American Republic Online

I managed to watch some of the Republican debate last night.  The debates seem to be getting better, but one thing really stuck out to me (and the AP as well): everyone kept talking about Hillary Clinton.  It almost turned into a “vote for me, or else Hillary will win” contest.  For me, it came close to the 2004 election when the only thing all the Democrat hopefuls basically said was “vote for me, I’m not Bush.”  That wasn’t enough to get my vote then, probably won’t be enough in 08 either.
I want to vote for someone, not against someone.  Not trying to walk the Thompson line, but he actually remarked on this very thing last night, saying we need to concentrate on the issues, not on who we think will get the Democrat nomination.  Indeed, saying we need to rally around you as a group and vote for you or else Hillary is going to win the election is not that motivating.  It may inspire a party of collectivists, but probably won’t do much for a party of individuals.