Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)

[Dr. MID-Nite]

13 minutes ago, BoloOfEarth said:

 

There were 12 postal districts affected, but some postal districts covered more than one state (or parts of more than one state).  The states affected are:

• Pennsylvania
• Michigan
• Colorado
• Wyoming
• Georgia
• Texas
• Alabama
• Vermont
• New Hampshire
• Maine
• South Carolina
• Florida
• Wisconsin
• Arizona
• New Mexico

 

So at least two states that are still heavily contested...

[ScottishFox]

36 minutes ago, Starlord said:

Biden now leading NV, WI, and MI...which would give him exactly 270.

 

Trump is going to legally contest this thing in the exact nightmare scenario I was hoping would not happen.

 

Last night Michigan really threw some fuel on the fire when they found 138,339 votes for Biden and 0 for Trump.  There's no way an update of that size doesn't contain a single Trump vote.

 

https://twitter.com/Scottyterrible/status/1323996189637939204/photo/1

 

That being said it does look like Biden will take this without judicial intervention.

 

 

[Simon]

ScottishFox will no longer be joining this discussion.

[archer]

43 minutes ago, Dr. MID-Nite said:

 

So at least two states that are still heavily contested...

 

For the presidential race, I'd count these due to the narrow margins:

• Pennsylvania
• Michigan
• Georgia
• Maine
• Wisconsin
• Arizona

 

 

A number of congressional races narrowly flipped to Republican out of those 15 states as well....

[DShomshak]

Well, it's come down to a squeaker in a few states, just like 2016. No sign yet of a blue wave that flips the Senate and increases Dems in the House.

 

I find this unfortunate because even if Trump ultimately loses, Trumpism has not. My guess is that Republican strategists will conclude that culture-war, white-grievance nationalism (with tax cuts as bribes for the middle class, deregulation as bribes for corporations, and voter sup[pression and friendly judges to prune the electorate) is still the right strategy; they just need someone more disciplined than Trump as the figurehead, and hope another pandemic doesn't strike in an election year. So I still fear for our future.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Lawnmower Boy]

In fairness to Trump voters: First, it is very hard for an American administration to fail to be re-elected; Second, it has proven very hard for a government to lose an election in this fall of COVID. Yes, one can argue that the Trump administration's response to the pandemic has been poor, but I don't notice that the elections this fall have been sensibly affected by the details of the response. Trump's supporters certainly don't seem to believe that he has handled the pandemic badly. 

[unclevlad]

It is very much a squeaker.  Which means it's a certainty now that we're in for a VERY long, messy period of challenges, recounts, and lawsuits.

 

But at least there's hope.  And that's not empty;  last night was not a good one for me.

 

The other big takeaway for me is similar to Doc Mid-Nite's.  Van Jones put it that a lot of Democrats are upset that it's this close.  Maybe upset isn't the right word;  I'd go with disturbed.  It's a bad sign.  If Trump can't be swept out easily and convincingly, the Democrats have major problems.  

[TrickstaPriest]

5 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

The other big takeaway for me is similar to Doc Mid-Nite's.  Van Jones put it that a lot of Democrats are upset that it's this close.  Maybe upset isn't the right word;  I'd go with disturbed.  It's a bad sign.  If Trump can't be swept out easily and convincingly, the Democrats have major problems.  

 

I really don't want having a political leader trash talking and degrading his political rivals on the media to become an American standard.  Much less one that tries so hard at threatening entire states that don't vote for him.  😕

[Old Man]

Hi guys, for mental health reasons I've avoided all non-football news for the last 36 hours.  Anything interesting happen?

[archer]

1 hour ago, unclevlad said:

 

The other big takeaway for me is similar to Doc Mid-Nite's.  Van Jones put it that a lot of Democrats are upset that it's this close.  Maybe upset isn't the right word;  I'd go with disturbed.  It's a bad sign.  If Trump can't be swept out easily and convincingly, the Democrats have major problems.  

 

Trump and Trumpism presents more than just the Democrats with major problems.

 

Trump is bad for the Republican Party if you think that Republicanism consists of something more than winning an election.

 

Once you set aside rule of law and the norms our governing institutions have abided by...what direction is there other than personality cults and autocracy? That has literally happened over and over in countries across the world throughout history.

 

We've traditionally had a two party system in the US which contested over which is the best way to run a democratic republic.

 

We're faced now with the serious possibility of having one party which wants to run a democratic republic and another party which devoutly wants a hereditary dictatorship and will settle for nothing less.

[archer]

10 minutes ago, Old Man said:

Hi guys, for mental health reasons I've avoided all non-football news for the last 36 hours.  Anything interesting happen?

 

The US signed Dak Prescott to be the next president.

[Starlord]

11 minutes ago, Old Man said:

Hi guys, for mental health reasons I've avoided all non-football news for the last 36 hours.  Anything interesting happen?

 

Apparently, this guy still owns the Raiders.  Sorry.

 

[Lord Liaden]

Below is very sober and reasonable advice, which boils down to: Don't panic.

 

 

[Pariah]

3 minutes ago, archer said:

The US signed Dak Prescott to be the next president.

...but he's gonna be on Injured Reserve for the first six months of his term. And His VP is Andy Dalton, so....

[archer]

7 minutes ago, Pariah said:

...but he's gonna be on Injured Reserve for the first six months of his term. And His VP is Andy Dalton, so....

 

I still have every confidence that we can beat Russia next week and at least be a wild card at the end of the season.

[Old Man]

Concussed Andy Dalton > incumbent. 
 

I’m serious though, I really did avoid the news for 36 hours. It was difficult, but I recommend it, especially for days like yesterday. 

[Lawnmower Boy]

17 minutes ago, Old Man said:

Concussed Andy Dalton > incumbent. 
 

I’m serious though, I really did avoid the news for 36 hours. It was difficult, but I recommend it, especially for days like yesterday. 

And by "avoid," I take it you mean, "Lie in bed gritting your teeth and trying to will  yourself back to sleep so you don't go online to check if they'd called Michigan yet."

[BoloOfEarth]

24 minutes ago, Lawnmower Boy said:

And by "avoid," I take it you mean, "Lie in bed gritting your teeth and trying to will  yourself back to sleep so you don't go online to check if they'd called Michigan yet."

 

I live in Michigan, and was rather upset when I woke up at 3 am and checked to see our state was (at that time) leaning toward Trump.  My daughter was the same way.  Happier now to see it leaning toward Biden, though I'll be even happier when it's finally called for Biden.

 

Was upset that Florida went to Trump, but then again if Florida Man had gotten sensible, that might be a sign of the end times.

[Dr. MID-Nite]

4 minutes ago, BoloOfEarth said:

 

I live in Michigan, and was rather upset when I woke up at 3 am and checked to see our state was (at that time) leaning toward Trump.  My daughter was the same way.  Happier now to see it leaning toward Biden, though I'll be even happier when it's finally called for Biden.

 

Was upset that Florida went to Trump, but then again if Florida Man had gotten sensible, that might be a sign of the end times.

 

Also in MI.. not surprised at the divide. The suburban/rural areas are out of touch with the realities of the rest of the country.

[Old Man]

35 minutes ago, Lawnmower Boy said:

And by "avoid," I take it you mean, "Lie in bed gritting your teeth and trying to will  yourself back to sleep so you don't go online to check if they'd called Michigan yet."

 

I figured there was no chance it'd be called by yesterday and probably not even today, so why watch the votes come in in fits and starts?  Plus I didn't want to hear about polling locations getting blocked, voters getting pepper sprayed, or more post office sabotage.  I guess a couple of those didn't happen, which is nice.

[Greywind]

1 hour ago, Dr. MID-Nite said:

 

Also in MI.. not surprised at the divide. The suburban/rural areas are out of touch with the realities of the rest of the country.

 

So the urban parts of the country are the only parts that matter?

[Hermit]

14 minutes ago, Greywind said:

 

So the urban parts of the country are the only parts that matter?

 

While he wasn't flattering to them, that's not what Dr. Mid-nite said. he said they were out of touch with the realities of the rest of the country. 

 

 

[archer]

On 11/4/2020 at 1:41 PM, Dr. MID-Nite said:

 

Also in MI.. not surprised at the divide. The suburban/rural areas are out of touch with the realities of the rest of the country.

 

On 11/4/2020 at 2:42 PM, Greywind said:

 

So the urban parts of the country are the only parts that matter?

 

I don't think either side of that divide have a full grasp of the concerns of the other. I moved to cities after graduating college and married a beautiful lady who deliberately chose to teach in inner city schools when she could have easily chosen to have taught in more suburban schools instead. (She grew up in very rural Kansas but learned to love the kids in the inner city after landing a job teaching there after her own graduation.)

 

That's one of the strengths of the Electoral College system, in my opinion. A president has to show strength in many different parts of the country rather than just in population centers.

 

Winning over voters in Washington state, Oregon, and Colorado is different than winning over voters in NYC, Detroit, or Miami.

 

[Greywind]

10 minutes ago, Hermit said:

 

While he wasn't flattering to them, that's not what Dr. Mid-nite said. he said they were out of touch with the realities of the rest of the country.

 

 

There's more rural areas than there are urban areas. So maybe it is the urban areas that are out of touch with the realities of the rest of the country.

[Hermit]

2 minutes ago, Greywind said:

 

There's more rural areas than there are urban areas. So maybe it is the urban areas that are out of touch with the realities of the rest of the country.

 

Argue that with Dr. Mid-Nite, I was just pointing out he hadn't said what you said he did. Debate is hard enough without folks putting words in others mouths.

 

Me? I think Archer is closer to the mark (no archery pun intended). It does seem sometimes the Rural/Urban divide do not get each other at all. I know city dwellers who think Brown Cows are where you get chocolate milk from, and know some in rural areas that believe the entire city of Portland Ore was on fire during the protests there. 

 

We've got a real communication problem in our country.