2020 Presidential Election

[Devilwin]

And I agree the guy should not have asked that question. It was disrespectful.

[MarkD83]

Elvis
That's the one.
And yes I intend on watching the debates, if they happen. It's all about issues..And I certainly am not saying DT doesn't say things that make me cringe sometimes.

Are we sure DT will talk about the “issues” at a debate? He had a Fox interview with a friendly question about policies and he said nothing about policies.

[Devilwin]

I think he will. He cannot afford not to, if, he wants to win this thing.

[budwom]

I'm not sure I can remember a "debate" where the candidates actually had a meaningful back and forth on the issues. One guy says something, the other guy, immediately pivots to his (or her) own talking points.

Like when I was in high school, had exam questions on let's say the War of 1632, and I'd neatly segue' into "this is very similar to the war of 1583" about which I'd expound...

[OldPhiKap]

I'm not sure I can remember a "debate" where the candidates actually had a meaningful back and forth on the issues. One guy says something, the other guy, immediately pivots to his (or her) own talking points.

Like when I was in high school, had exam questions on let's say the War of 1632, and I'd neatly segue' into "this is very similar to the war of 1583" about which I'd expound...

You wanna get all PPB this early in the morning?

The two wars were wholly dissimilar.



(Well, I guess it depends on whether we are talking the Smolensk War, or some part of the Thirty Year’s War, for 1632. But I’ll fight about it, because internet).

[YmoBeThere]

Mr Biden proved your point today...

Link? Source? Preferably something without a lot bias. All I can find is where some idiot reporter asked him if he took a cognitive test and he tore them a new one.

I interpreted this as the incumbent continued to dig himself deeper. In particular his comment on children's susceptibility to Covid 19.

[OldPhiKap]

Joe's response to the reporter was sorta odd. He sometimes comes off as an angry or defensive old man.

How that compares to Trump is in the eye of the beholder I guess.


Nate shows a tightening of Trump's popularity/unpopularity over the last few weeks, from about a 16 point spread to about a 13 point. On the one hand, it's the right trajectory for Team Trump. On the other hand, 13 points is still pretty dismal with early voting set to start some places in less than seven weeks.

[dudog84]

Joe's response to the reporter was sorta odd. He sometimes comes off as an angry or defensive old man.

How that compares to Trump is in the eye of the beholder I guess.


Nate shows a tightening of Trump's popularity/unpopularity over the last few weeks, from about a 16 point spread to about a 13 point. On the one hand, it's the right trajectory for Team Trump. On the other hand, 13 points is still pretty dismal with early voting set to start some places in less than seven weeks.

I thought it was the right tone. He needs to show some fight.

And don't let the other side or the media control the narrative.

[mattman91]

Link? Source? Preferably something without a lot bias. All I can find is where some idiot reporter asked him if he took a cognitive test and he tore them a new one.

(redacted by moderator)

In other news, Biden just claimed that African Americans have no "diversity".

https://youtu.be/FTao1hvMYjc

Biden needs to say less. He needs to just lay low and be quiet if he wants to win.

[mattman91]

(redacted by moderator)

In other news, Biden just claimed that African Americans have no "diversity".

https://youtu.be/FTao1hvMYjc

Biden needs to say less. He needs to just lay low and be quiet if he wants to win.

Trump and Biden both say incredibly stupid things at times. As mentioned every few pages in this thread, Trump's base does not usually care. IMO, Biden is at risk of losing more of a base than Trump is with gaffes.

[JasonEvans]

I thought it was the right tone. He needs to show some fight.

I dunno if he was even showing fight. He was laughing throughout the entire exchange, like he considered the question to almost be a joke. His response was more sarcastic than pugnacious.

He did stumble a bit during the response, clearly his stutter was bothering him at that moment.

There is a tremendous misunderstanding of the MOCA test right now and the media is not helping. There is really no reason for someone who is not showing signs of cognitive impairment to take the test. Biden has shown in numerous interviews and on the debate stage over the past year that he is nowhere near registering the kind of problems the MOCA test would reveal. I don't even know why reporters would ask about it... and I have no idea why Trump was administered the test either. All you need to do is listen to Trump give one news conference to know that he too is not exhibiting the kind of mental impairment where a MOCA score would matter.

[JasonEvans]

In other news, Biden just claimed that African Americans have no "diversity".

https://youtu.be/FTao1hvMYjc

Biden needs to say less. He needs to just lay low and be quiet if he wants to win.

It was clear to me, even from that :13 clip that the Trump campaign posted, that he was using "diversity" to speak about diversity of thought, especially on the issues, not having anything to do with race. It is not good wording by Biden, and he is certainly over-simplifying in a way that will not help, but the mere fact that something like 90% of AfAms tend to vote Democratic while only about 65% of Latinos do would seem to indicate that the Latino community is more divided on the issues than the Black community is.

But, again, the smarter course for Biden would have been to make that point in a more delicate kind of way.

By the way, Biden was talking specifically about immigration and pointing out that Latinos in Florida (who are predominantly or Cuban descent) have different feeling about immigration than Latinos in Arizona (where they are mostly of Mexican/Central American descent). And he is 100% correct about that statement.

[OldPhiKap]

There is a tremendous misunderstanding of the MOCA test right now and the media is not helping. There is really no reason for someone who is not showing signs of cognitive impairment to take the test. Biden has shown in numerous interviews and on the debate stage over the past year that he is nowhere near registering the kind of problems the MOCA test would reveal. I don't even know why reporters would ask about it... and I have no idea why Trump was administered the test either. All you need to do is listen to Trump give one news conference to know that he too is not exhibiting the kind of mental impairment where a MOCA score would matter.

I do not have the symptoms of colon cancer, but they still make me get a colonoscopy. Because, it is a screening test.

I think it is fair for Biden's opponents to note that he has slowed down mentally. How much? Well -- that's where the MoCA test comes in handy.

Whether Joe has shown the need for a test during his interviews and debates, or not, is a matter of perspective. I'm guessing that the Trump supporters on this thread may well disagree with the assessment that Joe has shown that he has the mental acuity that they perceive Trump to have.

[swood1000]

As long as we agree that he is being a hypocrite on the question of mail-in balloting constituting per se voter fraud, I’m cool.

If we also agree that needlessly undermining confidence in elections is counterproductive, and in fact is a constant goal of Putin, we’re super cool.

Biden said that if he is elected and his plans on the economy and health care “and the rest” are passed he will “go down as one of the most progressive presidents in American history.”

Biden then sent his wife to tell a Fox News audience that “he’s not someone who’s left, he's not someone who is right, he's a moderate and that's who he's always been." But, she said, this doesn’t mean that “his ideas aren't progressive and bold and forward-thinking.”

Are we cool that this is hypocrisy? It sounds to me like Biden is trying to seem to be all things to all people. Does “progressive” not mean “left”? What does it mean when a person says that he is a moderate, and that as a moderate he will be one of the most progressive presidents in American history?

[OldPhiKap]

Biden said that if he is elected and his plans on the economy and health care “and the rest” are passed he will “go down as one of the most progressive presidents in American history.”

Biden then sent his wife to tell a Fox News audience that “he’s not someone who’s left, he's not someone who is right, he's a moderate and that's who he's always been." But, she said, this doesn’t mean that “his ideas aren't progressive and bold and forward-thinking.”

Are we cool that this is hypocrisy? It sounds to me like Biden is trying to seem to be all things to all people. Does “progressive” not mean “left”? What does it mean when a person says that he is a moderate, and that as a moderate he will be one of the most progressive presidents in American history?

If you will simply answer my questions first so we can put that to bed, I'll be happy to click your links when I have a chance in order to respond. Thanks.

[duke96]

Trump and Biden both say incredibly stupid things at times. As mentioned every few pages in this thread, Trump's base does not usually care. IMO, Biden is at risk of losing more of a base than Trump is with gaffes.

Clearly true. Also think his VP selection potentially has the ability to swing potential Biden supporters away from him than any election I can remember. Between his age and a reasonable level of concern about the possibility of cognitive decline, voters have to be considering the possibility that the VP becomes the P. I personally think Biden would be best served in this regard by selecting a more moderate running mate. Will be fascinating to see this play out.

[LasVegas]

I do not have the symptoms of colon cancer, but they still make me get a colonoscopy. Because, it is a screening test.

I think it is fair for Biden's opponents to note that he has slowed down mentally. How much? Well -- that's where the MoCA test comes in handy.

Whether Joe has shown the need for a test during his interviews and debates, or not, is a matter of perspective. I'm guessing that the Trump supporters on this thread may well disagree with the assessment that Joe has shown that he has the mental acuity that they perceive Trump to have.

Sure but they don’t make EVERYONE get a colonoscopy. If you meet the criteria, yes.

[YmoBeThere]

Trump and Biden both say incredibly stupid things at times. As mentioned every few pages in this thread, Trump's base does not usually care. IMO, Biden is at risk of losing more of a base than Trump is with gaffes.

Clearly true. Also think his VP selection potentially has the ability to swing potential Biden supporters away from him than any election I can remember. Between his age and a reasonable level of concern about the possibility of cognitive decline, voters have to be considering the possibility that the VP becomes the P. I personally think Biden would be best served in this regard by selecting a more moderate running mate. Will be fascinating to see this play out.

I'm interested in why one base would be more susceptible to defection than the other? Also, I think the data from the past has shown a relatively similar size for the two bases, let's assume 40% to either side. So wouldn't the better tactic be to be address the middle 20% of moderates and undecideds?

[JasonEvans]

I do not have the symptoms of colon cancer, but they still make me get a colonoscopy. Because, it is a screening test.

I think it is fair for Biden's opponents to note that he has slowed down mentally. How much? Well -- that's where the MoCA test comes in handy.

Whether Joe has shown the need for a test during his interviews and debates, or not, is a matter of perspective. I'm guessing that the Trump supporters on this thread may well disagree with the assessment that Joe has shown that he has the mental acuity that they perceive Trump to have.

Apples to oranges. Colon cancer could easily be growing within you in a dangerous way and you would not exhibit any noticeable symptoms. We do colonoscopies precisely because it is the only way to detect colon cancer. But the kind of deficiencies that are revealed on a MoCA test are so much more obvious when speaking to someone.

The kind of people who need a MoCA test are people who are quite clearly showing mental decline. Look at the questions on the test.

Can you identify a picture of a camel?
Can you draw a clock?
Tap your finger every time I say the letter A in this list of letters.
Repeat this phrase back to me.

There's a reason the test seems "easy." It is because the test is looking for signs of serious mental decline. There's just no way Biden could sit down for a media interview on a wide variety of issues and yet be unable to repeat a short phrase spoken to him or unable to identify what comes next in the sequence A-1-B-2-C...

I know a doctor who gives MoCA tests all day. She told me that she would never consider giving one to Biden or Trump because it is abundantly clear that they have the level of cognitive function that is well beyond what would be revealed via a MoCA test. She laughs every time the media talks about this like it is some issue. I'm just trying to help folks here understand the level of cognitive decline you need to have for a MoCA test to be revealing. And I'm trying to explain why a non-partisan person would look at any interview, debate, news conference given recently by Biden and Trump and conclude that neither of them needs to take a MoCA test.

[Rich]

I do not have the symptoms of colon cancer, but they still make me get a colonoscopy. Because, it is a screening test.

I think it is fair for Biden's opponents to note that he has slowed down mentally. How much? Well -- that's where the MoCA test comes in handy.

Whether Joe has shown the need for a test during his interviews and debates, or not, is a matter of perspective. I'm guessing that the Trump supporters on this thread may well disagree with the assessment that Joe has shown that he has the mental acuity that they perceive Trump to have.

Apples to oranges. Colon cancer could easily be growing within you in a dangerous way and you would not exhibit any noticeable symptoms. We do colonoscopies precisely because it is the only way to detect colon cancer. But the kind of deficiencies that are revealed on a MoCA test are so much more obvious when speaking to someone.

The kind of people who need a MoCA test are people who are quite clearly showing mental decline. Look at the questions on the test.

Can you identify a picture of a camel?
Can you draw a clock?
Tap your finger every time I say the letter A in this list of letters.
Repeat this phrase back to me.

There's a reason the test seems "easy." It is because the test is looking for signs of serious mental decline. There's just no way Biden could sit down for a media interview on a wide variety of issues and yet be unable to repeat a short phrase spoken to him or unable to identify what comes next in the sequence A-1-B-2-C...

I know a doctor who gives MoCA tests all day. She told me that she would never consider giving one to Biden or Trump because it is abundantly clear that they have the level of cognitive function that is well beyond what would be revealed via a MoCA test. She laughs every time the media talks about this like it is some issue. I'm just trying to help folks here understand the level of cognitive decline you need to have for a MoCA test to be revealing. And I'm trying to explain why a non-partisan person would look at any interview, debate, news conference given recently by Biden and Trump and conclude that neither of them needs to take a MoCA test.

As someone who loves all types of chocolates and coffee, can I request a MoCHA test?