Trump

[Sandydragon]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-ram ... aign-rally

Trump tells Trump supporters that they are genetically superior.
I seem to remember another far-right leader going down this path...



Oh, whilst I'm here:

2016: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas): “It has been 80 years since a Supreme Court vacancy was nominated and confirmed in an election year. There is a long tradition that you don’t do this in an election year.”
2018: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): “If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait to the next election.”
2016: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.): “I don’t think we should be moving on a nominee in the last year of this president’s term - I would say that if it was a Republican president.”
2016: Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.): “The very balance of our nation’s highest court is in serious jeopardy. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will do everything in my power to encourage the president and Senate leadership not to start this process until we hear from the American people.”
2016: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa): “A lifetime appointment that could dramatically impact individual freedoms and change the direction of the court for at least a generation is too important to get bogged down in politics. The American people shouldn’t be denied a voice.”
2016: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.): “The campaign is already under way. It is essential to the institution of the Senate and to the very health of our republic to not launch our nation into a partisan, divisive confirmation battle during the very same time the American people are casting their ballots to elect our next president.”
2016: Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.): “In this election year, the American people will have an opportunity to have their say in the future direction of our country. For this reason, I believe the vacancy left open by Justice Antonin Scalia should not be filled until there is a new president.”
2016: Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.): “The Senate should not confirm a new Supreme Court justice until we have a new president.”
2016: Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Col.): “I think we’re too close to the election. The president who is elected in November should be the one who makes this decision.”
2016: Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio): “I believe the best thing for the country is to trust the American people to weigh in on who should make a lifetime appointment that could reshape the Supreme Court for generations. This wouldn’t be unusual. It is common practice for the Senate to stop acting on lifetime appointments during the last year of a presidential term, and it’s been nearly 80 years since any president was permitted to immediately fill a vacancy that arose in a presidential election year.”
2016: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.): “I strongly agree that the American people should decide the future direction of the Supreme Court by their votes for president and the majority party in the U.S. Senate.”
________________________
** “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”
-- Mitch McConnell, March 2016

Yeah, but, erm, hmmm

[Son of Mathonwy]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-ram ... aign-rally

Trump tells Trump supporters that they are genetically superior.
I seem to remember another far-right leader going down this path...



Oh, whilst I'm here:

2016: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas): “It has been 80 years since a Supreme Court vacancy was nominated and confirmed in an election year. There is a long tradition that you don’t do this in an election year.”
2018: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): “If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump’s term, and the primary process has started, we’ll wait to the next election.”
2016: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.): “I don’t think we should be moving on a nominee in the last year of this president’s term - I would say that if it was a Republican president.”
2016: Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.): “The very balance of our nation’s highest court is in serious jeopardy. As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will do everything in my power to encourage the president and Senate leadership not to start this process until we hear from the American people.”
2016: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa): “A lifetime appointment that could dramatically impact individual freedoms and change the direction of the court for at least a generation is too important to get bogged down in politics. The American people shouldn’t be denied a voice.”
2016: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.): “The campaign is already under way. It is essential to the institution of the Senate and to the very health of our republic to not launch our nation into a partisan, divisive confirmation battle during the very same time the American people are casting their ballots to elect our next president.”
2016: Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.): “In this election year, the American people will have an opportunity to have their say in the future direction of our country. For this reason, I believe the vacancy left open by Justice Antonin Scalia should not be filled until there is a new president.”
2016: Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.): “The Senate should not confirm a new Supreme Court justice until we have a new president.”
2016: Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Col.): “I think we’re too close to the election. The president who is elected in November should be the one who makes this decision.”
2016: Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio): “I believe the best thing for the country is to trust the American people to weigh in on who should make a lifetime appointment that could reshape the Supreme Court for generations. This wouldn’t be unusual. It is common practice for the Senate to stop acting on lifetime appointments during the last year of a presidential term, and it’s been nearly 80 years since any president was permitted to immediately fill a vacancy that arose in a presidential election year.”
2016: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.): “I strongly agree that the American people should decide the future direction of the Supreme Court by their votes for president and the majority party in the U.S. Senate.”
________________________
** “The American people should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president.”
-- Mitch McConnell, March 2016

Yeah, but, erm, hmmm

Yeah, that was so 2016. It's self-evident that the opposite conclusion applies in 2020.

[morepork]

White power people are creaming in their pants at this opportunity. Trumpets adorable little Klan rallies are now punctuated by plans to push though a new national campaign to promote “patriotic education.” Basically wiping out the hard to deal with parts, like slavery. They are going full cracker. He recently told a crowd of fat stupid people in Minnesota that Ilhan Omar wants to "flood the state with refugees from Somalia and other places around the planet". He then went on to praising the good (white) people of Minnesota for their "good genes".

I mean, come on...

[Digby]

Seems to be a bit of movement coming off the back of Trump pushing ACB, but the possible gains for the GOP seem to be more in the Senate races than the General. The bad news for humanity is it seems the money McConnell has decided to spend on himself in Kentucky will get the job done, though it does mean that money isn't being spent elsewhere. Both Carolinas are in play, and Arizona and Maine.

In the General there is some movement for the orange one in Florida and in Pennsylvania. And Florida is must win for Trump or it's game over. Trump isn't getting any momentum working for him in Wisconsin yet though, and he's got much more work to do in Iowa, Montana and Minnesota than he can have been expecting.

[Digby]

And the chaos continues. The fact that his previous campaign manager tried to Epstein himself (well talked about it but if you can't make a joke about suicide what can you make a joke about?) will drift quietly into the background amid the race riots, pandemic, collapsing economy, attempts to subvert democracy, drag the Supreme Court to a position where Roe Vs Wade is genuinely at threat, climate disaster, ignoring bounties on US troops, virulent corruption...

[Puja]

And in news that comes as a gigantic surprise: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54319948

Biden needs to make hay with this come the debate IMO. So much of Trump's position is around him being a successful businessman and this is something that can really hurt him, both with his base and in his tiny baby feelings.

Puja

[morepork]

Friend of the working man. What a fake.

[Buggaluggs]

And in news that comes as a gigantic surprise: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54319948

Biden needs to make hay with this come the debate IMO. So much of Trump's position is around him being a successful businessman and this is something that can really hurt him, both with his base and in his tiny baby feelings.

Puja

It won't affect his base in the slightest. They think

A any successful businessman should reduce the amount of tax they pay. It means he's smart
B the story comes from stolen information and therefore should be ignored
C NYT don't mention all the millions Biden and his son got from Micronesia so why should we pay attention to this.
D I don't believe nothing the liberal media says

Only about 6% of voters are undecided. It may affect them. And that may be important in some tight state races. The rest of the country is depressingly dug in to their foxholes.

[Digby]

Everyone being dug in is fine for Biden if people vote and their votes are counted. Whilst the non payment of tax story doesn't directly boost Biden it sure as shit doesn't encourage anyone looking for a reason to vote GOP/Trump because they cannot vote Democratic, they're either going to stay away or vote Libertarian

[Stom]

Everyone being dug in is fine for Biden if people vote and their votes are counted. Whilst the non payment of tax story doesn't directly boost Biden it sure as shit doesn't encourage anyone looking for a reason to vote GOP/Trump because they cannot vote Democratic, they're either going to stay away or vote Libertarian

Well indeed. The idea is to hoover up all those "other" voters on the basis that Trump is terrible and if you don't vote Biden you'll get Trump.

I'm more and more coming around to the idea that the US is fucked and a new civil war is on its way, though. I mean, jesus. What an absolute mess of a country.

[Which Tyler]

Everyone being dug in is fine for Biden if people vote and their votes are counted. Whilst the non payment of tax story doesn't directly boost Biden it sure as shit doesn't encourage anyone looking for a reason to vote GOP/Trump because they cannot vote Democratic, they're either going to stay away or vote Libertarian

Well indeed. The idea is to hoover up all those "other" voters on the basis that Trump is terrible and if you don't vote Biden you'll get Trump.

I'm more and more coming around to the idea that the US is fucked and a new civil war is on its way, though. I mean, jesus. What an absolute mess of a country.

And with the way America has been these last couple of decades - it'll be the most one-sided civil war of history

[Mikey Brown]

Would it? I can't even tell in which direction you think it would be one sided?

[Digby]

Everyone being dug in is fine for Biden if people vote and their votes are counted. Whilst the non payment of tax story doesn't directly boost Biden it sure as shit doesn't encourage anyone looking for a reason to vote GOP/Trump because they cannot vote Democratic, they're either going to stay away or vote Libertarian

Well indeed. The idea is to hoover up all those "other" voters on the basis that Trump is terrible and if you don't vote Biden you'll get Trump.

I'm more and more coming around to the idea that the US is fucked and a new civil war is on its way, though. I mean, jesus. What an absolute mess of a country.

You're not going to hoover up all those other voters, huge numbers simply will not Democratic. And there just aren't many undecided voters around now, it's much more now about turning out your vote and limiting your opponents vote, unless we get a repeat of the FBI investigation into Clinton as a national security concern just ahead of voting.

That said there is something interesting coming out of the polling, it's long been known many people will not admit to voting Trump on the basis of common decency but do, but now they are starting to find (small) pockets of people who perhaps are going to vote Democratic or at least against Trump but don't want to admit to that because of growing up and living in a conservative culture on the local level. Both of those issues are fairly small in America, more so than one might find in the UK because upfront there's more of a norm for honesty/openness.

One further thing I'll note about the polls this time around in addition to Biden having a bigger lead than Clinton, the polls are also better adjusted for less affluent communities. Typically it's much easier to poll more affluent communities but that's being built into models a little more this time, though it does mean sometimes they're essentially discarding polls from certain areas because they're over represented.

[Stom]

Would it? I can't even tell in which direction you think it would be one sided?

One side have been stockpiling Guns...

[Digby]

I guess for anyone who was worried Trump himself might be worried about looking presidential they can now consider those fears allayed. Wowzers

[Puja]

I guess for anyone who was worried Trump himself might be worried about looking presidential they can now consider those fears allayed. Wowzers

I'm considering that a win for Biden overall. He basically needed to not utterly fuck up somewhere and confirm Trump's claims of senility, so that mess worked out perfectly for him.

Puja

[Banquo]

I guess for anyone who was worried Trump himself might be worried about looking presidential they can now consider those fears allayed. Wowzers

I'm considering that a win for Biden overall. He basically needed to not utterly fuck up somewhere and confirm Trump's claims of senility, so that mess worked out perfectly for him.

Puja

Really was old bald men fighting over a comb though. What a sh&t show; not being Trump seems to be the only strategy Biden wants to deploy, and sinking to Trumps depths of personal insult may work, but ffs.

[paddy no 11]

however bad biden is he's not threatening violence, actively engaging with neo fascist goups and threatening to steal an election

[Mikey Brown]

I just watched one clip of Trump being asked to condemn white supremacy, telling them to “stand down and stand by” (whatever that means) then they both just yell over the top of eachother “it’s a left/right wing problem”.

Moderator of this ‘debate’ decides that’s time to move on. Job done. Nothing learned, no opinions expressed, just angry noise. Just make sure everyone is riled up and then on to the next talking point.

Why does anyone even bother with this?

[WaspInWales]

Trump's insistence that he paid millions of dollars for the 2016 and 2017 tax years could backfire spectacularly.

When Trump gets caught in a lie, he can't seem to help himself and lies more.

Just hope these debates keep that trend going and Biden, moderators, commentators etc jump on each one.

Not that it'll make any difference to his base support. They don't care about the lies, they just want to get their #1 status back.

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[WaspInWales]

however bad biden is he's not threatening violence, actively engaging with neo fascist goups and threatening to steal an election

True but I still don't think Biden is the right pick for the Dems. Not now anyway.

Saunders would wipe the floor with him.

Harris would too.

Even Beto would.

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[Stom]

however bad biden is he's not threatening violence, actively engaging with neo fascist goups and threatening to steal an election

True but I still don't think Biden is the right pick for the Dems. Not now anyway.

Saunders would wipe the floor with him.

Harris would too.

Even Beto would.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

Won't Harris get to debate Pence? That might be more interesting...

[Puja]

however bad biden is he's not threatening violence, actively engaging with neo fascist goups and threatening to steal an election

True but I still don't think Biden is the right pick for the Dems. Not now anyway.

Saunders would wipe the floor with him.

Harris would too.

Even Beto would.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

Hard disagree. While I am no fan of Biden and I would rather have any of those names personally, I think he's the perfect pick for this election. The left wing will vote for him because Trump is so awful and Biden will attract a lot of the moderate Republicans who would otherwise pick Trump to save them from the socialists.

Puja

[WaspInWales]

however bad biden is he's not threatening violence, actively engaging with neo fascist goups and threatening to steal an election

True but I still don't think Biden is the right pick for the Dems. Not now anyway.

Saunders would wipe the floor with him.

Harris would too.

Even Beto would.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

Won't Harris get to debate Pence? That might be more interesting...

Yes and I think she will wipe the floor with mummy's boy.

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[WaspInWales]

however bad biden is he's not threatening violence, actively engaging with neo fascist goups and threatening to steal an election

True but I still don't think Biden is the right pick for the Dems. Not now anyway.

Saunders would wipe the floor with him.

Harris would too.

Even Beto would.

Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

Hard disagree. While I am no fan of Biden and I would rather have any of those names personally, I think he's the perfect pick for this election. The left wing will vote for him because Trump is so awful and Biden will attract a lot of the moderate Republicans who would otherwise pick Trump to save them from the socialists.

Puja

I hope you're right.

I'm watching it now and Biden just isn't sharp enough to counter.

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