Presidential Election Aftermath: What Now / What Next?

I couldn't help but bust up laughing at the end of that video when Jeb puts on the hoodie. I don't know why, that just looked hilarious!

 

Bernie's endorsement of Hillary is so powerful... Waiting a week after she was cleared by the FBI to finally endorse her.

... No matter what he says, that just screams: "I thought I still had a chance because she is corrupt/incompetent and could've/should've been indicted by the FBI ... but now you should go vote for her!"

 

Johnson is almost a polar opposite to Bernie on a lot of policies, but I agree that it would've been awesome to have Bernie back him and explain that it's possible to vote strategically. If you can't stand the idea of a Trump presidency and you're in a battleground state, you might have to vote for Hillary. But if you're in a state that is already overwhelmingly blue, you can probably afford to vote Johnson.

It doesn't even matter what his policies are. He's not going to win. It's about sending a message to the establishment. Hillary expects some of the liberals who are against her to fall in line and vote for her. Suddenly on Election Day, she sees that what was supposed to be a huge victory in certain states ends up being closer with a key demographic throwing a lot of support to Johnson instead of bending the knee for her. Suddenly she realizes that she can't take certain demographics for granted and will actually have to try harder to appeal to them if she wants to be re-elected in 4 years.

On top of that, the better Johnson does, the more likely the Libertarian party can get public funding and be included in debates down the line. I've been told by some democrats that not voting for Hillary is essentially the same as voting for Trump. Not true. It's a vote to chip away at the two-party system.

With that said, if Jill Stein actually cared about what she preaches, she should drop out of the race. Again, she is totally against Johnson on a lot of policies, but it's clear she won't even get close to beating Johnson in the polls, yet alone win the presidency. Drop out so that the people who are frustrated with having to chose between Hillary and Donald can consolidate behind Johnson. A strong showing for the Libertarian party will do more to unhinge us from the two-party system than mediocre showings from the Libertarians AND Greens IMO.

 

Trump hasn't officially announced anything yet. Just "sources." Knowing him, he's toying with the media and is gonna end up picking someone else...

I also don't know much about Pence, but from what I've read, he's not very well liked in Indiana and would have a decent chance of losing re-election. He's super socially conservative. Anti-gay, pro-life, etc.

I was hoping Trump's VP pick would try to appeal to the independents who don't want to vote for Hilary, but if he does go with Pence, it seems like he's going the opposite route and picking someone super conservative to appease the republicans he's alienated.