Can anyone here tell me WHY I should vote for Bush next week here in Ohio WITHOUT telling me why I should not vote for McCain? I have yet to find a Shrub supporter amongst this group or for that matter, anywhere!

-- Vern (bacon17@ibm.net), February 29, 2000

Answers

...don't you just love that commercial where Charles Barkley yells BINGO!!!

-- Vern (bacon17@ibm.net), February 29, 2000.

Vern,

I can tell why you should vote for Alan Keyes next week in Ohio. Better yet, visit the Declaration Foundation website. It is not a campaign site, but it will tell you much about the things that are important to Alan Keyes. http://declaration.net/

I'm sure Sen. McCain is a far better man than anyone in line on the other side, but I have been very disappointed with some of the recent tactics of his campaign. Sometimes I wonder if his real purpose is to turn off Republican voters so they stay home.

regards,

gene

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), February 29, 2000.

McCain, Shrubya, Gore,..... we really are in deep shit.

-- KoFE (your@town.USA), February 29, 2000.

...I already know about Keyes. The problem is he has no experience as a politician or legislator. I did not like John's attack on Pat Robertson either(although I am not trying to win an election). Bob Jones III can kiss my ass. Need a beer......

-- Vern (bacon17@ibm.net), February 29, 2000.

I can't tell you why you should vote for either one. In terms of foreign policy, I haven't heard either one state whether we should try to continue to police EVERY DAMN area of the F***ing planet. In terms of economic policy, I'm not convinced either one has the wattage to reconcile his own checkbook, let alone tackle the economic condition of the country in the new world market.

If Rick Flare (sp?) runs for governor in North Carolina, I will vote for him. For only one reason, to show my utter DISDAIN and CONTEMPT for the sorry excuse we have for representatives at the state and federal level. I don't think any of those thumbheads could even spell "statesman".

Rant will never go off until I have a clear choice of someone with courage enough to say what he really believes.

-- JCC (wolverine_in_nc@hotmail.com), February 29, 2000.

Vern commented:

"The problem is he has no experience as a politician or legislator. (Alan Keyes)."

This is precisely why one should vote for Alan Keyes IMHO!!

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), February 29, 2000.

I must agree with Ray - Alan Keyes lack of experience is a big plus in addition to Keyes being pro-American and honest.

-- ilander -- (ilander001@hotmail.com), February 29, 2000.

Yes, I agree, in the primary I will vote for Keyes. Then we'll see what the landscape looks like come November. All of the Repub and Demo candidates supported the bombing of Yugoslovia. I will vote for Buchanan in November, if there is an election, and Bubba doesn't have us in WWIII by then. Only Buchanan stands firm for U.S. sovereignty and against intervention in other countries.

-- Y2kObserver (Y2kObserver@nowhere.com), February 29, 2000.

Since Vern is not being antagonistic here, I'll meet him half way.

I think that Alan Keyes is positioned to be a kingmaker in this election cycle. Look at what's happened after EVERY debate. Keyes has consistently been rated the hands down winner, even by LIBERAL pollster outfits like vote.com.

So why has he only garnered a measly 5% or so?

Because people are hoodwinked by the media into not voting for him. Nearly everyone I've heard talk about it has said something like "I'd vote for him if he had a chance of winning."

Well, if everyone who'd vote for him if he had a chance of winning got out and VOTED for him, he'd have a chance of winning. A GOOD chance of winning!

Now take all those "silent supporters" he's got, and ask yourself what they're going to do when he -- as I expect he ultimately will -- endorses Bush.

I think they'll go with Bush. And I think the carryover effect in the general election will be decisive.

I've been listening to the three GOP candidates, and I see McCain distancing himself from the entire spectrum of "GOPhood", mainly by alienating them, and trying to warm up to the left-leaning independents and dems. And THAT further alienates the GOPers. And at the same time I see Keyes and Bush not really attacking each other at all.

My HOPE is that Bush will pick Keyes as a running mate. If that happens, Gore might as well pack up his tent and go back to the tobacco farm.

-- Charles Underwood Farley (chuck@u.farley), February 29, 2000.

vern -- i would be suspicious of the following: 1) mccain seems to be the mainstream media's darling, 2) mccain was part of the S&L scandal; his wife was brought up on charges for illegal usage of prescription drugs HOWEVER not one word of this has been brought up by the media.........this leads me to believe we are being set up by the media.

the media would allow mccain to get the nomination but i believe they would then let all this info come to light and CRUCIFY HIM AS HE COMES UP AGAINST THE DEMOCRAT CANDIDATE. So then we end up with a democrat.

I just happen to think the media is trying to manipulate the republican nomination.

-- tt (cuddluppy@aol.com), February 29, 2000.

Shrubya needs to pick Libby Dole in order to secure the women's vote.

-- (justwatching@my.screen), February 29, 2000.

LIBERTIES / By MAUREEN DOWD

Hey, Big Spender...

WASHINGTON -- The Lear jets are parked wing-to-wing at the Austin airport.

The Pioneers descended on the governor's mansion this weekend for an emergency top-secret meeting to go over the books of the cash-starved Bush campaign.

The Pioneers, the very wealthy and usually jovial Bush bagmen, are dyspeptic over the Prodigal Son. They don't understand how their Boy could have gone through $60 million of the nest egg they built. It was supposed to buy the White House, not one measly caucus and one lousy primary. How on earth did Junior hemorrhage more than a million dollars per delegate? Did he think it was a trust fund?

The Pioneers are worried that they will join John Connally in the record books. In 1980, he spent $12 million for a single delegate.

W. is in his room, curled up with his feather pillow and video golf game.

All the acting he's been doing, trying to seem insouciant while his campaign is careening, has been exhausting. His finance chairman, Don Evans, tries to lure him downstairs to charm the fuming Pioneers.

No way is he going. He doesn't have a dang notion where that $60 million got off to. "Donnie," he groans, "you go."

Evans, an affable Texas oilman, heads down to face the music.

"Campaigns are like the oil bidness," he tells his mutinous team. "You have to drill a lot of dry holes. You don't hit a gusher every time."

The Pioneers look hostile.

Evans tries another tack: "It's like a prizefighter using a lot of energy to knock out an opponent in round one or two, so he doesn't have to fight in round three, four or five."

The Pioneers look more hostile.

Evans drops the metaphors and calls for the martinis.

The Money Guys and Dollar Dolls are in pain. The record-breaking kitty they raised for Junior was supposed to last to the convention and pay to put big dents in Al Gore.

Now they are supposed to raise more to keep W. afloat after New York and California and to trash John McCain.

Before they will scare up another red cent, they demand a reckoning.

Reluctantly, Evans fishes some receipts out of his pocket:

$500,000 to endow the Lee Atwater Chair in Compassionate Conservatism at Bob Jones University.

$500,000 for Catholic bishops' hospitality suite in Detroit.

$2 million to develop a media strategy on how to attract free media like McCain.

$2 million to get creamed in Arizona.

$1.2 million for doughnuts with sprinkles to bribe press.

$1 million to switch the yard signs from Compassionate Conservative to Reformer With Results.

$1 million to trade balloons for confetti like McCain has.

$25 million for ad campaign to create impression W. has the knowledge and experience to be president.

$25 million for ad campaign to create the impression that the spendthrift is a fiscal conservative.

$800,000 for private detectives to hunt for McCain bimbo eruptions and to stake out casinos to catch him shooting craps.

$89.99 for foreign-country flash cards.

$20,000 for de-smirking.

$500,000 donation to 700 Club to get Pat Robertson to record message knocking McCain.

$1 million donation to get him to stop.

$200,000 for little Confederate flags to hand out in Pickens County.

$500 for line of leggy showgirls from Myrtle Beach Crazy Horse nightclub as a thank-you gift to Strom.

The appalled Pioneers realize that no amount of money can make up for what a candidate is missing. They are angry that Junior will not come down to talk about the future terms of his allowance. They resent that he assumes the Pioneers will bail him out, as previous business partners did.

Knocking back martinis, they agree to hang in until March 7.

Evans is relieved, but he knows the Pioneer networks of $1,000 check-writers are almost tapped out. He has secretly drawn up a plan for a new group of fund-raisers: the Wagoneers.

He is also dispatching a testy Bar and a stressed-out Poppy for double shifts on the free-range rubber chicken circuit.

As the Pioneers try to drown their sorrows, soft moans drift down from a corner room upstairs.

-- Vern (bacon17@ibm.net), February 29, 2000.

Pretty good, but I don't think Pat Robertson would endorse anyone for $500,000...or any amount, for that matter.

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), February 29, 2000.

I can't tell you WHY you should vote for ANY of them. This is another, typical US election: THERE IS NO REAL CHOICE HERE.

-- (cashtradr@aol.com), February 29, 2000.

"Always vote for a principle, though you vote alone, and you may cherish the sweet reflection that your vote is never lost. ---John Q. Adams

Vote for Keyes.

-- goldenokie (garland@clnk.com), February 29, 2000.

pro-life / anti-abortion (it's a good thing)

-- cin (cinlooo@aol.com), February 29, 2000.

I've said it and I'll say it againt, vote Alan keyes!

-- ET (bneville@zebra.net), February 29, 2000.

Putting Keyes in the Oval Office would be be much like staking out a goat for the night at a waterhole in the Serengeti. Or letting a five- year old take the track at Darlington. No worries, though. It'll never happen.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), February 29, 2000.

Vern: I'm in Ohio, too. Besides the fact that my husband would KILL me if I voted for McCain (husband is Vietnam vet and knows more about those days in McCain's life than I do), the main reason I find it hard to support him is this: I don't think he can get anything accomplished. For months, I could not understand why the press said that he may not have three friends in the Senate, despite his long tenure there. Then, I tried to force myself to pay attention to politics and noticed that he is not a very nice man. He seems mean and spiteful. These qualities do not lend themselves to getting legislation passed, trying to bring out the best in people, trying to lift everyone up. These are some of the very qualities which I see in Bill Clinton and that is probably why he has been unable to pass many of his own initiatives. Most of what has passed was Republican sponsored and was popular with the public (welfare reform, etc.) Being a nice guy is not a requirement for president, IMHO, but being able to get along with others, compromise, give & take, etc. should be. At least Bush seems to have been able to get things done legislatively in Texas. I'm not certain whom I will vote for yet, Bush or Keyes. BTW: I believe that one of the reasons the economy has hummed along for the last few years is precisely BECAUSE Clinton hasn't been able to pass anything major to screw it up. So being a pain in the ass isn't all bad, I guess.

-- Daisy Jane (deeekstrand@access1.com), March 01, 2000.

Verne,

Like Daisy, I'm also in Ohio. Like her, I did some research. Some of what I found passed the smell test, some didn't. Daisy's post put it well. Also, the more the media has jumped on his wagon, the more wary I've been getting.

Two days back, now, he springs a speech prepared a week back, in part attacking 'religious conservatives', and certainly Robertson and Falwell by name. I'm not a member of either congregation, but that move I did not appreciate. As Daisy almost said, he can (easily) be one mean sonofa*&^%$. He does have a conservative record, as far as that goes. I get the feeling that it's either his way, all the way, or get the *&^% off the train.

The closer this gets (Super Tuesday in Ohio), the more I am reconsidering media reports that the Gore campaign is more worried about McCain that about W. Come to think of it, I haven't heard anything about what rock Carville's been slithering around under for months. Anyhow, could it be that Gore's campaign's fear of McCain is a slick sham? Why not?

-- Redeye in Ohio (not@work.com), March 01, 2000.

Gore fears McCain like Brer Rabbit fears the briar patch.

(For those who don't know the story, Brer Rabbit begged for ANY punishment OTHER than the briar patch. Please, please, don't throw me in that briar patch! ANYTHING but THAT! So, they threw him in the briar patch -- and he made his escape into the thicket he knew so well.)

McCain is the perfect opponent for Gore -- IF he can get him installed by the GOP. In addition to alienating the actual REPUBLICANS, the voters who PUT him in the running would turn around and vote for Gore.

The result? Gore wins by a landslide.

But, it looks like the spiteful bastard has been too clever by half, and has succeeded in outsmarting himself too early in the game. The three Bush wins last night sealed his fate.

Since he's if nothing else predictable, we can look forward to more vituperative, venom, and attacks in the coming days, all of which will accelerate his loserhood.

He's about one tantrum away from ranting and raving some paranoid crap on par with Perot's nonsense about Bush trying to blackmail his daughter with doctored lesbian photos.

Hey, how about that. One Angry Short Man reminds me of another! So it's no surprise that the latest rumors have the two of them joining up after McCrank finishes losing the GOP primaries.

Let me know if anyone reports seeing McCrank storming around with a stack of charts and a pointer.

-- Charles Underwood Farley (chuck@u.farley), March 01, 2000.

Do you think it would help if we flooded the Bush campaign with encouragement to pick Keyes as a running mate? After 8 years as vice he would definitely have the experience to run the country. If that happens we have a positive for 16 years! That is, IF, Keyes would accept the position.

-- Just Curious (jnmpow@flash.net), March 01, 2000.

Oh, LOL, LOL!!!

The image of Keyes tangling with Congress over tiebreaker votes is too precious! I can just see us being favored with 30 second sound bytes of Congressmen and Senators sputtering -- being too flabbergasted by being punctured by Keyes to get anything near intellegible out!

You know, that's not at all a bad idea, that of Keyes for VP. It would cover a lot of bases for W, and let Keyes hammer Congress on its hypocracy while W stays above the fracas. The problem might be that Keyes is not old-power-elite like W is; in other words, little control over him. Those folks do not like lose cannons.

-- redeye in ohio (not@work.com), March 01, 2000.

VERN

---

The votes are in on the TB2000 board, stop pushing McCain, you McCain pimp, you. You're worse than a bible thumper.

-- Guy Daley (guydaley@bwn.net), March 01, 2000.

Uh, Vern, you might want to follow up this link to a FR article I just ran across.

,"John McCain, Warts And All"

-- redeye in ohio (not@work.com), March 01, 2000.

Wow.

-- Charles Underwood Farley (chuck@u.farley), March 01, 2000.

Does "Warts and All" include his follow-up salvo against Robertson and Falwell, calling them "EVIL"?

It seems like McCain's campaign under stress style is becoming: "Open mouth. Insert foot. Shoot self in foot."

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), March 01, 2000.