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2016 U.S. General Election


Pong Messiah
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I actually have no objection to Trump myself. I came really close to voting for him. I think it is his supporters that pushed me to vote for Hillary plus the fact that Texas could marginally go Blue this year.

 

Someone in my old neighborhood put up disturbing Halloween decorations of Michelle and Barack Obama hanging by a noose in his front yard trees and a big sign to vote Trump. I really couldn't stomach a winning party constituency who are as crass as that.

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I actually have no objection to Trump myself. I came really close to voting for him. I think it is his supporters that pushed me to vote for Hillary plus the fact that Texas could marginally go Blue this year.

 

Someone in my old neighborhood put up disturbing Halloween decorations of Michelle and Barack Obama hanging by a noose in his front yard trees and a big sign to vote Trump. I really couldn't stomach a winning party constituency who are as crass as that.

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I actually have no objection to Trump myself. I came really close to voting for him. I think it is his supporters that pushed me to vote for Hillary plus the fact that Texas could marginally go Blue this year.

 

Someone in my old neighborhood put up disturbing Halloween decorations of Michelle and Barack Obama hanging by a noose in his front yard trees and a big sign to vote Trump. I really couldn't stomach a winning party constituency who are as crass as that.

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I love seeing people provide a positive message on why they are supporting a candidate, but that certainly seems rare this time. I'm not sure that there is any sizable

percentage of the voting public that isn't just voting against someone.

 

Public opinion against both major candidates is so high. I haven't seen one this bad since David Duke ran in the 1991 Louisiana gubernatorial election. That was ugly.

 

What I've noticed a lot of this time too is a real apocalyptic mindset towards having one candidate not win. We're in for fascism no matter who takes this one, according to my daily Facebook feed.

 

It's gotten pretty nasty among my friends, like some have said if we don't vote for Hillary we can't be associated with them anymore because we're basically Fascists. It's pretty gross. The limited nature of our Democracy only gives us so much choice, there's no reason to gag the one voice we do have. I respect people who do the research and really have strong reasons for why they voted/will vote a particular way even if it doesn't agree at all with how I personally feel.

 

I didn't vote for a major candidate. Neither had a platform or history that lined up with my ideals but I've been classified as an Independent voter my whole adult life up until last year anyway so I'm not sure either would have expected my vote. Though the DNC did text me like three times to remind me to send in my ballot even though it's already been confirmed and accepted by the state for over a week. I only changed my registration so I could vote in the primaries, it's going back after Tuesday.

 

 

Edit: My god those Halloween decorations are just... wow. Talk about vomit inducing.

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Most people around here hate both the major candidates. There is a fair amount of support for Evan McMullin but people don't want to waste a vote on someone that doesn't have a chance of winning. I have been listening to the local news talk station at work and they take a lot of calls from people in the area. The majority are disgusted with the presidential race and want to talk about local elections and HJR5. Trump will win by a landslide in Idaho, but very few actually want to vote for him.

 

If the DNC had run a legitimate candidate I would vote for them over Trump. Clinton is not that candidate.

 

Where's the poop Hillary?

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I love seeing people provide a positive message on why they are supporting a candidate, but that certainly seems rare this time. I'm not sure that there is any sizable

percentage of the voting public that isn't just voting against someone.

 

Public opinion against both major candidates is so high. I haven't seen one this bad since David Duke ran in the 1991 Louisiana gubernatorial election. That was ugly.

 

What I've noticed a lot of this time too is a real apocalyptic mindset towards having one candidate not win. We're in for fascism no matter who takes this one, according to my daily Facebook feed.

 

Eh.

 

I mean, the vitriol, generally speaking, country-wide, is certainly a little higher than the last couple elections, that is true enough. But you could find sh-t like those Halloween decorations that Spam posted in pretty much every election; it's not that earth-shattering to me. People have short memories.

 

The reality is, this cycle, when actually examined in comparison to the long history of elections in this country, isn't particularly remarkable from a vitriol standpoint. This year would probably rank about average when compared to most 1800s elections in the US. Maybe actually below average, in terms of general nastiness. I don't think most people have any idea how mean-spirited (and in some cases, crooked) elections were in the 19th century.

 

The only reason people believe to the contrary is due to: a) lack of education in US history; and b) the narcissistic (albeit, somewhat natural) tendency to believe that one is special and going through some unique time in history that no one has ever experienced before.

 

In reality, the ugliness, or nastiness, or vitriol, or whatever you want to call it, isn't the unique thing about this election. There are, however, some truly unique things about it. One being that we haven't had a non-politician candidate run for a major party in over 50 years. Another being that Trump's candidacy is the first in a long time (probably also 50+ years) that has basically ignored spending money on TV advertisements. There are some other interesting/new things about this year too, but eh, I'm talking to myself at this point.

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Mine experience has been a lot of the same people saying the same things. "This is the most important election ever!" is the constant resounding theme, and had been as far back as I can remember.

 

Other than that, I wish you would continue with your thoughts. Reading intelligent analysis is so refreshing.

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Most people around here hate both the major candidates. There is a fair amount of support for Evan McMullin but people don't want to waste a vote on someone that doesn't have a chance of winning. I have been listening to the local news talk station at work and they take a lot of calls from people in the area. The majority are disgusted with the presidential race and want to talk about local elections and HJR5. Trump will win by a landslide in Idaho, but very few actually want to vote for him.

 

If the DNC had run a legitimate candidate I would vote for them over Trump. Clinton is not that candidate.

 

Where's the poop Hillary?

Last I checked 538 McMullin had more votes than Gary Johnson!

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I love seeing people provide a positive message on why they are supporting a candidate, but that certainly seems rare this time. I'm not sure that there is any sizable

percentage of the voting public that isn't just voting against someone.

 

Public opinion against both major candidates is so high. I haven't seen one this bad since David Duke ran in the 1991 Louisiana gubernatorial election. That was ugly.

 

What I've noticed a lot of this time too is a real apocalyptic mindset towards having one candidate not win. We're in for fascism no matter who takes this one, according to my daily Facebook feed.

 

Eh.

 

I mean, the vitriol, generally speaking, country-wide, is certainly a little higher than the last couple elections, that is true enough. But you could find sh-t like those Halloween decorations that Spam posted in pretty much every election; it's not that earth-shattering to me. People have short memories.

 

The reality is, this cycle, when actually examined in comparison to the long history of elections in this country, isn't particularly remarkable from a vitriol standpoint. This year would probably rank about average when compared to most 1800s elections in the US. Maybe actually below average, in terms of general nastiness. I don't think most people have any idea how mean-spirited (and in some cases, crooked) elections were in the 19th century.

 

The only reason people believe to the contrary is due to: a) lack of education in US history; and b) the narcissistic (albeit, somewhat natural) tendency to believe that one is special and going through some unique time in history that no one has ever experienced before.

 

In reality, the ugliness, or nastiness, or vitriol, or whatever you want to call it, isn't the unique thing about this election. There are, however, some truly unique things about it. One being that we haven't had a non-politician candidate run for a major party in over 50 years. Another being that Trump's candidacy is the first in a long time (probably also 50+ years) that has basically ignored spending money on TV advertisements. There are some other interesting/new things about this year too, but eh, I'm talking to myself at this point.

 

A couple of points I'd like to add to what CM said:

 

I genuinely don't remember being this jerky about Bush but there were the monkey references. I don't feel like revisiting posts from a few years of even a decade ago but I am sure it happened. Mostly being from the deep South I have seen Halloween decorations with people hanging from nooses since I was a kid. It's just sort of shocking to see in a gated neighborhood where the houses are valued at 500K or more and have strict HOA rules. I believe Trump's campaign tactics make it seem like it's socially more acceptable for the fringe people to feel more comfortable to be open about their particular cause or belief system. Perhaps it's just social media and the fact that the news cycles are almost minute instead of 24 hour as we are processing information now instantaneously instead of in the morning paper.

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RCP's No Toss Up Map is back to Clinton winning 273-265.

 

Here's my dream election night map:

 

 

Trump falls one electoral vote short of winning the presidency.

 

At least one of McMullin's delegates votes for Pence giving him the vice-presidency. No one can get 26 state delegations in the House by January 20.

 

Pence is inaugurated as the 45th president. :pimp:

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Guest El Chalupacabra

 

 

It's just sort of shocking to see in a gated neighborhood where the houses are valued at 500K or more and have strict HOA rules.

Why is that? Who is to say the HOA isn't complicit? HOAs are often made up of members of the community they "represent." I guarantee that no way in hell that someone would hang Obama in effigy in a predominantly black neighborhood, no matter how rich they are. I mean, I get that you may have a higher expectation for people who live in a gated community: that they must be of superior financial means, which infers that they must have had a higher education of some type to become well off financially, which might lead one to believe that said education leads to an expanded world view, and that infers they must know better not to do some dumbassery like that.

 

But really, I think it is more often than not that well-to-do people are no different than the rest of society, and they often have the same flaws and foibles as everyone else. Money doesn't always equal better judgement, and in fact I think that in many cases, those who are better off financially can be even more base because they feel that their financial freedom it affords them more social power to do whatever they want, without repercussion. Add to that the insulation of a gated community where like-minded people often dwell together, then it basically becomes some upper crust, snobbish, yuppy version of the Lord of the Flies.

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RCP's No Toss Up Map is back to Clinton winning 273-265.

 

Here's my dream election night map:

Mine is:

 

Clinton picks up NE-2 and holds all the standard blue states you'd expect. Trump picks up NV, IA, NH, OH, FL, NC and ME-2, and holds NC.

 

269-269.

 

The resulting chaos would basically be the best political entertainment you'll ever see.

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I genuinely don't remember being this jerky about Bush but there were the monkey references. I don't feel like revisiting posts from a few years of even a decade ago but I am sure it happened. Mostly being from the deep South I have seen Halloween decorations with people hanging from nooses since I was a kid.

Spam, sorry to have to say this, but you don't live in the Deep South. San Antonio is not the deep South. It just isn't. There is very little, in fact, nothing, about it that is Southern. It has more in common with Mexico than it does a place like, say, Birmingham, Alabama.

 

A location having some very conservative areas does not suddenly transform it into the Deep South. Otherwise, under that definition, practically everywhere in the US minus a few coastal cities would be the "Deep South," and actually, even a few coastal cities would be included.

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The resulting chaos would basically be the best political entertainment you'll ever see.

 

Not really. If it's just 1-on-1 Trump vs. Clinton in the House, then Trump wins easily in the House. Republicans have a majority of delegates in 33 states. Democrats, only 14. It wouldn't even be a close vote even if Democrats gain several seats, and, obviously, Democrats wouldn't be looking at a wave election if Trump were to manage a tie.

 

The only drama would be whether any faithless elector caused mischief. And THAT's just everyone holding their breath, not chaos.

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Maybe, but until the vote was held, there'd be endless speculation, debating, conspiracy theory weaving, an immense feeling of unease that we "didn't have a president," and so on. The craziness and excitement in the political world would be like those weeks immediately following the 2000 election, just on steroids. I'd love it. Not to mention that we don't really know how the vote would go down. There's nothing stopping an 1824 situation from happening.

 

I guess your map would also produce those results, but I didn't really think about it since I think it's less likely to occur.

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I genuinely don't remember being this jerky about Bush but there were the monkey references. I don't feel like revisiting posts from a few years of even a decade ago but I am sure it happened. Mostly being from the deep South I have seen Halloween decorations with people hanging from nooses since I was a kid.

Spam, sorry to have to say this, but you don't live in the Deep South. San Antonio is not the deep South. It just isn't. There is very little, in fact, nothing, about it that is Southern. It has more in common with Mexico than it does a place like, say, Birmingham, Alabama.

 

A location having some very conservative areas does not suddenly transform it into the Deep South. Otherwise, under that definition, practically everywhere in the US minus a few coastal cities would be the "Deep South," and actually, even a few coastal cities would be included.

 

I have not always lived in Texas. My Dad's from Atlanta GA. I lived in Atlanta for 10 years.

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Be interesting if anyone has any serious ammo left at this point to use tomorrow. Any more recordings of Trump? Any more document dumps on Clinton (not that these are being reported on by anyone but Fox News)? Will Trump do something stupid to shift the news cycle over the weekend?

 

You have to know the media are desperate to change the narrative. This last Trump surge has been well-timed. It may crest on or just before Election Day before Clinton's less motivated voters can be roused to the danger of losing an election they thought was over.

 

 

 

I guess your map would also produce those results, but I didn't really think about it since I think it's less likely to occur.

 

Near as I can tell, outside of McMullin taking Utah (which really isn't all that far-fetched) all we did was flip New Hampshire, Colorado, and the Congressional District in Nebraska.

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The funny thing about this is that I'm expecting all the polls to be off significantly one way or another, I'm just not sure how. I can make a case both for a coming home to Clinton and a coming home to Trump vote. Both candidates can arguably gain a lot among soft voters that can't stand either of them, but will finally come around at the last minute, hold their noses, and vote the way they usually do. Also, it's very possible that pollsters are using old data to predict likely voters and where they come from for their samples (this would be most helpful to Trump).

 

But I do think that it's odd that, at this late point in the game, the thing that would surprise me most is if it really did turn out to be a relatively close race with Clinton winning. I'm thinking she either ends up winning comfortably, or losing.

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This election is more about voting against rather than for. I don't think anyone with a half brain likes either candidate.

 

It has been a good show, though. Very revealIng. Not that I needed Trump to tell me that the whole thing is rigged but it's great to hear it from a candidate. Elections are always fun because people actually think that their opinions matter. Giving people the illusion that they have a voice is important because it prevents civil war. Yay democracy.

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