"Race For The White House 2024" Open Chat

[TTL News 308]

Quote

 

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nikki Haley was swamped in Nevada’s symbolic Republican presidential primary as GOP voters resoundingly picked the “none of these candidates” option on the ballot in a repudiation of the former U.N. ambassador who is the last remaining major rival to front-runner Donald Trump.

Trump didn’t compete in Tuesday’s primary, which doesn’t award any delegates needed to win the GOP nomination. The former president is instead focused on caucuses that will be held Thursday and will help him move closer to becoming the Republican standard-bearer.

 

Source

[Chris 2,162]

Has any third party candidate declared intent to run yet?

[MsKreed 1,182]

Several have declared intent

But unfortunately,  the "duopoly" holds power within state legislatures that set eligibility laws.....and has colluded in some states to create unreasonable barriers to ballot access.

So, it could be impossible for anyone other than a D or R to win, if other candidates aren't on ballots in enough states to attain the 207 electoral votes needed.

 

Quote

 

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is chipping away toward the goal of being on the ballot in states across the country, increasing the chances he will influence the outcome of the White House race.

Mr. Kennedy has cleared the bar in Utah and recently collected the signatures needed to appear on the ballot in New Hampshire.

He has also decided to work smarter, not harder, in a half-dozen states — California, Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas — where he filed a petition to create a new political party, which is an easier way to get onto the ballot in those states than running as an unaffiliated candidate.

“We have the field teams, volunteers, legal teams, paid circulators, supporters and strategists ready to get the job done,” said Kennedy campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear. “Mr. Kennedy will be on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.”

Mr. Kennedy is not alone.

Cornel West, a prominent Black liberal academic and independent presidential candidate, is making ballot inroads, while No Labels, the group laying the foundation for a bipartisan “unity ticket,” is on the ballot in more than a dozen states.

The Green Party and the Libertarian Party have also secured ballot access in several states, including key battleground states.

Source 

 

[Chris 2,162]

So this could well be the first presidential election I don’t vote for someone. Because I am not voting for either of the two major party candidates. 

[Ann 264]

11 hours ago, Chris said:

So this could well be the first presidential election I don’t vote for someone. Because I am not voting for either of the two major party candidates. 

Always vote.  When I don’t like the candidates on a ballot I write in the name of a candidate I absolutely trust….me.

[MsKreed 1,182]

For the last several years, I have voted for the Libertarian candidate, even though I know there is no chance they'd receive enough votes to win New York's electoral votes.  Contrary to the flawed logic of critics who say this is a "spoiler" vote that will only "take" votes away from one of the candidates.....I do not believe my vote is wasted by voting this way.

 

First it's my vote to "give", and never belonged to either major candidate. So nothing was "taken" from them unless we assume they someone had some claim to my vote to begin with. 

Second, even if we did subscribe to that premise.....perhaps it could make a difference in a swing state. But this is New York State; the blue candidate will get all of our electoral votes anyway. 

And lastly (most importantly).....a vote for someone other than D/R is not simply a "symbolic" gesture that just sends some message without real world consequence. Voting something other than D/R is the best way to allow other parties to exist in in NYS. 

 

The major parties running the show in Albany have hinged the legal recognition of third parties on the number of votes a party receives in the most recent major election.  So, discouraging votes for 'outsiders' results in restricting future competition by those outside parties. Because they are unable to participate in future elections, unless they can gather prohibitively large numbers of signatures as an independent party, instead of a "recognized" party with automatic ballot access. 

 

[Chris 2,162]

Anyone catch the Kennedy throw back ad for RFK Jr. last night? The family is not happy, although he issued an apology last night, saying he had nothing to do with it.

[Ann 264]

3 minutes ago, Chris said:

Anyone catch the Kennedy throw back ad for RFK Jr. last night? The family is not happy, although he issued an apology last night, saying he had nothing to do with it.

I was a youngster, 6 -7, but I was immediately taken back to the early 1960’s when I saw that ad.  
Kennedy said he had not seen the ad before airing and apologized to his family.  My first thought was what kind of President will he be if individuals working with/for him do things without his knowledge.  I also don’t believe an apology was necessary.

Edited February 12 by Ann
Add content.

[KarenK 383]

22 minutes ago, Chris said:

Anyone catch the Kennedy throw back ad for RFK Jr. last night? The family is not happy, although he issued an apology last night, saying he had nothing to do with it.

About 5-6 of us at the bar and we were all like "what was that all about?"

[MsKreed 1,182]

17 minutes ago, Ann said:

My first thought was what kind of President will he be if individuals working with/for him do things without his knowledge.

He (correctly) noted in his apology: "FEC rules prohibit Super PACs from consulting with me or my staff."

This is from the 2010 SCOTUS ruling on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. That case determined that PACs have essentially the same First Amendment rights as individuals regarding free speech (independent and separate from any candidate or organization they support). 

[MsKreed 1,182]

56 minutes ago, Chris said:

Anyone catch the Kennedy throw back ad for RFK Jr. last night? 

Yeah....

When I saw it, I thought it was just a quirky throwback created to be reminiscent of the JFK days, then found out today that it was actual footage and audio from a 1960 campaign commercial. 

Edited February 12 by MsKreed

[Adam 373]

i see nothing in need of apology, its actually MUCH different than the usual garbage candidates sling at each other. its funny reading reactions on NPR site, youd think the kennedys were all saints...lets see, made their fortunes bootlegging, had one daughter lobotomized to protect family image, JFK was a philanderer, pill popper another a drunk that killed a teen girl, etc. 

[Chris 2,162]

Of course she can. All she has to do is linger around long enough to see him convicted or somehow knocked out of the race. She'd be the last person standing and have a good chance of the nomination by default. Of course that's not counting what could happen at the GOP Convention.

We. Are. Screwed.

[Chris 2,162]

Trump won South Carolina. 

your presumptive nominees are Trump and Biden. Great...

 

[TTL News 308]

Quote

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously restored Donald Trump to 2024 presidential primary ballots, rejecting state attempts to ban the Republican former president over the Capitol riot.

The justices ruled a day before the Super Tuesday primaries that states cannot invoke a post-Civil War constitutional provision to keep presidential candidates from appearing on ballots. That power resides with Congress, the court wrote in an unsigned opinion. 

Trump posted on his social media network shortly after the decision was released: “BIG WIN FOR AMERICA!!!”

The outcome ends efforts in Colorado, Illinois, Maine and elsewhere to kick Trump, the front-runner for his party’s nomination, off the ballot because of his attempts to undo his loss in the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

 

Source

[Chris 2,162]

Back on topic, today is Super Tuesday. More like Super Snooze-day because let’s be honest, we all know the outcome. It ain’t like there’s a few candidates on each side, we’re down to two guys more fit to be bound for a dementia care unit than the White House and someone too deluded to realize she has even less chance than a snowball in Hell.

We. Are. F—ked.

[Andy 70]

Haley’s out

Edited March 6 by Chris
Added different link due to pay wall.

[Ann 264]

So who is the lesser of two evils?

[Chris 2,162]

1 hour ago, Ann said:

So who is the lesser of two evils?

Thats for you to decide, I don’t play that game. They both suck equally. 

[Ann 264]

27 minutes ago, Chris said:

Thats for you to decide, I don’t play that game. They both suck equally. 

No game playing.   Agree they both are not my first choice but was curious as to how you would decide.  

[MsKreed 1,182]

I doubt that there's really a "decision" between the two for NY voters.....it's pretty much a given where our electoral votes will go. (So I will vote a third party, knowing it won't change the 2024 outcome, but will give other parties more strength and viability in NYS)

This will be decided in the swing states.  

Edited March 6 by MsKreed

[Chris 2,162]

I’m not voting for either, no matter what. And as mentioned above, even if I did, my vote doesn’t matter in the presidential election anyway.

[Adam 373]

7 hours ago, Ann said:

So who is the lesser of two evils?

 

[Chris 2,162]

Exactly the episode I was thinking of earlier.

[Chris 2,162]

I just heard Jon Stewart refer to Trump and Biden as "Bitch Cassidy and the Sundown Kid" LOL!