2016 elections - because it's never too early

[Admiral Yi]

Obstructionism DOES work!

In the case of the economy, it doesn't seem to have hurt.

[CountDeMoney]

Obstructionism DOES work!

In the case of the economy, it doesn't seem to have hurt.

Good for you.

[derspiess]

Yi's portfolio is kicking ass.

[CountDeMoney]

Somebody has to pay for those awesome E*trade baby commercials.

[Admiral Yi]

They've dropped the baby commercials. 

[dps]

I also think that the Establishment GOP aren't very competent.   

This isn't news.  Depending on exactly how you define the Establishment GOP, the only time a candidate from that part of the party won a Presidential election in the last 80 years was in 1988.  (Eisenhower, I'd say, was backed by the GOP Establishment, but he himself wasn't exactly a member of the Establishment.)

You define it differently then I do.  The last time a GOP establishment candidate didn't win the primary was 1980.  And that guy created a new establishment.

That's actually not unreasonable.  As I said, it depends on how you define the GOP Establishment.  Either way, though, Milt Romney is definitely part of it, and he did lose the general election in 2012.

[The Minsky Moment]

If Mitt Romney is the answer, what is the question?

I'm a happily married square and the thought of BDS&M horrifies me.
Yet I am the most prolific binderer of women in America
Who am I?

[The Minsky Moment]

Here's the New Yorker on his "water bottle" moment.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/marco-rubios-water-bottle-moment

Most people have forgotten, but Bill Clinton bombed utterly in a 1988 Convention speech, and at the time, was widely written off as a potential future Presidential candidate . . .

[Sheilbh]

Saw an interview with Marco Rubio on yesterday's Daily Show. For a Republican he sounds quite bright and has a number of good ideas. Any chance of him scoring a nomination?

I saw his speech after he won election in 2010. I initially thought he looked like a good candidate. Since then I'm not so sure.

My view is that he's very much an empty suit. He also just comes across callow.

I read somewhere that all of Romney's 2012 election promises re: the economy (unemployment rate, economic growth, etc) have been fulfilled by now.

Deficit reduction too. Obama's going to go down historically as a very successful President.

Was mostly talking about the primaries, where a one week blunder can easily kill a leading candidate before an important primary. The primaries themselves are lots of fun for an outsider, but ridiculous from a purely democratic point of view. Why stagger them throughout several months? I understand it was necessary in a time without access to mass media, but nowadays candidates can easily send their message across the nation quite easily. Why privilege some states that vote earlier?

I don't the states who do the early primaries should be sacred, but I think the primary system is great. Yeah a blunder one week can kill a leading candidate, but that's politics surely?

The benefit of the primaries is that it allows other candidates to emerge. If they weren't staggered and didn't start with relatively small states then the candidate who starts as the prohibitive favourite with the most money would automatically win. It would've been Giuliani-Clinton in 2008, who knows if Clinton would've won without his 'comeback kid' moment in New Hampshire and all the votes were held with Iowa. It's a way of allowing dark horse candidates to emerge and removing the nomination from the party elite/donors.

Also my understanding is that Iowa and New Hampshire especially are not interested in receiving media messages from across the country. They expect candidates who want their votes to move there

Not you, Sheilbh. 

I'm going to go and ritual suicide now

[jimmy olsen]

There should be 4 or 5 regional primaries which rotate in order, held three weeks apart starting at the beginning of April and ending in early July.

[Eddie Teach]

It would've been Giuliani-Clinton in 2008,

I disagree. Giuliani could not have gotten a majority of delegates, and the non-Giuliani delegates would have banded around someone else.

[Admiral Yi]

Deficit reduction too. Obama's going to go down historically as a very successful President.

What has Obama done to deserve any credit for deficit reduction?

[Maximus]

Here's the New Yorker on his "water bottle" moment.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/marco-rubios-water-bottle-moment

Oh for fuck's sake. This is why we can't have nice things. (Not directed at you, garbon)

[derspiess]

I remember that being a big deal here for a couple days.

[Eddie Teach]

It was pretty funny.