US General Election 2016

Please moderate Republicans save us from the tea party maniacs.

Eldorion wrote:
It's possible that states with open primaries (where you don't have to be registered as a member of a party to vote in their primary) will see Democrats crossing over to vote for Trump with an eye towards hurting the GOP's general election prospects, but I'm skeptical.  This possibility gets mentioned every cycle (and even came up in the UK with the recent Labour leadership election which for the first time was open to ordinary voters for a nominal party registration fee), but I'm not sure if any research has been done as to how prevalent this tactic actually is.

I've done it. Voted for Ross Perot in the primaries just to monkey-wrench things. It's far, far more tempting with Trump.

I'm registered as an independent just because I can't stand the thought of people thinking I support any party platform 100%. They've all got stupid stuff in there.

I'm a registered Democrat purely because Maryland has closed primaries and you have to be a member to vote in them.  The primaries are the best path towards getting more left-leaning politicians in office.  Plus in certain parts of the state (less so the county where I now live) the Democratic primaries are often the only part of the election with any real competition in them.

I can't imagine why anyone would think being a party member means you're 100% behind the party's platform. Not even the politicians themselves back the platform that often.

We're an open primary State (WA) where almost nobody has party membership, and there's a lot of cynicism about both national parties, so I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Donald get a significant protest vote.

Fiorina interests some serious fiscal conservative independents too; don't count her out too early.

There are a lot of wild cards in this primary system.

Is Mr Trump one of those intelligent Americans I've heard rumoured about?

Obviously. He's almost as rich as if he had invested his daddy's millions in the stock market.

Orwell wrote:Is Mr Trump one of those intelligent Americans I've heard rumoured about?

That depends. What rumours have you been hearing?
Personally I'd question the intelligence of anybody who thinks it would be fun to run for President.

Being the most powerful man (or woman) in the world might be more enticing than you think, David. *







{{{*More importantly, Dave, two of my three cranberries (some say 'miraculously') still survive. I plan to find a place to grow them properly (one day). }}}

Orwell wrote:Being the most powerful man (or woman) in the world might be more enticing than you think, David. *

A valid point, Orwell. But there are many other enticing things in this world besides power, and I tend to question the intelligence of men (or women) who spend their lives chasing those enticements too.  

{{{*More importantly, Dave, two of my three cranberries (some say 'miraculously') still survive. I plan to find a place to grow them properly (one day). }}}

{{{Congratulations Orwell!   You've past the first test, so I hereby nominate you for membership in the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Cranberry Growers. Here's the secret handshake:  
Remember, you're sworn to secrecy.  }}}

{{{Your secret -- sorry our secret - is safe with me... To let you know, I've decided to start up (and joined you up) with the Ozzhobbiton (Branch) Secret Affiliated Cranberry Society (that's you and me, Dave! ) and here's our secret ritual... ... which will occur just after the secret handshake when you visit... I see no reason for actual meetings or minutes, just Cranberry Get-Togethers with the Associated Ritual - or as I like to call it (as of now) a CeeGeeTee for short - to allow more time for said Ritualising:D ) No need for American Elections when you've joined the right kind of Secret Society, methinks. }}}

{{{You Ozhobbits sure know how to run a secret society! }}}
{{{{{{ }}}}}}

{{{ waaa??? oh yu Davey... starrtud widdoot yu, but sheel bee rite, mate!*.... }}}








{{{* Davey!!!!!!!!!!! "sheel bee rite, mate..." = "darn tootin', ombray"   }}}

http://mashable.com/2015/09/24/south-park-donald-trump/#ZO3Iw4XIIPq_

http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-plan-cuts-taxes-for-millions-1443427200

http://fortune.com/2015/10/09/democratic-debate-online/

So is O'Malley polling well enough to qualify for the debate?  The GOP debates have showcased the downside of having too many candidates on the stage (not that there are anywhere near as many Dems in this race), but I do think it's fair to give the lower-tier candidates a shot in the first one or two debates.  But since there are so few Dem debates, maybe they want to get straight to the Hillary vs Bernie main bout.

Edit: all five will be there (looks like Biden is officially not running now; it's hard to imagine him entering after the first debate, though it's certainly not impossible).

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/11/politics/cnn-democratic-debate-podium-order/

I won't be able to watch live but I'll definitely seek out the highlights at the very least.

I'll probably watch it while falling asleep tonight. Doubt it will be as entertaining as the GOP debate.

Too bad Biden didn't jump in at the last minute. Would have made things a little more exciting. I'm sad you won't be here to comment on the debate Eldo. I really enjoyed reading your comments last time, and having a near real time discussion with others on the forum was a lot of fun.

I appreciate you saying that, bungo. I'm sure I'll be able to watch live for at least some of the future debates. Once we get into primary season (and especially for the general next year) I try to make more of an effort for the debates. I agree that the real time discussions are one of the highlights of election season.

Here's a juicy little something.

http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/10/13/busted-cnn-uses-jeb-bush-staffer-planted-in-audience-to-frame-donald-trump-narrativehit-job/

Yeah, I'm not going to make it very far into the debate. Thinking I should just hit the hay now.

edit: Yeah, this isn't going to be as fun as the GOP debate. Plus Hillary Clinton's voice is too shrill.

https://translate.google.no/translate?sl=no&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=no&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nrk.no%2Fverden%2Fvil-ikke-at-usa-skal-bli-som-skandinavia-1.12601939&edit-text=
http://www.nrk.no/verden/vil-ikke-at-usa-skal-bli-som-skandinavia-1.12601939

Yeah I ended up not watching the debate. More or less watched the candidates introductions and then went to bed. Glad I got a full nights sleep. Plus when Bernie Sanders launched into a Cliff's notes version of his stump speech instead of introducing himself to the American people, I decided I had already seen enough.

I only watched a bit of the highlights.  I thought Hillary did a better job in the debate than Bernie did.  On the other hand, Bernie was an entity who registered against Hillary, which is more than you can really say for Chafee and Webb (and to some extent O'Malley).  No one really set the roof on fire but Hillary, being the frontrunner, had the least to risk and did fine playing it safe.