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American Election 2012

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Bruwheresmycar

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
Does anyone else think that Obama's unexpectedly comprehensive victory was in part a reaction of voters to the Republicans spoiler attitude and complete unwillingness to engage in the political process in good faith.

Not really. In fact this election had a swing towards republicans when you compare it to 2008. The overall vote was about 50/50 when you look at individual votes alone..

Unfortunatley I think the only thing that could fundamentally change the Republicans attitude would be for the Dem's to win another term after this one.

I can't see them changing their attitude. They will go down fighting.
 

boyo

Mark Ella (57)
It must be a bastard for the Republicans to be lumbered with the likes of the Tea Party and the radical right.
 

Rob42

John Solomon (38)
Before the tea Party came along, the Republican party was remarkably unified in its outlook on life, it seemed to me. The Tea Party has blown that apart, trumpeting ignorance and silly slogans. I think the GOP has a long, hard road ahead, especially as old, rich white men decline in number.
 

rugbyskier

Ted Thorn (20)
tumblr_md3p2inSW11qd44c5o1_500.jpg

That is a fake, done by a left wing website.

Small problem – those aren’t the Fox presenters getting the news of the Obama victory. The presenters on the night were Megyn Kelly and Brett Baier.
 

Inside Shoulder

Nathan Sharpe (72)
The sad reality of American politics.

http://sphotos-g.AK (Andrew Kellaway).fbcdn.net/hphotos-AK (Andrew Kellaway)-ash3/545397_320562048050699_257639993_n.jpg
How freakin' eerie. Where can I find this in its original context - or did you draw it?
How come Colorado and New Mexico escaped?
 

Jnor

Peter Fenwicke (45)
Saw this on Twitter - What the election result would have been if only white men could vote. The original tweet said this was the case up to 1870 (when I assume some black men got the vote after the end of the Civil War?).

Good thing we came up with that universal suffrage thing.

685109901.jpg
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
See I don't really understand this. White men voted for Romney, and the subtle undertone I detect from a lot of people who point that out is 'racism'. And yet African Americans went roughly 96% for Obama, and that gets completely overlooked.

I am no right-winger, but I do find it interesting that the flipside to the 'whites voted for Romney' coin hasn't been discussed.
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Schadenfreude

John Solomon (38)
See I don't really understand this. White men voted for Romney, and the subtle undertone I detect from a lot of people who point that out is 'racism'. And yet African Americans went roughly 96% for Obama, and that gets completely overlooked.

I am no right-winger, but I do find it interesting that the flipside to the 'whites voted for Romney' coin hasn't been discussed.
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Well the Republican Party is pretty racist. You don't find many African Americans at Klan meetings either. It's not racist - they're not welcome.
 

Jethro Tah

Bob Loudon (25)
See I don't really understand this. White men voted for Romney, and the subtle undertone I detect from a lot of people who point that out is 'racism'. And yet African Americans went roughly 96% for Obama, and that gets completely overlooked.

I am no right-winger, but I do find it interesting that the flipside to the 'whites voted for Romney' coin hasn't been discussed.
.

It was discussed but not a huge amount. The black vote for Clinton was roughly 88% so you could say that the 8% difference was based solely on the colour of the candidates skin. The outcome of the election would not have changed if that 8% hadn't of voted.

To test the % Republican white vote based solely on skin colour there was the potential scenario of white versus black Republican candidate last year with Herman Cain (see wiki info here). He was briefly beating Obama in the polls but his tax plan was a shambles and a sex scandal was his undoing. The fact that he got as far as he did is proof that skin colour is becoming less of an issue.

The main talking point from this election is best summed up from a quote in the Economist "A party that believes diversity results in social decay does not have much chance with a diverse electorate".
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
True. I wasn't really trying to make a big deal out of it. My point was if you wanted to make tenuous points about race based on polling figures then you could do it one of many ways. Not that that was what Jnor was trying to do, of course.

It will be really interesting to watch what happens to the Republican party over the next year. In one corner you have Republicans who think the party needs to moderate itself to pick up the increasing Latino, black and young vote (especially on issues such as womens rights, immigration etc.). In the other corner you have the radical right who think the party needs to go further to the extreme, and that Romney lost because he was too far left.

It will be a fascinating debate. I wouldn't be surprised to see a 3rd party emerge in the next ten or so years, as the Republicans are so divided it's hard to see them keeping it all together.
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Schadenfreude

John Solomon (38)
There can't be a third party. The first past the post system ensures it will never happen, just as it has pushed the republicans to the extreme right to find voters, and they see social policies like healthcare as extreme left.

The only way the system will be fixed would be to get rid of the electoral college and allow preferences. The longer the current system runs, the less likely that sort of thing could be agreed though.
 
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