Mega-Thread: 2020 United States General Election

[Muzjhath]

Not even a little. She's exactly who you should want in that position. If you can get her on your side in addressing police reform, then you've clearly made your case convincingly, and there will be little grounds for police departments to reasonable resist that reform. The last thing you want in this kind of issue is to turn it into a crusade by a minority political faction, because that only ensures that whatever ground you gain in the short term gets lost in the long term, as the majority re-assert the norms. Often swinging back even further, in that response.

Particularly when Harris has been explicitly supportive of the "Defund the Police" sentiment;
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sethcohen/2020/06/08/ragine-the-police-kamala-harris/

She also didn't push for the death sentence, and didn't prosecute prostitutes when she could, but tried to get them to get help since she realized they were more often than not victims.

[Zan15]

https://theweek.com/speedreads/93140...ly-every-state


The United States Postal Service is warning that delays could prevent voters' mail-in ballots from being counted this November in almost every state.




Don't worry guys i am sure leadership is all over this.....

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/14/90254...h-new-postmast

Election officials are seeking clarification from the Postal Service about how recent cutbacks will affect what's expected to be an avalanche of mail-in voting in the upcoming election. Changes in postal operations have already led to mail delays across the country, raising alarms about what will happen in November.

NPR has learned that a bipartisan group of secretaries of state, who are responsible for running elections, requested to meet this week with postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, who was appointed to the job in May. But that meeting has yet to be scheduled.

"Unfortunately, [we] still haven't had a direct conversation with the U.S. postmaster," New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver told NPR Thursday.

[Sorshen]

Can't the states just sue the admin for mismanagement or something? Or get the House in to make some noise...

[Benggaul]

Without the Senate any "noise" they make is pointless. Hell, without a veto-proof majority anything they say in the House is worthless too.

Warren has requested a review and the OIG Watchdog is currently doing so. It's a small step, but at least it's in the right direction.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/14/p...joy/index.html

[Edge-]

Can't the states just sue the admin for mismanagement or something?

I don't think there are any laws that would give them standing to do so, though I am no lawyer.

Or get the House in to make some noise...

To what effect? Congress may technically have "control" over the Post Office (well, establishing new offices and designating roads at least), but if the House does something that means pretty much nothing.

Congress as a whole would need to act, and Republicans have signaled that they're totally fine with voter suppression because it benefits their party.

[Benggaul]

Congress as a whole would need to act, and Republicans have signaled that they're totally fine with voter suppression because it benefits their party.

That's...not entirely true in the case of mail-in voting. Several GOP are telling Trump ixnay on the audfray, particularly because it'll hurt them at least as much as the Democrats in some areas and even worse in others (like Florida).

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/16/p...ing/index.html

[PACOX]

Can't the states just sue the admin for mismanagement or something? Or get the House in to make some noise...

The House should have been on that ass months ago. Not enough of them have their jobs on the line to really care.

[PACOX]

All of them have their jobs on the line this year... that’s kinda how the House works.

How many those seats are up for reelection?
How long is the attention span of the average voter?

[Edge-]

That's...not entirely true in the case of mail-in voting. Several GOP are telling Trump ixnay on the audfray, particularly because it'll hurt them at least as much as the Democrats in some areas and even worse in others (like Florida).

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/16/p...ing/index.html

"telling him"

Which Trump has never listened to. This is the equivalent of Susan Collins saying she's "very concerned" about something Trump said/did. Still waiting for them to take action on most of what they've "said" concerns them.

How many those seats are up for reelection?

Literally every single one. House terms are 2 years only.

[PACOX]

Literally every single one. House terms are 2 years only.

Very stupid choice of words on my part. I should focus on one thing at a time. I meant how many actually fear not winning. Anything can happen but there's only so many seats that are actually vulnerable each cycle. For many incumbents the challenge is in the primary, not election day.

The vulnerable are the ones hoping hoping the USPS is stunted in October and November.

[Edge-]

Very stupid choice of words on my part. I should focus on one thing at a time. I meant how many actually fear not winning. Anything can happen but there's only so many seats that are actually vulnerable each cycle. For many incumbents the challenge is in the primary, not election day.

The vulnerable are the ones hoping hoping the USPS is stunted in October and November.

As of now, the non-incumbents mostly. There are quite a few who lost to challengers (often more progressive ones) thus far and there are some left who have tight races. But there are also candidates who can flip seats.

Progressives have shown that small, upstart campaigns with motivated people can topple big, long entrenched politicians. AOC And Bowman are two shining examples of that, and a good indication that a lot of these older guys who have grown comfortable aren't as secure as they may have thought.

But to your earlier question, I'm not even sure if the House would have standing to sue on this (standing is really fuckin weird and I sorta get it), and this more brazen behavior is far more recent than a few months ago. Even at that, as we're continuing to see, lawsuits take a lot of time, especially with the pandemic going on. So even if they did it's unlikely that any judicial action would be taken before the election anyways. Which is a whole other problem.

[Felya]

You know that isn't true.

Yeah, it’s like calling your self Butt Witch... You want to pretend to be Florida man... I’ll play along...

[Masark]

And now they're destroying hundreds of mail sorting machines.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/p...e-mail-sorting

[PACOX]

And now they're destroying hundreds of mail sorting machines.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/p...e-mail-sorting

Remember once upon a time Trump went on a campaign against private shipping companies (ie FedEx) and propped up the USPS basically going unchallenged? People mocked the USPS and we like "well he can have it them". He built clout with the USPS and now has the right people in his corner. It is a screwed up situation but what happens when people are ignored.

There's plenty of people who work for the agency who will do their civic duty, but they are going to be stunted by policy and roadblocks put in their way by higher ups.

All arguments about money that we'll see coming from USPS and pundits are BS. One of the richest countries in the world that can bail out cruise and airlines no problem can bail out and essential part of its own governing body. Need manpower? Plenty of people are out of work and would want nothing more than a solid government job right about now, some would volunteer if only to keep the election pure.

Trump is attempting to steal the election in front of our eyes and the USPS is his tool of choice.

[Kaleredar]

Remember once upon a time Trump went on a campaign against private shipping companies (ie FedEx) and propped up the USPS basically going unchallenged? People mocked the USPS and we like "well he can have it them". He built clout with the USPS and now has the right people in his corner. It is a screwed up situation but what happens when people are ignored.

There's plenty of people who work for the agency who will do their civic duty, but they are going to be stunted by policy and roadblocks put in their way by higher ups.

The only real hope I see is either some sort of injunction being handed down that prevents the post office from actually dissolving assets in this way (I'm sure it's not legally the same, but think of the "air traffic controllers have to work" precedent from the Reagan days) OR the democrats rolling mandatory post office funding into the relief bill and then them riding Trump's refusal to sign it in the media quite hard, painting him as holding up people's relief for petty and trivial reasons. This makes Trump look bad and eventually he caves. What do people care about more... that they get the money they need to live and afford rent, or do they care that... the post office doesn't get funded? My guess is that they care more about the former.

All arguments about money that we'll see coming from USPS and pundits are BS. One of the richest countries in the world that can bail out cruise and airlines no problem can bail out and essential part of its own governing body.

And indeed the same could be said for... funding for education... free college tuition... universal healthcare...

[Benggaul]

OR the democrats rolling mandatory post office funding into the relief bill and then them riding Trump's refusal to sign it in the media quite hard, painting him as holding up people's relief for petty and trivial reasons. This makes Trump look bad and eventually he caves. What do people care about more... that they get the money they need to live and afford rent, or do they care that... the post office doesn't get funded? My guess is that they care more about the former.

That is exactly what the Democrats tried to do. And the GOP wouldn't budge on it, which is why the Senate recessed with no relief bill.

[Kaleredar]

That is exactly what the Democrats tried to do. And the GOP wouldn't budge on it, which is why the Senate recessed with no relief bill.

Then they keep riding that line.

[Benggaul]

Then they keep riding that line.

Sure, and meanwhile mail-in votes stay fucked in November. The GOP care, but not enough to cave on the deal. Trump gave Florida and Arizona the OK so that the elderly Trumpers there would feel safe voting but all of those anti-mask dipshits in the rest of the states will crowd the voting booths in November while saner people stay home and worry that their absentee ballots aren't counted.

[Omega10]

I'm just wondering if the UN will be sending in election observers to ensure that the Trump administration and Republican Party don't start dumping/stuffing ballot boxes.

I think UN election observers for the upcoming election would be a good thing. I doubt it will happen, but it's definitely one of the better ideas I've heard regarding the upcoming election.

[PACOX]

I think UN election observers for the upcoming election would be a good thing. I doubt it will happen, but it's definitely one of the better ideas I've heard regarding the upcoming election.

The US has never cared about the UN unless it was convenient.