• United States Presidential Election 2012 MEGATHREAD
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[img]http://i.imgur.com/nPewV.gif[/img] [b]ELECTION 2012: "Who cares who the President if it is not Ron Paul" Edition[/b] [b]Why Make A Megathread About This?[/b] As we get closer to the election, more and more articles will be posted, creating a ton of different places for the same people to debate the same things, which can get pretty confusing. I am hoping we can take everything and aggregate it to one, massive, awesome thread, in which we shit on each other’s opinions about Obama, Romney, and those other people without ever citing any sources. I am also hoping that we can comment on debates and the actual Election in this thread, as they happen. [b]Not Unbiased Summary of the Election, so far:[/b] The 2012 Presidential Election is symbolic in nature, and is unique in its circumstances, possible results, new trends, and extreme unpredictability. What truly strikes me is how much of this election involves emotions, rather than concrete plans. What we are offered are ideals more than concrete policy. Romney seems to symbolize a past filled with deregulation, tax breaks for the rich, and discrimination for everyone else. Obama seems to symbolize new ideas that may or may not work. Each candidate promises vastly different things than what they can accomplish. [b]The Candidates:[/b] [img]http://blogs.citypages.com/gop/Obama%20nazi.bmp[/img] [b]The Incumbent:[/b] Obama, the great orator-in-chief and first (half) black President, will give us the reality of another four years of progressive and well written bills being shot down by Republicans and conservative Democrats, giving way to frustrated Executive Orders that end up being condemned by Libertarians who come up with conspiracy theories about Obama as a future dictator, or the third and final anti-Christ. Obama’s offer for 2013-16 is that of an era of Hope for a Better Future through Hard Work and determination by going Forward, not going back to the Backwards policies of Republica- yada yada you get the point. Obama has very little to say for his potential second term, since he has already talked about everything he plans to accomplish as President. [img]http://cdn.thedailybeast.com/content/newsweek/2012/07/29/michael-tomasky-a-candidate-with-a-serious-wimp-problem/_jcr_content/body/inlineimage.img.503.jpg/1343574842214.cached.jpg[/img] [b]The Republican Challenger:[/b] Romney, on the other hand, offers the reality of a successful and educated, very moderate businessman who efficiently led Massachusetts by improving its economic health and passing a landmark bi-partisan Healthcare Bill. Romney as President would probably be a moderate, and would do whatever he thinks is most efficient, not giving a damn about the promises he made to the Tea Party during the Primary and General Elections. I think it would be extremely unlikely for Romney to ever allow a budget as harsh and nonsensical as Ryan’s. Romney’s unlikely promise is that of a conservative wonderland, filled with tax breaks for the rich, deregulation, disregarding the poor, and repealing everything Obama has ever done, all while spending money to resurrect Ronald Reagan. [b]The Stakes, or Lack Thereof:[/b] While anybody who is completely detached could see that little would change in the short run, in terms of laws passed and policies enacted, etc., everyone seems to be deeply passionate about this election because of what it represents for either party or ideology: [img]http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m691k9VNeH1roglq4o1_500.jpg[/img] [b]A Romney Victory: [/b]Obama’s loss could signal a massive dash to the hopes of many young and idealist Liberals who mobilized and voted for Obama. Political absenteeism would increase among Democrats, especially minorities and young people, who would no longer feels as though their voices are being heard. It is possible that Democrats would end up less likely to rally around young and idealist candidates, fearing a lack of actual executive experience. Though Romney is not likely to allow any extreme policies, he would still stop any social progress in terms of Women’s Rights, LGBTQ Rights, and Civil Rights. We would also have to deal with hearing him talk with that annoying voice for 4 years. [b]Obama’s Reelection:[/b] Romney’s loss would accelerate the slow demise of the Republican Party (that has already been seen in California). Many Republicans would claim the runner up candidate could have done a better job at rallying the Republican base, while appearing more human. Many have predicted that the loss of a Republican moderate like Romney would further shift the Republican Party to right. The Party would either be consumed further by rampant Tea Party politics, or would be more firmly split between moderates and Tea Partiers. Romney’s loss would be the catalyst for either a Republican re-imagining, or the slow death of the entire platform. In both cases, the USA as a whole would not be significantly changed one way or another. [b]This Election is Weird:[/b] The circumstances of this election are very odd, with various controversies and reversals of common elections truths. Here are a few of them: [b]This Election is Close: [/b]Various different models predict both candidates will surely win the election. Obama has a decent chance of winning despite a very high unemployment rate, and Romney has historically high un-favorability ratings, as well as a surprising lack of a lead, considering Obama’s middling approval ratings. Many experts have talked about Ohio or Florida influencing the Election, as usual. What is not usual is the fact that many report a Tie is possible. This would lead to the House of Representatives, and therefore to Romney’s victory. [b]This Election is Bi-Polar: [/b]Obama has literally all African Americans, and a record amount of women and young voters on his side, while Romney has taken all of the conservative religious white vote. While Romney’s rallies look like country clubs, Obama’s rallies look like concerts, with a huge multi-ethnic crowd of female teenagers and young women in each camera shot as Obama puts them through every possible emotion (Romney relies more on fear). Both candidates have concentrated more on rallying their respective bases than appealing to Independents. [b]This Election is What is Going On: [/b]This election has also had an unprecedented amount of strange candidates, scandals, events, and other fuckery that we will not remember in a few years, including Romney and Obama singing, Sandra Fluke going from a law student to speaking at the DNC because of Rush Limbaugh, Clint Eastwood talking to a chair, Ronald Reagan’s hologram, every single crazy Republican candidate that almost won against the somewhat level headed Romney, that one racist dude who got close to beating Obama at a Primary, everything about Herman Cain in particular, the Occupy Movement, Ron Paul's relative success, the Tea Party, Chuck Norris' warning (or threat???) of a thousand years of darkness if Obama is reelected, and Romney's elusive and mysterious tax records. [b]Links:[/b] [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1948[/url] This election has a few parallels with the 2012 election, so it makes for an interesting read. [url]http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/[/url] is an extremely thorough and professional look at the 2012 Election. I trust this website because it accurately reported how many Republicans would be in the House, when many organizations vastly exaggerated the possible extent of Republican victory in 2010. Or maybe I like it because it keeps telling me Obama will win. [url]http://www.gallup.com[/url] The standard place to go for polls and approval ratings. [url]http://www.economist.com/world/us-elections-2012[/url] The Economist is By far the most analytical and least biased magazine I have read for the Election thus far. While the writers are usually a bit conservative, they have managed not to favor any candidate over the other, pointing out flaws in both of them in lengthy articles. [url]http://www.gop.com/[/url] [url]http://www.democrats.org/[/url] [url]http://www.barackobama.com/[/url] [url]http://www.mittromney.com/[/url] [url]http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/[/url] [url]http://www.jillstein.org/[/url] [b]Third Parties:[/b] I honestly do not want to describe the other parties and candidates, because I have a harsh bias against most of them. If anybody wants to add anything to the OP, just ask me and I will add your flowery description of how amazing Gary Johnson is. And also, for those who are not familiar with the way it works in the United States, Third Parties have nary a chance at fielding any candidate to win in any position. Most experienced and smart politicians will simply join either the Democrat or Republican Party in order to maximize their chances of getting good funding and winning. Jill Stein has a lot of great ideas and her party has great ideas but, unlike Nader, she has very little executive or political experience. Gary Johnson seems like a really nice guy in terms of Social issues, but his Ryan-esque plan to drastically reduce the size of the government (at least he would reduce Military spending unlike Ryan) is not something I can fully agree with. The other third party candidates I know nothing about, besides the fact that Virgil Goode has a hilarious name. I would love to see Third Parties become more successful one day, and I would love to see legislation that would make Third Parties more likely to succeed, but I cannot recommend any of them for this election. Alright, I think that is as much as I can write for now. Tell me if there is anything I can do to improve this thread! Still to come: Debates, more links, other changes. [b]Remember to Register to Vote! If you are outside of the United States, laugh uncontrollably at us and our politics, and then sob quietly as you realize that everything that happens in the USA will impact your lives somehow.[/b] Also, some questions to start out the thread: What do you think are the Pros and Cons of each candidate? How much do Romney's tax returns or wealth really matter? Is Obama a good President, or the least bad choice? What has been your favorite moment of the election so far? and finally...[b] What do you think are Obama's true chances of winning? Is he guaranteed to win, or do you think Romney still has a good chance?[/b] also, this applies to the entire thread: [img]http://rlv.zcache.com/citation_needed_bumper_sticker-p128912061722662976en8ys_400.jpg[/img] [b]Debate Schedule:[/b] -October 3rd, Presidential Debate: Domestic Policy -October 11th, Vice Presidential Debate: Domestic and Foreign Policy -October 16th, Presidential Debate: Town Hall Style -October 22nd, Presidential Debate: Foreign Policy All debates start at 9pm Eastern Time. More info: [url]http://www.2012presidentialelectionnews.com/2012-debate-schedule/2012-presidential-debate-schedule/[/url] [b]FIRST DEBATE IS TONIGHT AT 6PM PACIFIC TIME AND IT IS GOING TO BE 99% ABOUT THE ECONOMY:[/b] Since 2007, people knew that something was wrong. Production started to slow down, prices started to lower, the stock market stagnated and eventually started falling, and unemployment was steadily going up. Though nobody realized it until later, the United States entered a recession in December 2007, before the crash occurred. Fast-forward to September 2008, Obama is trailing McCain in polls nationwide after the introduction of Sarah Palin as Vice President (people did not realize who she was yet). Obama's suporters started to fear that Hilary Clinton was right, maybe Obama did not have what it took to go against McCain! When everything went to hell (Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, world economy went to hell and so did the US Stock Market), the Obama Campaign decided to turn that into his main issue instead of Foreign Policy (he had based his Campaign on restoring the reputation of the United States). The Campaign immediately started proposing different stimulus bills that could save the Economy if Obama was elected. McCain's campaign had no plan besides cutting taxes. During every following debate, Obama had the advantage because people noticed that he had a cool head, and was not panicking about the Economy going into freefall. This is what turned Obama around in the polls, ultimately leading to a victory for the Democrat. Now, the Economy is Obama's worst issue, and the biggest thing he has to panic about in tonights debate with Romney. Unemployment has been at around 8% (down from 10%) for most of Obama's Presidency, and growth has been above the Western average, but still much lower than most people would like. Romney's supporters tell us that Obama failed to take care of the economy, without offering any plan for what he should have done. The situation is bad enough that people trust Romney more with economic issues than Obama anyway. People say the blah blah blah I am ranting too much here is what each candidate has to do during the debate tonight Obama: - Repeatedly give statistics showing that the Economy is back on track - Repeatedly emphasize that Obama has a Jobs Act that would solve a large part of the Unemployment problem if the Republicans did not block it - Talk about the Buffet Rule and Romney's 14% Tax Rate and the Income Gap - Show that the Stimulus Bill did what it was supposed to do - Talk about having saved Detroit from total annihilation when Romney did not want to - Talk about Bain - Repeatedly show that Romney has never given anyone specifics of what he would have done differently to "save" the Economy besides cutting taxes for the rich Romney: - Repeatedly say that Obama's policies have failed the get the Economy growing again - Accuse Obama of Class Warfare against the rich - Emphasize the Unemployment Rate and slow Growth Rate - "Are you better off now than four years ago" - "You can trust me, I am a business man!" - Make it sound like Debt is the end of the world - Accuse Obama of trying to destroy Medicare, other dumb things
obama 2012, or America is fucked
Hoping for a thousand years of darkness.
[QUOTE=Craptasket;37597871]Hoping for a thousand years of darkness.[/QUOTE] Must add that to the list of weird shit that happened during this election cycle
I want Tea Party ousted out of Congress come this General Election.
[IMG]http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/KYD46Q0a3Qo/hqdefault.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=CabooseRvB;37597912]I want Tea Party ousted out of Congress come this General Election.[/QUOTE] Republicans are set to not only keep the House, but also possibly take the Senate. More of them will be Tea Party, unfortunately.
[QUOTE=Craptasket;37597871]Hoping for a thousand years of darkness.[/QUOTE] Thousand years of darkness sounds nice. We could focus on scientific ways to produce light. All the dumbasses who would disapprove of said science would die because they wouldn't eat food grown by said light, then by the end of the 1000 years, humanity would be better off. [sp] One can hope right?[/sp]
America's whack, man. I voted for the republican senator in my state, but I'm voting for Obama in the presidential election. At least our politics is exciting though. It would be kind of boring to be in some small European country where all they argue about is funding this or that, and their literally is no outrageous controversy just mind numbing political monotony.
Is there anything I can add to make the thread better? This is my first attempt at a Megathread.
Obama.
[url]http://www.sacbee.com/2012/09/07/4798978/ryan-dont-interfere-with-legalized.html[/url] Oh well Obama can't win now alright let's go do something else delete the thread
Obama 2012. Minnesota "Vote No" 2012. Some serious things to vote on this year
I don't like either personally, but I'd rather have Obama than Goldman Sachs. Romney was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and wants to humour those who had the same.
Just updated the OP with things to talk about. I really need to stop bumping my own thread.
[QUOTE=person11;37597838][b]Third Parties: I honestly do not want to describe the other parties and candidates, because I have a harsh bias against most of them. I either dislike their unrealistic fiscal conservatism (Libertarians and Constitutionalists, RON PAUL, etc.), or the complete lack of experience of some of the people running (Jill Stein has never held any important political position). If anybody wants to add anything to the OP, just ask me and I will add your flowery description of how amazing Gary Johnson is.[/QUOTE] A bit stupid to put it like this. In most cases, ballot access laws and the electoral system we have in place prevent any such third-party candidate from winning a seat in, as you put it, 'any important political position', and thus cannot get political experience at any (even relatively) high level. To make an analogy, it's like requiring work experience to get a job while simultaneously having it be illegal to work if you aren't a Democrat or Republican. You wouldn't blame that person for having no work experience, would you?
[QUOTE=person11;37598203]Is there anything I can add to make the thread better? This is my first attempt at a Megathread.[/QUOTE] Less bias.
if you vote romney you are literally retarded
im sorry some people dont have your views fekedout
Since no one else is going to do it, Romney. Facepunch is incredibly liberal, not surprised the poll is 81% for Obama right now...
If you vote Romney then we have to close the gay chat megathread.
I think that Obama is doing a way better job of reaching the swing voters. He has been active with using the internet to gain votes - along with making stances on important issues.
[QUOTE=fekedout;37598597]if you vote romney you are literally retarded[/QUOTE] unless you're a straight white anglo saxon christian male with lots of money. then you'd be retarded not to vote for him.
[QUOTE=kman866;37598661]Since no one else is going to do it, Romney. Facepunch is incredibly liberal, not surprised the poll is 81% for Obama right now...[/QUOTE] We see factors that make Obama much more preferable over Romney hence the large support for him. What factors do you see in Romney that would make him a better President?
Everyone who voted Romney needs to be kicked off the island.
Obabo wins, the end.
[QUOTE=Starpluck;37598814]We see factors that make Obama much more preferable over Romney hence the large support for him. What factors do you see in Romney that would make him a better President?[/QUOTE] i hate socialism, plane & simple
I still find it sad that the Green Party and the Libertarian Party never get seriously considered in American politics. Granted, I don't really agree with the Libertarians and, to a much lesser extent, the Greens, but I know there's a lot of people who are voting Dem or Rep whose beliefs would much more fit either of the other two parties. I'd bet if people really knew which party matched their beliefs (and wouldn't immediately believe that they're vote counts for fiddly-shit), we might see a much more diverse political spectrum than red and blue.
[QUOTE=Kopimi;37598865]i hate socialism, plane & simple[/QUOTE] Why? Also, how is that relevant?
[QUOTE=fekedout;37598597]if you vote romney you are literally retarded[/QUOTE] Just because someone supports a candidate does not make them retarded. Everyone has their opinions.
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