Ever since Zogby predicted Kerry would easily defeat Bush I no longer have faith in anything he says.

Walker: Ever since Zogby predicted Kerry would easily defeat Bush I no longer have faith in anything he says.

i agree that his record is not good, but he does make a few fair points. and the GOP is definitely waaaaay overreaching, just like it was predicted. and they'll end up with romney, who is a bland, milquetoast candidate who does not excite the base.

/so, can i break out my old "Roll Hemp '96" t-shirt?

The tea party will not fall in line behind Romney. I predict the will front a 3rd party candidate. They consider compromise to be unamerican and have shown they will not bend no matter what. Romney is all compromise.

Anyone who says "it's deja vu all over again", unless his name is Yogi Berra, should be punched.

I've got $20 that says we get a (relatively) serious conservative 3rd party candidate that fractures the Republican base a bit, ala 1992 more than 1996.

Of course, any 3rd party candidate should have his lawyers ready to sue when not invited to a presidential debate, because the Republicans and Democrats have those locked down pretty tight after they saw Perot get some traction in the debates.

//Except for his "Let me finish" moments.
//Bush's rapid eye blinking against Kerry was weird too. I think he was honestly pretty pissed at those times. Or confused...

ddam: meat0918: I've got $20 that says we get a (relatively) serious conservative 3rd party candidate that fractures the Republican base a bit, ala 1992 more than 1996.

Of course, any 3rd party candidate should have his lawyers ready to sue when not invited to a presidential debate, because the Republicans and Democrats have those locked down pretty tight after they saw Perot get some traction in the debates.//Except for his "Let me finish" moments.
//Bush's rapid eye blinking against Kerry was weird too. I think he was honestly pretty pissed at those times. Or confused...

Unless a 3rd party can show that they can get a big enough percentage of popular vote they should not be included in the debate. 3rd parties in the US do not run a complete campaign... they know they can't win and they latch onto one or two topics that are popular at the time while having no platform for the other 1000s items that a president must address.

Or, can they not win because the laws are stacked against them and they have a hell of a time even getting on ballots, let alone being able to drum up enough support because people are perpetually terrified of "the other guy" winning if they don't vote for their least hated major team?

//Hoping for instant run-off voting.

Except that none of these current Republican scumbags are even a quarter of the man Bob Dole was, even without his viagra.

sammyk: The tea party will not fall in line behind Romney. I predict the will front a 3rd party candidate. They consider compromise to be unamerican and have shown they will not bend no matter what. Romney is all compromise.

Wellllll - Willard WAS all compromise - before he was all against it.

Dr Dreidel: sammyk: The tea party will not fall in line behind Romney. I predict the will front a 3rd party candidate. They consider compromise to be unamerican and have shown they will not bend no matter what. Romney is all compromise.

I've been hearing "X will splinter the party, creating a viable 3rd party" since Bush/Gore. (I'm only 30, so some of you may have been hearing for longer).

Ross Perot - a dorky, wonky, previously unknown businessman - made the best gambit yet, and he got 0 electoral votes (19% of the national popular vote).

The Tea Party is what the Moral Majority, The Christian Coalition, and Religious Right are calling themselves these days. No more, no less. Look at their sagging poll numbers - I'd sooner bet that ~50-60% of the freshman Tea Partiers in the House will be voted out.

I'd sooner bet that Obama takes more EC votes than last time.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see 3rd or even 4th-party candidates, but until some known commodity (Jon Stewart ohpleaseohpleaseohplease) runs under his own banner, we're not getting a 3rd party.

Stop wishing in one hand; the pile in your other hand is starting to affect the tides.

I think you might have misunderstood me. I am not a tea party supporter and I do agree that they will see loses in the House. They are still a viable ticket though due to them being made up of the groups you mentioned. That is precisely why I think there will be a TP candidate for president. It's not just politics to them. Many TP'ers see it as a mission from good to save the country from evil.

The biggest problem the TP has right now is big business. Over the summer we have seen the TP hold the economy hostage over the budget and debt limit. That has done a lot of damage to the stock markets. Take a closer look at the earnings reports from the big banks. They all seemed to be doing better. But if you look close the global banking and markets divisions all lost money. That is directly related to the performance of the markets. Those divisions are normally the cash cow. I am betting there is going to be a metric fark ton of money going against the TP members that threw the biggest tantrums. Corps don't give a damn about social issues and these useful idiots are going to be disposed of.

Boxcutta: sammyk: The tea party will not fall in line behind Romney. I predict the will front a 3rd party candidate. They consider compromise to be unamerican and have shown they will not bend no matter what. Romney is all compromise.

I have predicted this. Either Romney is the nominee and the far right splinters and runs someone else or Cain is the nominee and the racists run someone else. Either way, I'm ok with this.

While it would be nice to guarantee that the Republicans don't get the presidency, the Romney voters + the 3rd party voters would all show up and vote in Republican congressmen en masse. You want them to run Romney and no third party, to suppress their turnout.