2016 Election Thread (My God Kill Me Now)

[Freed Roger]

Trump still has time to say April Fools.

[wart57]

Trump still has time to say April Fools.

Wow, he sure went a long way for a joke.... please let it be a joke.

[Cheddar Tom]

I told Joe Shlabotnik there was 0% chance of Paul Ryan getting the nomination....now it's being seriously discussed.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/p ... ion-221522

[pioneer98]

[ghostrunner]

I can't decide if the media failed w/r/t Trump's campaign or if they just gave him the adequate amount of rope to hang himself with.

[sighyoung]

I can't decide if the media failed w/r/t Trump's campaign or if they just gave him the adequate amount of rope to hang himself with.

I think it's many things. Media coverage is just atrocious these days, and often lacking in substance.

In addition, negative coverage didn't matter for a very long time, since the sheer number of candidates overwhelmed the press and public alike, leaving Trump to continue to focus on his narrow but intensely loyal base.

Right now, Trump is stuck, unable to appeal beyond his core. He had counted on momentum to carry him over the finish line, but he needs to appeal to other constituencies of the party to be able to win outright. These groups just don't like Trump, and endorsements from the likes of Christie and Carson aren't enough. Other than promising to "hire the best people," he doesn't have a signature policy that is appealing to voters--just his fame as a businessman, and free headlines. So I'm left to see if he's able to make adjustments in the next few weeks in his image or message.

[heyzeus]

Right now, Trump is stuck, unable to appeal beyond his core. He had counted on momentum to carry him over the finish line, but he needs to appeal to other constituencies of the party to be able to win outright. These groups just don't like Trump, and endorsements from the likes of Christie and Carson aren't enough. Other than promising to "hire the best people," he doesn't have a signature policy that is appealing to voters--just his fame as a businessman, and free headlines. So I'm left to see if he's able to make adjustments in the next few weeks in his image or message.

I'm pretty sure his signature policies are building a wall (and making Mexico pay for it) and kicking out all the Muslims. Which goes to your point - that stuff will appeal to a certain core in this country, but will also serve as a barrier from any wider appeal to the electorate.

Turns out there just aren't enough scapegoats to build a 51% coalition of bigots.

[Cheddar Tom]

Now this is disturbing....KS is trying to reshape its supreme court because it isn't happy with the way its ruling on legislation. It is being coordinated by the Judicial Crisis Network, an arm of the Koch Bros, formerly known as the Judicial Confirmation Network in 2005.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/comments/2016 ... court.html

[MrSaigon]

Media sucks and is struggling to figure out wtf they are, but they're also just giving people what they have clearly demostrated they want. Look at the most clicked sidebars on any site, and Trump is 4 of the 5. I click on Trump more often than I'd like to admit. I guess the issue is the coverage and how they need to balst him. But CNN has never really said anything about anything, have they?

I think the narrative that Trump is Dr. Media's monster needs a lot more nuance. Obviously they don't need to generate some of those headlines.

[IMADreamer]

The Trump rise and maybe fall is scary because it highlights how much power the media has. It wouldn't have that much power if more than a handful of companies weren't incharge. However since the media is basically centralized it can drive the message anyway it wants. That sad thing is a lot of people know how awful the media is but they seem to fall back on shady blogs that lean towards their own ideology. I think Pandora's box has been opened with it all though and there's not shutting it down now. It's a bit scary to think what the future looks like politically. More fractured, more radical I suppose.