So I guess we are stuck with the wicked witch. So much for small business with her $12-$15/hour minimum wages. So much for the economy with the unemployment that will cause. So much for the disincentives to start and then sell a small business (no capital gains treatment as she has proposed). Forget respect from foreign countries as they would look no further than her dismal performance as sec of state. I am pretty disgusted and losing interest in riding down with this country. There are other places.

Are you asking what would happen if Trump lost at the convention and he then whined that the outcome was "unfair," breached his written agreement to support the nominee and then tried to run on a new party or as an independent? The answer is that he would be much too late to get on the ballot virtually anywhere. He would never get an electoral vote, but would ensure a landslide victory for Hillary if he magically did get widespread ballot status. The House would have nothing to do with it. If you don't believe me, try this thought experiment: Try to name a state where Trump wins as an independent agains Clinton and Cruz. There is no such state.

We do know a lot about Trump, and he is a lot better than Hillary. She IS a socialist, Trump at least doesnt go that far.

actually, wouldnt the house make the call if the repubs trashed Trump and he went independent and took enough voters to win some electoral votes- making it unlikely either Cruz or Hillary would get 270?

So you choose the devil we don't know over the devil we know. Got it.

Oh. Crazy rules. Well it's trump or we are stuck with the evil witch woman

Nobody other than the Republican or Democrat will win an electoral vote so House will play no part.

If it's fear of what trump might do vs what we know about hillary and what she will do to continue the run towards socialism, I think far more damage would be done by Hillary. A 4 way race decided by the house would be a good thing this time

Well, I agree with all you say about Clinton. That's why I'm hoping for gridlock as the best option. Much of what Trump talks about so incessantly won't happen either (e.g. there will not be a national door to door search for illegal aliens and Mexico won't pay for his wall) but I fear what he will actually come up with in the future because he has no discernible political philosophy. I guess this conversation has convinced me more to vote for Johnson.

You are going to get Hillary OR Trump this time, no matter how much you ignore that. I guess you would rather Hillary. NONE of the other candidates have a snowball's chance in hell of actually being elected. EXCEPT...

I will grant you that if Sanders and Trump go independent after getting ignominiously dumped by their respective parties, we might get rid of Hillary after all, since she wouldnt get 270 electoral votes with 4 candidates sharing votes and the republican house would have to pick a president.

This is a sad illustration of why the federal gov't spends a third of GDP, even though most people say they don't want that.

Order out of chaos ......motto 33rd degree Scotish Freemason, 1st Create the chaos then take away Rights and freedom.

There are no bounds to the lack of substance you offer in response to real, identified, characteristics that make Trump unfit for the Presidency. Deflecting significant, legitimate criticism using Trump's empty rhetoric, or railing against other unacceptable candidates, is a weak argument.

(cue the mantra)

Or, long term Pragmatism can result in myopia.

I think Hillary is bought and paid for. She is promising literally everything to the stupid people who will vote her in. She will do almost nothing of what she promises except increase government powers and taxes and hand favors to the establishment. Big favors like Obama have. Expansion of obamacare with favors for insurance companies. Foreign aid and help for refugees who hate us.

I think GOP. Will hold onto one of the houses but prob not the Senate.

If trump gets in , I think the wall will get delayed because illegal immigration slowed on its own, taxes will go down on us, companies will get either no taxes or lower taxes on overseas earnings, corporate taxes will decrease, and there will be some increases in economic activity due not to trump himself but the "make America great again" psychological boost. I do think he would cut back on foreign aid and fighting nonproductive wars.

Most of what you fear from trump would never happen because the GOP. hates him and they will have only one chamber of congress

yes

I care less about who beats Hillary and Sanders. They are the evil twins- not trump. They WILL do considerable evil; you are only proposing trump will do evil. They are proposing huge minimum wage hikes and large scale tax increases. Trump is at least proposing tax decreases. ( discount the,,45% China tax-would never happen). The trump haters would complain about anything he said or did in offertory Hillary elected

It's a good argument. But my interest in saving this country is definitely waning. Before enough people can educate themselves enough, the country will have to go through the venezuelan cycle. I really think trump could slow down the destructive process (which is why the establishment hates him so). I will vote for him to voice my intense dislike for the establishment in the hopes that in the quiet of the voting booth enough others will do the same.

There are a few things that might change my vote. What if the repubs are stupid and force trump out and the dems do the same with sanders- and they both go independent?. That might end our two party stranglehold !!!. I would abandon the repubs party and vote independent to force nebulizer pick the president.,(bye bye evil witch woman Hillary,). Gary Johnson still would have no chance of winning but he might enough electoral college votes to keep Hillary from winning

I think that since trump has no contributors he has to pander to, I think you haven't heard a lot of specifics because he is interviewing for the job by showing his capabilities and general directions. If elected we will see him pick very qualified subordinates and advisors to give him specific and timely information upon which to make decisions. We have had 8 years of a pretty incompetent historically black president who hired pretty incompetent advisors. If we get Hillary, it will be more of the same plus she will attempt to hide what she does. Foreign affairs will remain the mess it has been. She will be the historic woman president. Neither black skin not female gender are qualifications for president. Trump will get respect from foreign countries. To that extent he probably can make America great again. Internally all he can do is get government out of the way of business and perhaps be some sort of inspiration to businessmen to keep on trucking until you overcome adversarial events. I don't know if he can do that, but I can tell you Hillary will do the opposite.

Wow. You certainly are optimistic regarding the Trumpster. He certainly is pandering to the anti-imiigratiion build a wall crowd, that's for sure. He also is pandering generally to the anti-corporate impulses with his cries to stop companies from moving and the economically ignorant with his calls for tariffs on foreign goods. I, for one, would like to hear specifics during a job interview of a candidate who cannot set forth any political philosophy or set of guiding principles. By the way, who are these "subordinates and advisors" and what do they believe? Any names and ideas? Trump respected by foreign countries? You must be joking. He is universally regarded by our allies as an idiot or outright dangerous. If you want to get a taste of how up to speed Trump is on foreign affairs, check out the transcript of his interview with the Washington Post editorial board this past week. His ignorance is breathtaking for someone who has been running for over six months. Having said all that, I really don't think we have much to worry about. I think Trump will get the nomination and then be beaten badly by Hillary, but the GOP will hold on to both houses of Congress. That equals gridlock.

The least bad politicians in today's context are those who, in Ayn Rand's words, "Will ... protect freedom [and and] destroy the last of it" and who will "delay or stop the march toward statism", not "accelerate" it.

That is not Donald Trump. A strong-arm, self-proclaimed "man on the white horse" Pragmatist promising to use "magnificent" and "wonderful" government power to make statist "Deals", with no concern for freedom and the rights of the individual, is the wrong direction. Please don't repeat the mantra of the idolatry claiming that Pied Piper Trump the Great is the only one who can save us. He cannot and will not, does not want to, and by present indications is so self-destructive that he can't even beat Hillary.

Apparently cataract surgery eliminates the ability to self focus.

You missed the point, just like you missed the point of Ayn Rand's essay "The New Fascism: Rule by Consensus", it is not "useful to your point", and I did not reiterate any of your assertions.

Pragmatism does not mean being practical, and rejecting it does not mean rejecting being practical. Being practical requires acting in accordance with valid principles. Violating principles results in injustice and destruction. Pragmatism does not work. Democrat political philosophy is in fact progressive statism, not a "hodgepodge of little problems" to solve.

Accounting gimmicks and a phony, non-existent "trust fund" for social security and medicare do not make spending on national defense most of the Federal budget. The government spent our social security taxes long ago under the ruse of borrowing from itself. All taxes go into the general fund. Most spending and taxes, even spending on defense, is not "war spending", and defense is not a conspiracy for the "armaments industry". Your leftist rhetoric sneering at national defense betrays you.

Whatever you liked about Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand's novels and philosophy that you don't read have nothing to do with leftist 'narratives' and evasions of what their statism and collectivism, including their misanthropic anti-private property rights eco-fascism, is doing to us.

Those who, like Ayn Rand for entire life, are warning against the destruction and violation of the rights of the individual by the progression into neo-Marxist collectivist tyrants, like Obama and Clinton, are not "doomsayers", contrary to your continuing smear. The "fundamental change" imposed by the left away from the founding principles of freedom and individualism under constitutional government in this country is not leading to "more individualism and less statism", and like Pragmatism, leftist rhetoric pretending otherwise does not "work".

Thanks for your rational
explanation of our votes
value . It does show we
are committed to
our unalienable right to
Liberty and the pursuit
of happiness , using the
tool afforded us as
Citizens.

A new poll shows Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson at 11 percent!
http://patch.com/new-hampshire/concor...

In every presidential election, people are told that they are “wasting their vote” if they vote for the Libertarian candidate.

As one who has voted for every Libertarian presidential candidate since 1972, I think the exact opposite is true. By voting for my principles, my votes over the years have had far more impact than if I had allowed the two “establishment” parties to dictate my choices.

No matter how you have voted for President in the past, your vote has never made a difference in the outcome. Nor will it do so in the future. Even if you live in a “swing state” that could go either way, your lone vote will not spell the difference between victory and defeat for either establishment party candidate.

So if you can’t change the election outcome, why vote at all? The answer is that by voting Libertarian, you will be adding to the vote totals of the only party that consistently supports individual freedom. And those vote totals matter – the establishment parties pay close attention when a significant number of voters break with the two-party system, and they will often modify their stands on certain issues to protect their base and prevent further defections.

On the other hand, if you vote for the “lesser of two evils,” you are saying in effect, “I support the political status quo. I have faith in the two-party system, and I’m not interested in supporting candidates from other parties, even if they have fresh ideas that I agree with. I don’t like either of the two establishment party candidates, but I will vote for Establishment Party Candidate X because he or she is not quite as bad as Establishment Party Candidate Y.” This truly is a waste of your vote, and does nothing to advance the cause of freedom.