Political Prognostication

IMO, the success of an Obama/Clinton ticket will boil down to whether or not they can they convine the American voter they are not too far left on the dial. Moderates decide elections and the 'L' word scares many moderates. McCain has the advantage in this department as he was never considered a true right wing conservative.If it comes down to Moderate vs Liberal, the Moderate will always win.

This is nothing new and has always been the case--people will always have strong views on the role of government in a society. Washington's election was just as contentious as it is today. A lot of voters did not like the idea of Washington serving as the Supreme Commander; he was thought of as someone having too much influence with the Continental Army. There was a lot of mud and dirt flying back then too. Even though the constitution prohibits active miltary from serving as President, people were actually worried about a possible military state under Washington.

IMO very few people are true Conservative or Liberals across the board. Take for instance Huckabee -- he is obviously a social conservative but his Fiscal policy and actions as Arkansas governor would be considered very Liberal by the current Conservative status quo. Bush also pushed a Conservative social agenda but his administration has spent like a drunken sailor in a whorehouse. Clinton was a social liberal put his foreign policy was quite Conservative.Liberal and Conservative have simply become catch-phrases for someones social attitudes rather than true political preferences. We have become a nation of one-issue voters and these issues prevent people from looking at the big picture. When someone hears Liberal or Conservative they don't think of Fiscal and Foreign affairs, Budget, Taxation, or the Military - they immediately think of someone's stance on abortion or gay rights.In this election, Social Conservatives will grudgingly vote for the McCain GOP ticket simply because they understand that failing to do so increases the chances that Obama/Hillary are in the WH.IMO, the success of the DNC in this election depends on having Obama and Hillary on the DNC ticket. It is very possible they are going to drag each other through the mud to the point the DNC Convention turns into a WWF smack down. It might very well divide the Obama and Clinton camps to the point their supporters do not want to see the other take the WH out of spite. Without a Hillary/Obama ticket, it could spell trouble if the supporters of the loser are so ticked off they are no-shows on election day. Also, if the mud slinging gets bad enough, the loser might very well say 'no-thanks' to a VP offer.
The DNC ticket can implode very quicklky if they are not carefull.For me, it's another case of having to pick from the lesser of two evils. Slim pickings again. I really am not enthralled with any of the prospects this time around, either DNC or GOP.

Aggreed - with the exception of the West Coast, the DNC knows the primary in these western Conservative-leaning states is simply academic. Neither Obama or Hillary are electable in Wyoming. Wyoming has cowboys, ranches, cowboys, ranches, oil wells, and a lot of empty space in between the ranches. Hillary or Obama has an ice cube's chance in hell of getting elected in any state where the majority of citizens are cowboys and ranchers. The DNC could care less about Wyoming or Montana. After the primary, the state is worthless for the DNC - both in Presidential delegate counts and possible victory.

Yes, I am talking about perceptions.If the perception is Moderate vs Conservative or Moderate vs Liberal the Conservative stands the better chance.I honestly don't believe there is more substance under the labels to most voters. For most, Liberal or Conservative simply means 'Whats your stance on abortion or gay rights?' Most will have no idea what a fiscal Conservative is or what the nature of a Liberal domestic policy is. They simply have decided one of the Labels means the candidate is 'bad' based because they have defined thes labels based on how they answer the types of questions above. Edited by Grizz, : No reason given.

A point the GOP definately will attempt to use to it's advantage come election time. Forget about McCain's call for civility - the campaign will no doubt use every clandestine opportunity to freak people out with his middle name and try to dig up more photos of him in Muslim garb.

Basically, no. Democrats are simply not electable there - Montana as well. Very laid back state but many of the people hate Democrats and hate Liberals even worse. A lot of it has to do with Wildlife management and environmental issues. Ranchers hate the re-introduction of wolves and there is a big flap over snowmobiling in Yellowstone and the national parks.On a side not, I do a lot of skiing, cycling, mountain hiking, camping, bear/wolf watching in WY. Beautifull state indeed. It's interesting to note that 98% of the people in Wyoming at any given time are there to see Yellowstone or are using I-90 to get somehwere else. I have had to stop alongside the road a few times after missing the road sign -"200 miles until the next service stop."