<p>At my school I'd say the vast majority have some interest in the election. However, the problem we have here is that I come from one of the most liberal towns in one of the most liberal states in the country and because of that everyone agrees meaning you really can't have a productive political discussion...</p>
<p>My AP Gov class consists of myself and five other kids -- three conservatives, a libertarian, and me. We're all really well-informed about politics so the discussions and debates are a lot of fun. But I'm pretty sure that we're the only six kids in the entire senior class that actually care.</p>
<p>Hardly anyone in my school likes Obama, but everyone hates Hillary. Not many kids actually follow politics. In fact, there's a good chance half of the student body wouldn't know whether or not Hillary is a Democrat. </p>
<p>It sucks to be the only politically active liberal in the class. If someone brings up abortion anywhere, I'm screwed.</p>
<p>I'm surprised how much people know and care about politics at my school, It's a good thing. Basically everyone is for Obama because I go to school in Massachusetts :P</p>
<p>Hmm...I know the seniors in the Politics class do. My history class pays attention as well, since our teacher likes to talk about it. Outside of those and maybe some other AP/Honors history classes, not a lot of people pay attention. I think of all the classes, the seniors are most attentive (probably because they can vote).</p>
<p>I don't really know much in the way of politics, and I don't have a particular stance (such as democratic or republican) but I've learned a lot this year, and it's interesting. I might end up taking that Politics class...</p>
<p>i go to the most liberal high school on the face of the planet. it's an inner-city public school (though in a high-end part of town) and EVERYONE is a hippie. it is probably 38% very liberal, 50% liberal, 10% moderate, and 2% any form of conservative.</p>
<p>there is one evangelical christian. everyone knows him and likes to debate with him for fun.. that's how liberal my school is.</p>
<p>edit: i'll add that the evangelical christian's parents are hippies, he is just self-proclaimed "saved".</p>
<p>The political spectrum at my school is very intense and knowledgable, yet it disgusts me.</p>
<p>Most of the kids are your typical, zealous Obama supporters because he's "hip" and liberal.</p>
<p>There's a small faction of Hillary supporters who voted for her in the school's mock election, but they keep quiet about it. I wonder why...</p>
<p>Then you have the REALLY pretentious overachievers who think they know more than anyone else about politics because they are in Model UN and therefore go against the grain of the brainless masses by supporting Mitt Romney for no apparent reason whatsoever.</p>
<p>The only students who are both savvy and clear-minded are the Ron Paul supporters and the McCain supporters. Unfortunately, the Paul supporters are too idealist for their own good.</p>
<p>McCain '08!</p>
<p>McCain is an idiot. He has served the coutry well but is not fit at all to be president. My mother's friend knows him and says that he has fits of anger and is crazy. This is from a high up navy officer. </p>
<p>Not treating it as a joke, torture does things to people. NO ONE can come out of years of torture and be unscathed enough to be president of the most powerful nation in the world. </p>
<p>How can someone like that support the war when he knows firsthand the hideousness that war brings? How can he knowingly subject our soldiers to torture? We can not and should not impose our way of life on other people. The people in Iraq do not want a democracy and if they do it is not our problem to give them one, especially at a time like this.</p>
<p>Hillary is too fake and political in the deragatory way. She can not beat McMain in the general election as shown by the polls. She is also amazingly polarizing. The nation can not undergo presidents named in successsion: Bush, Clinton, Bush then Clinton. America is not a monarchy. It can not be true that the people most compentent of leading us out of a nation of millions can be found in two families.</p>
<p>McCain will be like Bush. IDIOT.</p>
<p>OBAMA is nothing but positive and will bring change. He also does not have experience of screwing things up. </p>
<p>OBAMA 08!</p>
<p>^^ LOL
2 posts above, I read McCain '08, and then read McCain is an idiot. lulz to transition.</p>
<p>Anyways, my school is pretty active in politics. Most follow politics. They know the basics. Some know exactly whats going on, and some are clueless.</p>
<p>Btw, economics is gonna be everything in the next presidential election. So it comes down to who knows their econ better.
Obama has experience, as he did Economics at Harvard
But Hillary seems to know what shes doing because she believes in gov. intervention, and is against the free-market. In our situation the gov. should intervene, so you never know. Plus she has a $1.3 billion (somewhere around there) budget to fight the reccesion (which I believe we're in already)
Im clueless on McCain, so no comment.</p>
<p>Why is everyone judging Obama supporters so harshly? Not all of us like him because he's "hip."</p>
<p>agree with everything pseudoreal said</p>
<p>OBAMA 08! YES WE CAN! =]</p>
<p>
[quote]
McCain is an idiot. He has served the coutry well but is not fit at all to be president. My mother's friend knows him and says that he has fits of anger and is crazy. This is from a high up navy officer. </p>
<p>Not treating it as a joke, torture does things to people. NO ONE can come out of years of torture and be unscathed enough to be president of the most powerful nation in the world. </p>
<p>How can someone like that support the war when he knows firsthand the hideousness that war brings? How can he knowingly subject our soldiers to torture? We can not and should not impose our way of life on other people. The people in Iraq do not want a democracy and if they do it is not our problem to give them one, especially at a time like this.</p>
<p>Hillary is too fake and political in the deragatory way. She can not beat McMain in the general election as shown by the polls. She is also amazingly polarizing. The nation can not undergo presidents named in successsion: Bush, Clinton, Bush then Clinton. America is not a monarchy. It can not be true that the people most compentent of leading us out of a nation of millions can be found in two families.</p>
<p>McCain will be like Bush. IDIOT.</p>
<p>OBAMA is nothing but positive and will bring change. He also does not have experience of screwing things up. </p>
<p>OBAMA 08!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Don't accuse someone of being an idiot and then spell country, derogatory, and competent wrong; it reflects poorly on you (but the irony is wonderful!)</p>
<p>The rest of your post makes no real point (demagoguery does not an argument make) and frankly reflects the viciousness of your "arguments". That McCain was tortured should, in and of itself, be a non-factor. The question to ask is how has it affected his leadership and his decision making skills, a question thoroughly answered by his own actions as the senior senator from Arizona. Even though the Vietnamese tortured him and his comrades in arms during the war, it was John McCain who spear-headed the normalization of relations with the Communist nation during the 1990s, even as the scars of his torture still pain him to this day. </p>
<p>I too have friends who have worked closely with Senator McCain and they describe him as an intensely principled and magnanimous man. When my mother's boss's daughter (who was an intern with McCain back in the late 80s) became deathly ill several years ago, Senator McCain personally visited her in the hospital and offered her words of kindness and sympathy. </p>
<p>The bulk of your response walks the fine line between idiotic and insulting, between libelous and vacuous, between shallow and malicious. Please don't besmirch the character and honor of a real American hero, whose pride in his nation stems not from the successes she has afforded him, but the principles with which she was founded and the glorious deeds she has perpetrated, with petty and petulant claims. Dont further the destructive politics of old, as the Obamessiah himself has said, by launching baseless attacks that amount to little more than hearsay. We as a nation deserve better. </p>
<p>McCain 08
.</p>
<p>As to the spelling errors, I am a ninth grader trying to type a little fast so maybe a few typos and the mispelling of derOgatory does not reflect too much on my intelligence but more maybe on my age, haste or lack of a spell check. That should not be a factor for you to judge the validity of my arguments.</p>
<p>Obama speaks very well but I do not see him to be a demagogue in the derOgatory sense. He comes off to me as the most educated and also seems to have the most common sense. </p>
<p>The comment about McCain being an idiot may be a little harsh but I am frustrated that people continue to choose people like Huckabee or Kucinich at all. I have gotten to used to arguing with some of my friends where the winner is the one with the most insults.</p>
<p>I believe McCain has served the country well but I do not believe that should affect his bid for presidency. A wounded soldier in the war we give a medal and honor with our respect, not by appointing them to leadership positions. </p>
<p>I cannot see why McCain would want to stay in Iraq. I think I might be misquoting that he would stay there 100 years if he had to. </p>
<p>I see McCain's campaign as an extension of the Bush tenure of absolute insanity. Bush I am sure is an IDIOT. No, I will not take that one back. I truly think he is stupid, not just because the way he speaks. It is because what he says and does. I am amazed that we have elected him as our president and that he was able to fool the 'majority' of us. </p>
<p>I also see McCain as someone who takes his values out of his faith which I, being an atheist, am against. </p>
<p>He is also against choice which I totally disagree with him. The choice both of gays to get married and of pregnant women to have an abortion. This seems to me to be totally ignorant and backwards. He also opposes govt. funding of sexual education. </p>
<p>I still maintain my claim that no one being tortured as McCain was will be unscathed enough to be president. I am not trying to besmirch his character I just think that he would not make a good president. </p>
<p>Obviously McCain would not have a public anger fit while visiting a hospital. I mean come on. But my reference knows McCain on a probably more private level. </p>
<p>I hope my attacks aren't baseless anymore. </p>
<p>OBAMA FTW > McCain FTL</p>
<p>P.S. I am looking into reading some Nietzsche soon. What do you recommend I start with. Thus Spoke or....</p>
<p>Hehe. I love cyber-debates. :)</p>
<p>Wasn't that easier? All you had to say is that you support Obama because you are a social and economic progressive. That's in and of itself the best argument for supporting Obama; you agree with him on the issues. You don't have to justify your admiration for him in other terms; he is the most liberal senator in the US and since you seem to be an authentic atheistic liberal, he's clearly your best choice. That's fine. In fact, that shows a level of political sophistication that usually escapes the vast majority of Americans. You support Obama because of a fundamental ideological connection you have made with that subset of American political thought; your ideology guides your voting preferences, not the other way around. And that's the way it should be. Vote and act based on your principles, not how "hip" a candidate is or how he will "change America." You have a certain set of beliefs that ideologically correspond pretty closely to Obama. That's wonderful; I wish I had more of an ideological connection to any candidate this year (FTR, I'm a atheistic neo-libertarian whose political hero is Barry Goldwater, so there is almost no one in American politics who reflects my positions at all.) I'm not going to get into your specific positions and platforms; just take it that we probably disagree on nearly everything. I don't feel like arguing about policy differences-that's another argument for another time- but I do most assuredly respect your rights to disagree with me. I'm sorry if I came off a little harsh earlier, it's just I so despise un-intellectual evaluations of political issues, and the vast majority of Obama supporters I have come across have been into just that, but I realize that there is substance behind your beliefs, so all the better.</p>
<p>Oh, and FTR, the spelling thing was mostly a gut response to the accusations you leveled against McCain for being stupid. I don't think you're dumb at all, I just thought it was ironic that in a piece lambasting McCain's supposed ignorance you make several elementary spelling errors (you know, something about people in glass houses and stones). All in good jest, I assure you.</p>
<p>McCain 08</p>
<p>As for Nietzsche, I would start with one of his books of aphorisms to see if you really dig his philosophy (The Twilight of the Idols is both profound and hilarious). If you want hardcore Nietzsche, with all of the arrogance and brilliance in full display, I would read The Antichrist. Made me an atheist. But Zarathustra is an excellent book and is a wonderful read if you get a good translation. I used Walter Kaufmann's wonderful translation and it was great, but I have friends who've used other translations (Common's I think) and hated it. The translation is very important.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Bush I am sure is an IDIOT. No, I will not take that one back. I truly think he is stupid, not just because the way he speaks. It is because what he says and does.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Your specific citations of evidence supporting this claim are truly astounding. I am utterly convinced you must know exactly what you are talking about.</p>
<p>No one really paid any attention until a few days before Super Tuesday, and most just jumped on the Obama bandwagon (I suspect because it is cool and they haven't really considered that they may not be a liberal). I live in New York. There are a few intelligent Obama supporters (These happen to be the ones who are actual liberals/socialists) but the majority look for superficial qualities. There are a few Hillary supporters, but to be honest, from my experience of the ones who reluctantly or accidently let it slip that they are Hillary supporters, they seem to be really uneducated and simple minded on the issues. They may have done, perhaps, 30 seconds of research AT MOST. A handful of Paul supporters that I know about (I wish there were more), but these people seem to have at least a reasonable understanding of the issues.</p>
<p>@indiejimmy</p>
<p>Cool. You must have seen one of his speeches or even met him (I hope not for your sake.)</p>
<p>My evidence - our country.</p>
<p>BTW problem with No Child Left Behind - why try and get the dumb kids up while keeping the smart ones mum. I say raise the bar/learning for all. Do not let idiots drag some of the gifted down.</p>
<p>He also not just frequently but usually misuses words. An act forgivable if only done infrequency. </p>
<p>His reaction to the 9/11 crisis is priceless. He kept on reading. Yes, kept on reading. I mean what is a president to do in an important disaster like that. I mean come on people he is only a president don't try to judge him too hard. </p>
<p>He is also EXTREMELY religious (this is just an assumption) and this is another turn off. </p>
<p>He also did not win the election. **** the electoral vote. Why should some one in Alaska's vote be more important than someone in California. And believe me, it does.</p>
<p>The electoral college is as valid a part of our Republic as are free elections. It is the basis of the represnetational nature of government. It assures that the small states will not be ignored and will not be punished for their size. It was enacted as part of the Great Comprimise that left us with a bicameral legislative body; it gives protected powers to each state and protected influence. We are not, contrary to popular belief, a democracy. We are a Republic. Our electoral system assures the nation that the issues afflicting the small states are not ignored, nor are they passed over. Each state, by it's very existence, is an important part of our nation which began as an agreement reached by said states. The Democratic party has had over 200 years to fix the electoral college if they did not like it (it's called amending the constiution). Don't try change the rules of the game because you don't like the results. </p>
<p>Oh, and FTR, McCain supports stem cell research and has called the religious right the "agents of intolerence" and Paul Wyerich, a major figure in the evangelical movement, a "miserable son of a b*tch," so McCain's religiousity is definately disputable. </p>
<p>But, yes NCLB is an unconstitutional disaster that embodies everything wrong with the Bush White House; "Compassionate Conservatism" /shudders/ masqerading as serious ideology. Where have you gone Newt Gingrich?</p>
<p>I do not understand how anyone can support Huckabee. Do you guys know poeple like this? I certainly do not think I know of anyone who would support anyone this stupid. Evidence - denial of gravity (just switching this theory with another solid one, evolution). Huckabee ****es me off sooooo much and shows how backward we are as a whole. I can not even begin to imagine Huckabee as president. When I first read about his positions I seriously thought it was a joke. After that I cried a little (figuratively).</p>
<p>Huckabee represnts identity politics on the Right in the worst way. Tax hike Mike, as I like to call him, is no more a conservative than Lyndon Johnson was. He is a Preacher pretending to be a politician. He is a farcical cross between Elmer Gantry and Huey Long.</p>