2016 Presidential Election Thread

Hillary has a far greater chance of going to federal prison than going to the White House.

She's an over-achiever. Why not both?

How can she be an over achiever when she's never achieved anything other than marrying a philandering scumbag?

Because it causes you consternation

#imnotkiddingmaddie

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box...-of-women-have-very-unfavorable-take-on-trump

Not surprisingly Trump has a problem with women.

If marrying supermodels is a "problem with women" then where do we sign up?

Republican insiders had a three hour meeting today on how to stop Donald Trump including plotting moves for a brokered convention and a possible 3rd party run to undermine him if he becomes the nominee. Begun, the right wing civil war has.

That's a war the Republican insiders will lose - because all their candidates suck.

Who are they going to put up there? Cruz, whose very face drives people away? Kasich, who only managed to compete with Carson for the title "Mr. Xanax 2016"? Romney, so he can choke miserably for a third time? Jeb!? Rubio?

These are the same idiots who let Cruz run in the first place, and who thought Jeb! was going to sweep the primaries.

Believe it or not, the rumor I've seen is that the anti-Trump Republican (whether by brokered convention or 3rd party) is none other than Rick Perry.

Worst thing about Perry is he hasn't campaigned very well in his presidential electoral history.

The upsides are

1) Good looking
2) Successful governor from a major state.
3) Has done well with Hispanic voters in the past.
4) Past military service (Air Force).

Has Perry learned how to form a complete sentence yet?

I'm sure almost his entire family would vote for him.

Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. Historically, the GOP candidate who loses IA, but wins NH, almost always goes on to get the nomination. When that hasn't happened, the nominee failed to win in the general election. Based on that, if the GOP turns on Trump, they'll be handing the Democrats the White House. Additionally, there's a good chance that the fragmentation from such a move could cause voters to turn against GOP members of Congress, leading to more Tea Partier types getting elected, or the Dems gaining seats in Congress.

Furthermore, a 3rd party run is an exercise in futility. Someone running as a "write-in" candidate has only a marginal chance of getting votes, see John Anderson in 1980, for example. Throwing their support to whomever the Libertarians select almost certainly ensures that not only will the Democrats win in November, but huge masses of Republicans will switch to the Libertarians, splitting the power of the party, and causing uncertainty for anyone running for office on either of those tickets for many offices.

No, I fully expect the GOP to begin toadying up to Trump if he gets the nomination, justifying their change of heart by saying, "the people have spoken." In reality, its about power, split the party, and you risk losing your power. Nor will the Democrats be any different in a similar situation. PUMAs were supposed to wreck the Dems in '08, didn't happen. "Bernicrats" and "Hilldawgs" aren't going to follow through on their threats to split the party, either.

I agree it insures Hillary wins which is why Repubs are tearing their haor out but they cannot get their shit together because the beast they gave birth to os destroying their party. They have no one to blame but themselves.

If they were concerned with preserving theor party they would realize thos election cycle is hopelessly lost and instead just concentrate on preserving party unity so they do not break onto two, actually impliment the platform reforms from the 2012 autopsy, and then try to reform their platform so it stands a chance in hell of actually getting the most votes.

That will mean upsetting the far right, trying to reform the right wing media they created and which now controls them, and actually logically positioning themselves so that the vast middle likes them more than the dems. That will take time, a long time, but if they break apart then they are lost.

Dems need to do a bit of the same but their split is not as bad. There is a Bernie or bust faction who swear they will vote thord party or stay home and they need to take action to keep it as small as possible least they find themselves in the position of the Republican Party in a few years. Repubs have gotten to far to the extreme right, Trump has shown this, and they are now going into the wilderness trying to figure out a winning formula. They will have to change things to be more populist and grab those middle votes or they are on for a downward spiral.

One thing is clear and that is just saying no and preventing government from functioning will not win over the middle. People want an alternative not more gridlock.

And would applaud without being prompted

Please please please please please

In the long run it might be a good thing if it forces the Republican party to reform but in the short to medium term it will probably make things worse.

Glenn Beck loses his mind

If we don't vote for Cruz we'll have blood on our hands because Trump will bring about the end of the world, which is why you need Goldline.

5) Goes hunting at Niggerhead.

Anti-Trump forces contemplate the end

Trump keeps winning, his poll numbers keep looking better, and many of the anti-Trump folks are getting used to the idea because a brokered convention looks like it could be a total disaster.

But isn't that what he wants? You know, for Jebus to show up and smite the unworthy?

Trump's Tampa campaign office is a surprising melting pot

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/03/1...-pot.html?_r=1&referer=http://m.facebook.com/

Glenn Beck loses his mind?

Ron Paul says that GOP deserves the convention problem they have. Seems the eight state rule was put in place back in 2012 to prevent Ron Paul from having a voice. And now it could bite the establishment in the ass as Trump is the only candidate so far to meet that threshold. Oh the irony !

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/18/polit...rump-rule-40-republican-convention/index.html

Yeah, I don't like Paul, but they did give him the shaft.

I've been thinking quite a bit about this in context of the brokered convention discussions. Trump might not get a majority of delegates, yet he might also be the only candidate who qualifies to stand on the first ballot. How does that work?

It doesn't.

Because the morons in charge of the GOP never thought that this situation would develop that you could have one candidate who would meet the standard but wouldn't win enough votes to be the nominee.

Incidentally that rule was originally two states to qualify and went all the way back to Abraham Lincoln. So after almost 150 years Romney and company changed the rule.

They will have to change the rule at the convention but it's going to be a huge fight because Trump is not going to want anyone's name on the ballot other then his and everyone else is going to want their name on the ballots.

Oh and this rule only applies to the second ballot. If the first one doesn't produce someone with 1237 delegates then the delegates are free to vote on whoever is eligible.