Mega-Thread: 2020 United States General Election

[kaelleria]

Kanye West is polling at 2%.

There's no evidence that Kanye has filed for ballot access anywhere.

[Milchshake]

There's no evidence that Kanye has filed for ballot access anywhere.

LOL but Ye is pulling from Trump and the Libertarian candidate....


Political Polls
@PpollingNumbers
National Poll:
Biden 48% (+8)
Trump 40%
Jorgensen (L) 1%
Hawkins (G) 1%

When @KanyeWest included in the poll:
Biden 48% (+9)
Trump 39%
West 2%
Jorgensen (L) 2%
Hawkins (G) 1%


Ye, the hiphop artist for suburban volk. Who likes fish sticks?

Fact, Tucker Carlson is the scion of a fish stick empire.

[Benggaul]

Interesting theory:
People that listen to podcasts all day, are basically training themselves to follow ideologues.
Explains why a person that earguzzles Joe Rogan cant conceptualize a body politic made up of a diverse coalition.

Joe Biden is basically the anti-ideologue candidate. Which further retards their ability to understand him.

Nah. I listen to podcasts all day at work (because I need to be able to hear what's going on around me, so music is out) but I aggrandize no particular person (celebrity, politician or otherwise). Of course, I'm able to think for myself and do basic fact-checking rather than taking things at face value from my favorite personalities. It takes a special kind of stupid to just blindly follow.

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LOL but Ye is pulling from Trump and the Libertarian candidate....

What's the source for this? I'd love to be able to use it to rub into a particular someone's face.

[cubby]

Kanye West is polling at 2%.

Polls assume that a candidate is ON the ballot. Kayne is almost entirely barred, at this point, from being on any state ballot.

[Thekri]

LOL but Ye is pulling from Trump and the Libertarian candidate....


Political Polls
@PpollingNumbers
National Poll:
Biden 48% (+8)
Trump 40%
Jorgensen (L) 1%
Hawkins (G) 1%

When @KanyeWest included in the poll:
Biden 48% (+9)
Trump 39%
West 2%
Jorgensen (L) 2%
Hawkins (G) 1%

Going to be honest, this is the first time I have seen any names for a libertarian and green party candidates. I had been wondering if they were a thing this time around.

[cubby]

Nah. I listen to podcasts all day at work (because I need to be able to hear what's going on around me, so music is out) but I aggrandize no particular person (celebrity, politician or otherwise). Of course, I'm able to think for myself and do basic fact-checking rather than taking things at face value from my favorite personalities. It takes a special kind of stupid to just blindly follow.

I think that's the key to any source of information - don't take it at face value without fact checking and gathering other sources. @Milchshake - pod casts can be just as good or bad as anything else, imo - a TED Talk pod cast on COVID-19 vaccine effects would be typically good, while a Fox News "interview" on the same topic will near worthless.

- - - Updated - - -

LOL but Ye is pulling from Trump and the Libertarian candidate....


Political Polls
@PpollingNumbers
National Poll:
Biden 48% (+8)
Trump 40%
Jorgensen (L) 1%
Hawkins (G) 1%

When @KanyeWest included in the poll:
Biden 48% (+9)
Trump 39%
West 2%
Jorgensen (L) 2%
Hawkins (G) 1%


Ye, the hiphop artist for suburban volk. Who likes fish sticks?

Fact, Tucker Carlson is the scion of a fish stick empire.

But those polls assume a candidate is on the ballot. Write-ins typically suffer greatly from voter apathy - drastically reducing their actual affect on an election.

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We're gonna do a lil switch-a-roo here and amplify this post into another thread, because it's not only worth repeating, it's worth people in this thread seeing some analysis as to why Biden is playing this situation just about perfectly.

Here's an interesting article whose headline I'll paraphrase.

Biden is too boring for Trump's attacks to work

Here's the real headline:

Trump's throwing everything at Biden but nothing is sticking

Donald Trump and his campaign have spent months deploying a series of attacks on Joe Biden, depicting him as weak, unfit and a tool of leftists.

But as Biden rises in the polls, it's becoming increasingly clear that the attacks are not sticking. As such, Trump's mission to define Biden to voters has proven difficult.

Republican and Democratic strategists who spoke with NBC News said it's been tough sledding for the president in blasting his Democratic rival for several reasons.

First, Biden has remained low-key during the pandemic, while Trump's handling of it is closely examined daily, they said. Biden is also viewed more favorably than 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who was under investigation during the campaign.

Perhaps most important, Trump was the outsider challenger last time around. Now, he's an incumbent with a record.

*takes victory lap*

"In 2016, he had a very clear message and very clear action items," said Matt Gorman, vice president at the GOP consulting firm Targeted Victory. "He had an elevator pitch on why you should vote for him. He had that in the economy until COVID hit. Now it's harder to find that — especially now that the focus has stuck on him."

He continued, "Biden is barely campaigning, so he's not making many mistakes. Trump was also helped by the fact that Hillary had 20 years of built in negatives."

The Trump campaign spent most heavily on TV ads claiming Biden will be a tool of the far-left, that he does not have the mental competency to be president and that he's the wrong person to deal with China.

Pausing here to address those points.
1) Honestly, you could attempt to defend that one. Biden's now the only Democrat, however, so there's just as much evidence he wants centrist policies as "librul elite commie socialism". The target is even further up a small hill when Trump intentionally pushed, well, socialism. How's it going, farmers, oil and steel industries?
2) There are far more options to show Trump is intentionally/unintentionally ill-informed, slurring or forgetting words, unable to walk, unable to raise a glass of water 18 inches, unable to remember facts and names, unable to change his viewpoint over fifty years, or focus on a topic other than himself for more than 140 character than you'll find for Biden. And the Lincoln Project will find all of them. Probably with the theme of the Benny Hill Show behind them.
3) There is nothing about the current situation with China that portrays Trump as effective. I hope to post more on that later, I just need to, um, call an old friend.

Trump's attacks are worthless if he's more vulnerable than Biden. It's like a werewolf bringing silver weapons to fight a vampire.

And it's going to get worse if Trump tries to show Biden is corrupt by helping his family, because look who's in the motherfucking White House.

Usually, the fear with running a boring but effective candidate is lack of enthusiasm. But, gosh, kind of a lot's changed. One, Bernie and Biden are now basically teaming up. Two, Trump ran the country like a Trump business for three and a half years (next week) and big surprise, it's acting like one. Meanwhile, Biden has more years of effective public service than Trump has mistresses, including fighting off multiple outbreaks which are now orders of magnitude lower than this one, and of course, turning the economy around -- yes, Obama was in charge, yes, Biden will point out he was there when it happened.

Or, he could simply go to each debate and read verbatim the Contract with the American Voter and, after each section, look at the camera and shake his head.

My friends who know me second best are sometimes shocked when I advocate a top-quality vanilla ice cream, such as Breyer's All Natural. "But Breccia!" they say, "you're a chocolate fiend! Why would you ever push for vanilla?" And my response is always the same. "Vanilla is a good flavor. That's why it's in so many desserts, including chocolate desserts. There is a difference between vanilla and plain."

"It is difficult to demonize Joe Biden," said former Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla. "He is certainly not short on flaws, but throughout his career he has never been considered a villain or a shady character. The president almost needs that kind of foil in order to succeed."

Curbelo said Biden's "affable and conciliatory" nature makes it tough for Trump to land punches.

"It's difficult to attack vanilla," he added.[/quote]

Biden is vanilla. It goes well with almost every topping -- including hot fudge. Trump, at best, is salted caramel -- overhyped sugar, increasingly flavored by the tears of his rabid fanbase into their single scoop at night.[/QUOTE]

Biden is the candidate we can all get behind, without any minefields in his past (outside policy disagreements), and with Bernie teaming up, is in almost the best possible position to defeat Trump.

[Rasulis]

Biden is vanilla. It goes well with almost every topping -- including hot fudge. Trump, at best, is salted caramel -- overhyped sugar, increasingly flavored by the tears of his rabid fanbase into their single scoop at night.

Not from lack of trying. Hunter Biden, Burisma, Tara Reade, Daily Caller and Judicial News Watch suing University of Delaware for his Senate records, etc. All of them went in and out of the news cycle within a couple of days to be quickly forgotten. A large part of it was due to Trump’s own actions. He generated so much non-stop news that he drowned all other stories. All the negative stories about Biden never had the chance to develop and take root in the mind of voters.

[cubby]

Not from lack of trying. Hunter Biden, Burisma, Tara Reade, Daily Caller and Judicial News Watch suing University of Delaware for his Senate records, etc. All of them went in and out of the news cycle within a couple of days to be quickly forgotten. A large part of it was due to Trump’s own actions. He generated so much non-stop news that he drowned all other stories. All the negative stories about Biden never had the chance to develop and take root in the mind of voters.

Agreed. And those negative stories about Biden also had the added benefit of being false - demonstrably so. But it is amazing how much noise Trump generates on a daily basis.

There was an interesting piece in Bolton's book, where Trump is quoted as saying to release some story about Ivanka because it will deflect from (at the time) another issue that was dominating the news. Trump's deflection playbook, in both ignoring and/or lying as well as "releasing" other stories, is one of the few successes he continues to have.

[Rasulis]

Agreed. And those negative stories about Biden also had the added benefit of being false - demonstrably so. But it is amazing how much noise Trump generates on a daily basis.

There was an interesting piece in Bolton's book, where Trump is quoted as saying to release some story about Ivanka because it will deflect from (at the time) another issue that was dominating the news. Trump's deflection playbook, in both ignoring and/or lying as well as "releasing" other stories, is one of the few successes he continues to have.

Another factor to consider is that the GOP really was not expecting Trump to go against Biden. They were expecting Bernie which they had cast as a socialist boogeyman throughout the entire election process. Same strategy that they used on Clinton. Except their work to demonize Clinton went all the way back to 2008. Suddenly, they ended up with Uncle Joe. He may be a gaffe machine, but the guy is so likeable that he is basically Mr. Rogers incarnate.

On top of that, unlike Clinton and Bernie, the GOP never had a chance to develop a campaign hook on Biden. Early voting in some state starts in September. So if they want to turn Biden into another GOP boogeyman, they better work fast. Very fast. Turning Mr. Rogers into the boogeyman is not an easy task. Especially when his opponent is an actual boogeyman.

[cubby]

Another factor to consider is that the GOP really was not expecting Trump to go against Biden. They were expecting Bernie which they had cast as a socialist boogeyman throughout the entire election process. Same strategy that they used on Clinton. Except their work to demonize Clinton went all the way back to 2008. Suddenly, they ended up with Uncle Joe. He may be a gaffe machine, but the guy is so likeable that he is basically Mr. Rogers incarnate.

Agreed - their work was done too well, too soon. And the demonization of Hillary go all the way back to 1994, when she headed up the Universal Health Care movement. One other thing - Biden's occasional gaffe are nothing compared to Trump's daily senile word salad. The two aren't even remotely comparable. Biden isn't even really a gaffe machine - it's just one of the few things the GOP can try and latch on to.

[Omega10]

Agreed - their work was done too well, too soon. And the demonization of Hillary go all the way back to 1994, when she headed up the Universal Health Care movement. One other thing - Biden's occasional gaffe are nothing compared to Trump's daily senile word salad. The two aren't even remotely comparable. Biden isn't even really a gaffe machine - it's just one of the few things the GOP can try and latch on to.

This I think is the main narrative of this election. Trump's daily stupidity overshadows any gaffe that Biden may or may not make.

Trump also is overshadowing republican attempts to smear Biden. They will keep trying because what else do they have.

[Draco-Onis]

This I think is the main narrative of this election. Trump's daily stupidity overshadows any gaffe that Biden may or may not make.

Trump also is overshadowing republican attempts to smear Biden. They will keep trying because what else do they have.

It's kind of hard to smear anyone when people are dropping dead every day, Trump is running against the virus not Biden.

[SirBeef]

Kanye West is polling at 2%.

And where did those 2% come from. Your precious fuhrer.

[cubby]

It's kind of hard to smear anyone when people are dropping dead every day, Trump is running against the virus not Biden.

The election will be, hands down, a referendum on Trump's Residency. Period. Nothing else will factor into, regardless of what the GOP (Grifters of Politics) attempt. It already seems like the GOP Senators up for reelection are mildly distancing themselves from Trump, balancing "he's not my President" with "Trump's crazy cult base still needs to vote for me".

[Felya]

It's kind of hard to smear anyone when people are dropping dead every day, Trump is running against the virus not Biden.

Biden is also a wet noodle... you can’t really attack him on anything extravagant. On top of this, the standards have been lowered so much for Trump, there isn’t much Biden can do.

[Zan15]

Kanye West is polling at 2%.

lol that was fast

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...da-ballot.html

'He's out': Election strategist hired by Kanye West reveals he has dropped out of the presidential race - but bid was serious with 180 campaign staff hired to help him get on the ballot in Florida and South Carolina

[Rasulis]

lol that was fast

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...da-ballot.html

'He's out': Election strategist hired by Kanye West reveals he has dropped out of the presidential race - but bid was serious with 180 campaign staff hired to help him get on the ballot in Florida and South Carolina

He probably figured out how much the campaign is going to cost him. He has money, but he is no Bloomberg that can spend a billion dollar like chump change.

[draynay]

lol that was fast

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...da-ballot.html

'He's out': Election strategist hired by Kanye West reveals he has dropped out of the presidential race - but bid was serious with 180 campaign staff hired to help him get on the ballot in Florida and South Carolina

Who knew

[Felya]

He probably figured out how much the campaign is going to cost him. He has money, but he is no Bloomberg that can spend a billion dollar like chump change.

I can’t believe I know this... but... Kardashians were concerned he was going through a bipolar episode, but figured he would get well soon. Seems like he might have...

[arandomuser]

Trumps re election pitch
"save aunt jemima and redskins"

joe bidens election pitch: "lets fix climate change, give healthcare to low income and working people, raise the minimum wage, rebuild our infrastructure."

the fact that its even close suprises me, like i get it your mad at the left for changing aunt jemima. is that REALLY joe bidens fault? Were talking about a president which has ignored the fact that russia has been arming the taliban.. if trump wins america should just split up