The Big Thread For the USA 2016 Presidential Candidates [Poll updated!]

Started by Blythe, July 31, 2015, 04:50:07 PM

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Mithlomwen

As it goes on, I get more and more frightened at the thought of Trump actually becoming President.

Like....honestly and truly terrified.  I can't even begin to imagine what will happen if he happens to win.
Baby, it's all I know,
that your half of the flesh and blood that makes me whole...

ThePrince

We still have a long way to go before the November elections. Head to head election polls are meaningless at this point. There is a lot that can happen between now and Election Day.
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ReijiTabibito

Most of the polls really only have the general election against Trump even relatively close if Hillary's the one running.  If Bernie is against him?  Trump gets stomped flat.  It's not even close.  Hillary, it's closer...but not necessarily nail-biting like it was last time around.

That's part of why the Republicans are 'trying' so hard to topple him from the lead he's got.  But the fact that all three remaining candidates - Cruz, Rubio, Kasich - have all pledged to back him if he gains the nomination, and that the Congressional leaders are making plans on how to deal with him if he gets elected tells me they're not all that serious about trying to stop him.  If they were, they would stop giving him media coverage, and be throwing themselves behind Cruz.  But they're not.  Because the one thing that terrifies the GOP establishment more than Trump (who they probably think is a dupe they can manipulate) is a Tea Partier in the White House.

And frankly, when it came down to positions, I would rather have Trump then Cruz.  Trump's a loudmouth and know-nothing, but he admits that he knows nothing and that means he'll rely on his cabinet to help him make decisions.  Cruz is also a know-nothing, but he believes the idiocy he says.

Zillah

Quote from: ReijiTabibito on March 09, 2016, 10:33:55 AM
And frankly, when it came down to positions, I would rather have Trump then Cruz.  Trump's a loudmouth and know-nothing, but he admits that he knows nothing and that means he'll rely on his cabinet to help him make decisions.  Cruz is also a know-nothing, but he believes the idiocy he says.

That's how Dubya ran things, though. And Cheney and Rumsfeld were the advisors he listened to the most. So I'm kind of leery about that happening as well.

ReijiTabibito

I would be, too, if Congress was actually willing to work with him.  They're not, because the establishment knows he's riding in on a wave of populism and insistence that Congress do their jobs, rather than all the political maneuvering and obstructionism that has been practice for the last six years.  Besides, Bush might have hurt the country badly, but...

...if I had to pick another Bush, who wounded the state, vs Cruz, who would destroy it, there's no contest.

ThePrince

No poll 8 months away from the election is going to give you a accurate idea of who is going to win.

None of these candidates have amassed the necessary delegates to win their respected parties nomination. With or without super delegates. 
RP Request Thread
O/O's
I am what I am. I am my own special creation.
So come take a look, Give me the hook or the ovation.
It's my world that I want to have a little pride in.
It's my world and it's not a place I have to hide in.
Life ain't worth a dam till you can say I am what I am.

Cycle

Quote from: Mithlomwen on March 09, 2016, 10:22:05 AM
As it goes on, I get more and more frightened at the thought of Trump actually becoming President.

I've started looking at real estate up in Victoria BC.  Just in case...

Mithlomwen

Quote from: Cycle on March 09, 2016, 01:48:55 PM
I've started looking at real estate up in Victoria BC.  Just in case...

I might hide in one of your packing boxes.
>_> 
Baby, it's all I know,
that your half of the flesh and blood that makes me whole...

Avis habilis

Quote from: Cycle on March 09, 2016, 01:48:55 PM
I've started looking at real estate up in Victoria BC.  Just in case...

Unless you've got a spare $2 million lying around, Nova Scotia might be a better bet. Looks like they'd be happy to have you.

Oniya

I have friends in Ontario.  We're keeping our options open.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
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TaintedAndDelish

Quote from: Zillah on March 09, 2016, 10:43:26 AM
That's how Dubya ran things, though. And Cheney and Rumsfeld were the advisors he listened to the most. So I'm kind of leery about that happening as well.

As president, ( or any executive position, really ) part of the job is relying on the talents of others. No president is going to know what's best in each arena that they need to cover, so each of their lieutenants level of expertise, judgment and honesty are critically important. This is one of the things that I strongly disliked about Obama. I got them impression that he felt he knew what was best in areas that others were better qualified to manage.

TaintedAndDelish

Looking at Politico.com, there's several articles about how the GOP / Big Money is trying to thwart Trump ( many articles about this recently ) . Millions of dollars have been spent recently on ad campaigns in Florida ( 15 million, I think ) to try to prevent him from getting elected. Whether you are a Democrat or Republican, what's disturbing about this is that these huge, rich organizations that fund the GOP are able to get away with trying to exert their will over that of the voters. Something about this seems terribly inappropriate. It's not just influencing who gets elected, its deliberately trying to prevent the voters from getting the candidate that they want ( as suggested by the polls) elected. I know it's not new news, but it seems to be more blatant than ever. While Trump may or may not be the best choice for president, the same thing could potentially happen with Sanders or any other non-establishment candidate that cannot be fisted from behind and worked like a sock puppet for the enjoyment of the select few who can afford to pay for the show.







Merah

Yes, I totally agree.... but the encouraging thing is that it's NOT working very well for these big spenders so far! :D

Oniya

So, I'd heard about Trump 'unintentionally' quoting Mussolini, but apparently at his rally in Orlando, this happened?  Trump calls any comparisons to a 1930's campaign 'ridiculous'.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17


gaggedLouise

Quote from: Avis habilis on March 09, 2016, 02:16:01 PM
Unless you've got a spare $2 million lying around, Nova Scotia might be a better bet. Looks like they'd be happy to have you.

Canada actually sounds like quite an attractive country, and I know both of its main languages... ;)

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

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theLeslie

I checked, and I did not see what I was looking for.  So, I will push this little ball and see where it gets to rolling. ^ - ^

Bernie took a bit of a beating at the last Dem Debate, and I suppose for good reason.  In the party he is running in, which I hesitate to call "his party", people are very conservative when it comes to allowing people to run around with guns all willy-nilly.  There is, of course, very good reason for this, but when the topic of gun control came up in the debate, Sanders stuck to his "guns"(tee-hee), and graciously took a very unpopular position on the matter.  I completely agreed with him.

The topic was focused on the idea of the people being permitted to sue gun manufacturers when the weapons they sell are used in illegal and vile criminal acts.  I do not recall Clinton actually saying yes they should, but she certainly didn't say no they shouldn't.  Sanders boldly declared that such a law would essentially make it impossible for gun manufacturers to operate in the US, and I completely agree with him.  Holding the liability for what a stranger down with their legally purchased firearm, in my opinion, is like letting people sue Ford when a drunk driver runs them over.

I am very interested in hearing other opinions on this topic, however, and would love for those on the other side to explain their stance, and how it would help the terrible situation of gun violence in the nation.

ReijiTabibito

Gun control is never an easy issue to work with, especially since the United States is one of the leading arms manufacturers of the world (see the movie Lord of War, with Nick Cage, for more details).  And that especially counts double when you toss in the usual battery of untruths that people do in the debate to make their side the winner.

People who are against gun control are for more mass shootings and dead kids - which I can assure you, outside of a handful of psychopaths, nobody is.  Everyone is against Sandy Hook and Columbine and Jonesboro; the people who say that there aren't are being dishonest and trying to taint the debate with accusations of inhumanity so as to invalidate the opinions of others.

The government is coming to take all your guns - they're not; regardless of your interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, I doubt very much that the police or whatever authority would be used to come and 'take these guns' would.  Primarily because...well, if you had a choice between going and taking the guns, and potentially getting shot (or shot at), or leaving them alone, and the person in question was someone who had caused no prior problems, what would you do?

The debate surrounding gun control today primarily revolves around the ounce/pound prevention/curative maxim - that's why we see things like background checks and waiting periods, regulations that surround getting carry permits, and weapon/accessory bans.  Cut it off at the source, rather than after the fact.  The usual reply to this is all that does is prevent or burden people who want to legally own firearms, and won't stop criminals who will buy them off the black market.  This is technically correct - if you are planning on illegally acquiring one, then it doesn't matter how many different gun regulations are in place, what you are doing is bypassing all of them.

But back to Bernie and his stance on guns.  He's absolutely right.  We don't allow people to sue the beer companies or the car manufacturers when a drunk driver runs them over in the street, because we recognize that people have agency - they chose to get drunk, and then they chose to drive.  The fact that they had 12 Pabst Blue Ribbons and hopped in their 95 F-150 to drive home has nothing to do with the fact.  They could have had 6 triple shots of tequila and been driving a 2014 Lincoln; the constant is the driver and their actions.

That said - we do hold companies to a standard.  The bog-standard of this is the Ford Pinto - the company knew it had designed an unsafe car, and took no steps to address the concern, or even warn the public, because a cost-benefit analysis indicated it would be an easier financial burden for the company to simply pay off any lawsuits than fix the car.  Gun makers need to be held to a similar standard; this is tricky, though, because of the difference in product.  Cars are supposed to be safe to drive on the road, and abide by certain regulations.  But firearms are always dangerous.  Figuring out where to set the bar isn't a slam-dunk, but there should be a bar.


As a side note, I think Bernie did a lot better at that debate than Hillary did, because Bernie made hay of the thing that needed to be said over and over again - her political corruption.  Have him add that to his usual stances on most issues, and I personally think he'll be unstoppable.

theLeslie

I share your opinion on his debate performance, but not your optimism.  I sure hope he wins, and will do everything I can to see it happen, but I suppose I've been let down.  My first time getting to vote for President was in 2000, and I live in Florida.  I voted Gore, but I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. -.-

I very much appreciate your input on this topic!  As you said there needs to be standards, and I am all for that.  I feel like the Constitution asks for no regulations at all, however it was also written in a time when the worst you could get your hands on was a cannon and some flintlock rifles. 

Oniya

Quote from: ReijiTabibito on March 11, 2016, 02:28:24 AM
But back to Bernie and his stance on guns.  He's absolutely right.  We don't allow people to sue the beer companies or the car manufacturers when a drunk driver runs them over in the street, because we recognize that people have agency - they chose to get drunk, and then they chose to drive.  The fact that they had 12 Pabst Blue Ribbons and hopped in their 95 F-150 to drive home has nothing to do with the fact.  They could have had 6 triple shots of tequila and been driving a 2014 Lincoln; the constant is the driver and their actions.

That said - we do hold companies to a standard.  The bog-standard of this is the Ford Pinto - the company knew it had designed an unsafe car, and took no steps to address the concern, or even warn the public, because a cost-benefit analysis indicated it would be an easier financial burden for the company to simply pay off any lawsuits than fix the car.  Gun makers need to be held to a similar standard; this is tricky, though, because of the difference in product.  Cars are supposed to be safe to drive on the road, and abide by certain regulations.  But firearms are always dangerous.  Figuring out where to set the bar isn't a slam-dunk, but there should be a bar.

Reiji sums up my opinions pretty well here.  If your gun is so defective that slamming a door near it makes it go off, (a situation I've never heard of), then that would be a matter to sue the manufacturer over.  That's an incredibly low bar, and it probably could be set higher.  Not sure how, and that would be a topic for a different thread. 

Back to the candidates:

Yesterday, in a fit of procrastination, I went through the 538 site and charted how the candidates were progressing based on their 'percent of goal numbers (as set by 538).  Interestingly enough, while both front-runners are 'above target', their percentages are decreasing, and the gaps between them and the runners-up are also decreasing.  (This is somewhat more apparent in the case of Trump v. Cruz, since the Republicans are - to use an historical term - a hot mess.)  My internet seems to be flaky today, so I'll upload my graph later on, if people are interested.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Cycle

Trump's cabinet:  Christie as Attorney General, Palin as Secretary of State, Carson as head of the Department of Education.

Yeah.  Nova Scotia's lookin' awfully good.

ReijiTabibito

Hey, hey hey, those aren't bad candidates, and here's why!

Quote from: Cycle on March 11, 2016, 11:31:47 AM
Christie as Attorney General,

Well, with all the legal issues he's run into thanks to Bridgegate, he clearly must have picked up this lawyering thing no problem!  It's not like he needed help dealing with that...

Quote from: Cycle on March 11, 2016, 11:31:47 AM
Palin as Secretary of State,

We all know that one of the major responsibilities is going to be dealing with Russia, and as we know, Palin can see Russia from her house!

Quote from: Cycle on March 11, 2016, 11:31:47 AM
Carson as head of the Department of Education.

Well, you know, Carson did go to four years of college and four years of medical schools, and he did write a ton of books, and he did work for years at Johns Hopkins, which is a teaching hospital...so yeah!  He must know how to handle that education stuff!

Tamhansen

I always wondered if Carson tried out his procedures on himself. The man seemed so sane 10 years ago.


In case of a Trump victory there's always room in Scotland. Our sort of first minister confrimed that. Though you would have to leave your gun collections behind. People are so afraid of firearms here, even our cops can't have them.
ons and offs

They left their home of summer ease
Beneath the lowland's sheltering trees,
To seek, by ways unknown to all,
The promise of the waterfall.

TheGlyphstone

besides, the Scottish have manlier weapons anyways, like claymores.

TaintedAndDelish


Regarding Carson as head of education, as long as he's not actually teaching it might not be all that bad. If he can handle the administration side of the job, then OK. I get the impression that he either has a touch of dementia or else he's just been brought up on too much religious fiction. Religious folks are put in a position where they are made to accept religious fiction as truth. I think this is damaging as the person is left to figure out ways to justify how this fiction can be true. ( If your personal religion is not this way, then kudos to you, but some are.)

Regarding the gun bit, it's a weapon, not a vehicle. If it works as designed, has a safety on it which works properly etc... then it's not the manufacturer's fault if someone gets shot with it.  IANAL, but I highly doubt such a law (to allow the manufacturer to be sued) could ever be passed. It would open the door to manufacturers and sales people being sued for literally anything that could be used to inflict harm. That includes duct tape (suffocation), rope (strangulation), dildos ( well, ones large enough to cause a concussion or choking ), lube ( if the floor is slicked and someone slips and dies ) and matches. We would be forced to purchase all things from vendors outside of the United States.... this would be very bad.