Life is good. Company is fledgling but strongly positioned to succeed. The biggest thing I'm struggling with right now is whom to vote for. MI's primary is tomorrow. I've decided I'm not voting for Clinton, but that's all I know. Nothing against Clinton. She'll make a good president, but I'll have a chance to vote for her in November. So I'm left to choose between the angel and demon perched on either shoulder. The angel is telling me to vote for Bernie. I fully expect Clinton to win, but I think that the more Sanders voters there are, the more seriously she may consider their aims. So a vote for Sanders isn't a wasted vote by any means. Then there's the devil on my other shoulder who really wants to keep the GOP spectacle going for as long as possible. A vote for Trump or Cruz would entertain me to a great extent. I fully expect the GOP to implode and just give the fall election away in hopes of protecting the Senate, and anything I can do to help them in that direction I would gladly do. I don't want Kasich to win here, because that will bring the "serious men" out to the fore once again. I like the ridiculousness of Trump and Cruz, because they're the true ugly face of the GOP that has been hiding in plain sight for 30 odd years. Tough call, but I'm leaning toward Sanders at the moment. I truly won't know, however, until tomorrow when they ask me if I want a Dem or GOP ballot and I have no choice but to answer.
My neighbor had the same dilemma regarding who to vote for. I'll tell you what I told her, vote for the person you would most like to be President. Period. Quit fucking around.
Yeah, that's kind of how I am leaning. I have strategically voted in the past, but never felt that great about it. I'd feel awful if Trump was our president and I played a part in it. I'll most likely vote for Hillary or Bernie. Not sure which yet. I expect that the Dem Primary will be pretty much over in 9 days, and that Hillary will come out on top. Maybe I'll vote for Bernie for pulling the conversation to the left, and for his integrity.
...for Hillary. I was undecided until I stepped up to the booth. I settled on voting for the first woman President. I feel that she is more than qualified, and can effectively run the country. Hillary is a political opportunist, but that is not my greatest concern at this point in time. I want the country to move to the left, but I do not want to attempt a hard left to get there, as I believe that will backfire in the long run. IMO there are demographic and socioeconomic shifts that will bring the US to the to the left, and in the end, it doesn't have much to do with who decides to run. Most important to me right now, is executive competence, a more liberal Supreme Court, and a US where a woman has been President. I have yet to be able to vote for a President that I am completely satisfied with. I also do not buy that Bernie stands the best chance of winning against Trump. Sanders is a man of integrity, and his challenge has been a very positive thing. If he were younger, perhaps he could win the Presidency in 2024.
I ended up casting for Sanders. I like Clinton, but I want her to get the message that a lot of people are uncomfortable with her financial industry coziness. I have no problem voting fro her in the general, but I like the rabble rousing of Sanders, even if I don't agree with some of his policy proposals.
I actually think he stands a much better chance than Hillary. Donald Trump thrives on personal attacks. There is so much more there to attack with Hillary. One of the biggest advantages of integrity is that you don't have to defend yourself as much. Hilary has a lot to defend and he will come at her with everything she has ever, ever done. There's a lot there.I also do not buy that Bernie stands the best chance of winning against Trump.
I watched her on the Benghazi hearings. Say what you will about HRC, but she was fucking impressive. Completely unfazed under pressure and attack, prepared, and hard as nails. Made her most antagonistic questioners look like fools to boot. I honestly think Trump will come after her and will find that she reveals his attacks as toothless while using them to underscore just how incompetent he would be as POTUS. I seriously think she will Judo him and use his attacks against him without him even knowing it. He has more to defend than Hillary does by a loooooooot as well. The x factor is the disgruntled indies and blue dogs though. Trump could seriously have some sway with certain blocs that swing elections. No matter what though I think Sanders would get annihilated by Trump and the right. The center isn't quite ready to elect a self-avowed socialist yet, and no, putting the word "democratic" in front of it isn't going to help. Americans don't do nuance.
"I own her. Literally. Look it up, I bought her and her husband as decorations at my wedding. Great wedding by the way, it was HUGE."
Exactly. Arguably just as bad, what kind of person is resigned to be decor for $? Our options are gonna suck.
I think it will be much easier for Trump to ridicule Bernie and to get under his skin. A lot of people see Trump as a successful businessman, and I think he can paint Bernie's anti-corporatism as naive. I agree with b_b that Hillary is very experienced when it comes to defending against personal attacks, and that Trump really risks it backfiring on him as he is clearly a misogynist.
I had told my father, who is a rabid (is there any other kind) Trump supporter that I was going to strategically vote for Trump in the primary because I wanted the Republicans to get decimated in the general if he won. He was gleeful and didn't care that my reasoning was cynical from his point of view. But the more Trump opened his mouth, the less I could entertain this even as what I viewed to be a strategic play to help ensure Republican defeat. Between his stated desire to assassinate innocent men, women, and children (family members of "terrorists") and the fact that he couldn't bring himself to denounce the Ku Klux Klan without "looking into it more" it all just became too much. I could never have my name attached to a vote for someone like him, under any scenario. Just couldn't physically do it. It is actually a bit tougher than it seems between Clinton and Sanders because I do believe that Trump is mostly likely to win the GOP nom, and a Sanders nom will just throw it to Trump effortlessly in the general. I don't think Sanders has a great chance of winning, but it's playing with fire to some degree. Mostly, first past the post voting is a fucking stupid system.Then there's the devil on my other shoulder who really wants to keep the GOP spectacle going for as long as possible.
Appealing to one's own baser instincts is always seductive. That's what makes Trump popular in the first place. I know that, so I'm very hesitant to acquiesce to the Dark Side. But the feeling is there, nonetheless. I think I can resist the urge. I've also considered sitting this one out. That's still a viable option for me at this point.
I've had a secret belief for a while now that the left is in for a nasty little surprise should Trump be the GOP nominee in the general. These are all positions Trump has publicly taken in the GOP primary: 1) He thinks the rich should pay more in taxes. 2) Wants to erect massive barriers to free trade (including placing a 45% tax on ever single item large or small that China exports to the US). 3) Wants to restrict American capital access to overseas labor markets and force American companies to on-shore their manufacturing. Those are all populist/leftist positions. That's straight out of an anti-NAFTA, anti-WTO leftie wishlist. Bernie Sanders has said these things. It's besides the point that for any given thing he's said, he's said the opposite only days before. The GOP primary has clearly demonstrated that that fact doesn't actually matter for a significant number of voters. You already saw in Trump's victory speech on Super Tuesday his softening of tone and pivoting towards the center. Watch as this drags on as he continues that pivot and goes after angry and disgruntled independents and blue dog dems in the rust belt and elsewhere. He's been telling pissed off people whatever the fuck they want to hear for months now, just tweaking it for the particular group of angries he happens to be talking to that day. He'll be tweaking for the blue collar left next. Mark my words, there is a strong possibility that there will be a lot of people on the Left horrified at at how many of their own perceived voters he peels off. A lot of us, including me, have been pretty glib and mocking of someone that really deserves more serious consideration than we've given him. We imagine ourselves as a group, as a sort of saintly firewall. I think we could find that we've been egotistical and condescending to the point of peril if we don't watch it.
And remember that Trump supports Planned Parenthood, supported benefits to gay couples (after he saw the writing on the wall but still) and is against the trade deals. My big fear is that Clinton vs trump will hinge on turnout. Many Bernie supporters will say "screw it" and stay home. But the Evangelicals out here FROTHING AT THE MOUTH hate Trump. My county in the caucus went to Cruz. And some of those people I work will will not vote for Trump because he is a "godless sodomite." It's going to be weird. Trump's friends concern me and whatever court picks he chooses will almost certainly piss me off. Clinton? Not sure. Bill took Kentucky twice by a good margin, so Hillary might carry some of that institutional memory into November assuming she does not fall ill or get indicted or have anything weird happen. The Republican Convention is going to be Awesome to watch as an outsider, and you bet I am going to be watching that go down live this summer.
Exactly. He does support them: http://dailysignal.com/2015/08/12/donald-trump-defends-planned-parenthood-calls-abortions-small-part-of-what-they-do/ But remember, he also thinks they are terrible, doesn't support them, and wants them defunded! http://www.lifenews.com/2015/10/19/donald-trump-planned-parenthood-should-absolutely-be-de-funded/ And he'll support whatever else he needs to for the crowd he's in front of that day. He's a mirror. All you have to do to look into it is feel angry and disenfranchised. And he's tilting towards the center left in direct proportion to how locked-up he feels he's got the GOP primary.And remember that Trump supports Planned Parenthood, supported benefits to gay couples (after he saw the writing on the wall but still) and is against the trade deals.
Anecdata: I've been hearing die-hard movement conservatives talking about not bothering to vote if Trump gets the nomination. I'm used to hearing that from people on the left, who have had to pick the lesser evil as long as I've been alive, but it's really weird to see from conservatives.
If I could bet money, I'd bet that the GOP falls in line lock-step behind Trump if he grabs it, outside of a handful of Conservative thinkers in the media. And the scant few that refrain will be outnumbered by the number of new energized voters he adds to the rolls. And I think that the problem is that there simply aren't many die hard movement conservatives in existence. I'm talking the philosophy of conservatism here. The GOP has spent so many years courting angry social conservatives (I consider a different beast entirely), and a general anger and hostility at all things government in any way shape or form that the voters they actually have in the greatest numbers aren't actually aligned (in the aggregate) with serious conservative intellectual thought. It's more nihilistic and xenophobic than principled and considered.
They said the same thing about McCain and Romney as well. Romney got a ton of hate out here and that reduced turnout among the Republicans. Remember ObamaCare is Romney's Massachusetts health insurance plan taken nationally, and many conservatives held him responsible. When politics comes up out here, I sit back, get quiet and casually munch on the popcorn.