And the next American President will be …

[Cyrano]

Sarah Palin?

Michele Bachmann?

Haley Barber?

Newt Gingrich?

Rick (man-on-dog) Santorum?

Mike (I’m a Christian) Huckabee?

These fugitives from the Mad Hatter’s tea party, (among others), have delusions that they could be the next President of the United States. If that doesn’t terrify you, what would?

The time for us to start screaming about this total insanity is now, not two years from now.

Let’s never forget that Saint Ronnie was elected president – twice. And Bush Jr. was allowed to steal it – twice.

Will any of the lunatics I’ve named end up sitting in the Oval Office?

Would someone please convince me that this could never happen?

[cleanhippie]

1. Unfortunately, they only way you OR I will ever be convinced will be AFTER the election.

And while most on your list are terrible, if Palin or Bachman get in the WH, I am leaving the country, seriously.

[Initech]

2. If anyone of them gets in the white house, Costa Rica here I come!

[cleanhippie]

I own a house in Canada...

Thats where I would go. And its only a few hours from here.

[Initech]

9. I have a friend who lives in Fort McMurray.

[cleanhippie]

12. My place is near Kamloops.

[Ozymanithrax]

3. Bush won in 2000 by using violence to stop vote counting...

and then made it official with the Supreme Court.

I can't convince you that such a scenario won't happen again.

I still think Obama has a 53% chance of winning in 2012. Once I see who the Republicans nominate, I will revise that number

[Nye Bevan]

4. Chris Christie, Mike Bloomberg or Donald Trump are my picks for next likely Repub nomination

You can rule out Santorum because of what his last name has come to mean. And Gingrich because he served his wife with divorce papers while she was in the hospital with cancer. Bachmann is too nuts to win even the Repub primary. Palin too (I sincerely hope). And Huckabee? To me, he is the scariest of all the names you mention. Like Palin, but with a fake downhome avuncular mask that I am worried will fool people.

[Cyrano]

19. Yes, the three you name are definite possibilities.

Christie is a bully who will punch your lights out if you don't vote for him. Mike Bloomberg is a very rich man who is sane for a Republican. But do you really think anyone named Bloomberg could be elected president in our current stage of evolution? And Donald Trump is just a bit less amusing than Palin, but his top piece is far too obvious for the casual observer.

Nice list, and just as unlikely as mine to end up in the Oval Office. Then again ...

[blindpig]

5. Another servant of the ruling class.

If they're too goofy they won't make the cut. If the money men are satisfied that they'll stay on program they're in.

Of that bunch Santorum might make it, Newt's got too much baggage.

[JoseGaspar]

10. The other certainty is that...

... any one of them will act in office in a way that is completely at odds with what they said or implied in their run for office. They will "disappoint" their supporters and anger their opponents and this whole charade will continue as long as the alternating dog whistles of "OMG, the crazies are gonna get control" and "OMG, the libruls are gonna win" resonate.

It is Kibuki... without fans.

[notesdev]

15. That much is a given

For fun and depressing dawning-of-the-sad-reality, try to find the last major party nominee for President who wasn't a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

For even more depressing revelations, try to find the last Cabinet member who wasn't CFR.

Harder than it looks!

[blindpig]

18. Yep

It's like an initiation into the highest ranks of ruling class tools.

[HughBeaumont]

6. Barack Obama. Not a single ONE of those candidates are likeable or can be sold as a moderate.

Reagan had the charisma going for him among the blue collars, the corporate wannabes, the white hateful and the elderly. Bush II had the name and the medias 24-7 "hate all things Clinton" trip going for him.

I'm not really hand-wringing over 2012, myself. They have a list of candidates that are weaker than McCain, if that's humanly possible.

[Cyrano]

23. Likeable? Sold as a moderate?

Sorry, Hugh Beaumont. You don't need to be "likeable," or "moderate" to get elected today.

Take a look at this country during the last congressional election cycle. Some of the most hideous, grotesque, putrid people imaginable got into office by spewing hate, venom, and green puke staight out of "The Exorcist."

This was a midterm election. If they try these same tactics again in 2012, history says they'll fail. But then again, what lessons from history could have predicted the elections of Reagan or (the stolen elections) of Bush Jr.?

Don't underestimate the ignorance of the vast majority of Americans. Any lunatic I mentioned, or any other possibility mentioned by any other poster in this thread, could end up in the White House -- as terrifying as that seems.

So don't be too sure of your prediction. Just work your ass off to make sure it comes to be.

[krabigirl]

7. None of the above.

[sharp_stick]

8. The only puke I'm nervous about right now is

Mitt Romney. The magic underwear wearing asshole has managed to convince a large chunk of the population that he's not as nuts as the ones on your list.

The one I fear the most is actually Huckabee, if he managed to worm his way in I can see the US turning into a true theocracy.

I'm not too worried about Palin or Bachmann just because most people seem to agree that they're fucking crazy. Barbour doesn't have the name recognition outside of the deep south, if he managed to convince the independents in the North that he's not the racist POS he really is he might become a threat. Gingrich and Santorum have too much baggage IMO.

If the economy can continue to improve, especially if it can pick up a bit of speed I think Obama will walk to reelection. If the economy tanks again for any reason we could be in for a fight.

[jtown1123]

20. If there are still no jobs, Romney has a real good chance.

[Nye Bevan]

26. Stiff cold fish are worse than stupid ignoramuses, in the eyes of the voters.

Mitt reminds me of Mike "competence not ideology" Dukakis, and I think his chances are about the same as the Duke's were.

[JustAnotherGen]

11. I'll focus on your last two points!

:-) President Obama will be a two term President! :pals:

[Cyrano]

21. Okay. Thank you for your certainty.

And as much as I want to see Obama in a second term as opposed to any Republican, I wish I had the same amount of certainty you seem to possess.

The Republican Party is the enemy of everything that most normal people have defined as sanity. Obama, while a disappointment to many of us, is far better than the alternative.

But don't let your faith in his reelection keep you from working your ass off to see that no Republican ever again sits in the Oval Office. Any arguments I have with Obama and his actions/policies, will never make me forget the disaster that another Republican president can bring down upon us.

[somone]

13. Musical chairs. Another corp executive:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/obama-promoted-to-senior-vice-president-of-america,17321/

[notesdev]

14. My guess

It won't be one of the in-your-face-at-present names, anyone making politically barbed noises at this time is a distraction and not the main event.

Tim Pawlenty or Mike Pence are my guesses.

[WinkyDink]

16. Chinese?

[dionysus]

17. well, all the people who make a career of campaigning against the dems on here should think

about what they're doing.

[Cyrano]

22. Many of us Dems don't campaigh against Dems. We just want them

to be true Dems.

Stop giving them a pass for being wimps. Demand that they honor the achievments of FDR and the (domestic achievments) of LBJ.

Blindly following a party is what Republicans do. I know that's not what you're suggesting. We therefore need to push the Dems to where they rightfully belong.

[cutlassmama]

24. Roseanne Barr

[Cyrano]

25. I just read an AOL piece that was pushing Rudy Guiliani for our next prez.

I hate propaganda pieces like this being thrown out there by those with an agenda.

Guiliani has about as much chance of being the next POTUS as does Charles Manson.

It seems that the Republican bench team is gigantically wide, and enormously shallow. Which doesn't mean that one of their crazed creatures couldn't wind up in the Oval Office.

The saying, "Be afraid. Be very afraid," couldn't be more appropriate. Who the hell knows what mentally challenged person the American people will vote for during the next presidential election?

And if you still have any faith in the "common sense" of the American people, please wake up.