Sort of relates to this thread being discussed. I'm curious what differences you think McCain would have made compared to Obama thus far, and also how it would effect you. McCain's campaign had developed almost a lynch mob mentality towards the end and I would worry if he would still cater to that demographic. More importantly would he still adopt the Rovian tactics that hypothetically won him the election? It seemed like his conscious started to get the better of him half-heartedly towards the end so I doubt he would continue similar rhetoric during his term. I'd worry that he would still continue a lot of Bush's policies or at least try to. Who would he appoint to his cabinet like Secretary of State? Secretary of Treasury? If a Supreme Court Judge had retired under his term who would he appoint? Would that person be a Pro-Life supporter? If so that would give the Pro-Lifers a majority in the Supreme Court. Would Roe v Wade likely be reversed then? Would he handle his foreign policy better than Obama up to this point? I like the approach Obama has taken and am hopeful it will be more successful than the 'You're either with us or against us' mentality. Would he have shut down Gitmo? Do you think the world's image of the U.S. would improve compared to Bush? I know he wouldn't compared to Obama but to Bush I think so. How do you think he would have handled the economy? Would he still support a bailout? If so would it have been drastically cut compared to what Obama approved? I have my doubts and it wouldn't be because of the Democratic majority. Would he have reached across the aisle as President? Would the Democratic majority in the Senate and Congress meet him halfway? If not, do you think Democrats would at least do a better job meeting him halfway than Republicans up to this point with Obama? Did you really think his age was a concern when voting, and if so were you scared of the idea that Palin would be President (Duh)? His mom is still living so I'm sure he'd at least be alive for another four years. I voted Obama but not because of my concern over McCain's health. How do you think the U.S. would have reacted if Obama lost? I know there would be riots when the results would be called, but I'm talking about long term. Do you think it would create a divisiveness in America that would take years to repair? To Democrats, would you still support McCain after Obama's loss? If so, how much time would you give him before being critical of his policies? First 100 days? A year? I'm especially curious about this since there was so much criticism directed towards Obama before even reaching 100 days. He's still having his honeymoon I think, but I know there were more than a handful of people that became complacent because he didn't fix the economy in a little over three months as President. I know there were others that were throwing Bush's ***** ups on Obama and tried to make it appear he was guilty of everything. In their defense though, people on this board were already throwing McCain under the bus because of his ties to Bush. Bush's faults were already McCain's faults whether he liked it or not. I have more questions but I can't remember any more right now. Add more questions if you think they're relevant. EDIT: It's a bit premature but if you voted Obama, would you change your vote to McCain if you could?
More or less the same. Our politics have been decided by various special interest groups for many years now.
Less of the same. Just as Obama has taken Bush's policies and thrown them into overdrive, McCain would have either maintained the status quo or would have scaled them back a little.
way to pre-mature. I give Obama right now a B. That's a big improvement over the D- I'd give Bush. And I am being generous with the D-.
A B for Obama is a joke, even if you agreed with all of his policy's he is still not close to achieving the "change" that was promised with Dems in power across the board. How can someone who wasted so much of our tax dollars to bailout companies that have either already failed or are going to get a B?
Obama has made great changes in our government in only 5 months. We no longer sanction torture. The procedure to close Gitmo has been started. The procedure to draw down the troops in Iraq has been started. The putting in place of people who actually believe in science as part of Obama's team has been put in place. I don't know that any of that would have happened yet had McCain been voted in.
Yeah, it takes longer than six months to, say, implement national health care, remove troops from iraq etc. If you like I can explain this to you further but I doubt it will make much difference. Wow - why don't you provide some details of this waste rather than speaking in generalities about matters which you obviously know very little? This post is not cognizant of items such as last Monday's repayment of TARP loans by a large number of banks. I'd like to hear more as to what in particular has been wasted and why it constitutes waste.
More of the same. What is the difference between a rep and dem. They are looking out for gs and citi.
It is WAY too early to assess Obama's effectiveness at implementing policy. It is years too early to evaluate whether those policies have a positive or negative effect.
Most of the bailout money came under Bush by the way. He gets a B for the reorganization of GM and the quick selling of Chrysler - both have been very impressive. He definitely did not nationalize either one and seems those companies may actually survive - saving quite a few jobs. The economy has stabalized. Consumer confidence is on the uptick. The world is optimistic about peace in the mideast, slowly things wheels locked are beginning to turn. There's a lot to be done, he's jus scratched the surface, but in 5 months, it's been a pretty active president. I am surprised people would be mad at a B.
agreed with samfisher...obama's done a lot so far...ofc i dont agree with everything he's done, but i still think we would be incredibly screwed if mccain had been voted in.
I started this thread with more of a parallel universe idea where McCain won and what he would be doing differently. Not to trash or defend Obama. It's more along the lines of those Wilt and Big O threads. "How good would Wilt be if he played in the NBA today?" "Would the zone affect Hakeem's dominance if he played in todays game?" More along those lines. I think Obama has done a good job so far given everything he inherited. I'm more impressed with the fact that he's committing to policies he said he would during his campaign instead of developing a case of amnesia, which admittedly he has done on some.
McCain used to oppose torture, but backtracked, and then backtracked a little on his backtrack during the campaign.
Man, it would take me too long to post what I think the differences would be. I'm way too slow with a keyboard. All I'll say for now, while agreeing with the posts already in the thread by some of my buddies here (mc mark, for example, is dead on... this thread is gold!) is that, while I'm not religious in the least bit, THANK GOD Barack is our President. I'm just more relaxed. I haven't been posting here as much because politically, at least, I'm pretty damn happy. Wish the Democratic leadership was different in Congress, but that's seniority for you, I guess. President Obama could be a bit more liberal, for sure, but it's early. The man has made such an impact that it seems like he's been in office a very long time, but it's been just a few months. McCain would be driving me crazy and Palin would be an abomination as VP. Biden suffers a little from "foot in mouth" disease, but is a freakin' genius compared to that chick!
