US Elections 2020 thread

[Twed]

Good performance by Sanders I thought, though people on Twitter acting like this was a "Fox News audience" are obviously lying or deluding themselves. The studio audience was mostly Sanders supporters.

Yeah, I would be interested in knowing how the audience was made up. The moderator who asked the question about private insurance seemed confident that it would go his way, so that suggests the audience wasn't Sanders people (at least to his knowledge).

[Twed]

Mayor Pete seems to be getting amazing coverage from the media, with the never Trump republican element fawning over him like Rubin, Kristol and Joe Scarborough, is this actually translating into actual poll success?

Nope. And of course his own scandal is hanging over his head in the form of him being involved in some institutionally racist policies around redevelopment in the past.

It will come down to a few states that Trump edged in 2016. I think what boils so much piss about Bernie is he is actually a sensible choice if you want to take those states back which would mean Trump is fucked. Obviously Biden would be the other alternative.

Yep. What you have to remember (and I'm saying this out loud to nobody in particularly, I'm sure you're more than aware already) is that the Democrats would rather lose to Trump than their party win with Bernie. Bernie is the end of their way of life, whereas The Resistance is a good grift.

[Mister Six]

It will come down to a few states that Trump edged in 2016. I think what boils so much piss about Bernie is he is actually a sensible choice if you want to take those states back which would mean Trump is fucked. Obviously Biden would be the other alternative.

Yeah. Bernie's policies are broadly popular across a swathe of America; he has the blue-collar, pro-hunting pull; he has the youth vote; he has credibility; he even clearly has the respect of Trump, who obviously likes him... But the parasites in the Democratic mothership are in denial about how worthless the neoliberal middle-ground is in the modern day.

[Twed]

Bernie is the actual centrist, the "centrists" are extreme. Thinking that people's money should be massaged into the pockets of the rich who pay for access to politics is an extremist view.

[Twed]

One for the "What's the most derisory attempt at cunning you've ever witnessed?" thread:

https://twitter.com/ShaneGoldmacher/status/1118176763526434817

Somebody has been a slimy streak of piss, can you guess who it is before you click the link?

[ajsmith2]

 

he even clearly has the respect of Trump, who obviously likes him...

Do you reckon? What evidence is there of this? I'm not looking to argue with your claim, but I would be interested in hearing about any times Trumps been genuinely  warm or respectful towards Bernie. (anything said in the context of Hillary stealing the nomination from him doesn't count, for obvious reasons). The only people Trumps likes or respects are people who openly like him and/or powerful leaders of other nations and Bernie is neither.

Last night Trump showed disquiet at Fox News' coverage of Bernie: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1118317574301863936

Also brought the 'crazy' epithet that he used briefly in 2016 just before Bernie quit out of mothballs.

[Ferris]

Anyone seen the "small donor" debate rules, and dodgy ways to get round it yet?

The DNC has set a number of small donors you need before you can appear on a debate stage. A lot of these bland centrists don't have any small donor base - solution? Appeal for $1 donations off anybody (even though it might cost you a bit more than $1 to process and canvas for that dollar and won't be especially useful), then you can point to them and say "yes, I had lots of small donors!" and ignore the fact that the majority of your cash from the same old suspects.

I caught this from an oblique mention on a fivethirtyeight article

https://mobile.twitter.com/zubakskees/status/1108801763757486080

[Twed]

Pete the Progessive: "All your children should be forced to join the military like in Israel, a state very popular with progressives"

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/15/pete-buttigieg-national-service-program-1277274

[Mister Six]

Do you reckon? What evidence is there of this? I'm not looking to argue with your claim, but I would be interested in hearing about any times Trumps been genuinely  warm or respectful towards Bernie.

From around the time of the 2016 elections, Trump was telling his crowds that Bernie and his audiences have energy unlike Jeb. He praised Bernie's tenaciousness. And at one of his rallies some time after the election he joked on stage that he didn't know any Dems who'd dare to face him "Except Bernie. Even if they're bringing him out in a wheelchair (mimes elderly cripple) I think he'll be there."

I'm paraphrasing but he said that kind of thing, and it was in the middle of his free-association riffs too, so seemed authentic. His tone was affectionate.

Obviously his mood will sour now Sanders is making solid points about his failure to achieve any of his stated goals, of course.

[dr beat]

Pete the Progessive: "All your children should be forced to join the military like in Israel, a state very popular with progressives"

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/15/pete-buttigieg-national-service-program-1277274

I'm not doubting your likes of Farage and the alt-right/right-wing are possibly very keen on something like this, maybe even more draconian, but the way in which him, Ummuna and Macron etc are putting this at the forefront is even more disquieting, particularly the weaselling of it: "weelll, its not really national service, but if you don't do it you won't go to college". Everything has to be a transaction with them it seems.

[Twed]

Yep, you're not wrong.

(Asinine comment to kill edit bug)

[Twed]

I want them to do this. They are too zealous to realise that it would be the rubber stamp that officiates the end of the neoliberal Dems.

[Mister Six]

EDIT: Look at this dunce.

[Mister Six]

Been very heartened by every Facebook comments section concerning the feeble attempts to smear Bernie being full of people of all races and genders seeing right the fuck through it. This is the one thing the US political system can't handle: integrity. It's like putting a house brick in a washing machine.

Meanwhile, here's Joe Biden supporting Paul Ryan's attempted cuts to Medicaid and social security: https://gritpost.com/joe-biden-paul-ryan-correct/

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Word on the street is that Biden is in and will be announcing very soon: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/04/joe-biden-running-president/587560/

[Twed]

Wednesday, I heard.

It will be a good measure of how likely the centrist vote is likely to override the leftist vote, I think.

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Absolutely, with Bernie and Biden polling almost equally well, they are way out ahead of everyone else, so it really will be interesting to see what happens. If Bernie beats Biden decisively, then a new age is truly upon us

[Twed]

If people's complaints about the polls always being via landline are true, then I'd wager Bernie's chances are really good. People with landlines are pretty much Biden's demographic, so if he's level-pegging there... sheeesh.

I don't know how Biden running/not-running affects his numbers though. A lot of people saying that they'd go down, but those are all very Bernie people and I don't see the logic behind it.

[Monsieur Verdoux]

I guess the a polling at the present moment is mainly based on nostalgic goodwill for an idealised version of Biden as VP, so his numbers may drop when people are actually forced to reckon with him as a candidate, where he may well be uninspiring. Biden does seem to have a habit of putting his foot in his mouth

[Monsieur Verdoux]

For those interested, here is a good, comprehensive rundown on what exactly is wrong with Joe Biden as a politician: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/03/everybodys-chum

[Urinal Cake]

I hope Biden becomes the nominee so we can really choose the lesser of two sexual assault evils.

[Mister Six]

Elizabeth Warren calling for Trump's impeachment: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/impeachment-talk-among-democrats-heats-after-mueller-report-n996401

[thugler]

Elizabeth Warren calling for Trump's impeachment: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/impeachment-talk-among-democrats-heats-after-mueller-report-n996401

What is point?

Surely no chance of it happening since the report wasn't positive of guilt on either aspect?

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Impeachment proceedings would involve doing further investigation in order to establish guilt, so I think they're just taking the fact that the conclusion of the Mueller report is that it's up to Congress to decide if the acts described in the report fit their understanding of criminality and trying to run with that. It will probably go nowhere, I'm not optimistic

[Urinal Cake]

Two points
1. Sincere belief that what he did should amount to obstruction of justice.
2. To fuck with Trump and the GOP during the election. Trump has seemed unflappable but a hint of the deep State coming to get him and he panics. Further the issue of Trump being dragged through the mud should give some in the GOP the opportunity to split.

[Sin Agog]

It's a cul de sac, a neolib-swallowing Bermuda Triangle, and does absolutely nothing for their public image.

Had no idea Bernie was doing so well recently.  Always said that America was more likely to make a seismic change (like elect a socialist president) than Angleterre.  Short roots have some advantages.

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

What is point?

Surely no chance of it happening since the report wasn't positive of guilt on either aspect?

The point is to derail the administration. A halfway competent House would initiate impeachment proceedings against any Republican president.

[Monsieur Verdoux]

They're also constitutionally obliged to impeach if the president is found to have committed any kind of criminal wrongdoing. The fact that Pelosi said that Trump "wasn't worth" impeaching is a very telling abdication of responsibility. It's not really for her to decide whether it's 'worth it' or not

[Mister Six]

They're also constitutionally obliged to impeach if the president is found to have committed any kind of criminal wrongdoing. The fact that Pelosi said that Trump "wasn't worth" impeaching is a very telling abdication of responsibility. It's not really for her to decide whether it's 'worth it' or not

Yes, Trump should be impeached just like any crook should face a criminal investigation. The idea that we should not apply the law here is baffling.

Trump's approval rating the lowest it's been this year. I don't think a move to impeach would be that unpopular, regardless of whether it happened or succeeded. Which it wouldn't, obviously.

[Twed]

https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1119616082338353153

We've got this guy running and people are still saying "let's give that Pete Buttigieg guy a shot, he might eventually come out with a policy".