General US Politics

[-Cynthia-]

Kasich actually seemed like a relatively sensible and honest person. He probably doesn't have much chance at the nomination though.

Walker on the other hand- the way he responded to outlawing abortions even when the mother's life is at risk was downright chilling. He may be my least favorite GOP candidate right now, which is no small feat compared to the hardcore Christian conservative moral majority like Huckabee and Cruz and the completely vacuous candidates like Trump or Carson.

[Soapbar]

If Biden decides to run I'd support him (Don't tell my parents that they are hardcore republicans and would probably kill me) but if not then I'll just go 3rd party because I don't exactly trust Hilary and I don't feel I need to explain why Trump has lost my support.

[Rei Rei]

Donald Trump has the support of Hulk Hogan

He'll backstroke all of us to safety, brother

[DarthMikey]

Kasich actually seemed like a relatively sensible and honest person. He probably doesn't have much chance at the nomination though.

Walker on the other hand- the way he responded to outlawing abortions even when the mother's life is at risk was downright chilling. He may be my least favorite GOP candidate right now, which is no small feat compared to the hardcore Christian conservative moral majority like Huckabee and Cruz and the completely vacuous candidates like Trump or Carson.

If there is one victory Kasich had, it was just seeming like a nice, genuine guy on a stage full of arguing, arrogance, and clipped responses. Same with Ben Carson.

There seems to be some talk in the news of Joe Biden entering the race, which would be pretty interesting. He's a challenger to Hillary that the Democratic establishment would probably pay real attention to, and on the same note, Biden splitting votes and attention with Hillary might actually create a feasible (but still very slim) path to the nomination for Sanders.

[Blaze The Great]

I'm pretty sure that most of us can agree that Donald Trump was a pretty big loser in this one. Instead of reasonably debating policies and issues in our country, he argued with a moderator, insulted a comedian, was full of bravado, and just overall acted like he didn't belong there. At least in my opinion.

As for winners, I think Rubio did a pretty solid job, even if you don't like his policies. Kasich was fairly good, and Bush didn't stand out much but didn't mess up particularly badly either. Cruz and Carson didn't do a whole lot in this one, and a few of the others were fairly meh as well.

[blah the Prussian]

You know Trump is crazy when I agree with Fox News about him.

[Ansem]

"bleeding out of her wherever"

holy shit find your chill

[dondon151]

i find it amusing that trump is okay with implying that megyn kelly was on her period but can't muster the gall (or diction) to say "vagina"

[I.M. Gei]

Kasich actually seemed like a relatively sensible and honest person. He probably doesn't have much chance at the nomination though.

Walker on the other hand- the way he responded to outlawing abortions even when the mother's life is at risk was downright chilling. He may be my least favorite GOP candidate right now, which is no small feat compared to the hardcore Christian conservative moral majority like Huckabee and Cruz and the completely vacuous candidates like Trump or Carson.

if you want to know what kind of environment spawned walker, there's this article from a year ago during his reelection campaign

the dude is just dumb, he probably can't tie his shoes in the morning without the koch bros phoning instructions in

[Crysta]

i find it amusing that trump is okay with implying that megyn kelly was on her period but can't muster the gall (or diction) to say "vagina"

he clearly meant nose, silly dondon.

even if it's just one syllable

[dondon151]

he clearly meant nose, silly dondon.

trump is such a goddamned prude

[Duff Ostrich]

if you want to know what kind of environment spawned walker, there's this article from a year ago during his reelection campaign

the dude is just dumb, he probably can't tie his shoes in the morning without the koch bros phoning instructions in

Appeals to the nefarious Koch Brothers and the poorly articulated "War on Women" did not work for the Democrats in the last election, when the American people seemed more inclined to punish the party for their increasingly unpopular President.

The divide between Metropolitan and suburban Wisconsin is very much like Michigan, except possibly less dire. In both states the Republicans are riding high after crushing victories over the labor unions. These victories have made their respective governors very popular among conservatives and I am no exception to that.

For my part Scott Walker is the only Republican candidate who would be an acceptable choice for the White House, and I'll vote Libertarian before I vote for Jeb or Christie. Of course the establishment wing of the party is so focused on electability (and they probably should be) that they've hedged their bets on a man only marginally more exciting than Mitt Romney. The Republicans probably won't win 2016 anyway, and so I'd rather they field a candidate who could signify a change in direction for the party, perhaps away from the demonstrable failures of the status quo. Rand's antigovernment populism doesn't quite appeal to me, but Walker is also admired by the Tea Party crowd and simultaneously has actual accomplishments under his belt. His choking on the miserable abortion question isn't likely to overturn Roe v Wade. I'll worry about that later.

Edited August 11, 2015 by Duff Ostrich

[I.M. Gei]

for one, that was a tongue in cheek comment poking fun at walker

for another, it's a lot to conclude something about "the american people" based on last year's midterm election (which had the lowest turnout of any midterm since 1942, when we were in the middle of world war 2) and on two breathtakingly poorly-run state-level democratic parties with incompetent ground games fielding boring no-name candidates that couldn't even boot out two beatable governors

[dondon151]

For my part Scott Walker is the only Republican candidate who would be an acceptable choice for the White House,

snrk

help i can't breathe

also i don't get what's so bad about ~labor unions~

Edited August 11, 2015 by dondon151

[-Cynthia-]

Wisconsin's job growth and wage growth rates have been below the national average under Walker, so I dunno what really qualifies him as super qualified from an economic standpoint either. http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2014/nov/28/chuck-todd/under-scott-walker-wisconsin-lags-us-wage-job-grow/

[I.M. Gei]

Wisconsin's job growth and wage growth rates have been below the national average under Walker, so I dunno what really qualifies him as super qualified from an economic standpoint either. http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2014/nov/28/chuck-todd/under-scott-walker-wisconsin-lags-us-wage-job-grow/

don't forget he cut $250 million from the UW operating budget, which some republicans in the state senate tried and failed to restore, and especially how wisconsin's economy looks compared to minnesota

i get the impression that a lot of republicans like walker for no other reason than because he pissed off a bunch of liberals, honestly

Edited August 11, 2015 by I.M. Gei

[-Cynthia-]

Side note, I really don't get the Rand Paul support. He came across as childish in the debate. Does he have nothing better to do than criticize Christie's hug history? As president will he flee from any physical contact from EU leaders because they're too socialist or something?

[I.M. Gei]

Side note, I really don't get the Rand Paul support. He came across as childish in the debate. Does he have nothing better to do than criticize Christie's hug history? As president will he flee from any physical contact from EU leaders because they're too socialist or something?

a holdover from 2008/2012 paulbots (many of whom, amusingly, seem to have defected to the bernie camp)? but in any case, that hug made christie deeply unpopular with with the tea party back in 2012

[DarthMikey]

That was a very interesting and informative article on how Walker has succeeded in Wisconsin. Unfortunately that sort of cultural polarization seems to be in play across the country at large to some extent.

I can basically get the conservative excitement over Walker; he's fairly young, not unattractive, appeals to both the establishment and the grassroots, and has a "proven record" due to his union-busting and whatnot in Wisconsin. Personally I think he's about the worst combination of milquetoast and radical you could get (at least Jeb is consistent in being both boring and somewhat moderate), but he checks a lot of boxes with a lot of factions in the GOP, which is an genuine accomplishment in what seems to be a pretty divided party.

I don't really know where Rand Paul's base of support lies; he's a much more standard Republican than his dad, really just holding a few odd libertarian-esque positions (i.e. anti-NSA, more reluctant over war and use of the military), but in most ways that matter there's not much difference I've seen between him and, say, Ted Cruz.

Edited August 12, 2015 by TheCosmicDude

[Duff Ostrich]

for one, that was a tongue in cheek comment poking fun at walker

for another, it's a lot to conclude something about "the american people" based on last year's midterm election (which had the lowest turnout of any midterm since 1942, when we were in the middle of world war 2) and on two breathtakingly poorly-run state-level democratic parties with incompetent ground games fielding boring no-name candidates that couldn't even boot out two beatable governors

I can't disagree on the second point, but low enthusiasm/turnout from the once energetic Obama faithful says as much about their satisfaction about the current state of America as anything else ever could. Southern (and other high risk) Democrats were pointedly not seeking his endorsement, which shows the liability he had become in the months leading up to November. I expect it's not quite so bad now, but the damage was done and the results belong only to the American people.

Michigan Democrats did run an abysmal campaign though, even if I can't imagine how they would've unseated Snyder.

snrk

help i can't breathe

also i don't get what's so bad about ~labor unions~

Who else?

Unions campaign for their own interests often at the expense of workers, or else they wouldn't have a collective meltdown every time a state legislature tries to institute Right to Work laws. Government unions in particular are known to protect substandard employees. Otherwise their history with organized crime, prominent in but certainly not exclusive to the American Midwest, is legendary.

i get the impression that a lot of republicans like walker for no other reason than because he pissed off a bunch of liberals, honestly

That's undoubtedly a part of it. Walker defeating the unions reminds them of Reagan firing the Air Traffic Controllers. It was a bonafide Republican victory, and few if any of the other candidates can make a claim quite like that.

Edited August 12, 2015 by Duff Ostrich

[Smartdumbkid]

Who else?

Unions campaign for their own interests often at the expense of workers, or else they wouldn't have a collective meltdown every time a state legislature tries to institute Right to Work laws. Government unions in particular are known to protect substandard employees. Otherwise their history with organized crime, prominent in but certainly not exclusive to the American Midwest, is legendary.

Right to work laws tend to decrease wages of the states which it is enacted in

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/10/how-right-to-work-laws-could-reshape-michigans-economy/

I imagine union leaders get afriad, for their workers. I have no doubt that they are corrupt sometimes, but they are necessary.

[dondon151]

Unions campaign for their own interests often at the expense of workers, or else they wouldn't have a collective meltdown every time a state legislature tries to institute Right to Work laws.

need evidence for the first part of this statement

Government unions in particular are known to protect substandard employees.

i don't doubt that unions occasionally end up protecting substandard employees, but it's either that or workers don't get protected at all.

Edited August 12, 2015 by dondon151

[-Cynthia-]

Ideally, unions would protect worker rights from employers when needed and step away when needed- it's a tricky balance. I wouldn't claim that "defeating" labor unions is necessarily a good thing overall (doesn't seem to have helped Wisconsin much honestly), but is true that Conservatives see it that way.

[Blaze The Great]

Right to work laws tend to decrease wages of the states which it is enacted inhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/10/how-right-to-work-laws-could-reshape-michigans-economy/

I imagine union leaders get afriad, for their workers. I have no doubt that they are corrupt sometimes, but they are necessary.

Part of this (obviously not all, but part) is likely that due to the increased number of businesses and therefore workers (also mentioned in that article), there is less total money to go around, since more is going into wages period. Some of it is probably also corporate fraud, with business owners keeping more than they should, but I doubt that that is the entire issue.

I also find it somewhat ironic that in this scenario, Republicans are the ones supporting more overall jobs, while the Democrats are supporting more money for those with jobs. Who's the party of the privileged now, eh?

[Smartdumbkid]

Part of this (obviously not all, but part) is likely that due to the increased number of businesses and therefore workers (also mentioned in that article), there is less total money to go around, since more is going into wages period.

I'm blaming the dumb in my name partially for this, but if i'm reading this correctly, then you are suggesting that businesses draw from the same pool of money to pay their workers...

If that the case, then wat

Some of it is probably also corporate fraud, with business owners keeping more than they should, but I doubt that that is the entire issue.

I'm willing to bet a large chunk of it is. Corporations tend to just pocket income as profit, with employees not seeing any of it. It explains for the wealth disparity in this country that grows ever larger.

I also find it somewhat ironic that in this scenario, Republicans are the ones supporting more overall jobs, while the Democrats are supporting more money for those with jobs. Who's the party of the privileged now, eh?

Right to work states, on average, tend to have lower wages.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324296604578179603136860138

A job with a poor payout is hardly worth bragging out, but you know this already. Keep the quips at a minimum ok?