2012 election

[Nick]

I have already voted.  Did the absentee thing.  Voting is taking place in Iowa today also.  Lines have een long and Dems request for absentee ballots have been 3 to 1 over Romney.  Debates might not be all that important now.  People seem to have made up their minds.  Not surprised.  Looks like Romney might not have a good harvest this time.

[JeffPT]

The more I think about it, the more depressing the whole thing is. It would be good for Obama to win again, but to what end?  The republicans will get even more bat shit crazy and block everything he wants to do.  They're at the point now where everything the president does is wrong, no matter what it is.  I'm so tired of it.  The 2 party system is broken.  Government is no longer functioning for the people.  It's just not. 

[Nick]

It might not be so bad this time around.  Their whole idea was to deny Obama a 2nd term.  Now if he gets elected campaining is over.  Time to settle problems is here.  The make up of congress will also play a part.  It will be interesting but I think Obama will be more forceful in a 2nd term. Also, you have the Supreme Court to possibly add to and affect that court for years to come.  1000% better than having the !%ter RobMe in there with his hatchet man...Eddie Munster.

[Death over Life]

The more I think about it, the more depressing the whole thing is. It would be good for Obama to win again, but to what end?  The republicans will get even more bat shit crazy and block everything he wants to do.  They're at the point now where everything the president does is wrong, no matter what it is.  I'm so tired of it.  The 2 party system is broken.  Government is no longer functioning for the people.  It's just not.

And that is why in a couple months, don't just re-elect Obama, also throw out every Republican/GOP member you can! 

I will agree with you on the systems as well, as I'd like to see Jill Stein and the Green Party make a huge impact on the elections as well instead of it being just Dem/Pub.

[JeffPT]

Well, the thing about it is that I don't think either party is doing what we want them to do anymore, which is to be a part of a government that actually works for us and not for their party.  While I think the republicans are far worse at it than the dems are, I don't think either group is overly willing to hear what the other side has to say.  I think if the republicans get into power, the dems would return the favor stonewalling everything they wanted to do as well; just out of spite. 

I have not bought into the idea that all republican ideas are bad or that all democratic ideas are bad.  I think good ideas can come from anyone, and I want to believe that if our representatives are allowed to vote for what they actually think would be good, everything would turn out fine.  It's just not like that though.

BTW, I live in South Carolina.  This state is so screwed up with republican, right wing bull shit that it would take an act of God to straighten it out.  Unfortunately, we all know what the odds of that happening are.   

[Nick]

Isn't South Carolina the state where your former gov ran to Argintina to have a fling?  Also, Stephen Colbert's home state.  I guess that state also was the 1st to brteak away during the Civil War.  Never been there.  Sounds like a pretty place...just full of right wingers or should I say states righters.

[Quesi]

Not sure if Romney counted Exxon and Chevron and Citigroup and GE among the 47% deadbeats who expect government handouts.

[jetson]

Quesi - that was disgusting.  I'm tempted to call it a rule violation and remove it.   

[Quesi]

Quesi - that was disgusting.  I'm tempted to call it a rule violation and remove it.   

I certainly agree that it was disgusting. 

[MadBunny]

It's no accident that there are so many voter suppression efforts taking place right now.
It's also no accident that every instance so far that we've seen of voter fraud seems to be Republican.

If you take a look at the states that have new laws, or new procedures in place and put those states in the Romney camp he will easily win.

Try it.  Ignore what the map has now, but go by the list of states with efforts in place to alter the vote.


Here's an interactive map:
http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2012/custom-presidential-election-map

Here is the list of states enacting voter legislation:
http://www.aflcio.org/Multimedia/Infographics/Map-of-Shame-Vote-Suppression-Legislation-by-State

When I do that, marking states with the voter laws or  so called 'purges' in the red camp, what I see is 267 electoral votes for Romney, with Iowa, Virginia and and North Carolina left open.

Romney could still very easily win this election.

[Nick]

That is my biggest worry with all this.  Vote manipulation behind the sceen.

[Garja]

[Nick]

As of today Vegas has Mittens down 3.5 to 1 in the election.  Vegas knows odds.  This is the poll that probably carries the most weight.

[Nick]

You know I thought about it today as I was hearing from FOX how the unemployment numbers might not be accurate.  They see conspiracy in weather (climate change), fact checkers, poll numbers, Lybia assault, and now unemployment numbers.  Man, Obama must be something to keep this many conspiracies all going at the same time.  And I just read the post today about the politician in Georgia who has a MD degree who thinks evolution and the Big Bang are from the devil.  The GOP is a pack of nuts and if Rombo gets in the pack of nuts will be running wild.  Even if Obama wins what are we going to do 4 years from then?  How do you keep the nut from the door?

[Garja]

^ Ive been thinking about that a lot lately Nick.  Excuse my language, but we have some seriously crazy mother fuckers in this country and they seem to be increasing in both number and virility of argument while the number of people who will publicly call them crazy mother fuckers (perhaps even the nicer version) seems increasingly small.  I know cognitively that just about every human being ever thinks that their time is somehow uniquely bad in one area or another, but I do feel increasing concern over this nuttiness that seems ever more insidious.  I mean, very few days go by that I do not get an email from my nutjob of a mother about the evils of Democrats and Obama specifically.  Now she at least has the good sense to email me alone so I cant hit "reply all" when I correct her factual errors, but it doesn't make it any less about the willing deception one group of people by another.

[screwtape]

politics is especially difficult for people to be rational about.  Maybe even moreso than religion.

http://lesswrong.com/lw/gw/politics_is_the_mindkiller/

[Nick]

^ Ive been thinking about that a lot lately Nick.  Excuse my language, but we have some seriously crazy mother fuckers in this country and they seem to be increasing in both number and virility of argument while the number of people who will publicly call them crazy mother fuckers (perhaps even the nicer version) seems increasingly small.  I know cognitively that just about every human being ever thinks that their time is somehow uniquely bad in one area or another, but I do feel increasing concern over this nuttiness that seems ever more insidious.  I mean, very few days go by that I do not get an email from my nutjob of a mother about the evils of Democrats and Obama specifically.  Now she at least has the good sense to email me alone so I cant hit "reply all" when I correct her factual errors, but it doesn't make it any less about the willing deception one group of people by another.

Ask her next time who she would rather have take care of her in her old age?  You or the GOP?  If she picks the GOP you are off the hook and she will very much be on her own.

[Garja]

^ thats one of the many things that infuriate me about that woman.  She seems to forget her husband is 67, and she is 58.  So he is on medicare, and she will be very shortly.  Further, she tends to lean right because she has money, but she seems to forget that she has money only because her father left her a lot and helped support her when she was raising her son... me.... and without his assistance we probably would have been on at least some form of government assistance.  I just ..... grrrraaaaaa.


lol

[Chronos]

politics is especially difficult for people to be rational about.  Maybe even moreso than religion.

Politics, Religion and the NFL ... very few differences.

[Mr. Blackwell]

If you view reality as a fractal then the same can be said for bingo players and stamp collectors.

[jetson]

If you view reality as a fractal then the same can be said for bingo players and stamp collectors.

Did you leave out non-stamp collectors on purpose?   

[shnozzola]

This interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer just aired.  It reminded me of how honest and a man of integrity I find the current president of the United States, Barack Obama - a class act.  Many can disagree with his policies, but he never appears sour or petty. And he does not change the core policies that guide him.  I do not find Mitt Romney unlikable either - but we must remember the differences in policies as we choose.


http://abcnews.go.com/WN/

wall o' words, but oh well

President Obama on Wednesday said in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer that he plans to more aggressively confront Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in their second debate next week, trying to allay concerns among supporters that a lackluster first debate performance may have cost him the race.
"Governor Romney had a good night. I had a bad night. It's not the first time," Obama said in his first televised interview since the Denver debate on Oct. 3. Despite Romney's post-debate momentum and surge in the polls, the "fundamentals of what this race is about haven't changed," he said.

"This was one event. We've got four weeks to go. Nobody is going to be fighting harder than I am," Obama told Sawyer, aiming to reassure his base. "What they need is to make sure they tune in on Tuesday next week."
"If you have a bad game you just move on, you look forward to the next one, and it makes you that much more determined," he said, comparing the political face-off to a sports game.
Asked by Sawyer whether it's possible that his poor showing had handed Romney the election, Obama replied, "no."
"You're going to win?" she asked.
"Yes," Obama said.
"You want it more than the first time?" she pressed, noting that some Democrats have questioned whether he remains sufficiently passionate and relentless.
"Absolutely," he said.

Polls show Obama's lead against Romney nationally and in several key swing states has significantly narrowed -- and in some cases been eclipsed -- following last week's debate. Obama and Romney are tied with 48 percent each in the latest national Gallup tracking poll, conducted Oct. 3 through Oct. 9. It has a margin of error of two percentage points.

In the interview, Obama was reluctant to analyze the debate preparations that led to this moment, but he acknowledged that he has since studied a split-screen recording of his debate with Romney and talked it over with his wife Michelle Obama.
"Michelle is always my best adviser, my toughest critic," Mr. Obama said. "We've been married 20 years. We've gone through all kinds of ups and downs. And I think that's true of the American people as well. And I think what folks ultimately have focused on is…those lasting principles, those foundational principles that make this moment so important."

A Tougher Approach

The president signaled that he is preparing to more aggressively counter Romney's "sales pitch" at their next encounter, a town hall style meeting at Hofstra University in New York on Oct. 16.
"What he spent most of his time doing [in Denver] was hiding the ideas that he's been running on for the last year and that the American people had essentially rejected," Obama said in the interview. "And so they desperately tried to cover up what exactly they've been proposing."
"There's no doubt that it is on me to make sure that the American people understand that – in crystal-clear fashion" that what Romney is proposing is not new, he added.
Over the past few weeks, Romney has appeared to be trying to moderate his positions on key issues, including taxes, immigration, health care and abortion, forcing Obama to abruptly change his strategy after months of telling voters they should take Romney at his word.
The president cited Romney's comments on abortion in an interview Tuesday with the Des Moines Register as one example of his challenger trying to "hide" his real views.

"Four weeks before an election, he is trying to cloud the question" on abortion rights, Obama said, "because he understands that most women think they can make their own health care decisions."
Romney told the paper that "there's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda." The comment appeared to be a marked shift for the GOP candidate who has campaigned as an anti-abortion rights candidate.
"His attempt to try to keep that under wraps until after the election, that's not going to work," Obama said. "Because, you know, the American people need to understand what it is that we stand for."
Romney tried to clarify his abortion stance at an Ohio rally on Thursday, telling supporters there that, "I'm a pro-life candidate and I'll be a pro-life president."
Obama claimed his "consistency" on the issues, including abortion rights, is one of the top selling points of his campaign. "People will know where I stand, what I believe, what I'm fighting for," he said. "And that's part of leadership."
Before the president again takes a debate stage, his Number Two – Vice President Joe Biden – will square off with Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan on Thursday in Danville, Ky.
"I think Joe just needs to be Joe," Obama said when asked what advice he'd give his running mate.
"Congressman Ryan is a smart and effective speaker, but his ideas are the wrong ones," he said.
"Joe understands what it means to scrap and knows what it's like to see his dad lose a job and understands what it's like to get incredible opportunities because we live in this incredible country of ours," he continued. "And when that heart and that story comes out, he's incredibly effective. "

[Chronos]

Re Biden ...

[HAL]

Biden is doing what he needs to do, start the fight up again.

I just hope Obama carries it forward.

[Chronos]

She is so proud of her stupidity, she's choosing to display it to everyone on national television ..




I'm not sure, but I think she identifies with the Tea Party.

[MadBunny]

>facepalm<

Somebody who has no idea what 'Communist' actually means.

Protip: If you're going to call people names, figure out what they mean so you can explain why you're saying it when people ask.

[screwtape]

Anyone watch Biden repeatedly flatten Paul Ryan?

NYTimes editorial:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/opinion/a-debate-with-clarity-and-fervor.html?hp&_r=2&

Charles Pierce.  Just as damning, but with more panache.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/paul-ryan-debate-joe-biden-13626962

[shnozzola]

^^ Thanks for those links.  In the second, I like these lines.

There is a deeply held Beltway myth of Paul Ryan, Man of Big Ideas, and it dies hard. But, if there is a just god in the universe, on Thursday night, it died a bloody death, was hurled into a pit, doused with quicklime, buried without ceremony, and the ground above it salted and strewn with garlic so that it never rises again.

Also, he explained winter.

[Nick]

Yeah, its embarrassing when you don't even know what you are calling someone.  Cooco for Coca Puffs.