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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Lustful Bride

Quote from: Cycle on August 11, 2015, 11:39:22 AM
My gut tells me about 1 in 3.  Based on what I've seen, about 45% of the U.S. is on the left and about the same is on the right.  So most presidential elections come down to how much of the middle 10% can each party persuade to join their side.  The middle 10% tend to be hybrids that do not fully agree with the positions of either party--e.g., they may be socially liberal, but fiscally conservative, or they may be pro-life but for more welfare protection.

The news tends to cover the extremes of the left and right because that is the best way to get larger audiences.  But simply watching the news alone will not get you a true sense of who is going to win the presidency. 

I wish I could +1 this. And yay im a Hybrid :P More efficient than the old models.

Im in the undecided category, though I kind of like some of Carly Fiorina's stuff, but im still waiting till I make my final choice. Ive got plenty of time to think on it.

Oniya

The Republicans have a fair-sized base, and have been running advertisements already under the YouTube channel 'OpportunityLives'.  I'd link, but I don't want to give them the page-views.  Oddly enough, those advertisements usually have me muttering 'That's why we want to vote you guys out of office' as I mash the 'skip' button.  (I feel bad skipping them on YouTube, since I know that ad revenues support the channels, but - sanity first.)  My 'favorite' is the one that says that 'the Government is getting in the way'.  Yeah.  No shit.  8 years of obstructionism.
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The Dark Raven

So here's an honest question.

When did it become okay for folks to drown out and badmouth others because of what they believe?

I am seriously sick of the crap, and it just started.

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Lustful Bride

#78
Quote from: The Dark Raven on August 11, 2015, 12:39:49 PM
So here's an honest question.

When did it become okay for folks to drown out and badmouth others because of what they believe?

I am seriously sick of the crap, and it just started.

Since the Internet became a major thing and people could do it without fear of saying it right to someone's face :/ I think socially the Internet has made us crueler to eachother.

It was a thing before it but I think now its almost semi socially acceptable.

ReijiTabibito

Quote from: Lustful Bride on August 11, 2015, 12:50:37 PM
Since the Internet became a major thing and people could do it without fear of saying it right to someone's face :/ I think socially the Internet has made us crueler to eachother.

It was a thing before it but I think now its almost semi socially acceptable.

This is an actual thing psychologists talk about.  The official name is the Online Disinhibition Effect - but the commonly used term is the GIFT, or Greater Internet F**kwad Theory, as coined by the folks from Penny Arcade.

This idea, that anonymity breeds bad behavior, is Older Than Dirt: Plato, the Greek, talked about in his world The Republic the story of the Ring of Gyges - a story about a man given a ring that would make him invisible, and what that did.  HG Wells' The Invisible Man talks about such things, as well.

The basic idea is, unchained from the possibility that they might have to suffer real-world consequences - loss of job; the scorn of friends, family, and others - people see absolutely no reason not to be a complete jerk, because there is nothing for them to lose.

There is one thing to note - the GIFT can cut both ways, though GIFT is usually ascribed to the negative aspects of behavior.  But some persons, knowing that no one will know who they are, actually will speak openly and honestly about matters that they might not feel up to talking about openly in the real world.

Dashenka

Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals and I get my back into my living.

I don't need to fight to prove I'm right and I don't need to be forgiven.

Cassandra LeMay

Quote from: Dashenka on August 13, 2015, 02:07:19 AM
I'll just leave this here...




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gaggedLouise

#82
The point has been made that Hillary and Trump are on the old side, but actually many of the candidates will be rather old by the time of the election and especially the installation. Reagan was a few weeks short of seventy when he entered office in 1981, and he's the oldest one so far. Well, this is the age some of the major candidates would have reached by January 2017:

Hillary Clinton 69
Bernie Sanders 75
Joe Biden 74
Jim Webb 70
Donald Trump 70
Jeb Bush 63
Rick Perry 66

I think this has to be one of the, on average, most senior running fields ever. There could be consequences with a 75- or 80-year old person sitting as the most powerful leading statesman in a rapidly shifting world, a few years from now.

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Cycle

Trump is giving kids free helicopter rides.



Now all he's gotta do is hand out some fried Oreos and he's got Iowa cinched.  Guaranteed.


Jazra

No one excites me in this coming election. I expect to vote for Hillary Clinton.
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ReijiTabibito

I know Sherlock is a mod, so part of me is placing this request here because hopefully they'll look at it, but also because it's part of the thread in general:

Donald Trump has clearly stated that thanks to the PAC/Super-PAC system of campaign funding, that our elections are completely broken.  Now, I want to expound at length about how I think we got to this point, and the driving motivations behind that, but this isn't the place for that.  I was hoping to establish a thread where I might self-expound (people would be welcome to read, but commenting would be by PM or other means) on topics like this one, where I'm basically sharing my thoughts.

So, where would I put that thread?

Blythe

#86
Quote from: ReijiTabibito on August 16, 2015, 05:54:12 PM
I know Sherlock is a mod, so part of me is placing this request here because hopefully they'll look at it, but also because it's part of the thread in general:

Donald Trump has clearly stated that thanks to the PAC/Super-PAC system of campaign funding, that our elections are completely broken.  Now, I want to expound at length about how I think we got to this point, and the driving motivations behind that, but this isn't the place for that.  I was hoping to establish a thread where I might self-expound (people would be welcome to read, but commenting would be by PM or other means) on topics like this one, where I'm basically sharing my thoughts.

So, where would I put that thread?

Hmm. This is a bit tricky. If you post something, it's for the most part going to be open to people to see and reply to. There are not too many exceptions to this--typically those exceptions are for roleplays, request threads, and certain story threads, where a certain closed-participation is implied.

Your thread idea sounds like it belongs here in the PROC. You can encourage people to comment via PM rather than use the thread, but if you have an open thread in a place where commentary and discussion typically occurs, you will need to be prepared for those things to happen in-thread.

If you want a discussion with just a single other person akin to PMs but still allowing you to post something more publicly, the Discussions subboard of the PROC might be better. Details about that here. The 'Discussions' section is more 'closed participation,' and there are instructions about how you could go about seeking just one person to discuss/debate with.

I hope that helps!

gaggedLouise

#87
I really like Christie's put-down of Donald Trump's loopy boast that he would build a high-security fence/wall all along the border with Mexico and then send the bill to the Mexican president.

"I've met president Nieta a couple of times and look, this isn't some real estate deal. This is diplomacy. If we demand that he should pay, I don't think he'll even consider it."

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

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

Jazra

Quote from: gaggedLouise on August 17, 2015, 11:56:05 AM
I really like Christie's put-down of Donald Trump's loopy boast that he would build a high-security fence/wall all along the border with Mexico and then send the bill to the Mexican president.

Ditto.

I don't want to be one of those people who criticize and judge others who think and believe differently. I don't believe all Republicans are hateful and wrong. But I really, really don't get Donald Trump.
Ons & Offs
Absences

Boy, “If I and a slice of pizza fall in the water, which do you save?

Girl, wipes grease off her chin, “Why'd you let my pizza fall in the water?”

eBadger

Quote from: Jazra on August 19, 2015, 02:32:22 PM
Ditto.

I don't want to be one of those people who criticize and judge others who think and believe differently. I don't believe all Republicans are hateful and wrong. But I really, really don't get Donald Trump.

My conclusion is that he's doing it purely for publicity; he's turning the presidential race into a media ad campaign for the Trump brand, the same "you're fired" don't-give-a-damn alpha maleness that sells the rest of his garbage.  Drama gets attention, so dropping regular sexist/racist/bigoted remarks keeps him front and center.  He's not concerned with being PC because he isn't really serious about the election; he just wants as much air time to spout his ability to make bigger, better, and cheaper than anyone else.  It's about selling to the 1% who buy into his act, not getting 51% to vote for him. 

The frustration for me is that the media is eating it up in a frenzy.  His antics sell better than reporting on actual candidates, so they're happy to take him seriously, which just feeds the drama even more.  And meanwhile the real issues are lost behind his opinion of Heidi Klum and the Republicans look like a circus.   He's the best thing to happen to the Democrats since the Tea Party. 

Jazra

Quote from: eBadger on August 19, 2015, 03:06:47 PMMy conclusion is that he's doing it purely for publicity ....

I think he was initially in it for the publicity, but as he rose in the polls, I believe his ego has him beginning to believe his own publicity and that he now thinks he can take the presidency. And  yes, Trump is a godsend to the Democratic Party.
Ons & Offs
Absences

Boy, “If I and a slice of pizza fall in the water, which do you save?

Girl, wipes grease off her chin, “Why'd you let my pizza fall in the water?”

CaptainOrange

I'm personally going to vote for Bernie Sanders, I'm honestly just surprised that there are this many people on the forums who agree with his ideas. I come from a conservative, small town so I always thought I was the weird one. XD

ReijiTabibito

Quote from: CaptainOrange on August 20, 2015, 03:59:51 AM
I'm personally going to vote for Bernie Sanders, I'm honestly just surprised that there are this many people on the forums who agree with his ideas. I come from a conservative, small town so I always thought I was the weird one. XD

Sanders has a lot of ground over the usual candidates you see in a field like this.  For one, he's solidly behind the ideas he presents; he's not a political flip-flopper, who'll change his position just because it's unpopular (though you could say the same thing about Trump). 

That said, his ideas are not unpopular.  Generally speaking, people recognize the problems in American society today, and they largely stem from the fact that special interest groups - aka the lobbyists - have way too much say in how the country is run for the size of the populations they represent.  A number of his ideas serve to curb the influence they wield. 

On top of that, the overall strategy of the people who do run the country is to keep 'rewarding the rewarded' - the people in our nation who have already 'made it,' they keep getting stuff (like tax breaks) even though the middle class is being hollowed out and your everyday American is struggling to make ends meet.  Bernie is having none of that - these people made it, they have plenty of money (even though they scream about their taxes being raised), they need to start putting back into the society that helped make them successful.  An illustration of this is his idea for college - he wants to place a modest (his wording) tax on everyday Wall Street financial transactions in order to help pay for kids to go to college, because it's ridiculous that kids are coming out of these schools (which are quite necessary for jobs these days) up to their necks in debt.

Cycle

So Bush's latest attack line against Trump is to argue that he (Bush) has a more consistent conservative background than Trump.

Er.

Did you think this one through?

Because the most obvious response is:  "And that background shows you're going to be just like your brother, W."


Talk about leading with your chin...



Drake Valentine

Not sure if some of you saw this, but I thought it was one of the funniest, trolling thing ever.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/meet-presidential-candidate-deez-nuts/

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Dashenka

Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals and I get my back into my living.

I don't need to fight to prove I'm right and I don't need to be forgiven.

Cycle



Bush 3.0 flyover
Trump flyover
Jeb, buddy, you need to think these things through better...


Cycle

Jeb, Jeb, Jeb.  You go from insulting the Hispanic population to insulting the Asian population

Quote
“What I was talking about was the specific case of fraud being committed,” Bush told reporters. “Frankly it’s more related to Asian people [who are] coming into our country, having children, and… taking advantage of a noble concept, which is birthright citizenship.”

And you've already said that the national government shouldn't spend even half a billion dollars on women's health, so good luck with the women's vote.

Are you even trying to win this race?


ReijiTabibito

I was listening this evening as I was driving home from an errand I had to run to my iPod, on which I've loaded an iTunes purchased album and a few podcasts of an old-time radio show that started in the late 30s and ran into the mid-50s: "The Shadow."  (For those of you who know it, yes, that Shadow.)  The episode I was listening to, while it was on 'commercial break,' actually talked about the upcoming election (this was in 1938) and how important it is for Americans to take their right to vote seriously.  About how they have a responsibility to be informed about the candidates and the facts and their positions.

I can never hear that and help but think of the circus our society has turned into, simply because people can't be bothered with the responsibility that comes with their right.

CaptainOrange

I completely agree, we used to be a highly informed nation who kept up with news about what was going on in the nation and the world at the time. Now all we care about are reality shows dealing with dumb pregnant teenagers.