Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

So let's see what is funded in the budget bill: Planned Parenthood, the Iran deal, refugee resettlement, sanctuary cities, Obamacare subsidies.

Defunded: Border wall.

Sessions DOJ defending Obamacare contraceptive mandate.

And *still* the polling shows that if the election were held today, Trump would win. I have to admit though, Evan McMullin turned out to be an embarrassment. If I had it to do all over again, I would just write in someone I randomly selected on election day.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

maybe Hillary couldn't/didn't anticipate Bernie's attacks on the paid speeches, but to the extent she could it was very dumb money to have taken.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

I missed this one. Where?

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

In retrospect, Hillary should not have been as nice as she was to Bernie.

She should have pushed to have him disclose his taxes and finances to the same degree as hers, including the pay-off his wife got after running a school into the ground, and should have defended the Foundation from daybreak to sunset: when did he do anything to actually provide drugs to aids patients?

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

http://abc13.com/politics/96-percent...again/1906546/

Vote again?
Among Americans who say they voted in the 2016 election, 46 percent say they voted for Hillary Clinton and 43 percent for Trump, very close to the 2-point margin in the actual popular vote results. However, while Trump would retain almost all of his support if the election were held again today (96 percent), fewer of Clinton's supporters say they'd stick with her (85 percent), producing a 40-43 percent Clinton-Trump result in this hypothetical re-do among self-reported 2016 voters.

That's not because former Clinton supporters would now back Trump; only 2 percent of them say they'd do so, similar to the 1 percent of Trump voters who say they'd switch to Clinton. Instead, they're more apt to say they'd vote for a third-party candidate or wouldn't vote.

In a cautionary note to her party, Clinton's 6-point drop in a hypothetical mulligan election relates to views of whether the Democratic Party is in touch with peoples' concerns. Although the sample sizes are small, those who say the party is out of touch are less likely to say they'd support Clinton again, compared with those who see it as in touch.

Still, there's no strong evidence that defectors primarily come from groups that favored Bernie Sanders in the primary. There are no broad differences by age, and liberals are 9 points more likely than moderates and conservatives to stick with Clinton. Similarly, nonwhites are 10 points more likely than whites to say they would not support Clinton again, with more than a third of them heading to the Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson.




I think that the Democratic Party Chair crapping all over the 20% or so of Dems who do identify as pro-life was before the poll. So the number of Dems who think the party is out of touch may have increased a bit.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Interesting. I'll have to look at that one. Dynamics of a poll where there is not a real election anymore are always not terribly predictive (in particular on third parties - a sizable and regularly problematic portion of the Democratic vote, and a smaller but also problematic part of the Republican vote, always likes the idea of third parties when no election is on and then turns out and votes for their traditional party when it counts. But it still looks interesting.

I actually think there is more movement to Dems today in the center than on the left - that Bernie is not representative of where Dems will find more votes.

So you're not going to send McMullin a few pesos for his Congressional race in Utah?

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Thank you, Matt Yglesias, but I think this freak out over Obama, who is done with political office, is entirely ridiculous.

From the left, it's having anything to do with banks that's disqualifying. And earning a lot of money for doing little (strangely, even when it's at the expensive of the evil banks). No adult should take that seriously.

As for not needing the money, man, is there really anyone who has all they need/want?

I will grant that if Hillary was planning to run again, then she shouldn't have been taking paid speaking gigs because of the potential future conflict of interest.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

This. And now the whole party. Bernie raises some issues that the Dems should embrace (and Hillary did, at least nominally).

But they've got to get away from Bernie the man, who is toxic, selfish and incompetent. He isn't the way forward.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Post election, voters who voted for the candidate who lost are less enthusiastic about that candidate. Footage at 11.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Bernie can probably get some more votes from white men, but at the cost of black women and other people of color. You don't trade your strongest backers for scraps from your weakest group.

But the Dems need to get young people out to vote and minimum wage, cheaper college and more universal healthcare might help with that.

Anyway, the party needs Keith Ellison, who brings Bernie's upside without his baggage. But DNC. Yay!

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

I'd be interested in how many third party voters would switch, and which way.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

But it is a bit surprising that Trump retains 96% of his voters, even after displaying what a freak show he is and breaking pretty much every one of his campaign promises? So. Much. Winning.


And now the Freedom Caucus is backing the Obamacare replacement bill. I never could have thought that nominal GOP control of government would suck so badly. Aside from Gorsuch, it is truly terrible.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

No. He's still being mean to women, brown people and Muslims and that's all they really wanted. They think he hates the people they hate. He can't lose.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

I don't understand this.

Do I automatically have a conflict of interest forever with everyone I have ever received payment from, for myself, for a charity, for my law firm, or otherwise? Is this just me, or my firm or company?

If so, how does the rule apply to CEOs of large companies, or lawyers at law firms, or college presidents, or non-profit board members?

I'm a big fan of disclosure (something the Berners never really got - we still don't have that joker's tax returns - something that keeps him from beating up on Trump on the issue). I'm not a big fan of treating every interaction with the world as a disqualifying event. We want people who do stuff, not who sit in the corner proud of their purity.

Re: I used to be disgusted, and now I try to be amused.
 

Yeah, my bad. I've been super busy and important. Mostly important. But here is a cool old psychedelic funk rock instrumental, with a funk flute solo and everything. Free your mind. It's Michael Liggins and the Super Souls. "Loaded Back." The Daily Dose:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8tszLmocWU