For better or worse, the 2016 election season has already begun in the United States. The thread is for any discussion on the candidates or the race itself.
Some Questions You Might Have:
-Who's Running? What do they support?
-How do I vote in my state for the primary and for the general election? What's absentee voting?
-How do I become involved with campaigning for a candidate?
-How do you feel about the practices of people's campaigns? Do you feel that they're shady or that campaigns are being conducted more honestly?
First, I thought I'd list all of the major candidates I can think of that have currently announced(Feel free to add to this list):
Democratic Party:
-Hillary Clinton: Clinton is by far the front runner at this point in the election for the Democratic Nominee. She is a former Secretary of State, as well as United States Senator for New York. She was also active in the political scene during her husband's time as governor and later president and prior to that she was an accomplished lawyer. She has the highest name recognition of any candidate in the race so far. She was critical of the Bush Tax Cuts and was a supporter of the 2008 stimulus package. She supports seeking new ways to conserve energy and believes that climate change is serious issue that we should make an effort to solve. She would like to repeal NAFTA, supports raising the minimum wage, and does not support a completely free market. On money in Politics: She is an supporter of campaign reform, but believes that in the current state of American politics, she believes it is necessary to use SuperPACs. She is hoping to raise as much as $2.5 billion for this campaign. The biggest contributors to her campaign or Goldman Sachs and Citibank. Clinton is pro-Israel, has a rank of D- with the Americans for Better Immigration, support the Iran nuclear deal, and believes the Iraq war was a mistake. Hillary Clinton supports reinstating the assault weapons ban. She believes widely available birth control and sex education and is pro-choice. She supports gay marriage.
-Bernie Sanders: Bernie Sanders is a United States Senator for Vermont, a former U.S. Representative, and a former mayor. He was long been a Independent and is a self-described democratic socialist. On the economy: Bernie Sanders has long been outspoken on growing income inequality. He believes that the best way to combat economic issues is to make it easier for people to vote and give them back their voice in the political arena. He has said that he believes grassroots movements to be extremely important and he will not use SuperPACs in his political campaign, choosing instead to rely on small donations from voters. He believes in raising the marginal tax rate for the wealthiest Americans, joking that "When radical socialist Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, I think that the highest marginal tax rate was something like 90 percent." On health care: Bernie Sanders supports a single payer Universal Health Care system. He voted for Obamacare, but believes that it is only an intermediate measure and we should move forward on a single payer system eventually. On social issues: he supports gay marriage and is pro-choice. On education: he has recently made wave by saying the college should be free. On foreign policy: he supports the Iran Nuclear deal, he opposes NAFTA and similar trade agreements.
Martin O'Malley: O'Malley is a former governor of Maryland and a former mayor of Baltimore. He is running as a progressive alternative to Hillary Clinton. As governor he signed gay marriage into law and made undocumented immigrants eligible for in state tuition. He has faced criticism over raising taxes including implementing a so-called "rain tax" and is accused of being partially responsible for the current situation in Baltimore due to his tough on crime stance as mayor of Baltimore. O'Malley opposes the death penalty, supports restrictions on gun rights, and supports focusing on the environment.
Republican Candidates:
Ted Cruz: Ted Cruz is a United States senator from Texas and a former solicitor general. He is considered a Tea Party favorite and is a Harvard educated lawyer. On reproductive rights: he believes that companies can deny to provide birth control to its employees and he opposes public abortion funding. On the economy: he believes in a free market economy and opposes raising the minimum wage. On gay marriage: he opposes gay marriage and believes the state's definition of marriage should supersede the federal governments. On crime: He supports the death penalty. On education: he opposes Common Core and supports education decisions made at the local level. On gun control: he opposes second amendment restrictions. On immigration: he does not support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. He believes that God has a place in the public sphere. Cruz supports lowering taxes. On foreign policy: Cruz believes that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan went on too long, supports sanctions on Russia, and believes we should "bomb ISIS back to the Stone Age".
Rick Santorum: Rick Santorum is a former senator of Pennsylvania and former U.S. Representative. He is known as a family values conservative. On abortion: he is prolife with exceptions for rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother. On the economy: he supported Bush Tax Cuts, he has a pro-business voting record. On civil rights: he believes flag burning should be a federal crime, he supports a constitutional ban on gay marriage, believes a crime motivated by homophobia should not be considered a hate crime and opposes employment nondiscrimination for sexual orientation. On trade: he supports free trade. On health care: he opposes Obamacare. Many of his stances are about 15 years old. His views may have changed.
Mike Huckabee: He is the former governor of Arkansas and political commentator. He is another family values conservative. He is prolife, supports the death penalty, is against gay marriage, and believes it is women's responsibility to pay for abortion not the government. He supports a free market economy. On education: he opposes Common Core, he believes prayer has a place in schools, and believes in abstinence only education. He is outspoken against what he sees as an increasingly immoral society. He believes Islamic terrorism is the United States biggest problem. He opposes restriction on the second amendment.
Marco Rubio: He is a United States senator from Florida. He is prolife, opposes ENDA, and believes states should define marriage. He opposed the bank bailout. He doesn't believe the government can or should stop climate change. He supports a free market. He doesn't support restrictions on gun rights. He supports air strikes on ISIS and Syria.
Ben Carson: Dr. Ben Carson is a doctor and political commentator. He has never held a political office. He is prolife, supports the free market, opposes affirmative action, opposes same sex marriage, and believes in U.S. superiority. He opposes restrictions on gun rights and opposes Obamacare.
Carly Fiorina: She is the former CEO from Hewett Packard. She has never held political office. She is prolife, opposes the stimulus package, opposes same sex marriage, opposes ENDA, supports the death penalty, wants to weaken the EPA, opposes the Iran Nuclear Deal. She opposes restrictions on gun rights.
Lindsay Graham: He is a United States Senator from South Carolina and a former U.S. Representative. He is prolife, opposes the separation of church and state, and has pro-gun rights voting record. He supported the economic stimulus package in 2008 and believes in abstinence only education. He opposes Obamacare. He supports the Patriot Act and believes that something should be done with regards to Benghazi.
George Pataki: He was a former governor of New York. He is prochoice, oppose gay marriage, but support other gay rights, and supports gun control. He believes we should add more money for the drug war and supports the death penalty. He opposes Obamacare.
Rand Paul: He is a United States Senator from Kentucky. He identifies as a libertarian. He is prolife, he believes same sex marriage is a states' rights issue, and supports gun rights. He supports a free market. He is a strong supporter of fair trials and opposes illegal searches. He has been a vocal opponent of the Patriot Act. He opposes the war on drugs. He believes it is the Iraqi government's job to lead the fight on ISIL and opposes military action in Syria, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, and North Korea saying that the United States is too eager about going into war.
Some Questions You Might Have:
-Who's Running? What do they support?
-How do I vote in my state for the primary and for the general election? What's absentee voting?
-How do I become involved with campaigning for a candidate?
-How do you feel about the practices of people's campaigns? Do you feel that they're shady or that campaigns are being conducted more honestly?
First, I thought I'd list all of the major candidates I can think of that have currently announced(Feel free to add to this list):
Democratic Party:
-Hillary Clinton: Clinton is by far the front runner at this point in the election for the Democratic Nominee. She is a former Secretary of State, as well as United States Senator for New York. She was also active in the political scene during her husband's time as governor and later president and prior to that she was an accomplished lawyer. She has the highest name recognition of any candidate in the race so far. She was critical of the Bush Tax Cuts and was a supporter of the 2008 stimulus package. She supports seeking new ways to conserve energy and believes that climate change is serious issue that we should make an effort to solve. She would like to repeal NAFTA, supports raising the minimum wage, and does not support a completely free market. On money in Politics: She is an supporter of campaign reform, but believes that in the current state of American politics, she believes it is necessary to use SuperPACs. She is hoping to raise as much as $2.5 billion for this campaign. The biggest contributors to her campaign or Goldman Sachs and Citibank. Clinton is pro-Israel, has a rank of D- with the Americans for Better Immigration, support the Iran nuclear deal, and believes the Iraq war was a mistake. Hillary Clinton supports reinstating the assault weapons ban. She believes widely available birth control and sex education and is pro-choice. She supports gay marriage.
-Bernie Sanders: Bernie Sanders is a United States Senator for Vermont, a former U.S. Representative, and a former mayor. He was long been a Independent and is a self-described democratic socialist. On the economy: Bernie Sanders has long been outspoken on growing income inequality. He believes that the best way to combat economic issues is to make it easier for people to vote and give them back their voice in the political arena. He has said that he believes grassroots movements to be extremely important and he will not use SuperPACs in his political campaign, choosing instead to rely on small donations from voters. He believes in raising the marginal tax rate for the wealthiest Americans, joking that "When radical socialist Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, I think that the highest marginal tax rate was something like 90 percent." On health care: Bernie Sanders supports a single payer Universal Health Care system. He voted for Obamacare, but believes that it is only an intermediate measure and we should move forward on a single payer system eventually. On social issues: he supports gay marriage and is pro-choice. On education: he has recently made wave by saying the college should be free. On foreign policy: he supports the Iran Nuclear deal, he opposes NAFTA and similar trade agreements.
Martin O'Malley: O'Malley is a former governor of Maryland and a former mayor of Baltimore. He is running as a progressive alternative to Hillary Clinton. As governor he signed gay marriage into law and made undocumented immigrants eligible for in state tuition. He has faced criticism over raising taxes including implementing a so-called "rain tax" and is accused of being partially responsible for the current situation in Baltimore due to his tough on crime stance as mayor of Baltimore. O'Malley opposes the death penalty, supports restrictions on gun rights, and supports focusing on the environment.
Republican Candidates:
Ted Cruz: Ted Cruz is a United States senator from Texas and a former solicitor general. He is considered a Tea Party favorite and is a Harvard educated lawyer. On reproductive rights: he believes that companies can deny to provide birth control to its employees and he opposes public abortion funding. On the economy: he believes in a free market economy and opposes raising the minimum wage. On gay marriage: he opposes gay marriage and believes the state's definition of marriage should supersede the federal governments. On crime: He supports the death penalty. On education: he opposes Common Core and supports education decisions made at the local level. On gun control: he opposes second amendment restrictions. On immigration: he does not support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. He believes that God has a place in the public sphere. Cruz supports lowering taxes. On foreign policy: Cruz believes that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan went on too long, supports sanctions on Russia, and believes we should "bomb ISIS back to the Stone Age".
Rick Santorum: Rick Santorum is a former senator of Pennsylvania and former U.S. Representative. He is known as a family values conservative. On abortion: he is prolife with exceptions for rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother. On the economy: he supported Bush Tax Cuts, he has a pro-business voting record. On civil rights: he believes flag burning should be a federal crime, he supports a constitutional ban on gay marriage, believes a crime motivated by homophobia should not be considered a hate crime and opposes employment nondiscrimination for sexual orientation. On trade: he supports free trade. On health care: he opposes Obamacare. Many of his stances are about 15 years old. His views may have changed.
Mike Huckabee: He is the former governor of Arkansas and political commentator. He is another family values conservative. He is prolife, supports the death penalty, is against gay marriage, and believes it is women's responsibility to pay for abortion not the government. He supports a free market economy. On education: he opposes Common Core, he believes prayer has a place in schools, and believes in abstinence only education. He is outspoken against what he sees as an increasingly immoral society. He believes Islamic terrorism is the United States biggest problem. He opposes restriction on the second amendment.
Marco Rubio: He is a United States senator from Florida. He is prolife, opposes ENDA, and believes states should define marriage. He opposed the bank bailout. He doesn't believe the government can or should stop climate change. He supports a free market. He doesn't support restrictions on gun rights. He supports air strikes on ISIS and Syria.
Ben Carson: Dr. Ben Carson is a doctor and political commentator. He has never held a political office. He is prolife, supports the free market, opposes affirmative action, opposes same sex marriage, and believes in U.S. superiority. He opposes restrictions on gun rights and opposes Obamacare.
Carly Fiorina: She is the former CEO from Hewett Packard. She has never held political office. She is prolife, opposes the stimulus package, opposes same sex marriage, opposes ENDA, supports the death penalty, wants to weaken the EPA, opposes the Iran Nuclear Deal. She opposes restrictions on gun rights.
Lindsay Graham: He is a United States Senator from South Carolina and a former U.S. Representative. He is prolife, opposes the separation of church and state, and has pro-gun rights voting record. He supported the economic stimulus package in 2008 and believes in abstinence only education. He opposes Obamacare. He supports the Patriot Act and believes that something should be done with regards to Benghazi.
George Pataki: He was a former governor of New York. He is prochoice, oppose gay marriage, but support other gay rights, and supports gun control. He believes we should add more money for the drug war and supports the death penalty. He opposes Obamacare.
Rand Paul: He is a United States Senator from Kentucky. He identifies as a libertarian. He is prolife, he believes same sex marriage is a states' rights issue, and supports gun rights. He supports a free market. He is a strong supporter of fair trials and opposes illegal searches. He has been a vocal opponent of the Patriot Act. He opposes the war on drugs. He believes it is the Iraqi government's job to lead the fight on ISIL and opposes military action in Syria, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, and North Korea saying that the United States is too eager about going into war.
May 31st, 2015 at 10:26pm
This election, I feel, is going to really divide America. I think that Trump was pretty much attacking her most of the time. Instead of discussing the issues, like always, he drifted away from the question by babbling on about something else. Ridiculous.