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[SWE]

Unfortunate. Bellows is a woman of the people.

I don't know, she doesn't fit well with the Maine Moderate style, she'd be better off running for Governor in Vermont or challenging Steve Israel, y'know, if she was from there.

I agree, an anti-gay marriage, anti-marijuana, pro-Iraq War, pro-PATRIOT Act, pro-NSA senator represents Maine perfectly

I'm not saying Susan is a perfect Senator or anything (I'd prefer Snowe), but Maine is weird, and it likes its Elected officials (Well, the Republicans mainly) Moderate, and they really like Independents, which Bellows doesn't really draw in all that well.

Not really. Susan Collins leans socially conservative. Shenna Bellows is very socially liberal, and even independents like Angus King are too. We don't need moderates to win in Maine.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Anything that Al Sharpton says about Republicans, white people, or minorities that he doesn't like.

FTFY

[PiMp DaDdy FitzGerald]

See what I mean?

No

[Antonio the Sixth]

I honestly have never met a well-spoken and well-accomplished person who is 18-34 and who opposes Common Core.  Maybe the smart ones are just good at hiding their soft bigotry of lower expectations, but it seems like every Doctor/Lawyer/Engineer is fully on board with Common Core.  I've definitely met a few people who bag groceries who do not support it though.

Maybe living in South Florida influences this.  Thank God Florida is now a purple state.

[MurrayBannerman]

Standardized tests are evil.

[Potatoe]

I'd need to be a multi-billionaire. At that point, I'd have nothing really to work for and could focus on public service and being Batman.

[LeBron]

Michigan goes Republican? kthxbai.

Call me when Martin O'Malley is a good candidate.

Call me when Mike Pence is a good candidate.

I don't totally disagree with this, but there's a valley between the two.

Not to mention, Pence's vocational education policy will appeal to the blue collar Michiganders.

Vocational Education Policy isn't going to help win a state that has been won by Obama twice, in 2008 with an eighteen point margin. Also, he's a Tea Partier, Michigan doesn't like their Tea Party, unless their in specific Congressional district.

It'll certainly help when the Democratic candidate isn't championed as the savior of the auto industry.

Fine, I'll concede that'd it be closer, but only minorly so. Pence is a boring Candidate like O'Malley, but has the problem of being both a Tea Partier and only being elected by only four in Indiana over a crappy candidate.

Mainly because I totally agree that Pence is overestimated and would fare terribly against Hillary or really any Democrat that isn't worse than a dull Tea Party type. Also, because besides the post above us, this might have been Guntaker's last post on Atlas.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

This is really low of Boehner if he had anything to do with reporting the video to the school in a political sabotage against Winteregg. The ad itself was funny and lousy, but given Winteregg's low budget and little to no Tea Party help he's getting, he made a name for himself by successfully accusing Boehner of being the establishment hack he is and his utter failure to lead the House.

It would be nice if Boehner could get fired because Winteregg or Gurr would be better any day than Boehner, but unfortunately Boehner will still win probably close to if not >80% in the primary. He'll probably retire in 2016 as just a Rep because he knows it and I know it, the moment he took the govt funding bill to the floor in October, he kissed his Speakership goodbye.

[Goldwater]

Since there's no actual requirement in the Constitution that the Speaker of the House be a member of the House of Representatives, I would support electing someone from outside Congress who wants to reform House rules to make the body more democratic and accountable.

This seems reasonable. I think the Speaker should be more independent of party politics.

The Speaker of the House in the American tradition is like a Prime Minister who was dropped on his or her head as a baby. A non partisan speaker would be a great reform to Congress. Perhaps an amendment requiring the speaker to be a former member of Congress elected by the House to regulate debate and bring order to the House could be the solution?

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Neutral (not in favour of completely open borders, but not xenophobic).

[MurrayBannerman]

I think the idea that someone is a Pub these days because of the Dems past involvement in racism, prior to making a 180 degree course correction on that matter, is close to sui generis these days, to be honest. I mean, it is almost literally bizarre, and I say that as  Pub.

They may have made a course correction, but that doesn't change the fact that they did have a past involvement in racism.

And the fact that you would base your party affiliation on that is bizarre, yes. You're proving Torie's point.

How many times do I have to say that it's NOT the only reason I'm a Republican?

It might not be the only one, but it's clearly a major one for you, which is kind of bizarre. Especially considering the Republicans also had past involvement in racism...

True, but it was nowhere near as much as Democrats.  And the Republican party was established for the express purpose of ending slavery.

[Goldwater]

Standardized tests are evil.

How so? They give you an excuse to have to come into school for only a few hours and walk out not giving a sh#t. Maybe college should have them... Except I already only go to school for a few hours a day. Nevermind.

The Fins don't have them and their education system is one of the best. They also don't have homework. It's like actually good there.

I don't even go to class. I stopped going to class and all my grades went up because Youtube and Khan Academy are better at teaching than a top 25 business school.

God, I hate the education system in this country.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

I think the idea that someone is a Pub these days because of the Dems past involvement in racism, prior to making a 180 degree course correction on that matter, is close to sui generis these days, to be honest. I mean, it is almost literally bizarre, and I say that as  Pub.

They may have made a course correction, but that doesn't change the fact that they did have a past involvement in racism.

And the fact that you would base your party affiliation on that is bizarre, yes. You're proving Torie's point.

How many times do I have to say that it's NOT the only reason I'm a Republican?

It might not be the only one, but it's clearly a major one for you, which is kind of bizarre. Especially considering the Republicans also had past involvement in racism...

[Mechaman]

Wow, this is actually a pretty good one:

I found the Nolan trilogy...okay. Certainly a lot to praise in all three films, but they each fundamentally suffer from both the Hollywood version of "realism" as Einzige pointed out and from the obvious fact that said "realism" conflicts with the man in the rubber bat suit being the protagonist.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Yes I am citing a Tweed post as evidence. It's not an isolated example. I could bring up hordes of mind numbingly stupid seatown quotes and some of which imply opposition to gay marriage.

Also in what way am I bigoted?

Okay, posts from Tweed and seatown?  Yeah that's a winning convincing argument.

And as for the second question, in what way are you not a bigot?  Your simpleminded and closeminded approach to judging the world off of your extremely limited world experience is testament to a person of a very small mind.  But of course, to you it's not bigotry, because how can you be a bigot because only this strawman supports this straw issue.

[Goldwater]

1852:

President Shua was elected in 1848 by a solid margin (albeit hardly an overwhelming one) largely due to divided opposition.  Ultimately, his first was defined by the question of slavery and this time it was the President and his fellow Whigs who were divided.  Despite hailing from Virginia and having the tenuous support of his party's southern wing, many Whigs from his native region believed that the President had failed to sufficiently champion the interests of his region after California was admitted as a free state.  Senator Ben Kenobi (W-TX) even went so far as to quip in his speech to the 1852 Whig convention in Baltimore that "The President may chew Virginia tobacco, but it is the blue blood of the Boston heathen that flows through his veins."  

Meanwhile, the anti-slavery Whigs (led by octogenarian Congressman Seymour "Oldies" Freak) greeted the President at the convention with boos and cries of "Shua the slaver" for his support of "popular sovereignty."  Although President Shua was renominated for President over Congressman "Oldies" Freak after a humiliating seven ballots, Congressman Freak and his supporters bolted.  Between the President and Congressman "Oldies" Freak, the latter of whom was running as a third party candidate on the Free Soil ticket, the Democrats seemed assured of victory after what would be looked back upon by historians as one of the most disastrous conventions in American history.  

However, the Democrats had their own issues which came to the fore at their convention (also held in Baltimore).  Although former President Guy was widely considered the front-runner, he was mercilessly attacked as a "doughface" by the members of his party's anti-slavery and anti-big business "barnburner" wing.  This faction was led by Kentucky State Representative, publisher, and noted abolitionist Thomas Norman "TNF" Frick.  In one of the greatest upsets in the history of American politics, State Representative "TNF" was able wrestle away the nomination from the former President.  Many pro-slavery "fire-eaters" from slave states, especially those in the deep South, walked out of the convention and vowed to support President Shua.  Adding to the confusion was the fact that the party picked a platform that endorsed the doctrine of "Popular Sovereignty."  Suddenly, the election was looking competitive again.  Historians have noted that after the two back-to-back disastrous conventions, it would be decades before a major party dared so much as consider holding its convention in Baltimore.

Fortunately for the Democrats, Congressman "Oldies" Freak, dropped out and actually switched parties.  The ever eccentric Congressman "Oldies" Freak would famously declare that "the Democrats have proven themselves the rightful heirs the Christian torch of equality.  Thus, so it shall be that both myself and all my future descendants shall be Democrats from this time, until the end of time."  Ultimately, the election became a heated contest between to nominees who were extremely unpopular with large sections of their parties and this made it clear even then that it could be the beginning of a political realignment.  

Ironically, although the election ended up being so close that any state flipping would've changed the outcome, most of the state-by-state results were known well before the election.  Everyone knew it would all come down to the key swing-state of Pennsylvania and both candidates campaigned feverishly.  Shortly before the election, rumors surfaced that Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Arkansas planned to secede if TNF was elected.  Many historians believe this led some would-be TNF voters to cast their ballots for the President in order to preserve the Union.  This may have made the difference as President Shua won Pennsylvania, and with it the election, by a mere 208 votes.  Pennsylvania's Democratic Secretary of State Keystone Phil, a notorious "dough face," had the election results certified almost immediately much to the chagrin of anti-slavery Democrats.  However, shortly after the election the Whig Party collapsed due to slavery-related infighting and a circular firing-squad style blame game among the party elites regarding the convention.  The death blow came when President Shua shocked observers by switching to the Democratic Party (along with many pro-slavery "Southron" Whigs and formerly Democratic "fire-eaters").  By the time President Shua was sworn in, the Whig Party was no more and the Democrats appeared dominant (albeit more divided than ever).

President Shua (Whig-VA) - 51.20%, 151 Electoral Votes
State Representative TNF (D-KY) - 48.80%, 145 Electoral Votes

[LeBron]

A tie between the first three. I'll go with Tilden, because unlike Cleveland and Jackson he wasn't ever elected president.

Pretty much because his pick of Tilden has good reasoning plus I like the significance of putting "Cleveland" right next to "Jackson." (Cleve's Mayor is Frank Jackson).

[tik 🪀✨]

That's really sad. While the NC Democratic Party has Clay Aiken who proudly lives as an openly gay parent who supports gay rights despite running in a conservative district, the GOP has someone who just decided to "choose" that he's no longer gay only for electability reasons against Krawiec.

Just from reading that article, it seems that just by denying his connections to what's accepted as the real truth of his past life only further hurts his credibility in the race (especially if he used to be a Democrat, to) and he's only turning himself into even more of a bigoted jerk. Hopefully, Krawiec beats him in a landslide for really caring more about a NC legislature seat than his own conscience or lifestyle, but I might have said otherwise if Wiles was actually hot like another secretly gay bigot in Aaron Schock.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Hey guys, this is just a friendly reminder that what clothes you wear and how you present yourself doesn't indicate anything about your sexuality.

Not that I don't think this man isn't a massive tool, but he can have done all of these things and then figured out it wasn't his cup of tea. That should be as okay as the opposite scenario.

Just saying.

And that when you elect someone, you're electing who you think will best represent your interests - you aren't electing someone's ..life. I understand if you think this is hypocritical or ruins his political integrity, but that's not necessarily the case.

[IceSpear]

Our forum should declare WAR on that forum!

No. No. No. We had this already, and it was NOT a good experience. Please do NOT make any attempt to join that site and reignite this so called rivalry.

[MurrayBannerman]

Maybe Santorum will try to maneuver to run as a faux populist?

Rick's new book makes it pretty clear that is his strategy...



From Politico

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Unless these "missing whites" were going to break 90% Romney, Obama still would've won. So what exactly is his point?

[Goldwater]

This just in: Math is cheating

[traininthedistance]

Seems like Republicans are picking California and Democrats North Dakota.

The Atlas is a strange place. 

However, I guess that makes since if you consider that Fargo is the most liberal place in ND while Bakersfield is probably one of the most conservative cities in California. 

My vote on these things have nothing to do with politics.

[MurrayBannerman]

I feel like expansion to 32 is an obvious thing to do- the NFL can support that many teams just fine and it evens things out to stop the constant interleague games for people who care about that.

As I mentioned above, the first choice should definitely be in VA/NC- Tidewater, Raleigh, or Charlotte, with preference for the first two since the Braves do appear to have a bit of a fanbase in/around Charlotte.  Tidewater needs a team the most, and maybe the NBA would be a slightly better choice given their size, but baseball would do much better than the NFL there- it is still R******s country.

As for the second one, I'm more agnostic but the two locales that immediately come to mind are Portland and San Juan.

As for other metros that need a sports team of some sort, San Antonio is the next obvious choice- but the team San Antonio really wants is a relocated Jacksonville Jaguars.

[SWE]

Not so much gun owners in general but the gun lobby (ie NRA and GOA) along with their shrills. Of course the gun control lobby with their Helen Lovejoy-esque rhetoric and elitism is increasingly getting on my nerves too...

"WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!"