Anyone but Bush?

Some lines you just don't cross.

About last summer, me and a couple of my friends were sitting around drinking at a bbq and we started playing this stupid game from LiquidGeneration called Who Would You Rather. As the night wore on, it became a rapid fire game, where you had to answer right away. It was stupid and juvenile, I'll admit, but in the end, it taught me a lesson. No matter how objectionable a choice might seem to be, eventually, you can find something seemingly worse.  As days went on, we started to apply it to a lot of other comparisions, and its origins were largely forgotten as it became just something we'd do to pass time while waiting.

Now, with all the discussion of the ABB/ABK syndrome, I got to thinking that perhaps the same principle applies to the political system as well... who would you rather be president.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a big fan of Bush myself, but even I am willing to admit that there are perhaps worse choices than him. The point I am making is that eventually if asked, even the most ardent Bush-haters could probably find a lot of politicians/activists/pundits who they would deem a more objectionable candidate. This applies to the Kerry haters as well. 

For example, for those on the left, if you had to choose between Bush and

Cheney, or 
Ashcroft, or
Rumsfeld, or
Trent Lott. or
Jesse Helms, or
Bill O'Reilly, or
Rush Limbaugh, or
Pat Buchanan, or
Pat Robertson?

would you always pick the latter in the comparisons? I have a feeling that there maybe a line that you just aren't willing to cross. Now, granted, I just chose a group of well-known conservatives, but I think you can see where I am going with this analogy. Now, on the other side of the coin, if Kerry isn't your ideal choice, would you rather have him or

Hilary Clinton, or 
Al Franken, or
Noam Chomsky, or
Al Sharpton. or
Amy Goodman, or
Michael Moore?

I'm pretty sure that Kerry might be less objectionable than some of those choices for a lot of you. But I may be wrong.

11,909 views 23 replies
Reply #1 Top
Very interesting point. I am definately not a anyone but Bush person but I am definatley leaning towards Kerry. As far as Bush or Cheney - Bush hands down - I think Cheney is creepy. The fact that he is a hearbeat away from the presidency is truly scary.
Reply #2 Top
Let's just say this... I am a lot more comfortable with Bush than I would be with someone like Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson and Michael Moore or Bush might be a tossup....
Reply #3 Top
A fun game to play, if nothing else. I like to tease those friends that it is not true that I ma for anyone but Bush. Out of 280 million Americans, there must be at least one million of them who, if they ran against Bush, I would vote for Bush.

Your list of nine would be among them, although Rumsfeld and Robertson would at least make me think. Cheney and Ashcroft would be at the very bottom.

I would definitely agree that Kerry is far from my choice for president, but your list is of options is not very helpful. I suspect that Hilary Clinton would do a very good job, but her mere presence would divide the country. Chomsky would be correct on many issues, but he would not onlu divide the country, he lacks governance skills. Franken and Moore are entertainers, not leaders.

I would be a lot more happy with McCain, whose actions would be a uniting force for the country, and who would probably avoid the sly, underhanded agendas of both the left and the right. If this were a three way race where all three had a chance to win, this one would be a no-brainer.

Reply #4 Top
The "left" on the list are more for people on the right... as the choices are very polarizing. And I chose more than a few entertainers because of just how many entertainers have ended up going into politics(especially on the right given recent political history). And Michael Moore... well, we know what kind of reaction his name gets here. Hilary was a given on the list based on the very division she presents.

Don, who would you say are some people on the left/liberal side that would be worse than Kerry to people who aren't huge Kerry fans?

I wonder how many people who are supporting Kerry would rather have McCain in the race.
Reply #5 Top

It's kind of funny that Bill O'Reilly is now considered a right wing ideologue.   If you think O'Reilly is an extreme right winger then either you don't watch his show or you're soo vastly left that anyone who's not overtly liberal must seem far right.

O'Reily is only conservative on a few issues. He's just loud on them and tends to pick on the far left because right now, they're being more nutty (the nutty right wingers are being generaly quiet).  But during the Clinton years, O'Reilly was all over the far right because they were acting like nuts.

Reply #6 Top
I have to admit that my exposure to Bill O'Reilly has been limited... but not by choice. I never said he was far right... I was dealing with perception on the left about him, not the reality. I will admit he was fresh on my mind after seeing him on the Tim Russert show on Saturday, and he did say some things that surprised me, so I know that he is on some level reasonable. Then he blew up and got a bit petty. He's not just loud... he's seems to be a bit of a bully as well.

Its not just the politics he espouses that would perhaps make Bush preferable to him in someone's mind, its his personality and the techniques he uses as well.
Reply #8 Top
McCain on the Right
Lieberman on the Left



- Grim X
Reply #9 Top
Pat Buchanan


I'm a conservative who lives in a very conservative state....NH.....Pat Buchanan is a very very scary man.
Reply #10 Top
Well, I think more than a few people from both sides of the political spectrum would pick McCain ahead of BOTH current candidates running for office....
Reply #11 Top
It would be one hell of a ticket if it had McCain/Lieberman or Lieberman/McCain.

Somebody would have to pull JC Watts or Condi Rice for part of their ticket on the right to compete with that ticket if it were for the left.

Who would the left use against the that ticket if it were for the right?

- Grim X
Reply #12 Top
The Democratic Party would have to go younger I think... Now I thought you'd go with something like McCain-Guilliani...
Reply #13 Top
Giuliani is good, BUT a Giuliani and McCain ticket might not work, could be too much friction with a New Yorker and an Arizonan.

Though it could be possible, I just want JC Watts on the ticket, for one he is from Oklahoma, two he is popular with Republicans, and three he is a very likeable guy.

Also he is a very good politician and honest.

- GX
Reply #14 Top
But does JC Watts have the visibility to run at a national level?
Reply #15 Top

Reply #13 By: Grim Xiozan - 10/13/2004 10:40:56 PM
Giuliani is good, BUT a Giuliani and McCain ticket might not work, could be too much friction with a New Yorker and an Arizonan.

Though it could be possible, I just want JC Watts on the ticket, for one he is from Oklahoma, two he is popular with Republicans, and three he is a very likeable guy.

Also he is a very good politician and honest


Well the Republicans are going to have to find *somone* to run in 08.
Reply #16 Top
But does JC Watts have the visibility to run at a national level?


Did Cheney?

I am talking about JC Watts as a VP for Guiliani or McCain.
Reply #17 Top
OH!!!!!!!!! I thought you were talking about Watts as a Pres. candidate.

I think Cheney had more of a presence than Watts does....
Reply #18 Top
I think Cheney had more of a presence than Watts does....


It will change the closer you get to 2008 and the RNC starts looking for candidates.

Reply #20 Top
Pat Buchanan


Only if the RNC went off the deep end and needed a loony.

Reply #21 Top
Well, a strategy might be to run him and another more suitable candidate, and let Buchanan take all the heat, leaving the stronger candidate primed to take the Republican nomination and a very favorable comparison.
Reply #22 Top
Good point History.
Reply #23 Top
Not that the Republicans need any help... hehe... after all, the party held the White House two-thirds of the time the past 36 years.