S John Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 3 minutes ago, Triskele said: Putting aside the horror of the virus situation and its immediate life-and-death implications. How insane is the political situation developing where it appears that it's already dawning on the Senate Republicans that a massive stimulus bill is going to be needed. Trump will probably say he's down for it to try to save his own skin. So then you'd have the rank hypocrisy of the GOP members of Congress who fought the Recovery Act in the early days of the Obama Presidency now potentially about to be pushing for one of their own. And of course we will need something very seriously, and most Dems will know this and probably come around to voting for it. But man, is it going to be difficult to resist pointing out how horrible they look now that the shoe is on the other foot. It really is amazing. And, IMO, they are going to have to do it. For Trump it could really be the deciding factor as to whether he gets re-elected or not. It’s a rare opportunity for him to actually do the right thing and hopefully his self preservation instinct kicks in, but as I told my wife today, he’s surrounded by some pretty hardcore righties. Will his vanity overcome the bad advice he’s probably getting? For once I find myself cheering for his vanity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S John Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 9 minutes ago, Triskele said: Yeah, as much as I hate Trump and want him out of office both the virus itself and the potential economic catastrophe are both potentially serious enough that I cannot justify pure Trump hatred in this situation. Both of these can hurt a lot of people for a long time. I’m as legitimately worried about all of this as the next person, maybe even moreso because I’m trying to wrangle a cross country move and start a new job in the midst of all of this shit, BUT... damned if it isn’t interesting. This is a major test. Not only of each of us as individuals, but to our healthcare system, our political leadership at every level of government, and our ability to come together as human beings in what has otherwise been a very divided time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 4 hours ago, S John said: Things are going to get reeeeeal interesting if Trump starts going along with the $1k to every American scenarios that started to get thrown around today. I actually think that there is a segment of his base for which that kind of socialist crisis management will be a bridge too far. Imagine how his base will react once they see black people and Mexicans cashing government checks! The Hannitys might turn against the Carlsons even. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnionAhaiReborn Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 4 hours ago, Triskele said: Putting aside the horror of the virus situation and its immediate life-and-death implications. How insane is the political situation developing where it appears that it's already dawning on the Senate Republicans that a massive stimulus bill is going to be needed. Trump will probably say he's down for it to try to save his own skin. So then you'd have the rank hypocrisy of the GOP members of Congress who fought the Recovery Act in the early days of the Obama Presidency now potentially about to be pushing for one of their own. And of course we will need something very seriously, and most Dems will know this and probably come around to voting for it. But man, is it going to be difficult to resist pointing out how horrible they look now that the shoe is on the other foot. What's going to be really galling is when they go back to opposing any action the minute a Democrat is in the White House. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaston de Foix Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 1 hour ago, OnionAhaiReborn said: What's going to be really galling is when they go back to opposing any action the minute a Democrat is in the White House. The same Senate Republicans who voted for the unfunded Trump tax cuts are now suddenly getting religion again and worrying about the fiscal implications. But the knowledge they are hypocrites has never stopped these people before. Two questions for the board: 1. why is there little to no reflection in Trump's approval ratings of his administration's disastrous handling of the coronavirus between Jan-March? Is this just the usual circling of the wagons by the Republicans or is it too soon to tell? 2. What is the most effective way to support Senate Dem candidates in 2020? Give to individual candidates or outside groups? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freshwater Spartan Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 1. Everyone's mind is made up about Trump. For example my Fox News loving father just ranted on and on an about how wonderful Trump is and how smart it was to shut down airline travel and how the panic is media Driven yada yada..... 2. Both. You also might want to check out Stacy Abrahms anti voter suppression group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 4 hours ago, DanteGabriel said: Imagine how his base will react once they see black people and Mexicans cashing government checks! The Hannitys might turn against the Carlsons even. I don't think the world can handle The War of the Bloated Faces.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Biden now has Secret Service protection; at least Republicans didn't play politics with that (it requires sign-off from the big four in Congress). Also, it's crazy to me that former Presidents get lifetime protection, but former Vice Presidents only get (IIRC) six months protection. I get that a former President is a bigger target, but it still seems to me that former Vice Presidents should have something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Historic Turnout in 2020? Not So Far: Quote In the states that have voted so far, the 2020 turnout rate (among the voting eligible population) in the Democratic primary was a median of 3 points higher than it was in 2016 but 2 points lower than it was in 2008, according to data from the United States Elections Project (updated with the most recent 2020 election results as of March 16).2 There are a few states where turnout has been much higher, as you can see in the chart below, but that probably is due more to structural changes and differing electoral contexts than higher voter enthusiasm. Although the increases in some states, like Virginia, are big enough to still be notable, once you adjust for these factors, 2020 on the whole looks pretty unimpressive. [...] Sen. Bernie Sanders has claimed that he can win elections by expanding the size of the electorate, but there didn’t seem to be a relationship on the county level between increased turnout from 2016 and 2020 and increased support for Sanders. In a more granular analysis of Iowa and New Hampshire, The New York Times also found that turnout in precincts and municipalities where a majority of the population is between 18 and 24 years old — Sanders’s base — was virtually unchanged from 2016. Instead, participation spiked the most in areas won by former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Given that their voters were disproportionately college-educated white moderates, this jibes more with our theory that the places where turnout has increased the most in the 2020 Democratic primary are those where Trump-skeptical (ex-)Republicans are trying a new party on for size. We can pretty much close the book on this argument, btw. It's not going to be fair to compare any future primary contests - including today's - to previous elections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 25 minutes ago, DMC said: Trump-skeptical (ex-)Republicans are trying a new party on for size. Biden Republicans, here we come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 2 minutes ago, Ran said: Biden Republicans, here we come. With the economy tanking - and with horserace journalists with little else to do in the foreseeable future - I expect to see a lot of (digital) ink spilled evaluating the nature and size of these type of voters over the next few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 I posted a link to a video of Trump in SC calling Coronavirus the Democrats “new hoax” and my Trump fan friends on Facebook (including my mother) are angry with me for “dredging up stuff from the past). This was two weeks ago on 2/29 and to Trumpanistas it is “ancient history”. :facepalm: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 You guys really should be paying attention to the daily coronavirus update press conference. This is the place you get the news. There will be a check in the mail for Americans. Mnuchin - more than the press has been reporting.. But in very pointed statement, he said he'll be going to the Hill to talk to Senate Republicans and, of course, to Congress. He's done that 2 or 3 times now, pointedly saying he will talk to Republicans. I think the Republicans are about to buy votes en masse, cheerfully, knowing that after the election they can slash benefits of all kinds if they win that election. Trump has done his usual stunt of using nice words while slipping a shiv in at the same time. He said he has had very good conversations with the governor of California, and he'll say nice words because the governor said nice words about him. What an asshole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace, Extat Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 24 minutes ago, Ran said: Biden Republicans, here we come. Obama to Trump voters are a real thing that can be measured and responded to. I'm still waiting on these "numerous" young people to appear and take control of the party like I kept getting believed at over the last 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 2 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said: I think the Republicans are about to buy votes en masse, cheerfully, knowing that after the election they can slash benefits of all kinds if they win that election. It may give them that benefit. But cash truly is the best stimulus, and we're going to need a lot of stimulus. On a side note, has there ever been a Treasury Secretary with more power than Mnuchin right now? He's essentially running the entire executive branch's fiscal policy on his own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 8 minutes ago, Fez said: It may give them that benefit. But cash truly is the best stimulus, and we're going to need a lot of stimulus. On a side note, has there ever been a Treasury Secretary with more power than Mnuchin right now? He's essentially running the entire executive branch's fiscal policy on his own. Cash is definitely the best stimulus! But it is amazing to watch Trump talk about the bi-partisan effort while at the same time Republicans have been telling Democrats they can stuff their "ideological wish-list" where the sun don't shine. The lightbulb must have gone on in their brains. I'm still watching the press conference and it's amazing how many times Trump has to stick in his two cents. It's also a relief that Trump finally came out and asked people to isolate for 15 days ('only 14, because we started yesterday!' wtf?) Americans look to the POTUS for direction in times of crisis. Now his base can say look, look, see how presidental he is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sologdin Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 kept getting believed at as an x-filesy optimist who wants to believe generally, i dig this rhetoric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Oh ffs, I almost threw a shoe at my new tv. Trump: "We were always going in this direction, it was always in the plan. I stopped flights from China and Europe when all the scientific people said no." "I knew it was a pandemic, I was saying it was a pandemic long before anyone was saying it." eta He keeps saying "if we go into a steep curve, a lot of people are going to die, a lot of people are going to die" It must be what the whole coronavirus team has been telling him to change his feeble brain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace, Extat Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 4 minutes ago, sologdin said: kept getting believed at as an x-filesy optimist who wants to believe generally, i dig this rhetoric. You're so charming. If not for such sesquipedalia indulgences even pithy. Spoiler Pity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rorshach Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Well, tried to listen to a bit of Trump's press conference, but he's so transparently dishonest and partisan, in addition to being completely incompetent, it's a wonder he can actually function. Honestly didn't think he was so downright ... not useless. Useless is fine, in it's way, compared to him .. actively damaging. It's like your average rock or blade of grass would do a better job at being in charge. Which, for the population of the US, means trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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