Mega-Thread: 2020 United States General Election

[xmirrors]

I also want to remind you that a little over a week ago, it looked likely we were going to win Florida and Texas and have a mandate with control of the Senate.

It also looked likely that we would flip PA and GA, and then we did.

It gets tiring dooming about everything. That's what we did for the last 4 years. Can't we try giving positivity a shot?

[Demolitia]

I'm increasingly worried they'll refuse to do anything and then cry victim when they're dragged out on January 20, after having spent months figuratively burning everything to the ground out of spite.

The commitment that Republicans have to living in a fictional alternate reality genuinely terrifies me when I think of the future of the country.

Can't Biden just slap one executive order after another for half a year until Mitch gets back to his senses and orders everyone back to reality?

[beanman12345]

So I heard about this but hadn't looked it up... - https://sfist.com/2020/11/09/kim-gui...t-tub-parties/



So a woman who seems pretty damned smart/qualified, who was married to the guy who is now governor or CA, who had a spot on Fox News, who is now dating the son of the POTUS, is acting like she's doing casting couches for old, rich conservatives...

ThE ParTY Of famiLY vALUEs

I 100% believe this happened too, no matter who might deny it, simply based on why she no longer has a spot on fox news.

[Endus]

Did someone say Grifter? Cenk Uygur appears!

Cenk got 4% of the vote in his race for a congressional seat despite having deep pockets, his own media platform and name recognition. He got 4% of the vote in a blue state. He’s going to lecture the Dems ...

Fuck Cenk and his dark money group. Buh bye.

Just look at the results here in 2020.

Record turnout, blasting even Obama 2008 out of the park. For both parties.

This isn't a case where Democrats didn't get the vote out. They absolutely did. Record turnout for the Democrats and their platform, by any measure.

It was also a record turnout for Republicans. Simultaneously.

Anyone arguing that this election was "blown" by Democrats is a grifter con artist. It's a wild success. It's also a narrow success, because the Republican campaign was similarly successful. Those two statements aren't in opposition; one considers absolute figures, the other relative. And if you're arguing that any election should be won by a massive margin, you're going to have to understand that's only going to happen if;
A> There's a large (20%+) segment of independent swing voters (and the numbers through the '90s onward testify that this is not the case)
B> One candidate is found to be immensely objectionable by their own party, to such a degree that it depresses turnout by a large margin (Trump and Clinton, both, did not amount to that.)
C> You wait in the long term for major demographic shift or ideological puritanism to collapse.

There's grounds to be concerned about whether this energy can be sustained. I think the Dems would be well-served to achieve goals like making voting day a federal holiday, mandating time off work to vote, and other measures to improve turnout overall. I believe that appealing more to progressive voices may win more votes than they would lose, but that is a gut feeling based off admittedly pretty flimsy inductive reasoning, and I wouldn't suggest it's not a risk that may backfire (and why I'm largely fine with Democrats taking the "safe option" in Biden, this year).

But the other side of all this is that, just maybe, it's a fight the Democrats will lose. Nations don't last forever, and it's really not possible to sustain them through an internal crisis like what's going on within the USA, right now, with the rise of disinformation and conspiracy theories. Truth is dead, to many Americans. It may be enough that it's a cancer that will kill the host, the nation itself. It's a fight worth fighting, and I'm not saying that doom is inevitable in the short term. But Trump's term in office, and his turnout in 2020, demonstrates that it's a major threat that won't be handled easily, not without questioning and adjusting the basic principles of American society that allowed that to emerge in the first place, at least. Which may be as bad or worse than the cancer itself. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are, essentially, slowly killing yourself and hoping the cancer dies first, after all.

Treating this as a "we fixed America forever" victory would be a mistake. But I don't see people doing that, really. It's the first step in the possibility of trying to fix things somewhat. In four years, though, this test will come around again, and finding a way to maintain this enthusiasm without 4 years of Trump at the forefront of every daily news segment may be more difficult than some expect, especially if the GOP is helmed by a more-charismatic, somewhat-intelligent flavor of the same monster that was Trump, at that time.

[passingthrew]

I'm increasingly worried they'll refuse to do anything and then cry victim when they're dragged out on January 20, after having spent months figuratively burning everything to the ground out of spite.

The commitment that Republicans have to living in a fictional alternate reality genuinely terrifies me when I think of the future of the country.

Only four republicans have even congratulated Biden so far.

Side note, I don't know if you saw that real Clear politics thing I posted. The claim was that PA had been reversed. I literally linked a tweet from the CEO and president of RCP to people letting them know it was a lie, and they refused to believe it and called me a liar. We all knew things were bad, but for me its much worse then I thought.

[Bakis]

Can't Biden just slap one executive order after another for half a year until Mitch gets back to his senses and orders everyone back to reality?

He could but the US need to lessen the polarization so it has its downsides.
US dont really want get into a circle of tossing everthing prior out whenever the president changes.
Better with bipartisan legislation which went through the house and senate than a zillion executive orders.

[beanman12345]

If anyone wondered about the mountains of totally real proof of election fraud they have....

How utterly embarrassing.

It'll be more embarrassing when the .00001% of election fraud that does appear will be republican votes, as has been the case the last several years in every story about fraud. HA jeez there was a congressional seat where the republican only won because of fraud and was never sworn in because of it.

[passingthrew]

If anyone wondered about the mountains of totally real proof of election fraud they have....

How utterly embarrassing.

I think I posted something about returning to normal, I would like to apologize for that. There is no going back.

[xmirrors]

If anyone wondered about the mountains of totally real proof of election fraud they have....

How utterly embarrassing.

Yeah not very convincing, Lady G. You need to find "somebody accountable for something" to the tune of tens of thousands of somethings across multiple states to make up the difference.

[SirBeef]

It'll be more embarrassing when the .00001% of election fraud that does appear will be republican votes, as has been the cast the last several years in every story about fraud. HA jeez there was a congressional seat where the republican only won because of fraud and was never sworn in because of it.

It's traditionally been conservative votes that have been the fraudulent ones. I know the quote vote early and often is attributed to a sitting Democrat governor, and this year in Chicago is cited ad voter fraud by Republican shitheels. But there was o evidence of fraud then either.

[anyaka21]

Just look at the results here in 2020.

Record turnout, blasting even Obama 2008 out of the park. For both parties.

This isn't a case where Democrats didn't get the vote out. They absolutely did. Record turnout for the Democrats and their platform, by any measure.

It was also a record turnout for Republicans. Simultaneously.

Anyone arguing that this election was "blown" by Democrats is a grifter con artist. It's a wild success. It's also a narrow success, because the Republican campaign was similarly successful. Those two statements aren't in opposition; one considers absolute figures, the other relative. And if you're arguing that any election should be won by a massive margin, you're going to have to understand that's only going to happen if;
A> There's a large (20%+) segment of independent swing voters (and the numbers through the '90s onward testify that this is not the case)
B> One candidate is found to be immensely objectionable by their own party, to such a degree that it depresses turnout by a large margin (Trump and Clinton, both, did not amount to that.)
C> You wait in the long term for major demographic shift or ideological puritanism to collapse.

There's grounds to be concerned about whether this energy can be sustained. I think the Dems would be well-served to achieve goals like making voting day a federal holiday, mandating time off work to vote, and other measures to improve turnout overall. I believe that appealing more to progressive voices may win more votes than they would lose, but that is a gut feeling based off admittedly pretty flimsy inductive reasoning, and I wouldn't suggest it's not a risk that may backfire (and why I'm largely fine with Democrats taking the "safe option" in Biden, this year).

But the other side of all this is that, just maybe, it's a fight the Democrats will lose. Nations don't last forever, and it's really not possible to sustain them through an internal crisis like what's going on within the USA, right now, with the rise of disinformation and conspiracy theories. Truth is dead, to many Americans. It may be enough that it's a cancer that will kill the host, the nation itself. It's a fight worth fighting, and I'm not saying that doom is inevitable in the short term. But Trump's term in office, and his turnout in 2020, demonstrates that it's a major threat that won't be handled easily, not without questioning and adjusting the basic principles of American society that allowed that to emerge in the first place, at least. Which may be as bad or worse than the cancer itself. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy are, essentially, slowly killing yourself and hoping the cancer dies first, after all.

Treating this as a "we fixed America forever" victory would be a mistake. But I don't see people doing that, really. It's the first step in the possibility of trying to fix things somewhat. In four years, though, this test will come around again, and finding a way to maintain this enthusiasm without 4 years of Trump at the forefront of every daily news segment may be more difficult than some expect, especially if the GOP is helmed by a more-charismatic, somewhat-intelligent flavor of the same monster that was Trump, at that time.

but you can make some assumptions here too. 1st, Biden was projected to win by a much higher margin. Thus, they won and failed at the same time. Further, and I think the biggest mistake they are making right now, is blalming the progressive wing of t he party. They are saying it's as close as it was because of progressives, when realistically that's a false statement.

Progressives kept every seat they already had, and typically by wide margins. Further, gained more progressives even in tight swing state races. Thus what's more than likely the case is that the progressives actually did go out and push Biden to victory. America is most definitely swinging more progressive/populist. Universal Healthcare, as an example, has around a 70% approval rating, regardless of party, and this was a FOXnews exit poll done just last week. Thus, it's likely a higher number than that because....foxnews.

So what we're coming down to is a shift in the america and the fight is going to be against the old guard establishment dems and republicans vs everyone else. There is only so much tolerance people are going to be willing to take from them with the costs of insurance and pharma until people begin to push back and I do think this election showed that.

And I do find it interesting that you brought up disinformation and conspiracy theories. Having recently watched The Social Dilemma, it really makes me wonder how much the change in american psyche can be traced to social media.

[beanman12345]

It's traditionally been conservative votes that have been the fraudulent ones. I know the quote vote early and often is attributed to a sitting Democrat governor, and this year in Chicago is cited ad voter fraud by Republican shitheels. But there was o evidence of fraud then either.

Yup there was allegations that the mayor of Chicago single handed gave the state of Illinois to JFK because of fraud too, which again no evidence of. GoP just can't come to terms that they're a minority in this country, and when Dem's overcome GoP's suppression tactics, which they did this election, they lose.

[Breccia]

"We're gonna find somebody accountable for something"

We did.

It was Trump.

[Flower Milk]

but you can make some assumptions here too. 1st, Biden was projected to win by a much higher margin. Thus, they won and failed at the same time. Further, and I think the biggest mistake they are making right now, is blalming the progressive wing of t he party. They are saying it's as close as it was because of progressives, when realistically that's a false statement.

Progressives kept every seat they already had, and typically by wide margins. Further, gained more progressives even in tight swing state races. Thus what's more than likely the case is that the progressives actually did go out and push Biden to victory. America is most definitely swinging more progressive/populist. Universal Healthcare, as an example, has around a 70% approval rating, regardless of party, and this was a FOXnews exit poll done just last week. Thus, it's likely a higher number than that because....foxnews.

So what we're coming down to is a shift in the america and the fight is going to be against the old guard establishment dems and republicans vs everyone else. There is only so much tolerance people are going to be willing to take from them with the costs of insurance and pharma until people begin to push back and I do think this election showed that.

And I do find it interesting that you brought up disinformation and conspiracy theories. Having recently watched The Social Dilemma, it really makes me wonder how much the change in american psyche can be traced to social media.

America is more polarized now more than ever, there were few ballots cast that weren't full Republican or Democratic for the entire ticket. Moderate Democrats keep trying to convince people that they need to move right to win over a mythical "moderate Republican" that doesn't exist. The key to winning races for Democrats is now turning out the 1/3 of their base that is younger and more progressive, because they have to win on voter turnout, they cannot win on convincing Republicans to vote for them, they cannot win if they don't get young people and progressives to turn out for them because Republicans will not.

[Adam Jensen]

I really don't get this "socialist" bullshit argument constantly spewed by you trumpsters. Oh sorry you're "independent".

Do you have any clue how many socialist programs the US has had for centuries?

Can they even define "socialism?"

[Flower Milk]

I'm normally 100% cynical and cautious about fascists and usually think they will succeed. But I really do not think this coup attempt will succeed. If you say the elections are fake, then you are telling people the electoral process is a fraud, which sends America into political chaos and ultimately harms the rich capitalists and their profits. Mitch McConnell pretty much is completely beholden to his rich donors, and the fact that he is apprehensive about getting on board with the idea of a "coup" should tell you everything about what the rich people in this country, the people who actually hold the power, think we should do and that they will not support it.

[arandomuser]

https://twitter.com/John_Hudson/stat...25961738772491
trump admin now using federal resources to facilitate a coup, this is not an alarm, if republicans get there way we will be a dictatorship

[Adam Jensen]

Could Trump successfully overturn the results of the election and get 4 more years?

Not legally.

There's no legal roadmap to victory for Trump.

But with all the Republicans, including now Mike Pompeo, refusing to admit Joe Biden's win, I do worry about an illegal coup. I hope to Flying Spaghetti Monster I'm wrong.

[Gelannerai]

Can they even define "socialism?"

HAHAHAHA. Hell no. They haven’t known the actual definition of the word since the second Red Scare.

[Paranoid Android]

The Trump campaign has quietly updated the fine print on its fundraising emails to say that the first 60% of each donation will go to a new Trump PAC called Save America, and the rest will go to the RNC. https://t.co/qwDuoPcE24

https://twitter.com/rebeccaballhaus/...763278855?s=19

If Trump was not trying to destroy democracy, I would LOL at Trumpkins who are once again getting conned out of their money.