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[teiresias]

Regardless of whether CNBC screwed the pooch on the debate itself, the GOP as a whole comes out looking ridiculous with this amount of whining over a 2 hour debate when Hillary brushed off an 11 hour hearing and topped it off by making the Republicans look like fools in the process.

 

[mightynine]

Also, just a quickie on political cartoons (I've been browsing politico today whilst in bed ill!).

Why is it the right wing cannot come up with a decent political cartoon?

http://www.politico.com/gallery/201...onists-on-the-week-in-politics-002133?slide=0

Ramirez in particular seems to be incredibly talentless, but for all of them there's no subtlety, cleverness or even humour. HAHA HILLARY IS A WITCH!

Maybe I'm just blinded by partisanship, by they just seem so incredibly, incredibly bad.

Nice touch on This Modern World using the old EC Comics font.

 

[Yellowtail]

Regardless of whether CNBC screwed the pooch on the debate itself, the GOP as a whole comes out looking ridiculous with this amount of whining over a 2 hour debate when Hillary brushed off an 11 hour hearing and topped it off by making the Republicans look like fools in the process.

Nah, this is classic working of the refs. The GOP strategy of crying "liberal media!" for decades has been an overwhelming success, ensuring the press has terminal both-sides syndrome. This will just ensure future debates go soft on the Republican candidates, as networks will be too afraid they'll get the axe.

 

[Daniel B·]

Bernie Sanders calling for an end to Marijuana Prohibition at a Federal level

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics...anders-federal-marijuana-legalization/413197/

That GIF is hilarious, although it perpetuates the false stereotype that African Americans smoke more weed than whites, when, in fact, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and I believe, other studies, over a lifetime, a higher percentage of whites have actually used ganja, as shown in this table.

But as to Bernie's stance on marijuana, a majority of the population now support his position, compared to Hillary's "wait and see" approach.

What is there to "wait and see", when there is no question that marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol (e.g. overdosing on marijuana is practically impossible) and its negative effects on society are minimal, in comparison to alcohol. In Colorado, where recreational marijuana has been legal for almost two years, there have only been positive results (e.g. no measurable increase in driving accidents purely involving marijuana), since the legalization, and the sales tax has generated millions for the state.

Like Bernie, I tried it (at 30ish) and as with cigarettes (at 15ish), it did nothing for me (thankfully, with regards to cigs). Some politicians try to "muddy the waters" by saying "what about the children", when no one is advocating making marijuana available to juveniles. I think the 21 age requirement is o.k., as ideally you probably don't want to encourage college aged kids to try any type of drug (other than for medicinal reasons), BUT, anyone under the legal age should absolutely NOT be prosecuted for possession and we should STOP wasting our tax dollars on this hugely expensive and counterproductilve "drug war" and instead invest the earnings from marijuana tax receipts on treatment programs, where needed (primarily for hard drug usage, such as heroin).

I laugh when I see TV adverts for drugs that alleviate the side effects of opioid pain medication, when marijuana would probably do a far better job, at a fraction of the price, with no side effects. Any wonder big pharma has been dead against marijuana legalization?

 

[Bam Bam Baklava]

Also, just a quickie on political cartoons (I've been browsing politico today whilst in bed ill!).

Why is it the right wing cannot come up with a decent political cartoon?

http://www.politico.com/gallery/201...onists-on-the-week-in-politics-002133?slide=0

Ramirez in particular seems to be incredibly talentless, but for all of them there's no subtlety, cleverness or even humour. HAHA HILLARY IS A WITCH!

Maybe I'm just blinded by partisanship, by they just seem so incredibly, incredibly bad.

Fuck sake, he even labeled the damn broomstick to make it as plainly obvious to his dumbass audience.

 

[BertramCooper]

I fucking love dumb labels in shitty political cartoons.

ALSO HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEIDI HEITKAMP! EVERYONE MAKE SURE TO WISH HER A HAPPY BIRTHDAY ON TWITTER!

Hopefully someone got her a new lawn chair to replace that sad and desperate American flag chair of hers.

 

[ivysaur12]

Look at the difference in Illinois and Iowa v. Missouri. Or Arkansas and everywhere around it:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Two years into Obamacare, clear regional patterns are emerging about who has health insurance in America and who still doesn’t.

The remaining uninsured are primarily in the South and the Southwest. They tend to be poor. They tend to live in Republican-leaning states. The rates of people without insurance in the Northeast and the upper Midwest have fallen into the single digits since the Affordable Care Act’s main provisions kicked in. But in many parts of the country, obtaining health insurance is still a problem for many Americans.

These trends emerged in an analysis we undertook with the help of two organizations that are closely monitoring the progress of the health law. Last year, we used similar data to show the the substantial effects Obamacare had on reducing the number of Americans without health insurance. This year, the same groups updated their estimates of where America’s uninsured live, and the change is a lot less drastic. States that were late to expand Medicaid, including Pennsylvania and Indiana, showed substantial reductions in their uninsured residents compared with last year. In other places, the changes have been more modest. In a few — like Mississippi — things appear to have gotten worse, with fewer people having health insurance this year than last.

“This year it’s more of a state-specific story,” said Ed Coleman, the director of data and analytics at Enroll America, an organization devoted to finding uninsured people and signing them up for insurance. Enroll worked with the data firm Civis Analytics to produce the numbers in our map. “There was a pronounced drop pretty much everywhere last year, and we don’t see that pattern again this time around.”

The incremental changes in our map are consistent with other data. Fewer people signed up for insurance this year using the new state marketplaces than some analysts had expected. Medicaid enrollment leveled off. And many of the people who lack insurance in states with a lot of uninsured people are effectively unable to benefit from Obamacare programs because of their low incomes and local politicians’ decisions to forgo Medicaid expansion. More than three million people in 19 states remain stuck in a “Medicaid gap,” too poor to qualify for subsidies in the new marketplaces, but unable to get into a government program.

Medicaid expansion continues to be a huge predictor of how many people remain uninsured in a given state. We’ve outlined the states that expanded Medicaid in black to make them easy to see. But we almost don’t have to, because many of the state lines are so clear from the uninsured rates alone. Look at the difference between Missouri and Illinois, for example.

 

[Makai]

Also, just a quickie on political cartoons (I've been browsing politico today whilst in bed ill!).

Why is it the right wing cannot come up with a decent political cartoon?

http://www.politico.com/gallery/201...onists-on-the-week-in-politics-002133?slide=0

Ramirez in particular seems to be incredibly talentless, but for all of them there's no subtlety, cleverness or even humour. HAHA HILLARY IS A WITCH!

Maybe I'm just blinded by partisanship, by they just seem so incredibly, incredibly bad.

 

[Makai]

Actually, this is a decent version of that joke:

 

[Slime]

What I find hilarious about right-wing media bashing is how terrified they are of the fairness doctrine. They constantly whine about the injustice of the lamestream media, but they'll never do anything about it if it means giving up territory in their talk radio utopia.

 

[Makai]

I fucking love dumb labels in shitty political cartoons.

God do I hate them. Part of the joke is supposed to be realizing the metaphor, but labels just make it cynical. I love the ones in the Onion cartoons, though.

 

[Maledict]

Actually, this is a decent version of that joke:

I would disagree completely. There's no point to the cartoon, it's literally just "Hillary is a witch". You're just playing to a crowd of "Hillary is evil, raargh raaargh".

The Paul Ryan cartoon highlighted the hypocrisy of his stance on paid family leave, the Bush cartoons all focus in on a key thing about Bush (total lack of enthusiasm and Trump roughing him up), whereas the Hillary witch cartoons seem to rely entirely on "she's a witch" for the humour.

 

[Makai]

I would disagree completely. There's no point to the cartoon, it's literally just "Hillary is a witch". You're just playing to a crowd of "Hillary is evil, raargh raaargh".

The Paul Ryan cartoon highlighted the hypocrisy of his stance on paid family leave, the Bush cartoons all focus in on a key thing about Bush (total lack of enthusiasm and Trump roughing him up), whereas the Hillary witch cartoons seem to rely entirely on "she's a witch" for the humour.

It's a response to the claim that the Benghazi committee is a baseless witchhunt.

 

[Maledict]

It's a response to the claim that the Benghazi committee is a baseless witchhunt.

But that's my point. The response to it is "Hillary is a witch!".

No rhyme or reason, just "She's evil!". There's nothing smart or funny to it, it's just playing to the lowest common denominator of calling your opponents names. Admittedly, I understand they are working with a tough topic because the hearings did show themselves to be utterly stupid and pointless, but there's got to be better than this.

 

[Makai]

The Onion cartoons are masterful.

"emojihad." Multilayered pun.

 

[ivysaur12]

I fucking love dumb labels in shitty political cartoons.


Hopefully someone got her a new lawn chair to replace that sad and desperate American flag chair of hers.

What pandering.

 

[ivysaur12]

@MSNBC
BREAKING: Top @JebBush campaign official is leaving.

loooool

 

[Maledict]

The Onion cartoons are masterful.



"emojihad." Multilayered pun.

Now this we can agree on - they are amazing... ;-)

 

[Retromelon]

@MSNBC
BREAKING: Top @JebBush campaign official is leaving.

loooool

stay the course!

 

[noshten]

That GIF is hilarious, although it perpetuates the false stereotype that African Americans smoke more weed than whites, when, in fact, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and I believe, other studies, over a lifetime, a higher percentage of whites have actually used ganja, as shown in this table.

But as to Bernie's stance on marijuana, a majority of the proportion now support his position, compared to Hillary's "wait and see" approach.

What is there to "wait and see", when there is no question that marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol (e.g. overdosing on marijuana is practically impossible) and its negative effects on society are minimal, in comparison to alcohol. In Colorado, where recreational marijuana has been legal for almost two years, there have only been positive results (e.g. no measurable increase in driving accidents purely involving marijuana), since the legalization, and the sales tax has generated millions for the state.

Like Bernie, I tried it (at 30ish) and as with cigarettes (at 15ish), it did nothing for me (thankfully, with regards to cigs). Some politicians try to "muddy the waters" by saying "what about the children", when no one is advocating making marijuana available to juveniles. I think the 21 age requirement is o.k., as ideally you probably don't want to encourage college aged kids to try any type of drug (other than for medicinal reasons), BUT, anyone under the legal age should absolutely NOT be prosecuted for possession and we should STOP wasting our tax dollars on this hugely expensive and counterproductilve "drug war" and instead invest the earnings from marijuana tax receipts on treatment programs, where needed (primarily for hard drug usage, such as heroin).

I laugh when I see TV adverts for drugs that alleviate the side effects of opioid pain medication, when marijuana would probably do a far better job, at a fraction of the price, with no side effects. Any wonder big pharma has been dead against marijuana legalization?

I don't think Bernie is going far enough.
Universal health care needs to also tackle the addiction problems we are facing both legally and illegally.
Putting people in jail simply doesn't work and a system like Portugal's might be a lot better both in terms of efficiency and results.
I'm at least glad he has taken a position in the Marijuana debate that any sensible politician should have had by this day and age.

 

[kess]

Also, just a quickie on political cartoons (I've been browsing politico today whilst in bed ill!).

Why is it the right wing cannot come up with a decent political cartoon?

Maybe I'm just blinded by partisanship, by they just seem so incredibly, incredibly bad.

Most political cartoonists are lazy bastards who are generally newspaper strip artists who struggle to make relevant jokes about modern technology in their own domain, and are expected to provide insightful commentary on modern events. But in practice the form generally follows an strict editorial line or offers a milquetoast, unsubstantial pablum. The best thing that ever happened to Bill Watterson was getting fired by the Cincinnati Post.

 

[BertramCooper]

Really, really interested to see how Issue 3 shakes out here in Ohio next week.

As I've said before, I'm voting against it, and I think it will probably go down.

But I hope the margin is close. Like 55-45 or closer. I'd love to see the General Assembly feel some pressure to legalize marijuana on their own. It could be pretty transformative for a Republican state legislature to legalize weed.

If Issue 3 does pass (and the stupid poison pill Issue 2 fails), I'm fairly confident that either the General Assembly or a citizen initiative will put something on the ballot next year to remedy the most egregious parts of Issue 3 - namely the de facto cartel that it establishes. But I'm not certain enough of that happening to vote for Issue 3.

 

[Aaron Strife]

loooool

Who's leaving, Jeb Bush?

 

[Makai]

Who's leaving, Jeb Bush?

George

 

[Makai]

loooool

Oh, looks like they were fired.

 

[brainchild]

That GIF is hilarious, although it perpetuates the false stereotype that African Americans smoke more weed than whites, when, in fact, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and I believe, other studies, over a lifetime, a higher percentage of whites have actually used ganja, as shown in this table.

But as to Bernie's stance on marijuana, a majority of the population now support his position, compared to Hillary's "wait and see" approach.

What is there to "wait and see", when there is no question that marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol (e.g. overdosing on marijuana is practically impossible) and its negative effects on society are minimal, in comparison to alcohol. In Colorado, where recreational marijuana has been legal for almost two years, there have only been positive results (e.g. no measurable increase in driving accidents purely involving marijuana), since the legalization, and the sales tax has generated millions for the state.

Like Bernie, I tried it (at 30ish) and as with cigarettes (at 15ish), it did nothing for me (thankfully, with regards to cigs). Some politicians try to "muddy the waters" by saying "what about the children", when no one is advocating making marijuana available to juveniles. I think the 21 age requirement is o.k., as ideally you probably don't want to encourage college aged kids to try any type of drug (other than for medicinal reasons), BUT, anyone under the legal age should absolutely NOT be prosecuted for possession and we should STOP wasting our tax dollars on this hugely expensive and counterproductilve "drug war" and instead invest the earnings from marijuana tax receipts on treatment programs, where needed (primarily for hard drug usage, such as heroin).

I laugh when I see TV adverts for drugs that alleviate the side effects of opioid pain medication, when marijuana would probably do a far better job, at a fraction of the price, with no side effects. Any wonder big pharma has been dead against marijuana legalization?

Bernie used to have a 'wait and see' approach to marijuana as well, and it was just as frustrating as Hillary's approach.

I'm glad he's somewhat on the right track now, but I can hardly praise the guy for something that shouldn't have taken this long to make a stance on, and is a half-assed solution at that.

I don't think Bernie is going far enough.
Universal health care needs to also tackle the addiction problems we are facing both legally and illegally.
Putting people in jail simply doesn't work and a system like Portugal's might be a lot better both in terms of efficiency and results.
I'm at least glad he has taken a position in the Marijuana debate that any sensible politician should have had by this day and age.

I agree with this as well.

 

[RustyNails]

loooool

Probably the mole that leaked the documents

 

[User 406]

Really, really interested to see how Issue 3 shakes out here in Ohio next week.

As I've said before, I'm voting against it, and I think it will probably go down.

But I hope the margin is close. Like 55-45 or closer. I'd love to see the General Assembly feel some pressure to legalize marijuana on their own. It could be pretty transformative for a Republican state legislature to legalize weed.

If Issue 3 does pass (and the stupid poison pill Issue 2 fails), I'm fairly confident that either the General Assembly or a citizen initiative will put something on the ballot next year to remedy the most egregious parts of Issue 3 - namely the de facto cartel that it establishes. But I'm not certain enough of that happening to vote for Issue 3.

I don't know if I'd call Issue 2 stupid, considering we got casinos the same way as Issue 3 attempts to set up a legal drug cartel. We really shouldn't be allowing these slickly marketed ballot initiative campaigns to get their state sanctioned monopolies. I already voted yes on 1 & 2, no on 3, and we also had a nice little charter amendment here in Cleveland which will hopefully increase diversity in police hires.

I'm even more interested to see what shakes out if Issue 1 passes, although we won't see any potential results for some time.

 

[Makai]

How easily can campaigns recover from losing their COO?

 

[Black Republican]

BLM showed up at Hillarys event half hour ago.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

Jeb! digging up the bodies to destroy Rubio and the GOP's chances in 2016 just out of spite will be perfect.

 

[Makai]

Jeb! digging up the bodies to destroy Rubio and the GOP's chances in 2016 just out of spite will be perfect.

 

[Plinko]

It is so incredibly irritating that the GOP simply wants a 2 hour infomercial for their candidates instead of actual useful questions/answers.

 

[NeoXChaos]

Ms. Ciccone was paid roughly $12,000 a month, the equivalent of a $144,000 annual salary, according to the campaign’s most recent Federal Election Commission filling. Reached by phone Friday, Ms. Ciccone said “I’ve got no comment. I’ve just got to go.”

I guess her magic could not help his campaign

 

[User 463088]

I want one of our PACs, maybe Priorities Action, to make an ad slamming the GOP over their debate thing. I mean, come on, we can literally accuse them of folding when the pressure is up. Have someone ask the camera "If these people can't even engage in a civil debate, what will they do when "insert any group here" says something they don't like?"

God hit them with this, please.
\

In Ohio as well. I voted Yes on 2 and No on 3. I have no qualms with legalization. I just am not a fan of this particular measure.

 

[User 406]

It is so incredibly irritating that the GOP simply wants a 2 hour infomercial for their candidates instead of actual useful questions/answers.

But they don't have any answers.

 

[benjipwns]

POLITICO runs Clinton campaign written hit-piece full of lies and smears against Bernie Sanders:

The once respectful Democratic primary has devolved into a slugfest about gender, with Hillary Clinton surrogates expressing outrage over how Bernie Sanders is conducting his campaign — even calling for him to fire his staff over alleged sexist remarks.

The ugly dispute has knocked Sanders back on his heels, and placed him on the defensive — an unaccustomed position for a progressive who describes himself as a feminist. And it’s sent a signal flare to Republicans, who have been reminded of the pitfalls of using the wrong language when taking on Clinton — and also of her campaign’s ability to turn it to her advantage.

“I’m stunned that a man like Bernie Sanders, who has clearly committed his life to making the country a better place, would get sucked into this very dangerous rhetoric, which perpetuates sexist and misogynistic stereotypes,” fumed Christine Quinn, the former New York City Council speaker who sits on Clinton’s New York Leadership Council and does fundraising for her campaign. “The candidate is supposed to set the tone, set the agenda. If Bernie Sanders does not want to be seen as someone who uses sexist language and perpetuates a dangerous sexist stereotype of strong women, then he should tell his people to stop. And if they don’t stop, he should fire them.”

Quinn, who ran for New York City mayor in 2013, said a recent Bloomberg Politics story that quoted Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver as joking that “we’re willing to consider her for vice president ... we’ll even interview her” was beyond the pale.

“Seriously? Seriously? The absurdity of that statement almost merits no response. How arrogant and sexist can you be? It’s not OK to let people with a long progressive record get away with being sexist.”

Yet the charges of sexism have dredged up accounts of tensions that have simmered in other political races Sanders has run against women — contests where he has fallen into a trap of using careless or insensitive language and argued that his record speaks for him.

In 1986, when he ran unsuccessfully against Madeleine Kunin for governor, Sanders said gender was not a good enough reason to vote for her.

“Should we vote for [Kunin] because she is a woman? To the degree people think that that’s true, I would regard that as a sexist position,” he said at the time, according “The Socialist Mayor,” a book about Sanders by Steven Soifer.

In an interview with POLITICO, Kunin confirmed the account. “He tried to be more of a feminist than I was to appeal to the women’s vote,” she recalled.

Sanders has said he considers himself a feminist based on his record of fighting for women’s rights. Yet he ran into trouble in his successful 1985 race for mayor of Burlington, when he faced off against Diane Gallagher. That race also descended into squabbling about gender.

“He is setting me up to [be] the rich bitch, the girl with the pearls, Lady Di,” Gallagher railed, according to a clip from the Burlington Free Press, in which she said Sanders tried to use her gender and wealth to portray her as out of touch with the electorate.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

Joyful Warrior tbh.

 

[Plinko]

But they don't have any answers.

At the very least, the American public could see that.

Now, they'll have no shot.

 

[benjipwns]

Jennifer Howell · Gyeongju, Korea
What utter bullshit. I'm a feminist for Sanders - there are TONS of us out there. You go to a Sanders rally he asks the men to literally stand up and lend their voices to a call for equal pay for women workers, and they do it. Sanders is promoting an atmosphere of feminism at his rallies. The "vice president" comment was a response to Sanders' campaign constantly being condescended to by the punditry and Clinton supporters as being unlikely or unable to win the election. Sanders has been asked himself if he would be Clinton's VP or even if he's actually running to win. That Weaver blew off a little steam jokingly when they have to hear this bullshit all the time is hardly surprising. On the "shouting" thing - please stop reporting Clinton's side as if it has any truth to it. He's been using that "shouting" phrase, the exact line, in every interview he's given about gun control for weeks, maybe even months before the debates - it refers, generically to partisan shouting. Has ZERO to do with gender. As to other races he's run and women he ran against feeling bitter about this or that comment - really doesn't seem like there's anything there. I am pretty annoyed at people using feminism as a dirty political trick when there are real battles to be fought. And it's terrible to be doing this in a political year that could decide the economic and environmental fate of our nation and our world for decades to come. The Keystone Pipeline, The Transpacific Partnership - are SLIGHTLY more important, and Clinton doesn't have a solid record of opposition to either of them. Why not report actual news, Politico? Would that be too hard?

Justin Garcia · Fort Lauderdale, Florida
The hillary supporters and Hillary campaign is making it so hard for me to hold my nose and cast my vote for them if they win the primary. Keep it up with the bs smears we might not come and support you in the end. I'll vote green party if thats the case.

Remeber it was hillary's "supporters" who were the original birthers for obama

Lyle Edwards · Woodsville High School
Excellent response! Yes it does seem to be too hard for Politico and countless other pundits.

Kerry Blake
Justin Garcia Agree, I've already decided for a few months now that I will vote Green if Bernie doesn't get the nomination. This campaign has opened my eyes to so much that I could never vote for any neoliberal again.

Good to see that some people still care for saving American democracy from Hillary's fascism.

 

[Wilsongt]

loooool

#fatality

Someone needs to land the final blow on El Yebe's! campaign soon.

Fox News is basically bailing out on him. They are also bailing on Christie.

 

[BertramCooper]

I don't know if I'd call Issue 2 stupid, considering we got casinos the same way as Issue 3 attempts to set up a legal drug cartel. We really shouldn't be allowing these slickly marketed ballot initiative campaigns to get their state sanctioned monopolies. I already voted yes on 1 & 2, no on 3, and we also had a nice little charter amendment here in Cleveland which will hopefully increase diversity in police hires.

I'm even more interested to see what shakes out if Issue 1 passes, although we won't see any potential results for some time.

I'm voting no on Issue 2 primarily because I question its overall intent. It's primarily designed to sabotage Issue 3 in case it passes. I just generally don't like voting for things like that. I don't think it's a good use of a ballot measure.

 

[NeoXChaos]

#fatality

Someone needs to land the final blow on El Yebe's! campaign soon.

Fox News is basically bailing out on him. They are also bailing on Christie.

If you want a damaged Rubio you want the likes of Trump and Bush in there to the bitter end.

 

[RustyNails]

Punished Jeb will return to.

 

[BertramCooper]

If you want a damaged Rubio you want the likes of Trump and Bush in there to the bitter end.

Yes, indeed.

I want Jeb! in this race for as long as possible. Thankfully his money and his ego will probably sustain him for several more months.

 

[User 406]

I'm voting no on Issue 2 primarily because I question its overall intent. It's primarily designed to sabotage Issue 3 in case it passes. I just generally don't like voting for things like that. I don't think it's a good use of a ballot measure.

See, I read it more as a "GOD DAMMIT NOT AGAIN" amendment, with the added language as a possibly futile attempt to get the state supreme court to rule in its favor if both 2 & 3 pass.

I'm just wondering what industry will be next to target our ballot initiative process for another captive market.

 

[Yellowtail]

A fairly devastating takedown of Jeb's Iowa campaign:

“A ‘major’ presidential candidate, 95 days out from the Iowa caucuses has only collected 5,000 Iowa email addresses and only 129 precinct captains?” questioned Norm Sterzenbach, who ran the caucus operation for the Iowa Democratic Party in 2008, upon seeing the Bush memo. “And only a total of 1,281 supporters out of the 23k they project they need? There is no way he succeeds, he doesn’t have the message, the national narrative or the Iowa organization to be any kind of real factor in this race." The contact tracking spreadsheet should never have seen the light of day, much less a donor meeting, if this is truly what they’re achieving on the ground.

For one, they apparently haven’t knocked a single door throughout the course of the campaign. Why even include that on the list? I’m going to guess the volunteer section just wasn’t completely filled out here, as I’ve seen tweets from their offices with volunteers on the phones. But it’s still odd they only list a volunteer goal of 18 for a single week… and then note they recruited only 4 in that same week. Actually, multiple parts of this spreadsheet seem incomplete.

Again, the ID’d supporters total here is distressing. In a full week they only found 63 new supporters? If you project that over the 15 weeks in the caucus that follow this reporting time period, that would only be 945 more supporters by caucus night, getting them a little over 2,000 statewide. And they say they need 23,716 (now, you never need to ID every single person, but you do need more than this).

If we guess a contact rate of 25% here as well, their supporter percentage has gotten even worse. Only about 2% of the people they get in touch with are committing for Bush.

If you read through the entire memo, it’s clear that the Bush people think they’re doing great in what appears to matter most to them: endorsements. Slide after slide highlights the number of governors and members of Congress that have publicly backed Bush, comparing them with the comparably small amount his competitors have. But you don’t even have to be a former caucus or Iowa campaign staffer to realize how troubling their internal Iowa metrics look.

Unless something changes drastically, there is simply no way Bush comes away from caucus night with anything other than a devastating embarrassment.

He's going to get demolished in IA and NH. He's got two options: drop out now to avoid the humiliation or destroy Rubio to remain the only viable establishment option.

Jeb doesn't even need to go negative first. Just get Right to Rise to spend millions on ads touting his and Rubio's historic support for amnesty. Mutually assured destruction.

 

[ivysaur12]

Wait.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/here-comes-the-berniebro-bernie-sanders/411070/

The Berniebro is #FeelingtheBern.

The Berniebro is posting a video on his Facebook wall: You really have to watch this. Bernie Sanders says things that no other candidate would ever consider. These are real policy proposals that just might change the country.

The Berniebro asks what you thought of the first Democratic debate, then interrupts to say that you shouldn’t confuse Clinton’s soundbites for actual substance. By the way, the Berniebro adds, he was really impressed with Bernie.

The Berniebro chuckles politely when you say that Bernie Sanders sometimes looks like he’s petting two different-sized ponies with his right hand. “Yeah, I guess it’s funny,” says the Berniebro. His face does not seem to entertain the possibility that this could ever be humorous.

The Berniebro solemnly posts links to his Facebook wall that night: Here is the focus group which said Bernie won the debate. Here is an online poll that said the same thing. Here is an online CNN poll that also declared his victory.

The Berniebro is very irate when CNN takes its online poll results down. The Berniebro posts about that, too.

The Berniebro, now that you think about it, seems to spend a lot of time on Facebook? You wonder how that graduate degree and/or startup is going.

The Berniebro knows a secret: The only reason you, and every other Facebook user, haven’t supported Bernie yet is your own willful ignorance.

* * *

The Berniebro is not every Bernie Sanders supporter. Sanders’s support skews young, but not particularly male. The Berniebro is male, though. Very male.

The Berniebro is someone you may only have encountered if you’re somewhat similar to him: white; well-educated; middle-class (or, delicately, “upper middle-class”); and aware of NPR podcasts and jangly bearded bands.

The Berniebro might loathe one NPR podcast in particular.

The Berniebro might get into big performative arguments about how feminism saved his life. Or, the Berniebro might always seem like he’s going to say that we need economic equality for all genders but doesn’t actually say it, because he knows that it wouldn’t go over well.

The Berniebro says that Sanders isn’t only driving Hillary to the left, which you may agree is a good thing. Bernie, says the Berniebro, really could win.

The Berniebro doesn’t really have a good answer when you ask why the Democratic Party, which has spent six years explaining how its market-based health-care policies aren’t socialist, would ever find national success nominating an actual democratic socialist.

The Berniebro doesn’t really talk about how President Bernie Sanders would interact with the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.

The Berniebro talks a lot about DC insiders, though.

The Berniebro, speaking of which, normally isn’t a fan of Vox, but thinks this story explains some important points.

The Berniebro says this story is also a great read.

The Berniebro knows the media is complicit in keeping Clinton the Democratic front-runner.

The Berniebro is tired of reporters not letting this stupid email scandal go.

The Berniebro asserts that this country needs highly principled, pie-in-the-sky progressive policies, regardless of how likely they are to become legislation. The Berniebro supports free college for all and a $15 minimum wage.

The Berniebro says we really do have to recognize the realistic policy landscape around guns. We have to think pragmatically. What will rural voters actually support?

The Berniebro voted for Barack Obama in 2012. And 2008, if the Berniebro was old enough to vote.

The Berniebro has spent most days since March 2008 in an environment where bland support for Barack Obama was so presumed as to be unspoken (“except for drone strikes,” the Berniebro adds).

The Berniebro had an equal chance, four years ago, of being (a) an Occupybro or (b) the kind of bro who asked, repeatedly and insistently, what Occupy’s concrete policy proposals were.

The Berniebro seems to have taken Sanders’s rhetoric that America is trapped in a number of deep, unprecedented crises to heart. The Berniebro always writes with an urgent, anxious seriousness when discussing national politics.

The Berniebro really isn’t that bad, though. I mean, you maybe support many of Bernie’s policies, and you’re glad he’s pressing Hillary. But why oh why are the Berniebro’s posts always at the top of your Facebook timeline? And why is he writing in that tone? Is the Berniebro talking to his friends or is he declaiming in the Roman forum?

The Berniebro, now that you think about it, was the kind of person who’d show up to a college party in a toga. You remember it maybe being the Berniebro’s profile picture once. (Today, the Berniebro is wearing a blazer in his profile picture, or an open-necked gingham shirt. Or both.)

The Berniebro, though steadfastly a Berniebro now, will not always be such. You can sense this. Soon, maybe already, the Berniebro will become a Schoolboardbro. Or a Municipalparkingbro. Or, heaven help us, a Localhistoricaldistrictzoningrestrictionsbro.

Yet today the Berniebro is still a Berniebro. The Berniebro is #FeelingtheBern. And until Sanders drops out of the race, the Berniebro wants you to #FeeltheBern, too.

AHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS NEOGAF

 

[NeoXChaos]

A fairly devastating takedown of Jeb's Iowa campaign:


He's going to get demolished in IA and NH. He's got two options: drop out now to avoid the humiliation or destroy Rubio to remain the only viable establishment option.

Jeb doesn't even need to go negative first. Just get Right to Rise to spend millions on ads touting his and Rubio's historic support for amnesty. Mutually assured destruction.

Which is why he should abandon IA and go all in for NH. I doubt any of the R campaigns have the ground game the democrats have in IA. Whoever becomes the nominee is playing catch up. I think the max amount of staff the candidates have there is in the teens at 12 with Cruz.

EDIT: Found it.

On the Republican side, Trump has the most with a dozen, maybe one or two more. Jeb Bush, who was considered to have one of the more professional operations, has 10. Marco Rubio only finally hired a state director last month (this being the campaign that says field staffs and even field offices are a thing of the past). Most of the others have a skeleton crew, just enough to keep up the political outreach efforts, plan events and coordinate what volunteers they have.

Stupid.

 

[B-Dubs]

Wait.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/here-comes-the-berniebro-bernie-sanders/411070/



AHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS NEOGAF

That's pretty funny.