POLITICAL THREAD

[Willy4UK]

Willy, how does one go about registering for a party other than through the voter roles? I mean I know when I registered to vote in Kentucky that they allow you to register as a Repub, Dem or independent...but in Tennessee, Missouri, Alabama and Georgia...other states where I have lived, when you register to vote, they don't ask, there is no box to check. On primary day you go to the polling place and sign in...they ask you; In which primary do you want to vote?

I'm not sure what any of this has to do with the survey I posted that started this whole discussion???

My contention is, and the Gallup survey I posted supports the idea that more people consider...i.e. "identify" themselves independent rather than Republicans or Democrats. Nothing more, nothing less.

The question asked was; "When it comes to politics, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent?"
40+% of people now say they are independent.

Most people are registered to a party Fuzz. They can say whatever they want. That's the point of using the term "identify". Are you really this difficult in real life? One of those states, Tennessee, was an easy find to get registered there. I used the internet.

1. 
   Register to Vote in Tennessee. You can register to vote in person and by mail. First, complete the Mail-In Application for Voter Registration (Form SS-3010)

 

[qwesley]

I prefer the role of adversary. It's much more fun.

Are you really this difficult in real life?

 

[Willy4UK]

I should've known

 

[Mashburned]

Star, that was well said, and unbiased. Thanks for typing that.

 

[JHB4UK]

Trump, Rubio or Cruz: which one come even come the closest to uniting the Republican Party?

by themselves, none. a Cruz/Rubio or Rubio/Cruz would be the only hope for unifying.

 

[fuzz77]

Most people are registered to a party Fuzz. They can say whatever they want. That's the point of using the term "identify". Are you really this difficult in real life? One of those states, Tennessee, was an easy find to get registered there. I used the internet.

1. 
   Register to Vote in Tennessee. You can register to vote in person and by mail. First, complete the Mail-In Application for Voter Registration (Form SS-3010)

Willy, you said "Most people are registered to a party". Did you look at the voter registration form(Form SS-3010)? I challenge you to find anywhere on that form where one registers to a party. They register to vote...period. They ask your name, address and to verify that you are 18 or older, a resident of the state and a US Citizen. That's it, that's the list.

 

[starchief5]

Willy, you said "Most people are registered to a party". Did you look at the voter registration form(Form SS-3010)? I challenge you to find anywhere on that form where one registers to a party. They register to vote...period. They ask your name, address and to verify that you are 18 or older, a resident of the state and a US Citizen. That's it, that's the list.

I live in AZ. I am registered as an Independent. If I want to vote in the primary and want to vote for a Democrat or Republican I have to re-register to that party.

 

[Catfan in Tn.]

Some newspapers in New Jersey calling for Christie to resign because he has been neglecting the State.

 

[krazykats]

Trump/Kasich with Christie as AG would do the trick too!

 

[wkycatfan]

Starchief made a very reasoned argument for Trump.

I just don't think I can do it and lay my head on the pillow at night if I voted for him. If Trump is a disaster, I don't want to be associated with it. Even if I could get past the ego, he just doesn't represent my viewpoints nearly close enough.

Trump seemed 'halfway' presidential last night, but it was only because he felt like everybody was agreeing with him, and applauding him. It won't be that way if he becomes POTUS.

 

[fuzz77]

I live in AZ. I am registered as an Independent. If I want to vote in the primary and want to vote for a Democrat or Republican I have to re-register to that party.

That is true in some states...however 20 states don't register any party affiliation.

Per this spreadsheet even in Arizona there are more people registered as independent than as Rs or Ds.

 

[KingOfBBN]

Trump/Kasich with Christie as AG would do the trick too!

It would be the smartest if Kasich would do it.

Some newspapers in New Jersey calling for Christie to resign because he has been neglecting the State.

NOW they decide to do this? Comical timing.

Stipulations:

1 Donald Trump is an arrogant egomaniacal jerk. We have survived jerk presidents before. Bill Clinton was (and is) also an attention-craving jerk.
2 We have no idea what we will get if Trump becomes president. We know exactly what we'll get with Hillary - four to eight more years of Obama, maybe worse.
3 Trump is neither a closet liberal nor a real conservative. He seems (to me) to be a moderate walking a fine line among conservatives.
4 He is not religious in the least. But he is not anti-religion like the Democrats are in practice. I think he views Christian religion as harmless and irrelevant (but must be catered to in the primaries).

If Trump is nominated it will be the first real opportunity the voters have ever had to elect someone not foisted upon us by this country's elite - Democrat or Republican. Yes, we do get to vote in normal elections - but only for one of two selected for us, propped up by those with money and power. And we call this oligarchy democracy.

If he is elected he will have the opportunity to be a great president if he would work in the interest of the common citizen - working man. At this point he seems not to be beholden to the elite to pay them back for getting him elected. Of course there is no way of knowing he would actually try to do the things he says he will.

Considering the alternative I, as an Independent, plan to hold my nose and vote for him and see what happens. And, contrary to opinions of the talking heads, almost everyone in my circle of friends (mostly poors) say that they will as well.

Yeah, I said it.

Excellent post and reasoning.

 

[Bill Cosby]

If Trump get's elected, I'm anticipating a hard left turn, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Obama was a radical "I won I'm not going to work with the republicans on anything" from the get go, so there was never a shot.

Hilary should be in jail for multiple felonies and have no legal claim to the throne.

 

[Bill Cosby]

If Cruz or Rubio get elected, I'm also anticipating left turns. And they don't get the benefit of the doubt.

 

[wkycatfan]

I just don't think Trump works/plays well with others who disagree with him. Congress, foreign leaders, etc. It just seems like a powder keg.

 

[Mojocat]

Trump is a disaster in two ways. First, if you don't want Hillary elected President, he's a disaster in that HE CANNOT WIN. 49% of the public says they wouldn't vote for him under any circumstances. That is an impossible hill to climb, I don't care if turnout is through the roof, don't care about anecdotes involving people who haven't voted in 25 years crawling to the booth for Trump. He can't win.

But suppose I'm wrong. I was wrong once before on some trifling matter. If so, the other way in which he'd be a disaster is that he'd be a disastrous president. Look, if you want to vote for him because I) he's not a politician and II) he says what he thinks and gives people hell, fine. Not sure what good that will do him. Might be entertaining for a month or two - then what? Trump runs a business, he's used to people saying "How high?" when he says "Jump now idiot." Someone told me this morning he's sick of the gridlock, that if Trump was President and nothing was getting done, he'd call McConnel out by name. Wonderful. I'm not sure what that gives other than a newspaper story? Is he just going to fire Mitch? After about a week, he'd finally figure out you can't just fire people in the government, at least not people on the other side who are impeding you.

And to top it off, most of the people supporting him are fairly conservative. It's like they don't understand he's a liberal who will support Obamacare and big government and higher taxes and Planned Parenthood and on and on and on if he's elected.....

 

[Mojocat]

From 538 - Trump's good but not great night, and Rubio better positioned going forward than Cruz....

"It’s tempting to go granular after a night like Super Tuesday. What if Marco Rubio had won a few more votes in Virginia? What if Donald Trump had a few more in Oklahoma and Alaska? What about the delegate math? It’s not that these are unworthy questions. After a night that was pretty good for Trump but also not the kind of historic showing that would have put the Republican race away, we’ll have plenty of time to dissect what happened in the coming days...

The simplest test of Trump’s mandate (or lack thereof) would be if every other candidate dropped out and Trump were matched up with Rubio or Cruz one-on-one. However, Tuesday’s results made that less likely. The dilemma is that while Cruz has done better so far, winning more states (including three on Tuesday), votes and delegates than Rubio, there’s reason to think Rubio will do better going forward. In contrast to Cruz, who has benefited from a calendar full of states with lots of evangelical voters, Rubio’s best states are probably ahead of him and he has higher favorability ratings than Cruz."

 

[Mojocat]

Popular vote totals so far.

CANDIDATE CUMULATIVE POPULAR VOTE
Donald Trump 34.2%
Ted Cruz 28.1
Marco Rubio 21.7
John Kasich 6.6
Ben Carson 5.8
Jeb Bush 1.7
Chris Christie 0.4

 

[ukalumni00]

Stipulations:

1 Donald Trump is an arrogant egomaniacal jerk. We have survived jerk presidents before. Bill Clinton was (and is) also an attention-craving jerk.
2 We have no idea what we will get if Trump becomes president. We know exactly what we'll get with Hillary - four to eight more years of Obama, maybe worse.
3 Trump is neither a closet liberal nor a real conservative. He seems (to me) to be a moderate walking a fine line among conservatives.
4 He is not religious in the least. But he is not anti-religion like the Democrats are in practice. I think he views Christian religion as harmless and irrelevant (but must be catered to in the primaries).

If Trump is nominated it will be the first real opportunity the voters have ever had to elect someone not foisted upon us by this country's elite - Democrat or Republican. Yes, we do get to vote in normal elections - but only for one of two selected for us, propped up by those with money and power. And we call this oligarchy democracy.

If he is elected he will have the opportunity to be a great president if he would work in the interest of the common citizen - working man. At this point he seems not to be beholden to the elite to pay them back for getting him elected. Of course there is no way of knowing he would actually try to do the things he says he will.

Considering the alternative I, as an Independent, plan to hold my nose and vote for him and see what happens. And, contrary to opinions of the talking heads, almost everyone in my circle of friends (mostly poors) say that they will as well.

Yeah, I said it.

Join the club. I have never said the man is a terrific candidate. I just think this country is in such a mess that we have to take a chance on someone who is not part of the political class in Washington and see if he can shake things up. He has been too successful to go there and completely fail.

 

[Catfan in Tn.]

I just don't think Trump works/plays well with others who disagree with him. Congress, foreign leaders, etc. It just seems like a powder keg.

Sounds like the current President.

 

[P19978]

Huckabee: "The reason the establishment is doing so poorly is that they've ruined this country".

Perfectly stated.

 

[wkycatfan]

Carson skipping debate tomorrow night. Doesn't see a path going forward.

 

[From-the-stands]

Popular vote totals so far.

CANDIDATE CUMULATIVE POPULAR VOTE
Donald Trump 34.2%
Ted Cruz 28.1
Marco Rubio 21.7
John Kasich 6.6
Ben Carson 5.8
Jeb Bush 1.7
Chris Christie 0.4

Here's the deal tho, Cruz has received a disproportionate number of his overall total in last nights Texas primary. Votes will be a lot harder for him to come by in the coming contests, and I look for Rubio to be win more votes than Ted going forward just looking at the landscape ahead. Trump should win the most, but still it's going to be hard for him to get a majority of the delegates to win outright and avoid a brokered convention.

 

[JHB4UK]

Carson skipping debate tomorrow night. Doesn't see a path going forward.

and yet he finished better than Kasich in 7 out of 11 races yesterday. Oh Gov sticking around to block for Trump against Cruz & Rubio in the next debates/state races.

 

[wkycatfan]

Carson would make an outstanding cabinet member IMO. Congressman. Surgeon General.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Trump, Rubio or Cruz: which one come even come the closest to uniting the Republican Party?

None. Has to be a combo.

Stipulations:

1 Donald Trump is an arrogant egomaniacal jerk. We have survived jerk presidents before. Bill Clinton was (and is) also an attention-craving jerk.
2 We have no idea what we will get if Trump becomes president. We know exactly what we'll get with Hillary - four to eight more years of Obama, maybe worse.
3 Trump is neither a closet liberal nor a real conservative. He seems (to me) to be a moderate walking a fine line among conservatives.
4 He is not religious in the least. But he is not anti-religion like the Democrats are in practice. I think he views Christian religion as harmless and irrelevant (but must be catered to in the primaries).

If Trump is nominated it will be the first real opportunity the voters have ever had to elect someone not foisted upon us by this country's elite - Democrat or Republican. Yes, we do get to vote in normal elections - but only for one of two selected for us, propped up by those with money and power. And we call this oligarchy democracy.

If he is elected he will have the opportunity to be a great president if he would work in the interest of the common citizen - working man. At this point he seems not to be beholden to the elite to pay them back for getting him elected. Of course there is no way of knowing he would actually try to do the things he says he will.

Considering the alternative I, as an Independent, plan to hold my nose and vote for him and see what happens. And, contrary to opinions of the talking heads, almost everyone in my circle of friends (mostly poors) say that they will as well.

Yeah, I said it.

An excellent analysis. When you remove the positions from the persona, Trump is actually a very good candidate. He just makes it tough to do.

Trump seemed 'halfway' presidential last night, but it was only because he felt like everybody was agreeing with him, and applauding him. It won't be that way if he becomes POTUS.

Probably. But will he unleash the IRS on his detractors? Im not sure it can get much worse.

I just don't think Trump works/plays well with others who disagree with him. Congress, foreign leaders, etc. It just seems like a powder keg.

In business, Trump actually navigates alot of political circles and does so extraordinarily well. The major real estate transactions hes pulled off over the years required incredibly deft touches with alot of agencies he personally disliked.

 

[TransyCat09]

He deals well with the government when he's using them to seize private property that he wants (eminent domain).

He also wants to literally destroy the 1st Amendment.

No big deal, though. Just a great candidate who is comfortable destroying property and speech rights.

 

[KingOfBBN]

No big deal, though. Just a great candidate who is comfortable destroying property and speech rights.

I admittedly have tuned out a lot of stuff but what is the "speech rights" statement based on?

 

[bigblueinsanity]

He deals well with the government when he's using them to seize private property that he wants (eminent domain).

He also wants to literally destroy the 1st Amendment.

No big deal, though. Just a great candidate who is comfortable destroying property and speech rights.

Ive seen these repeated a few times. Why wouldnt he use the rules of eminent domain to his benefit if the rules are in place? The rules shouldnt be there. Also, I was talking about zoning and property taxes.

Ive seen you post a few times he "literally wants to destroy the 1st amendment". What are you talking about?

 

[KopiKat]

I admittedly have tuned out a lot of stuff but what is the "speech rights" statement based on?

Trump has vocalized many times his willingness to go after media with legal action in any event of libel against him. This media always takes to mean that trump considers libel synonymous with defamation. End result = they want you to believe that Donald Trump hates freedom of speech.

 

[KingOfBBN]

Trump has vocalized many times his willingness to go after media with legal action in any event of libel against him. This media always takes to mean that trump considers libel synonymous with defamation. End result = they want you to believe that Donald Trump hates freedom of speech.

Ahhhhh. That sounds more like it.

 

[Willy4UK]

Do ya'll think that Donald Trump will try to compete in 2016 summer Olympics?

 

[fuzz77]

Trump has vocalized many times his willingness to go after media with legal action in any event of libel against him. This media always takes to mean that trump considers libel synonymous with defamation. End result = they want you to believe that Donald Trump hates freedom of speech.

Trump also blows a lot of hot air. He threatens to sue people all the time...rarely does he...mostly because the suits would be baseless. He could try to change those laws but the SCOTUS would strike them down. Last time I checked "purposely negative and horrible and false articles" = "intention of malice" which is already in the law.

He said he’s “going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.”
“We’re going to open up those libel laws. So that when the New York Times writes a hit piece, which is a total disgrace, or the Washington Post, which is there for other reasons, writes a hit piece, we can sue them and win money instead of having no chance of winning because they’re totally protected,” Trump said.
Trump told the media that “we’re gonna have people sue you like you’ve never got sued before.”
Current libel law dictates that public figures can only win a lawsuit against a media outlet if they can prove that the paper published a negative piece with the intention of malice.

 

[Mime-Is-Money]

Ive seen these repeated a few times. Why wouldnt he use the rules of eminent domain to his benefit if the rules are in place?

I'm assuming the double standard is the issue here. You can't advocate for limiting the reach of our federal government while simultaneously benefiting from one of its most severe perceived abuses of power.

The rules shouldnt be there.

That's another discussion. But the underlying morality of the practice, specifically if it benefits private developers, will always be questioned independent of its legality.

Bill Clinton put stuff into other living things during his presidency while signing the Defense of Marriage Act. His placement of said junk in precarious places is perfectly legal, yet completely hypocritical and obviously detrimental to his character.

 

[Bill Cosby]

I'm about as pro 1st amendment as it gets, but why should there have to be a malicious intent for a media outlet to be liable for publishing a false story about a public figure?

And is that statutory or something grounded in case law that no blow hard can just change with a pen anyway?


Fuzz has far more faith in SCOTUS than I do. Absolutely no doubt, SCOTUS would start cutting back the 1st Amendment in this day and age. And if Obama get's another appointment, good night. You can't even fart on a college campus these days the way the left has pushed the PC bullshit.

 

[TransyCat09]

Well he has advocated closing (some) mosques and censoring the internet in addition to his comments about making prosecution for libel easier. That last point isn't him just actively suing those who harm him. He wants to make it easier to sue for speech. That is shitty in any context

And the "he's just playing within the rules" vis-a-vis eminent domain is hilarious. Yes, it's not illegal, but he has stated that he is fine with using eminent domain to build a factory, for instance. I mean, he is literally saying he wants to use the force of the federal government to take land from private citizens to build things he wants.

That's about as repugnant as it gets. The federal government taking your land to build a shopping center so it can collect more taxes. That screams Constitutional small government to some of you morons

 

[warrior-cat]

Do ya'll think that Donald Trump will try to compete in 2016 summer Olympics?

Yes, for this year since they got rid of Greco Roman wrestling, they are introducing Cruzo Rubio wrestling just for Trump. They use barbed and childish words to inflict as much damage as they can to see who will come out on top.

 

[warrior-cat]

I'm about as pro 1st amendment as it gets, but why should there have to be a malicious intent for a media outlet to be liable for publishing a false story about a public figure?

And is that statutory or something grounded in case law that no blow hard can just change with a pen anyway?


Fuzz has far more faith in SCOTUS than I do. Absolutely no doubt, SCOTUS would start cutting back the 1st Amendment in this day and age. And if Obama get's another appointment, good night. You can't even fart on a college campus these days the way the left has pushed the PC bullshit.

I think they have a class on that. They use the Blazing Saddles campfire scene as required viewing.

 

[qwesley]

Breaking: Justice Department gives immunity to State Department staffer who set up Clinton email server http://wapo.st/1TTv3cV

 

[TransyCat09]

Breaking: Justice Department gives immunity to State Department staffer who set up Clinton email server http://wapo.st/1TTv3cV