USA presidential elections 2016

Post by **clv101** » 05 May 2016, 07:30

AutomaticEarth wrote:
UndercoverElephant wrote:
Little John wrote:If it's Trump against Clinton, Trump will win because he is not assumed to be "establishment" however daft that assumption, at heart, my be.
He's not as establishment as Clinton, for sure.
HRC will probably win the election. She has vast resources backing her.

I think she's very vulnerable to effective attacks. I personally know a couple of left leaning (in the American sense of left) who've told me they could never vote for Clinton.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 06 May 2016, 18:50

Lots of the polls seem to say that Bernie would beat Trump, but Clinton would lose against him.

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 06 May 2016, 20:16

RenewableCandy wrote:Lots of the polls seem to say that Bernie would beat Trump, but Clinton would lose against him.

Yep, that instinctively sounds about right to me. Basically, the mainstream body politic is doing everything in its power to discredit and disadvantage any left wing alternative to BAU. Which is leaving a political vacuum that is being more than happily filled by far right strongmen. I suppose, when push comes to shove, the 1% can do business with the fascists. But they can't do business with the socialists.

AutomaticEarth · Post by **AutomaticEarth** » 24 May 2016, 09:04

Trump ahead in the polls (albeit a small lead):

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016 ... ction-2016

I'm surprised the Guardian opened this one up to comments

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 24 May 2016, 14:32

Little John wrote:Which is leaving a political vacuum that is being more than happily filled by far right strongmen. I suppose, when push comes to shove, the 1% can do business with the fascists. But they can't do business with the socialists.

I find it odd that Bernie Sanders is being called a socialist! I don't think that they exist in the US, not real ones like Corbyn and co.

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 24 May 2016, 20:27

kenneal - lagger wrote:
Little John wrote:Which is leaving a political vacuum that is being more than happily filled by far right strongmen. I suppose, when push comes to shove, the 1% can do business with the fascists. But they can't do business with the socialists.
I find it odd that Bernie Sanders is being called a socialist! I don't think that they exist in the US, not real ones like Corbyn and co.

Corbyn is not a full on socialist. He does not want to overturn capitalism. He just thinks it needs to be tamed significantly more than it currently is. In other words, he is an old fashioned Labour man. It is a sign of our times and how much the political goalposts have moved that people should consider Corbyn a socialist.

vtsnowedin · Post by **vtsnowedin** » 25 May 2016, 09:55

Bernie has always called himself a Democratic socialist and has always been to the left of the local Democratic party. He won the Mayors office in Burlington Vt running against an entrenched Democratic mayor and bureaucracy running under the "progressive party" banner a local fringe party here in Vermont. After doing a relatively good job as mayor (he actually got some of the streets repaved) he started running for congress as an independent. Why the split from the Progressives happened is unclear but it may be he just thought he could get more crossover votes if he wasn't tied to their often radical positions.

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 25 May 2016, 10:13

From a European perspective, it is laughable to consider Sanders, in terms of his stated policy positions, as any kind of proper socialist. He is basically just an old fashioned Keynesian capitalist with a big dollop of social liberalism on the side.

In terms of what is in his heart, who knows? Maybe he is a socialist. But, that is not evident in his policies.

vtsnowedin · Post by **vtsnowedin** » 25 May 2016, 16:32

Little John wrote:From a European perspective, it is laughable to consider Sanders, in terms of his stated policy positions, as any kind of proper socialist. He is basically just an old fashioned Keynesian capitalist with a big dollop of social liberalism on the side.

In terms of what is in his heart, who knows? Maybe he is a socialist. But, that is not evident in his policies.

I don't know enough about European Socialist positions and programs to comment.

AutomaticEarth · Post by **AutomaticEarth** » 26 May 2016, 15:37

Trump's got the number of delegates he needs:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36392084

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 26 May 2016, 16:19

An interesting and illuminating perspective from an American long resident in Ireland.

One person asked me why the federal government doesn’t just force the states to do what it wants, and I responded, “Why doesn’t the EU just force the UK to do whatever it wants?” In other words, the president – whether named Obama or Trump – just isn’t as powerful as people imagine

(Except when it comes to deciding to kill someone).

Take another common misconception: Trump is calling himself a Republican candidate, yet the party isn’t in favour of him, and is attacking him at every turn. The same is true of Sanders for the Democrats – both are nominally running under a party banner, yet both are actually independents, and both are doing unexpectedly well compared to the parties’ chosen candidates.

Source

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 27 May 2016, 09:56

It looks like it will come true:

Donald Trump would allow Keystone XL pipeline and end Paris climate deal

There's a real American politician's statement right at the end:

“I will give you everything,” he promised them

Whether you believe the POTUS has much power or not, Trump - and US politics generally - is frightening.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 27 May 2016, 16:08

“I will give you everything,” he promised them

That sounds very Greek to me and look where that got them!

Lord Beria3 · Post by **Lord Beria3** » 29 May 2016, 18:09

Congratulations Donald!

Now the easy part, crush the Wall Street crony Clinton in the Fall.

For the record, Donald Trump is not my ideal candidate, however, he offers the prospect of at least some reform and change from the current failing status quo.

Clinton only offers more of the same. Middle America needs help and if Trump carries even a minority of his populist economic agenda (read - help the working/middle classes over the 1%) he's got my vote.

The Journal of American Greatness is a online journal developing "Trumpism" - economic nationalism and a realist national security foreign policy and they have some great articles on Trump. Like me, trump is not their ideal candidate, but beggars can't be choosers.

http://journalofamericangreatness.blogspot.com/

Lets make America great again! Trump2016

AutomaticEarth · Post by **AutomaticEarth** » 29 May 2016, 21:30

Looks like the US has a 3rd party in the running?

http://www.lp.org/

Apparently these will be looking to get on the ballot in all 50 states. I'm wondering if these will help or hinder Trump or Clinton?