American Politics Thread: The Hunt for Blue November

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by greyshep

I really hope these numbers end up displaying a complete landslide victory for Biden in 2 weeks. I would get a lot of satisfaction to see Trump embarrassed and trounced at the polls on Nov. 3rd.

Might even restore some of my faith in humanity in the residents of the US.

Don't worry, it won't last.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by New Era

The numbers coming out of Texas are absolutely stunning. 31.35% of voters have already cast their vote. Of just under 17M voters, 5.315M Texans have already voted. In 2016 at about the same time, only 5.91% of Texans voted early. These numbers are... shocking. Are we seeing an enthusiasm gap?

And this morning the number of total early votes cast in the US crossed the 40 million mark:

https://electproject.github.io/Early...20G/index.html

That’s partly as a result of the pandemic but it’s also a sign of high enthusiasm in my view. If people were concerned over CoVid and didn’t particularly care about the election, they’d just sit this one out.

And again one does have to be careful about reading into these numbers before the votes are actually counted but there are high turnout numbers from urban areas in Texas and Georgia that would worry me if I was a Republican. And in Florida turnout seems quite high in the urban Miami counties as well.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

And this morning the number of total early votes cast in the US crossed the 40 million mark:

https://electproject.github.io/Early...20G/index.html

That’s partly as a result of the pandemic but it’s also a sign of high enthusiasm in my view. If people were concerned over CoVid and didn’t particularly care about the election, they’d just sit this one out.

And again one does have to be careful about reading into these numbers before the votes are actually counted but there are high turnout numbers from urban areas in Texas and Georgia that would worry me if I was a Republican. And in Florida turnout seems quite high in the urban Miami counties as well.

I think that is a really good point.

Yes, there is a great deal of interest in the election, and voter turnout could end up being historically high.

But I think that part of the explanation for early voting and mail-in voting has to be attributed to Covid. Avoid the crowds any way you can.

Regardless, the more the numbers grow, the more it portends toward hope.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

I think that is a really good point.

Yes, there is a great deal of interest in the election, and voter turnout could end up being historically high.

But I think that part of the explanation for early voting and mail-in voting has to be attributed to Covid. Avoid the crowds any way you can.

Regardless, the more the numbers grow, the more it portends toward hope.

Agreed—you can’t look at those numbers without considering the role Covid plays both in increasing the enthusiasm for early voting and vote by mail, and also in expanding opportunities for voters to do so (many states now offer no excuse absentee voting or vote by mail that didn’t do so in 2016.

With that said it’s a huge miscalculation for Trump to promote Election Day voting over these options. Even if there is some “cannibalizing” of E-Day votes going on every Democratic voter that casts a ballot is one less person for phone banks and mailers or door knockers to contact over the next two weeks. It’s also one less person to stand in hours-long lines on Election Day, hopefully minimizing that issue in urban counties too.

Meanwhile Trump is banking everything on a huge Election Day GOTV operation, and... he is apparently running out of money.

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Now do the same ad for Trump but with Gilbert Gottfried

Just have Gilbert Gottfried do the most profane, obscene version of the aristocrats imaginable, and when he gets to the punchline, say, "It's called, The Trump Administration."

[Senator Clay Davis]

Lol....not even slightly shocking though.

The reputation of Rudy Giuliani could be set for a further blow with the release of highly embarrassing footage in Sacha Baron Cohen’s follow-up to Borat.

In the film, released on Friday, the former New York mayor and current personal attorney to Donald Trump is seen reaching into his trousers and apparently touching his genitals while reclining on a bed in the presence of the actor playing Borat’s daughter, who is posing as a TV journalist.

Following an obsequious interview for a fake conservative news programme, the pair retreat at her suggestion for a drink to the bedroom of a hotel suite, which is rigged with concealed cameras.

After she removes his microphone, Giuliani, 76, can be seen lying back on the bed, fiddling with his untucked shirt and reaching into his trousers. They are then interrupted by Borat who runs in and says: “She’s 15. She’s too old for you.”

Representatives for Giuliani have not replied to the Guardian’s requests for comment.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/202...new-borat-film

[Looch City]

Hahaha that should be good fodder for the Qanon crowd. Would love to hear how they spin this one.

[troutman]

Rudy Giuliani Is My Father. Please, Everyone, Vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/202...ting-for-biden

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Lol....not even slightly shocking though.



https://www.theguardian.com/film/202...new-borat-film

I can't wait for the movie to come out, but how do you get away with this? Like if that's true wouldn't you need his permission to have him in the movie?

I figured in the first one they just paid everyone to get their permission afterwards but something like this is different haha.

[nfotiu]

Although unfortunate, the circumstances of the setup appear consensual, with Giuliani led to believe he was being courted. Bakalova, 24, is highly plausible in the sting, despite also having to pretend, for the benefit of viewers, to be a feral child posing as a far-right journalist.

I'm confused. She's really 24. Was she pretending to be a 15 yo feral child, who is also a conservative journalist to Rudy?

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I can't wait for the movie to come out, but how do you get away with this? Like if that's true wouldn't you need his permission to have him in the movie?

I figured in the first one they just paid everyone to get their permission afterwards but something like this is different haha.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/19/a...s-america.html

Mr. Cohen has long been a magnet for lawsuits for his work. People who were pranked on the television show “Da Ali G Show,” (2000-2004) and in the films “Borat” (2006) and “Brüno,” (2009) have also sued, though seldom successfully.

The difficulties arise often because the agreements people sign are purposely vague and there is indemnifying language in the fine print, according to Domenic Romano, another entertainment lawyer.

“These releases basically solicit the consent of the participant and say, ‘Look, no inconsistent oral statement is going to be considered here. This is the entire agreement in this release. You’ve entered into it voluntarily. You’ve had an opportunity to review it with counsel,’” said Mr. Romano.

...

“What’s he going to claim are his damages? ‘I made a fool out of myself?’” said Mr. Rosenberg.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Another highlight: his description of Cohen when he burst into the room...

“This guy comes running in, wearing a crazy, what I would say was a pink transgender outfit,” Giuliani told the New York Post. “It was a pink bikini, with lace, underneath a translucent mesh top, it looked absurd. He had the beard, bare legs, and wasn’t what I would call distractingly attractive.

Apparently, Borat is what Giuliani thinks transgender people are like.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

I'm confused. She's really 24. Was she pretending to be a 15 yo feral child, who is also a conservative journalist to Rudy?

I haven't seen it, but I suspect her age was not explicitly stated before Giuliani started playing with himself, so he probably gets off the hook there (no pun intended). I think it is reasonable to assume that a journalist is not a minor. Although looking at the actress, she could easily pass for a minor IMO.

SBC reaction and statement that she was only 15 was more just the freak Giuliani out in the moment.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Another highlight: his description of Cohen when he burst into the room...

Apparently, Borat is what Giuliani thinks transgender people are like.

And he didn't find a man with a beard and pink lacey bikini "distractingly actractive". So just regular attractive then?

[Nyah]

What the frack is going on with Mitch McConnell's hands??

https://twitter.com/user/status/1318954641552334849

AP image link:
http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Ind...a1ffa04c4/14/0

More scary hands photos:
http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Ind...2977c9f6ff/7/0
http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Ind...fa7d0e7b8/10/0

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Nyah

What the frack is going on with Mitch McConnell's hands??

https://twitter.com/user/status/1318954641552334849

AP image link:
http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Ind...a1ffa04c4/14/0

More scary hands photos:
http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Ind...2977c9f6ff/7/0
http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Ind...fa7d0e7b8/10/0

Hopefully it means he's dying. Rapidly.

[Looch City]

He was beating up the kids in cages.

[Puppet Guy]

Bruising from IVs?

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Uh, that could be a sign of clotting in the extremities associated with a COVID infection. Couple that with the possible bandaid over an old IV insertion point, and you have a guy covering up the fact that he's been infected.

It's speculation on my part, but considering how many people in the GOP elite have been infected lately, and their frequent meetings, it makes sense that it finally got him too.

[kermitology]

Nevermind that it also looked like his face was melting off of his skull.