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Do you know what amazes me about America and American politics? They've actively destroyed themselves by pursuing neo liberal politics, destroyed themselves socially, economically and militarily, and yet the right wing achieves popularity and success by promising to 'make America great again'. It's like Fred West trying to sell you patio furniture.  

 

Yes, who will take these long columns of refugees fleeing from the economic, social and military ruin of America? 

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Yeah that's right I think, but if you win states then you get delegates so by the time the other candidates are winnowed down Trump might have already won enough.

 

But not all states have winner take all delegates rule, its proportional in some. Also, can you give your delegates if you are dropping out to a candidate you publicly endorse?

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But not all states have winner take all delegates rule, its proportional in some. Also, can you give your delegates if you are dropping out to a candidate you publicly endorse?

Not officially I don't think, but they will more likely vote how you recommend at the convention if it goes to a contest there.

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Be interesting to see how it plays out, but the Clintons definitely seem worried, since their campaign can now be summed up as attack Bernie rather than discuss what her policies are. I would say Sanders is gathering a LOT of momentum right now, just like a certain unknown black politician in 2008 who won against Clinton when the serious political pundits were saying he couldn't for many of the same reasons.

 

One thing is clear from this election so far; whatever the establishment want they are fighting a massive groundswell of anti-establishment feeling right now.

 

Obama was and always has been establishment. He was bought and paid for, Sanders isn't.

 

If Sanders gets near the Presidency, expect him to have some sort of 'accident'. I have a tenner on a 'fall down the stairs.'

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Sanders has made his living as a Pol for his whole life - 25 years in the Senate, Mayor before that.

 

He has always leaned towards independent/third option but that may be down to success.

 

Stu can clue you in on his history at Univ of Chicago. 

 

In summary he has made a career as the fringe alternative.

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Surely for the vast majority of TLWers a Trump nomination is a good thing?

 

I mean, most of us are of a moderate-liberal to hard-left bent, and the one thing a Trump nomination absolutely guarantees is that the Republicans will not take the White House.  In fact, there will be enough people who hate Trump that the Dems will win huge in the Congressional races as well.  It won't even matter if it's Bernie (which it won't be).  Rubio with Kasich as VP (Florida and Ohio sewn up) would likely beat Hillary to the presidency, and that combo would absolutely thrash Sanders in the general if it came to that.

 

But if Trump is nominated the Republicans are going down hard.  Sure, the crazy 1/3rd of the Republican party loves Trump, but his negatives are off the charts even in his own party.  He would have a hard time getting 10% of the independent vote, and he's not going to get a single Democrat voter to switch sides.  It is almost impossible for a major-party candidate to get less than 40% of the total these days, since 40% of the population absolutely despises the Republicans and 40% despise the Democats, but I'd be wiling to bet that Trump wouldn't get 35%.  Even if it was against Sanders.

 

I still can't believe that Kasich, Bush, Christie and Rubio didn't get together in a dark room somewhere with the money people behind the party forcing all of them to withdraw but one.  Boggles the mind that they're going to let the Donald destroy their chances of doing anything at all for the next 4 years, with a Congress and a White House against them.  

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Obama was and always has been establishment. He was bought and paid for, Sanders isn't.

 

If Sanders gets near the Presidency, expect him to have some sort of 'accident'. I have a tenner on a 'fall down the stairs.'

 

I remember folk saying that Obama would be assassinated, and before that, Mandela.

 

It just doesn't happen.

 

Also, am I the only person who doesn't think that Trump is especially worse than almost all of the other Republican candidates anyway? They are pretty much all rogues with vile opinions. I find it hard to get onto the Trump demonisation bandwagon.

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Isn't Sanders outspending Hillary now? Admittedly, he is getting a lot of small donations, but he is a US Senator, hardly some  Communist guerrilla.

 

All of Sanders fundraising has been from small individual donors (average contribution of around $30), whereas Clinton's comes from the banks and the big corps, so it's not so much what he spends as the fact he hasn't been bought.

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Surely for the vast majority of TLWers a Trump nomination is a good thing?

 

I mean, most of us are of a moderate-liberal to hard-left bent, and the one thing a Trump nomination absolutely guarantees is that the Republicans will not take the White House.  In fact, there will be enough people who hate Trump that the Dems will win huge in the Congressional races as well.  It won't even matter if it's Bernie (which it won't be).  Rubio with Kasich as VP (Florida and Ohio sewn up) would likely beat Hillary to the presidency, and that combo would absolutely thrash Sanders in the general if it came to that.

 

But if Trump is nominated the Republicans are going down hard.  Sure, the crazy 1/3rd of the Republican party loves Trump, but his negatives are off the charts even in his own party.  He would have a hard time getting 10% of the independent vote, and he's not going to get a single Democrat voter to switch sides.  It is almost impossible for a major-party candidate to get less than 40% of the total these days, since 40% of the population absolutely despises the Republicans and 40% despise the Democats, but I'd be wiling to bet that Trump wouldn't get 35%.  Even if it was against Sanders.

 

I still can't believe that Kasich, Bush, Christie and Rubio didn't get together in a dark room somewhere with the money people behind the party forcing all of them to withdraw but one.  Boggles the mind that they're going to let the Donald destroy their chances of doing anything at all for the next 4 years, with a Congress and a White House against them.  

 

A lot of his stated policies are openly and unashamedly fascist. The thought of him even getting one primary scares the shit out of me.

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I still think Trump is on a legendary wind up.

 

I can't find it right now, but there was an article from either his 2008 or his 2012 presidential run where some reporter was embedded into his campaign.  It was absolutely hilarious, wish I could track down a link.  Might have been in The Atlantic or Rolling Stone, something like that.

 

Anyway, apparently it was completely and transparently a bid for attention, mostly to the benefit of Trump's resorts and hotels.  Like, he knew there was no chance at all of being taken seriously and he was just saying outlandish things so the press would cover him.  It was essentially free advertising for the Trump "brand."  And everyone knew it and the reporter just sort of gradually pieced it together over the time he was there.

 

I think this campaign started out the same, Donald probably assumed he would be a non-factor by June of last year so he entered and started saying even more outlandish things than ever before, as he needed to in order to get attention.  And lo and behold, it turns out that about a quarter of the Republican party are straight-up fascists, which everyone pretty much knew already but no one wanted to talk about, ESPECIALLY the non-fascist Republicans.  

 

So this time, when he went really left field to try to promote his brand, and started saying things about all Mexicans being rapists and mocking a handicapped reporter and the like, those people rallied around him for the first time.  And I think what's happened now is that he's gradually started to believe his own shtick, like "Yeah, the people really DO want me to 'make America great' so I should be president for real!"  Like, before it was just a publicity stunt and a fantasy, but he really thinks he'd make a good president and so somewhere around August or so he started taking it seriously.

 

He just saying what all Republicans think

 

This is definitely not true.  I know we all want to think that Republicans are horrific and distasteful, because they disagree with us and that's part of human nature, but I have some close family members on my wife's side who always vote R and they are absolutely horrified at what Trump has been saying and doing.  And I'm talking about hard-core conservatives, the kind of people who genuinely think that America is the best country in the world and that everyone should have more guns, what have you.  

 

The church-going evangelical wing of the Republican party is completely and totally embarrassed by Trump, the fiscal conservative bowtie-wearing think tank fellows are completely and totally embarrassed by him, while the hillbilly "yeehaw, I's a Christian but I ain't go to church 'cuz it messes with my football and Budweiser-drinkin time" folks, which is apparently a bigger part of the party than the first two groups would like to admit, love him.

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I found that article.  It's hilarious, in a kind of scary way, how he's so clearly just doing it all for the publicity with no intention of actually running ... until after this article takes place, when his rhetoric goes off-the-scale-crazy and he gets so much attention it turns a fake presidential campaign into a real one.

 

36 Hours on the Fake Campaign Trail with Donald Trump

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Do you know what amazes me about America and American politics? They've actively destroyed themselves by pursuing neo liberal politics, destroyed themselves socially, economically and militarily, and yet the right wing achieves popularity and success by promising to 'make America great again'. It's like Fred West trying to sell you patio furniture.  

 

A country full of utterly stupid, violent and over-patriotic cunts, is it any surprise? 

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