U.S. Presidential Election 2020

[villakram]

1 minute ago, StefanAVFC said:

This is again, massively political. They refused the first time for the optics, then quickly reversed. They both know they have no legal way of refusing to certify at this point, so they're doing it for the optics.

'Brave Patriots stood up against widespread black voter fraud'

Sickening. 

Yes, that's primarily it and looking out for their future careers -"it's just politics".

It is taking things a stretch far to lump the blame on republicans alone for the social ills of Detroit. Democrats have had the reigns here for a very long time. One would imagine they would be held to account by the electorate, but it seems it's not just republicans that can convince people to vote against their interests. 

[meregreen]

Compared to the Republicans, the Democrats look, and sound, sane, normal, principled, educated, dignified, intelligent, informed, capable, ad infinitum.

[StefanAVFC]

1 hour ago, StefanAVFC said:

This is again, massively political. They refused the first time for the optics, then quickly reversed. They both know they have no legal way of refusing to certify at this point, so they're doing it for the optics.

'Brave Patriots stood up against widespread black voter fraud'

Sickening. 

Shocker!

[ThunderPower_14]

45 minutes ago, villakram said:

Yes, that's primarily it and looking out for their future careers -"it's just politics".

It is taking things a stretch far to lump the blame on republicans alone for the social ills of Detroit. Democrats have had the reigns here for a very long time. One would imagine they would be held to account by the electorate, but it seems it's not just republicans that can convince people to vote against their interests. 

Both the major US parties work pretty hard to ensure that only the two of them have a shot at winning anything. I imagine that both parties would ultimately prefer to lose an election to the other than to lose to a 3rd party and break the duopoly.

Ranked choice/Instant runoff style voting would do wonders for US politics, and actually just about everywhere it isn't currently used. A first past the post system encourages voting for the lesser evil instead of an actual good.

[StefanAVFC]

2 minutes ago, ThunderPower_14 said:

Both the major US parties work pretty hard to ensure that only the two of them have a shot at winning anything. I imagine that both parties would ultimately prefer to lose an election to the other than to lose to a 3rd party and break the duopoly.

Ranked choice/Instant runoff style voting would do wonders for US politics, and actually just about everywhere it isn't currently used. A first past the post system encourages voting for the lesser evil instead of an actual good.

Same shit in the UK

[ThunderPower_14]

3 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

Same shit in the UK

Having grown up in Australia where preferential voting has been in place forever, I was genuinely staggered when I started to follow elections in the UK and US and saw that it was a first past the post system. I just assumed it was something we'd borrowed from the UK, much like most of our parliamentary system. 

The UK system is at least relatively welcoming to minor parties. The US system is entirely designed around keeping the 2 corporatist parties in power. Imagine how much more interesting this presidential election would have been if Sanders could have run for a social democratic party without automatically handing Trump a 2nd term.

[LondonLax]

19 minutes ago, ThunderPower_14 said:

Having grown up in Australia where preferential voting has been in place forever, I was genuinely staggered when I started to follow elections in the UK and US and saw that it was a first past the post system. I just assumed it was something we'd borrowed from the UK, much like most of our parliamentary system. 

The UK system is at least relatively welcoming to minor parties. The US system is entirely designed around keeping the 2 corporatist parties in power. Imagine how much more interesting this presidential election would have been if Sanders could have run for a social democratic party without automatically handing Trump a 2nd term.

First past the post lends itself to two parties but those two parties are more like coalitions of competing ideas. Trump Tea Partiers + Romney Centrists for the Republicans and Biden Centrists + Sanders Socialists for the Democrats for example. There are four distinct political parties there but in the US system the Primary elections decide on what form the two major parties will take into to the final run off of an election.

If it was a proportional representation system (like the kiwis or most of Europe) then those groups would compete in the election as separate entities but then form those coalitions anyway after the main election when the minority parties try to form a government.  

 

[HanoiVillan]

25 minutes ago, LondonLax said:

If it was a proportional representation system (like the kiwis or most of Europe) then those groups would compete in the election as separate entities but then form those coalitions anyway after the main election when the minority parties try to form a government. 

Yes, in effect the difference is just whether the negotiating and horse-trading happens before the election (first-past-the-post) or after (PR).

[villakram]

3 hours ago, meregreen said:

Compared to the Republicans, the Democrats look, and sound, sane, normal, principled, educated, dignified, intelligent, informed, capable, ad infinitum.

Emphasis on sound unfortunately.

[mjmooney]

1 minute ago, villakram said:

Emphasis on sound unfortunately.

No, emphasis on 'compared to the Republicans'. 

[villakram]

2 hours ago, mjmooney said:

No, emphasis on 'compared to the Republicans'. 

There is a difference, I would say it ranks below the similarity in how they actually govern however.

[TheAuthority]

Freakazoid peddles conspiracy theories while his hair dye runs down his face. This is the outgoing US Presidents lawyer who fired the rest of the legal team yesterday.

The only person he could find to replace them is a Q-Anon conspiracy theory peddling lawyer.

So. Much. Winning. eh Donald?

[TheAuthority]

 

[sne]

1 hour ago, TheAuthority said:

Freakazoid peddles conspiracy theories while his hair dye runs down his face. This is the outgoing US Presidents lawyer who fired the rest of the legal team yesterday.

The only person he could find to replace them is a Q-Anon conspiracy theory peddling lawyer.

So. Much. Winning. eh Donald?

Nice to see that Zorg from The Fifth Element got a new job. Wonder if this means that Trump was the great evil that would return in 5000 years?

Edited November 20, 2020 by sne

[choffer]

 

[bannedfromHandV]

Giuliani is perhaps the only person actually more unhinged than Trump.

[desensitized43]

1 hour ago, choffer said:

 

It's not hair dye. It's pure concentrated bullshit oozing from his pores.

[StefanAVFC]

Seeing the theory touted now that the strategy is not about proving anything, but pulling electors away from Biden so he can't reach 270 and then take it to the SC (which Trump packed) to declare him the winner.

Slightly worrying but not sure how feasible it is.

[cyrusr]

3 minutes ago, StefanAVFC said:

Seeing the theory touted now that the strategy is not about proving anything, but pulling electors away from Biden so he can't reach 270 and then take it to the SC (which Trump packed) to declare him the winner.

Slightly worrying but not sure how feasible it is.

I think that relies on them becoming “Faithless Electors”.  This would involve them going against what they have been ordered to do. Different stats again have different mechanisms and I don’t know whether the numbers are right for Trump to do anything with it. It also runs the risk of Dem electors that should vote Rep voting Dem anyway. Complete farce of a system to be honest.

[Genie]

I can’t get my head around a court being manned by judges belonging to political parties. What’s the **** point of that?