The Glade 4.0

Anyone have any thoughts on the VP pick? I like him. I figured Romney would go as uncontroversial as possible, but I was wrong.

Could be worse? Romney and Ryan really need to start talking though or the other side will paint their views on the economy (Such as the Myth that Ryan wants to gut Social Security/ Medicare)

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Romeny is lagging behind in most polls, and Obama's attacks have started taking their toll, so Romney was forced into this pick as a rally point for his base. It will work in the short term, as this move should coincide with a shift towards going on the attack. However, in the long term this selection costs him the election. The American people don't want solutions and hard decisions, they want blame based American Idol politics, and Ryan represents the former.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

So going that route doesn't score Mitt any points in your eyes?

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

I'm not an undecided voter. Mitt pandered this base to stop a mild poll drop 3 months from election day. The average American won't even begin paying attention to the race for another 60 days. It was the pick he had to make today because The Chicago Machine forced his hand, but the choice costs him Florida and therefore the election.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

No prediction can reasonably be made. Four years ago, we were being loudly told it was Giuliani vs. Clinton, and Clinton was going to win. The only thing we can be certain of at this point is an Obama/Biden democrat ticket.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

I'm not so sure. Ryan's a smart guy. I think he can effectively communicate the rationale behind his plan, which wouldn't affect a single active Floridian retiree.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

American's don't want honesty about our fiscal situation or hard decisions that solve problems. They want catchy slogans and someone else to blame.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Americans don't understand opportunity costs or how productiveness and investment work. They don't know what they want because they don't understand the ramifications of what they ask.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

Convention suprise, Clinton (either ) to replace Biden.

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"Life isn't divided into genres. It's a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you're lucky."
— Alan Moore

I'd rather not see Ryan a heartbeat away from the most dangerous job on the planet. In my gut, my feeling is he's too likely to abuse the power. No I can't back that up to show you why, just a gut instinct.

I'm also wondering how many more wars those two will get us in to distract us from the immense consolidation of wealth into the hands of the privileged few. Both are too wealthy, too intimately tied to the accumulation of money to have a balanced outlook on the needs of the 99%. We're going to take it in the shorts again in an R&R regime.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

some do. I don't think that's everyone though. I guess we'll find out.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Anyone with enough resources and free time to complain on the Internet is part of the 1% yes I'm aware that means me too.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

Rynar and Rafael...

I assume you are both Americans so I will also assume you are including yourselves in your generalizations.

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

Romney was picked to loose.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

Yes, but depending on the tides of fate and how they treat the next few months, he has a slight chance of winning. Not much of one, and he'll have to take lessons from the Bush clan on how to steal elections, but it could happen.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

I like Romney marginally more than Obama, which is not a ringing endorsement. I like Ryan a whole hell of a lot more than Obama. He actually seems a decent guy for a politician. He's certainly smart and he's got balls enough to give a specific plan when everyone knows specifics on entitlement reform and budget cutting means you're going to be savaged by your opponents and the liberal press.

I dont know if they can or will win, but I would much rather go down fighting the good fight. I disagree that Florida is instantly lost with this pick.

In NJ I have seen first hand that being straight up with people can work. You can't be as radical as some might want in reducing the debt and deficit, but you can stop the momentum towards the fiscal cliff and push back the other way. This is the prudent way to do it, liberals learned incrementalism a while ago and it's worked for them.

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

Interesting choice, considering how scripted and rigid he is.

Joking aside, you can easily see how many people voted for him in the primaries. So no - he was not picked to lose.

But did they vote for him because they wanted to vote for him, or because media and pundits told them he had the best chance of beating Obama?

If it's the latter, then suggesting he was picked to lose (and then pitched as winnable) is a perfectly valid position.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

The only way Obama could have been unseated would have been for a Republican to ride on Teabagger support. Considering that Obama is continuing all of Bush's policies, the last thing the Republicans want is for someone new to come in and **** everything up. So, you get a milkdud like Romney that you think you approved of in the Primary.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

You are way overestimating the organization of people and their ability to keep their mouth shut.

This is totally absurd.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

I see it as entirely plausible. Until Rubio is ready, do the Republicans want to be the party that beat the second black president we've had?

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A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~ John Stuart Mill

I see what you did there.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

It's good for Ryan, as it puts him in a better position to run for president after Big Os 2nd.

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"...the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn