American Politics

[xi0]

Yeah, the DNC made sure of that when they insisted on still holding elections despite all the warnings about large crowds.

 

[kkck]

does that have anything to do with the results? The elections shouldn't have been held at all, but I am not sure this specifically benefits biden.

 

[M3J]

Dunno, as many people who were scared to vote could have been a Bernie supporter.

 

[xi0]

does that have anything to do with the results? The elections shouldn't have been held at all, but I am not sure this specifically benefits biden.

To me its bearing on the results is kind of irrelevant. The elections shouldn't be going on, regardless of who it would favor. Many states have already postponed them, even my state that originally wasn't happening until late April has been postponed to June.

It's conjecture, but somehow the cynic in me is saying that if Sanders was the one with momentum, every single primary election would have been postponed to June already.

 

[McNuss]

Just to give you some foreign perspective, if Trump and Biden were German politicians instead, they would probably be in the same party (CDU).

The general consensus here is that the US has a terrible voting system that in the end comes down to not having much choice at all.

I personally also don't understand the general fear in the US of anything that is even slightly left. Honestly, by our standards, even Sanders would only qualify as moderately left.

However, true politically left positions are in a though spot here as well ever since the Social Democrats betrayed themselves under Chancellor Schröder.

What I actually do fear is that in 10 years from now, we will have a system similar to the US, were the only choice is between right-wing conservative and "anything not right-wing" progressive. The last elections for the European Parliament already headed in that direction.

The US election always gets a lot of media attention over here, much more than any of our direct neighbors' elections (maybe with the exception of France, but that was really just the last election). However no one can actually tell what your candidates represent, not even qualified political magazines, with Obama and now Sanders being mild exceptions simply because the American healthcare system alienates us, we think of it as inhuman and underdeveloped.

(this is to give you some foreign perspective, when you answer this, make sure you don't repeat someone else's reply as this thread is about US elections and not to compare countries)

 

[Ramen]

If Biden is the front runner instead of Bernie, he will get destroyed on that debate stage.

Everything from his terrible voting record to how much he lied on media. But hey, they want someone that is a "moderate" that can attract all Democrats and centrist Republicans. American politics is a joke.

Exactly why I'm a Marxist.

 

[kkck]

Old age could present an issue to biden on a debate against trump though I don't think trump has any substance advantage over biden. As in, sure, biden has a terrible voting record. And not having a voting record was a sort of advantage trump had (though I don't feel like he exploited it as much as he could have) before but now he has a presidency under his belt. A presidency which has accumulated investigations, indictments, prison sentences and perhaps most grievous of all trump's handling of covid19 which includes over a month of pretending it wasn't a threat which will in turn have an immense human cost.

 

[Ramen]

Old age could present an issue to biden on a debate against trump though I don't think trump has any substance advantage over biden. As in, sure, biden has a terrible voting record. And not having a voting record was a sort of advantage trump had (though I don't feel like he exploited it as much as he could have) before but now he has a presidency under his belt. A presidency which has accumulated investigations, indictments, prison sentences and perhaps most grievous of all trump's handling of covid19 which includes over a month of pretending it wasn't a threat which will in turn have an immense human cost.

Old age shouldn't be an issue since they're all relatively around the same age. All in their mid 70's.

 

[xi0]

I don't think trump has any substance advantage over biden.

He doesn't have a substance advantage over anyone. One could even argue that for the people that fervently support him, it's better that he has no substance and speaks no real truths. Though that sort of thing is precisely the reason why the country is in the state it is now during this pandemic and will continue to be for quite some time.

I don't necessarily dislike Joe Biden, but he just isn't fit to serve anymore. Trump never was in the first place, but enough people like him for some reason so he gets by.

 

[Ramen]

He doesn't have a substance advantage over anyone. One could even argue that for the people that fervently support him, it's better that he has no substance and speaks no real truths. Though that sort of thing is precisely the reason why the country is in the state it is now during this pandemic and will continue to be for quite some time.

I don't necessarily dislike Joe Biden, but he just isn't fit to serve anymore. Trump never was in the first place, but enough people like him for some reason so he gets by.

What's hilarious about Biden is that all the times he's ran prior to his tenure as VP, he didn't even receive 1% as a Democratic nominee. Credit Obama for his success right now.

 

[xi0]

What's hilarious about Biden is that all the times he's ran prior to his tenure as VP, he didn't even receive 1% as a Democratic nominee. Credit Obama for his success right now.

That's just how the system works though, since people are deemed "not viable" and drop out earlier than others. Early on people were predicting Biden's bid was dead before even a single primary was held. Obviously the flaw to this system is that people are dropping out before the majority of people in the country are even able to vote for anyone. And that's all tied to how much money their campaigns have... which is obviously serving no one's best interests.

 

[Ramen]

That's just how the system works though, since people are deemed "not viable" and drop out earlier than others. Early on people were predicting Biden's bid was dead before even a single primary was held. Obviously the flaw to this system is that people are dropping out before the majority of people in the country are even able to vote for anyone. And that's all tied to how much money their campaigns have... which is obviously serving no one's best interests.

That's completely true. The establishment is trying to do what they did with Hilary in 2016. Run a "moderate" to attract more people against Trump instead of Bernie. Now why they would do this is beyond me because Hilary was demolished on election night despite having 2 million more votes. Everyone started dropping like flies and started endorsing Biden because they don't want to run Bernie because Republicans are calling him a "communist" and are afraid they'd lose because of this. Which is hilarious because Sanders is nowhere near Marxism as a whole.

Although due to the virus the delegate count has paused so maybe this gives Bernie the chance to catch up since his policies are being implemented as we speak. More and more people are starting to realize that Sanders is what the US needs.

Now I don't like any since I'd want a socialist state but Sanders is the best option of the three.

 

[kkck]

He doesn't have a substance advantage over anyone. One could even argue that for the people that fervently support him, it's better that he has no substance and speaks no real truths. Though that sort of thing is precisely the reason why the country is in the state it is now during this pandemic and will continue to be for quite some time.

I don't necessarily dislike Joe Biden, but he just isn't fit to serve anymore. Trump never was in the first place, but enough people like him for some reason so he gets by.

I should have phrased that slightly differently... but yeah, trump has never actually had any substance whatsoever to go on. But i would maintain that his absence of a political life before 2016 simply won't be a factor now.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 5, 2020, Original Post Date: Apr 5, 2020 ---

Old age shouldn't be an issue since they're all relatively around the same age. All in their mid 70's.

Trump is 73 and biden is 78.... That can be a pretty big difference. As in, for the previous elections biden was pretty sharp. And since then he has very clearly deteriorated a lot. It's not like if you were comparing a 45 and a 50 year old... Same age difference but once you are a senior citizen there is no tell of how you will age.

 

[Ramen]

I should have phrased that slightly differently... but yeah, trump has never actually had any substance whatsoever to go on. But i would maintain that his absence of a political life before 2016 simply won't be a factor now.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 5, 2020, Original Post Date: Apr 5, 2020 ---

Trump is 73 and biden is 78.... That can be a pretty big difference. As in, for the previous elections biden was pretty sharp. And since then he has very clearly deteriorated a lot. It's not like if you were comparing a 45 and a 50 year old... Same age difference but once you are a senior citizen there is no tell of how you will age.

They should have an age limit on who can run. Although the downside is that means the best candidate can't run (aka Bernie)

I wouldn't mind a Warren presidency tbh

 

[kkck]

They should have an age limit on who can run. Although the downside is that means the best candidate can't run (aka Bernie)

I wouldn't mind a Warren presidency tbh

An age limit unfortunately would never be practical. You can have a case like biden who is clearly affected by old age but on the other hand its entirely possible to elect an 85 year old man who is perfectly lucid and capable of making decisions. That said, it is never ideal to have an elected leader whose every new day is the result of a dice roll... Anything can happen on this regard.... I mean, you can be a fit 65 year old who runs marathons and eats only healthy food and still have a heart attack. Or be morbidly obese without exercise and still make it to 85. either scenario is unlikely... but not impossible.

 

[Ramen]

An age limit unfortunately would never be practical. You can have a case like biden who is clearly affected by old age but on the other hand its entirely possible to elect an 85 year old man who is perfectly lucid and capable of making decisions. That said, it is never ideal to have an elected leader whose every new day is a dice roll...

Very true. You have a guy with a history of heart issues and recently had a heart attack. A dude who lies constantly and has dementia. Then there's Donald Trump.....lmao

 

[Aurelius]

Me when I'm finally able to vote and see two stooges who have no business being president:

 

[Ramen]

Me when I'm finally able to vote and see two stooges who have no business being president:

The ironic part about that gif is that I disliked the Obama presidency.

 

[xi0]

That's completely true. The establishment is trying to do what they did with Hilary in 2016. Run a "moderate" to attract more people against Trump instead of Bernie. Now why they would do this is beyond me because Hilary was demolished on election night despite having 2 million more votes. Everyone started dropping like flies and started endorsing Biden because they don't want to run Bernie because Republicans are calling him a "communist" and are afraid they'd lose because of this. Which is hilarious because Sanders is nowhere near Marxism as a whole.

Although due to the virus the delegate count has paused so maybe this gives Bernie the chance to catch up since his policies are being implemented as we speak. More and more people are starting to realize that Sanders is what the US needs.

Now I don't like any since I'd want a socialist state but Sanders is the best option of the three.

Consolidation to avoid a brokered convention is nothing new. The situation with Hillary and Biden are kind of different to me, the similarity is it involving Sanders. Hillary was practically pre-ordained and a lot of people supported her for the same reason they supported Obama, because she wasn't an old white guy. But unlike Obama, there weren't aware or didn't care about how terrible of a candidate she was/is because she was running against an up-jumped reality tv show star.

Bernie is too nice IMO. That and he did no favors calling himself a socialist instead of a socialist democrat.

I should have phrased that slightly differently... but yeah, trump has never actually had any substance whatsoever to go on. But i would maintain that his absence of a political life before 2016 simply won't be a factor now.

Yeah of course. And accountability isn't a word that exists in his or his supporters version of the universe so even in the face of gross mismanagement potentially exceeding 9/11-levels there are still people who will support him because he talks about how great America is.

 

[M3J]

If Biden is the front runner instead of Bernie, he will get destroyed on that debate stage.

Everything from his terrible voting record to how much he lied on media. But hey, they want someone that is a "moderate" that can attract all Democrats and centrist Republicans. American politics is a joke.

Exactly why I'm a Marxist.

If Biden wins the Primary, there's 90% chance Trump will be president for another four years as tons of Bernie supporters won't vote for Biden, despite the fact that Biden would have handled stuff like the pandemic better than Trump did. But I'm hoping Bernie pulls off an upset, I'd rather have him as the president even if he won't be able to get much done over either rapist who aren't left enough to benefit the people.