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If this were the Presidential ballot, for whom would you vote?


This BBS often hears laments about its left-wing bias, but I am *very* interested to see (even allowing for the limitations of a self-selecting BBS poll) 19 votes for Bush. Fully 37 percent of votes cast -- not anywhere so lop-sided as minority complaints and posts from the BBS right might suggest.

I can't help but wonder if some of those closet Tories from Cambridge have been stuffing this ballot box!

Jeff and a very few others are willing to stick their neck out to the right on the BBS, but that leaves maybe 14-15 other voters unheard from. Yes, given the prevailing (accepted) wisdom regarding the left-wing BBS tilt, I am surprised to see Bush polling at nearly 40 percent and wonder why we don't hear more about his merits on the BBS. I am curious about that and how the BBS came to be perceived the way it has..

So, I have a few questions for any willing Bush voters.....(Feel free to cherry pick!)

1) Blue-state liberal folks (and BBSers) are sometimes derided as uppity, snobby, effete intellectuals who just can't appreciate that Bush is beloved precisely because he's a "regular guy". In light of this "snobs-versus-regular-guy" phenomenon, what do you make of the influence of Leo Strauss on key members of the administration and do you perceive any contradiction between Bush's "regular-guy" reputation and Straussian philosophy?

2) Four years later, how do you feel about the presidential election of 2000 as compared to what you felt about it at the time?

3) If you are voting for Bush, is it safe to assume that you support his conduct with respect to Iraq? If so, can you state a detailed case (needs to say more than "Saddam was a bad guy") as to why the preemptive war in Iraq was a good idea?

4) If John Kerry wins, what bad things do you predict will happen that you are pretty certain will *not* occur if Bush is elected? The definition of "bad" is left completely up to you.

5) What do you think that bulge was?
_________________________
Jim


'Tis the exceptional fellow who lies awake at night thinking of his successes.