Never talk about religion or politics...

So I'm gonna break that rule and talk about politics. Here we go...

I watched both the republican and democratic debates today while writing up some business paperwork (blekh) and was surprised by what I saw.

Democrats: I was surprised to see a bunch of people who mostly seemed genuine, honest, on-topic, and fairly civil. I think these debates may be a little more civil right now as it's early on, but it was still nice. I was surprised to find that I would be OK with most of them being president (looking only at this debate, I'm sure this'll change...).

Obama: The guy is sharp. He is very good at quickly cutting to the heart of the topic, he doesn't hesitate to jump into sticky topics, make admissions, and he avoids trying to distract with frivolous tangents.

Clinton: She is my least favorite, so I was surprised to hear she leads the polls. But, they were awfully hard on her, as she's the leader, so she had to deal with a lot of attacks. Regardless, she seems very political, slimy, and deceptive. Maybe that's just me. Either way, she seemed to be on the defensive in a big way, with Obama and Edwards really showing her up big-time.

Edwards: He's OK, but he seems a little political and slimy, too. Not as bad as Hillary, and he was pretty sharp, but he seemed very strategic and phony.

Biden: I've never seen him before, but he was actually pleasant to see up there. He's frank, smart, and fairly on-the-ball. He doesn't seem as smart as Obama, or Edwards, but does seem more honest than Edwards. Also, he seems a little quick in his decisions, not thoughtful. We've had one of those for a few years now...

Kucinich: I wish they'd give Kucinich more time. He's great to listen to. He is not political and believes strongly in his causes. Also, I tend to agree with him on a lot of things. That said, he doesn't even get any respect in this democratic forum. How is he gonna get it from congress, washington d.c. and the world?

The White-haired Jewish Guy (I mississed his name): He was funny. Irrelevant, but funny. He was pretty smart, to-the-point, and I liked him all right. He doesn't have a chance, though.

The other white-haired guy: Also irrelevant but pretty level-headed.

Did I miss anyone? I can't think of another one.

Republicans: Wow. Wow. Wow. These guys were like a normal political debate. They were stiff, full of sound-bites, and agonizing to listen to. Some of them were straight-up terrifying to listen to. I did like hearing so many of them say they'd eliminate the IRS and shrink government, though. Let's take a look...

McCain: When he was going against W in 2000 I wanted him to win. I liked him a LOT. He seemed level-headed, smart, and competent. I'm not sure what has happened to him since then. He acts like a robot, for one thing. He is a loon when he talks about terrorism and Bin Laden (I will hunt him to the gates of hell???? And I guess that means you're gonna blow all our money on this, regardless of whether Bin Laden matters anymore, or what the possible consequences are? Great way to handle a complicated problem and weigh all the options and issues...) I now would rather see just about anybody else president. Unfortunately, after looking at the other republicans, it's probably him or Juliani, right? Who are these other guys? He only said one thing I liked, when he talked about going to silicon valley to recruit billionaires for his cabinet and staff.

Giuliani: He really doesn't fit in with this bunch. And that's a good thing. He did well in NY, which is a diverse, complicated place: much like the world. I think he is keyed into the reality of the world well enough to be able to get things done. Some of the other guys up there seem to come from the twilight zone.

Ron Paul: Never heard about him before today when I kept seeing his name pop up in comments on the democratic debate page. People wanted him to be the republican to win, so that it'd be their favorite democrat vs. him, so that either way it was OK. That seems to be the way to look at these things anymore: hope that both candidates are OK so that it's OK whoever wins. Ron Paul is great. He's dorky, a little overly simplistic on a couple things, but I like his idea of government. He's a libertarian, not a Republican, and I hope he does well. Haven't checked the polls, but I'd be shocked if he made it. Who knows, though, that'd be cool.

The other guys: Yikes, yikes yikes yikes yikes. Especially the one guy who looks like the FBI dude from Greatest American Hero. Jeez, did that guy get teleported here from the 50's? 40's? His hair did anyway.

Anyway, I'm sure people are mad and all, but these are my picks, in order, by part, so far...

Dems:
Obama
Biden
Edwards

Repubs:
Ron Paul
Giuliani

I'd rather not see any of the others elected...


Issues?

Not sure on some of them, but here's a few thoughts:

War in Iraq: boy, we're in a sticky mess. I think we need to get out. We screwed up. Not sure how fast we should get out. I think Iraq will either come under the boot of another Saddam, who will be able to squelch the violence with said boot, or divide in to different nations along ethnic bounds (sunni, shia, kurd). The other moderate Arab nations have begun to come forward to take lead of the direction of their part of the world (Saudi Arabia, UAE, etc.) and that is good. Hopefully they can work together, in their own interest, to settle things down and further their regional interests, instead of getting ensnared in some sort of regional ethnic war... either way, I don't think we'll solve it in Iraq. Also, isn't Kucinich right that they can just NOT approve ANY funding bill for the war, thus cutting it off? Sure, they need a quorum or whatever to override his veto, but that's to pass a funding bill WITH timetable. If they want to play hardball they just don't fund. Boom. Done.

What I fear in the war: Bush wants bases in Iraq from which to attempt to launch into Iran, and generally secure the middle east. We need not be the world's policemen. WE NEED NOT BE THE WORLD'S POLICEMEN.

Immigration: They're not talking about implementing the sort of immigration reform that I'd like to see, so I don't really care for the most part. However, I am against the REAL ID stuff. I think they need to be practical about it all.

Health Care: Conservatives don't want 'socialist' health care. Democrats want universal coverage. Personally, I wouldn't say that our current system is all that free market, what with the HMOs, insurance company cronyism, etc. I don't want to see a mandatory plan, that's for sure, or one that is gonna be financially unfeasible, or that encourages people to be unhealthy or reckless. I'm open to suggestions from all sides.

Abortion: The republicans are only talking about this because they're trying to rally the religious right votes, yet again. They'll bring up gay stuff again, too, and try to pretend that the world will go to total hell if a democrat is elected. I think Bush pretty well fulfilled that in his own unique way, too, though, so voting republican certainly doesn't save you from that...

Anyway, I think that's all I have right now. What did everyone else think?