Seems to be a pretty good guy, fairly liberal without being stupid. He apparently made some serious mistakes in his past -- which he wrote a book about before running. Gotta respect that. ;) I like him.
I haven't researched anyone in as much depth yet as I should, to be honest, but what little I've heard I like. Smart guy. Very rational, intelligent speaker, but doesn't come off as elitist. Showed a lot of class over the Jack Ryan kerfuffle. It could be argued that it was just tactically prudent to not only keep his own hands clean but also take the Trib to task for suing to get the divorce documents unsealed so they could strew the entrails all over the place. Whatever the motivation, tho, he has consistently demonstrated respect for the opposition, which is a pretty rare commodity these days.
Seems generally pretty middle-of-the-road on social issues, particularly by Chi's diehard-Democrat standards. I think I've heard some criticism that his primary concerns are Chicago-centric -- that seems to be something that comes up with a lot of politicians, and probably rightfully so, with this 800-pound gorilla by the lake whose residents tend to ignore the rest of the state as much as possible -- but I haven't looked much into the specifics.
One thing I'm certain of is that I'm right with him on Iraq: We had no business going in how and when we did (if at all), but now we're responsible for cleaning up our own mess. He gets big points from me for saying that it isn't going to be fun, and may end up requiring increased deployment before we can afford to start phasing out, simply because it takes guts to hold and state that position at a moment when the all-or-nothing screamers at both ends of the spectrum are likely to brand you a flip-flopper for it.
Most publicized plank so far is employment. Haven't delved into specifics about what he wants to do about it, if there are any. He doesn't much need them for the issue to play, but of course I always want anyone I'm considering voting for to put his concrete ideas where his generalizations are. So it's high on my list of things to look into when I get around to reading up.
Overall, my general gut impression of him is favorable. If you have any specific questions, let me know, and I'll see what I can turn up.
Don't need anything specific - just curious on the impressions of people who know something about him. I've only heard his name from blogs, so I know just about zero about him. I was curious.
Like I commented back to Perri, he's keynoting the convention in Boston, so it might be good for me to know something about him. And what better way than to ask?
(BTW: are you registered in Ohio or Illinois? Just curious.)
Like I commented back to Perri, he's keynoting the convention in Boston, so it might be good for me to know something about him. And what better way than to ask?
Cool. I'll be interested in your impression, then.
(BTW: are you registered in Ohio or Illinois? Just curious.)
Still in Ohio at this point, but I need to get in and register in IL. And get my IL driver's license. Working, renting and paying taxes here, want to vote here.
Gonna sound silly and shallow, but would it be dumb to consider holding off on switching your registration until after November 2? What I hear, the vote in Ohio's gonna be key...
Heh. We're going to be moving from Illinois to Ohio in about a month, and we were going to check the electoral/polling situations to see whether we should do the absentee thing for IL or register in OH.
Problem is I don't know whether or not we'll have sold the house by then, at which point I won't even have the tenuous claim to Ohio residency I have now. :-/ And I will very definitely be here on the 2nd, so I'd have to plan for absentee besides.
Believe me, I've thought about it. *sigh* Too much still up in the air to know for sure at this point.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 11:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 11:58 am (UTC)What you say, it sounds good!
no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 12:08 pm (UTC)Seems generally pretty middle-of-the-road on social issues, particularly by Chi's diehard-Democrat standards. I think I've heard some criticism that his primary concerns are Chicago-centric -- that seems to be something that comes up with a lot of politicians, and probably rightfully so, with this 800-pound gorilla by the lake whose residents tend to ignore the rest of the state as much as possible -- but I haven't looked much into the specifics.
One thing I'm certain of is that I'm right with him on Iraq: We had no business going in how and when we did (if at all), but now we're responsible for cleaning up our own mess. He gets big points from me for saying that it isn't going to be fun, and may end up requiring increased deployment before we can afford to start phasing out, simply because it takes guts to hold and state that position at a moment when the all-or-nothing screamers at both ends of the spectrum are likely to brand you a flip-flopper for it.
Most publicized plank so far is employment. Haven't delved into specifics about what he wants to do about it, if there are any. He doesn't much need them for the issue to play, but of course I always want anyone I'm considering voting for to put his concrete ideas where his generalizations are. So it's high on my list of things to look into when I get around to reading up.
Overall, my general gut impression of him is favorable. If you have any specific questions, let me know, and I'll see what I can turn up.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 12:15 pm (UTC)Like I commented back to Perri, he's keynoting the convention in Boston, so it might be good for me to know something about him. And what better way than to ask?
(BTW: are you registered in Ohio or Illinois? Just curious.)
no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 12:18 pm (UTC)Cool. I'll be interested in your impression, then.
(BTW: are you registered in Ohio or Illinois? Just curious.)
Still in Ohio at this point, but I need to get in and register in IL. And get my IL driver's license. Working, renting and paying taxes here, want to vote here.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 12:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 12:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-07-21 09:03 am (UTC)Registration can be done right up until September 30.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-14 12:40 pm (UTC)Believe me, I've thought about it. *sigh* Too much still up in the air to know for sure at this point.