The Next President of the United States

[TightEnd]

Trump's former ghostwriter has his say...

Click to see full-size image.

[TightEnd]

[david3103]

Trump's former ghostwriter has his say...

Click to see full-size image.

Not sure that excellent is the appropriate word there.

[The Camel]

When I was a kid, every time there was a big international incident - like a Russian battleship being found in waters it wasn't allowed to be in or whatever - there was always a big thing on the news about a clock which showed theoretically how many minutes until the end of the world there is, and moving it a minute closer to midnight was a major announcement.

I haven't heard about this clock for many, many years. Does it still exist?

And if so, what would the time read if Trump wins the election?

[The Camel]

It does still exist and we are at 11.57pm FFS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_Clock

Trump winning must push it to one minute to midnight surely?!?

[TightEnd]

Oh

[redsimon]

I remember Joe Biden once ripped off a Kinnock speech in the 1980's, nothings new even plagiarism

[MintTrav]

Now that the nominations are virtually secured, most States become irrelevant, in that they are safe Dem or Rep. The swing States decide the President. The problem is, analysts can't agree which ones they are. Most of them are clear, but there are several that fall in or out of swing, depending on where you look. It seems impossible to find two sites that agree exactly on which States are in play.

They are likely to be:
Sunbelt - Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia, Nevada.
Rustbelt - Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania.
Other - New Hampshire.

Not everyone includes Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada - or even Ohio! Some include Missouri. Some still include New Mexico, which used to be swing, but is safe Dem now. So there are some differences, but there is a lot of overlap. The three below are quite close to my list, but not exactly, and differ from each other (others differ more than this):

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The eleven States listed above are pretty much where the Presidency will be decided. Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio are the most important, due to the number of Electoral College votes they have but, between them, the five Sunbelt States and the five Rustbelt states have almost exactly the same number of votes. The strange thing this time is that Trump is holding his own in the usually-Democrat Northern States, while Clinton is well ahead in the usually-Republican Southern ones. Even if Trump wins all five Rustbelt States (which all went to Obama last time), he will still lose unless he can hold on to some of the Sunbelt marginals.

[MintTrav]

This pic, instagrammed by Paul Ryan at the weekend with the caption "I think this sets a record for the most number of #CapitolHill interns in a single selfie. #SpeakerSelfie", has caused massive controversy Stateside. DUCY?

Click to see full-size image.

[Marky147]

All white?

[nirvana]

All white?

It actually smacks you in the face quite hard - looks pretty unnatural

[The Camel]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/19/most-voters-say-donald-trump-isnt-qualified-but-some-of-them-are-backing-him-anyway-heres-why/

58% of voters say Trump isn't qualified to be President.

Yet he only trails Hillary by 4%.

[MintTrav]

That photo should be terrifying for Republican leaders. Not for the bit of heat they are taking now, but because it demonstrates the future of the party. The subjects all look very clever and all that, but if the party is not attracting young smart black/Hispanic/Asian kids, future voter support from those groups will be even more difficult. George W Bush has, apparently, expressed concern than he might be the last Republican President. This is another reason why he could be right.

[MintTrav]

Republicans staying away from the Convention include Mitt Romney, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul, John Kasich, all the Bushes, Nikki Haley, Marco Rubio and a bunch of Senators and Congressmen. Most fundamentally disagree with having Trump as a candidate, though a few have given other reasons ("I've got to mow my lawn" - Sen Jeff Flake).

Does it matter? One of them really does - the most important non-show is Kasich. Trump's task in the election can be seen as quite simple - he has to win all the States Romney won in 2012, plus Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. Kasich is the highly-popular Governor of a large swing-State and could deliver Ohio if he chooses. He already has the support of the young moms and centrists that the Republicans dream of getting elsewhere. The Trumps have offered him all sorts to show but he ain't coming, even though the Convention is taking place in Ohio. There was a lot of bad blood spilled in the Primaries but the main reason may be that he doesn't want to be associated with the fiasco after it blows up in November. Like some of the others, Kasich is already running for 2020.

[Marky147]

All white?

It actually smacks you in the face quite hard - looks pretty unnatural

I had to recheck a few times, as I thought it couldn't possibly be that.

It definitely looks rather strange.