sir_eccles

Fees, petitions and 'extortion' make getting on US ballots a challenge - BBC News

Interesting read about how much it costs to get on the ballots in the primaries either in cold hard cash or signatures.

I was about to add that this helps keep out the fun/time waster entrants like the monster raving loony party in the UK. Then again looking at the list of GOP candidates...

FlaviusAetius

Since we're expressing opinions here, mine is that you are correct and that it applies universally - across both sides of the aisle.

FlaviusAetius

We're probably not a lot different. The Soviet Union spent 10 years in Afghanistan propping up a Communist dictator; and Russia is currently propping up a dictator in Syria and supporting a theocratic dictator in Iran with political support and sales of advanced air defense systems.

In Iraq we overthrew a noxious dictator and then tried to prop up a democratically elected prime minister, helped overthrow another dictator in Libya and undermined our friend, the strong man in Egypt. We support the Saudis because it is in our interests to do so and Israel and Jordan give us a toehold in that vital region.

A mixed bag, for sure, but both we and the Russians have been pursuing our national interests, as we see them. The lesson for the little guys: trust no one and if your big friend appears to be disengaging, seek other friends. Jordan is now negotiating to buy weapons from China because we're "considering" their request for replacement of the bombs they used against ISIS.

FlaviusAetius

There has been much discussion of the Electoral College system on this thread. This Politico article discusses the system and its likely effect on the 2016 election:

Hillary: Illegal Immigrants Could Elect Clinton - POLITICO Magazine

username.exe

Last night Bernie Sanders spoke to 20,000 people at a rally in Boston, and raised almost as much as Hillary Clinton.

Bernie's support is very much grass roots compared to the courting of billionaires that other candidates are counting on.

Sanders draws crowd of over 20,000 in Boston | MSNBC

How close do you think Bernie is now to winning the Democratic nomination?
It will be interesting to see if he has a strong debate this month, and if so whether that galvanises his support.

FlaviusAetius

I think his chances of winning the nomination are positioned somewhere between slim and none. The DNC leadership will do what it takes to ensure that he doesn't get it. They've put all their chips on Hillary and that f**king idiot, Kevin McCarthy, has given them pure gold. Of course, speaking for my side, we'd be thrilled beyond measure if he secured the nomination.

That could bite us in the arse if he should win...see my earlier post about how counting illegals as "residents" for Electoral College purposes could put Hillary (or any D candidate, I suppose) into the WH. I suppose someone, somewhere (probably in the Clinton Machine) must be doing a bit of oppo research on the guy.

scrubbedexpat099

Still think Obama holds the cards to screw Hillary's chances.

FlaviusAetius

No question. Any time he feels the need he can unleash his weaponized Justice Department to indict her and take her down. He's got the FBI A-Team on it right now, the same guys who destroyed Petraeus. But then he'll need a substitute, either Diamond Joe, or someone we haven't considered, such as Cuomo or Boxer, for example.

Ain't the Game of Kings such fun?

scrubbedexpat099

If you are the Kingmaker it is.

username.exe

Kevin Spacey said it best in House of Cards:

"Power is a lot like real estate. It’s all about location, location, location. The closer to the source, the higher your property value."

scrubbedexpat091

How much influence if any do the parties have on who runs under their banner? Any at all?

Seems here the parties hand pick and vet each candidate so we just get whoever the party picks, but the US seems the parties don't have a lot of say in the matter of who runs?

FlaviusAetius

To test our understanding of the nominating process and to increase our enjoyment of the upcoming debates we need to prepare a list of buzzwords we expect the candidates to use. This is known as Buzzword Bingo or Bullshit Bingo.

The next two Democratic debates are scheduled for October 13 and November 14. The next Republican debates are scheduled for October 28 and sometime in November. If someone wants to try to keep track, we could also guess how many times in the next debate terms such as "abortion" "Planned Parenthood" "gun control" "I cut taxes in my state" "Obama's foreign policy in Syria is a disaster" "I will build a Wall..." "deport" will be used. Those terms are so common that we might agree not to include them in the Bullshit Bingo matrix.


We could also set up a pool in which we guess who is the next one to pull out or get into the race - and when. For example, will Diamond Joe jump in - if so, on what date? What are the odds that Romney will jump in? On what date will the Republican field be narrowed to 5? Who's in that field of 5? Further down, assuming Trump doesn't get the nomination, what are the odds he will forget his pledge and launch a 3rd party run?

No prizes except recognition on this thread for the winners. We need to take out the venom and have some fun as the country decides who will be the next "Leader of the Free World. "

username.exe

^^^
*Mike Myers voice*

Excuse me, Miss! I believe I ordered... the large image. Hello!

zargof

Hey do all y'all remember when it was suggested than Bernie Sanders was a Nazi? Well...

5 Ways Donald Trump Perfectly Mirrors Hitler's Rise To Power | Cracked.com

FlaviusAetius

I am so grateful to you for posting this article suggesting that Trump is a Nazi.

I expect that your posting neutralizes the supposed suggestion that Bernie Sanders is a Nazi and we won't hear any more references to it - unless it's OK for the left-of-center to point out odious comparisons between the Nazi programmes and those of a current Presidential candidate, but not for the right-of-center to make similar comparisons of the other side's candidates.