3 ms·

Who will vote for him then? I am honestly curious. My impression was that young voters (users of the internet) were the key to Obama's success last time. Are th

Who will vote for him then? I am honestly curious. My impression was that young voters (users of the internet) were the key to Obama's success last time. Are the other republican candidates so weak that Obama can just scoop up a bunch of their voters?

pasbesoin 15y ago
Start asking around, and find out how many people (outside your circle of informed technical friends) even know that SOPA/PIPA are happening (just their existence/names, not to mention what they are about). (Hint: Not many, in my experience.)
- functionoid 15y ago
  I agree.
- RexRollman 15y ago
  It's just like privacy related issues. People seem to be totally apathetic about it.
RexRollman 15y ago
Considering the qualities of the republican candidates trying to meet him in the general elections, he could be the lesser of two evils. But frankly, I am so disillusioned with both parties, I don't even know how to feel anymore.
nl 15y ago
Two scenarios seem likely: 1) The Republican party will nominate Mitt Romney, and the election will be a closely contested competition between two men who are disliked by the most active parts of their respective parties. 2) The Republicans will nominate one of the crazy brigade, who will have a small set of very loud proponents but will scare moderate Republicans enough not to vote, and scare Democrats and independents enough that they will turn up to vote for Obama. (There are other, less likely options. Huntsman is centralist enough to gets votes from unsatisfied independents, and I think Perry could win if he managed to get the nomination. http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/how-can-romney-lose/ http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/how-can-... is a good summary of the current state of the Republican race)
- jjackson21 15y ago
  3) Republican party wakes up and realizes they have an amazing opportunity to beat Obama if they nominate Ron Paul - who opposes SOPA http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3250330 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3250330 but the Republican establishment would rather have 4 more years of corporatism under Obama than that.
  - nl 15y ago
    I understand Paul has some support on HN, and I even understand why, but there is no way that he can win the election. This isn't because of some conspiricy, but simply because what he believes isn't supported by enough people. Worse, many (most?) actively oppose at least some of his policies. Not only will Democrats oppose him, but most Republicans don't believe he represents them (see recent comments from various Republicans about how they wouldn't vote for him) (Personally, I think SOPA passing would be a minor price to pay compared to Paul becoming President (and I am totally opposed to SOPA - I just think its importance is much less than some of the things Paul would do))
  - ars 15y ago
    Ron Paul has absolutely no chance of winning. Among many other things, his support for Israel is poor to non existent, and someone who doesn't support Israel has no chance of winning. Support for Israel is around 63% in the general public, and in the high 80's among Republicans. His positions on a host of other things appear completely crazy to most people, and they'll never vote for him.

pasbesoin 15y ago

Start asking around, and find out how many people (outside your circle of informed technical friends) even know that SOPA/PIPA are happening (just their existence/names, not to mention what they are about). (Hint: Not many, in my experience.)

functionoid 15y ago
I agree.
RexRollman 15y ago
It's just like privacy related issues. People seem to be totally apathetic about it.

RexRollman 15y ago

Considering the qualities of the republican candidates trying to meet him in the general elections, he could be the lesser of two evils. But frankly, I am so disillusioned with both parties, I don't even know how to feel anymore.

nl 15y ago

Two scenarios seem likely: 1) The Republican party will nominate Mitt Romney, and the election will be a closely contested competition between two men who are disliked by the most active parts of their respective parties. 2) The Republicans will nominate one of the crazy brigade, who will have a small set of very loud proponents but will scare moderate Republicans enough not to vote, and scare Democrats and independents enough that they will turn up to vote for Obama. (There are other, less likely options. Huntsman is centralist enough to gets votes from unsatisfied independents, and I think Perry could win if he managed to get the nomination. http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/how-can-romney-lose/ http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/how-can-... is a good summary of the current state of the Republican race)

jjackson21 15y ago
3) Republican party wakes up and realizes they have an amazing opportunity to beat Obama if they nominate Ron Paul - who opposes SOPA http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3250330 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3250330 but the Republican establishment would rather have 4 more years of corporatism under Obama than that.
- nl 15y ago
  I understand Paul has some support on HN, and I even understand why, but there is no way that he can win the election. This isn't because of some conspiricy, but simply because what he believes isn't supported by enough people. Worse, many (most?) actively oppose at least some of his policies. Not only will Democrats oppose him, but most Republicans don't believe he represents them (see recent comments from various Republicans about how they wouldn't vote for him) (Personally, I think SOPA passing would be a minor price to pay compared to Paul becoming President (and I am totally opposed to SOPA - I just think its importance is much less than some of the things Paul would do))
- ars 15y ago
  Ron Paul has absolutely no chance of winning. Among many other things, his support for Israel is poor to non existent, and someone who doesn't support Israel has no chance of winning. Support for Israel is around 63% in the general public, and in the high 80's among Republicans. His positions on a host of other things appear completely crazy to most people, and they'll never vote for him.