Dennis 4 President

[emzy1985]

Now I only know a little about US politics but I know that if I was an American I'd probably be a democrat. What do you lot think of this guy? I read somewhere that he is vegan and from his replies on CNN (a you tube video I watched) it would do the world a huge favour if he were to become president. Any bad press for this guy? I got my info from vegan.com and dennis4president.com

[aubergine]

For all the good he could do it's still technically impossible for anyone other than the two main parties to gain presidency because you can only vote for your own local candidate. If everyone in the country voted for the same people as opposed to a per state vote then the results could be much fairer. As it is a third party would need candidates to be elected in many states and thefore independants can never win.

At least that's how I understand it.

[emzy1985]

For all the good he could do it's still technically impossible for anyone other than the two main parties to gain presidency because you can only vote for your own local candidate. If everyone in the country voted for the same people as opposed to a per state vote then the results could be much fairer. As it is a third party would need candidates to be elected in many states and thefore independants can never win.

At least that's how I understand it.

I thought he was a democrat? Proportional representation is what pre WW2 Germany used and it is the most advanced and fair way to vote. However it will never occur here as in which case Labour would not be in a majority and would probably have to form a coalition government. What fun that would be ay?

[aubergine]

I thought he was a democrat?

It appears so, but the reason I mentioned independants is that every election there are hopes pinned on someone who will never make it to the White House and it's a shame.


However it will never occur here as in which case Labour would not be in a majority and would probably have to form a coalition government. What fun that would be ay?

We can dream :)

[RMS]

Third party candidates do show up on our ballots, as long as that party is registered/recognized in the state. Most states regulate ballot access by petition. Many third party candidates accept the nomination of a variety of like-minded parties, in order to gain country-wide ballot access (such as the Green Party, the Reform Party, the Working Families Party, the Socialist Party ...).

[bryzee86]

Wow this guy so should be president! However, he has to get throught the democrat primaries to be their candidate - and that seems very unlikely with Clinton seemingly sailing to victory.

Shame really.

[snivelingchild]

Great guy. Really the only one I'd want running the country. Just a look at his voting record makes me smile.

[emzy1985]

I wish we had someone like him in the UK. Instead we have an unelected fool of a prime minister and although I'm a lefty I can't stand Labour, hate the conservatives ( want to repeal the hunting act/ section 28 etc) and the lib dems are really pro Europe which I am not. I think we should all join forces and start our own polictical party. Vegan Forum Party lol

[BlackCats]

I wish we had someone like him in the UK. Instead we have an unelected fool of a prime minister and although I'm a lefty I can't stand Labour, hate the conservatives ( want to repeal the hunting act/ section 28 etc) and the lib dems are really pro Europe which I am not. I think we should all join forces and start our own polictical party. Vegan Forum Party lol

I don't think we would get much done as a party, we would all be chatting on VF all day and not making any policy ha ha.:p

I prefer Lib Dem/ Green party to anyone else but my local area only has a choice between BNP and Labour.:rolleyes:

I signed something yesterday on the street to get fox hunting banned.

[emzy1985]

I signed something yesterday on the street to get fox hunting banned.

They should ban all hunting and fishing...but hey we are vegan...what else are we supposed to think?

Well I live in a majority Labour area and I haven't had the chance to vote yet here but I'm sure it will be greens, Labour, tories or Lib Dems as its a pretty big town.

[bryzee86]

Well we moved from a Conservative area with a lib dem councillor to an area with a lib dem council, lib dem councillor and lib dem MP. All in all, I'm just happy that conservative are 3rd and that there are no fascists. Though I do like a good protest...

[RMS]

Wow this guy so should be president! However, he has to get throught the democrat primaries to be their candidate - and that seems very unlikely with Clinton seemingly sailing to victory.

Shame really.

That's exactly the issue - as we gear up for primaries, he's running as a major party candidate which is an impossible win (but don't count on Hil just yet - front runners in the Dem party have a way of falling apart when there's no incumbant). This election cycle should be good fun ;). I have to say, there's almost always someone running I can get behind - it's just getting everyone else behind them that seems to be the problem.

So I'd like to say go Dennis! Our primary is in two months ...

I like all this talk about UK politics - I have no idea how things really work over there ... keep the info coming!

[emzy1985]

We have three main parties. Liberal Democrats, New Labour and Conservatives. Lib Dems have never been in power. Wales & Scotland have some different parties and I think the Scottish National Party are in power in Scotland at the moment. What do you wanna know about British politics?

[Fuhzy]

The media will never let Kuninich win...

[emzy1985]

The media will never let Kuninich win...

Elaborate....

[cruelkitti]

yeah, I saw that video where Kucinich was feeding turkeys for Thanksgiving and he said "imagine a white house where we eat tofurkey on Thanksgiving"

Even aside from being vegan he sounds pretty awesome. It's really depressing that he probably won't win. :(

I even took this quiz, and Dennis and I agree on a lot of other issues, too. He's my buddy, he just doesn't know it.
It's a pretty awesome quiz, even though I wish there were more options sometimes...but for the most part, it's accurate.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/candidate-match-game.htm

[aubergine]

...Lib Dems have never been in power...

Although they haven't their predecessors the Liberals have had a number of terms in power. I think it would be difficult for them to do a worse job than the big two. Labour are dismantling our freedoms at a furious pace and the Conservatives have never been a party of the people. Their 'green and fair' facade of present is farcical.

[BlackCats]

Hey cruelkitti - when I did that quiz I was matched up with Rudy Giuliani. I think I didn't understand a couple of questions though, I should have paid attention in my American Politics classes at uni.:o

(I don't know why I'm saying matched up, it's not a dating site.:rolleyes:)

[bryzee86]

We have three main parties. Liberal Democrats, New Labour and Conservatives. Lib Dems have never been in power. Wales & Scotland have some different parties and I think the Scottish National Party are in power in Scotland at the moment. What do you wanna know about British politics?

Lib Dems have been in power - though last in about 1911 I think. They introduced the pension, funeral plans and social welfare.

[cruelkitti]

LOL!!! in a game show host kinda voice: CONGRATULATIONS, APHRODITE, YOU'VE WON A NIGHT ON THE TOWN WITH RUDY GIULIANI!! (turns to the audience) WILL HE GET APHRODITES' VOTE? (wink wink)

yeah, they could've been clearer on the questions, and I didn't like some of the options they gave...

[BlackCats]

Ha ha.:p What do ppl generally think of Rudy? He was supposed to have been popular wasn't he?

Also what is it like being in a country with Dubya as president?:D

[bryzee86]

I got Mike Gravel, then Dennis. Though I would have to vote for Dennis if I could.

[cruelkitti]

People LOVE Rudy...well at least the people of New York, but in general, I've only heard good press.

It sucks pretty bad (livin' under dubya)...whenever I watch one of his bullshit speeches, it feels like one of my illiterate, sawed-off shotgun-totin' neighbors somehow became president and is puffing their chest out in ignorant pride.

[BlackCats]

Must be bad.:mad: When is he going to be kicked out anyway?

[Fuhzy]

Elaborate....

From what I have seen here living in the US, it's the M&M's of politics, the candidate with the Money and the Media gets the presidency.

I am willing to bet more than half of democrats would vote for Kucinich but they don't know anything about him. Why? The media will only give showing to the candidates they like, Clinton, Obama, and sometimes Edwards. Nobody even knows who Kucinich is, even though he is more of a democrat than the others. In the last CNN debate he was given 6 MINUTES of talk time in a 2 HOUR debate...