Election 2012

[orthodoc]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

On the other hand ... Christie-Huntsman 2016!

Seriously, Christie is about as good a leader as I can see anywhere in the US. Huntsman seems sane, despite coming from Utah.

You're so far ahead of most North Americans, it's scary.

[piercehawkeye45]

I would have seriously considered Huntsman over Obama.

Christie seems more popular among Democrats than Republicans right now. However, he was told by Republicans that his "endorsement" of Obama won't be forgotten. We will see.


Also, I find it funny that the best (most realistic) critiques of the Obama administration have come from Obama endorsements.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I have friends in Jersey who are not happy with Christie, but from what I've seen he's not sneaky. He seems to say what he means, and vice versa, so if he's going to fuck you he won't deny it.
The criticism from republicans has come from the people the party will hopefully shed in the near future.

[DanaC]

Christie seems a more sensible chap than most of the current crop of republicans. Not just because he endorsed Obama (I thought his reasoning for that was excellent though) but generally he seems pretty sensible. The times I've seen him in interview, that is, 'cause I know very little about him as a politician.

[Cyber Wolf]

I really wonder what the republican party expected from Christie considering the circumstances of the praise he gave Obama. Should he have not declared his state under an emergency and not paved the way for Federal Level aid to come in? Should he have told Obama to take his 'handout money' and, with all due respect, GTFO? Should he have taken the money but then given Obama the cold shoulder while he visited?

Or was it the fact that he was so positive towards Obama in an election year and so close to election day?

I think he did best by the people of the state he governs, who should be and are his primary political concern, not the republican party itself. He did right by the people who elected him and end up getting called a traitor and distanced by prominent members of the party and the pet news service that were so in love with him. Love is such a fickle thing in politics.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by piercehawkeye45

I would have seriously considered Huntsman over Obama.

Same here. He and Obama were the two centrists. Huntsman was probably closer to me philosophically, so my vote probably would have gone there. The more Romney I see, the worse it is for Romney.

Dear GOP moderate or die. Find honest folks who appreciate the nuances of economics in real world situations and shed the nutters. People used to talk about the Dems becoming a permanent minority party, so they changed. The numbers are not looking good for the GOP right now as a coalition of backward looking people who demographics say are done. You need a plan that doesn't include destabilizing the country.

[Adak]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Christie seems a more sensible chap than most of the current crop of republicans. Not just because he endorsed Obama (I thought his reasoning for that was excellent though) but generally he seems pretty sensible. The times I've seen him in interview, that is, 'cause I know very little about him as a politician.

Gov. Christie has been very well spoken of by the Conservatives and Republicans in the past. I haven't heard what Christie said about Obama. Did he actually endorse Obama? Or just offer a few words of praise?

Unfortunately, good politicians like Huntsman are easily overlooked in the primaries, because they don't stand out enough from the rest of the field. Also, they don't have the organization they need in all the primary states, to help promote their candidate, and make a solid showing.

The Republicans need a "big tent", but they need to re-think their platform, and either get the nutters to toe the platform, or walk the plank out of the party. Way too many of them, hanging around, and giving conservatives, a bad rep.

[Spexxvet]

I work in NJ, and my take on dissatisfaction with Christie is really people not understanding implications.

I work with a young woman whose husband is a professional fire fighter for Cherry Hill Township. She endorsed Christie, commenting "I can't believe the benefits and pension that NJ teachers get! They should be cut back". I told her that her husband may very well get the same treatment. She assured me that he worked for a local municipality, and what happened at the state level would not effect her family. It did.

People didn't understand that when the state cuts spending, local municipalities get less money from the state. Now everyone is upset at losing local services or seeing their local taxes skyrocket. Well, duh.

And now Christie, who, as a repubican, stood against Big Government and Washington Spending is embracing said evilness, because it benefits him and his. This is what happens every time. For instance, Republicans were all dead set against stem cell research, until it could help Reagan's Alzheimer's. It happens every time.

[BigV]

This guy speaks my mind in the comments section of the 538 blog.

Our drug of choice is Nate. In the morning, Keurig cup, Nate summary, then the charts...then back to the Keurig. At night, Nate's updates, wine, dinner, TV, and check to see if Nate is still working. If so, check charts, read the lead, followed by nightmares or, with any luck, sound deep sleep.
So thanks Nate, we're rounding the last Pole, hope it's one more stop for you with Maher on Friday and then...off you go!

Great Job. Much Appreciated. Will switch to Red Bull while you're gone or otherwise engaged.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Let me war you...

[glatt]

Amazing. I'd heard audio of his speeches, but don't ever remember seeing one. He's good.

And you can't tell he's in a wheelchair.

[Spexxvet]

[BigV]

touch screen voting machine in Pennsylvania "switching" vote from obama to romney. this machine seems to be badly out of calibration. 309 views as of 11:22 am PST.


uploader's comments. he says not a calibration issue, perhaps we just don't have the same understanding of the meaning of calibration.

My wife and I went to the voting booths this morning before work. There were 4 older ladies running the show and 3 voting booths that are similar to a science fair project in how they fold up. They had an oval VOTE logo on top center and a cartridge slot on the left that the volunteers used to start your ballot.

I initially selected Obama but Romney was highlighted. I assumed it was being picky so I deselected Romney and tried Obama again, this time more carefully, and still got Romney. Being a software developer, I immediately went into troubleshoot mode. I first thought the calibration was off and tried selecting Jill Stein to actually highlight Obama. Nope. Jill Stein was selected just fine. Next I deselected her and started at the top of Romney's name and started tapping very closely together to find the 'active areas'. From the top of Romney's button down to the bottom of the black checkbox beside Obama's name was all active for Romney. From the bottom of that same checkbox to the bottom of the Obama button (basically a small white sliver) is what let me choose Obama. Stein's button was fine. All other buttons worked fine.

I asked the voters on either side of me if they had any problems and they reported they did not. I then called over a volunteer to have a look at it. She him hawed for a bit then calmly said "It's nothing to worry about, everything will be OK." and went back to what she was doing. I then recorded this video.

There is a lot of speculation that the footage is edited. I'm not a video guy, but if it's possible to prove whether a video has been altered or not, I will GLADLY provide the raw footage to anyone who is willing to do so. The jumping frames are a result of the shitty camera app on my Android phone, nothing more.

[Cyber Wolf]

Originally Posted by BigV

touch screen voting machine in Pennsylvania "switching" vote from obama to romney. this machine seems to be badly out of calibration. 309 views as of 11:22 am PST.

uploader's comments. he says not a calibration issue, perhaps we just don't have the same understanding of the meaning of calibration.

I had somewhat similar issues with my voting machine. When I went to select my choice under presidential candidates, it only took a gentle tap to select any of the others but I had to pound the section for my choice several times before it highlighted. Then at the end, when it summarized, the summary had the the wrong selection. I had to go back and do it again. No other part of the voting from the Congress choices to the amendment and bond yes/no questions had the same problem.

[DanaC]

That is seriously fucked up.



But ya know...goddamn, it but you Americans are clever bastards. That's some stylish electoral shenannigans right there.