2016 Elections

[rstrong]

As bad as Trump is for the credibility of the US electoral system, it could have been worse.

The RNC plan was for someone who is the brother of one former president and the son of another run against the wife of still another former president.

[Vrede too]

So, only half of the RNC plan was successful.

[Vrede too]

General Election: Trump vs. Clinton
RCP Average - Trump +0.2

Who will win the presidency?
FiveThirtyEight (Nate Silver)
Chance of winning - Hillary Clinton 44.5%, Donald Trump 55.5%
Electoral votes - Hillary Clinton 256.7, Donald Trump 280.9, Gary Johnson 0.4
Chance of winning North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes - Hillary Clinton 35.6%, Donald Trump 64.3%
Plus NV, IA, OH, PA, NH & FL :!:

Ut-oh.

[bannination]

Cruz talks Trump.

[Vrede too]

Demonstrators protest outside the DNC



A man dressed like author Hunter S. Thompson holds a sign before the start of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on July 24, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[GoCubsGo]

Didn't think it could be any more bizzarro than the RNC, I may have to revise my thinking.

Do the Bernie supporters really want a Trump administration? What should be a relative cakewalk is going to have potential to be a horse race. I like Bernie too, but like it or not, rigged or not he lost and he's not going to be a candidate....long way out, lots can happen, but WTF?

[Vrede too]

They just got screwed and this is the correct venue for expressing it. We'll see what Bernie says tonight and what his supporters do in the coming months. Besides, Trump is so bad that Hillary wouldn't be worried at all about the leftwing if it weren't for her own failings. Blaming Bernie supporters rather than her and her supporters is a cop out.

[GoCubsGo]

Yeah, the RNC was supposed to be a divisive convention, the DNC was supposed to show the nation how we come together. I'm feeling the warm and fuzzy.

Bernie being booed by his own supporters?

[rstrong]

General Election: Trump vs. Clinton
RCP Average - Trump +0.2

Who will win the presidency?
FiveThirtyEight (Nate Silver)
Chance of winning - Hillary Clinton 44.5%, Donald Trump 55.5%
Electoral votes - Hillary Clinton 256.7, Donald Trump 280.9, Gary Johnson 0.4

Whoa.

Do we prepare to resettle a flood of refugees, or will you be bringing your states with you?

[O Really]

That would be, as Silver said, "if the election were held today." Fortunately for us all, it's not. Unfortunately, Trump and the Trumpettes get to gloat for a week.

[Vrede too]

... Again, I can understand Bernie's people being pissed off, but if they think that they, their goals, or the country is really better off by derailing Hillary, then they're as crazy as the Trump they deserve.

... Do the Bernie supporters really want a Trump administration? ...

Evidently, it's not an issue.

In Clinton’s March to Nomination, Many Democrats Changed Their Minds
90% of ‘consistent’ Sanders supporters favor Clinton over Trump

I would have guessed that more than 10% were always 'Never Hillary' folks and not hers to get.

We're angry, not nuts, and we're really good at grassroots organizing and motivating youth. Funny, at the very moment that I'm typing this Bernie's Sarah Silverman is endorsing Hillary and saying, "To the 'Bernie or Bust' people, you're being ridiculous."
Whoa.

Then, the very next up is Paul Simon singing Bridge Over Troubled Waters.
Whoa again.

[Vrede too]

So, Bernie's folks righteously feel aggrieved over the emails and are entitled to react.

However, IF it was a Russian hack, does that mean that the Republicans, Trumpettes and other cons - who were not victims - that are trumpeting the emails are acting as foreign agents?

[O Really]

It might have sunk in on them that the DNC had basically no influence on the primaries because they're run by the states. It had more influence on the caucuses, which Bernie won. Opps.

It might also have sunk in that even though somebody made a crude suggestion about his religion, that nobody actually acted on it.

[rstrong]

However, IF it was a Russian hack, does that mean that the Republicans, Trumpettes and other cons - who were not victims - that are trumpeting the emails are acting as foreign agents?

Conservatives by definition go with tradition.

In 1968 Nixon feared a breakthrough at the Paris Peace talks designed to find a negotiated settlement to the Vietnam war, and he knew this would derail his campaign. So he sent a message to the South Vietnamese government: Withdraw from the talks, refuse to deal with Johnson, and if Nixon was elected, they would get a much better deal. The peace talks were derailed, and Nixon won by less than 1% of the popular vote. All it cost was an additional 22,000 American lives - plus many more Laotians, Cambodians and Vietnamese - in delaying the peace treaty from 1968 to 1973.

And then there's the Reagan campaign's 1980 "October Surprise", negotiating with Iran to delay the release of the hostages until after the election.

If the Russian hack allegation is true, it can only help establish Trump's credibility as a traditional conservative Republican.

[Vrede too]

Good night, likely the best of the convention.

Michelle Obama rocked it with the positive message. There's a chance that Hillary will be a better POTUS than Barack. We won't have a better First Spouse for at least 4 or 8 years.

It was a surprise to me to see Warren in prime time, cool. I think she's sewn up the Secretary of Pit Bull cabinet post.

Bernie was perfect, beginning with his America ad fading into 'Stronger Together'. The entire hall had Bernie! signs. Classy move, Dems.

Bad radicals often shoot themselves in the foot, while good radicals keep their eyes on the prize. Bernie spoke to the good radicals about how to keep the revolution going and keep fighting to win. The DNC's dirty laundry has been aired, DWS is out, powerful campaigns can be run without SuperPacs, millions of youth are energized about politics, economic justice is at the forefront and the Platform is the most progressive ever. Seems like the only thing Bernie lost is the nomination.

[Vrede too]

Sign the petition to tell Clinton to reject campaign contributions from private prison interests, and follow through on her promise to ban private prisons.

... I'm not sure I understand how the problem is so significant as to hold Hillary's (or some other candidate's) feet to the fire on this issue over other, possibly more wide-reaching, issues.

I doubt that she will be affected much one way or the other, this is more about holding private prison feet to the fire.

11 days before I shared this petition, not sure if the group was behind or if my email was just stacked up at the time:

Hillary Clinton Pledges to Stop Accepting Money From Private Prison Lobbyists

It's just one skirmish victory:

How for-profit prisons have become the biggest lobby no one is talking about
Sen. Marco Rubio is one of the biggest beneficiaries.

2016 Democratic Party Platform
July 21, 2016

Reforming our Criminal Justice System

Democrats are committed to reforming our criminal justice system and ending mass incarceration. Something is profoundly wrong when almost a quarter of the world’s prison population is in the United States, even though our country has less than five percent of the world’s population. We will reform mandatory minimum sentences and close private prisons and detention centers. Research and evidence, rather than slogans and sound bites, must guide criminal justice policies.

Fixing our Broken Immigration System

We will fight to end federal, state, and municipal contracts with for-profit private prisons and private detention centers. In order to end family detention, we will ensure humane alternatives for those who pose no public threat. We recognize that there are vulnerable communities within our immigration system who are often seeking refuge from persecution abroad, such as LGBT families, for whom detention can be unacceptably dangerous.

[O Really]

No surprise that Rubio would be one of the top recipients of private prison money.
A lot of Florida is a penal colony for Corrections Corp. of America (CCA). Route 301 from Baldwin down past Starke (an aptly named town) is pretty much a "Green Miles" stretch, holding both private and state prisons which likely constitute a major part of their miserable economy. Florida officials love them some prisons, though, so there's a big market for private takeover if the right wheels are greased.

[rstrong]

If Rod Blagojevich or many of the other state and local politicians convicted of crimes sent taxpayer dollars to private prisons, I wonder if they get preferential treatment there.

[Vrede too]

I just watched a black woman preside over the roll call and then classy nomination by an old socialist of a woman to be the first major party candidate for POTUS.

:thumbsup:

[O Really]

Historic, fershure.