2020 Presidential Election 4: How Much Longer?

[thoughtful]

39 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

On a side note, I wonder who will play Drumpf in Joe's debate practice.

Someone who gets paid very well, I hope.

Although, I could see staffers vying for the role, or taking turns. Like some actors, they may love playing the villain, especially since, in this case, they would feel triumphant when they are defeated!

I can just imagine the coaching whoever is doing it would get from fellow staffers:

"No, he wouldn't say that - it makes too much sense."

"You're not being nasty enough - oh, and more petulance would be authentic, too."

"Throw in a sentence that doesn't even consist of real words - Joe needs practice on how to deal with that."

 

[formergothardite]

50 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I agree with you. If they have one debate and he does poorly, as we expect, his team will find a way for him to weasel out of the other two scheduled match-ups. Also, unlike Twitler, who listens to nobody, Biden actually seems to listen to advisors. I'm sure they have extensive preparation ready for Joe and there will be actual practice. Twitler goes off script almost immediately. I can't imagine trying to coach him. On a side note, I wonder who will play Drumpf in Joe's debate practice.

There is no way Trump can go through the rigors of preparing for a debate. Plus he really is delusional enough to think he can just wing it. Biden has the advantage of no knowing how Trump will behave in debates and how to push his buttons and get him to quickly unravel. Trump still thinks saying "sleepy Joe" will hurt Biden in some way. 

Pence is going to have a problem with Harris too. Here he is the whitest white man being asked about Trump's racism and sexism from a minority woman. It isn't going to look good for him. I can see both Trump and Pence trying to weasel out of an actual debate. I hope they still hold it and show that Trump/Pence were too scared to show up. 

[fraurosena]

I'm beginning to wonder if Trump retreats from the debates that Pence will too, using the same piss-poor excuse. Pence may be a sycophantic homophobe, but he does have some measure of intelligence, and he's got to know as well as everyone else that Harris will wipe the floor with him. 

Part of me does question if Trump will actually agree not to debate Biden, as he has such an inflated opinion of his capabilities -- he's a stable genius, remember -- and I can see him actually believing he can beat Biden in debate. Maybe because he thinks the trumped up (see what I did there) 'October surprise' will pull the rug from beneath Biden.

On the other hand, Trump does not like to lose. If he can be convinced that he will, then I'm pretty sure he won't debate Biden, ever.

 

Edited to add this gem.

He looks so scared he might burst into tears at any moment.

 

[formergothardite]

23 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

He looks so scared he might burst into tears at any moment.

He looks like he is terrified and trying so hard to look tough and Trump like. 

 

23 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Part of me does question if Trump will actually agree not to debate Biden, as he has such an inflated opinion of his capabilities -- he's a stable genius, remember -- and I can see him actually believing he can beat Biden in debate. Maybe because he thinks the trumped up (see what I did there) 'October surprise' will pull the rug from beneath Biden.

Trump really exists in an entirely different world than reality. He thinks being able to repeat five words makes him super smart. I'm sure they will try to convince him not to debate Biden, but if he doesn't go through with it he will look weak and like he is scared. Trump can't stand anything that makes him look weak. And what staffer is going to have to convince him there is no way he could win a debate against Biden? That would not be a fun job. 

[AmericanRose]

They probably wouldn't try to convince him he wouldn't win, just that the Deep State would use the opportunity against him, possibly in a dangerous way. Or something equally outlandish.

[fraurosena]

 

[Snarkasarus Rex]

Trump is actually requesting more and earlier debates because he thinks he can make Joe look weak with his awesome debate skills. Typically the underdog requests additional debates...Joe is not buying it and is sticking with the three they agreed on earlier. 

[IrishCarrie]

Just a thought, but is there any possibility that everyone's expectations of Trump and Pence are sooooo low, that they gain brownie points just for showing up and not being totally moronic??

I truly expect both Biden and Kamala to wipe the floor with them, as does everyone, but it worries me that then the expectations game is therefore really, really slanted in favour of the Orange Menace and the Homophobe...

[Snarkasarus Rex]

31 minutes ago, IrishCarrie said:

Just a thought, but is there any possibility that everyone's expectations of Trump and Pence are sooooo low, that they gain brownie points just for showing up and not being totally moronic??

I truly expect both Biden and Kamala to wipe the floor with them, as does everyone, but it worries me that then the expectations game is therefore really, really slanted in favour of the Orange Menace and the Homophobe...

There are a lot of people who have already made up their minds, and the debates will not change that. Debates are for people who are undecided or are looking for confirmation of their choice. If someone decides to vote for Trump based on him just showing up and not stepping on his crank, it’s likely they were going to vote for him anyway.

I’ll watch the veep debate and maybe one of the presidential debates. 

[WiseGirl]

Bonus, his voice doesn't sound like fingernails on a chalkboard. 

 

[Cartmann99]

I read an article about Biden choosing Harris on my local newspaper's website, and then I made the mistake of looking at the comments. Let's just say that I'm now aware of the latest negative memes about Biden, Harris, Obama, and Hillary Clinton and leave it at that.   

[Marmion]

Quote

Harris had been one of Biden’s rivals for the nomination until she dropped out of the race late last year. Both would be considered center-left, though Harris has cultivated some more progressive credentials. While she was often criticized as too much of a centrist and establishment candidate, as Biden was, praise also came from high-profile progressive leaders on Tuesday, including two of Biden’s other former rivals, the senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.  

“Congratulations to Kamala Harris, who will make history as our next vice-president,” Sanders tweeted. “She understands what it takes to stand up for working people, fight for health care for all, and take down the most corrupt administration in history. Let’s get to work and win.”

Warren, who had been in the running to be Biden’s running mate, tweeted that Harris would be a “great partner” to Biden “in making our government a powerful force for good in the fight for social, racial, and economic justice.”

The liberal group Democracy for America (DFA), which had endorsed Sanders for president this year before he dropped out, also expressed support.

“Vice President Biden’s selection of Senator Kamala Harris gives Democrats an historic opportunity to defeat Donald Trump, break through a glass ceiling for Black women, and win majorities in both the House and the Senate that can deliver the bold progressive reforms we need to restore America,” the group’s CEO, Yvette Simpson, said in a statement....  

The Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a progressive who has not endorsed Biden, tweeted: “I’ve fought alongside Senator Kamala Harris for direct cash payments during the pandemic and for clean water as a human right. Now let’s defeat Trump and make those policies a reality.”

The progressive New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was more muted in her reaction, reportedly telling USA Today that Harris “complements [Biden] really well” and “rounds out his ticket”.

Harris “is aligned with him on quite a few issues”, she said.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/11/kamala-harris-democrats-reaction-obama-sanders-warren?

[Alisamer]

I am pretty happy with Kamala Harris as the VP pick. She'll definitely wipe the floor with walking wax dummy Pence. 

I have been thinking in the last day or so about a conversation I had with my friends on a retreat a few months ago. It was just before the virus was known to be spreading in the US, and the weekend of the primary voting in NC and SC. My friends, women (and one man) in their 30s, were Bernie supporters. They opposed my vote for Elizabeth Warren - not because they opposed her politics or anything - but because "a woman won't get elected". They genuinely believed that a female candidate would be handing Trump the election, despite Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote last time around.

I had thought years ago that the US was more racist than sexist, and that therefore we'd likely have a white female president before a black male president. Apparently I was wrong? I mean obviously, the US is both racist and sexist, but I admit being happily surprised by Obama's election and Hillary Clinton getting the nomination. 

Kamala Harris has both the racism and sexism going against her, but I hope and pray she is our next VP. And maybe president, after that! Hopefully people will see the attacks against her as what they are - unfounded, mean, and bigoted.

[fraurosena]

 

[fraurosena]

They are really half-assing their efforts, aren't they? It's just pretend and make-believe. 

 

[SassyPants]

5 hours ago, fraurosena said:

They are really half-assing their efforts, aren't they? It's just pretend and make-believe. 

 

Is this real? If so, Palm to forehead. Can a group really be this collectively dim? 

[fraurosena]

Time for Dem lawyers to prepare too.

 

[fraurosena]

Because of course they have...

 

[WiseGirl]

11 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Because of course they have...

 

I hope they get lost in the mail.

[Snarkasarus Rex]

But Trump's voting absentee, which is different /s. 

[GreyhoundFan]

Unless upstate NY suddenly overtakes NYC in population, I just can't see this...

But he should waste money there.

 

[fraurosena]

Sometimes I get so angry at what's happening that I could scream -- and I'm not even American.

This is one of those times.

 

[Alisamer]

Ugh. At some point even the Trump humpers have to see that this sort of thing is wrong.

Since NC is a "battleground" state and could go either way, I'm planning to vote in person and am encouraging everyone I know to do so as well, if possible. I'll go early, at an odd time, mask up, whatever it takes - but if they're doing this much months out from the election who knows how difficult they'll have made voting by the time the election comes. 

[formergothardite]

1 hour ago, Alisamer said:

Since NC is a "battleground" state and could go either way, I'm planning to vote in person and am encouraging everyone I know to do so as well, if possible. I'll go early, at an odd time, mask up, whatever it takes - but if they're doing this much months out from the election who knows how difficult they'll have made voting by the time the election comes. 

I'm planning to do the same. Everyone I know has been getting absentee ballot forms from Trump's campaign in the last couple of weeks. We even got one and we are very obviously not republican. I hate to be paranoid but I'm worried what they would do if I actually mailed the form in. They are going to go all out in the next couple of months to make it hard for anyone but their people to vote. 

[Snarkasarus Rex]

Hubs got one of those absentee ballot forms unsolicited. We chucked it and ordered our mail in ballots from the state board of elections website.