In your honest opinion, who do you think has the best chance of becoming POTUS?

[Oniya]

Totally true! I just asked a bunch of dead people I know if they were going to vote Republican, but all I got was silence. I have no choice but to assume that means they are going to vote Democrat instead.

*calls up the folks at Paranormal State to do some extensive polling*

[Mithlomwen]

*calls up the folks at Paranormal State to do some extensive polling*

I dunno....Ryan Buell has been kinda 'shady' as of late. 

Might be better off with the Ghost Adventures crew. 

Plus....Aaron Goodwin is awesome!

[Oniya]

I dunno....Ryan Buell has been kinda 'shady' as of late. 

Might be better off with the Ghost Adventures crew. 

Plus....Aaron Goodwin is awesome!

Was actually thinking Michelle more than Ryan.

/hijack

[Cassandra LeMay]

*calls up the folks at Paranormal State to do some extensive polling*

Somebody should ask the folks at fivethirtyeight if they have taken account of dead voters in their models. 

Also... do dead voters from cultures that believe in rebirth count as actual dead voters? They might already have been reborn as people who are too young to vote yet, so maybe they shouldn't be counted?

[gaggedLouise]

*irreverent giggle as I recall a very powerful scene in the movie The Interpreter*

(cop /played by Sean Penn/) "There's a bus full of dead people out there on my precinct!"
(woman) "Oh, are they going to the election rally?"

[zzy123]

I don't think Trump stands a chance. Not that I like Hillary but at least she and her team know how to run a campaign and come off reasonably well. If Trump DOES get elected well... I dunno. I mean I was wrong about Brexit too...

[Tamhansen]

I dunno. I mean I was wrong about Brexit too...

Evderyone was wrong about Brexit, even the brexiteers who are only now realising the effects.

Trump would have to pull a pretty big magic trick to win at this point. But I'm quite concerned about a Clinton/Kain win. Not because of them, but because of the inevitable temper tantrum that Mr Richfield will have, and what the effects of that will be.

Between the stories of white power groups preparing assault on black citizens, and Y'all Qaida type groups stating they won't accept a Trump loss, I'm worried for the safety of many people.

[Beguile's Mistress]

Trump would have to resurrect Mother Theresa, cure all forms of cancer and AIDS, end world hunger and fix the climate change problems as well as have a total personality transplant in order to win this election.

Unless he was willing to pay income taxes for every one of us.

[Oniya]

Unless he was willing to pay income taxes for every one of us.

Or even his own.  I'd still want it done before Nov 8 - by cashier's check or money order.  Bird in hand and all of that nonsense.

[Beguile's Mistress]

I agree with that, considering he's used donations made to his foundation to cover personal expenses but rarely if ever honors his pledges to charity.

[gaggedLouise]

Unless he was willing to pay income taxes for every one of us.

He still hasn't clarified anything bout his past tax returns, has he? 

[Oniya]

He still hasn't clarified anything bout his past tax returns, has he? 

He doesn't pay taxes 'because he's smart'.  That's as clear as he needs to get:  He thinks tax payers are dumb.

[TheGlyphstone]

He doesn't pay taxes 'because he's smart'.  That's as clear as he needs to get:  He thinks tax payers are dumb.

AKA Voters.

And the fact that he still has any means he's not entirely wrong.

[Cassandra LeMay]

Everyone was wrong about Brexit, even the brexiteers who are only now realising the effects.

True, but the whole Brexit thing was pretty novel for pollsters. There wasn't really any precedent so there was no way to judge how reliable the polls actually were.

I just hope turnout for the Democrats won't fall because everyone assumes Clinton can't lose this.

On the other hand, Trump might be supressing his own vote, the more he tells people that the election is rigged. Might give some of his supporters the impression that their vot wont matter one way or the other. Maybe that will cancel out any low turnout for Clinton.

[WindFish]

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/trump-blames-mic-access-hollywood-2005-tape-230396

Trump blames "microphones" for his remarks about bragging about sexual assault. He's going into full on conspiracy mode again.

I'm convinced that this guy sees himself as some sort of god among men who can do no wrong.

The problem isn't the microphones. The problem is that he a misogynistic bigot who never thinks before he speaks. The amount of mental gymnastics and deflection he and his supporters go through each day has me deeply worried.

[Cassandra LeMay]

The problem isn't the microphones. The problem is that he a misogynistic bigot who never thinks before he speaks.

Yeah, but that means he is smart. Because he has the best insults. And the best words. And he'll use those best words to make America smart again.

Or something like that.

The amount of mental gymnastics and deflection he and his supporters go through each day has me deeply worried.

I think that's not all that surprising. We all do a lot of "mental gymnastics" all day. Just look at all the supporters of a sports team who will try to justify the loss of their team by saying something like "the referee cost us this game. Totally unfair ruling!". Sound familiar? "Sure dad, if you say the traffic light was green I believe you. The crash must have been the other guy's fault" Ever said something like that - and actually believed it?

Being social animals means we humans stick with our tribes, filter information through a tribal lense. Trump isn't something new - he is just something very old written large enough that people become aware of the underlying psychology.

[Beguile's Mistress]

[ReijiTabibito]

Forget the Trump campaign.  Look across the aisle and watch the HRC campaign try and pretend day after day that they're Democrats and not Republican-Lite.  A portion of events like these is simply watching the various personages do these feats while trying to convince us that we're the morons and not them, because they actually understand the necessary complexity of balance of power and why Congress can't pass this budget resolution due to butterflies in China...

[Tamhansen]

I don't know if you can call HRC's team republican light. Sure, they're in no way as socialist as Bernie, but then neither are most democratic representatives. The dividing lines when it comes to economic policy are rather vague. After all, Obama's most socialist endeavour, the ACA was lifted from a certain republican politician.

Hillary's economic position is very slightly left of center, but her social policies are far more progressive than the ones proposed by Herr Drumpf and the RNC. Their stance on abortion and birth control, rights of minorities, care for the sick and elderly, or even their plans for army veterans are important too.

Then look at their foreign policy. Trump's idea is to abandon all current conflicts, many of which the US at least in part instigated. Or if they keep going, just nuke them.
HRC's ideas are to try and solve those conflicts, preferably peacefully.

[zzy123]

Evderyone was wrong about Brexit, even the brexiteers who are only now realising the effects.

Yeah, that was the bizarre thing. It was such an obvious power play and the people behind it were so sure it wouldn't work and then... well, unsurprisingly they all stepped down. It's depressing.

[ReijiTabibito]

Hillary's economic position is very slightly left of center, but her social policies are far more progressive than the ones proposed by Herr Drumpf and the RNC. Their stance on abortion and birth control, rights of minorities, care for the sick and elderly, or even their plans for army veterans are important too.

Look at Hillary's donors.  Look at the free hand that Wall Street has given her to win this election, when nearly any other candidate in the past has gotten a "Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop!  What are you doing?" from them.  Hillary blithely talks about raising Wall Street's tax burden, and their response is not to say 'stop saying such things or we won't support you' but to give her piles of cash?

Wall Street knows that she can't stay throwed, but she can stay bought.

And yes, her policies are progressive, when you compare them to Donald Trump.  Bush 3.0 or Marco Rubio would be more progressive than Trump, that only makes them the better progressive by comparison. 

One of my more favorite games, WH40K, said this about the Space Marines:

"Catholic Space Nazis sound like awesome villains, how are they the heroes?"

"By comparison."

Finally, consider this: one of her goals this cycle was to appeal to disaffected Bernie voters who were being tempted into the Trump camp.  Do you think there is even the slightest chance that getting those voters might have affected the stated position of her policies?  That she might have, I don't know, lied to get people to vote for her?

Then look at their foreign policy. Trump's idea is to abandon all current conflicts, many of which the US at least in part instigated. Or if they keep going, just nuke them.
HRC's ideas are to try and solve those conflicts, preferably peacefully.

Instigated at whose hands, and for what reasons?

[Tamhansen]

Look at Hillary's donors.  Look at the free hand that Wall Street has given her to win this election, when nearly any other candidate in the past has gotten a "Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop!  What are you doing?" from them.  Hillary blithely talks about raising Wall Street's tax burden, and their response is not to say 'stop saying such things or we won't support you' but to give her piles of cash?

Wall Street knows that she can't stay throwed, but she can stay bought. [/qoute]

Or they realise the alternative would destroy the economy? Also, wall street has no use buying presidents, it's congressmen and senators they need to get aboard, and they have many of those

And yes, her policies are progressive, when you compare them to Donald Trump.  Bush 3.0 or Marco Rubio would be more progressive than Trump, that only makes them the better progressive by comparison. 

One of my more favorite games, WH40K, said this about the Space Marines:

"Catholic Space Nazis sound like awesome villains, how are they the heroes?"

"By comparison."

Yes, by comparison she is the better one. What? You think there is some saint somewhere with no faults? HRC is by far more progressive than Jeb bush, and Marco Rubio is really not even worth consideration as president in any respect. Those people accusing Hillary of being this incredible liar, despite independent reviews showing she actually ranks as one of the least dishonest politicians (Politifact) should really take a deep look at their own party's hobnobs.

Finally, consider this: one of her goals this cycle was to appeal to disaffected Bernie voters who were being tempted into the Trump camp.  Do you think there is even the slightest chance that getting those voters might have affected the stated position of her policies?  That she might have, I don't know, lied to get people to vote for her?

Consider this, in the primaries Hillary was running on her own platform, meaning she could get her entire program as she thought was best. Now she is being forced to run on the DNC's platform, which, due to people like Uncle Bernie, is more socialist and statist than she herself is. But unlike her republican opponent she didn't throw a tantrum, but accepted that compromising is what is best for her party, her voter base and her country. So yes, she had to move left.

That's not lying, that's doing what is best for the people you want to serve. Obama moved right between primaries and the election, Bill Clinton moved left, hell even on the other side, Reagan moved right, while Bush senior moved left. Compromise is key.

Also, whoever thought the Space marines were the good guys in 40K kind of missed the point of the setting. 'In the Grim Darkness of the 41st millenium, there is only war' There are no good guys in the setting. Except perhaps, just maybe the rank and file imperial guard. But even that is probably incorrect.

Instigated at whose hands, and for what reasons?

Mostly instigated at the hands of the Cheney administration (There was this other guy back then, but he didn't really count) and mostly to avert the public attention from the way the administration was selling off the country to their friends, and ruining the economy in the process.

[persephone325]

So, I just wanted to share this with everyone. I'm a big Marvel fan, as you all know.

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Earth-555#Trivia

The last bullet point, specifically. lol

[gaggedLouise]

A beyond candid report about the state at the heart of Trump's campaign:

"Think of the bunker the night before Hitler killed himself. Donald's in denial. They're all in denial."

The news of fresh FBI investigations relating to Hillary's e-mails and also into the Clinton Foundation (according to senior ex-FBI man Tom Fuentes last night) must have come as a boon to Trump, but there's a heavy risk of him overusing them and overstating what they really mean.

[CuriousEyes]

The news of fresh FBI investigations relating to Hillary's e-mails and also into the Clinton Foundation (according to senior ex-FBI man Tom Fuentes last night) must have come as a boon to Trump, but there's a heavy risk of him overusing them and overstating what they really mean.

I see almost no situation where Trump can overplay the hand he's just been given. The FBI almost certainly can't review those emails fast enough to report that they don't substantively alter their conclusions (the most likely outcome) before election day. HRC probably can't/won't release them all independently to try to let the people decide they're innocent (which could backfire as well).

So Trump can gin up the base by saying literally anything he wants about what might be in them because there's no chance he can be proven wrong. He has absolutely nothing to lose by making it the centerpoint of everything he talks about for the next ten days.

Clinton's best hope for the emails is a) that the actual number of truly undecided voters making a decision based on the email server is small enough the campaign will shrug off the hit or b) that Trump walks into a major, unforced error in the next 3-4 days. Which again ties to him having nothing to talk about but the server if he was a disciplined candidate.

The whole thing is crazy though. I don't really think Comey is in bed with Trump, but he's running scared after the thrashing he took on the first report. And he gave Donald an early Christmas gift for it.