The New American Politics thread

[burn_this_city]

An economics professor at a no name university.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

So, here we are less than 29 months from election day and there isn't a single palatable candidate being discussed on either side. It's frightening.

What makes Hillary unpalatable?

[nik-]

It's Hillary on the Dems side. Why do you think the Repubs are still going so hard over Benghazi? They wan't to whip it into a major issue and keep it there until the next election.

[Caged Great]

Realistically, the Republicans have just north of a 0% chance of winning if Hillary runs. The women vote would be enough to seal the deal right there.

Add in that there is no credible republicans that are remotely sellable (give me a break on Rand Paul/Ted Cruz/Bush III) and they have to do whatever is possible to slam Hillary.

In the past 6 elections these states went for the dems

Washington
Oregon
California
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Illinois
Michigan
Pennsylvania
New York
Vermont
Maine
Rhode Island
Connecticut
New Jersey
Delaware
Maryland
Hawaii
DC

If we tally those based off 2012 EC - That's 238 Electoral votes that seem to be Dem locks.


New Hampshire went dem 5 of 6, only Bush in 00
New Mexico and Iowa also went dem 5/6 Bush in 04 being the exception

Add in 15 for those 3 very likely dem takes and they are up to 253. They only need 18 more to get the White House.

In the past, these states have gone Dem more than once

Nevada (Obama X2, Clinton X2)
Colorado (Obama X2, Clinton 92)
Ohio (Obama X2, Clinton X2)
Virginia (Obama X2)
Florida (Obama X2, Clinton 96)
Indiana (Obama 08)
N. Carolina (Obama 08)

Nevada + Colorado + New Mexico does that, As would Ohio or Florida. Virginia or NC + 1 of the smaller ones works as well.

Basically the Republicans are screwed.

[Vulcan]

My guess is Jeb Bush is the only viable Republican candidate despite the Tea Baggers recent win.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by nik-

It's Hillary on the Dems side. Why do you think the Repubs are still going so hard over Benghazi? They wan't to whip it into a major issue and keep it there until the next election.

Benghazi and Obamacare are the only things they have.
They have nothing constructive to put forward, so they go after those 2 things they think hurts the (D)'s.
Now that Obamacare is getting more popular, Benghazi is all they have.

Be interesting if Elizabeth Warren decided to run.

Personally I think they could put a rock out as a candidate and it should be able to beat whatever crazy lunatic the Republicans will run.

[Coach]

I'd like to see Warren run. The few times I've seen her speak she has been very engaging and comes across as capable and intelligent.

[MarchHare]

The Onion nails it yet again:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/res...all-the,36268/

WASHINGTON—Looking back on his 13-year tenure in the House of Representatives with reverence, resigning House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) reflected on the long list of accomplishments he had thwarted during his time in office, sources confirmed Thursday. “From obstructing a jobs bill to put Americans back to work in 2011, to derailing gun control measures any time they reached my desk, I feel blessed to have had such an incredible run of preventing productive policies, and even a few pieces of landmark legislation, from ever passing,” said Cantor, explaining that as a young man, he “never would have dreamed” that some day he would be in a position to hinder the entire American lawmaking process and completely neuter dozens of bills. “Of course, I’m disappointed because I thought I had many more years of impeding accomplishments ahead of me, and I’ll be the first to admit that I never quite managed to stall environmental policies as much as I would have liked. But at the end of the day, I’m very proud of how I helped Congress accomplish so little during my time in office.” Cantor added that he took solace that his legacy of hampering federal policy was secure, and trusted that “many, many more” in his party would be inspired to follow in his footsteps.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by MattyC

What makes Hillary unpalatable?

Benghazi is enough. She didn't have anything to do with Obamacare, so I don't see how that's a negative (referencing Duffman's post here) besides, in what world is it getting more popular?

She is one of the most divisive political personalities of the last 20 years. She offers no hope of compromise or progress (not that anyone else does).

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

She offers no hope of compromise or progress (not that anyone else does).

Is that because of Clinton herself or because of obstructionist Republicans who will refuse any kind of compromise, especially with her?

I know people like to play the "both parties are guilty" card, but anyone looking at US politics objectively over the past several years knows that one party is far, far, far more guilty of refusing to compromise and make progress than the other.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Benghazi is enough. She didn't have anything to do with Obamacare, so I don't see how that's a negative (referencing Duffman's post here) besides, in what world is it getting more popular?

She is one of the most divisive political personalities of the last 20 years. She offers no hope of compromise or progress (not that anyone else does).

Obama came in determined to work with Republicans and compromise, and as a result got nearly nothing done for his entire first term. It's only after he gave up and started playing hard ball that he made some progress. If Hillary gets elected and comes in with a "#### the Republicans" minset from the start then some actual changes could come about

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Is that because of Clinton herself or because of obstructionist Republicans who will refuse any kind of compromise, especially with her?

I know people like to play the "both parties are guilty" card, but anyone looking at US politics objectively over the past several years knows that one party is far, far, far more guilty of refusing to compromise and make progress than the other.

She was actively divisive during the Bush administration. That's why I said what I said. I didn't say she was the only political figure guilty of this type of behavior.

This country needs a leader to unite us. I said the same thing 6 years ago and it is the exact reason I voted for Obama. He did offer that hope. Clinton does not. Her husband would.

We can't keep going down the road of polarization. Each political group moves further and further to the fringe and those of us in the middle (almost everyone) are not represented in any way at any level.

Maybe someone like Ben Carson will jump in and give people a non-traditional option.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Obama came in determined to work with Republicans and compromise, and as a result got nearly nothing done for his entire first term. It's only after he gave up and started playing hard ball that he made some progress. If Hillary gets elected and comes in with a "#### the Republicans" minset from the start then some actual changes could come about

I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

She was actively divisive during the Bush administration. That's why I said what I said. I didn't say she was the only political figure guilty of this type of behavior.

This country needs a leader to unite us. I said the same thing 6 years ago and it is the exact reason I voted for Obama. He did offer that hope. Clinton does not. Her husband would.

We can't keep going down the road of polarization. Each political group moves further and further to the fringe and those of us in the middle (almost everyone) are not represented in any way at any level.

Maybe someone like Ben Carson will jump in and give people a non-traditional option.

You simply can't work with the current crop of Republicans, it's impossible. Anything Obama has proposed, no matter how simple or no brainer, they opposed because it came from his mouth. Jesus Christ himself could get elected on the Democratic ticket and the Republicans would still oppose anything he did

[nik-]

Yeah, I still think it's Hillary, but the Dems should probably put a while male as their nominee so they have the hope of getting some policy through. All the Republicans care about at this point is disrupting, not accomplishing.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

You simply can't work with the current crop of Republicans, it's impossible. Anything Obama has proposed, no matter how simple or no brainer, they opposed because it came from his mouth. Jesus Christ himself could get elected on the Democratic ticket and the Republicans would still oppose anything he did

I don't disagree. The rhetoric is out of control. Nobody (electorate) thinks for themselves, they defer to whatever soundbyte of the day fits what they believe is their idealogy. There's just no truth anymore.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

We can't keep going down the road of polarization. Each political group moves further and further to the fringe and those of us in the middle (almost everyone) are not represented in any way at any level.

Do you really think the Democrats have moved further to the left fringe? Really?! The reality is the entire American political spectrum has shifted to the right. Eisenhower would be seen as a far-left Democrat today, and Roosevelt would be scorned as a communist!

The greatest trick the Republicans ever pulled was convincing vast swaths of Americans that a centre-right president like Obama is actually a liberal extremist.

[cal_guy]

Nm

[Displaced Flames fan]

Maybe from a Canadian perspective. The Democratic Party is certainly left of where it was in the Clinton days.

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

You simply can't work with the current crop of Republicans, it's impossible. Anything Obama has proposed, no matter how simple or no brainer, they opposed because it came from his mouth. Jesus Christ himself could get elected on the Democratic ticket and the Republicans would still oppose anything he did

this really started the last two or three years of Bush when everything went down hill. The democrats did whatever they could to make republicans look bad and didn't work with them then the republicans acted like children and did the same thing when Obama came into office.

It's a damn disgrace, I'm with DFF on this, we need a damn uniting person not another piss on the other side type with Hillary.

Hillary will make things worse than it is now.

Now people are worrying about Iraq again. Seriously this crap reminds me of Vietnam. If I lost a limb, loved one, or my mind in that worthless sandbox to see what is happening now I don't know how well I would take it.