Biden has a lead right now in the polls. More than Hillary had. Some states were very close. IDK what to think. I believe I’m also overcorrecting. I’ll say I think it will be close. I think Biden wins popular vote. Not convinced either way on the electoral.
Biden should just campaign on being boring, and pick a good vp candidate.
To be fair, Trump was a degenerate birther who blames Obama for everything.
I think the economy rebounds and Americans won’t want to take a chance. Even if they despise a bunch, Americans are nervous about changing Presidents in modern history.
I do not think we’re looking at some type of Great Depression. I think unless we see more shutdowns the economy bounces back fairly quick. We had a labor shortage before this.
Indeed. I think he has shown tremendous restraint. No one has ever bashed a predecessor like Trump has. Everything bad that’s happened during his Presidency is someone else’s fault. The person most cited by far? Obama. It’s like comfort food for the racists. “Yeah I started to think maybe Trump messed up but then he reminded me the black guy did!”
Trump could be the next Jimmy Carter. Or Bush Sr.
I agree to an extent. Trumps base won’t shrink no matter what he does so that’s a lock. His enemies won’t change even if he handled this perfectly. I won’t vote for Biden because my vote doesn’t matter I’m in Kansas. I’ll continue to vote third party no matter what just in hopes maybe some people will entertain getting rid of seesaw control at some point before I die.
If I was team Trump I’d keep hammering the China travel thing because that’s when others were also wary of doing it. If I was team Biden I’d hammer everything else. In particular the moronic decision to ban travel from Europe, but only in countries he picked. We banned travel from places with few cases and still allowed it to ones with far more. That’s inexcusable.
I’d get the hell out of the way, and let Trump be Trump.
He’s going to do that anyway.
That’s a good question, but a hard one to even speculate about because of so many variables, @mnben87.
I just think that the “stars all aligned” and Trump was meant to be the President at this point in American History.
These pretty much describe where I was at in 2016 (after I realized that Trump was actually staying in the race, not as a joke or publicity stunt).
I’ve moderated considerably in my years on here but I’m still right of center. The problem for me is that I refuse to vote for someone as personally repugnant as Trump: policy is secondary to behavior and ethics for me.
Yes, I realize politicians are pretty much all messed up to some degree, but that doesn’t make them equal when I consider adult behavior. And yes, this means that given the choice between Obama and Trump (both people I voted against), I would choose to vote Obama with a gun to my head and no third party. Or GW, or Kerry, or GHB, or Clinton, or anyone. Ross Perot. Fucking Dukakis for crying out loud.
Trump has executed some policy items I actually like, but unfortunately I also have other considerations in my choice of candidate.
This is one of those rare sticking points I have with you Muf. I really don’t like it when you blanket the “Conservative” label on essentially a party election machine. I mean, I understand what you mean obviously, and of course Fox and other media outlets will join in. But to me at least conservative is an spectrum of ideology rather than a party machine. This is why I most often label things as “GOP” rather than conservative personally. Obviously preferences are personal.
Agreed on both counts. I do have to say though, DT makes it hard to be quiet.
This is same as me almost word for word (though I’m probably more left than you). I actually like some of Trump’s policies as well. I’m also convinced no President has only done “bad” things. I certainly like us meddling less overseas for one (though I would prefer if we’re doing that we don’t keep bloating the defense budget.)
When I was younger I thought GWB struggled with speaking and made us look a bit silly on the global stage at times. I’d take GWB in a heartbeat over Trump. I’ve never had to wonder if a President had any empathy in them. Never had a President who was so disgusting towards so many fellow humans. Never had a President who considered himself superior to all experts. Never had a President who shows such a disdain for learning or considering other viewpoints. Never had a President who seems like he’s obsessed with what cable tv shows say about him and has spent so much time responding to them. Or other completely trivial things below the office of the Presidency. His Twitter account alone should keep anyone from voting for him.
I’m convinced he came in knowing less than any President in history about what a President does. What powers and what limits they have. He’s essentially known for not attempting to learn or educate himself. He was insanely unpopular during a time when the economy was booming which is unprecedented. If he was a human adult his approval would have been twenty points higher and this thread wouldn’t exist. We’d be talking 2024 as he would cakewalk to victory like Clinton in 96 or Reagan in 84.
I can see not wanting Joe Biden to be President and despising Dems. Plenty of rational reasons to feel that way. What I absolutely can’t see is someone who has seen his body of behavior and actions who says I want four more years of this. I’ve largely given up faith in the Republican Party at this point. Hopefully post Trump they will return to some sense of sanity and look for something in a leader other than “I like how he trolls the left.”
This is the really weird one for me. I totally can see some other presidents having little empathy and being super selfish. After all, the informal title “president of the free world” would tend to attract egotistical types would it not?
But for fucks sake, you’re a fucking REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER… you know more about nuclear than anyone? More about covid than anyone? More about “insert blank” than anyone else? Shee-iiit.
Indeed. And the democratic party as well for me. Basically I’m resigned to 3rd party conscience votes for now (at the national level at least).
Don’t bet on it. Entropy has one direction, and generally speaking so do precedents in party politics. This was one of the key reasons I opposed Trump in the first place.
(Many may be surprised, @Aragon…but in my “non-Forum/Everyday Life”; I am actually right-of Center also (and a registered Independent, if that means anything).My “Obama vs. Trump” narrative tends to throw people off. And that is understandable)
Now in response to your other point. “GOP Machine” just doesn’t take into account (IMO) Social Media and it’s impact in our Social and Political Discourse; nor the impact of Conservative Radio and FOX. There will be, and are, literally millions of individual Conservative “machines”; some organized but most individual; that will bear their complete weight on Biden; many of which have no official connection whatsoever in terms of direction, focus and policy to the GOP. The difference is that I feel (again, IMO) that Trump has shown he doesn’t give a shit and will not hesitate to use anything and everything at his disposal; including the greatest pulpit in the World; to counter things thrown at him. Deny…divert…attack…repeat…
“GOP Machine” (again, IMO) limits the focus to what comes out of Republican Party planning and strategies only.
I will also repeat something that I have stated often on this Forum; (for those whom feel there is a “Liberal Machine”). Conservatives/GOP…whatever…are just better at the art of negative campaigning, by any metric you choose to use.
Biden will be like chum in the water to a school of starving sharks.
(I will be thrilled to revisit all of this after the dust and carnage of the election clears).
Great posts, gents. One thing I would add is not only Trump objectionable on behavior and conpetence grounds, but on corruption ones as well. This may be my biggest problem of all, personally (and that’s saying something, given how much I care about the other things). Even if Trump were “nicer” or more professional, there’s never been a more corrupt president, one that consistently uses and abuses his office for personal gain. He is and always has been an opportunistic grifter, and he’s no different while “serving” as President.
If MAGA nation woke up and realized just how much Trump actually despised them and saw them as “useful idiots” to exploit, Trump would be retired in 2020. But they continue to labor under his spell for reasons I can’t come up with.
One thing I need to add about Trump (surprise, surprise!) and the election:
His negatives are already “baked into the numbers”.
What other additional negatives could the DEMS possibly come up with? That he’s a “meany-head”! Na-na-NANA-na!
And if there is something new; “The Teflon Don” has shown that it makes no difference whatsoever in his numbers.
This just isn’t true for Biden.
The SJWs are simply following the long established Christian tradition, only in this iteration without a theist belief in God, but a nebulous entity of “humanity”.
Think various puritan sects and zealots trying to out-puritan each other. Same thing with SJWs. In woke culture, everyone is a sinner and must acknowledge their sins and repent - preferably publicly, much like the auto de fe of the Inquisition.
Acknowledge your privilege as a “straight white male”, confess your sins - that one Facebook post from 2010 that might be interpreted as transphobic - no one is free from sin, no one is woke enough. And the Inquisition, I mean the SJW outrage machine will ceaselessly examine every aspect of your behavior, much like the fundamentalists of old and and judge you accordingly.
John Gray and Tom Holland covered that in detail:
The viewpoint can be summed as follows - the game is rigged, the open border liberals, MS13 gang members and globalists want to destroy the country (and ban Christmas?).
We’re a persecuted minority and for us, the future is grim. You cannot fight this all reaching conspiracy at the ballot box and in the courts. And it’s a zero sum game - for us to win (whatever that means) they have to lose.
Therefore, we cannot play fair - we have to lie, cheat and swindle at every level and at every opportunity to level the playing field. After all the Deep State and the MSM is tipping the scales for the liberals for decades so it’s only fair that we choose a lying, cheating bastard who’ll beat them at their own game.
So when you’re pointing out that DT is a compulsive liar, that’s exactly the reason he was elected.
We’re still meddling.
GWB without Cheney would have been interesting.
It’s not a question of whether or not he believes all of that but that his fans and cultists believe it. I really think their reasoning can be summed up by: he was on TV so he must be smart.
Because they have to be. They know they are an endangered species. This is why they cling to religion and guns (and unfortunately, sometimes race). Does anyone believe they really care about those things? We know that Reagan, their God, didn’t. It’s why Trump adopted democrat positions during his campaign like universal healthcare and LGBTetc. rights.
Trump is divisive and the line between the GOP and Democrats is becoming more clear and it’s not just policy. Trump is not drawing as many uncommitted people to his and the GOP side as he pushing people to the other side. He did lose the popular vote as did GWB.
Abolitionists would have been called SJWs if they had that term back then. The women’s suffrage movement. MLK.
This is superb. The fact that their campaign went for ‘tweety’ proves the beltway is inhabited by the mentally infirm.
My uber-conservative friend posted something about this on facebook last night and I just chuckled, assuming it was a Babylon Bee article.
It was only when I opened facebook back up today to see my over-the-top lefty friend defending Biden’s remarks that I realized this was not satire. If it was satire, it would be pretty good dark humor in my opinion. Satirizing the notion of an old white democrat telling black people they aren’t black if they don’t vote for him is funny on the surface, but not so funny when you think about the outcomes in the places where Democrats have had one-party generational power over millions.
Anyway, keep 'em coming, Joe.
You can run pretty far with this idea in my opinion. I’m an atheist but I can’t help but see the parallels between SJW’s and any other religious cult, which I’m not afraid to lump most religions in with. At least during certain parts of history, as you’ve pointed out. I’m generally a big fan of religious people who understand tolerance and minding their own business.
I believe many of the most committed SJW’s get the same sense of belonging and higher purpose that any religious person does, although their beliefs seem to intrude on others at least as much, if not more than Christians in the modern era.