a clown car full of millionaires: the 2016 presidential primary thread

Honestly, Clinton's contempt for people who ask her questions is one of the things I admire most about her. I think if she were to actually spit in a Washington journalist's face, she'd win the presidency in a landslide, with like 90% voter turnout.

why do you admire that? isn't it part of her job to be as transparent as possible (he asked naively)?

xps

the presidency is the shiny object everyone focuses on, but it doesn't seem to be in any way the real center of power in the US government.

To the extent a single "real" center of power exists in the US government, it is the presidency. But in reality, power is gathered into several clusters, each with its own center. The authors of the Constitution thought Congress would be the biggest power among the three branches, but it hasn't exactly turned out that way in practice.

Clinton's contempt for people who ask her questions is one of the things I admire most about her

I keep my admiration on this front to Barry Bonds.

To the extent a single "real" center of power exists in the US government

http://d329y26hx05pom.cloudfront.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/nedbeatty.jpg

barry bonds would get my vote, for sure

Ohh, I want to play!

To the extent a single "real" center of power exists in the US government
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/internet-world-wide-web-spider.jpg

why do you admire that? isn't it part of her job to be as transparent as possible (he asked naively)?

― wizzz! (amateurist),

99.999 of those questions are silly "process"-type questions.

https://twitter.com/CapehartJ/status/618531514100391936

"I'm rubber, you're glue
whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you
because you're racist"

pretty sure it's a thing with journalists to hang on to & post their personalized hate mail from trump, gotta be hundreds by now.

i don't understand what happened there. was that signed by trump?

yes

that signature looks more like "DashBunnnnngh"

trummmmmmmmmp

the donald is probably sad he can't write his name dollar $igns

maybe he can move to britain?: Dona£d Trump

i hear that someone named "Jim Gilmore," who exists, is running for president as a republican

"I'm rubber, you're glue
whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you
because you're racist"

Downside: read that note. Upside: have Daphne and Celeste stuck in my head.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/09/us/politics/a-political-lifer-scott-walker-has-long-been-his-own-strategist.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Just as it is considered unwise for a lawyer to represent himself in court, though, Mr. Walker’s self-reliance on political strategy could prove problematic.

His penchant for veering off into the arcana and mechanics of politics can divert him from his message, unintentionally raise expectations and, more significantly, reinforce an impression his opponents are hoping will take hold: that he is a political lifer with a shallow grasp of policy who lacks the gravitas the presidency demands.

fingers crossed

oops, posted in the wrong thread. from rubio's snapchat:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJZuT5AUYAEqeYd.jpg

assembling an elite senior commando squad to parachute in to Iraq and fight ISIS 1-on-1

Iowa's role in the primaries is so comical. Is there any other time when anything that happens in Iowa matters at all to the rest of the country.

not sure what's funny about that, other than the idea that marco rubio would know anything/have any ideas on how to defeat ISIS

do you eat wheat and corn

Iowa's role in the primaries is so comical. Is there any other time when anything that happens in Iowa matters at all to the rest of the country.

― Οὖτις, Wednesday, July 8, 2015 11:42 AM (26 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

no more or less than other states. you guys are being snobs. iowa is actually a pretty cool state.

xpost

yes

Looks like an awesome party.

I'm not knocking Iowa, just that it's political significance in the process is fairly random - it isn't really representative of the rest of the country, it doesn't have a lot of electoral votes, it's not a center of political or economic power, etc. But hey, it's FIRST! and that's what matters right.

is it any more or less representative than any other state? i mean somebody has to be first.

not really. you could have multiple primaries. or rotate the first primary among different states.

i was born in des moines btw so i know everything about iowa

xpost

yes

― wizzz! (amateurist)

ha – I was answering Shakey.

Puerto Rico's more representative of what the country will look like.

broke?

all right screw it, i'm going to repost mine too.

http://i.imgur.com/18Ui4Bf.png

were the participants trying to hide their identities or did they just not want to interact with the photographer?

the photog was hillary clinton, peering through the living room window

"who is watching me?", she said to herself in the bushes

have any of you seen this photo series?

http://www.paulshambroomart.com/art/meetings%20revA/

really amazing stuff imo

something something quotidian nature of democratic governance

who periscopes the periscoper

omg that is incredible goole

'quotidian' is a lovely word

hail Fredonia
http://www.paulshambroomart.com/art/meetings%20revA/images/KS%2C-FREDONIA.jpg

(this should maybe go on another thread)

lean back
http://www.paulshambroomart.com/art/meetings%20revA/images/UT%2C-WAYNE-COUNTY.jpg

the whole primary system is anti-democratic. never more apparent then when they've been leapfrogging the dates last two cycles.

is it any more or less representative than any other state?

Iowa could claim to be a reasonable proxy for the region that includes it, Minnesota and Nebraska. I'm not sure any state could be a reasonable proxy for the entire country.

they should let Kansas City, Mo., have the first caucuses. Just them.

Surely an actual swing state like Ohio would be a better proxy than Iowa.

Iowa's a pretty decent proxy for the GOP primary voter tho xps

i vote for Truth or Consequences, N.M. xp

The disproportionate political influence of Iowa has negative effects, eg ethanol mandates and high-fructose corn syrup subsidies.