Patrick Ruffini has his September Straw Poll up. Go vote, and let’s see who Balloon Juice readers would prefer as the Republican nomineee.
Here are the Balloon Juice results as they happen.
Here are the overall results.
Reader Interactions
23Comments
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Krista
Very interesting…did you want us to disclose for whom we voted?
Dave Ruddell
John, given that so many of your readers (or at least commenters) are Democrats, perhaps you should try to find a similar poll for them?
John Cole
Krista- No. After enough peopole from here go there and vote, you will be able to sort the results by blog and find out how BJ voters voted.
Dave, I will link to the next DKos poll.
Tim F
Go Frist go!
Tim F
It’s cute how B-J readers pick their candidates in order of unelectableness.
We can write off Guiliani without comment. McCain can’t or won’t prostrate himself before Bob Jones University so he can go sit down. Hagel has a better chance winning the Democratic nomination.
We must all submit to the inevitable and vote for Frist.
Lines
Can you be President from Federal Fuck-Me-Up-The-Ass prison?
Its entertaining watching the wonderful Frist dance of politcal death.
Another Jeff
Good point Tim. We vote for unelectable candidates in some stupid blog poll.
Your party actually nominates them for the real thing.
Tim F
Rigot-o! We nominate people who can govern. You nominate people who can win elections. Silly us.
Dave Ruddell
How do you know they can govern if they never actually win an election?
Another Jeff
You did once and he actually did win, although i’m sure in ’92 you were probably a Jerry Brown guy.
I’m Philly born and raised, so believe me, I know how well Democrats not named Rendell govern.
Mike
“Tim F Says:
It’s cute how B-J readers pick their candidates in order of unelectableness.
We can write off Guiliani without comment. McCain can’t or won’t prostrate himself before Bob Jones University so he can go sit down. Hagel has a better chance winning the Democratic nomination.
We must all submit to the inevitable and vote for Frist.”
I don’t buy this at all. I live in NC and have relatives in SC. From all I’ve seen, (and I believe there have been a few straw polls to support it). Guiliani or McCain either one are well liked, as is George Allen. Frist doesn’t even come up in discussions. I think Guiliani, ESPECIALLY post-katrina, is one Yankee that many of we southerners would vote for.
Mike
“Tim F Says:
Rigot-o! We nominate people who can govern. You nominate people who can win elections. Silly us.”
How do you know John Kerry could govern? I’m not saying he couldn’t, since I have no idea, but neither does anyone else.
Tim F
Jeff dear, by the triumphalism of your first post one can assume that you’re talking about the post-Clinton years. Pre-Clinton your “rules” don’t really work since our candidate beat your candidates.
God knows the PA GOP pay raise initiative is going over well.
In other words, find me a local government who hasn’t embarrassed itself in some significant way. Molly Ivins didn’t cut her teeth making fun of Republicans.
It’s not about what normal people think. To win the GOP must have the fealty of the fringe groups. Run anyone more moderate than Brownback and those groups will bolt. As a moderate Republican you might think that your vote matters but it doesn’t. The RNC knows that you won’t vote Democrat. The folks who matter won’t vote Democrat either, but they could easily take their fringe fundamentalist asses back to a third-party protest vote if they don’t get their payback for joining the GOP coalition. When Frist diagnoses Schiavo by TV and gives creationism a sloppy wet kiss he’s talking to those guys. As far as the GOP is concerned the rest of you are money in the bank.
Tim F
Think of it in relative terms. You could find rhododendrons that could govern better than Bush.
ppGaz
I voted for McCain as the choice between him and Rudy.
I like Rudy but his lack of experience at the national level and international level worries me considerably.
I am a Dem who is always willing to cross party lines at the national level if the crossover choice is better for the country. So whether I would vote for the GOP candidate depends entirely on who is running against him, and to some extent, the shape of the Congress.
If there is at least a split Congress, I’d cross over to vote away from Hillary, for example. As much as I think she is a fine everyday politician, worthy of the standard issue scorn and ridicule that all politicans deserve, I do not trust judgement her at that level.
I would not vote for Frist if he were running for assistant treasurer of the homeowner’s association. Just to give you a compare and contrast.
Mike
“Tim F Says:
How do you know John Kerry could govern?
Think of it in relative terms. You could find rhododendrons that could govern better than Bush.”
I might believe this, if it weren’t for Carter.
Another Jeff
This theory about Rudy (and Ed Rendell for that matter) always baffled me. How is it that being a governor of a tiny, homogonous state (like Vermont, for instance) is considered enough on the resume to run for President, but being the mayor of the biggest (or fifth-biggest) city in the country isn’t?
And ppGaz, before you go off on one of your gin-soaked tirades, my point isn’t that you are saying being Gov of Vermont prepares you better, but I just don’t ever remember people questioning Dean’s “preparedness” like they do the mayors of major cities.
Mike
“Tim F Says:
It’s not about what normal people think. To win the GOP must have the fealty of the fringe groups. Run anyone more moderate than Brownback and those groups will bolt. As a moderate Republican you might think that your vote matters but it doesn’t. The RNC knows that you won’t vote Democrat. The folks who matter won’t vote Democrat either, but they could easily take their fringe fundamentalist asses back to a third-party protest vote if they don’t get their payback for joining the GOP coalition. When Frist diagnoses Schiavo by TV and gives creationism a sloppy wet kiss he’s talking to those guys. As far as the GOP is concerned the rest of you are money in th”
I don’t know about this. Most Republicans, just like most Democrats will vote for who they think can win. Witness how many Democrats held their nose and voted for Kerry when what they really wanted was Dean or Kucinich. Republicans are not different. If most of them read the tea leaves and see that McCain or Guiliani can win (and I give either of them better chances than any prominent democrat named right now, including Hillary), then that’s who they’ll vote for.
Tim F
Let’s explain the difference between recent Republican and Democratic electoral strategies. The Democrats ran away from their fringe, theorizing that the moderates will break for them because they’re more reasonable. The Republicans ran straight towards the fringe, figuring that they could demonize the Democrats enough to keep their moderates in line.
Point, Republicans.
Where does Guiliani come in? Running Guiliani is a lot like running Kerry, which means abandoning the recipe for Republican electoral success. If you’ve got an IROC-Z that’s reliably brought in the pussy for five years, you don’t sell it for a Corolla. Guiliani will alienate Republicans who can’t get past his position on abortion and the Democrats will sail to an easy victory by repeating the GOP winning strategy, fluffing the base and demonizing Guiliani as a namby-pamby RINO who doesn’t know where he stands and doesn’t fit in with his party. That is if he manages to win the primary, which he won’t. Kerry’s excellent military record (cue swiftboat nuts…) didn’t save him and neither will 9/11 save Rudy.
ppGaz
I don’t drink.
I don’t know what “people” said about Dean, but until you ask me what I think about him, I’ll request that you don’t associate me with him, thanks.
As for Gov of Vermont (or Arkansas, or Texas) versus Rudy Giuliani, I am not talking size of venue. New York City might have a larger annual budget than Vermont, for all I know, I am too lazy to look them up. It has more to do with the scope of the responsibility. To me, being a prosecutor and then Mayor of New York is pretty thin experience to prepare for the exigencies of the presidency. Whereas governor is more similar in scope (variety) of responsibilities.
The truth is, there is no job that prepares anyone to be president. I find both McCain and Rudy to be flawed candidates in different ways. But those flaws would have to be measured against the flaws of the Dem nominee. I find most of these contests to be Lesser of Two Weevils deals.
ppGaz
The president needs to have a vision wider than a city.
The United States is not a big city. It’s a country, and a lot of people live in towns of 1000 people or less. A lot of people live on farms. People in Joplin don’t see the world the same way that people in NYC do.
A person who is all one, or the other …. city mouse versus country mouse, if you like … is not my ideal. A person who is “all” anything is not my ideal. A person who sees every problem as a nail and brings one hammer to the job, not my ideal.
Maybe Rudy has the breadth I am talking about. Don’t know. Haven’t seen it yet.
Tim F
I think that some of my best work involves gin-soaked tirades. You all should be so lucky as to catch me drinking.
ppGaz
I tend to be a happy drinker, no tirades.
However, my doctor doesn’t allow me to taste the demon rum much any more.
Half a beer with a sandwich, maybe once a month. That’s about it.