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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Top Republican fundraiser, Meg Whitman, says she’ll raise m

SystemSystem Posts: 11,701
edited August 2016 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Top Republican fundraiser, Meg Whitman, says she’ll raise money for Hillary Clinton in order to stop Trump

The big WH2016 news overnight is a story in the New York Times that prominent GOP fundraiser and Hewlett Packard executive, Meg Whitman, has announced that she’s supporting Hillary Clinton and will help raise money for her campaign. According to the New York Times she says she’s taking the action in order to stop Trump who she describes as a threat to American democracy.

Read the full story here


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    Moses_Moses_ Posts: 4,865
    Glorious first....:smile:
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    MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034
    humble second ...
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,151
    Kind of seems like a tipping point, if he can get the polls back within a few points - which is plausible, bounce-wise - he's still in the race, if not the rest of the Republican party drops him and he looks like a loser. If he looks like a loser he's dead: His entire brand is about looking like a winner
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    MTimTMTimT Posts: 7,034

    Kind of seems like a tipping point, if he can get the polls back within a few points - which is plausible, bounce-wise - he's still in the race, if not the rest of the Republican party drops him and he looks like a loser. If he looks like a loser he's dead: His entire brand is about looking like a winner

    Some apocryphal evidence. At least 3 families who shocked me earlier in the year by happily announcing that they were for Trump now say they won't be voting. Another has gone firmly into the Hillary camp on the basis that Trump cannot be allowed near the White House.

    I have to say that the reaction to this current round of crass Trump statements does feel different somehow than previous ones. A few days ago I felt he was immune to blowback from his gaffes. Now I'm not so sure. As you say, the next week to ten days will tell us if this is a real sea change, or just post-conference noise.
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    DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    It has long been apparent that Trump is having trouble raising money as many GOP donors have closed their cheque books. Today Meg Whitman, yesterday the Koch brothers.
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-koch-idUSKCN10C2W8

    Perhaps this is what drives Trump to make such absurd, overblown remarks in order to get on the news where he can't afford to advertise. He ought to realise there is a difference between attacking Cruz (who most of the GOP regard as barely more palatable than Trump) or Hillary, and attacking the parents of a young man who'd made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,337
    Trump would have been stone dead months ago if it were not for the fact that his opponent is Hilary Clinton, who has as many serious shortcomings as he does.

    I could wish that the beneficiary of Trump's implosion was somebody of ability and integrity. Is there any way Clinton might still be pulled so Tim Kaine could be the Democratic nominee? He's by far the best candidate of the four still left.
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    DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    ydoethur said:

    Trump would have been stone dead months ago if it were not for the fact that his opponent is Hilary Clinton, who has as many serious shortcomings as he does.

    I could wish that the beneficiary of Trump's implosion was somebody of ability and integrity. Is there any way Clinton might still be pulled so Tim Kaine could be the Democratic nominee? He's by far the best candidate of the four still left.

    How do we know Kaine is the best candidate? He's not been through a 2-year primary campaign: more like 2 days.
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    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    edited August 2016
    Something I noticed yesterday were complaints of shadow banning on Twitter for Trump's #MillionMatch campaign.

    I gather he's offered to match all donations with his own cash, but several prominent fundraisers are discovering their tweets never appeared/hashtags aren't listed.

    This isn't the first time I've seen this happen.

    I saw figs earlier this week of $90m for Hillary and $37m Trump last month.
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    tlg86tlg86 Posts: 25,205
    Interesting comments about democracy. I'd have thought the threat to democracy would come from those who wouldn't tolerate President Trump for four years.
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    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    I haven't seen this old Tory election poster before. Rather reminiscent of today's Labour.

    Arthur S
    Conservative Party poster in the 1983 General Election: https://t.co/Lu0t5HrLZI
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,337
    edited August 2016

    ydoethur said:

    Trump would have been stone dead months ago if it were not for the fact that his opponent is Hilary Clinton, who has as many serious shortcomings as he does.

    I could wish that the beneficiary of Trump's implosion was somebody of ability and integrity. Is there any way Clinton might still be pulled so Tim Kaine could be the Democratic nominee? He's by far the best candidate of the four still left.

    How do we know Kaine is the best candidate? He's not been through a 2-year primary campaign: more like 2 days.
    That's how we know. He hasn't appealed to their party bases, both sets of whom are total numpties who couldn't care less about their country or the problems facing it as long as the candidate they vote for makes them feel good about themselves.

    Pence has of course gone through such a selection and seems at least as mad as Trump. Kaine hasn't and seems on the basis of his past positions and statements to be a thoughtful, reasonable sort of person. The sort, in fact, who is desperately needed and yet will never be selected in the normal way.
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    dugarbandierdugarbandier Posts: 2,596
    ydoethur said:

    Is there any way Clinton might still be pulled so Tim Kaine could be the Democratic nominee? He's by far the best candidate of the four still left.

    you might try assassination? (better check the dem. rules first though)
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    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    ydoethur said:

    Trump would have been stone dead months ago if it were not for the fact that his opponent is Hilary Clinton, who has as many serious shortcomings as he does.

    I could wish that the beneficiary of Trump's implosion was somebody of ability and integrity. Is there any way Clinton might still be pulled so Tim Kaine could be the Democratic nominee? He's by far the best candidate of the four still left.

    Morning all.

    Agree with your summation Mr ydoethur, they really are an objectionable brace of candidates imho, I fear however, your hope of Kaine usurping Clinton’s position is highly unlikely.
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    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,941
    edited August 2016
    Morning. At what point does Trump actually become value here? There's still an awful long way to go and a lot could happen to both candidates in the next 96 days. 3/1 in a two horse race should shorten at some point surely?

    There must also be some value in a few of the others, I'm already on Johnson for beer money, maybe Pence is worth a few, well, pence?
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    CarlottaVanceCarlottaVance Posts: 59,787
    Who is Colonel Sanders endorsing?
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    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,941
    PlatoSaid said:

    Something I noticed yesterday were complaints of shadow banning on Twitter for Trump's #MillionMatch campaign.

    I gather he's offered to match all donations with his own cash, but several prominent fundraisers are discovering their tweets never appeared/hashtags aren't listed.

    This isn't the first time I've seen this happen.

    I saw figs earlier this week of $90m for Hillary and $37m Trump last month.

    Twitter is going to lose relevance very quickly if it starts to look like they're having an opinion, rather than providing a platform for the opinions of others.
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,337

    ydoethur said:

    Is there any way Clinton might still be pulled so Tim Kaine could be the Democratic nominee? He's by far the best candidate of the four still left.

    you might try assassination? (better check the dem. rules first though)
    I was thinking short of that. Something like her resigning the nomination or being kicked off the ticket if yet another scandal comes out.

    Anyway, must dash, it's time for me to do more exploring of Jerusalem.
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    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,941
    Some good news this morning: Public Interest Lawers, the scumbags trying to sue British soldiers, have been banned by the Legal Aid Agency. Other investigations are still under way which could result in solicitors being struck off.
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3720751/Banned-taking-legal-aid-firm-hounded-British-troops-Victory-Mail-lawyer-faces-struck-off.html
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    dugarbandierdugarbandier Posts: 2,596
    Sandpit said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Something I noticed yesterday were complaints of shadow banning on Twitter for Trump's #MillionMatch campaign.

    I gather he's offered to match all donations with his own cash, but several prominent fundraisers are discovering their tweets never appeared/hashtags aren't listed.

    This isn't the first time I've seen this happen.

    I saw figs earlier this week of $90m for Hillary and $37m Trump last month.

    Twitter is going to lose relevance very quickly if it starts to look like they're having an opinion, rather than providing a platform for the opinions of others.
    #MillionMatch seems to mainly concern Biafra..

    has everyone seen this already?

    http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all

    "In December of 1987, a month after the book was published, Trump hosted an extravagant book party in the pink marble atrium of Trump Tower. .....

    Schwartz got more of an education the next day, when he and Trump spoke on the phone. After chatting briefly about the party, Trump informed Schwartz that, as his ghostwriter, he owed him for half the event’s cost, which was in the six figures. Schwartz was dumbfounded. “He wanted me to split the cost of entertaining his list of nine hundred second-rate celebrities?” Schwartz had, in fact, learned a few things from watching Trump. He drastically negotiated down the amount that he agreed to pay, to a few thousand dollars, and then wrote Trump a letter promising to write a check not to Trump but to a charity of Schwartz’s choosing. It was a page out of Trump’s playbook. In the past seven years, Trump has promised to give millions of dollars to charity, but reporters for the Washington Post found that they could document only ten thousand dollars in donations—and they uncovered no direct evidence that Trump made charitable contributions from money earned by “The Art of the Deal.”
    "

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    IndigoIndigo Posts: 9,966
    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't
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    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,454
    Whilst it is interesting that a trickle of fringe republicans are switching to Hillary two things need to occur for it to seriously alter the landscape of the election a) the trickle becomes a flood or b) it moves to more central republican figures.

    If for instance McCain decides he stands a better chance of retaining his senate seat by dumping Trump then it becomes a problem. At the moment it seems relatively straightforward to bat away the switchers as a minority of malcontents.
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    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,454
    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    Plenty of tyrants start off being democratically elected.
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    DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300
    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    Surely history is littered with leaders democratically elected who harmed democracy? 1930s Germany, and more recently on the African continent and behind where the iron curtain used to be. Some might even point to governments closer to home.
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    dugarbandierdugarbandier Posts: 2,596
    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    well, y'know, Trump both wants to be elected but also believes that the process is rigged.. (apparently)
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    edited August 2016
    MTimT said:

    Kind of seems like a tipping point, if he can get the polls back within a few points - which is plausible, bounce-wise - he's still in the race, if not the rest of the Republican party drops him and he looks like a loser. If he looks like a loser he's dead: His entire brand is about looking like a winner

    Some apocryphal evidence. At least 3 families who shocked me earlier in the year by happily announcing that they were for Trump now say they won't be voting. Another has gone firmly into the Hillary camp on the basis that Trump cannot be allowed near the White House.

    I have to say that the reaction to this current round of crass Trump statements does feel different somehow than previous ones. A few days ago I felt he was immune to blowback from his gaffes. Now I'm not so sure. As you say, the next week to ten days will tell us if this is a real sea change, or just post-conference noise.
    It's possibly the effect of Trump really, actually, definitely being the nominee. His statements are being analysed and taken more seriously by the public.

    But you are also correct that we are still in the post convention froth phase,
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    not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,341
    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    You might want to read up on the career of one A. Hitler.
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
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    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    Turkey ....
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    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    edited August 2016
    Godwin’s Law invoked twice before breakfast and still 3 months of this nonesense to go. :lol:
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    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    edited August 2016
    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
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    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    And your point is?

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    not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,341
    edited August 2016
    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    The irony is that when it comes to keeping campaign promises, Hitler was at the more trustworthy end of the spectrum of politicians. He explicitly promised to destroy democracy, persecute the Jews and put Germany on a war footing before being elected. No "£350m a week for the NHS" from him :)

    Still a monster, of course.
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    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    JackW said:
    I see Trump has refused to endorse McCain or Ryan despite both of them sticking with him over the last tumultuous week.

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    not_on_firenot_on_fire Posts: 4,341
    edited August 2016
    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    WTF - there's no analogy, it's a clear historical precedent of someone being democratically elected within the system and destroying it. This is not Godwin's Law territory.

    But since you ask, other examples are Mugabe and Ferdinand Marcos.

    EDIT: And Erdogan of course.
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    dugarbandierdugarbandier Posts: 2,596
    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    why not use the most directly applicable analogy?
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    dugarbandierdugarbandier Posts: 2,596

    Godwin’s Law invoked twice before breakfast and still 3 months of this nonesense to go. :lol:

    from't horses mouth (via 't wiki)

    In December 2015, Godwin commented on the Nazi and fascist comparisons being made by several articles on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, saying that "If you're thoughtful about it and show some real awareness of history, go ahead and refer to Hitler or Nazis when you talk about Trump. Or any other politician."[13]
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670

    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    WTF - there's no analogy, it's a clear historical precedent of someone being democratically elected within the system and destroying it. This is not Godwin's Law territory.

    But since you ask, other examples are Mugabe and Ferdinand Marcos.

    EDIT: And Erdogan of course.
    It's still Godwin's Law territory - the Law just says Hitler or the Nazi's will be mentioned - not that mentioning them is inappropriate.
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    JackWJackW Posts: 14,787
    Alistair said:

    I see Trump has refused to endorse McCain or Ryan despite both of them sticking with him over the last tumultuous week.

    McCain will be relieved to not receive the Trump black spot in his hispanic rich Arizona Senate seat fight. I don't discount McCain eventually ditching Trump if his Senate seat looks on the line in the next month.
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    logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,727
    Alistair said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    WTF - there's no analogy, it's a clear historical precedent of someone being democratically elected within the system and destroying it. This is not Godwin's Law territory.

    But since you ask, other examples are Mugabe and Ferdinand Marcos.

    EDIT: And Erdogan of course.
    It's still Godwin's Law territory - the Law just says Hitler or the Nazi's will be mentioned - not that mentioning them is inappropriate.
    "The law was initiated as a counter-meme to flippant comparisons to the Nazis, rather than to invoke a complete ban on comparisons. "
    http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Godwin's_Law
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    logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,727
    JackW said:
    Hopefully Hillary will trounce Trump. Will Trump's candidacy also help the Democrats in the other races?
    http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/senate-2016-the-democrats-strike-back/
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    JackW said:

    Alistair said:

    I see Trump has refused to endorse McCain or Ryan despite both of them sticking with him over the last tumultuous week.

    McCain will be relieved to not receive the Trump black spot in his hispanic rich Arizona Senate seat fight. I don't discount McCain eventually ditching Trump if his Senate seat looks on the line in the next month.
    They are in a tough spot now I think - if they drop their endorsement don't they look petty?
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670

    JackW said:
    Hopefully Hillary will trounce Trump. Will Trump's candidacy also help the Democrats in the other races?
    http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/senate-2016-the-democrats-strike-back/
    That's the question every down ticket Republican is wrestling with at the moment. That was the whole thinking behind the 3rd part Conservative - give someone for the NeverTrumps to turnout and vote for on the assumption the Presidency is a bust but get people to the polling booths for Senate/Congress/local elections.
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    Surely Trump is Citizen Kane? Remember the two alternative newspaper headlines at the end of that film - according to how the vote went :o
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    david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 17,422

    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    why not use the most directly applicable analogy?
    How about the fall of the Roman Republic? All the powers accrued by Pompey, Caesar, Marc Anthony, Octavian, Tiberius and the rest were lawfully passed by the senate but the system degraded into autocracy all the same.

    Any person or party democratically elected can be a threat to democracy if they:

    - Change the system overtly to prevent accountability and destroy the mechanisms that removed the last government (hence the Hitler point)
    - Change societal norms or the application of power so that the illusions of democracy remain while it becomes increasingly a show (see any number of former African dictators - or Mugabe in the present - or some Pakistani governments, or possibly Erdogan in Turkey today).
    - Govern in such a way that it allows or encourages the rise of extremist anti-democratic forces, either within their own party or in opposition to them.
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    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,557
    Post nomination was the time to put aside some of the more inflammatory rhetoric, unite the GOP behind him and start looking more presidential in a serious attempt to stop Hillary.

    That hasn't happened, and it might never happen, so it is hard to see how Trump gets enough votes in the right places to win. I'd not be backing him at less than 4/1, at present.
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    david_herdsondavid_herdson Posts: 17,422
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Is there any way Clinton might still be pulled so Tim Kaine could be the Democratic nominee? He's by far the best candidate of the four still left.

    you might try assassination? (better check the dem. rules first though)
    I was thinking short of that. Something like her resigning the nomination or being kicked off the ticket if yet another scandal comes out.

    Anyway, must dash, it's time for me to do more exploring of Jerusalem.
    It will depend on the filing rules in the individual states. Once Hillary's formally been submitted on the ballot (which she probably won't have been in most if not all, yet), it'll be extremely difficult to remove her. Some states allow electors to 'go rogue', which would certainly be a lot easier if Clinton had already withdrawn.

    But with swing voters seemingly finally facing up to the possibility of Trump winning outright, why would Hillary resign when the goal is in her sight?
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    DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300

    JackW said:
    Hopefully Hillary will trounce Trump. Will Trump's candidacy also help the Democrats in the other races?
    http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/senate-2016-the-democrats-strike-back/
    Yes or no. It may be that Republican voters will see Trump as sui generis, and also, as the Koch brothers say (link posted earlier), donors will channel the funds that would have gone to Trump into supporting Republicans down the card.
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-koch-idUSKCN10C2W8

    It might even be that Trump turns his fire back onto Hillary rather than anyone who crosses his sights.
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    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    why not use the most directly applicable analogy?
    How about the fall of the Roman Republic? All the powers accrued by Pompey, Caesar, Marc Anthony, Octavian, Tiberius and the rest were lawfully passed by the senate but the system degraded into autocracy all the same.

    Any person or party democratically elected can be a threat to democracy if they:

    - Change the system overtly to prevent accountability and destroy the mechanisms that removed the last government (hence the Hitler point)
    - Change societal norms or the application of power so that the illusions of democracy remain while it becomes increasingly a show (see any number of former African dictators - or Mugabe in the present - or some Pakistani governments, or possibly Erdogan in Turkey today).
    - Govern in such a way that it allows or encourages the rise of extremist anti-democratic forces, either within their own party or in opposition to them.
    Excellent post, David. Representative democracy is always fragile, and has never lasted anywhere for longer than in the West to-day. (The world of classical Greece and Rome was, of course, a world of oligarchy.)

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    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    YouGov
    28% of Labour voters will stick with party whoever is in charge - 30% will follow Corbyn https://t.co/asIatkCop2 https://t.co/kxTeSaUJGF
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    alex.alex. Posts: 4,658

    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    why not use the most directly applicable analogy?
    How about the fall of the Roman Republic? All the powers accrued by Pompey, Caesar, Marc Anthony, Octavian, Tiberius and the rest were lawfully passed by the senate but the system degraded into autocracy all the same.

    Any person or party democratically elected can be a threat to democracy if they:

    - Change the system overtly to prevent accountability and destroy the mechanisms that removed the last government (hence the Hitler point)
    - Change societal norms or the application of power so that the illusions of democracy remain while it becomes increasingly a show (see any number of former African dictators - or Mugabe in the present - or some Pakistani governments, or possibly Erdogan in Turkey today).
    - Govern in such a way that it allows or encourages the rise of extremist anti-democratic forces, either within their own party or in opposition to them.
    Of course the problem with many modern "democracies" is that often there has never been a "last (democratically elected) government" to remove. That is why a big deal is often made of the first democratically induced transition of power.

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    SquareRootSquareRoot Posts: 7,095
    PlatoSaid said:

    YouGov
    28% of Labour voters will stick with party whoever is in charge - 30% will follow Corbyn https://t.co/asIatkCop2 https://t.co/kxTeSaUJGF

    There is a difference between" sticking with the party" and actually bein arsed to go out and vote.
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    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,904
    edited August 2016
    Politicians running against the Establishment on a nostalgia inspired platform have the magic formula at the moment.
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    FF43FF43 Posts: 15,780

    Kind of seems like a tipping point, if he can get the polls back within a few points - which is plausible, bounce-wise - he's still in the race, if not the rest of the Republican party drops him and he looks like a loser. If he looks like a loser he's dead: His entire brand is about looking like a winner

    Very astute. An insurgent that doesn't surge is nothing.
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    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,927

    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    why not use the most directly applicable analogy?
    How about the fall of the Roman Republic? All the powers accrued by Pompey, Caesar, Marc Anthony, Octavian, Tiberius and the rest were lawfully passed by the senate but the system degraded into autocracy all the same.

    Any person or party democratically elected can be a threat to democracy if they:

    - Change the system overtly to prevent accountability and destroy the mechanisms that removed the last government (hence the Hitler point)
    - Change societal norms or the application of power so that the illusions of democracy remain while it becomes increasingly a show (see any number of former African dictators - or Mugabe in the present - or some Pakistani governments, or possibly Erdogan in Turkey today).
    - Govern in such a way that it allows or encourages the rise of extremist anti-democratic forces, either within their own party or in opposition to them.
    The separation of powers within the US would make it very difficult to subvert democracy there (at national level).

    The only person who could have done it, IMHO, is FDR, when he won absurd majorities in Congress, between 1932-40.
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,904
    The nostalgia that defines politics is cancer that pervades our entire culture today. They're remaking Ben Hur FFS.
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,927

    PlatoSaid said:

    YouGov
    28% of Labour voters will stick with party whoever is in charge - 30% will follow Corbyn https://t.co/asIatkCop2 https://t.co/kxTeSaUJGF

    There is a difference between" sticking with the party" and actually bein arsed to go out and vote.
    A rump Labour Party would probably still win 130-150 seats on 20%.
  • Options
    FishingFishing Posts: 4,561
    ANECDOTAL POST

    I've spent a month in the US and met many Republican-leaners who will hold their noses and vote for HRC. Have met no Democrat-leaners who will vote Trump. So I don't think Trump will make it based on what I've seen - he may be enthusing previous non-voters, but I doubt there are sufficient of them to swing the outcome.

    Anyway, I thought we'd just stay in the EU, so take the above for what it's worth.
  • Options
    ToryJimToryJim Posts: 3,454
    Sean_F said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    why not use the most directly applicable analogy?
    How about the fall of the Roman Republic? All the powers accrued by Pompey, Caesar, Marc Anthony, Octavian, Tiberius and the rest were lawfully passed by the senate but the system degraded into autocracy all the same.

    Any person or party democratically elected can be a threat to democracy if they:

    - Change the system overtly to prevent accountability and destroy the mechanisms that removed the last government (hence the Hitler point)
    - Change societal norms or the application of power so that the illusions of democracy remain while it becomes increasingly a show (see any number of former African dictators - or Mugabe in the present - or some Pakistani governments, or possibly Erdogan in Turkey today).
    - Govern in such a way that it allows or encourages the rise of extremist anti-democratic forces, either within their own party or in opposition to them.
    The separation of powers within the US would make it very difficult to subvert democracy there (at national level).

    The only person who could have done it, IMHO, is FDR, when he won absurd majorities in Congress, between 1932-40.
    The 22nd amendment was a direct response to that period, and kind of cuts off the options some.
  • Options
    Jonathan said:

    The nostalgia that defines politics is cancer that pervades our entire culture today. They're remaking Ben Hur FFS.

    Any culture that relies, as we do, on immigration to sustain its working-age population is fragile. The alternative may, however, be even more so.

  • Options
    alex.alex. Posts: 4,658
    Sean_F said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    why not use the most directly applicable analogy?
    How about the fall of the Roman Republic? All the powers accrued by Pompey, Caesar, Marc Anthony, Octavian, Tiberius and the rest were lawfully passed by the senate but the system degraded into autocracy all the same.

    Any person or party democratically elected can be a threat to democracy if they:

    - Change the system overtly to prevent accountability and destroy the mechanisms that removed the last government (hence the Hitler point)
    - Change societal norms or the application of power so that the illusions of democracy remain while it becomes increasingly a show (see any number of former African dictators - or Mugabe in the present - or some Pakistani governments, or possibly Erdogan in Turkey today).
    - Govern in such a way that it allows or encourages the rise of extremist anti-democratic forces, either within their own party or in opposition to them.
    The separation of powers within the US would make it very difficult to subvert democracy there (at national level).

    The only person who could have done it, IMHO, is FDR, when he won absurd majorities in Congress, between 1932-40.
    Yep, far easier in somewhere like the UK where the functioning of the system depends on the plurality of parliament buying into the unwritten norms and practices. In some ways that is why all the enormous constitutional change over the last 20 years is so dangerous - it has created an appetite for constitutional change (without full consideration of the consequences) that means opportunities for those who wish to bend the system to favour themselves, as well as forcing those with parliamentary votes to think for themselves on deep constitutional questions (something on which they are often not well qualified to do)
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,941
    Sean_F said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    YouGov
    28% of Labour voters will stick with party whoever is in charge - 30% will follow Corbyn https://t.co/asIatkCop2 https://t.co/kxTeSaUJGF

    There is a difference between" sticking with the party" and actually bein arsed to go out and vote.
    A rump Labour Party would probably still win 130-150 seats on 20%.
    At which point Corbyn and friends will protest that they need to push their message harder so the stupid electorate understands it.
  • Options
    logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,727
    Fishing said:

    ANECDOTAL POST

    I've spent a month in the US and met many Republican-leaners who will hold their noses and vote for HRC. Have met no Democrat-leaners who will vote Trump. So I don't think Trump will make it based on what I've seen - he may be enthusing previous non-voters, but I doubt there are sufficient of them to swing the outcome.

    Anyway, I thought we'd just stay in the EU, so take the above for what it's worth.

    If you thought we'd just stay in the EU you were only just wrong.
  • Options
    timmotimmo Posts: 1,469
    Sean_F said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    YouGov
    28% of Labour voters will stick with party whoever is in charge - 30% will follow Corbyn https://t.co/asIatkCop2 https://t.co/kxTeSaUJGF

    There is a difference between" sticking with the party" and actually bein arsed to go out and vote.
    A rump Labour Party would probably still win 130-150 seats on 20%.
    Until the new boundarys come in..
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,904

    Jonathan said:

    The nostalgia that defines politics is cancer that pervades our entire culture today. They're remaking Ben Hur FFS.

    Any culture that relies, as we do, on immigration to sustain its working-age population is fragile. The alternative may, however, be even more so.

    Not sure you can make the argument that the fact our culture and politics is so backward looking is down to immigration.

    There are other forces at play that means movie remakes and political retreds prosper at the moment.

    To me, the Internet has a large part to play. The cultural and political archive is so easy to explore and retrieve from precisely. It crowds out new, rough and fragile ideas.
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,904
    On the US. If you agree...

    Trump is stronger than Romney.
    Clinton is much weaker than Obama.

    The election will be closer than 2012.
  • Options
    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    Stephen Schulin
    #illegalimmigration #Australia - Australia goes two years without illegal boat arrival https://t.co/c0MDQy9czf #tcot
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,927
    alex. said:

    Sean_F said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    why not use the most directly applicable analogy?
    How about the fall of the Roman Republic? All the powers accrued by Pompey, Caesar, Marc Anthony, Octavian, Tiberius and the rest were lawfully passed by the senate but the system degraded into autocracy all the same.

    Any person or party democratically elected can be a threat to democracy if they:

    - Change the system overtly to prevent accountability and destroy the mechanisms that removed the last government (hence the Hitler point)
    - Change societal norms or the application of power so that the illusions of democracy remain while it becomes increasingly a show (see any number of former African dictators - or Mugabe in the present - or some Pakistani governments, or possibly Erdogan in Turkey today).
    - Govern in such a way that it allows or encourages the rise of extremist anti-democratic forces, either within their own party or in opposition to them.
    The separation of powers within the US would make it very difficult to subvert democracy there (at national level).

    The only person who could have done it, IMHO, is FDR, when he won absurd majorities in Congress, between 1932-40.
    Yep, far easier in somewhere like the UK where the functioning of the system depends on the plurality of parliament buying into the unwritten norms and practices. In some ways that is why all the enormous constitutional change over the last 20 years is so dangerous - it has created an appetite for constitutional change (without full consideration of the consequences) that means opportunities for those who wish to bend the system to favour themselves, as well as forcing those with parliamentary votes to think for themselves on deep constitutional questions (something on which they are often not well qualified to do)
    To achieve the end of British democracy, you'd need a government that was determined to suppress its opponents, combined with a street army - at arm's length - that was prepared to terrorise them. The government would need to present every repressive measure as a response to the public disorder it was privately encouraging.
  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    Sean_F said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    why not use the most directly applicable analogy?
    How about the fall of the Roman Republic? All the powers accrued by Pompey, Caesar, Marc Anthony, Octavian, Tiberius and the rest were lawfully passed by the senate but the system degraded into autocracy all the same.

    Any person or party democratically elected can be a threat to democracy if they:

    - Change the system overtly to prevent accountability and destroy the mechanisms that removed the last government (hence the Hitler point)
    - Change societal norms or the application of power so that the illusions of democracy remain while it becomes increasingly a show (see any number of former African dictators - or Mugabe in the present - or some Pakistani governments, or possibly Erdogan in Turkey today).
    - Govern in such a way that it allows or encourages the rise of extremist anti-democratic forces, either within their own party or in opposition to them.
    The separation of powers within the US would make it very difficult to subvert democracy there (at national level).

    The only person who could have done it, IMHO, is FDR, when he won absurd majorities in Congress, between 1932-40.
    For all his many faults, I don't see Trump as a threat to democracy. There is some degree of threat to respect for minority opinions, and also to the structure of the Republican party.

    As a matter of interest what happens if a nominated candidate withdraws/dies/is expelled? Nominations close early in many states, but do these allow a substitute candidate - presumably the VP pick - despite these being in the gift of Hillary and Donald?
  • Options
    logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,727
    Jonathan said:

    On the US. If you agree...

    Trump is stronger than Romney.
    Clinton is much weaker than Obama.

    The election will be closer than 2012.

    Trump may be a better campaigner than Romney but has higher negatives.
  • Options
    Jonathan said:

    Jonathan said:

    The nostalgia that defines politics is cancer that pervades our entire culture today. They're remaking Ben Hur FFS.

    Any culture that relies, as we do, on immigration to sustain its working-age population is fragile. The alternative may, however, be even more so.

    Not sure you can make the argument that the fact our culture and politics is so backward looking is down to immigration.

    There are other forces at play that means movie remakes and political retreds prosper at the moment.

    To me, the Internet has a large part to play. The cultural and political archive is so easy to explore and retrieve from precisely. It crowds out new, rough and fragile ideas.
    "Fragile" and "backward-looking" are different qualities. I do agree with your last paragraph, though.

  • Options
    logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,727
    Sean_F said:

    alex. said:

    Sean_F said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    why not use the most directly applicable analogy?
    How about the fall of the Roman Republic? All the powers accrued by Pompey, Caesar, Marc Anthony, Octavian, Tiberius and the rest were lawfully passed by the senate but the system degraded into autocracy all the same.

    Any person or party democratically elected can be a threat to democracy if they:

    - Change the system overtly to prevent accountability and destroy the mechanisms that removed the last government (hence the Hitler point)
    - Change societal norms or the application of power so that the illusions of democracy remain while it becomes increasingly a show (see any number of former African dictators - or Mugabe in the present - or some Pakistani governments, or possibly Erdogan in Turkey today).
    - Govern in such a way that it allows or encourages the rise of extremist anti-democratic forces, either within their own party or in opposition to them.
    The separation of powers within the US would make it very difficult to subvert democracy there (at national level).

    The only person who could have done it, IMHO, is FDR, when he won absurd majorities in Congress, between 1932-40.
    Yep, far easier in somewhere like the UK where the functioning of the system depends on the plurality of parliament buying into the unwritten norms and practices. In some ways that is why all the enormous constitutional change over the last 20 years is so dangerous - it has created an appetite for constitutional change (without full consideration of the consequences) that means opportunities for those who wish to bend the system to favour themselves, as well as forcing those with parliamentary votes to think for themselves on deep constitutional questions (something on which they are often not well qualified to do)
    To achieve the end of British democracy, you'd need a government that was determined to suppress its opponents, combined with a street army - at arm's length - that was prepared to terrorise them. The government would need to present every repressive measure as a response to the public disorder it was privately encouraging.
    Put like that it sounds possible.
  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,004
    Good morning, everyone.

    Clinton may stagger over the line against an opponent who can't even get his own side on-side. Could 2020 be springtime for the next Republican challenger?
  • Options
    ThreeQuidderThreeQuidder Posts: 6,133
    PlatoSaid said:

    YouGov
    28% of Labour voters will stick with party whoever is in charge - 30% will follow Corbyn https://t.co/asIatkCop2 https://t.co/kxTeSaUJGF

    I did that poll, as I mentioned at the time: I had the Social Democrats and IIRC People's Party options.

    The results suggest that somewhere between 15% and 20% will tribally and unthinkingly vote Labour no matter what, which is a bit lower than I thought - I'd have pegged it as 20% - 25% (and about the same for the Tories).
  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    Sean_F said:

    alex. said:

    Sean_F said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    why not use the most directly applicable analogy?
    How about the fall of the Roman Republic? All the powers accrued by Pompey, Caesar, Marc Anthony, Octavian, Tiberius and the rest were lawfully passed by the senate but the system degraded into autocracy all the same.

    Any person or party democratically elected can be a threat to democracy if they:

    - Change the system overtly to prevent accountability and destroy the mechanisms that removed the last government (hence the Hitler point)
    - Change societal norms or the application of power so that the illusions of democracy remain while it becomes increasingly a show (see any number of former African dictators - or Mugabe in the present - or some Pakistani governments, or possibly Erdogan in Turkey today).
    - Govern in such a way that it allows or encourages the rise of extremist anti-democratic forces, either within their own party or in opposition to them.
    The separation of powers within

    The only person who could have done it, IMHO, is FDR, when he won absurd majorities in Congress, between 1932-40.
    Yep, far easier in somewhere like the UK where the functioning of the system depends on the plurality of parliament buying into the unwritten norms and practices. In some ways that is why all the enormous constitutional change over the last 20 years is so dangerous - it has created an appetite for constitutional change (without full consideration of the consequences) that means opportunities for those who wish to bend the system to favour themselves, as well as forcing those with parliamentary votes to think for themselves on deep constitutional questions (something on which they are often not well qualified to do)
    To achieve the end of British democracy, you'd need a government that was determined to suppress its opponents, combined with a street army - at arm's length - that was prepared to terrorise them. The government would need to present every repressive measure as a response to the public disorder it was privately encouraging.
    A party leader with a substantial force of arms-length extra parliamentary activists, and a contempt for Parliamentary norms?

    Could never happen in Britain - Oh Wait!
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,904
    edited August 2016
    Another force that holds us back is the unprecedented nepotism and family cliques in politics.

    Do we really believe that there is something intrinsically better about the political DNA of a Clinton, Bush, Kinnock, Milliband, Straw, Benn, Rees Mogg, Maude. Johnson, Hurd or Gummer?

  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,004
    Mr. Jonathan, the later Republican period would dispute the 'unprecedented' aspect of your claim (or the Pitts, indeed) but I do think it's a fair point that, recently, the greatest asset many politicians possess is a helpful surname.
  • Options
    Innocent_AbroadInnocent_Abroad Posts: 3,294
    edited August 2016

    Good morning, everyone.

    Clinton may stagger over the line against an opponent who can't even get his own side on-side. Could 2020 be springtime for the next Republican challenger?

    I have for a while thought that November 8 will produce a one-term President.

  • Options
    CD13CD13 Posts: 6,351
    I wondered why I disliked Jeremy from the beginning and it's suddenly come to me. It's not just him, it's his fellow travellers too and it takes me back almost half a century.

    I went to university from a council estate and after deciding to join a political society, found I had two options. The Labour Club was basically Harold Wilson, but the Socialist Society reviled him as being a class traitor. I joined and found the exaggeration ludicrous. No one just disagreed, they were nazis whose sole aim was to "literally" grind the poor into the dust and return us to Dickensian living. The full range of hyperbole was employed. Middle class know-it-alls explained how the streets of my council estate were populated by urchins with rickets dying of hunger.

    I felt embarrassed. Deprivation in a relative sense, yes, but my mother remained pleased with having an inside toilet and enough to eat. I knew that if I'd introduced these people to my former school friends .... embarrassment all round.

    Fifty years on, these hyperbole brigade are even worse. The posh have taken over. The hard left misuse words until they no longer have meaning. Perhaps they always have done. Inequality in the UK is not the same as mass starvation in Africa not matter what pampered public school boys think. I sometimes think I was never a proper socialist until I learned to exaggerate everything to a ludicrous degree. You can be angry but you need to retain realism.

    Jezza et al will always fail that test. It's not Animal Farm so much as Lord of the Flies.
  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,004
    Mr. Abroad, a rare moment for happy concord :)

    Mind you, it is possible for a party to cock up a nomination twice in a row. Miliband to Corbyn springs to mind.
  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548

    Good morning, everyone.

    Clinton may stagger over the line against an opponent who can't even get his own side on-side. Could 2020 be springtime for the next Republican challenger?

    To me the betting value may well be on a Clinton landslide. We may be in Con takes Bootle territory.

    Shadsys market on EV is interesting. I have had a little dabble on 310- 329 at 8, but need to do some sums to see how likely further up works.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,131
    edited August 2016
    Whitman was of course GOP candidate for California governor in 2010. The support of her and a New York GOP congressman for Hillary along with scathing comments by Kasich, Jeb Bush and McCain and Romney about Trump shows the GOP leadership and congressmen are now increasingly as divorced from their nominee and party base as the Labour leadership and MPs are from their leader and activists. However just as with a Corbyn loss there is no guarantee a Trump loss will restore the party to the moderates indeed increasingly Republican voters are arguing much like Labour members that a Trump loss will be the elite's fault for failing to rally behind their man. Thus if Trump loses in November it is not impossible he could run in the primaries again in 2020 and win, much like Corbyn or maybe someone even more conservative could do so
  • Options
    JonathanJonathan Posts: 20,904

    Mr. Jonathan, the later Republican period would dispute the 'unprecedented' aspect of your claim (or the Pitts, indeed) but I do think it's a fair point that, recently, the greatest asset many politicians possess is a helpful surname.

    Don't get me wrong, it has always been a thing. It just feels more prevalent today and IMO the gap between merit and position has rarely been greater.
  • Options
    SimonStClareSimonStClare Posts: 7,976
    edited August 2016

    Mr. Jonathan, the later Republican period would dispute the 'unprecedented' aspect of your claim (or the Pitts, indeed) but I do think it's a fair point that, recently, the greatest asset many politicians possess is a helpful surname.

    When you use such terms I never know if you're referring to Kinnock Jnr or Pliny the younger.
  • Options
    alex.alex. Posts: 4,658

    Mr. Jonathan, the later Republican period would dispute the 'unprecedented' aspect of your claim (or the Pitts, indeed) but I do think it's a fair point that, recently, the greatest asset many politicians possess is a helpful surname.

    I think there needs to be some serious refinement of what is being claimed if it is suggested that nepotism and family cliques as a feature of politics is running at "unprecedented" levels!
  • Options
    Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 4,604
    PlatoSaid said:

    YouGov
    28% of Labour voters will stick with party whoever is in charge - 30% will follow Corbyn https://t.co/asIatkCop2 https://t.co/kxTeSaUJGF

    I see that the raw Conservative lead is 11% with YouGov warning that "this is not weighted by likelihood to vote, so is not comparable to our regular voting intention questions".

    Maybe, but we can work out roughly what Conservative lead would have been, judging from the effect of the adjustment in previous YouGov polling. I make it a Conservative lead of at least 13% and possibly more, their best post election polling with YouGov yet.
  • Options
    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 61,004
    Mr. StClare, or, indeed, Antoninus Caracalla, who hardly became emperor on merit.

    Mind you, Alexander Severus was a decent sort, so it can swing both ways.

    Mr. Jonathan, alas, there is not a surfeit of talent on either front bench [if we assume, for the sake of argument, Labour has a front bench].

    Dr. Foxinsox, best of luck. Not betting on the US result myself.
  • Options
    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670
    Jonathan said:

    Another force that holds us back is the unprecedented nepotism and family cliques in politics.

    Do we really believe that there is something intrinsically better about the political DNA of a Clinton, Bush, Kinnock, Milliband, Straw, Benn, Rees Mogg, Maude. Johnson, Hurd or Gummer?

    How many children take up the same general career as their parents?

    I'm a computer programmer because my dad was incredibly interested in computers - it's hardly surprising the same thing happens for politicians and their children.
  • Options
    Sean_FSean_F Posts: 35,927

    Sean_F said:

    alex. said:

    Sean_F said:

    PlatoSaid said:

    Alistair said:

    Indigo said:

    What an odd view! How can you be both democratically elected, and a threat to democracy. You either trust the people and have a democracy, or you don't

    This reply has the easiest and most relevant use of the word Hitler ever.

    Hitler.
    Without Adolf, what analogy would be used instead? It's such a dismally lazy one.
    why not use the most directly applicable analogy?
    How about the fall of the Roman Republic? All the powers accrued by Pompey, Caesar, Marc Anthony, Octavian, Tiberius and the rest were lawfully passed by the senate but the system degraded into autocracy all the same.

    Any person or party democratically elected can be a threat to democracy if they:

    - Change the system overtly to prevent accountability and destroy the mechanisms that removed the last government (hence the Hitler point)
    - Change societal norms or the application of power so that the illusions of democracy remain while it becomes increasingly a show (see any number of former African dictators - or Mugabe in the present - or some Pakistani governments, or possibly Erdogan in Turkey today).
    - Govern in such a way that it allows or encourages the rise of extremist anti-democratic forces, either within their own party or in opposition to them.
    The separation of powers within

    The only person who could have done it, IMHO, is FDR, when he won absurd majorities in Congress, between 1932-40.
    Yep, far easier in somewhere like the UK where the functioning of the system depends on the plurality of parliament buying into the unwritten norms and practices. In some ways that is those who wish to bend the system to favour themselves, as well as forcing those with parliamentary votes to think for themselves on deep constitutional questions (something on which they are often not well qualified to do)
    To achieve the end of British democracy, you'd need a government that was determined to suppress its opponents, combined with a street army - at arm's length - that was prepared to terrorise them. The government would need to present every repressive measure as a response to the public disorder it was privately encouraging.
    A party leader with a substantial force of arms-length extra parliamentary activists, and a contempt for Parliamentary norms?

    Could never happen in Britain - Oh Wait!
    Fortunately, I can't see Corbyn winning an election, however badly the Conservatives perform.
  • Options
    alex.alex. Posts: 4,658

    Mr. Jonathan, the later Republican period would dispute the 'unprecedented' aspect of your claim (or the Pitts, indeed) but I do think it's a fair point that, recently, the greatest asset many politicians possess is a helpful surname.

    When you use such terms I never know if you're referring to Kinnock Jnr or Pliny the younger.
    There was this family called the Cecils... ;)
  • Options
    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,941
    edited August 2016
    More DNC execs 'leaving' following email scandal. This time the CEO, CFO and Comms Dir.
    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/08/02/democratic-national-committee-ceo-resigns-dacey/87960580/

    Not sure what to read into this TBH, the DNC have done their job in selecting a candidate, whose campaign will now take over.
  • Options
    logical_songlogical_song Posts: 9,727
    HYUFD said:

    Whitman was of course GOP candidate for California governor in 2010. The support of her and a New York GOP congressman for Hillary along with scathing comments by Kasich, Jeb Bush and McCain and Romney about Trump shows the GOP leadership and congressmen are now increasingly as divorced from their nominee and party base as the Labour leadership and MPs are from their leader and activists. However just as with a Corbyn loss there is no guarantee a Trump loss will restore the party to the moderates indeed increasingly Republican voters are arguing much like Labour members that a Trump loss will be the elite's fault for failing to rally behind their man. Thus if Trump loses in November it is not impossible he could run in the primaries again on 2020 and win, much like Corbyn or maybe someone even more conservative could do so

    Interesting comparison.
    The difference is that Trump is being put to the electoral test in November, whereas Corbyn has until 2020 (probably) to face the electorate.
    If Trump gets well beaten in November I don't think his 'I'm a winner.' stance will work again in 2020.
    Another difference with Corbyn is that Corbyn believes in something, Trump believes in Trump.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 117,131
    edited August 2016

    Good morning, everyone.

    Clinton may stagger over the line against an opponent who can't even get his own side on-side. Could 2020 be springtime for the next Republican challenger?

    Nope, the GOP base is for now just as ideological as Labour's, if Trump loses it will be because the elite betrayed him or he was not conservative enough. If the former is the mood then Trump could win the nomination again, if the latter Cruz is favourite
  • Options
    foxinsoxukfoxinsoxuk Posts: 23,548
    CD13 said:

    I wondered why I disliked Jeremy from the beginning and it's suddenly come to me. It's not just him, it's his fellow travellers too and it takes me back almost half a century.

    I went to university from a council estate and after deciding to join a political society, found I had two options. The Labour Club was basically Harold Wilson, but the Socialist Society reviled him as being a class traitor. I joined and found the exaggeration ludicrous. No one just disagreed, they were nazis whose sole aim was to "literally" grind the poor into the dust and return us to Dickensian living. The full range of hyperbole was employed. Middle class know-it-alls explained how the streets of my council estate were populated by urchins with rickets dying of hunger.

    I felt embarrassed. Deprivation in a relative sense, yes, but my mother remained pleased with having an inside toilet and enough to eat. I knew that if I'd introduced these people to my former school friends .... embarrassment all round.

    Fifty years on, these hyperbole brigade are even worse. The posh have taken over. The hard left misuse words until they no longer have meaning. Perhaps they always have done. Inequality in the UK is not the same as mass starvation in Africa not matter what pampered public school boys think. I sometimes think I was never a proper socialist until I learned to exaggerate everything to a ludicrous degree. You can be angry but you need to retain realism.

    Jezza et al will always fail that test. It's not Animal Farm so much as Lord of the Flies.

    Jezza has never progressed beyond that level of politics, never matured or learnt anything.

    He is a man-child.
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    SquareRootSquareRoot Posts: 7,095
    PlatoSaid said:

    Stephen Schulin
    #illegalimmigration #Australia - Australia goes two years without illegal boat arrival https://t.co/c0MDQy9czf #tcot

    That v likely to be untrue.. more like without an illegal boat arrival that they know about.
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    edited August 2016
    CD13 said:

    Jezza et al will always fail that test. It's not Animal Farm so much as Lord of the Flies.

    Existential angst from "moderate" Labour...

    The difference between the way the Labour Party behaved then and the way Jeremy Corbyn and Momentum are behaving now is that it had humility. We did not think we had a monopoly of wisdom. We assumed that our election defeats meant that voters were trying to tell us something and we ought to listen. Our main activity was not the hosting of large, self-congratulatory rallies, though each of Kinnock, Smith and Blair was a hundred times more compelling an orator than Corbyn, capable of stirring tears of emotion not tears of boredom and despair. Rather it was to systematically go out and speak on the doorstep to millions of ordinary working people and listen to what they wanted.


    http://labourlist.org/2016/08/luke-akehurst-we-had-an-election-winning-social-movement-20-years-ago-it-was-called-the-labour-party/
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    SandpitSandpit Posts: 49,941

    Good morning, everyone.

    Clinton may stagger over the line against an opponent who can't even get his own side on-side. Could 2020 be springtime for the next Republican challenger?

    I have for a while thought that November 8 will produce a one-term President.
    Indeed. When was the last time a sitting President got Primaried by their own party?
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    PlatoSaidPlatoSaid Posts: 10,383
    CD13 said:

    I wondered why I disliked Jeremy from the beginning and it's suddenly come to me. It's not just him, it's his fellow travellers too and it takes me back almost half a century.

    I went to university from a council estate and after deciding to join a political society, found I had two options. The Labour Club was basically Harold Wilson, but the Socialist Society reviled him as being a class traitor. I joined and found the exaggeration ludicrous. No one just disagreed, they were nazis whose sole aim was to "literally" grind the poor into the dust and return us to Dickensian living. The full range of hyperbole was employed. Middle class know-it-alls explained how the streets of my council estate were populated by urchins with rickets dying of hunger.

    I felt embarrassed. Deprivation in a relative sense, yes, but my mother remained pleased with having an inside toilet and enough to eat. I knew that if I'd introduced these people to my former school friends .... embarrassment all round.

    Fifty years on, these hyperbole brigade are even worse. The posh have taken over. The hard left misuse words until they no longer have meaning. Perhaps they always have done. Inequality in the UK is not the same as mass starvation in Africa not matter what pampered public school boys think. I sometimes think I was never a proper socialist until I learned to exaggerate everything to a ludicrous degree. You can be angry but you need to retain realism.

    Jezza et al will always fail that test. It's not Animal Farm so much as Lord of the Flies.

    I find the hate-spewing Left a most curious creature. Just one silly example was the TV show Child Genius on last night. A 9yrs old girl Saffy chose Thatcher's Monetary Policy as her Mastermind subject. And there were many really quite revolting tweets about her - she's NINE. I'd be amazed if those tweeting were over 25yrs themselves. Shouting *scum* or delighting at their future death for simply disagreeing is simply beyond my comprehension.
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    Wulfrun_PhilWulfrun_Phil Posts: 4,604

    PlatoSaid said:

    YouGov
    28% of Labour voters will stick with party whoever is in charge - 30% will follow Corbyn https://t.co/asIatkCop2 https://t.co/kxTeSaUJGF

    I did that poll, as I mentioned at the time: I had the Social Democrats and IIRC People's Party options.

    The results suggest that somewhere between 15% and 20% will tribally and unthinkingly vote Labour no matter what, which is a bit lower than I thought - I'd have pegged it as 20% - 25% (and about the same for the Tories).
    If heaven forbid we do end up with a breakaway from Labour of some significance, I'm sure that the breakaway would include "Labour" somewhere in the brand name. "Progressive Labour" which has the convenient acroynm of PLP for example. It would be more likely to attract some of those loyal to the Labour brand. So I think the YouGov polling is underestimating somewhat the potential of the breakaway, if not necessarily by much.
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