Buttload of Faith: the 2016 Presidential Primary Thread (Pt 2)

"btw, cruz...soft"

ew

From that article, it sounds like Bloomberg is getting ready so that he can jump in if it looks like Sanders will be the nominee. That's the only way I can imagine him running.

I'm serious. Why do you think he goes to Bermuda every weekend? He likes young Latino men

honestly don't see how that Trump quip could lose him any supporters, it's nothing revelatory or shocking, quite par for the course really given his usual rhetoric. and also otm, he is invincible.

the trump campaign sort of reminds me of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifragility

as another good example of how people are good at coming up with new terms for old shit and getting excessive attention for it?

hahaha

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZcdH_tWIAA0Ifq.jpg

"realize isis is bad"

nice

the little heart with wings at the bottom kills me

or is it a heart being nosed from either side by a pair of hedgehogs?

i think they're mustaches

This Bloomberg move is the scummiest thing yet in an already awful and tainted primary. Anyone on the democrat side who applauds this should be deeply ashamed.

He won't do it. Unless capitalism has to be saved.

Going home last night, caught the Buffalo signal for Hannity's show. He had Ann Coulter on. Two things she said: "Hispanics love Donald Trump" (emphasis hers) and "Everyone in New York loves Donald Trump" (no emphasis, but "everyone" was the word). That's quite a break with reality.

imagine that

At dinner last night some friends trotted out the "Hillary is the most accomplished" line, but couldn't site any specific accomplishments besides generally holding office and/or being Secretary of State. Inevitably the counter was an ad hominem "well, what has Sanders accomplished?" question, but I don't think even his supporters walk around calling him particularly accomplished.

What a terrible election. What I just can't get is how people in a city with Rahm as mayor can't recognize Hillary as a similarly terrible or untrustworthy person, or at least similarly, deceptively right-leaning. It's not just that I don't trust her to pursue a progressive agenda, I'm not sure how much I trust her to successfully maintain the status quo. Or, for that matter, get out the vote.

who the hell cares if a former business man turned mayor wants to run for president

how is everyone making a big deal about experience going to feel about a guy who...was a mayor of a city

If I were a former businessman turned mayor, I'd probably run for president too

a vox article about how many mayors were former businessmen: probably about 75%

Watching Sanders a couple of times this morning, he's got one really good answer and one terrible non-answer. I don't think Bloomberg will ever run, but asked how a Trump/Sanders/Bloomberg election would go, he answered exactly as he should: it'd be him against two obscenely rich guys, and he'd be okay with that. But asked about Ta-Nehisi Coates and reparations, he avoids the question altogether. I don't want to wade into that myself, but he has to--he has to explain himself.

nyc has a larger population than like half the countries on the planet so I mean 'mayor of a city' sure...

Mayor of New York City probably a more relevant previous job than senior senator from Vermont

because nyc is a big city?

yes, please shut up

This jamming of Sanders on reparations is so disingenuous. Has anyone asked Queen Hillary how she feels about it?

Yes, that's exactly the defense that is needed, that's what he should say.

Good god this thread is on a loop now

Well at least we're nearing the end, no?

No, the beginning.

what Churchill called the end of the beginning. My end comes in 2050 when rising seas take out Aventura and North Miami.

Here's the Conyers bill. I don't see why a candidate like Sanders couldn't come out in favor of the bill in lieu of specifics yet about what reparations might look like.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr40

i see why

Well at least we're nearing the end, no?

No, but once there has been an actual primary with voting results (NH), perhaps someone could start a Part 3 to this thread.

Here's the Conyers bill.

Although a commission authorized by Congress would carry a somewhat greater weight of authority, the quality of the recommendations will be all that matters. In which case, any organization or foundation could sponsor a commission, find suitably qualified people to serve and come up with a set of findings and recommendations, even if the Conyers bill languishes under Republican control (which, realistically, it will).

A commission authorized by Congress would be an unprecedented legitimization of the argument for reparations, even if none of the recommendations ever came to anything.
A commission by a think tank or other NGO would be a meaningless trifle, even if it were co-authored by CATO, Heritage, ACLU, AFL-CIO, Brookings, AEI, ThinkProgress and the Chamber all singing in harmony.

A commission co-authored by CATO, Heritage, ACLU, AFL-CIO, Brookings, AEI, ThinkProgress and the Chamber all singing in harmony would be anything but a meaningless trifle. It would be a political miracle. But I understand your point.

Sanders didn't totally avoid the question on reparations; he said that his position is the same as Obama's and the same as Hillary's, which is that we need to focus on fixing the future (with the implication that reparations = rehashing the past, which honestly is something close to what Obama has said about a lot of things in the past, and is fairly standard "mistakes were made"/"if we stop swimming we die" politician rhetoric).

the idea that being from a "weird state" without enough people disqualifies you from seeking the presidency is one of the more repulsive and undemocratic ideas i've seen voiced around here

The idea that anyone has said that on here is one of the weirder claims in this thread.

(xxpost) I agree that you could infer all of that into his answer, but that's where he left it, inference: "My reasons are the same as Obama and Clinton," followed by a general discourse on economic opportunity that never mentioned what the reasons were. I'm not saying anything about the validity of his position one way or the other, I just think he'd come across a lot better by simply explaining himself clearly (and regardless of whether the same explanation is demanded of Obama and Clinton).

'member of congress in a safe seat who always gets to vote his conscience (except on guns) cause you're only accountable to a couple hundred thousand people in a weird state and they like you' is a super sweet gig but it prepares someone for presidency about as much as idk, separating conjoined twins or having a pizza empire

― iatee, Saturday, January 23, 2016 8:01 PM (Yesterday)

Mayor of New York City probably a more relevant previous job than senior senator from Vermont

― pizza rolls are a food that exists (silby), Sunday, January 24, 2016 5:41 PM (1 hour ago)

I didn't claim that was disqualifying! The idea of "qualifying" for the presidency is inane anyway.

ok fair enough, scratch the second post

The first quote doesn't talk about disqualifying either. Just says it doesn't prepare you either.

the idea that being from a "weird state" without enough people disqualifies you from seeking the presidency is one of the more repulsive and undemocratic ideas i've seen voiced around here

vermont is a tiny and overwhelmingly white state that went for obama by a 36% margin last election. it is not 'weird' because it is filled w/ weird people, it is weird because its politics are pretty far out of line with national politics. and fwiw the same is true for nyc. sanders can say 'I have decided...I am a socialist' and bloomberg can say 'guns, cars and soda are literally the worst things in the universe' and both guys can stay elected. in vermont and nyc.

http://bitterempire.com/presidential-candidates-ranked-usefulness-bar-fight/

OK, sure. Whatever. Much like the Republican race, Rubio is ranked this high because he seems to be in reasonably good health and everyone else in the fray is so screamingly awful.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AX111Q2

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perhaps throwing hundreds in jail without charge at protests of the Republican convention and ramping up stop-and-frisk should disqualify Bloomfuck.

And he's gay, right?