Random Thoughts on the First US Primaries

  • Does anyone else find the idea of caucuses weird (especially how the Democrats do it where you show your support publicly and others try to convince you to support other candidates?)
  • It also seems like there’s an inherent bias to people who can afford to give up an evening – harder for the single parent or the college kid with an evening job to attend.
  • Final Republican Results are: 1) Craze Cruz  2) Trumpet 3) Rubio  Widely being spun as a win for #1 & #3 and a loss for long-time front runner, #2 (though there’s an argument this could be better for him in the long run then taking #1)
  • Time will tell and *all* predictions are off
  • I mean, I watch CNN but I also hate CNN – the intentional/unintentional bias (at one point, Clinton was at 49.8 and Sanders was at 49.5 and they showed it as 50-49.  I mean, if you’re going to round up one, you should round up both, no?)
  • I also hated how they instantly started making predictions based on exit polls which are beyond meaningless if history is any indication.
  • But if you listened to CNN, you’d think 100% of first-time caucus goers were voting for Sanders and 100% of repeat caucus goers were voting for Clinton.
  • There are people who will vote for Clinton simply because she’s a woman/they want to see a female President.  I keep wondering if Sanders could offset this by taking the unprecedented step of announcing who he’d pick as his VP AND that he intends to only serve one term?  There are rumours that she might be appointed to the Supreme Court but I wonder if someone like Kamala Harris would fit the bill?  (Er, that’s obviously just if you’re trying to check off boxes on the “identity politics” scorecard with no eye towards picking someone to offset Sanders’ weaknesses – eg. foreign affairs – or to represent one of the regions that usually decide the election – Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania.  Oh, and never mind.)
  • It’s probably worth a separate post but a battle between a centrist, establishment candidate with a family history in politics and an outsider socialist staging an insurgent campaign using innovative Internet tools and exciting the grassroots feels somewhat familiar. 😉
  • Don’t have the link right now but if they were to pick the most representative state to begin primary season taking into account demographics, religion, income and maybe 1-2 other factors, Illinois would be the best place to start, not Iowa.
  • Did I mention how I alternately find the Republican field clown car hilarious and Stephen King’s nightmare-level horrifying?
  • Another reason I hate CNN – every couple minutes, there’s BREAKING NEWS! that’s not.
  • Marco Rubio’s speech sounded the most like a victory speech of all of them and he came in third (true, Sanders/Clinton tied but I thought Cruz would be a bit more arrogant.  Maybe he’s maxed out?)
  • Hey, a Canadian could be President of the United States! 😉
  • Wow – and Justin Trudeau once debated Ted Cruz in college?
  • It’s far-fetched but someone proposed that there could end up being a four-way race – Cruz wins his nomination so Trump runs as an independent, Sanders wins so Bloomberg sees a big empty eight lane highway right up the middle so he decides to run as a third-party centrist candidate.
  • MetaFilter has good commentary and linkage as always although there’s a bit more in-fighting between Clinton and Sanders supporters than I expected.

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