American Politics: Discuss and Debate (Page 1 of 57)

Ugh, it's gonna be Trump and Hillary isn't it? 

I'm moving to Canada.

Well the whole thing is a mess.  My number one enemy in this election.  I hate her.  She's basically a real-life version of the guy from House of Cards (who I also hate).  The House of Cards creator has already said that he based the wife on Hillary, and she's probably worse than Frank is.

Rubio was polling as being able to beat her.  But at this point, Rubio could still win and then Trump would run 3rd party.  Which would split the vote and then that power-hungry monster would get her wish.

Hillary has brought a lot of this on herself, but I suggest you check out this:  http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 … in-08.html 

A friend of mine from college interned in D.C. while she was a senator, and what he said about how he treated her (he didn't work directly for her) seemed to jive with this article. I've known others who have met her during her senator days (including my grandmother, who almost fell into her) and I really don't think she's like Frank's wife (Claire?).  I get the Claire vibes from Megan Kelly, but I don't really know too much about Megan Kelly, so it's probably mostly just the hair.

There's not a chance that Clinton will be indicted.  If they had something they would have charged her by now.

Yeah, I can see that.  But it's hard to read anything these days without any spin.  I'd be more trusting of your friend's opinion than any article written around this time.

I have spoken first-hand with a secret service agent who worked in the Clinton White House, and he said she was very rude to the agents that were trying to protect her life.  I don't know if that's true, but the same guy said that wasn't the case with the Bushes.  Now that could be political, but I didn't sense that.

To me, Hillary seems like the ultimate politician.  Everything is done for a reason and done for an angle.  She's wanted to be president forever, and she stayed with Bill because she'd put so much work into him and needed to use his name to build her own political capital.  And she's somehow convinced the African American community to vote for her (even though she and her husband haven't done great in regards to racial issues) and she's convinced all feminists to vote for her just because she's a woman.  So it doesn't really matter what her policies are, what she believes in, or what she says.

And I think that's why Trump is getting so much support.  You have the ultimate Washington insider vs. the ultimate Washington outsider.  To me, they're equally slimy, and that's why it's a nightmare of a race.

Norman Lear probably put it best - in this election, Trump is America's middle finger.

Many of the American people have felt beaten down and powerless for a long time; even when they vote for change and win, nothing really changes (or if it does, it just gets worse).  After accepting there's nothing that can really be done about the situation, how do people show their frustration?  They give the middle finger (and in this case vote Trump).  it seems to be working too; from their bewilderment to their anger, the pros are reacting in many ways like someone just flipped them off.

Well, I think it's the response to stuff like "Black Lives Matter", #OscarsSoWhite, etc.  I think the majority of white America has been afraid to speak on certain issues because white people generally aren't allowed to speak on certain topics without being declared racist.  And even when white people speak up, no matter what they say, the words they use have to be chosen carefully.  It happens in academia, but it also happens in our nerdy neck of the woods with stuff like race-swapping in comic book movies.

And so I think certain groups of white people in this country see Donald Trump speaking his mind, and they are drawn to it.  Here's a guy who isn't afraid to speak his mind, no matter the backlash.  He isn't choosing his words carefully - he's just speaking.  And it's just something that I'm sure is very refreshing.

The fact that a lot of what he has to say is hate-filled, racist, or downright crazy either doesn't matter or actually helps his case.

Mitt Romney's speech in Utah was an earnest, heartfelt, avuncular, funny, well-worded and warm performance -- a stark contrast to the misfiring, malfunctioning cardboard robot who ran in the last election. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iefXdC794I

It's a weird time when John Oliver and Mitt Romney are of largely the same mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnpO_RTSNmQ

I watched the entire debate last night.  And I don't think any of the Republicans can/will stand up to Trump.  It's almost like they're so flabbergasted that he's still in the race that they don't know what to do.  When he insults Rubio, Rubio looks to the moderator like he's broken a rule and should be disqualified. 

And what's weird is that it's a strategy that works.  Trump says a lot of things that sound good (clearly not his racist stuff....don't even start there), but anything that is fact-checked seems to be wrong (best example from last night is the Trump University BBB rating).  And the guy is constantly changing his opinion on things. 

The problem is that the average voter isn't going to fact-check or compare with previous statements.  They hear that Trump is going to be good for business based on previous businesses, and it sounds great.  Good for business is good.  Then Trump stoops to the lowest common denominator and insults the other candidates....who either look weak or defensive when he does it....and he looks strong.  You start seeing him standing up to Kim Jong Un, and you think it could all work out.

Funny thing is that I don't think Hillary would respond much better to it.  I think she'd try to look offended or laugh off him as a mockery, but that strategy doesn't seem to work.  And if she doesn't stand up to him, she's going to look weak.  And I just don't think any of these politicians have ever debated with a clown like Trump, and I think it throws them off their game.  All three candidates last night went after Trump, and he came out unscathed.  I don't know how that's possible, but the big story at the end of the night was the size of Trump's junk.

Right now, Hillary is polling better than Trump in a head to head, but I don't think Hillary is going to get much more support.  But what happens when Trump starts tearing at Hillary in whatever cuthroat way he wants?  Even if the story is BS, will Trump be able to use the email scandal to convince the country that Hillary is soft on national security?  Will he be able to get *any* minority support?  Will the minorities that showed up in record numbers to vote Obama be there for Hillary, or will Trump be able to prove that the Clintons were bad for blacks?

It'll be interesting.

Well, let's all look on the bright side -- we all have a common enemy and it's times like these that all sides need to set aside our differences and work together to prevent America from becoming another addition to the lengthy list of failed business ventures that Trump refers to as his life.

I've reviewed the Hillary E-mail stuff to the best of my ability -- I don't believe there is any route towards indictment or prosecution because it would be incredibly convoluted and difficult to present anything she's done with regards to the E-mails as a violation of criminal statutes relating to classified information, especially if the information was only made classified in retrospect. Not saying Hillary Clinton can't be taken down, but this doesn't look like the route to doing it.

I haven't done enough research, but didn't Petraeus plead guilty to similar charges?  I think he only got a fine and probation, but I wonder if a similar conviction would affect Hillary?

And I think Trump vs. Hillary wouldn't go the way you think, Informant.  I think she'd have to stand up to him and look "masculine" so as not to look too weak.  I think she'd react in the same way that the male Republicans are reacting, and I think it'd work the same way it's working for them.  I do think you're right that he'd accuse her of stuff, factual or not, and people would believe it.  And even if the indictment stuff goes nowhere, I think he'd hammer her on it, and I think it'd be tough for her to discuss it without looking more guilty.

It's just going to be ugly no matter what.

From what I hear, one of Hillary's staff members was just given immunity. They don't usually do that unless there is something to be immune from, and unless there are bigger fish to fry.

It should be interesting to see Hillary defend herself, no matter who she is going up against. Up to this point, she really hasn't had to respond to anything like that in her campaign, and simply laughing about it will not help her this time.

Ah. Another vast right-wing conspiracy.

How did we end up with the Clintons again? We got rid of Bill and his drama, and now we're looking at potentially having them back in the White House again. She's not even there yet and we're already dealing with this crap.

Well, over the past two hours I have received six robo calls from Ted Cruz; I'm still getting them even after 9pm.  For pestering me so fully at home during a rare time to relax, there is no way in hell I will ever vote for Ted Cruz for anything.  One call would be more than enough; even the Asian guy from "Microsoft" trying to scam his way into my computer only calls once a week!

I have received no robo call from any other candidate.  Only Ted.

I watched most of the Univision debate with Hillary and Sanders.  I still just cannot trust anything that Hillary says.  And I think it's just because she's such a politician.  Every one of her answers is just a segue-way to talking points.  She never answers a question directly.  She also tried attacking Sanders' prior voting history, but I think Bernie has had a pretty good response for most of her attacks.  Hillary seems to flounder a bit when she's attacked.  Which is probably fine because she knows that the superdelegates are going to make any of these races obsolete.  But it seemed to me that the crowd was much more enthusiastic about Bernie than Hillary.

I really think if Bernie's campaign had done more sooner, he'd be the nominee.  It seems like the more he's out there, the more support he gets.  I just think it's too little too late, especially with the way the Democratic primaries work.  And Clinton is way too much of an establishment figure - she'd keep those superdelegates even if she murdered someone on live television.

He was more aggressive last night.  The moderators were actually really good/strong and hammered both candidates on a ton of volatile subjects.  I was really proud of them, actually.  They point-blank asked both candidates if they thought Trump was a racist.  Brought up quotes/videos from both candidates' pasts and asked if they flip-flopped.  Directly asked Hillary about the emails and Benghazi. 

And Sanders did push some buttons, and it did upset Hillary.  The problem for Hillary is that she's almost-certainly going to win, and she definitely wants to move on to face Trump.  But the longer things go on and the more she has to debate, the more ammunition she's going to give Trump.  And like I said before, I don't think it's going to matter whether or not the emails are a big deal or if Benghazi was her fault.  Trump's going to say it, and people aren't going to fact-check.  Now there are certain people that aren't going to vote for Trump for any reason, but if there are undecideds, Trump might be able to sway them.  And the more she has to fight with Bernie, the more she's exposing herself in a fight with Trump.

Sanders said that he doesn't care about the emails or Benghazi, but he's spinning it in a way that "it's important, but X,Y,Z are more important."  And I think he does want to bring it up, but I'm guessing the party doesn't want him to.  For the reasons I just said - whether or not there's fire, Trump will make some people believe there's a firestorm.

The more I see of Bernie, the more I like him.  And, honestly, one reason I like him is his age.  The guy's not going to run in 2020, and I think both parties could be given time to think "Holy shit, we were this close to a Trump or Hillary presidency.  We have to do better."  Because this is Trump's only chance.  This is Hillary's last chance.  Rubio's probably done.  Jeb is probably done.  Biden will be done.  I imagine Romney would be done if he doesn't make a final push.  We're going to have all-new candidates in 2020, and maybe there will actually be one we LIKE.

They ALL suck!  I like that Trump is willing to defy conventional thinking, but I also feel like he's lying non-stop.

The more I hear Trump, the less he's saying.  He speaks for five minutes but says anything.  I actually think he'd try to surround himself with the best people, but I don't know if he'd listen to them if it's something he disagrees with.  All his racist stuff aside (and that's hard, there's a lot of it), there's a lot to worry about with a Trump presidency.  I thought Cruz did pretty well last night, but something about his face really bothers me (I know, not important - but still).

Trump has won a lot of states, but his delegate count isn't impressive. I don't think he will get the nom.

The question is, will it go to Cruz, or will they pull a new candidate out of their hat at the convention. If they try to go with someone new (like Romney), I don't think it would go over very well.

Okay, we need to make a note of that for when we someday get the rights to publish Sliders novels.

"Mr President..."

"Please, call me Colonel"

Starting to look like Trump has a clear path now.  I read an article that stated that his strongest quality is not the bad jokes, bombast, TV tough guy, or anything like that.  His policies are all over the map and change with the wind, so it's not those.  No, the #1 reason is that people have been conditioned to view Washington as totally dysfunctional, which by the way is not true.  They've been fed nonstop about how nothing gets done, even though it actually does, largely by the right.  And Trump has filled his gap because people actually view him as a guy that gets stuff done.  They have also ignored his numerous failures, or the fact that just because Trump's name is on something doesn't mean he's EVER lifted a finger to do anything.  He sells his name as a brand label, nothing more.  It's frankly scary how both ill informed AND outright lazy the American populace has become.  How difficult is it to do RESEARCH on the man you're blindly voting into office?

Well, I think it's a nightmare for the republicans because he either gets the nomination (and they have to back him) or they do some trickery and he sabotages them in some way (from slandering their guy to running as an independent).

But I've been doing some more research on him and general history, and it's both worse and not as bad as it seems.  A lot of his comments are scarier than you'd think.  Because I've read some articles that actually say that the US would be run better with a CEO-type than a politician, but Trump doesn't work like a real CEO.  He said recently that his greatest adviser is himself.  That's terrifying.  Because if a civilian who actually listened to his cabinet/advisers were elected, I think it could actually work. 

At the same time, I question how much actual damage would actually happen if he was elected.  I don't think the wall is plausible.  I don't think the American public is going to allow the type of mass-deportations that people are afraid of.   I don't think he'd get away with targeting terrorists' families.  But even if it's worst case scenario and Trump is Hitler 2.0, it took years for Hitler to start actually doing the type of "Hitler" stuff we associate with him.  And that was in a perfect situation where a guy like him would be allowed to rule (remember, it was the same time period where Americans kept electing the same guy).  With so much social media and cameras everywhere, I don't think holocaust-like stuff could be hidden.  And that's where we'd depend on our checks and balances (and if that fails, the rest of the world) to get him out of there.

A really good business man, I could see in office. If it were someone who knew what he was talking about on the issues, who had a talent for surrounding himself with great advisers and who knew how to be strong in diplomatic situations... sure, why not? I have a bigger problem with the idea of people who have been in Washington for 80 years.

But Trump isn't that type of person. He doesn't seem to have a firm grasp on much of anything. So in this particular situation, I think it would be a disaster.

That said, I don't think Trump's path is clear now. With Rubio dropping out and his team telling supporters to back Cruz, there could be a significant shift in support for Cruz, while I don't think that Trump will get many of the Rubio supporters. At the same time, the establishment lost their only horse left in the race. After trying and failing to make Cruz kiss their ring (not literally), they have the choice to either back him or back Trump. Now we're seeing much more support from the establishment republicans who don't want Cruz in office, but who see him as the lesser of two evils.

Obviously, we will have to wait and see how much of a bump Cruz gets from this point on. However, I think Trump has a much lower chance of getting all of the votes needed to take the nomination outright. Which will lead to a brokered convention. That's when things could get sloppy. If the republicans named someone like Romney or Ryan at the convention, I think hell would break loose. They might do that, and try to force us to take our medicine (if forced to choose between Romney or Clinton, most would choose Romney, even if they had to close their eyes and pinch their nose to do it). It would be a slap in the face to the voters who have made it very clear that they don't want an establishment nominee this time around. The party needs to reevaluate where they stand as it is, but this would be fighting words.

I think that Trump would throw a fit if the nomination went to Cruz at a brokered convention, but I don't think it would cause the same reaction as choosing someone who hasn't even been in the race. Cruz has been doing respectably well in the primaries, and when you factor in the votes that have gone to people who aren't even in the running anymore, I think that a good case could be made for him taking the nomination. It would be a lot harder for Trump's supporters to riot at a Cruz nomination.

So, I don't think Trump's way is clear yet. I think we will have to see where the Rubio supporters go from here.

As for the republicans not humoring Obama's nominee for Supreme Court Justice... I don't think it's unusual or unexpected. There was just a line in an episode of House of Cards about voting in a Justice during an election, as though it was unthinkable. And that would have been filmed long before it was a real life issue this year.

It's definitely unusual.  It is almost unprecedented, in fact, for the senate to not hold hearings on a nominee.  It last happened in 1844 after president John Tyler was renounced by the Whigs and both parties were determined to undermine him.  Anthony Kennedy was confirmed in an election year.

The reason they might approve would be fear of losing the senate and ending up with someone much further to the left or Donald Trump being president and nominating ghod knows who.  He was pro-choice for a long time before expediently changing when he decided to run.  Wait until next year and they might be in the minority looking at someone like Pam Karlan as the nominee.

Polls suggest most people want the senate to do their job and vote on Obama's nominee.  Dragging their feet is going to hurt in November.

Is Garland "very liberal?"  I thought I read (very briefly) that he's pretty moderate.  Is he not?

I think they should just go ahead and put on the show.  I don't think it's a waste of time.  Not anymore than anything else the Senate does.  If they reject him, that's cool.  The next president will handle it.

But, again, if Trump is president, the spot might never get filled

He's history's greatest monster!