The Observation Deck

As covered here on the Deck, the Bernie Sanders campaign has been pretty active here in the 'Wood.
The local volunteers set up an office, and have held multiple events in town.
I've seen a handful of yard signs, too.

I haven't heard of any Hillary events, but I assume that she'll be heavily supported by many local officeholders.
I haven't noticed any Republican activity either (perhaps I should ask the Mayor!).

The Iowa Caucus is less than a week away, so it's time to start thinking about the campaign.

Here are some survey questions that might spark some interesting discussion:

Who are you supporting? Why?

If Bernie is still competitive on March 15, who do you think will carry the Lakewood vote...Hillary's Machine or Bernie's upstart volunteers?

If the GOP race is still happening on March 15, which candidate will win Lakewood? Will it be the remaining "establishment candidate" (whoever is still alive among Bush, Kasich, Rubio) or Trump? Does anyone know if Trump is getting much support here in the 'Wood?

don't expect Hillary to mix with the "commoners" of Lakewood. why solicit money from the working class when you can funnel it through your foundation? donors with a big "d", am I right?

my son is 18 and a senior in high school. seems the youngins love them some Bernie. from what I can tell from listening to my son and his cohorts, Hillary is in trouble. thank god.

Lakewood will split on the democratic ticket and go Rubio on the republican side. Lakewood republicans are predictable and will follow the safe candidate. just establishment enough.

myself, I support trump. his interests lie in America and he is the only candidate who seems to care about our country. he is the only one that I trust to boost America's economy. part time jobs aren't cutting it. that's my number one concern. the economy. trump is the only one talking about it. everyone else is trying to keep up.

Trump. He needs to talk more truth, get rid of this, cut out that, fix this, more military, run America as well as he runs his business, successful, growing, profiting, I'll be happy in bed. Build everything up, the roads, the neighborhoods, give property owners a break, a no interest loan, so we can improve our properties, imagine the jobs, and the fresh new look of the storefronts in our neighborhoods, making America great again. Entitlements, ok, but you have to bring something to the table, maybe community service? This country needs to be run like a business, it is a business, we need a business man to run it, Donald Trump will not fail, us.... = US, UNITED STATES of America.

The more voters, who are receiving entitlements, will vote Democratic, don't let them steal anymore from us, the better everything is, the more tax generated, the more everyone will profit. Offer us, the UNITED STATES what we want, tight boarders, security, lower taxes, legalize medical pot, MORE POLICE, thousands more. He will make us safe, in our neighborhoods., and make America Great Again.

Although I believe in a better healthcare system, that is generally as liberal as I go.

At this point, I have to support Trump. I feel that his immigration, foreign, and economic policies are great. It is also refreshing that he will be very difficult, if not impossible to "buy."

The GOP establishment will likely tear themselves to shreds if they don't unite quickly.

Bernie is the candidate for Lakewood even though he and Hillary will probably be in close race by March.
I'm not sure who I'd vote for right now as Bernie's positions line up nicely with my preferences, while I think Hillary will be the better executive.
But I'm not sure either of them can take Trump who is something we've never seen before: A profane, arrogant, obnoxious populist with a "HUGE" following. His comment about shooting someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose support was awful, but kind of true.

Let's see what happens when people start voting.

Dan Alaimo wrote:
Let's see what happens when people start voting.

The vast majority of Trump "supporters" wouldn't even know where to go to vote. By "Super Tuesday" The Donald will be a footnote on this election.

I feel that regardless of who gets in, it is going to take a miracle to get us out of the hole we have been in for the past almost eight years.

Mike,

Interesting thread. As a millennial, in my opinion, the biggest issue facing this country for the next 20-30 years is campaign finance reform. Citizens United has delivered a fatal blow to the democratic process and fewer people can afford to donate large sums of money to candidates.

On a national level, around 158 families have funded half of the monies directed towards presidential candidates from both parties:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015 ... .html?_r=0

Regarding Bernie Sanders

Bernie draws younger voters because he speaks in terms of economic populism. Bernie is the only candidate to speak about the effects of student loan debt. It's over 1 trillion dollars now and will cripple the economy in the next 10-15 years. In my opinion, Hillary Clinton has taken too much money from Wall St. to effectively regulate them. Bernie Sanders will hold Wall St. accountable.

Bernie wants to expand earned benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

Finally, I think the Donald Trump phenomenon is partly rooted in economic populism. Many Americans feel the deck is stacked against them in favor of lobbyists, the drug companies and Wall St. hedge fund managers.

Nadhal

Peter Grossetti wrote:The vast majority of Trump "supporters" wouldn't even know where to go to vote. By "Super Tuesday" The Donald will be a footnote on this election.

I don't think so.....everyone has been underestimating Trump all along. He might not win Iowa, but he's going to be a major factor throughout the campaign (if not the nominee). In fact, he's already had an immense impact...he pushed out Walker and has neutered Jeb!...those two were the original favorites.

I'm looking for the article, and I'll post when I find it, but there were indications that a lot of Trump "supporters" and rally goers were not even registered voters. It will be interesting to see if that affects his numbers.

What I find amusing is the "populist" appeal of Trump. Come on, the guy's a multi-billionaire - do you think he really "feels your pain?"

It's worth noting that Trump hasn't been a real estate developer in some time, or even much of a businessman. He makes his money by licensing the Trump name. So populism suits his business plan. Maybe that will change if he becomes a serious candidate, but it doesn't look like it will right now.

I thought this was a survey as to what Lakewood might think about the presidential race.

who do support and why.

it's very telling that the responses all have to do with Trump.

he scares you.

so, who do you support and why?

kate e parker wrote:I thought this was a survey as to what Lakewood might think about the presidential race.

who do support and why.

it's very telling that the responses all have to do with Trump.

he scares you.

so, who do you support and why?

Not afraid of Trump, embracing the experience.

Not really sure yet, the hippie in me leans towards Sanders.

The thought of a Sanders Trump race seems intriguing.

Trump is putting together an ever more cohesive platform at least in debate and on the stump.

Hillary is a vote for the one party, the other two blow open the system.

We shall see.


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Lori Allen _ wrote:I feel that regardless of who gets in, it is going to take a miracle to get us out of the hole we have been in for the past almost eight years.

Let's give credit where credit is due. The hole we've been in goes back about 16 years, and we've been making slow but steady progress climbing out of it. Under a President Clinton, it might have been faster, but we really can't know that.

All I can say is, my family was light years better off financially under Bush and I feel that the country was light years safer under Bush. This is coming from a person that did not vote for Bush either time. However, I believe now that the hole is getting deeper and wider.

I mean, we are making friends with Iran, quite possibly the biggest sponsor of terrorism. Combine this with stripping local police of riot gear and I do not feel safe.

We have added trillions to the national debt under the Obama administration. What do we really have to show for it besides "free this, free that", and Obama phones?

IMO.