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Richelieu
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Gatineau
Dec 2001
time: 00:19
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Flabbergasted!
edit OK, maybe not that much. But nervous, certainly.
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Kontiki
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Canada
Aug 2001
time: 00:19
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Kinda itchy, actually. Maybe a little sleepy too.
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lord of the mark
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FUKCOV - Former United Kingdom Colony of Virginia
Dec 2000
time: 00:19
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cautious. concerned.
I saw bad in both choices.
Congress, interest groups, states, etc will prevent largescale shifts in most domestic policies. Presidential power is limited.
President means little as far as Con amendments are concerned. As if Bush was even going to spend political capital on that. Passing a con amendment is quite difficult. Passing controversial ones is quite rare.
Main social impact of presidents is through judicial appointments. Which often backfire. And take time to take effect. And reverse with time.
Main difference is international. Which is why my fellow citizens, or at least the swing voters who mattered, voted as they did. And that is a mixed bag, which is why feelings are mixed. Though in the end Kerry wouldnt have done much different.
Conciliatory whispers out of Europe, esp Germany. Words in response from Bush. reconciliation? cautiusly pessimistic.
Iraq. US and Iraqi troops gathering for assault on Fallujah. Nervous. Hopeful. Praying.
No election time terror attack. Pleased, but not smug.
Iran - frustrated. Pessimistic about Euro initiative. Our options are limited though.
Israel - hopeful. Arafat illness, Sharon initiative, more important than US policy now.
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Arnelos
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of the Free World
Sep 2002
time: 00:19
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I almost never bother to enter to the OFT on this forum and this is likely the only thread in which I will do so for some time to come, either, but I wanted to check out reaction here and this looked like the best thread to see it in.
As for myself:
I worked as a coordinator out of my regional Bush/Cheney office, so that tells you right there about my political leanings. Obviously, I'm feeling happy and relieved, both.
That said, I'm actually rather moderate and my area of expertise is foreign policy. I voted for John McCain in the 2000 Primary and I voted for Al Gore in 2000 General Election. I have worked primarily for moderate Republicans over the past several years and am one myself. I most certainly do not support the President on every area of policy, but I definitely support Mr. Bush enough to have worked for his re-election against the challenge mounted by Mr. Kerry.
It would take me far too long to fully explain here why I support this President in contrast to Mr. Kerry, most especially on foreign policy, and I know absolutely for certain that the hardcore Lefties on this forum would fail to understand or appreciate the reasons, so I'll save the specifics. To crudely summarize, my views do not directly corellate with those of Mr. Bush (whose public comments have been primarily naive-sounding gloss-overs with important omissions from the real robust perspective), but fall in between those of someone like Ms. Condi Rice and someone like Mr. Lieberman.
Suffice it to be said that there is a chasm between the views by people like myself and of the other side on how the world of international relations works. Either way, a second Bush term should provide a good four years in which to test the relative validity of those perspectives against the foreign policy agenda of the Bush Administration (which will push those differences).
I'm more than willing to recognize that I was wrong and evolve my perspective if things truly go to hell in a handbasket in a manner that is consistent with another perspective. That said, while my own perspective fully appreciates the Bush policy as somewhat risky, I do not believe it faces certain defeat and indeed believe its chances of success are relatively good. I further believe that its primary risk of defeat derived far more from the possible self-fulfilling prophecy of an anti-war election victory than even from what I recognize are the risks of attempting to bring "democracy" to Iraq.
So I supported this President, I've worked for this President's re-election, and I'm happy he won. Where I might have some misgivings about the President's policies here and there, by contrast I think Mr. Kerry would have been horrible for U.S. foreign policy, nevermind certain aspects of domestic policy. However, I think the nation would have survived a Kerry Administration and would have recovered, much as I think the nation will survive even if Bush is spectatcularly wrong. This nation is far stronger and far more resilient than its desperate political partisans on both sides and some foreign observers seem to believe.
So I'm happy, but I'll still be watching and waiting to see how this Administration handles itself over the next four years. I'm not above changing my mind and switching perspectives if I feel a disjoint between my perspective and events warrants it.
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Sir Ralph
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Long live teh Schwampel!
Dec 2001
time: 06:19
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quote:
Originally posted by Arrian
One more thing: I find it difficult to believe that someone of your intelligence actually thinks there is no difference between Kerry and Bush. |
From an European point of view, the difference is minimal. Both are far right, measured by our political standards. Their domestic, financial, fiscal and economical policy is a non-issue for me as foreigner, it just does not interest me. Bushs foreign policy was a complete and utter failure, true, and this is what should be of interest for me. But wait: Iraq and the ME as a whole would remain ****ed up under Kerry too. I am not convinced, that he would change a lot. Americas record of alienating its friends is also not the problem of its allies, but Americas own. As long as this continues, I will just turn my back towards your country for four more years. I will be the first to offer my hand back, it things change, though. Sorry to disappoint you, Arrian. I admit to be a bit sour, but as a whole it isn't enough to ruin my day. For me personally, little would change with either outcome.
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04-11-2004 02:14
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