Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

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Grifman
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

Post by Grifman »

Holman wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2018 9:14 pm
Kraken wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2018 7:38 pm But let's acknowledge the elephant in the room: I strongly doubt that a black woman could win, and I don't think the D Party will gamble on a woman or a minority after Hillary's loss and the Obama backlash.
I dunno. The lesson of the 21st century is that minorities and women are the key to Democratic victories. It might be that backlash to Trump will make Kamala Harris a key part of the 2020 ticket, at least as running mate.

Minorities and women have done pretty well lately. After all, Obama and Clinton are the number 1 and number 2 vote-getters in American history.
Uh, that's more of a function of population growth. A more valid comparison is percentage total votes cast or percentage of eligible voters.
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GreenGoo
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

Post by GreenGoo »

No, a more valid comparison would be as a percentage of people who voted, which still puts them on top.

Who was more popular with eligible voters in any one election would result in a sea of white male candidates for the entire history of the USA, barring the 3 most recent ones, and even then it's only 2 candidates that aren't white males.

I'm not convinced that more voters during, say, war time, indicates a more popular president.

In any case, WHY a candidate receives a specific number of votes is pretty much impossible to determine, outside of general trends, so none of these metrics are great at determining specific conclusions.
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Holman
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

Post by Holman »

Grifman wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 12:01 am
Holman wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2018 9:14 pm
Kraken wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2018 7:38 pm But let's acknowledge the elephant in the room: I strongly doubt that a black woman could win, and I don't think the D Party will gamble on a woman or a minority after Hillary's loss and the Obama backlash.
I dunno. The lesson of the 21st century is that minorities and women are the key to Democratic victories. It might be that backlash to Trump will make Kamala Harris a key part of the 2020 ticket, at least as running mate.

Minorities and women have done pretty well lately. After all, Obama and Clinton are the number 1 and number 2 vote-getters in American history.
Uh, that's more of a function of population growth. A more valid comparison is percentage total votes cast or percentage of eligible voters.
The point is that a black man and a white woman were clearly capable of holding their own as vote-getters when the competition was a white man. This means the headwinds can be overcome.
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

Post by Carpet_pissr »

Sepiche wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:33 pm I'm not totally opposed to Oprah running, despite not being a great fan of hers because of her history of pushing pseudo science.

I think as a follow up to the Drumpf phenomenon however it's a sets a bad precedent of famous, but unqualified people running for high office. I think if she has that ambition she needs to run for congress, or mayor, or governor somewhere, gain some of those qualifications, and then make a run.
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

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I think it's clear that a black woman candidate could win the Democratic primary. From that point, I think it's totally viable (as a function of partisanship, if nothing else) for a black woman candidate to win the general election (especially in the political environment likely to exist in 2020).

I do wonder, though, whether a black woman presidential candidate might lose votes on the margins in a general election, and if so whether that could swing a close presidential election.
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El Guapo
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

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Black Lives Matter.
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Max Peck
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

Post by Max Peck »

Oprah vs. The Donald, and The Winner Is
TV personality Oprah Winfrey is the likely winner over President Trump if the 2020 election were held today, but there are a lot of undecideds.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 48% of Likely U.S. Voters would opt for Winfrey, while 38% would choose Trump. But a sizable 14% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Winfrey has the support of 76% of Democrats, 22% of Republicans and 44% of voters not affiliated with either major political party. The president earns 66% of the vote from Republicans, 12% of Democrats and 38% of unaffiliateds.

Twelve percent (12%) of both Republicans and Democrats are undecided given this matchup. One-in-five unaffiliated voters (19%) aren’t sure which candidate they would support.

Fifty-five percent (55%) of all voters view Winfrey favorably, including 27% with a Very Favorable view of the longtime media personality and entrepreneur. That’s little changed from 2011 after Winfrey announced she was ending her TV talk show after 25 years on the air. Thirty-four percent (34%) share an unfavorable view of her, with 18% who have a Very Unfavorable one.
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

Post by Moliere »

If 2020 ends up being Oprah v. Trump can we officially call the whole Presidency a joke? Or at least make it a figurehead position like a U.S. version of the monarchy. Popularity contests are a terrible way to find qualified candidates.
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

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people value experienced politicians
hahahahahha oh my side hahahahhaha. :P
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Remus West
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

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Moliere wrote: Fri Jan 12, 2018 6:32 pm If 2020 ends up being Oprah v. Trump can we officially call the whole Presidency a joke? Or at least make it a figurehead position like a U.S. version of the monarchy. Popularity contests are a terrible way to find qualified candidates.
Best argument I have heard for her is that she is wise enough to know that she doesn't know and appoint reliable people to inform her rather than people who will side with her no matter what.

Still, I would by far prefer a person with some experience running a government to a celebrity.
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Moliere
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

Post by Moliere »

This is the same person who gave a national platform to Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, and the Secret nonsense. How about her views on vaccines? This kind of wisdom shouldn't be President.
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

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Seems like replacing a reality tv celeb with a talk show celeb is not a great plan.
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

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GreenGoo wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 2:08 pm Seems like replacing a reality tv celeb with a talk show celeb is not a great plan.
Is it a better plan that sticking with the reality tv celebrity? :P

The real question is whether the Democratic party is as vulnerable as the GOP to being taken over by a fringe/wing-nut faction during the primaries. Maybe those superdelegates aren't such a bad idea after all.
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

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Max Peck wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 2:41 pm
GreenGoo wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 2:08 pm Seems like replacing a reality tv celeb with a talk show celeb is not a great plan.
Is it a better plan that sticking with the reality tv celebrity? :P
It's probably a comparably terrible plan which would result in different, but potentially equally terrible things. As pointed out here, she has many questionable positions and has promoted many questionable ideas.
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Max Peck
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

Post by Max Peck »

GreenGoo wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 2:44 pm
Max Peck wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 2:41 pm
GreenGoo wrote: Mon Jan 15, 2018 2:08 pm Seems like replacing a reality tv celeb with a talk show celeb is not a great plan.
Is it a better plan that sticking with the reality tv celebrity? :P
It's probably a comparably terrible plan which would result in different, but potentially equally terrible things. As pointed out here, she has many questionable positions and has promoted many questionable ideas.
Her most unfortunate beliefs are shared by Trump and his appointed minions, so at worst she would be potentially as bad as Trump in some areas, but better in others. Trump would be better in none. Also, Oprah doesn't seem to be evil while Trump, on the other hand, is unflinchingly malevolent. If I had to choose between the two, I'd take Oprah in a heartbeat (not that I have a say in the matter, being a dirty foreigner and all), but I'm hopeful that the Democrats will actually come up with a sanely conventional and electable candidate by 2019.
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

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If you say so.
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Grifman
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

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GreenGoo wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 12:46 am No, a more valid comparison would be as a percentage of people who voted, which still puts them on top.
Uh, read what I said again, bolded:
A more valid comparison is percentage total votes cast or percentage of eligible voters.
Isn't that the same? :)
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

Post by Carpet_pissr »

If we are doing the whole 'outsider' meme, might as well go all the way. I won't be satisfied until Joe The Plumber (TM), Jim the Mechanic, or Brandon, the Highschool Quarterback and Homecoming King is elected President. Qualifications and complete, coherent sentences are for liberal elites! Give me plain speakin' and down hominess anyday.
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

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Grifman wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2018 10:38 am
GreenGoo wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 12:46 am No, a more valid comparison would be as a percentage of people who voted, which still puts them on top.
Uh, read what I said again, bolded:
A more valid comparison is percentage total votes cast or percentage of eligible voters.
Isn't that the same? :)

I don't know. It's been more than 48 hours. I'm on to the next big thing, whatever that is.
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

Post by Lagom Lite »

OPRAH? And some of you are actually serious?? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Hey, why not elect Kim Kardashian! Instant name recognition! Forget policy or actually trying to make things better, just elect whatever celebrity people can recognize. I mean the working class in your country is absolute shit at acting in their own interest, so it doesn't really matter does it.

I mean why not. At this point any credibility the US had as a serious participant in the international community is all but gone anyway.
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

Post by Zarathud »

Clearly you have never really watched Oprah who can interview and inspire. Her charisma and people skills would at least translate to politics, unlike Trump's fake reality skills.
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

Post by Moliere »

Image

Yes, very inspiring.
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Re: Oprah for President! (and other non-conventional candidates)

Post by Kraken »

A local columnist made a halfway convincing argument that the US needs a king -- that is, someone who would be solely responsible for the public-facing duties of the president, while the actual president functions more like a prime minister, doing the actual governing without the ceremonial worries. We have no end of celebrities who could fill that role...and you wouldn't even necessarily need to create a formal new post; we already have a vice presidency with little-to-no official portfolio.

So, Oprah for vice president!
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