Current line up of presidential candidates

[Joss Delage 0]

Who are your favorite candidates, who are the ones you fear / loath the most?

I like Gary Johnson based on what I heard so far - which isn't much. Of course, most people don't even know he exists...

Perry and Bachman worry me due to their strong religious stand. I'm worried it is going to be stronger than their small government stated orientation.

[Carlos 0]

Perry and Bachman worry me due to their strong religious stand. I'm worried it is going to be stronger than their small government stated orientation.

Perry has been the governor of Texas for ten years now. Is there any evidence that the quality of life has deteriorated because of his "religious influence"? The real religion you should be worried about is environmentalism: some states are now requiring "environmental education" in public schools, and unlike Christianity, environmentalism actually influences law. How many public schools require teaching The Bible? As a larger question, what radical Christian policies has anyone on the Right been able to succeed with lately, even after GW Bush was president for 8 years? In contrast, how rapidly are the secular socialists achieving their goals?

Texas has a remarkable economy, and even people who don't like Perry find this conclusion completely unavoidable. Given that our primary threat right now is economic devastation, this is a crucial point that can't be overlooked.

Objectivists need to stop worrying about this phantom fear of "the Christian Right". We literally have socialists running the damn Whitehouse and I'm supposed to worry that a single candidate will magically reverse 100 years of secularization in America? What's damaging America the most right now, people who believe in the myth of anthropogenic global warming and Keynesian economics, or people who believe in Intelligent Design? Which beliefs are driving policy right now? Which beliefs are leading to brutal taxes, astronomical debt, strangling regulations, repeated attempts at government healthcare?

Yeah, Perry is probably a "strong Christian"*, but abortions are still happening in Texas,, and my biology teacher in public school still taught and believed in evolution despite living in a "horrid" small Christian farm-town in Texas.

*Anyone who thinks it's good to make money, drink beer, have sex, and listen to music glorifying Earthly pleasures isn't a real Christian in the sense of how they existed during the middle ages. We live in a profoundly secularized age.

[Carlos 0]

Who are your favorite candidates

Whichever Republican runs for president. We are reaching such a point of urgency I can't fathom how one could justify voting otherwise. You don't choose the best candidate at this point, you merely try to survive until the culture can change.

[ruveyn ben yosef 0]

Who are your favorite candidates

Whichever Republican runs for president. We are reaching such a point of urgency I can't fathom how one could justify voting otherwise. You don't choose the best candidate at this point, you merely try to survive until the culture can change.

Very well said. I have just about given up hope. The American political system is broken and probably broken beyond repair.

ruveyn

[JMR 0]

If you're interested in hearing more from Gary Johnson, I just posted some video from a town hall meeting of his that I attended earlier this week in New Hampshire. I condensed the 90-minute event down to about 12 minutes, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F__L9FMDAKQ...player_embedded

[jordanz 0]

Who are your favorite candidates

Whichever Republican runs for president. We are reaching such a point of urgency I can't fathom how one could justify voting otherwise. You don't choose the best candidate at this point, you merely try to survive until the culture can change.

I agree with this except for the odious Romney. I can't imagine voting for Obama if it's Obama v Romney, though. Maybe I'll just leave the country

[Mercury 0]

If you're interested in hearing more from Gary Johnson, I just posted some video from a town hall meeting of his that I attended earlier this week in New Hampshire. I condensed the 90-minute event down to about 12 minutes, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F__L9FMDAKQ...player_embedded

Thank you for the video. Johnson certainly seems a reasonable man. I would have liked for someone to have asked about his foreign policy views though. This is where the "libertarian" candidates are weak.

If he is able to articulate a proper foreign policy, I think it may be wise for Ayn Rand fans to rally around Johnson -- with some even joining his campaign and giving him good advice on policy and TV appeal [Johnson didn't come off as "strong" in the last debate] -- until his candidacy is over. I am writing based on the little I know about him, so I'm prepared to be corrected; but we may never get the opportunity of such a candidate in years to come. If he is serious about foreign policy, it might be wise to put our backs in it for him.

Here's a recent interview with Scott Holleran. An excerpt:

Scott Holleran: You propose to let the so-called Patriot Act—which arguably violates individual rights—expire, yet you have not said you would abolish the invasive TSA, which arguably violates the Constitutional right to travel. Why not abolish the TSA?

Gary Johnson: I would abolish the TSA.

Whether or not Johnson wins the nomination, the two main issues of the next presidency are repealing Obamacare and the defense of the United States. If the Republican president is able to do more (repeal Dodd-Frank, Sarbanes-Oxley, end the EPA and other viro agencies, etc.) that would be great; but I'm not holding my breath.

[Carlos 0]

Who are your favorite candidates

Whichever Republican runs for president. We are reaching such a point of urgency I can't fathom how one could justify voting otherwise. You don't choose the best candidate at this point, you merely try to survive until the culture can change.

I agree with this except for the odious Romney. I can't imagine voting for Obama if it's Obama v Romney, though. Maybe I'll just leave the country

Yeah, Romney is a lame RINO that no one wants in office. But I'll take hypothetical threats over actual threats; Romney might disappoint us by acting like Obama in some cases, but we know for sure that Obama will always act like Obama in all cases.