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Donald Trump supporters artificially manipulated the results of online polls to create a false narrative that the Republican nominee won the first presidential debate on Monday night.
The efforts originated from users of the pro-Trump Reddit community r/The_Donald and 4chan messaged boards, which bombarded around 70 polls, including those launched by Time, Fortune, and CNBC.
In this latest incarnation, multiple Reddit users enlisted the Trump-supporting masses on r/The_Donald, which has over 200,000 subscribers, by posting dozens of online polls that are vulnerable to vote brigading, bots, and other forms of manipulation that make these non-scientific surveys notoriously unreliable.
Polls that were not open to public voting consistently put Clinton ahead of Trump. In a flash poll by Public Policy Polling, Clinton led Trump 51 to 40. A CNN/ORC poll conducted immediately following the debate found significantly stronger support for Clinton, who topped Trump 62 to 27.
http://www.dailydot.com/layer8/trump-clinton-debate-online-polls-4chan-the-donald/
(Score: 2) by fritsd on Wednesday September 28 2016, @08:41AM
In an election system with representative voting, it is common practice that when e.g. the Greens campaign with a particularly good idea, the Social Democrats and other parties close to the Greens in the 2-D political compass "steal" it, by saying: "you don't have to be so extreme to vote Green, our party will also address this issue if you vote for us".
This is a win-win situation: regardless of who wins, the issue has become more paramount in the country's psyche, and will surely be addressed if the Greens end up as a minority partner in a governing coalition, and even likely, in a diluted form, if the Social Democrats govern with a party from further right (e.g. Christian Democrats).
After all, politics should be about that the people's issues are addressed. The fame and fortune for the politicians should just be a perk for them that we the people allow.
Translated to the USA: I don't understand why Hillary Clinton didn't say: "If you make me president, I will also take into account several of the issues raised by Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein", to "steal" those voters away.
FPTP voting systems are always so combative! If you are for the one party, you HAVE to be against the other party/parties. The reality is that consensus governing is a quite normal thing for most of us evolved primates.
Maybe politicians should be more like Bonobos, less like Gorillas?
(Score: 3, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday September 28 2016, @01:50PM
Because she has no credibility. She can't even tell the truth about having pneumonia (if in fact that's what her illness was), she's such a reflexive liar. If she can't even tell the truth about something so basic, so eminently understandable, then how can she be trusted on big things? Oh, "I'm wearing red today (when she's wearing blue), and you can trust me to shut down the TPP!" ?
People who supported Bernie are the party's base. They're the ones who show up to vote in every election, no matter how obscure. They turn out to canvass, poll watch, and do all the hard, tedious work of politics. They pay attention to the issues. Likewise the Greens, who are so few because they only retain the most fanatical; they pay attention and know the issues. None of those people will be taken in by the promises of a candidate who is not really their candidate, proven by the revelations that the DNC rigged the primary for her. At most they'll vote for Hillary out of fear of Trump, a fear that's been stoked by the Clintons and all their cronies and surrogates in every corrupt height in the country. But they won't do it gladly, and they won't go out of their way for her. People who ordinarily stand out in the rain for hours for Democratic candidates haven't even bothered themselves to put signs in their windows for her this time. I live in the People's Republic of Park Slope, Brooklyn, and I haven't seen one blessed sign for Hillary Clinton. Not one.
I hope that all those people, instead of voting for Hillary, vote for Jill Stein. A very big, loud, and clear message needs to be sent to the DNC, that progressives are not to be taken for granted any more.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Francis on Thursday September 29 2016, @12:23AM
I mostly agree, except for that bit about the Greens. The Greens remain a minor party because they show up every four years, have a barely noticeable campaign and then wait for the next Presidential election.
I'm sure they are doing more than that, but parties do best when they work their way up. Getting a Green party candidate elected to state and local offices increases the visibility of the party. And most of those down ticket elections are much less expensive to run for. A million dollars is more than enough for some of those state races. A few thousand might even be enough for city council positions.
As parties get more low members elected to low level parties it increases their visibility as well as their ability to fund raise. Trying to win the Presidency without working from the bottom up is highly unlikely to work.