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[Vector]

If this tactic is what ends up putting a woman in the White House--somehow--I am going to crack some heads and split some faces.

Blech.

[Jackrabbit]

I am sorry that you guys have to put up with this, but being a spectator standing 6000 miles thataway I gotta say this is hilarious.

[smjjames]

Speaking of just any candidate, how about that something Green guy in South Carolina? I doubt that guy is going to win and we haven't heard anything of him, but if he does actually somehow win, it's going to be VERY interesting.

On a more serious note, O'Donnell only has a state with which to figure out, if she ran for president, she would have to face the scruitiny of the entire nation, two different playing fields.

Hillary Clinton would reduce O'Donnell to mush in a debate and campaign anyway.

[Bauglir]

-snip-

[Jackrabbit]

That's only because it was covering the constitution and she couldn't see it. Really, the gravel cheated.

[nenjin]

I am sorry that you guys have to put up with this, but being a spectator standing 6000 miles thataway I gotta say this is hilarious.

I'm becoming numb to this shit, frankly. It's like any front runner in American politics has to fuck up the fundamentals they learned in grade school AT LEAST once. I don't think even candidates I like are immune to that. It's just how politics functions over here. The media waits for someone to make a gaffe, then blows it completely out of proportion and the opposition takes it up in the next advertising cycle. I'm not really commenting on what O'Donnell does or doesn't know about American government...but her gaffe is the shit the media lives for over here.

You could have a substantive debate on what electing someone who has their own, completely flawed view of the constitution would do to this country....but that's not really what this thread is about. I don't know what's sadder, honestly. The fact that debate fuck ups like this are the main engine that drives American voter opinions....or the fact that being wrong, in some ways, is actually a positive quality for some candidates. Sarah Palin has made a career out of being wrong, and stalwartly defending her right to believe something stupid and self-serving. And it's actually had marginal success.

[Bauglir]

-snip-

[Ampersand]

....but her gaffe is the shit the media lives for over here.

the problem is that this wasn't a gaffe. She actually, honestly believed that the Constitution doesn't have anything to say about preventing the intermingling of Religion and Government, or at least that the intention of the framers of the constitution was something other than separation of church and state.

[Urist Imiknorris]

At first I was like "Does the Constitution specifically say 'Religion =/= Government' or is it merely strongly implied?"

Then I googled.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..."

http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-man-passionate-defender-of-what-he-imagines-c,2849/

[Aqizzar]

At first I was like "Does the Constitution specifically say 'Religion =/= Government' or is it merely strongly implied?"

Then I googled.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..."

This is basically the crux of what people like O'Donnell argue.  The actual worded phrase "separation of church and state" doesn't appear in the Constitution, therefore it doesn't exist, two hundred years of Supreme Court precedent be damned.  The Onion scored a very prescient interview with that area man.

I for one am still very glad for the existence of Christine O'Donnell.  If nothing else, we got a political campaign TV ad that began with the phrase "I am not a witch".  That's a piece of history right there.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I hate to break this to you, but what Constitution says means effectively nothing, as long as the group being denied it is seen as deserving of oppression. I give you the Supreme Court deciding that everyone is allowed First Amendment rights...except for students, who don't get Freedom of Speech or Freedom of Press, and just barely edged out killing Freedom of Petition too. If they could do it to students, nothing says they can't do it to everyone else, either. You just remember that when looking at political ignorance of the Constitution, because if people beleive it to be true of the government, it's only a matter of time unitll some elected official twists that into law.

[smjjames]

at least i don't have to vote for o'donnell as i live in california. unfortunately,  i do have to choose between barbara boxer, who has been senator since the 90s or fiorina who doesnht seem that great. i was thinking of going for a third party candidate. at least choosing the governor is easier. i ain't voting for whitman.

sorry for lack of punctuation and caps, this mobile web browser sucks

[inteuniso]

I hate the current American political system. It looks like it boils down to "vote for the guy who has been serving 20 years and has nothing new to bring, besides his hip replacement and need of money," or "vote for the new guy who is somewhat insane."

You either get a bad, or a worse option. This 2 party system just seems broken.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

This 2 party system just seems broken.

Seems nothing, it is broken. The American Political System has broken down into an eternal war between the Democrats and Republicans. It isn't about what's right for the people anymore, it's about being loyal to your chosen party forever.

[Enzo]

Ugh, for all the flak Bush and Palin get, at least they knew how to bury their ignorance under a thick layer of folksy charisma. O'Donnell just comes off like a scared, confused child.

When the crowd laughs at her, she laughs too, apparently hoping optimistically that maybe they're laughing with her, that she just laid down a zinger. And after her opponent spells out the fact that she made a huge gaff, she asks repeatedly "that's in the first amendment?" At least be a Politician about it, act like you slipped up under pressure, instead of cementing your colossal ignorance for the crowd. I mean, I knew that one, and I'm a goddamn Canadian.

All in all, I hope she has a long and fruitful political career that I can observe with smug amusement.