US President 2016 - the Great Horse Race

[fast]

Are you a Republican or a Democrat? I need to know before I decide whether I agree or disagree with your post.

My first thought was to be evasive, figuring you agreed if Democrat and disagreed if Republican. My second thought was that it was a trick question based on the notion that self-identifying with a party transcends party affiliation through the entire private and public political spectrum. Now I'm just wondering why I even try to keep tabs on my thinking cap.

 

[angelo]

Nearly all elections are decided by swinging voters, who make up less than say, 15% of all voters. They're the ones the parties throw millions at.

 

[bilby]

Nearly all elections are decided by swinging voters, who make up less than say, 15% of all voters. They're the ones the parties throw millions at.

Nope. There are no swinging voters. The question in the US Presidential election is not "How will you vote".

It is "Will you vote".

The world is not Australia.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

The interesting thing is, this election may well be decided by angry voters who show their anger by not voting.

 

[angelo]

The interesting thing is, this election may well be decided by angry voters who show their anger by not voting.

That's a shame because it underlays the Democratic system.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

While the Democratic primary is the most intellectually interesting, and the Republican primary is the most emotionally interesting, I'm finding the Libertarian Primary to be the most disappointing.

The leader is Gary Johnson. In 2012 I opposed him in the primary but supported him in the general. This time around he's gotten worse.

Must a Jewish Baker make a Nazi cake? Freedom of association is freedom of association. But second place is even worse. Austin Petersen has publicly repudiated the NAP, the philosophical basis of all libertarian ideology. About the only good thing that can be said about Johnson right now is that if he wins it means Petersen loses. Third place is John McAfee, of McAfee Antivirus fame. He's a bit rough around the edges, but I'm pretty sure he's headed in the right direction philosophically. Unfortunately he's in third place.

Not that the polls matter a lot, after all, the candidate is chosen at convention by delegates and not by any primaries.

 

[fast]

While the Democratic primary is the most intellectually interesting, and the Republican primary is the most emotionally interesting, I'm finding the Libertarian Primary to be the most disappointing.

CNN hasn't mentioned the Libertarian Primary, not even once. What's up with not having even a moments mention? It's not that they have and I missed it--there hasn't even been so much as a snippet.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

If the marketplace of the media has decided that the Libertarians aren't worth mentioning, who are they to complain about that?

 

[fast]

If the marketplace of the media has decided that the Libertarians aren't worth mentioning, who are they to complain about that?

I'm still looking for that elusive dictionary that transcends the meaning of "complain." To mention is to complain, apparently. For this unforgivable transgression (of yours, just to be clear), I hereby place a hex on you, such that the next bowl of cereal you eat shall in everyway be stale. Just kidding; it's not unforgivable.

 

[Ford]

If the marketplace of the media has decided that the Libertarians aren't worth mentioning, who are they to complain about that?

I find it endlessly fascinating that after Citizen's United, the party that is in favor of free-market politics (the Libertarians) have been for all intents and purposes priced out of the race.


If money is speech, then maybe Gary Johnson should have come at this election with a little more money.

 

[angelo]

The greatest democracy on earth has a voting system that resembles a dogs breakfast. Unless a candidate raises millions of dollars, he/she cannot even get a look in. Does that assure the best person possible is chosen to lead the free world?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

The greatest democracy on earth has a voting system that resembles a dogs breakfast. Unless a candidate raises millions of dollars, he/she cannot even get a look in. Does that assure the best person possible is chosen to lead the free world?

No it doesn't. That's the US system. I don't know who'd be considered the greatest democracy on Earth, but it's not them.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

The game is rigged, and I'm supposed to believe that the results are fair and that is why the Ad Populum fallacy is valid.

Meanwhile, the problems inside the Libertarian Party primary aren't a topic. We're not supposed to look at details.

 

[bilby]

The greatest democracy on earth has a voting system that resembles a dogs breakfast. Unless a candidate raises millions of dollars, he/she cannot even get a look in. Does that assure the best person possible is chosen to lead the free world?

No it doesn't. That's the US system. I don't know who'd be considered the greatest democracy on Earth, but it's not them.

They can fuck off with their 'lead the free world' crap too - when you have by FAR the highest prison population per capita on the planet, you don't get to proclaim yourself a leader in the field of freedom.

 

[laughing dog]

No it doesn't. That's the US system. I don't know who'd be considered the greatest democracy on Earth, but it's not them.

They can fuck off with their 'lead the free world' crap too - when you have by FAR the highest prison population per capita on the planet, you don't get to proclaim yourself a leader in the field of freedom.

You confuse "freedom" with "leadership of the free world".

 

[bilby]

They can fuck off with their 'lead the free world' crap too - when you have by FAR the highest prison population per capita on the planet, you don't get to proclaim yourself a leader in the field of freedom.

You confuse "freedom" with "leadership of the free world".

Not at all; Whatever the 'free world' might be, I can't see any sensible definition by which the USA is even a member, much less a leader, of it.

 

[angelo]

No it doesn't. That's the US system. I don't know who'd be considered the greatest democracy on Earth, but it's not them.

They can fuck off with their 'lead the free world' crap too - when you have by FAR the highest prison population per capita on the planet, you don't get to proclaim yourself a leader in the field of freedom.

Hold on. Are you saying the US rounds up people at random and throws them into prisons?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

They can fuck off with their 'lead the free world' crap too - when you have by FAR the highest prison population per capita on the planet, you don't get to proclaim yourself a leader in the field of freedom.

Hold on. Are you saying the US rounds up people at random and throws them into prisons?

Not at random. They racially profile them first.

 

[fast]

Trump should openly buy delegate votes. Electoral votes, absolutely not, as that's both illegal and immoral. But, an open offer of a million dollars each sounds like an idea that would further boost his numbers and chances.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Trump should openly buy delegate votes. Electoral votes, absolutely not, as that's both illegal and immoral. But, an open offer of a million dollars each sounds like an idea that would further boost his numbers and chances.

The problem is that he's not the richest person at the convention and those other people hate him. If it turns into an open bidding war, he'll lose and lose badly. His current strategy of pounding the table about how immoral and undemocratic the process is probably gives him his best chance. The establishment can't lose 30% of their voter base in the general election, so they need to find some way to placate Trump. Unfortunately, there is no way to placate Trump which does not involve giving him the nomination and then having every party insider line up and give him a handjob.

If I didn't despise everyone who's a GOP insider and realize that these problems are all directly of their own making, I'd find the situation worrisome. As it is, I find it really funny.