Trump or Hillary as President, who else is petrified?

[LJay]

Pence is a religious whacko.

I give it all four years at max.

What we probably have to face now is internal squabbling in the Republican party.

[Insertnamehere]

Seems that Hillary is more than 20,000 votes ahead in the popular vote. The electoral college has got to go.

The biggest hindrance, form an outsider's point of view, is that an entire state goes to a mere simple majority, even if that majority is just a few hundred votes. Florida, Florida and its headache-inducing uncertainty comes to mind.

I would also vouch for popular vote, but then again it's a country of 300 million people....popular vote on that scale demands heavy logistics.

Another bad thing, not uncommon in other countries, is the de facto duopole that 2 parties enjoy, in a nominally multi-party democracy. In this instance, in which both candidates were iffy at best, a strong third option would have been ideal.

[NativeSon]

A vote for third party opens up a possible contender next time. At this moment the ship is sinking and is highly likely too regardless of captain Dem or Capt Rep...This two party system is a trap and the more unhappy people are the more screaming will come from both sides as the hard right and hard left jerk their party around. Both sides had better people than Trump and Hillary, it was the loudest and most polarized individuals who made these choices. I dont think this is the last Trump and Hillary election but its definitely the first and I dont want to be in this type of election every 4 years.

MAYBE this will be a wake up call, Republicans are scared, Democrats are scared, the world is scared. Something must change and hopefully soon!

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

How is it that the third parties are immune to this logic? When scrutinized in the same way as the two major parties, the alternatives don't exactly come up smelling of roses. Further, the third parties have had years and years and years to sway public opinion and have very little to show for it.

This election was essentially a replay of 2000. Looking at it nationally, the Libs and Greens are pretty much exactly where they were or even worse off than 16 years ago. There were no big awakenings and no lessons learned then, why would that happen now? Even the Tea Party in its much shorter time has made a bigger impact than both Libs and Greens combined. Ka-ray-zee.

Not saying I'm opposed to third parties, mind you, but applying your reasoning to the existing options just seems to equal more "insanity."

[JohnMusic]

Name calling in logic is called an ad hominem. People talk about logic while making fallacies.

[SilverBullet]

How is it that the third parties are immune from this logic? When scrutinized in the same way as the two major parties, the alternatives don't exactly come up smelling of roses. Further, the third parties have had years and years and years to sway public opinion and have very little to show for it.

This election was essentially a replay of 2000. Looking at it nationally, the Libs and Greens are pretty much exactly where they were or even worse off than 16 years ago. There were no big awakenings and no lessons learned then, why would that happen now? Even the Tea Party in its much shorter time has made a bigger impact than both Libs and Greens combined. Ka-ray-zee.

Not saying I'm opposed to third parties, mind you, but applying your reasoning to the existing options just seems to equal more "insanity."

I haven't seen Johnson or Stein involved in criminal activity and even if they were its the addition of parties (choices) that is the goal rather than a president elect.
Furthermore their movent has and will be slow, you cant expect to plant a seed and have a forest in a short period of time.
Im not sure which part of the above logic is "ka-ray-zee" but if you would like I will address each of your questions.

[NativeSon]

Honestly I have mixed feelings about a Trump presidency. There's no way of knowing what the policies are going to be. He's not left, right, good or bad he's completely nebulous.

For example his VP Pence is a moderate republican and Trump is probably going to be the delegate alot of power to him. He accepts man-made climate change and claims Jimmy Carter is one of his heroes.
But he is a BIG problem for LGBT people. He has been a fierce opponent of gay rights in the past and there's every indication that he will be again.

Can he rewind the clock and put the rainbow genie back in it's bottle?

What will the gay-friendly people of the U.S.A do if he tries?

This is all very fascinating.

Ka-ray-zee.

That Mike Pence is a "moderate" seems a stretch by any measure. He may acknowledge man has played a part in climate change, but he is no friend to the environment. His record speaks for itself.

http://www.ontheissues.org/IN/Mike_Pence.htm

I suppose it doesn't hurt that his unyielding virtue appeals to the evangelicals.

[NativeSon]

Im not sure which part of the above logic is "ka-ray-zee" but if you would like I will address each of your questions.

The ka-ray-zee part is that even now Tea Party still holds more influence than all third parties combined.

[SilverBullet]

The ka-ray-zee part is that even now Tea Party still holds more influence than all third parties combined.

So your saying having more third parties is a bad thing since one of them is bad?

[LJay]

[MENTION=23097]Insertnamehere[/MENTION], we already have the logistics to deal with election by popular vote. The Daily Kos is describing a compact that can be made by states to go with allotment of votes rather than the electoral college system. If enough states (at or above 270 EC votes) agree the thing (EC) can, in effect, be nullified.

Third parties are active in European elections. We simply have not really warmed up to the idea that there can be more than two viewpoints. What would be nearly as much fun is the idea that cross-party coalitions pro tem could exist in Congress or the Senate. It has been done in days before the
rock throwing style of late.

[NativeSon]

So your saying having more third parties is a bad thing since one of them is bad?

No. And I think I've made that abundantly clear. How'd you draw that conclusion?

Ka...