Politics

[flyingember]

If I recall, if none get over 50% electoral votes, the House that is voted into Jan 2017 gets to elect president (not the current House). I think it has happened a couple times in distant past. So if GOP can maintain control of House this election, they'd likely go with Trump.

Who shows up to vote is of course the main factor. The House could potentially switch gears if more DEMs show up.

I didn't lookup the exact election but last time was around 1880

[aknowledgeableperson]

"you mean the majority of primary voters. not everyone votes in the primary and they appear to be more extreme than the electorate as a whole."

Polling was done looking forward, not the past.

[FangKC]

If Bernie runs independent, who wins?

Bernie will not run as an independent. He will not do anything that might contribute to Trump getting elected. He is fighting to get representation in forming the platform for the Democrats. This doesn't indicate a candidate that is preparing to run as an independent.

If Hillary wants to hold the Democratic coalition together, the smartest thing she could do is make Sanders her VP. At the very least, she should offer him a cabinet post. Something like Treasury Secretary or Secretary of Health & Human Services.

None of the other possible VP picks that have been floated will pull in the Sanders supporters to the extent that having Sanders on the ticket would. I doubt Elizabeth Warren will be chosen. If she became VP, a Republican governor will fill her seat. The Democrats can't afford to lose a Senate seat. If Sanders were elected VP, his Senate seat would be filled by a Democratic governor.

Julian Castro is a leading contender, but there is less upside in this choice. Clinton needs to hold on to the Sanders supporters more than she needs Hispanic voters. Hispanics will likely vote for Hillary anyway.

Sanders as VP candidate can go out on the campaign trail and say things that Hillary cannot. He would serve as the attack dog. He would pull in big crowds.

I don't think Hillary has written Sanders off as a choice, because she has not said anything really nasty about him during the campaign. She has been very fair-minded about his campaign, and she has avoided doing anything to alienate him. This indicates to me that she will consider him as VP if she feels she needs to hold on to his supporters.

[beautyfromashes]

^^ Rule#1 for choosing a VP: Don't pick a loose cannon. See: Sarah Palin.

[FangKC]

I don't see Sanders as a loose cannon. He's been very consistent and disciplined on his message. If you watch his speeches, his spiel is basically the same at every stop. He rarely deviates from his message.

In many ways, Sanders is a much more disciplined candidate than Clinton.

[beautyfromashes]

Yes, but the problem is that his message is very, very different than Hilary's. If she tries to pull moderates to her side in the general and he starts sounding like Hugo Chavez it would be bad for her.

[flyingember]

Yes, but the problem is that his message is very, very different than Hilary's. If she tries to pull moderates to her side in the general and he starts sounding like Hugo Chavez it would be bad for her.

it's very hard to do, McCain tried with Palin, but the goal with disparate personalities is to present the pairing as capable of bringing different groups together and get many viewpoints heard.
With McCain-Palin the idea could have been to have a conservative that could get other conservatives on board with more moderate bills for the then Democrat controlled senate. She just ended up being too independent for this idea to ever work, if valid.

[beautyfromashes]

If I were her, I'd pick Cuban. He seems pretty likable from his TV show, businessman, has stated he's an independent and is much younger than her. He might get the younger voter better than her.

[grovester]

I sort of agree, though that might antagonize Bernie voters. I think Cuban could nullify Trump's bluster pretty easily.

[earthling]

Reality TV Star vs. Reality TV Star, this is what we've come to.

[brewcrew1000]

We are just getting closer and closer to having a President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, porn star and five-time ultimate smackdown wrestling champion!!!! A great man, a great american. He will serve up a can of whoop ass if you cross him

[flyingember]

We are just getting closer and closer to having a President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, porn star and five-time ultimate smackdown wrestling champion!!!! A great man, a great american. He will serve up a can of whoop ass if you cross him

You joke but close to this has already come up

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_A ... ive_office

Jesse Ventura the wrestler was of course governor and considered running for Senate.
That seat was won by Al Franken, the entertainer

He's apparently talked about being VP with Ron Paul and as an independent for president at various times

[grovester]

Only a matter of time before the Oval Office smells what the Rock is cooking.

[shinatoo]

We are just getting closer and closer to having a President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho, porn star and five-time ultimate smackdown wrestling champion!!!! A great man, a great american. He will serve up a can of whoop ass if you cross him

You joke but close to this has already come up

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_A ... ive_office

Jesse Ventura the wrestler was of course governor and considered running for Senate.
That seat was won by Al Franken, the entertainer

He's apparently talked about being VP with Ron Paul and as an independent for president at various times

Pretty much what happens in the Philippines. Plus don't forget Ronald Reagan.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Seriously doubt Clinton would pick Sanders.
Also seriously doubt Sanders would agree to be her running mate. What would he gain? Being in the Senate he can be his own man. Being VP he becomes another Joe Biden. Nice position but no power, no independence.

[kboish]

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/ne ... 20207.html

Finally, someone with cash is stepping up to help return sanity to MO state politics. Hopefully others wake up and start getting in the state game so rural MO is not used as a battering ram against the progressive cities in the state.

Weary of waiting for lawmakers to act, Sauer has forked over nearly $1.1 million to a group called Returning Government to the People, which is pushing a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would reinstate campaign limits for the first time since 2008.

Sauer’s proposal would cap donations to candidates at $2,600 per election and to political parties at $25,000. There’s something else, and this is key: The initiative also would stop political committees from obscuring the source of their money by halting the crazy practice of political money laundering.

...

“I’m just fed up with it and decided to do what I can do,” he told me in what an aide said was a rare interview. “Missouri will only be healthy again when everybody’s vote counts and representatives have to pay attention to people who elected them.”

[aknowledgeableperson]

It may pass but it won't pass judicial review.

[WinchesterMysteryHouse]

Log Cabin Republicans for Clinton.

[beautyfromashes]

^^ Surprising. Trump seems the Republican candidate most open to LGBT issues ever, definitely more than Bush or Romney, and traditionally more than Clinton who has been very conservative in the past on gay marriage.

[grovester]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michelang ... 18108.html

Depends who he's talking to.