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Post by Linda Rhaldeen on Feb 2, 2016 0:12:07 GMT -5
The Iowa Caucus is tonight, and while it's kind of dumb that the Iowans get so much power and our election system is kind of outdated and could use an overhaul, this is pretty much my football; I have a tab open that refreshes the results every 30 seconds. Hillary and Bernie are currently in the political equivalent of overtime - 95.1% reporting, 665 to 662. Ted Cruz won the Republican one, though he is only at 28% so I'm not sure if you can really call that winning yet.
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Post by Reba on Feb 2, 2016 0:27:36 GMT -5
at this point it's basically a victory for bernie whether he's a few points short or a few points over. i was glued to msnbc for 5 hours but this won't wrap up till morning i'm sure
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Post by Kit's tits kick ticks on Feb 2, 2016 1:15:18 GMT -5
I'm not sure if I understand the voting system and American people and stuff, but I think it's probably better if Hillary wins the Democrat thing, because people who are sort of conservative but have some common sense and a brain and are not insane would probably vote for her but not for Bernie in the final election thing. If that is how it works.
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Post by Reba on Feb 2, 2016 1:44:06 GMT -5
sure hillary is a "safer" bet, but the republican party is in shambles. tonight they voted on eleven candidates, nine of whom are extreme right-wing, and two of whom (trump and carson) ended up in the top four without even being politicians. the top two most popular republican candidates in the US, trump and cruz, are also widely reviled by either the establishment (cruz) or the public (trump). hillary may bring in some fed up republicans because she appears to be moderate; where's the republican moderate, then? what voters do liberals risk jumping completely across the spectrum if bernie is the nominee?
it also just seems kind of silly to be talking about ~reasonable~ outcomes this year. this election is already more outrageous than any we've ever seen before, with the traditions and patterns of presidential elections largely disregarded. as long as bernie has better policies than hillary, and as tonight showed that he is very clearly NOT a wasted vote (literally tying with a political behemoth who the entire republican party has basically accepted as their next opponent for 8 years now), what's hurting you from supporting him?
(this is all "you" in the general sense, i know anka ain't gonna vote this november)
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Feb 2, 2016 2:15:42 GMT -5
i have no idea how american stuff works, and i read your post and I'm like whaaaaaaat
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Post by Tryina Denouement on Feb 2, 2016 8:31:19 GMT -5
It's kind of similar to my country's so I understand it a little, but I'm still confused as hell.
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Post by A comet crashing into Earth on Feb 2, 2016 15:39:43 GMT -5
This election is kind of keeping me on my toes, even though I'm not actually entitled to influence the outcome (well, directly, at least). It seems so all-or-nothing; I try not to make controversial political remarks online, but I don't mind saying that Trump is obviously the lose-all option, and that a victory for Sanders would be wonderful - mostly because I don't really expect anyone to disagree with me. Of course, as a non-American, The only candidates I'm reasonably well acquainted with are the ones who regularly make international news, i.e. Sanders, Trump and Clinton - I know there's a republican candidate named Cruz, but everything you guys have written about him is news to me. That pretty much means that, even if I logically do acknowledge that the winner might be someone I'm less aware of, my perception of this presidential race is pretty much 'Sanders vs. Trump'.
It's not completely irrelevant to me, either, that Denmark has its own equivalent of Sanders in environmentalist/politician Uffe Elbæk - a left-wing politician who rallies for a change in the general tone of Danish politics, and attracts attention to various humanitarian organisations. He's the leader of a political party named 'The Alternative'. Like with Sanders, a lot of Danish voters - myself kind-of included, I must admit (my relationship with party politics is a little muddled) - agree with him, but distrust his ability to attract enough voters, and settle for a less controversial option. His results in the last election were less impressive than Sanders' in this one so far, but good enough to make him one of our most discussed politicians, and possibly set an example for others who want to think outside the box on the Danish political scene. The reason I go on about this guy is that I tend to connect him with Sanders, whose politics he also wholeheartedly endorses, and I think the scene is set for an eventual election of Sanders to translate more or less directly into the government of my own country - which, along with the threat of Donald Trump running a country, makes this an almost nerve-wrecking election for me.
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Post by Reba on Feb 2, 2016 16:33:50 GMT -5
trump may be a loudmouth who craves attention, but if there were ever a scenario in which the ballot was Trump v. Cruz, i would genuinely consider committing voter fraud to get Trump in office. trump is the kind of guy who supports gay marriage but also shouts about mexicans and insults people just to make sure the cameras stay on him. on the other hand, cruz is the kind of guy who will do anything and everything to get voters, and has been alienating and bullying everyone he works with since his career has started. he's the least cooperative member of congress, he's gotten literally zero endorsements for his campaign, etc.
if trump somehow became president, there would of course be a lot of public outrage, but i really don't think the country would fall apart. like any other billionaire businessman, he would hire as many people as he needed to do all of his work for him, and we would have four years of embarrassment and probably frequent poor decisions, but trump just wants to see himself on tv every day. he doesn't have an agenda. (building a big wall, deporting millions of immigrants, etc. don't count because they would all cost trillions of dollars and even president trump wouldn't have the power to get them any close to reality.) cruz on the other hand is dangerous, and he would tear salsa up.
there's also marco rubio, who is probably dubya-tier. he's got a piece of the pie for as many different types of republicans as he can reach (evangelists, warmongers, racists, moderates, delusioned minorities) and even though he's not very smart, i think he's getting underestimated by a lot of people. this is a crazy year, and i'm the first to admit it, but we mustn't forget the chance that some conservatives will actually take a step back and pick a normal candidate again.
i'm still really skeptical that bernie could be a legitimate forerunner (it's still hard to tell if "tying" in iowa helped or hurt his momentum) buuuut... the thing republicans (and republican candidates) are most scared of now is when hillary says she wants to continue the presidency that obama established, because obama is the antichrist fyi. so if you thought the constant republican aggression to every single thing obama did was bad, you'll probably be knocked off your heels by the conservative outrage when a president hillary appears and tries to do things. that's why there might not really be a difference in a president hillary vs. a president bernie, as far as "able to get things done" goes.
for now i'm super excited that we will finally get an actual one-on-one debate with bernie and hillary on thursday. bernie's already clinched New "tiny state next to vermont" Hampshire, so that won't be much of a gamechanger, but it's definitely imperative that we see the best of bernie in the debate.
(sorry for tangential wall. this is my Pandora-Level subject)
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Post by Hermes on Feb 2, 2016 16:41:58 GMT -5
I am very happy to see the real Bandit once again.
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Feb 3, 2016 3:20:24 GMT -5
Being in the UK, its like hearing a fight from the other side of the street. I don't know who these people are, but I hope the guy whose shouting random crap loses.
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Post by soufflé on Feb 3, 2016 22:29:22 GMT -5
But part of you also hopes he wins because it would be funny
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Post by penne on Feb 3, 2016 22:54:21 GMT -5
this election has been really entertaining, and i'm only peripherally aware of it, great job you guys
like palin's right wingin bitter clingin
or that video of ted cruz trying to hug his own daughter
or that one dude that asked carson if he'd abort baby hitler, and when he said no, replied "wow okay not even hitler. pro-hitler."
or whatever hillary does to be hip with the youths
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Post by soufflé on Feb 4, 2016 7:31:51 GMT -5
Agreed Though you gotta admit the hitler question was dumb
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Post by penne on Feb 4, 2016 10:56:47 GMT -5
that's why it was funny though
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Post by Reba on May 3, 2016 20:01:08 GMT -5
cruz has actually no jokes suspended his campaign. it is the first day of a new era
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