Finally - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: poptones
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2012, 04:48:54 am
content: Even FOX has called it. Now it's time to watch the numbers. Fun stuff, I want to see it get hardcore. Let's see 305.Maybe now the reds will stop sucking off the tea party and bible thumper loonies.

author: digsys
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 07, 2012, 05:13:57 am
content: Quote from: poptonesScary to thing that nearly 1/2 the population was voting for the mormon lunatic. Trouble is - they're still there !! :-)

author: paudav
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2012, 08:05:11 am
content: Andthey control half the Legislature. 2-4 more years of gridlock...

author: poptones
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2012, 08:13:52 am
content: Repubs control the house. Whoopee. The senate is democratically controlled.

author: paudav
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2012, 08:35:35 am
content: Quote from: poptones on November 07, 2012, 08:13:52 amTrue, but don't forget that the Senate can be filibustered, and the Democrats lack the requisite votes to end a filibuster. Given the noncompliant nature of the political landscape these days, I'd be surprised if the Senate would be able to conclude that the sky is blue without somebody threatening to stall debate.Then the "pork" and "compromises" come into play, and then somebody has to sell it to the House, and THEN the president has to sign off on it. Bleh.The era of the thoughtful scholar-statesman is dead in the United States, I'm afraid. The best these guys seem to be able to manage is to stumble from one disaster to the next, barely escaping the wolves at the door.

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 08, 2012, 01:51:32 pm
content: Sorry if anyone is offended my me adding this - this thread is about the election. I thought about adding it to "stupids want to move to Daveland" but that thread seems to have turned into a firearms discussion, and my point is a reason that a smart person would want to move to Australia.Does Australia use a form of the Hare or plurality voting system? I've often wished the US would go to something like that, but I'm afraid some of my fellow yanks wouldn't understand it, some would spend millions on BS ads to mislead people about it, and some would get some modifying law passed to corrupt it.If it could be done, we could express our desire for third party candidates, while still supporting the mainstream candidate we prefer. In other words, we wouldn't have the "Nader helps Bush" or "Perrot helps Clinton" scenarios. Those preferring Mr. Nader or Mr. Perot could vote for them, and express their second choice to avoid the one they don't want. Makes good sense, I think.

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 08, 2012, 02:33:30 pm
content: In the Australian system of Preferential voting,you normally vote for the candidate you want to win as your first preference.then look at the others in terms of who you can tolerate,with the one you really detest as your last choice.If there isn't a candidate with a clear majority over all the otherscombined,the preferences of the votes for the candidate with the lowest number of votes are redistributed to the other candidates nominated by the voter, second preference first,& so on.One advantage of this system is that it all but eliminates the possibility of the interminable "run-off" elections which are common in some countries.The Party with the most seats in the House of Representatives forms a Government,& elects the PM from amongst their number.Voting in this manner for the House of Representatives is usually easy enough,but for the Senate,you have a whole raft of names to wade through,so it gets a bit messy.For that House,each State elects a number of Senators,with the State voting as a single Electorate.Some years back,they introduced a "Vote the Party Card"option,so you can vote for the preference options suggested by the Party of your choice.With the "single member" House of Reps Electorates,a Party may increase its vote in one Electorate without improving its standing in the House,so you get the sort of situation where a PM may increase his personal vote,but his Party will lose the Election.In most Elections,the margin between the two major Parties is only a few %,even when they claim a "landslide" in terms of seats,so whoever is in power must always remember that nearly 50% of the voters hate their guts!Quite hard to carry out your Legislative Program in that case!Of course,you may be confronted by a Senate controlled by the other major Party,or one in which the balance of power is held by minor Parties.