Election 2016

[Maxus]

Honestly, at this point the GOP might want to look at reforming the debates as some sort of elimination system.

I vote they go with Thunderdome.

Introduce the Wheel for egregiously broken campaign promises. Making an effort and getting blocked is okay. Disavowing it is not.

[Prak]

Honestly, at this point the GOP might want to look at reforming the debates as some sort of elimination system.

I vote they go with Thunderdome.

Too Australian.

[erik]

At least there's some good coming from the various debates.

[Prak]

So I guess Jeb! Is railing for a debate moderated by "Sean Hannity, Mark Levine and Rush Limbaugh." The voice on NPR thinks that sounds entertaining, I think that sounds horrifying. But could it be a good thing to create that kind of crazed echo chamber?

[Ancient History]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/30/opini ... fters.html

[Kaelik]

The end of that article makes no sense.

The point is that we shouldn’t ask whether the G.O.P. will eventually nominate someone in the habit of saying things that are demonstrably untrue, and counting on political loyalists not to notice. The only question is what kind of scam it will be.

Eventually? When was the last time a Republican candidate for president wasn't in the habit of saying demonstrably untrue things and counting on political loyalists?

[angelfromanotherpin]

Ford, maybe?

[TiaC]

The end of that article makes no sense.

The point is that we shouldn’t ask whether the G.O.P. will eventually nominate someone in the habit of saying things that are demonstrably untrue, and counting on political loyalists not to notice. The only question is what kind of scam it will be.

Eventually? When was the last time a Republican candidate for president wasn't in the habit of saying demonstrably untrue things and counting on political loyalists?

I think the point is that it doesn't look like the GOP will nominate anyone soon. He's still referring to this election, but this primary deserves an "eventually"

[Grek]

Yeah, I read that as "When they eventually nominate someone, that someone is going to be a liar. We just don't know which lie they're going to go with yet."

[Ancient History]

Well, it's a way of saying that dishonesty has become endemic to the GOP - which is superweird in part because the voters themselves tend to see (or like to see) GOP candidates as bluff and honest, while villainizing Democratic candidates (like Hilary Clinton) as untrustworthy or outright liars.

And it's not just cognitive dissonance at play; you've got pundits that know things don't add up but excuse their actions...because they're Republicans. It's not just affinity fraud, it's epistemic closure - people who support GOP candidates do so by hearing what they want to hear and rejecting everything else. GOP rhetoric supports this by villainizing any perceived threat - in extremes, you get people like Ann Coulter who make a career off of saying horrible shit that insults vast swathes of people, but plays to the (mostly) unspoken prejudices of many conservatives. In the most extreme cases, they might even believe their own bullshit, but it's honestly hard to tell where the true believer ends and the cynical but pragmatic shyster begins, because the methods and the message are the same.

The Republicans have effectively weaponized Poe's Law.

And the thing is, it's a recognizable trap. It's one that I, as at least a nominal independent, don't want to fall into. So I have to check myself from outright dismissing every claim about Hilary Clinton or Ben Carson, to seek out multiple sources and multiple points of view (and, if possible, the facts). Because there is media bias - just not the kind of "liberal media" conspiracy theory that the GOP talk radio types like to get their rant on about.

[Josh_Kablack]

There's another layer to it. To some degree all politicians are seen as liars. And since everyone is lying, there is no difference between them. Furthermore, to call out one side without calling out the other side is seen as bias and taints the voters' opinion of the media or moderator doing so.

And in such an environment, Big Lie tactics are a winning strategy.

But lying about who your mother named you after is just massively different than lying about how you think it would be a good idea for the US to re-institute the gold-standard.

[Prak]

Apparently One Nation hasn't said anything completely true his entire campaign

[Ancient History]

http://news.yahoo.com/frustrated-republ ... ction.html

In an ironic twist, GOP candidates learn the value of collective bargaining.

[MGuy]

So according to multiple posts on my facebook there are a bunch of KKK members in congress.

[Prak]

Yeah. Apparently Anonymous was planning a November 5 announcement, so there's some contention as to whether the list put up on pastebin is the actual list or fake. But the thing with Anonymous is that there isn't really an official head or outlet or anything, is there? So maybe it is and other people who consider themselves to be part of Anonymous are grousing over particulars, and maybe it isn't and fuck if I know or care. A few days isn't going to make a huge difference, and if the klan members in congress have any sort of reasoning ability (a big if, I know) they're sure as hell not going to be putting on the sheet over the next few days when there's been this scare for them. And if they do as some kind of dumb "well, now's my fucking chance, while people are arguing!" then maybe we catch them at an actual cross burning, or whatever the fuck klansmen do these days, and they can't deny shit.

[Lago PARANOIA]

Does the Democratic Party have any plan to engage less hardy voters and to recruit more activists other than relentless scolding and tut-tuting?

I see people whine all of the fucking time about how people are lazy and need to attend council meetings and care more about local politics, but this discussion never includes a course of action that involves actually motivating people to do these things -- unless you count nagging and scolding as motivating, which I certainly don't.

Seriously, what is the plan? Why can't these committed and plugged-in activists think of a plan that isn't some shade of 'well, I'M all engaged in the electoral process, so why aren't you? Scold scold scold'?

[Korwin]

I see people whine all of the fucking time about how people are lazy and need to attend council meetings and care more about local politics, but this discussion never includes a course of action that involves actually motivating people to do these things -- unless you count nagging and scolding as motivating, which I certainly don't.

Why would they want to motivate others to join council meetings?
Or asked another way: What are their motivations to bring others into council meetings? Is there a chance that the new (hypothetical) people would cause problems for them?

Am I too cynical?

[Ancient History]

Does the Democratic Party have any plan to engage less hardy voters and to recruit more activists other than relentless scolding and tut-tuting?

Hard to say. Obama built a substantial organization during his electoral campaigns aimed primarily at getting more young people to vote - which worked - but I haven't really seen any equivalent efforts at the national level to rally support for state-level elections. Part of the reason, I think, is that losing demographics and gerrymandering go hand-in-hand: a lot of Democratic congresspeople are as secure in their districts from GOP challenges as GOP congresspeople are from Democratic challenges. In the long run, that's a losing strategy for the GOP, because their red districts are going to grow old, die, and turn purple as new people move in. But it could take a generation to see the effects of the population turning more liberal.

[RobbyPants]

-- unless you count nagging and scolding as motivating, which I certainly don't.

Seriously, what is the plan? Why can't these committed and plugged-in activists think of a plan that isn't some shade of 'well, I'M all engaged in the electoral process, so why aren't you? Scold scold scold'?

If you're counting out nagging, scolding, and touting yourself as an example, what's left?

Are you looking for some type of direct incentive, or a big, nation-wide media push for the importance of civil engagement (which could just be broad-scale nagging)?

Edit - related side note: My brother in law was running for city council and lost yesterday. I wasn't too surprised, but what did surprise me was the incumbent mayor being outed and another charismatic councilor losing to someone who seemed out-gunned. Apparently, the election had turned into a referendum based on LGBT protections and everyone that won was running against adding LGBT as a protected class for discrimination in housing and jobs. I found out the woman who became mayor had three times the funding, primarily provided by one rich family in the city.

If you would have listened to the murmuring in the crowd at the local debate last month, you would have expected the exact opposite outcome.

[Eikre]

Oh, fuck's sake... Yesterday was elections, how the fuck did I not remember that? How the fuck did nobody remind me of that? If I caught sight of just one "I voted" sticker or a Google doodle or anything I woulda been at the elementary school in a goddamned flash.

[Shrapnel]

Here in Boston, there was an election for City Council that only had a ~5% voter turn-out because most people forgot there was an election that day.

[RadiantPhoenix]

Reminder: general elections are generally on the first Tuesday in November.

My ballot had 14 candidates running for 12 offices under about 7 parties. And one yes/no referendum.

Such choice!

[angelfromanotherpin]

One more reason Election Day should be a national holiday: It would be automarked on all your calendars, physical and electronic.

[Shrapnel]

Reminder: general elections are generally on the first Tuesday in November.

My ballot had 14 candidates running for 12 offices under about 7 parties. And one yes/no referendum.

Such choice!

Ours was just for four City Council seats, with five people running. No other offices, no questions, referendums, nada.

I tell you, working that election was not the most exciting day in my life.

[Josh_Kablack]

Bah, our election here in PA was exciting enough to have a crime.

Also, the Democrats swept the 3 seats (of 7 total) up for grabs in the PA Supreme Court, so with Wolf still Governer, it's possible that the legislative gerrymandering may come to an end in the next few years.