2020 US General Election Thread IX: One Month and Counting

[Farnhamia]

I think the most interesting part of the debate was the end with how their spouses approached them.
Jill lovingly embraced Joe, while Ivanka barely touched Donald.

You mean Melania I hope? Yeah, I noticed that too. Quite shows where the relationship status of both stands.

But speaking of the debate, the The Commission on Presidential Debates have announced (wisely) that there will be format changes after that horrid chaos we had to witness, stating the following:

"Last night’s debate made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues," the CPD said in a statement. "The CPD will be carefully considering the changes that it will adopt and will announce those measures shortly."

This of course will depend on whether the candidates will accept the changes, something I think Trump's Camp will be less eager to do. But at least the CPD recognizes that there needs to be additional protection. My suggestions? Mute their microphones being one way and or a penalty box. Hopefully whatever changes they make, it makes it more formal and less likely for Trump to control it.

Each candidate will stand in a soundproof glass box. He will be able to hear the moderator and his opponent but his microphone will only be enabled when it is his turn to speak. If a candidate attempts to leave his box at any time, the box will be flooded with an anesthetizing gas.

Frank Bruni at the NY Times suggested Biden refuse any more debates on the grounds that Trump is obviously not interested in discussing policy or plans but only interested in acting the middle school bully.

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

Yeah, Biden should probably just skip all the other debates.

[Kowani]

Yeah, Biden should probably just skip all the other debates.

It would save us all brain cells.

[Seangoli]

From a strategic political point, Trump not condemning white supremacy was shooting himself in the chest. Wether he is or isn’t a WS aside, even a knob would know that not condemning it would be extremely detrimental. It’s fair to say that he undoubtedly lost a lot of potential fringe republican and centrist voters.

(Notice I said from a strategic point, morals aside.)

I doubt he lost any support particularly, but it definitely has sapped a good amount of enthusiasm for him from what I have seen. People I know who were excited about Trump a week ago are far less enthused today. Not necessarily voting Biden, but the veil of optimism has been lifted for some people.

It was a really bad showing overall, but Trump seems to have lost more than Biden on this one. Not that Biden "won" the debate, just that he lost less than Trump did and how he answered that question was pretty flabbergasting. It just sucked the oxygen out of the room.

[The Black Forrest]

Trump is a five time draft dodger.

His sons never served. Probably would have been 4f.

The one cool thing Trump did and he did it out of selfishness instead of morals.

Cool? That meant five other guys had to take his spot.

I guess cowards are selfish.....

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

Yeah, Biden should probably just skip all the other debates.

It would save us all brain cells.

And another Proud Boys activation.

[Seangoli]

Respectfully I ask; What should he have done then?

What do you mean? I'm just saying that, from his strategy, condemning white nationalists would have been detrimental to his cause.

What he sould have done? Not run in the first place, not try to court the white nationalist vote, not run for a second term, and not try to appeal to fascists.

He's gotten himself into a self made quagmire. He knows those people vote for him, so he tiptoes around them, but he knows that openly supporting them will get him killed in the election. Last night more or less gave up the ghost on it, and left a lot of people in the Trump camp a bit confounded on his response.

[Telconi]

The one cool thing Trump did and he did it out of selfishness instead of morals.

Cool? That meant five other guys had to take his spot.

I guess cowards are selfish.....

Yeah, blaming the draft on Trump is a bit silly.

[Nejii]

Respectfully I ask; What should he have done then?

What do you mean? I'm just saying that, from his strategy, condemning white nationalists would have been detrimental to his cause.

What he sould have done? Not run in the first place, not try to court the white nationalist vote, not run for a second term, and not try to appeal to fascists.

I honestly hope the suggestion here isn’t that running on white supremacy and xenophobia alone is what got him elected. In 2016 Trump landed 62,984,828 American voters (popular vote). Half the US population is not xenophobic white supremacists. Not by the correct definition of it anyway.

[Nejii]

What do you mean? I'm just saying that, from his strategy, condemning white nationalists would have been detrimental to his cause.

What he sould have done? Not run in the first place, not try to court the white nationalist vote, not run for a second term, and not try to appeal to fascists.

He's gotten himself into a self made quagmire. He knows those people vote for him, so he tiptoes around them, but he knows that openly supporting them will get him killed in the election. Last night more or less gave up the ghost on it, and left a lot of people in the Trump camp a bit confounded on his response.

I’d call that accurate. He doesn’t fore-front endorse WS but he doesn’t want to lose their vote either.

[San Lumen]

https://poll.qu.edu/south-carolina/rele ... aseID=3677

New qunnipiac poll has the senate election in South Carolina tied at 48 each and Trump only up one. If he’s struggling there he is in deep trouble.

South Carolina hasn’t been won by a democrat since 1976 when Jimmy Carter defeated Incumbent president Gerald Ford.

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

What do you mean? I'm just saying that, from his strategy, condemning white nationalists would have been detrimental to his cause.

What he sould have done? Not run in the first place, not try to court the white nationalist vote, not run for a second term, and not try to appeal to fascists.

I honestly hope the suggestion here isn’t that running on white supremacy and xenophobia alone is what got him elected. In 2016 Trump landed 62,984,828 American voters (popular vote). Half the US population is not xenophobic white supremacists. Not by the correct definition of it anyway.

I don't know how you could get that idea from what I wrote... If one voting block is the deciding factor, that does not make every voter that voting block. That's not depicting what I wrote at all, which makes me wonder why you rbing it up.

Anyway, US elections are generally not about attracting the centrist voter, but about activating the base. A lot of Americans harbour at least some xenophobic, white nationalist sympathies, and Trump cannot count on the minority vote anyway, so he plays to white nationalism. This activates a large part (though not the entirety) of his base. Combine it with some anti-abortion rhetoric and you built yourself a Republican coalition.

[Talvezout]

https://poll.qu.edu/south-carolina/release-detail?ReleaseID=3677

New qunnipiac poll has the senate election in South Carolina tied at 48 each and Trump only up one. If he’s struggling there he is in deep trouble.

South Carolina hasn’t been won by a democrat since 1976 when Jimmy Carter defeated Incumbent president Gerald Ford.

To reference, if Biden and Harrison do this well, this means that SC-01 stays in the Dem column, and SC-02 and SC-05 become potential, if unlikely, flips.

[Telconi]

I honestly hope the suggestion here isn’t that running on white supremacy and xenophobia alone is what got him elected. In 2016 Trump landed 62,984,828 American voters (popular vote). Half the US population is not xenophobic white supremacists. Not by the correct definition of it anyway.

I don't know how you could get that idea from what I wrote... If one voting block is the deciding factor, that does not make every voter that voting block. That's not depicting what I wrote at all, which makes me wonder why you rbing it up.

Anyway, US elections are generally not about attracting the centrist voter, but about activating the base. A lot of Americans harbour at least some xenophobic, white nationalist sympathies, and Trump cannot count on the minority vote anyway, so he plays to white nationalism. This activates a large part (though not the entirety) of his base. Combine it with some anti-abortion rhetoric and you built yourself a Republican coalition.

Don't forget hating commies.

[Zurkerx]

Each candidate will stand in a soundproof glass box. He will be able to hear the moderator and his opponent but his microphone will only be enabled when it is his turn to speak. If a candidate attempts to leave his box at any time, the box will be flooded with an anesthetizing gas.

Frank Bruni at the NY Times suggested Biden refuse any more debates on the grounds that Trump is obviously not interested in discussing policy or plans but only interested in acting the middle school bully.

This is a brilliant idea that the CPD should obviously adopt: it quite honestly would fit in this bizarre year anyway. But I'm not entirely sure if Biden should stop with the debates: I feel it's a trap by Trump. Of course, there's no easy answer to resolve Trump's controlling demeanor but I would at least give the CPD a shot to fix things. If that fails, then not debating Trump should be open although I still don't think not challenging him would play into his hand.

What do you mean? I'm just saying that, from his strategy, condemning white nationalists would have been detrimental to his cause.

What he sould have done? Not run in the first place, not try to court the white nationalist vote, not run for a second term, and not try to appeal to fascists.

He's gotten himself into a self made quagmire. He knows those people vote for him, so he tiptoes around them, but he knows that openly supporting them will get him killed in the election. Last night more or less gave up the ghost on it, and left a lot of people in the Trump camp a bit confounded on his response.

Based on my group of friends and family that support Trump, they appear even more excited to vote for him: they don't give a fuck if Trump didn't condemn White Supremacists right there and there. To them, he already "did" though whether it was authentic is up for debate. Nothing, I mean nothing will sway Trump Supporters, nothing. But it will surely give those that lean towards him or undecided more of a pause.

[San Lumen]

https://poll.qu.edu/south-carolina/release-detail?ReleaseID=3677

New qunnipiac poll has the senate election in South Carolina tied at 48 each and Trump only up one. If he’s struggling there he is in deep trouble.

South Carolina hasn’t been won by a democrat since 1976 when Jimmy Carter defeated Incumbent president Gerald Ford.

To reference, if Biden and Harrison do this well, this means that SC-01 stays in the Dem column, and SC-02 and SC-05 become potential, if unlikely, flips.

That would be awesome if that happened.

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

I don't know how you could get that idea from what I wrote... If one voting block is the deciding factor, that does not make every voter that voting block. That's not depicting what I wrote at all, which makes me wonder why you rbing it up.

Anyway, US elections are generally not about attracting the centrist voter, but about activating the base. A lot of Americans harbour at least some xenophobic, white nationalist sympathies, and Trump cannot count on the minority vote anyway, so he plays to white nationalism. This activates a large part (though not the entirety) of his base. Combine it with some anti-abortion rhetoric and you built yourself a Republican coalition.

Don't forget hating commies.

Yeah, hating the left also gets people to vote for racist, authoritarian policies somehow. You just need to quash a labour union here and there, and people will somehow give you endless power.

"Good thing we gave this guy the jackboot, otherwise, I might never have become a millionaire!"

[Telconi]

Don't forget hating commies.

Yeah, hating the left also gets people to vote for racist, authoritarian policies somehow. You just need to quash a labour union here and there, and people will somehow give you endless power.

"Good thing we gave this guy the jackboot, otherwise, I might never have become a millionaire!"

It's government's job to protect us from nefarious actors within our society. If they get a little jackboots with it sometimes, you can reign in the excess. But you don't abandon their very purpose.

[Nejii]

I honestly hope the suggestion here isn’t that running on white supremacy and xenophobia alone is what got him elected. In 2016 Trump landed 62,984,828 American voters (popular vote). Half the US population is not xenophobic white supremacists. Not by the correct definition of it anyway.

I don't know how you could get that idea from what I wrote... If one voting block is the deciding factor, that does not make every voter that voting block. That's not depicting what I wrote at all, which makes me wonder why you rbing it up.

Anyway, US elections are generally not about attracting the centrist voter, but about activating the base. A lot of Americans harbour at least some xenophobic, white nationalist sympathies, and Trump cannot count on the minority vote anyway, so he plays to white nationalism. This activates a large part (though not the entirety) of his base. Combine it with some anti-abortion rhetoric and you built yourself a Republican coalition.

Let me instead circle back to my original point; I said that not condemning WS was a self inflicted wound to Trump’s campaign. You said it was not. When I asked “what should he have done” I was asking “in your opinion what should Trump have said?” (EDIT: And you answered.)

I pose that question to others in a serious tone; How should Trump have responded to the WS inquiry from a strategic point? Morally is obvious but I’m asking strategically.

[Cannot think of a name]

So, Trump leaving the White House giving remarks:

- He thinks he got good reviews
- Ratings is the most important thing.
- He now says he doesn't know who the Proud Boys.
- He's now saying that they should stand down and let law enforcement do their work.
- In true Trump fashion he's pretending that Biden was having a hard time denouncing violence.
- Reeeeeeeeeally going strong on Antifa
- He thinks that by 'every measure' he won the debate. He's apparently looked at 6 polls that say he won the debate.
- Now he's on about 100,000 ballots in NY but not really clear what that is all about.

[Northern Davincia]

Just a reminder the Proud Boys former lawyer is a racist fascist and these are the people they attract and ally themselves with.

Key word is "former".

Don't forget hating commies.

Yeah, hating the left also gets people to vote for racist, authoritarian policies somehow. You just need to quash a labour union here and there, and people will somehow give you endless power.

"Good thing we gave this guy the jackboot, otherwise, I might never have become a millionaire!"

Has Trump quashed any labor unions?

The one cool thing Trump did and he did it out of selfishness instead of morals.

Cool? That meant five other guys had to take his spot.

I guess cowards are selfish.....

What are your thoughts on Bill Clinton?

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

Yeah, hating the left also gets people to vote for racist, authoritarian policies somehow. You just need to quash a labour union here and there, and people will somehow give you endless power.

"Good thing we gave this guy the jackboot, otherwise, I might never have become a millionaire!"

It's government's job to protect us from nefarious actors within our society. If they get a little jackboots with it sometimes, you can reign in the excess. But you don't abandon their very purpose.

Jackboots are nefarious. Labour unions just use the natural power of labour to achieve goals. Or is it inherently nefarious to rise up against the jackboot?

[The Reformed American Republic]

Just a reminder the Proud Boys former lawyer is a racist fascist and these are the people they attract and ally themselves with.

Why isn't he in jail? One of those posts contains a direct threat of violence, which is unprotected under the first amendment.

[Washington Resistance Army]

Just a reminder the Proud Boys former lawyer is a racist fascist and these are the people they attract and ally themselves with.

Why isn't he in jail? One of those posts contains a direct threat of violence, which is unprotected under the first amendment.

We don't have enough jailspace for everyone who makes threats online.

[The Reformed American Republic]

Why isn't he in jail? One of those posts contains a direct threat of violence, which is unprotected under the first amendment.

We don't have enough jailspace for everyone who makes threats online.

Well, I hope he is in at least some legal hot water for that.