Politics

[rome8180]

I agree with that. If Trump wasn't so horrible there's no way I'd vote for Clinton. I could have stomached a Romney presidency, which is part of why I didn't vote for Obama the second time around. (Also he had no chance of losing.)

 

[deepdarkblue]

If the Republicans put out any semi-reasonable candidate out there, would those forever riding the Team Dem bus for Hillary be bad Americans? Favorite team syndrome cuts both ways and is so frustrating as a younger voter.

Yes, they would. If not for Donald Trump, Hillary would have been the worst possible candidate. Now she looks like a fucking hero.

On election day, If it's crystal clear that Trump will lose, I'll probably just vote for Gary Johnson. If it's looking close, I'll vote for Hillary as anti-Trump insurance.

 

[rhfarmer]

If the Republicans put out any semi-reasonable candidate out there, would those forever riding the Team Dem bus for Hillary be bad Americans? Favorite team syndrome cuts both ways and is so frustrating as a younger voter.

It's not just younger voters who are frustrated.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Yeah, I can't remember many times in my life that I've felt I had much of a choice in a presidential election. It's usually a matter of picking the least worst. Like now.

 

[rhfarmer]

I know people completely write off Trump supporters as being the morons of the world but I know a few who are very well educated, and are all around great people. I've known them for years, and have never seen any signs that they support racism or bigotry either. I don't get it.

It's the Favorite Team Syndrome. Their team is Republican, and they support their team no matter what clown is representing it. I call those Bad Americans.

I think people are used to voting for their team for sure, but also, people may not seem like they are overtly racist, but support things that are racist when voting. For instance, there is literally zero evidence of voter fraud, but the GOP insists on legislation that adversely affects the ability of minorities to vote under the pretense of ending voter fraud. You can't be all "yay team" for the GOP and ignore the racist and sexist and homophobic stuff without tacitly supporting it.

 

[rhfarmer]

Yeah, I can't remember many times in my life that I've felt I had much of a choice in a presidential election. It's usually a matter of picking the least worst. Like now.

IDK, I think this is the worst Dem candidate in my lifetime. There have been uninspiring Dem candidates, lots of them--Dukakis, Mondale, Gore-- but I don't think any of them have been people who are as disconnected from reality as HRC. And, frankly, HRC is damn smart and a savvy politician. She just doesn't get--at all-- how she appears to average Americans.

In my voting lifetime, the GOP has put up Reagan, Bush, Dole, Bush, McCain, Romney, Trump. The only really likable candidates in that bunch are Reagan and Dole, and he was uninspiring.
The rest are just silver spoon Yale rich guys, and a guy (Trump) who was born on 3rd base and thought he hit a triple.

at least HRC wants to govern.

 

[NCCUknow]

Picking the "least worst" is kind of what democracy is all about, tbh

 

[deepdarkblue]

Picking the "least worst" is kind of what democracy is all about, tbh

But this is Murica, should always be the best best.

Now that K has conquered the Olympics, maybe it's time for him to take on the newly created role of National Candidate Screener, where he sorts through all the turds to find the two diamond candidates that best represent their respective parties. Hell, let him pick for the third, fourth, fifth parties if they want him to. Just make sure that all of the candidates put the best interests of the people before party, money, or personal bias. He taught a group of young black men to love America, so this should be easy.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Yeah, I can't remember many times in my life that I've felt I had much of a choice in a presidential election. It's usually a matter of picking the least worst. Like now.

IDK, I think this is the worst Dem candidate in my lifetime. There have been uninspiring Dem candidates, lots of them--Dukakis, Mondale, Gore-- but I don't think any of them have been people who are as disconnected from reality as HRC. And, frankly, HRC is damn smart and a savvy politician. She just doesn't get--at all-- how she appears to average Americans.

In my voting lifetime, the GOP has put up Reagan, Bush, Dole, Bush, McCain, Romney, Trump. The only really likable candidates in that bunch are Reagan and Dole, and he was uninspiring.
The rest are just silver spoon Yale rich guys, and a guy (Trump) who was born on 3rd base and thought he hit a triple.

at least HRC wants to govern.

Jimmy Carter was disconnected from reality, in that he thought most people were decent and honest. You can't survive in Washington with that kind of attitude, particularly when you're a complete outsider.

 

[dukeberto]

On election day, If it's crystal clear that Trump will lose, I'll probably just vote for Gary Johnson. If it's looking close, I'll vote for Hillary as anti-Trump insurance.

This is where I'm at right now. What makes this even more incredibly frustrating is that these are my first ever presidential elections that I will actually get to vote in - what amazing choices.

 

[deepdarkblue]

On election day, If it's crystal clear that Trump will lose, I'll probably just vote for Gary Johnson. If it's looking close, I'll vote for Hillary as anti-Trump insurance.

This is where I'm at right now. What makes this even more incredibly frustrating is that these are my first ever presidential elections that I will actually get to vote in - what amazing choices.

After your fourth or fifth Presidential election, you just sort of sigh and accept it. You know it's not right and you know there must be much better people for the job, but they aren't options. You start to wonder if maybe a random lottery might not be equally effective.

 

[ZackM]

I wonder if we'd get better candidates if it payed better.

50 million a year? Something a little higher than a Lebron James salary.

 

[dub_seahawks]

I wonder if we'd get better candidates if it payed better.

50 million a year? Something a little higher than a Lebron James salary.

The benefits (both tangible and intangible) of being the leader of the most powerful country makes up for the "base pay." Given Hillary's past, I imagine she'll parlay a presidency into a nice, comfortable retirement. She's going to do a lot of favors for people who have already bought her.

 

[rome8180]

The Clintons have made tens of millions off of Bill's presidency, and I'm sure they'll do the same with Hillary's.

The kind of candidate I want is the exact opposite of one who would care about the salary. I want this guy:

http://astoundable.com/worlds-poorest-president/

 

[deepdarkblue]

I'd vote for a Warren Buffett, or a Mike Bloomberg. I'm OK with rich presidents as long as they have some track record of not being total douchebags. If Buffett wanted the job, he'd probably do it for free.

 

[ZackM]

I'm just wondering if some of our best potential presidents never consider it because there are easier jobs that pay much better. Whether we like it or not, compensation is a massive driving factor for most people. Thinking that the presidency should be any different seems odd to me.

 

[rome8180]

There's a difference between being rich and being somehow motivated by the salary. I would prefer a person of modest background, all other things being equal, but Buffett's a decent man and he says things like "tax the rich more."

Anyway, I think it's moot as I don't think it's a driving factor. More people are probably discouraged from running due to the level of scrutiny and difficulty of the job. Those that do run are probably more driven by power-lust, a genuine desire to "serve," or some mixture of both than money. I guess we haven't tested that out, since the salary is so modest. But that's my theory anyway.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Lol, I was just thinking about all the noise we'd hear if the subject of significantly raising the President's salary ever came up. It's ok to pay half a billion for a warship nobody wants, but don't even think about dropping ten mil or so a year on the leader of the nation.

 

[dub_seahawks]

I'm just wondering if some of our best potential presidents never consider it because there are easier jobs that pay much better. Whether we like it or not, compensation is a massive driving factor for most people. Thinking that the presidency should be any different seems odd to me.

There's a whole field of research, public service motivation, on this. However, the research wouldn't even apply to the presidency because of the power granted. Basically an outlier that wouldn't be included in research.

You can't place the employment motivations of government and private sector jobs into the same box. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, on average, are significantly different. One of the major motivators for government employment is actually the benefits and job security.

Speaking on job security - it is easier to stick someone who no longer produces anything of value in a corner, to do whatever, than it is to fire them. It's sad there is such security in public service (outside of jobs tied directly to elections/political appointments).

 

[aiw]

“The first thing we’re going to do if and when I win is we’re going to get rid of all of the bad ones,” Trump said. “We’ve got gang members, we have killers, we have a lot of bad people that have to get out of this country. We’re going to get them out, and the police know who they are. They’re known by law enforcement who they are. We don’t do anything. They go around killing people and hurting people, and they’re going to be out of this country so fast your head will spin. We have existing laws that allow you to do that.”…

“As far as everybody else, we’re going to go through the process,” Trump said. “What people don’t know is that Obama got tremendous numbers of people out of the country. Bush, the same thing. Lots of people were brought out of the country with the existing laws. Well, I’m going to do the same thing.”…

The best.