US politics : clowns want their money back

[Rippounet]

https://9gag.com/gag/aoPnrVn

Please continue...

[Tywin et al.]

@Ormond,

Quote

This is what people with extreme narcissism do. Saying others are bad for doing things they themselves do, to an even greater extent, is one of the defining characteristics of that condition. 

As the saying goes, every thief thinks everyone else is a thief too. 

 

[JGP]

The highlight of my brother's and my texting back and forth during the debate was our speculation on how often Trump likely would've caught a beating if he'd gone through our highschool.

Quite a few laughs were had after that point. Other than that, the debate wasn't funny.

 

[Guest]

Trump's trick at the next debate will be to strike a match, light himself on fire, and then have Pence throw gasoline on him.

ETA: Biden's most effective moments last night came when he just ignored Trump, looked straight at the camera, and talked to the American people. The next debate is a town-hall, but that's all he should do during the 3rd debate.

[IheartIheartTesla]

I am done discussing the 'debate', so I'll ask if the Kansas senate race is competitive. There were two polls, one with Bollier down by 4 and one up by 2, but there seem to be a more than a few undecideds in the former (~15). The latter had 7 points for Buckley, which might be a mirage. Both partisan polls, so who knows.

[Maithanet]

9 minutes ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

I am done discussing the 'debate', so I'll ask if the Kansas senate race is competitive. There were two polls, one with Bollier down by 4 and one up by 2, but there seem to be a more than a few undecideds in the former (~15). The latter had 7 points for Buckley, which might be a mirage. Both partisan polls, so who knows.

Probably a race worth investing in for Democrats, since the 2018 Governor's race showed that an unpopular Republican can lose in the state, and that's exactly what we're looking at here.  Kansas is a cheap state, a few million would go a lot further than it would in North Carolina or Kentucky.  It's a long shot, but a Senate win in KS would be such a big pickup. 

It somewhat depends on what Trump's margin is.  In 2016 he won by 20.  If he's in the 10-15 range, then Bollier is probably still cooked.  But if Trump is down in single digits, then there might be enough ticket splitting to pull it off. 

[DanteGabriel]

Just now, Maithanet said:

Probably a race worth investing in for Democrats, since the 2018 Governor's race showed that an unpopular Republican can lose in the state, and that's exactly what we're looking at here.  Kansas is a cheap state, so a few million would go a lot further than it would in North Carolina or Kentucky.  It's a long shot, but a Senate win in KS would be such a big pickup. 

It somewhat depends on what Trump's margin is.  In 2016 he won by 20.  If he's in the 10-15 range, the Bollier is probably still cooked.  But if Trump is down in single digits, then there might be enough ticket splitting to pull it off. 

If only Kobach were the Republican nominee. My Lord what a sack of gibbering incompetence.

[Maithanet]

1 minute ago, DanteGabriel said:

If only Kobach were the Republican nominee. My Lord what a sack of gibbering incompetence.

Marshall is a better candidate than Kobach, but that's the lowest of bars.  Very much a replacement-level Republican. 

[ljkeane]

Huh, I just went to have a look at Fox News just to see what they were saying about the debate and apparently they took it off air in the UK back in 2017. Probably a good thing really but I do miss out on the comedy value of their propaganda.

[Maithanet]

I don't know if you've been following the plot to use taxpayer money to produce $300 million of Trump ads under the guise of "inspiring hope for the government's COVID response".  Politico did a big story on it last week, and the short version is they took $300 million from the CDC, then planned to spend it on ads featuring celebrities and public health officials touting how well the coronavirus response is going.  These ads would all run prior to the election, and were managed by Michael Caputo, a Trump henchman.  Not surprisingly, Democrats were not happy about this expenditure.

Well it looks like it's falling apart thanks to the administration being incompetent.  We can only hope that Trump's upcoming coup is equally unsuccessful. 

Quote

The health department’s $300 million-plus, taxpayer-funded vehicle to boost confidence in President Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic is sputtering. Celebrities are refusing to participate, and staff are arraying against it. Some complain of the unstated aim of helping Trump’s re-election. Others point to an ill-prepared video team and a 22-year-old political appointee who has repeatedly asserted control despite having no public health expertise, according to six people with close knowledge of the campaign and documents related to its operations.

Interviews with participants and others in the Health and Human Services Department paint a picture of a chaotic effort, scrambling to meet an unofficial Election Day deadline...

"This is a boondoggle," said an HHS official who requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive department project. "We're in the middle of a pandemic … we could use that quarter of a billion dollars on buying PPE [personal protective equipment], not promoting PSAs with C-list celebrities."

Just three celebrities have recorded public service advertisements so far — Quaid, Winans and Lemmer — with Quaid and other potential participants reconsidering their involvement or dropping out altogether

 

[argonak]

Just now, Chataya de Fleury said:

This country is going to need a lot of healing. And maybe for a few Trumpians to slither back into the sewer.

Its pretty hard to heal from an injury when the wound is infected.

[IheartIheartTesla]

45 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

It somewhat depends on what Trump's margin is.  In 2016 he won by 20.  If he's in the 10-15 range, then Bollier is probably still cooked.  But if Trump is down in single digits, then there might be enough ticket splitting to pull it off. 

Poll average has him at 9. The Cook Report has it as Leans R, but there is just a dearth of polling there from quality pollsters. 538 has Marshall at 77% chance of winning (although they have Graham at 80% chance of winning too)

[Maithanet]

1 minute ago, IheartIheartTesla said:

Poll average has him at 9. The Cook Report has it as Leans R, but there is just a dearth of polling there from quality pollsters. 538 has Marshall at 77% chance of winning (although they have Graham at 80% chance of winning too)

Both South Carolina and Kansas are states that Trump won quite comfortably 2016, but that seem to be particularly ripe to move away from Trump.  If Biden does 4 points better than Clinton nationally, I could easily see him doing 6 or 8 points better in both of these states.  Sadly, the fate of Harrison and Bollier is probably tied to Biden performance.  Both will exceed him by a little, but expecting them to be 10 points ahead of Biden is probably asking too much. 

[Red Tiger]

Still hard to believe that the Trumpocalypse was 4 years ago. Time flies. Are there any states that the Democrats can flip for the Senate?

[Maithanet]

9 minutes ago, Red Tiger said:

Still hard to believe that the Trumpocalypse was 4 years ago. Time flies. Are there any states that the Democrats can flip for the Senate?

Yes. 

Dems currently polling ahead:  AZ, CO, ME, NC

Dems currently in the margin of error:  KS, SC, IA, MT, GA

[Red Tiger]

Good, good. That gives me hope. Even if Biden wins, if he doesn't have the Senate, it's gonna be a nightmarish 4 years for him.

[Maithanet]

This seems like good news, particularly when Democrats are dominating absentee ballots requested and returned.

 

[Gertrude]

And in Iowa, it's a very tight race, but Greenfield (D) is edging out Ernst (R). I have hope, but not confidence. 

[Maithanet]

3 minutes ago, Chataya de Fleury said:

@Red Tiger - to expand on Maithanet's list - GA has not just one, but two possibilities. One looks more likely than the other; however, if the Loeffler (R) seat is a run-off between her and Warnock (D), that would be ideal, because there is a possibility of getting out the African American vote.

If it's just Loeffler vs Collins (R) in January on that runoff, I may have to hold my nose and vote for Loeffler because Collins is a truly dispicable human being.

That said, I'm voting Warnock on November 3 for that seat.

Warnock is gonna get through, don't worry.  I'm not sure I like either Democrat's chances in a runoff though, so the best chance for a win is probably Osoff getting over 50% (a pretty tall order). 

2 minutes ago, Red Tiger said:

Good, good. That gives me hope. Even if Biden wins, if he doesn't have the Senate, it's gonna be a nightmarish 4 years for him.

Yes, I would put the over/under on the number of federal judges that McConnell lets through in 4 years as 0.5 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

I have very little I took from the debate last night. I remember Biden said the public option would be open for those on medicaid already. Everything I've read about his public option is that anyone can get it. His point was lost on me--I had medicaid when transitioning careers a few years ago, and I never had any issues. Given the expansions to Medicaid, I didn't lose any doctors, I didn't have to wait any longer than I do now with "good" insurance to see specialists. Switching to Medicare seems like a distinction not worth making, and it may leave people thinking his public option is only for low income earners.