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January 14, 2008Election ‘08: The Sobering Gut-checkIt occurs to me that - in the midst of the silliness, inauthenticity, blame-flinging, manufactured indignation, sly slanders, underhanded moves - and the rest of it aside, we in America are preparing to put into office the most powerful person on the planet. I know, for some that is arguable, for for the purposes of this post, let’s just stipulate that The President of the United States is indeed, the most powerful person on the planet. I invite you to put aside any of your pet peeves, single-issue obsessions (abortion rights/immigration), intense hates or loves and your party loyalties. Put aside issues of gender, race or religion. Ask yourself one question and one question only:
Our guts are there for a reason - they are the “animal instinct” if you’re a secularist or the “prompting of angels” if you’re very religious. When you ignore your gut, you usually regret it and say, “I should have followed my gut.” When you pay attention to them, you’re usually very glad you did. So please, check your gut - the question is not who do you like, or who do you desire, but who do you TRUST with all that power? Scroll down bit-by-bit, so you really only see one candidate at a time. You’re welcome to leave your answer, but not to go into a whole explanation or harangue. I don’t want to pay for that much bandwidth, and - as I say - we’ll be doing this a few times between today and November, so just list who your “gut” responded to…and whether or not that surprised you. And get your friends to answer too, if you can. Or workmates. The “TRUST” Gut-check:
http://theanchoressonline.com/2008/01/14/election-08-the-gut-check/trackback/ 30 Responses to “Election ‘08: The Sobering Gut-check” |
January 14th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Fred Thompson, no doubt about it.
And, although I disagree with this person substantively on probably every issue, I even have some measure of trust with Obama. He might be wrong, but, at least at this point, I think he would be sincerely wrong.
January 14th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I agree, Fred Thompson.
There are some for whom I have a negative reaction when I consult my gut about trust.
January 14th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Fred Thompson, for sure.
January 14th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Definitely Thompson!…with a possible Rudy.
January 14th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Fred Thompson seems to me the most responsible choice among the Republicans. McCain is also a man to be regarded seriously, but I find him too erratic to be trustworthy at this level. If it had to be a Democrat, I’d say Obama.
January 14th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Not a bad way to pick a president. Issues come and go. While I disagree with half of his positions (and his overall political philosophy), Dr. Paul at least has a sense that power corrupts and believes that our government’s power should be decreased and decentralized. So of the options you’ve given, I’d say I trust him the most to be the most powerful person on the planet.
January 14th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
My gut feeling tells me two words: Fred Thompson.
He’s IT! I want him carrying that football! I want to see him in that Oval Office! I want to see him bring fear to those jello-spined figures at the UN.
I want for him to tell Osama bin Laden, a la Indiana Jones, “Prepare to meet Kali… in Hell!”
Rudy looks fine. It fits him good.
I frankly don’t mind McCain. Or Romney that much. Maybe I don’t mind Obama that much, either…
One word on Edwards: phony.
The Huck? Fuggedaboutit!
Ron Paul? Dear God, take him far, far away… to Neptune.
The gut reaction on Hillary was this: the most personal imitation of my worst cat when she gets angry. When I see Hillary, I say, “There better be plenty of mongoose for that Viper.”
January 14th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Thompson. Guilliani is a close second. I like your idea, Anchoress, of a Thompson/Guilliani ticket.
January 14th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
President Fred Thompson all the way.
January 14th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Rudy, Romney and Obama
January 14th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Fred Thompson.
Holy Spirit, Spirit of truth, give wisdom to Sen. Thompson and to all who seek to serve the American people. Please, Lord, save us from the charismatic Democratic Messiah (Sen. Obama) and the Republican self-proclaimed spokesman for the real Messiah (Gov. Huckabee). Keep us safe from Sen. Clinton, whose highest and most steadfast good is the right to an abortion; touch her heart, comfort her, and show her your light. Have mercy on John McCain, who suffered long for his country, and Rudy Guiliani, who suffered with the people of his city. Please bless and bring healing to the Edwards family. Please bless Gov. Romney and Rep. Paul, who have lived with faithfulness and integrity, providing good example to the American people. Keep them all safe, Lord, and never let any of them or any of us be parted from You. Amen.
January 14th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
To my own suprise I have to be honest and say McCain. He has ticked me off on a lot of things, but at the end of the day, when push comes to shove, I want McCain at the button, with Rudy or Fred in the VP role.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
In the end, if it is Hilary or Obama for the dems, my choice would be any of the GOP’s now running for the exact reason you are posing.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Either Fred Thompson or Rudy Giuliani. Definitely have negative feelings about most of the rest.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Without question it’s Fred Thompson or Rudy Giuliani.
January 15th, 2008 at 1:11 am
While I do have a visceral reaction that could be labeled a gut check of sorts, it’s not about whom to trust. Perhaps I am too cerebral, but after learning that trust is a decision, I cannot let other than my mind be in control of my trust since I believe that the decision to trust somebody when you have no reason whatsoever to trust them must sometimes go against gut reactions.
I’ve not really been watching the debates or studying the campaigns in any depth, but I would have to say that my instinct points to Fred Thompson as the person who ought to be the President of the USA.
January 15th, 2008 at 7:30 am
My gut’s been hoping for Fred for over a year now.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Going by gut reaction to the pix:
1. Rudy
2. Fred
3. Mitt
If only Rudy had a more pro-life history… Though Fred or Mitt would do well and, IMO better than what we have had in the White House since Reagan left office.
January 15th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Just out of curiosity though, how come Ron Paul is included but not all the other wannabes?
January 15th, 2008 at 9:41 am
I trust Fred Thompson. Fred is a great guy and I cannot figure out why he has languished. He is the best of the bunch.
I know Rudy Giuliani has his flaws…but I trust him too.
The same goes with McCain, sure he can be frustrating, but I trust him. He would prove to be a great President.
Mitt Romney, I do not care for how he has run his campaign. Do I trust him? I trust Romney a lot less than Thompson, Giulaini and McCain. I trust him more than Huckabee and the Dems on policy, but gut wise I probably trust him even less than Huckabee. But frankly he has some flaws and the more you are exposed to him under pressure the more those flaws seem to grow. Michael Medved is right about him. [Edited to insert link - admin]
Mike Huckabee, nice guy but not ready for POTUS.
Ron Paul, I do not trust him. He is an interesting guy but he is an ideologue and actually so rigid he does not see the big picture. That is actually dangerous for a President.
Barak Obama–in a way a Democrat Huckabee (although some would say Huckabee is a Democrat!), nice guy but not ready for POTUS. Character counts, and Obama is a decent guy, but policy counts too.
Hillary Clinton…I am not sure Bill Clinton trusts her.
John Edwards…no I do not trust him.
January 15th, 2008 at 11:22 am
smmtheory, I took my list from the list in the Pajamas Media Straw Poll. As of yesterday, those were the candidates.
January 15th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Thompson by a mile
January 15th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
I don’t trust Fred, he is running for President because someone talked him into it and it seemed like a great part. He has not been honest about his record at all.
But I would certainly vote for him before I would vote for either one of the Democrats or that crazy man Ron Paul.
I like Rudy, but he has run a lousy campaign. I respect McCain. I think Romney is a smart man who should have just bitten the bullet and run on his record. I think a lot of people have been unfair to Huckabee. I like Bush and I can remember hearing a lot of the same stuff about his religion when he talked about his faith based initiative.
I have not really picked a candidate yet, but I am surprised at the starry eyed Fred heads on line, considering the guy’s lousy standing in the polls.
January 15th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Acer:
Fred has languished because he did not try hard enough. He seemed bored.
January 15th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
The reason I do not really trust Fred is that while he was in the Senate his voting record was almost exactly the same as McCain’s. He was not even a little proactive about stuff like immigration. And then when the right went nuts over Immigration, he saw an opportunity to jump on the bash Bush bandwagon and took it. He made being all big and bad and hardliner his schtick. Considering his actual record on immigration, I just found it all a bit convenient. But I would still vote for him if he got the nomination.
January 15th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I also think that while the Anchoress is sincere, there are a lot of people on the right who will turn on Fred exactly the same way they did Bush when and if he acts like his own man. The sad truth is the right wing pundits and bloggers and self styled thinkers have been every bit as nasty to Bush as the left has, and by and large Fred is their pick. That bothers me.
January 17th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Fred, then Mitt. Ron Paul just looks like the neighborhood Dentist circa 1930.
January 17th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Gut Check…
The Anchoress proposes an interesting experiment. Having posted pictures of all the candidates on her site, she asks her readers to look at each on in turn and pose the question: Who of these do I TRUST with the influence……
January 17th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
The Gut Check of 2008…
The Anchoress has got a great post on who should be the The Most Powerful Person on the Planet. She asks:’ Between now and November, I’m going to give readers and opportunity to check their “gut” about the current crop…
January 17th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I must say that I like Fred then Guuiliani, and I have also been saying that a Fred/Rudy ticket would be hard to beat.
All the rest I see flaws and no authenticity.