Politics Vote for a president of USA - 2016 election

[Maleth]

Yep, really immature and stupid of him. Obviously nobody wants a president with a small penis, lol.

:grin: you are right...it seems the penis size issue has always been an important one in relation to business and power :grin:

 

[Maleth]

I don't feel like the UK is a good example of an actual three party system, it's more of a two party system with some strong 3rd parties and regional parties.

Indeed its only the election before the last there was some kind of coalition in the UK, which is very unusual at least the last decades. For the most part its Labour or Conservatives, with one or the other getting enough votes to govern independently.

 

[Angela]

:grin: you are right...it seems the penis size issue has always been an important one in relation to business and power :grin:

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Someone should do a retrospective of padding in fashion. I had friends who used to stuff their bras with tissue paper. Then padded bras and push up bras became fashionable. In the late 19th century women's tops were cut low to show cleavage, and they wore bustles to give themselves more in the rear.

I used to wonder about the wedding night and the inevitable disappointment of some spouses. Of course, you were stuck. No getting out. Women, in particular, given how sheltered some of them were, had no point of comparison.

Off topic, but this is a funny story: My mother told me (after I was married) that she knew of a convent raised girl, the daughter of a local businessman, who on her wedding night barricaded herself in the bedroom and was screaming her head off that her husband was trying to do terrible things to her. They had to get her mother to go in and explain things. They clearly should have had a little talk before the wedding. Of course, farm raised girls would have learned the "facts of life" from the animals if not otherwise.

 

[Maleth]

Someone should do a retrospective of padding in fashion. I had friends who used to stuff their bras with tissue paper. Then padded bras and push up bras became fashionable. In the late 19th century women's tops were cut low to show cleavage, and they wore bustles to give themselves more in the rear.

I used to wonder about the wedding night and the inevitable disappointment of some spouses. Of course, you were stuck. No getting out. Women, in particular, given how sheltered some of them were, had no point of comparison.

Off topic, but this is a funny story: My mother told me (after I was married) that she knew of a convent raised girl, the daughter of a local businessman, who on her wedding night barricaded herself in the bedroom and was screaming her head off that her husband was trying to do terrible things to her. They had to get her mother to go in and explain things. They clearly should have had a little talk before the wedding. Of course, farm raised girls would have learned the "facts of life" from the animals if not otherwise.

:grin: My oh my...I heard a few similar stories from my mum...it must have always been an issue. Defiantly not a modern phenomena. The medieval girdles come to mind...must have been pretty uncomfortable and not sure how they could breath, but had to look good....

 

[LeBrok]

:grin: you are right...it seems the penis size issue has always been an important one in relation to business and power :grin:

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My sarcastic remark didn't play well here. I was presenting side of electorate who shouldn't care about "hands" size of a president, but about size of his intellect. Obviously from point of view of a president who is a man, possibly a macho man, well even a gay man, it is a different story.

 

[Maciamo]

If it turns out to be a Trump/Clinton election, and there's any chance Trump would get elected, despite my threat I'd probably hold my nose and vote for Clinton. On top of everything else, the man doesn't have the temperament or self-control to be president.

I like your pragmatic approach, Angela. I am like you, but probably with a touch more of cynicism

Now I think I'll turn on the news and get more depressed!

That's why I stopped watching the news (or TV except Netflix) long ago. I check the online news I am interested in, but don't care much about the local news, scandals, gossips or pointless political debates. Why waste my time on things that make me angry when I can concentrate and things that make me happy?

My view on presidential elections is that people with money and influence will get their way anyway (especially in the US) and whatever presidents is elected will only serve as a puppet for billionaires and conglomerates for issues that matter. Democracy nowadays is essentially an illusion used to tame the masses and distract them from the real economic stakes (which most voters can't understand anyway).

 

[Maciamo]

You do have people who vote Republican because they are small government, fiscal conservatives but social progressives to some extent.

I don't think there is anything like small government in the USA. It's surely the country where government agencies are the best informed about the population and have the most (non-despotic) power over their citizens. As a European I am often amazed at the number of government agencies for everything in the US. There are 16 agencies for intelligence alone! (among which the NSA, CIA and FBI) There is no way Republicans are less inclined to make use of such agencies than Democrats. If anything Republicans are more favourable to tough enforcement of the law, which requires big government. That's one of the great contradictions of the Republican Party. And because the Republicans also have a history of cutting the taxes of big corporations and making the rich richer, they also indirectly favour big government. Big corporations like to have their say in government matters, change the law in their favour, meddle with government agencies in a way that suits them. So the more control government has over its citizens, the more control corporations have too.

 

[Tomenable]

"Republicans hold a 49%-40% lead over the Democrats in leaned party identification among whites. The GOP’s advantage widens to 21 points among white men who have not completed college (54%-33%) and white southerners (55%-34%). The Democrats hold an 80%-11% advantage among blacks, lead by close to three-to-one among Asian Americans (65%-23%) and by more than two-to-one among Hispanics (56%-26%)."

Out of curiosity - what advantage do the Democrats have among black men who have not completed college ???

Greater or smaller than the black average of 80%-11%?

 

[Athiudisc]

I'm voting for either Sanders or Trump. They're largely diametrically-opposed, but my purpose is less to support either of them and more to encourage the fracturing of the current system. They both want to buck the two-party establishment, just in different ways. Ideally, I'd like a more European-style "coalition of parties" form of government. It's not like the current model was either intended or inherent. Historically, I've generally voted for whatever outsider party looks to have the most support (socialist, green, Nazi, communist, People's Martian Irredentist Movement, I don't really care).

If it ends up with the two of them running against each other (which I doubt), I'll simply make some popcorn.

 

[Angela]

Out of curiosity - what advantage do the Democrats have among black men who have not completed college ???

Greater or smaller than the black average of 80%-11%?

I've never looked up the statistics on it. Strictly based on my experience I'd say virtually everyone in that 11% is either in the professional class or they're small business owners. I know a few black lawyers who are Republicans, for example, and two black judges who run on the Republican ticket in the area.

Most Black professionals are Democrats, of course. I think I'd be safe in saying that without exception the members of the black underclass vote Democrat.

I don't know if it's only a coincidence, but all the black Republicans I know are Catholics who came from good homes and went to integrated Roman Catholic schools.

They've spent their lives being called Oreos after the cookies that are black on the outside but have a white cream filling.

@Republicans generally want local control. So, many of them are against national educational directives. They want a lot of authority to remain with local parent run school Boards, and if necessary have the state control certain aspects, not some federal bureaucracy. Same goes with abortion rights, marriage etc. (which has traditionally been a state matter). You have to understand that the U.S. is a republic. The pressures of modern life have required that more and more control be given to federal authorities and laws through very broad interpretations of the Commerce Clause, but "elasticity" only goes so far before you're going against the spirit and meaning of the Constitution.

 

[Maleth]

My sarcastic remark didn't play well here. I was presenting side of electorate who shouldn't care about "hands" size of a president, but about size of his intellect. Obviously from point of view of a president who is a man, possibly a macho man, well even a gay man, it is a different story.

Mine is sarcastic too ........as you say the whole thing is so childish, i believe nothing like we have seen before. I haven't decided if I should be sad or simply entertained :/

 

[Maleth]

Oh!, Now Trump mellows down, and endorsed by Ben Carlson, the saga continuous.........

 

[LeBrok]

Most famous celebrities support Hillary

http://socawlege.com/the-biggest-celebrity-endorsements-for-2016-presidential-candidates/

 

[sparkey]

Trump is dominating our little poll here, I'm surprised. I always hear about how Europeans would only ever vote Democrat.

 

[Maciamo]

Trump is dominating our little poll here, I'm surprised. I always hear about how Europeans would only ever vote Democrat.

Yes, I am surprised too. Not just that so many members voted Republicans, but that the majority chose Trump of all people ! If I had to vote Republican it would be Rubio or Kasich.

 

[Angela]

I don't know of any statistics to back this up, but in my experience a lot of Europeans who come to America and get citizenship become Republicans.

Entrepreneurs, small business owners, are usually Republicans.

There are trends depending on "white ethnic group" as well. Traditionally, when the Irish came to the U.S. they were helped by the Democrat Party bosses in the large cities, while the "natives" were more Republican, unless it was the south.So, perhaps partly for that reason, the Irish skew Democrat although there are a lot of Irish Republicans as well. It's different for Italians. During the 30s, most of them were just starting up the ladder, so they were all Roosevelt supporters. As time has gone on they have increasingly moved right, so that nowadays they tend to skew Republican rather than Democrat. A number of New York suburbs are really bastions for Republicans, a lot of whom are Italian-Americans. I don't think it's a coincidence that two of the most conservative Supreme Court Justices were Italian-Americans: Scalia and Alito. On the other hand you have the Cuomo and Pelosi families who are Democrats

https://books.google.com/books?id=4...q=Party affiliation-Italian Americans&f=false
http://www.gallup.com/poll/160373/democrats-racially-diverse-republicans-mostly-white.aspx

Part of what is fueling Trump is the fact that blue collar workers, many of whom have traditionally been Democrats because of the support of Democrats for the unions, are increasingly restive in the Democrat party. They resent the taxes taken out of their pay for welfare benefits they feel disproportionately go to minorities, they're afraid that Hispanic immigrants are driving down wages, they're against free trade because they're losing jobs to third world countries. They're being lied to, in my opinion...most of those factory jobs are never coming back.

Democrats are racially diverse, while probably 90% of Republicans are white.

There are some other "trends" I've noticed over the years, like the fact that women are often more "liberal" and "Democrat" than men.

 

[LeBrok]

They resent the taxes taken out of their pay for welfare benefits they feel disproportionately go to minorities, they're afraid that Hispanic immigrants are driving down wages, they're against free trade because they're losing jobs to third world countries.

I wouldn't be surprised if most Mexicans vote for Trump. First of all they are religious and conservative/traditional. Second, if Trump blocked the border and stops illegal emigration from Mexico, this will secure jobs for legal Mexicans in US. Their farming jobs, service jobs and labour jobs are on line being taken away by cheaper illegal Mexicans.

They're being lied to, in my opinion...most of those factory jobs are never coming back.

Some factories are already coming back but don't create many workplaces for typical factory line workers. Line automation and robotics are taking over these jobs in America, and actually also in China. These jobs are never coming back, period. Well, not in any substantial volume.

 

[Maciamo]

I wouldn't be surprised if most Mexicans vote for Trump. First of all they are religious and conservative/traditional. Second, if Trump blocked the border and stops illegal emigration from Mexico, this will secure jobs for legal Mexicans in US. Their farming jobs, service jobs and labour jobs are on line being taken away by cheaper illegal Mexicans.

That would be odd. Trump is Presbytarian, not Catholic, while all the other main Republican candidates (Rubio, Cruz, Kasich) are Catholic. Then Trump is probably the least religious of the four. And more importantly Trump says he will send back all Mexicans to Mexico (as unrealistic as that sounds). So I really don't see how that would entice Mexican voters to vote for him.

 

[Angela]

Violent, organized protests forced the cancellation of a Trump rally in Chicago last night.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/11/politics/donald-trump-chicago-protests/

It's sad on so many levels. Violent protests to shut down opposing views are totally abhorrent. On the other hand, Trump isn't blameless. No political candidate should be saying he wants to punch protestors or screaming at them to go get a job. He has created a toxic, uncontrolled environment.

We'll see whether this drives his numbers up or down.

 

[LeBrok]

That would be odd. Trump is Presbytarian, not Catholic, while all the other main Republican candidates (Rubio, Cruz, Kasich) are Catholic. Then Trump is probably the least religious of the four. And more importantly Trump says he will send back all Mexicans to Mexico (as unrealistic as that sounds). So I really don't see how that would entice Mexican voters to vote for him.

It would be mostly grounded in economic base, job security base. Being a christian is a bonus, and also creates a protection against Muslim invasion/immigration or atheist democrat Sanders.

Donald Trump won among Hispanic voters in Nevada, according to entrance polls released from Tuesday night's caucuses, fulfilling an oft-repeated campaign pledge.
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The GOP presidential front-runner, who coasted to an easy victory in the Silver State, won 44 percent of the Hispanic vote, according to MSNBC's entrance polls, topping Marco Rubio's 29 percent and Ted Cruz's 18 percent.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/270547-entrance-poll-trump-wins-with-nevada-hispanics