Now that the big one is over, I think it makes sense to change the name of the *Elections *forum to the much more apt title of Politics, instead.
I would tend to agree at this point.
Agree as well.
+1
That is a really good idea. It fits in better with other forum names and is much more inclusive for the types of things that belong there. I think almost everyone would agree.
I agree as well. It could encompass policy discussions that are political in nature but that aren’t just election related.
Awesome idea. GD mods may have to think more deeply than they care to about exactly what “politics” entails, but they do that anyway with the other forums (and seems like the rule could be that anything even arguably about politics goes in Politics).
Or “Partisan Politics”? If it was called, “Politics and Policy” for example it would suck 4/5 of the air out of GD.
We could also keep it as it is of course.
How about “Lying Rat Bastards”?
Not in agreement. Great Debates is a good forum for politics, and when elections are imminent, Elections is a good place for current, timely stuff.
I also approve this message.
I think both sides have strong arguments in their favor. We all need to reach across the aisle, clasp hands, and work together toward a common solution.
In light of this proposal, I would like to propose “Backstabbing SOBs”.
Furthermore, we should change “Politics” to “Philosophy”
“Philosophy” to “Natural Sciences”
“Natural Sciences” to “Scientology”
“Scientology” to “Tom Cruise is Dreamy”
and finally the “Tom Cruise is Dreamy” board to “Trying to Score with Katie Holmes on the Rebound”
Just stopping that natural progression at “Politics” would be a good idea.
Since I’m fairly new here, how long has there been an “Election” board and what did you do before it?
Only if the recent plethora of ‘Ha ha. My side won, you guys suck!’ pit threads can be stuffed there, too.
I agree. It seems to have become a joke of a forum for variations on the theme: In what way are Republicans/Conservatives poopy-pants?
In theory, that sounds nice, but that’s just not how *Elections *is being used - it’s really just been *Politics *all along, so it might as well be named in accordance with its actual function. Besides, are you saying that that forum should just lie mostly dormant when there are no elections in sight?
The way I see it, Elections/Politics should be treated like the *IMHO *for political stuff, where the OP invites casual discussion and viewpoints about a given political topic. And if the OP has a particularly contentious political viewpoint that they want to advance/argue/defend/debate, then GD would be the appropriate forum for that.
Just take a look at the current topics in Elections and compare them with the current topics in Great Debates. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason about what goes where. In Elections, immediately after one of the most significant elections imaginable, there are STILL a lot of “political” threads that really have nothing to do specifically with elections. And in GD, there are plenty of threads that aren’t really debate material at all, and are instead just “election” related commentary and opinions.
It’s a bit of a mess, really. So, not only do I think the name should be changed to reflect the reality on the ground, but I also think that there should be a more clear distinction made about what kind of threads belong where. Otherwise, just close down *Elections *on a predetermined seasonal basis like it was originally intended, although that wouldn’t be my preference.
And there may be some ambiguous cases where it’s not exactly clear which of the two forums a thread belongs in, but at least if there were *some *stated direction from on high, it wouldn’t be nearly as haphazard as it is now.
With the “unique” forum structure around these parts, it’s not like that doesn’t already happen with topics in the other forums. Posters and mods have adapted to use their judgement about where a particular thread belongs. If they can usually discern the difference between *IMHO *and GD, I’m confident they can also discern the difference between *Politics *and GD.
The “Elections” forum was set up around 2010, IIRC. Prior to that time, all politics (including elections) was in the Great Debates forum. During the 2008 US elections, the Great Debates forum was over-run with election posts. You couldn’t scroll down the Great Debates list of threads without drowning in election-stuff (or wallowing in it, if that was your pref.) And it was pretty much boring and repetitive to most non-US posters, while it was repetitive and boring to most US-posters. 
When 2010 elections started, there was large protest, let’s not suffer this every years. (Yeah, the elections themselves are every two years, but the political process leading up to them starts around a year before the election.) Hence the separation with an “Elections” forum, that can be more easily avoided by those who don’t want to drown, but can be read with glee by those who want to wallow.
[sub][I apologize for the sense of humour, and to anyone who feels insulted by my oversimplifications and characterizations.][/sub]
If GD was actually for great debates I would actually go there. But it’s mostly been the same few people jerking each other off over the same political issues. I have always been in favor of a quarantine.
I remember it was brought up many times in the past and always shot down. I was happy to see that someone changed there mind. I wouldn’t mind more bring thrown in there but I doubt it will happen.