I think many Democrats are hoping that Trump will be the Republican presidential candidate. Just as many Republicans are hoping that the Democratic counterpart will be Hillary Clinton. For obvious reasons, in both cases

It's all just chatter. I wouldn't be too concerned about what's happening this far out from the July 2016 nominating convention.

Marilyn...call 'em like ya see 'em gurl friend! I'm already there with ya!

Folks, head on over to Hot Topics with this please. Share opinions over there.

Socks, I'm surprised to see you post that. This is a universal forum, we're all friends here. It's a safe spot for many of us to be able to speak about anything we want. I love talking about hot issues but will only do it in the decor's conversation forum or here. A lot of us have known each other here for years. I trust the opinions and feed back here and I always learn something. Hot Topics isn't for everyone, I've been there a few times and won't return. I'm sure it isn't for many of the folks who hang out here. If you don't want to participate in the thread, you don't have to, but you really can't dictate what topics can be posted and which can't.

Imhappy, I posted about this a few weeks ago in the Decor Conversations side, and agree with you, he's slime. The worst of the worst. I think it was Rococo that explained it's all about the media and how people click to read the stories. I even watched a topic about it on Ted Talks. It was interesting but scary all the same. I just wish he'd go away! I wish a lot of the politicians would go away!!!

Didn't there used to be a rule "avoid topics like politics and religion"?

Yes, lukkiirish, I think I saw your post there and agree 100%. There is no other coverage other than him or Hillary. I don't want to hear about any of them! One thing about being in Iowa, we get inundated with all the bull way before most other states. I'd be more than happy to give up first in the nation caucus just to have peace and quiet a few months longer. There will be just a few more months where I'll be able to even watch the local news because the political commercials will run back to back for at least half of the program. No thanks. Good thing we have public TV here. That's almost all I watch anyway but I do like to hear the local news at least once a day.

I think I would actually ENJOY hearing some comversation on this topic here..I'm another one who won't return to Hot Topics. They are vicious there..Would love to hear reasonable people and their opinions since I am truly undecided and have not ruled anyone IN or OUT.

SERIOUSLY " Republican War on Women" what are you smoking??? The Donald is an anomaly. Americans like a good chuckle. Not to worry is is wasting a lot of money but will not get past the primary. But then again we did elect a movie star and I am from the state that thought Jesse was Governor material....It is all about name recognition. Ask MN we do it every time. It hasn't worked for us yet!!!

Hillary is scarier because she is mean, untrustworthy, incompetent, and has an agenda that will really hurt our country. What has she really ever successfully accomplished? She has her own war on men going.

Trump is a loudmouth and will eventually get himself into trouble, but right now he is the person blurting out what needs to be said. He has at at least had some business successes in life. I don't think he truly has a war on women. He's a dog in some ways, but those women also know what they are getting with him. There are some women that really only want to be trophy wives or known for looks, etc. There is a level of mutual agreement there. There have been a few women that are more professional. From what I've seen, Trump deals with them on a professional basis.

Who am I voting for? I don't know yet. I know it won't be Hillary.

Amen socks!

My few forays over to ot-Hay opics-Tay has made me unlikely to return. However discussing their favorite topics over here seems a good way to lure them over, after which they might decide to stay . Similar to the way putting food out in the trash can entice bears to come and make a mess and be a nuisance.

I lived in MN at the time Jesse was Governor and I remember that during the same election there was some state constitutional amendment pertaining to prohibiting laws that might somehow restrict hunting or fishing. My completely unscientific poll of listening to the two guys in front of me in line to vote talk to the guy behind me, where none of the three of them had voted in decades, but were there to support the hunting amendment, makes me wonder whether that wasn't a significant factor in Jesse Ventura being elected.

I guess it's gotten to the point that no good people want to run for the presidency anymore. Can you blame them?! All of the candidates are just a joke IMHO, absolutely no one worthy.

Until the US reforms campaign laws we will only have the 'well endowed' as candidates.

There is no reason to have such long campaigns. We no longer have voters awaiting a three-month-old copy of Eastern newspapers coming in by Pony Express.

The Supreme Court erred when it confused "free speech" with the ability to BUY enough speech to drown out all others' speech. You think Trump has the air waves? Just wait until the GOP inundates you with the overwhelming brand recipient of their campaign chest, "Jeb Bush".

I too spent some time over in hot topics and it got to the point where if someone posted a topic you knew exactly when and how and by who it would be derailed. The script of the thread was always pre-ordained. Honestly, it became tedious. I still lurk and it's still the same people and the same story. You don't want those people over here. (well except for a couple of people)

Home decorating conversations had a really good political thread going a while back, but what was interesting was that every once in a while it would disappear and then reappear, we finally decided that the powers that be were checking to make sure that it stayed civil, which it did.

And like all forums and all discussions and all threads, you don't have to take part.

I'm from north of the border and have to admit I always watch American politics with interest for entertainment value, talk about a reality show. Not to belittle your system, please don't read it as that, but our elections are over and done with in less than 3 months and are really tame compared to yours. We're in the middle of a federal election right now and except for the election signs on the lawns and a little snippet on the 6:00 news every night you would never know.

I always thought that Hilary Clinton was a shoe-in until Donald showed up and now that Jeb has fallen off the cliff and Bernie Sanders is steaming ahead I can't wait to see what happens next.

Oh and my opinion of all leaders and wanna-be-leaders, regardless of country (or corporations), is that they are without exception bullies and egomaniacs. You don't not want to be a leader without being so grandiose in your own head that you think you're the answer. So calling President Obama or Prime Minister Harper bullies - Yawn.

It's gotten to the point where I rarely post in the other GW forums, mostly just here. That's because over the years I've come to 'know' quite a few people here and value their opinions. But it is also because despite a number of strong personalities with equally strong opinions, everyone is by and large pretty civil here.

We have the ability to talk about any hot topic with courtesy. Let's remember that long friendships have real value when we disagree.

Bifenton I generally agree with your post, above, except that I think the current Pope is an exception to your evaluation of leaders. He genuinely seems to love people, and while not everyone agrees with everything he says, I personally don't think he is either a bully nor an egomaniac.

I'm not Catholic so my opinions are general impressions but my impressions is that Pope Francis wields power with a soft but firm voice as opposed to other world leaders, and make no mistake, he is a world leader.

What I didn't realize is that his fathers family were refugees. They left Italy as refugees, fleeing to Argentina to get away from Mussolini during WW II.

I totally agree with Chisue. Election reform has to happen before we see any changes in how this country is governed. It's going to take a long time but we at least have to make a move in the right direction. There's no reason that these campaigns last as long as they do and suck up so much money, leaving those elected indebted to God knows who.

There was a thread 2 weeks ago on The Donald, and it disappeared in a day. So post away, but know that it will probably by gone soon. Maybe I'm wrong this time?

I think you are. I posted about the donald a couple of weeks ago and the thread is still around. The only time a thread disappears permenantly is when it breaks the rules set by the host or moderator. Posting a discussion about trump is not breaking any of those rules.

About a month or so ago I posted on my facebook account the Bruce Springsteen song, "57 Channels and Nothin's On" -- noting that this is pretty much how I regard the current contenders for President. I've not yet seen anything to change my mind, although a few of the contenders are definitely more scary than others.

Thank you, friends. I am enjoying your 'civil' conversations! I currently pay little (if any) attention to all the hoopla that goes on. TV is off. DH and DS follow it somewhat, I'll wait. I do SO agree that we ned to get the "money" out of the process, but it just ain't gonna happen and I hope all that is being spent is helping the economy. It is like football or sports, lots of over-paid folks....and the public is buying.

I think the polls got it wrong. Maybe most of the replies are from those who attend rallies. A lot of level headed people aren't answering the telephone polls. especially if the pollster begins with a loaded question forcing a reply that does not reflect the interviewee stand. An example is the old saw, "Did you stop beating your spouse?"; A simple yes or no is required.

The nation has gotten tired of political huskters ringing their phones at dinner time.

To add to what jemdandy said, aren't these calls always made to landlines?

The younger vote, regardless of political affiliation are less likely to have land lines.

I'm in my early 30s and I've never had a land line since I moved out at 18. I've only ever had a cell phone.

In fact I can only think of 2 or 3 people I know that have land lines and they are all older. Even my parents and in laws have gotten rid of the superfluous landline since they all have cell phones.

Re: Hot Topics, I've browsed there a few times but I've never commented. There is no need to comment in an echo chamber. :)

Huh, I added a comment and now I see it is gone. Or perhaps I didn't post properly?

Texas_Gem:

Yes, I believe you are right that pollsters call land lines. At my location, its the long term home owners who have land lines, and they tend to be the older group of home owners. These days, a new home owner may opt to keep what he has been using: The Cellular Phone. Renters prefer cell phone because of its portability and no need for physical installation. If a renter moves, all he needs to do is inform his service of his change of billing address.

jemdandy, there are maybe a half dozen or more different ways to have
a "land line" that are self-portable, don't involve the landline phone
company, and are available to anyone without regard to whether they rent
or own where they live. Most of them are really cheap too.

My phone bill went from around $50 a month to $3. That's with
unlimited nationwide calling, something I didn't have on my old phone
company service.

I get annoying calls on my cell phone
equally as often as on the landline. I think many of the mass callers
just dial numbers in numeric sequence, where it goes is where it goes

PS - congrats to everybody for keeping a civil tone and making reasonable and non-dogmatic comments on the political topic.

How does that inexpensive landline work? I have dial up for my internet service as that is all I can get. I am not bothered by many phone calls at all on my home phone or cell phone. I have had a landline for many, many years.

Sue

I have an Ooma land line. I pay $3.83 a mo in taxes, with unlimited nationwide calling. It's just a box you buy and take with you if you moved, your phone number can move with you if you pay a "move" fee of $45. I do have high speed internet and it's required for an Ooma to work.

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/3394044/Ooma-Telo-VoIP-Home-Phone-Service/?cm_mmc=PLA--Google--Phones_Accessories-_-3394044-VQ6-42102204476-VQ16-c-VQ17-pla-VQ18-online-VQ19-3394044-VQ20-72882790436-VQ21-&gclid=CJjosLbE7McCFQooaQodo2UAlg

I thought that was the way it worked. No high speed internet here. I would not have a home phone if I had another kind of internet. Thanks.

Sue

Ooma seems to be the best of the standalone phone devices. To clarify, the $45 porting charge Nicole mentions is an upfront, one time expense. It's for moving your phone number to another service, not for moving your household to a new location - that's free. A similar charge applies when you're switching services (like landline to cell) and you want to keep your number.

Magic Jack is another hardware solution but not as well regarded. Then there are VoIP providers like Vonage. All are cheaper than the regular phone company, but all require a connection faster than dial-up. Sorry, I didn't realize anyone still had that kind of internet connection.

Another non-phone company "landline" approach is from the cell carriers, what most call "wireless home phone". The hardware is a small device/antenna, that like the others you can connect one phone or a cordless base station for multiple locations within the home.

For non-phone company internet (not phone) connections, if cable isn't available, you can consider what's called various things but generically it's an internet dongle. A USB device plugged into the PC that connects to a mobile carrier like Verizon, ATT, Sprint, etc. Those offer pretty good speed at about $50 a month, but usually limited to about 5 GB of throughput before extra charges apply.

You can also get the same effect by using your cell phone as a wifi hotspot. That consumes your cell phone data plan but can provide a faster connection than dial up or slow DSL.

Thanks for the info about alternate phone services - though several may not be available in Canada.

Thanks also for proposing a civilized/thoughtful discussion of usually controversial topics.

Is one U.S. party considering changing its mascot from a donkey (it wouldn't be appropriate to use the alternate designation of "jackass", would it?) ...

... to a trumpet?

ole joyfuelled

An Ooma device can be used anywhere in the world. I've read many accounts from people who have bought one before moving overseas, or who send them to family members back in the "old country". All that's needed is electricity and a minimal speed (faster than dial up) consistent internet connection. There are other solutions for having a free "local" US number when overseas, including Talkatone, a company that's owned by Ooma. Talkatone calls similarly go over a cell phone's data connection but incoming calls make the phone "ring" just as a regular phone call would. (A relative of mine lives abroad and we use this for phone calls).

The Ooma device has a US phone number and all calls to the device are free and from the device are free to US numbers. Likely not of value to a Canadian user except for one who makes lots of calls to the US.

Old Joyful -- The GOP party symbol is the elephant. This is Trump's affiliation. The Democratic party has the donkey. (Darned if I know why.)

Hi Chisue,

Looks like my education has been somewhat deficient, huh?

o j

Why the donkey and the elephant although who knows if this is historically accurate or not.

link donkey/elephant

It is nice to see civilized conversation here. I see quite a few people feel the same way I do about Hot Topics. Gag. I really don't think Trump will get the nomination, but what do I know? I also think he is at least energizing people and making them think and talk. We have been stagnant in this country about so many important things. And I pray Hillary Clinton is not elected.

I whole hearted support campaign reform. Only millionaires and above even stand a chance to run for any office and win. I also think term limits is absolutely necessary if we the people are going to take back our government. No one should be a career politician. No one should be there 15, 20, 30, 40 years. It's ridiculous. It's insane. It has to stop.

What katlan said about term limits. I totally agree. I forgot to include that in my comment.

Loooove my Ooma! Learned about it here 2-3 years ago, the savings have already paid for the initial investment.

Donald Trump running for president exemplifies everything that is wrong with the American political system.

This conversation has been over the river, through the woods, and back to the beginning. That's ok, an interesting journey.

Those from the opposite view to yours, jeaninwa, would use the same words to talk about Hillary. See my initial comment, the first one at the top. It still applies.