USA Politics

Well, if this election is anything to go off, this isn't a generalisation. I see the point you're making, but it's not like Trump was hiding behind cover constantly during the primaries; if anything, he drew attention to himself.
 
With how bad Bernie destroyed Hillary in those debates, Trump will make Hillary look like a worse presidential candidate than Walter Mondale.
 
Bernie's popularity increased as Hillary's decreased. I think Jesse Ventura was right, super-delegates is what ultimately fucked Bernie Sanders over.
 
RTC said:
Well, if this election is anything to go off, this isn't a generalisation. I see the point you're making, but it's not like Trump was hiding behind cover constantly during the primaries; if anything, he drew attention to himself.
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The difference is Trump was able to choose when to draw attention to himself. Generally he was center of attention but also knew when to stay quiet. Plenty of moments where two candidates self destruct while Trump is sitting quietly in the background. First example that comes to mind is Rubio and Christie. Christie didn't look great after that exchange either.

Yes this election is different, but the general presidential debates are still more formal. I think it's a format that would flatter Hilary more than trump, but we'll see.
 
I personally think that the debates will serve as a deciding factor for those who don't want to vote for either. Myself included.
 
Choosing who to vote for based on debates is only slightly better than based on a political ad.

But you're right, it's going to be a big deal.
 
American debates generally aren't, and that's part of the problem. The moderators ask a question, like, "What are your views on energy policy," and the candidate tacks to a strength, like, "We will have better energy policy once the world's oil is safe. That's why I'll carpet bomb ISIS." And the moderators just let it happen.

They're opposing podium pieces.

As an aside, I read an excellent article on Trump winning the public in September, but with this reminder:

J. Chait said:
Suppose one decided to disregard the mountains of evidence against Trump — his racism, misogyny, bullying, love of dictators, fraudulent business practices, constant lies, complete ignorance of policy, etc. — and focus a comparison entirely on those grounds where Clinton herself is most vulnerable: disclosure and financial ties. Even in those areas, Trump’s misdeeds dwarf hers. His refusal to share his tax returns is without modern precedent. He has used his foundation for personal profit and political bribery. He has stated that if he were elected, his children would run his company, which is based mainly on licensing his name — a recipe for flamboyant corruption on the scale of post-Soviet kleptocracy. And yet the parallel scrutiny of both sides has yielded a portrait of two nominees who, from a hazy distance, seem flawed in roughly equal measure. Clinton’s net favorable rating (negative 15) is just a bit better than Trump’s (negative 20). In polls, she clings to a narrow lead.

The probably fortunate news is that there is a mechanism in place to prod the public into judging the candidates against each other: the presidential debates.
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http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/09/donald-trump-is-winning-september.html

An excellent point. Clinton might be bad on some things, especially her lust for control of information. But in such areas, Trump is worse.
 
So I got my first pay check last week. I earned roughly $1000, and after taxes I made about $690. I understand paying Social security tax and all but still.. I'm losing about 30% of my wages. That's absolutely ridiculous. How anyone can justify raising taxes on the middle class is beyond me.

Mini rant over.
 
I suppose you could compare it to what you'd pay for the same for entirely private services. And balance how likely the private sector would be to deliver the goods to an acceptable standard if you required those services. I don't know about the US, but I'm pretty sure I'd be paying a lot more for fully private services in the UK.
 
Collin said:
How anyone can justify raising taxes on the middle class is beyond me.
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I pay about 33% and I get free health care, so...up, down, left, right...if you get value for it, it's worth it.

Hell, I believe I should pay more in taxes.
 
LooseCannon said:
I pay about 33% and I get free health care, so...up, down, left, right...if you get value for it, it's worth it.

Hell, I believe I should pay more in taxes.
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I don't get any free stuff. I believe that taxes should be used to fix potholes improve the general quality of life for everyone. I may be young but I haven't seen that yet.
 
Collin said:
I don't get any free stuff. I believe that taxes should be used to fix potholes improve the general quality of life for everyone. I may be young but I haven't seen that yet.
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There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting value for your tax dollars. The big problem people forget is that doing stuff like fixing potholes is expensive. And as EW said...what if you have to build a new road, or a new school? Expensive.

The USA spends more tax money on health care as a percentage of its GDP than any other country in the world, by the by. It's just that unless you qualify for Medicaid or Medicare, you aren't getting any of that.
 
Collin said:
Same thing. The point is where I'm from, nothing like that happens.
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Participate in representative politics. Read budgets, send angry letters. Decide what is and isn't worth spending your money on, then find out how much of that happens.
 
Debate night .. I am probably going to miss it ... but should be interesting. Can Trump show he is not a total loose cannon and has a Presidential bone in his body, can Hillary not parse everything down to the minute detail to be technically "true" .. but really BS

Only saving grace in this election is that whoever wins will enter office as the least popular President elect ever, get stonewalled by Congress, and probably end up serving 1 term.

Tonight is pretty critical though, polling aggregates have this at a 2 point race nationally and close enough in enough swing states to get to 270. A good 20%+ of the electorate is saying other or don't know and both have really soft support.

Either of them really has the potential to seal the deal tonight .. though I hope they both come off as the total assholes they really are and send people looking elsewhere.
 
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