Someone Has To Do It: US Elections 2020

[Nefertiti2]

Also if the aim is to appeal to Republicans who voted Trump last time, why is Hillary Clinton speaking?

[Mr Delicieux]

There seem to be two large opposing forces attempting to wrestle control of the DNC at present; those who would like to return to normality, choose a safe pair of hands to steady the ship and get America back to doing what it does best.
What does it do best? From my perspective, it appears to be a desire to be the biggest country in the world who inspires everybody else by being the most progressive, forward-looking nation on planet earth.

Yet, what is that? What is their normality?
What is acceptably progressive?
A nation's healthcare? Well, America certainly can't boast about that, can they?
Progressive attitudes toward women? Well, New Zealand and Finland beat them to votes for women, so it can't be that.
Same-sex marriage? In 1996, US president Bill Clinton was signing the defence of marriage act that banned federal governments from recognising same-sex unions at a time when 6 countries had already recognised such unions, so we can safely rule that out.

I write this as my whole life has been spent being told that America leads in these matters, yet I struggle to find evidence that backs up such a claim. Pointing out such things to people who consider themselves to be on the side of the angels usually results in being blocked on social media, because for way, way too many people in America, Biden isn't Trump, so must be good, and the analysis stops there.

He isn't even a bad choice in the eyes of a frightening amount of people, people whose grasp of political processes is so simplistic and child-like as to result in somebody like Trump rising to power in the first place, and rather than reconcile this childish grasp of political matters have simply doubled, or tripled-down with the simplistic slogans (think Drumpf, orange man, boy bye), or roll call of would-be heroes, each one leaving the gallery convinced that this was indeed the hero they needed who would definitely take down Trump, (a nice, easy solution to go with the others) only to then not even remotely take him down (the only person I can recall is Robert Mueller, grown adults thirsting over his very presence, he representing a heroic government Daddy who would come and make everything better, like when they didn't have to think too much about boring politics! If only it were that simple).

And yet, AND YET, this is the exact same energy I see being tapped into, except its with uncle Joe and Kamala Harris, who ticks all of the right progressive boxes, providing you don't scrutinise her record too much. Same with Joe. Hey, they aren't orange man, amirite?!!???

These are the people who the DNC have decided to covet, the Trumpiest looking left wing voters you ever did see. It feels disastrous to me as a long term strategy, so disastrous that I don't think the long term has had any thought paid to it.

The thing is, there is a group on the left who reject all of the above, they have seen through it, and aren't enthralled by the institutions who are making these decisions.

The DNC, in making backroom deals in order to select their nominee of choice, while doing so with zero subtlety have acted exactly as you'd expect a corporation who are answerable to nobody but themselves, and there are a large number of people on the left who are aware of the DNC's behaviour in the last two elections, and it really isn't a good look when you're trying to act as a bastion of purity. I think the DNC have seriously underestimated how aware these people are. They see through the carefully shot ads, they see through the emotive grabs, because they can see the absolute lack of substance, the blatant play to appease those who fund their campaigns, and that above anything else is perpetuating apathy among this group on the left, far more so than them not getting the nominee of their choosing, yet in the light of the DNC rallying behind Biden and their man going in to win on a skewed playing field, those same people were called losers and told to get over it.

We fast forward to today, and to me, while the DNC have continuously compromised their position, the GOP have done no such thing.

I write this as somebody who was quite convinced that George W. Bush was toast in 2004, yet he won, despite everything, despite being assured that he was done for, and everything right now feels awfully familiar.

Having corporate entities decide presidential nominees in a democracy is counter-intuitive, no? I can't get past that really, and can't see how anything can really improve while the current framework remains in place.

The only way i can see that change is for ownership of these corporations to transfer to and be run by the American people, but then I see the simplistic, black and white manner in which people engage with political matters, just have to make my peace by seeing how we've gotten to this point, and until certain people on both sides stop treating political parties like their favourite sports team with all of the partisan blindness that comes with it, can't see much changing.

[johnr]

Erm, welcome Mr Delicieux, fine second post.

Favourite biscuit?

[Mr Delicieux]

Erm, welcome Mr Delicieux, fine second post.

Favourite biscuit?

Many thanks Johnr, and to answer your question, I've been enjoying a digestive dipped in coffee recently, it creates a nice balance of flavour.

[Nefertiti2]

In the free market of ideas, even Trump-hating Jeff Bezos, the richest man on the planet takes the republican dollar to drown the reporting of the Democrat convention in his Washington Post.

https://twitter.com/mlcalderone/status/1296422018678693889?s=20

[Nocturnal Submission]

Yes, welcome to the board, Mr. D.

Football team?

[ursus arctos]

Welcome, M. Delicieux (the dual language moniker confuses me).

I echo John's reaction, though I will again make the point (as I have been doing so for years) that "the DNC" is not as powerful an entity as is often thought. Yes, they can put their finger on the scales in certain primaries and in arranging debates (as Sanders is very well aware), but they no longer even have control of the largest source of funds, which is an essential source of power in the US system.

US parties are different from their counterparts in the rest of the world in all kinds of ways, and the absence of a single centre of power is one of them. Most of progressive political activism in this country ignores the DNC in favour of more grass roots organisations.

[caja-dglh]

In the free market of ideas, even Trump-hating Jeff Bezos, the richest man on the planet takes the republican dollar to drown the reporting of the Democrat convention in his Washington Post.

He kind of has to do that though. If he refused to, he would be in a whole mire of editorial bias problems that they would blow up against him. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[WOM]

Yes, bienvenue, monsieur. It's odd seeing the Dem's so freely referred to as 'the left'. Lots of countries have a true left and a left and a centre and a right and a far right, etc. The Dems and Republicans have their standard 'team colors' supporters, but a vast swath of people who see them as so similar they swing from one to the other. And what are they really....centre right, maybe? One side likes their taxes low and the other likes 'em really low.

[That Night In Barcelona]

He kind of has to do that though. If he refused to, he would be in a whole mire of editorial bias problems that they would blow up against him. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

They could take the very easy option of simply not running ads from either party, I think this one is a bit of a no-brainer for them.

[Incandenza]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsed Rep. Joe Kennedy on Thursday in the increasingly bitter Senate Democratic primary in Massachusetts, abandoning her longtime ally Sen. Edward J. Markey a few days after he lodged attacks on the iconic family dynasty.

Pelosi cited Kennedy’s hard work in campaigning for many of the Democrats who won in 2018, flipping the majority and returning her to the job of speaker, but she also cited her own family’s close ties to the Kennedys, including her father’s role running the Maryland campaign for John F. Kennedy’s presidential bid in 1960.
“I became close to the Kennedy family from then on,” she said in an exclusive interview with The Washington Post Live team, noting that she previously served in the House with Joe Kennedy’s father and his cousin, former congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.).

Pelosi said that Markey’s campaign had crossed a hallowed line by running a negative campaign against the Kennedy dynasty.

“I wasn’t too happy with some of the assault that I saw made on the Kennedy family,” she told The Post’s opinion columnist Karen Tumulty, “and I thought, Joe didn’t ask me to endorse him, but I felt an imperative to do so.”

In an official statement, Pelosi, 80, signaled that it was time for a new crop of leaders who would represent “this party’s future,” a shot at Markey, 74, who has been in Congress for 44 years.

[That Night In Barcelona]

I was just going to post that. Unsurprising but still disappointing.

[Uncle Ethan]

If Biden gets elected then from what I read here it will lead to little if any progressive change in the US, especially if the Republicans retain control of the Senate. This is because the Democrat establishment has been drawn further and further right trying to mimic the Republicans.

If Trump gets reelected and sadly I fear he might, then not only will there be no progressive change whatsoever, but the fringe far right and religious groups to whom Trump will owe his victory will become empowered and drag the US further along the road to outright facism. The climate will also be completely and royally fucked beyond any salvation.

That in turn will drag the Democrats further right (if you ever get another election).

Maybe I think this only because I am one of those privileged, binary-thinking, middle-aged, white people that some on this board like to harp on about.

However, I think I am right when I say Trump has to be beaten. I actually do think his re-election will take the US beyond the tipping point. Trump winning won't teach the old DNC a lesson and they'll choose a progressive candidate next time. There might not even be a next time.

Over many decades of politics watching, the American advice was always don't worry about the President's views, the system is designed to rein him in. Where has it reined Trump in? Where will it rein him in if his dalliance with subverting the norms and standards of the US system is rewarded with reelection?

I mean if this a view formed from media coverage and Trump's nowhere near as bad as they make out and really Biden is going to be just as bad, merely a matter of how, fair enough, but it doesn't look like that from here.

It is easy to see where the theory can be developed that it's not an individuals fault but the DNC's. They picked the wrong candidates. They made it impossible for me to vote for them. If Trump wins again it is on them. But fuck me, the consequences are going to be dire aren't they?

[San Bernardhinault]

Basically yes.

Although I should note that if the Republicans retain the senate then even a President Sanders wouldn't be able to create much progressive change.

[Cal Alamein]

Basically yes.

Although I should note that if the Republicans retain the senate then even a President Sanders wouldn't be able to create much progressive change.

However, w/ a Biden win we may have our Postal Service left the hell alone, get a decent replacement for RBG, stop any border fence in Mexico, reunite migrant kids w/ their parents, re-establish cordial relations w/ our allies, allow Dreamers to breathe more easy, etc, etc, etc

I will not jump up and down cheering if Biden wins, but I will sure as hell be comfortably relieved that numbnuts will be vacating the premises and hopefully attending a lot more depositions.

[Incandenza]

Pretty good speech from Biden. It might not have been the best idea for Trump to say that he can’t string a sentence together, but that probably doesn’t matter for who he was talking to.

[Sporting]

How will Americans here be voting? I don't mean who for; I guess that's obvious in most cases, but how: in person or by post?

Also, there's not many of you in swing states, are there?

[ad hoc]

I see the election as being a choice between hurtling off a cliff into a dark void or slamming on the brakes and screeching to a halt just at the edge of that cliff, cartoon style. Sadly, what follows from that in the latter case, will not then be a turning away from the cliff edge and the seeking of a new, cliff-free path to a beautiful spot, rather the vehicle will remain parked there, gazing over the cliff and waiting for someone to push it over in the future.

Obviously in that instance you vote for the brakes option. But I'm not sure resetting the clock ten years backwards makes things substantively better. Just puts them back a bit. Still, if you don;t go over the cliff, there is a possibility, however utterly remote it night be, that there is a positive/less-negative future for the country and indeed the planet.

[Sporting]

So much depends on the Senate races. So much.

[Tactical Genius]

However, w/ a Biden win we may have our Postal Service left the hell alone, get a decent replacement for RBG, stop any border fence in Mexico, reunite migrant kids w/ their parents, re-establish cordial relations w/ our allies, allow Dreamers to breathe more easy, etc, etc, etc

I will not jump up and down cheering if Biden wins, but I will sure as hell be comfortably relieved that numbnuts will be vacating the premises and hopefully attending a lot more depositions.

Note. No mention of the benefit for black people. This is important in the light of demonstrations that have been taking place the last three months.
Benign neglect at its best.

[Snake Plissken]

As seen on Twitter.

"The Republican National Convention. If you're not indicted, you're not invited."

[That Night In Barcelona]

get a decent replacement for RBG,
stop any border fence in Mexico,
reunite migrant kids w/ their parents,

I agree he's a better option than Trump but even on these relatively straight-forward things to fix, I honestly don't think he'd do the right thing. The border fence and breaking up migrant families were policies in his White House, and I'm sure as sure can be that he'll pick some Conservative hobgoblin for the supreme court as a 'bipartisan' choice.

I also think that there's a much higher chance of American starting another war (Iran, somewhere else in the Middle East) under a Biden presidency than Trump. To me, the most comparable past president to Biden now is George Bush jr - a figurehead while the corporate wing of his party and the national security cabal run the show behind the scenes.

[DCI Harry Batt]

A decent replacement for RBG would be a massive step forward. Would she be willing to step down early to accommodate that, though?

[San Bernardhinault]

I see the election as being a choice between hurtling off a cliff into a dark void or slamming on the brakes and screeching to a halt just at the edge of that cliff, cartoon style. Sadly, what follows from that in the latter case, will not then be a turning away from the cliff edge and the seeking of a new, cliff-free path to a beautiful spot, rather the vehicle will remain parked there, gazing over the cliff and waiting for someone to push it over in the future.

Obviously in that instance you vote for the brakes option. But I'm not sure resetting the clock ten years backwards makes things substantively better. Just puts them back a bit. Still, if you don;t go over the cliff, there is a possibility, however utterly remote it night be, that there is a positive/less-negative future for the country and indeed the planet.

Reminds me of the old

"It has been a difficult few years and we are at the edge of a precipice! Now is the time for a great leap forward!"

[ursus arctos]

A decent replacement for RBG would be a massive step forward. Would she be willing to step down early to accommodate that, though?

I think she would, provided that she had significant input into the choice of her successor. Her former clerks are very respectful of her confidences, but some of them have hinted at her having been willing to do that had HRC won.

She is a very tough lady, but the repeated hospitalisations have to be taking a toll.