The Many Faces of US Politics...

[Kickham csc]

I don't think it will take 4 years... the Democrats have 2 years to get the houses back and never has it been more important for them to do so. If they can do that and get a credible likable candidate for 2020 (Would Mrs. O do it?) then they can turn it around! How much damage can be done in the time being though?

The American system actually works in this scenario. So OK, the Republicans are in control at the moment, but historically, they have two years now to make real progress on their program. Otherwise the normal trend of the house or senate flipping over to democrat control to check the power of the President will happen .

Problem is that after a strong 2012, a lot of Democratic senate seats in competitive or red states will be for reelection. That said, Trump's excesses could be just the spur to allow them to hold them.

The House is so gerrymandered that it would take a Dem wave election to flip it.

And then there's the issue that young people don't vote in mid-terms. Old people make up a far higher proportion than in presidential elections. And they tend to be right wing, at least the white ones.

But again, if Trump goes off the deep end, the backlash might precipitate Democratic turnout.

Referring to an earlier point I made, the young protesters should stop planning street protests and interrupting Trump's inauguration, and start planning on getting the vote out for the next mid term

[seafoid]

Obama put his legacy on the line here, he stated it was and yet the people rejected it, why?

Liberals, do you have the intestinal fortitude to ask were it all went wrong?

By the way, eat as much pizza as you want, cuddle puppies as much as you want but the fact remains America is sick of your shit!!!

True story.

It went wrong because a flawed, status quo candidate was beaten, in the electoral college, by a demagogue playing to the basest instincts and manipulating the fears of a lot of scared, frustrated and misguided people.

It's happened many times before in history. Why would the US be immune?

Trump lost the popular vote. More people wanted Hillary. He would be well advised to heed that. He won't, though.

White revenge is not smart. Because the demographics are not favourable. Unless Trump is thinking genocide. That is how Turkey sorted out its Armenian problem.

[J70]

Yes, they both picked their battles. As they always do.

But I'm not sure what your point is AZ?

More people voted for Clinton. That is a fact. Usually that translates into an electoral college win, even when campaigning is focused on select states, as it always is. Occasionally the anomaly occurs. It shows how tight the division is.

If Trump had won the popular vote and lost the electoral college, he and the right would be screaming about "mandates" (leaving aside the possible fraud bullshit).

[J70]

I don't think it will take 4 years... the Democrats have 2 years to get the houses back and never has it been more important for them to do so. If they can do that and get a credible likable candidate for 2020 (Would Mrs. O do it?) then they can turn it around! How much damage can be done in the time being though?

The American system actually works in this scenario. So OK, the Republicans are in control at the moment, but historically, they have two years now to make real progress on their program. Otherwise the normal trend of the house or senate flipping over to democrat control to check the power of the President will happen .

Problem is that after a strong 2012, a lot of Democratic senate seats in competitive or red states will be for reelection. That said, Trump's excesses could be just the spur to allow them to hold them.

The House is so gerrymandered that it would take a Dem wave election to flip it.

And then there's the issue that young people don't vote in mid-terms. Old people make up a far higher proportion than in presidential elections. And they tend to be right wing, at least the white ones.

But again, if Trump goes off the deep end, the backlash might precipitate Democratic turnout.

Referring to an earlier point I made, the young protesters should stop planning street protests and interrupting Trump's inauguration, and start planning on getting the vote out for the next mid term

Absolutely.

Idiots, the lot of them. Put the energy into proper activism.

[seafoid]

Money is pouring into healthcare and financial shares. Cos Trump won't fix anything. Healthcare is already twice as expensive as in Europe. It provides a big chunk of 1% income.

[AZOffaly]

Yes, they both picked their battles. As they always do.

But I'm not sure what your point is AZ?

More people voted for Clinton. That is a fact. Usually that translates into an electoral college win, even when campaigning is focused on select states, as it always is. Occasionally the anomaly occurs. It shows how tight the division is.

If Trump had won the popular vote and lost the electoral college, he and the right would be screaming about "mandates" (leaving aside the possible fraud bullshit).

I'm just questioning the point that more people would automatically prefer Clinton to Trump, based on the result of this vote. (I obviously accept that in this election, more people voted for her).

What I'm saying is he played the game as it was laid out before him, and his approach probably cost him 'popular votes', because he ignored very large states that he knew would be blue.

If the game was different, and he campaigned hard in CA and NY (for example) because he knew a million votes would be a million votes, then who knows what the result would be.

So, my point is it's kind of pointless talking about the popular vote, when the popular vote is not what was being contested. It's like saying your team should have won because they had more scores than the opposition, so they won 0-11 to 5-5.

[screenexile]

2 and a half days he lasted before f**king up...

First he posts this:



Then he remembers he posted this when Obama was elected:



Now this...

[J70]

Yes, they both picked their battles. As they always do.

But I'm not sure what your point is AZ?

More people voted for Clinton. That is a fact. Usually that translates into an electoral college win, even when campaigning is focused on select states, as it always is. Occasionally the anomaly occurs. It shows how tight the division is.

If Trump had won the popular vote and lost the electoral college, he and the right would be screaming about "mandates" (leaving aside the possible fraud bullshit).

I'm just questioning the point that more people would automatically prefer Clinton to Trump, based on the result of this vote. (I obviously accept that in this election, more people voted for her).

What I'm saying is he played the game as it was laid out before him, and his approach probably cost him 'popular votes', because he ignored very large states that he knew would be blue.

If the game was different, and he campaigned hard in CA and NY (for example) because he knew a million votes would be a million votes, then who knows what the result would be.

So, my point is it's kind of pointless talking about the popular vote, when the popular vote is not what was being contested. It's like saying your team should have won because they had more scores than the opposition, so they won 0-11 to 5-5.

But no one is saying Hillary won the election or that Trump's win is illegitimate.

The point is that he doesn't exactly have a strong mandate. He won't care, but he should, because the trend in presidential elections is very clear. When Republicans win, its very, very tight, and in two of their last three wins they have lost the popular vote.

Then again, maybe that's a strength, in that Democrats HAVE to put the two together, while Republicans don't.

[stew]

2 and a half days he lasted before f**king up...

First he posts this:



Then he remembers he posted this when Obama was elected:



Now this...

Very few Americans are happy right now, Trump needs to surround himself with centralists from both parties, people who can come together and get things done, he needs experienced, organized people and be needs to clean house at the dept of justice and FBI.

[AZOffaly]

I think ye are putting too much weight on the popular vote. It's like a comfort blanket. Trump won, but he didn't win the popular vote.

My point is, it's irrelevant. The popular vote was never up for grabs, so it doesn't make it any better at all.

[J70]

I think ye are putting too much weight on the popular vote. It's like a comfort blanket. Trump won, but he didn't win the popular vote.

My point is, it's irrelevant. The popular vote was never up for grabs, so it doesn't make it any better at all.

I'm not saying it is a comfort nor am I putting much weight on it. Trump will govern from the way out on the right regardless and there's nothing anyone can do about that for now.

I'm merely saying that Trump's win was very narrow and given that he lost the popular vote, he doesn't have much of a mandate and it wouldn't take much to swing things back. It was hardly a ringing endorsement from the people, in other words.

But, I don't see that making a difference. Just like it didn't with Bush.

[Jell 0 Biafra]

2 and a half days he lasted before f**king up...

First he posts this:



Then he remembers he posted this when Obama was elected:



Now this...

"Our great country...."    See, he's already made America great again.

[LeoMc]

2 and a half days he lasted before f**king up...

First he posts this:



Then he remembers he posted this when Obama was elected:



Now this...

Did you need a dog to pet after President Trump got elected? Maybe a cup of coffee or some counselling after such an unfair Democratic election?

Send me your address and I will send you a participation trophy petal.

Very few Americans are happy right now, Trump needs to surround himself with centralists from both parties, people who can come together and get things done, he needs experienced, organized people and be needs to clean house at the dept of justice and FBI.

That it is it in a nutshell.

On a more important note what sort of Leader will Pence make?

[seafoid]

The popular vote is not relevant. They have to fix the US. Do they have the balls to take on the vested interests or not? Or is it all bullshit ? This is senior hurling.

[theskull1]

https://soundcloud.com/samharrisorg/51-the-most-powerful-clown

The Most Powerful Clown
In this episode of the Waking Up podcast, Sam Harris talks about the results of the 2016 presidential election and the prospects of a President Trump.