Election 2016 - The day after... your thoughts?

Hey Don, what's the meaning of obtuse positions, for non-native speakers?

I searched for the term but google returned info about angles only. Nothing to help me put the comment in context.

Good point,

I guess I am referring to people who establish non-negotiable positions.

By definition, everything should be negotiable if you want agreements that benefit both sides.

If you adopt an extreme position without any recourse, then the negotiations are over and both sides lose.

Everyone needs to understand, Trump is a deal maker.  He can only make deals if he feels the terms are fair.  Therefore, everyone dealing with him will need to fully understand his definition of fair and consider their options.

DAB

Got it now! Thanks Don.

True, but then the last five elections had the same issue.

Neither party can change the system as it either benefits or punishes each side unpredictively.

For better or worse, it is what we have.

Both sides try to game the system, but they both know the rules.  You have to take the states with the right number of points to win.

That occurs regardless of the total number of votes cast.  Only the votes in each state matters, which is fair as the points represent the population distribution nation wide.

There has been a call for the popular vote option, but neither side has been willing to enact such a change for fear it will work against them.

At the time it was set up, the point system made more sense, especially with the issues about ballot stuffing skewing the popular vote tally.

There were enough questions raised in the current election to make it clear that such an election would make things even more contentious and possibly require foreign monitors stationed at all of the ballot sites.

Just a thought.

DAB

Democrats claimed that the major loss of good paying jobs was due to automation like robotics, not out-sourcing to other countries.  I disagree with that statement.  A large majority of good paying factory jobs come from small companies that cannot afford expensive robotics.  Let's bring those jobs back to the good ol' USA. 

Donkeys or elephants to blame (probably both), we need to realize that what has changed is probably not going to be unchanged: automation, job migration, etc.  There are new types of jobs available now (E.g. automated factories, greener energy).  Managers are complaining that they cannot find suitable candidates.  I know that there are still a lot of IT-related and health-related jobs available.

As the USA has evolved in the past, it is time for retraining (investment) and prepare for the next wave.  Sitting around and complaining about the "unfair" job loss to automation, Mexico, or China is not going to help. 

Of course, the USA government can help by becoming itself more efficient, simplify taxes & regulations, and encourage USA business to invest in the USA.  Watch that approval rating rise off of 13%!

I'm a Canadian living in the United States (California). I have been watching this thing unfold for about two years, and I followed along quite closely since NAFTA was part of the debates. I'm currently in the US on a NAFTA visa. I've followed the Wikileaks releases, debates, social media, etc.... I've learned more about US politics than I ever thought I would. Here is my two cents:

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) lost this election. They literally rigged the candidate they wanted instead of the most electable. This isn't news to anyone, and no one denies it. There were resignations because of it. The logic baffles me. If your candidate can't uprightly win the primary, how can you expect them to win the election? There are protests now, people burning Donald Trump dolls and whatnot. Really, they should be protesting the DNC, not Donald Trump. He's the president America deserves for what the "liberal" machine thought they could get away with.

Again, just my two cents.

I'm not following you here

Managers always complain they can't find suitable candidates after puffing up the job requirements.

Retraining is kind of a joke because whatever skills you have will not be the ones they want.

The Mrs. works in health care which pays pretty good, but is not for the faint of heart and is high risk for both disabling injuries and some nasty illnesses.

richardmeyer   Robotic automation is getting pretty reasonable, one robot (Baxter) is now about the same price as one minimum wage employee's annual salary.

Granted they are not as flexible as a person, but they are starting to look very attractive for repetitious production activities.

two to five more years and you will not be able to run without them.

Hopefully politics doesn't leak from the bounds of this single thread, but it does affect us all.

I don't think either candidate would be particularly good for me, my profession or my country, but I think they would both make staunch US presidents trying to do what is best for their country.

How about this for an off-the-wall theory about why it went the way it did? The admittedly liberal media painted Trump in such an unfavorable light, it became politically incorrect to openly show support for Trump. Consequently all the polls were wrong, which lulled the Democrats into thinking it would be a landslide and they didn't have to get out and vote..