Campaign 2020

[Okri]

Sabin wrote

So then what did you tell him?

Nothing. His parents and other aunts and uncles have already said it all. He wouldn't listen to me any more than he has any of them. If he won't listen to AOC, why would he?

All I would say ask him what reasonably plausible outcome gets him closer to his principles this election and if he'd make that choice.

[Big Magilla]

Big Magilla wrote
My concern is not so much the Trump lovers. His angry old men (and women) supporters will die out and the younger ones will (hopefully) be in the minority. I am more concerned about the young people, including a 31-year-old nephew, an ardent Bernie supporter who would vote for AOC in a heartbeat, who wrote this nonsense on Facebook today:

"I will write in my choice for this election. I honestly want Trump gone as much as the next person, but I do not trust Biden/Harris, and I will not sell out what I believe in for someone who (GRANTED) is better than Trump, but not better for the count…"

If this kind of thinking prevails, it could tank tank the Dem's chances for the rest of my lifetime.

Sabin wrote

So then what did you tell him?

Nothing. His parents and other aunts and uncles have already said it all. He wouldn't listen to me any more than he has any of them. If he won't listen to AOC, why would he?

On the other hand, I think I got through to my 23-year-old nephew (his cousin) who is an actor and something of a tech genius specializing in A.I.

He is currently learning Icelandic. When I asked him why, he said because he wants to move there. When I asked why, he said because he is sick of the politics in this country to which I replied "who isn't" and reminded him that the ice cap is melting due to global warming and that Greenland is going to melt before the end of the century and flood Iceland. He said that wouldn't matter because he'll be dead by then, to which I replied "no you'll be old and helpless and drown in the flood."

I tend to think he's just trying out a new character for his improv group.

[Sabin]

YAY, WE HAVE AN EIGHT SEAT/DOWN ONE LIBERAL SUPREME COURT BEFORE A CERTAINLY CONTESTED ELECTION!

We're forty days from the most important election of my life. I'm not interested in decorum at this moment, pausing to reflect and mourn when so much of RBG's legacy is has become a narrative about never giving up the fight. A seat has opened up and we're all going to fight over it. I'll mourn when the election's over. I don't see Justice Ginsburg having a problem with that mindset.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died and the urgent mourning I felt after the 2016 has returned. We've got to do something and we've got to do it now. I know I'm not the only one who feels that.

I'll admit that I was always a little let down that the stakes of this election were going to pivot around his response to the Coronavirus. It's a better fight to wage, for sure. It's one that favors Joe Biden. After everything we've been through, it was all going to come down to an argument about incompetence vs. competence with Donald Trump on tape saying he knew about the virus. And the Democrats' mission was to pull in all those moderate Republicans that they've always dreamt of getting. Again: it's an easier fight. I would have happily taken the easy win. But after everything we've waken up to over the past four years, about racial justice, women's rights, class inequality, climate change, and a further understanding of every limb and branch of our system of government, there is something unsatisfying about an election that defines Donald Trump by his laziness and incompetence rather than his cruelty. To remind everyone: experimental concentration camps on the borders performing secret hysterectomies was this week.

But that's all over now. It's a new election. It's no longer about Joe Biden getting those Moderate Republicans to cozy up to an un-scary, centrist, middle-ground Democrat. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is Joe Biden's new running mate. There are two visions of America's future: one where a woman has the right to choose and we live in a more equitable country, one where they don't.

I wrote a lengthy writeup about how abortion is the dividing line of the election and I believe it is. A woman's right to choose hangs on the line. But increasingly, it's about all of it. It's about cultural values. RBG's America vs. Trump's America. It's not an easy fight but maybe it's the one we have to win.

It's a new election. There's no middle ground. Let's see where everyone stands.

[Sabin]

Okri wrote
AOC to your nephew (or others like him).

Couldn't love her more. Her Instagram Live was remarkable and powerful. I don't think there's a politician out there that's more misunderstood than AOC. It really does boggle my mind how people over a certain age aren't remotely interested in understanding that before yesterday she's probably done more to encourage young people to vote in the 2020 election than any other candidate combined since Joe Biden got the nomination.

Big Magilla wrote
My concern is not so much the Trump lovers. His angry old men (and women) supporters will die out and the younger ones will (hopefully) be in the minority. I am more concerned about the young people, including a 31-year-old nephew, an ardent Bernie supporter who would vote for AOC in a heartbeat, who wrote this nonsense on Facebook today:

"I will write in my choice for this election. I honestly want Trump gone as much as the next person, but I do not trust Biden/Harris, and I will not sell out what I believe in for someone who (GRANTED) is better than Trump, but not better for the count…"

If this kind of thinking prevails, it could tank tank the Dem's chances for the rest of my lifetime.

So then what did you tell him?

[Okri]

My concern is not so much the Trump lovers. His angry old men (and women) supporters will die out and the younger ones will (hopefully) be in the minority. I am more concerned about the young people, including a 31-year-old nephew, an ardent Bernie supporter who would vote for AOC in a heartbeat, who wrote this nonsense on Facebook today:

"I will write in my choice for this election. I honestly want Trump gone as much as the next person, but I do not trust Biden/Harris, and I will not sell out what I believe in for someone who (GRANTED) is better than Trump, but not better for the count…"

If this kind of thinking prevails, it could tank tank the Dem's chances for the rest of my lifetime.

AOC to your nephew (or others like him).

[Sabin]

OscarGuy wrote
I don't know who you're reading, Sabin, but seriously, check out electoral-vote.com. I have been going to them for years and they have concise news articles that boil down a lot of challenging issues and they are actively invested in being as accurate as possible.

FiveThirtyEight, so six of one, half a dozen of the other. Biden is at 74-26 now, but 69-31 last week. That tightening was concerning to me. It's more the individual polls. I'm searching those battleground states.

[Big Magilla]

"It's Bob Woodward! He wants to talk to.... ME!"
"Sir, don't do it..."
"I feel so important now! I'm not only president, I'm a celebrity!"
"I'm warning you, sir..."
"Look, he brought a tape recorder!!"
"Sigh...."

And then I read stuff like this. At this point, in my heart I just know that the majority of the country has to be thinking and feeling: ENOUGH! ENOUGH OF THIS BULLSHIT EVERY GODDAMN DAY!

But this time we have the TAPES. He can't hide and say it's a HOAX! Not sure how much it will move the needle, but there's always hope.

[OscarGuy]

I don't know who you're reading, Sabin, but seriously, check out electoral-vote.com. I have been going to them for years and they have concise news articles that boil down a lot of challenging issues and they are actively invested in being as accurate as possible.

[Sabin]

Big Magilla wrote
We all know this, but it's what still frightens me the most about our current state of affairs.

I'm glad you posted this because this is on my mind. I have spent an insane amount of time looking at polling the past few months, basically searching for signs of a Trump victory. I'm traumatized. Is it just me or are the polls slightly schizophrenic? It seems as though Biden has the strongest lead we've ever seen but at the same time and yet I see glimmers of hope for Trump everywhere. I think the election really boils down to this: whoever wants to sign onto the culture war votes for Trump, whoever wants to fight it votes for Biden, and maybe some people sit out. My sense is that there is an increasing faction of the country that is voting for Biden to remove Trump but is as exhausted by the left as the right but I'm just not convinced it translates to an actual vote for a Donald Trump second term.

If I had to make a prediction, it would be this: 269-269. Why? Because of course it would happen.

Sonic Youth wrote
"It's Bob Woodward! He wants to talk to.... ME!"
"Sir, don't do it..."
"I feel so important now! I'm not only president, I'm a celebrity!"
"I'm warning you, sir..."
"Look, he brought a tape recorder!!"
"Sigh...."

And then I read stuff like this. At this point, in my heart I just know that the majority of the country has to be thinking and feeling: ENOUGH! ENOUGH OF THIS BULLSHIT EVERY GODDAMN DAY!

[Sonic Youth]

"It's Bob Woodward! He wants to talk to.... ME!"
"Sir, don't do it..."
"I feel so important now! I'm not only president, I'm a celebrity!"
"I'm warning you, sir..."
"Look, he brought a tape recorder!!"
"Sigh...."

[Big Magilla]

We all know this, but it's what still frightens me the most about our current state of affairs.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/opin ... e=Homepage

[Big Magilla]

Look at that whole list. This is a person steeped in talk-radio/OAN/Fox News culture; she views Democrat/Republican the way Rwandans viewed Hutu/Tutsi. It'll be way easier for her to proclaim the whole story FAKE NEWS! than to abandon her faith in that entire, largely fiction-based list.

That's this woman for sure.

[Mister Tee]

I’m voting for POLICY.
I’m voting for the right to praise my God.
I'm voting for the Second Amendment.
I’m voting for capitalism and the American Dream.
I'm voting for the Police, and for law and order.
I'm voting for the military, and the veterans who fought for and died for this country.
I'm voting for the right to speak my opinion and not be censored.
I’m voting for secure borders.
I’m voting for every unborn life.
I'm voting for the Flag that is always missing from the Democratic Party.
I’m voting for good and against evil.
I'm voting for one nation under God.
So please, do not come at me and question my Christianity, morals, and ethics.... for ALL those reasons... I am voting for the future of my country.
THIS IS MY WHY!!! Born, Raised and Protected by God, Guns, Guts and Glory!

You highlighted the wrong one.

There could be people, those truly wishy-washy, moved by the military thing. It could also persuade some GOPers already inclined to vote Biden to firm up their votes.

But people like this are not in that group. This is someone from the "I could shoot someone on 5th Avenue" crowd. Look at that whole list. This is a person steeped in talk-radio/OAN/Fox News culture; she views Democrat/Republican the way Rwandans viewed Hutu/Tutsi. It'll be way easier for her to proclaim the whole story FAKE NEWS! than to abandon her faith in that entire, largely fiction-based list.

[Big Magilla]

No idea if this is a real person or a Russian bot, but this was reposted just 6 hours ago on Facebook from the mother of four daughters and ten grandchildren, all of whom oppose her continued Trump support and that of her husband, a U.S. Navy veteran. People like this won't be persuaded by the revelations in the Atlantic article but I still maintain that was an eyeopener for enough to chip away at Trump's narrow lead in swing states.

Jessica Clark
August 27 at 11:51 AM

When people tell me “I can’t believe you would vote for a narcissistic asshole”, “How can you vote for someone that your children cannot look up to?” “If you are for Trump, you are racist, un-Christian, and evil.”

HEAR ME LOUD AND CLEAR....... I am not voting for a personality (Lord, don’t get me started on Biden’s improper sexual behavior or even Clinton’s time on Epstein’s Island) ETC!

I’m voting for POLICY.
I’m voting for the right to praise my God.
I'm voting for the Second Amendment.
I’m voting for capitalism and the American Dream.
I'm voting for the Police, and for law and order.
I'm voting for the military, and the veterans who fought for and died for this country.
I'm voting for the right to speak my opinion and not be censored.
I’m voting for secure borders.
I’m voting for every unborn life.
I'm voting for the Flag that is always missing from the Democratic Party.
I’m voting for good and against evil.
I'm voting for one nation under God.
So please, do not come at me and question my Christianity, morals, and ethics.... for ALL those reasons... I am voting for the future of my country.
THIS IS MY WHY!!! Born, Raised and Protected by God, Guns, Guts and Glory!

[Sabin]

See? This is what I’m talking about.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/05/politics ... index.html

Before running, he hired an actor to play Obama (“Faux Bama”), belittled him, and fired him. That’s new. That’s surprising. That’s deranged behavior. For the love of God, moderators, don’t ask him about the “suckers and losers” comments because he can always deny it and make some bullshit claims about his record. Ask him, repeatedly, “why did you hire an actor to play Obama for your own personal use?” And if he denies it, show the picture and say “that’s you right here, right?” That’s how you beat him. Remind voters that he’s a weak, fucked up child who hires actors to play the President so he can role play out baggage like a mental patient. If Democrats really want to make the case that he’s unfit for the Presidency, THAT’S why he’s unfit. He’s a fucking lunatic.