The 2016 US American Election Thread

[Flamenspiel]

Agreed, Trump goes to the any publicity is good publicity school of PR. CNN had Miss Wisconsin on who provided a glowing review of Trump.

So its descended into a National Enquirer type of debate. Maybe that's where the campaign wanted it to be.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Oh he's going for the distraction no doubt. He's choosing one that is costing him more women and Latino votes, and thus shrinking his chances of winning even further. That should I guess sort of sum up how right the Cuba/Foundation stuff is that he'd rather hurt his poll numbers than have people talking about those. Too bad for him the IRS and Justice Department aren't so shallow as to be distracted by this.

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by Red Ice Player

http://www.gq.com/story/a-word-for-donald-trump-voters

"If You Vote For Trump, Then Screw You."

Here is a very strongly worded GQ article about this election. There seems to be a rising sense of incredulity among sane Americans that anyone would vote Trump.

Love it

Trump is human waste. He is the worst of America stuffed into a nacho cheese casing, and he is emblematic of the kind of arrogant, flag-waving, trashy, racist moron that the rest of us have to DRAG kicking and screaming into the 21st century: Cliven Bundy, Sean Hannity, Kim Davis, and on and on and on. Trump voters are the people who have spent the past decade or so voting insipid obstructionists into office, sending death threats to anyone who even mentions the idea of gun control, demanding 100% tax cuts on millions of dollars they can only daydream about making, and getting suckered in by any Oil Party candidate waving a NO GAYS flag. #### them. These are needy hillbilly loons who are just as starved for attention as Trump himself. And voting for Trump is their way of emulating him, of saying #### YOU to everyone else as a mission statement, with no regard for the fallout.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Oh he's going for the distraction no doubt. He's choosing one that is costing him more women and Latino votes, and thus shrinking his chances of winning even further. That should I guess sort of sum up how right the Cuba/Foundation stuff is that he'd rather hurt his poll numbers than have people talking about those. Too bad for him the IRS and Justice Department aren't so shallow as to be distracted by this.

It is a bit of a headscratcher. Ah hell, who knows what he's trying to do? Even the distraction angle seems a little sophisticated for this campaign. And apparently he was doing all this Twittering in the middle of the night? You can't really explain these actions.

The Cuba thing could be a real problem for him though.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

Love it

Know who else loves it? The Alt Right. That's pretty much exactly the reaction they're aiming at.

[Senator Clay Davis]

^^Oh yeah, the Cuba thing could single handily cost him Florida. And if loses Florida it's over, if he loses Florida he had only one path way back when I last checked on the Upshot's model, and that involved winning Pennsylvania. I think he's just that mentally unhinged, but maybe it's a distraction tactic, or maybe he was on coke all night and this is what he came to, or maybe he's just ####ed in the head and this is how he thinks. Anything is possible with this lunatic.

[GirlySports]

I understand all the anger and line-cutting stuff. White people becoming 2nd class but still treated with the disdain of being 1st class.

But Trump cannot be the anti-establishment guy. Cruz actually make more sense for the Tea Party sentiment article above.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Know who else loves it? The Alt Right. That's pretty much exactly the reaction they're aiming at.

Playing right into the cheeto-stained hands of neckbeards on the darknet. Puppetmasters!

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Playing right into the cheeto-stained hands of neckbeards on the darknet. Puppetmasters!

I mean... yeah. That's pretty much how I see it too. Yet people have been talking about them like they actually matter. So can everyone make up their minds? Either the Alt Right is some nefarious, influential movement of racists and bigots attempting to resurrect the Klan that we should all totally be concerned about or it's basically just a bunch of trolls on the internet. It can't be both.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by opendoor

More than 40% of Americans are young earth creationists. Should Democrats try to cater that kind of thinking? Nearly 40% of Americans disapproved of interracial marriages 10-15 years ago. Should their beliefs have been coddled and validated simply because the people holding them had a pulse and were registered voters?

Sure Democrats might be able to get a few more votes if they lied to people in the rust belt and told them their high paid low skill jobs are coming back like Trump is, but it's simply an empty promise. Neither candidate can deliver that.

I agree with the jobs point, those jobs are not coming back, nor should they, but Trump has won with the persuasion that they could. Right now those people who are un/under-employed see 8 more years of Obama/Hillary as unacceptable (and who can blame them) economically.

Then the societal issues, they see radical Islamic terrorism as a threat, (he plays to that), and illegal immigration as a threat (also plays to that). These are not issues or fears Trump made up, but is simply responding to the natural fears average American's already have.

Acting as if fears or skepticism (take either the above examples, or even the interracial marriage example given) is rational or fact based is dismissing how the human brain works. People are fearful of change and the unknown. It is not looking for facts. It can only work past these issues when the mind realises the issue it is not cause for fear or worry, just like interracial marriage and gay marriage have become. Just like every major societal change.....ever.

Democrats and Trump's detractors think giving facts or attacking him is going to make people change their mind about him (and by extension) these issues, when in reality, supporters' concerns are being perfectly catered to, and arguing only strengthens their resolve (see:Anti-vaxxers).

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

Love it

Thanks for that link, that was a fantastic piece. I wish it would have some influence on the people it targets. Unlikely I'm afraid.

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I mean... yeah. That's pretty much how I see it too. Yet people have been talking about them like they actually matter. So can everyone make up their minds? Either the Alt Right is some nefarious, influential movement of racists and bigots attempting to resurrect the Klan that we should all totally be concerned about or it's basically just a bunch of trolls on the internet. It can't be both.

You can be both hateful and ineffectual.

[Lanny_McDonald]

A very sobering article that should stop people in their tracks. I’ve mentioned this many times in this debate. This election is not about loyalty to the party, it is about deciding what type of nation we want to be and what type of ideas are socially acceptable. This article drives that point home.

http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-n...nap-story.html

The robes are gone and the rhetoric is softer than during his grand wizard days. But Duke has not shed his relentless proselytizing for the white race, even though voters have repeatedly rejected the former Ku Klux Klan leader’s attempts to regain public office.
Duke is undeterred. As he sees it, this is the moment. After last running for election in 1999, he’s back with a long-shot bid for Louisiana’s open U.S. Senate seat.
And his reason for optimism is clear: Donald Trump.

“I love it,” said Duke, 66, tearing into a chicken garlic pizza at a nearby restaurant later. “The fact that Donald Trump’s doing so well, it proves that I’m winning. I am winning.”

Race plays a huge part in this campaign. It is very hard to believe that there is anyone left who does not believe this. Trump’s stump is very heavily weighted in dog whistle language. He says things that activate the deep seeded hate that has been driven beneath the surface over decades of cultural evolution. It is intentional and it is effective.

Trump resonates with this segment of the population. His message validates their hate, and in turn provide legitimacy to their cause. These groups deserve credit for packaging their message in a way that is less offensive, but the main issue is that Trump acts as a recruiting tool for the extreme in society.

Inside the older tract home, his living room and dining room are crammed with desks and bookshelves spilling over with his life’s work. An ink jet printer spits out thousands of campaign fliers Duke will be mailing to voters, seeking $50 contributions for a blue hat with the logo, “I’m for Duke & Trump!”

But he bristles at the suggestion that he’s jumping on the Trump train.
“Trump happened because of us,” Duke said, “not the other way around.”

You see the support he gets online and the better angels in you try to believe that it is just average every day Americans making comments. What you fail to acknowledge is these groups have a legion of cyber warriors who do nothing but invade news sites, chat sites, blogs, message boards, and so on, to further their agenda and continue to drag the center point on issues further and further to the right. This is a strategy. These are trained individuals who know their craft and view this as war. Trump is opening up fronts for them at every turn.

[HotHotHeat]

The collection of headlines on Mediaite this morning are genuinely unbelievable.

http://www.mediaite.com/

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Oh he's going for the distraction no doubt.

Yeah... that is a classic Lynton Crosby "Dead Cat on the Kitchen Table" move. For those unaware that move is when the conversation becomes something you'd rather not talk about you throw a dead cat on the table because then all anyone is gonna want to talk about is the dead cat.

I think that's the wrong move personally. Not the attempt to change the story (that's actually smart because Cuba could be really bad for him) but attacking a non-politician. Trumps lowest moments came when he went after people like the Khan's and the disabled reporter... people who aren't expressly his opponents. This is like that except it also reinforces the racist/misogynist angle.

[photon]

Whoops, did his campaign manager just state that Trump DID violate the Cuba embargo? On The View?!

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/vid...ign_money.html

FARIS: So are you denying that his company spent any money in Cuba?

CONWAY: I think they paid money, as I understand from the story, they paid money in 1998. We're not supposed to talk about years ago when it comes to the Clintons, but with Trump, there is no statute of limitations.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by photon

Whoops, did his campaign manager just state that Trump DID violate the Cuba embargo? On The View?!

Yup. Well, more accurately that she thinks that he did... of course if she only "thinks" that he did that would mean that she y'know never bothered to ask him before talking about it on TV (which for a political operative is probably worse).

[Senator Clay Davis]

Kellyanne seriously looks like she's aged 20 years and she's been the campaign manager a whooping 2 months. I'm sure she'd love to quit, but Trump being Trump I imagine she doesn't get paid in that scenario.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I mean... yeah. That's pretty much how I see it too. Yet people have been talking about them like they actually matter. So can everyone make up their minds? Either the Alt Right is some nefarious, influential movement of racists and bigots attempting to resurrect the Klan that we should all totally be concerned about or it's basically just a bunch of trolls on the internet. It can't be both.

Sure it can. They can completely be invested in an ideology and play the role of a troll. A troll can move the needle on an issue. They can grind you down and make you see things from their perspective. What you are missing is that the trolls work in concert with others who appear to be more moderate in their views, but will defend some of the points raised by the troll. It legitimizes some of the rhetoric and aids in moving the centerpoint. Don't discount these groups. Don't discount these strategies. They've been proven effective and activists are training in how to use them.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Being able to speak your mind, call it like it is, act like a good old fashioned person is exactly what is attracting as a candidate.

Sorry, are these your words or are you paraphrasing Trump supporters? That's a whole bunch of dog-whistle terms crammed into one sentence.