i have to wonder how much my neighbor's way of thinking permeates the electorate...

[dysfunctional press]

we always play our dogs together, and get a chance to talk while they do...

this morning he was bemoaning how neither barack or hillary seem to be able to knock the other out of the race- and to him, it seems like either one of them may come out of the primary too damaged to beat mccain...and here's the troubling part- he said that if it seems like the Dem nominee couldn't win, that he'd have to vote for mccain. :crazy: i asked him why the idea of who the ultimate winner would be would affect who he would vote for- why wouldn't you vote for the candidate you actually prefer...? (especially since he claims to be sick of the bullshit in d.c., and really wanting fundamental and overall change)
he didn't have an answer for that.
But- he's a big sports nut, baseball, golf and football being his favorites- but he's just a big sports nut, as are a lot of his other friends. i'm not. and with his whole sport-centered mentality, his emphasis is wanting to be on the "winning side"...it makes no sense to me, but to him it does, and i have to wonder to what percentage of the electorate does "being on the winning side" matter most when casting their ballots?

[iamjoy]

1. Giants or Patriots

Did he root for the Giants or Patriots going into this year's Super Bowl? The Patriots were the heavy favorites, so, if a sports fan with no team allegiance and only a desire to root for the winner had aligned themselves accordingly, they would have been in for a big disappointment on February 3.

If on the other hand, they bucked the trend and rooted for the Giants...how sweet that victory was.

However, we are not talking about a sporting event, we are talking about the future of our nation and this is no time to follow trends.

[dysfunctional press]

6. different situation...

first of all, we're in chicagoland, so neither of us really cared about the game, and neither of us watched it.
BUT- we were both hoping for new york to win, because neither of us wanted the pats or brady to have their "perfect season". so yeah, it felt good in that respect.

but it definitely wasn't glee over the giants winning, as much as it was schadenfreude over the patriots losing. people from chicago don't generally find happiness in ny teams victories.

[Deep13]

2. That's the whole basis for "momentum." nt

[LisaM]

3. The sports metaphor is interesting. I am a huge sports fan myself

But I get really dismayed by the winner-take-all mentality (fed, watered, and nourished by ESPN). I'll give you an example, NCAA football. For years, the bowl system worked beautifully, and there were 26 happy schools at the end of the year. But ESPN got it into their bean that there HAS to be a national championship game. Of course, the bowls and the cities that host them don't want to give up the (working) system, but now it's somehow become a crisis where we have to have this BS game at the end of the year, and college football is somehow "broken" if they don't have a tournamanet with an ultimate winner (never mind that the logistics are practically impossible, and that the system worked fine to begin with).

Tell your neighbor that this is more like the NASCAR model, where the drivers just pile up points during the year (and, as in Obama's case, sometimes you don't even win and you get more points than the other one!)

[jobycom]

4. I'm still trying to figure out a coworker who couldn't decide between Obama and Thompson.

I can't even imagine what the two have in common, although my friend swears they are a lot alike. They both are plain speakers, he says. He heard Obama say the old cliche about everyone deserving the same type of health coverage that Congress gets, and it was the first time he had heard it, so it got him all excited. Meanwhile, he heard Thompson say the government should stop spending our money, and he thought that was brilliant. When I ask him if he thinks the two views are contradictory, he says no. He's a very smart guy, too.

The good news is that since Thompson dropped out, he's a complete Obamaton (no offense to Obama, but he is!). He hates McCain so much he'll probably vote Dem no matter which candidate wins. Then again, he may decide that Nader is like Obama and Thompson, so who knows?

I sometimes thing that the worst aspect of democracy is that everyone gets to vote.

I've seen people with that "winning side" mentality. The Republicans count on it. That's why they constantly declare they will "win," whether it's a campaign, a war, or one of their many, many criminal trials.

[aquart]

7. Yes. Everyone gets to vote.

Which is why candidates frequently say things you don't like to appeal to those other guys who are allowed to vote.

Which is why no one should ever listen to campaign anything.

And it's also why that even if your dream candidate gets in, you will NOT get what you want, because those other guys want something else, they think. Tyranny is swift and easy, only one opinion to consider and get it done or die. Democracy...slow, cumbersome, irritating, and not even the least bit fair.

[aquart]

5. He'd HAVE to vote for McCain if McCain was going to win anyway?

So he'll vote whichever way the polls go. So what are you worried about? He's making sure that his vote means nothing, lost in the crowd. If the Democrat is high in the polls in November, that's how he'll vote.

Nothing right now means a damn thing. We haven't had our first bank failure yet. We are going to be living in interesting times.

[lyonn]

8. Remind your friend of who will run the Justice Dept. under any Repub

Then there is nominations to the Supreme Court; Dept. of State, Defense, Ambassadors - you get the idea.

[dysfunctional press]

9. oh, i have...but it just doesn't matter to him.

in regard to the scotus, he just says that he doubts that he'd ever have to take anything to the supreme court, so what does he care...? :banghead:

[lyonn]

10. Let's hope he sticks to sports and stays away from the polling booth

Just kidding but makes ya wonder about the whole concept......

[rurallib]

11. Tell him Obama can still drain the three

And he'd kick McSame's ass in 1 on 1 or any game he wants.

[dysfunctional press]

12. i wouldn't be so sure about that...

mccain is probably the worst-case-scenario for our side, as far as potential repug candidates were concerned.
and shrillary didn't do obama any favours by giving mccain the hammer to beat him over the head with.

[Xithras]

13. Humans are social animals. We don't want to be in the losing group.

Basic human psychology. We don't like losing. We may do so gracefully, but nobody actually likes it. The easiest way to avoid losing is to back the person or group most likely to win.

Humans are, we think, the only creatures on Earth that take joy in another persons accomplishments, and feel grief for another persons failures. That empathy is part of what makes us human. We want to feel joy, so we often avoid those with little chance of winning.

As someone else pointed out, this is where that whole "momentum" thing comes from. Whether we like it or not, there are a LOT of people like your neighbor in this country.

[dysfunctional press]

19. which is also why fat tony and the supremes had to stop the florida vote count-

because it would have made the guy they were installing look like a loser in the eyes of the voting public, and that could not be allowed to happen.

viva bush.

[KelleyKramer]

14. Does he have a favorite sports team?

Say his favorite team has a game this Saturday.. and it looks pretty clear that they are going to lose.. does that mean he is going to go to the game and yell and cheer for the other team?

I dont think that would make him a 'winner' ... actually, it would more likely make him a quitter.

Just sayin

[dysfunctional press]

17. it's ironic you should mention that...mostly because of who his favorite team is-

and he even has the logo painted on the bottom of his pool...

[librechik]

15. since hes' a sports nut, why doesn't he bet it all on the black guy?

I would, in his position, especially given the competition.

I thought that was simply a given in the sports world.

[Stinky The Clown]

16. Many people vote based on stupid reasons and intangibles .....

..... the **last** reason for most people these days to pick a candidate is policy statements.

Look at Obama and Clinton. Its all about 'feelings'. Change. Trust. Experience. Sympathy. Empathy. Etc. Policy is an also ran.

And **that** is why Republicans win and **that** is why this campaign will be bloody and **that** is why we can't take the high road.

[dysfunctional press]

18. taking the low road against a former p.o.w. is going to be fraught with peril

especially one that CHOSE to remain a p.o.w., when given a chance to be released earlier than those who had been there longer.

luckily, he's managed to dirty himself up some since embarking on his political career, and that's the stuff we'll hopefully be able to make hay with.

[Stinky The Clown]

20. He's a former POW, not a saint

As you say: "he's managed to dirty himself up some ....... "

I'd say its way more than 'some'.

Also, his health really ought to be an issue. He has chronic problems that will not get better with age.

[dysfunctional press]

21. and some of those health issues(not the cancer) stem from his time/treatment as a p.o.w....

which comes back to why some of the possible routes of attack might backfire.

but there's still plenty of stuff to nail him with- ethics lapses and hypocricy, keating 5, fathering a black child( :sarcasm: ), etc...