U.S. Politics - Let them who is without stones cast the first cake agaisnt the glass house

[Jon Flow]

Q: Why haven't the libertarians taken over the Republican party?

The same reason you wouldn't hire a Mormon to be a wine taster.

Libertarian candidates have the hardest sell in the world: The government is corrupt, bloated, too big, and evil... which is precisely why I'm so gung-ho to manage it!

[DanteGabriel]

Libertarian candidates have the hardest sell in the world: The government is corrupt, bloated, too big, and evil... which is precisely why I'm so gung-ho to manage it!

But this has been the Republican core message since Reagan. Government by people who don't believe it can be done well.

[aceluby]

"No matter what, Clinton is going to be tied to Obama. If you're going to carry his baggage, you might as well point out the great stuff that's inside. "

Because the bag also contains a couple of large turds!

It's not going to be easy but Hillary will have to define her own position on foreign policy while at the same time claiming ownership of Obama's domestic policies (unless the Supreme Court guts Obamacare which is quite possible and then Clinton will likely go hard left and campaign for a single payor plan type system).

"In general, Democrats aren't likely to distance themselves from the ACA or any successes are they? That seemed to work against them in '14, didn't it? "

You have to remember that most democratic losses in 2014 were in Red leaning states where anti-ACA campaigning motivated the Republican base, and democrats had to manuever between the hard place of distancing themselves from the President and the immovable force of knowing a majority of the voters in those states were anti-ACA. In that instance, not mentioning Obama and basing their campaign on their own acomplishments or views simply looked like the better of two bad choices.

"There are a large number of nominal independents, but 95% of people who claim they are independent vote for candidates from there preferred party 100% of the time. This means there's only about five percent of independents (1-2% of the electorate) actually voting as independents by choosing candidates from either side, and those tend to split between the major parties without conferring an advantage to either."

Except that the "Independents" tend to inhabit the middle of the political specturm; thus the job of any candidate is to bring out his base without alianating his "independent" supporters which are not likely to switch to the other candidate but which could easily sit-out the election: problem with Obama's middle east policy is that it gives more moderate jews and other constituency a reason not to vote.

First, what 'turds' are you talking about? Fake scandals, sure, but actual 'turds' are few and far between.

Second, if you think a jewish majority actually votes on Israeli relations, you need to pay better attention to US Jewish voting patterns, because the link is weak to non-existent.

[Jon Flow]

I guess. Maybe I'm too charitable but I see the nuanced difference between the Bush/Reagan philosophy of limited government and the hard core libertarians out there that wants to defund the EPA, FDA and Treasury Department.

[karaddin]

I have to agree, the reason Cain is still remembered today is that he's mad as a hatter.

Credit where credit is due, he really had that delivery of "9.9.9." polished up. The stuff with Colbert probably doesn't hurt either.

[Shryke]

I'm still not 100% certain Cain isn't just one of history's greatest performance artists.

[The Once and Future King]

Will there be a significant change in US foreign policy if HC wins?

She would be significantly stronger. With Russia, Korea, Syria, Iran, ISIS, Hamas, and Hetzballah.

[Larry of the Lawn]

Will there be a significant change in US foreign policy if HC wins?

Does HC stand for Cain or Clinton?

[karaddin]

I'm still not 100% certain Cain isn't just one of history's greatest performance artists.

Maybe history will know, but we certainly don't yet. His going along with Colbert certainly meshes with it, and if it truly was then it was magical.

[TheKitttenGuard]

I'm still not 100% certain Cain isn't just one of history's greatest performance artists.

His quoting of the song from Pokemon: The Movie was a highlight that had not been mention.

[DanteGabriel]

She would be significantly stronger. With Russia, Korea, Syria, Iran, ISIS, Hamas, and Hetzballah.

What does "stronger" mean in this context?

[TerraPrime]

I guess. Maybe I'm too charitable but I see the nuanced difference between the Bush/Reagan philosophy of limited government and the hard core libertarians out there that wants to defund the EPA, FDA and Treasury Department.

In want ways do you think Bush (HW or W?) and Reagan managed to implement policies to bring about the realization of "limited government?"

Reagan's policy of arm-racing Russia into bankruptcy certainly doesn't seem to fit that slogan to me. Not to mention the interventionist foreign policy elsewhere in the world (ME and South America), the effects of which we are currently experiencing.

Far as I can tell when someone says they favor "limited government" they almost always mean they want to eliminate social service programs they dislike and/ or reduce infrastructure investment that they think are unimportant to them. And even more peculiarly, these "limited government" ideals seem to miraculously favor the dominant group who is currently in power, too. It's the darnest coincidence.

[TrackerNeil]

In want ways do you think Bush (HW or W?) and Reagan managed to implement policies to bring about the realization of "limited government?"

Reagan's policy of arm-racing Russia into bankruptcy certainly doesn't seem to fit that slogan to me. Not to mention the interventionist foreign policy elsewhere in the world (ME and South America), the effects of which we are currently experiencing.

Far as I can tell when someone says they favor "limited government" they almost always mean they want to eliminate social service programs they dislike and/ or reduce infrastructure investment that they think are unimportant to them. And even more peculiarly, these "limited government" ideals seem to miraculously favor the dominant group who is currently in power, too. It's the darnest coincidence.

And let's not forget that Medicare Part D, an enormous expansion of government services, came into being under a Republican Congress and a Republican president. Of course George W. Bush is persona non grata in the GOP these days, as is his father. In fact, except for Reagan, I can't think of a Republican president that Republicans remember kindly since maybe Coolidge. They're all squishes and sellouts.

[karaddin]

His quoting of the song from Pokemon: The Movie was a highlight that had not been mention.

:bowdown:

I had completely forgotten that. He truly was a historic candidate

[Summah]

I'm still not 100% certain Cain isn't just one of history's greatest performance artists.

I think he is; a satirist.

[Larry of the Lawn]

I think he is; a satyrist.

ftfy

[Summah]

Maybe history will know, but we certainly don't yet. His going along with Colbert certainly meshes with it, and if it truly was then it was magical.

Also he did a series of interviews its John Oliver when Oliver was still a Daily Show correspondent which also supports the theory.

[Seli]

...

Except that the "Independents" tend to inhabit the middle of the political specturm; thus the job of any candidate is to bring out his base without alianating his "independent" supporters which are not likely to switch to the other candidate but which could easily sit-out the election: problem with Obama's middle east policy is that it gives more moderate jews and other constituency a reason not to vote.

Perhaps they used to be. But after the last Bush presidency and the raise of the tea party there is a large contingent of nominally independent conservatives. Which if I recall correctly is one of the reasons it was easy for the GOP to overestimate their support in the polls.

[Arakan]

Are libertarians the marxist anarchists of our time?

Not in an ideological sense but in an idealistic sense.

[Starkess]

I'm a single woman, so are many of my friends, I don't think any of them would be more likely to vote because of HC, the only people I've met who strongly support her are white boomer women. I mean most of them (my friends) would vote for HC if they vote, but she's not going to get them to the polls, unless they were going to vote anyway. If Maryland looks safely blue as I suspect it will, I will probably do a write in vote, I've been trying to think of the perfect write in to express my feelings about this.

I don't think that it's single women that are going to be the Hillary draw. I think that she will greatly appeal to slightly older, married women--a demographic that tends Republican. So that could actually be a big boost for her.