Mega-Thread: 2020 United States General Election

[Fugus]

I'm aware of that, my point is while these people will freely virtue signal that stuff, if given the choice to take money from the government without anyone knowing, I think they'll take the money 9 times out of 10.

Case in point, pretty sure the vast majority of these people gladly accepted those $1200 Trump bucks. That was literally money from the government.

Yep, I got one better.

I know someone who was getting between $600-800 a month in Food Stamps and all their kids were on government healthcare for the majority of their lives. But according to him he never relied on welfare and tried to call me a mooch for living off the military due to an injury and nerve damage they caused.

Never underestimate peoples hypocrisy, especially when they don't think others know about it. Too many like to try and hold others to standards they don't even meet while lying about it. Most farmers who claim to hate socialism come to mind when their entire industry destabilizes and collapses without it.

[Omega10]

Some good news from the democratic side. Or at least neutral news!

https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-chi...231328498.html

Title: Biden chief of staff pick kicks off jockeying for administration jobs

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ron-klain...032156197.html

Title: AOC praises Biden's new chief of staff as a 'unifying pick'

The gist is that Biden has selected Ron Klain as his chief of staff. Klain was Biden's chief of staff when Biden was Vice President, so I guess it makes sense that he basically would retain his position. And AOC has given him her blessing. The general consensus is that he is a very smart and accomplished pick.

It's nice reading about democrats saying nice things about other democrats for a change.

[Corvus]

It isn't like he could be any more blunt, but Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, spoke at an opening ceremony at a new museum yesterday, reiterating they don't take an oath to a king or queen, a tyrant or a dictator but to the constitution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMaI1Hg8dl8

You could almost say 'shots fired'.

[Fugus]

Nah... NC is over sadly.

On the up side, the NC Supreme Court is 5-2 Dem with the Chief Justice winning today.

At least North Carolina did SOMETHING right, getting tired of it being nothing but a national and global disappointment and embarrassment like it has been for the past decade.

[Omega10]

News from Texas.

Beto O'Rourke tries to be the next Stacey Abrams.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/beto-orou...051300837.html

Title: Beto O'Rourke explains why he thinks Democrats failed to flip Texas

Trump won Texas by 6 points. So much for Texas going blue. On the other hand, Trump got a very elevated vote count for republicans this election. But here is what O'Rourke had to say.

Catherine Garcia
Fri, November 13, 2020, 12:13 AM EST

Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) has been talking to a lot of Texans over the last week, and on Thursday he shared with supporters the lessons Democrats have learned in the wake of Election Day.

Based on the content of the article, sounds like he did some good research into why Trump won by 6 points over Biden.

In an email, O'Rourke wrote that Trump and Republicans had an "asymmetrical advantage" this cycle that was "far more powerful than many of us understood." They ran campaigns that were "free of the truth," using social media and text messaging to spread falsehoods and scare tactics. They also ignored pandemic safety precautions, knocking on doors and holding in-person events, he said, and when they shared their economic message, it was "not an honest one or better in terms of policy, but simpler, more emotional, and more compelling."

Also ignoring pandemic safety precautions gave republicans some nice bonuses as well. Vote for us - if we give you the virus, that's on you.

It's interesting that O'Rourke is saying factually and straight forwardly: republicans lied, and lied a lot. It has been a an open secret that Trump lies a lot when he talks, but the media until very recently tried to act like he should be given the benefit of the doubt before assuming that he was lying. O'Rourke is making the fairly obvious observation that Trump is not the only republican that lies a lot.

Because Republicans also hold every statewide office in Texas, they were able to "maximize voter suppression and raise and deploy massive campaign donations across the state," O'Rourke said. The Biden campaign did not "make a meaningful investment in Texas," he added, and it "hurt us badly" that the stretch from the "Rio Grande Valley to El Paso has been ignored by the national party, and even many statewide Democratic candidates."

He is directly stating that republicans actively suppress voting throughout the bluer parts of the state, and indirectly implies that republicans use their state office duties for electoral gain. Like the governor reducing the number of ballot boxes in a way that effected democratic voters much more than republican ones. Nothing earth shaking about this either, but here is a democratic office seeker directly stating what is already well known, but something that fails to get mentioned at crucial times.

Going forward, Democrats must canvass year-round "so that voters don't just hear from us during an election," O'Rourke said, and he emphasized the importance of meeting voters face-to-face, saying there "is a safe way to do this, even in a pandemic." Democrats also have to be "far more effective on digital and social media," O'Rourke advised, explaining that in the border communities especially, Trump and the GOP had a "ferocious game — lies and powerful memes, effective targeting of new and young voters — and we had none."

This is a tall order, but it certainly makes sense, and it applies to a lot more than just to Texas.

A few years ago, Stacey Abrams got cheated out of being governor of Georgia, and this year Georgia went for Biden. Georgia is paying a huge price for Kemp being governor. Now O'Rourke is trying to put into place pieces that would do the same for Texas. We have to do the hard work.

But getting out to voters with the virus being so bad is not going to be easy.

[Kallisto]

Democratic senators are continuing their attacks on AOC.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/aoc-twitt...231526807.html

Title: AOC’s Twitter explodes after posting single photo in response to Senator’s rejection of ‘crazy socialist agenda’

Excerpts:

Senator Mnuchin:



This tweet makes it pretty clear that he views liberals as his main enemy.

We bowed down to Biden. And now, on this board here, and also across the country and in the Senate, Biden supporters are making it clear - thank you very much for your vote, now fuck off.

I no longer care how the two Georgia Senate seats go. McConnell right now is the face of people that hate liberals. If he loses power, it is clear that Senators like Mnuchin will take up his anti-liberal cause.

I expected democrats to stab us in the back. I just did not expect it to happen so soon.

He's in West Virginia. He's never going to win a vote with a D next to his name if he outwardly starts supporting AOCs viewpoints. West Virginia and the North east USA might as well be different nations politically.

[Omega10]

He's in West Virginia. He's never going to win a vote with a D next to his name if he outwardly starts supporting AOCs viewpoints. West Virginia and the North east USA might as well be different nations politically.

He doesn't have to outwardly support anything that AOC does. Simply not attacking her would be sufficient.

On a practical note, this is why even if both Georgia Senate seats go to democrats, Mnuchin will block anything even remotely liberal that might otherwise get passed. We'll have to wait until at least 2022 for any meaningful liberal legislation to be passed, though executive orders might give liberals a win or two, and corporate pressure on republicans may get liberals some partial victories.

[Kallisto]

I forsee a 2024 in which Republicans are boiling for revenge, and Democrats are disillusioned by another unproductive 4 years without the Senate.

The senate system in the US is fucked. I understand why the founders had it that way in late 1700s to early 1800s but I seriously doubt when they thought of it they'd have states with 70-80 times more populous than another (california in comparison to wyoming).

[ati87]

He's in West Virginia. He's never going to win a vote with a D next to his name if he outwardly starts supporting AOCs viewpoints. West Virginia and the North east USA might as well be different nations politically.

He has a D in in titel that alone means enough that he will get attacked for fake strawmen positions. If your position is "stop stupid wars" than Republicans will make that into "They are against the military", if your afraid of winning elections then you should keep this shit in mind.

Frankly you don't want to start a war with AOC, I mean the "celebrity" attacks she is getting now is the same crap Republicans where throwing at Obama in 2008 and look at how that turned out. This is kind of admitting that your losing the "war"since you admit that she is populair.

[Fugus]

He doesn't have to outwardly support anything that AOC does. Simply not attacking her would be sufficient.

On a practical note, this is why even if both Georgia Senate seats go to democrats, Mnuchin will block anything even remotely liberal that might otherwise get passed. We'll have to wait until at least 2022 for any meaningful liberal legislation to be passed, though executive orders might give liberals a win or two, and corporate pressure on republicans may get liberals some partial victories.

If they take the Senate, admit DC and Puerto Rico as States near the start. Then he could do what he needed to for the next few years just fine.

[Omega10]

If they take the Senate, admit DC and Puerto Rico as States near the start. Then he could do what he needed to for the next 6 years just fine.

To take the Senate decisively in 2022, we need to take O'Rourke's advice very seriously (and actually follow through on his recommendations), as well as consider the next 2 years almost static, celebrating every time Biden fixes one more of Trump's fuck ups. He has a lot of them to fix, so this would be cause for a LOT of celebrations

The hard part will be countering republican protests and such. Democrats in general did a pretty bad job when republicans swarmed town hall meetings across the country to protest when Obamacare was becoming law. They were able to stage the debate as democrats forcing Obamacare down the throats of Americans. Very good sloganeering. Congressional elections proved that this sloganeering was a winner.

We can't let this happen again.

[Shadowferal]

Frankly you don't want to start a war with AOC, I mean the "celebrity" attacks she is getting now is the same crap Republicans where throwing at Obama in 2008 and look at how that turned out. This is kind of admitting that your losing the "war"since you admit that she is populair.

AOC's name is shit at the moment.
The one whose name seems untouched is Pelosi.; Pelosi floats above Democrats’ civil war
And between the heat she's getting and the lack of support, AOC said she's thinking of quitting.

[Ursus]

Frankly you don't want to start a war with AOC, I mean the "celebrity" attacks she is getting now is the same crap Republicans where throwing at Obama in 2008 and look at how that turned out. This is kind of admitting that your losing the "war"since you admit that she is populair.

And oddly enough, for as much as the Dems get attacked for being celebrities and associating with celebrities, the GOP is the only one who actually nominated and elected a literal fucking celebrity as President. And a D-list celebrity at that.

[Nelinrah]

And oddly enough, for as much as the Dems get attacked for being celebrities and associating with celebrities, the GOP is the only one who actually nominated and elected a literal fucking celebrity as President. And a D-list celebrity at that.

Not the first time. And also not the first time that celebrity president fucked up a bunch of shit while Republicans refuse to acknowledge or try to fix what was broken.

[Vegas82]

And oddly enough, for as much as the Dems get attacked for being celebrities and associating with celebrities, the GOP is the only one who actually nominated and elected a literal fucking celebrity as President. And a D-list celebrity at that.

Reminder, the GOP has elected 2 celebrities to be President. It’s pretty clear they’re just jealous of the Dems.

[Mormolyce]

AOC's name is shit at the moment.
The one whose name seems untouched is Pelosi.; Pelosi floats above Democrats’ civil war
And between the heat she's getting and the lack of support, AOC said she's thinking of quitting.

AOC is more popular than the rest of the Democrats combined, but apparently that's not a meaningful metric to establishment Dems. And they wonder why they failed to materialise a blue wave.

[ati87]

AOC's name is shit at the moment.
The one whose name seems untouched is Pelosi.; Pelosi floats above Democrats’ civil war
And between the heat she's getting and the lack of support, AOC said she's thinking of quitting.

That article looks like it got paid for by.....it's a cheap article really.
These fake moderates (which they are) are fighting a losing battle against the likes of AOC. All of the things that Trump said he would do in his first term minus the racisme (which is a major difference in terms of how you do things) is what AOC and Sanders are aiming for.
Obama's won his first term with the same rhetoric as what AOC and Sanders are shouting now because it a winning strategy.

[Mormolyce]

Reminder, the GOP has elected 2 celebrities to be President. It’s pretty clear they’re just jealous of the Dems.

I was reading the other day that back before Reagan ran they were trying to court John Wayne - who'd ingratiated himself to conservatives forming a group that testified in the HUAC in the McCarthy era, joined the John Birch Society and (let's not forget) openly identified as a white supremacist in a Playboy interview.

Also there's Arnold Schwarzenegger though these days he looks like a progressive lol.

So yeah, they've always been like this. All their venomous barbs about Hollywood are rooted in bitter jealousy.

- - - Updated - - -

That article looks like it got paid for by.....it's a cheap article really.
These fake moderates (which they are) are fighting a losing battle against the likes of AOC. All of the things that Trump said he would do in his first term minus the racisme (which is a major difference in terms of how you do things) is what AOC and Sanders are aiming for.
Obama's won his first term with the same rhetoric as what AOC and Sanders are shouting now because it a winning strategy.

The article seems pretty mild actually, all it says is that progressive Democrats and establishment candidates are feuding. If anything its mention of the progressives mounting primary challenges puts AOC et al in a strong light. And it also says Pelosi is doing well for herself, but that's kind of an obvious observation at this point, she's as seasoned an operative as you can get so of course she's positioned herself advantageously. Isn't she on her way out anyway? So why would anyone waste ammunition on her?

- - - Updated - - -

The senate system in the US is fucked. I understand why the founders had it that way in late 1700s to early 1800s but I seriously doubt when they thought of it they'd have states with 70-80 times more populous than another (california in comparison to wyoming).

Frankly the reason why many aspects of the political system are the way they are is because special interest groups centuries ago refused to sign up to the US unless they got special protections, privileges and power. Modern Americans are still held to the terms of a deal cut to the advantage of long dead slavers.

- - - Updated - - -

It's interesting that O'Rourke is saying factually and straight forwardly: republicans lied, and lied a lot. It has been a an open secret that Trump lies a lot when he talks, but the media until very recently tried to act like he should be given the benefit of the doubt before assuming that he was lying. O'Rourke is making the fairly obvious observation that Trump is not the only republican that lies a lot.

This is the understatement of the century. Trump is a product of the far right propaganda machine, not its cause. Their entire movement and everything about them is based on lies. They react to the truth the way a vampire reacts to holy water.

The Republican base is a group of people that are extremely hard to reason with, but extremely easy to fool.

[fwc577]

Oh, would you look at this: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ead-voter.html

So Cuckerson gets on his show and starts reading the names of dead people voting. One of the names read is James Blalock, who died 14 years ago.

He reads these names and claims their proof of voter fraud for Biden.

BUT GET THIS!

94-year old Agnes Blalock happens to be watching Fox news that night.

Being the honest lady that she is, she spoke up about the incident.

You see, Agnes wanted to honor her husband, so when she voted, she voted as Mrs. James Blalock.

She also voted for Trump.

Womp womp Cuckerson, heir to the Swanson empire. This is one oligarch that needs to fuck off and go crawl under a rock at his Hamptons estate.

These traitors need to stop trying to divide and destroy America.

[UnifiedDivide]

So, given all the mention of her, is AOC the new measuring stick of what is good and acceptable for the Democrats?