DOOM, or The Official 2016 US Election Thread

droid

Well-known member
Been following a lot of local swing state election dudes on twitter. Im now leaning towards a less tight win for Clinton than expected - though my record on US presidential elections is appalling.
 

craner

Beast of Burden
If anybody outside of the US canvassers is honest, it is impossible to call. Just a lot of people on the ground very nervous apart from Trump canvassers who have consistently and confidently predicted a Trump landslide. These people can be both mad partisans but also the only ones who get a sense of what those non-declared, unpolled people are actually thinking.
 
Last edited:

craner

Beast of Burden
But just to re-iterate. That day when Trump wins will be...bedlam. The first time in our lifetime the global order has truly been ruptured. A confirmation of the decline of The West, 'Fall of the Roman Empire' historical proportions.
 

droid

Well-known member
Demographics are tilting towards Clinton though. I think (hope) a hidden Trump surge is a figment of the unthinking arrogance of his campaign - like the runup to the Gay marriage referendum here when there was near panic at the impression that the ultra-right Catholic rump had muddied the waters enough to queer the result - but it turned out that people weren't all cunts after all.
 

droid

Well-known member
A Clinton win is basically business as usual. Trump supporters see this as a crucial election primarily for demographic reasons.
 

craner

Beast of Burden
These people will not go away, even if Trump loses. If it's close it's still a disaster, frankly. But for America rather than the world, in the short term.
 

craner

Beast of Burden
This is not GWB's fault, in some ways McCain has more responsibility for it by elevating Palin and energising the Tea Party tendency which has declined into the Trump rump. And in a larger way, globalisation has driven it.
 

craner

Beast of Burden
The major difference between the old hardcore Tea Party people and the current Trumptons is that the Tea Party were Constitutional Originalists, with lots of cranky hanger-ons. The Trump Crowd are those hangers, plus the racists, the Rust Belt ex-Democrat whites, the young alt-right, the anti-PC women, the Clinton-haters...etc. Trump and this lot have no interest in the intricacies of the Constitution and its many amendments. They believe in the Strong Man who can Make America Great Again. It's not fascism, but it's a strain of authoritarianism that has much in common with the current Russian set-up. Therefore, how robust are the Founding Fathers? Which the Tea Party revere, but Trump has no respect or tome for?
 

craner

Beast of Burden
Which is why the Republic could be facing its most severe test since the Civil War. As well as Europe, when NATO is demolished.
 

droid

Well-known member
I think he ticks all of the boxes for fascism myself. Radical militant nationalism, demonisation of others based on ethnic/racial lines, mythologising the revitalisation of nation, open willingness to use violence to achieve political aims...
 
Top