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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
With Iowa, Cracked has a pretty good article about just how much it sucks being the first Primary State
, boiled down to 4 overarching reasons.
On the Republican side of things, it looks like Cruz has an early lead over Trump, with Rubio trailing in 3rd and Carson in 4th. (24% of precincts reporting in so far.) Based on these numbers, none of the other candidates stand a prayer; it's down to these four.
We'll see if that holds up.
Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)I think the "our country is the greatest in the world" is a pretty bad thing to teach. No country is perfect, and there's usually at least one horrifying flaw. For example, while Canada has better healthcare, and we don't have the same racial issues as the US, the Canadian government spent several decades outright trying to erase aboriginal culture entirely.
Teaching people they live in the best country ever seems to lead to two different extremes. (Most people land somewhere between). One side is the "my country must have been way better in the past! I'll try to force things back to that filtered through my own preconceptions." The other is "my country isn't what I was taught it was. There's nothing I can do." Both are pretty negative ways to do things.
Cruz is a weird case where most people don't seem to know much about him. I've asked around and the only thing people seem to connect with him is that thing with Green Eggs and Ham, and they don't remember any details.
edited 1st Feb '16 6:40:25 PM by Zendervai
The Democrats would have a field day putting Cruz' actual statements in front of the American people and seeing what they think.
The Iowa results so far are neck and neck between Clinton and Sanders, with Clinton holding a razor thin lead at 67% of precincts counted. This is going to be such a fun primary.
edited 1st Feb '16 6:45:25 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"![]()
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Relax. Either candidate brings their own set of issues to the general, and it's not very much our decision anyway. Show up to the primaries, vote your conscience, then hang back and watch the events unfold until November.
This one won't. The process is what it is.
edited 1st Feb '16 6:55:22 PM by Artificius
"I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once."That script at idpcaucuses.com causes my browser to cry like a little girl. I don't know why it's coded so badly, or maybe it's just getting swamped with hits, but the last time I checked, O'Malley's results looked a bit like a Where's Waldo page without any Waldos. Now, it's not like anyone expected him to perform well in Iowa, but if he's going to be a spoiler, he will need results that can be seen in a pie chart at less than 4K resolution.
edited 1st Feb '16 6:57:53 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"You know I've never got the "make America great again" line, it seems to betray a fundemental lack of national pride, patriotism and belief in America in the speaker, I mean you're declaring that America isn't great currently, which is both factual incorrect in many ways but also not very patriotic.
As Colbert put it, it's about Rebecoming The Greatness That America Never Wasn't.
Well only an idiot would argue the US is great right now.
I would argue that the US is great right now. The fact that it has a lot of problems and could be better doesn't stop it from being great.
racism at an all time high,
1860 says hi. I mean, are you even trying?
Re the primaries: The democrat side isn't actually that interesting, because Hillary can lose Iowa and New Hampshire and still come out ahead. Especially if she doesn't lose catastrophically, and it doesn't seem like she will.
edited 1st Feb '16 7:01:53 PM by storyyeller
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayAs much as I love seeing Trump whine on camera, I don't want Cruz to win, either.
America has improved dramatically since its inception. A few setbacks don't obviate the rule. We can't give up on her, though. That way leads to ruin.
"Suspending" one's campaign is not "ending" it, because it leaves open the possibility that one might restart it should things change. It's a bit of a weasel word. But nobody ever restarts their campaign once it happens.
Bye, O'Malley. We knew ye, but barely cared.
edited 1st Feb '16 7:07:30 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

You're not a pain Jack, I think we're all kinda used to your defeatism by now. Just remember, 20 years from now when America hasn't collapsed and remains a major world player (possibly even still top dog in a unipolar world) that we did tell you so.
Oh and someone was asking, yeah I'm talking about the right hating America.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran