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The 2016 Presidential Candidates Thread

Gunky

Well-Known Member
The repubs at this point have no idea what they are doing. They are desperate. Their instincts say unify around the candidate and then they are faced daily with the walking odium factory that is Donald Trump. What's a vote-suppressing, 1% brown-nosing, social welfare-cuttin' supply-sider mutha to do? Scratching their heads and trying to remember if it was tie-cut-suck, suck-tie-cut, cut-suck-tie...?
 

cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
For you folks who really believe that the Donald is gonna win, you would be batshit crazy to not bet on it. The betting houses are giving very long odds (duh) on the Donald becoming POTUS. A shitload of $$ would change hands if Trump wins. Why not share in that? I mean if you really believe it.

Edit: BTW, you can make even better money betting on Bernie. :)
 
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cybrguy,

His_Highness

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
For you folks who really believe that the Donald is gonna win, you would be batshit crazy to not bet on it. The betting houses are giving very long odds (duh) on the Donald becoming POTUS. A shitload of $$ would change hands if Trump wins. Why not share in that? I mean if you really believe it.

Edit: BTW, you can make even better money voting on Bernie. :)

Good Idea! I'll check out the risk-reward ratio once the 'primary' smoke clears and the 'general' is about to start. Too soon to lay any money down. Anything could happen between now and the general election.

If Bernie does run in the general I'll bet with just my vote for Bernie. If it's Hillary vs. Trump.....I'll vote for Hillary and bet on Trump as a hedge.
 

CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
We would be fools if we thought Trump had no chance in hell. All the democrats need to make sure that they vote. No assumptions just because Trump is batshit crazy and a hater. Remember the American public voted for George W, Bush not once but twice. I have no faith at this point that the better person can win.
 

cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
If it was anyone other than Donald Trump I would be more concerned. You are absolutely right that anything is possible and it would be crazy to be too cavalier about an election. 2004 HAS to teach us that we completely relax before the election takes place at our own peril. Crazy things can happen.

But that being said, Trump is completely unable to not be ridiculous. His handlers have NO control over him. He intends to treat the electorate just like he treated primary voters, and they are nothing alike. GWB was not only a politician, he knew that his handlers KNEW more than he did and he followed their advice. Trump seems incapable of that.

Nobody is going to relax going into this election. Even without the experience of 2004, the whole nature of Donald Trump is SO ODIOUS, that I really believe that even many dyed in the wool republicans will refuse to contribute to a Trump win. I have heard that from some already, and Trump still has plenty of time to push ugly out in front of him like a shield.

I thought GWB wasn't particularly smart, and had some unsavory ideas, but he was cotton candy compared to Trump. We survived GWB. I'm not so sure we survive Trump. And I think "nearly" everyone can see that...
 

Adobewan

Well-Known Member
Has the fear on this thread, of Trump getting in when it was Bernie V Hillary, suddenly transitioned to over confidence regarding beating him, now that Hillary is somewhat presumptive?

His brand of campaigning may not track with those establishment dinosaurs, but on top of a mass of the populace, chunks of the Republicans who rebelled against him, are embracing Trump.

Restrict your information gathering to biased sources at the risk of narrowing your view but know that Trump is a formidable threat, and unfortunately, Hillary may not be the best candidate to beat him.
 

cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
There are an awful lot of people who claim they will vote for him because he is the republican, not because they like, support, or appreciate any of his positions. Those voters minds can still be changed by his own behavior. Those are the people who may stay home. As the election approaches more and more people will get to see what a Trump Presidency might look like. It won't be pretty to them either.

His buttons are visible to everyone. The best strategy, IMO, is to keep hitting them. He doesn't know how to not respond, and his responses usually don't serve him well.
 

CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson just said on CNN that marijuana makes the world a better place. Amen to that. He may have appeal to some voters. Not just the cannabis issue. Its just another choice for voters if Hillary or Donald doesn't appeal to them. In this voting year that's a high percentage.

Unfortunately the policies sound more democratic than republican. They are for a women's right to choose.
 
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cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
They may turn out to be more of a threat than Trump. Not to win, but to keep Hillary from getting 270. I don't really think, at this point, that they will win many if any states, but for low information voters they stand to take some votes from both sides. They may be a little easier not to dislike. Especially if you don't look too deep. ;)

Moving on to the guy who seems to be doing his best to make himself unelectable...

Trump’s veterans controversy goes from bad to worse
06/01/16 08:00 AM—Updated 06/01/16 08:43 AM

It no doubt seemed like a good idea at the time. In January, Donald Trump was in the middle of a spat with Fox News, so the Republican presidential hopeful boycotted a debate ahead of the Iowa caucuses, instead holding a fundraiser in the Hawkeye State for veterans. The GOP candidate boasted that he’d raised $6 million for vets, and he’d contributed $1 million out of his own pocket.

The trouble, however, started two weeks ago, when the Washington Post started asking what happened to the money. The newspaper found that Trump did not raise $6 million as he’d claimed, and making matters worse, though his campaign said Trump had already made a $1 million contribution, that turned out not to be true, either.

Yesterday, the presumptive Republican nominee held a press conference to set the record straight, though as the Washington Post reported, it didn’t go well.

Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he had given away all the money he had raised four months earlier for veterans – and at the same time bitterly attacked the news media for pressing him to explain what he had done with the money.

“Instead of being like, ‘Thank you very much, Mr. Trump,’ or ‘Trump did a good job,’ everyone’s saying, ‘Who got it, who got it, who got it?‘ “Trump said during a news conference here at Trump Tower. “And you make me look very bad. I have never received such bad publicity for doing such a good job.”

Yes, it appears that in Trump’s mind, journalists are supposed to thank Donald Trump when he thinks he’s done something worthwhile.

But even putting that aside, whether the Republican presidential hopeful realizes it or not, yesterday’s explanation for the controversy arguably made matters worse, not better.

The AP reported yesterday, for example, “Phone calls to all 41 of the groups by The Associated Press brought more than two-dozen responses Tuesday. About half reported checks from Trump within the past week, typically dated May 24, the day The Washington Post published a story questioning whether he had distributed all of the money.”

In other words, four months after his big fundraiser, where Trump touted a tally that turned out to be untrue, Trump only started cutting checks to a variety of groups after the Washington Post published a story that made the candidate look awful.

At another point yesterday, Trump insisted, “I didn’t want to have credit” for the charitable donations, except we know that’s not true, either: he obviously did want credit, which is why he held a televised fundraiser in which he boasted about his self-proclaimed leadership on raising money for veterans. There’s also the matter of Trump not actually deserving credit for the $1 million his campaign was caught fibbing about.

Adding insult to injury, Trump insisted yesterday, “When you send checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars to people and to companies and to groups that you’ve never heard of, charitable organizations, you have to vet it.” He even demanded tax materials from the organizations before they became eligible for the money.

Even if we put aside the irony of Trump demanding tax materials from groups while he insists on keeping his own tax returns hidden from the public, and even if we overlook the fact that his operation doesn’t appear to have done an especially good job in vetting, there’s also the inconvenient fact that, according to the Trump campaign, the groups were chosen in advance in January – suggesting the organizations had already been vetted.

So where does that leave us? Trump said he’d raised $6 million for veterans, but that wasn’t true. He later claimed he never used the $6 million figure, but that wasn’t true. His campaign insisted Trump had contributed $1 million himself, but that wasn’t true. Trump said he “didn’t want to have credit” for the fundraising efforts, but that wasn’t true. He said he and his team were vetting groups they’d never heard of four months after the fact, but that wasn’t true.

And as of yesterday, all of this, the Republican candidate insisted, is the media’s fault. Indeed, Trump thinks journalists should be “ashamed” of themselves for scrutinizing his claims that turned out to be wrong.

Not to put too fine a point on this, but in a normal year, in a normal party, with a normal candidate, this is the sort of controversy that could end a campaign. Legitimate presidential hopefuls can get away with some dissembling and the occasional whopper, but Trump was caught telling obvious falsehoods about support for veterans’ charities.

If this happened to Hillary Clinton, is there any doubt it would be the #1 issue in the presidential race between now and Election Day? That every pundit in America would use this as Exhibit A in their takes on why Americans just can’t trust the Democrat?
 

cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
Gary Johnson’s not-so-subtle pitch to Bernie Sanders’ fans
06/01/16 10:00 AM—Updated 06/01/16 10:14 AM

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson has had quite a rapid political evolution. It was just four years ago that he sought the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, only to quit the race and the GOP soon after, becoming the Libertarian Party’s national nominee.

In 2016, Johnson will carry the Libertarian banner once more, and in a curious twist, this time, he’ll do so by reaching out to supporters of a self-described Democratic Socialist.

Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson says he agrees with most of Bernie Sanders’s positions, pitching himself as an alternative to the Democratic presidential candidate.

“Of course I side with myself 100 percent of the time, but interestingly, of all the presidential candidates, I next side with Bernie Sanders at 73 percent,” Johnson said Tuesday on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal.”

The former governor again emphasized he likes “73 percent of what Bernie says,” including the senator’s support for abortion rights and marriage equality, and Sanders’ opposition to “military interventions.”

Let’s pause to appreciate Johnson’s specificity: some may have been tempted to just round up to 75 percent as a more familiar number, but not the Libertarian nominee. No, he agrees with 73 percent of Sanders’ platform – as if Johnson actually counted up all of the various issues to come up with a precise figure.

As a political matter, the strategy appears almost plausible. Johnson can read a poll as easily as anyone else, and he no doubt realizes that Republicans have quickly consolidated around Donald Trump – and the remaining #NeverTrump stragglers wouldn’t have any interest in the Libertarian ticket. In the Democratic race, however, some Sanders supporters say they don’t want to back Hillary Clinton, no matter the consequences, and Johnson figures it’s worth making himself available to these voters as a viable alternative. Ergo, he likes “73 percent of what Bernie says.”

But will any of this outreach actually work?

Johnson may soon be disappointed by the gambit. For Sanders supporters who care even a little about progressive policies, the Libertarian nominee offers a misguided pitch. Sanders, for example, is a staunch supporter of a minimum-wage increase, while Johnson doesn’t believe the minimum wage should exist at all. Sanders criticizes the NRA and supports expanding current restrictions on guns, while Johnson wants the opposite.

Perhaps most importantly, Sanders believes the climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues – if not the most pressing issue – on the policy landscape. Johnson opposes efforts to combat global warming.

I have no idea how Johnson came up with the “73 percent” figure, but it appears that other 27 percent is a pretty big deal.

It’s possible, of course, that some of Sanders’ most ardent backers aren’t concerned about candidates’ issue positions, but those totals are probably quite small. If Johnson is looking for a significant number of voters to support his candidacy, he’ll probably have to look elsewhere.
 

HellsWindStaff

Dharma Initiate
Was wondering which topic would be brought up first.......slow news day today.

The big deal with the Trump thing is the lying about the 1 million donation. That he already had done it. The vast majority of the money was already distributed prior to the report. 40 groups does not equal 22 groups, so I can honestly buy that it would take a few months to figure out the other 18 groups. (Convenient excuse though am I right ;) sounds about as good as "consolidating on one phone" ) No need to lie though and say you already did it.

"About half" of the 30 who returned calls (12-17 we don't know...) the checks were dated on or about May 24 (here's that funny word "about" again...) so, the salaciousness of this story kind of just isn't there for me personally.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/44c4...9/trump-detail-fundraising-veterans-charities

http://www.npr.org/2016/05/31/480163943/questions-over-trumps-donations-to-veterans-boil-over

It's even less there for the Trump University is a scam articles. Google "For Profit Schools" and you'll see a beevy of articles how they are scams/bad investments. Thought it was well known that a for profit school generally is a bad investment........we do have a ton of them around me so maybe they are just something that's brought up around more by me. Know quite a few people with degrees worth basically nothing from these places. The fact it's a "for profit" school should key you into this IMO, that they would be trying to sell you.

See also ITT Tech, EDMC, Corinthans Colleges, etc... I'm not denying Trump U was a scam, far from it, it is. But business is business, preying on the stupid is nothing new. It's scummy business to get into, but this is just....eh.

The reports on the handbook honestly, quite funny, mountain of a molehill. "Whoah, these for profit recruiters are using sales techniques!!! Call the presses, who knew salesmen used sales techniques!!!"

And their sales techniques.....they're a bit sleezy?? Whose ever heard of a sleezy salesman before? A rarity :lol:

In both stories, too much sensationalism. :2c: That's why I said a slow news day, when the best you can come up with is that.

Note, I'm commenting on the media. I agree that Trump U is a scam. And he shouldn't of lied about already donating the $1 million, not a good look. Just feel the handful of articles I read today, are laughable in the correlation of some points....I don't think MSNBC (especially any anti Donald or Pro Hilary articles there) is worth much until they can check their bias a bit.

There was a post yesterday about betting.........don't know how well anyone here follows NBA, but the Finals start this week. Golden State Warriors are a great team, set record for most wins in a regular season.....they are killing it. Cavaliers have arguably the most complete player in the league and a pretty great team. Definitely weaker than GSW though, would be general opinion.

The odds for that are Golden State -220, Cleveland +180

Do those seem like really long odds for the Cavaliers? Like, clearly they are the underdog based on the bet, but it's not like it was +600 like it was the other day for OKC to win the championship.

I digress, just found it interesting, because the lines for the Democratic/Republican winner of the US presidency lines are almost identical. Hilary -230 Donald +190 . Bernie is OKC in this scenario but he was +2000 :lol:

Not bad odds for either side really, was expecting Hilary to be like -400 or -500 or something more heavily weighted in her being the favorite. She's just slightly the favorite. And Trump is just slightly the underdog. Based on the odds.
 

TeeJay1952

Well-Known Member
Where were they taking action on election? Just asking, as you know there is a lot of bias and even false flags. Create a blog, call it what you will. Quote that on a semi legit portal and then flood the media.
 
TeeJay1952,
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CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
Many of the Sanders supporters would consider him a sell out if he accepted a VP spot with Hillary. The party needs to be united this summer. I hope it's possible?

If the democrats can't figure it out. I guess we will have the village idiot as our president.

Edit
Donald Trump’s grip on high-profile golf events is to be significantly loosened, with the PGA Tour on the verge of confirming the first World Golf Championship event of the year will no longer be played at the US presidential candidate’s Doral venue. The tournament, formerly the WGC‑Cadillac Championship, is expected to move to the outskirts of Mexico City from 2017.

Speaking on Fox News, Trump offered a typical response to the news. “I just heard that the PGA Tour is taking their tournament out of Miami and moving it to Mexico,” he said. “They’re moving it to Mexico City which, by the way, I hope they have kidnapping insurance. But they’re moving it to Mexico City. And I’m saying, you know: ‘What’s going on here?’ It is so sad when you look at what’s going on with our country.”
 
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lwien

Well-Known Member
It's even less there for the Trump University is a scam articles. Google "For Profit Schools" and you'll see a beevy of articles how they are scams/bad investments. Thought it was well known that a for profit school generally is a bad investment........we do have a ton of them around me so maybe they are just something that's brought up around more by me. Know quite a few people with degrees worth basically nothing from these places. The fact it's a "for profit" school should key you into this IMO, that they would be trying to sell you.

See also ITT Tech, EDMC, Corinthans Colleges, etc... I'm not denying Trump U was a scam, far from it, it is. But business is business, preying on the stupid is nothing new. It's scummy business to get into, but this is just....eh.

The reports on the handbook honestly, quite funny, mountain of a molehill. "Whoah, these for profit recruiters are using sales techniques!!! Call the presses, who knew salesmen used sales techniques!!!"

And their sales techniques.....they're a bit sleezy?? Whose ever heard of a sleezy salesman before? A rarity :lol:

In both stories, too much sensationalism.

While I totally agree with all the above, the fallout of it could prove to be pretty damning depending upon, one.........how good is the Hilliary campaign in using this to hurt Trumps credibility, and two..........if anyone really gives a shit as to his creditability. Obviously, his base could care less but it remains to be seen how the general electorate will respond.................or not, eh?

I wonder what the poll results would be if they polled the GOP and asked them a very simple question:

Would you vote in a demagogue for President?
 
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Snappo

Caveat Emptor - "A Billion People Can Be Wrong!"
Accessory Maker
I wonder what the poll results would be if they polled the GOP and asked them a very simple question:

Would you vote in a demagogue for President?
Depends... does she/he have horns, or wings? Can she/he benefit me in some ways without gutting someone else? Is she/he an intelligent thoughtful experienced individual, or a narcissistic ego maniacal ass hat?
 

cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal

gangababa

Well-Known Member
I wonder what the poll results would be if they polled the GOP and asked them a very simple question:

Would you vote in a demagogue for President?

Ask further, will you now allow your kids and teens to freely bully, belittle, badger, lie, insult, disrespect, denigrate, hate, act out and otherwise show their complete lack of respect to you as a parent?
 

cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
I just wanted to add that @HellsWindStaff is right, a lot of businesses and particularly business owners are sleazy and dishonest. In that regard Trump is NOT unique. He may be sleazier than most and more obnoxious about it, but he is certainly not the only person out there like that.

It is absolutely true that someone NEEDS to sell used cars. But that does NOT mean that that slimy pool of sharks is the right place to be looking for the next POTUS.

(no offense to used car salespersons)
 

Gunky

Well-Known Member
A good (long) article on Trump's dubious business practices. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/31/us/politics/donald-trump-hong-kong-riverside-south.html Trump is not known for loyalty in business, mainly craven opportunism, tantrums and turning on business partners. I laughed when I read how poorly he understood Chinese business culture (it's all about building a network of long term personal relationships). They gave him feasts of world-class culinary delicacies and he couldn't use chopsticks and made faces at the food! It's amazing this guy doesn't go bankrupt. Oh wait...
 
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CarolKing

Singer of songs and a vapor connoisseur
Maybe Trump Universary will be his downfall? He made only 5 million dollars because the economy tanked. Sounds like he was scamming folks that couldnt afford it. He is supposedly worth 10 billion dollars, what the hell is he doing?

Thats what the media needs to do is show faces and stories of folks that thought they were getting a legitimate course. Spending sometimes $35,000 and putting it on their credit cards. These people wanted to be rich like him and it didn't happen for them. Now they are out all this money. Show some major hardship stories how the mean and greedy Donald Trump stole their money.:evil:
 
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cybrguy

Putin is a War Criminal
Maybe Trump Universary will be his downfall?
So many things SHOULD have been his downfall that you start to wonder if ANYTHING can be.

But no man is so invulnerable that even he can't destroy himself, and Trump promises to do everything he can to help test that theory. My money is on him succeeding to turn off all but his core 10% of white supremacists and other avowed bigots.

If he succeeds at that before the convention they can replace him with someone who might have a chance. But he is confirmed at the convention I think Hillary may as well start picking a transition team.

Again, that doesn't mean she is a shoo in, but with Trump helping I think she should be able to beat him handily.
 
cybrguy,
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