In many ways, Kennedy is an ideal candidate for both the far left and far right, and even the angry, ignored middle...certainly a no-less flawed candidate than the two established wankers.
The cover ups by big biz and gov, that danger the environment and people, leftwing policies like increasing taxes to take care of the poorâ¦and the conspiracies / coverups the gov does/doesnât participate in here and abroad, securing the border, gun rights, denounces mediaâ¦and like trump, an insider/outside who has trouble keeping his mouth shut, but unlike trump, he really wants to change the govâ¦
Squint, and you can see a parable of Kennedyâs decision to run against the Democrats, the party of his family going back to his great-grandfather. Duty is his professed reason for challenging Biden for the Democratic nomination and then launching his independent candidacy last October. (His path to the ticket was unfairly blocked by the dnc, he alleges.) âI never intended to run for president,â Kennedy avers. But he âsaw things happening to my party and my country that made me frightened about the world that my children are going to grow up inâ.
Under Biden, Kennedy now says, the Democrats are a corrupt party of war, corporate control and censorship. The censorship he is talking about is partly of him: he alleges that Biden was personally responsible for some of his social-media suspensions. He claims that the prospect of four more years of Biden, who keeps a bust of Kennedyâs father in the Oval Office, worries him as much as a second term for Donald Trump. JFK and Bobby senior âwould have walked awayâ from todayâs Democratic Party, he believes. In a public statement last October, four of his siblings disagreed forcefully.
I do not know how the NZ Constitution is set up and provided for this kind of change.
Tell me how this could be done under our Constitution, please.
Thank you in advance.
Proportional representation would require a constitutional change, a pretty extensive one. Other forms of electoral reform (ranked choice voting, assigning electoral college votes by vote proportion rather than winner-take-all, etc.) could be accomplished at the state level.
And should be, but that's a whole 'nother argument.
In 1993 New Zealanders voted in a referendum to change their voting system from the traditional first past the post (FPP) method to mixed member proportional representation (MMP). This was the most dramatic change to the country's electoral system since the introduction of women's suffrage exactly 100 years before. How and why did this electoral revolution come about?
The origins of electoral reform lay in the gradual breakdown of public trust and confidence in politicians, Parliament and the simple certainties of the old two-party system. This process began in the 1950s and 1960s and gathered momentum in the 1970s and 1980s, decades marked by economic uncertainty and the emergence of new social and political movements.
Sound familiar? The current support for Trump feels so reminiscent to what NZ was like under Muldoon (who was a lamb compared to Trump but also incited violence and ran on a platform of law and order to quell the very violence he instigated). The experience was bad enough for us to introduce MMP as soon as he lost power.
But it also makes me think of what my American professor said back in the 80's: The Americans generally oscillate between the parties regardless of who is running or what their platform is. It is part of the country's DNA.
This is about the only explanation I can find for Trump still enjoying such high polling numbers.
High time you guys installed some kind of MMP, I reckon. It's no cure-all, but it might help.
Okay by me. I still favor ranked choice, but I see a lot of value in forcing coalitions for governance.
In 1993 New Zealanders voted in a referendum to change their voting system from the traditional first past the post (FPP) method to mixed member proportional representation (MMP). This was the most dramatic change to the country's electoral system since the introduction of women's suffrage exactly 100 years before. How and why did this electoral revolution come about?
The origins of electoral reform lay in the gradual breakdown of public trust and confidence in politicians, Parliament and the simple certainties of the old two-party system. This process began in the 1950s and 1960s and gathered momentum in the 1970s and 1980s, decades marked by economic uncertainty and the emergence of new social and political movements.
Sound familiar? The current support for Trump feels so reminiscent to what NZ was like under Muldoon (who was a lamb compared to Trump but also incited violence and ran on a platform of law and order to quell the very violence he instigated). The experience was bad enough for us to introduce MMP as soon as he lost power.
But it also makes me think of what my American professor said back in the 80's: The Americans generally oscillate between the parties regardless of who is running or what their platform is. It is part of the country's DNA.
This is about the only explanation I can find for Trump still enjoying such high polling numbers.
High time you guys installed some kind of MMP, I reckon. It's no cure-all, but it might help.
I couldn't decide between Toad and Trime Taveler, so I didn't...
I expect the write-ins will be interesting should we make it to November. Hey, I'm joking! I'm quite optimistic, though not about temporal things...
Joe Biden (D), incumbent president of the United States, announced he would run for re-election on April 25, 2023.
Marianne Williamson (D), 2020 presidential candidate and author, announced her candidacy on February 23, 2023. She withdrew from the race on February 7, 2024, and re-entered the race on February 28.
Other Democratic candidates
Jason Palmer (D), a businessman, announced his candidacy on November 10, 2023.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Independent), withdrew from the Democratic primary and announced he would run as an independent on October 9, 2023.
Chase Oliver (Libertarian Party), a candidate in the 2022 Georgia U.S. Senate race, announced his candidacy on April 4, 2023.
Jill Stein (Green Party), the 2016 Green Party presidential nominee, announced her candidacy on November 9, 2023.
Cornel West (Independent), philosopher and activist, announced his candidacy on June 5, 2023.
I couldn't decide between Toad and Trime Taveler, so I didn't...
I expect the write-ins will be interesting should we make it to November. Hey, I'm joking! I'm quite optimistic, though not about temporal things...
Joe Biden (D), incumbent president of the United States, announced he would run for re-election on April 25, 2023.<32>
Marianne Williamson (D), 2020 presidential candidate and author, announced her candidacy on February 23, 2023.<42> She withdrew from the race on February 7, 2024, and re-entered the race on February 28.<6><4>
Other Democratic candidates
Jason Palmer (D), a businessman, announced his candidacy on November 10, 2023.<48>
It comes down to 6 states...the same 6 as 2020. The question becomes, have the MAGA folks put enough local "leadership" (used very loosely) in place to find 11,861 votes....or eliminate the duplicate dead people voting... etc. If not, we'll have another fixed election. If so, it doesn't matter.
It comes down to 6 states...the same 6 as 2020. The question becomes, have the MAGA folks put enough local "leadership" (used very loosely) in place to find 11,861 votes....or eliminate the duplicate dead people voting... etc. If not, we'll have another fixed election. If so, it doesn't matter.
Current 538 state polls have a narrow Trump win, with GA and AZ being the "flips" from 2020. A long way to go.
Imma thinking of buying one of those fancy new Tulsa cars.
Wait, wait... so union efforts pay off in getting people double digit raises and Biden mispronounces Tesla in the list of companies and you think that's going to make him look bad vs. trumps word salad? Keep pushing the Biden is old /slow/incapable meme if you want, but the rest of that clip is miles away better than anything from trump recently.
*-still not a fan, but still better than a shit sandwich.
Political satire is one of the best ways to bring people 'round to your thinking. Trump practically writes the scripts for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. One of the best ways to beat Trump is to make him look ridiculous and laugh at him. With Trump in obvious mental decline, Stewart and Colbert are gonna have a field day. Getcha popcorn.
Also, Trevor Noah was good but not Jon Stewart good. Now that Noah's gone, the show's in peril. Since Stewart owns a part of it, he's got to do something to salvage his stake in the property.
