I've finally realised why the US presidential election goes on so long:

Heineken Helen

Tens of thousands dead in Burma... yet count the US presidential election threads on the first page here :mad: sad sad sad *shakes head*

Just vote and be done... like the rest of the world! And then move on to the REAL issues!

an election lasts two years... dominating the press... so how long do they actually spend working then til the next election comes up?

Snake

Its just the big thing to talk about. Almost everybody wants to have an opinion on the election and engage in debates about the candidates. But yea there are a lot more important things that not any of the news channels, websites, or anything else want to cover.

mammasan

Heineken Helen wrote:

Tens of thousands dead in Burma... yet count the US presidential election threads on the first page here :mad: sad sad sad *shakes head*

Just vote and be done... like the rest of the world! And then move on to the REAL issues!

an election lasts two years... dominating the press... so how long do they actually spend working then til the next election comes up?

Instead of bitching about how many presidential election threads there are start one about the tragedy in Burma. All you accomplished was to add another thread based on the US presidential elections.

Heineken Helen

Snake wrote:

Its just the big thing to talk about. Almost everybody wants to have an opinion on the election and engage in debates about the candidates. But yea there are a lot more important things that not any of the news channels, websites, or anything else want to cover.

Why does it take so long though? there's no actual legitimate reason other than entertainment value, is there? Maybe I'm missing something!

We had three weeks notice of our general election... it was still plenty of time for a bitter campaign. Most countries don't get much more.

Heineken Helen

mammasan wrote:

Instead of bitching about how many presidential election threads there are start one about the tragedy in Burma. All you accomplished was to add another thread based on the US presidential elections.

:rolleyes: Maybe so... but if I put 'Burma' in the title rather than 'US' nobody'll fucking read it, will they? So I suppose it's a vicious circle.

Snake

Heineken Helen wrote:

Why does it take so long though? there's no actual legitimate reason other than entertainment value, is there? Maybe I'm missing something!

We had three weeks notice of our general election... it was still plenty of time for a bitter campaign. Most countries don't get much more.

Yea it is just entertainment. I think they should just campaign in each state for a couple of days or so and then leave it up to the popular vote. Fuck the super delegates. I cant understand why there is such a position, it just gives more power to one person than any one person should have in a democratic election.
I mean what are the chances that, out of an entire state, the votes will come out totally 50/50??

ledvedderman

I think there's a pretty solid Burma thread going on, and any and all discussions have taken place in there.

Heineken Helen

Snake wrote:

Yea it is just entertainment. I think they should just campaign in each state for a couple of days or so and then leave it up to the popular vote. Fuck the super delegates. I cant understand why there is such a position, it just gives more power to one person than any one person should have in a democratic election.
I mean what are the chances that, out of an entire state, the votes will come out totally 50/50??

Pretty minimal

seriously though, to the rest of the world it's quite a joke... although still entertaining.

mammasan

Heineken Helen wrote:

:rolleyes: Maybe so... but if I put 'Burma' in the title rather than 'US' nobody'll fucking read it, will they? So I suppose it's a vicious circle.

I believe people would have. While you may believe that we are self absorbed in matters that only pertain to the US of A, we are not. Also the presidential election is a pretty import event in this country, especially the upcoming election. We have had 8 years of complete and utter stupidity, deception, and inept behavior beyond the limits of human comprehension. People are focused, more so than before, on this election because they want change. Unfortunetly change will not come from any of these candidates.

Heineken Helen

ledvedderman wrote:

I think there's a pretty solid Burma thread going on, and any and all discussions have taken place in there.

I can't find it!

Heineken Helen

mammasan wrote:

I believe people would have. While you may believe that we are self absorbed in matters that only pertain to the US of A, we are not. Also the presidential election is a pretty import event in this country, especially the upcoming election. We have had 8 years of complete and utter stupidity, deception, and inept behavior beyond the limits of human comprehension. People are focused, more so than before, on this election because they want change. Unfortunetly change will not come from any of these candidates.

have you taken offense?

And I'm sorry but the evidence often points otherwise (re. your self absorbed point ) NOT always... but often.

ledvedderman

http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=284352

Kel Varnsen

Heineken Helen wrote:

Why does it take so long though? there's no actual legitimate reason other than entertainment value, is there? Maybe I'm missing something!

We had three weeks notice of our general election... it was still plenty of time for a bitter campaign. Most countries don't get much more.

Our elections take maybe a month to six weeks after parliament is dissolved. And even then towards the end the coverage starts to get annoying. I think if it was shorter you would get more coverage of the real issues since the 24 hour news networks wouldn't have to fill time talking about whose pastor said what or who did something when they were in college.

And in reality is there any reason that all of the primaries can't take place on the exact same day? It is obviously logistically possible since the general election is on the same day no matter what state you are in. It just seem to me that the people who benefit from the 2 year campaign are the ones who can raise the most money and can get the best spin people, not necessarily the ones who are best for the job.

RolandTD20Kdrummer

Heineken Helen wrote:

Just vote and be done... like the rest of the world! And then move on to the REAL issues!..

Heineken Helen wrote:

:rolleyes: Maybe so... but if I put 'Burma' in the title rather than 'US' nobody'll fucking read it, will they? So I suppose it's a vicious circle.

True, and true...

mammasan

Heineken Helen wrote:

have you taken offense?

No offense taken. I just think it's a bit ridiculous to start another thread about the election when you seem to be bothered about the very topic itself. It would have been more productive to start a thread about Burma.

NMyTree

Heineken Helen wrote:

Tens of thousands dead in Burma... yet count the US presidential election threads on the first page here :mad: sad sad sad *shakes head*

Just vote and be done... like the rest of the world! And then move on to the REAL issues!

an election lasts two years... dominating the press... so how long do they actually spend working then til the next election comes up?

It's all just a bunch of crap. A lot of drawn out pomp, sensationalism and superficiality; for the purpose of burying the important issues under a 20 mile high, million ton pile of shit.

Focus on lapel pins and who'd be awake at 3:00 AM to answer the White House phone, rather than the real and most significant issues.

Welcome to the USA. Check your brain at the door and concern yourself with Britney Spears, Oprah, Dr. Phil and American Idol:rolleyes:

Oh and don't forget.......

Remember 9/11 :rolleyes:

Only Republicans can protect you from another 9/11:rolleyes:

Only Liberals can save the environment and society as a whole:rolleyes:

Only Democrates can............Actually, I'm not sure what exactly it is they do.

spiral out

Heineken Helen wrote:

seriously though, to the rest of the world it's quite a joke... although still entertaining.

Ain't that the truth.

dunkman

i cant work out if it's Obama versus Clinton for the Presidency.. arent they on the same side? are there 2 other old farts on the other side of the political line doing the same? cos i've never heard much about McCain and A N Other?..

i bored myself typing that out...

its ok i actually know the answer... i just wondered why they have to do all this publicity shit.. party members should vote for a candidate and be done with it.

NMyTree

Heineken Helen wrote:

....seriously though, to the rest of the world it's quite a joke... although still entertaining.

I'm an American and it's not entertaining.

And it is a joke.

Not a hahaha....funny kind of joke. A ....what a pathetic load of crap ...joke.

It's an embarrassment.

JordyWordy

Kel Varnsen wrote:

Our elections take maybe a month to six weeks after parliament is dissolved. And even then towards the end the coverage starts to get annoying. I think if it was shorter you would get more coverage of the real issues since the 24 hour news networks wouldn't have to fill time talking about whose pastor said what or who did something when they were in college.

And in reality is there any reason that all of the primaries can't take place on the exact same day? It is obviously logistically possible since the general election is on the same day no matter what state you are in. It just seem to me that the people who benefit from the 2 year campaign are the ones who can raise the most money and can get the best spin people, not necessarily the ones who are best for the job.

this is the thing that depresses me about the elections....it trivialises the presidents credibility in my eyes....it reminds me of that Ed quote "Who will get a blowjob tonite??".....such a tragedy that one of the prominent political positions in the world is tarred & feathered by this commercialised, bastardizing process

like you and HH said, when the time is precious people get to the fucking point....i dont know how any americans are still sane by the time election comes around...

Trailer

Heineken Helen wrote:

Why does it take so long though?

I don't get it... your title says you've finally realized why it takes so long, and then you ask why it takes so long??

LikeAnOpeningBandForTheSun

Heineken Helen wrote:

Pretty minimal

seriously though, to the rest of the world it's quite a joke... although still entertaining.

its pretty much a joke here too.


but whats there to say about a storm in Bhurma? It sucks, its sad, too bad for them. nothing really to argue over.

Abookamongstthemany

MrSmith wrote:

its pretty much a joke here too.


but whats there to say about a storm in Bhurma? It sucks, its sad, too bad for them. nothing really to argue over.

Agreed.

I mean things we all agree on get redundant after a page or two.

deadmosquito

Heineken Helen wrote:

Why does it take so long though? there's no actual legitimate reason other than entertainment value, is there? Maybe I'm missing something!

We had three weeks notice of our general election... it was still plenty of time for a bitter campaign. Most countries don't get much more.

well this isn't the general election. this is still state primaries. the campaign for the general election, while still long, will be much shorter this year than usual because the primaries have been so drawn out.

should they take this long? i don't think so. are they important? i kind of do think that they are. someone else in the thread asked why can't they all take place on the same day. well i think the idea behind that is that some of the smaller states that don't usually get any attention from candidates have the chance to have them visit their state. they get a chance to see politics up front, and that can only be a good thing. if all the primaries were on the same day just like the general election, then candidates would only spend time on the big states, and smaller places like iowa, new hampshire, etc would be continually ignored. of course, some states (like WV, where i live) have their primaries so late that by the time they hold them, the candidate has already been selected and they get no voice in the primary election. which is why this one is so cool to me, because there has been no decision yet.

i wish they would clean up the election process a bit, regulate it a little more, make voting methods uniform, and rotate the order the states are in. basically, streamline the process in that respect. but i still see value in having a longer primary system than just one day. it's for the little guy.

Commy

If greens get 2 or 5 or whatever percentage of the vote they should get that representation in gov't. If we have 300 seats and the green party gets 5% of the vote, they should get 15 seats.

That is if we are really trying to be a representative democracy.

BetterThanYou

NMyTree wrote:

I'm an American and it's not entertaining.

And it is a joke.

Not a hahaha....funny kind of joke. A ....what a pathetic load of crap ...joke.

It's an embarrassment.

trying to figure out who's going to represent your party in a presidential election isn't a joke and it's not an embarrassment.

an embarrassment is at the end of the presidential election in '00, it took about 2 months to figure out who won.

an embarrassment is the blatant lies that come out of every single politicians mouths (i understand you, i understand all the problems of the middle class).

an embarrassment is seeing a member of the public trying to sue mcdonald's because she burned herself with her cup of coffee.

and one of the biggest embarrassments (to me, at this moment) that isn't political or legal or pc or anything like that: watching all these lazy fucks walking around in public wearing pajama pants. put on a pair of jeans or shorts or something other than spongebob pajama pants. look, i know they're comfortable...hell, i own a shitload of them. but when i walk out my front door, i have a pair of jeans on, not fucking pajamas. it screams laziness to me, and i want to haul off and smack someone when i see them wearing them in public.

Heineken Helen

mammasan wrote:

No offense taken. I just think it's a bit ridiculous to start another thread about the election when you seem to be bothered about the very topic itself. It would have been more productive to start a thread about Burma.

See... I disagree! This is what I wanted to talk about... it's not actually about either candidate but the effect the primaries are having on news stories, on what people focus on and care about! I can't get over the ridiculousness of the whole thing... although like I said, it IS entertaining... but maybe that's where politics in America is going wrong... it's too much like a soap opera.

Heineken Helen

NMyTree wrote:

Only Democrates can............Actually, I'm not sure what exactly it is they do.

aren't they just there to make up the numbers? And to keep it all going for a couple of years coming up to the election?

Heineken Helen

NMyTree wrote:

I'm an American and it's not entertaining.

And it is a joke.

Not a hahaha....funny kind of joke. A ....what a pathetic load of crap ...joke.

It's an embarrassment.

That's the kinda joke I meant... it would be funny if it weren't so bloody serious . I'm sorry :(

Heineken Helen

MrSmith wrote:

its pretty much a joke here too.


but whats there to say about a storm in Bhurma? It sucks, its sad, too bad for them. nothing really to argue over.

good point you and abook

deadmosquito wrote:

well this isn't the general election. this is still state primaries. the campaign for the general election, while still long, will be much shorter this year than usual because the primaries have been so drawn out.

Once the names and the date is set... it IS the run up to the general election... if Obama or Hillary had have dropped out after a couple of weeks... it would be the other V McCain this whole time. The republicans must be laughing right now... hysterically!

mammasan

Heineken Helen wrote:

See... I disagree! This is what I wanted to talk about... it's not actually about either candidate but the effect the primaries are having on news stories, on what people focus on and care about! I can't get over the ridiculousness of the whole thing... although like I said, it IS entertaining... but maybe that's where politics in America is going wrong... it's too much like a soap opera.

Politics in the US is a joke.