2016 elections - because it's never too early

[derspiess]

Only Hillary people I've seen was a couple of fats annoying people in a Target store.

[jimmy olsen]

Skittles.  By all means, more racism please.

It's kind of breathtaking, really.

He just compared human beings to candy, and did so completely seriously and with zero appreciation at how incredibly..I don't know - inhumane? it is. That doesn't even really begin to describe how horrible such a comparison is...

The man who took that picture comments
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/09/20/donald_trump_jr_skittles_image_taken_without_permission_from_refugee_photographer.html

This was not done with my permission, I don't support his politics and I would never take his money to use it," Mr Kittos told the BBC.

"In 1974, when I was six-years old, I was a refugee from the Turkish occupation of Cyprus so I would never approve the use of this image against refugees."

[Martinus]

I'm glad I have Tim telling me what I see and hear in Ohio from his keyboard in chink land.

[Martinus]

Skittles.  By all means, more racism please.

It's kind of breathtaking, really.

He just compared human beings to candy, and did so completely seriously and with zero appreciation at how incredibly..I don't know - inhumane? it is. That doesn't even really begin to describe how horrible such a comparison is...

Wow, you are really going out of a limb there. If comparing humans to non-humans is beyond the pale for you, you must really have a hard time grasping comedy, poetry or any form of metaphor.

[Legbiter]

Games, bread and circuses, vote Commodus

Jig was up when a plague of Pepes descended on Pharaoh. 

[mongers]

'Good' to see Timmay Taint in full flow, burying the last hope of a Trump defeat. 

[Berkut]

Skittles.  By all means, more racism please.

It's kind of breathtaking, really.

He just compared human beings to candy, and did so completely seriously and with zero appreciation at how incredibly..I don't know - inhumane? it is. That doesn't even really begin to describe how horrible such a comparison is...

Wow, you are really going out of a limb there. If comparing humans to non-humans is beyond the pale for you, you must really have a hard time grasping comedy, poetry or any form of metaphor.

He is making an equivalence between a decision to eat some candy and a decision to leave human beings to die.

I have no problem grasping the metaphor, I am just amazed that him and people like you find it perfectly ok. Well, amazed isn't the word - history shows us that there are a huge number of people like you who very quickly and easily de-humanize the "other" humans. They look the other way while they are rounded up and gassed in their backyard, for example. And they use these "metaphors" as justification for their inaction.

So I suppose you are right that I should not be surprised that you and people like you are fine with comparing people trying to save their lives and the lives of their children to candy.

[jimmy olsen]

'Good' to see Timmay Taint in full flow, burying the last hope of a Trump defeat. 

http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/2016-general-election-trump-vs-clinton

[garbon]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/20/donald-trump-african-american-communities-north-carolina

Trump claims African American communities are in 'worst shape ever'

Fending off several controversies on Tuesday, Donald Trump started another when he proclaimed at a North Carolina rally that "our African American communities are in the worst shape they've ever been ... Ever. Ever. Ever."

The plainly inaccurate statement, which was immediately lambasted on social media for failing to consider the long history of slavery and racial discrimination against African Americans, marked the latest misstep by the Trump campaign as the Republican nominee has struggled to harness the terrorist attacks in New York and New Jersey for his political advantage.

A day after the apprehension of suspected bomber Ahmad Khan Rahami, Trump made his remarks in Kenansville, North Carolina, and repeated familiar themes to crowds at multiple rallies across the swing state.

"Immigration security is national security," he said, and repeatedly read the lyrics of the The Snake, a 1960s soul song about a woman who finds a dying snake and nurses it back to health. The snake then fatally bites her. To Trump, this was a parable about the consequences of the United States taking in refugees.

The Republican nominee went on to describe Clinton as "the vessel for all the global special interests seeking to run our lives" and said that the "failed political establishment" had "vested" in her "all of their money, all of their hopes for another generation of corruption". Trump also argued that the "dishonest media" had "bled this country dry".

But, Trump ran into more controversy when the Washington Post reported that the billionaire converted $258,000 in donations to the Donald Trump Foundation to settle lawsuits against himself. The payments represent an apparent violation of tax laws that could potentially even force the IRS to shut down the Trump Foundation. Trump further stoked controversy by bragging on Tuesday about spending "OPM – other people's money".

"There's nothing wrong with doing things with other people's money," said the nominee when talking about his business career.

His campaign also had to deal with criticism after his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr, compared Syrian refugees with poisoned skittles in a tweet on Monday night. The tweet set off a major firestorm and even the candy maker distanced itself from it with a spokesperson saying: "Skittles are candy. Refugees are people." Trump Jr followed up on Tuesday morning when he shared an article from a far right wing website that claimed, without evidence, that "tens of thousands" of British women have been tortured and raped by gangs "comprised almost exclusively of Muslims".

The firestorm caused by the younger Trump's tweet even forced a response from running mate Mike Pence who told NBC News's Kelly O'Donnell in an interview: "It is remarkable to me to see the level of outrage about a metaphor used by Don Jr, when Hillary Clinton's calling for a 550% increase in the Syrian refugee program."

Trump's comments on Tuesday came against the backdrop of another fatal shooting by police of an unarmed black man, this time in Oklahoma. Video footage released on Monday showed law enforcement in Tulsa fatally shoot Terence Crutcher, 40, as he approached his SUV with his arms raised in the air. The local police chief later acknowledged that no weapon was found either on Crutcher or inside his vehicle.

Pence downplayed the Tulsa shooting on Tuesday, saying that while he supported "a thorough investigation of what took place" there was no institutional bias within law enforcement.

"What I find offensive is when Hillary Clinton and others refer to implicit bias or institutional bias within the ranks of our law enforcement community broadly," Pence told news anchor Brian Williams on MSNBC.

"I'm proud of our law enforcement community, we stand strongly with them," he added.

"Obviously when mistakes are made and tragedy occurs, they should be fully investigated. But enough already of this reference to law enforcement and institutional or implicit bias."

The bulk of public research on the subject provides evidence that black people are more likely to be stopped by police. Young black men were also nine times more likely to be killed by law enforcement than other people, according to data compiled by the Guardian on police killings.

The Republican nominee suffered another potential blow when it was reported that former President George HW Bush would vote for Hillary Clinton in November. Bush apparently told Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the daughter of Robert F Kennedy and former Democratic lieutenant governor of Maryland, that he would be casting his ballot for Clinton. She shared the news in a Facebook post, which the Guardian obtained.

Jim McGrath, a Bush family spokesman, told the Guardian: "The vote President Bush will cast as a private citizen in some 50 days will be just that: a private vote cast in 50 days. He is not commenting on the presidential race in the interim."

Trump's busy day came as Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton stayed off the trail in advance of Monday's presidential debate, the first between the two candidate. Although the former secretary of state did a radio appearance and held a conference call with national security advisors, she held no public events. As a result, Trump jibed on Twitter: "Hillary Clinton is taking the day off again, she needs the rest. Sleep well Hillary – see you at the debate!"

[Razgovory]

Skittles.  By all means, more racism please.

It's kind of breathtaking, really.

He just compared human beings to candy, and did so completely seriously and with zero appreciation at how incredibly..I don't know - inhumane? it is. That doesn't even really begin to describe how horrible such a comparison is...

Wow, you are really going out of a limb there. If comparing humans to non-humans is beyond the pale for you, you must really have a hard time grasping comedy, poetry or any form of metaphor.

Seriously, are you really that dim?

[Phillip V]

FiveThirtyEight is now doing their cool map forecasts for US Senate control. 

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/senate/

[Zanza]

Most of the senate races aren't competitive. California has two candidates from the same party.  It's bad for legitimacy if voters don't have a meaningful choice.

[celedhring]

It seems to me a small minority - the primary voters - have an untold influence in the outcome of the US' political process.

Then again everybody can be a primary voter...

[garbon]

Most of the senate races aren't competitive. California has two candidates from the same party.  It's bad for legitimacy if voters don't have a meaningful choice.

That's not a lack of legitimacy. As noted on that page: "California uses a 'top two' primary system. In its Senate primary, on June 7, the candidates from all parties were listed on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters — both Democrats — are facing each other in the general election on Nov. 8."

So really all that it has done is cut out forcing representation from a party that was not actually competitive enough to have their candidate make it to the top 2.

[Phillip V]

Most of the senate races aren't competitive. California has two candidates from the same party.  It's bad for legitimacy if voters don't have a meaningful choice.

That's not a lack of legitimacy. As noted on that page: "California uses a 'top two' primary system. In its Senate primary, on June 7, the candidates from all parties were listed on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters — both Democrats — are facing each other in the general election on Nov. 8."

So really all that it has done is cut out forcing representation from a party that was not actually competitive enough to have their candidate make it to the top 2.

Which is a good thing.  Voters do not want to have to choose between two extremes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonpartisan_blanket_primary