# Non-Americans: the US Presidential election really is a train wreck, isn't it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 22, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894 "2016-01-22T18:14:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/21 "2016-01-23T02:22:37Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > France, home of Marine LePen, is in no position to comment on our elections. > > Nor is Sweden, where a former fascist party now leads many polls. > > Nor is Italy, which had its own millionaire egomaniac as head of state. > > In fact, nationalist anti-immigrant parties are thriving all over Europe. You can jerk that defensive knee all you like, but Donald Trump. Donald. Trump. The US system always seems a bit dramatic compared to ours but this time around… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/22 "2016-01-23T02:59:22Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > And the left has been pretty vocal in calling them out on that. Hillary is by no means the sure thing that she first appeared to be. Yes, she really is. As soon as we get past the obscenity of two of the whitest states having the first votes, Sanders will be [doomed](http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/22/politics/bernie-sanders-south-carolina-black-voters/). > [@](#): > > A Winthrop University poll out on November 4 showed that an overwhelming majority of South Carolina Democratic primary voters back Clinton: 71% to Sanders’ 15% support. Clinton’s support is even stronger in the African-American community, where she sweeps with 80% support among likely voters. The debate schedule is hilariously transparent, though. The only positive thing to say about it is that it’s nice to see that the Democrats can do something, anything, that is an actual dirty trick. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/23 "2016-01-23T03:02:18Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The only positive thing to say about it is that it’s nice to see that the Democrats can do something, anything, that is an actual dirty trick. Yeah. Too bad we only do them against ourselves anymore… ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/24 "2016-01-23T03:17:21Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > The two year campaign is a little over the top, no? It’s not two years though. Candidates typically declare in the summer the year before the election is held and the November it’s all over but the transition. Call it less than 18 months from first declarations to the general election. Most Americans really don’t start paying attention till well after that point. It’s really freaking long but we don’t need to overstate the case. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/25 "2016-01-23T03:19:01Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > France, home of Marine LePen, is in no position to comment on our elections. > > Nor is Sweden, where a former fascist party now leads many polls. > > Nor is Italy, which had its own millionaire egomaniac as head of state. > > In fact, nationalist anti-immigrant parties are thriving all over Europe. The weird thing about it is that Marine is thought of as a serious politician in comparison to the craziness of her father Jean-Marie; this is not to bring up the [neo-nazis in Greece](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Dawn_(political_party)) or the [rest of these kooks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_of_European_National_Movements). However, I’m pretty sure Trump has more support then any of these guys could ever muster (except Berlusconi whose comparison feels very apt -both in wealth and buffoonery). ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/26 "2016-01-23T03:29:16Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > France, home of Marine LePen, is in no position to comment on our elections. Actually France can: [http://m.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c\_id=2&objectid=11560824](http://m.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11560824) > [@](#): > > France’s far-right National Front (FN) failed to win a single region in elections Sunday despite record results in the first round, as voters flocked to traditional parties to keep them out of power. > > With presidential elections due in 2017, the anti-immigration FN had hoped the regional polls would act as a springboard for leader Marine Le Pen. > > But she was trounced by the right-wing opposition in the northern Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie region after the ruling Socialists pulled out of the race before the second round. Mind you, this happened **after** the violent attacks in France, their extremist message of hate did not lead to victory for the FN as many feared. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/27 "2016-01-23T03:36:48Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > On both sides. > > Sure we hear here more about Trump, but the Democrat side is just as bad, isn’t it? The debate on the Democrat side is actually very invigorating. Or at least I think so. For the first time we have a social democrat running vs. an establishment democrat, and the main quibble between the two seems to be effectiveness and electability. Bernie’s got the ideals, but can he get things done and win a street fight with the Republicans? OTOH the Republicans thought process seems to be residing roughly where I was when I was 19 and read Atlas Shrugged… inexperienced, credulous, immature, delusional, incapable of reconciling ideological purity with reality. I do believe when the dust settles, history will record that this is a conversation we needed to have, but I grant it sure does look like a mess right now. That’s democracy. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/28 "2016-01-23T08:25:39Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > LOL, yeah… I should have ended that post with, “And that’s the _sane_ one…” QFT. Good news is: Ted Cruz is dropping rapidly. Bad news is: The other frontrunner, Marco Rubio, might be even a worse President than Cruz; he’s drunk the extremism Kool-Aid but lacks Cruz’ intelligence. What’s really sad/amusing is that of the four top-polling Republicans – Trump, Cruz, Rubio, Carson – the one most moderate and least frightening to imagine in the Oval Office is … Trump :eek: ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/29 "2016-01-23T08:27:55Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > You can be unhappy with the Dem side but no, it is not by any measure just as bad. Not even close. An actual criminal is worse than a blowhard. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/30 "2016-01-23T09:06:17Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Oh please. Don’t think we don’t notice the shenanigans. Don’t think we don’t notice the dismissal of Clinton’s competitors by TPTB. Don’t think we don’t notice the whiff of scandal. Don’t think we don’t notice the timing of the debates. Etc. And yet Clinton is hardly making a good showing (JEB anyone?), let alone cover herself in glory. And yet her opponents survive and thrive. I am a non-American, like you addressed in your title - so what the fuck is this “don’t think we don’t notice” shite? I notice stuff on the Dem side, but I am don’t have such a hard on against Clinton that I am screwed up and think they are both just as bad. You’d have to be full on retard to think the Clinton-Sanders battle is anywhere near as foolish as the Trump-Cruz+7 losers battle is. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/31 "2016-01-23T09:30:57Z")
help me here: what’s the issue with the timing of the Dem debates? ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/32 "2016-01-23T09:47:17Z")
Nah, we’ve all have had weirder stuff than Trump anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/33 "2016-01-23T10:19:08Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Nah, we’ve all have had weirder stuff than Trump anywhere else. What’s been weirder in your neck of the woods? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/34 "2016-01-23T10:57:40Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > help me here: what’s the issue with the timing of the Dem debates? There aren’t as many as some people want, and a couple of them were scheduled for times that would supposedly minimize the number of viewers. (Two were on Saturday nights, one right before Christmas.) I’m not sure why this would be such a noticeable shenanigan for a foreigner, though. It’s more major televised debates than pretty much any other democracy tends to have in its party leadership selection process, and it’s arcane inside baseball that most _Americans_ won’t even care about. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/35 "2016-01-23T11:17:54Z")
Back in August I was telling people to back Bernie Sanders to be the next president. I figured no Republican could win, Trump was simply a joke and Clinton is a truly reprehensible person so only Sanders could win. Looking for other opinions I stumbled on Scott Adams blog where he posted this [How Trump Becomes President](http://blog.dilbert.com/post/125930283831/how-trump-becomes-president) > [@](#): > > I’m watching the Donald Trump campaign for president with the same amount of amusement as everyone else. The only difference is that I think he has a legitimate shot at becoming president. You’ll choke when I tell you why, because you’ll agree. Later in the month he predicted that not only will Trump be the nominee he will win the election by a wide margin. Since then he has regularly posted about what he sees happening in the election often comparing the media’s take on things with his Master Persuader filter. Despite my urge to believe that my initial thoughts about Trump are correct it is Adams that seems to be by turns funny, scary and correct. Reading his blog has been more entertaining than any serial I have ever followed. So I am loving the election shenanigans. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/36 "2016-01-23T12:31:46Z")
> [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser](#): > > Nah, we’ve all have had weirder stuff than Trump anywhere else. [Jon Stewart voice]_Go onnn_ … [/JSv] ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/37 "2016-01-23T12:54:39Z")
Try reading up on the Natural Law party with their ‘Yogic Flying’. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/38 "2016-01-23T15:21:35Z")
Sure, but they were never leading in the polls. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/39 "2016-01-23T16:24:51Z")
Trump doesn’t scare me. In every democracy in the world, throughout history, there have always been crazies running for high office. What scares me is Trump’s supporters. The crazies are supposed to be lost in the noise, but this time, they’re leading. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894/40 "2016-01-23T16:42:19Z")
Rent is too damn high guy was not a serious candidate. Of course he is probably still better than Trump or Cruz. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-americans-the-us-presidential-election-really-is-a-train-wreck-isnt-it/743894.md?page=3)