All things election

[behindmydesk]

Here's part two thread of the election

[The Schmooze]

I didn't support Obama or Romney, but I always figured that Obama would have won. Romney was a weak candidate from day one yet the media and the GOP continued to push him on the electorate.

My only hope is that somehow both parties will put aside the BS and work together to get things done. You don't have to compromise your ideology, but both sides will have to give up a little in order to solve the larger problem. A stonewalled legislative branch will only put this country deeper into all sorts of problems.

[behindmydesk]

Market being beat up this morning giving back all of yesterday's gains and then some.

Now I'd say probably about 2/3's is the Obama re election and knee jerk reaction, the other 1/3 is Draghi's comments about Eurozone remaining weak.

[behindmydesk]

Gold is up, but I personally am dismissing that. I think that's a direct result of talking points thinking gold is a viable position at this level.

S&P being down I think is because of the economy the election and now knowing the same policies are going to be here for 4 more years, and the taxes going up on big business (some small businesses) and the super wealthy.

[Labgrownmangoat]

I didn't support Obama or Romney, but I always figured that Obama would have won. Romney was a weak candidate from day one yet the media and the GOP continued to push him on the electorate.

Because of the radical views of GOP primary voters, all their options were poor. It wasn't just Romney. Pizza book tour guy, holy frothy fecal matter, crazy eyes, Mr. disagrees with the majority of the platform, and doughy disinterested hypocritical has-been are very unlikely to have won the general, either.

[avrpatsfan]

Because of the radical views of GOP primary voters, all their options were poor. It wasn't just Romney. Pizza book tour guy, holy frothy fecal matter, crazy eyes, Mr. disagrees with the majority of the platform, and doughy disinterested hypocritical has-been are very unlikely to have won the general, either.

Agreed. The GOP is going to have to shift more to the center. Which will be better for the country in the end. Bachmann and Santorum need to be expelled from the GOP to start.

[IndyFan]

I thought Romney did a pretty good job. Especially from the 1st debate on. He moved away from many of the GOP social issues successfully. I think he closed the gender gap quite a bit. Put Bachman or Santorum or another social conservative in his place and things would have been much worse.

[Im_in_Mia_bish]

things are looking up for the nation

USA!

[Angry Norwegian]

Just want to congratulate everyone on a very civil thread and climate in here last night.

[behindmydesk]

Just want to congratulate everyone on a very civil thread and climate in here last night.

I'll second that. No real problems everyone got along and seemed to enjoy themselves.

Congrats to those who were Obama supporters in your victory

And of course congrats to President Obama on his hard fought victory.

[Buckwheat]

I still haven't slept.

[ManRamForPrez24]

Yeah. The GOP has to shift more back towards their core. Not necessarily the center, but back to the bigger, broader and more important things. They're picking the wrong battles at times it seems, and it's turning people away. The one saving grace will be a disastrous 4 years, but there is a clear shift away from the far right and the Tea Party especially.

They can keep a lot of their true and decent conservative values, but they need to start finding ways to appeal to minorities and women. You are vehemently pro-life? That's fine, and that's not going to hurt you because it's a completely understandable stance in most people's minds. Being ignorant about it will hurt you. Talking about rape in such a stupid tone will. Stifling the one thing that prevents more abortions than anything else, birth control/contraceptives, is going to alienate a lot of people. Eventually, continuing to alienate science (wider than just abortion) will start hurting you more and more. This country isn't getting dumber...science can only be quelled for so long.

Whether they are willing to admit it or not, but there will continue to be a consistent shift away from religion. There is no "war on religious freedom", rather a "war on religious intolerance" (sure, a tiny sect of the country hates religion, but these politicians don't). It's not hard to keep those strong, honorable and likable conservative christian values without coming off as intolerant, bigoted or discriminatory. The core christian values, the stuff Jesus would preach (compassion, love, selflessness, hope, charity etc.) are something we can all relate to. It's the other stupid frivolous stuff that turns people off.

Bush carried a really solid proportion of the Latino vote, and again, easing back on some potentially trivial stances that don't strip down the core conservative beliefs could go a long way.

We'll see. I do think it was a strong day for liberal ideologies, but if anything I hope it slowly starts bringing the two sides closer together. There's a ton of room for that to happen...and right now it looks like it's gonna start with the GOP. How irrelevant has the Tea Party suddenly become?

I don't think they need to ditch the core conservative ideologies that are still so popular, but it's the smaller more petty stuff that I think is the only thing holding them back. I think it's actually a shift back towards the fundamental and core values that is actually what they need. Forget the frivolous crap.

If you couldn't win this election with this economy when you're considered better fit to fix the economy, well, it's time to look in the mirror.

Maybe I'm overreacting, and maybe it isn't the simple common sense like I think it is.

I used to be very moderate...I thought about voting for McCain...but as the GOP continues to focus on the stupid and trivial issues, they became less and less appealing to me. Get back to the core, basic and appealing values. Drop the stupid, pointless and intolerant ones.

/rantish


Also, Jon Tester wins his race. Another vulnerable democrat beating a once-popular contender.

[ManRamForPrez24]

Not trying to lecture, gloat or anything...because what do I know? But yeah...there just seem to be some glaringly obvious, and relatively minor, changes that need to happen.

[The Schmooze]

Because of the radical views of GOP primary voters, all their options were poor. It wasn't just Romney. Pizza book tour guy, holy frothy fecal matter, crazy eyes, Mr. disagrees with the majority of the platform, and doughy disinterested hypocritical has-been are very unlikely to have won the general, either.

I definitely agree. The scary thing about the primaries is that as you said, there were much worse choices. It's just sad because there were much better choices from the Republican party that deserved to be on that stage yet were not.

My argument is that GOP voters will support whomever wins the nomination anyhow, so next time they should produce a better crop of candidates. And if they're going to pick favorites, it should be someone who is much more moderate, and who has the ability to appeal to Independents.

[Angry Norwegian]

Even as a Democrat who has been kind of turned off by the Republicans, especially these last 2 years, I'm interested and excited to see how they respond to this. Well, not if they do the same thing as last time and get together to say "We're going to get this guy out at all costs."

I'd really like to see a more responsible and appealing Republican party. I think it would be good for the country. Here's hoping.