2020 US Presidential Election

Once upon a time, I got a PhD in mathematics and was about to begin my career as a professor. Actually, I graduated 2 weeks before my dumb ass immune system decided to attack my auditory system, rendering me severely and progressively disabled. Now I have a PhD in mood swings, forum shitposting, and human torture.

I went from zero interest in politics to very interested after I saw Trump get involved. However, my interest is definitely more than just him. I now think about stuff like healthcare, which was less interesting to me when I was younger and on my parents' insurance. Of course, I am pretty passionate about disability since I was just denied, even though I have hyperacusis with LDLs in the 20 decibel range and can't function at all.
Sometimes I think it can be tough having a PhD because people think you are over qualified for many jobs. I've got a cousin with a PhD from Yale. He is unemployed, but doesn't have a disability like you. He taught for awhile at Wesleyan University.
 
It seems odd the SOS representative was kept from the hearings. I suppose more detail will come out in the next couple days. I wonder why the SOS wouldn't even let the plaintiffs look at the ballots? There should be nothing to hide.

The forensic people should be able to look at the ballots. You know how the Democrats hate Trump and would try anything. Time will tell what comes up in the next few days. The Senators and House should be able to conduct an audit. A peaceful audit will not hurt anything and sure is better than distrust and rioting.

Look at what Senator Johnson has to say. We have too much division in the country now not to have an audit. If there was little to no fraud in the election so be it. That should be good news for the Democrats.
They were kept from the "hearings" because it was like a kangaroo court. They didn't want the evidence Georgia had that exonerated the fraud claims.

If you listen to the phone call, the SOS tells Trump that he will go over all the evidence and directly give their data to Trump and Trump refused. He is simply not interested in seeing the proof that fraud didn't occur.

On that same phone call even his (Trump's) lawyer had to step in and interrupt Trump and tell him not to use numbers because they can't back up any of the numbers. That should be hugely telling to Trump supporters but it isn't, of course. Because they believe whatever Trump says.

The video "evidence" that Giuliani used was edited to look like foul play. In the press conference, they specifically go over clip by clip what happened and then said he was going to release the entire unedited video footage on Georgia's election website. And they have done that:

https://securevotega.com/factcheck/

As far as having forensics "examine" the ballots, you can trust (at his point) Trump's team to do this objectively as they have doctored other evidence (e.g. video footage).
 
Help me understand something... why did you make a point of saying Democratic voters were very young and tend to "grow out of it" if a) your wife is a Democrat (unless she's a lot younger than you) and b) you voted Democrats in your late 30s?

But I do agree that life experience really does shape who we are and what we believe. In contrast to you, I have become much more progressive as I got older.

Obama was a disappointment for me, too. Ironically, because he wasn't nearly progressive enough :). What did you like about him?

I think Romney deserves at least some credit for recognizing that Putin was a danger. Democrats laughed at him and said "What is this? The cold war?" when he said Russia was becoming a geopolitical threat in the debates.
He wasn't very good at arguing his point of view, but I do see some of his merits. Mitt's father was a strong supporter of civil rights, too, so I can only assume he was raised with that kind of empathy. I would have a hard time picking between Romney and Biden if those were the choices, truthfully. They are not even all that different.

Re: this thread. I hope that the Trump supporters understand that the feelings people like me have towards Trump are not the feelings we have towards half of America. Personally, I want conservatives to have someone who actually deserves that kind of adulation, not a con artist.

Anyway, if it matters, I studied science in undergrad, too (BS, Zoology with a minor in Geography for some reason). I have a doctorate in vet med as well.
Well, when you are 51 years old, voting for Obama when you were 38 seems young. I don't think I will ever do that again. He was so divisive, as much as Trump just less in your face. My wife is more liberal than me, I don't think she has changed much as she aged. She's about my age.

Sometimes I don't like how Trump tweets and carries himself, but he gets good results. He gets things done. If he says he will do something, chances are he will. Quite the opposite of most politicians. I'd say I trust politicians less than I do lawyers. It's not a coincidence that so many lawyers go into politics. Trump was never a politician. I like that.
 
53 years old. Raised by patriots who marched with MLK back in the early sixties.
A degree in fine arts and am a huge Obama fan. Best political event in my life time.
Degree in Fine Arts.
I was curious to see if there would be a distinction between "left brain/ right brain" majors. With fine arts leaning more liberal and the sciences more conservative. So far in this thread there doesn't seem to be a big correlation.
 
If the Democrats win the Georgia runoffs, then mark my words the other side will claim fraud based on thin air again and this thread will argue about it for months.
Chances are slim of that happening, unless it is legit. The Republican Party is going to be watching everything very closely and the other side should not want to do anything that is remotely questionable.
 
53 years old. Raised by patriots who marched with MLK back in the early sixties.
A degree in fine arts and am a huge Obama fan. Best political event in my life time.
Degree in Fine Arts.
Yes, that shows that most people follow in the footsteps of their parents. It's not a sure thing, my wife is an example, but it is a strong influence.

I still remember my grandmother telling me how much she hated FDR.
 
Rule #1 of dealing with conspiracy nuts is never debate them point-by-point. It's a matter of FAITH to them. Facts and logic don't matter. Any amount of engagement given simply gives them more credence than they deserve. They should be starved of attention.
It all works exactly backward from the "scientific method".

Trump followers work under the assumption that Trump could not have possibly lost (because he says so) as a given fact and then try to find reasons to justify this.

That's why they believe literally all of Trump's fraud claims no matter how many times over and over and over again in court Trump's claims are disproved with hard evidence. They just think the smoking gun just isn't found yet (or blew up in Nashville as the brand new conspiracy goes).
 
It seems doubtful over 80 million eligible votes went to Biden. Do you really like Biden that much? Or hate Trump that much?
I don't know what world you're living in, but I'm surprised the number isn't higher. And that's not just anecdotal; the polling for months and months indicated this. Yes, people really do hate Trump that much. Biden, who's that?
 
It all works exactly backward from the "scientific method".

Trump followers work under the assumption that Trump could not have possibly lost (because he says so) as a given fact and then try to find reasons to justify this.

That's why they believe literally all of Trump's fraud claims no matter how many times over and over and over again in court Trump's claims are disproved with hard evidence. They just think the smoking gun just isn't found yet (or blew up in Nashville as the brand new conspiracy goes).
But Hillary didn't lose fair and square. It was because of Russian interference!
 
It seems doubtful over 80 million eligible votes went to Biden. Do you really like Biden that much? Or hate Trump that much?
This is what I find interesting, why is it so hard to believe Trump was disliked enough to get Biden a win? He's a polarizing figure, you either love him or hate him in 99% of cases. I don't know anyone that'd politically involved to any degree who doesn't either love Trump or hate him. My friends all hate his guts and my MAGA family members love him.

Let me tell you, after 4 years of Trump, I would've crawled thru glass and had every part of my body cut up as a result, if that's what I had to do to vote against Trump, regardless of who was the Democratic nominee. I mean that 100% literally. And compared to many people, I'm only a mild critic of him.
 
It seems doubtful over 80 million eligible votes went to Biden. Do you really like Biden that much? Or hate Trump that much?
Mass mailing of ballots needs to stop. Mail in ballots should only be legal if the voter requests one via absentee ballot. I'm pretty sure that mass mailings aren't allowed in most states. It's the states that did mass mailings that have the biggest fraud. Responsible people tried to stop the action before the election but Democrats didn't care. Their excuse, not doing mass mailings is voter suppression. Similar to how they don't want to require ID to vote.

Most countries in the world have banned mass mailings. I believe that this was the first time in US history that it was carried out in many areas.
 
I don't know what world you're living in, but I'm surprised the number isn't higher. And that's not just anecdotal; the polling for months and months indicated this. Yes, people really do hate Trump that much. Biden, who's that?
The polls showed Biden with a huge margin of victory. Some double digits! Lol. Look at all of the polls that showed Hillary stomping a mud hole in Trump.

Those polls are either very poorly conducted or just part of the media's voter disenfranchisement tactics to make Republicans despair and not vote at all. It didn't work either time!
 
But Hillary didn't lose fair and square. It was because of Russian interference!
Personally, I think Hillary lost because she was a corporatist running against a populist. I think Bernie would have wiped the floor with Trump though (populist vs populist).

Are you admitting you guys are acting like the sore losing Hillary supporters now ;)?
 
Yeah, I know China and Iran celebrated big time when Biden "won".

An Iranian official was on camera crying tears of joy.
Well yeah, he started a trade war with China and is trying to start am actual one with Iran.

I was talking about Americans though.
 
Mass mailing of ballots needs to stop. Mail in ballots should only be legal if the voter requests one via absentee ballot. I'm pretty sure that mass mailings aren't allowed in most states. It's the states that did mass mailings that have the biggest fraud. Responsible people tried to stop the action before the election but Democrats didn't care. Their excuse, not doing mass mailings is voter suppression. Similar to how they don't want to require ID to vote.

Most countries in the world have banned mass mailings. I believe that this was the first time in US history that it was carried out in many areas.
No, it's those states that have the most unsubstantiated allegations of fraud that died in court. Which means nothing.
 
Ok, this made me laugh:

Screenshot 2021-01-05 at 21.39.56.png
 
This is what I find interesting, why is it so hard to believe Trump was disliked enough to get Biden a win?
Perhaps it's because Clinton was unable to do this herself following that same philosophy. There was a great amount of people in 2016 who were following the "voting for X more because I dislike Y" strategy. This occurred on both sides, but it seemed much more prevalent for the left, because Trump was unpopular before he even took office. Clinton was certainly controversial, but it's fair to say she was still not at Trump levels of disdain by a good percentage of the population.

I think the key factor was not so much that Trump was disliked more than the opposing candidate, as I feel this was true in 2016, but rather the turnout was much greater this time around. We don't have official numbers yet, but I believe the general consensus is turnout has been much better this time around, which is interesting given the pandemic.

It seems movements that encourage people to vote in general, especially through alternative methods like mail-in ballots, worked well.
 
I think it's because Clinton was unable to do this herself following that same philosophy. There was a great amount of people in 2016 who were following the "voting for X more because I dislike Y" strategy. This occurred on both sides, but it seemed much more prevalent for the left, because Trump was unpopular before he even took office. Clinton was certainly controversial, but I think it's fair to say she was still not at Trump levels of disdain by a good percentage of the population.

I think the key factor was not so much that Trump was disliked more than the opposing candidate, as I feel this was true in 2016, but rather the turnout was much greater this time around. We don't have official numbers yet, but I believe the general consensus is turnout has been much better this time around, which is interesting given the pandemic.

It seems movements that encourage people to vote in general, especially through alternative methods like mail-in ballots, worked well.
Another factor is that Biden just isn't hated as much as Clinton. Clinton was extremely controversial while Biden is just kind of "eh". And yes, the voter turnout did help, I think you are right. This was the highest voter turn out in over a century and both sides came out in droves. Of course, my Republican peers would credit that to voter fraud...
 
voter disenfranchisement tactics
Mass mailing of ballots needs to stop.
Why? You are a scientist, and yet you present no actual proof. None. And mind you, there are people, smarter than you and I, working overtime to do absolutely anything to make a case that there was fraud. They can't do it. Actually, I'm surprised that they didn't find a very tiny amount of negligible fraud and are trying to make a systemic argument with it. They can't even do this.

You are encouraging voter disenfranchisement by making it harder for people to vote.
 
Another factor is that Biden just isn't hated as much as Clinton. Clinton was extremely controversial while Biden is just kind of "eh".
You are probably right with this. Biden is very inoffensive by comparison.

I'm curious: do you think Sanders would have beaten Trump in 2016? In 2020?

I would not consider myself a supporter of his, but I actually think he would have won both times. I genuinely believe Democrats (or the DNC) shot themselves in the foot with this one.
 
I'm much angrier with my tinnitus than with Biden or his supporters. I had a hard time even watching Trump's rally with the obnoxious noise in my head. I can't believe it's this bad. Maybe mine is worse than others? It could be TMD and neck caused.

Anyway, I feel bad for anyone with health problems. I know many here have health issues even more serious than their tinnitus. Maybe that's part of the reason they want "Medicare for All". As a first world country we should have some universal health insurance besides the private ones which can be unaffordable to many.
 
I'm curious: do you think Sanders would have beaten Trump in 2016? In 2020?
Just because someone like Bernie fires up the left base doesn't mean he'd be competitive in the general election.

Sanders is a guy who people admire for not having a filter and throwing barbs during debates but when push comes to shove few would vote for him because he really IS a socialist. There are enough pragmatists on the left to know that his spendthrift social programs, however well-intentioned, would bankrupt the country, and he would not attract an iota of swing-voters.

Bernie's reputation from a policy perspective is really no better than AOC and AOC is enemy #1 to anyone to the right of center.

In presidential elections only right-wing or centrist candidates can win. No overtly left-leaning candidates can win. Those who think Biden or Obama were hard left has no objective sense of what constitutes hard left outside of splitting into two. The country will never spin totally to the left. As left as Biden's agenda may seem to the right it's nothing compared to what the far left would do if they had the reigns.
 
You are probably right with this. Biden is very inoffensive by comparison.

I'm curious: do you think Sanders would have beaten Trump in 2016? In 2020?

I would not consider myself a supporter of his, but I actually think he would have won both times. I genuinely believe Democrats (or the DNC) shot themselves in the foot with this one.
Without a doubt yes. Trump would've never been able to tie the corruption to him that he did to Biden and Clinton. Now Sanders wouldn't have won Florida but other states, he definitely could have. Sanders did have more appeal to the working class white voters than Clinton and had about as much as Biden did. I think he would've won the same states Biden did in 2020 (except maybe Georgia) both times.
 

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