United States presidential election 2012

[nordwulf]

I don't know much about politics and haven't been following it much. Just a few news articles here and there and a few snippets of the debates on TV. It's a lively topic at the office and pretty much anywhere else so I think it'll be interesting to hear what the point of view is from Saab enthusiasts. Are Saabers Democrats or Republicans?

Non-USA citizens often have a strong view about this is as well so it'll be interesting to hear the views from around the world. I sometimes get more relevant news from the Dutch news sites than from the ones in the US.

[SaabKen]

As far as I'm concerned as a Canadian, even the US left (Dem) is about in-line with our current federal party in power (Conservatives) if not even a bit further right than us. For me, I base my decision of US president (even though I'm not voting) on his/her character and personal and political history more than the party-at-large. Because at the end of the day, the gazillions of initiatives, policies etc. that come into play after an election is controlled at the Congress' levels anyway (or should I say by lobbyists ? ).

So in this case I'm with Obama.

[SaabKen]

Did anyone watch The Choice 2012 that aired on Tuesday night ? I sure learned a lot about each of Obama and Romney:

[tunnanxwd]

One thing I think is relative, though you will never see it addressed, is that as a Mormon, you would not be allowed to enter a Mormon church ... period ... even if say your daughter is getting married to a Mormon fellow. I have a problem with such exclusive practices and it wasn't till the 1970 that they even let Blacks join the church. I have been in just about every other type of house of worship under the sun but this burns my Constitutional buns.

Some temples have a separate building with glass overlooking the altar area of the church so you can see your kid get married but not be "in" the building. This strikes me as evil as the caste system of India or the KKK. Sorry, my minor was the sociology of religion and I guess I was "trained or conditioned" to react to such issues.

Obama? Another product of the Chicago political machine; corrupt as bad as it comes.

[rpiereck]

I think once again we're choosing the lesser of two evils, it's been this way for many elections. I don't particularly like either party, as some of my political views line up with Democrats, some line up with Republicans, so I can't commit one way or another. On the last election I voted for McCain, on this elections I will vote for Obama. And don't get me wrong, I don't think Obama is a great President, but I believe Romney will be worse.

[Dave T]

When there are millions of voters, one vote doesn't seem to count. With the electoral college system of voting, it is even worse. One's vote for President doesn't seem to matter unless one is in Florida or Ohio. I don't feel that my vote counts at all, particularly in the Presidential race, though I go through the motions of marking a ballot.

In terms of being hip, certain politicians are better at it. President Obama is clearly better at this. Jack Layton, the recently deceased leader of the NDP in Canada is similarly hip. Stephen Harper is not. The fact that his hair is strange and doesn't move doesn't help his image. But, if one is in Canada, one doesn't vote for Jack Layton or Stephen Harper. One votes for their member of parliament, so it's a race between a bunch of unknowns. In Quebec, some NDP candidates were very young, had no political experience, and clearly riding on the wave of Jack Layton. Not all are unknowns. In the southern part of Vancouver, near Richmond, there were plenty of signs on Granville Street, a major street, so one knew that Mr. Dosanjh, formerly a big shot in British Columbia provincial politics, was running in a close re-match against Wai Young.

On the subject of cars, President Obama used to drive a Chrysler 300M, a gangsta car. Some pointed out that it was a gas guzzler, so he replaced it with a Ford Escape SUV hybrid before the last election. I'm not sure what Mitt Romney drives but as a teenager, his father didn't think he should have a fancy car or a fancy version of a car (Aero version of a Saab????) so he got a Mercury Comet (equivalent to today's Ford Focus).

What I want to know is why isn't Saab a campaign issue? After all, the federal government owns a substantial portion of GM. The government could have, in the interest of saving lots of Saab dealership jobs, Saab Cars North America, advertising agency jobs, the Saab-American Axle collaboration, and many Saab drivers' fears, told GM to stop putting roadblocks on the sale of Saab or, before that, some joint ventures. After all, the 9-3 is considered an old car and not a threat to Ford or GM. If GM wanted to hide 9-5 secrets, that's potentially different. But refusing to give the ok to license some old technology, like the 9-3 oil filter or the 9-3 fender is just mean.

[tunnanxwd]

Dave, my "insider" and fairly high in the auto industry took a look at this (he has been retired for a few years now), and believes that GM was told by China to back off if they wanted to keep their Buick being imported, they are a dictatorial and with the growth of China and GM hanging in by it's bootstraps they caved in. We here think of "The Big Three", but China has over 100 companies who make cars. GM is in big trouble and as you and my relative pointed out .... it's not rocket science. Just as the Euro's have dug in heels with anti-US sentiment? Heck 25 years ago my "cousin" and I were conspiring to import Corvettes and other "muscle" to Scandinavia, they loved the stuff but today it's taboo. It's not about quality, it's survival and market share. It is not about "factory jobs" but it is about keeping money within a country (wages and profits).

Vote? I will probably pass since the issues are not what drives either machine. My take on this is that Romney does not expect to get elected, note that they hardly spend a dime on TV or radio ads. I think they will take a hard shot at the Senate and then the presidential chair in 4 years.

Just look at a simple issue. Obama is soft on "illegal immigrants" because they will vote Dem but Romney is soft on them (as is Chris Christie), because they work for sub standard wages in what remains of our manufacturing and send money out of the country. And no, the old line "your grandparents were illegal" .... there were no immigration laws back in the early 1900's except for some health standards but back then the factories were booming; factories that are now empty.

There is not a soul that I can, in good conscience, vote for.

[SaabKen]

There is not a soul that I can, in good conscience, vote for.

I beg to differ !!!

[Dave T]

and believes that GM was told by China to back off if they wanted to keep their Buick being imported, they are a dictatorial and with the growth of China and GM hanging in by it's bootstraps they caved in. We here think of "The Big Three", but China has over 100 companies who make cars.
.

I thought that the mainland Chinese government had to approve sending money. If they didn't like Youngman, they could have vetoed it.

I beg to differ !!!

There is always the write in opportunity. In some local elections, there may be only one person running. If that is the case, it is a splendid opportunity for write in votes! Anyone for Brad Pitt, Victor Mueller, or Lady Gaga?

[rpiereck]

Back in Brazil we once had an election for mayor in Rio de Janeiro where all the candidates were horrible, it was like choosing between poop, shit or turd... so a local TV comedy show started campaigning one of Rio zoo's most famous monkeys, a huge orangutan. Well, guess what? The orangutan had enough write-in votes to come in second place on the election! So Rio the Janeiro almost had a monkey for a mayor! (well, the human who actually got elected was just a few IQ points smarter than the orangutan!)