News Breaking Down the 2016 POTUS Race Contenders & Issues

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Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are currently the leading candidates for the 2016 presidential election, with their character and qualifications being significant issues among voters. The crowded field includes 36 declared Republican candidates and 19 declared Democratic candidates, with many others considering runs. Major topics of discussion include nationalism versus internationalism and the stability of the nation-state system versus global governance. Recent polls show Trump as the front-runner, although his support has decreased, while Carly Fiorina has gained traction following strong debate performances. The election cycle is characterized as unusual, with many candidates and shifting public opinions on key issues.
  • #91
phinds said:
Amazing the way Trump continues to defy political gravity.
I think Trump generates his own gravity.

Meanwhile,
Paul Hodes, a Clinton supporter and former U.S. congressman from New Hampshire, said
“I’m hoping that Hillary takes a real look at an authentic emotional message that connects with voters from here on."

“She’s enormously intelligent, she’s well-versed in policy, and voters have a short attention span,” Hodes continued. “They’re happy when they’re promised puppies and rainbows.”
So I guess we can expect a more emotional campaign, or at least a more emotional Clinton.

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/bernie-sanders-wins-nh-handily-as-democrats-055804907.html

I'm rather annoyed at politicians who are dismissive of the voters or public.
 
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  • #92
Astronuc said:
So I guess we can expect a more emotional campaign, or at least a more emotional Clinton.
She can't, she's a robot :-p
 
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  • #95
Greg Bernhardt said:
Rubio's poor performance was a bit unexpected. It appears he's another 4 years away from being a viable candidate.
Rubio is certainly showing his lack of experience.

In the article:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who mauled Rubio in Saturday’s debate and hoped for a boost in New Hampshire as a result, isn’t even likely to try. As soon as it became clear that Christie would not finish in the top five Tuesday, despite spending more days in the Granite State, at 75, than any other candidate, the governor announced that he was heading home to “take a deep breath” and reassess his struggling campaign.
I would expect Christie to withdraw soon.
“He has almost no money,” said Spencer Bachus, a former Republican Congressman from Alabama who served for 16 years with Kasich. “The big money has gone to Bush, Trump is self-financed and Cruz has a lot of Texas money. John has been operating on a shoestring.”
On to South Carolina.

The South Carolina GOP presidential primary is set for Saturday, February 20, 2016. With the New Hampshire primary in the rearview mirror, attention will shift to the Palmetto State, whose “First in the South” primary is next up on the GOP primary schedule. After South Carolina, the GOP campaign moves to Nevada, which holds its caucus on Tuesday, February 23.

South Carolina and Nevada vote in the opposite order for the Democrats, whose Nevada caucus is February 20 and whose South Carolina primary is February 27.
March madness starts with SuperTuesday on March 1.

List of primaries and caucuses
http://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2016-presidential-primary-schedule-calendar/
 
  • #96
With Trump's win in NH do you think it will embolden him to escalate his perverse strategy using offensive and outrageous rhetoric like ...I won't loose any votes even if I shoot someone on 5th ave. or Cruz is a p...!

Will voters come to their senses or will it stimulate a "mob mentality" for change at any cost.
 
  • #97
gleem said:
Will voters come to their senses or will it stimulate a "mob mentality" for change at any cost.
Why would you expect it to change? Is there some reason why, if voters were going to "come to their senses", they would not already have done so? On what do you base your implicit assumption that they have any "senses" to come to.

Trumps successes have left me with a very dim view of a large swath of American voters.
 
  • #98
phinds said:
Trumps successes have left me with a very dim view of a large swath of American voters.

Before the voting about 40% said that they where undecided. I was hoping that they had some sense left. So after the voting and Trump's victory I was disappointed but not surprised in the obvious decision of these voters to head for Trump. This is NH and mostly rural which is usually quite conservative where you expect to find people living off the grid. Keep in mind the state motto "Live Free or Die" not big government fans.

I expect He will be strong in South Carolina too even the democrats are conservative.
 
  • #99
phinds said:
Trumps successes have left me with a very dim view of a large swath of American voters.
Do you take a dim view of those who have lost their jobs to foreign competition? Do you take a dim view of young men and women who have graduated college with $80k debt and no prospect of employment?
 
  • #100
Dotini said:
Do you take a dim view of those who have lost their jobs to foreign competition? Do you take a dim view of young men and women who have graduated college with $80k debt and no prospect of employment?
No, I take a dim view of anyone who thinks The Donald would make a good president regardless of their other characteristics.
 
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  • #101
Part of the reason for the dim view may be because some of these kids spent $80K on a career path without a good outlook for employment at the end of it? Don't get me wrong, I loathe the idea of all our jobs being lost overseas, and Trump has a point there... I just see him as a serious danger on the world stage.

Everyone is always told to pursue the career of their dreams, and a lot of them do, but a rational person will make a weighted choice between what they love doing, and what will put food on the table... There's a limit to how many marine biologists the government can employ, if you don't have some skills the private sector can use then employment opportunities will be limited... unless you want fries with that.
 
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  • #102
phinds said:
No, I take a dim view of anyone who thinks The Donald would make a good president regardless of their other characteristics.

As do I but here is one explanation of why Trump is being successful and might win

My finding is the result of a national poll I conducted in the last five days of December under the auspices of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, sampling 1,800 registered voters across the country and the political spectrum. Running a standard statistical analysis, I found that education, income, gender, age, ideology and religiosity had no significant bearing on a Republican voter’s preferred candidate. Only two of the variables I looked at were statistically significant: authoritarianism, followed by fear of terrorism, though the former was far more significant than the latter.

Authoritarianism is not a new, untested concept in the American electorate. Since the rise of Nazi Germany, it has been one of the most widely studied ideas in social science. While its causes are still debated, the political behavior of authoritarians is not. Authoritarians obey. They rally to and follow strong leaders. And they respond aggressively to outsiders, especially when they feel threatened. From pledging to “make America great again” by building a wall on the border to promising to close mosques and ban Muslims from visiting the United States, Trump is playing directly to authoritarian inclinations.

Not all authoritarians are Republicans by any means; in national surveys since 1992, many authoritarians have also self-identified as independents and Democrats. And in the 2008 Democratic primary, the political scientist Marc Hetherington found that authoritarianism mattered more than income, ideology, gender, age and education in predicting whether voters preferred Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama. But Hetherington has also found, based on 14 years of polling, that authoritarians have steadily moved from the Democratic to the Republican Party over time. He hypothesizes that the trend began decades ago, as Democrats embraced civil rights, gay rights, employment protections and other political positions valuing freedom and equality. In my poll results, authoritarianism was not a statistically significant factor in the Democratic primary race, at least not so far, but it does appear to be playing an important role on the Republican side. Indeed, 49 percent of likely Republican primary voters I surveyed score in the top quarter of the authoritarian scale—more than twice as many as Democratic voters.

Political pollsters have missed this key component of Trump’s support
Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/donald-trump-2016-authoritarian-213533#ixzz3zn78P7VI
In his book "Political Animal" Rick Shenkman without specifically talking about Trump provides light on his campaign strategy. excerpt for a review of the book. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...rumps-appeal-and-its-not-the-art-of-the-deal/

Shenkman, editor of the History News Network, delves into evolutionary psychology to illuminate why American voters so often misread their leaders, resist politicians who offer hard truths and succumb to facile arguments. It’s not that voters are stupid or ignorant, though certainly some of us are one or the other, or both. Rather, he contends, it’s that we’re hard-wired for a different world and different politics.

“There’s a mismatch between the brains we inherited from the Stone Age, when mankind lived in small communities,” Shenkman writes, “and the brain we need to deal with challenges we face in a democratic society consisting of millions of people.”

And talented politicians can exploit that mismatch. Trump is just the latest.

.........

Even though “Political Animals” never mentions Trump and does not touch on the 2016 presidential race, it’s impossible to read the book without thinking of the GOP front-runner, who has fashioned a campaign that appeals to instinct, anger, fear

..........
.Much has been made of Trump tapping into the anger and disaffection of portions of the GOP base. From an evolutionary perspective, Shenkman explains, anger was indeed useful for us as hunter-gatherers. “In a crisis requiring quick action, anger gave us the focus we needed to succeed,” he writes. In modern politics, however, “anger undermines democracy,” Shenkman argues. “People who are angry cannot see others’ point of view. Angry people don’t compromise.”
...............
But still, we let ourselves believe them, especially if they offer easy narratives and scapegoats. Voters “do not want the truth,” Shenkman writes. “We want hope. If the truth robs us of hope, we don’t want to hear it.” Skepticism, he explains, requires higher-order thinking and consumes more energy, time and brain power.
.

.
I blame the media for dwelling so much on Trump and his tactics. America, We have a big problem... I will fix it... I will make American great again...
Fear and Hope over and over drowning out the other candidates.
 
  • #103
Dotini said:
Do you take a dim view of those who have lost their jobs to foreign competition? Do you take a dim view of young men and women who have graduated college with $80k debt and no prospect of employment?
What are Trump's plans for addressing US corporations contracting for lower cost labor overseas, burgeoning student debt, and perceived lack of opportunities for university/college graduates?

Why do so many students take on such large debt? Why didn't they work and save (with their parents) for college? Why didn't they find a lower cost alternative? How about working while in school, or during summers?Meanwhile - some comedic relief - Johnny Depp stars as Donald Trump in Gloriously Absurd Funny or Die Movie
https://www.yahoo.com/movies/johnny-depp-stars-as-donald-trump-in-gloriously-160258808.html

Depp has the look. :oldlaugh:
 
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  • #104
Astronuc said:
What are Trump's plans for addressing US corporations contracting for lower cost labor overseas, burgeoning student debt, and perceived lack of opportunities for university/college graduates?

Depp has the look. :oldlaugh:

As far as I know , Trump plans to lower US corporate taxation to 15% and to "make much better deals" in order to bring a flood of US jobs back home from China, Japan and Mexico. And of course build the Great Wall. In brief, he is selling the slogan "Make America Great Again", a different way of saying "Peace and Prosperity". And of course populist nationalists are lapping it up. I think they are desperate, sincere and committed.

But please don't mistake me for a Trump fan, I'm already retired and wealthy. I haven't voted for a major party presidential ticket for the last 6 election cycles. I have thought Trump was an amusing loose cannon who would soon enough launch himself through the rails of the galleon to the bottom of the sea. But it now seems Trump will not self-destruct, so it's up to the establishment to take him down with dirty tricks since there's no way they will have a better message. Cue Donald Segretti.

8d8f9a9db25f0c4b67deb4b6d455b37fabf8d7bd.jpg

Johnny Depp as Donald Trump (http://www.funnyordie.com/slideshows/94b53afd14/9-very-classy-photos-from-the-fodtrumpmovie?_cc=__d___&_ccid=57698c4cefe2c0f4)
 
  • #105
Greg Bernhardt said:
Rubio's poor performance was a bit unexpected. It appears he's another 4 years away from being a viable candidate.
Christie trashed him in the last debate; Rick Santorum's endorsement of Rubio ended up as a Christie attack ad against Rubio (worst endorsement ever, even worse than Palin's endorsement of Trump), plus $6 million worth of attack ads run by Bush or groups supporting Bush.

But still, between Bush and Kasich, Trump had $5 million worth of attack ads aimed at him and he won. And Bush had the least amount of money spent on attack ads against him (a little less than $3 million spent mainly by Rubio) and he barely beat out Rubio.

Rubio survived, but only because Bush didn't do any better than Rubio. Kasich's a long shot to raise the money needed to compete in states past New Hampshire. All in all, it was a win for both Trump and Cruz (who barely spent any money or time in New Hampshire and still came in third).

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...al-candidates-attacks-new-hampshire.html?_r=0
 
  • #106
Dotini said:
Do you take a dim view of those who have lost their jobs to foreign competition? Do you take a dim view of young men and women who have graduated college with $80k debt and no prospect of employment?
What does that have to do with Trump? Are you saying the unemployed would be smart to vote For trump? For what reason?
 
  • #107
Rubio under pressure as Republicans debate in South Carolina
http://news.yahoo.com/rubio-under-pressure-republicans-debate-075954788.html

Experience seems to be an issue, along with positions on immigration, health care, foreign and domestic commerce and the regulation thereof, . . . .

https://www.yahoo.com/politics/gop-candidates-to-senate-don-1364649168953398.html
GOP candidates urge Senate to block Obama’s Supreme Court pick
 
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  • #108
South Carolina republican caucus primary is this Saturday, February 20.

George W. Bush offers tough Trump takedown in campaign debut
http://news.yahoo.com/brothers-foreign-policy-controversies-shadow-jeb-bush-sc-093223612--election.html

Will GW's presence help his brother Jeb?
http://news.yahoo.com/george-w-bush-save-jeb-110700528.htmlThe SC democratic caucus primary is the following Saturday, February 27.Nomination of a Supreme Court justice to replace the late Antonin Scalia is a looming issue.
 
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  • #109
SC uses primaries (like NH), not caucuses (like Iowa).
 
  • #110
jtbell said:
SC uses primaries (like NH), not caucuses (like Iowa).
Correction made. I was looking at a page that had Nevada caucus and South Carolina primary in a list and transposed the caucus/primary. :confused:
 
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  • #111
The Democrats in SC have in fact used caucuses in the past. My wife participated in our local Democratic presidential caucus in 1988, at which she was the only supporter of Paul Simon.
 
  • #112
  • #113
jtbell said:
A new TV commercial for Rubio talks about "morning in America" while showing the sun rising over Vancouver, British Columbia. :rolleyes:

http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-35589655
Yeah, all those cities by the sea look alike. Rubio is advertising metaphorically.

It would have been great if Ted Cruz had done the add. :biggrin: Trump would have been all over him.Rubio's add mentions $20 trillion of national debt, which it probably will be when Obama leaves office.

US Debt as of February 2016: $18,989,803,014,663 - according to the Concord Coalition on February 16, 201
http://www.concordcoalition.org/us-total-national-debt?gclid=CPTd-M-S_soCFdgVgQod6K4Mvg

Code: 
   Date           Debt US$
09/30/2015   18,150,604,277,750.63
09/30/2014   17,824,071,380,733.82
09/30/2013   16,738,183,526,697.32
09/30/2012   16,066,241,407,385.89
09/30/2011   14,790,340,328,557.15
09/30/2010   13,561,623,030,891.79
09/30/2009   11,909,829,003,511.75
09/30/2008   10,024,724,896,912.49
09/30/2007    9,007,653,372,262.48
09/30/2006    8,506,973,899,215.23
09/30/2005    7,932,709,661,723.50
09/30/2004    7,379,052,696,330.32
09/30/2003    6,783,231,062,743.62
09/30/2002    6,228,235,965,597.16
09/30/2001    5,807,463,412,200.06
09/30/2000    5,674,178,209,886.86

Source: https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo5.htm

Congress is a partner is this debacle.
 
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  • #115
Astronuc said:
US Debt as of February 2016: $18,989,803,014,663 - according to the Concord Coalition on February 16, 201
http://www.concordcoalition.org/us-total-national-debt?gclid=CPTd-M-S_soCFdgVgQod6K4Mvg

Congress is a partner is this debacle.

Should the world and US economies turn to recession, this US debt will still be owed by the US taxpayer. The collapse of this debt bubble would be horrific to behold. Not only are congress and the executive responsible, but so are regulatory agencies such as the Fed . In my view, particular culpability must reside with the academics who provided the imprimatur of theoretical legitimacy to go so far out on the limb. They served up the Kool-Aid that the bankers, politicians, legislators, regulators and pundits so eagerly drank to justify the risks. Trump has repeatedly warned of this debt bubble, as have others before him.
 
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  • #116
Astronuc said:
Congress is a partner is this debacle.
Since 2010 not so much. How many times does Congress need to shut down the government, or threaten to do so, over excessive spending fights before it's no longer a partner to excessive spending.
 
  • #117
mheslep said:
Since 2010 not so much. How many times does Congress need to shut down the government, or threaten to do so, over excessive spending fights before it's no longer a partner to excessive spending.
All blame goes to Republicans. They're terrorists for "holding the economy hostage" in the debt ceiling fight, unwilling to compromise and yet still somehow responsible for high debts. Meanwhile, Clinton balanced the budget all by himself! :rolleyes:

The reality is that both Clinton and Obama put significant effort into increasing the debt substantially beyond what it currently is (what they succeeded in adding) and only failed to increase it further due to concerted Republican efforts to stop them. It's one of the only real (hollow/incomplete) "successes" of the recent Republican controlled Congresses!
 
  • #119
Ted Cruz Vows To Sell Off Or Give Away Nevada’s Public Lands
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/02/19/3751233/ted-cruz-public-lands-ad/

Not all citizens. Just those who have the money.

Of course, the State could purchase it for all Nevadans. OK, they won't, because that would be using taxpayer money.

So, sell the good land off to those who can afford it. And I'm sure, they shouldn't have to pay property taxes.

Where and when does the nonsense end?
 

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