The Political Thread

[Hawkmumbler]

I requires impeachment, but i'll take an assassination if it's what it takes to get the job done.

(Sarcasm/end)

But no, seriously, the man wasn't democratically elected. The 3 Million in Hillary's favor shows that.

[Old Tankie]

So most UK governments have not been democratically elected then?

[Hawkmumbler]

Oh hey Mr.Strawman, knew I hadn't seen you about for awhile!

[Old Tankie]

Why do you insult me? Why not just disagree with me in a decent manner?

[Hawkmumbler]

[Old Tankie]

Is that your answer? How old are you?

[Frank]

... the man wasn't democratically elected. The 3 Million in Hillary's favor shows that.

So most UK governments have not been democratically elected then?

There have only been three instances in modern times when a UK government has been formed by a party that won fewer votes than their main opponent. Churchill's post-WWII administration was one instance.

Only the present incumbent and George W Bush have done the same in modern day USA, but - unlike Bush in 2000 - there's absolutely no reason to claim Trump wasn't democratically elected.

You're both demonstrably wrong.

[Old Tankie]

Different system of course, but very few UK governments in modern times have had the majority of the popular vote, that was the point I was trying to make.

[Leigh S]

I'm not sureI am misreading something here (in the world of alternative facts s easy to do!), but hasn't Frank just said that most modern UK gvts (and US ones for that matter) DID have the majority?

[Steve Green]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_general_elections_overview

[Old Tankie]

If he is saying that about the UK popular vote he is wrong, very few UK governments since the Second World War have been elected with the majority of the vote.

[Frank]

hasn't Frank just said that most modern UK gvts (and US ones for that matter) DID have the majority?

We're getting deep into the realm of stuff that nobody gives a shite about, but in terms of the popular vote, most governments are formed by the party that earns a plurality rather than an outright majority. They win more votes than any of their opponents, but not more than all their opponents combined.

Tankie's correct to say no UK government has ever won a majority, but the vast majority of UK governments are formed by a party that won more votes than the second placed party.

All this is doubly academic, since the outcomes of UK and US elections are not based on the popular vote.

[Old Tankie]

2010.

[TordelBack]

All this is doubly academic, since the outcomes of UK and US elections are not based on the popular vote.

This focus on Trump's 'popular vote' defeat is a ghastly red herring - he played the game and he won the Presidency by the electoral rules of the country.  It's about the only uncontestable thing about the whole vile lying cheating mess that is his very existence. By banging on about this his opponents are placing themselves squarely 'against the Constitution and the democratic will of the people', which is right where Bannon et al want them.

[Hawkmumbler]

All this is doubly academic, since the outcomes of UK and US elections are not based on the popular vote.

This focus on Trump's 'popular vote' defeat is a ghastly red herring - he played the game and he won the Presidency by the electoral rules of the country.  It's about the only uncontestable thing about the whole vile lying cheating mess that is his very existence. By banging on about this his opponents are placing themselves squarely 'against the Constitution and the democratic will of the people', which is right where Bannon et al want them.

Hhhmmm, very true. It does smart a little bit that it WAS the Electoral College that saved him, after a year of him constantly bashing the system.