Deleted User Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 RIP America Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eviora Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Not that grim just yet. =p Clinton would probably just be more of the same. You may not like her, but Obama hasn't managed to end the country just yet! xD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted March 16, 2016 Author Share Posted March 16, 2016 Yeah - but Clinton isn't exactly running her campaign on following Obama's example. The one area that has been made clear on - ObamaCare - is one of the worst issues she could have asserted herself on when trying to sell herself to the right over Trump - who has vocally said he would strike the ACA down. As much as I would want to say "Yeah, Clinton's a head and a half better than Donald Trump is because she doesn't actually threaten people." - the next president also likely has several Supreme Court justices on the line - and conservative presidents have been notoriously much more adherent to the adage of "justice is blind" in their justice nomination than liberals. There's enough at stake to make Trump worthy of consideration - heck - several Bernie supporters are actually at risk of jumping on Trump's wagon because they essentially agree on trade being completely unfair presently - and Clinton (and her husband, who signed the North American Free Trade Agreement into law.) doesn't have a favorable trade record in comparison to Trump on those issues. It's not grim because John Kasich won the Ohio Primary and potentially could have knocked Trump out of earning the magic delegate number more than it is Hillary Clinton is the savior for disenchanted Republicans. The GOP establishment though has some soul searching to do... Kasich himself has no math on his side and is essentially running for a fight on the convention floor. Cruz has a fighter's chance at the delegate threshold, and will likely need Kasich out quickly - else Ted is also playing for a floor fight and the plurality will probably give Trump an advantage. Fun Fact: Only 38% of Republican voters side with Trump at this point in time. For those of you saying anti-Trump efforts "go against the will of the people" - you're all wrong. I would imagine even MORE Democrats are not ready to back Donald either. I don't want to vote for Trump -or- Clinton, and it's not time to make that decision yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eviora Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 I certainly wouldn't call Hillary the savior of really anything. She's more like "decent" in my eyes. I feel like the Republican nomination is at the "Trump or schism" stage - especially considering the not-so-veiled threats Donny has been making today. And a schism is a win for Hillary. If she's wise enough to ask Bernie to be her VP and he agrees, it may be over then and there - with the Bern and his supporters on her side, I doubt she could lose. I'm pretty sure a Trump presidency would be the end of the GOP (if his candidacy hasn't been already.) I can't say that bothers me. There were, what, 16 or 17 Republican candidates this year, and Trump and Cruz were the ones anointed by the party? I don't think I even have the words to express how sad that is. I wonder what will happen to Trump support if he actually incites more violence... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted User Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 I don't even think Obama is going to 'end the country'. That was just a joke more or less. But we can not afford to keep mounting this crazy debt we've piled up which is now approaching $20 Trillion, nearly doubling during Obama's tenure. This is not only on Obama but also congress. We need to cut spending across the board. There are so many wasteful programs in the government that hardly anyone ever talks about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eviora Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 We can always pass a last minute bill to tax Trumpy more. Maybe that would put a damper in his campaign! xD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted User Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 I think I've alluded to before, the problem isn't tax rates, in fact increasing them is probably going to have a negative effect. Little known fact, the United States already has the highest corporate tax rate in the world. We just have so many loopholes that the super elite can take advantage of and small business owners don't have the resources to benefit from. I think the tax rates can stay the same as they are now, we need to close the loopholes above all else. Big companies are much bigger profit margins and are less likely to have to lay off employees from paying higher effective tax rates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nepeta100 Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 While it is sad that Marco Rubio dropped out and most likely going to be Trump as the overall nomination. Even if he's a little crazy I'm still okay with him being our president Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eviora Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 @Jericho I was joking. =p @Nepeta You're okay with a president who threatens violence when he doesn't get his way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted User Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Despite the fact that Kasich has won Ohio, unless the Establishment can really bypass the will of the people, it's going to be Trump or Cruz. I did some math to show just how crappy the current delegate system this is. I'd wager that the majority of people who did not vote for Trump would not vote for him under any circumstance matched up against any other GOP candidate. With only 37% of the popular vote, he could very easily become the nomination with a mere 40% while 60% want absolutely nothing to do with him. The whole winner take all business is ridiculous. Take for example Missouri while it's not completely winner take all, Trump got 37 delegates to Cruz's 5 (with 10 more still to be determined based on voting districts). He only beat Cruz out by 0.2% in the popular vote. That's messed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 I think Nepeta said he was "ok" in that ideologically Trump isn't a bad prospect. That has nothing to do with inciting violence and again - I don't think you should hold a voter to the personality of another person like you shouldn't hold a voter to the decisions another person makes. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume this because he led off with "It's sad that Marco Rubio dropped out." - which would not be indicative of a Trump "supporter". He also said that it's sad that it seems like Trump is going to be the nominee. I tend to agree with Nepeta extremely, as my basic dislike for Trump comes down to two things - his needlessly aggressive rhetoric and his willingness to cajole or threaten others. Take those two negative traits away from him and he's a candidate that would be almost liked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eviora Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 "Let's kill the terrorists' families" isn't just aggressive rhetoric. It's a policy recommendation. A really, really depraved policy recommendation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Correct - one that would NEVER under ANY possible circumstances even happen because that would be considered a war crime. It's also one that his foreign policy advisor - Senator Jeff Sessions - has already rescinded following the debate where he said that and Trump has since backed off of that statement. When you're shooting beyond the stars just to come across as tough and then you retract your statement. That's all it is - aggressive rhetoric. Empty, mind you. On another note, I think Bernie is running for basically two reasons at this point - one of which is actually relevant for the presidency. Bernie is -still- not that far back behind if you remove super-delegates (and that's without properly allocating them to Sanders should they indeed flip.) March 15th also looks to be -for now- the worst date for him on the Calendar - as Florida, Missouri, and Ohio are huge battleground areas and North Carolina is a southern state that will continue to trouble Bernie due to a large African-American population. Many experts outside of the usual press are even saying March 15 is the day Hillary's lead is the largest it will ever be - so his campaign will probably stick it out all the way to the convention with a genuine belief they can win. Bernie - as you alluded to, Eviora - is probably running - potentially as a back burner ambition - in order to further identify how disenfranchised a sizable plurality of Democratic voters are with many neoliberal stances Clinton holds in order to be asked to perform some sort of cabinet service/serve as the next Vice President. It ain't over till it's over. - Yogi Berra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted User Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/boehner-endorses-paul-ryan-for-president-220855?cmpid=sf John Boehner, I never much liked you, but now I dislike you. I don't have anything against Paul Ryan, but he hasn't even been in the race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eviora Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Hah .Establishment Republicans get to choose between the most hated among them and a raging narcissist... so they start drafting people who don't even want the job. If nothing else, their convention will be entertaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted User Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Wouldn't necessarily call Cruz an 'establishment' guy. Kasich? Yeah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Trump AND Cruz aren't establishment guys, and I didn't like Speaker Boehner much either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eviora Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 Oh, Cruz is certainly not establishment... by "among them", I just meant he is a senator who many of the others have to deal with face to face. They're out of good choices who can be nominated in the first vote of their convention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 Let's talk about Top 5 tickets that could come out of this. Hillary/Bernie - #1 Easy peasy pick here. Consolidate the entire Democratic party, and lock and load in November. The only thing that really makes this ticket ugly is that despite the two celebrities on the ticket, I agree with VERY few policies between the two of them combined. Cruzio - #2 This not only is a very solid right-wing ticket - It's something Ted really needs to consider strongly because of the amount of delegates the late Rubio campaign was able to rack in. Those delegates, bound to Marco even though his campaign is dead in the first ballot of a contested convention - would IMMEDIATELY jump to Cruz and narrow the gap between him and Trump. The reason this match-up is more ideal than the next one for the #NeverTrump movement is that it's able to bypass a Kasich campaign that is still very much alive if only to be a thorn in the Cruz camp's side. The two senators are literally two pieces of the same thread - with Rubio being able to bridge Cruz's no-compromise conservatism in order to foster a working Washington. Cruz/Kasich - #3 Kasich doesn't bring a whole lot of excitement, but his "Center-Right" style gives Ted Cruz a solid check from within the Executive Branch. It also gives Cruz the head-to-head with the Donald that he's always wanted. Kasich isn't too far behind Rubio in delegate count following his Ohio win. This would be a decision that would require a presidential hopeful looking to cause hell on the convention floor to be open to settling for vice president. Clinton/Bloomberg - #4 Hillary would be a much more acceptable vote for conservative voters picking Micheal Bloomberg over Bernie Sanders in an effort to avoid being affiliated with Trump should he win the Republican nomination by clearing the delegate threshold. Bloomberg considered a run of his own - as the most Centrist politician in America - but ultimately declined to do so because it would cost Hillary Clinton and the Democrats a loss in November to Trump. In this scenario, HIllary picks up a center-lefty that would do the most good in "unifying" the country without jumping the fence and dragging an unwilling John Kasich on a leash against Donald Trump in November. The only issue would be the risk of Not-Hillary Bernsters jumping Trump's way on his trade merits. - Just telling it how it is. If this is Hillary's VP pick against Trump - She's getting my vote without further contemplation - unless the last scenario occurs. Trump and either Marco or Ted The Vice President's duty should the President die in office is to ascend to the role of sitting President. In the event Trump makes this pick, it's going to cause me to do some soul searching - because if someone successfully kills him, the country is in good hands. And some other folks I've talked to ALREADY want to assassinate Trump. --- Update - Rubio is out of the running for vice president, making the Cruz-Kasich "Unity ticket" the best option for conservatives available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eviora Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Voting based on the assumption that Trump would be assassinated... that just seems desperate, not to mention a bit messed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted User Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Cruz/Paul Please and thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted March 21, 2016 Author Share Posted March 21, 2016 So, I'm unashamed of my voting process. Bide time in hopes of a competitive contested convention where Trump's plurality of delegates doesn't dwarf Kasich and Cruz' combined. Vote 3rd Party - likely for the Libertarian Party's representative (Currently, I think it's Gary Johnson) - in the case of a Trump nomination / Vote Cruz, Kasich, or even the "knight-in-shining-armor" "establishment replacement." over Clinton in the general election. I am aware that is essentially a vote for Hillary Clinton in theory - but it allows me to clear my conscious both ways. Looking at who's the better person with a solid moral compass, the vote between Trump and Clinton would favor Hillary, but not by as much as her supporters would claim. Hillary is keen enough to lie about 4 deaths that took place in Benghazi on the trail as if they never happened - which probably would be ignorant of the families that very much still living and missing their loved ones. She has no problem about campaigning in favor (or coming across as such) of big business corruption to a voter-base that is constantly being made aware of it by her opponent. (quote: That's how much they [Wall Street] offered.) She's currently under FBI investigation over (potentially, in all fairness) leaked national security information - that she was holding on a private server for some strange reason. If this was 2008 Hillary Clinton, it would be a little easier to respect her humanity over Trump - unfortunately, her appeal to humanity since being Secretary of State is rather damaged, and to say it's at least "better than Trump" is a sad state of affairs for all Americans. Looking at who is more agreeable with myself, the vote would favor Donald Trump - assuming he's being honest and depending on how good his "negotiating" really is. I would safely say that I would trust Donald Trump more to pick better Supreme Court justices than I would Clinton - but my trust in that is significantly thin considering Donald seems like the guy who is very impatient when it comes to deal-making. This means that even with a conservative Senate in his first year, he could still potentially put up a closet liberal justice. If Trump were really a conservative, just as if Hillary were really a lesser-flawed person, it would make voting for Trump more forgivable. Other than that, he's no poster child for conservatism and is someone who threatens the livelihood of other innocents - which is why I'm not too concerned about making assassination jokes involving him. Because of his lofty expectations of military officials and inhuman approach to everything from fighting terror to literally just running a campaign, Trump is too flawed to justify a vote for him either - even strictly based on ideological compatibility alone. Finally, the Libertarian Party - and Johnson - have tangible ideas when it comes to fixing the debt crisis at the very least - while offering protectionism that rivals Sanders in terms of practicality and defending the Constitution better than Clinton would. He doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning the election or even finishing second, but the 2012 showing for Gov. Johnson was the strongest showing for a Libertarian in the general election - and that is poised to increase as Republicans like myself become more and more disenfranchised with the Republican Party. I think voting split-ticket and assessing each candidate for who they are is important. Clinton has some upsides over Trump, and Trump has some over Clinton - but due to cancelling out and lack of incentive or good consciousness in both votes, I can safely I.D. with a third of the crumbling G.O.P. that has enough evidence to #never either of them. The question then becomes why vote at all - to which I say - because if anything, the more votes a 3rd party candidate receives, the more ideology in the major party that minor party harms has a chance of change. If a Trump nomination is killed largely in part of rogue Republicans it will cause the party to re-think it's image and in four years perhaps a guy like Marco Rubio or a strong conservative like Ted Cruz can run with a clearer vision that half of the country would have for America. --- Upcoming Races: Arizona: A border state where Immigration is expected to dominate as the most important issue for the GOP race. This is a Winner-Take-All that has seen a Trump tidal wave in early voting and a Cruz surge late. Many ground operatives are predicting that Cruz pulls the rug out from under the Donald in the state with good reason. Arizona is a closed Primary, meaning Republicans only at the precincts.Good reason however, may not be enough when Trump has the head start to his advantage as he has in several other contests. For now, let's just say that I predict Trump winning here - and Hillary holding serve with Bernie easily. Utah: A proportional caucus state for the Republicans that is traditionally a conservative area - and the territory Gov. John Kasich is focusing on as the third wheel candidate. This state is a very unique state when it comes to the Trump Train trend - in that the Donald is polling DEAD LAST here, led by second-place Kasich, who is absolutely well behind Ted Cruz. Over 50 percent polling for Ted would be significant, as it denies a floundering Trump delegates. This win would help him remain "viable" - but he's really hoping for the upset in Arizona so that he can sweep Tuesdays primaries. Doing so would help Cruz on the way to trying to clinch the nod by reaching 1,237 delegates - which he needs 80 percent remaining to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maelstrom Posted March 24, 2016 Share Posted March 24, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 Annd.....THERE goes Cruz's support for Trump should he win. The Republican Party is officially starting to catch flame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamitako Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Annd.....THERE goes Cruz's support for Trump should he win. The Republican Party is officially starting to catch flame. Well, he was certainly angry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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