Donald Trump

[Gravekeeper]

I've seen it firsthand. I live just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The city, and by extension the county, have been in Democrat control since the 1930s.

Thats another huge problem in the US system. You've had the two party system for so long that political parties have become identities rather than options. People vote one way or the other not because of the issues but because they've always been a D or an R. Same as their parents and their parents parents, etc etc.

Its become increasingly worse over the last 10-15 years or so with the rise in partisanship and politicians + the media alike fostering the Us vs Them mentality in the wake of 9/11. Now the GOP is in this state where they have gone so far to the right and into batshit county they can't find their way back.

And like Jetfire said, their ( insane ) solution is that they're just not extreme enough yet. They've been in their own bubble so long they started to drink their own Koolaid. They teetered over that line from saying anything to get votes to believing anything to get votes.

[Jetfire]

One positive thing to try and take from all this, is that the GOP insanity has driven a lot of the saner Republicans to the Democratic side.

Which means when the Tea Party GOP explodes, the Democrats are likely to schism when the sane Republicans jump back to try and restore the GOP. It will probably take a few cycles to sort out though; which will probably make the 2020's decade an 'interesting' time in US politics.

[TheHuckster]

Which means when the Tea Party GOP explodes, the Democrats are likely to schism when the sane Republicans jump back to try and restore the GOP. It will probably take a few cycles to sort out though; which will probably make the 2020's decade an 'interesting' time in US politics.

I wouldn't keep my hopes up. The GOP's power is not coming from the presidential elections anymore, but congressional elections, meaning their power is localized to niche regions of the US. People out in the middle of nowhere in Texas are going to continue to vote for extreme-right representatives for the foreseeable future. I could see senators maybe evening up, since they are selected from a less localized vote, though.

[Gravekeeper]

He has Putin's endorsement now.

That should basically say everything you need to know about Trump. >.>

[Jetfire]

I wouldn't keep my hopes up. The GOP's power is not coming from the presidential elections anymore, but congressional elections, meaning their power is localized to niche regions of the US. People out in the middle of nowhere in Texas are going to continue to vote for extreme-right representatives for the foreseeable future. I could see senators maybe evening up, since they are selected from a less localized vote, though.

That's true. On the other hand, Rural america is emptying out, giving more power to the cities (Democratic strong holds).

There is a legitimate fear in the GOP at the moment that Texas is about to turn Purple, becoming a tossup state, just from the power of its cities. Gerrymandering will offset that for a bit longer, but it'll be harder and harder to thread that needle.

Still, the GOP will always have the Right wing extremists (and the Left will have their own); the key is how much power is given to them. Over the past decade, the right extremists have basically taken over the party. When it implodes in the coming years, the saner Republicans will return to take the reigns back, muzzle the extremists and steer the party back towards the center. That will take time of course; which is why most conversation I'm hearing is basically saying the Dem's will probably have control for most of the next decade while the GOP rebuilds and sorts itself out and cleans house.

[protege]

Thats another huge problem in the US system. You've had the two party system for so long that political parties have become identities rather than options. People vote one way or the other not because of the issues but because they've always been a D or an R. Same as their parents and their parents parents, etc etc.

A lot of the problem, is that Americans are simply too damn lazy to even bother with the issues. Many will vote simply down the party line, and to hell with the consequences. Then (at least locally), they bitch and moan when their taxes go up...but the roads aren't getting fixed )

The other problem, is that the minor parties, either don't promote their candidates, or people don't even bother with them. They feel, "why should I even vote for someone that cannot be bothered to put themselves out there?" Little wonder that the "big two" don't even take those candidates seriously.

Then we have candidates like Arlen Specter. For those who don't know, he was a Pennsylvania politician, that flipped parties in 2009. Quite a few people thought "holy crap, the Democrats did a major coup." Seriously? He wasn't doing it to "better serve the people." No, he flipped in an attempt to distance himself from the McCain/Palin stupidity (plus GW and the war)....and to keep his damn job. Quite a few people bought what he was selling.

[Canarr]

Let's bomb... Aladdin?

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...n-donald-trump

[protege]

Let's bomb... Aladdin?

Can't really blame folks for not knowing that the city in question is fictional. I mean, there are so many towns over there that nobody in the US has heard of. But again, how hard is it to do the research? Of course by that...I mean going to sites other than Faux Noise

[Sarah Valentine]

His popularity just keeps rising. I think the only way we can avoid him as our "leader" is for him to have a stroke or heart attack he can't recover from, I'm not wishing death on him because my mother told me to never wish death on anybody. However if I wake up tomorrow and see on the news that it did happen I'd feel better about the upcoming election, I know that sounds horrible but I don't care.

[MadMike]

Many will vote simply down the party line, and to hell with the consequences.

My grandma was like that. I can't remember exactly when this was, but it was sometime during Bush's first term, but after 9/11, and when my son was still little. My grandma came to visit, and took me, my wife, and my son out to dinner. While we were having dinner, my son wondered aloud why anyone would vote for Bush. I don't think he was old enough to understand or really make any kind of political decision on his own, but I think he picked it up from hearing me and my wife talking.

My grandma told him that she had voted for Bush. My son asked her why, and her answer was, "Because I'm a registered republican."

In my opinion, that's a pretty stupid reason to vote for anyone. If you've done the research and gone over the issues, and based your vote on that, fine. I may not agree with you, but at least you weighed the pros and cons. But to blindly vote for someone because of a label that they chose makes about as much sense as voting for someone because you like their shoes.

[Greenday]

I hate when I hear people say they vote Republican because they are for big businesses and don't attack the wealthy. Then when I point out that neither of those apply to them, it's because they want to be one of those someday. Despite the fact that the party is trying to prevent newcomers from stealing old money.

[mjr]

it's because they want to be one of those someday.

There's really nothing wrong with that line of thinking, is there?? I think we could all say, to a point, we'd like to be wealthy one day.

[Greenday]

There's really nothing wrong with that line of thinking, is there?? I think we could all say, to a point, we'd like to be wealthy one day.

There's a lot wrong with it if you are voting for people who are purposely trying to prevent you from getting there.

[Canarr]

Kinda reminds me of an old episode of Deep Space Nine. One of the Bajoran Dabo girls wants to organize the employees at Quark's in a union, to stop them from being exploited by their boss. She's dismayed that the Ferengi workers don't seem to be interested in joining up, and Quark's brother explains it like this:

"Ferengi don't want to stop employee exploitation. We wanna be exploiters ourselves!"

It's a lot like the myth of the American Dream, where everyone can become rich, if they just work hard enough. And people - Ferengi or humans - are willing to cling to that dream, that hope, no matter how remote the chance that it'll come true. And they'll support whatever leaders promise to get them there, no matter how often they may act contrary to their word.

[mjr]

There's a lot wrong with it if you are voting for people who are purposely trying to prevent you from getting there.

I'm not sure I've seen examples of politicians actively trying to stop people from becoming wealthy. It's not like they're putting law enforcement people outside of residences to make sure that people don't potentially do things that could cause them to make additional money.