Qassändra

Legends really is UTTERLY DYING for the second chorus to smash into a double chorus where it ALL GOES OFF But that said if it HAD ONE I'd be screaming HARROGATE 2019 right now so that may well be an active decision on the BBC's part

Yes, I can definitely see a joint ticket of two near-80 year olds going down well given the purpose of the role of the vice presidency.

He has a 75% approval rating but only 16% supporting him, coming from 40%. That...is not a good position.

A S A N D A

It's the Democratic primaries. As a rule, Democrats tend to form the bulk of the voters in them. Hint's in the name. And anyway:

For what it's worth, Sanders is currently polling at 16% in the Democratic primary polls - which is astoundingly bad for someone who has near-universal name recognition and came 2nd with 40% two years ago. Implies his coalition isn't quite as solidly behind him as you think.

I mean...esoteric a point though this is, are you really saying that the WAY FORWARD for France would've been for the Revolution to not happen?!

:manson:

Utter fucking nonsense even on its own grounds. More people voted for female candidates than Trump in the deciding states he won.

Well, it wasn't really their main line of attack on Trump, and in any case it comes down to primary voters. I think the last election showed if anything the limits of the idea that the party decides who to run.

Why would Harris or Gillibrand likely do worse than the now seemingly commonly agreed worst candidate to ever exist in the history of ever Hillary Clinton, who came within 50,000 votes of defeating a president who has unquestionably confirmed a lot of the worst expectations of the people who were sceptical of him but gave him a chance with their vote? (there is one answer I can think of on this that doesn't relate to the candidates themselves)

The only reason you take on that job is if you hope to be President.

Why confidently that the first female US president will be a Republican? At this (admittedly early) stage I'd give it greater than evens odds that the Democrats will have a female candidate next time, and I'd give it considerably greater than evens odds that the Democrats will win the next presidential election if all Trump does for the next three years is talk to his base, given how narrow his win was in 2016.

Is there any clue at all on sales figures? For New Rules, if nothing else.

I think Thanet South could be a Labour gain if it comes to a by-election you know. Outside chance, but I think it's possible.

Gillibrand is killing it at the moment, but I didn't bother making nominee predictions mostly as I remember Scott Walker, Jeb! and Chris Christie were the favourites for the Republicans in 2013.

Yes, but that's a pretty undemocratic system too.

Good GRIEF at people suggesting JONATHAN PISSING PIE Sadiq Khan

- Labour and the Conservatives continue to nip at each other in the polls at the 40-all level for most of the year, with *maybe* some seepage to take Labour to the mid-40s and sag the Tories to the mid-30s. The 2018 locals see Labour absolutely demolish it in London and make decent seat gains nationally thanks to their rise since 2014, but gain relatively fewer councils nationwide than expected thanks to a stronger than expected turnout for the Tories. - Theresa May is still prime minister by the end of 2018, but a vote of no confidence is called among Tory MPs at some point by the hard Brexiteers out of dissatisfaction at the negotiations. May wins comfortably with at least 250 votes despite everyone still thinking she's useless, as the various factions other than the hard Brexiteers combine to back her in the hope of keeping her in place until after Brexit negotiations are completed. - Labour's overwhelming performance in the cities compared with towns leads to another futile round of murmurs and fretting among Corbynsceptics over whether Corbyn can win a general election. Corbyn still leads with overwhelming support in the party by the end of the year. On succession plans, Angela Rayner becomes the default candidate of the party's right, while Emily Thornberry continues to flirt with the party base and maintains her position as the activists' darling. The radical left begin to panic as Rebecca Long-Bailey fails to establish herself with supporters as the natural successor to Corbyn and increasingly turn towards grooming Kate Osamor as their preferred candidate. - UKIP marginally increase in the polls after Theresa May wins her vote of no confidence, despite Henry Bolton being utterly useless. - Vince Cable either resigns or is close to resigning as leader of the Lib Dems after a year of failing to make headway. If he leaves, he is replaced uncontested by Jo Swinson. Layla Moran wins the deputy leader election. A fresh face sees the Lib Dems start hitting double figures again in the polls from time to time, but not consistently. - GB poll average at the end of 2018: LAB 43, CON 37, LD 8, UKIP 7, NAT 3, GRN 2 - Richard Leonard and Ruth Davidson continue to marginally chip away at the SNP poll lead, with Leonard winning over some old-time religion voters and Davidson winning over some of the more centre-ground voters (of the type won over by the SNP council tax freeze) who increasingly lose patience with the SNP. The SNP still lead - by a whisker - the end of 2018. Murmurs start to gather around Davidson's future plans despite the bump as the Tories consistently poll in third place, leading to fretting columns rising back to the surface over whether the Tories can actually win in Scotland. - Scottish poll average at the end of 2018: SNP 34, SLAB 32, SCON 27, SGREEN 3, SLD 2 - The 2018 US midterms see a wave election for the Democrats, who retake the House and the Senate with astounding gains, including winning both Arizona Senate seats after John McCain dies and unseating Ted Cruz in Texas. After a year of demonisation by Republican activists for 'obstructing' Trump's plans in the Senate, Susan Collins defects from the GOP to the Democrats after the election. - Macron's plans for closer fiscal union in the EU27 fail despite support from Merkel and Schulz, thanks to co-ordinated opposition from the Netherlands, Greece, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland. - Rhetoric flames throughout the year from Trump surrogates that special prosecutor Robert Mueller is leading a witch-hunt, culminating in Donald Trump ordering Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to fire him and Rosenstein resigning rather than doing so. Mueller's investigation concludes that Trump colluded with Russia in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. The Democrats announce they will immediately bring articles of impeachment against Trump once Congress is seated after the midterms in January 2019. Republicans in Congress say Trump's actions are worrying and Mueller's charges persuasive but most fall short of saying they will vote for Trump's impeachment. The US heads into 2019 facing the nightmare scenario of Trump's guilt being established but the required supermajority for impeachment not being present in the Senate.

Assessing my predictions this time last year first: Swing and a miss! Taking this one, given we're probably going to get GroKo II. Minus the snap election, not too far off the mark. Predicted the Copeland gain! Totally f***ed it otherwise! (though in my defence without the election I think this would've continued to be the case) Yes, but closer than expected! LOL Okay, I was having a little too much fun with 'cuck coup'. Nope on Ellison or the impeachment attempt. Eh, half and half. Yeesh, thank christ this hasn't happened, but Charlottesville wasn't much better. Christ I'd spun into full on bleak by this point. LONG MAY THIS CONTINUE TO NOT HAPPEN

It IS the same song

I have it on GOOD AUTHORITY that there is at least ONE CAST-IRON BANGER in this selection on the lines of COOL ME DOWN WITH TRIBAL BEATS

Apparently Christer's pulling out all the stops to bring back CAROLA!

What have people's ancestors got to do with it? If your point is that their ancestors were likely racist and pro-slavery too...yeah, we aren't naming university halls after any of their ancestors either. Poor reasoning and targeting on their part though. Gladstone later repented and regretted for his pro-slavery views. Far more relevant reasons why we shouldn't be paying tribute to him than that.

Nano won't be back - he's been ACCUSED OF NONCING