The Politics Thread

[DRW50]

 

After 2016 I don't quite believe the 10 points part - I do think he's behind, but the question is whether it's enough to offset the EC and cheating. I'm hoping it is. 

[Vee]

 

 

As burns go, this is flawless from Omar, a person I have otherwise become quite tired of.

 

 

Edited September 28, 2020 by Vee

[Vee]

 

[marceline]

I really wonder whether Trump will show up to debate tomorrow. If he does, he's going to be an even bigger mess than we could imagine. That article strikes right at the heart of his narcissism and image he has trafficked in his whole life. All Biden has to do is say "Now we know you aren't as rich as you claim to be," and Trump will freak out. I don't intend on watching in real time but I'm sure the clips will be interesting.

[DramatistDreamer]

For those who have yet to read the article, here it is sans paywall.

 

[Taoboi]

Well...the IRS always get you...

[DRW50]

 

I see that his flacks are using the debate as a reason to downplay the tax story, saying it was done just to make him look bad before the debate. I think that means they are going to use this to help not only lower expectations, but persuade the media to write easy stories - oh, Trump came back fighting. They were already going to declare him winner anyway, but now if Biden even breathes the wrong way it will be seen as a catastrophe. 

 

Logically, I know he couldn't have said no, but I really wish Biden wasn't debating. It's a trap. 

 

Regarding the tweet from that Craig person, I think it's exactly the problem of having so many terrible stories, many pushed and turned into tabloid melodrama by a press that generally likes Trump and profits from him. The nadir was their "Michael Avenatti for President" crusade. They have numbed much of the public to any scandals, and I don't believe this was done accidentally. 

Edited September 28, 2020 by DRW50

[Khan]

 

Same.

 

 

LOL!

 

 

Exactly.  That's what I've been saying all along.  You could insult Trump all day long and he barely flinches.  But, tell him he's not rich, and you might as well say "Yo mama!".

Edited September 28, 2020 by Khan

[OzFrog]

Showing tonight in the UK...

 

 

[JaneAusten]

People are giving the media too much power at this point. I say that because none of the GOP narratives the media has been pushing have stuck. Law and Order, "Race Riots", Biden has dementia,  And I don't see how this is a push for Trump when the media has been the one helping set the bar at the bottom for Biden by spreading that nonsense.

 

I don' think this story in the Times changes minds but it does show what a fraud of a business person Trump is. I don't care if it moves those diehard lunatics. 

 

The single most important issue is COVID and related to that healthcare. Nothing has changed that because we are all still living with it. 

[DRW50]

 

If Biden wins, I will agree, but at this point in 2016 many (I don't mean you) felt that the media narrative wasn't going to stick for Hillary either. Right now it's just deja vu for me, especially with the scandals that end up making voters tune out. I think if the election were held right now, Biden might manage to scrape through the EC (and win the popular vote, of course), but he's going to need more than that because a narrow win will be taken from him by the media and the courts. It has to be a blowout, and we're not in that country. So I am hoping that we are going to have some sort of positive surprise on Election Day, but if the media has its way, that won't happen.

[Vee]

The debates will go fine. They are not a trap. They also rarely move the needle.

 

I think we have a good chance of a blowout. I'm not going to stop being vigilant and nervous, though.

 

 

[marceline]

 

This isn't 2016 and Joe Biden isn't Hillary.

 

Turnout is through the roof. One million people have already cast their vote. In 2016, that number was around 10,000. Hilary was 2 points ahead of Trump in 2016. Biden is 10 points ahead of him now. Biden is polling better against Trump than any presidential challenger in the history of modern polling. There is no real media narrative about Biden because none of them stick.

 

There's no comparison between this race and 2016.

[DRW50]

 

I hope not, but to be honest until November I can't let myself think otherwise. I just feel like we're living out the same scripts and I am left waiting for the last minute rewrite. 

[JaneAusten]

I think it's smart to be skeptical we all should be.  And I won't debate that the media has been throwing GOP narratives out there. Heck they are trying to say the democrats are anti catholic(another narrative pushed by the GOP) because of ACB and how they are going to bring it up and kill the hearings. Not one democrat has talked about that. And I have been surprised at how disciplined their narrative has been. Lets not forget Biden and Pelosi are both Catholic. 

 

Joe Biden was not my choice by a long shot but he's a decent man and he did select Harris who by the way. the entire media wrote off and many claimed she would be a drag, and then he named her and his fundraising went over the roof. So yeah they have tried hits on Biden and Harris and no one is listening.

 

Hillary had and still has 30 years of GOP attacks on her. The media thinks she's the devil and did their best to make the email issue the biggest scandal of the century. But that was backed up by years of attacks. It's not close to the same and we have an incumbent who botched the biggest health crisis of the past 50 years. I will say again discipline and messaging has helped Biden and as long as the focus continues, I am optimistically cautious this go around. Seeing the increase in turnout has helped.

 

I want to remind folks who wrote off the 2018 midterms and how the dems this and that and that election was a landslide which I am supposed to see as a win for the GOP because they picked up 2 senate seats when it should have been 5 or 6. Yeah ok I'll forget about the governorships they took and state legislatures they continue to be primed to make a huge impact in again. I know the media loves to say it's a fluke.  Another reason I don't listen to them much and just pay attention to the work going on.

Edited September 28, 2020 by JaneAusten