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

The Kurt Cobain generation? complaining about quality of life? I just can't imagine.

dump slightly less waste in the crick

where are u from, puffin?

I remember well when, immediately after Mittens lost the 2012 election, the GOP commissioned a group of consultants to read the numbers and explain why they lost and what to do next. Their widely trumpeted conclusion: the Republican Party needed to hitch its wagon to comprehensive immigration reform and reach out to more Spanish-speaking voters, muy pronto.

lol

totally worked

hey guys look this piece of shit has something else he wants to say

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/12/trump-on-isis-we-have-to-kill-their-families.html

in orbit - yeah. Pastopians.

New rule: everyone who utters something like "things were so much better way back when" should be required to say that in front of an audience of color

Dollar Bill • an hour ago

To win a war, any war, your enemy must feel demoralized enough to quit. That means you also have to go after their support structure, which often means civilian targets. It's war people. It ain't pretty.
(disclaimer: not a Trump primary supporter)

genocide sounds good to me

@ggreenwald
Having a hard time listening to all the claimed revulsion over Donald Trump's "family" terrorism plan: it's not that far from US policy. Or Israeli policy.

yes it's true all the people who are revolted by Trump are 100% supportive of US and especially Israeli military policy

cmon crut, that's a bit of a strawman

okay lol

Another great bit from David Roberts here, mainly about how Trump has kinda upset the "Versailles on the Potomac" vibe that most media courtiers have enjoyed for decades, and that's leading to why they're getting increasingly upset with him yet powerless to change anything. Also goes into the state of GOP supporters, "objective" reporting, etc. Good stuff.

from that link:

'There is a faction of the US electorate that is positively wroth: angry that they are losing their country, angry at immigrants and minorities who want "free stuff," angry at terrorists for making them feel afraid, angry at liberals for rejecting good Christian values, angry at the economy for screwing them and denying them the better life they were promised, angry about Solyndra and Benghazi and Obamaphones and Sharia law and ACORN and Planned Parenthood and black-on-black crime and a government takeover of health care and Agenda 21 and Syrian immigrants on the loose and UN climate hoaxes. They are angry at all institutions, including the Republican Party and the media, that have failed to halt America's decline.

They are mostly white, mostly older, and entirely pissed off. And Trump speaks for them, less in what he says than in his total contempt for those same institutions.

The anger is understandable, even justifiable in many ways, but unfortunately it also involves believing lots of nonsense. And no amount of understanding and empathy can make Jade Helm anything but, factually speaking, nonsense.'

Possible contrarian GOP strategy: Republicans keep running psychos to excite the base, which, while not enough to win the presidency, apparently is more than robust enough to win lots of congressional, local and state elections. Which is enough to stymie and disrupt the executive office. It's a long con.

I remember well when, immediately after Mittens lost the 2012 election, the GOP commissioned a group of consultants to read the numbers and explain why they lost and what to do next. Their widely trumpeted conclusion: the Republican Party needed to hitch its wagon to comprehensive immigration reform and reach out to more Spanish-speaking voters, muy pronto.

lol

― Aimless, Wednesday, December 2, 2015 2:16 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah this got some recent discussion starting here: a clown car full of millionaires: the 2016 presidential primary thread

the stated plan wasn't very good, and they're not even able to follow that. good luck gop.

telling how many of the items listed in that bit kingfish quotes above are basically complete fox news fabrications post-2008.

That worked before. Doesn't work forever.

All Trump does is give it voice. He is what happens when conservatives stop being polite and start getting real.

was this really necessary

considering that we have a Real World alum in the House, yes

In terms of actual realness, Trump's version of "getting real" is roughly equivalent with that of The Real World.

we do? here? (xpost)

Joshinchicago - probably not intentional, but I still think that's precisely what is happening, and will continue to happen for the foreseeable future.

"They are mostly white, mostly older, and entirely pissed off. And Trump speaks for them, less in what he says than in his total contempt for those same institutions."

Much to be said for having the correct enemies, in the rightwing hivemind just now.

we do? here? (xpost)

Oh yes, good old Sean Duffy from the Boston season is a Tea Party Republican representing a district in Wisconsin.

(I know one of his current Democratic challengers; he is a friend of a friend and we both sang in the same group in undergrad even though we didn't overlap: http://www.kirkbangstad.com/)

well, the thing about the contrarian strategy is that we have, in the long term, a trend towards creeping executive power. the executive office is much more powerful than it was even twenty years ago, and it's difficult to postulate a reversal of that trend. the other thing is that, as republican strategists point out, "appealing to the base" with a patent psycho was last tried in 1964, at which time the republicans were slaughtered across the board.

i do not think that this is a planned-out strategy. i think it's more that all the republicans have left are psychos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO_MkcZh-VY

omg

I'm Ted Cruz and WE APPROVE THIS MESSAGE

"Republicans keep running psychos to excite the base, which, while not enough to win the presidency, apparently is more than robust enough to win lots of congressional, local and state elections."

To get a bit more specific, I think it's really crazy rich right wingers with an axe to grind pick a guy to go out run for President and speak on whatever is their thing (Jesus, unions, regulation, energy policy, social issues etc). I think these candidates get some sugar daddy to get them to go around and give these speeches to get certain ideas out in the media. Some might have a shot at getting some interest, but most of the candidates are just selling their brand so they can clean up in conservative media, appearance, selling books and whatever weird shit they got on sell on their own websites (gold strategies, copper bracelets, biographies, etc). There is something kinda medicine show about the whole thing.

cruz behind the scenes video is funny as hell
who the fuck is that coughing
"one more hug and we're out"

omg. howwwww does footage like that get let out

the "we approve this message" takes approach carvey as brokaw reporting on gerald ford's death.

meanwhile our masters prepare to resist Trumpetry with everything they've got:

The Republican Party is preparing Senate candidates for the very real possibility that Donald Trump could be the party's presidential nominee.

According to a seven-page memo obtained by the Washington Post, National Republican Senatorial Committee Executive Director Ward Baker is encouraging Senate candidates to understand Trumpmentum, use it to their advantage, and then ignore Trump's most bombastic positions.

"We should prepare for 2016 by understanding the environment and recognizing the Trump phenomenon, " the memo reads.

The memo, which is titled "Observations of Donald Trump and 2016" continues, "We may not like it, but Trump has connected with voters on issues like trade with China and America's broken borders."

“Trump has risen because voters see him as authentic, independent, direct, firm, — and believe he can’t be bought,” Baker's September letter says, according to the Washington Post. “These are the same character traits our candidates should be advancing in 2016. That’s Trump lesson #1.”

In that memo, Baker warns candidates they should run their own race and not "engage in permanent cleanup or distancing maneuvers" for Trump. Specifically on Trump's position toward women, Baker warns "Houston we have a problem." He asks candidates to offer a "quick condemnation" and then move on.

But there is still a thing or two they can learn from the current GOP frontrunner.

"Understand the populist points Trump makes and ride that wave," Baker writes.

Hee hee, this is a Bloom County strip made real

reminds of the governor's son in oh brother: "we need some of that re-form!"

embracing nihilism - GOP 2016

http://www.morethings.com/fan/o_brother_where_art_thou/o_brother_pardoned-126.jpg

Best part of Cruz video is where he says mom prays for him for hours a day and she's all "now let's not get carried away, Ted"

everyone otm about Real World. modern politics makes as much sense, possibly less, than the beloved 90s mtv reality show.

all is "How is he still being taken seriously talk" is thumb-twiddling time filler. He has been in movies and on TV for decades now, which alone qualifies him to be taken as some kind of uber-being by most Americans.

Indeed. His celebrity survived even thru that time his brain was transplanted into a cat.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/19/ted-cruz-at-princeton-creepy-sometimes-well-liked-and-exactly-the-same.html

“He's not someone who shifts in the wind,” Panton says. “The Ted Cruz that I knew at 17 years old is exactly the same as the Ted Cruz I know at 42 years old. He was very conservative then, and an outspoken conservative. He remains strongly conservative today."

This man stopping growing up at age 17.

This is the real profile: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/30/the-absolutist-2

Unlike what others may say, I consider Ted to be very kind.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CVT0uWxXAAA8Sdd.jpg

Nippled America?

lol at this graphic accompanying one of those stupid "Who should i vote for?" quizzes on WashPo:

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

(open in different tab for full size)

who is that guy with the goatee and the glasses, 6th from the left, standing next to cool guy Rand Paul?

wait is that supposed to be carson?!

which of these unrecognizable blobs should I vote for?

Reservoir candidates

http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/4ctv9pxKpwjTFevWQbvaqXkXbPF.jpg

christie looks like he's about to tumble down the stairs on his way out of a dinner party

i caan driiive, ahm good