The never-ending POTUS Election thread....

[Dodger12]

Romney, while imperfect, was a Republican his whole life with executive experience. Also well-informed and sharp as a tack. Trump, a proud ignoramus who would fail a pop quiz on civics or the names of world leaders, has been a Republican for like five minutes. And no, it's not enough for him to be conservative on one out of 10 issues. In reality, he's a social liberal (planned parenthood!) with a disturbing authoritarian streak. Nor did Romney ever refer to his junk at a debate. If I’m expected to vote for Trump or else I’m not a Republican, that’s fine by me. I will vote, or not vote, for anybody I damn well please.

Romney's idiocy was covered up by the Republican label. He's fucking stupid. He lost an election he should have won and he had Obama on the ropes and he backed off. One of the worst political moves in history and it cost an election. Then he gets up a couple of weeks ago with his speech against Trump, as if he's some spokesman for the party. Bullshit. There's a reason why he was elected in Massachusetts, a very Democtratic state. And Romey tried to sell himself as a moderate Republican. He used the "compromise" word long before Trump and used his experience in a Democtrat controlled state an example of appeal. He was nothing more than a RINO.....the worst kind of Republican.

And I didn't think there was anything wrong with his response on Planned Parenthood. They have done some good things for women outside of abortions and he was catering to the female vote with a comment like that.

And by the way, you may be a Republican but you're a Beltway Republican. The world outside of that 495/395 circle doesn't exist for the Beltway Bandits where everyone is employed by the G or feeds off the G until they retire or die. Folks are having a hard time outside of the DC area and it shouldn't come as any surprise that folks are bitter at the party. I know I am and I'm glad that Trump is exposing them. It adds to his appeal

And I can also appreciate how you've found political decency and are offended at his reference to his junk. But it's really too late for me to take your offense seriously.

 

[bbgun]

I may live in DC but I don't work for the Feds or suck off the teet of government for a living. I also support Cruz, who, while flawed and a little too churchy for my liking, is as anti-establishment as they come. And yes, while I can appreciate dick jokes on a sports forum, I expect more from a presidential candidate. I have no problem with PP so long as they get out of the abortion business. The fact that they do "good things" for women's health does not erase or excuse the larger evil of infanticide. If ISIS gave free mammograms, would it not still be ISIS?

 

[junk]

Newsflash: They're all lousy candidates. Like historically bad candidates. Every one of them, (D) or (R).

I've thought W. and Obama were both horrid presidents. I'd gladly vote for either one over any of the clowns running this year.

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

I'm with bb.

Sure, Romney ran a terrible campaign against Obama, but what does that have to do with Trump or any of the guys running now?

I understand the disgust with pretty much all politicians. But that doesn't mean just any outsider will be better. They could be a disaster. Trump has said some good things, but he's also shown some ugly qualities. That authoritarian streak bb mentioned is one of them.

Now some smart people believe he's just acting this way to appeal to the angry protest vote and he'll moderate some in the general. But who knows. The guy is a wild card. Besides his goofy trade ideas where they'll behave just because I say so, I'm not sure I like his finger on the button with an increasingly aggressive China and Russia.

 

[bbgun]

I'm not sure I like his finger on the button with an increasingly aggressive China and Russia.

seeing as how he's complimented Putin as well as China's crackdown at Tienanmen Square, he could care less about their ruthlessness

 

[peplaw06]

That authoritarian streak bb mentioned is one of them.

My fundamental issue with every candidate left is they're all authoritarian. Some may be more authoritarian than others, but they all want the government to assert additional control in certain areas.

 

[VTA]

In fact, I can easily see him losing the election and dragging GOP candidates down with him.

That's his plan all along. A comedy candidate saying all the right things on each political issue (despite never standing for them in his entire history) to easily convince a fed-up crowd to gawk at the shiny object and miss the entire point: Send the opposing team into disarray and watch them cannibalize themselves.

Clinton and the open Democrats know nobody wants her awful ass in office, historic moment or not. She's saddled with far too much baggage, but compared with this reality-show goon, she seems almost sober and reasonable. Add in a pseudo opponent like an un-electable old socialist and there you have it. What a strategy, what a show. It''s worked like a charm and Clinton will be POTUS, unless Trump becomes addicted to the position and truly turns on her. But it won't matter, it'll still be a Liberal in office, with Liberal policies and Liberal influence running the show.

“Hillary’s a great friend of mine. Her husband is a great friend of mine. They’re fantastic people. I mean, they’re — you know, the thing, they get a bad knock. She’s a very nice woman. People think, tough, tough. And I guess she’s tough, but she’s a very nice woman. And he’s a very nice guy. We know all about the smarts and how smart they are, and all, but they are good people.” - Trump 2008

Probably the only time he was honest and it goes back much further than that. If anyone thinks he was 'just saying that' imagine what else he is 'just saying' to gain ground now and how he'll do a complete 180 when it suits him.

 

[Dodger12]

Romney, while imperfect, was a Republican his whole life with executive experience.

Yes, a real lifelong Republican who changed party affiliations to run for political office, voted for Democrats, tried to publicly shy away from Reagan's policies claiming he was an independent and is pro-abortion. Romney was Trump before anyone really knew who Trump was.

"For much of his business career, Romney did not take public, political stances. He had kept abreast of national politics since college, though, and the circumstances of his father's presidential campaign loss had irked him for decades. He registered as an Independent and voted in the 1992 presidential primaries for the Democratic former senator from Massachusetts, Paul Tsongas.

By 1993, Romney had begun thinking about entering politics, partly based upon Ann's urging and partly to follow in his father's footsteps.[45] He decided to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, who was seeking re-election for the sixth time. Political pundits viewed Kennedy as vulnerable that year – in part because of the unpopularity of the Democratic Congress as a whole, and in part because this was Kennedy's first election since the William Kennedy Smith trial in Florida, in which the senator had suffered some negative public relations regarding his character. Romney changed his affiliation to Republican in October 1993 and formally announced his candidacy in February 1994. In addition to his leave from Bain Capital, he stepped down from his church leadership role in 1994.

In the general election, Kennedy faced the first serious re-election challenger of his career. The younger, telegenic, and well-funded Romney ran as a businessman who stated he had created ten thousand jobs and as a Washington outsider with a solid family image and moderate stances on social issues. When Kennedy tried to tie Romney's policies to those of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, Romney responded, "Look, I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to take us back to Reagan-Bush." Romney stated, "Ultimately, this is a campaign about change."
"

Mitt Romney - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Dodger12]

I may live in DC but I don't work for the Feds or suck off the teet of government for a living. I also support Cruz, who, while flawed and a little too churchy for my liking, is as anti-establishment as they come. And yes, while I can appreciate dick jokes on a sports forum, I expect more from a presidential candidate.

The office of the President has been tarnished for years. It's just public now because no one can hide from the media, cell phone videos, etc. And while agree that Trump should have stayed away from the "hands" comment, he didn't bring it up and it was in response to comments made by Rubio. After having to deal with womanizers, grown men getting blow jobs from their interns and sticking a cigar up their snatch, racist, anti-white and anti-cop Presidents, the "hands" comment is really meaningless in larger picture.

I get that you may not be employed by the government but government dollars find a way into your paycheck. It's the way DC runs. Most people either work for the G or their company receives money from the G. And I'm not being critical about you or your job, BTW. But many folks who work in the DC area are immune to the issues that ail most average Americans.

As for Cruz, the more I listen to him, the more I think he's a slimy preacher, snake oil salesman that can look you in the eye and lie to your face for your vote. Having said that, if he was the Republican nominee, I'd vote for him because the alternative is far worse. You, on the other hand........

 

[dbair1967]

she's corrupt, evil and criminal, but she'll wipe the floor with him in the debates because she's no dummy and well-informed on domestic and global issues. Trump, OTOH, gets all his news from the Internet--with hilarious consequences.

Pretty sure they made the same comments and had similar type numbers in 1980 too. In fact Carter had a bigger lead before the election than Clinton does now IIRC

 

[bbgun]

Clinton and the open Democrats know nobody wants her awful ass in office, historic moment or not. She's saddled with far too much baggage, but compared with this reality-show goon, she seems almost sober and reasonable. Add in a pseudo opponent like an un-electable old socialist and there you have it.

Yeah, don't ask me how it happened, but the GOP is about to nominate someone with higher unfavorables than Hillary. Trump will make her seem palatable (even preferable) in comparison.

 

[dbair1967]

understand the disgust with pretty much all politicians. But that doesn't mean just any outsider will be better. They could be a disaster. Trump has said some good things, but he's also shown some ugly qualities. That authoritarian streak bb mentioned is one of them.

I don't see why anyone would want to elect more of the same old same old. Clinton wont change anything up there, in fact she will do what they have done for years, make it worse and more corrupt than it already it is. Trump might be a failure, I don't know. But after the last 16+ years I'm willing to give somebody different with new ideas how things should be done a real try. The definition of insnatiy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I'm sick of that.

Now some smart people believe he's just acting this way to appeal to the angry protest vote and he'll moderate some in the general. But who knows. The guy is a wild card. Besides his goofy trade ideas where they'll behave just because I say so, I'm not sure I like his finger on the button with an increasingly aggressive China and Russia.

Yeah, sounds like a lot of the same junk people said about Reagan.

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

Well of course Clinton won't change anything and will be a disaster. But don't think the undecideds out there who will swing the election will think that way, and they're the ones who matter.

As far as Reagan, I don't see any resemblance whatsoever between him and Trump. But I'm talking about stuff like when Trump was asked about Mexico paying for the wall and he came back with something about, "I'm going to build our military up so strong they won't mess with us." What? So, what, he's threatening Mexico with military action? Makes no sense.

And for the record, my reluctance on him has nothing to do with what "the party" thinks about him. Believe me, I couldn't care less about Mitch McConnell or any of the internal workings of the Pubs. And I like the idea of an outsider. But Trump is too much of a loose cannon for me. Again, just have to hope it's some kind of an act and he'd be a lot more reasonable once in office.

 

[dbair1967]

Well of course Clinton won't change anything and will be a disaster. But don't think the undecideds out there who will swing the election will think that way, and they're the ones who matter.

As far as Reagan, I don't see any resemblance whatsoever between him and Trump. But I'm talking about stuff like when Trump was asked about Mexico paying for the wall and he came back with something about, "I'm going to build our military up so strong they won't mess with us." What? So, what, he's threatening Mexico with military action? Makes no sense.

And for the record, my reluctance on him has nothing to do with what "the party" thinks about him. Believe me, I couldn't care less about Mitch McConnell or any of the internal workings of the Pubs. And I like the idea of an outsider. But Trump is too much of a loose cannon for me. Again, just have to hope it's some kind of an act and he'd be a lot more reasonable once in office.

I am not saying Trump is Reagan, I am saying that a lot of the same stuff being said about Trump today is very similar to what they said about Reagan in 1980. That he would start World War III, wanted to blow everybody up, that his tax/economic ideas and plans were disasters and would cripple the country etc etc

We need real leadership and he has been giving real leadership to his highly successful company for eons. He has a rep for hiring and listening to really smart people. He abhors wasting money. He has absolutely shut out the lobbyists and big money influencers that buy both republicans and democrats off easily over and over. I like that he talks tough (even if some of it is show) because other countries know what a pussy Obama/Clinton/Kerry have been for 8 years and have abused the shit out of us because of it.

Like I said, maybe it doesn't work. But its time to try something different.

 

[peplaw06]

Like I said, maybe it doesn't work. But its time to try something different.

That's my point... Trump's no different. His decision making process on tough issues seems to be "the government will fix it." More legislation, more regulation, but my government will be better at fixing these issues than the government currently.

Sorry, more regulation, more legislation, more departments, etc. is not the answer. His government will be just as inept as Obama's government, as Bush's government, as Clinton's government, and so on. It will just fail in different ways.

 

[bbgun]

Trump trashed Reagan in his book, so yeah, he's no Reagan, Then there's the bankruptcies, the fraudulent Trump University (lawsuit pending), the love of eminent domain to take people's private propriety, giving voters the (false) impression that he attended the prestigious Wharton School of Business, the importation of cheap laborers to work at his resorts, the donation$ to Ted Kennedy and the Clinton Foundation, the scurrilous accusation that GW Bush lied about WMDs in Iraq, not immediately disavowing the KKK, threatening to legally challenge the 1st Amendment rights of critics, ordering military personnel to commit war crimes, etc. The list goes on and on.

 

[jnday]

I don't see why anyone would want to elect more of the same old same old. Clinton wont change anything up there, in fact she will do what they have done for years, make it worse and more corrupt than it already it is. Trump might be a failure, I don't know. But after the last 16+ years I'm willing to give somebody different with new ideas how things should be done a real try. The definition of insnatiy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I'm sick of that.



Yeah, sounds like a lot of the same junk people said about Reagan.

I take back all the shit I have said about you. You are 100% right and have a head full of common sense.

 

[Midswat]

My mindset is a lot of what dbair said in the post jnday quoted. This country literally has had 16 years of the worst presidencies probably ever, Carter notwithstanding.

Trump might be a floundering idiot, but my thinking is... how much worse could things get, really?

That said, I'm unlikely to vote because long lines piss me off and the two party electoral college system we have is a corrupt bag of dicks.

 

[bbgun]

NY. nuff said.

 

[dbair1967]

That's my point... Trump's no different. His decision making process on tough issues seems to be "the government will fix it." More legislation, more regulation, but my government will be better at fixing these issues than the government currently.

Sorry, more regulation, more legislation, more departments, etc. is not the answer. His government will be just as inept as Obama's government, as Bush's government, as Clinton's government, and so on. It will just fail in different ways.

He's different because he hasn't taken money from the "system" up there. That's why they are all terrified of him, which makes me sort of like him and want to give him a chance.