2016 Presidential Election Thread

US presidential hopeful Ben Carson has said Egypt's pyramids were built by the biblical Joseph to store grain and were not, as archaeologists believe, tombs for pharaohs.



This is the alternative to Donald Trump.

You have to say stupid things to pander to the evangelicals or else they won't vote for you. They dominate the Republican primaries to an unhealthy degree.

FTFY

Rubio seems to be the new pick of the insiders since Jeb is flaming out. Rubio got the backing of the billionaire financier Mr. Sanger (the guy behind the swift boat smear against John Kerry) while the corporate donors all seem to be abandoning Jeb and going to Rubio.

The funny thing is many right wing talking heads said they were against Jeb because he had backed immigration reform yet they are all now backing Rubio who was part of the gang of eight who... backed immigration reform. There doesn't seem to be any explination.

Lastly, the RWNJ always claimed Obama lacked experience claiming his 15 years working at the state and local level some how didn't count. Yet here they are backing a guy who isn't even done with his first term in Congress and who has even less experience than Obama at the state and local level.

Did Jesus smoke weed? Is it mentioned in the New Testament? There's your answer.

I still think Hillary will win the nomination but her electability argument no longer holds water (if it ever did). Polls are showing Bernie beating all of the Republican candidates in a 1 vs 1 election.

Rubio will have spent 50% more time in the Senate than Barack Obama had at election time.

Four years vs just under five years is not 50% Dayton but I enjoy watching you twist yourself into a pretzel just one day after claiming Obama's 12 years as an elected official amounted to no experience.

Trump, Carson, Fiorina: Total time spent in any public office: -0-. Yay, inexperience!

By election day 2016 it will be two months shy of 6 years in the Senate for Marco Rubio.

6 years is 50% more than 4 years.

How many of those days was he actually present in the Senate chamber? How many of those days in the Senate chamber did he actually do anything other than warm a seat?

Supporting a candidate because he emulates your own attitude toward doing the job you're paid for may not be the best choice in this instance.

How many of those days was the Senate doing anything worthwhile?

Remember that John F. Kennedy had an utterly undistinguished Senate career.

So you have no idea what Rubio's absentee rate is. Figures.

Yes, true. But if I were slamming a two-year senator as inexperienced and then said "but Obama had 100% more," I doubt you'd accept that.

So, again, what magical thing happens in year five?

JEB Bush mentioned it in detail during the debate Garamet.

In which case you can find the transcript and cite it.

If it was important to you, you'd think you'd remember it.

You don't respond to every request for proof garamet.

Why should I?

Because you want to show that your choice of Rubio is an intelligent and informed choice?

I support Rubio because I believe he is the current candidate (now that Walker is gone) most likely to approach problems in the future in a manner similar to that of Ronald Reagan. Plus he is from a vital state the GOP must have to win.

I think also he is the one most committed to increasing defense spending which I consider vitally important to maintain American capability and influence around the world.

So you're not even interested in finding out whether or not Jeb was telling the truth.

Given that it will make no difference in my support for Rubio. No.

I'll be honest Garamet, if I were in the U.S. Senate or House, I would probably miss as many of the votes on inconsequential items as I possibly could. Because I want to be home near my family. That has been a massive factor in every job I've taken.

I don't think the world is going to end if a member of Congress misses votes on declaring National Frozen Food Month or that Alicia Keys is an official national treasure.

According to govtrack.us, Obama missed twice as many votes as Marco Rubio (24% vs 12%).

Actually it's 64% to 34% but the time periods aren't aligned well. source

If we realign them so we're comparing comparable periods et voila:

Never trust Factcheck.org. Their researchers are retarded.

govtrack.org Obama

From Jan 2005 to Oct 2008, Obama missed 314 of 1,300 roll call votes, which is 24.2%. ​

govtrack.org Rubio

From Jan 2011 to Nov 2015, Rubio missed 177 of 1,440 roll call votes, which is 12.3%.
​

Not really. If compare the periods when they weren't running for president, Rubio missed 19%, Obama missed 15%.

Yeah, Obama missed more votes during the election year and that skews his overall average, but we're not there yet for Rubio...

Here are some more comparisons for similar time periods (using your sources):

Representative: "Mr. Speaker, I hereby file the motion that, henceforth, every month will be Dayton Kitchens Is a Raving Loon month."

Speaker of the House: "I have a motion declaring that every month henceforth will be Dayton Kitchens Is a Raving Loon month. Do I hear a second?"

Different Representative: "I second that motion."

Speaker: "All in favor?"

*House votes*

Speaker: "Motion carries, 434-0."

Based on the average of 288 roll call votes per year since he took office, and assuming that's how many votes there will be in 2016, Rubio could miss every 2016 vote and his missed-vote percentage would only hit 26.9 percent. If his 2016 voting record matched Obama's 2008 record, missing 64 percent of the votes during the election year, then Rubio's total missed votes would only be 20.9 percent, 3.3 points lower than Obama's 24.2 percent.

Major Jeb donor abandons ship supposedly because of negative campaigning.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/...donor-backfires-215575?cmpid=sf#ixzz3qf9ECUZD

I would've withdrawn too. As a huge structural fundamental of governance, we don't want rotating leadership by a handful of dynastic ruling families, as it is in much of Latin America. So I'm barely tolerant of Jeb Bush's mere candidacy (even though his brother was the greatest leader in all of world history). If he's trying to burn down everyone else to secure his seat on the Iron Throne then fuck'm, I'm done. I say chain him to Hillary and throw them both off the back of a boat in shark infested waters.

Christie and Huckabee got sent to the kiddie table for the next debate.

That's got to be humiliating. They really should just pack it up and go home, along with the other losers at the undercard debate.

Bush and Rand too. They're done.