General Election Thread: Two Weeks Out

You only have to take a quick look at Trump's tax plan to see what he thinks about the "non-elites".

As long as a segment of this population keeps prioritizing guns and religion over their own self-interest, we'll keep seeing right wing candidates who are happy to pander to them to get elected. But watch out when they start governing.


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ChrisL68 said:
blah blah blah elites blah blah blah
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The whiny elitist rants are anti-meritocratic at their core and it was painfully obvious during the two conventions. Trump and Bubba are both deeply flawed human beings, but one guy's dad loaned him $15M and inherited wealth and the other guy grew up in Bumfuck, AK, was a Rhodes Scholar, and a two term President.

Bill Gates, Zuckerburg, and the Google boys are all drop outs who became biliionaires, but they were all bright enough to be admitted to Harvard and Stanford. Akron, OH is hardly a hoops mecca, but LeBron didn't need to play for a HOF coach in the ACC, unlike countless UNC and duke NBA flops.

Obama's campaign managers didn't go to MIT or Cal Tech, they went to Delaware (Plouffe) and Montana (Messina). Plouffe didn't finish college until he was in his 40s and is now with Uber. Two sharp guys who knew how to play the game via data and changing demographics.

Does suck that rural America is dying, but that was obvious when Deer Hunter or the River came out and Reagan won on that. 30+ years later still hasn't changed and the GOP owns rural red state America. Somebody born there is hardly banned from the Ivies if they have the grades and scores. If you barely graduate from high school because you're lazy, not bright, or an asshole, Silicon Valley isn't beating a path to your doorway.
 
The top universities would love to get kids from Hope, Arkansas and the like.
 
Still curious what Obama did to be divisive beside govern.
 
PhDeac said:
The top universities would love to get kids from Hope, Arkansas and the like.
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That's also why the conservative rants about affirmative action are so bizarre. Bubba (and pretty much every other in-state applicant with a pulse) would be admitted to Arkansas; he chose to go to Georgetown, Oxford, and Yale instead. Realistically AA applies to maybe two dozen public schools in a handful of states. W was denied admission to UT law school, but admitted to Harvard b school. Both Obamas and Clintons would have been admitted to every public university in their home states.

WA and NE have benefit from Gates and Buffett locating major corporations in their home states. GOP in KS, IN, and NC prioritized divisive social policies over economic growth. Even SC got their shit together with the auto industry. Dems own Detroit, Oakland, and Baltimore, but GOP owns rural America. The next Apple or Google won't be located in Topeka. Could be in Raleigh, but not Fayetteville. More likely in Palo Alto, NYC, Seattle, or Boston. Build great universities, enact inclusive social policies, and attract and retain major employers. Otherwise watch your economy, tax base, and population decline. Just don't whine about the Dem EC floor growing from 242 to 266 by 2020.
 
The Anthony Weiner of the South, but one who apparently will be elected mayor of Richmond.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archiv...-of-the-south-may-be-richmonds-next-mayor.php

I’m referring to Joe Morrissey. Unlike Weiner (so far), Morrissey has served jail time for his sexual misconduct. He was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor — a woman 38 years his junior whom he eventually married. When the woman (girl, actually) was 17 years old, Morrissey sent a nude photograph of her to a friend, boasting of his sexual relations with her. That landed him three months behind bars.

Morrissey managed to win election to the Virginia House of Delegates while serving his sentence, but was not permitted to serve. Now, he’s running for mayor of Richmond, and by all accounts is leading the field.

Morrissey continues to lead even though he has admitted to new allegations of recent inappropriate sexual conduct. Morrissey acknowledges that he sent a female client texts in which he asked her to “wear fresh panties” and shave her genitals (not the word he used) when she visited his law office. (Morrissey had his law license revoked years ago for ethical violations. It was restored, but he remains banned from practicing in federal court).

The client’s allegations go further. She says that when she visited Morrissey’s office earlier this year, he pulled out his sex organ and asked her to stroke it. (At the time, Morrissey, was engaged to the former receptionist referred to above, now age 20, who was pregnant with his child). When the client rebuffed his advances, he gave her case to a colleague who pressured her to plead guilty.

Morrissey denies these allegations, but they seem consistent with his past behavior. In any event, the texts he admits sending should have derailed his campaign.

Why didn’t they? Why is Richmond on the verge of making this pervert its mayor? The Washington Post says it’s mainly because of the loyal support of African-American voters.
 
bobknightfan said:
This is the essence of this election. It is lost on many board posters because they are part of the elitist group that much of America has come to distrust & dislike:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/the-death-of-elitism/article/2606518

Somewhere off U.S. 62 between Sharon, Pa., and Masory, Ohio, a sign reads, "You had your chance, it's our turn now." That homemade sign, located in the fault line of this election in the Mahoning Valley between Ohio and Pennsylvania, in all its simplicity found a way to capture the essence of this presidential cycle. In fact, it offered more insight into the discord between the American electorate and the governing elite than any pundit has been able to explain, let alone comprehend. In short, the biggest takeaway from this election no matter who wins is that we have witnessed the end of elitism.

And the power of elites to persuade us has evaporated. The public no longer has faith in big banks or big companies or big government. People cannot trust the banks because they create sham accounts to meet sales targets, or trust technology companies because they make shoddy cell phone equipment that blows up in our hands only to be replaced with another shoddy phone that blows up in our hands. And the governing class has failed us miserably, from wars in the Middle East that never end, to a healthcare bill that erodes our income to the politicization of the once trustworthy institutions of the Pentagon, NASA and the Justice Department.

To them, the system is genuinely rigged, and the divide between the Ivy League educated and the state or trade school educated, between the haves and the have-nots, has become so deep that there is no bridge long or sturdy enough to connect them. It is that very thing that explains why so many Americans are attracted to the deeply flawed candidacy of Donald Trump.

Sure, some people see in Trump a successful businessman who can easily transfer those skills to government, but there are plenty of other successful executives — Michael Bloomberg, for example, who, despite the delusions of some Manhattan-based commentators, would never have had the same broad appeal. Trump, despite his wealth, connections and pedigree (rich father, Wharton business school), is something of an outsider, explained Paul Sracic, political science professor at Youngstown State University. "I think he actually sees that, which is why he has always been so over-the-top in his bragging," he said. Yes, Bill and Hillary Clinton came to his wedding, but as Trump himself explained, they only came because he gave them money. Trump had to buy his way into the elite, because he is not one of them, said Sracic, "and that's what people like about him. The elites hate him, all of them, on both sides of the aisle."

And voters are sick and tired of the elite. Why? Because the social contract has been broken. One side gets all of the benefits, and the other side bears all of the costs. It's not just those who lack a college degree who are fed up. It is middle-class families who have been priced out of prestigious universities. It's also small business people who can't afford the high-priced attorneys and accountants needed to deal with ever increasing regulations. "We are increasingly two countries, and it's not just economics; it's also cultural," said Sracic. In politics, people often joke that the "golden rule" means that "the one with the gold rules." But this idea has infected our whole society. The new rule is that there are no rules, at least not if you are powerful.

That is part of the reason why Hillary Clinton is so disliked. For many people, she embodies the problem, explained Sracic. "The Clintons never really wanted to challenge the elite, they wanted to be part of it. Think of how quickly 'Bubba' Clinton — the man from Hope, [Ark.] — became Davos Man." In the 1980s, the novelist Tom Wolfe wrote about the "Masters of the Universe" running Wall Street. And they are still running everything. "But the people have figured out that in a democracy they still hold — literally and figuratively — the Trump card," said Sracic. The elites can only run things with the American people's permission. Trump is the people's way of withdrawing their permission. Wolfe's novel was titled "the Bonfire of the Vanities." The Vanities or sins of the elite in the early 21st Century is to think that they are ultimately in control. "Trump is the match that ordinary voters can use to burn it all down," said Sracic.

Of course, bonfires are dangerous. They can easily burn out of control. On Nov. 8, voters will have to decide whether it is worth the risk. One thing is for certain: The power of elites to control every aspect of Americans' lives is over for the foreseeable future no matter who wins.
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Translation: People don't understand how the world works, and they have a gross misrepresentation of Donald Trump and his proposed "policies."
 
WFFaithful said:
Translation: People don't understand how the world works, and they have a gross misrepresentation of Donald Trump and his proposed "policies."
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Just like a fucking elitist to think about a story and offer a critique. ITS ABOUT FEELINGS, MAN!!!!
 
What a BS last line! The writer is saying blacks blindly support perverts.
 
The South has relied on the same business model since Europeans came. Cheap labor. Now you've got Southern voters mad that they're the cheap labor and subject to the whims of big business and political elites. Yet they rail against increasing the minimum wage, entitlement spending, and unions.

Let your kids out of the bubble so they can go to State U or an Ivy to get a good liberal arts education. Maybe they'll come back home and create jobs one day.
 
bobknightfan said:
And enabling BLM's war against the police.....and releasing as many criminals from prison as the last nine presidents combined. (Using that BS "non-violent, victimless crime" argument to justify it.)
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You're the very elite, intellectual and financial, that you hate. I think that I'm finally starting to get it. This election is about self-loathing.
 
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