trade. He supports withdrawing from the WTO, which would be a horrible move for the United States to make.

As for the original question, I support Obama. I agree with him on most issues, and he seems like the most cerebral and thoughtful of the candidates. I wouldn't feel that bad about electing Clinton or Edwards, though.

[Eris]

I like Obama. He's relatively liberal, and appears to have actual plans for what he wants to do. He's got positions I at least can tolerate if not give a ringing endorsement to, and seems to be very well thought and reasonably well educated. He's also the closest thing you can be to an atheist and still have a chance at winning office.

And he's black. Not only is it about damn time, but I just want to stick it to the racist hicks in our midst.

Besides, back when he gave his speech at the DNC in '04 I fingered him for being our first black president, and I want to be proven right!

[John of the Dead]

I voted for Kucinich, just because he's the farthest left of all the candidates, and would make for a seriously wild general election. Then again, my dad was a union worker for years, and he *always* voted to strike, regardless of how good the contract was, just to stir up trouble.

Ahem.

Now, I fully realize that Kucinich has zero chance of getting the nomination. So, failing Kucinich, I'd go with Obama, then Edwards, then Clinton. My ideal candidate, Wes Clark, doesn't appear to be running again. Of course, I'd like for Gore to run again, too, if for no other reason than to stir things up.

[K. A. Pital]

Obama. Uh... I'm from a different country though still I want him to win.

[Stormbringer]

Right now I don't see any Democratic candidate I'd feel comfortable voting for.

Obama might do well but I'm wary of him becoming the next Howard Dean. He's gotten an awful lot of attention in the press and he's got a pretty strong campaign. But from what I've heard, admittedly not paying a great deal of attention right now, he's trailing in the polls behind Hillary for his own party and just might lose depending on the Republican.

While his get us out of war stance is something I agree with, I'd like to hear more of what he wants to do. It's all well and good to oppose foolish blunders but he needs a policy in place of his own. I haven't seen one yet.

And while I think his present stances on secularism, education, and social policy are good, I'm leary of him really meaning it. A lot of Democrats have talked tough on this issues but done nothing, or even joined in. I'm wary of whether he'll maintain those stances if he goes to the general election and beyond.

Lastly, I like the idea of working to fix medical care in this country. But I'm deeply concerned that we'll get a kludged up, red-tape riddled monstrosity like so many other federal aid programs. So he gets credit for wanting reform but it only counts for so much with out something like a workable plan.


* * *

I suspect based on Glocksman's input that I may actually find Bill Richardson more apt to suit me than Obama. But I haven't heard much of anything about or out of him, so I can't really say either way.

[Mr Bean]

69% of SD.Nets support Obama. Barring some personal screwup he's still the man to back.

And personally, I would not support Hillary, not even if she offered me the damn VP slot. She is a cast iron control freak bitch. And that ladies and gents is both personal experience having to pull VP escort duty in Washington and a wealth of stories from a few former White House stewarts I've talked with from that era. Not "will snap and call people nine kinds of idiot if she her waters two degree's to warm" but pretty damn close unless things are exactly the way she wants.

[Noble Ire]

69% of SD.Nets support Obama. Barring some personal screwup he's still the man to back.

And personally, I would not support Hillary, not even if she offered me the damn VP slot. She is a cast iron control freak bitch. And that ladies and gents is both personal experience having to pull VP escort duty in Washington and a wealth of stories from a few former White House stewarts I've talked with from that era. Not "will snap and call people nine kinds of idiot if she her waters two degree's to warm" but pretty damn close unless things are exactly the way she wants.

Your not saying that you wouldn't back Hillary even if she was selected as the Democratic candidate, are you? She's certainly not my first choice either, but given the option between her and an insidious snake like Romney or a zealous luddite like Brownback, I'd take the control-freak any day.