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So, John Kerry, then
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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by wil5on on Fri Feb 6th at 6:07am 2004

Can someone explain the elections in the US? I mean, they elect ppl in different states, but that doesnt really mean anything, then theres the real election. wtf? [addsig]



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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by Yak_Fighter on Fri Feb 6th at 6:22am 2004

It's currently the Democratic primaries, a competition amongst the party to see who will be chosen as the presidential candidate. The Republicans don't have to bother because they're going with the incumbent GWB.

The winner of the primaries will be the Democratic Nominee to go against Republican Nominee GWB during the Presidential elections.





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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by KungFuSquirrel on Fri Feb 6th at 6:26am 2004

First off, there's a primary election. These are done by states early in the election year (this is what is happening right now). It functions much like the electoral college system, but instead of electors, candidates win 'delegates.' In this election, multiple candidates for each party are running for office - though often there aren't any to run against the incumbent (in this case, no Republicans oppose Bush). Registered voters in each state can vote for a candidate in their party.

The delegate process is pretty complicated, but basically the candidate with the most delegates gets the nod for the official party nomination at the party's national convention later in the year. These candidates then go on to the general election. Independent candidates also show up in this phase, but the two main parties represent the two main candidates.

What you see right now is the process of narrowing down the available candidates to just the 'top' one in the party. Instead of having a pool of countless candidates in November, this keeps the candidate count low. Can you imagine an election with 14 candidates where the winner takes home 18% of the vote? How's that for a general population that didn't elect you! [addsig]



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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by Cassius on Fri Feb 6th at 6:31am 2004

McCain should have been the Republican contender in 2000, I can garuntee you that most of the country wouldn't be getting off to the oh-so-original 'Bush is a moron' jokes.

Michael Moore has used the fact that the country is constantly insulting the President to say that the US is a 'liberal paradise'. And by the way, Dude, Where's My Country? was the single worst 'book' I have ever had the misfortune to read. Moore's facts are very powerful, I must admit, but his attempts to joke are painful to look at. Then again, he is a liberal.

[addsig]



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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by Dr Brasso on Fri Feb 6th at 7:02am 2004

i would both vote for john mccain and shoot micheal moore in a heartbeat.....too bad neither will materialize...

Doc Brass...

[addsig]



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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by matt on Fri Feb 6th at 8:50am 2004

Just went on Bushs' "re-election" site. Load of s**te. [addsig]



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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by SuperCrazy on Fri Feb 6th at 9:07am 2004

? posted by Cassius

All I know is that the bastard is winning states left and right. I've yet to hear a word on what his viewpoints are, and that includes listening to some of his speeches and interviews.

Better than that goddamn psychopath Dean.

I think there are a lot of people who don't know where Kerry stands on issues, but they're voting for him anyway because there's a perception that he's "electable."

I just want the original Howard Dean back. The sane social liberal and fiscal moderate. His speech at the February '03 DNC Meeting had me going nuts about the guy, but the latter part of his campaign has disappointed me. I don't regret volunteering and caucusing for him though.





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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by fishy on Fri Feb 6th at 9:43am 2004

? posted by SuperCrazy

I think there are a lot of people who don't know where Kerry stands on issues, but they're voting for him anyways because there's a perception that he's "electable."

these people know that if they come out and tell everyone exactly what their policies are, then they instantly lose support from some sections of the electorate. they always do better if they can generate that 'perception' of electability, instead of telling us exactly where they stand and what their intentions are.





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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by SuperCrazy on Fri Feb 6th at 10:04am 2004

Being electable and stating your policies aren't mutually exclusive though. All of the candidates have made many of their intentions clear, I was simply saying some voters aren't paying much attention. His perceived electability has nothing to do with that.



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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by Leperous on Fri Feb 6th at 11:18am 2004

So it's just normal, registered voters who are voting in the primaries now? Even republicans who could try and 'throw it off'? Over here we have several rounds of voting to choose the party leader, which is all done by MPs in that party (MPs- members of parliament- are like having a senator for each county in each state).



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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by KungFuSquirrel on Fri Feb 6th at 1:04pm 2004

No, part of the primary process is that registered democrats vote for the democratic candidates, and republicans for republicans. [addsig]



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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by Cash Car Star on Fri Feb 6th at 5:00pm 2004

In some states, voters not affiliated with either party can choose which primary to vote for. Not sure which ones are like that, but I believe NH is.

The series of primaries is also very very weird in how different people win. Somehow Iowa and New Hampshire are the most important primaries of them all. I don't know which states are to the end, but everything after "Super Tuesday" (which I believe the state I'm registered in, CT, is a part of) is more or less completely unimportant. Washington DC even has their own primary--in fact they tried to pull a publicity stunt by rescheduling it for before New Hampshire, but then all the candidates except the Rev. Al Sharpton dropped out of the race in there. Quite honestly, the primaries make the electoral college look extremely sane.





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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by Hornpipe2 on Fri Feb 6th at 6:58pm 2004

I've actually known a few people to register for the opposite party just to throw off the primaries - they figure that they don't really care who they vote for, but they usually have a strong desire to keep someone else out from the other party so they try to vote him down. [addsig]



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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by Tracer Bullet on Fri Feb 6th at 7:26pm 2004

My impression of Kerry from very limited information is that he is a cardboard cut out. if I was a democrat, I'd vote for Clark



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 Re: So, John Kerry, then
Posted by Yak_Fighter on Fri Feb 6th at 7:29pm 2004

If I were democrat, I would either hang my head in shame at a group of chump candidates or run my own campaign because I would stand as much a chance of winning the Presidency. But that's just me.




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