
John McAfee for President - miket
https://mcafee16.com/
======
csmattryder
See, if McAfee says the right things, I think he'd end up doing well - as well
as a fringe/joke candidate could do. He's pro-gun and quite anti-government.
If Trump can do it, why not McAfee?

And the scrolling seems off or hijacked in some way, on the "How to Vote"
page, it's the digital equivalent of having your breaks cut.

~~~
adventured
The Trump phenomenon is built on three decades of national, tabloid level
fame. His name and image recognition is the primary reason he's out in front
of the other mostly bland or non-recognizable candidates (not to mention the
obvious anti-establishment thing going on that has been much discussed).

McAfee can't do what Trump is doing, because he's not actually famous on any
meaningful scale. Relatively few Americans know who he is or would recognize
him. They also would be unlikely to automatically associate the name with the
anti-virus product, "McAfee" means nothing to most of the population.
Practically anyone in the US born between 1940 and 2000 knows who Donald Trump
is.

~~~
at-fates-hands
>> His name and image recognition is the primary reason he's out in front of
the other mostly bland or non-recognizable candidates.

Perhaps initially, but its not true now.

The reason Trump is killing it in the poles is that he can't be bought, and he
doesn't pull punches and he speaks his mind. Something people who are fed up
with the political correctness have been starving for. He's also resonating
because he's talking about doing things voters want to hear - securing the
border, getting tough with China, creating jobs, and taking out ISIS.

~~~
ConceptJunkie
I think the public is breaking down into 3 groups.

1\. The people who like what the Democrats under Obama have been doing. They
are likely to support Clinton or Sanders at this point... or Biden or Gore or
Kerry, etc. should one of them get drafted. They won't be interest in Trump,
who is attacking their guy.

2\. The people who consider themselves Democrat but aren't crazy about what
the party has been doing the last 6 years.

3\. The people who definitely don't like what the Democrats are doing and are
voting Republican to try to change things. Actual conservatives are completely
disillusioned with the GOP and people who see them as a way to check the
Democrats are also being very let down. But, when you only have two evils, you
have to figure out which is the lesser.

4\. Establishment Republicans who like the status quo.

Group 4 consists of people in office and U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other
interests who are milking the system, but can be discounted in terms of actual
votes (but not in terms of their very powerful influence). They are backing
Jeb Bush and definitely don't like Trump.

Group 1 also won't be interested in Trump.

Group 2 may be attracted by Trump.

Group 3 will probably be attracted by Trump, and like him (like me) even if
they (also like me) don't think he'd actually be a good President. Trump,
despite his flaws, is a much better cheerleader for the GOP than almost anyone
inside the GOP.

Group 2 and 3 are most of the country. If you don't, there is no good
alternative because the Republicans have pretty much pre-emptively surrendered
on everything and it's clear the party honchos like the establishment guy
(Bush).

So who can you look to? Trump plays the media like a fiddle, and he's
naturally attracting most of the attention, but Carson, another non-politician
is #2 in the polls. Fiorina is rising quickly as well.

No one likes the GOP right now.

~~~
at-fates-hands
>> No one likes the GOP right now.

Correction - nobody likes the current two party system.

------
nerdy
Wait, THIS John McAfee?

[NSFW, Rated "R"]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpRvaQsGIY8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpRvaQsGIY8)

~~~
sp332
He did an AMA recently
[https://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/3hr9f0/i_am_john_mc...](https://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/3hr9f0/i_am_john_mcafee_ama/)
and an interview with Uses This a while back
[https://usesthis.com/interviews/john.mcafee/](https://usesthis.com/interviews/john.mcafee/)

Edit: To clarify, the Uses This interview was done while he was being
threatened in Belize. That's why it's all paranoid.

~~~
paulmd
I'm a big fan of his Slashdot AMA, which he mostly spends informing you about
the best ways to bribe policemen and smuggle drugs while you're in Central
America.

[http://interviews.slashdot.org/story/14/04/06/2344201/interv...](http://interviews.slashdot.org/story/14/04/06/2344201/interview-
john-mcafee-answers-your-questions)

~~~
lepht
Ha. From the end of that AMA:

> I would never run for office, neither would I want to be in office, of any
> kind. I would rather drive a nail through my foot.

------
nnq
...should I feel guilty for fantasizing an apocalyptic WW3 scenario with the
USA lead by MacAfee and Russia led by Putin? the world would turn to ashes,
but boy it would be fun to watch :)

~~~
bdg
"Don't blame me -- I voted for Trump"

------
ck2
Apparently the ultimate way now to show off how you have money to throw away
(or other people's money to throw away) is to run for president.

It is the ultimate conspicuous consumption item.

------
Kenji
I don't know what problem people have with him... Imagine he was serious about
the campaign...

>He is a murderer

Well that is still not proven and the government of Belize is not exactly the
most trustworthy entity about this, so in no way is it this clear. Even if it
was true, let's face it - after their presidency, every former president is a
murderer.

>He is a lunatic and insane

And Hillary Clinton is not?

>He is paranoid

Well at least he's more paranoid about the STATE than about the CITIZENS so
that would sway things around a bit.

However, I'd love to hear his stance on abortion, gay marriage, etc. I presume
he'd be quite liberal, again, a point for him.

But yeah, sadly, he doesn't even stand a chance.

------
doe88
I must say I find his speech in the linked video [1] very well written. I
certainly was more used to his usual erratic behavior.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=246&v=sMz6GV3b1ys](https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=246&v=sMz6GV3b1ys)

------
mindcrime
I could get behind McAfee. I think I agree with him on his views on privacy
and surveillance at least. I just need to know more about where he stands on
foreign policy, taxation, and a few other things.

But I still think he'd have been better off pursuing the nomination of an
established (albeit "3rd party") party than starting a new party from scratch
this late in the game. That is, unless his ideology truly is completely
different from that of any existing party.

------
wnevets
Once hes installed as President we'll never be able to get rid of him

------
sparkzilla
I made a news timeline of McAfee if you'd like to catch up:
[http://newslines.org/john-mcafee/?order=ASC](http://newslines.org/john-
mcafee/?order=ASC)

~~~
badloginagain
It's like reading a trainwreck in chronological order.

------
vegancap
I prefer McAfee to the other front-runners in the U.S. election. That's for
sure.

------
kelvin0
The funny thing is that whomever becomes head of state, most of the system and
it's influential players stay the same. Basically, the way I see it nothing
changes, just a different face on the news.

------
smrtinsert
John McAffee, Wrong on Security, Wrong on Ashley Madison, Wrong for President.

------
sctb
Previously:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10189288](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10189288)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10190859](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10190859)

------
mrmondo
He has become a double entendre parody of himself, it's really the quite an
amusing play on the state of the American political system.

While I think that Stephen Colbert could make a fine president, John McAfee;
while playing a similar game, could not.

------
adultSwim
Already enough megalomaniacs in politics...

Still, I would probably vote for anyone who isn't a warmonger (tragically,
doesn't seem like either major party will nominate someone who fits this
criterion)

------
tempodox
I'd rather vote for Frank Zappa if he were still around.

------
drfuchs
Right, and his running mate will be Hans Reiser? Seriously, last I heard, the
guy is pretty clearly a murderer. Or lunatic. Or both.
[http://memeburn.com/2013/01/john-mccafee-anti-virus-
pioneer-...](http://memeburn.com/2013/01/john-mccafee-anti-virus-pioneer-
escaped-murder-suspect-master-spy/) etc. etc.

~~~
brohee
AFAIK he was never really under suspicion. But being possibly paranoid he
thought he was, and he didn't trust Belize justice system (and is possibly
right about that).

~~~
drfuchs
Of course he was a suspect. He'd had an escalating battle with his neighbor,
who coincidentally turned up shot to death. [http://gizmodo.com/5959812/john-
mcafee-wanted-for-murder](http://gizmodo.com/5959812/john-mcafee-wanted-for-
murder)

~~~
brohee
He was only ever a "person of interest", if they had anything material against
him he'd have been officially suspect likely.

And there are various citations of unnamed Belize officials, stating that he's
no longer even a person of interest in that case.

~~~
drfuchs
An actual quote reported by an actual journalist who was actually there at the
time and actually heard from the lips of "Marco Vidal, the head of Belize’s
Gang Suppression Unit": McAfee is a “prime suspect” in Faull’s death.

[http://www.wired.com/2012/11/threatlevel_1112_mcafee/](http://www.wired.com/2012/11/threatlevel_1112_mcafee/)

~~~
brohee
[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-
america-20315415](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-20315415)

> Raphael Martinez of Belize's Ministry of National Security said no charges
> had been filed in the case and Mr McAfee was simply "a person of interest".

> "It's too early in the investigation," he told the Associated Press. "To say
> he is a suspect would be a bold statement."

And in 2015 "not a person of interest anymore".

If they had anything tangible, why wasn't he charged?

~~~
sp332
He says the government was harassing him for bribes, shot his favorite dog,
and burned his house down. Since he's already out of the country and out of
their hair, they might not want to drag all that back up.

------
quinndupont
Anyone know where this video was shot? Is McAfee a big book collector?

~~~
jeffbr13
In front of a green-screen, if the halos around his hair are anything to go
by.

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chuckgreenman
I am legitimately confused, this is a prank right? right?

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mydpy
I love the music playing in the background of his video.

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jMyles
I.... Wow, that was actually a good speech.

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coco1989
He looks seriously high..

