2016 Election
 

Is it too soon for a presidential election thread?

Ted Cruz is a good stalking horse though, lots of people like him for some reason. Scares me a little.

Re: 2016 Election
 

He seems confused about what powers the US president has, ..... like most other candidates from both parties in the recent presidential elections. As the last two presidents have discovered, without the support of congress not much gets done, and what does get done, is flawed.

In that respect, both Reagan and Clinton were much more effective presidents than presidents Bush II and Obama.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Seems to be lost on a lot of people these days that congress and the president need to work together, if they don't we get the dysfunction we see all too often.

Re: 2016 Election
 

A lot of those people seemed to be in the White House or Congress. :(

Re: 2016 Election
 

The same fuss won't be made over Cruz's alleged birthplace as it was over Obama's.

None of the less extreme Republicans have officially entered the race yet. This will be very different race to the last one, which they never stood a chance of winning.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Yes, it often seems to come across as "well we lost the presidential election but we control congress so good luck". Leaves me wondering who actually won the presidency, Obama or Boehner or McConnell?

Re: 2016 Election
 

It is funny to see the mental contortions they go through to say how obviously Cruz is clearly USC because of his mother while simultaneously trying to continue to dismiss Obama's claim of actually being born in the US.

Re: 2016 Election
 

I agree to an extent. In the past there has always been divisions even within a party so even if party controlled the presidency and both chambers of congress, moderate laws were passed to get support from all factions in the party (example: Obamacare).

However that trend seems to have changed in the republican party. On the state level where republicans have taken over the governorship and both chambers, the first laws to be passed are anti abortion, anti gay, voter suppression laws, and other laws that are desired by the far right base. It seems that the more moderate republicans fear the wrath, money and power of the far right and therefore vote for those laws.

We see the same thing in the house of representatives with the minority far right driving the agenda. If someone like Cruz gets into office, I wouldn't be surprised if republicans fell in line and passed radical far right changes.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Politics in any democracy suffer the same key flaw: voters too oft willingly dismiss reality in favour of appealing rhetoric: manufacturing beliefs on premises that don't actually exist (or are in reality, insignificant, or merely a side-effect instead of a root cause or issue).

In the UK at the moment, it's "tax avoidance" that's caused the UK's "economic disaster" (neither of which are statistically true, yet are widely held views amongst voters).

In film production (and marketing/advertising), one key (and widely employed) method of inducing mass "belief" is referred to as "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief".

Re: 2016 Election
 

Tee Hee

Ha Ha

Ho Ho::cool:

Someone's Trolling the Hell Out of Ted Cruz With TedCruz.com

... best buckle up
The bumpy ride has just begun...... :popcorn:

Re: 2016 Election
 

Will she...won't she...?

Re: 2016 Election
 

I thought Cruz was Cuban and that was why we are now being friendly with Cuba so it becomes the 51st State and Cruz can run as he was born on US soil. :confused:

Re: 2016 Election
 

When I saw the thread title, I assumed it was the UK election, especially after the Ask The Chancellors event this morning. As I'm unable to vote yet, and it'll probably be between a Clinton and a Bush, can't say I care right at this time.

Re: 2016 Election
 

I don't even think he can win the nomination, but who knows.....

Maybe someone better will throw in their hat.

If its down to Cruz or Clinton, won't even bother voting, I don't want either of them.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Maybe he wants VP?

Looks at other names that have been suggested. How do you define "better"?

If you do that I will personally blame you for the result.

Re: 2016 Election
 

The run-up is so delightfully short over here. Hardly even noticed there's an election imminent.

Re: 2016 Election
 

We still have almost a year until the Iowa caucuses :blink:.

I have to admit, I still enjoy the political bloodbath that comes with the party nomination fight, and there's still plenty of time for another 'Obama' figure to enter the fray from nowhere.

Re: 2016 Election
 

I just wish the money and effort involved could be used to do something good.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Exactly

That's what makes it so profligate

Re: 2016 Election
 

See trickle down does work!

Those people that make the little signs people put everywhere, they do alright.

As do the pepper spray and baton manufacturers when it comes to party convention season.

Re: 2016 Election
 

As long as it is not Hillary.

Re: 2016 Election
 

We have been living (in Canada) a non-stop election for like 10 years now.... The government runs TV ads all the time about how great they are and blah blah. They might not be "official" campaign ads but they sure feel like it sometimes.

We actually have an election scheduled for this fall, so we will get to listen to the real political ads for a month or 2, whatever they allow.


The state my vote goes to (California) will go to a democrat in the real election, I can't see any republicans that could win California's electoral votes in the next election.

I am not even sure out of country ballots get counted quickly, pretty sure the winners are usually announced before those ballots are counted.

Re: 2016 Election
 

California promotes and heavily uses mail in ballots. During the 2012 election 65.15% of the voters in the primary election used mail in ballots and 51.16% used mail in ballots in the general election. Apparently many people that don't use mail in ballots didn't think it was worth it to go to the polling place during the primary election.

Since mail in ballots are a majority, I suspect that they are counted before the polls close.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Possibly by now. I just remember at some point they were said the ballot may not be counted until after results were in from local ballots.

I registered again, have to do it every time I move. I only get to vote for selected federal stuff though, California doesn't allow oversea's voters to vote in local or state related things. (some states apparently do)

Generally just get to vote for president, as well as federal senators.

Apparently now they can email the ballot out, so that will help speed up getting it. Last election I got it on the Friday before the election, had to Fedex it overnight so it arrived on time. Cost a small fortune too.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Cruz would be a good candidate to get the nomination from the Democrat's point of view because he is too much of a polarizing figure to be electable. Unfortunately he's unlikely to make it through the primary; the GOP tends to put forward moderates, he doesn't have enough support from the party bigwigs and he polls badly among Republicans as a whole.

The most likely 2016 matchup is still Hillary Vs Jeb Bush (possibly Scott Walker).

Re: 2016 Election
 

Interesting difference, I didn't know that. My son in England always gets the same big paper ballot we do (small town New York State,) everything from dog catcher to POTUS.

Re: 2016 Election
 

All depends on state. I am not sure if California has changed their ballot for oversea's since the last election, but they were just cutting out the federal part of the ballot then they xerox copied it and that was the ballot, all very ghetto and if it were not for the official envelope it arrived in and sent back in, you would never think it was a real ballot.

Now they apparently email the ballot, so not sure what to expect, maybe just a PDF of the copy to print at home.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Since my favorite form of entertainment on TV is shows like 'The Daily Show' and 'Real Time with Bill Maher' (and HOPEFULLY whatever Colbert does SOON ....), I'm quite looking forward to the 2016 elections in an abstract sense, and miss the craziness of it all.

I'm firmly rooting for a Democrat so that Obamacare can take root, and the current economic recovery can continue (yes, I think Obama did OK given the pile of poo he was handed). I'm hoping for a good old slug-fest amongst the Republicans like last time, with Ted Cruz, Herman (Uzbeki-beki-stan-stan) Cain, Michele Bachmann, all trying to out-'right' each other.

I don't know much about Jeb Bush but I love his comments on immigration (which seem to be his Achilles heel in his own party) and he does seem smarter than his brother (not hard!). If he won I wouldn't get suicidal, which is how I'd be if a moron like Cruz got in.

Is Leslie still around ...? Her insights into the elections are always worth a read. I know she's worried about 'voter fatigue' with the Democrats, and she understands the 'swing states' issue better than anyone.

How big a deal could the current 'email' issue with Hilary be? It does seem really stupid to me (as a security-oriented IT professional) that she would risk using a personal email account for official international affairs business (at least theoretically; in practice her email was probably more secure than the govt!).

I do dislike the money that is poured into this, but as Sir Eccles said, a lot of it probably does trickle down. All that money goes into the economy in some fashion. Look at it this way ... it's coming OUT of the pockets of evil nasty buggers like the the Koch Brothers ... better out than in, as they say!

Re: 2016 Election
 

I think Hillary will get in even though I am not a fan of hers. There is simply no really good choices out there. Hillary will probably have to chemically carstrate Bill though as he is going to have a lot of free time on his hands. Either that or we end up with two presidents so he can keep his mind off ...other things.😄

Re: 2016 Election
 

If Jeb got elected, I think he would be a force for moderation in the republican party. However the Tea Party seems to think that they are running the country even with Obama as president and wonder if Jeb could hold off the assault since John Boehner doesn't seem to be able to.:unsure:

Re: 2016 Election
 

I think (hope) he was being sarcastic.

Re: 2016 Election
 

I support Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, or John Kasich. I would much prefer an experienced governor than a senator to win the republican nomination.

It really is fun being a British conservative republican. It's basically a 90/10 split with british expats. 90% go for the donkeys, 10% latch onto the elephants.

The funny thing about that is that if you break down how Americans vote by ethnic group, those who claim English, Irish, Scottish, or Scotch-Irish heritage vote republican by probably a 40% margin.

Much more than a wide, deep ocean separates us, I guess...

Re: 2016 Election
 

I won't be able to vote in 2016, but I am politically inclined and like to keep up with it.

I'm not sure one the Republican nomination, but my feeling is it'll be Scott Walker or Bush. I'm hoping for the former just to avoid another Bush.

As for the Dems, well it's a Clinton coronation. Who can actually mount a challenge to stop her financially?

Re: 2016 Election
 

Literally nothing Ted Cruz says is correct.

Ted Cruz compares climate change activists to ‘flat-Earthers.’ Where to begin? - The Washington Post

Re: 2016 Election
 

If he really believed that "climate change" was voodoo science, he should have compared that to "creationism" but that would have offended his base.:nod:

Re: 2016 Election
 

I will be sure to be present when he does some electioneering in his hometown... :p

The whole thing that gets me is that for years there was all this total claptrap about Obama not being a natural-born US citizen (which he is on two counts, born in Hawaii, his mother is American) and now all these "birthers" have to eat their words trying to explain why Cruz is qualified to run.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Well he's always blathering on about "common sense" and I've always been of the opinion that common sense is the faculty that tells you the Earth is flat. :lol:

I'm more interested in Hillary Clinton, wow, she is so rusty. You could almost see the flakes of rust coming off her when she was trying to explain away the e-mail fiasco at the UN.

The Clintons could barely hold it together in the 1990s, which was before most of the 24/7 news channels and web blogs, etc. started.

Personally I'd like Jim Webb or Jon Huntsman to run, but I have a feeling they're too intelligent to bother when it comes down to it.

Re: 2016 Election
 

Actually I think it's 99.9% think it's a total farce and are astonished that these are the people who might end up running the most powerful country in the world. :lol:

Re: 2016 Election
 

No they don't because Obama is black, a democrat, a commie, a Muslim, the anti-Christ, and a terrorist.:nod:

Re: 2016 Election
 

Rand Paul is in the race now. Never trust a man who gets his first name and last name in the wrong order.