2020 Election Results

[Derec]

And Florida also had unique circumstances with those antiquated punch cards. And even then, it was only around a 1200 vote change.

Who can forget butterfly ballots and pregnant chads.

 

[crazyfingers]

And Florida also had unique circumstances with those antiquated punch cards. And even then, it was only around a 1200 vote change.

Who can forget butterfly ballots and pregnant chads.

A guy I knew by the name of Chad wasn't amused.

 

[ideologyhunter]

What, did you double down on the "How's it hangin', Chad?"

 

[crazyfingers]

What, did you double down on the "How's it hangin', Chad?"

He was a well known guy in my industry and a sales guy. I figured he'd been deluged by the jokes so I cut him some slack.

 

[ZiprHead]

 

[Terrell]

View attachment 30160

Don't those types of things go to people in 3rd world countries, like the championship merch that was made for the team that lost?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Though many of those people don't care about what the merch is, they are just selling it, making a living.

Arizona popped out another 106,000 votes. They said 142,000 remaining before, that'd put the remainder at 36,000 (of course, they keep finding votes, so that number could increase) which means Trump needs 83% of the remaining votes.

 

[Derec]

There are folks running around on TV blaming progressivism for Dem underperformance.

And they'd be right. Biden should have won Florida and Pennsylvania should not have been this close for the man from Scranton.
The talk of socialism as well as calls to defund/abolish the police have turned off many.

There are swing seat Dem incumbents who cosponsored the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, etc and if I’m not mistaken every single one won re-election. So the whole “progressivism is bad” argument just doesn’t have any compelling evidence that I’ve seen.

Examples?

When it comes to “Defund” & “Socialism” attacks, people need to realize these are racial resentment attacks.

No. Socialism is a economic system that has been weighed on the scales repeatedly and was found wanting every single time. "Defund" is an idiotic policy position. Being opposed to these things is not a "racial resentment" issue.

By the way if white communities are getting more comfortable w overt racism or “cultural resentment” (if that’s what they’re rebranding it now) it’s only gonna get harder for POC turnout to save everyone. Real organizing & strategy is needed that disarms bigotry, not avoids it.

I would say the racism and resentments are much more overt from the so-called "POCs".
For example, the Indian (dot) woman who spat in the face of a NYPD cop.

Her page is also filled with posts about her social activism, including a rant that property “has no feeling … no value outside of what we assign it.”
“The outrage over theft of clothing from Saks 5th Avenue?? The violent sentences being levied against people who caused no human harm, while we allow white people and those in power to continue to demonize and brutalize Black and Brown folks???” she wrote in one post. “If you’re still running these lines, stop.”
A rep for Nadler didn’t immediately return an email.
On a Twitter account appearing to belong to Singh, she wrote in August, “As a whole, i rlly don’t like white ppl”

Except that they get a pass for it because to Leftists "only whites can be racist".

You can’t just tell the Black, Brown, & youth organizers riding in to save us every election to be quiet or not have their reps champion them when they need us. Or wonder why they don’t show up for midterms when they’re scolded for existing. Esp when they’re delivering victories.

How is being against socialism and against defunding police "scolding" people for existing?

 

[Derec]

I hate the narrative of this being close because latino's went to Trump. No! They overwhelmingly voted Biden, despite being largely ignored.

Largely ignored? I remember in the primaries, especially during the Summer, the candidates were in a competition about who would be more pro-illegal (mostly from Mexico and Central America) than the other candidates.

The problem is white people, men specifically.

Nothing like acceptable forms of racism and sexism coming from the Left. Is there then a surprise that so many white men vote for the party that doesn't incessantly keep telling them that they are THE problem?

Laurence Sabel on Twitter: "@wietse111 @AOC Men and women of color yes. The percentage of white women who voted for trump increased. That’s just insane when you know what trump has said and done to women"

Given who they were running against, Biden and the Dems should have done much better.
As long as criticism of socialism and anti-police extremism is dismissed as "racial resentments", Dems will not get the message about why they are struggling with so many voters.

 

[The Colourful Jester]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/06/politics/trump-legal-team/index.html

By Erica Orden, Evan Perez, Kara Scannell and Kevin Liptak, CNN

Updated 9:26 PM ET, Fri November 6, 2020

Trump unhappy with legal team's lack of major impact on election count

While President Donald Trump's legal strategy to challenge the election results is being shaped at the highest levels by familiar, experienced hands, his legal team on the ground hasn't seen the involvement of a top-tier team of the caliber George W. Bush had during the 2000 Florida recount.

-----

All together now... "Awwwww."

 

[GenesisNemesis]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/06/politics/trump-legal-team/index.html

By Erica Orden, Evan Perez, Kara Scannell and Kevin Liptak, CNN

Updated 9:26 PM ET, Fri November 6, 2020

Trump unhappy with legal team's lack of major impact on election count

While President Donald Trump's legal strategy to challenge the election results is being shaped at the highest levels by familiar, experienced hands, his legal team on the ground hasn't seen the involvement of a top-tier team of the caliber George W. Bush had during the 2000 Florida recount.

-----

All together now... "Awwwww."

Perhaps he should fire them.

 

[Derec]

This election has proved that Trumpism is alive and well. The sad truth is that it will be here to stay unless we can learn to deliver BIG for working people and stop marginalizing progressives.

Worst idea ever! The reason why Biden and Dems did not do better is the effects of fauxgressive ideas like "defund/abolish police" that reared its ugly head in violent riots in cities all over the US.

On the radio I heard a speculation that Biden could make Gillibrand a cabinet secretary and then AOC could run for Senate (I doubt Cuomo would appoint her, but you never know) paving way for her to run for presidency in not so far future.
The hell? First, Gillibrand is the epitome of toxic femininity in the Senate. We do not need to give her even more power. Second, AOC's ideas are extreme and would not play well in the US at large. AOC, if Dems are idiotic enough to nominate her, would get a result somewhere between McGovern and Dukakis.

 

[Keith&Co.]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/06/politics/trump-legal-team/index.html

By Erica Orden, Evan Perez, Kara Scannell and Kevin Liptak, CNN

Updated 9:26 PM ET, Fri November 6, 2020

Trump unhappy with legal team's lack of major impact on election count

While President Donald Trump's legal strategy to challenge the election results is being shaped at the highest levels by familiar, experienced hands, his legal team on the ground hasn't seen the involvement of a top-tier team of the caliber George W. Bush had during the 2000 Florida recount.

-----

All together now... "Awwwww."

Perhaps he should fire them.

I wonder if he's paid them.

 

[Derec]

As to messaging, I think that "defund the police" is an awful slogan. I'd prefer "reform the police" or "rebuild the police" or "reject overpolicing".

I think reform would be a good idea, depending on what it entails.
As to "overpolicing", the problem is that that term is often used to claim that "black neighborhoods" are overpoliced because there is more police activity there. But there is more police activity because there is more crime - and the victims are mostly other black people. That's why many black elected officials were supportive of the 1990s crime bill.

But there are genuine ways in which overpolicing is real, but it is a matter for legislatures who pass criminal laws. For example marijuana. But also consensual sex work, something that is anathema to many fauxgressives (including some posting on here).

What should not happen is that crimes that actually should be crimes get ignored just to reduce arrest/incarceration numbers.
Man steals from SF Walgreens as TV crew reports story on shoplifting

But what do you expect of a city whose DA is a Chavista and whose parents are terrorists.

I'd also say about a Green New Deal that it involves a *lot* of job creation.

The question, how effective would that job creation be?
There is a novel by Robert Heinlein I think where a man is unfrozen in the future and is incredulous that cars are being built and deliberately crashed immediately afterward just to create jobs. If GND (federally guaranteed) jobs are unproductive as that fictional one, they are not very useful.


Six Takeaways From Election Night - The Daily Poster

1. Democrats’ Weak Economic Message Hugely Helped Trump

The author bemoans Dems' lack of a message of "economic transformation". Given the author's other points, I guess he means in the direction of socialism. No thanks!

"3. People Don’t Love The Affordable Care Act"

A lot of people like a "public option" - Medicare for all who want it

ACA was the most that was possible to pass at the time.
And no law is perfect. They can be improved. But I don't think abolishing private insurance like with NHS in UK (where people wait a long time for treatment) is a good solution.

"4. A Lot Of Grassroots Money Was Set On Fire"

For Senate races in KY, SC, TX, and AL, supporting candidates who were defeated by 10 points or more.

There is a law of diminishing returns on political advertising. When you had as much money to burn as Dems in 2020, you get into saturation territory quickly.

 

[Derec]

Rioting in the streets is frequently an indication that there's too much policing, or too much inappropriate and unpopular legislation.

The rioting this years was in support of black criminals who committed crimes such as DUI and assault (Rayshard Brooks) or assault with a deadly weapon (Walter Wallace Jr.).
Do you think these crimes should be repealed? Or repealed for black thugs only (as the rioters do not give a shit about white thugs getting shot by police)?

It indicates a need for more law and order, not to put down the riots, but to put down the authoritarianism that has inspired the riots, and to redress the social imbalances that allows them to start and to spread.

Of course riots need to be put down! That was the chief failure of people like Ted Wheeler in Portland. He did not go forcefully against leftist rioters and has thereby created a vacuum that "Proud Boys" and others filled. And the Antifa still don't like him and ran their own "Antifa" candidate against him, although she lost. Or take Seattle: the local city officials were inactive in the face of leftist rioting that the rioters managed to occupy territory in downtown Seattle for weeks!

The best way to address theft isn't to catch more theives; It's to ensure that nobody's in a position where they must steal in order to live.

How he gonna get his money?

US has social programs like food stamps. Nobody has to steal and rob to survive. People rob and steal for wants like brand-name clothes and sneakers, not basic needs.

The best way to address rioting isn't to use teargas and baton rounds against rioters; It's to ensure that few people feel powerless to resolve their grievances with authority via more peaceful means.

So give in to the rioter's extremist demands? If rioters for example demand that a police officer who did nothing wrong be prosecuted, should the officer be prosecuted just because the angry and violent mob demands it?

Tough on crime just means more grievances and more crime. We need politicians who are tough on the causes of crime - poverty, powerlessness, and marginalisation.

That is rather naïve. Crime cannot be solved by giving in to criminals.

Not to say that our criminal law can't be reformed and improved. But the crimes these rioters engage in (vandalism, looting, arson etc.) and the crimes their #BLM heroes have engaged in when they were shot (such as robbery, carjacking, assault, firearm offenses) are serious crimes and should not be excused no matter what the color of the skin of the perps is or what kind of excuse they have for doing it.

 

[Derec]

Unbelieveable cheek. They got their guy in the spot, spent their money doing things their way, and completely sidelined the Progressives as much as they possibly could without outright disowning them. And then the far Left, despite this ill treatment, overwhelmingly voted for Biden. It's their so-called crossover votes from disaffected white Repulican housewives that somehow failed to appear. This egg is on their traitorous, cowardly faces. What a joke we have for a "Left" in this godforsaken country.

How was the Left sidelined? The Bernie/AOC wing of the Party made up half of the various task forces in the Biden campaign.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

George W. Bush was leading in Florida. It is a lot easier to hold back recounts when you are leading.

 

[lpetrich]

The refrain from state officials is consistent: The Trump campaign’s fraud claims are unfounded - The Washington Post

Something he has been saying for months, that if he loses, then his loss is fraudulent.

The rationale for doing this is obvious. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Trump lost the election, by about the same electoral-vote margin he won four years ago but with a much greater loss of popular vote. If his goal is to stay in office at any cost, he has got to do something to undercut the results. So this is his play, as he said it would be.

But I doubt that he is that good at political calculation. Some of his underlings, maybe, but not he himself.

Tom Bonier on Twitter: "One more note. In May and June, when Dem voter registration had bottomed out due to the pandemic and GOPs were outregistering Dems, it was the George Floyd/BLM demonstrations that created a huge Dem voter reg spike. https://t.co/Y3YXbJk4Ol" / Twitter
noting
TargetSmart Insights - July 10, 2020 - How COVID & Protest Movement Have Impacted Voter Registration

 

[lpetrich]

Trump’s path to electoral victory is disappearing. So are his legal avenues. - The Washington Post

In the two-plus days since Election Day, President Trump has combated an increasingly grim electoral map by offering vague, baseless and almost completely nonspecific claims about potential voter fraud. It has been evident for weeks and months that this would be his play if he lost, and now he’s doing the thing we knew he would do. His campaign’s legal adviser on Thursday even pointed to the fact that Trump had appointed three Supreme Court justices while urging them to “step in and do something” — as if they owed Trump favorable legal decisions.

So he doesn't have any real evidence, just the presumption that if there are a lot of votes against him, then many of those votes must be fraudulent.

I marvel at how his underlings have enabled him for so long, and how Congressional Republicans have done likewise.

Georgia election worker forced into hiding over false claims he threw away a ballot | TheHill

Republican clerk pushes back on GOP chair's 'categorically false' claim | TheHill

The City Clerk of Rochester Hills, Mich., Tina Barton, shot back at GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Friday, refuting claims that 2,000 ballots previously marked for Republicans were given to Democrats.

"The accusation that 2,000 ballots were found is categorically false. As a Republican, I am disturbed that this is intentionally being mischaracterized to undermine the election process," Barton said in a video posted to Twitter. "This was an isolated mistake that was quickly rectified once realized."

Ugh.

 

[lpetrich]

Protests Over Vote Count Sweep Through Minneapolis, Portland and Other Cities - The New York Times - "Protesters marched in Minneapolis, New York and elsewhere against President Trump, while some of his supporters gathered near a Phoenix building where crucial votes were being counted."

Calling on election officials to “count every vote,” protesters marched through the streets of several American cities on Wednesday in response to President Trump’s aggressive effort to challenge the vote count in Tuesday’s presidential election.

In Minneapolis, protesters blocked a freeway, prompting arrests. In Portland, hundreds gathered on the waterfront to protest the president’s attempted interventions in the vote count as a separate group protesting the police and urging racial justice surged through downtown, smashing shop windows and confronting police officers and National Guard troops.

In Phoenix, about 150 pro-Trump protesters, some of them armed, gathered outside the county recorder’s office where a closely watched count of votes that could help determine the outcome of the election was being conducted.

...
In Detroit, another group of pro-Trump poll watchers gathered earlier in the day outside a ballot-counting center, demanding that officials “stop the count” of ballots after the Trump campaign filed suit to halt the count in Michigan.

Continue the count where Trump might gain votes, and stop the count where Trump might lose votes. Heads I win, tails you lose.

“It’s such a dangerous moment,” said Carol Carmick, 59, who said she joined the protests in Portland out of fears that Mr. Trump would try to stay in power even if he lost the election.

Protesters also gathered in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere, some of them continuing the protests over racial justice and policing that have rocked the country since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. More demonstrations were scheduled for the coming days.

In Minneapolis, several hundred protesters angered over the president’s declarations marched onto Interstate 94, prompting the police to clear the roadway.