If you count "voting for someone other than HRC or DJT," then absolutely. I was in my home town last week, and I had lunch one day with 6 guys, all social conservatives, all said planning to vote 3rd party "unless Trump picks a true conservative as his VP. If that happened, I'd have to think and pray about it more."

I have to admit, Pence looks pretty good on paper when you see this list
http://www.ontheissues.org/IN/Mike_Pence.htm

The age of some of those positions (a decade old in numerous cases) is a concern, but the only obvious misstep I saw was once voting for giving DC an electoral vote.

He's not gonna rehab Trump for me but I can see, based on this at least, how he could for others.

Pence also has the same number of letters and syllables as Trump. His name won't overshadow Trump's when saying them together. It may have been a consideration ;).

Looks like the kind of person for whom people might say "I like the cut of his jib"

"Not worth a Trumppence"

I'm not sure, however, that most of the states where social conservatives hold a sizable enough voting block were ever going to be seriously threatened to go Hillary.

A bump in social conservative votes aren't going to flip the swing states.

I tend to agree with that. I was just answering his specific question.

Maybe not so much the saying of them, but perhaps the signage?

Well if you want nice signage, CHRISTie looks good on a sign when trying to appeal to religious voters ;).

Funny. A few months ago people were predicting a split in the party and the end of the GOP as we know it.

Now, Trump is picking an establishment guy as his VP, and the race is tight and it looks like it will be some version of the same map we've had since 2000.

anyone willing to put some money on trump to win, please pm me.

Eh, a lot of people really want to get behind Trump's policies if only he wouldn't so explicitly spell out the intention behind them. 3 months of him sounding more 'establishment' is plenty of time for voters like that to forget about the last however many years.

He only has sound bites, not policy.

You know you're probably right - all the better reason to take my money while the offer's good.

Yeah, but you know the debates are right around the corner, and if anyone can get those intentions out in the open it's Hillary Clinton.

Yeah, she'd surely be better at it than one of the 25 Republicans, but the bar is set so low that he could make it through the debates without making some comment about Hillary's appearance or some obvious insinuation that she's a hysterical woman incapable of governing, and it would cause people to say 'hmm, maybe he's turned over a new leaf.' Could be as evasive as he wants in terms of the actual answers he gives. Not likely, but not out of the realm of possibility.

This is a political thread, Ben. I expect much more anger and belittlement in your response. :D

There really isn't ANY situation where Christie looks good.

Not even to his own mother most likely.

If it is a terrorist incident in Nice, Trump will have more ammunition.

I agree that there is time for Trump to be more "presidential". Hoping Hillary has some good stuff on him to trickle out for next several months.

In the past few years I've had to put up with Pence and his outlandishly stupid ideas and comments. He's almost out of touch with reality. He tried to push for state run media till his handlers told him that was a bad idea. He has boasted about having a budget surplus while Indiana roads fall apart and education/health cuts continue. He botched the handling of the RFRA measures here. He turned his back on federal funding for preschools two years ago only to inquire about it this year...an election year. He's a farce. My poor state. Dan Quayle and now him.

yeah I'm certainly not a fan after his thinly veiled "religious liberty" law fiasco in 2015, which would have allowed people/businesses to discriminate against LGBT people for religious purposes. He finally had to walk it back due to nationwide outcry. Here's a take on him that shows in unflattering terms why he's a perfect pick for Trump's VP:

Vacuous anti-gay coward Mike Pence is a perfect VP pick for Trump.

He's also going to get hammered on public health.

He may get the social conservatives to rethink things, but he drives independents further toward Clinton.

In a way, I almost prefer Gingrich to be VP candidate. Otherwise he might end up as Homeland Security director.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/15/politi...iew/index.html

I don't disagree about "is in a war" and monitoring mosques but testing *everyone* of Muslim background doesn't sit well with me. It's not practical and doubtful how effective it will be.

However, it looks as if parents/siblings of people who commit terror get a free pass (e.g. they say very sorry, go into hiding and are not heard from again). In my emotional state right now, I would find that Tunisian guy's family and kick them the hell out of the country.

Exactly. I don't live far from the town that had the massive HIV outbreak. Pence promoted his efforts for the needle exchange program and his reaction to it, but it was the health cuts that put so many in bad shape to begin with.

Gingrich's plan only has a few holes, it's unconstitutional, it could be outsmarted by a first grader, and has no explanation as to where we would deport people.

See the gay marriage thread. Space. Orgies. Two birds. One stone.

Has anyone told Gingrich that deporting US citizens may be a weee bit difficult?

I'm not for deportation of anybody convicted of inciting violence. Our hate crime laws sufficiently cover that for US citizens.

Yeah, whatever happened to being able to banish people, anyway? :D

GOP policy is too often just a collection of hot takes.

So Pence is now official.

The favorites for the Democratic VP slot have become (as far as I can tell) Tim Kaine and Tom Vilsack - safe older white guys.

I'm pretty sure white people stopped that practice centuries ago. :)

I do love the simplicity of the Muslim test

Excuse me sir, I'm from the INS. Are you a good muslim or a bad muslim?
Uhhh... a good one?
Thank you, have a nice day!

:thumbsup:

If he wants to deport Muslims over Sharia law, then what about Mormons, Orthodox Jews and Christian Scientists?

nah, he still needs Ben Carson as his black friend.

He's not saying Islam. Islam can be practiced anywhere. But Sharia Law is completely illegal to human and civil rights. if anybody in our country actually were to adhere to it, they would be convicted of a crime. It's completely incompatible with the liberal progressive social and Western society. It cannot be practiced quietly in a mosque. It's brutality and barbarianism from a time past.

I'm not sure why you would defend its use.

It's the English Inquisition! Eddie Izzard-Cake or Death - YouTube

Nicely done - my absolute favorite comedy sketch of all time bar none :D

Most Muslims believe in, at least, some parts of Sharia. Where do you think the prohibition against eating pork arises from? Sharia is mostly about how to live and keep the purity laws, and partially how to run a county.

I get it (mostly). I think we also get that the IS has upped their game on adherence. And they expand through communication. And followers can be anywhere. If people want to follow something as closely as the IS is, they aren't welcome here and basically anywhere. Sorry. Freedom of religion cannot mean, I can behave illegally towards accepted American and Western and modern Muslim laws.

We fight here over stuff like "The pledge of allegiance" and "In God we trust". I'm not gonna go backwards and fight over the ability to chop off hands or the ability to dehumanize women or burn opponents alive.

Those Americans will simply have to calm down.

LOL, you are talking as if there are places in the US looking to cut off hands and burn women. We already have laws against that, all of which take priority over however you are oddly defining sharia law. Also, the idea that people will be either a) truthful about what they believe and b) can be legally removed without due process as citizens is absurd.

You know there are people who believe that, because of their religion, gays should be put to death. That doesn't mean they are running around killing gay people, though (the most public act they may do is saying it should be the law from the pulpit). That is in no way illegal, while it is backwards.

Holy crap, THIS is the Trump/Pence logo...



Does no one check anything on that campaign?!

The GOP wants TP for their bunghole? :)

Good article on what Sharia actually is: Nice Attack: Sharia Does Not Mean What Newt Gingrich Thinks It Means - The Atlantic

I can just see the new reality show coming from Gingrich's comments: The Muslims Next Door. :)

One of the best points made in that article is that Israel has sharia courts:

http://www.justice.gov.il/En/Units/S...s/default.aspx

Charleston Gazette-Mail | WV delegate calls for Clinton to be executed

I guess we know this isn't our Pilot.

And subject to internet ridicule, the logo is no more, LOL. New one is without the pornographic part.