IGT Election 11/5/24 Harris vs Trump

[ashie62]

but no... i also do think that a HUGE part of the blame falls on biden and democrats in general, for failing to set kamala up to succeed from the get go in 2020. they ran the country like they didn't have to also win '24, and it showed. kamala should've been a front and center part of the administration as the heir apparent after a single-term-from-the-start biden.

This, too. I'd thought that Biden would resign two years and a day into his term, to give Kamala a head start and to keep her eligible for two full terms. He probably should have done that.

Ya think?

[ashie62]

The economic suffering of Americans was not addressed by Harris in any real way

[kcmets]

The economic suffering of Americans was not addressed by Harris in any real way

Oh Jesus Fucking Christ just shut up! Please. Not today. I beg you.

[Chad ochoseis]

Centre County PA turning red is an eye opener

It's no consolation at all, but she ultimately did win Centre County by about 2000 votes.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/202 ... ident.html

[Centerfield]

I really do wonder what is next for us now.

Trump, thank god, is equal parts dickhead and lazy. So although I do think he'll start with the deportation efforts, I'm hoping his laziness will kick in and maybe it won't be as bad as I'm fearing right now. On the other hand, he might just handoff to ghouls like Steven Miller, who is actually just pure evil, in which case anyone that arrived recently, legal or not, should start packing their bags.

Tax breaks for the rich. Israel gets the green light to do whatever they want. Border security gets ramped up. Pardons for J6. Retribution against everyone he feels wronged him in some way. Lining the pockets of all of his businesses unabashedly.

Replacement of every American institution with a stooge from his campaign. I think he's done with abortion. He's never cared about that. Just said what he needed to say to get elected. Doesn't care about guns. Huge voting restrictions. His team will re-write what children are taught in schools.

I don't know about LGBTQ rights. I can't tell if Trump is as homophobic as his stated views, or if he just spewed that garbage in order to get elected from his base.

And all the while, we'll have to deal with this world where really bad fucking people get their way and win. I can't believe this is reality. I used to think this was the best country in the world. Really debating if that's true right now.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, his laziness may just provide a void for a true believer to start dictating policy.

I'm not sure I could ever credibly argue that the US is the BCitW. I only know it was the one I had. Certainly much of my citizenship and education tried to push the doctrine of American exceptionalism, but I'm not sure I ever really bought it. Firstly, what objective standard of "greatness" can anybody really claim to have applied? And who really has measured every country by that standard?

I do know being a white guy in America growing up at the tail end of the 20th century on the south shore of Long Island made me a uniquely privileged class. I pretty much knew intrinsically, though, that I had to provide a broader standard than my own insanely lucky privilege. And I always understood exceptionalism as meaning that the rules of a nation's behavior applied differently (or not at all) to the United States.

And you don't have to think too long to imagine yourself as a Rwandan and thinking, "That sure sounds like some bullshit."

There was a time, not long ago (perhaps around 2016) that politically independent-minded folks frequently shared that clip of Jeff Daniels in The Newsroom stunning an audience by insisting that the US is not the greatest country, and declaring it the best moment of TV in history or some shit.

Daniels' character was more or less right, of course, but nothing he said seemed all that revelatory to me, and if that was the greatest moment in TV history, we all need to turn off the TV and do some deep reading and strident activism, myself foremost.



But I guess that, as much as I intellectually reject the notion of American exceptionalism, I continue to live under the illusion of it to some extent. If I didn't, last night wouldn't have been such a kick in the face (as braced for it as I was). And while Sinclair Lewis tried to warn us in 1935 that It Can't Happen Here was the delusion of a child, now we've gone and let it happen twice.

[Centerfield]

Could be right? He's lazy. Doesn't feel like doing anything. So he lets Stephen Miller run wild.

Or, he's a narcissist. And he doesn't want Miller or anyone else getting attention, so he keeps him at bay, and says "I'll get to it after golfing" indefinitely.

The interesting thing will be his supporters. I don't expect that their lives will get better at all (except for inflation, which is already calmed down). Will they turn on him eventually? Or will they just say their lives are better even though they're not. I suspect the latter. And he doesn't need his base anymore having already been re-elected. He'll make money off his social media and his crypto and all the grifting accomplish through his presidency. Does he cast them aside like he does his contractors and other workers?

The only saving grace from all of this is if someday, every one of these assholes realizes they've been duped.

[Frayed Knot]

i also do think that a HUGE part of the blame falls on biden and democrats in general, for failing to set kamala up to succeed from the get go in 2020. they ran the country like they didn't have to also win '24, and it showed. kamala should've been a front and center part of the administration as the heir apparent after a single-term-from-the-start biden.

Part of it certainly falls on the party.
Any of them who could add had a pretty good idea that Joe was going to be 82 by this election - 13 years older than Ronald Reagan was when democrats were complaining that he was too old to serve. And anyone with even a little bit of insider knowledge knew Joe was slipping (the fourth or fifth time he claimed that his son died in Iraq should have been a clue) but they chose to ignore it and hoped that the public wouldn't find out and that none of the pundits on their side would spill the beans. They acted only when the debate disaster forced their hand and by then they only had one option left.

Which brings us to Kamala who was, IMO, simply a bad candidate. She ran in 2020 you may recall but dropped out in the very early stages with almost zero support within her own party. This time she was handed the nomination but then mostly hid from the press. When she did engage it was with off the mainstream podcasts and/or with those considered friendly to the cause. Her appearances consisted mostly of word salads devoid of any meaning or specifics. In one with CBS's SUNDAY MORNING a week or so back she was asked repeatedly what kind of legalized abortion bill she'd favor; her only answer was "Reinstate Roe". Except that 'Roe' was a judicial framework, not a law, and you can't simply "reinstate" it. So when pressed on what if any restrictions she might be willing to accept in legislation she reverted (at least five times) to "Reinstate Roe". That's not an answer.
Nor is 'going after price gouging' in response to why you think 'prices' are too high. ' Which prices, and 'too high' based on what? How do you identify 'price gouging', or, for starters, how do you even define it? And why does this come up now when inflation is back to low levels and the real problem is three to four years in the rear view mirror?


So, yeah, a lot of mistakes all around starting with the one where, when faced with an opponent who, while not a traditional conservative, has an odd cult-like hold over a oddly diverse group of far right and conspiracy minded wing nuts which makes the best strategy for winning draining off those in the middle and the economic conservatives who can't stomach pulling the lever for an idiot, maybe running a San Francisco liberal wasn't the best move. But by then it was too late in the game and then there were the complaints that some would abandon the party if they passed over a black woman for someone else. But, hey, why increase your odds of winning elections when you can play identity politics instead.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I think that "inflation" is somewhat of a misnomer as the term is being used here. Inflation is, technically, down. What the electorate is really complaining about is the rate at which prices have increased since Covid. Those prices won't come down even if inflation is tamed or whipped. Also, the steep post-Covid increases in food and grocery prices are not the sitting President's fault and almost entirely beyond his control. But that's the way things shake out sometimes; the President is blamed for things that happen on his watch even if they're not his fault. Trump won't fix the higher grocery prices and from what he's been saying, is likelier than not to exacerbate them.