US Politics Thread

[FogBlueInSanFran]

Aren’t the same two candidates standing in this election as 2020?

We fixed the Trump mistake for four years. That some want to make it again is the fault of the voters not the system. But the jurisprudence system as it relates to Mr. Trump — different issue, maybe.

 

[Irwell]

We fixed the Trump mistake for four years. That some want to make it again is the fault of the voters not the system. But the jurisprudence system as it relates to Mr. Trump — different issue, maybe.

It's much harder to have alternative arrangements such as minority coalitions in a presidential-style election, which you could say is a problem with the system. It forces the two party system as anything lower than the top two is unlikely to get close enough to be worth the investment. Biden is not palatable to a lot of Republicans which leaves them with Trump or bust.

That's not me saying coalition governments always work though, Nick Clegg was a thing.

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

It’s *couldn’t care less.

If you could care less it means you do care at least some amount.

Touche.

I'm much more literate when not three sheets to the wind :-)

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

At this point I'm just hoping that the Jan 6 insurrection case against Trump gets back on course with a trial and probable conviction prior to the election. I've previously opined that this trial wouldn't conclude prior to the election; however the recent D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling which denied Trump's claim of presidential immunity may have set the trial back on schedule, even given the inevitable appeal to the Supreme Court.

And from a political strategy standpoint, I think that Biden should limit his public appearances. Biden has always been gaffe-prone; that, plus his stuttering, is just going to feed into the Republican narrative. Out of sight, out of mind; and let Trump self-destruct.

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

Yep. It’s going to be Biden, it always was going to be Biden because he is the sitting President. It’s not as if the US economy is tanking under Biden‘s watch either and a good economy favours the incumbent.

On a different note I can see the Dems taking back the House in November. Is that your take as well or am I being overconfident and misreading the situation?

Spot on about taking the House. Dems have been winning a lot of court cases regarding voting rights and illegal Republican gerrymandering which should help a lot.

 

[blueinsa]

The expression of disbelief offered at America’s current choice set by you on that side of the pond applies precisely to ours of the decision your voters made. The difference is — we can fix a mistake made in one election with another. There’s an entire thread here devoted to you lot trying to figure out how to fix your mistake because the mechanism doesn’t exist quite the same way, does it?

Seems like the only poster here insecure about me drawing the parallel between the two is you, so see if you can’t figure out why that is.

The vast majority of Americans dont even know where Europe is, most barely get out of their own state so forgive me for thinking they don’t give a shit about Brexit.

Yet again you make out 17 million Brit’s where racist and all because of some focus on Bidens mental health, ridiculous.

The Brown people as you cutely put it are far safer over here than they are in your country under Biden.

I will leave it there.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

We fixed the Trump mistake for four years. That some want to make it again is the fault of the voters not the system. But the jurisprudence system as it relates to Mr. Trump — different issue, maybe.

You cannot divorce the standard of the candidates from the system.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Biden is not palatable to a lot of Republicans which leaves them with Trump or bust.

More importantly, as Republicans rarely switch teams in an election, Biden may not be palatable to a lot of Republicans, but neither is Trump, so let’s hope they stay home!

The national presidential election comes down to the 15-20% of voters who do not identify with either party, but it’s the ones in the very evenly balanced “swing states” that decide it. Believe it or not, the entire election can come down to 1 vote in a small state, crazy as that might seem!

 

[Iassel]

I assume what you mean by the last sentence is "Biden should dump the black lady because maybe more misogynist, racist voters would pull the lever for him" but I don't think they would personally. I'm not her biggest fan, but . . .

Once again I fail to understand this debate. ANYONE is better than Trump. ANYONE.

I mean that would be an embarrassing statement even if Harris wasn’t representing the party who had a black two-term president and followed with a woman as the candidate.

Harris’ approval rating was sub 50% at its peak in 2020. It’s been below 40% for more than 2 years now. Perhaps rather than disingenuous accusations, you should highlight what it is about her that you like…

And again, your last sentence undermines your argument as it’s correct. Anyone *IS* better than Trump, so why should people accept Biden as that person.

I like Biden, I think he’s done a good job of unpicking the shitshow that Trump left him and also done a good job of tackling inflation in the past few years. But you simply cannot ignore the reality that he is going to be 82 years old in November, and whilst he is in extremely good physical and I’m sure mental condition for his age, he is clearly making slips that just bring negative headlines and people who don’t think particularly critically do listen to them.

Now let’s be clear, Trump is also fucking old and likely in a very poor position mentally but his voters will still turn out and vote for him regardless.

America deserves better than either Biden or Trump as candidates.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

I mean that would be an embarrassing statement even if Harris wasn’t representing the party who had a black two-term president and followed with a woman as the candidate.

Harris’ approval rating was sub 50% at its peak in 2020. It’s been below 40% for more than 2 years now. Perhaps rather than disingenuous accusations, you should highlight what it is about her that you like…

And again, your last sentence undermines your argument as it’s correct. Anyone *IS* better than Trump, so why should people accept Biden as that person.

I like Biden, I think he’s done a good job of unpicking the shitshow that Trump left him and also done a good job of tackling inflation in the past few years. But you simply cannot ignore the reality that he is going to be 82 years old in November, and whilst he is in extremely good physical and I’m sure mental condition for his age, he is clearly making slips that just bring negative headlines and people who don’t think particularly critically do listen to them.

Now let’s be clear, Trump is also fucking old and likely in a very poor position mentally but his voters will still turn out and vote for him regardless.

America deserves better than either Biden or Trump as candidates.

But that’s not my point.

You know why we have to accept Biden? Because he’s going to be the nominee, and for good reason. These are the choices we have. Whether you think we deserve better or not is irrelevant. Whether I think so is irrelevant. For every possible thing you could criticiz(s)e Biden for, Trump is worse. And there is no alternative who has proven he/she can beat Trump.

I understand the frustration and the criticism. But we have to power through it and get to the other side because of the alternative if we don’t.

I said specifically that I’m not the biggest fan of Harris (and this coming from someone who is friends with one of her campaign attorneys) but I’ll ask again — which Vice Presidential candidate would you select, when did they prove they could beat Trump, and what is the 100% guarantee you offer that they will have a more positive impact on blue chances than Harris?

Now — all this said — back during the 2020 election I said Biden should announce shortly after inauguration that he’ll be a one term President. I know there are some reasons not to do that from a lame duck negotiating perspective, but it became very clear right away that the GOP/MAGA legislators never had any intention of negotiating in good faith anyhow (latest border bill Example 49,026). That would have given Democrats time to think through alternatives and underscored Biden’s reason for running was more service-oriented.