[speculawyer]

I still argue that he would be a far better president than he has campaigned to be, but then again, a trained ape with positions chosen by children would probably make more sense than what he is running on right now.

Well . . . don't worry . . . just a few more delegates and he can push the reset button. Shake up that etch-a-sketch. He'll have a different campaign.

[Jackson50]

After the announcement that HW Bush was going to endorse him, Romney has secured Rubio's endorsement. Although its mostly the agglomeration of endorsements which is most important, Rubio's is fairly significant. I think only DeMint's would be more influential.

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio endorses Mitt Romney By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times March 28, 2012, 7:35 p.m. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida joined a growing chorus of Republican leaders on Wednesday in endorsing GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, saying Romney is going to be the party nominee and Republicans need to get behind him to avoid an ugly convention fight that will harm their ability to take on President Obama. "I don't have a problem with primaries, but I think we're at a stage now where at least two of the candidates have openly admitted the only way they're going to be able to win the nomination is to have a floor fight in Tampa in August," Rubio told Fox News' Sean Hannity. "I don't think there's anything good about that. I mean there is no way anyone can convince me that having a floor fight at the convention in Tampa in August is a recipe for victory in November. On the contrary, I think it's a recipe for disaster" that would deliver Obama a reelection victory. http://www.latimes.com/news/politics...,6854984.story

[PhoenixPause]

Rubio is also trying to create his own DREAM Act (no path to citizenship though)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...BvgS_blog.html

Seems pretty obvious he's angling for VP, after the previous denials

[thatbox]

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/m...pagewanted=all

This is a very good article about the grand bargain, how close it was to happening, and how it fell apart.

[SteveWinwood]

Who cares what he thinks about gay marriage? It is not really a Federal issue, it is up to the states. He is already against DOMA.

But why couldn't it be a federal issue? It'll surely take forever for some states.

[Oblivion]

CNN Breaking Poll (wat?) :O

The blame on Bush is remarkably consistent. I've literally never seen a poll so far that's shown people (aside from tea baggers) blame Obama more than Bush for the economy. The favorability ratings on the Dems is a much bigger deal though, imo.

[PhoenixPause]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=LnEQQnj7eXo
I can't even imagine the mental hoops one would have to jump through to label Obama's comments as hate speech.

There's no question Malik Shabazz and members of the NBPP have said hateful and violent things about the situation. But Obama? People, especially parents, often view things through a prism of their children and/or family members. This was a race issue before Obama opened his mouth, and his comments aren't particularly different from anything I've heard people say when a child is abducted or killed ("she could have been my daughter" or "he looks like my son")

[XMonkey]

Wow at the new change. A sub-forum in the sub forum? Great idea.

[GhaleonEB]

Wow at the new change. A sub-forum in the sub forum? Great idea.

The separation makes sense to me. The policy is that OT threads on the gaming side move to Community once the game has been out one month. That has created an abundance of Gaming threads in Community, and relatively few OT ones, which get lost in them; I find this preferable to the large number of pinned threads the OT sports threads created.

I navigate the threads and communities I follow with subscriptions, so it won't really affect me either way.

[Al-ibn Kermit]

I just wish it had a new tab so I didn't have to go from Community->sub-community. At least we won't have to worry about the thread falling off the first page of whatever forum it's on.

[Hobbestetrician]

Wow at the new change. A sub-forum in the sub forum? Great idea.

Xzibit.jpg

[Jackson50]

The separation makes sense to me. The policy is that OT threads on the gaming side move to Community once the game has been out one month. That has created an abundance of Gaming threads in Community, and relatively few OT ones, which get lost in them; I find this preferable to the large number of pinned threads the OT sports threads created. I navigate the threads and communities I follow with subscriptions, so it won't really affect me either way.

Yeah. They had to reorganize. Community was terribly cluttered. But now I wonder if being buried to this extent will inhibit new posters. Although, I'm sure being lumped with the sports threads mitigates that some.

I just wish it had a new tab so I didn't have to go from Community->sub-community. At least we won't have to worry about the thread falling off the first page of whatever forum it's on.

You could subscribe to the thread.

[Puddles]

Another layer of subforums was a terrible idea.

[XMonkey]

The separation makes sense to me. The policy is that OT threads on the gaming side move to Community once the game has been out one month. That has created an abundance of Gaming threads in Community, and relatively few OT ones, which get lost in them; I find this preferable to the large number of pinned threads the OT sports threads created. I navigate the threads and communities I follow with subscriptions, so it won't really affect me either way.

The separation is fine. But don't make it a sub-forum in another forum. Make it 'Gaming Community' and 'OT Community' on the main page with their own forums.

[Diablos]

I feel like I'm so underground, mayne!

Also, just because Obama's ahead by double digits doesn't mean that can't tighten up during the GE. Derp.

I'm not being a chickenlittle, but I think some people assume things to be entirely way too safe for the Pres. I'll admit he's looking pretty damn good right now, but it's not even close to a guarantee that it will remain that way.

My prediction as of now is that he will win, but it will be much closer than most of my fellow PoliGaffers are thinking. It'll probably only be by one or two states.

[Aaron Strife]

We have to go deeper.

My prediction as of now is that he will win, but it will be much closer than most of my fellow PoliGaffers are thinking. It'll probably only be by one or two states.

Well, a win's a win. Looks like PD's pity party has shrunk by half.

This is probably the closest an Obama victory would be:

http://www.270towin.com/2012_electio....php?mapid=iow

Obama holds all the Kerry states and wins Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado. Those states have all turned fairly blue since 2004, especially New Mexico.

re:Senate. I think Democrats win Arizona, Maine, Mass., and Nevada, and lose Nebraska. 56 seat majority. Indiana could flip blue too but only if Lugar loses his primary.

[Souldriver]

Now that there's this "off topic community" section I might check this thread out more often.

It took me weeks before I even realized the thread got moved to community. I thought for some reason EviLore had banned political threads.


Edit: still, I'm sure activity in these threads has taken a dive since this tucking away in sections...

[Suikoguy]

Posted this in the Mormon thread. Here's the BBC's documentary about Mitt Romney and his religion: http://www.youtube.com/user/mormonsa...?feature=watch You'll never see anything like this in America.

Thanks for posting this.

Also, that poll seems wayyy too good. After the earlier outlier in the other direction, I'm waiting to see if others show similar movement.

[Al-ibn Kermit]

You could subscribe to the thread.

I don't think you can access subscriptions through the mobile site.

[gkryhewy]

I am lost until secondapps updates for the new forum structure.

[Dax01]

I just wish it had a new tab so I didn't have to go from Community->sub-community. At least we won't have to worry about the thread falling off the first page of whatever forum it's on.

Turn on subscriptions for threads, then whenever you log into NeoGAF, click on User CP and it'll show you all the threads you've posted in that have been posted in recently.

It's the greatest thing ever. I'll continue to sound my trumpet about this.

Edit: You talking about mobile site through Iphone? Iphone web app has subscription threads.

Edit 2: Oh. "Off-topic Community." I thought you were still talking about Community. Why make an off-topic community sub-forum? I don't get it.

[gcubed]

I don't think you can access subscriptions through the mobile site.

you can.

i didnt have this subscribed, but i have to now as i couldnt get here from secondapps

We have to go deeper. Well, a win's a win. Looks like PD's pity party has shrunk by half. This is probably the closest an Obama victory would be: http://www.270towin.com/2012_electio....php?mapid=iow Obama holds all the Kerry states and wins Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado. Those states have all turned fairly blue since 2004, especially New Mexico. re:Senate. I think Democrats win Arizona, Maine, Mass., and Nevada, and lose Nebraska. 56 seat majority. Indiana could flip blue too but only if Lugar loses his primary.

i dont really see him losing Ohio either though.

[Pai Pai Master]

I don't think you can access subscriptions through the mobile site.

Secondapps? Yeah you can. There's a Subscribed Threads section on the main page.

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

Obama's budget goes down in flames. House vote 414-0.

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpps/new...28-kh_18891180

[PantherLotus]

Simpson-Bowles similarly got 38-Infinity. Little Timmy Russert just lost his mind on air, too.

[Tim-E]

We have to go deeper. Well, a win's a win. Looks like PD's pity party has shrunk by half. This is probably the closest an Obama victory would be: http://www.270towin.com/2012_electio....php?mapid=iow Obama holds all the Kerry states and wins Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado. Those states have all turned fairly blue since 2004, especially New Mexico. re:Senate. I think Democrats win Arizona, Maine, Mass., and Nevada, and lose Nebraska. 56 seat majority. Indiana could flip blue too but only if Lugar loses his primary.

At the moment I expect this map + Ohio will be the final outcome. Maybe throw VA or NC in there.

[LosDaddie]

But I thought electing Republicans would be do wonders for our economy and business: You reap what you sow. I guess we can come up with some build named after JOBS or GROWTH or something. That always works out.

Rick Scott has been running TV ads touting how FL's economy is much better than 3yrs ago. I've seen at least 3 of them this week on ESPN.

I was thinking Obama should run the exact same ad, thanking Scott for pointing out the progress made in the past 3yrs. :lol

GOP is effed. and they are only going to go harder right, and then I hope America banishes them to the ranks of the Whigs, Bull Moose, and other long-dead parties. They are embarrassing in the fact that they arent even conservatives, not true Christians in their approach to humanism and leadership, and have no clue how to run government from a financial standpoint. I would have voted for Mitt Romney no questions asked a year ago, but now, I am getting leery of that. The dude is straight weird. I hope all this pandering ends in the GE and he says, sorry psycho GOP-base, I am going to have to be real here and say America needs fairness, I just knew if I were normal during the primaries, you would have voted for a dunce or a sociopath, so I stooped lower than all of them to save you from yourselves. Then he rips his shirt open to reveal that he is the son of Jor-El or something else equally impressive... /tears of unreality.

I said a couple days ago that Romney is the type of Repub I could vote, the Mass Gov version of him. But now he's turned his back on basically everything that got him elected in Mass.

[demented]

Real billboard ad of political party here in my country, it's for local(city) elections:
http://i.imgur.com/ulsF7.jpg

Might be slightly nsfw, but as it's outside like that dunno.

I'm split on it, on one hand I love it for obvious reasons lol but on other hand it's party that stands for everything I'm against.

[Fox318]

Real billboard ad of political party here in my country, it's for local(city) elections: http://i.imgur.com/ulsF7.jpg Might be slightly nsfw, but as it's outside like that dunno. I'm split on it, on one hand I love it for obvious reasons lol but on other hand it's party that stands for everything I'm against.

"I disagree with you positions but not your views"

[Loudninja]

U.S. Jobless Claims Fell Last Week to Lowest Since April 2008

March 29 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level in almost four years, adding to evidence the U.S. labor market is strengthening. Initial jobless claims fell 5,000 in the week ended March 24 to 359,000, the lowest since April 2008, the Labor Department reported today in Washington. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg News survey called for 350,000 claims. With the report, the government data also contain revisions dating back to 2007. Companies are retaining workers and hiring as sales improve along with confidence in the expansion. The pace of employment has gained momentum in the past three months, helping drive income growth that may ease the strain of higher gasoline prices. "The pace of job creation has picked up," Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist for IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, said before the report. Claims around "350,000 has been consistent with moving above the 200,000 mark" for payroll growth, he said. "We've had lower claims, faster job growth and lower unemployment."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...0Y01-M1NC2.DTL

[Kosmo]

There's no question Malik Shabazz and members of the NBPP have said hateful and violent things about the situation. But Obama? People, especially parents, often view things through a prism of their children and/or family members. This was a race issue before Obama opened his mouth, and his comments aren't particularly different from anything I've heard people say when a child is abducted or killed ("she could have been my daughter" or "he looks like my son")

Eventually we'll know the facts of this case (at least I hope), but Obama should know better than to inject himself into cases like these after the Henry Louis Gates debacle where he said "the police acted stupidly."

You're the President - stay above the fray. Just say "As a parent, I cam sympathize with the emotions Trayvon's parents must be feeling, but I think it prudent to let the facts come out before we rush to judgement on either side."

[Invisible_Insane]

Eventually we'll know the facts of this case (at least I hope), but Obama should know better than to inject himself into cases like these after the Henry Louis Gates debacle where he said "the police acted stupidly." You're the President - stay above the fray. Just say "As a parent, I cam sympathize with the emotions Trayvon's parents must be feeling, but I think it prudent to let the facts come out before we rush to judgement on either side."

WHY ISN'T THE PRESIDENT SHOWING LEADERSHIP?!?!!

This is a thing that happens.

[KingGondo]

WHY ISN'T THE PRESIDENT SHOWING LEADERSHIP?!?!! This is a thing that happens.

Exactly. He can't win no matter what he does.

I respect him for speaking candidly about the Gates case and about Trayvon Martin.

[watershed]

Eventually we'll know the facts of this case (at least I hope), but Obama should know better than to inject himself into cases like these after the Henry Louis Gates debacle where he said "the police acted stupidly." You're the President - stay above the fray. Just say "As a parent, I cam sympathize with the emotions Trayvon's parents must be feeling, but I think it prudent to let the facts come out before we rush to judgement on either side."

“I can only imagine what these parents are going through,” the president said, adding that he couldn’t help but think about his daughters. “I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this. “My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin,” he added. “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon. I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and we’re going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.” “I think all of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen,” Noting that his attorney general is looking into the case, the president prefaced his remarks by saying it was important he was not “impairing any investigation that’s taking place right now.”

His statement and yours are almost identical in meaning.

[demented]

"I disagree with you positions but not your views"

:) text when translated says:
I'm for 5(their number on ticket)
Vote with your heart
Serbian List(party) - Herceg Novi (city)

[thekad]

His statement and yours are almost identical in meaning.

But Kosmo isn't a Democrat.

[Clevinger]

I was hoping beyond hope that it was all an act. I was hoping that him having been a bishop in the church would have made him realize about poverty, the needs of the common man, and how to relate to people, but that is looking less likely than me picking up an errant winning Mega Millions ticket on the ground. I was also hoping that he would maintain some centrist positions from his governorship and propose budgets and positions that are actually tenable. Instead, he panders to lowest common denominator. The dude went Ivy League, but is offering plans that would further deepen the deficit, rally against ACA without offering a plan that would fix healthcare in the country (Public option!), and so on. How the hell does a dunce like this graduate from any institute of higher learning? He must know how to delegate like crazy or I cannot see how he was such a mastermind of venture capitalism and ran a pretty good state in Massachusetts. I have pretty much given up all hope and will probably not vote in the presidential election. I still argue that he would be a far better president than he has campaigned to be, but then again, a trained ape with positions chosen by children would probably make more sense than what he is running on right now.

On the upside, it is all an act right now. On the downside, his decent governorship was all an act as well when he was beholden to a liberal legislature and left leaning voters.

re:Senate. I think Democrats win Arizona, Maine, Mass., and Nevada, and lose Nebraska. 56 seat majority. Indiana could flip blue too but only if Lugar loses his primary.

You're way too optimistic, my friend. I don't see Flake losing Arizona, as much as I'd like him to.

[quadriplegicjon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=LnEQQnj7eXo I can't even imagine the mental hoops one would have to jump through to label Obama's comments as hate speech. There's no question Malik Shabazz and members of the NBPP have said hateful and violent things about the situation. But Obama? People, especially parents, often view things through a prism of their children and/or family members. This was a race issue before Obama opened his mouth, and his comments aren't particularly different from anything I've heard people say when a child is abducted or killed ("she could have been my daughter" or "he looks like my son")

Yeah, Obama actually made it a point to not comment on anything about the actual case. Republicans are being ridiculous with this shit.

[PhoenixPause]

Eventually we'll know the facts of this case (at least I hope), but Obama should know better than to inject himself into cases like these after the Henry Louis Gates debacle where he said "the police acted stupidly." You're the President - stay above the fray. Just say "As a parent, I cam sympathize with the emotions Trayvon's parents must be feeling, but I think it prudent to let the facts come out before we rush to judgement on either side."

Huh? Obama prefaced his statement with an acknowledgement that he couldn't say much due to the DoJ involvement.

[Dr. Pangloss]

Obama's budget goes down in flames. House vote 414-0. http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpps/new...28-kh_18891180

Yeah, it is kind of easy to vote against a bill with all the particulars removed from it.

The vote came just hours after the White House cast the pending vote as a political "gimmick," an apparent attempt to downplay what many expected to be an ugly-looking vote for the White House. White House officials said Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), the sponsor of the alternative, was using Obama's top-line spending and revenue numbers as a budget proposal, without any specifics. On the House floor, Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) agreed that Mulvaney's amendment was not, in fact, Obama's entire budget proposal. "This is politics at its absolute worst: presenting something as the President's budget without the policy detail, without the explanation to the American people about what's in the President's budget," he said. Obama's budget plans have a poor track record in Congress over the last year. In May 2011, 97 senators voted against a motion to take up his 2012 budget plan — no senator voted in favor of the motion. http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-actio...-in-0-414-vote

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

Yeah, it is kind of easy to vote against a bill with all the particulars removed from it.

Let's not get bogged down in the minutia.

[Chichikov]

Wow at the new change. A sub-forum in the sub forum? Great idea.

I like it.
Now it's just us, the jocks, and the identity theft thread, you know, the cool kids.

...



...

[Flying_Phoenix]

CNN Breaking Poll (wat?) :O

Why is there such a difference between this and gallup?

[thatbox]

At a campaign event at a bowling alley in Wisconsin today, GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum told a boy who reached for a pink bowling ball: “You’re not gonna use the pink ball. We're not gonna let you do that. Not on camera.” Santorum went on to say “Friends don’t let friends use pink balls.”

Gonna shamelessly steal a comment from BoingBoing:

That's right! You tell 'em, Rick. Boys are supposed to have blue balls!

[Kosmo]

Huh? Obama prefaced his statement with an acknowledgement that he couldn't say much due to the DoJ involvement.

Why is the DoJ involved? (apologies if it's been addressed)

[ClovingWestbrook]

Eventually we'll know the facts of this case (at least I hope), but Obama should know better than to inject himself into cases like these after the Henry Louis Gates debacle where he said "the police acted stupidly." You're the President - stay above the fray. Just say "As a parent, I cam sympathize with the emotions Trayvon's parents must be feeling, but I think it prudent to let the facts come out before we rush to judgement on either side."

I have to agree. Obama should have been more politically astute to realize that no matter what he did or didn't do, he was going to receive flack. The problem also is by speaking out about this case future victims and their families will feel they too deserve to be acknowledged by the President. It's a TERRIBLE situation but it happens all of the time. This case just happened to receive the publicity.

[Chichikov]

Boys are supposed to have blue balls!

Abstinence only will do that to you.

[effzee]

Why is the DoJ involved? (apologies if it's been addressed)

Before you ask your next question, why not answer the point brought up that what you said mirrors what Obama actually said.

Remind me again why this has turned into another left v right or democrats v republicans issue?

[GhaleonEB]

Why is there such a difference between this and gallup?

Different polls use different weightings and screening filters. The CNN poll is clearly an outlier given the margin Obama has over Romney.

Gallup's tracking poll is very noisy and often shows wild daily swings. In aggregate, polls have shown Obama leading Romney pretty consistently.

[Invisible_Insane]

Nate Silver: Voting models based on fundamentals fail at predicting presidential elections.

Well worth a read.