POTUS Election thread

[a completely inoffensive name]

https://berniesanders.com/issues/

Point out anything unusual, please.

There were no policies listed there. What am I supposed to point out? A liberal and a socialist will both say "gender inequality is wrong" but they will have two different policies towards it.

[Montmorency]

There were no policies listed there. What am I supposed to point out? A liberal and a socialist will both say "gender inequality is wrong" but they will have two different policies towards it.

???

Aside from that not being a very clear example to focus on...

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Sanders is exactly what Clinton's team wants. Since the GOP will, for the most part, attempt to paint her as a rabid lefty, she gets to primary campaign -- politely -- as the more sober and centrist Democrat against Sanders' well-intentioned but impractical hyper leftie. Since THAT message will go down much more palatably in the General Elections and since there is virtually ZERO chance of any of the Dem core support groups opting for the GOP in protest to Clinton's not being pure enough, the Sanders campaign is a good way for Clinton to strengthen her candidacy, not weaken it.

The greater threat is a "Green Party" candidate siphoning votes in the General Election and costing her a key state or two because she isn't "pure" enough for the more rabid fringe left wingers. Remember, if HALF of the votes that went to Nader in Florida in the 2K race -- many of which were protest votes against Gore 'abandoning' his eco-advocacy stance -- then it would have been President-Elect Gore by 2am the next morning.

Clinton's team will direct a good bit of effort at keeping any credible fringe left protest effort from forming -- and Sanders (fully litmus tested leftie) endorsement of her and promise to work with her administration in the cabinet if so asked -- will likely head off such a concern.

Now, can Clinton actually do as well as Gore in a General Election against a GOP opponent who has survived a fully contested primary season? A much more difficult question.

[Hooahguy]

The greater threat is a "Green Party" candidate siphoning votes in the General Election and costing her a key state or two because she isn't "pure" enough for the more rabid fringe left wingers. Remember, if HALF of the votes that went to Nader in Florida in the 2K race -- many of which were protest votes against Gore 'abandoning' his eco-advocacy stance -- then it would have been President-Elect Gore by 2am the next morning.

Clinton's team will direct a good bit of effort at keeping any credible fringe left protest effort from forming -- and Sanders (fully litmus tested leftie) endorsement of her and promise to work with her administration in the cabinet if so asked -- will likely head off such a concern.

Im not so sure about this. I would say that there arent enough of the rabid environmentalists who demand an ideologically pure candidate to really change things, at least not anymore after they saw what happened in 2000. But we will have to see.

And its times like this I wish we had the Alternative Vote.

[drone]

Carly Fiorina entered this morning on the Republican side. I'm curious on why she thinks her business "acumen" will get her anywhere politically, any competitor just needs to put an HP employee in front of a camera to see her off.

[Hooahguy]

Carly Fiorina entered this morning on the Republican side. I'm curious on why she thinks her business "acumen" will get her anywhere politically, any competitor just needs to put an HP employee in front of a camera to see her off.

Delusions of grandeur if I had to guess. Im actually thinking they will put her in the VP position to try to counter Hillary, kind of like how they did with Palin in 2008.

[Sarmatian]

Delusions of grandeur if I had to guess. Im actually thinking they will put her in the VP position to try to counter Hillary, kind of like how they did with Palin in 2008.

I do have a feeling she is just there to ensure Democrats can't cry "sexism!" when she attacks Hillary.

Also, another woman in the race draws the attention from Clinton. She's no longer the "only one".

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Im not so sure about this. I would say that there arent enough of the rabid environmentalists who demand an ideologically pure candidate to really change things, at least not anymore after they saw what happened in 2000. But we will have to see.

And its times like this I wish we had the Alternative Vote.

In Florida and New Mexico and Colorado, the margins are very close. THERE, a moderate showing by a fringe party can and has altered the results of the election as a whole -- a product of our electoral college system.

[Hooahguy]

Yes that is true, but the question is that after the debacle of 2000, will people still vote as much as they did for 3rd parties knowing the harm it can do? Compare 2000 to 2012. In 2000, Nader got almost 3 million votes (2.74%). In 2012, the Green party replacement candidate, Jill Stein, didnt even get past 500,000 votes (0.36%). I think the political realities are dawning on the people who would vote third party, and anyone who is serious about their choice issues will vote for the person in the main two parties who represents them a bit more than the other. It certainly still is a danger, but I dont think as much as it was in 2000.

[a completely inoffensive name]

i thought California sent Carly Fiorina back to the tech world so she could ruin another company.