Petraeus for President?

[Reaganfan]

I would love to see General David Petraeus, the man who brought our troops to victory in Iraq, run against President Obama in 2012. I kind of doubt he would...but man that would be awesome.

[J. J.]

If there is a disastrous military situation that he warns against, possibly.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

If his social views are moderate enough, and Obama does poorly, I'd consider supporting him.

[Хahar 🤔]

Seeing I have no idea what he believes on anything...no.

[Reaganfan]

Seeing I have no idea what he believes on anything...no.

Aren't you 13? Isn't "Eureka's Castle" on?

[War on Want]

If his social views are moderate enough, and Obama does poorly, I'd consider supporting him.

Seriously? Thats just ing stupid...

[War on Want]

Seeing I have no idea what he believes on anything...no.

Aren't you 13? Isn't "Eureka's Castle" on?

lol nice age comeback. The point is he will never be president, even if Obama does poorly.

[Reaganfan]

Seeing I have no idea what he believes on anything...no.

Aren't you 13? Isn't "Eureka's Castle" on?

lol nice age comeback. The point is he will never be president, even if Obama does poorly.

I agree...but it is because he won't run.

I had an interesting conversation with a family friend back on July 4th and she kept going on about how badly she wishes Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf would have run. She said, "It would have been a 90-10 victory and he would have cleaned house" or something to that effect.

[War on Want]

Seeing I have no idea what he believes on anything...no.

Aren't you 13? Isn't "Eureka's Castle" on?

lol nice age comeback. The point is he will never be president, even if Obama does poorly.

I agree...but it is because he won't run.

I had an interesting conversation with a family friend back on July 4th and she kept going on about how badly she wishes Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf would have run. She said, "It would have been a 90-10 victory and he would have cleaned house" or something to that effect.

lol

[Хahar 🤔]

Seeing I have no idea what he believes on anything...no.

Aren't you 13? Isn't "Eureka's Castle" on?

You just made a joke abnout my age that I'm too young to get. Congratulations.

[7,052,770]

What are his political views?

[YRABNNRM]

Seeing I have no idea what he believes on anything...no.

Aren't you 13? Isn't "Eureka's Castle" on?

lol nice age comeback. The point is he will never be president, even if Obama does poorly.

I agree...but it is because he won't run.

I had an interesting conversation with a family friend back on July 4th and she kept going on about how badly she wishes Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf would have run. She said, "It would have been a 90-10 victory and he would have cleaned house" or something to that effect.

And that "family friend" clearly had no knowledge of American politics.

[Nutmeg]

1864 redux

[DownWithTheLeft]

Anyone notice that every post EMD makes starts with "LOL" is followed by 0 substance

[Workers' Friend]

Depends on his views and how everything turns out in 2012.

[Robespierre's Jaw]

If Iraq is still the mess it currently is, wait a moment folks, its always been a mess since. Thanks to Winston Churchill's ignorance and lack of caring about the fate of decolonising nations upon the conclusion of the First World War, which in the process created the nation of Iraq in March 1921. Anywho, I highly doubt that General Petraeus will run in 2012. He'll do a Powell '96 move here, that's if Iraq ever becomes successful.

[Хahar 🤔]

If Iraq is still the mess it currently is, wait a moment folks, its always been a mess since. Thanks to Winston Churchill's ignorance and lack of caring about the fate of decolonising nations upon the conclusion of the First World War, which in the process created the nation of Iraq in March 1921. Anywho, I highly doubt that General Petraeus will run in 2012. He'll do a Powell '96 move here, that's if Iraq ever becomes successful.

Hit the mark.

No country drawn out of the imagination of a bored civil servant in London will ever succeed.

[War on Want]

Anyone notice that every post EMD makes starts with "LOL" is followed by 0 substance

Does there need to be substance with any of these posts? I mean I could have lots but it is a waste of time unless someone specifically asks for it...

[Person Man]

1864 redux

Hahaha....very funny.

Hahaha.... is Eureka's Castle in Eureka, California.... damn, I haven't seen that show since 1994 or 1995.

[paul718]

Depends on his views and how everything turns out in 2012.

Exactly. 

How serious is this idea anyway?  I've heard it before, but just chalked it up to America's fondness for a learned general to become President. 

[Bob Dole '96]

There is a lot of Palin/Petraeus talk starting.   

[paul718]

There is a lot of Palin/Petraeus talk starting.   

Link?

[BlueSwan]

Seeing I have no idea what he believes on anything...no.

Aren't you 13? Isn't "Eureka's Castle" on?

lol nice age comeback. The point is he will never be president, even if Obama does poorly.

I agree...but it is because he won't run.

I had an interesting conversation with a family friend back on July 4th and she kept going on about how badly she wishes Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf would have run. She said, "It would have been a 90-10 victory and he would have cleaned house" or something to that effect.

Why does people seem to think that war heroes will do great in elections based on their military record. Where is the evidence to support that claim? Let's look at the last five US elections:

1992: Bill Clinton beat George H.W. Bush
1996: Bill Clinton beat Bob Dole
2000: George W. Bush beat Al Gore
2004: George W. Bush beat John Kerry
2008: Barack Obama beat John McCain

Notice a pattern? Each and every time the guy with the superior military record lost. The theory that military service matters in US presidential elections would suggest that two term presidents like Clinton and Bush junior never stood a chance.

Even more interestingly, during the last two presidential elections, the candidates were relying heavily on their "war hero" status to secure their party nomination. Somehow the parties think that being a war hero makes you more electable.

Sure, being a war hero can't hurt you. It WILL probably benefit you. But politics and communication skills matter so much more. When the parties get blindsighted by a person having war hero status, they tend to forget to concentrate on what really matters. While I am personally a huge fan of John Kerry, his ability to connect with voters was just in a different (lower) league to Clinton and Obama.

[paul718]

Why does people seem to think that war heroes will do great in elections based on their military record. Where is the evidence to support that claim? Let's look at the last five US elections:

1992: Bill Clinton beat George H.W. Bush
1996: Bill Clinton beat Bob Dole
2000: George W. Bush beat Al Gore
2004: George W. Bush beat John Kerry
2008: Barack Obama beat John McCain

Notice a pattern? Each and every time the guy with the superior military record lost. The theory that military service matters in US presidential elections would suggest that two term presidents like Clinton and Bush junior never stood a chance.

Even more interestingly, during the last two presidential elections, the candidates were relying heavily on their "war hero" status to secure their party nomination. Somehow the parties think that being a war hero makes you more electable.

Sure, being a war hero can't hurt you. It WILL probably benefit you. But politics and communication skills matter so much more. When the parties get blindsighted by a person having war hero status, they tend to forget to concentrate on what really matters. While I am personally a huge fan of John Kerry, his ability to connect with voters was just in a different (lower) league to Clinton and Obama.

I think you need to look at a General or an Admiral differently than a politician with a war-story.  The reason why Petraeus is so impressive is that he had a unique plan for a desperate situation which turned out to be relatively successful.  While a Bush/Dole/Kerry/McCain war-story speaks of the man's character, it does little to show his ability to formulate big-picture ideas and delegate authority to implement those ideas, all while at the mercy of Congress.  Quite similar to the Presidency. 

That said, I have no reason to believe Gen. Petraeus will ever run for President.

[big bad fab]

The GOP needs an efficient guy with modest social origins, who can appeal to MidWesterners without scaring independent.
A (wo)man with a conservative resume, an "average" life, but with moderate policies and ideas and who can be bold on education and social security (issues on which Obama will fail).

Sure, for a political junkie, Romney, Thune, Jindal, Crist, Sanford, Cantor, Burr, etc are all very fine.
But they will lose in 2012 and maybe even 2016.

Because they won't be able to hide their origins, as Sarkozy and Cameron.

War heroes, genrals are out of date, now.
Petraeus will fade with Irak.

So, only as a VP if Jindal or Thune is the nominee (or Palin, but she won't win the nomination or, else, Tom Ridge or someone else in the moderate wing will be an independent candidate, or Bloomberg will have a try).