Annoying election process begins.
 

In the U. S., the presidential campaign season has reached its slow death march to completion in November.

There was a time when people didn't really start campaigning to get nominated for the presidency until about this time of year in the year the election is to be held. However, all of that has changed and we have seen a lot of campaigning by would-be candidates and candidates for about a year now. This has come about because or the way the American electoral process is set up.

First of all each party has its own primary election in each state at a time that each state determines. So today the state of Iowa, a state which will be of little importance in the ultimate presidential election, is having their "caucuses." These caucuses are not regular elections, as such. They are votes by whoever can get through the snow to meeting where everyone who makes it votes for whoever they want with independents being able to vote in either Democratic or Republican primary.

This primary elects delegates to attend each party's Nominating Convention in July or August. So, okay an inconsequential number of delegates will be elected. The problem is that since this is the FIRST even semi-election, much media attention has been placed on in and quite often those who don't fare well in Iowa and the primary election soon in New Hampshire may be eliminated from any chance to win ultimately because the big money people won/t donate to someone who they think is out of it.

Thus a few, very small, states have a very large impact on who runs for president in each party.

Many states who are envious of this power have moved their primary elections forward to the time that New Hampshire and Iowa formaly held theirs. (early February). This forced Iowa and New Hampshire, if they wanted to have the same kind of national clout that they previously enjoyed, to move their elections even earlier (and this is where my complaint comes in). Prompting candidates for president to start running and jockying for position a year ahead of these preliminary contests or almost two years before the actual election. This means I have to listen (and I assure you it is almost impossible to ignore) to all of these assholes for almost two years.

Arrrrgh!

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typical californian attitude

commie bastard

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I thought you said the states that stage their primaries earlier, Iowa for example, have a larger impact on who runs for president in each party?

[Edit] Oh the impact they have on chosing candidates compare to their final vote for whomever.

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This is typical slip-shod writting on my part. California commie bastards are notorious for being imprecise.

What I was saying is that when the general election occurs, Iowa has very few electoral votes and thus will have little impact at that time on the election. One of the complaints is that because of their early vote in the primaries they have a disproportionate effect on who gets to run for president.

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The Iowa caucuses have always seemed very strange to me - the process itself is incredibly anachronistic. I read articles about candidates actually teaching their prospective voters how to actually take part in the caucus - how isn't the Voting Rights Act 1965 being contravened by the caucus process? Perhaps it doesn't apply to 'primaries' - I don't know.


Nor does the United States have a federal right to vote - why? To quote everyones' favourite online encyclopedia:


I can't stand the fact that ex-felons aren't allowed to vote (emphasis on the ex-), and the same goes for the voter registration debacle. There's a voter ID case coming up but with the Court's current composition there's no chance of a decent result emerging from that.

When Bush and his administration leave office I fear that a huge amount of electoral fraud by the Republicans is going to be unearthed, especially in Ohio - and as much as I'd like to see the GOP crippled, it's no good for a two-party state.

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I've been spoilt by the West Wing and for some reason attribute some excitement or sexiness to American electoral affairs far beyond what is reasonable. However, I'm forever disappointed that neither Rob Lowe nor Bradley Whitford are involved in real-life. Oh sure, I'll kid myself to begin with that maybe Sam and Josh really exist but in the end it's... it's pure folly.

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**** elections, they should just hold a lottery. everyone who wants to be president puts their name in the hat, the winner gets to run the country for four years.

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Fixed.

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wikixpert

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lovely :D
can't be worse than how the country has been run for the past, hmm, 20 years or so?

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well its got to be better than the current aristocracy. the bush, kennedy, clinton families need to be gassed (im sure theres more famous political dynasties im forgetting)

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I'm not sure about the Kennedy-dynasty belonging with the Clinton and Bush. JFK actaully did some good things for the US. He is not just rememberd for being shot... Kinda sad to say that the US current high-upper-class is no different than european royalty has been through the ages. Too much inter-family marriage. But oh well.

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dont give a **** if a particular kennedy may have been good or not, its the idea of being born a kennedy that guarantees someone an excellent chance of getting far in politics. kennedys, bushes and clintons are not born predisposed to be better politicians. get rid of them all

not sure if its as big a problem in parliament in this country, but i see that tossbag tony benn being anti house of lords and anti inherited privelege but oh look his son is now a cabinet minister and his 18 year old granddaughter was hoping to stand if the general election was called this last autumn. it really takes the piss.

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Yes I am sure you are quite right. English politicians are all elected on merrit without a doubt. Where did that quaint English expression "rottenbourough" come from anyway?

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I wouldn't say it was a problem in Parliament, I'd say it's a problem in society.

If you believe networking is sine qua non for opportunities then the bigger your inherited network the bigger your opportunities. If your dad owns a large media empire you're likely to own it someday as well. If your dad has spent the largest part of his life in the Parliament then it's likely you will too. I read (in his autobiography) Boris Johnson only got his job in The Telegraph because his dad was friends with someone there and he despite his laughable first attempts they kept him on.

Obviously British society has mitigated these effects now we have a world class education system that's so splendid even those in power got to where they are today through sheer hard work while studying amongst the brick-layers, shop assistants and data entry clerks of today. It warms the cockles of my heart that our former education secretary is so confident in our world class education system that she happily sent all her children into the system, despite the fact that one of them is dyslexic!

I just wish those other backwater countries, particularly the Nordic countries, would follow our lead a bit more.

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I'd say the death march started a year ago, but whatever. The corollary is that the nominations should be wrapped up even longer before the actual conventions, leaving us a pleasant if awkward lull in the proceedings.
Correct. The primaries/caucuses are mostly run by the political parties, not the government. Political parties are free to select their candidates by whatever anachronistic, undemocratic, tea-leaf reading, virgin-sacrificing mechanisms they care to employ. Less than 10% of the eligible voters typically turn out for the Iowa caucuses because they involve going to a certain place at a certain time and spending a couple of hours 'caucusing'. The caucuses are dominated by hard-core party fanatics which makes them about as interesting as a root canal only without the drugs. My state (Minnesota) has caucuses too, but since they're not early like Iowa's there's even less interest in attending them--if you can imagine.

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dda you hit the nail squarely on the head with this thread, and I've been feeling the same frustration over the current media frenzy over all this election hoopla.

The only aspect of it that drives me even more insane is all the focus on which celebrity is endorsing which candidate. As if that kind of endorsement means a god damn thing, other than pandering to a celebrity-crazed nation of pop-culture drones.

It's amazing that with each passing year, they start campaigning earlier and earlier...much like the way all the stores put out holiday crap earlier and earlier each year. FS, the tinsel is still on the proverbial tree, and there's already Valentine's Day shit going up on the shelves.

A year is plenty of time to campaign for christ sake. With cable and internet, I think that's plenty of time to get their message across and brainwaish their demographic.

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the 18th century?

our system is a joke aswell btw, not denying that.

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Agreeing with the_dastardley_chihuahua - our system's shite as well, fewer than 100 marginal seats determines who's in government. Add to that the basic Labour bias and you have one hell of a messed-up electoral process right there.


Oh and Obama/Huckabee win, perfect.

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Bourgeois scum.

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Who will our american users wote for? dda for huckerbee? :p

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Go Blackie!

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I am not sure. Thompson would be my choice, but I dubt he will make it all the way to the actual election.

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In Iowa, if you have lived in the state for one day you are eligible to caucus. Between all of the candidates, there are thousands of workers in the state for weeks ahead of the actual caucuses. These folks can also vote in the caucus.

No wonder we stuck Iowa in the middle of the country and heaped cold weather on them. Either it was a fitting punishment or it is their way of getting even. I'm not sure.

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Wow, I have even less respect for you than I did before.

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again (as you deleted my previous post).
Got a better suggestion?

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No I didn't. In fact, none of your posts in this thread have been deleted.



And yes - Obama, with Biden or Lugar (in the hope that one of them would accept it) as Vice-President.

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strange. posted a few seconds ago and 1 minute later it went away. :/

Just shows why you would disagree to that extent with me.
Would like to know why Obama though? Just the war part? or the social changes? (then we actually partly agree as I think he is the best candidate for the democrates)

Biden wont be VP (not enuogh votes behind him). Lugar has a chance with him.

My main question as far the election goes;
The election will be decided by media and the candidates ability to defend him/herself. Obama's main "weapon" against Clinton has been silence until he has to speak and actaully being honest (quite shocking to know that a presidential candidate admitted to having used cocain). Will that actually lead him to the presidential seat in the end?

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Admitting to using cocaine is not a negative on the Democratic side as most Democrats are probably coke fiends anyway.

Why else would they want to raise taxes if not to have us decent people pay for the filthy habit?

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to redistribute wealth and close that huge gap between the rich and poor that you have over there?

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Seems like the best person for domestic policy reform. Clinton's too Machivellian, Edward's too left-wing. I also think that there are good indicators towards his foreign policy - see his nuclear non-proliferation work with Lugar.


On the subject of Thompson, I could understand almost any of the other Republican candidates, from Giuliani to Huckabee, from McCain to Romney. But unless your love for Law and Order is the sort that belongs in Brokeback Mountain, I can't see any reason whatsoever to vote for Thompson.

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Lol. You're so funny. :)

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Probably not because Americans like conspiracy theories and candy coated truths, which from what i have seen, bearing in mind i'm having to rely on UK press and i'm not paying that much attention the US elections, Obama just doesnt play ball and give the electorate its lolly pops with its medicine.

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Americans probably like conspiracy theories as much as the inhabitants of any Western (and probably as much as those of any non-Western) country.

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clinton will probably win it in the end

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Tbh the only time that the length of an election campaign should become any kind of issue would be if the current president was running for re-election. Unfortunately, in this case, that isn't possible. Viva La Bush etc.

My point is, if they start campaigning this early every time there's an election then it could hamper the country if all representatives are more concerned over the size of their penis (or breasts now *rolleyes*) than running the country.

As far as I was aware (being a Student in the UK, I may be off-base here) but a lot of the commotion that we saw over the election campaign at points last year was a lot of fuss over the party elections - whereby that black dude and that woman were nominated as their respective party's representatives. As such, a lot of that wasn't directly contributing towards the presidential elections, but more why they should represent their party. Seperate elections = no connections.

Or maybe I've been watching too much West Wing.

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I wonder if Kenny knows what he's talking about.

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Fixed.

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why oh why couldn't you be foreign ...

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definition of ball please

unlikely - have you seen the latest nh polls? she's on the way down, obama's on the way up, the primaries this season are so close together that it'll all be over by this time February.

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Out of interest, do you know the in-show names of soap opera characters? I generally name them things like "the doctor who's clearly nobbing his secretary" and "the long haired hippy who's dating that hot brunette".

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We have a fair idea about blakcs and women, but how does a Mormon do in the polls?

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'horn is gay.'

In other news, if John McCain doesn't win the Republican nomination then the US will have it's first black President.

Oh and Kenny, I don't really know what you're talking about as my head hurts too much but America the the land of elections. They have Congressional elections every two years ffs.

I read a poll somewhere that said that a third of American voters (I forget the exact figure) could never vote for a Mormon. Presumably the number of respondents who said they could never bring themselves to vote for a nigra as President was much lower than that.

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Why? Seriously, who give a flying ****?

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then it must be true. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If9EWDB_zK4 i know you weren't taking that as the truth but i still wanted to post the youtube link. are you getting me, bruv?

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First off, don't listen to Yahwe, you are foreign, and I for one am glad of it.

Secondly, "that black dude and that woman" are both in the same party. They are both Democrats. Again, I am profoundly thankful.

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party politics are a divisive illusion

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Romney is probably the best qualified out of all of them to run the country. Pity he wont win though. Not that i care like but still ...

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Why?

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they're both homophobes