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NEVERENDING ♾️ The NEVERENDING Political Discussion Thread

The best thing about today is that the junk mail, phone calls and TV ads will finally stop.
 
Election Day

Working from home today - would have been doing so regardless, but it's convenient with my precinct being within walking distance. Will write in a vote for President, vote for my incumbent Senator and some of the local incumbents (who all do a good job for me), vote against all the incumbents on the state's Public Service Commission (out of habit - screw those rate-hiking douches), and just skip the rest of it.

I'm so over this - I won't watch any coverage tonight - finding out the results tomorrow morning will be sufficient.
 
AG74683 said:
I'm willing to put money that Cooper wins. Both of my parents voted for him, and they are as far right as you can possibly get. Both of them most likely voted for Trump too. If my parents voted for him, I suspect there are A LOT more R's out there too. I'm surprised at the amount of agreement here that both presidential options suck, and no one is really keen on voting for either person. State legislature might see a dramatic shift because of HB2.

Burr vs. Ross is a dead heat I think. It could go either way. Again, both my parents voted for Ross, which is rare for them to do. They usually punch straight ticket. I still think Burr will hold on though, but Ross has had a ton of contributions flowing in the last few months, and has out-raised Burr by almost 2 million dollars.
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NC GOP Officials almost bragging about the vote restrictions working:

http://theslot.jezebel.com/the-north-carolina-republican-party-is-bragging-about-s-1788675543


granted it's from jezebel, but there are news links.
 
My kids go to a preschool at the same church as my polling location. I am happy I voted early. It was crazy busy in the other part of the campus and parking was overflowing into extra lots and onto the street.


I predict that none of the candidates will get more than 50% of the popular vote, that Gary Johnson will get over 8% of the popular vote and that tomorrow morning at this time, we will not know who won. I think that it will be too close to call in too many states and Trump will never conceded the election but drag it out into court for as long as he can.

In the end, I would not be surprised if Trump won, but I really think that Clinton will get elected.


On a side note, there will be a shortage on ammunition and guns before the end of the year if Clinton wins.





BTW, was that Veloise that I saw on the news at the midnight Trump rally in Grand Rapids Michigan!
 
JNA said:
The best thing about today is that the junk mail, phone calls and TV ads will finally stop.
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One of my favorite things about living in a solidly blue area of a relatively blue state is that we get very few political ads, especially compared to places in Florida or NC or Ohio.
 
michaelskis said:
On a side note, there will be a shortage on ammunition and guns before the end of the year if Clinton wins.
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Because a majority of gun owners are idiots suckered into marketing scams there will be a run on guns and ammo which will all be jacked up in price on the threat that someone is going to repeal the 2nd which anyone with half a brain knows isn't going to happen. I recommend waiting a few months for the craze to die down then make your purchases. It's either that or learn to reload your own.
 
I know one thing for sure.

Comey will start looking for a new job tomorrow, because no matter who wins today he's done on January 20, 2017.
 
dvdneal said:
Because a majority of gun owners are idiots suckered into marketing scams there will be a run on guns and ammo which will all be jacked up in price on the threat that someone is going to repeal the 2nd which anyone with half a brain knows isn't going to happen. I recommend waiting a few months for the craze to die down then make your purchases. It's either that or learn to reload your own.
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I stocked up well in advance.

I don't think that she will repeal the 2nd amendment, but I do think that she will make it more expensive to buy ammunition and work pass bills similar to what they have in New York.







On a different note, do the candidates or the taxpayers pay for campain travel, police, secret service, and everything that is involved? What about when the sitting president is campaigning for a candidate?
 
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michaelskis said:
I don't think that she will repeal the 2nd amendment, but I do think that she will make it more expensive to buy ammunition and work pass bills similar to what they have in New York.


On a different note, do the candidates or the taxpayers pay for campain travel, police, secret service, and everything that is involved? What about when the sitting president is campaigning for a candidate?
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I know you said you don't think she will do it but you do understand that a President can't repeal a Constitutional Amendment in the first place right? It requires 2/3 of Congress to do so by another amendment and then it still requires 3/4 of the state legislatures to approve it. It's only happened once since 1787 so that is highly unlikely.

I have a problem with a sitting President using taxpayer funds to campaign for his successor (or any other office for that matter). I don't have a problem with taxpayers funding some of the campaign and security expenses for General Election candidates. Campaigns are expensive enough and making candidates raise that kind of money to pay for those things just encourages more candidates to be beholden to donors.
 
Gotta love when all the countywide offices are uncontested. Made that part easy! Granted, I live in a fairly Republican county, but it's also a suburban county of over 120,000 people...I'm surprised the Dems don't even bother.

Thanks to rampant statewide gerrymandering, where I live, the Congressional and state legislative districts are all drawn as Republican "sink" districts, so I'm pretty sure all those folks will win easy re-election. They're all good representatives though.

I usually vote to retain all the judges, unless I hear something truly awful about one of them or how they ruled on a case, but that has yet to happen.

The only one I struggled with was the Illinois U.S. Senate race. I truly wish we had better candidates for that one. For that race, I feel the same way a lot of people feel about the Presidential election. I held my nose and voted for the Republican incumbent, since I can't in good conscience contribute to my party losing a seat in the Senate or vote for someone who so recklessly mismanaged the VA.
 
mendelman said:
I know one thing for sure.

Comey will start looking for a new job tomorrow, because no matter who wins today he's done on January 20, 2017.
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*dons conspiracy hat* If it's Clinton, he won't be just looking for a new job, he'll be looking for something to put on his tombstone *removes conspiracy hat*
 
michaelskis said:
On a different note, do the candidates or the taxpayers pay for campain travel, police, secret service, and everything that is involved? What about when the sitting president is campaigning for a candidate?
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I think we the people pay for secret service and police stuff, but the candidate is paying the travel and all that other mess. I heard Hill is even paying for the pres to travel, not the tax payer, but my source is my wife who watches election coverage 24/7 so I could be wrong.

Comey will be fine, he'll be given a nice job lobbying for the NRA.
 
MD Planner said:
I know you said you don't think she will do it but you do understand that a President can't repeal a Constitutional Amendment in the first place right? It requires 2/3 of Congress to do so by another amendment and then it still requires 3/4 of the state legislatures to approve it. It's only happened once since 1787 so that is highly unlikely.

I have a problem with a sitting President using taxpayer funds to campaign for his successor (or any other office for that matter). I don't have a problem with taxpayers funding some of the campaign and security expenses for General Election candidates. Campaigns are expensive enough and making candidates raise that kind of money to pay for those things just encourages more candidates to be beholden to donors.
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When I say 'She' it is based on her potential actions in who she would appoint to SOTUS and their interpretation of the Second Amendment. The text would not chance but the legal meaning of the text could. Furthermore, she could use executive orders on other aspects, such as the regulation of ammunition, to indirectly limit the rights of gun owners.


I personally have a problem with the use of taxpayer money for any aspect of campaigning with the exception of having a secret service detail. According to one news report, the Grand Rapids area had to dish out about $40,000 in local officers in one day when both candidates visited. (Link to story) Keep in mind, the median family income in Michigan is less than $56,000. What other things could that money be going for?
 
AIB
Salmissra said:
5) I think I'm going to avoid watching TV tonight and just wait for the craptacular recap in the morning.
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1st part - I will also
2nd part - I like to say in the morning after it will be an autopsy/dissection. ;)
 
The last lady that stopped by to ask where to vote looked a little drunk. Like stumbling drunk. Way to vote Kansas!
 
dvdneal said:
The last lady that stopped by to ask where to vote looked a little drunk. Like stumbling drunk. Way to vote Kansas!
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I was joking yesterday that I was going to walk into the polling place with a tumbler full of Scotch...

Went mid-morning - took 19 minutes start-to-finish. Slow poll workers were the biggest problem.
 
14962685_10154631385043764_4445139937639358219_n.jpg
 
Hink said:
He isn't going to concede. He is too much about himself. He can't concede. This should be interesting.
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He won't. It will be something where he'll blame the voters or the system, either one. God forbid if somehow he wins the popular vote but loses the electoral.
 
Hink said:
He isn't going to concede. He is too much about himself. He can't concede. This should be interesting.
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Doesn't really matter. The winner is the winner. Conceding just speeds up the processes. However if Clinton wins the electoral college by a decent margin (as in it does not come down to one or two states) everyone will just declare her the winner and the transition process will be begin.
 
I'm disappointed. No chaos at my polling place. No angry people, no long lines...nothing. I was in and out in 10 minutes.

The worst thing that happened was the polling assistant who took my information was a guy calling me constantly to moan about the signs at polling places. I never answered him because I recognized the number. That was a little awkward.
 
WTH... granted it is early, but I thought for sure that Clinton would have bigger leads in MI, VA, OH, and FL.

At this rate we won't find out until tomorrow.


How bad is Clinton when Trump is this close....
 
Hahaha this is the wildest thing I've ever seen.

NC looks to have gone with Trump. McCrory seems to have held on to the governorship which sucks. Very narrow race. Richard Burr kept his seat against Deborah Ross. At least I got 2 out of the 3.
 
AG74683 said:
Hahaha this is the wildest thing I've ever seen.

NC looks to have gone with Trump. McCrory seems to have held on to the governorship which sucks. Very narrow race. Richard Burr kept his seat against Deborah Ross. At least I got 2 out of the 3.
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WTF! I wanted Taco Trucks!







Regardless of who wins the presidency, this is going to be an epic case study to ask WTH. Everyone thought Clinton would win by massive margins...
 
michaelskis said:
WTF! I wanted Taco Trucks!







Regardless of who wins the presidency, this is going to be an epic case study to ask WTH. Everyone thought Clinton would win by massive margins...
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Cooper in the lead now!! Might be 3 for 3! He's only up by 3,030 votes. I suspect there will be a recount. I think it needs to be within .5 percent. Final result probably won't be available until November 18th.

Trump is the next president. Almost no doubt now. All this talk about Clinton's emails and the lack of punishment...I can't think of anything better than to lose your entire life dream to an orange loud mouth buffoon.
 
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The local races (for me) went as expected - mixed, but majority GOP...my fair county, however, went to Clinton by about 6,800 votes, which I don't think anyone saw coming. It reads more like Johnson and McMullin pulling votes away from Trump than any sort of seismic shift from red to blue.
 
This morning I got up and made myself a cup of coffee and began my normal morning routine. just like any other day. The streets were not on fire, the world hasn't ended, and the two biggest questions that people have been asking is how did this happen and what's next.

I can't answer the first, but what is next is people need to focus on their family, their neighborhood, and their community. It will be a rocky 4 years, but it would have been that way regardless of who won. If people want to live in a great nation, they need to focus less on the White House and more on their house. Get involved in your neighborhood and your community, help people who live around you.

Yes, America has elected a brash, egocentric, womanizing jerk. There have been a lot of people who have asked "how to I explain this to my kids?" Well, I have kids too, and this morning when my oldest asked who won, I told him. But we had already had conversations about policies (or lack thereof), personalities, and the fears that people have. I explained to him that I think more people voted against Hillary Clinton than actually voted for Donald Trump, and that Trump is not a good person, and Hillary is not a good person either. But we as a society need to be good people. I explained that there will be people at his school that are angry or sad, and that he should do what he can to help make their day a little better, because that is what America is about. It's not about red states or blue states, about who is in office and who isn't. It is about how we as a society treat each other and what we do with our lives, because in the end, all we can do is control our own actions and who we choose to be.


On a side note, to all the people who have made a decoration that they will move away if Trump gets elected... let me know when the moving sale is, because I am staying. However if you stay, how good is your word from this moment on? I will give you $100 for the table saw.


Finally, I am going to find me a Taco Truck for lunch. I am sure they are still there.
 
This election proved 2 things to me:

1) The death of the two party system in America is imminent. You don't go from President Obama to President Elect Trump with people voting strictly with their party. This proves there is a large swath of American voters who are now wild cards, voting with their hearts and minds rather than who a party tells them to vote for. The two third party folks took a fair amount of votes.

2) Young people will begin to get more active in politics. When I say young, I mean the mid twenties early thirties crowd like myself. I myself am surprisingly okay with this (mostly because I saw it coming a mile away as a Sanders supporter) but the vast majority of people I know, my age, are hopping mad. Granted I have a skewed set of friends (mostly white college educated folks), but I see a tremendous surge in people my age becoming active because they see no other option to "fix" this broken system. I'd say by 2028 we will see our youngest presidential candidate we've ever seen.
 
AG74683 said:
This election proved 2 things to me:

1) The death of the two party system in America is imminent. You don't go from President Obama to President Elect Trump with people voting strictly with their party. This proves there is a large swath of American voters who are now wild cards, voting with their hearts and minds rather than who a party tells them to vote for. The two third party folks took a fair amount of votes.

2) Young people will begin to get more active in politics. When I say young, I mean the mid twenties early thirties crowd like myself. I myself am surprisingly okay with this (mostly because I saw it coming a mile away as a Sanders supporter) but the vast majority of people I know, my age, are hopping mad. Granted I have a skewed set of friends (mostly white college educated folks), but I see a tremendous surge in people my age becoming active because they see no other option to "fix" this broken system. I'd say by 2028 we will see our youngest presidential candidate we've ever seen.
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I agree 100%
 
What to expect?

22 million Americans will shortly be losing their health insurance.

We can probably expect to see big tax cuts for the wealthy, driving up the deficit. When this fails to generate the promised jobs, folks aren't going to be particularly forgiving or understanding.

Trump has proved himself in the past to be a profoundly malicious and vindictive person, It'll be interesting to see if he uses his new powers to execute vendettas. Will he make good on his promises to try to imprison his political opponent? Sue the women he allegedly sexually harassed/assaulted?

On the one hand I'm relieved the election is over, but I have a sinking feeling that the political drama we've been subjected to for the past year is merely a preview of coming attractions.
 
Hillary not giving a concession speech was low class. If you think you've got what it takes to sit in the big chair you've got to have what it takes to admit when you get whipped. I'm not surprised she lost, I'm surprised who she lost to but I guess enough folks just decided enough was enough. And I've already seen plenty of pundits say that you can "blame" the election on racism, muslimism or all sorts of isms. My god, Rachel Maddow practically had a meltdown which was actually funny to watch. Sure, there are bigots out there, but I think a lot of people are tired of being labeled racists and haters because they think that millions of people taking a crap over our borders and sovereignty is not a good thing. That and the economy, which is still a huge deal to many people did her in. These trade deals and globalization have benefited a tiny minority of wealthy industrialists and screwed over the working class. So people said "what the heck" let's see what this guy can do.

You take all that along with the undeniable fact that Hillary is such an incredibly unlikeable person and has been for years and you get what happened last night. He may make things even worse but with Hillary you knew exactly what you were getting. People are simply tired of it. I'm embarrassed that this is the buffoon we found to change it. But she stood for white collar corruption that has screwed the middle class for years. The truly funny thing is that he has probably benefited more from that corruption than Hillary ever will. But life will go on.
 
MD Planner said:
Hillary not giving a concession speech was low class.
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I honestly think that she couldn't physically give the speech. We know almost certainly she has somewhat severe health problems. I dislike her as much as the next guy, but I don't think she's the type to play that card on purpose. I fully expect that her health will take a steady decline in the next few months because this is going to utterly destroy her. It wouldn't surprise me that she doesn't make it through 2017.

Can you imagine working your entire adult life towards one single goal, be that close to grabbing it, and lose to a guy with zero political experience who did almost everything in his power to sabotage his own campaign? It's one thing to lose to a fellow politician, a completely different thing to lose to a loudmouth Cheeto in a business suit. In the end her path to the presidency led to her own destruction.
 
MD Planner said:
Hillary not giving a concession speech was low class. If you think you've got what it takes to sit in the big chair you've got to have what it takes to admit when you get whipped. ....
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She called Trump at 2:30 am. You haven't missed her concession speech, it's coming up this morning.
 
Instead of the Democrats going for the crazy outsider (Sanders), they went with the insider Clinton.

Instead of going for an insider (Rubio, Bush, etc.), they went for the crazy outsider Trump.

A flipped script from 2008.

I think Trump will be a one term President. My hope is that he surrounds himself with smart and talented people. He stays centrist and works to get things done, not pretend he is a republican. I hope he goes back to some of the policies he had before he was whatever he is now.

I hope in 4 years, we look back and this was the turning point. Who knows though. Maybe Trump will shake up Washington. I am doubtful. I am scared of his rhetoric and his inability to have decorum. But we will live. We will still prosper as a country. I think the question will be, what do we learn from this experience and how does that translate into a candidate or candidates in 2020.

The democrats need to start getting a stronger stable of candidates. I am certain Obama would have beat Trump, and he was not well liked for the last year. The republican elites, needs to find a stronger alliance of forces (i.e. move away from the religious right, change their views on social policy so they can get younger voters, etc.).

The republican tea party just won a huge election. Our country elected someone who does not speak eloquently, nor does he filter his words. We will find out if we are comfortable with that decision for the next 4 years.

We will see.
 
Maister said:
What to expect?

22 million Americans will shortly be losing their health insurance.

We can probably expect to see big tax cuts for the wealthy, driving up the deficit. When this fails to generate the promised jobs, folks aren't going to be particularly forgiving or understanding.

Trump has proved himself in the past to be a profoundly malicious and vindictive person, It'll be interesting to see if he uses his new powers to execute vendettas. Will he make good on his promises to try to imprison his political opponent? Sue the women he allegedly sexually harassed/assaulted?

On the one hand I'm relieved the election is over, but I have a sinking feeling that the political drama we've been subjected to for the past year is merely a preview of coming attractions.
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What you're describing is Kansas under the Brownback administration. Over predicting revenues and acting shocked when they fall short. Tax cuts to generate jobs that haven't shown up. Working hard to get rid of anyone who stands in your way rather than figure out the issue.

I'm also predicting when the insurance goes the insurance rates will stay the same or go up for some lame excuse because big business is greedy, not for any political reason.

It's going to be an interesting four years. Let's hope the Dems get their head out of their ass and stop giving us crap candidates. I'd ask the same for the GOP, but it isn't going to happen this time around.

I'm now going to play Idiot America on repeat for the rest of the day or until I get tired of the song.
 
You may be right about her health. In fact I told several people it wouldn't shock me if she didn't make it through her first term if elected. She just looks unhealthy. But still, she had no problem the night before screaming onstage for your vote.

And this whole "her life-long dream" thing has always made me wonder. WHY does she want to be President? Is is truly to lead and help the nation achieve greatness or to check it off your list of things to do? Motivation matters, at least to me.
 
I hope Mitch McConnell is more successful at making DJT a one-term President than he was with Obama. Nay, I pray he is.
What a dystopian four fucking years this is going to be.
 
Veloise said:
She called Trump at 2:30 am. You haven't missed her concession speech, it's coming up this morning.
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I know she made the call. I just think she should have made a statement like every other losing candidate.

And for the record, I didn't vote for either of them.
 
MD Planner said:
And this whole "her life-long dream" thing has always made me wonder. WHY does she want to be President? Is is truly to lead and help the nation achieve greatness or to check it off your list of things to do? Motivation matters, at least to me.
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Why does anyone want to be President? It's not exactly the ideal job in the world. I don't really doubt her motives to be President as much as I doubt Trump's, however I definitely doubt her path to the Presidency more than Trump's. Hillary's path was through destruction, corruption, and political scandal, Trump's was through crazy vitriol, outlandish gestures, and inciting anger with the current political system. One was behind closed doors, cloak and dagger, the other was splashed all over television, radio, and social media. Those are two very different paths.
 
The guy I voted for did not get elected, but I knew that going in. I really thought that Clinton was going to get elected, but she didn't. But regardless of who you voted for, I think it is time to put these divisions behind us, focus on common ground within our community and make the area that we control or have influence over better. We can't change the outcome of the election, we all know that there will be repercussions, but the fact is that a corrupt establishment candidate just got her butt kicked by a lunatic. If that is not a loud and clear message that half the population would rather pull the pin and drop the grenade on the US than deal with more of the same, then I don't know what is.

So, what are all of you going to do following this election? Pout and whine or go out and make a difference in your community? Wait to check the mark next to an R or D in 4 years, or make an actual difference?
 
I plan on doing a lot of :wine:ing followed by some heavy :beers:ing.

Most popular write in vote for our county: Anyone else
 
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