American Politics Thread: The Hunt for Blue November

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by Azure

Trump is doing the same thing he did in 2016, and Biden is doing worse than Hillary did.

What will make the voter that voted for Trump in 2016 vote for Biden this time around?

He only needs to convince the same electorate that he already managed to convince once to vote for him again. All those people were completely okay with how he acted in 2016. In fact I think he was worse in 2016. Biden is just a terrible candidate and it makes what Trump is doing now looks worse, but he definitely attacked Hillary a lot more.

I think people are underestimating the seriousness here and are too easily playing it off as 'Biden has it locked up.'

I don't think Biden has it locked up, but I think the main goal for him from my point of view was 1) don't look senile and 2) don't get bullied by Trump. From that perspective, Biden wins the debate hands down imo, though I went in wanting that to happen so may be biased.

[SportsJunky]

I know it's easy to Monday morning quarterback these things but that exchange from last night where Trump questions Biden's education and basically calls him dumb got me riled up a bit.

I wanted Joe to say "'Excuse me? You had your sister, the judge, write your papers at business school. You paid someone to write your SATs. Your sister is on tape admitting it. Do you deny it, you moron?

[GirlySports]

I don't think this was a good thing for Biden to put out.. People were ripping Trump for being childish and this looks on his level.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1311278369296719872

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

That doesn't change here, Biden is 78 and Kamala is VP.

Is... is Biden getting a sex change before the election?

Not only will that turn off the voters who won't vote for a female president, think of the time lost on the campaign trail for surgery and recovery time!

On the off chance I am mistaken, and Biden is not getting a sex change before the election then both Biden and Trump are male and it does indeed change things from 2016.

[Elkyiv]

PBS recently uploaded a 1960 debate between Nixon and Kennedy and the difference in tact, candor, substance, and overall sincerety of that debate to the one last night is mind boggling.

Correspondets are able to ask their questions, candidates answering them succinctly and clearly and no ad hominems. It can't just be that both candidates were 30 years younger.

WTF happened to that country?

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

If you think there are no undecided voters, you clearly haven't worked an election.

You'd be surprised at the amount of people that don't know whats going on in the world. If you knocked doors for either campaign you'll get folks that (a) didn't know there's an election; and/or (b) don't even know who is running.

This used to be true, but not anymore. Really the only "decision" to make is whether to vote. But things are so hyper-polarized there just isn't the middle ground for the "undecided". And at this point the only real swing voters are suburbanites, as evidence by Trump's desperate pleas to keep them from leaving him.

[troutman]

Biden broke his personal one hour fundraising record last night amid the debate.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...te/3586878001/

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Elkyiv

PBS recently uploaded a 1960 debate between Nixon and Kennedy and the difference in tact, candor, substance, and overall sincerety of that debate to the one last night is mind boggling.

Correspondets are able to ask their questions, candidates answering them succinctly and clearly and no ad hominems. It can't just be that both candidates were 30 years younger.

WTF happened to that country?

...Trump

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by Azure

Trump is doing the same thing he did in 2016, and Biden is doing worse than Hillary did.

What will make the voter that voted for Trump in 2016 vote for Biden this time around?

He only needs to convince the same electorate that he already managed to convince once to vote for him again. All those people were completely okay with how he acted in 2016. In fact I think he was worse in 2016. Biden is just a terrible candidate and it makes what Trump is doing now looks worse, but he definitely attacked Hillary a lot more.

I think people are underestimating the seriousness here and are too easily playing it off as 'Biden has it locked up.'

I agree with you that people are underestimating but I have to think there were a ton of people in that undecided camp, who didn't like Hilary or Trump, but went with the the novelty non-politician.

I've heard people time and time again say things like they wanted something different, someone who isn't a career politician. We all knew Trump was a maniac, but he's somehow much worse than many of us even imagined.

[PsYcNeT]

Say what you want about Antifa, but at least they don't have a "No Masturbation" policy like the Proud Boys.

[Swift]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

I’m still holding out hope trump has a massive stroke during a debate and the country gets to watch him die on live television. Talk about cathartic. It’s the debate result we all need and deserve.

The second best part would be the reaction shot of a smiling/celebrating Melania.

But then there'd be neverending conspiracy theories for years and years that the Democrats poisoned his KFC before the debate or some #### like that.

If he's going to die in office I'd prefer him to give a speech on some airport tarmac (so everyone can see it's clearly him and not a lookalike) then as he's walking up the stairs to his plane, a sudden gust of wind blows his hair all over the place, he lets go of the handrail to fix it, loses his balance and comically bounces down the steps like The Rock selling a stunner.

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by Elkyiv

PBS recently uploaded a 1960 debate between Nixon and Kennedy and the difference in tact, candor, substance, and overall sincerety of that debate to the one last night is mind boggling.

Correspondets are able to ask their questions, candidates answering them succinctly and clearly and no ad hominems. It can't just be that both candidates were 30 years younger.

WTF happened to that country?

I would imagine it's mostly social media and a continually weakening education system.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

...Trump

Trump is the result, not the reason.

I think people should really look at how social media is used to run election campaign ads and how it stokes fear and uproar all across the world.

The US isn't the only country with this issue.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Elkyiv

PBS recently uploaded a 1960 debate between Nixon and Kennedy and the difference in tact, candor, substance, and overall sincerety of that debate to the one last night is mind boggling.

Correspondets are able to ask their questions, candidates answering them succinctly and clearly and no ad hominems. It can't just be that both candidates were 30 years younger.

WTF happened to that country?

You don't have to go back that far. Even Bush-Gore 2000 or Obama-Romney 2012. Any debate without Trump. It's all on youtube.

The media allows this now. They want the Trump ratings. He's the entertainer.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by AFireInside

I agree with you that people are underestimating but I have to think there were a ton of people in that undecided camp, who didn't like Hilary or Trump, but went with the the novelty non-politician.

I've heard people time and time again say things like they wanted something different, someone who isn't a career politician. We all knew Trump was a maniac, but he's somehow much worse than many of us even imagined.

Yes and what do the Democrats do? Run a career politician.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Cameron Swift

But then there'd be neverending conspiracy theories for years and years that the Democrats poisoned his KFC before the debate or some #### like that.

If he's going to die in office I'd prefer him to give a speech on some airport tarmac (so everyone can see it's clearly him and not a lookalike) then as he's walking up the stairs to his plane, a sudden gust of wind blows his hair all over the place, he lets go of the handrail to fix it, loses his balance and comically bounces down the steps like The Rock selling a stunner.

As if a Soros wind machine conspiracy wouldn't be the play there.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Azure

Trump is the result, not the reason.

I think people should really look at how social media is used to run election campaign ads and how it stokes fear and uproar all across the world.

The US isn't the only country with this issue.

Trump is probably a bit of both, honestly. You don't have to go back 30 years to find a reasonable presidential debate that doesn't seem like a circus act, you can go back 8.

The disconnectedness and AI manipulation of social media definitely has it's share of blame for the state of the country as a whole, but if we're talking about the ####show that elections and leaders have become in America, Trump shares a huge part of the blame.

As they said on the Hill, he's a chaos agent. That's why the GOP chose him, that's why he beat Hillary, and that's part of the reason America is in the state it's in and the role of the President and the election to decide that has become a farce – his sole quality is chaos.

[FlamesAddiction]

The debate was the worst rap battle I have ever seen. Zero flow, not rhyming, and the insults were mediocre at best.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

Say what you want about Antifa, but at least they don't have a "No Masturbation" policy like the Proud Boys.

No wonder they are so angry

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Azure

Trump is doing the same thing he did in 2016, and Biden is doing worse than Hillary did.

What will make the voter that voted for Trump in 2016 vote for Biden this time around?

He only needs to convince the same electorate that he already managed to convince once to vote for him again. All those people were completely okay with how he acted in 2016. In fact I think he was worse in 2016. Biden is just a terrible candidate and it makes what Trump is doing now looks worse, but he definitely attacked Hillary a lot more.

I think people are underestimating the seriousness here and are too easily playing it off as 'Biden has it locked up.'

You're missing a really big point here. Trump was able to run last election as an outsider without any expectations. People actually expected his behaviors to moderate once he was in office, something that did not happen. Trump has been a train wreck for the country. The only people who have benefited are those in the top 1%, like Trump claimed to be. Everyone else has suffered and has strapped future generations with more debt. People now know what the Trump presidency looks like, and unless your only thought is for owning the libs, you have to be second guessing your lat vote.

To the point that Biden is doing worse than Clinton, in what way? Can you clearly articulate where Biden is doing worse than Clinton? What is he doing that is a losing strategy and worse than Clinton? Biden's strategy appears to be pretty straight forward, and damn smart. Let Trump do the talking. Let him say abhorrent things that turns the electorate off. Biden wins when the electoral college math goes against Trump. The more Trump talks, the more that math gets weaker in Trump's favor. So the smart strategy is to let his opponent do the heavy lifting and destroy himself.

Seriously, what do you expect Biden to be doing right now? Talking policy? Americans have shown they don't care about policy. They vote on emotions, not on a critical approach to vote selection. Policy is too complex and too dry for Americans. They are more inclined to fall in love with the cult of personality. This is the "Dancing with the Stars" nation, where popularity and likability far outweigh the technical proficiency of executing their program. That has been put on display for a number of years, so why would the Democrats try chasing policy at this time? Trump voters can't spell policy let alone understand the nuance of how policies work systemically. So you're better off to let Trump shoot himself and point out where he has failed more so than pointing out how your policies differ from the Republicans - which is rape the poor and give everything to corporations and top 1%.