The 2016 US Election (Part IV)

[EnterpriseSovereign]

So, how long before Trump starts building the wall along the Mexican border (and contracting the Chinese to do it)?

Apparently the Mexican Peso took a dive this morning so he might have trouble making Mexico pay for the wall between Mexico and the US.


It should be interesting to see what, out of all the bullshit he said, Trump actually tries to do.

Yeah, I just heard about the Peso on the news. How Trump plans on getting Mexico to pony up is anybody's guess

[Iroscato]

Not many occasions to be proud of Merkel but this is one of them.

Let's hope this virus of madness doesn't spread to Germany for their next election.

[Elfdart]

So when the GOP comes after the ACA, the Dems need to block them. They have the power if only they'd use it.

No, they don't.

With the Republicans in control of both houses of Congress and the White House ACA is dead. The Democrats will not be able to prevent a roll back.

That depends on whether the GOP gets rid of the filibuster in January.

[Thanas]

Not many occasions to be proud of Merkel but this is one of them.

Let's hope this virus of madness doesn't spread to Germany for their next election.

There is a good chance the populists make gains but our system is pretty much set up to prevent such swings or allow (another) charismatic despot to come into power.

[Thanas]

Looks like the loss is more on the democratic base not turning out.

Obama got 65.9m votes in '12, Romney 60.9m. Clinton has 59.3m, Trump 59.1m. R vote didn't go up; Dem vote went down. 6.6m missing votes.

[The Vortex Empire]

Hardly surprising, pick the status quo establishment candidate who courts moderate republicans instead of firing up the base and you get low enthusiasm.

[K. A. Pital]

Not many occasions to be proud of Merkel but this is one of them.

Let's hope this virus of madness doesn't spread to Germany for their next election.

Stop calling results you do not like a "virus of madness". It is childish.

[Thanas]

Hardly surprising, pick the status quo establishment candidate who courts moderate republicans instead of firing up the base and you get low enthusiasm.

Maybe.

And I guess Bill clinton's political instincts were once again right when he pushed for the campaign to embrace more white workers, sadly to no avail.

[Crazedwraith]

Not many occasions to be proud of Merkel but this is one of them.

Admirable. Pretty sure she's not the only one. The Mexican and Canadian Leaders said similar things.

[Elheru Aran]

Not many occasions to be proud of Merkel but this is one of them.

Admirable. Pretty sure she's not the only one. The Mexican and Canadian Leaders said similar things.

Well, they can hardly say anything else, can they?

Condemn Trump, diplomatic relations with the biggest superpower in the West are going to suffer. Especially Mexico and Canada, being right next door.

Pander to him, their domestic popularity will hurt.

This way, they can say "congrats... but play nice".

[Borgholio]

So here are my thoughts on the election. I actually had a hard time sleeping last night because of the stress of watching CNN. Even after turning it off I only got a few hours sleep. For better or worse, I'm glad this election is over. It was dirty, nasty, and I'm just happy I don't have to deal with campaigning for the next two years. With that said, I am so burned out by this election, I'm not sure I can bring myself to vote seriously again and really care anymore. It's so much less stressful just to ignore all debates and campaign news, then vote straight Democrat and spend a few minutes researching the various state propositions. With results like this, living in California where we go Blue by default 9 out of 10 times, why does it matter anyways?

So on to Trump. Yeah I'm heavily disappointed, but I'm not feeling a sense of all doom and gloom. Part of me is saying, "Ok, Trump was elected. It's over and done, now we can move on. Lots of the things he promised to do such as building the wall or deporting tens of millions of people are not likely to happen. The wall will be hideously expensive and like hell Mexico is going to pay for it. Deporting that many people will require an army of ICE agents which they don't have. I am concerned that the economy will suffer, and I also am concerned about LGBT and Women's rights. But that's nothing special, most conservative presidents would do the same thing anyways.

The only thing that I think Trump will actually manage to do is start 2 - 5 new wars which will result in lots of dead Americans. But hey, he's probably just our generation's Lyndon Johnson so again, nothing new.

Best case scenario, he gets cock-blocked by congress for the next 4 years the way Obama was for the last 8.

Or alternatively, having used the crazy vote to get elected, he swings to the middle as many presidents do so he can actually get SOME stuff done...and a middle-right president isn't all that bad of a thing.

I'm rambling...I'm tired. But that's how I feel.

[Thanas]

Clinton's speech was very gracious, much better than Trump's victory speech which was rambling.

[Gaidin]

Best case scenario, he gets cock-blocked by congress for the next 4 years the way Obama was for the last 8.

You'd be surprised at how well the Executive Branch can cock-block itself when figuring out how to execute its own policies.

[Dominus Atheos]

Looks like the loss is more on the democratic base not turning out.

Obama got 65.9m votes in '12, Romney 60.9m. Clinton has 59.3m, Trump 59.1m. R vote didn't go up; Dem vote went down. 6.6m missing votes.

Called it.

Can we start a separate thread "Clinton campaign post-mortem"?

[Iroscato]

Not many occasions to be proud of Merkel but this is one of them.

Let's hope this virus of madness doesn't spread to Germany for their next election.

Stop calling results you do not like a "virus of madness". It is childish.

No, I really don't think I will Stas. I see political lunacy, I'm going to call it as it is. Thanks anyway old chap.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

So here are my thoughts on the election. I actually had a hard time sleeping last night because of the stress of watching CNN. Even after turning it off I only got a few hours sleep.

Same here- I'm so glad I didn't stay up all night like I did with the EU referendum, but hit the hay at 01:30 and got about 6 hours (half what I normally get). As Trump didn't actually get the majority until around 08:00 I didn't miss anything. I'm gonna be dead on my feet later on

Can we start a separate thread "Clinton campaign post-mortem"?

And/or another one called "Which campaign promise is Trump going to break first?"

Seriously though I do feel for all those armed forces personnel who are certain to die, directly or otherwise if America no longer counterbalances Russian aggression.

[Crown]

Been gone for a while ... what did I miss?

[Crown]

Clinton's speech was very gracious, much better than Trump's victory speech which was rambling.

Clinton had a good night's sleep and was pumped up with whatever drugs her personal physician is using to mimic life in the lifeless, GOD EMPEROR is a 70 year old man who was up all night and had just won the greatest battle ever.

Perspective.

Also, there's a very good possibility he didn't actually think he'd win, which makes this so hilarious.

[Gerald Tarrant]

Let's hope this virus of madness doesn't spread to Germany for their next election.

Stop calling results you do not like a "virus of madness". It is childish.

No, I really don't think I will Stas. I see political lunacy, I'm going to call it as it is. Thanks anyway old chap.

Well, then expect to be insulted when it's pointed out that their decisions are often based on perfectly rational calculations like "free trade is taking jobs." Senator Sanders probably would have steamrolled the Trump, simply because they seem close on trade, but Senator Sander's social policies are better than Trump's margin notes about tax cuts. You seem to be stuck in this fallacy of composition problem, that the only reason people voted for Trump is because they hate every single one of the good things Hillary stood for. You can find plenty of stories online about disaffected middle-class or lower middle class who got hit with Affordable Care "sticker shock". And frankly I think it's just hubris to claim crazy electorate, when there are legitimate reasons to be frustrated with globalization. Additionally K.A. Pital has made that point a few times in this thread already.

[Iroscato]

Stop calling results you do not like a "virus of madness". It is childish.

No, I really don't think I will Stas. I see political lunacy, I'm going to call it as it is. Thanks anyway old chap.

Well, then expect to be insulted when it's pointed out that their decisions are often based on perfectly rational calculations like "free trade is taking jobs." Senator Sanders probably would have steamrolled the Trump, simply because they seem close on trade, but Senator Sander's social policies are better than Trump's margin notes about tax cuts. You seem to be stuck in this fallacy of composition problem, that the only reason people voted for Trump is because they hate every single one of the good things Hillary stood for. You can find plenty of stories online about disaffected middle-class or lower middle class who got hit with Affordable Care "sticker shock". And frankly I think it's just hubris to claim crazy electorate, when there are legitimate reasons to be frustrated with globalization. Additionally K.A. Pital has made that point a few times in this thread already.

*Gasp* insults?! Nay, anything but that!!

Please. I'm more than aware of the reasons why Trump has been elected (though not, I might point out, by popular vote at the time of writing). It doesn't make it any less farcical.

[The Romulan Republic]

Clinton is winning the popular vote.

Let that sink in.

Trump not only does not have the support of a majority of Americans, but he does not have the most votes of any candidate. By the most basic democratic measure, he lost.

Of course, the outcome of our elections is determined by the electoral college, and so by law, Trump has legitimately won.

But this one more demonstrates that the electoral college is a broken travesty, and our first priority as a nation must be its abolition.

Edited for clarity.

[Starglider]

So... with the benefit of hindsight, who (if anyone) would rather have seen Romney win in 2012, and be facing a second Romney term now instead of a Trump term; or, if you think Clinton would have fared better against Ronmey going for re-election than she did against Trump, a Clinton win?

[Crown]

So... with the benefit of hindsight, who (if anyone) would rather have seen Romney win in 2012, and be facing a second Romney term now instead of a Trump term; or, if you think Clinton would have fared better against Ronmey going for re-election than she did against Trump, a Clinton win?

Romney would have passed TTIP and TPP (or whatever version he would have cooked up), so no thanks.

[The Romulan Republic]

Yeah, because blocking a couple of trade deals is more important than the basic equality, dignity, and civil liberties of every woman and minority in America, more important than our democratic institutions and the rule of law.

People like you are the problem, Crown.

[Solauren]

The election really came down to this:
Trump is facing lawsuits based on his businesses, but he wasn't investigated by the FBI. Yeah, women saying he was sexually inappropriate with them means he's an asshole.

Clinton was facing possible criminal charges for stuff she did in office.

If not for the email scandal, Clinton might have won.