I will keep doing, but not worth it! The 2016 Presidential Primary Voting Thread

wouldn't have expected even that many! my first thought was that there'd be very few "Bernie wave" people when it's so unclear how well he'll be doing. basically what aimless said, combined with, it's the same as there being so few endorsements for bernie - whatever his merits, nobody wants to be shut out in the cold by a future clinton administration. the advantages of being the heir-apparent coronation front runner, you lock all that stuff down from before there's even a race going, then if anybody starts running against you, people who help them are turncoats. anyway, that probably won't matter to some folks, like if they're not established in the party machinery anyway, and are running as an insurgent challenger in a primary, which is what fetterman and flores feel like to me but that's after like five minutes of googling and skimming.

yeah and i'm sure there's lots of DNC goodies and promo they're having to forsake by virtue of feeling (and touting) the Bern

Bernie wave looks like a chillwave so far imo

ooh bern

lol I thought the same thing xp

let's hope it doesn't turn into vaporwave after nevada

also

https://images.newrepublic.com/b4de383a1d4e5fb27a4c9bd574b5c9218dc23d13.gif?w=600&q=65&dpi=1&h=333

"so, marco, imagine you’re bruce banner doing a guest episode of glee, and in the middle of the meghan trainor medley you become THE HULK."

kasich is awful, and he's dodging colbert's question about the supreme court like a motherfucker, but i can see his appeal, insofar as he's basically a scott walker who doesn't come across like a total doofus.

his dodge in re. the supreme court gives the lie to his high-minded talk of bipartisanship, though

I honestly think there is an example of 'long-term idealism' in US at the moment: #BlackLivesMatter. Which is thrice as worthwhile as #FeelTheBern, and instead of looking for #BernieWave you should all support #DerayForMayor. But what do I know.

If I ever visit Baltimore I'll put in a good word.

Send the next fiver to him instead of Bernie?

Also the Black lives matter movement (official group) is kinda mad at Deray, read your tweets

This is America,we don't call them fivers, we call em Lincoln logs

it's a little early to expect congressional candidates to be throwing the Clintons over the side. What percentage of Dem House incumbents are getting primaried? Senate?

and is Rubio dabbing? can Obama fit him in the luggage when he goes to Cuba next month?

have you seen his gut?

This string of tweets by Clay Shirky (who belongs on the abysmal real names thread btw) is well worth reading.

Highlights:

Each party has an unmentionable Issue X that divide its voters. Each overestimated their ability to keep X out of the campaign.

So here we are, with quasi-parlimentarianism. We now have four medium-sized and considerably more coherent voter blocs.

2 rump establishment parties, Trump representing 'racist welfare state' voters, and Sanders representing people who want a Nordic system.

Trump is RINO, Sanders not even a Dem. That either one could become their party's nominee is amazing. Both would mark the end of an era.

We will know by March 15th whether a major party's apparatus can be hijacked by mere voters. (Last time it was: McGovern.)

Over-large party coalitions require discipline to prevent people from taking an impassioned 30% of the base in order to win the primaries.

The old defense against this by the parties was "You and what army?" No third party has been anything other than a spoiler in a century.

The answer to that question this year, from both Trump and Sanders, is "Me and this army I can mobilize without your help."

some of that was interesting, but 'Instead of an essay, it turned into 50 tweets.' is one for the depressing phrases thread

Nah, most essays could be boiled down to a few tweets.

http://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/cold-steel-in-the-hour-of-chaos

McGovern analogy a bit silly imo. Party insider, just a leftie who knew how the new party machinery worked cause he had designed it. Swept away by the voters, dunno about that at all. Carter fits the bill better, if anybody does.

AFL-CIO holding off on an endorsement; were expected to be in Clinton's pocket

Also it's not like a newsflash that the partiies contain these weird blocs in weird coalitions. Until one of the insurgents actually wins, it can't be confirmed that the establishments are now the rumps of their parties. I do think the point abt it being now apparent that you hypothetically *can* win with 35% is interesting- like a bug in the system no one noticed before, because it's always been the case that as the race progresses, other people drop out and the 35% person gets swamped by the one 45-50% person. Sure.

Also wonder about it really being two rump parties. If i were to get carried away in fantasy speculations, it'd be that the real realignment would be this wonky handoff where Sanders Democrats and certain Trump Republicans represent together a near-50% populist party of some form (obv needs some more ideological hammering-out - a FEW bugs there!) and the centrist rumps of both parties discover they've all been Rockefeller-Bloomberg Republicans all along. It'd be the real right-wing types left out in the cold, but there are plenty of states where they could go third party and still win, if they'd accept being forever out in the cold on the Presidency. I'd say more but i'm hoping for a sweet publishing deal on an alternate history series following a small band of free thinkers struggling to survive the new orthodoxy.

Listening to the Buffalo guy yesterday--Limbaugh/Hannity mold, a little more libertarian probably--I have a feeling Trump really is going to rip the party in half, short of the unlikely combination of winning the nomination and beating Clinton (I think beating Clinton would earn him some forgiveness). This guy has gone from supporting Cruz to warming up to Trump to thinking Trump's a phony to (yesterday) thinking that Trump and also Cruz will get buried by Clinton. Meanwhile, he can't stand Rubio or Bush or Kasich, and while he likes Carson, he thinks he's completely unqualified to be president. He even said, mocking a caller's skepticism of polls, that more often than not, polls are a good guide to what will happen. It seemed like a rare connection with reality, and also a reflection of his disgust with the Republican party.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cbg2zxMW0AAKGBh.jpg

who is the buffalo guy?

http://i.imgur.com/Z10j0wI.jpg

can't wait for Trump to sue the Pope

attacking the pope - more latino outreach by trump.

lol

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/415868924841189376

@dick_nixon

No one will write it this way but the Pope was also talking about Israel.

The Pope is one of the two or three best political minds alive. Don't underestimate him.

AFL-CIO holding off on an endorsement; were expected to be in Clinton's pocket
― we can be heroes just for about 3.6 seconds (Dr Morbius), Thursday, February 18, 2016 10:43 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that’s pretty interesting, actually. in past years they’ve endorsed the establishment candidate disappointingly early.

also, i appreciate how the pope just threw it down. "donald trump is not a christian."

his comeback about humans being political animals by nature also quality

Donald Trump on the Pope

"odd looking"
"maybe not a believer"
"sweats a lot"
"worried about him, doesn't make a lot of sense"
"pathetic loser"
"travels too much, who's he trying to impress?"
"when i'm president he'll come running to the oval office to apologize"
"sad man"

Really can't wait to see what his Twitter account is like ~1 week after Trump either a) suspends his campaign or b) loses the general election. (I refuse to acknowledge any other potential outcomes.)

@dick_nixon

No one will write it this way but the Pope was also talking about Israel.

That seems unlikely given that Israel is not a Christian country

believe me, i hesitate to write "this will be what takes trump down" because i've had that thought several dozen times this past year and i'm wrong every time, but doesn't it seem like he's crossed a threshold? not just for catholics, who might be a biiiit pissed at trump for calling the pope 'disgraceful' (ok lol at that though), but also because it's a clear preview of what a Trump presidency would be like, the tone he would use to engage world leaders. yeah we all already had an idea of what that would be like, but he just started a fight with the pope ffs

i agree but at the same time the other candidates are so uniformly terrible that i'm not going to be surprised if he slips in.

i guess cruz seems like the other likely candidate but how many people want to stare at his mrs doubtfire face?

having a hard time determining whether or not that nixon account has stopped being a parody and morphed into someone spouting their own weird opinions under nixon's assumed imprimatur. cuz it seems less and less like joeks and more and more like "serious" commentary

believe me, i hesitate to write "this will be what takes trump down"

p sure the core of Trump's racist ignorant jerk base won't have to dig too deep to unearth some latent anti-papist feelings

"No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man's religion or faith" — Donald Trump

he just started a fight with the pope ffs

"The Pope? How many divisions has he got?" - Stalin

but yeah that won't help him w the latino vote, he's doubling down on flushing their votes down the toilet

xp

having a hard time determining whether or not that nixon account has stopped being a parody and morphed into someone spouting their own weird opinions under nixon's assumed imprimatur. cuz it seems less and less like joeks and more and more like "serious" commentary

yeah i don't really get this account either

I know this particular Pope is strongly favored by Democrats and all, but this seems like a generally strategic mistake unless you believe the majority of the American public wants a President that operates solely on the "I rule, you drool" principle

i don't think either of those are true, Shakes... xp

@dick_nixon
The Chinese are very subtle. They demand it in return. To not be subtle is to be seen as weak.

I didn't watch the town hall for several reasons, not least that being face to face with these bastards is often more than my job's worth.

half expect trump to take a strong anti-papist line in the next debate

"do we really know who rubio is taking his orders from?"

he already said that the pope was the pawn of the mexican government

the American public wants a President that operates solely on the "I rule, you drool" principle

Trump makes it clear that roughly 20% of the population currently wants exactly this