US Election Thread

[basilio]

Donald Trump may be crazy, but he’s not stupid. When he claims that “nobody” showed up at a 10,000-person Harris-Walz rally in Michigan that was live-streamed and widely covered by the media, that it was all AI, and that Democrats cheat all of the time, there is a method to his madness. Clearly, and dangerously, what Trump is doing is laying the groundwork for rejecting the election results if he loses.

If you can convince your supporters that thousands of people who attended a televised rally do not exist, it will not be hard to convince them that the election returns in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and elsewhere are “fake” and “fraudulent”.

This is what destroying faith in institutions is about. This is what undermining democracy is about. This is what fascism is about.

Bernie Sanders

 

[IFocus]

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

Attributed to Joseph Goebbels although no reference is known however in today's terms has never been truer regarding Trump and the Republicans repeated falsehoods on a daily basis.

 

[wayneL]

Kamaltoe for the win.

 

[moXJO]

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it."

Attributed to Joseph Goebbels although no reference is known however in today's terms has never been truer regarding Trump and the Republicans repeated falsehoods on a daily basis.

Are you talking about Harris being competent?
Biden being coherent?
Russiagate?
Lawfare against Trump?
The collective media telling lies about Trump?

The list is so long now it would take a day to write. But it's exactly what your statement alludes to.
"Trump Bad" and you all lapped every lie up.

I can see the benefits and pitfalls of a Trump administration. Same as Harris. In fact I think Australia fares better under the dems as the yanks will most likely stay out of Asia. I also didn't think Trump would win since 2019.

This is where the left tend to differ. You guys go batsht crazy if Trump is mentioned. There's no rational thought.

 

[DB008]

This is how they’re padding the voter rolls with illegal aliens​

AZ’s Adrian Fontes redesigned the voter registration form — in violation of HAVA — to solicit the last 4 digits of your SSN first instead of the drivers license​

SSA doesn’t report citizenship status through HAVA​

@LizHarrington76​

 

[Knobby22]

Conspiracy theorists keep the betting interesting.
Hillary Clinton, Taylor Swift, Michelle Obama. Where is Tim Waltz? He could get in if something happened to Harris. I would probably take the bet at 200:1.
Sucker born every minute. They will take your money.

 

[basilio]

Conspiracy theorists keep the betting interesting.
Hillary Clinton, Taylor Swift, Michelle Obama. Where is Tim Waltz? He could get in if something happened to Harris. I would probably take the bet at 200:1.
Sucker born every minute. They will take your money.

View attachment 182664

Fascinating to see the bottom 5 people in the "race". In a horse race at least every horse is on the track. They all have a theoretical chance of winning even the rank outsiders.

I struggle to see how the bookies can even have the bottom 5 in the "race" given they can't get to the starting gate. But as you say there there must be some people who through their money away.

Also , as you say, Tim Walz does have a far better chance of being President if something happened to Kamale Harris. He at least is on the track.

 

[moXJO]

Conspiracy theorists keep the betting interesting.
Hillary Clinton, Taylor Swift, Michelle Obama. Where is Tim Waltz? He could get in if something happened to Harris. I would probably take the bet at 200:1.
Sucker born every minute. They will take your money.

View attachment 182664

It amazes me she still hasn't had an unscripted interview, even with friendly media.
Meanwhile Trumps been on everything.

It boggles the mind you can do this well based on nothing.

 

[mullokintyre]

It amazes me she still hasn't had an unscripted interview, even with friendly media.
Meanwhile Trumps been on everything.

It boggles the mind you can do this well based on nothing.

Just needs a compliant media.
Mick

 

[IFocus]

It amazes me she still hasn't had an unscripted interview, even with friendly media.
Meanwhile Trumps been on everything.

It boggles the mind you can do this well based on nothing.

Good strategy really by Harris let Trump destroy himself and don't do interviews to give the other side amo.

Similar to Trump not doing the Republican debates simply because he didn't have to, there was little to no upside.

As for mind boggling... its the US

 

[IFocus]

Are you talking about Harris being competent?
Biden being coherent?
Russiagate?
Lawfare against Trump?
The collective media telling lies about Trump?

The list is so long now it would take a day to write. But it's exactly what your statement alludes to.
"Trump Bad" and you all lapped every lie up.

I can see the benefits and pitfalls of a Trump administration. Same as Harris. In fact I think Australia fares better under the dems as the yanks will most likely stay out of Asia. I also didn't think Trump would win since 2019.

This is where the left tend to differ. You guys go batsht crazy if Trump is mentioned. There's no rational thought.

We are talking about the US, that means there is no good, competentance, honesty or fairness that exists in the political system as a generalisation.

While we are at it in terms of power there isn't a so called left,you have right. extreme right and crazy nutcase extreme right.

Then in amongst all that you have Trump who by any measure in the history of US politics has propagated more falsehoods, lies, broken more laws, denied election results, organised a riot on the capitol building etc etc.

What's more he has almost the entire Republican movement reciting all of the above like parrots.

Thats bad, really bad, its extreme risk totally rules Trump out.

Trump is that bad you could write volumes about it which is quite extraordinary he has any support at all but here we are.

Harris by contrast is the lesser evil by a long way and the Republicans know it hence the misogynic and personal attacks.

For the record I am not a Democrat or Harris supporter but certainly hopefully a realist.

 

[Knobby22]

It amazes me she still hasn't had an unscripted interview, even with friendly media.
Meanwhile Trumps been on everything.

It boggles the mind you can do this well based on nothing.

Trumps tactic is and always has been to take the oxygen.
Harris is waiting for the debate. She will destroy him there. She is a prosecution lawyer. that's her strength.
Then she will do the media. She knows she can't be as interesting as Trump so needs to get into it later before people get bored.

Also the more Trump gets nasty, the easier it is for her to call him weird etc. You don't need an interview, you just need a 5 second newsworthy grab.

It's all not going her way though. the economy is going into recession.

 

[moXJO]

Sooner or later Harris gets exposed. Her current strategy of paying for influencers will get her so far. $10000 for favourable coverage and even more for larger sub members.

The whole thing is a fake campaign. She has a ridiculous amount of money to spend. Also has the news and big tech on side which in itself is worth 100s of $millions.

It's interesting watching people gobble up what is basically a no message campaign.

 

[mullokintyre]

Some may remenber the 2024 Rrepublican Party Convention.
It took place in Milwaukee back in July, two days after the failed Trump assasination attempt.
Milwaukee took the drama in its stride, and the even went with Trumpian fanfare and adoration, but little trouble.
Just compare that to the upcoming Democrat convention about to be held in hicago next week.
Chicago is already a pretty tough place, it had the moniker of being the city with highest number of murders for 12th successive year in 2023.
Businesses in the Chicago downtown area have told their employees and customers to stay at home during the convention.

NBC news says

And its not like these are the standard right wing groups that blamed for things.
No, these are far left groups mostly protesting about the issues in the Middle East.
One Group, Behind Enemy Lines, has its rallycry as "make it Great like ^*" in referennce to the anti Vietnam protest movement that ended up as riots at the 1968 DNC, which also happened to be in Chicago.

Makes the RNC event look pretty tame by comparison.
Mick

 

[sptrawler]

Some may remenber the 2024 Rrepublican Party Convention.
It took place in Milwaukee back in July, two days after the failed Trump assasination attempt.
Milwaukee took the drama in its stride, and the even went with Trumpian fanfare and adoration, but little trouble.
Just compare that to the upcoming Democrat convention about to be held in hicago next week.
Chicago is already a pretty tough place, it had the moniker of being the city with highest number of murders for 12th successive year in 2023.
Businesses in the Chicago downtown area have told their employees and customers to stay at home during the convention.

NBC news says
View attachment 182788
And its not like these are the standard right wing groups that blamed for things.
No, these are far left groups mostly protesting about the issues in the Middle East.
One Group, Behind Enemy Lines, has its rallycry as "make it Great like ^*" in referennce to the anti Vietnam protest movement that ended up as riots at the 1968 DNC, which also happened to be in Chicago.

View attachment 182790
Makes the RNC event look pretty tame by comparison.
Mick

Do you really expect the rusted on to believe that?
Seriously it is painfully obvious, they don't believe anything that doesn't conform with the narrative.
I'm at a loss, as to why people keep posting in the U.S political threads.
The issue is people are losing touch with reality, politicians say they are looking after the average person,when in reality they are being screwed.
But hey, everyone learns from experience, even the smug low level elites, that usually find they are the worst casualties when it falls over.

 

[mullokintyre]

I'm at a loss, as to why people keep posting in the U.S political threads.

So stop posting in the U.S. political thread.
Mick

 

[wayneL]

Listening to the DNC convention trying not to throw up. The overarching theme is that they are inveterate lying scum.

Eg

 

[basilio]

Check out AOC. Powerful speaker.

 

[basilio]

Another clip from the Democratic Convention debate....

 

[basilio]

The move to broaden the Democrat tent.

Democrats Welcome Disaffected Republicans With Open Arms​

Plus: The glorious return of the political boater hat.​

Joe Perticone
Aug 20, 2024




Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Republicans who have soured on their party and its swing to the far right since the ascension of Donald Trump have found a new home and presence at the Democratic convention this week.

Rich Logis, a former Trump voter and MAGA pundit who reversed course over the former president’s poor handling of the COVID-19 epidemic, was featured on the big screen in the convention hall. Other ex-Republicans are getting top speaking slots, such as Ana Navarro, one of the nightly emcees, Bulwark contributor and former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and former Trump White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham.

Prior to the start of festivities in Chicago, several high-profile Republicans announced their support for Harris, including former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), and Michael Luttig, a retired conservative federal appeals judge (or, as my lawyer friends call him, the retired conservative federal appeals judge).

“In the presidential election of 2024 there is only one political party and one candidate for the presidency that can claim the mantle of defender and protector of America’s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law,” Luttig said in a statement first reported by CNN. “As a result, I will unhesitatingly vote for the Democratic Party’s candidate for the Presidency of the United States, Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.”

Republicans have been defecting from their party for as long as Trump has run it. But these ones in particular are being welcomed with open arms by Democrats who view them as key validators for their case against the ex-president. They are being hailed as embodiments of the case Harris is making that voters should put country over party.

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), formerly the third-ranking Democrat in the House, told me shortly after his speech that bringing Republicans into the fold is a matter of principle:

Well, you know, if you are going to profess ‘for the people,’ it doesn't mean some of the people. And I really applaud them for doing this to let the American public know that what's at stake here is, in fact, our democracy. Not [just for] Democrats or Republicans or independents, but it's for everybody.
And so I think to the extent that so many Republicans in my home state, believe it or not, of South Carolina, are now speaking out, and I think it is good for us to give a platform to those people while they are tuning in and trying to find out who Kamala Harris is. So this is a good time to do that.

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) told me that Kinzinger, who also hailed from the Illinois delegation, “speaks well to disaffected Republicans,” noting the need for more Republicans who are willing to break ranks when their conscience demands it.

He's a conservative’s conservative. And he stood up, when it needed to happen. If just a handful more Republicans had, Trump would have been impeached [and barred from serving again], and we wouldn’t be here.

In the past, there has been some mild discomfort among Democrats over courting GOPers rather than spending energy to juice their own base. But Cedric Richmond, a former congressman from Louisiana, Biden administration alum, and current senior advisor to the Democratic National Committee, told me the Democratic party is demonstrating a principle of inclusivity by enveloping anti-Trump Republicans.

I think it shows that Kamala Harris intends to be a president for black, white, rural, urban, Democrat, Republican; that she is intending to bring people together and uplift everybody at the same time. So I think it's good.

This isn’t the first time party defectors have made a splash at the national conventions. Press Pass readers may remember Sen. Zell Miller’s (D-Ga.) speech at the 2004 Republican convention (after which he tried to challenge Chris Matthews to a duel—look it up!). Four years ago, the virtual Democratic National Convention also featured videos of Republican voters endorsing Biden, as well as video addresses from then-Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

The Republican convention this year treated party-switching a little differently. Normally, in today’s GOP, associating with Democrats in any way is a career killer and tantamount to treason—but there’s an exception for full converts to MAGA, such as video vixen Amber Rose and Nicaraguan immigrant Linda Fornos. In addition, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) delivered a speech declaring:

Along the way I noticed that I didn’t like what the Democrats had become as a party, but more importantly, I didn’t like what the Democratic party was doing to our great United States of America.

Van Drew represents a more conservative, somewhat-swing district that he initially flipped from red to blue in 2018. Before his first term was up, he flipped it back to red by switching parties. The fact that he’s still in office is evidence that the switch worked out for him.

Many Democrats see the conversion of former Republicans as critical to winning the 2024 election. They could make up the crucial votes Harris & Co. need to win swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, from where Duncan (Wednesday night’s speaker) hails.

Democrats Welcome Disaffected Republicans With Open Arms

Plus: The glorious return of the political boater hat.

www.thebulwark.com