I voted this morning

[Swerd]

Our local news said there was a record LOW turnout of registered Republicans this time. I don't understand. With the biggest contrast I can ever remember seeing between candidates, how could someone not vote? Not voting means you're OK with either extreme? I just don't get it.

Political strategists (and others) have long known that the GOP does better in off-year elections where the overall voter turn out is low.

That's been the strategy with negative campaigns, they tend to turn voters off enough to keep them home on election day.

The cynic in me wonders if GOP political strategists have succeeded in doing just that in an on-year election.

 

[Swerd]

I am embarrassed for my country.

I'm embarrassed too. But ultimately, the public (includes voters and non-voters) gets the government it deserves.

 

[shadyJ]

Regarding audio, the subject of this site, this win does not bode well if our new president tried to implement his proposed trade policies. As we know, most of our electronics are made in China, along with mountains of other consumer commodities. A trade war with China will be catastrophic for home audio for Americans. We will see if Trump attempts to stick to his promises; it's not like he has a reputation for honoring his promises in the past, at least.

 

[shadyJ]

One other thing just occurred to me. Before Net Neutrality laws, the only time I could smoothly stream Netflix and Amazon content in high definition was late night to early morning. After Net Neutrality, I could stream that content anytime during the day. Trump has promised to repeal Net Neutrality laws, and that means no more high definition streaming content for me, unless I buy it from my ISP.

 

[KEW]

So, both houses of Congress and the White House. The next 2 years, (until the next election), will determine the fate of the Republican Party for probably the rest of my lifetime.

Don't expect too much. I think politicians all of a sudden get freaked out when they have control of the presidency, the house, and the senate and don't have opposition! The Years the Democrats had control of all 3 during Obama's first term and the Republicans had all with George W Bush were not as noteworthy as you might expect.
I think they are more comfortable making proposals when they know they will not get passed by the opposition and they can claim to be fighting the good fight without having to worry about whether they turn out successful when put in practice.
Kind of analgous to amplifier. It works hard to pump out watts into a resistive load, but when you remove the resistance (lower the impedance enough), it will fall flat on it's face!

 

[Swerd]

A trade war with China will be catastrophic for home audio for Americans.

I have some ageing DVD players and a 16-year old Denon AVR. They used to be worthless, maybe not anymore .

Trump has promised to repeal Net Neutrality laws, and that means no more high definition streaming content for me, unless I buy it from my ISP.

Please try to find reasons for optimism. I can be pessimistic enough on my own.

I normally find things like Fantasy Football boring enough to make me leave the room. This morning while driving into work, to avoid the dreadful news on the radio, I stumbled over the local 'Shout With the Sports Jocks' radio show and Fantasy Football never seemed so interesting .

A local superstition in the DC area has it that the presidential election can be predicted by whether the Washington Redskins win or lose the weekend before Election Day. Of course, I forget how it goes, who wins if the Skins win. Last weekend the Skins didn't play, and the previous weekend they tied a game played in London . That explains everything.

 

[KEW]

Please try to find reasons for optimism. I can be pessimistic enough on my own.

I don't know much about Pence, but there is a reasonable chance the Trump may not last long.
You got to figure there is a reason he did not make his taxes public, there are certainly some indiscretions with his non-profit charity that tax experts have said won't fly (if claimed on his taxes as a charity/deduction), and we have recorded quotes of Trump claiming that he has spoken directly with Putin and later that he has never met Putin. I don't know how well Trump can survive in an environment where so much of what he does is subject to scrutiny and ultimately public record. He is used to being in an echo chamber of sycophants.

For silver lining, it may be perverse, but I expect this to be a hell of an interesting chapter of politics/life.

 

[shadyJ]

I have some ageing DVD players and a 16-year old Denon AVR. They used to be worthless, maybe not anymore .
Please try to find reasons for optimism. I can be pessimistic enough on my own.

There isn't much to be optimistic about, but I will reiterate one thing. Trump is a populist, and, as president, me may try to maintain that popularity. If he tried to be the guy that everyone loves, then he will not pursue a trade war with China, as our economy would tank. I don't think he wants that much enmity. Best case scenario, the populist in him will restrain him from doing really disastrous things. That is my hope. If that is not the case, we are in for a very dark four years and maybe a lot longer.

 

[lovinthehd]

I suppose its more a reinforcement of the concept that there is no such thing as bad free publicity. At least the expectations have been set pretty low so it should be easy to rise above them....and hopefully half the dumb things threatened in the campaign will just become the usual campaign promises....

 

[Chu Gai]

Political strategists (and others) have long known that the GOP does better in off-year elections where the overall voter turn out is low.

That's been the strategy with negative campaigns, they tend to turn voters off enough to keep them home on election day.

The cynic in me wonders if GOP political strategists have succeeded in doing just that in an on-year election.

No political party can claim the high road when it comes to negative campaigns and ads. And as far as stragegists go, if nothing this election has showed how clueless they are.

 

[Swerd]

There isn't much to be optimistic about, but I will reiterate one thing. Trump is a populist, and, as president, me may try to maintain that popularity…

Politicians find many ways to self-destruct after winning the election campaign. Greed, paranoia, failure to keep it zipped up, internal power struggles, too much self-medication, failure to stay on daily prescribed medication, etc.

Like many politicians, Trump may have been more entertained by the contest to win the presidency than by the daily drudgery of being the leader of the free world.

Maybe he'll get bored by it all and resign like Sarah Palin after she was governor of Alaska for only 2 years. Who was that guy in the UK who resigned only a few days after the Brexit vote?

 

[mtrycrafts]

.... But i will promise you gents. This was the last time in my life I didn't vote.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

Let's hope you make it to that milestone.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Canada's immigration site is still down. Lol.

Self imposed?

 

[mtrycrafts]

...

In 2012
Obama 65.9 million, Romney 60.9 million, overall turnout 54.9%

In 2016 (these numbers may change some as the counts mature)
Trump 59.1 million, Clinton 59.3 million, overall turnout is unknown as of today

Do the math. The 2016 numbers are much smaller for both candidates than they were 4 or 8 years ago. McCain's or Romney's vote totals would have easily won yesterday. It's not so much what votes were cast, it's what votes failed to be cast.

Yes, seems like a smaller turnout. Shameful.

 

[Swerd]

I just looked at the latest numbers on wikipedia.

Trump 59,438,580 votes, 47.5% of the total
Clinton 59,647,621 votes, 47.7%
Independents 4.8% of the total

Wikipedia goes on to say "The US Elections Project estimates that 128.8 million Americans cast a ballot in 2016, out of 231 million eligible voters — a turnout rate of 55.6 percent."

Their estimate is a little high. If Trump & Clinton got 95.2% of the total votes, that becomes about 125 million votes cast. Out of 231 million eligible voters, that becomes a 54.2% turnout.

Twice in the last 16 years the Electoral College has failed by picking as winner the candidate with fewer votes on a national basis. Both times the total voter turnout was on the low side.

 

[Swerd]

Self imposed?

Maybe Canada wants to build a wall, and get the US to pay for it.

 

[panteragstk]

I know people say this all the time, but it is really nice that we can have this discussion and everyone remains civil.

I'm in Texas so I already knew who we were going to pick. I didn't vote, but this is the first time I felt bad about it. Then I look at the choices (and I actually researched and paid close attention this go round) and couldn't bring myself to vote for any of them. I'm very busy with work so getting someone to watch the kids and taking the time to write in someone's name just didn't seem worth it.

I really don't think Trump will do anything to screw up trade or even net neutrality. I don't think he actually fully understands a lot of the promises he made and when he does get that understanding his position will change. Just like all other campaign promises. Hopefully.

There were candidates that I thought I liked, but then they didn't get the party nominee. I really don't like the idea of only having two legitimate choices. Seems like we're being cheated out of someone who could potentially make good changes to help the country. Not just for presidency either.

Kinda makes me feel a little sad and hopeless. But, where I live is pretty great and I have a good family so that cheers me up. Plus you guys are all pretty awesome so there's still hope.

 

[gene]

Regarding audio, the subject of this site, this win does not bode well if our new president tried to implement his proposed trade policies. As we know, most of our electronics are made in China, along with mountains of other consumer commodities. A trade war with China will be catastrophic for home audio for Americans. We will see if Trump attempts to stick to his promises; it's not like he has a reputation for honoring his promises in the past, at least.

It all depends on which Trump presides as he changes is position on almost a daily basis. If he does make good on his promises then I better start looking at other ways to earn money b/c as you said, the audio industry will be hit very hard by a trade war. I worry more about the utter disrespect for education and science today that seems to be sweeping our nation. Trump isn't the problem, an uneducated populous is.

 

[rojo]

Please try to find reasons for optimism. I can be pessimistic enough on my own.

There's always a silver lining. With the GOP in full control of all three branches of government, deregulation and greed could push us into another global recession. And maybe when people realize that 3 of the past 4 Republican administrations will have driven us into recessions, liberals and moderates can finally convince the electorate that trickle down economics will never work as it's been pitched, and we can return to the Eisenhower days of building up the middle class again.

Of course for that to happen people have to lose their jobs and their homes again. And conservative media will find a way to spin the blame elsewhere. They'll do as they've always done and convince the lower-middle class that it's welfare and social security that are driving us into our financial struggles.

But still. We get the righteous satisfaction of proudly proclaiming, "I told you so." There's lemonade somewhere in these lemons. Isn't there?

 

[mtrycrafts]

... If that is not the case, we are in for a very dark four years and maybe a lot longer.

Well, there is an upcoming election for congress in 2 years. If congress changes stripes, he will be limited in what he can accomplish. One only needs to look at the last 6 years.