All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

**BeastieRunner** · 10-01-2020, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by numberthirty

Sure.

It's just that the media(well, mostly cable news outfits...) need to come to grips with the fact that "I Will Not Vote For Candidate 'X'..." does not somehow equal "That Means I Will Vote For Candidate 'Y'..."

We live in a country where you can just decide not to vote for either of the options that the big two put in the ballot.

Never mind a guy like Bolton. That guy has his little lane he is going to stay in.

There are 23 choices and 17 parties on my state's ballot.

**numberthirty** · 10-01-2020, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by BeastieRunner

There are 23 choices and 17 parties on my state's ballot.

They ask Bolton about two.

Like they were the only two.

**Gray Lensman** · 10-01-2020, 04:05 PM

Originally Posted by numberthirty

They ask Bolton about two.

Like they were the only two.

The winner take all provision in the Electoral College ensures that there are only two that matter. Maybe if ranked choice voting becomes law in a few more states that could change, but don't expect Republicans to take such a scenario lying down. Splitting the vote by getting a third party onto the ballot is not a new strategy for them.

**babyblob** · 10-01-2020, 05:20 PM

I have more on my Trumper aunt because you guys love hearing about her I am sure.

She is going nuts about the fact that Steve Scully, the Moderator for the second debate used to intern for Biden. Saying it is just one more example of how the Dems will do all kinds of dirty things to steal the election.

While I am not going that far I do not think the moderators of these debates should have a prior connection with either candidate like that. Wallace was not really a big deal. I didnt really think he would be fair because he worked for Fox News but it is a major news network so him being there was not a big deal. And one from CNN or MSNBC etc.. would also not have been a big deal. Scully working for Cspan and The Washington Journal is not a big deal either. I just am not 100 percent on board with him being an Intern for Biden.

Not so much because I have a problem with him working for Biden but because now Trumper have more fuel to the fire. If he had been an Intern for Trump I would be just as unsure about him. It just seems dumb to give either campaign fuel for their fire.

**Tami** · 10-01-2020, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by babyblob

I have more on my Trumper aunt because you guys love hearing about her I am sure.

She is going nuts about the fact that Steve Scully, the Moderator for the second debate used to intern for Biden. Saying it is just one more example of how the Dems will do all kinds of dirty things to steal the election.

While I am not going that far I do not think the moderators of these debates should have a prior connection with either candidate like that. Wallace was not really a big deal. I didnt really think he would be fair because he worked for Fox News but it is a major news network so him being there was not a big deal. And one from CNN or MSNBC etc.. would also not have been a big deal. Scully working for Cspan and The Washington Journal is not a big deal either. I just am not 100 percent on board with him being an Intern for Biden.

Not so much because I have a problem with him working for Biden but because now Trumper have more fuel to the fire. If he had been an Intern for Trump I would be just as unsure about him. It just seems dumb to give either campaign fuel for their fire.

2020 Presidential debate schedule

Susan Page of the Washington Post is Moderating the VP debate next week.
Steve Scully of C-Span is Moderating the 2nd Presidential Debate
Kristen Welker of NBC News is Moderating the third Presidential Debate

Seems fair to me.

**babyblob** · 10-01-2020, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by Tami

2020 Presidential debate schedule

Susan Page of the Washington Post is Moderating the VP debate next week.
Steve Scully of C-Span is Moderating the 2nd Presidential Debate
Kristen Welker of NBC News is Moderating the third Presidential Debate

Seems fair to me.

The thing that is upsetting her and other Trumpers so much is not who he works for now. But the fact that he was a Biden intern.

I dont think it is a sbig a deal as the Trumpers are making it out to be. But I will agree that moderators should have no connection to either campaign be it Biden or Trump.

**InformationGeek** · 10-01-2020, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by Tami

2020 Presidential debate schedule

Susan Page of the Washington Post is Moderating the VP debate next week.
Steve Scully of C-Span is Moderating the 2nd Presidential Debate
Kristen Welker of NBC News is Moderating the third Presidential Debate

Seems fair to me.

Oh Steve Scully, I recognize him. The Most Patient Man on Television. Will he be able to keep it together against the most irritable, angry man on television?

**Celgress** · 10-01-2020, 05:52 PM

I felt like I had seen a remark of Grumpy Old Men after watching the first Presidential Debate. After that debacle you know I think maybe it would be better if something like Terminator actually happens. The machines couldn't do any worse a job running things than humans have.

**Jack Dracula** · 10-01-2020, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by shooshoomanjoe

He said he gave Americans a better heatlhcare plan because he got rid of the individual mandate. And I'm sure his supporters will parrot this.

He also babbled something about lowering the costs of pharmaceuticals. No real plan of course, just empty promises.

**WestPhillyPunisher** · 10-01-2020, 06:01 PM

Originally Posted by Tami

2020 Presidential debate schedule

Susan Page of the Washington Post is Moderating the VP debate next week.
Steve Scully of C-Span is Moderating the 2nd Presidential Debate
Kristen Welker of NBC News is Moderating the third Presidential Debate

Seems fair to me.

Pfft! Short of bringing in Samuel L. Jackson, what’s needed is a tight assed Brit like Simon Cowell or Gordon Ramsay to moderate the other debates. They’d keep Trump in line.

**InformationGeek** · 10-01-2020, 06:01 PM

Oh my. This is hitting closer and closer everyday now.

Hope Hicks, one of Pres. Trump's closest advisers, has tested positive for the coronavirus, @ABC News has confirmed.

**Adam Allen** · 10-01-2020, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by babyblob

The thing that is upsetting her and other Trumpers so much is not who he works for now. But the fact that he was a Biden intern.

I dont think it is a sbig a deal as the Trumpers are making it out to be. But I will agree that moderators should have no connection to either campaign be it Biden or Trump.

It doesn't matter who the moderator is, it could be one of Trump's kids, and he would still find a way to claim it's unfair to him. He has already been doing so, loudly and repeatedly ... consider how many times you've seen him claim the election is a "hoax" and a "scam", but even more than that ... not only was his impeachment a hoax, but you can go back to 2016, he was already blaming his projected loss on voter fraud and cheating, before the ballots were even counted.

He never changed that narrative, even after he won, so really, think about that ... he stuck by his story that the Democrats did everything to cheat and win even when he actually won.

The significance here is that in order to believe what he's saying, you have to be able to completely disregard any direct evidence. He swore that the Democrats did everything to cheat him in 2016, voter fraud, working with the Russians, etc ... but, if that were true, he would not have won. But, his followers never require him to address this obvious contradiction.

Trump's entire frame for his political career is that anybody opposed to him is cheating. This entire election is a scam and a hoax. Given that, what can possibly be done, to satisfy his followers that it's not a hoax? Short of just shrugging and declaring him the winner right now? Pretty sure that's the only way he will not spend the next month complaining loudly and often about how bad everybody who doesn't like him is cheating to beat him.

Honestly, I really feel like it would be helpful if people could be cynical enough to wonder why someone would possibly frame an election this way. What reason could he possibly have, to declare the entire game as rigged against him from the very start?

Sure, one reason could be if it really were rigged against him; but he already won once, so that can't be true. So, why is he still saying it?

**Celgress** · 10-01-2020, 06:13 PM

Originally Posted by Adam Allen

....Sure, one reason could be if it really were rigged against him; but he already won once, so that can't be true. So, why is he still saying it?

Easy answer - because those who support Trump most passionately or are inclined to support him, believe the system is irredeemably corrupted and broken (the same applies to Bernie Sanders supporters). Trump is simply telling them what they want to hear.

**The no face guy** · 10-01-2020, 06:19 PM

Originally Posted by Robotman

Biden is currently up by 3 in Georgia. Carrying that state would be huge! If Biden somehow wins Georgia, Trump could have Florida, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania and still lose.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaig...mp-in*********

That would be a nice prize for the Democrats and a historic change. Demographics are changing in Georgia, so I think it will become a swing state down the road, not sure if it’s ready to go blue yet, but if it does, that would be a major blow to Republicans.

Originally Posted by Mister Mets

Arizona is in a different category than South Carolina. Biden often polls better there than he does in the three rust belt states Trump won by less than one percent (Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan.)
However, if Biden flips Arizona and Pennsylvania, Trump still wins the election.
If Biden flips Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, it's an electoral college tie. That will go to the House, where Republicans have a slight lead in the category that counts (state delegations.)
Biden currently leads in the swing states, so it probably won't be that kind of outcome, but there's a reason 538 gives Trump a one in five chance, especially if something happens in the next month to change the narrative.

Your right to point out the fault in my logic, as I was looking at the 2020 interactive map instead of the 2016, which I assumed would set the 2016 results.

Still if Trump loses Florida he’s done because the polling in Michigan is looking rather grim for him, and he won that state by the thinnest of margins, it’s doubtful he can win it again.

Pennsylvania is the second biggest prize, Biden can still beat Trump if he wins Florida, if he can take Pennsylvania, but he would have to take both Michigan & Wisconsin as well, or a state like Arizona.

If Trump holds Florida and Pennsylvania it becomes extremely hard for Biden to win, he’d have to break into red states like North Carolina, or as Robotman pointed out, Georgia.

https://www.270towin.com/2016_Election/interactive_map

**Celgress** · 10-01-2020, 06:26 PM

Well, this is a disturbing little story

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