Obama and the 2012 Election

@Airon: Honestly, if Santorum gets the nomination for the candicacy (and right now, it's a big if), Obama will be able to nail him on his views for so many human rights issues that he'll be like a leper in ancient Rome. No one will like him, and it will make Obama's faults look like glittering gold compared to Santorum's.

Takanori Matsumoto.:

@Airon: Honestly, if Santorum gets the nomination for the candicacy (and right now, it's a big if), Obama will be able to nail him on his views for so many human rights issues that he'll be like a leper in ancient Rome. No one will like him, and it will make Obama's faults look like glittering gold compared to Santorum's.

The thing arion posted was a joke, but I disagree that Santorum wouldn't have support. Santorum appeals extensively to the religious conservative groups of America, which is who helped Bush win both of his election terms. It's a very powerful demographic to tap into as a politician, and Obama doesn't have a shot in hell at winning their votes- they hate him, and have ever since he got elected. A viable alternative would rile them up and lead to high voter turn out, I think, where as Romney is so vanilla to almost all Republicans, I'm not sure how fired up he will be able to get anyone.

^ The only thing about Santorum, however, is that he's too far on the right for a lot of conservatives, and every politician (including Obama, I'm sure) will take advantage of that and make note of it. Santorum may have support, but the things that he has been saying and trying to get people riled up about doing have been going too far for a lot of people (even those that may have previously supported him). What really surprised me was the fact that Romney got the wins that he did in the primaries - the man is a horrible speaker, and he still doesn't seem to have a solid position other than "repeal everything Obama's ever done, which is, in my opinion, a very broad spectrum. I honestly find each of them to be a joke, and with the way things are going, one of them is going to end up the GOP candidate.

I feel as though every GOP debate further secures Obama's re-election

the sea:

I feel as though every GOP debate further secures Obama's re-election

There's nothing secure about Obama's re-election. So much can happen over the next few months one way or the other.

I really hope Obama doesn't get re-elected, but I can't see Romney being better, at all.

lovecraft:

I really hope Obama doesn't get re-elected, but I can't see Romney being better, at all.

Why do you really hope he doesn't get re-elected?

If Romney gets elected, I'm not joking when I say I'm leaving the country. In three months, depending on how things look election-wise and politically, I will be applying for my passport and looking for a job/apartment in Canada, just in case.

pravda.:

Why do you really hope he doesn't get re-elected?

Because he's done some scary things that really shouldn't have been done. For instance, using an executive order to kill a US citizen that was a terrorist, yeah, but he was also an American citizen.
What about things like this?

Quote

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. gave a speech saying the re-election slogan would be “Bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.”

The fact that a liberal president is presenting himself as a militaristic person and basing his platform on that is terrifying. I would far rather see another democrat in office than Obama because he's quite frankly too offensive. I have never agreed with the US's policy of messing with everything they feel like, and it's time that a president actually sticks by their message of pulling the troops out of the middle east. Was that not a campaign promise made by Obama?
As well, the health care program he made is going to be broken. Health care and health insurance costs will go up, because there will no longer be any natural supply and demand. As a company, you're legally obligated to provide it for your employees, and that's not good for a healthy economy. Further, being tied to your job by health insurance is just one more lever for your bosses to treat you poorly. If your health care is wholly dependent on your employer, would you quit? I doubt it.

This article has some good points, for all that's it's short.

dru is a wild thing.:

If Romney gets elected, I'm not joking when I say I'm leaving the country. In three months, depending on how things look election-wise and politically, I will be applying for my passport and looking for a job/apartment in Canada, just in case.

Yay come to Canada. Although, Stephen Harper IS a conservative... a lot less of an abrasive one than the republicans in the US, however.

lovecraft:

being tied to your job by health insurance is just one more lever for your bosses to treat you poorly. If your health care is wholly dependent on your employer, would you quit? I doubt it.

It's really late here so I just wanted to respond to this part - if the health insurance is available in any employment contract due to it being compulsory, I don't see how that makes you more inclined to stay in a bad job. If anything, the knowledge that you will be able to have equal healthcare elsewhere would be reassuring if you wanted to quit, notwithstanding the trials of finding a new job, which would be the same pressure regardless of the healthcare situation.

From what I heard it was a much better system than "the only healthy people will be rich people."

dru is a wild thing.:

If Romney gets elected, I'm not joking when I say I'm leaving the country. In three months, depending on how things look election-wise and politically, I will be applying for my passport and looking for a job/apartment in Canada, just in case.

I don't really have any experience of it (seeing as I've never been outside Western Europe), but Canada does strike me as a much better run country. I dunno if anyone could clarify that for me.

pravda.:

It's really late here so I just wanted to respond to this part - if the health insurance is available in any employment contract due to it being compulsory, I don't see how that makes you more inclined to stay in a bad job. If anything, the knowledge that you will be able to have equal healthcare elsewhere would be reassuring if you wanted to quit, notwithstanding the trials of finding a new job, which would be the same pressure regardless of the healthcare situation

It generally takes 3 months for benefits to kick in. Sometimes it's three months after a trial period. It's not like you just get to transfer over. For someone who needs medication or needs to see a doctor on a regular basis, three months without health insurance is unthinkable.

dru is a wild thing.:

It generally takes 3 months for benefits to kick in. Sometimes it's three months after a trial period. It's not like you just get to transfer over. For someone who needs medication or needs to see a doctor on a regular basis, three months without health insurance is unthinkable.

Ah, I see. What's the current system? Is private insurance still available in the new one?

^
I'm not quite sure what you mean. Could you elaborate a bit?

pravda.:

Ah, I see. What's the current system? Is private insurance still available in the new one?

By the new one, you mean Obama's health plan? Yes, private insurance is still available. Under his plan, most people would still have private insurance. Public insurance would still only be available to people who cannot afford private insurance, but the healthcare law included a slew of new laws and regulations, with the hope that it makes health insurance companies more accountable and makes it more affordable. I pretty well quit following the health care law, but I know most of the dramatic insurance reform has not gone into effect yet, it hasn't really had a chance to impact a lot of people, aside from the regulation parts that say, let college students stay on their parents insurance and things like that. But the dramatic, health insurance exchange, cost cutting method of obtaining insurance hasn't gone into effect yet.

Takanori Matsumoto.:

^ The only thing about Santorum, however, is that he's too far on the right for a lot of conservatives, and every politician (including Obama, I'm sure) will take advantage of that and make note of it. Santorum may have support, but the things that he has been saying and trying to get people riled up about doing have been going too far for a lot of people (even those that may have previously supported him). What really surprised me was the fact that Romney got the wins that he did in the primaries - the man is a horrible speaker, and he still doesn't seem to have a solid position other than "repeal everything Obama's ever done, which is, in my opinion, a very broad spectrum. I honestly find each of them to be a joke, and with the way things are going, one of them is going to end up the GOP candidate.

I know this post is old and so a little OT, but I'm from Pennsylvania like Rick Santorum, but he's so incredibly unpopular here even in the middle of the state that's essentially Alabama. He lost by eighteen points which is complete voter washout, and this was thanks to a lot of lifelong ardent republicans turning against him. He got voted out in '06, and I have seen more than a few cars with Anti-Santorum bumper stickers.

It probably would have given Obama double digit gaps in women, Latina, and the electoral college.

And at least, the Santorum would have slightly amusing if thanks nothing less to his ignorance and trolling headline writers instead of the depressing, dullness, and straight up dishonesty of Mittens' campaign.

lovecraft:

Obama has veto power.

Okay, I know this was a very old quote, but I have to say that although Obama has veto power, the senate can overturn his veto with a vote [I forget what the fraction was], and even if they didn't overturn the veto, bills don't only have certain things it covers. Obama could've accepted the bill [if he did accept the bill] for certain things it outlines in it. Sometimes compromises have to be made.

dru is a wild thing.:

If Romney gets elected, I'm not joking when I say I'm leaving the country. In three months, depending on how things look election-wise and politically, I will be applying for my passport and looking for a job/apartment in Canada, just in case.

You know you can't settle and work in a foreign country just with a passport, right? You need permanent residence, work permits, show proof that you have a certain amount of money saved up, speak the language(s) of the country etc. - that's why there are so many illegal immigrants. Also, you won't be able to vote until you get citizenship (which takes 7 - 10 years) so you'll be very disenfranchised politically.

In other news, as you well know, since in office Obama has raised the number of troops in Afghanistan, but at the NATO summit in Chicago a few days ago, he announced that US troops will be out of Afghanistan by 2014 - which is great. Except he also said that after 2014 the US and other NATO countries will be paying for the training / equipment / everything of Afghan Security Forces until the Afghan economy recovers. My worry is that this will not be a well received policy - who wants to pay billions of dollars to maintain a foreign army?

There was also an interesting article in the Guardian about class, race and voting trends - read it here. I'd be interested in what Americans think about it / whether it's in any way accurate.

^
Work passport, right? You can go work somewhere, not technically residency, but you still live by that country's rules. And then, after you've lived in a country for long enough with a work passport/visa, then you can apply for permanent residency (which would only be necessary if Romney got re-elected or I didn't marry a Canadian).

dru is a wild thing.:

^
Work passport, right? You can go work somewhere, not technically residency, but you still live by that country's rules. And then, after you've lived in a country for long enough with a work passport/visa, then you can apply for permanent residency (which would only be necessary if Romney got re-elected or I didn't marry a Canadian).

There are work visas, yes, but you need to apply for them to the Canadian government, not to the US one and then I'm 90% sure you'll need to get a work permit anyway, but there are different kinds of work permits e.g. ones for seasonal workers, ones for students, etc so you should look at Canadian immigration laws and such, I've only looked into rules for European students (and that was some while ago). As somebody who's immigrated as a student, I wouldn't move on my own (that is, without an educational institution, employer or family member / close friend to back me up in the new country) unless, I dunno, WWIII broke out. I feel like I'm disappointing you / being horribly pessimist, but moving to another country is very hard and costly and takes forever.