Posted by floatingbridge on November 16, 2011, at 20:09:07
In reply to Re: the candidates you like » floatingbridge, posted by Dinah on November 13, 2011, at 14:49:49
It's interesting that you bring up charisma. I realize I am very swayed by charisma. I have to plant both feet on the ground and think my way out of my emotional impressions. I adored Clinton from his inauguration ball as he played the saxophone. However cheesy that may seem to some or myself now. He had a way of always seeming comfortable and having something intelligent to say.
This thread has had me thinking back over my own likes and dislikes, and I see how reactive and subjective they appear now to myself. I was unhappy with the outcome of the 2000
election and the controversy surrounding Gore's defeat. I had come to endorse Gore, feeling he had somehow been eclipsed by the flash of the Clinton presidency. When the eight years of the Bush presidency were ended by Obama, I was estatic. Absolutely. And I was very affected by Obama's quiet charisma. But it's almost like it's deferred, if that is the right word. I would have preferred or had hoped for what Gore might have brought. Perhaps less war. More practical focus on our environment. And human rights.I had said quizzically that maybe I was a socialist. This series of threads has made me think, and perhaps I am more a socialist in the European practical sense. Even the Canadian sense with their working health care system. The healthcare bill that has recently passed has been heavily privatized, with citizens who do not purchase health care having to pay a penalty. I believe this will not come to pass as it is already being challenged in court.
Will there be a candidate I will be pleased to vote for in 2012? Originally I had written that I can not imagine not voting for Obama. Now after reflection and reading, I am not sure at all if it is a matter of who will do the most good or who will do the least harm. I am not sure that is good enough. But what can I do?
I dig a pony.
poster:floatingbridge
thread:1001838
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20110926/msgs/1002804.html