Presidential Race 2016

I do love the "Brewster's Millions" reference - great movie. I will vote for the POTUS, but as for who, there's way too much time between now and next fall for me to make that decision; as the stream narrows, I'll throw my support to a candidate. However, would it be irrational to vote according to which candidate has the best hair (according to me)?

 

I voted for John Anderson in 1980. And I vote every time the polls open. My dad was a guest of the Third Reich for the last six months or so of WWII. Lucky NOT to have been executed when captured at the Battle of the Bulge, killed by one of his own country's bombs while in a German rail car, or starved to death when his captors started running out of food. He died in 2010. I will always vote in every election as long as I'm physically and mentally able to do so.

 

I USED to be an Optimistic Cynic.
Now I am just a cynic. I see an opportunistic, narcissist, 'Smartest Man in the Room', bullshitter spouting simplistic dogma appealing to the baser instincts of a segment who feel they have been totally ignored and the Polls reflect it is successful.
Well,, why not! Worked the last couple of cycles.

Trump may be not only the Tea Party's revenge against the GOP, but, also, Hillary's salvation. This is the ultimate application of Alinsky principles. {Oh, yeah... Don, are you gonna reply "I doubt Hillary and Alinsky traded notes"?}

Also, Don... I've put out a couple obscure references to the possibility of no Jan 2017 Inauguration ceremony over the last year or so. Seems to me, things are setting up quite nicely for that Martial Law scenario.

Heather: There ARE GOP candidates who have the will and acumen to do a passable job. One of which is John Kasich, who doesnt have a snowball chance in hell. Despite being a sort of RINO, he's made hard decisions in Ohio but still is under constant attack by local idiot Progressives, so he may be electable at a state level but no higher.
-ADDED: I am as I write watching Kasich answering questions on CSPAN2 'Council of Foreign Relations' He is nailing them! If I dont totally agree with his answers I at least do not think they are bullshit campaign fodder. There's candidates who are intellectually honest, like Kasich, Bernie Sanders {his programs being unworkable in real life}, Rubio {his immigration policies are -ahem- unformed}, and Fiorino.
If Kasich can't win, I prefer Carly Fiorino. She fits the bill for serious people. She has executive experience. she's had to make hard decisions to save HP, never mind the whiners who think they would somehow have jobs if she hadn't re-orged the compnay. {Shades of Mitt's campaign}. She's a quick study and likely would get REAL expertise, not Academic Poofs.

Of course she wouldnt get the feminist vote because she doesnt think 'women's interests' start and end at the crotch. So she's lost the Lena Dunham endorsement.

 

Well, Heather. It's still early. If you let Trump suck all the air out of your thought processes you are playing right into his game. Pick several and read up.

i guess the best definition of a RINO is a Republican in a position of influence who very carefully picks his fights with the opposition, and deliberates carefully before giving in. It's why John Boehner, former Speaker and my congressman {which arrogant SOB I never voted for, just gerrymandered into my district} got dumped.
If you call that 'Negotiation' you MAY be Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid.
BUT I did say 'Sort Of..' in regard to Kasich. Most in the Tea Party may hold their noses but WILL vote for him as Gov.
Another of my examples would be former Senator Mike Dewine. We Republicans finally got sick of his RINOserity and refused to vote for him. It got a pure Progressive, Sherrod Brown, elected in a year when GOP did very well in Ohio. At least we know who he is.
Dewine it turns out is a pretty good state Atty General. I started voting FOR him again, despite I dont really like him, personally.

 

“Have you ever stopped to ponder the amount of blood spilt, the volume of tears shed, the degree of pain and anguish endured, the number of noble men and women lost in battle so that we as individuals might have a say in governing our country? Honor the lives sacrificed for your freedoms. Vote.”
Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year

“[T]he vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.”
― Lyndon B. Johnson

 

Promised myself I wouldn't do this anymore. RINO is an old term that has changed meaning over the years. Today it's used for Republicans who aren't "conservative enough" on social issues & taxes. What's conservative enough? Uncompromising.

If you struggle identifying with either party, as someone close in age, I can say I feel the same way. I don't know exactly when the middle ground became a sign of weakness, but as each group moves to the poles, I find I'm voting against people more than for anyone.

Those of you trying to guilt her into voting are out of line. It's her right & her privilege, but it's also her choice. Sitting out the occasional vote has very little, if any, impact. As for those quotes, we've rarely fought a war for our freedoms. We fight them for our interests.

 

This would be a great year for a third party, independently wealthy, centrist, candidate. Most people are going to feel uncomfortable with whomever the Republicans nominate and most people are already uncomfortable with Hillary Clinton. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any third party, independently wealthy, centrists who'd like to make their lives miserable and run for president. Even if they didn't win they could focus the debate onto meaningful subjects that both parties want to run away from. I never would have voted for Ross Perot, but his campaign in 1992 was an important factor in getting a consistent focus on lowering the debt that in the end led to the US running surpluses for a few glorious years. Our options this year are likely going to stink. Our best hope is for an outside force to pressure them into something more appealing.

Even if that were to happen the whole system will still be entirely busted because of the crazy gerrymandering going on at the congressional and state level. It encourages extremism and removes voting power from moderates who would vote for either party. We won't get a better government until that is addressed and I don't see that happening except in a few states anytime soon.

 

Maybe everyone should just write my name in on their ballots.

On the upside I don't take political contributions from anyone so I am not subject to the whims of either big business or social idealists.

On the downside I don't have a political platform so you'll have no idea what I might do once I take office. Of course, that seems to be one of Heather's biggest concerns at the moment so I'm not sure that solves anything. If it helps I'm a conservative that believes in living on a budget. Your first lady would have a social work background so she can keep me in line with regard to social reform issues.

I could never win a Presidential nomination but wouldn't it be fun to watch people squirm if eveyone who didn't want to vote for anyone all made the same write-in vote. In the age of Twitter and Facebook it could really happen.

 

I'm gonna be gentle as possible... Just what the hell do you think Trump REALLY is?
Trump Doesn’t Represent the Conservative Base
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/428353/donald-trump-supporters-not-conservative-base

 

Every candidate has their base. Trump's base is the loudmouth at the end of the bar who knows a lot less than he thinks he does.

 

I'm undecided as well DCH. I've voted 3rd party in the last two elections and while I have thought about doing it for a third time, I know the odds are better for Fulham going up this year than a 3rd party candidate being included in a single national debate much less elected. If your still undecided when your state's primary takes place, and there happens to be someone that you do not want to get elected. Then vote for someone else in the same party so they don't get the nomination. Then maybe you will find a answer later on before the general election.