2016 Election

[DaLittle B]

The 1 person I wanted,or was hoping to they'd run didn't...(I've been enamored with the stuff they say when I hear them speak,etc.)

This year especially,I wish the U.S. held elections like the U.K. elections.

[CF DolFan]

And if you read a little further in the article it goes to rank him the second most overrated President behind Kennedy. Interesting.

That's pretty normal actually. It's because people of the other parties like to say that about the other's popular president. You get most popular then everyone who didn't vote you will vote you most overated.

[Spider-Dan]

I'd say Democrats have a pretty high opinion of the first Republican President.  In fact, I'd say most of his detractors are Republicans.

To be honest, I would probably compare Reagan to Bill Clinton.  Although they both had a major influence on their parties over the span of a few decades, I'm not sure that either one of them will be too memorable when everyone that's currently alive is dead; I think they are both overrated by people that overemphasize the historical importance of events relevant to themselves.

I think the most famous Presidents of the 20th century will be FDR and Teddy (the latter exclusively because of Mt. Rushmore).  (edit: also Nixon, unless we have a string of resignations-under-scandal at some point)  Similarly, I doubt most Americans today would be able to name more than three 19th-century Presidents.

[Rich]

I think he was referring to Reagan.

I know he was.

[Rich]

One could argue that Reagan was a benefactor of the times economically. And that he did nothing especially noteworthy compared to others.

One could argue that he engaged in a criminal conspiracy and was only spared by a patsy falling on the sword.

One could argue that Reagan responded to the AIDS crisis in an abhorrent and inhumane way.

One could argue that he did not in fact do a damn good job, and that history would judge him as a middle of the road president.

This seems like a pointless post as one could argue that any president didn't do a good job by picking certain items and putting a different perspective on them.

[Fau Teixeira]

i guess one could argue anything .. but the topic was that reagan was a damn good president .. i don't even buy the good part .. he was a pretty middle of the road president

[Spider-Dan]

I think Reagan and JFK are both products of baby-boomer-centric bias.  I don't think either of them had outsized historical impact, and 100 years from now they will be viewed the same way we view Grover Cleveland or William McKinley now.

[bsmooth]

The two things Reagan gets credit for, were the results of other people's work.
1. Volker crushed stagflation coming out of the 70's and had it eliminated by 1982. Of course everyone gives Reagan and his supply side economics the credit for the economy's recovery. Even one of the creators of trickle down economics has admitted it was an economic lie, and that Reagan hid a trillion dollars off the books.
2. The Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was in a decline when Kruschev took over. That is why he started trying to make reforms to halt the decline and turn things around. It is also what got him retired from office, without his approval. By the time Reagan got into office and started his massive military buildup, the Soviet Union was done. Gorbechev was begging every world leader, to include Reagan for loans, and Reagan said no in 85. It was just a matter of waiting for the apparatus to collapse in on itself. It would have collapsed if someone else was president.
So Reagan is not a great president. His reputation has ridden high on the tailcoats of the work and issues that came years before he became president.
We have not even gotten into the various scandals and prosecutions that took place as a result of our affairs in Central America.

[Rich]

The two things Reagan gets credit for, were the results of other people's work.
1. Volker crushed stagflation coming out of the 70's and had it eliminated by 1982. Of course everyone gives Reagan and his supply side economics the credit for the economy's recovery. Even one of the creators of trickle down economics has admitted it was an economic lie, and that Reagan hid a trillion dollars off the books.
2. The Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was in a decline when Kruschev took over. That is why he started trying to make reforms to halt the decline and turn things around. It is also what got him retired from office, without his approval. By the time Reagan got into office and started his massive military buildup, the Soviet Union was done. Gorbechev was begging every world leader, to include Reagan for loans, and Reagan said no in 85. It was just a matter of waiting for the apparatus to collapse in on itself. It would have collapsed if someone else was president.
So Reagan is not a great president. His reputation has ridden high on the tailcoats of the work and issues that came years before he became president.
We have not even gotten into the various scandals and prosecutions that took place as a result of our affairs in Central America.

If only economics and geopolitics were as simple to explain as two paragraphs on a message board...

Hey Clinton gets credit for balanced budgets and a growing economy during the dotcom bubble and Bush gets the blame for a recession that actually started under Clinton.

The fact of the matter is the ups and downs of an economy and the rise and fall of empires are too complicated to point to one or two things.

[Spider-Dan]

Are you saying that the dotcom recession lasted from 2000 throughout Dubya's entire presidency?  Or that the 2008 collapse started under Clinton?

[masterfins]

Back to the original topic, the 2016 elections if you forgot, the only candidate still running that I would feel good about voting for is John Kasich.  He has executive office experience, and I think his stance on most issues comes as close to the middle of issues, which is where most Americans are.  Not to mention I think he is the candidate that would have the best chance of forming a coalition between the highly political divided Congress.

I never thought I'd say this, but if Kasich drops out I think Trump would be the best remaining candidate.

[Cathal]

Back to the original topic, the 2016 elections if you forgot, the only candidate still running that I would feel good about voting for is John Kasich.  He has executive office experience, and I think his stance on most issues comes as close to the middle of issues, which is where most Americans are.  Not to mention I think he is the candidate that would have the best chance of forming a coalition between the highly political divided Congress.

I never thought I'd say this, but if Kasich drops out I think Trump would be the best remaining candidate.

What has Trump ever said throughout this entire time that would make you think Trump is a good idea?

[bsmooth]

If only economics and geopolitics were as simple to explain as two paragraphs on a message board...

Hey Clinton gets credit for balanced budgets and a growing economy during the dotcom bubble and Bush gets the blame for a recession that actually started under Clinton.

The fact of the matter is the ups and downs of an economy and the rise and fall of empires are too complicated to point to one or two things.

Not really. You can point to turning points, or individuals who took measures to bring about change. Reagan gets credit for two things he had little to no effect on.

[Sunstroke]

What has Trump ever said throughout this entire time that would make you think Trump is a good idea?

My thoughts exactly. I also think you could take 99.4% of all Trump comments and file them under one of two categories, "Incite" or "Insult."

[Spider-Dan]

Trump is the only national Republican in the last... century?... to not actively attack working-class Americans; most other GOP politicians prefer to  prop up multinational corporations (and to be fair, there are many corporatist Democrats that do the same).  He has advocated for many protectionist policies (particularly regarding Mexico and China) that can definitely have an appeal to Rust Belt Americans that have seen their jobs shipped off to foreign country after foreign country.

There will always be a place in politics for blaming the other.  Sometimes the other is people of different race; sometimes it's people from other countries; sometimes it's people of different religion, or different sexual orientation, or economic class (and yes, sometimes the other is rich people).  I believe Trump's particular targets for the other resonate strongly with working-class Republicans who have told for decades that their jobs need to be shipped off for the benefit of "capitalism" (read: corporate profits).