The Politics Thread

[Maxim]

Absolutely. She needs to WIN. And I fully believe she can and WILL. It would mark a change for the better in the entire world. And eliminate the chance of a menace that is looming above us all. An orange clown-of-a-menace. So, Canada, Germany, anywhere else - we are here to support the USA. Our countries and lives depend on this. 

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[Khan]

If I were in Donald Trump's position, and I had the sense God gave a dung beetle, I would be thinking up a possible exit strategy.  If not for myself, then definitely for my running mate, who's becoming more and more of a liability to my campaign every day.

[I Am A Swede]

It will be an early Christmas present to the entire world (well, almost the entire world) when Weird Trump loses in November. 

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[Vee]

 

[Khan]

Like I said before, I'm sure the media will find some skeleton in Tim Walz's closet.  (They already have with the past DUI arrest, but that doesn't seem to be "sticking" thus far).  But, short of learning he once killed a man*, or groped a bunch of cheerleaders at a pep rally, I think - or at least I hope - voters will stick with him, and with Kamala Harris, because what he has done to turn the tide in this election in such a short period of time is remarkable.

(*And even if that happens, I'll be the first to say, "So, the gun went off.")

[Vee]

The right wing angle so far has been him 'abandoning' his 20+(?) year military career to go into politics and/or abstain from the Iraq War, which really isn't true. They can't swiftboat him. It's not gonna work.

[Khan]

But you know how the GOP (and the media, who's pretty much in the tank for the GOP) operates.  Sooner or later, they'll dig up some anguished woman with a tale about how Walz either raped her or tried to rape her years ago at some sketchy airport motel in Nebraska.  I mean, there's always a Donna Rice (or Fawne Hall, or Gennifer Flowers, or Monica Lewinsky, or Kathleen Willey, or Rielle Hunter, or Leeann Tweeden, or Tara Reade, or...) always nibbling around somewhere.  (And yes, I know that's not the thing to say in post-#MeToo America, where we are supposed to believe the victim no matter what, but...).

Edited August 7, 2024 by Khan

[Vee]

I mean, they never found anything with women on Obama and nothing like that ever stuck to Joe for long either. I feel like our just coming up with a random sex angle out of nowhere is borrowing trouble, lol. And I don't trust the Trump Gang to walk out of the bathroom without stepping on a rake right now. But who knows!

[Khan]

But they DID find the guy who (allegedly) carried on a years-long love affair with Barack.  It's just that Donald Trump managed to distract them all with his birtherism nonsense.  Otherwise, that might have been the thing to torpedo his entire campaign, true or not.

I realize I'm borrowing trouble here, but you have to understand: I might have been still in elementary school when it happened, but I still remember the whole Gary Hart/Donna Rice/Fawne Hall mess, as well as the impact it had not just on Hart's bid for the nomination, but on political reporting thereafter.  That scandal really was the start (in this age, at least) of the media's digging into candidates' lives and finding the juiciest, most salacious stories they could in order to sell newspapers and such; and, if possible, make it harder for one side or the other (but usually the Democrats) to win.

Am I being too cynical?  Probably.  Nevertheless, I'm bracing myself for the possibility of learning that Walz is a serial pedophile who used the gay/lesbian student alliance he co-founded at Mankato West High as a means of grooming underaged boys.

[Vee]

Good lord.

[Khan]

LOL!! 

I'm just saying: the media will find something wrong with Walz - I mean, REALLY wrong - and Democrats being Democrats, we'll force him out (even though what he (allegedly) did likely won't be anywhere near as bad as everything Trump did in 1982 alone); and sure, we'll lose the election, but at least we'll feel good about ourselves, knowing that we've once again scored a gold medal in the Purity Olympics.  RME.

Meanwhile, is this good or bad?  I honestly can't tell:

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4814178-cori-bush-missouri-squad/

Edited August 7, 2024 by Khan

[DRW50]

I imagine the GOP will makes these types of insinuations, but they will do that with anyone who supports equality. The alternative is for Democrats to go back to reminding us how anti-gay they are.

I agree with you the GOP is going to come up with a smear. They had incredibly vile smears against Biden, including claims that he abused his daughter. I don't think they ever reached the public in any meaningful way (just as the Tara Reade claims never did), but they probably still see it as a win and are plotting for more.

Beyond the usual I remember some people who took issue with some claims she made about her bio - I think she may have claimed she caught a baby and saved it from death...and she also claimed to be a faith healer who laid hands on a child, causing him to be able to walk, and laid hands on another person, causing their tumors to shrink.

Edited August 7, 2024 by DRW50

[Khan]

It isn't so much the GOP I would be concerned about in this situation, but all the purity-seeking, holier-than-thou types on the left and far-left who are too self-righteous to see when they're playing right into the enemy's hands. 

I'll never forget OR forgive Kirsten Gillibrand and her lot for forcing Al Franken, the only Democrat who wasn't phased at all by Trumpism early on, to leave the Senate without so much as an official investigation (which would have, IMO, exposed Leeann Tweeden's real motives in coming forward).  Next to how the Democratic Party treated Joe Biden at the end, that was the wrongest thing I'd ever seen my party do.

Edited August 7, 2024 by Khan

[DRW50]

Now that you mention it, the Reade stuff did start with the dead end left. Those aspects, or opportunistic members of Congress, will always be a factor. The best to hope for is more people are standing up to the lies.

[Vee]

As I suspected:

 

 

CNN on the BTS details of the Walz pick.