The 2016 (USA) Presidential Election Thread

[MannDude]

You've got another Clinton, another Bush, and folks like Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Gary Johnson, etc in the running. This thread is being created for general political discussion since most American media is already plagued with election news as the candidates campaign.

I'll be the first to say that I don't hate Trump and that Sanders scares me, but not as scary as Hillary. Haven't read too much into the others. I do like Johnson though but he'll never win.

"If you're not liberal when you are young, then you have no heart. If you are not conservative when you are older, then you have no brain."

You triggered yet?

Go.

 

[HalfEatenPie]

Reddit's love for Bernie Sanders actually makes me dislike him.  

I bet he has good policies and means well, but holy cow does Reddit try to just cram it down your throat.  

My vote is for Mickey Mouse.  

Obligatory 30 Rock Scene



(Honestly though, I'm actually a Democrat that just happens to agree with some Republican ideas). 

 

[drmike]

Damn it, politics again

Who the hell is running?  Clintonistas are running?  We had 8 years of Hillary running the show and she's been in Oh-bama Whouse a chunk of his term... Meh...  Can be all agree to never have a Clinton or a Bush as president again, please?

Sanders is interesting... the guy at least attempts to think. Trump isn't running... The alien on his head is running.  Trump is just nuts and has a history of bending rules, bad pay, etc.

Gary Johnson is great.  I probably best resonate with him.

Still waiting for viable 3rd party candidate or a Republican who isn't laughing stock.

There are how many people running now? 300+?

Frankly, I think we should imprison anyone that intentionally runs for office and aspires to rule over others.   Leaders should be selected unwillingly from the public at large.  Yeah I know unrealistic, but we have 4 years to do it for the presidency and certainly can do better than the fools that keep getting elected... That applies to Democons and Replicons equally.

 

[MartinD]

If Trump gets anywhere near the Whitehouse the world really is well and truly fucked.

 

[rds100]

Does it really matter who the president is? Isn't he or she just a frontend for the masses and media? I don't think the real decisions are left to him.

 

[DomainBop]

Does it really matter who the president is? Isn't he or she just a frontend for the masses and media? I don't think the real decisions are left to him.

The President and Congress are both frontends for the wishes of lobbyists and large campaign donors (2016 campaign spending for the presidential election is expected to top $5 billion.)  Republicans and Democrats have different marketing gimmicks during campaign season but once elected they serve the same masters, and those masters aren't the average citizen.

The most accurate term to describe the current US federal government (President and Congress) is "plutocracy".

 

[Bruce]

reviving the old Lewinksy gags ... will Bill splash out on a new dress for Hilary in the election campaign ?

how can either party, or the country as a whole, be taken seriously when the lack of gun laws results in kids being killed. being on-topic, no presidential candidate will promote anti-gun laws. obama effectively admitted he gave up on the idea recently (can't find a quote for it). it's a shame, as more kids will be killed due to this inaction (accidents, high school massacres, etc)

 

[clarity]

For me, I don't particularly care who the president is. They are a figurehead for our government. They do have some power, but it isn't anything that really scares me.

The real change comes when the President, House, and Senate are all controlled by one party. This happens very rarely, but when it does they get a ton of stuff done that wouldn't happen any other way. Whether you are for it or against it, those situations are the ones that scare me the most. You have an entire country being run by lobbyists and corrupt politicians that don't have the true interest of the people that elected them in mind. The only good thing is that it happens for both parties, and they are able to correct the things that the other party messed up.

As for the people running this time, it is another stellar candidate pool. I thought that Ted Cruz had a real shot, but he is way too far to the right for the masses. He needs to re-center himself to have a chance at the presidency. I thought that he would have done what Obama did during his time as senator. Instead, Cruz has gotten really involved and said a lot of things that just don't sit well. Obama didn't really say anything or do anything during his time in the Senate. Cruz could have learned from that.

 

[KuJoe]

At least they let us know up front our votes don't count, but you get a sticker if you take the time to vote in an election where your votes are counted but don't mean much.


Electoral College FTW!

 

[HN-Matt]

That applies to Democons and Replicons equally.

 

[ChrisM]

Honestly anyone but Hillary would be a relief from the joke we have in there now.

I am leaning toward Donald Trump or Scott Walker, Ted Cruz also looks interesting. 

 

[Licensecart]

Rand Paul sounds like he would be good for the USA.

 

[ChrisM]

Rand Paul sounds like he would be good for the USA.

Honestly I don't know what happened to him. He was pretty active at first, but recently he has been pretty quite. 

 

[raidz]

Rand Paul is our best shot imo

 

[Licensecart]

Honestly I don't know what happened to him. He was pretty active at first, but recently he has been pretty quite. 

true hopefully he can get his voice out more, but he seems to be the only one who puts the USA people first.

 

[drmike]

Politics doesn't have anything to do with rainbows.

I am sure a lot of folks who have used the rainbow feel that the gay folks have stolen it.   I know adults that get concerned about their children drawing rainbows because of the whole gay bend to it.

Unsure why the Democratic rainbow has so much green in it and disproportionate amount of black...  If it's to indicate race division, it's all f'd up and not to scale.  Likewise the Republican rainbow is represented as  thin band of white.   With half of the electorate identifying as Republican and with them not being all white, it's not correct and not to scale.

I have yet to meet any green people unless they are lobbyists or that liberal marijuana tax and grow group.

 

[HN-Matt]

Politics doesn't have anything to do with rainbows.

That is true, but satire does.

Unsure why the Democratic rainbow has so much green in it and disproportionate amount of black...

I'm not sure how it looks on your screen, but on mine it seems to have more black in it than any other colour!

If it's to indicate race division, it's all f'd up and not to scale.  Likewise the Republican rainbow is represented as  thin band of white.   With half of the electorate identifying as Republican and with them not being all white, it's not correct and not to scale.

Hrm, very true. I will write to the satirist and advise him to add more correctness and scale to the next cartoon.

 

[MannDude]

Can't stump the Trump.

Love him or hate him, this guy is gaining a lot of support. I'm not sure if he'll actually win the Republican bid or not but he's a hoot.

 

[ChrisM]

 

[Nick_A]

@Bruce - That's extreme over-simplifying...

On topic: I'll be interested to watch the debate on Thursday. We'll see if Rand regains any ground lost to Trump. I think one of the talk show hosts I listen to rightly pointed out that the recent troubles for Rand stem from the fact that Trump basically stole his role. Rand was supposed to be the guy saying and doing things differently than the rest of the field. It's hard to compete with Trump in that area. He's also reportedly having trouble raising funds on the same level as some of his fellow candidates due to an unwillingness to suck up to donors.

It's interesting that Trump is leading both the "who would you vote for?" and "who would you never vote for?" polls of Republican primary voters. Would make for an interesting showdown with Hillary, assuming she gets nominated. Would registered Republicans sit home again and let another Democrat win if Trump was their nominee? Tons of them stayed home in 2012...

Still can't believe Jeb is polling so well despite his last name and outright scorn for a big part of the base. There's probably quite a few theories out there about that one. Is name recognition just doing the trick for him?

Walker is no surprise given the ringing non-endorsement endorsements Rush Limbaugh gave him several months back. He also has a track record of doing what he says he'll do, which is rare for the GOP these days...

Lastly, I'll be interested to see if Ben Carson holds his own in a debate format.

Fun fact: I sat across the aisle from Mike Huckabee on a plane from NYC to ATL last year. Probably won't vote for him though D: