The Official 2012 Presidential Election Thread

[Donegeal]

No idea about running for more than one office, but if Ryan had won the VP, his seat in congress would've been vacated (just like if a Senator/Rep accepts a P/VP nomination and wins) and Wisconsin would have to hold yet another election to fill it.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I've got a question: How is it that Paul Ryan was able to run for VP and his House seat at the same time?
Has that ever been done before? And what would have happened to his House seat if he had won both?

I thought one could only run for one office at a time... or is that just too logical?

Yes, that has been done before. IIRC, Joe Lieberman ran for VP and his Senate seat in 2000.

[Ben Kenobi]

Gun control doesn't matter. It will have basically no effect on stuff one way or the other - it'll just inconvenience a bunch of hobbyists. Compare Obamacare.

Disagree. 2nd amendment to the constitution. 1st is no less important. Just because Obama violates the first, doesn't mean that attacks on the second aren't as important. If Obama wants to take everyone's rights away - he's going to have to first ensure that he has a monopoly on force. To do that means that he'll have a swing at it.

Anyways my thoughts for what we'll see.

exponential Quantitative easing - timed to wreck things by the end of the term. Obama will spend somewhere in the neighbourhood of 2 billion or so per year. Mostly on frivolous stuff like the green crap and crap for all his buddies. Don't think he's done feathering his nest either - I expect we'll see some 'legacy building' or somesuch established, something like a Mount Rushmore, but only with Obama.

First thing out of the gate will probably be an EO protecting unions throughout the 50 states, ensuring that unions remain the preferential bid. Directed specifically at the work to right bills in what Obama considers his 'backyard' in Indiana and Wisconsin.

Second thing - probably military cutbacks. He'll probably cancel the F-30 (since he already did it to the F-22), and try to sell what he can to foreign unfriendly powers like, gosh the Iranians. Can't see that coming back to bite a future president in the ass.

He's already up against the debt limit - so he's going to jack the debt limit up really really high as a show of force straight away - Boner was already in negotiations.

I expect him to try to pass a bill requiring all employees are required to abide by the state laws prohibiting gender discrimination, (since he lost that 12-0 in the courts), he'll just EO it and bring out the lawsuits against the Catholic church.

When Obamacare comes down - he'll make it so that it's instantly part of the withholding - want to work in America - you pay for abortion and contraception. He'll file lawsuits (hell, he's already dropping the limits). Probably try to drop it to something like 10 hours or something once it's in place.

He'll probably try some nonsensical an ineffectual ban on guns - probably something on the lines of requiring everyone who wants one to submit to a psychological evaluation, a mandatory US wide waiting period, etc. More waivers for his own team from Obamacare.

Oh, since there's that nasty lawsuit - he'll probably jump in on that and file a lawsuit against the boyscouts for 'failing to protect children'.

Have I missed anything?

Oh right - blanket amnesty for everyone who's in the US at present, show up register to the authorities and boom - you're an instant american. He's gonna do it too and that might be number one on his agenda - but it won't get passed.

I give 50/50 even up odds on a major terrorist attack. Someone is going to have a go at the US before since Obama's shown himself to be incapable of protecting American interests abroad and seemingly uninterested in dealing with the perpetrators.

[MRT144]

Woke up and remembered that we won

[Asher]

Hey, I have been 100% behind Nate Silver's numbers since the beginning. I've just be unhappy about it.

I know you were. Others here weren't.

[Asher]

Ben, sounds like you should leave Liberal America and go to a true conservative country, like Iran.

[MRT144]

SHE IS A COMMUNIST

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_(street_protester)

[Ben Kenobi]

Ben, sounds like you should leave Liberal America and go to a true conservative country, like Iran.

Rating agencies already going to downgrade the US another notch.

Greece, here we come!

[giblets]

Ben, sounds like you should leave Liberal America and go to a true conservative country, like Iran.

No he's waiting for his blanket amnesty that Obama will enact without the support of Congress. Obama is now president for life.

[Ben Kenobi]

No he's waiting for his blanket amnesty that Obama will enact without the support of Congress. Obama is now president for life.

Nah, he'll push for it and it will fail. But he'll try for it. Dow down 300 too. Gosh, who could have predicted this?

[MRT144]

Nah, he'll push for it and it will fail. But he'll try for it. Dow down 300 too. Gosh, who could have predicted this?

Do you know anything about the ECB?

[Ben Kenobi]

Do you know anything about the ECB?

Do you know how cathartic it is to get up this morning and know that every piece of bad news over the next 4 years is Obama's fault? Ahh, I'm enjoying all the news I'm seeing.

[giblets]

Nah, he'll push for it and it will fail. But he'll try for it. Dow down 300 too. Gosh, who could have predicted this?

Obama's inevitable victory was already priced in before yesterday, so it probably has something to do with the Republicans keeping the House.

[Proteus_MST]

Actually the EC was founded back when a fledgling nation nearly the length of Europe lacked telegraphy to link it together.

This week it occurred to me that another situation in which the electoral college might be useful is when part of the couhtry is nearly paralyzed by a natural disaster - the region retains its impact even if the voter turnout is suppressed due to circumstances beyond anyone's control.

While the EC system surely is a good thing to give the major population centers more representation than thin settled ones, IMHO the main problem stems from the fact that all electoral votes in a state go to the one who has the majority of votes.
Even if, for example, a candidate in a state gets just 50.1 % of votes (and his contestant 49.9), all of the electoral votes in this state go to the winning candidate.
It would be much more representative, if the electoral votes of a state would be divided among the percentages of votes (something which AFAIK is in place in (just) 2 states of the USA)

[MRT144]

Do you know how cathartic it is to get up this morning and know that every piece of bad news over the next 4 years is Obama's fault? Ahh, I'm enjoying all the news I'm seeing.

I see you enjoy Pyrrhic childish victories in life.