2016 Election Thread (My God Kill Me Now)

[wart57]

[heyzeus]

Raucous caucus! Raucous caucus!

[Vidor]

Jeb Bush's PAC raises $15 million in the second half of 2015 after raising $103 million in the first half.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/j ... pac-218498

[lukethedrifter]

http://teamcoco.com/video/comedy-2-010312

[pioneer98]

The Guardian actually found people who moved to Canada when Dubya got re-elected.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/f ... are_btn_tw

In November 2004, David Drucker and his wife Pam were at home listening to NPR when they heard the news that would change their lives: George W Bush had been re-elected as president of the United States.

In the lead-up to election day, the couple had made a pact: if John Kerry won, they would build their dream house in Vermont; if he lost, they would move to Canada. A year later, they were on their way to Vancouver to start their new lives.

“It’s been a little over a decade now. We have clear eyes about what we did. We have no intention of going back,” Drucker said.

[Jocephus]

[Arthur Dent]

It might be true he's been a pragmatist, but that's not what he's selling and what his supporters are looking for. I believe he likes to use the word "revolution"? How is a pragmatic revolution going to work?

I like this quote by Krugman:

There’s a sort of mini-dispute among Democrats over who can claim to be Mr. Obama’s true heir — Mr. Sanders or Mrs. Clinton? But the answer is obvious: Mr. Sanders is the heir to candidate Obama, but Mrs. Clinton is the heir to President Obama. (In fact, the health reform we got was basically her proposal, not his.)

I doubt there would be significant policy achievements between Bernie and Hilary in the white house.

Sanders is same as he's ever been: idealistic rhetoric but pragmatic action, so the comparison to candidate Obama is apt. There are some important differences, though, in that Sanders idealism is about challenging the power of business and the wealthy over policy and not ending partisanship. Obama's idealism never really acknowledged that partisanship is driven by the conflicting real interests of different groups; it cannot be resolved by being more reasonable or smarter. It was never clear how candidate Obama was going to deliver on his promise of transcending the partisan divide, and sure enough, that divide has only gotten deeper. Sanders references to a political revolution are about sustained pressure from below to realign what interests control policy. It's certainly not just about a single election.

[Jocephus]

[heyzeus]

The Trump one really has it all. That's so good.

[Radbird]

Rick Santorum: an Iowa requiem for the candidate holding a tiny slice of support

Four years ago at the Pizza Ranch outside Des Moines, when Rick Santorum was on the verge of an upset beyond historic proportions, he drew a massive crowd that packed the local Iowa chain restaurant. Groups of reporters were pinned against the salad bar. You could barely move. The former Pennsylvania senator had to give two different speeches, one with a bullhorn.

Four years later, on Sunday night back at the Pizza Ranch where this indefatigable social conservative had strode to victory over Mitt Romney and won the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses, the mood was totally different. This was no campaign rally; it was a wake.

Sure, Santorum filled the party room, but only a handful of reporters were present. The parking lot, at least, was filled with Santorum bumper stickers from all over. These were the loyal supporters: staff members, volunteers, even longtime mega-donor Foster Friess. These were the people who had been with Santorum since he was at 2% in the polls back in 2011 and stood by him throughout the political rollercoaster ride that followed.

They are with him again now, back at 2%.