What's in the news?

[Beorning]

I don't know. I think you should never underestimate people's ability to choose poorly... I fear we are for a nasty surprise and Trump winning - with a narrow margin, possibly, but winning.

[Cassandra LeMay]

by 'regaining his support' you mean 'his margin of defeat is shrinking'. Outside of places like Breitbart, he's not actually polling at a national majority.

Well, if Clinton's lead in the polls tightens just a little more you are getting to a lead that's within the polls' margin of error. And some states haven't been polled all that much to begin with. It still looks like Clinton shold win this, but I would be cautious in interpreting the polls.

[Oniya]

Another thing to keep in mind is that polls are typically conducted by phone - to landlines.  In recent years, people have been moving away from landlines and getting more selective about what calls they answer, primarily because of the fact that the most persistent callers are not subject to the Do Not Call list (namely charities, political organizations, and scammers who don't give a shit about the Do Not Call list and operate out of foreign boiler rooms to avoid prosecution by US courts.)  As a result, sample sizes are decreasing and the demographics are shifted towards the older generation (who haven't switched over to cell phones and might not have caller ID on their handsets.)

[RedRose]

Watching from the other side of the ocean, I really have no idea who's going to win the American elections. There used to be an interestingly high number of French Trump supporters, probably seeing him as strong and right wing and all, until he decided to piss them off saying Europe needed guns to be legal. lol

[Lustful Bride]

Watching from the other side of the ocean, I really have no idea who's going to win the American elections. There used to be an interestingly high number of French Trump supporters, probably seeing him as strong and right wing and all, until he decided to piss them off saying Europe needed guns to be legal. lol

To be fair they did want to back a mad dog :P

But in all honesty it doesn't matter who wins...they both suck. I almost feel like I did when the government shut down a while back. If the Army wanted to make a coup..i wouldn't complain :P

They honestly cant fuck up the country worse than the politicians running it have :/  might be a nice change of pace.


In non election news someone managed to smuggle out secret tapes recorded by Kim Jung Il out of North Korea.


http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/jaw-dropping-secret-audio-tapes-smuggled-out-of-north-korea-reveal-kim-jong-il-criticising-his-own-people/ar-AAjMSC5?ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

Many Bothans died to give us this information.

[gaggedLouise]

Back in 2012, the pre-election polls and predictions often overestimated Romney's gains and made the race look tighter than it actually turned out to be. In the end, Obama won with a margin of about thirty seats (a gap of sixty in the EC) and landed near as high in the popular vote as he had four years earlier (2012: 51.1-47.2, 2008: 52.9-45.7). Now Obama is a more charismatic candidate than Clinton and he had a stronger hold on the black vote, but in 2012 he had been through a difficult first term. And both Romney and Trump are outsiders to a large part of the traditional republican voter base - and to the top ranks of the party. I have a hunch he's going to find it diffciult to get people out to vote in quite the numbers he needs, and crucially, women and people of colour may not vote for him to the extent that he had hoped they would.

[Beguile's Mistress]

A group I belong to was all for Trump because of his stand on guns until someone pointed out that he believes people having guns creates violence and violent crime and everyone should have lots of guns.

Then someone else brought up all the evidence of Secretary Clinton's belief that the Second Amendment needs to be protected while something needs to be done about keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people.  The NRA ads were mentioned as a stand against her until half a dozen NRA members pointed out all the lies in those ads.

Several dozen people are considering changing their voting decisions.

[gaggedLouise]

I think it could be a strongly motivating factor for voters who are leaning Dem, or who are old-style Reps (socially responsible and fiscally tight, not "yuppie GOP" or tea party) but who don't like Trump, to actually get out and vote for Clinton that Trump has pledged so loudly to dismantle much of Obama's work, and sort of get the country back to where it was around the time of the Iraq invasion, legally and mentally. or even back to the mid-eighties. Many people will know that's not a realistic avenue and that it would push them or their friends out into the margins, and Trump has been tapping into an angry "take-it-back-home" sentiment that would have a profound impact if it had the next administration firmly on its side. Many people who are not necessarily big fans of Clinton will likely vote for her (and perhaps also for Dem congressmen) to make sure Trump doesn't get to run his new deal.

[Beguile's Mistress]

I hope more of Trump's supporters are waking up to the fact that he and his most rabid fans are becoming a disturbing fringe element much like the white supremacists or KKK.  Trump came along with a message that a lot of people wanted to hear and much like a good salesman he marketed himself to great effect at first.  Then like a poorly made product (Samsung Galaxy and washers) the defects began to show.  He's ready for a recall.

[gaggedLouise]

I hope more of Trump's supporters are waking up to the fact that he and his most rabid fans are becoming a disturbing fringe element much like the white supremacists or KKK.  Trump came along with a message that a lot of people wanted to hear and much like a good salesman he marketed himself to great effect at first.  Then like a poorly made product (Samsung Galaxy and washers) the defects began to show.  He's ready for a recall.

:D

His arguments won't wash anymore, and the customer is always right. (Well, if the gadget doesn't work properly then they certainly are!) 

[Oniya]

:D

His arguments won't wash anymore, and the customer is always right. (Well, if the gadget doesn't work properly then they certainly are!)

And he has a tendency to blow up unexpectedly.  ;D  (Or is it really unexpected anymore?)

[Beguile's Mistress]

It's gotten to the point where I feel cheated if he doesn't blow up. :-)

[Trigon]

Looks like this may be the beginning of the end of Trump and the GOP: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_581d0c44e4b0aac624849298

Remember all those people he insulted? Well they appear to be coming out in droves...

[gaggedLouise]

It's gotten to the point where I feel cheated if he doesn't blow up. :-)

*nods* Also, I want to know how much money he's personally ploughed down into his campaign - and how rich he actually is going to be afterwards (of course he's rich, but his own boasts about his stupendous net worth seem questionable).

[Orval Wintermute]

I hope more of Trump's supporters are waking up to the fact that he and his most rabid fans are becoming a disturbing fringe element much like the white supremacists or KKK.

Reminds me of a line from the Brexit campaign, although I can't remember who said it.
"I'm not saying that everyone who is going to vote for Brexit is a racist. It's just that all the racists *will* be voting for Brexit."
Just change Brexit to Trump.

[Beguile's Mistress]

*nods* Also, I want to know how much money he's personally ploughed down into his campaign - and how rich he actually is going to be afterwards (of course he's rich, but his own boasts about his stupendous net worth seem questionable).

He's only contributed approximately $56 million to his campaign in spite of his pledge to put $100 million into his campaign coffers.

Rumors abound that Trump infrastructure is being reimbursed for campaign expenses out of that $56 million.

Without tax returns it's hard to gauge his net worth though conservative estimates put it at about $3.7 billion.

[RedRose]

Reminds me of a line from the Brexit campaign, although I can't remember who said it.
"I'm not saying that everyone who is going to vote for Brexit is a racist. It's just that all the racists *will* be voting for Brexit."
Just change Brexit to Trump.

Agreed.
Though for the record I have voted for candidates also chosen by real assholes  ;D

[Nachtmahr]

Regardless of any conflicting polls, I feel like it's safe to say that we should all keep popcorn at the ready for this one.

[gaggedLouise]

Trump was being rushed off the stage about twenty minutes ago by some security guards at a rally in Reno - from tv footage it looks like either he or the guards may have seen somebody in the crowd who was possibly getting ready to throw something or even fire at him.

He's started speaking again now, but he made no mention of what the sudden alert had been about.

[Anteros]

Spanish police nab French hitman in devil costume: http://www.thelocal.fr/20161105/spanish-police-nab-hitman-dressed-as-devil

University of Oregon Law Professor Wears Blackface Costume to Halloween Party: http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2016/11/university-of-oregon-law-professor-wears-blackface/

A journalist at Standing Rock was shot by police for no reason—and caught the awful moment on video: http://fusion.net/story/365922/standing-rock-erin-schrode-shot-police-no-dapl/

Texas Cop Fired After Giving Homeless Man Dog Excrement Sandwich: http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2016/11/tx-cop-fired-after-giving-homeless-man-dog-excrement-sandwich/

Edit: fixed link

[Oniya]

Your link to the shot journalist brought me to the reply screen...

[Beguile's Mistress]

http://fusion.net/story/365922/standing-rock-erin-schrode-shot-police-no-dapl/

[Cassandra LeMay]

But in all honesty it doesn't matter who wins...they both suck.

Hey, at least only one of them has called for policies that are either blatantly illegal, or a danger to your constitutional rights. You may say they both suck, but they suck on whole different levels.

[Missy]

But in all honesty it doesn't matter who wins...they both suck.

Well one's definitely inept at best, but the others a misogynist, a bigot and a bully at best, so . . .

And you're right, it's totally shit when I have to talk about my politics this way or when I have to feel this way about my democracy. I'm worried for what happens either way, Trump is completely unfit for office, but he's been courting the worst in people for some time now and I don't like the idea fo what's going to happen when he loses either, just depends on how badly they decide to fuck around.

[Tamhansen]

I wonder though, why all attention seems focussed on the presidential election. I believe congress will be up for grabs this tuesday, and even the balance in the senate might shift.

Most of Obama's seeming ineptitude to enact real change wasnt due to him or his administration, but due to an openly hostile legislature. Basically, the GOP in both houses have spent the last few years making sure their country failed, just so people would blame Obama and the democrats.