US Politics: Biden vs. Trump and Corona, Thunderdome Society at Its Very Best

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

9 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

What's it like to be 1,047?

49 on Saturday.  I’ve been posting on a version of this board for... 17 years.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Just now, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

49 on Saturday.  I’ve been posting on a version of this board for... 17 years.

It would appear I over estimated by 998 years. An understand mistake, I hope.

[Fez]

22 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

I'm just going to write in Sanders or Stalin or something in the general

 

Eta: seriously, though, maybe this will wake the country the fuck up to reforming the madness that is the primaries.  They shouldn't be so spread out that half the country doesn't even have ay input.  There's no democracy happening here 

In the big picture, I absolutely agree that the primary season should be significantly shortened; including having the elections themselves occur over no more than 3-4 weeks.

In this particular instance though, I have no problem with states cancelling the remaining primaries. Biden is now running unopposed, so having the primaries in the midst of a pandemic accomplishes nothing. If Sanders hadn't suspended his campaign, something would need to be figured out to so that the elections could be held. But he did, so what's the issue? The states are operating in the framework that they have right now.

[Jaxom 1974]

4 minutes ago, Fez said:

In the big picture, I absolutely agree that the primary season should be significantly shortened; including having the elections themselves occur over no more than 3-4 weeks.

In this particular instance though, I have no problem with states cancelling the remaining primaries. Biden is now running unopposed, so having the primaries in the midst of a pandemic accomplishes nothing. If Sanders hadn't suspended his campaign, something would need to be figured out to so that the elections could be held. But he did, so what's the issue? The states are operating in the framework that they have right now.

But how will Bernie keep collecting delegates to allow him to help formulate the platform and what will be set at the convention!  You're taking away his ability to control the narrative! Won't someone think of the children?!??!

[DMC]

3 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

But how will Bernie keep collecting delegates to allow him to help formulate the platform and what will be set at the convention!  You're taking away his ability to control the narrative! Won't someone think of the children?!??!

 

[Larry of the Lawn]

11 minutes ago, Fez said:

In the big picture, I absolutely agree that the primary season should be significantly shortened; including having the elections themselves occur over no more than 3-4 weeks.

In this particular instance though, I have no problem with states cancelling the remaining primaries. Biden is now running unopposed, so having the primaries in the midst of a pandemic accomplishes nothing. If Sanders hadn't suspended his campaign, something would need to be figured out to so that the elections could be held. But he did, so what's the issue? The states are operating in the framework that they have right now.

Totally - and I agree, the first part of my post was a joke.  I was trying to suggest that having a massive portion of the country not able to participate in electing a candidate is a bad thing.  That there's only one candidate remaining before so many even get to vote.  That sucks.  Have no issue with the primaries being cancelled especially considering the pandemic.  Point is that we let certain states dictate how this plays out. 

There enough parts of our 'democracy' that are so undemocratic, between the electoral college, the Senate, voter suppression tactics, corporate personhood; when another one, like spread out primaries is held up to the light in going to say why it's fucked everytime.

[Larry of the Lawn]

10 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

But how will Bernie keep collecting delegates to allow him to help formulate the platform and what will be set at the convention!  You're taking away his ability to control the narrative! Won't someone think of the children?!??!

I'm going to vote for the war mongering rapist, chill out.

[DMC]

21 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

There enough parts of our 'democracy' that are so undemocratic, between the electoral college, the Senate, voter suppression tactics, corporate personhood; when another one, like spread out primaries is held up to the light in going to say why it's fucked everytime.

I think there's a difference though - there's no clear "right answer" when it comes to the primary season.  Should the calendar be shortened?  Certainly.  But how do you parcel it out in an equitable/fair manner?  Ask five different people and you'll get 20 different answers.

[sologdin]

going to vote for the war mongering rapist, chill out

am more discriminating; will biden pardon the tiger king?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

39 minutes ago, DMC said:

 

Immortan Joe once thought about the children....

[Mudguard]

1 hour ago, Fez said:

In the big picture, I absolutely agree that the primary season should be significantly shortened; including having the elections themselves occur over no more than 3-4 weeks.

In this particular instance though, I have no problem with states cancelling the remaining primaries. Biden is now running unopposed, so having the primaries in the midst of a pandemic accomplishes nothing. If Sanders hadn't suspended his campaign, something would need to be figured out to so that the elections could be held. But he did, so what's the issue? The states are operating in the framework that they have right now.

The primary is for more than just the nominee for POTUS though.  There are a whole bunch of other races and ballot measures on the ballot, at least in California, and I assume that's the case for the other states.  If you cancel the primary, what happens to all those other races?  

[Altherion]

This is kind of amusing: current events have broken the weekly unemployment graph. Even in a bad recession, the unemployment rate tends to change slowly over the course of months whereas this time it has spiked by around 17 million over 3 weeks which screws up the scale for the rest of the graph.

[Kalbear]

1 hour ago, Zorral said:

What is the opinion of you all about canceling Dem primaries?

That would be a very good thing. It doesn't deny Sanders any leverage he doesn't already have. It saves a lot of money and time, and prevents larger outbreaks and putting poll workers in danger. There is absolutely no value about them at this point. 

[Guest]

I'd rather see primaries postponed instead of cancelled. There are state questions on ballots, other races, etc. I realize each state will decide that for themselves (thanks Wisconsin!), but they're already tied to the presidential primary, and I think having a presidential primary race on the ballot may still help drive turnout in other races, even with Sanders' withdrawal from the race.

I realize that may seem self-serving given my preferences, but I think giving as many people as possible a chance to exercise their voice is vitally important this year, out of all years.

[Kalbear]

I presumed the primary being cancelled was talking only about the Dem POTUS primary. No, I'm not in favor of cancelling ALL primaries forever. There's very little value in having any of the POTUS ones right now. 

[Kalbear]

Also, more on Biden overtures:
 

Quote

 

The first proposal is to lower the eligibility age for Medicare to 60 from 65.

The second proposal is directed even more squarely at Sanders supporters: Biden is offering a plan to forgive all student debt for low- and middle-income borrowers who attended public colleges or private historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and private, underfunded minority-serving institutions (MSIs).

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/09/biden-makes-his-first-big-overture-sanders-voters/

Quote

In a sign of how high the stakes are here, Biden will credit the Sanders movement for making this happen, saying: “Senator Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work in laying the groundwork for these ideas, and I’m proud to adopt them as part of my campaign at this critical moment in responding to the coronavirus crisis.”

 

In addition he supports forgiving everyone's debt by $10k right now, as part of coronavirus relief. 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

I presumed the primary being cancelled was talking only about the Dem POTUS primary. No, I'm not in favor of cancelling ALL primaries forever. There's very little value in having any of the POTUS ones right now. 

I didn't think anyone was talking about canceling them all forever. I was specifically referring to this year, and if those elections are going to be held, then I don't see any reason to remove the presidential primary from the ballot. 

Could the states even re-print ballots in time?

[Kalbear]

Just now, The Great Unwashed said:

I didn't think anyone was talking about canceling them all forever. I was specifically referring to this year, and if those elections are going to be held, then I don't see any reason to remove the presidential primary from the ballot. 

Could the states even re-print ballots in time?

For a whole lot of states  they haven't gone to ballots yet, or they don't have ballots yet. So yes? It wouldn't be that bad. 

Mostly, again, this is all entirely dealt with by vote-by-mail,  and you luddite states who don't do it suck soooo bad.

[Fez]

1 hour ago, Mudguard said:

The primary is for more than just the nominee for POTUS though.  There are a whole bunch of other races and ballot measures on the ballot, at least in California, and I assume that's the case for the other states.  If you cancel the primary, what happens to all those other races?  

So this is one of those times where its relevant to see what different states do. There are many states where the presidential primary is separate from the other elections.

For instance, here in Virginia, we voted in the presidential primary on Super Tuesday, but that was the only thing we voted on. The primaries for every other office that will be voted on in November is scheduled for June 9 instead.

[DMC]

5 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

you luddite states who don't do it suck soooo bad.

Not sure luddite is the right term as it suggests voting by mail is some type of new technology.