The Politics Thread

[JaneAusten]

I don't know. Most of the response from VIEWERS I have seen (not the media) were how poorly they have felt Trump had done. The email crap aside and Lauer asking him about what he was reading, I don't think the questions were lopsided it's just  the interviewer(it was an interview IMO not a debate or any kind of real town hall) didn't press him. Several women I work with who don't even like HRC were appalled at her treatment last night.  I don't even know if it's about Clinton it's the blatant misogyny at this point. There is an old saying and it still applies that a woman has to be 10 times better to be considered equal. I see that in the workplace still,

[Vee]

I agree with Jane, it's not the same as Bush/Gore. They liked Bush and anti-intellectualism and were tired and resentful of the Clintons and liberals. A lot of that buzz has faded, though the Beltway still hates the Clintons, but they're far more scared of Trump - they still want a horse race til Election Day and to make sure Clinton knows they hate her, but most of them do not want Trump to win. They're just amoral, lazy and cynical in how they handle election coverage.

 

Further, as I said last night, the coverage of the forum since has been two things: Trump's failures and Lauer's incompetence. There is also a sustained pressure narrative on the press about giving Trump too much leeway and giving the emails too much play. That narrative is going to follow the press into the debates, and they are going to have to compensate for it. They're already beginning to, and that means (IMO) the debates - if they happen - will be better.

 

Hillary is holding a live press conference now.

Edited September 8, 2016 by Vee

[JaneAusten]

The new Rasmussen poll came out and she's back ahead by 4 points.

 

My guess is she picks up a couple more points over the week due to last night(trust me a lot of people saw through that BS) and Gary Johnson's campaign is basically dead after his slip today. When you get no media coverage anything you get has to be handled well. This slip up is going to cost him..

[Vee]

I would not be surprised if Trump completely backs out with Johnson's collapse. I still don't believe he was committed to them to begin with.

 

Hillary is doing quite well in this live presser for someone who allegedly hates dealing with the press. She's calm and easy and conversational, and friendly.

 

Ha! She got an Aleppo question. And notice: Not a single question about emails. Like I said, the narrative has shifted. It's not a coincidence Morning Joe was telling his crew the emails are a dead issue, much to the heartbreak of Mark Halperin.

 

More to Jane's and my point: "#LaueringTheBar" is now trending.

Edited September 8, 2016 by Vee

[JaneAusten]

There is email fatigue no question but I do wonder if the release of those emails from Powell advising or should I say informing her helped. Because frankly it becomes hypocritical when they now don't start questioning the guy who was doing almost the same thing she did. And I am talking about the endless hearings not the press. Powell is no longer in the public eye.

 

The irony about her email server is that the correspondence that were housed and sent on that server were probably a heck of a lot more secure than any of the government servers with all the hacking that's been done to them. How many times has the State Dept server been hacked?

Edited September 8, 2016 by JaneAusten

[Roman]

the only thing I can think of is that he gets ratings regardless of content. JZ never cared for journalism IMPO. He's horrible....and CNN is just bad. Will be interesting to see how the ratings look after the elections. 

she's supposed to do a press conference this morning. 

[DramatistDreamer]

#LaueringTheBar is trending and has been trending for several hours today.

 

Colin Powell was also trending a few hours ago. I think word could be spreading that HRC may actually have been telling something resembling the truth when she spoke of Powell's advisement of her personal e-mail.

 

@JaneAusten, it has crossed my mind several times over the past few months, that HRC's personal server may have been more secure than the government's servers that are repeatedly hacked, though the narrative that the GOP likes to spread is that her server could have been vulnerable to hackers and  there was at least one attempt (what gets played down was that each attempt was clearly thwarted), which I don't believe is the case for the State Department.

 

While I missed last night's forum, the summary seems to be that Trump (who has shifted from the 'Lyin' Ted' moniker to 'Crooked Hillary') continues to lie repeatedly and with impugnity.

Edited September 8, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[JaneAusten]

 I have to admit at this point I am a little terrified. I'm struggling to understand HOW Trump is gaining pollingwise when his voting base is not a majority. The demographics in the US is roughly 39% minority and with 90% of them voting for Hillary and enough college educated whites, how is it possible this is oh so close. I know they saw if she continues to carry Colorado, Virginia, NH, and Penn she's in, but it scares the bejesus out of me.

 

And I know much of the support is frustration with Washington but all Trump spells is disaster and honestly his policies would cause an economic collapse IMO this country has never seen since the great depression.

[Vee]

I'm not worried. He's behind and he's staying behind.

 

Classic Trump: His DC policy team quit because they weren't paid.

Edited September 8, 2016 by Vee

[marceline]

Races always tighten up the closer we get to the election. I know it's appalling to think that after all the millions of ways Trump has shown his lack of fitness that anyone would decide at this late date to support him but there it is. I continue to believe that polling in a post landline world is just going to be less reliable because landlines skew old, white and rural. The rest of the world pretty much doesn't even answer the phone if they don't recognize the number and of the ones who do even fewer of them are going to spend 10-30 minutes on the phone answering questions. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to "unskew" polls but by their very nature they sample a specific kind of voter.

[Roman]

yu know, I haven't trusted the 24hr. news nets in years. IMPO the only one doing her job is Rachel Maddow. and maybe Lawrence O'Donnell. the others? no. Morning Joe for example will use any poll to make the case that the race is still close to get ratings. But IA with you......there is NO WAY Trump is that close. HRC needs to end this email garbage once and for all, because that's all the tv MSM has to go on really with her. and polls.....they survey what, 1200-1500 people and that is supposed to speak for the entire electorate? not IMO. 110 million people voted 4 years ago. and this 'white working class', 'black vote', 'latino vote'...just ways to for them to seem like they are doing their jobs because frankly they are so lzy they don't have a clue what american voters really think. 

[JaneAusten]

So much for Mike Pence being the sane one(not that I thought he was). Now he's defending Trump's statements about Putin. Unreal

 

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/08/politics/mike-pence-on-donald-trump-vladimir-putin/

Matt Lauer makes me sick. Lord he's such a misogynist. Ann Curry must be laughing at him,

[Vee]

NBC execs call Lauer's performance 'a disaster.'

[DRW50]

Voter disenfranchisement, apathy, a media that is hardcore in Trump's corner, longtime dislike and fear of Hillary from many voters. We've heard nothing for weeks but talk of how Trump is so charismatic and is improving every day, while every part of Hillary's life is a scam. 

 

It will be close or it will be a solid Trump win. 

[JaneAusten]

So Trump gets weirder. He spent half his time last night praising Putin and he just did an interview that aired on the State Russuan TV. Does anyone in our media care that this guy could be some sort of foreign agent?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/08/trump-attacks-u-s-foreign-policy-political-press-corps-in-state-owned-russian-television-network/?tid=sm_tw#comments