2020 Presidential Election

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Interesting article about some takeaways from the town hall Trump did in PA earlier this week. He keeps promising a health care plan, which he has done since day 1. One might think that he will release one shortly before the election, though the question remains why it took him almost four years to do so, and whether it will win him votes or lose votes. His lack of a plan for pre-existing conditions is a big issue, particularly as many have lost jobs since March.

Also noted is that real-time fact checking by moderators during debates will be key.

https://apnews.com/b3843675398eb4bfca561462433a23ff

[PackMan97]

My worry is that a simple way for significant voter suppression is for GOP leaning election officials to reject high % of all (presumed Dem leaning) mail-in ballots for any tiny discrepancy- signature doesn’t perfectly match one on file, post office timestamp smudged, envelope seal compromised, etc. Its my understanding that in some states these moves may be legal under the letter of the law. It wouldn’t be that surprising if in some states maybe 20-30% had some tiny technical flaw that could get them legally rejected. Obviously you could swing an election that way.

(asking for a friend) So, are you saying that Democrats may want to have as many as 20-30% of illegally cast votes counted? Are you okay with that level of election fraud? Obviously you could swing an election that way.

Isn't this the flip side of your statement? And we are back to Florida 2000 all over again where teams of lawyers are trying to divine the will of the voter and arguing over minutia on each ballot. Might be time to move to Canada or New Zealand. I'm beginning to think 2021 could be worse than 2020.

[ClemmonsDevil]

(asking for a friend) So, are you saying that Democrats may want to have as many as 20-30% of illegally cast votes counted? Are you okay with that level of election fraud? Obviously you could swing an election that way.

Isn't this the flip side of your statement? And we are back to Florida 2000 all over again where teams of lawyers are trying to divine the will of the voter and arguing over minutia on each ballot. Might be time to move to Canada or New Zealand. I'm beginning to think 2021 could be worse than 2020.

I understand your point but there is some context that should be noted.

https://www.propublica.org/article/no-democrats-allowed-a-conservative-lawyer-holds-secret-voter-fraud-meetings-with-state-election-officials

[ClemmonsDevil]

Interesting article about some takeaways from the town hall Trump did in PA earlier this week. He keeps promising a health care plan, which he has done since day 1. One might think that he will release one shortly before the election, though the question remains why it took him almost four years to do so, and whether it will win him votes or lose votes. His lack of a plan for pre-existing conditions is a big issue, particularly as many have lost jobs since March.

Also noted is that real-time fact checking by moderators during debates will be key.

https://apnews.com/b3843675398eb4bfca561462433a23ff

1. I don't know how he can release a new plan that isn't an update of Obamacare without there being the thorny issue of trying to kill Obamacare rather than improving Obamacare.
2. I think Republican Senators chafe at this kind of statement because there seems to be no Republican healthcare replacement plan or we woukd have seen it by now.

[JasonEvans]

The saying goes, "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth even gets out of bed."

I don't care who you support, using lies and conspiracy theories should be rejected as a campaign tactic. Sadly, that is not what is happening in the Hispanic community in Florida where right-wing conspiracies are running rampant.

This article is a must-read... though I found the whole thing utterly frustrating: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/0...rmation-413923

George Soros directs a “deep state” global conspiracy network. A Joe Biden win would put America in control of “Jews and Blacks.” The Democratic nominee has a pedophilia problem.

Wild disinformation like this is inundating Spanish-speaking residents of South Florida ahead of Election Day, clogging their WhatsApp chats, Facebook feeds and even radio airwaves at a saturation level that threatens to shape the outcome in the nation’s biggest and most closely contested swing state.

“It’s difficult to measure the effect exactly, but the polling sort of shows it and in focus groups it shows up, with people deeply questioning the Democrats, and referring to the ‘deep state’ in particular — that there’s a real conspiracy against the president from the inside,” he said. “There’s a strain in our political culture that’s accustomed to conspiracy theories, a culture that’s accustomed to coup d'etats.”

-Jason "the fact that culturally, the immigrants from Latin America would be more suspicious of political leaders is not something I had considered" Evans

[JasonEvans]

A woman who has a pretty fair bit of corroborating evidence has come forward to say Trump sexually assaulted her in 1997.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...e_iOSApp_Other

Dorris, who lives in Florida, provided the Guardian with evidence to support her account of her encounters with Trump, including her ticket to the US Open and six photos showing her with the real estate magnate over several days in New York. Trump was 51 at the time and married to his second wife, Marla Maples.

Her account was also corroborated by several people she confided in about the incident. They include a friend in New York and Dorris’s mother, both of whom she called immediately after the alleged incident, as well as a therapist and friends she spoke to in the years since. All said Dorris had shared with them details of the alleged incident that matched what she later told the Guardian.

Dorris, now 48 and a mother to twin daughters, said she had considered speaking publicly about the incident in 2016, when several women made public similar accusations against the then Republican candidate for president. But she decided against coming forward, in part because she thought that doing so might harm her family.

“Now I feel like my girls are about to turn 13 years old and I want them to know that you don’t let anybody do anything to you that you don’t want,” she said. “And I’d rather be a role model. I want them to see that I didn’t stay quiet, that I stood up to somebody who did something that was unacceptable.”

[elvis14]

A woman who has a pretty fair bit of corroborating evidence has come forward to say Trump sexually assaulted her in 1997.

I've lost count. Have we reached 30 women that have come forward yet? I know it's more than 25. What's the number have to be to move the needle?

[ClemmonsDevil]

Is there a needle? Don't both sides only believe allegations against the other side but think that their guy is always innocent?

[Lord Ash]

Is there a needle? Don't both sides only believe allegations against the other side but think that their guy is always innocent?

Yes. And no. I am a Democrat, but I still believe a lot of the accusations against Bill Clinton, for example.

[ClemmonsDevil]

Ok. That's fair. Although he admitted(ish) to some of that.

[Lord Ash]

A woman who has a pretty fair bit of corroborating evidence has come forward to say Trump sexually assaulted her in 1997.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...e_iOSApp_Other

What's amazing me is that the same people who will shrug at this insist that Joe Biden is a pedophile who must be stopped.

Like, they legit say this... I'm not exaggerating or something.

I feel like the cognitive dissonance in this election dwarfs all others.

[CameronBlue]

2020 should be designated as the Year of the Wilhelm Scream.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvmgHyPeAXI

[bundabergdevil]

Is there a needle? Don't both sides only believe allegations against the other side but think that their guy is always innocent?

It's a real psychological phenomenon that I'm sure has a name. I'm very proud to know a couple of sexual assault whistle blowers, one in college sports and one against the Catholic church in his country. The level of general vitriol and institutional power exerted against both of them is staggering. That is to say, it's often not just filtering out accusations against your guy/gal and not believing them, the accusers become focal points for hate.

I'm sure there are some wonderfully paid political psychologists that help harness and weaponize that phenomenon for parties.


In other news, before the Barr thread was locked, a politically relevant nugget was dropped --- the potential for an October Durham report surprise.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

It's a real psychological phenomenon that I'm sure has a name. I'm very proud to know a couple of sexual assault whistle blowers, one in college sports and one against the Catholic church in his country. The level of general vitriol and institutional power exerted against both of them is staggering. That is to say, it's often not just filtering out accusations against your guy/gal and not believing them, the accusers become focal points for hate.

I'm sure there are some wonderfully paid political psychologists that help harness and weaponize that phenomenon for parties.

In other news, before the Barr thread was locked, a politically relevant nugget was dropped --- the potential for an October Durham report surprise.

What conceivable October Surprise nudges this worn out needle?

Trump is actually secretly funnelling money to Planned Parenthood? Biden is a long lost cousin of Hugo Chavez? Mike Pence is... Something?

[bundabergdevil]

What conceivable October Surprise nudges this worn out needle?

Trump is actually secretly funnelling money to Planned Parenthood? Biden is a long lost cousin of Hugo Chavez? Mike Pence is... Something?

My record on Pence is clear, hah hah!

Pence is Snape!

I'll gladly accept pies from all posters when it doesn't happen.

[bundabergdevil]

Seesawing news out of PA lately but this is probably good for Biden. PA Supreme Court gets the Green Party OFF the November ballot.

As a reminder, 2016 results...

No guarantee how the Green Party might vote but reasonable to assume it's more likely to benefit the candidate that believes in climate change than the one that does not.

[gumbomoop]

Here’s an article that shows why it’s too simplistic to speak of Trump’s “base,” singular. His base is better described as constituting (at least) 3 parts. Some overlapping, to be sure, Venn diagram-like.

https://www.politico.com/index.html

In this snapshot of “Trump’s suburbia,” we don’t find many, if any, of the folks normally identified as Trump’s base: white working class. What we read about in these “very wealthy and very white “ Milwaukee suburbs are the other 2 segments of Trump’s base: come-home-to-Trump traditional Republicans and white evangelicals. It’s only a snapshot, but one-issue voters predominate. They’re pro-lifers; that’s the issue that counts.

In distinguishing these particular communities from more diverse suburbs, the author mostly sees good news for Trump. Yet not entirely. For even here it’s not clear that Trump can quite maintain his showing from 2016. As one interviewee noted, “There’s a much bigger movement against Trump now.”

[YmoBeThere]

come-home-to-Trump traditional Republicans

I've not understood who this group is exactly and what Trump has to offer them.

White evangelicals voting mostly on anti-abortion grounds I get. White working class who may feel less wlecome in a more pluralistic Democratic party and long for a return to a past where they held more sway, I understand the thinking there. But that third one has me scratching my head.

[YmoBeThere]

The saying goes, "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth even gets out of bed."

I don't care who you support, using lies and conspiracy theories should be rejected as a campaign tactic. Sadly, that is not what is happening in the Hispanic community in Florida where right-wing conspiracies are running rampant.

This article is a must-read... though I found the whole thing utterly frustrating: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/0...rmation-413923



-Jason "the fact that culturally, the immigrants from Latin America would be more suspicious of political leaders is not something I had considered" Evans

This is where hewing too closely to the straight and narrow becomes difficult in the face of such tactics, irregardless of party. It speaks volumes to the state of the party that feels they need to use these sorts of tactics.

[luvdahops]

I've not understood who this group is exactly and what Trump has to offer them.

White evangelicals voting mostly on anti-abortion grounds I get. White working class who may feel less wlecome in a more pluralistic Democratic party and long for a return to a past where they held more sway, I understand the thinking there. But that third one has me scratching my head.

Lower taxes and less regulation, which are hallmark issues for traditional "pocketbook" Republicans