2016 elections - because it's never too early

[Barrister]

How's the Constitution threatened exactly?

And can someone explain why you guys revere that old thing so much? It's 250 years old.

Serious question. I'm not asking about the legal part of the document, but more as to why it elicits such an emotional response from so many Americans.

It's the law of the land.  Respect for the rule of law is one of the things that distinguishes civilized nations from tin-pot war lord fiefs.

Yeah, but... the law of our land was once called the British North America Act.  I respect it as per the rule of law, but I hardly hold the thing sancrosanct.

[Jacob]

How's the Constitution threatened exactly?

And can someone explain why you guys revere that old thing so much? It's 250 years old.

Serious question. I'm not asking about the legal part of the document, but more as to why it elicits such an emotional response from so many Americans.

The Constitution elicits such an emotional response because it is the foundational agreement upon which the US is built - and I don't mean that in a legal sense, but in the sense of the national mythology. A huge part of the norms of the nation are seen to rest on or derive from the Constitution.

The Constitution is threatened because if Trump wins he will take a shit on all the political norms that makes the US not like Russia.

[Jacob]

Yeah, but... the law of our land was once called the British North America Act.  I respect it as per the rule of law, but I hardly hold the thing sancrosanct.

Yeah, but BNA is not equivalent to the Constitution, not even remotely. It's closer to the monarchy if there were more Canadians who cared about the royals.

But seriously, though, if you don't understand the place the Constitution holds in the US - after years on languish and years of US media coverage - it is highly unlikely that a few more posts are going to get you anywhere closer. Unless, of course, you're being deliberately daft.

[Martinus]

To be honest, I'd much rather have a nation that is built around a myth of a legal document and founding fathers than one worshipping the concept of "ethnic identity".

[Jacob]

To be honest, I'd much rather have a nation that is built around a myth of a legal document and founding fathers than one worshipping the concept of "ethnic identity".

Yup, definitely.

[Zoupa]

But seriously, though, if you don't understand the place the Constitution holds in the US - after years on languish and years of US media coverage - it is highly unlikely that a few more posts are going to get you anywhere closer. Unless, of course, you're being deliberately daft.

I don't know if you're talking to Beeb or I. Of course I understand the place the constitution holds in the US. My question to our american posters is more: are independents and democrats just as rahrah about it, or is it mostly the zomg guns/right to bear arms crowd?

[Jacob]

But seriously, though, if you don't understand the place the Constitution holds in the US - after years on languish and years of US media coverage - it is highly unlikely that a few more posts are going to get you anywhere closer. Unless, of course, you're being deliberately daft.

I don't know if you're talking to Beeb or I. Of course I understand the place the constitution holds in the US. My question to our american posters is more: are independents and democrats just as rahrah about it, or is it mostly the zomg guns/right to bear arms crowd?

That was at Beeb. Comparing the Constitution to the British North America act is pretty insipid when the discussion is about the significance the Constitution holds in the minds of Americans.

[Martinus]

But seriously, though, if you don't understand the place the Constitution holds in the US - after years on languish and years of US media coverage - it is highly unlikely that a few more posts are going to get you anywhere closer. Unless, of course, you're being deliberately daft.

I don't know if you're talking to Beeb or I. Of course I understand the place the constitution holds in the US. My question to our american posters is more: are independents and democrats just as rahrah about it, or is it mostly the zomg guns/right to bear arms crowd?

I think, broadly speaking, everybody focuses on different parts - right wingers more on the second amendment, liberals more on the first etc.

Incidentally, that's why I think the progressive ("regressive") left is such a threat to the American political system - because they seem to be the only group that does not appear to like any part of the US constitution.

[jimmy olsen]

Lol. Trump has no ground game. This campaign is a scam as big as his buisnesses, he's going to lose by a larger margin than the polls indicate and he's going to whine about it like a bitch.

https://medium.com/@scottshapiro34/i-went-undercover-into-the-trump-campaign-and-couldnt-believe-what-i-found-5472a2f30b47#.icek84cht

Scott David ShapiroFollow
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yesterday·8 min read
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I WENT UNDERCOVER INTO THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN... AND COULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT I FOUND

"Be careful."

"You're insane."

"Wear a grenade around your neck. Don't let 'em take you alive!"

These were there the texts I received right before I embarked on the most dangerous mission I could possibly imagine... going undercover into Donald Trump's Presidential campaign.

Now, you're probably thinking why the hell would I do this? Well, as one of my friends clearly noted above... I am clearly insane. But more importantly, I was bound and determined to find out if Donald Trump's "Big League" ground game was just as much a fraud as his many failed businesses.

My call to action started when Trump became the presumptive Republican Nominee for President back in early May. He boasted that he would change the electoral map. And as he promised to open up offices in EVERY state as part of a nationwide campaign unlike anything anyone's ever seen, I was determined to witness this extinction-level event with my own eyes.

I signed up for Trump texts, continually googled "Trump opens up offices in..." and probably gave myself permanent brain damage reading The Art of The Deal and Crippled America as I impatiently waited for his ground game to begin. Yet, as the summer months passed, despite seeing the massive rallies on every news channel, locating an actual Trump Victory Office was like playing a game of "Where's Waldo?"

Then, in late August, I FINALLY found the perfect place to begin this suicide mission... Mesa, Arizona. As a born and bred Phoenician, this couldn't be more ideal. So, on Sept. 9th, I deleted my Facebook page, packed my bags and set out to board the Trump Train. But becoming deplorable wasn't that easy.

I had the address in Mesa, but I wanted a little more info on the office before I showed up. There was just one little problem... I couldn't find a phone number for it anywhere on the internet. But when I called the AZ GOP headquarters, they told they didn't have it either. Come again?

"Apparently, everything is on cell-phones these days."

"Okay... well, could you give me a cell-phone number?"

"No."

If that seemed strange, it had nothing on what happened next.

Cowed, but not beaten, the next day, I set out to the office anyway. But when I arrived at 1234 S. Power Road, I found a large office complex... with no cars in the parking lot. This struck me as odd considering the office was supposed to be open 7 days a week. But I pressed on, finding myself standing in front of Suite 251.

This was supposed to be the Trump Victory Office, but I stood there confused as there was nothing on door indicating it as such. Then, I peered through the half-drawn blinds, noticing a ceiling fan was spinning inside. So, I took a deep breath, reached for the handle and opened the door... walking right into a COMPLETELY EMPTY ROOM. WTF?

I walked through another empty room, calling out to see if anyone was there... and much to my surprise, that call was answered by a voice I followed to the back of the office. There I found a Young Man in his mid-20's, sitting behind a folding table, his computer in front of him, crossing names off a list. We must have looked at each other like we were alien species, neither of us saying a word.

Finally, I broke what felt like an eternity of silence.

"Is this the Trump Victory office?"

The Man looked at me for a moment.

"No."

"Oh."

More uncomfortable silence. With a lump now firmly lodged in my throat, I told him that the AZ GOP Headquarters gave me this address. The Man furrowed his brow.

"Do you have a contact name?"

"Um... no."

"I think you're in the wrong place."

My heart and mind were racing. Was I really in the wrong place? If I had said Eva Braun sent me, would he have pressed a button, opening up a secret door leading me to the actual campaign? I didn't know the answers to those questions, but it definitely felt like time to get the hell out dodge.

Swing and a miss... Strike one!

Once I got back to my parents house, I googled "Trump opens offices in..." again and BOOM! One just opened in Long Beach! That was only 30 minutes from where I lived, so I re-packed my bags and headed back to California, setting my sights on the LBC.

So, on Sept. 13th, I arrived at the Cambodian Cultural Center. Weird... but par for the course at this point. I walked inside to see two massive Trump/Pence signs hanging from the second floor. Promising! I passed an empty conference room... a couple of Make America Great Again signs adorning the window... looking for office 201-C... which I soon realized was deep down a darkened hallway.

I stared into the abyss for a moment, then took the plunge, arriving at a door with a Trump sign on it. I knocked once. Then again. No answer. I stood there in the dark a moment, now starting to wonder if this was all some sort of elaborate trap and with my skin now crawling off my bones, it was time to abort once again.

My paranoia/level of frustration only rose the next day when I opened the LA times to read an article all about the Long Beach office! How... wha? I was furious, but now more determined then ever to go back.

But when I did, there was no "big-league" ground game to be found. This office was strictly the minors. Neither of the tiny, two staff operation had ever run a campaign office before. And it showed... they were selling yard signs for 25 bucks a pop when they should be given out for free for fuck's sake!

I told them I had previous campaign experience, and they practically rolled out the red carpet for me. Completely unvetted, they placed me at the front desk, where I sat by my lonesome for an hour until an older Woman told me they were currently looking for volunteers who would be on a three person Republican panel to debate the debate with their Democrat counterparts.

"Do you want to be on our panel?" she excitedly asked.

This woman didn't even know my name. How desperate were they down here?!

Over the next two weeks, I volunteered part-time, strategically showing up at different hours to get an overall lay of the land. But as I sat in the office, hour after hour... day after day... I couldn't help but think for all the deplorable bluster I heard from the few people who did show up, there still weren't many boots on the ground.

Striiiiiiike two!

Then I got the text that I had been waiting for ALL summer. My friend in Tampa told me that Trump was FINALLY opening offices all across Florida. And just like that, I was on my way to "The Big Leagues!"

Right before I boarded my flight to swingiest of all swing-states, I received a call from my Mom. Her voice shook a bit as she implored me to be safe... and she wasn't the only one a little on edge. Conducting this experiment close to home and family, where I knew I had safe havens and escapes routes if I blew my cover was one thing. Doing this in the deep south and the craziest state in our country was another.

But when I arrived at the Trump Victory South Tampa office, I realized there was nothing to fear but fear itself. Unbelievably, this office had even less going on in it then freaking Long Beach! Sure, there were more staff members, but volunteers were few and far between.

Over the course of the next week, I worked an average of 5 hours per day, making calls trying to get people to come in to the phone bank or going door to door with walk-lists. But the overwhelming majority of the time I was on my own, only sporadically joined by one or two volunteers, each of whom always had a new conspiracy theory up their sleeve.

One man chastised a caller who thought Hillary should be shot. She didn't deserve death... but she definitely belonged in prison! They were even starting to eat their own as one gentlemen floated the idea that even if Trump won, Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell were already planning to impeach him. And if that happened, then the only recourse Trump would have would be to use the military against his own party.

Day after day, the excuses for the lack of bodies started to pile up, ranging from Republicans were too busy because they had JOBS to Hurricane Matthew's imminent arrival. But the hurricane came and went with nary a raindrop in Tampa. And then... the infamous Access Hollywood tape dropped.

The office now came to a complete halt. Only now, college football and the great weather were to blame for lack of turnout, not the fact that, well, you know... Trump was just caught admitting that he had sexually assaulted God knows how many women!

Yet, on my last night in Tampa, I attended the 2nd Debate Viewing Party at The Hideaway... and support was ROBUST. Where the hell were all these people during the week? And I wasn't the only one asking that question. As the debate ended, two staff members even scolded them for their lack of support.

"Don't say you're gonna do it and don't do it. It can't be left up to a few people. Everyone's got to do their part!"

The following day, I said my goodbyes to the staff, but not before peeking inside an empty phone bank to see those calls for support were still going unanswered. And it was clear to me now... these people cared more about the reality show Trump had created, then the reality of the campaign itself.

Striiiiiiike three... Trump's "Big League" ground game was out! And so was I.

Does all this necessarily mean that Trump is doomed? In a year where he's already rewritten the history books, anything's possible. And as we get closer to Election Day... maybe Trump supporters start knocking on doors, making those phone calls and registering fellow Deplorables to vote.

But right now, they're just like the man they worship. All talk. No action.

And for the sake of our country, I can only hope it stays that way.

[garbon]

What a shitty intro.

[Monoriu]

If Trump becomes president, he'll fire everybody working inside the Pentagon, and rely on cardboard soldiers and aircraft carriers to bluff his way to victory.  While collecting protection fees from Japan, South Korea etc. 

[celedhring]

The best takeaway from this debate is that I can't wait for Baldwin's rendition of "such a nasty woman".

[Zanza]

Incidentally, that's why I think the progressive ("regressive") left is such a threat to the American political system - because they seem to be the only group that does not appear to like any part of the US constitution.

14th Amendment

[garbon]

Incidentally, that's why I think the progressive ("regressive") left is such a threat to the American political system - because they seem to be the only group that does not appear to like any part of the US constitution.

14th Amendment

And the 1st which isn't only about free speech.
Also easily the 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 13th, 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th. And that's just the amendments.

Oh, it was Marti just speaking out of his ass.

[Liep]

Clearly rigged

https://www.rt.com/politics/363478-united-states-bars-russian-monitors/