bub

You know that Europeans are much more "pro-obama" than "pro-McCain" (in Italy, Obama would get 70% of the votes while McCain would get 15% of them)

Here's what a newspaper says about McCain chosing Pallin

"The impulsive McCain has perhaps made the decisive mistake

So far, he had succeeded in taking distance from the disastrous results of the Bush administration, and had reduced Obama's advantage in the polls by attacking his image of "star"

But Pallin as VP could be a bad choice:
- McCain said he supported traditional family values like abstinence, but Pallin's daughter is pregnant at 17 yo...
- McCain said Obama has no experience about national security, but chooses a VP that hasn't any experience neither (she recently said she didn't know what was the purpose of a VP)
- Her past isn't very shiny (she took federal funds for local projects...)"

McCain l'impulsif a peut-être commis une bévue décisive - lesoir.be

In fact, we don't care if her daughter is pregnant (that's paradoxal when you are supposed to defend abstinence, but that's her private life) or if her husband was driving drunk a long time ago. What is shocking is that she is a creationist and ultra-religious (she said Iraq was a divine mission!!!). That scares us.

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Arcana XV

It doesn't scares us so much as we don't understand how someone with such extreme (by our standards) views can even be considered for the number two position in the country. Over here, the mere mention of religion in the political arena is often political suicide. This is the one thing that has always puzzled me about the US, this complete obsession with their politicians faith.

Also, the way they put their spouses and children (i mean even their infant sons for chrissakes) on display is completely baffling to me. I can only think of one politician who does that in Europe to some degree and that's Sarkozy l'Américain. And I don't think that his plastering his private life on the cover of ParisMatch and Voici really did him any favors in terms of how the French public perceives him.

But, either way, Palin doesn't scare me any more than GW Bush ever did. I just think the whole thing is one big media circus to be honest. There's very little substance being discussed; candidates are being judged not by their policies and stances on the issues, but by how their children, husbands, wives or pastors behave. It's fun to watch, I suppose, but it's also scary to witness just how shallow the whole process seems from this side of the pond.

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"Yes, but are you a Protestant atheist or a Catholic atheist?".- Northern Irish joke

Infinite Chaos

You would think if the process was much more rigorous that people like GWBush wouldn't get beyond the nominations stage let alone re-elected to the most powerful position in the Western World.

Arcana XV

I also think that Barack Obama, much as I like the man, wouldn't have beat the much more experienced and qualified Hillary Clinton during the primaries.

Tashah

I have to say it, the way national elections are carried out in the US is just plain embarrassing.

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new coup for you

whereas Israeli politics have been really transparent recently.

How many indictments is Olmert under?

Not that he's nearly as quality as Katsav.

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And why does your tone suggest that you do not care about children?

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike.

Tashah

Why are you derailing? This thread - see the title - is about the US elections.

To address it though, Israeli election campaigns are oftentimes embarrassing, but not nearly as bad as the US campaigns.

Arcana XV

To be fair, Italian elections are often full of LOLZ too.

TacticalEvilDan

We reward people for being willing to do whatever it takes to get as many votes as possible, then install them in an office where they have vast amounts of power and a mission that is all but impossible to fullfill, all while oscilating between loving, fearing and hating them.

Frankly, I'm surprised it isn't worse than it already is.

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DURKA DURKA JIHAD

"No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent."
-- Abraham Lincoln

Infinite Chaos

Well, your argument / example defeats itself - the very fact that Olmert is or was under investigation shows a rigorousness missing from US Presidential elections. I would argue that Israeli politics is very transparent in comparison to US politics - however as Tashah pointed out, that is not the issue here.