GOP post mortem

[Shadowy Man]

The example that always leaps to mind for me is Jesse Ventura, former pro wrestler, who was elected as Governor of Minnesota.

Former pro wrestler isn't the material factor. Jesse Ventura, former star of Predator, was elected as Governor.

Predator had multiple governors and gubernatorial candidates in it.

 

[bilby]

The example that always leaps to mind for me is Jesse Ventura, former pro wrestler, who was elected as Governor of Minnesota.

Former pro wrestler isn't the material factor. Jesse Ventura, former star of Predator, was elected as Governor.

Predator had multiple governors and gubernatorial candidates in it.

Sonny Landham, who played the tracker, ran for Governor in, I think, Kentucky?

ETA Google says I am right.

But then, Google often says stuff what ain't so, so...

 

[Bomb#20]

It is very good that you occasionally have other choices apart from the duopoly.

We ALWAYS have INFINITE choices. The fact the there are rarely more than two front runners who are relatively evenly favored, is a feature, not a bug. There is nothing more than collective preference driving that fact.

Sure there's more than collective preference driving it -- it's a consequence of first-past-the-post voting rules. It's called Duverger's Law. And Gallup says 62% of Americans think we need a viable third party, so collective preference it ain't. As for whether it's a bug or a feature, Madison was trying to prevent political parties...

 

[jonatha]

The example that always leaps to mind for me is Jesse Ventura, former pro wrestler, who was elected as Governor of Minnesota.

Former pro wrestler isn't the material factor. Jesse Ventura, former star of Predator, was elected as Governor.

Predator had multiple governors and gubernatorial candidates in it.

Sonny Landham, who played the tracker, ran for Governor in, I think, Kentucky?

ETA Google says I am right.

But then, Google often says stuff what ain't so, so...

He entered the primary but dropped out sufficiently early that he did not appear on the ballot.

 

[Elixir]

The chance that any random individual will win a State-wide or National office, is far more minuscule than it needs to be, and its excessive minuscularity reflects the American system's bias against people who don't have friends in high places.

Am I reading this correctly, B?
If you have X offices and Y eligible population, the RANDOM chance of an individual taking an office is going to be Y/X.
What you’re calling “ excessive minuscularity” reflects a NON random value of having friends in high places.
Are you saying that all of our friendships are founded on random factors? I’d agree to a very limited degree.
Consider that those with few friends in high places are a subset of people with few friends. Maybe it’s non-random. Maybe that person doesn’t have friends in high places because they’re an asshole.

 

[Elixir]

Maybe that person doesn’t have friends in high places because they’re an asshole.

Should have qualified. Maybe it’s because they’re NOT an asshole.

 

[Bomb#20]

The chance that any random individual will win a State-wide or National office, is far more minuscule than it needs to be, and its excessive minuscularity reflects the American system's bias against people who don't have friends in high places.

Am I reading this correctly, B?
If you have X offices and Y eligible population, the RANDOM chance of an individual taking an office is going to be Y/X.

I take it you meant X/Y. That's the average random chance of an individual taking an office; my point was that some people have a much higher random chance than others have. The great majority would have a substantially less minuscule chance than we have now if the extra chance awarded to the few people with friends in high places were abolished -- we could all have an X/Y chance, instead of the current situation where, for definiteness, let's say, 99% of us have have a 0.1X/Y chance and 1% of us have a 90X/Y chance. In ancient Athens most public offices were filled by lottery; Ireland has been experimenting with the same concept on a small scale. Seems to me it has a lot to recommend it...

Maybe it’s non-random. Maybe that person doesn’t have friends in high places [because they’re NOT an asshole.]

... and that would be its number one recommendation.

 

[Elixir]

The great majority would have a substantially less minuscule chance than we have now if the extra chance awarded to the few people with friends in high places were abolished

Sure. And the subset of those folk, the ones who hold law degrees and have 2+ generations of close relatives in elected positions, would have even higher “random” chances. Etc.
But the American fantasy relies on backwoodsman Abe, who through the sheer power of superhuman honesty, saved most of mankind from perpetual slavery … so let’s stick with the realistic fact that any random American citizen has, at any given moment, NO FUCKING CHANCE to be president FAPP.
Anyone can become president. Except you!