[Arthur McGowan]

I would like to hear the candidates asked what their plan is to combat voter fraud.

Are they aware that more than thirty years ago, the RNC signed a consent decree BARRING THE RNC FROM MAKING ANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT VOTE FRAUD?

[ETL]

"In 2008 Obama promised he would "fundamentally transform" America, and Obamacare and the Iran deal are indeed fundamental transformations of policy --transformations most Americans oppose. "

He promised "fundamental transformation", aka "Change"...

"This president can be a transformative leader (he has that potential in my view), but only if he embraces and fights for a transformative agenda."--Sam Webb, Chairman Communist Party USA

Obama State of the Union: He got the ball rolling:
http://cpusa.org/obama-state-of-the-union-he-got-the-ball-rolling
_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

"Barack Obama told supporters that
'change has come to America' as he
claimed victory in a historic presidential election."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/election.president/index.html
_____________________________________________

A Landslide Mandate For Change

A breakthrough election
Congratulations on an extraordinary history making election!

(snip)

The tears of joy we all shared as crowds gathered to watch the election results here and throughout the world dramatize the new moment we are in.

http://cpusa.org/a-landslide-mandate-for-change-report-to-the-national-committee-meeting-11-15-08/
_____________________________________________

July 1, 2009...

Change is Here, Change is Coming
--Sam Webb, National Chair, Communist Party, USA

http://cpusa.org/change-is-here-change-is-coming/
_____________________________________________

Jan 29, 2010:

Obama State of the Union: He got the ball rolling
http://cpusa.org/obama-state-of-the-union-he-got-the-ball-rolling

[Nip]

Almost correct. And there is a lot of bad memories in the word almost.

I haven’t voted for a Presidential candidate or a Presidential reelection since Reagan - that’s 30 years ago. He was the last President who gave me a reason to vote for him; ever since then my vote has been against the other candidate.

Unfortunately, I am not alone in this.

I guess Herman Cain said it best when he ran for President. When asked how he expected to win without any prior experience in politics he came back with - “You have been governed by experienced politicians for the last eight years. How has that worked out for you”.

Like the period 1860 - 1866 (Civil War era) our political leadership and societal elites are in politics for their own advancement. And like then it has gotten so bad that they can no longer hide it. It has become, like it or not, “We the People” against our own political and societal leaders.

[DJ Frisat]

"They're willfully suspending disbelief in challengers who would have been considered laughable in earlier years."

Uh, don't look now, but this started in earnest in 2008, and continued in 2012. Take a look in the White House...

[Verginius Rufus]

Barone leaves out part of the reason for the weakness of the Republicans in Congress: Obama's nuclear option. He doesn't have to make deals because he can always shut down the government if they don't cave, knowing that the media will blame the Republicans for the shutdown and the public will be fooled into thinking that is the case.

The shutdowns actually do little harm but Obama knows how to use them to inflict pain or at least inconvenience on the public (like shutting down the WWII monument) and the media will give those incidents a lot of publicity while making sure the public thinks it's all the Republicans' fault.

[DungeonMaster]

Could it be Republican politicians who have cause the change?

[onedoug]

“I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore.”

[livius]

And so a president who came to office with relatively little experience has managed to tarnish experience, incumbency and institutions: a fundamental transformation indeed.

Very well put! the other curious thing is that he has managed to tarnish the whole process and create in voters the desire for a dictatorial executive who will simply impose his will without bothering with the elected representatives of the people. Both Trump and Sanders promise this l'etat c'est moi approach, and both of them are very statist (and libertarian in social issues). Obama with his cult of personality and his arrogant ignorance has completely corrupted the American electorate.

[Aevery_Freeman]

Psephologist

Wow, what a great word. Never seen it before.

Problem is most of our pundits are psephocephalic (rocks in their heads).

[central_va]

A "professional" pundit writes an analysis on Trump and his phenomenal rise in the polls and he fails to mention immigration and trade.

They still don't get it. As out of touch as you think the establishment is, it is even worse than that.

[cymbeline]

“Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal — who advance serious proposals to change public policy”

It’s one thing to advance “serious” proposals, but do we believe they can get them done? Trump’s gives us a sense that he can get things done. That’s a biggie that separates Trump from the others. Trump calls it energy.

[mmichaels1970]

All three branches of government have been corrupted completely. And the media, in a sense (propaganda branch), makes it FOUR completely corrupt branches of government.

[Uncle Miltie]

Alternatively, we hate the GOPe so badly that there is a clear majority for anti-establishmentarians.

Trump + Cruz + Carson > 50%.

Suck it, RINOs.

[arthurus]

In his Presidency he has transformed the Presidency to that of Elective Dictatorship.

[Ancesthntr]

Polls show more Republicans preferring three candidates who have never held elective office over 14 candidates who have served a combined total of 150 years as governors or in Congress. Most Democrats are declining to favor a candidate who spent eight years in the White House and the Senate and four as secretary of state.

Psephologists of varying stripes attribute this discontent to varying causes. Conservatives blame insufficiently aggressive Republican congressional leaders. Liberals blame Hillary Clinton's closeness to plutocrats and her home email system.

No, Michael, it isn't Obama, it is virtually ALL of the politicians in DC that are responsible for the rise of Trump (and Sanders, for that matter). It is nothing more complicated than the FACT that the political class has miserably failed the people of this country. Hillary Clinton qualified for the WH? Really? What did she ACTUALLY do to earn that kind of reputation? She is nothing more than a self-serving, corrupt politician (and not a very good politician, at that - she's CLEARLY riding on her husband's coat tails, to this day). Just serving in office makes you qualified for NOTHING - and, in fact, seems to be a DIS-qualifying factor more than anything else. We don't WANT more of the same, get it?

As for the Republicans, they've become so comfortable as a minority party that they just want to be there, to be invited to the "right" cocktail parties in Georgetown. They couldn't give a rat's ass about the base of the Party that sent them there - and, in fact, look at the base as a bigger enemy than the Democrats.

Well, Michael, we have had enough of this crap - THAT is why Trump and Sanders are so popular, because they are NOT typical pols, they say what they think (damn, but that is refreshing) and they just don't care what anyone in the media says (again, DAMN, but that is refreshing).

Michael, to paraphrase a well-known statement about war: "Politics is too important to leave to the politicians."