The 2016 US Election (Part I)

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, its a safe bet that if he endorses anyone, it'll be Hillary Clinton.

I'm hoping some of his supporters will go to Sanders, however.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Yeah at this point he would have a lot of ground to catch up on. Hopefully he spends his time backing one of the two main candidates.

I never really thought Biden would run. His best chance to run would've been before Hillary decided she was going to run, and he wasn't in the right frame of mind to run at that time. If the GOP's witch-hunts were seriously hurting Clinton, Biden might've had a shot that way ... except Bernie Sanders turned out to be less of a comedy-option candidate than many thought; so Sanders benefited from any softening of Hillary's support.

Biden's last hurrah would've been the first debate. It was Hillary's debate to lose, since it was pretty much her and some guys who won't be in the race after March. Except she was strong and political when she needed to be, and Sanders demonstrated that he's the Democratic equivalent of Ted Cruz (i.e. very nearly a pure ideologue.) If Hillary had choked spectacularly during the first debate, Biden might've had an opening.

But, as it is, Hillary Clinton emerged from the debate smelling like roses. Jim Webb dropped out, still nobody cares about Lincoln Chafee or Martin O'Malley, and Bernie Sanders' national poll numbers still stubbornly lag 20 points behind Clinton's ... so Biden announcing that he's not running is just him admitting what's probably been a foregone conclusion for months.

I'm hoping some of his supporters will go to Sanders, however.

I suspect Joe Biden deciding not to run is great news for Hillary Clinton and merely not-completely-bad news for Bernie Sanders. Joe Biden's supporters probably track further right than most of Bernie Sanders' supporters. So some will come back to Clinton, a few will go to Sanders, and some others will probably decide to just sit out the primaries because all the Clinton "scandals" still leave a bad taste in their mouths, but they would feel uncomfortable voting for an avowed socialist.

[Mr Bean]

Bernie still has a road to success, it's called the momentum theory.

Lets say public polls say mostly static... then comes Iowa and New Hampsire and Bernie pulls out two wins... suddenly things look different, and let me tell you a New Hampsire win is not only possible but likely... Iowa is the sticking point but luckily Hillary last name happens to be Clinton and Iowa likes Bill not Hillary, if she repeats 2008 she's going to lose Iowa.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Bernie still has a road to success, it's called the momentum theory.

Lets say public polls say mostly static... then comes Iowa and New Hampsire and Bernie pulls out two wins... suddenly things look different, and let me tell you a New Hampsire win is not only possible but likely... Iowa is the sticking point but luckily Hillary last name happens to be Clinton and Iowa likes Bill not Hillary, if she repeats 2008 she's going to lose Iowa.

I still think Biden's withdrawal helps Clinton much more than it helps Sanders. Sanders' best chance is New Hampshire, but only if he finds a way to decisively win the next couple debates, and a way to manage Clinton's attacks against his record on guns; that way he pulls off a decisive victory.

If he only ekes out a small margin of victory in New Hampshire and holds Clinton to a small margin of victory in Iowa, his campaign still dies horribly on Super Tuesday. Even if he wins in both New Hampshire and Iowa, unless he pulls off decisive victories in both states, his campaign still dies on Super Tuesday, when a large number of more-conservative Southern Democrats have their say. If he pulls off decisive New Hampshire and Iowa victories, he'll still mostly get the stuffing beat out of him on Super Tuesday, but he'll be able to justify hanging on since the makeup of Democratic primary voters starts to break more his way in later contests.

[The Romulan Republic]

Christopher Lloyd appeared in character as Doc Brown with Bernie Sanders.

https://time.com/4082450/see-bernie-san ... uture-day/

Doc is feelin' the Bern

Seems like Team Feel-the-Bern has a supporter from the future-past.

To mark Back to the Future Day, Sanders posted a photo of himself with Christopher Lloyd, the actor who played Doc Brown in the iconic movie series. “Tell me, future boy, who’s President of the United States in 2017?” reads the caption. After being informed it’s (hypothetically) Sen. Sanders, Doc Brown exclaims: “Bernie Sanders?! From Vermont?”

How did Sanders and Lloyd cross paths? Sanders is a guest on Wednesday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live show, which is spending the week filming from Kimmel’s hometown of Brooklyn. (Brooklyn happens to be Sanders’s hometown as well.) Kimmel’s other advertised guest for Wednesday’s Back to the Future segment—October 21, 2015—will be star Michael J. Fox, who played Marty McFly in the iconic trilogy that also co-starred Lloyd.


Lloyd’s Doc Brown made a separate appearance on the Internet on Wednesday, delivering a message to mark the special day.

[The Romulan Republic]

https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/de ... -in-speech

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will soon speak publicly to try to allay fears that voters may have about his status as a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist, according to a new report.

Campaign aides have convinced the Democratic presidential candidate that the stigma associated with the label may be cutting him off from voters who do not think a socialist is electable, according to CNN.

ADVERTISEMENT

Advisors said Sanders began writing a speech Tuesday that he plans to give before the second Democratic primary debate in early November.

“He needs to reassure voters, especially in Iowa and New Hampshire, that they will be nominating someone who does have a real chance of winning,” Sanders strategist Tad Devine told the network Thursday.

“The idea that this word is going to get in the way of voting for him, we’re going to expose it for what it is,” Devine continued. "That this discussion over the term will not stop him as a candidate.”

The speech will explain how his political philosophy has influenced his record in Congress and how government programs such as Social Security and Medicare make a difference in the lives of Americans.

Sanders has taken small steps on the campaign trail recently to outline his political philosophy.

“When you go to your public library, when you call your fire department or the police department, what do you think you’re calling?” he said Sunday in Iowa. “These are socialist institutions.”

God damn, its refreshing to see a Presidential candidate actually defending socialism. Win or lose, Sanders has a giant pair on him, and its awesome.

[Raw Shark]

Yeah, I voted for this guy when I was in college in Vermont, and he's still got my vote now.

[Mr Bean]

And Lincoln Chafee goes down

Or rather Chafee admits what everyone but he knew... this was not his year on the democratic side.

[Borgholio]

So the Benghazi hearing, by most accounts, turned out to be a major victory for Hillary. She countered every attempt by the GOP to frame her as a criminal and threw enough back at them to leave them stunned. Even Fox News quietly dropped coverage before the hearing even ended since they didn't want to continue to broadcast their lords and masters being nailed to the proverbial cross. She was much better prepared for this than the committee expected. Many news outlets are saying that the GOP has just handed Clinton the presidency.

[Raw Shark]

It's official: Media outlets are calling the race 13 months in advance. This is worse than the backwards creep on X-mas decorations.

At least they'll shut the fuck up about Benghazi, finally. I hope.

[Borgholio]

At least they'll shut the fuck up about Benghazi, finally. I hope.

Not likely. They'll start squawking about how she expertly rehearsed her lies and go on about how the emails missing from the private server actually contained classified info.

[The Romulan Republic]

So the Benghazi hearing, by most accounts, turned out to be a major victory for Hillary. She countered every attempt by the GOP to frame her as a criminal and threw enough back at them to leave them stunned. Even Fox News quietly dropped coverage before the hearing even ended since they didn't want to continue to broadcast their lords and masters being nailed to the proverbial cross. She was much better prepared for this than the committee expected. Many news outlets are saying that the GOP has just handed Clinton the presidency.

Why even bother having an election when news organizations can just anoint their chosen one a year in advance?

I mean, they have a right to their opinion, but God, I'd be tempted to vote for Sanders for this reason alone

[Edi]

It's official: Media outlets are calling the race 13 months in advance. This is worse than the backwards creep on X-mas decorations.

At least they'll shut the fuck up about Benghazi, finally. I hope.

They'll probably shut about Benghazi, but you can safely bet everything you own that they will keep on harping about #Benghazi! until the sun goes out. And believe me, there is a world of difference between those two things, even if in writing it's just two characters.

[Civil War Man]

It's official: Media outlets are calling the race 13 months in advance. This is worse than the backwards creep on X-mas decorations.

At least they'll shut the fuck up about Benghazi, finally. I hope.

They'll probably shut about Benghazi, but you can safely bet everything you own that they will keep on harping about #Benghazi! until the sun goes out. And believe me, there is a world of difference between those two things, even if in writing it's just two characters.

Yeah, chances are the only lesson they'll learn from this is to not have any more "hearings" that are broadcasted to the public, because they can't control what information gets leaked when everyone can see what happened.

[Borgholio]

So the Benghazi hearing, by most accounts, turned out to be a major victory for Hillary. She countered every attempt by the GOP to frame her as a criminal and threw enough back at them to leave them stunned. Even Fox News quietly dropped coverage before the hearing even ended since they didn't want to continue to broadcast their lords and masters being nailed to the proverbial cross. She was much better prepared for this than the committee expected. Many news outlets are saying that the GOP has just handed Clinton the presidency.

Why even bother having an election when news organizations can just anoint their chosen one a year in advance?

I mean, they have a right to their opinion, but God, I'd be tempted to vote for Sanders for this reason alone

Well Hillary was the only real candidate for the Dems for some time already. Sanders is a possible challenger but you saw the debate...the other candidates were basically fluffers for the big two in the center. What the news outlets were saying was that Hillary put on such a good performance in the hearing that the only people still calling for her head at this point are the ones who started this whole shitpile...and even they are admitting they couldn't bring her down. This was the best PR spot she has had in this campaign.

[The Romulan Republic]

Believe it or not, I'm glad she did well. If worst comes to worst, I'd much rather have her than a Republican. But I am offended at Sanders being written off before the first primary vote is even held.

[Borgholio]

But I am offended at Sanders being written off before the first primary vote is even held.

He simply didn't have the momentum that Clinton had coming into the race to begin with. He's picking up steam because of his message but he really is the underdog in this case, so it's just more plausible to suggest Clinton will win the nomination. Especially after the hearing.

[The Romulan Republic]

Plausible? Maybe. Certain? No.

What I am objecting to is people acting like her victory is already decided, not the idea that she is more likely to win. As should be obvious to anyone who read my posts.

[Borgholio]

Yeah I think that declaring her the winner so soon is jumping the gun by a fair bit, but do you really think Sanders has a chance at this point?

[The Romulan Republic]

A chance? Of course.

Do keep in mind that not only is the election not over, we haven't had one single primary vote yet. It is way too early to be calling a winner even for the primary.

Clinton has a lot of establishment backing, and she has had some success of late, but Sanders still has a lot of very enthusiastic support and Clinton has a lot of hostility toward her, even from within the Left I think.

I think a lot depends on how Iowa and New Hampshire go. Wins their would make Sanders look mored credible. If he loses both, it might well sink his campaign.

Edit: I'd add that Clinton was the big name in 2008 too. And that here in Canada, stuff in the Globe and Mail called the election for the NDP earlier this year. Elections don't always go the way people expect.

Edited for accuracy.

[Nephtys]

They won't shut up about Bengazhi. That's at least vaguely more plausible than say, secret muslim sleeper agents who aren't born in America. But that crap went on for years.

[Channel72]

On the Republican side of things, apparently Ben Carson is actually beating Trump now in some polls.

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-d ... rump/?_r=0

Finally, a black man that Republican evangelicals can vote for without asking about his birth certificate. Granted, his name is "Ben Carson" and not "Barack Hussein Obama".

Anyway, I really just don't understand Republican strategists sometimes. I mean, the general public doesn't give a single fuck about Benghazi. Even if Hillary admitted that she totally fucked up, it wouldn't matter. Who exactly is pinning their vote on this incident? Nobody even votes based on things like that - they vote based on issues (if they're intelligent) or gut-feeling/tribalism if they're not. I don't think a single American voter is basing their vote around what happened in Benghazi, so it's a total waste of time for the Republicans to bother with this. I know they want to create a "scandal", but Benghazi is totally useless for that purpose.

[The Romulan Republic]

Its all part of painting Hillary Clinton as corrupt at best, a traitor at worst (I've actually heard suggestions that Benghazi was deliberately caused by someone in the Obama administration).

But the scariest option, perhaps, is that the GOP is so far gone that its leadership actually believes its own conspiracy theories. Or that they're trying to stir up the militia terrorist crowd.

More plausible, though, is they're preparing their trumped up impeachment charges.

[Edi]

The #Benghazi bullshit has had the one positive side effect of Trump blowing Jeb Shrub out of the water with his direct challenge about 9/11 happening on W's watch because they ignored a lot of stuff and it being comparable to Hillary and Benghazi.

It's also exposed just how far Republicans are willing to go to pursue a witch hunt, which may not matter that much right now, but will make for great ammunition later on.

The Republican leadership, but even more so the Tea Party, are living in an echo chamber of their own construction and operating completely by alternate reality rules. To them, only the mythology matters.

[Crossroads Inc.]

The #Benghazi bullshit has had the one positive side effect of Trump blowing Jeb Shrub out of the water with his direct challenge about 9/11 happening on W's watch because they ignored a lot of stuff and it being comparable to Hillary and Benghazi.

It's also exposed just how far Republicans are willing to go to pursue a witch hunt, which may not matter that much right now, but will make for great ammunition later on.

The Republican leadership, but even more so the Tea Party, are living in an echo chamber of their own construction and operating completely by alternate reality rules. To them, only the mythology matters.

It is basically the exact same model they used on Bill Clinton to get the Monica "scandal" Basically Investigate, investigate, investigate, and your bound to find SOMETHING.
I mean, shoot, people forget these days that the investigation that 'found' Monica, started over assumed illegal land deals, hence the name "WhiteWater"

This time around however it is not working quite as hoped. Shoot so far the most they got out of it was the Email Scandal, something to remember, the ONLY reason why the Emails are "a thing" is it was discovered in the course of investigating Benghazi.

But the sad truth is this time around, it is doing nothing but hurting them long term. Short term gains for them? Maybe.. Long term? Not so much.. And that is what the modern GOP has devolved to, basically incapable of seeing the future for the present, they are the very model of "Bitting your nose to spite your face"

And the final nail in it, is of course "The Echo Chamber"
During the last 24 hours I can not tell you the vast amount of hotels of 'Victory!' fro the Right, cries of WE GOT HER! and 100% guarantees that she's going to prison! She's toast! It's all over for her!!!
And on and on... People who believe with 100% conviction that Hillary is doomed and going to prison... Basically the exact same people who were 100% sure Romney was goint to win the white house.