US Elections 2020 thread

[ajsmith2]

It's good news. Trumpsters would have loved her to run again so all her issues could be once again smeared on the left as a whole and they could replay 2016. Here's a hopeful Ben Garrison cartoon from a month ago.

[Ferris]

That's someone who doesn't know how many stars are on Old Faithful so is fudging it to get the cartoon finished on time.

[EOLAN]

Reading round the branches; I like to think that one quartert of the crowd in that segment is shouting Ben o Garrison as part of their disgruntlement over Hillary going to the Hill.

[ajsmith2]

Joking but meaning it: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1103057225910755329

I have no evidence but I think the chances of them having had an affair in the 80s are likelier than 0.

[Paul Calf]

Has she already run twice? Have I blanked the first one out?

[ajsmith2]

Has she already run twice? Have I blanked the first one out?

'Gainst Obama in 2008 but didn't get the nomination I think is what is being referred to.

[Paul Calf]

Ah, that makes sense.

[gib]

Joking but meaning it: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1103057225910755329

I have no evidence but I think the chances of them having had an affair in the 80s are likelier than 0.

How exciting, there's a Ben Garrison animated GIF if you page down. Never knew such things existed.

https://twitter.com/BlissTabitha/status/1103118378099564544

[Twed]

It is pretty disgusting that Hillary said she's not going to run, but is going to keep meddling: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hillary-clinton-puts-to-rest-lingering-speculation-about-a-white-house-bid-but-says-shell-keep-speaking-out/2019/03/05/6796a546-3f37-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html

For "what she believes in" and "unity". That's "nothing" and "trashing the left" respectively.

[Twed]

Kamala rally:



Dems are going to have to deploy Biden to stop Bernie, aren't they? Which is brilliant, because it trashes the "old white guy" smear. They are so wonderfully fucked.

[rjd2]

https://theintercept.com/2019/03/06/bernie-sanders-black-voters-2020/
relatively interesting reading, Harris not that popular with black voters while Bernie's numbers with that demo have improved over last few years.

A lot can happen obviously over the next year or so, but the Harris campaign is a little lifeless.

The Yang campaign is more interesting than nearly all of the bigger names running, pleased to see someone focus so much on the future workplace. I dunno though if that translates to votes but anyone making the front runners confront automation is a very good thing.

[Dog Botherer]

In a shocking twist for the Democratic party, turns out minorities are not enthusiastic about rabid prosecutors who've spent their entire careers locking up POC and throwing away the key. No amount of astroturf money can fix Kamala's history.

Can't wait for Biden to announce and then immediately get MeToo'd into political oblivion. It'll probably happen in the same day. Creepy old cunt.

[Bryan Cocks]

Can't wait for Biden to announce and then immediately get MeToo'd into political oblivion

Oh, it'll happen, truth be damned. There's no way the GOP aren't going to pay someone off to sling a load of #metoo allegations his way. But hey, Trump became President after grabbing women by the pussy and moving in on them like a bitch, so the cards are off the table.

Biden's not without issues but hopefully he'll dispatch Bernie. My heart sank when he declared a run. He's the last person Democrats need.

[Mr_Simnock]

Oh, it'll happen, truth be damned. There's no way the GOP aren't going to pay someone off to sling a load of #metoo allegations his way. But hey, Trump became President after grabbing women by the pussy and moving in on them like a bitch, so the cards are off the table.

Biden's not without issues but hopefully he'll dispatch Bernie. My heart sank when he declared a run. He's the last person Democrats need.

Bernie would be the best thing to happen to America for a long time if he was president.

[Bryan Cocks]

Bernie would be the best thing to happen to America for a long time if he was president.

That may or may not be true, but he's not going to win against Trump, so best if somebody else tries.

[Mr_Simnock]

What's wrong with Bernie?

[Funcrusher]

He's an American, Jewish Corbyn?

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

https://theintercept.com/2019/03/06/bernie-sanders-black-voters-2020/
relatively interesting reading, Harris not that popular with black voters while Bernie's numbers with that demo have improved over last few years.

A lot can happen obviously over the next year or so, but the Harris campaign is a little lifeless.

Not that I don't agree that the narrative here, but this is as misleading as it was with Sanders in 2016. Lots of voters are not familiar with Harris at this point.

[Bryan Cocks]

Bernie is no longer the underdog. He'll be perceived as a heavyweight, but I think a lot of his support in 2015/16 came from Not Being Hillary Clinton. Now, he's a late 70's white male at a time the general push is for a sex/ethnicity that hasn't done it before, so he's no longer necessarily the progressive candidate. I also think Trump has - sadly - rewritten the rules and Bernie is not going to be able to come out from under the 'Crazy' label he's already been given. Waxing lyrical about socialism is going to lose him more votes than gain him any, and the competition in the Democratic field is not in his favour. In 2016 it was five white men against Hillary. In 2019 it's going to be much more diverse than that, and I think diversity is where the zeitgeist is on the left over there right now.

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

Bernie is no longer the underdog. He'll be perceived as a heavyweight, but I think a lot of his support in 2015/16 came from Not Being Hillary Clinton. Now, he's a late 70's white male at a time the general push is for a sex/ethnicity that hasn't done it before, so he's no longer necessarily the progressive candidate. I also think Trump has - sadly - rewritten the rules and Bernie is not going to be able to come out from under the 'Crazy' label he's already been given. Waxing lyrical about socialism is going to lose him more votes than gain him any, and the competition in the Democratic field is not in his favour. In 2016 it was five white men against Hillary. In 2019 it's going to be much more diverse than that, and I think diversity is where the zeitgeist is on the left over there right now.

How many people pushing for sex/ethnicity do you think are going to switch and vote for Trump (??)

That may be an argument (though dubious) for why Sanders can't win the primary, but not for why he wouldn't handily beat Trump in the general.

[Bryan Cocks]

How many people pushing for sex/ethnicity do you think are going to switch and vote for Trump (??)

The next election will be an incumbent vs a newcomer. That doesn't historically fare well for the latter. Now, Trump is a special kind of cunt, but he's not playing politics as it's been known and given the way the electoral college works, there's every chance he could quite easily win in 2020. It'll take a candidate of maximum reach to stand a chance, and that's not Bernie Sanders. Of the traditional white male candidates, it could be Beto O'Rourke, perhaps even Biden, but it ain't Bernie. America just isn't ready for that.

[marquis_de_sad]

The next election will be an incumbent vs a newcomer. That doesn't historically fare well for the latter. Now, Trump is a special kind of cunt, but he's not playing politics as it's been known and given the way the electoral college works, there's every chance he could quite easily win in 2020. It'll take a candidate of maximum reach to stand a chance, and that's not Bernie Sanders. Of the traditional white male candidates, it could be Beto O'Rourke, perhaps even Biden, but it ain't Bernie. America just isn't ready for that.

I seem to remember it being impossible that Trump could win.

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

Of the traditional white male candidates, it could be Beto O'Rourke, perhaps even Biden, but it ain't Bernie. America just isn't ready for that.

So your concerns really have nothing to do with Sanders being a white man.

[marquis_de_sad]

Now, he's a late 70's white male at a time the general push is for a sex/ethnicity that hasn't done it before, so he's no longer necessarily the progressive candidate.

There has never been a Jewish POTUS.

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

There has never been a Jewish POTUS.

Being Jewish is no longer a recognized identity, the only discriminated-against minority is members of the Israeli government. (Sarcasm)

[Bryan Cocks]

I seem to remember it being impossible that Trump could win.

And he did so mainly based on the resonation of fear, ignorance and hatred. There was nothing radical about his policies, just pandering to prejudice and old fashioned ideas. Bernie faces a much tougher challenge: to convince people of a radical agenda that requires vision. All within the context of a sitting President who's not beyond making overtures about his opponent's mental health.

So your concerns really have nothing to do with Sanders being a white man.

I'm commenting on what I think will be influential factors more than my own concerns. But along with everything else, his age and ethnicity will be influential among the progressive left and how he plays it may well lose him even more votes. They might not switch to Trump, but they wouldn't be his.

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

And he did so based on the resonation of fear and hatred. There was nothing radical about his ideas, just pandering to prejudice and old fashioned ideas. Bernie faces a much tougher challenge: to convince people of a radical agenda that requires vision. All within the context of a sitting President who's not beyond making overtures about his opponent's mental health.

Simply incorrect. The policy agenda he is running on is not radical, virtually all of his major points have consistent supermajoritarian support in opinion polling.

You're approaching the election from the point of view of political pundits, not voters.

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

It's also important to remember that the U.S. still has the idiotic Electoral College. Which blue states that Hillary won is Sanders going to somehow lose to Trump? Meanwhile, Sanders did very well in the primaries in the key states that decided the election (e.g. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan). That's all the Democratic candidate needs to win.

[marquis_de_sad]

Also, Trump said and did some quite unconventional things, things that all the pundits said no one would accept. Saying you can't be a socialist and win a presidential election in the US is like saying you can't attack veterans and win a presidential election in the US. These rules that pundits live by have been proven wrong, repeatedly, by events.

[Funcrusher]

So they need a centrist, neoliberal female candidate, after that worked so well last time.