DAS, commenting on the My Election Choices quotes, succinctly articulates what I've been trying to get at with my constant textual analyses of the Clinton/Obama spats:
A few of the candidates (I've not checked which ... but I suspect it's Romney, Clinton and Giuliani) were making quotes that were clearly designed to answer "why should a liberal vote for me, a Republican" or "why should a conservative vote for me, a Democrat" or "why should a conservative vote for me, a more moderate Republican" or even "why should a liberal vote for me, a moderate Democrat".
Right, and this is why it's not necessarily useful to listen to political rhetoric, particularly in a vacuum. A blind test of which statements you agree with may not get you any closer to a candidate who will govern well.
