The New American Politics thread

[Drak]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Trump is leading, although barely and within the margin of error, the new CNN voter poll. 45% Trump, 43% Clinton. Trump also has a big lead in polling with independent voters and he has a big lead in opinion polls about who is more honest and trustworthy.

For all the manpower and intelligence behind the Clinton campaign these sort of numbers must be troubling and disappointing.

People down there are utter morons.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Definitely. For a country with size, strength and population of the USA it is hard to believe that Trump and Clinton are the nominees for President. These are the two worst leaders possible.

Politics, journalism and entertainment have merged into one grotesque entity in the US, so not that surprising. People like celebrity, name recognition, controversy and smart asses.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

Counter-intuitively, I think it is actually in the Dems best interest to have the media portray this as a close race, this early on in the cycle. I fear that declarations of a runaway win for Clinton may leave dissatisfied voters (of which there are many) at home which might give Trump a chance.
It has been a fascinating campaign. I think Clinton continues to campaign for the republican vote. She can keep hammering away at how incompetent Trump is. How little he represents historical Republicanism. Once the debates are over and we are closer to November, I think the gap will widen and perhaps then Trump will dig his own grave by saying more crazy stuff and driving away any semblance of a Republican/Independent base.

Yeah, I continue to think that the low likeability of both candidates means unusually high apathy and third-party support in non-factor states, while swing state voters are reluctantly digging in behind their candidates... hence the fact that swing states are tending to stay firmly Democrat even as the national numbers tighten. That's a good situation for her.
If I were Clinton, I'd be concerned but I certainly wouldn't panic yet (depending, of course, on what their internals polls show, which will give them a better indication of where they are relative to their plans than any external polls).
She's got the ground game advantage, she's got a funding advantage, she will be the more knowledgable and probably better-prepared debate candidate. The challenge for her is that she can't just play for 270 EVs; she has to play for about 320+, and control of the Senate, so she at least has some semblance of a mandate.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

It's one of the clearest illustrations of how financial interest has supplanted journalistic integrity in North American major media. For profit media is killing democracy.

Speaking of which...



Not sure which version is from which market, but... yeah. Wonder why people don't trust the news media down there?

[Looch City]

Agreed, Rise of Loafers sounds pretty lame.

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Speaking of which...



Not sure which version is from which market, but... yeah. Wonder why people don't trust the news media down there?

That is just a matter of when each edition's deadline was. The one on the left was correct around 5pm, while the one on the right was correct around 8pm.

[HotHotHeat]

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blo...-bondi-problem

Pam Bondi is just the worst.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Speaking of Pam Bondi, here's Trump being asked about her. Jesus Christ his slaughter of the English language should disqualify him from running. "Many of the attorney generals turned it down"....lol (of course totally random "she's really popular" thrown in)

[driveway]

Trump, onstage in a Republican primary debate:

"I was a businessman. I give to everybody. When [elected officials] call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them, two years later, three years later, I call them, and they are there for me.”

https://theintercept.com/2015/08/07/donald-trump-buy/

[ernie]

Originally Posted by driveway

Trump, onstage in a Republican primary debate:

"I was a businessman. I give to everybody. When [elected officials] call, I give. And you know what? When I need something from them, two years later, three years later, I call them, and they are there for me.”

https://theintercept.com/2015/08/07/donald-trump-buy/

And his supporters who think he is outside of the establishment will continue to think that even though he tells them point blank he is the establishment. Just that he's on the side doing the palm greasing not the one whose palms are getting greased that everyone is used to.

[Senator Clay Davis]

More on Trump bribing Pam Bondi (who he says he never met and never spoke to). The press might finally be doing it's job and not coddling Trump anymore. Or he'll say it's nothing and they'll drop it right away. Also gotta love how clear it is he's ripping off donors with how much he charges for Mar-a-Lago.

In March 2014, Donald Trump opened his 126-room Palm Beach resort, Mar-a-Lago, for a $3,000-per-person fundraiser for Pam Bondi. The Florida attorney general, who was facing a tough re-election campaign, had recently decided not to investigate Trump University.

Trump did not write a check to the attorney general that night. The previous fall, his personal foundation had given $25,000 to a pro-Bondi PAC. But by hosting her fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago and bringing in some of his own star power, Trump provided Bondi’s campaign with a nice financial boost.

Since he began his run for the White House, Trump has repeatedly claimed that Bondi is merely someone he has supported politically. But his fundraising efforts for her were extensive and varied: In addition to the $25,000 donation from his foundation and the star-studded Mar-a-Lago event, Trump and his daughter Ivanka each gave $500 to Bondi’s campaign in the fall of 2013. The following spring, Ivanka and her father donated another $125,000 to the Republican Party of Florida ― Bondi’s single biggest source of campaign funds.

The use of Mar-a-Lago alone was a donation of some value. Space at the resort is expensive to rent, and Trump has charged his own presidential campaign roughly $140,000 per event for use of the mansion.

In contrast, the Republican Party of Florida paid only $4,855.65 for the Bondi fundraiser, cutting a check on March 25, 2014. It was a “small event on the lawn ... featuring snacks and refreshments, attended by about 50 people,” a Bondi campaign staffer told The Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b0a48094a64854

[Caged Great]

Here's one about those CNN numbers. They over sampled white people to an unprecedented amount in recent elections and that's why it shows Trump ahead. They also had 4% more republicans than democrats in their polling methodology, which is also inaccurate as there are more registered Dems than GOP voters. If you use the same percentages of the demographics that voted in 2012, it shows Hillary up by 4. Never mind the fact that the minority vote has steadily grown by about 2% each election for the last 60 years.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

AMA with Gary Johnson. Spoiler: he endorses Jon Snow.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/commen...ber_a_fiction/

[Buster]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Anyway I didn't see anyone post this yesterday, but here's Krugman on the striking similarities between media coverage of the 2000 election and this one.



http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/05/op...=tw-share&_r=0

One thing Trump does have going for him, is that people like Krugman hate him.

[Buster]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Speaking of which...



Not sure which version is from which market, but... yeah. Wonder why people don't trust the news media down there?

Strangely, he actually did both things at once.

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/1497946...rsuasion-score

Trump needed to soften his immigration stance to sell it to undecided voters while at the same time hardening it for his core supporters. To succeed, he needed to move in two opposite directions at once. Impossible.

So what he did was create a speech that was hardcore and scary in tone and delivery, while leaving an escape hatch in language. In other words, he gave you two opposite and competing messages at the same time. He sent a message of hardening with his tone while sending a message of softening with his words. Pick the one you like.

[Senator Clay Davis]

No more Dilbert posts please. We get it, he's a massive Trump supporter and thinks he's a genius beyond compare. It's boring to read and has been for a while unless you're a Trump supporter (and read his tweet comments and blog comments. It's a Trump love fest).

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

More on Trump bribing Pam Bondi (who he says he never met and never spoke to). The press might finally be doing it's job and not coddling Trump anymore.

The funny thing is he bragged about doing exactly this on the stage at a Republican debate. Are people too stupid to notice this? Suddenly he's playing innocent when he admitted to doing exactly what he's now denying.

“I was a businessman. I give to everybody. When they call, I give. You know what? When I need something from them, two years later, three years later, I call them, and they are there for me. . . . And that’s a broken system.”

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by Buster

Strangely, he actually did both things at once.

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/1497946...rsuasion-score

Amazing, how did I not see it? Trump is truly a genius.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Trump has ended the blacklist of the reporters and media sources he has previously banned. Here's hoping they all cover him properly and get themselves banned again ASAP.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

No more Dilbert posts please. We get it, he's a massive Trump supporter and thinks he's a genius beyond compare. It's boring to read and has been for a while unless you're a Trump supporter (and read his tweet comments and blog comments. It's a Trump love fest).

Agreed.

Let's stick to the comics.