2020 Presidential Election Thread: The Homestretch... Still

[Clyde_Style]

Work isn't done after this. I don't blame Biden actually for the results here, actually. Trump used a similar playbook he tried against Hillary...conspiracy theories, fake news, illegal use of office, and it didn't work, although it came close. The Hunter Biden and the emails thing? Trump knows how to play his audience for real.

I think what it says is that America has gotten worse these past few years. I don't know how to fix it: Fake news, QAnon, Fox, MLMs, whatever, the cult of Trump within Christian circles, domestic terrorism, the KKK etc. but we gotta find a way somehow.

Yeah, I respect Jremi a whole lot and appreciate their attention to detail, but I don't think we can discount how looney America has become

[mpharris36]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

hopefully it doesn't get to that point. Don't need this to drag on. Biden is going to win.

[DOT]

Put it this way

Last night, Trump was up 14 with 2.4 million votes left to count

He's now up 5 with 1.1 million votes left

So that's a 9 point swing over 1.3 million votes. If that holds, Biden wins by a clear margin.

Read on Twitter

?s=19

Biden will win PA in all likelihood

Trumpers think they won though

Read on Twitter

It's calculated

Declare victory prematurely, then when the votes are counted and they lose, claim election fraud

Cause they're fascists.

[mpharris36]

I think you can call the senate race in MI too...peters getting another 5k in votes with another 1% to go pretty much seals the deal. It was a good run by James.

[dakomish23]

They're really grasping for straws here.

[GONYK]

CNN saying Trump might not even go through with the recount in WI

[j4remi]

I can agree with you on this while still being correct that this election would not have gone better with Bernie or Liz. I really do feel the Trump turnout was not going to go to another candidate because they were canvassed more effectively. Maybe I'm wrong, but I sincerely feel this was not as much of a strategic failure as you think it is and more a moratorium on how this country actually rolls.

I really don't care about the hypothetical scenario of Bernie or Warren. It's completely immaterial to my critique since we don't have a crystal ball to figure out how that plays out. I think these questions have simple yes or no connotations that we can take from the results...

Could the Democrats have done better with black and latino voters?
Could they have sent out door knocking teams or supplied resources to the organizations willing to?
Could they have tailored their messaging to have firm answers on key issues as the election drew near?

and that leads us to this one which is absolutely more up to opinion...
Could these changes impact the results of the presidential, legislative or state legislative races?

But in the future you have to run candidates like those at the top of the ticket and it will take better strategy so I agree with you about the need for overhaul. I would look to the mid-terms to see what can be accomplished about building a stronger profile in the party. Unfortunately, third parties will end up ceding the country to the GOP. Not what I want to support. I'd rather vote for a solid green party, but America will split the vote and elect Republicans so the obstacle remains in a two party system and how to revamp the Democrats. It's a hard job.

I'm confused by the bold. Nothing that I've seen is indicative of a third party spoiler effect here (open to data saying otherwise). For the sake of clarity though, when I speak on Democratic Leaders; I'm including the people running the DNC, leading the campaigns, leading in Congress and handling outreach...all of them. I circled in the impacts of this election on down ballot races as reference points because I'd hoped to imply as much. My bad for not making my phrasing clearer.

But I'd add, I don't think you "have" to run candidates like those at the top of a ticket when it barely beat an incumbent president with the lowest approval performance we've seen and who is overseeing an obviously failed pandemic response.

If I am going with a hypothetical ticket that coulda outperformed what we have... In my opinion; Biden/Abrams would outperform Biden/Harris in GA while still carrying California. I'm not big on Harris or Abrams; but just looking at the data, I think I can make that case a lot more easily than claiming Biden/Harris is a ticket to emulate. That's far from a progressive dream but I think it's just a better way to run up the score.

[SA37]

Eliminating the electoral college would just be unrigging a system that only works in favor of the GOP because slavery. Even trump was crying about it back in 2012 when he thought that Romney was going to win the popular vote and lose the election (he didn't)

The only reason the Dems want to abolish the EC is because they know demographic shifts have made it extremely difficult for Republicans to win in an election based on the popular vote; it's not surprsing at all that the party that would have won the last ~7 elections in a popular vote system is calling for that to be the way the president is chosen.

The claim that the EC is "rigged" in favor of the GOP is completely unfounded.

How many ppl in CA? Divide by how many electoral votes in CA. Give me the ratio.

How many ppl in WY? Divide by how many electoral votes in WY. GIve me the ratio

Who cares? California accounts for more than 10% of EV while Wyoming has 0.5% of EV. California has way more influence in deciding the election than WY or any other small state. In fact, it is possible to win the EC with just the top 11 most populous states (of which I believe 6-7 almost always vote Democrat). California has way more influence about legislation in the House than Wyoming could ever dream of. I am sure you don't think you would argue in favor of California and WY each having 1 EV.

There is nothing inherently fair about 1 vote, 1 person and nothing to prove that this is the fairest possible way to choose a president or anything else for that matter. You wouldn't get on a plane and then hold a vote to see who gets to fly the plane; we have better ways of determining who is the best option to fly the plane.Why should a person who knows nothing about economics, govt policy, or even how the Electoral College works have a vote that counts the same as someone who is an expert in govt policy, economics, and/or the Electoral College? The second person is clearly more qualified to make a more educated choice (even though that doesn't mean the person's choice will be determined by those factors).

In multiple aspects of life, we have weighted systems that help the smaller/weaker/minority group. Affirmative action, progressive taxation, and the NBA Draft are examples of this -- and we generally believe that this improves job opportunities for minorities, creates a fairer society, and makes a better, more entertaining league, respectively. The EC and Congress represent the balance between States' power and power by population and for ~250 years now has been an effective way of deciding the president of the country. And despite both sides having talked about getting rid of it, in 250 years the powers that be have not come up with an agreement to change it or remove it.

[DOT]

CNN saying Trump might not even go through with the recount in WI

I wonder if he even has the funds to pay for it.

[Oscirus]

Trumps gonna focus all his resources on Pennsylvania

[3toheadmelo]

Read on Twitter

[Strick]

Trumps gonna focus all his resources on Pennsylvania

He still loses if Michigan and Nevada hold no?

[Oscirus]

Trumps gonna focus all his resources on Pennsylvania

He still loses if Michigan and Nevada hold no?

Michigan held, but I wouldn't count on Nevada if I was biden

[mpharris36]

Trumps gonna focus all his resources on Pennsylvania

He still loses if Michigan and Nevada hold no?

correct but for some reason they are also still contesting AZ when that was called last night by Fox. I have no clue why there is still 16% of the vote still not counted there but if all in person voting is done and counted the math just doesn't add up and its him crying to just cry.

[dakomish23]

Fox News called MI for BIden. Waiting to hear the commentary once they get Rudy Colludy off the screen

[3toheadmelo]

Funny how they don’t wanna keep that same energy anymore

Read on Twitter

[movingon]

What a profoundly undemocratic point of view.
The EC is an aberration.
Affirmative action for conservatives?
That is the height of hypocrisy.
What a social justice warrior you are.

The only reason the Dems want to abolish the EC is because they know demographic shifts have made it extremely difficult for Republicans to win in an election based on the popular vote; it's not surprsing at all that the party that would have won the last ~7 elections in a popular vote system is calling for that to be the way the president is chosen.

The claim that the EC is "rigged" in favor of the GOP is completely unfounded.

How many ppl in CA? Divide by how many electoral votes in CA. Give me the ratio.

How many ppl in WY? Divide by how many electoral votes in WY. GIve me the ratio

Who cares? California accounts for more than 10% of EV while Wyoming has 0.5% of EV. California has way more influence in deciding the election than WY or any other small state. In fact, it is possible to win the EC with just the top 11 most populous states (of which I believe 6-7 almost always vote Democrat). California has way more influence about legislation in the House than Wyoming could ever dream of. I am sure you don't think you would argue in favor of California and WY each having 1 EV.

There is nothing inherently fair about 1 vote, 1 person and nothing to prove that this is the fairest possible way to choose a president or anything else for that matter. You wouldn't get on a plane and then hold a vote to see who gets to fly the plane; we have better ways of determining who is the best option to fly the plane.Why should a person who knows nothing about economics, govt policy, or even how the Electoral College works have a vote that counts the same as someone who is an expert in govt policy, economics, and/or the Electoral College? The second person is clearly more qualified to make a more educated choice (even though that doesn't mean the person's choice will be determined by those factors).

In multiple aspects of life, we have weighted systems that help the smaller/weaker/minority group. Affirmative action, progressive taxation, and the NBA Draft are examples of this -- and we generally believe that this improves job opportunities for minorities, creates a fairer society, and makes a better, more entertaining league, respectively. The EC and Congress represent the balance between States' power and power by population and for ~250 years now has been an effective way of deciding the president of the country. And despite both sides having talked about getting rid of it, in 250 years the powers that be have not come up with an agreement to change it or remove it.

[dakomish23]

They're going to litigate all the battleground states per reporter on Fox News

[stuporman]

Major American cities fundamentally want something different from the rest of the country and I don't know how to reconcile that.

Compromise.

The whole goal (in theory) of the system is to force opposing sides compromise. Democrats spent a good portion of the time leading up to the election talking about essentially rigging the system in their favor by eliminating the Electoral College, making DC and PR states, and expanding the courts to give themselves an advantage. When they lost in 2016 -- and even this election that is neck and neck -- they have resorted to conspiracy theories (Russian meddling) or pathetic excuses (social media) for why they haven't been able to convince the public to give them the power they need to implement their policies or their candidates.

Identity politics, belief that Democrats are morally and ethically superior to the other side, this belief that the other side "owes" thel something, and an inability to compromise on certain major issues will likely continue to divide the Democrats and push them away from compromise that could otherwise lead to the implementation of policy.

Politics is tricky, but Americain institutions have brought about major changes to Americain society, even if those changes came about too slowly or too quickly for some.

Oh so them dems need to compromise while the reps obstruct....gotcha.

Rigging the system? Eliminating the electoral college has been bandied about for more than a century from both parties and adding those two states has also been considered as being fair to American citizens in those jurisdictions that don't currently have proper representation.

So while the dems might be talking about genuine changes through the proper processes the reps have been illegally purging voters in partisan fashion, gerrymandering districts to benefit themselves, closing polling places and limiting them in dem districts as well as a host of other suppressive actions from their behavior. The rigging elections has been a conservative right wing tactic for more than 100 years so please take your Qanonsene out of here.

Which brings me to conspiracies....you complaining about them from dems? Really? Ok buddy....

The religious conservatives invented identity politics and even now they still are pushing identity in their rhetoric. They also openly call themselves the true patriots, the chosen god's people and anyone who isn't them isn't a true American, destroying society and going to hell. This has been their method of otherizing people since the founding of this country. So who is it that believe they are morally and ethically superior?

The religious, conservative, right wing loves to wrap themselves in the flag while they are actively and openly behaving in a way that is unamerican. The first amendment is tolerance, it allows people to believe and express themselves as they wish without the interference of the government which does not empower or endorse any one particular belief system. Yet, that is the opposite of how they behave, they seek to discriminate and oppress anyone that isn't their belief system.

So when these self professed 'victims' come around whining about the behavior of the 'others' their disingenuous cries are laughable.

[god shammgod]

Trumps gonna focus all his resources on Pennsylvania

He still loses if Michigan and Nevada hold no?

correct but for some reason they are also still contesting AZ when that was called last night by Fox. I have no clue why there is still 16% of the vote still not counted there but if all in person voting is done and counted the math just doesn't add up and its him crying to just cry.

there was some issue in AZ where they did the math wrong and realized there was still a lot more votes to count. they announced it this morning.