Election 2016

23 November, 2016 at 11:50 PM 0 words

21 entries. 22,483 words.

September, 2016

On The 2016 Election. 2016-09-26 8:01 PM.
- Politics
- thomaskrehbiel.com
A very two-sided view of the 2016 election. 2,042 words.
On The First Debate. 2016-09-28 11:50 PM.
- Politics
- thomaskrehbiel.com
A few thoughts on the debate, and things that made impressions on me. 608 words.
On The First Debate. 2016-09-28 11:50 PM.
- Politics
- swampip.com
I don’t even know what to say about that debate. In the first five or ten minutes, I thought for sure that Trump was going to be the next president. Clinton started awkwardly, and Trump killed. Then the rest happened. I’ll be honest. Monday night was the first time I watched either candidate in action. Previously, I had only read reports about them, or seen the occasional clip on a news or comedy show. 608 words.

October, 2016

On The Veep Debate. 2016-10-05 11:15 PM.
- Politics
- thomaskrehbiel.com
A few observations about the veep debate Tuesday night. 793 words.
On The Veep Debate. 2016-10-05 11:15 PM.
- Politics
- swampip.com
Tim Kaine is a known quantity for me, since he was my governor and now he’s my senator. Granted I didn’t pay much attention to what he did, but that’s the kind of politician he is: He doesn’t make waves unless you’re into hyper-partisanship. I’ve always seen him as your basic run-of-the-mill politician, stamped out of the politician factory, with the party switch set on “Democrat.” So my main interest in the veep debate though was sizing up Mike Pence, who I imagine we might be seeing run for president in 2020 or 2024 or both. (I mean, who else is there?) Pence is white and handsome and likable and articulate and funny … and very conservative … and lacks a southern accent. He’s the complete package. If the alt-right adopts him we’ll probably be seeing him again. (I actually don’t know what Trump supporters think of Pence.) 793 words.
On The Newest Trump Scandal. 2016-10-09 2:52 PM.
- Politics
- thomaskrehbiel.com
Thoughts on the latest scandals and the general trends in political discourse. 759 words.
On The Newest Trump Scandal. 2016-10-09 2:52 PM.
- Politics
- swampip.com
I know I said I wasn’t going to talk about the election, but here I go again, talking about everyone’s favorite emotional trigger. Twitter exploded Friday night and Saturday with a new controversy over Trump saying some terrible stuff about women in a video from 2005. My first reaction: I guess I’m confused. Didn’t everyone already know Trump was a horrible person and still nominated him for president? I mean, it wasn’t a secret. His very un-electability is exactly what appeals to his supporters. 759 words.
On The Second Debate. 2016-10-11 11:00 AM.
- Politics
- thomaskrehbiel.com
More rambling about politics, because what else is there to talk about? 1,014 words.
On The Second Debate. 2016-10-11 11:00 AM.
- Politics
- swampip.com
Trump did better than expected in the second debate, better than the first debate, in my opinion. I’d probably call it a draw, in the sense that neither candidate wiped the floor with the other. Trump’s still struggling, but everyone expected (hoped, perhaps) he would implode-and he didn’t. When I watch the debates, I’m purposefully trying to look past the surface stuff and see things that will get buried later. The media tends to focus on the more sensational things that happen, but I guess I’m more interested in the boring stuff. 1,014 words.
“Revolution”. 2016-10-12 1:01 AM.
- Politics
- thomaskrehbiel.com
This is exactly what I’m worried about: “No, no, no,” @mike_pence said when a woman suggested "revolution" if Hillary Clinton is elected. "Don’t say that.” https://t.co/IjOzsTSkPm — Jason Noble (@jasonnobleIA) October 12, 2016 Good on Mike Pence for challenging it. Kind of. Using divisive rhetoric to win support is kind of double-edged sword. Pence can’t exactly say to the crowd, “I know we’ve been *saying* that demons will erupt from the earth to devour your children if Hillary is elected, but you guys know we’re only saying that so you’ll vote for us, right? We don’t actually *mean* it.” 99 words.
“Revolution”. 2016-10-12 1:01 AM.
- Politics
- swampip.com
This is exactly what I’m worried about: “No, no, no,” @mike_pence said when a woman suggested "revolution" if Hillary Clinton is elected. "Don’t say that.” https://t.co/IjOzsTSkPm — Jason Noble (@jasonnobleDMR) October 12, 2016 Good on Mike Pence for challenging it. Kind of. Using divisive rhetoric to win support is kind of double-edged sword. Pence can’t exactly say to the crowd, “I know we’ve been *saying* that demons will erupt from the earth to devour your children if Hillary is elected, but you guys know we’re only saying that so you’ll vote for us, right? We don’t actually *mean* it.” 99 words.

November, 2016

Post-Election 2016. 2016-11-10 3:24 AM.
- Politics
- thomaskrehbiel.com
Long rambling reactions to the election. 4,169 words.
Post-Election 2016. 2016-11-10 3:24 AM.
- Politics
- swampip.com
This post has taken days to work on, and it’s not finished, but I gave up and you’re just going to have to deal with it because I’m ready to move on now. I’m aware that people feel very passionately about this election, so I will warn folks on both the left and the right that there might be some triggers below. I’m still a centrist, and I view this election and this country through a fairly dispassionate moderate filter. Still, even I’m feeling overwhelmed by all the anger and fear and disappointment I’ve seen after the election. Most of my Internet circles experienced this election result quite like another 9/11. So it might be better if you wait a while to read this. I don’t want to throw gasoline on any fires here. 4,169 words.
Deep Breaths Please. 2016-11-10 11:32 PM.
- Politics
- thomaskrehbiel.com
I’ve been watching Trump *very* closely since election night. He hasn’t said more than a handful of words since his victory speech. He hasn’t gloated. He hasn’t blustered. Everything is going very well. Extremely well. Shockingly well. Everything is proceeding exactly like the peaceful transfer of power should go. Everyone in Washington appears to be conscious of the nation’s fears and taking deliberate steps to calm things, despite all the reporters trying their best to rile things up again. Frankly this transition so far appears to be going better than the one from Bush to Obama, which I also thought went very well. 892 words.
Deep Breaths Please. 2016-11-10 11:32 PM.
- Politics
- swampip.com
I’ve been watching Trump *very* closely since election night. He hasn’t said more than a handful of words since his victory speech. He hasn’t gloated. He hasn’t blustered. Everything is going very well. Extremely well. Shockingly well. Everything is proceeding exactly like the peaceful transfer of power should go. Everyone in Washington appears to be conscious of the nation’s fears and taking deliberate steps to calm things, despite all the reporters trying their best to rile things up again. Frankly this transition so far appears to be going better than the one from Bush to Obama, which I also thought went very well. 892 words.
A Slight Correction. 2016-11-11 12:45 PM.
- Politics
- thomaskrehbiel.com
I made a semantic error in my last post that I need to correct. 597 words.
A Slight Correction. 2016-11-11 12:45 PM.
- Politics
- swampip.com
I was thinking about this and I want to issue a slight correction to what I wrote in my last post: On those Electoral College hopes: Again, I understand. Nobody in your circles wanted Trump to be president. You’re seeing some bad things spreading like wildfire all across social media, and you’re panicking. The nightmare might be coming true. Trying to convince electoral college voters to change their votes before it’s too late sounds like a great plan. But it’s illegal. It’s unethical. It’s sinister. And I’m sorry to say this, but it’s UN-AMERICAN. 597 words.
Safety Pins, Fun Protests, and Yet More. 2016-11-12 10:50 AM.
- Politics
- swampip.com
More from the “random post-election thoughts” bin: I don’t think I ever documented this, but Clinton won (or “is winning” I should say) Virginia 49.60 to 44.56 with 99.88% of precincts reporting. (I was going to round that but I suddenly realized I have no idea how you’re supposed to round election results. Normal rounding? Truncation? One up, one down?) It’s a bit outside the range I guessed (I guessed that if Clinton won by less than 3-4 points the election would go to Trump) but Trump still won. 1,041 words.
On The Third Debate. 2016-11-13 4:50 AM.
- Politics
- swampip.com
Note: This was written, well, after the third presidential debate, but I never actually published it until now. Some of the things I wrote are kind of hilarious with the hindsight knowledge of how the election turned out. Where to even start. Chris Wallace was the best moderator of the three debates, at least in the sense that he asked the best questions. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to keep the candidates on track any better than the others, or keep them from cross-talking or keep the audience from cheering. He also seemed really nervous. (Not that I blame him.) 1,359 words.
It’s A Lock, Oh Wait…. 2016-11-13 10:51 PM.
- Politics
- swampip.com
I thought it would be funny to point out what I wrote after the third debate: Anyway, at this point I would say the election’s a lock for Hillary, unless something really, really strange happens in the next few weeks. Or, you know, nobody shows up at the polls except Trump supporters. Or if there’s a secret conspiracy by Trump supporters to answer poll questions incorrectly. (I think that would be cool actually. I think it would be fun to teach kids in school to always answer poll questions with a blatant lie.) 158 words.
My Precinct. 2016-11-23 11:50 PM.
- Politics
- swampip.com
Incidentally, as a followup to my Election Day Tale, this is how my precinct voted, as of 11/23/2016: (Graph from vpap.org.) 21 words.