Hillary Clinton to concede TONIGHT.

[KimberlyH]

Date: 6/5/2008 9:51:08 AM
Author: MoonWater

Date: 6/5/2008 8:58:53 AM
Author: KimberlyH
Moon,

Thank you for being able to have a conversation about this that is not fueled by anger and frustration, but thoughtfulness. The argument I presented is not mine, it was simply an example of the opposite of the argument presented about McCain''s age; if I did argue that point seriously, I would hope someone would point out the faulty logic in my thinking. Your logic about the likelihood of a VP having a greater chance of being placed in office because of McCain''s age makes some sense, but I''m still unsure if I feel it''s a big enough issue to add to my list of pros and cons about who I''ll vote for (who a nominee selects as a VP should always be taken into consideration though, since 4 of our presidents have been assasinated and we''ve only had 42, if memory serves). I have such a difficult time deciding, because I believe so much of what we get from any candidate is lip service and it''s difficult to determine what really matters to them and what they are saying simply to sway us.

Well, it''s one of my many cons against McCain but again, this depends on who he chooses as a VP. That is essentially my worry. I care more now, than I have in the past, about who is being chosen for the Vice Presidential slot. I am also concerned about Obama''s VP for the very same reason (because assassination is, unfortunately, highly probable...which is another reason why I pray he doesn''t choose Hillary but that''s another story lol).

In McCains case, I fear he will choose a conservative, perhaps someone too close to the religious right, in order to gain as many votes as possible. It scares the living daylights out of me that a personality like that could end up running the country. I think as a result of this particular election, I''ll care much more about VP candidates in general.

Also, in light of the age minimum to be President, I really do think there should be an age maximum. If people saw it fit to exclude people below the age of 35 due to the complexity and heavy responsibility of the job, I think they should do the same for folks that are much older. The average person begans losing some of their mental falculties, especially memory. Not good for the leader of the ''free world.'' This is a tentative argument but I think I could do a whole report with evidence supporting it.

Whatever the case, it''s going to be really freaking interesting between now and November (as if it hasn''t been already!! I am tired lol).

This has been such a grueling process already, I can''t imagine it being dragged out until November. Your fear about McCain selecting someone who is far right is the same as mine. I have a lot of research to do before I decide how I feel about him as a potential candidate, but who each candidate selects as his VP will likely have a large effect on my vote.

An age maximum is an interesting concept, but I''m nto sure how that would work as we live longer, and healthier now than ever before and how can we determine what age is an acceptable cut off? And what do we do with other elected officials, do they have an age limit for running as well?

I find myself in a strange position, as I am the only person I know who hasn''t already decided who he/she will vote for, which leaves little room for meaningful conversation because in my experience once people decide X over Y, in most situations not just related to the presidential race, they have a hard time being objective.

 

[MoonWater]

Date: 6/5/2008 9:59:23 AM
Author: KimberlyH

Date: 6/5/2008 9:51:08 AM
Author: MoonWater

Date: 6/5/2008 8:58:53 AM
Author: KimberlyH
Moon,

Thank you for being able to have a conversation about this that is not fueled by anger and frustration, but thoughtfulness. The argument I presented is not mine, it was simply an example of the opposite of the argument presented about McCain''s age; if I did argue that point seriously, I would hope someone would point out the faulty logic in my thinking. Your logic about the likelihood of a VP having a greater chance of being placed in office because of McCain''s age makes some sense, but I''m still unsure if I feel it''s a big enough issue to add to my list of pros and cons about who I''ll vote for (who a nominee selects as a VP should always be taken into consideration though, since 4 of our presidents have been assasinated and we''ve only had 42, if memory serves). I have such a difficult time deciding, because I believe so much of what we get from any candidate is lip service and it''s difficult to determine what really matters to them and what they are saying simply to sway us.

Well, it''s one of my many cons against McCain but again, this depends on who he chooses as a VP. That is essentially my worry. I care more now, than I have in the past, about who is being chosen for the Vice Presidential slot. I am also concerned about Obama''s VP for the very same reason (because assassination is, unfortunately, highly probable...which is another reason why I pray he doesn''t choose Hillary but that''s another story lol).

In McCains case, I fear he will choose a conservative, perhaps someone too close to the religious right, in order to gain as many votes as possible. It scares the living daylights out of me that a personality like that could end up running the country. I think as a result of this particular election, I''ll care much more about VP candidates in general.

Also, in light of the age minimum to be President, I really do think there should be an age maximum. If people saw it fit to exclude people below the age of 35 due to the complexity and heavy responsibility of the job, I think they should do the same for folks that are much older. The average person begans losing some of their mental falculties, especially memory. Not good for the leader of the ''free world.'' This is a tentative argument but I think I could do a whole report with evidence supporting it.

Whatever the case, it''s going to be really freaking interesting between now and November (as if it hasn''t been already!! I am tired lol).

This has been such a grueling process already, I can''t imagine it being dragged out until November. Your fear about McCain selecting someone who is far right is the same as mine. I have a lot of research to do before I decide how I feel about him as a potential candidate, but who each candidate selects as his VP will likely have a large effect on my vote.

An age maximum is an interesting concept, but I''m nto sure how that would work as we live longer, and healthier now than ever before and how can we determine what age is an acceptable cut off? And what do we do with other elected officials, do they have an age limit for running as well?

I find myself in a strange position, as I am the only person I know who hasn''t already decided who he/she will vote for, which leaves little room for meaningful conversation because in my experience once people decide X over Y, in most situations not just related to the presidential race, they have a hard time being objective.

I agree with you about the problems of an age maximum. But then, that''s also my same exact problem for the age minimum. I know plenty of people in their younger 20s with more intelligence, life experience, and sense, than those in their 40s! That''s why I said, in light of the age min, there should be a max. We''re more likely to be senile when we''re older, just like we''re more likely to have less life experience when we''re younger.

And yeah, objectivity is hard to come by. I love talking to people that can help me face my biases (even if it won''t change my opinion

)

 

[luckystar112]

Besides the ridiculousness of the age argument, the other thing that bothered me, freke, was your statement about how you''re "sure that there wasn''t ANY pressure from the Republicans and his campaign to give that to him."

Of COURSE they did. You say it like it''s a bad thing. I guess Obama must have come to the decision to leave his church all by himself.

.


He was given a clean bill of health, and we need to accept it. My FI''s grandfather is 83 with dementia and sitting in a wheelchair. President Bush Sr. skydived at age 80. No two people are the same, and if we''re told he''s healthy-he''s healthy! I mean, people talk about the GOP fear mongering....the Dems are going to ride that age train to the last stop.

 

[FrekeChild]

That was complete sarcasm luckystar. Sorry I didn''t put a rolling eyes emoticon behind it.

The Democrats are not the only ones worried about his age. I, for one, don''t care. It''s likely that his VP will have to take over if something happens to him. So he''ll choose some ultra conservative younger white male for his VP to make up for his age and non ultra conservative ways and then you can choose from there. But its not entirely pressure from the Dems doing that. To me, McCain does not look well. He looks frail and feeble. Parts of that could be because his shoulder was essentially destroyed, he''s had multiple suicide attempts, and everything else that happened to him as a POW. If the Rebulicans didn''t see that as well, they wouldn''t be pressuring him to pick a younger running mate.

Personally I find the whole process to be fascinating from a sociological perspective. It is amazing to me how emotional people can get when talking about politics.

Also. You couldn''t pay me to run for President. I don''t know how they do it.

 

[Dancing Fire]

how old was Regean when he became prez 71 or 72?

 

[MoonWater]

Google

 

[FrekeChild]

70

DF needs to learn how to look things up on his own

 

[MoonWater]

And another thing about McOld: Senioritis

I truly can not stop laughing, I know, I'm a horrible person. Seriously, I just can't believe this was the best Republicans had to offer: http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2008/06/commentators_cant_stop_chuckli.html

 

[MoonWater]

Hillary is a Tortured Person. I really do think she should take a break.

ETA: I just can't help myself...http://content.cartoonbox.slate.com/?feature=a9155865f8b6d0d524a60e14575fb627