Mega-Thread: 2020 United States General Election

[Radux]

Unsure what you mean. Could you elaborate? Not sarcasm, just a bit confuzzled.

Absolutely.

So prior to civility going to shit on capitol hill, Joe Biden was known for his bluntness. His "off the cuff" speaking. THAT was considered uncivil during the time. In recent times the idea was that Biden might be able to attract some of the "tell it like it is" crowd if they wanted some civility to come back into public service - opposed to continuing the era of Trump.

There are different ways to say "please white suburban women, can't you like me?"
Obviously that is how our current President has worded it.
Having the intelligence to not say that, or "the poors/colored peoples are coming for your suburbs", is the boon to Biden.

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i hope this trans question isnt the last one
its one of those "economic anxiety" triggering questions for the midwest which would be bad to leave on..
move on move on move on

this was such a slam dunk for biden until that question, him saying hes proud of a trans person at the end too, this is awful for none college white voters, dont know if we can recover from this, F You abc asking loaded questions about culture war BS

Absolutely. I guarantee that certain media centers would focus on the "if you're an 8-10 year old and decide to be the other gender then there's no reason that should be a problem". That was a bad answer.

[DingDongKing]

Absolutely.

So prior to civility going to shit on capitol hill, Joe Biden was known for his bluntness. His "off the cuff" speaking. THAT was considered uncivil during the time. In recent times the idea was that Biden might be able to attract some of the "tell it like it is" crowd if they wanted some civility to come back into public service - opposed to continuing the era of Trump.

There are different ways to say "please white suburban women, can't you like me?"
Obviously that is how our current President has worded it.
Having the intelligence to not say that, or "the poors/colored peoples are coming for your suburbs", is the boon to Biden.

Right, I'm with you. Yeah, he's very candid and human. I don't live in America nor am I American, but I'd happily vote for him. He wasn't my first choice as an independent observer, Elizabeth Warren was. But he's been so impressive since being the presumptive nominee. On message and clear.

i hope this trans question isnt the last one
its one of those "economic anxiety" triggering questions for the midwest which would be bad to leave on..
move on move on move on

this was such a slam dunk for biden until that question, him saying hes proud of a trans person at the end too, this is awful for none college white voters, dont know if we can recover from this, F You abc asking loaded questions about culture war BS

I'm sure your concern is benevolent. But I would never want Biden to abandon transpeople just in order to win the vote of a bunch of rednecks.

Absolutely. I guarantee that certain media centers would focus on the "if you're an 8-10 year old and decide to be the other gender then there's no reason that should be a problem". That was a bad answer.

Again, for clarity's sake, are you saying that the more conservative anti-transpeople folk will latch onto it? I found a different issue. He should have said 'people of any age should be able to identify with whichever gender they like or be non-binary if they identify as such'.

I'm least concerned about him pissing off backward ass folk. The burden of growth ought to be on them.

[Radux]

Yes, Valkyrst. I believe that certain media are going to latch on that "Joe Biden things being Transgender is a choice". It was poor phrasing. But without context that's all people are going to need to [RabbleRabbleRabble].

[eschatological]

I think the sentiment among some left-leaning folks is that, even though it's clear and obvious that trans rights are human rights, more conservative Dems and Independents will balk against embracing trans rights, just like they balked at Civil Rights in the 60s, and gay rights in the 90s/00s.

And for "social issue" voters, that could sway them to not vote or vote against Biden. And unfortunately, a lot of POC and immigrants are socially conservative, so this is an issue in their base. When conservatives in California wanted to pass Prop 8, they targeted African American voters who, even though consistently Democrat, tended to be homophobic.

[Breccia]

NBC News has a fact-check article about both town halls and, big surprise, Trump was telling some whoppers.

1) Trump claimed

So people were saying we're going to have a 42 percent unemployment. Look, this was a thing that came into our country, and it happened 100 — more than 100 years ago, and it happened now. We're talking about a 42 percent unemployment rate.

The only person who's mentioned 42% unemployment was Trump, who just made that shit up when it was really 5% four years ago. Nobody has talked about it more recently.

2) Trump claimed the Hannity thing I just quoted, 85% of people infected were wearing a mask.

The CDC tweeted on Wednesday that “the interpretation that more mask-wearers are getting infected compared to non-mask wearers is incorrect.”

3) Most of the remaining lies Trump told were lies he's told before. Trump once again mentioned tens/hundreds of thousands of fraudulent ballots, they don't exist. He said Obama spied, that's false, and even if it was true Trump as head of the Executive Branch didn't do anything. Trump was asked about downplaying the virus, Trump's answer is irrelevant, we have a timeline of public statements. Trump said we were expected to lose 2 million people, but forgot the part about "if nobody does anything at all". He also took credit for saving the 1.8 million hypothetical people who haven't died yet (which @Benggaul will trim down later today) despite, you know, state and locals doing their job while Trump did nothing. He said we're turning the corner on COVID, expect @Benggaul to shoot that down too.

He said one in five small businesses owned by minorities closed, that's true, but "he" means Biden, not Trump, hah hah fooled you! Biden also mentioned the bleach thing, because why wouldn't he?

[DingDongKing]

Yes, Valkyrst. I believe that certain media are going to latch on that "Joe Biden things being Transgender is a choice". It was poor phrasing. But without context that's all people are going to need to [RabbleRabbleRabble].

They're gonna do what they're gonna do. The man is rightfully supportive of transrights. His phrasing of a sentence isn't going to lose me sleep.

I think the sentiment among some left-leaning folks is that, even though it's clear and obvious that trans rights are human rights, more conservative Dems and Independents will balk against embracing trans rights, just like they balked at Civil Rights in the 60s, and gay rights in the 90s/00s.

And for "social issue" voters, that could sway them to not vote or vote against Biden. And unfortunately, a lot of POC and immigrants are socially conservative, so this is an issue in their base. When conservatives in California wanted to pass Prop 8, they targeted African American voters who, even though consistently Democrat, tended to be homophobic.

If people vote against Biden because he's pro-rights for transpeople, then fuck them. Equality is equality. There's no caveats.

-snip-

What's telling is that Biden actually understated a few numbers and might have overstated a couple bits, but he knows his stuff.

Trump on the other hand, he might as well just get Hannity, Ingraham and Carlson to do his Q&As for him with all their lies.

[Edge-]

Yes, Valkyrst. I believe that certain media are going to latch on that "Joe Biden things being Transgender is a choice". It was poor phrasing. But without context that's all people are going to need to [RabbleRabbleRabble].

It was dumb, but honestly I'll give him credit for being an old guy and at least trying to understand issues around gender identity that were very much not a part of the majority of his life. His understanding may be flawed and his language inelegant (to say the least), but his desire to be accepting of trans folk and those with different gender identities seems clear.

I expect any attacks to come from more progressive groups than conservatives on this topic, if anything.

[DingDongKing]

It was dumb, but honestly I'll give him credit for being an old guy and at least trying to understand issues around gender identity that were very much not a part of the majority of his life. His understanding may be flawed and his language inelegant (to say the least), but his desire to be accepting of trans folk and those with different gender identities seems clear.

I expect any attacks to come from more progressive groups than conservatives on this topic, if anything.

A tweet I read about it hit the nail on the head. Quoting below.

I think Biden needs a little more education about how to talk about trans identities, but his position seems in the right place and I can’t imagine how the other guy would have answered a question like that.

I'm just gonna lay it on the table. Anyone at this point who doesn't vote for Biden is a moron. Thanks.

[Radux]

It was dumb, but honestly I'll give him credit for being an old guy and at least trying to understand issues around gender identity that were very much not a part of the majority of his life. His understanding may be flawed and his language inelegant (to say the least), but his desire to be accepting of trans folk and those with different gender identities seems clear.

I expect any attacks to come from more progressive groups than conservatives on this topic, if anything.

Don't take my criticism of his gaffs and misspoken answers as anything more than what it is: a critique. If I had a side by side of my complaints of the candidates answers, one list would be a bit longer than the other.

Just because I may support one candidate over another doesn't mean they don't make mistakes, and that people won't catch those and make mountains out of mole hills.

I totally get that he's totally on train LGBTQ rights. His answer still could have been better.

[DingDongKing]

Don't take my criticism of his gaffs and misspoken answers as anything more than what it is: a critique. If I had a side by side of my complaints of the candidates answers, one list would be a bit longer than the other.

Just because I may support one candidate over another doesn't mean they don't make mistakes, and that people won't catch those and make mountains out of mole hills.

100%. And if anything, were this critique presented to Biden, he'd take it on board and improve. He wouldn't blame Mitch McConnell or the Fake News Media. That in itself is a pleasure to have in two ways. a) the quibbles are quibbles and b) the person in question can grow.

[Edge-]

Don't take my criticism of his gaffs and misspoken answers as anything more than what it is: a critique. If I had a side by side of my complaints of the candidates answers, one list would be a bit longer than the other.

Just because I may support one candidate over another doesn't mean they don't make mistakes, and that people won't catch those and make mountains out of mole hills.

Oh I didn't. I was mostly just echoing my similar view. It was a mistake, but it was a really trivial one. Even during a normal election I doubt this would be much of a "thing", and as we well know normalcy has gone right out the window.

[Themius]

Watching Biden I was very happy. He’s very much a person. I disagree with quite a bit he has said about some things but he isn’t recruiting nazis to kill me. So he’s cool in my book.

[Radux]

I think I'd have to agree with something that I heard in the post town hall discussion: The decency and desire of Joe Biden to interact and answer the constituents' concerns/questions. They're having a conversation. Directly answering things being asked of him (bar court packing).

[Breccia]

What's telling is that Biden actually understated a few numbers and might have overstated a couple bits, but he knows his stuff.

Biden also said he signed a 1994 law that put a bunch of minorities in jail and he now believes it was a mistake.

Trump never admits mistakes, takes responsibility @Edge- or even acknowledges there's the chance he might be wrong.

Both of those happened nearly simultaneously tonight.

[DingDongKing]

Oh I didn't. I was mostly just echoing my similar view. It was a mistake, but it was a really trivial one. Even during a normal election I doubt this would be much of a "thing", and as we well know normalcy has gone right out the window.

The tweet below is fairly direct.

How will I ensure the rights of LGBTQ+ people are protected under U.S Law? I’ll change the law.

[Radux]

I'd also like to say that he's STILL answering questions despite it not being aired for ratings. He's STILL talking to people who decided to stick around.

[Paranoid Android]

Biden also said he signed a 1994 law that put a bunch of minorities in jail and he now believes it was a mistake.

Trump never admits mistakes, takes responsibility @Edge- or even acknowledges there's the chance he might be wrong.

Both of those happened nearly simultaneously tonight.

Worst thing Hillary ever did in 2016. Never apologized for the Crime Bill. Hell she wasn't President or a Legislator but throw your husband under the bus. Who cares. Sacrifice Bill and say you regret it. Bill should now of all its politics and goodness forbid we all know Hillary took a few bullets for Bill.

[Rasulis]

A little late to it: But Joe Biden REALLY needs to stop answering questions about "shooting people in the leg" or warning shots or any of that crap. Clearly he's never owned a firearm or even inquired about police/military training. That's not a good/safe answer (to begin with), but it's also a super shit answer for how to de-escalate things.

Does not matter. I have said it many times on this board. Biden sounds like your favorite old uncle. He may exaggerates his stories once in awhile but you still enjoy listening to him.

Trump is your typical high school braggart that knew the you know that he was lying but was too far in to back out. You wanted to beat the shit out of him. Except he was the son of your high school principal. So you could only rub your chest.

[PhaelixWW]

Going through more NBC clips though. They took the fake news crown that Trump gave CNN and ran with it. Trump won't be talking to an NBC anchor any time soon.

Joke's on him, then; the final debate moderator is another NBC anchor.

[cubby]

Lawyers are good, but throwing the unregistered, unofficial, likely criminal thugs out of the polling places is more important at the time.

I hoping the lawyers can help with that. They would be in a solid position, and have the education and training, to calmly and quickly request that illegal "poll watchers" are removed by local authorities.

If I were on Biden's Election Strategic Team, I would have a three person team at every polling station in every battleground state. Two lawyers and one gofer.