2016 Presidential Candidate

[midweststache]

DH and I have been discussing candidates for the 2016 presidential election. I'm interested to see which way the MMM community is trending.

[Chris22]

I'll be voting for the GOP candidate.  I have some preferences who I'd like it to be (NOT TRUMP! and I don't think a Bush can win) but they are all basically the same to me right now. 

I can't stand Hillary (I think she's lying, manipulative, corrupt, and as crooked as a $3 bill) and I think Sanders would wreck the economy just on the dubious basis of "getting the rich people".

[MissStache]

Leaning heavily Sanders at the moment (and the poll is showing similar!), but I'm very far from committed.

[Eric]

I didn't vote, simply because how could I possibly know already?

[Kris]

Not sure.  I cannot imagine voting for any of the clowns in the GOP.  (Wow, does that slate of candidates stink on ice...)  Bernie, well... in many ways, I agree with him on economic and social issues. But I don't think he can win, nor, frankly, am I sure he's a better candidate than Hillary. And Hillary... well, unfortunately, I just don't like her. She's competent and extremely experienced, I'll give her that.  But I will and would vote for either Democratic candidate (yes, I'm ignoring Lincoln Chafee), because frankly, either of them is better than the Republican candidates. 

It's a sad, sad state of affairs.

[GuitarStv]

Being Canadian I can't vote, but am really pulling for Trump.  You guys haven't had a good belly-laugh idiot of an American president to point at for eight years . . .

[Lski'stash]

OMG...

Okay, trying very hard not to judge here, but 12% for Donald Trump??? Can someone please explain this? I'm not sure if that number is from Canadians who enjoy laughing at the States, or people who might believe he would be a good president.

[Midwest]

Being Canadian I can't vote, but am really pulling for Trump.  You guys haven't had a good belly-laugh idiot of an American president to point at for eight years . . .

Why can't you vote?  We don't check anyway.

I like Kasich.

Midwest

[forummm]

I can't stand Hillary (I think she's lying, manipulative, corrupt, and as crooked as a $3 bill)

I'll be voting for the GOP candidate. 

Non sequitur. They're all liars, manipulators, and corrupt--they're running for president! They're all seeing which billionaires they can suck up to for the mega campaign cash. Huckabee sold crap supplements to poor people with diabetes, intentionally misleading them to make them believe they worked. Trump is always lying about how much money he has or how successful he is, etc. Jeb gets all "outraged" about Trump denigrating a war hero's service when he and his brother were absolutely brutal to McCain in 2000 (the campaign said he had an illegitimate black daughter, was mentally unhinged from being in Vietnam) and to Kerry mocking his purple hearts with those purple heart bandaids that everyone was wearing at the convention. They all lie on a daily basis.

[GuitarStv]

OMG...

Okay, trying very hard not to judge here, but 12% for Donald Trump??? Can someone please explain this? I'm not sure if that number is from Canadians who enjoy laughing at the States, or people who might believe he would be a good president.

It's probably a national defense thing.  Mess with President Trump, and there will be hell toupee.

[forummm]

OMG...

Okay, trying very hard not to judge here, but 12% for Donald Trump??? Can someone please explain this? I'm not sure if that number is from Canadians who enjoy laughing at the States, or people who might believe he would be a good president.

It's probably a national defense thing.  Mess with President Trump, and there will be hell toupee.

Last I saw he was at 24% in the poll of Republican primary voters. The next closest person was 13%.

[beltim]

OMG...

Okay, trying very hard not to judge here, but 12% for Donald Trump??? Can someone please explain this? I'm not sure if that number is from Canadians who enjoy laughing at the States, or people who might believe he would be a good president.

It's probably a national defense thing.  Mess with President Trump, and there will be hell toupee.

Last I saw he was at 24% in the poll of Republican primary voters. The next closest person was 13%.

I've never seen a candidate leading one party's polls so overwhelmingly unlikely to win the general election.  Trump is, right now, the top choice of Republican primary voters – but more Republicans would vote against him in a general election than any of the other candidates.  Fun stuff

[forummm]

OMG...

Okay, trying very hard not to judge here, but 12% for Donald Trump??? Can someone please explain this? I'm not sure if that number is from Canadians who enjoy laughing at the States, or people who might believe he would be a good president.

It's probably a national defense thing.  Mess with President Trump, and there will be hell toupee.

Last I saw he was at 24% in the poll of Republican primary voters. The next closest person was 13%.

I've never seen a candidate leading one party's polls so overwhelmingly unlikely to win the general election.  Trump is, right now, the top choice of Republican primary voters – but more Republicans would vote against him in a general election than any of the other candidates.  Fun stuff

Last time Michelle Bachmann was leading the polls for awhile. She had no chance. I think Trump has a bigger chance.

[beltim]

OMG...

Okay, trying very hard not to judge here, but 12% for Donald Trump??? Can someone please explain this? I'm not sure if that number is from Canadians who enjoy laughing at the States, or people who might believe he would be a good president.

It's probably a national defense thing.  Mess with President Trump, and there will be hell toupee.

Last I saw he was at 24% in the poll of Republican primary voters. The next closest person was 13%.

I've never seen a candidate leading one party's polls so overwhelmingly unlikely to win the general election.  Trump is, right now, the top choice of Republican primary voters – but more Republicans would vote against him in a general election than any of the other candidates.  Fun stuff

Last time Michelle Bachmann was leading the polls for awhile. She had no chance. I think Trump has a bigger chance.

I don't think she ever got close to Romney in the polls:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421119/reminder-four-years-ago-michele-bachmann-was-getting-same-share-polls-donald-trump

[cripzychiken]

I don't think Trump has a chance to get the GOP nod, much less actually win it.  He's too extreme and doesn't have enough political background to do well.  Plus he has shown he loves to put his foot in his mouth.  He'll be great for headlines and attacking the Dems, but doesn't really stand even a puncher's chance.

My biggest problem is I can't really stand behind anyone that is currently running.  I don't believe any of the bunch would make a good president (in their current 'state' before the parties change their messages).  I feel like it's going to come down to Bush/Walker for the GOP nod, and that guy will get my vote (currently) but I'm really hoping for someone to standout to me.

I like the ideas of Sanders, but like Trump, he's too extreme and wouldn't do well in a general election - but I think he would be the best of the current group.  However, I'm not sure he can get past Hilary.

So my rankings putting both ideals and likelihood of being on the ballot - Bush, Walker, Sanders, random GOP guy.

[forummm]

OMG...

Okay, trying very hard not to judge here, but 12% for Donald Trump??? Can someone please explain this? I'm not sure if that number is from Canadians who enjoy laughing at the States, or people who might believe he would be a good president.

It's probably a national defense thing.  Mess with President Trump, and there will be hell toupee.

Last I saw he was at 24% in the poll of Republican primary voters. The next closest person was 13%.

I've never seen a candidate leading one party's polls so overwhelmingly unlikely to win the general election.  Trump is, right now, the top choice of Republican primary voters – but more Republicans would vote against him in a general election than any of the other candidates.  Fun stuff

Last time Michelle Bachmann was leading the polls for awhile. She had no chance. I think Trump has a bigger chance.

I don't think she ever got close to Romney in the polls:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421119/reminder-four-years-ago-michele-bachmann-was-getting-same-share-polls-donald-trump

I guess it depends on the polls:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2011/jun/21/bachmann-surges-primary-lead/
http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2011/07/bachmann-continues-to-surge.html

[beltim]

I don't think she ever got close to Romney in the polls:
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421119/reminder-four-years-ago-michele-bachmann-was-getting-same-share-polls-donald-trump

I guess it depends on the polls:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2011/jun/21/bachmann-surges-primary-lead/
http://publicpolicypolling.blogspot.com/2011/07/bachmann-continues-to-surge.html

Interesting!  Thanks for those.
At her peak, though, she was polling much better against Obama (-4, -6) than Trump is polling against Clinton (-13, -16).

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_bachmann_vs_obama-1941.html#polls
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_clinton-5491.html

[Dee18]

I believe climate change is real.
I want the ACA to continue.
I support a woman's right to choose her medical care, including abortion.
Most of all, I want a Supreme Court that supports those last two items.

I'll vote Democratic. 

[FIPurpose]

Poll left off Kasich.

In  the unlikely event Bernie Sanders makes it past primary, he'll be my choice number 2. I don't care for anyone else and see them all about equal (barring the idiots looking for a book deal e.g. Trump)

[Cressida]

Sanders' politics are closest to mine, but I'm unlikely to cast a vote for him (except maybe in the WA caucus if he's still in the race and if there was no danger of that vote somehow harming the eventual Democratic nominee).

This is a long and good post about Hillary Clinton. She comes off fairly sympathetic. If you're a lefty voter and feel you dislike her, I'd recommend reading it. Not telling anyone how to feel, but there's good information and analysis there.

http://weeklysift.com/2015/07/27/the-2016-stump-speeches-hillary-clinton/

ETA: clarity + left out link.

[Bob W]

Unless Rand Paul wins the Republican nomination I will vote libertarian.   

Here is a very quick quiz that will show you where you fall on the spectrum of liberal, moderate, conservative, libertarian,  authoritarian.  http://www.cato.org/libertarianmind/libertarian-quiz   Your score may surprise you. 

I'm very high libertarian.  I support things like drug decriminalization,  gay rights,  abortion, and guns   ---  while opposing things like the draft,  the government telling me what to think and do,  internet spying on us (NSA), lifetime welfare and messing with the affairs of other countries.   

If Trump wins the Republican nomination, which actually could happen with his appeal to tea partiers and people who value the concept of a border,  I would definitely vote for him just to change the failed trajectory of the country over the last 3 administrations.      He would definitely win the border war in like 4 weeks.   Other than that and that his current wife is much hotter than Ivan Trump (have you seen your recent pictures?)   I have no idea what he would do.  Would be fun to watch though. 

The Democrats have completely failed us for the last 4 years.   Nothing but racism and increasing dependence on Government programs while encouraging illegals aliens.   Appealing to their base and no regard for the future of the country.

[forummm]

Here is a very quick quiz that will show you where you fall on the spectrum of liberal, moderate, conservative, libertarian,  authoritarian.  http://www.cato.org/libertarianmind/libertarian-quiz   Your score may surprise you. 

This is a quiz intentionally designed to make you "score" as a libertarian. I pay it no credence. Libertarians are absolutely right on a good chunk of issues (call it 30% to make up a number) where a lot (but not all) of "mainstream" politicians are very wrong, and just absolutely nuts on about the same number. Libertarians (like Rand Paul and his father) think it should be OK for businesses to discriminate on race. Rand has changed away from some of his good positions (like not getting involved in senseless wars) in order to try to win the primary.

[Bateaux]

I went to se Bernie in New Orleans Sunday.  Was a packed house with 5000 followers in Red State Louisiana.  Jindal only gathered 1000 in the very same building for his presidential bid.  Crazy when a senator from Vermont brings 5x as many people in your own state.
GEAUX BERNIE!

[Chris22]

I can't stand Hillary (I think she's lying, manipulative, corrupt, and as crooked as a $3 bill)

I'll be voting for the GOP candidate. 

Non sequitur. They're all liars, manipulators, and corrupt--they're running for president! They're all seeing which billionaires they can suck up to for the mega campaign cash. Huckabee sold crap supplements to poor people with diabetes, intentionally misleading them to make them believe they worked. Trump is always lying about how much money he has or how successful he is, etc. Jeb gets all "outraged" about Trump denigrating a war hero's service when he and his brother were absolutely brutal to McCain in 2000 (the campaign said he had an illegitimate black daughter, was mentally unhinged from being in Vietnam) and to Kerry mocking his purple hearts with those purple heart bandaids that everyone was wearing at the convention. They all lie on a daily basis.

Hillary is a special kind of crooked.  I get they all do dishonest things, but I think Hillary is a particularly dispicable human being who views being the first female president as her birthright and will do absolutely anything she can to reach that goal.  I would like nothing more than to see her crushed, by anyone.

[ncornilsen]

I'll be voting for anyone but Clinton and Sanders.  Clinton is the posterchild for left-wing authoritarianism, a unabashed aristocrat who should no longer be afforded a place in our nation's leadership. Sanders is a populist, an ideology found, and belonging in, the dust bin of history. He has no new ideas, just recycled, intellectual junkfood ideas that aren't practicable.

The Republican opposition is probably going to be a gay hating anti-abortionist, maybe a little racist according to the ever drifting, broad and nebulous leftist definition, but those things are mostly protected by laws that will be difficult to untangle. I think this nation will fare much better under a Republican than under Clinton or sanders.

[beltim]

Hillary is a special kind of crooked.  I get they all do dishonest things, but I think Hillary is a particularly dispicable human being who views being the first female president as her birthright and will do absolutely anything she can to reach that goal.  I would like nothing more than to see her crushed, by anyone.

I'll be voting for anyone but Clinton and Sanders.  Clinton is the posterchild for left-wing authoritarianism, a unabashed aristocrat who should no longer be afforded a place in our nation's leadership.

This is so interesting to me.  Can either of you point to specific things that make Clinton crooked, despicable, or authoritarian?  I always thought the dislike of Clinton was more for policy issues.

[music lover]

Being Canadian I can't vote, but am really pulling for Trump.  You guys haven't had a good belly-laugh idiot of an American president to point at for eight years . . .

That's probably because more people would rather cry than laugh at the actions of the current president.

[forummm]

Hillary is a special kind of crooked.  I get they all do dishonest things, but I think Hillary is a particularly dispicable human being who views being the first female president as her birthright and will do absolutely anything she can to reach that goal.  I would like nothing more than to see her crushed, by anyone.

I'll be voting for anyone but Clinton and Sanders.  Clinton is the posterchild for left-wing authoritarianism, a unabashed aristocrat who should no longer be afforded a place in our nation's leadership.

This is so interesting to me.  Can either of you point to specific things that make Clinton crooked, despicable, or authoritarian?  I always thought the dislike of Clinton was more for policy issues.

Yeah, I don't get it either. Her policies (and Bill's) are actually pretty moderate--that was the whole triangulation strategy behind his 1992 election. I'm not a Hilary fan, but I don't understand how this kind of response can be any different from what a dispassionate observer would say about any of the GOPers. I mean, if you want to talk about a candidate who feels its their birthright to be president, look no further than the guy who's grandfather was a senator, and whose father and brother were presidents. Jeb wouldn't be in the race if not for his station of birth. I agree that Hilary wouldn't be either if not for her husband--but she took a difficult road to get to the White House. Who would have thought that some dude from Arkansas with no family money would be president?

[Eric]

I won't vote for Hillary.  I'd probably vote for most other Dems.  If she wins the Democratic nomination, I'll probably just not vote.

I'm not really sure how the GOP can win the election at this point, no matter their nominee.  The economy is in good shape.  Once their primaries start and they start tacking further and further to the right, alienating everyone that is not a white Christian male, their fate will be sealed.  Just get them talking about how terrible immigrants are, or anything to do with rape (like how men can't rape their wives by definition (thanks Trump team!)), or any of the other issues where they appeal to their base voters over all others, and they'll further their party's decline.

If I was a moderate Republican (not an oxymoron, right?), I'd cringe everytime anyone in my party was asked about immigration.  Have none of these people seen demographic projections for the next 30-50 years?

[Cressida]

I won't vote for Hillary.  I'd probably vote for most other Dems.  If she wins the Democratic nomination, I'll probably just not vote.

I'm not really sure how the GOP can win the election at this point, no matter their nominee. 

Well, for a start, maybe thanks to all the Democrats who refuse to vote for Hillary?

[marty998]

Didn't vote in this poll (no point an Aussie skewing the numbers) but...

I like the ideas of Sanders,

Anyone else notice the fall-down-drunk funny irony of the above post? Chicken liking Sanders... KFC and the Colonel...geddit?

sorry for the interruption, carry on.

[Eric]

I won't vote for Hillary.  I'd probably vote for most other Dems.  If she wins the Democratic nomination, I'll probably just not vote.

I'm not really sure how the GOP can win the election at this point, no matter their nominee. 

Well, for a start, maybe thanks to all the Democrats who refuse to vote for Hillary?

Yeah, I guess that could be a way.  In the past, low turnout has generally favored the Republicans.  But that usually is more of an off year thing, not a Presidential election year thing.  It's all speculation at this point anyway.

[Kris]

Here is a very quick quiz that will show you where you fall on the spectrum of liberal, moderate, conservative, libertarian,  authoritarian.  http://www.cato.org/libertarianmind/libertarian-quiz   Your score may surprise you. 

This is a quiz intentionally designed to make you "score" as a libertarian. I pay it no credence. Libertarians are absolutely right on a good chunk of issues (call it 30% to make up a number) where a lot (but not all) of "mainstream" politicians are very wrong, and just absolutely nuts on about the same number. Libertarians (like Rand Paul and his father) think it should be OK for businesses to discriminate on race. Rand has changed away from some of his good positions (like not getting involved in senseless wars) in order to try to win the primary.

I honestly don't get how Rand Paul even feels like he can describe himself as a Libertarian anymore.  At least his dad was more or less true to libertarian principles. Rand is just a shapeshifter.

[Kris]

I can't stand Hillary (I think she's lying, manipulative, corrupt, and as crooked as a $3 bill)

I'll be voting for the GOP candidate. 

Non sequitur. They're all liars, manipulators, and corrupt--they're running for president! They're all seeing which billionaires they can suck up to for the mega campaign cash. Huckabee sold crap supplements to poor people with diabetes, intentionally misleading them to make them believe they worked. Trump is always lying about how much money he has or how successful he is, etc. Jeb gets all "outraged" about Trump denigrating a war hero's service when he and his brother were absolutely brutal to McCain in 2000 (the campaign said he had an illegitimate black daughter, was mentally unhinged from being in Vietnam) and to Kerry mocking his purple hearts with those purple heart bandaids that everyone was wearing at the convention. They all lie on a daily basis.

Hillary is a special kind of crooked.  I get they all do dishonest things, but I think Hillary is a particularly dispicable human being who views being the first female president as her birthright and will do absolutely anything she can to reach that goal.  I would like nothing more than to see her crushed, by anyone.

Oh, come on. She is crooked in practice, no doubt. But how someone who would vote for any of the Republicans currently on the slat would say she is especially corrupt?  That's just ridiculous.

[matchewed]

Great Taste!

[sol]

Less Filling?

[matchewed]

[gecko10x]

Gary Johnson if he runs again.

[Jeremy E.]

I think I'll just write in Ralph Nader

[vern]

I'll vote for anybody except Hillary or Jeb!

[cripzychiken]

If I was a moderate Republican (not an oxymoron, right?),

Um, I'm a moderate Republican, and a lot of younger Republicans are the same way.  I'd happily vote for a moderate Dem over an extremist Rep any day, but this is the main problem in today's political environment - everyone wants the moderates to win, but only the extreme interest groups give money - so candidates have to go to the extremes to get the money to run/campaign.

Rather than all the 'normal' ways to win - we have to get the women vote, the black vote, the old vote, the young vote, the 'other group that doesn't matter' vote - if a candidate would just focus on the middle where most of the people are, they would win.  I honestly believe that 80% of the young votes have 0 aligence to a party, and just want people to focus on crap that matters to everyone - not the 3 or 4 nit-pick issues that only affect certain groups.

I always draw a line - with 1 being liberal and 100 being conservative.  If I rank myself as a 60, am I closer to someone ranking as a moderate Dem (40) than a full fledged conservative (99)?  I vote for who I align with, and in recent terms, that's been no one (when I just for the least wrong/evil, b/c if you don't vote you give up your right to complain, and I love complaining!).

I feel like for the 4th of my as many presidential elections, I'm going to end up voting for the least evil rather than someone I feel can run the country well (Bush, Obama, Romney for those who care)

[GuitarStv]

Bush was the least evil?

[cripzychiken]

That was the Bush Kerry year - so least evil, least incompetent.  I couldn't stand Kerry, he just seemed like such a tool, worst than W, which is really hard to do.  But yes, I thought Bush2 > Kerry.

[forummm]

That was the Bush Kerry year - so least evil, least incompetent.  I couldn't stand Kerry, he just seemed like such a tool, worst than W, which is really hard to do.  But yes, I thought Bush2 > Kerry.

What about Kerry was evil or incompetent? He gave long-winded speeches and wasn't very inspiring. Like most people running for president he seemed to want the job more than having a cause he was fighting for. But I didn't see evil or that much incompetence. Curious to hear what you saw.

[LibrarIan]

I'm all in for Bernie Sanders at the moment. He tells it like it is, doesn't want any corporations riding easy off the rest of us, champions equality for all (for his whole career, unlike Hillary who suddenly was okay with gays in 2013) and, best of all, doesn't take money from super pacs. In fact, he wants to eliminate them altogether as well as getting rid of lobbying and reversing Citizens United. If he can get elected just using money from the general public pool of donors instead of taking money from giant corporations like basically every candidate ever, I'd say he deserves it.

When you have Hillary doing things like dodging questions about basic issues like the Keystone XL Pipeline (http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2015/jul/28/hillary-clinton-dodges-questions-about-keystone-xl-pipeline-video), which will quite likely be on the next president's plate, and stating that she'll answer when she's in office, that is very suspicious.

If I absolutely had to pick a Republican candidate, it would be Rand Paul at the moment. If only for his stances on so-called corporate welfare, the income tax code and lobbying.

[GuitarStv]

That was the Bush Kerry year - so least evil, least incompetent.  I couldn't stand Kerry, he just seemed like such a tool, worst than W, which is really hard to do.  But yes, I thought Bush2 > Kerry.

You weren't just voting for Bush though.  You were voting for him AND Cheney, the puppetmaster.  That's the torture/war-crimes combo that managed to permanently damaged US credibility through their actions.  How do you rationalize that as the less evil choice?

[Bob W]

Oh God,  president Cheney!  I completely forgot about him.

[forummm]

Oh God,  president Cheney!  I completely forgot about him.

Cheney's trailer hitch:

[sol]

Rather than all the 'normal' ways to win - we have to get the women vote, the black vote, the old vote, the young vote, the 'other group that doesn't matter' vote - if a candidate would just focus on the middle where most of the people are, they would win.

By "normal way to win" do you really mean to say "only appeal to wealthy Christian white males"?  Because that's kind of what you sound like.

As for the bit about "focusing on the middle" to the exclusion of women, minorities, old people, and young people, I suggest you spend some time with latest US demographic data.  Those people are the new middle.

[Jeremy E.]

it seems like 12 voters have voted since I last looked at this and they all voted Rand Paul... he used to have 3 votes compared to the 17 of Bernie Sanders