Campaign 2020

[Big Magilla]

Greg wrote
I have never used cocaine or witnessed someone using it, so, my impressions may be totally wrong; but, Trump with his constant sniffling and hyper incoherence, even for him, struck me like he was on cocaine.

Just a refresher of where we were four years ago

Okay... Game on.

Cocaine is to 2016 as Adderall is to 2020.

Trump doesn't need Addderall to get hyper. He drinks 12 cans of Diet Coke per day.

[Greg]

Greg wrote
I have never used cocaine or witnessed someone using it, so, my impressions may be totally wrong; but, Trump with his constant sniffling and hyper incoherence, even for him, struck me like he was on cocaine.

Just a refresher of where we were four years ago

Okay... Game on.

Cocaine is to 2016 as Adderall is to 2020.

[Big Magilla]

Does anything Trump does surprise anyone any more?

The only purpose of his childish behavior seems to be to have been is to make both candidates look bad so that undecided voters stay home, although how anyone could still be undecided at this point is beyond me.

As former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt said on MSNBC, future debates should have a kill switch on Trump's microphone and if he won't agree to it, cancel the debates.

[Sonic Youth]

I quit half-way. I wonder how many will quit the election altogether after tonight?

Since issues and the future of America were rendered irrelevent during the debate, then the question of who won the debate should also be irrelevent. A far more important question is "What has happened to us, and how can we turn back." Listening to and reading the disgust from practically everyone tonight, I'm wondering if maybe we've reached the turning point... that we've gone as far as we can go, and a reckoning is at hand. Because this is the first time in a long time I've heard this country unite over anything.

That said, if anyone won, then Biden very slightly won because he at least managed to find a few opportunities to look into the camera and talk directly to the audience. If a horrified undecided voter decided that sitting out this election is not an option - I'm sure there are 6 or 7 of them - they might have felt more of a connection to Biden for that reason. (I'm tired of looking at his fucking dental work, though. Less smiling, more grinning, please.)

But it really doesn't matter because America is dead. At its greatest moment in need, we're just going to kick it into a corpse and leave it for buzzard-feed. Unless we do something, now. Voting Trump out is not nearly enough.

[Sabin]

Well...

I think Joe Biden did a poor job, but Donald Trump refused to denounce white supremacy, admitted he's relying upon a Supreme Court Justice to win, insulted his opponent's children, and told his opponent's to rise up if he loses.

This was dark.

[Okri]

An interesting, if ultimately depressing thread

[Sabin]

Big Magilla wrote
Well, she wiped the floor with him. While it won't change any set votes, it could and should affect the undecideds including those whose votes are now banked in Johnson's corner. How anyone who truly couldn't decide between the two before tonight could possibly vote for him after that incoherent spectacle is beyond me.

Sabin wrote
I thought Trump landed some very effective attacks early on but as the debate went on, his attention span grew short, and Hillary's plan of looking and acting presidential worked wonders. My favorite choice was when she took a moment to reassure nations across the world that America will honor its treaties. And of course, she prepared like a wizard. She set up talking points that paid off at the end perfectly. I don't know how anybody watches this and comes away thinking, "Yes, that sniffling coke monster should be the President." But of course, this debate is aimed at the roughly 1-2% of Americans (percentage totally made up) whose minds aren't made up and are capable of being swayed by a debate. For everyone else, it was incredibly entertaining political theater. I had a great time.

(UGH!)

Greg wrote
I have never used cocaine or witnessed someone using it, so, my impressions may be totally wrong; but, Trump with his constant sniffling and hyper incoherence, even for him, struck me like he was on cocaine.

Just a refresher of where we were four years ago

Okay... Game on.

[Sabin]

Greg wrote
The Democrats appear to be making a very wise move in their response to Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. There will be one overriding issue for the confirmation hearings. It will not be anything about Barret personally; it will not be Roe vs. Wade; it will be the Affordable Care Act.

I've thought for years that Joe Biden's strongest selling point as a candidate is that he is a man of faith who makes faith seem not creepy or fake or self-righteous. And now that Amy Coney Barrett's religious beliefs are in the crosshairs, we've nominated the only Democrat who cannot be credibly considered anti-Catholic. Remarkable luck.

Joe Biden wasn't my favorite of the candidates but I remain pretty baffled by his teflon ability during this primary. We're in the middle of a pandemic? He can cite his experience with ebola. We're in the midst of social unrest? He's the only candidate that doesn't come across as a radical. Amy Coney Barrett poses a threat to the ACA? He helped to get the ACA passed in the first place. He might just be the right guy for the moment.

[Greg]

The Democrats appear to be making a very wise move in their response to Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. There will be one overriding issue for the confirmation hearings. It will not be anything about Barret personally; it will not be Roe vs. Wade; it will be the Affordable Care Act.

[Big Magilla]

The Times isn't through yet.

It would be lovely to see the piece that proves the links between Trump and Russian money just before the debate, not that that it will change votes but if anything can embarrass him, that will. It could even lead to a swift new impeachment and removal from office but that's probably too much to hope for. Best case scenario at this point might be that enough Senate Republicans are chagrined to the point that McConnell doesn't get the votes to put his Supreme Court pick through.

It seems clear that he is going to lose, but he needs to lose by a wide margin.

Wonder where he and his family will be when the foreign banks call in their notes. In ten years, will anything be left with the Trump name on it?

[Sabin]

Mister Tee wrote
Our side doesn't need a big move, they do. It's not been happening, and it's not likely to.

But if you'd like a big move on our side...

According to Newsweek, 860,000 Americans have already voted compared to fewer than 10,000 by this point in 2016.

https://www.newsweek.com/over-860000-am ... 16-1534452

Do I know what the exact split of Democrat vs. Republican is? No, but I will be interpreting every increase in voter turnout as a net positive in general for the Democratic side.

[Mister Tee]

Oh, and if it doesn't move the needle? Biden wins.

Exactly.

It's now a month since their convention. The time in which they were supposed to be making their move. They've spent most days fending off "losers and suckers", Woodward's book, now this. Each knocks days off the calendar. Their one "this for sure will help us" -- the Court pick -- seems, by polling/fundraising, to be cutting against them.

Our side doesn't need a big move, they do. It's not been happening, and it's not likely to.

[Sabin]

Big Magilla wrote
Yes, but will it move the needle?

And will the so-called undecided read it? Do they even read?

Donald Trump's wikipedia page now reads:

In September 2020, the New York Times, in a major article on Trump's tax affairs, reported that he had paid $750 in federal taxes in 2016 and 2017.[73]

I know it's not the end all be all and I know it's not going to convince his supporters, but history is a book that is always being written and we have now moved to the chapter where Donald Trump is a confirmed business fraud. There's no more mincing of words. If nothing else, I'm just glad that it's in the history books.

That said, I checked Breitbart on the subject:

“The taxes debunk all the Democrat conspiracies about Trump”

“Proves he has no contacts with Russians”

“Proves president’s statement that he was under audit”

“Creates a new question - who leaked them?”

But I will wait these lunatics out.

[Sonic Youth]

OK Eeyore.

Just this once, enjoy a little spontaneous happiness. For my sake, at least.

Oh, and if it doesn't move the needle? Biden wins.

[Big Magilla]

Yes, but will it move the needle?

And will the so-called undecided read it? Do they even read?