2020 Presidential Election

[yovargas]

Meh. I contend that there's no reason that a Republican can win spouting hard-right rhetoric but a Democrat with hard-left rhetoric cannot.

[Alatar]

Yeah there is. Centrists.

[RoseMorninStar]

I am not so sure the difference between hard left/hard right (politically) is the issue. It may be something more base than that. Politicians who use fear and hate (and 'otherism') appeal to a certain segment of the population. Tribalism. Authoritarianism. The bullying, name-calling, hate-mongering, and general nastiness and cruelty, which is so appalling and disgusting to me appeals to some (and is given a pass by some, Evangelicals, of all groups!) That made Biden's choice of Kamala, especially given his age, a bold gamble. Those who lean democratic would likely have chosen Biden anyway and his choice may have helped with the black vote, but it possibly cost votes with moderate Republicans (do they exist anymore?) and those who are 'afraid' of having a woman, and moreover a woman of color, in a position of power. Trump worked to amp up that fear and I'm sure it was a deal-breaker for some. It was a political calculation on Biden's part.. as it had been for John McCain, but McCain's team made a poor choice with Palin, imo. I could have voted for McCain, but Palin was a bridge way, waaaay too far and not because she was a woman. She was a Trumpian precursor. I view both Biden & McCain as decent human beings with character and a sense of fair-play. Of duty and service to country, who have an understanding of the laws and ideals our country was founded upon.

[Dave_LF]

Even after this summer, I don't believe this country has a crazy left to compare to its crazy right--what there is is both smaller and less willing to walk in lockstep. Pandering to that wing would not be a winning electoral strategy.

It was a political calculation on Biden's part.. as it had been for John McCain, but McCain's team made a poor choice with Palin, imo. I could have voted for McCain, but Palin was a bridge way, waaaay too far and not because she was a woman. She was a Trumpian precursor.

Until that choice, my attitude toward the 2008 election was that it was a win either way. But Palin was, as you say, a bridge too far. Unfortunately she was not a bridge to nowhere.

[yovargas]

Yeah there is. Centrists.

But why can Republicans ignore centrists now but Dems can't? I'm not saying either should ignore the center, just that Reps have proven you don't need to cater to them to win if you can actually inspire and motivate people.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Which is why its pretty concerning to see AOC coming out immediately saying he has to be progressive and not pander to the middle.

I agree with a lot of what Ocacio-Cortez said in her New York Times interview. For the most part, I am aligned with her on policy issues. I agree with her that the Democratic Party establishment is broken and dysfunctional, and that has a lot to do with why the party did worse than expected in both the House and the Senate, and why the presidential race was so close in critical states. But I question the wisdom of speaking out in the way that she did, at the time that she did. However, I'm not her, and she other progressive leaders are going to do what they do, just as Trump and other GOP leaders are going to do what they are going to do. We'll just have to deal with it.

[Frelga]

20201109_071400.jpg (131.01 KiB) Viewed 4682 times

From 2018.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[RoseMorninStar]

From where I live, I'd say the unfortunate and misleading phrase 'Defund the Police' did a lot of damage, more damage than 'Medicaid for all'. The message should have been 'Restructure' or 'Reform' or better pay & training.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Yup.

[Frelga]

Also this
https://twitter.com/IanSams/status/1325 ... 78176?s=09

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[RoseMorninStar]

Man featured at Giuliani press conference is a convicted sex offender Trumps team really screwed up this press conference on sooo many levels.

[N.E. Brigand]

From where I live, I'd say the unfortunate and misleading phrase 'Defund the Police' did a lot of damage, more damage than 'Medicaid for all'. The message should have been 'Restructure' or 'Reform' or better pay & training.

I believe it.

Despite the facts that Joe Biden flatly rejected the idea and that Donald Trump's policies were literally defunding the police.

There is something weird about how easily the rhetorical excesses of a relatively small number of people on the far left are used to describe more mainstream Democrats, even when most of those Democrats explicitly disagree with those ideas, while far worse rhetorical excesses of a rather larger number of people on the not-so-far right are seldom used to describe mainstream Republicans, even when most of those Republicans won't explicitly disagree with those ideas.

Part of it comes from Democrats generally being less willing to play dirty, I guess.

For example, in the last week of the campaign, there were allegations of child pornography levied at the Bidens by people fairly close to President Trump, including by a sitting Republican senator on a national television broadcast. But despite Donald Trump's longstanding connections to Jeffrey Epstein, I can't recall seeing any prominent Democrat suggest that Trump was involved in Epstein's behavior. (And to be clear: as far as I know, Trump was not: he said in an interview years ago that Epstein likes younger women than he does.) Imagine if Elizabeth Warren told Rachel Maddow something akin to what Ron Johnson told Maria Bartiromo.

It would further degrade our country for Democrats to sink as low as Republicans. There needs to be a better way to stop the spread of such vile attacks.

[N.E. Brigand]

Which is why its pretty concerning to see AOC coming out immediately saying he has to be progressive and not pander to the middle.

I agree with a lot of what Ocacio-Cortez said in her New York Times interview. For the most part, I am aligned with her on policy issues. I agree with her that the Democratic Party establishment is broken and dysfunctional, and that has a lot to do with why the party did worse than expected in both the House and the Senate, and why the presidential race was so close in critical states. But I question the wisdom of speaking out in the way that she did, at the time that she did. However, I'm not her, and she other progressive leaders are going to do what they do, just as Trump and other GOP leaders are going to do what they are going to do. We'll just have to deal with it.

AOC's interview runs right next to an interview with a centrist Democrat, Connor Lamb, who says, not unreasonably, that she doesn't face the challenges he does in his swing district outside of Pittsburgh.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Not only that, she name drops Lamb, and mistakenly claims he lost he when he actually won narrowly.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

[RoseMorninStar]

There is something weird about how easily the rhetorical excesses of a relatively small number of people on the far left are used to describe more mainstream Democrats, even when most of those Democrats explicitly disagree with those ideas, while far worse rhetorical excesses of a rather larger number of people on the not-so-far right are seldom used to describe mainstream Republicans, even when most of those Republicans won't explicitly disagree with those ideas.

Part of it comes from Democrats generally being less willing to play dirty, I guess.

For example, in the last week of the campaign, there were allegations of child pornography levied at the Bidens by people fairly close to President Trump, including by a sitting Republican senator on a national television broadcast. But despite Donald Trump's longstanding connections to Jeffrey Epstein, I can't recall seeing any prominent Democrat suggest that Trump was involved in Epstein's behavior. (And to be clear: as far as I know, Trump was not: he said in an interview years ago that Epstein likes younger women than he does.) Imagine if Elizabeth Warren told Rachel Maddow something akin to what Ron Johnson told Maria Bartiromo.

It would further degrade our country for Democrats to sink as low as Republicans. There needs to be a better way to stop the spread of such vile attacks.

Gerrymandering needs to be fixed. The party in power should not be allowed to draw party lines to their advantage. It creates an imbalance of power/disenfranchisement which leads to unbalanced representation which leads to division/encourages polarization.

Ron Johnson is scum. Glenn Grothman too.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I would rather be on the side of Elizabeth Warren than on the side of Ron Johnson. Even if it means figuratively playing with one hand tied behind our collective backs.

[N.E. Brigand]

Examples of prominent Republican commentators who said in 2016 that it was wrong for Hillary Clinton not to concede at 2:30 a.m. on election night (even though she had called Donald Trump to offer her congratulations) but now say that Donald Trump must not concede to Joe Biden.

[Jude]

Your link just says "This is not available to you."

Humph.

[N.E. Brigand]

Your link just says "This is not available to you."

Humph.

Hmm. Do you have a Twitter account? I don't, so except for the few people who restrict their readers to people they follow, I'm never blocked from reading tweets. But I gather that some users block liberally, even blocking whole lists of people at a time, so if you have an account, that may be what happened.

In any case, here are some of the screenshots that Parker Malloy offered in that tweet thread:

[Jude]

Thanks

(no, I don't have a Twitter account)