It doesn’t matter anyway, I made it clear what I meant.

That’s a rather different idea / definition of “extreme” than I was thinking of or using.

My idea of “extreme” is someone holding views at the far fringes of conventional left or right wing political philosophies. An extreme Republican frex would then be someone who takes the usual Republican philosophy and takes it to the extreme limit, pushing it from mainstream moderate position of favouring “small govt, few taxes, socially conservative” into “microscopically tiny govt, no taxes at all or just one small tax, very socially conservative indeed” – and also is less willing to compromise or moderate such views.

I think “extremism” is a question of degrees and how far you “push” ideas in one direction or other plus some of the really kooky ideas eg. paranoid conspiracy fantasies you find at either end of the political spectrum. I don’t think extreme candiates (eg. Perry) are electable and whilst they grab a lot of publicity and attention I think, as a political rule, most people prefer more centrist, moderate, willing to compromise candidates.

I don’t think someone merely “having views very closely in line with one of the parties” as you put it is in any way necessarily an extremist or extreme.

Notice that I said “the candidates for President”, not “the Republican candidate for President” or even “the candidate for President”. This applies equally to any party in the U.S. system, it isn’t even limited to the Republican or Democratic party.

I should add that when I say “extreme”, I mean in terms of how much their views match that of a party platform (either party), as opposed to moderates who have views in-between those of either party. Certainly there are more or less extreme members of the parties.

There is a big difference between being on the extreme end of the political spectrum and being an “extremist”. I intentionally never used the latter word.

I do think (& yeah I’m a long way from the action here but still.) that the Creationist movement has long since passed its zenith and is now sinking ever more rapidly into oblivion.

I think – & hope – the same thing is true for the whole Tea party movement too.

@37. TheBlackCat :

@MTU: The problem is that the people who decide on the Republican party candidates are only the card-carrying members of the Republican party. In other words, the candidates for President are chosen by the most extreme Americans.

Well, I’m not sure it’s really fair or accurate to say that all or even most of the card-carrying Republican members are the most extreme Americans. I think a lot of them are moderate and we possibly only hera theloudest most extreme voices because they’re the ones that get the most publicity and attention. I hope that’s true.

Also there are extremists on all sides of politics and even outside of it. Pastor Jeremiah Wright is one good reason why I’d be tempted to describe Obama himself as somewhat of an extremist – or at least someone willing to listen to a left-wing extremist. But that’s another story again.

I think Americans, heck humans, in general will give the extremists on all sides their attention, often their mocking laughter or imagined nightmares, but only rarely their votes.

I think the Tea party will end up being embarrassing “baggage” politically and that moderates can and will prevail into the forseeable future as that’s the nature of politics as I see it.

PS. Great to see you back here posting again. You haven’t been commenting here for a bit & I’ve missed you.

It is still not likely that any of them will be chosen…this time. I think calmer heads still have enough power in the part to prevent it. But it is far impossible. And the Republican party has been courting the crazy faction for so long and given them so much power, if their candidate loses this time as well they may not be willing to accept another moderate in 2016. In that case it far from impossible that they will either force an extremist, or split the party. I’m hoping for the latter.

However, out of all the alternatives* they’re probably the least bad options going from what I’ve read and heard so far.

That said, I guess it is worrying a prominent politican can hold the anti-science veiws Perry publicy proclaims. I very much doubt Rick Perry will become President of the US but, yeah, FSM help us all in the unlikely event that he – or Michelle Bachmann or Sarah Palin – does.

————————————

* Is the collective noun for a group of political candidates a “despair” of political choices?

And who appointed him to this position? Texas Governor and now Presidential candidate Rick Perry.

Um, if I understand the US political system right (& as an Aussie who just follows it a bit on the news and in the blogosphere that’s a big ‘if’) isn’t Rick Perry only a candidate to be a possible presdiential candidate? A candidate to be the Republican parties candidate for President.

Only *if* Perry wins the Republican party nomination (or loses but stands as an independent anyhow) will he qualify to be a presidential candidate, right?

Perhaps I’m being overly optimistic here but I really don’t think Perry – or fellow “Tea party” rightwingers Michelle Bachmann or Sarah Palin if she decies to run – will win the republican nomination. I think these people and their like are too extreme and that the majority of Americans think and know better than to vote them into power.

I’m predicting (from a long way out and a continent away) that the 2012 US Presidential election will be between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama and that Obama will win. Not than I’m especially keen on or advocating for either of those flawed and disappointing politicians.

That was very informative.

Adding “Yahweh did it” to the science books is just fine with them, but they would be appalled if someone were to suggest adding “Allah did it”. And the two are identical, in every respect.

B-but…Dianne! She ran for president under her first name!

//snark

They’re not trying very hard. :-

Then again I am in California, home of the absolutely most corrupt Democrats in history, so biased sample, I suppose. The Republicans here are just a bunch of pusses. I pretty much just vote on the propositions.

I’m afraid Jon Huntsman doesn’t have a chance of winning the nomination. He actually seems kinda reasonable…

@Flip, #20:

Glad to have been of service.

I don’t know much about the other canidates for the presidental bid, but so far Rick Perry scares me the most for what he might to do if he wins.

Won’t someone think of the crocoducks?!?! /Mrs. Lovejoy

You sir, just brightened my day! I may have to borrow that one…