Despite appearances, politics isn’t just about getting elected. Non-electoral subjects like health care, Supreme Court appointments, and the Second Amendment will keep politics in GD.
Fantastic idea.
A suggestion, if I may: How about two cut off dates - an earlier one for thread creation, and one say a fortnight after than for replying to the threads?
Or we could just rename it the lekatt Forum.
Double or Triple “fortnight”, at least. Damn Brits! 
& thanks to Marley for offering to mod this forum. You’re a brave lad!
He’s a better man than I am, Gunga Din.
Yes, anything that will ultimately be decided in the November U.S. general election. Keep that Aussie crap out of there.
Looking at the vB options, I don’t see any obvious way to do this. Others more technically savvy may know a way.
I believe it’s possible to “mass move” threads - I agree moving one at a time would be a pain. I’m not wedded to a particular way of doing this; we can decide when the time comes.
This whole move is great on many levels and the flexibility for the future is even better. Well done, sir.
I think that the way to do it would be to change the permissions of all of the user groups except Mods/Admins so that they can’t start threads in that subfolder. It’s probably more of a pain in the ass than it’s worth though.
It is possible to do it that way.
Anyway, I just want to add to the chorus of thanks for trying this. I think it is a great idea.
Just close the forum, but don’t deactivate it. That’ll allow old posts to be read, while disallowing any new ones from being made.
I’ve no idea on the tech side, but you could just ask people - it may require a bit of moderation but I’m sure most folk would get the idea 
I think it’s a great idea, but I do want to express my opinion that political rants should not go in the Pit but rather should go in the new temporary forum. I think in this case it’s better to keep all the eggs in one basket.
Maybe create a new group like the Chicago one and put temporary forums in there. Then you could denote the active ones. Then when whatever the event was (like an election) is over, you can lock the threads in it and mark the forum inactive. No more new posts but the old ones will still be available for viewing.
Personally, I don’t think it’s necessary, but I’m willing to be impressed. Even if it isn’t the success everyone thinks it will be, I applaud TPTB for their willingness to consider it, and hope they go forward with it.
I agree with creating a new group. Designate one forum in it for reasoned (supposedly) debates and one for BBQ Pit-style ranting.
Close it and all threads contained therein a week or so after the election.
I’d agree, but I’m also just impressed that they’re finally trying a Politics Forum. Hopefully it will convince people that there really is enough political discourse on the boards to make it a permanent fixture…
Don’t give him any ideas. (lekatt, that is – not Ed)
That’s not a bad idea. I didn’t like that “Non Pit Rules Apply” fiasco, but in this election forum you could allow people to start threads titled like “Pit Rules Apply: _______ is a bastard!”