USA Politics

LooseCannon said:
directly, "I used to put criminals like you in prison" that's going to play really well in the centre.
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I really hope they go all in on this angle. Biden was right to not comment on Trump’s legal problems initially, but now that he has been convicted by a jury for crimes outside his justice department’s jurisdiction, it seems like he was missing an opportunity by by not hammering Trump on it. This and Biden’s clear discomfort around talking about abortion are areas where Harris stands to drive home a strong message while Biden wasn’t capable.
 
Harris has a lot of strengths, and thinking back to 2020's primaries, her weaknesses were running a campaign, appeal to the progressive left due to her history as a prosecutor, and...that's about it. Now she's inherited the entire Democratic electoral machine, which since Obama 1 has been pretty damn strong, and the progressive left is petrified (rightfully) about Project 2025. And her strengths are such that should motivate some of the largest contingencies of voters still available - the very reason she was chosen for the VP ticket originally.

I was on record that Biden shouldn't drop out until it was shown that his window has closed, and it seems that is exactly what happened. I think he made the decision that if polling hadn't improved by the end of the RNC he'd bail, and the problem is the last week of polling nationally wasn't bad, but specifically in the swing states was devastating. This move is at the exact right time to rejuvenate the ticket.
 
I’m a pretty firm believer there’s only being two types of people that talk about politics in moderated forums, those on the left, and those that don’t talk about politics. Guess where I am. I’m actually a little shocked Brandon stepped down, my dad and my brother were just talking about this on Saturday night, I don’t know if the democrats will be able to shoehorn someone in quick enough. People online are seeming to take to Harris - that’s nice. I already know which way my state is going regardless, but I’m curious (from the outside) to see how much traction Harris can get.

There’s only two things I want from a president. The first is to cut down a lot of foreign aid so that money can be used to solve problems here inside America (homelessness, opioid use, veterans affairs, etc) and the second is bring more manufacturing into the US. I’ve seen personally what happens when these car manufacturers for example are brought back into the US, it opens up a lot of jobs in the surrounding area, and it provides a great opportunity for young people to get into trades (assembly, tool and die, maintenance, welding, machining, you name it). That’s about all I want. My “world” as a tradesman is a lot smaller than the world on the news, and I like that and I’d like a president that represents that. The Big Man as I call him (Trump) doesn’t really represent that, neither does Harris. I probably will vote for Trump again as he does in fact make a lot of people that I don’t like online upset - and I think that’s funny if nothing else.
 
Harris 2020 had a money problem and she failed to capitalize on her "moment" when she torched Biden at a debate. The fact that she pulled out before Iowa was embarrassing, but I also think it was the sensible thing to do for someone who still had a political future and could just try again in a future election with a less crowded field. I don't think there was anything inherently wrong with her as a candidate though. Being a cop didn't play well with progressives, but the dynamic around policing has changed some in the last four years and now works in her favor as the GOP moves further into being the party of scum and villainy. In some ways, it feels like someone went into a lab to create the perfect candidate to run against this version of Trump.
 
Going back to my point about there only being two types of people that talk about politics on forums: what I expressed was a genuine feeling of mine in this Politics thread, and I’m being accused of accelerating fascism. It is interesting sometimes being online. My politics genuinely aren’t very right leaning. I volunteered full time for two years with a conservation corps, I’m very passionate about the Earth and all the ways we can conserve the nature beauty we have around us everywhere. I don’t know if that makes me Green (is there a Green or Environmentalist Party? I am not sure, but that’s probably where I most closely fall) but I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff (American or International Politics). Coming from a very low income household in rural America, and seeing and living in Poverty for most of my life, I don’t have to look very far for problems. The problems come to me actually. If I had more money, maybe an office job or a remote work opportunity, I’d pay a little more attention to the headlines when I was bored. I don’t have much time to be bored though.
 
DJ James said:
Going back to my point about there only being two types of people that talk about politics on forums: what I expressed was a genuine feeling of mine in this Politics thread, and I’m being accused of accelerating fascism. It is interesting sometimes being online. My politics genuinely aren’t very right leaning. I volunteered full time for two years with a conservation corps, I’m very passionate about the Earth and all the ways we can conserve the nature beauty we have around us everywhere. I don’t know if that makes me Green (is there a Green or Environmentalist Party? I am not sure, but that’s probably where I most closely fall) but I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff (American or International Politics). Coming from a very low income household in rural America, and seeing and living in Poverty for most of my life, I don’t have to look very far for problems. The problems come to me actually. If I had more money, maybe an office job or a remote work opportunity, I’d pay a little more attention to the headlines when I was bored. I don’t have much time to be bored though.
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The "accelerating fascism" is in direct response to Project 2025 (and Trump's Agenda 47). Have you read about them? Because the GOP has made their goals quite clear.

Edit: Also, saying "as he does in fact make a lot of people that I don’t like online upset - and I think that’s funny if nothing else" when another Trump presidency would be hell on earth for multiple marginalized communities... Well, you shouldn't be surprised that you could get some backlash for such a statement.
 
Vaenyr said:
The "accelerating fascism" is in direct response to Project 2025 (and Trump's Agenda 47). Have you read about them? Because the GOP has made their goals quite clear.

Edit: Also, saying "as he does in fact make a lot of people that I don’t like online upset - and I think that’s funny if nothing else" when another Trump presidency would be hell on earth for multiple marginalized communities... Well, you shouldn't be surprised that you could get some backlash for such a statement.
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100%.
 
I have heard of neither 2025 or Agenda 47, if it’s some long republican thing I don’t have any interest in reading it sorry.
 
DJ James said:
I have heard of neither 2025 or Agenda 47, if it’s some long republican thing I don’t have any interest in reading it sorry.
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You could give a cursory glance to the wikipedia article:

Project 2025 - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org

It is a stepping stone towards genuine fascism. You are obviously free to vote however you want, but I think it is your duty as an American citizen to inform yourself at least on the basics. I think one should be aware what the consequences of their vote could be.
 
Well, less than 24 hours later it seems Harris has the nomination locked up. Gretchen Whitmer says she will reject any offer to become VP. Makes sense, but I also would have been really surprised to see a ticket with two women anyway. Also looks like Harris is hitting the campaign trail immediately.

I'm curious about VP timing. I think it's going to come down to Shapiro or Kelly. Mark Kelly especially makes this a pretty formidable ticket and turns the race into the adults in the room versus unqualified and incompetent extremists. Also, America loves astronauts.

During the Trump Veepstakes I said that there was no benefit to announcing a VP early. From that perspective, the Vance announcement was perfectly timed and executed (although I think we are going to see some real vulnerabilities in the Vance pick given the change on the Dem ticket). I actually think the opposite holds true here and it would best serve Harris to announce a VP ASAP, this week if possible. I'm not sure how much vetting has already taken place or if it's even realistically possible, but I think it's important to hit the ground running with this campaign and to immediately demonstrate that the next Democratic ticket is competent, effective, and unified.
 
I guess I'm curious why you support the party that exports manufacturing jobs, not the one that is responsible for saving America's manufacturing industry in 2008 and brought back critical industry production like computer chips?
 
LooseCannon said:
I guess I'm curious why you support the party that exports manufacturing jobs, not the one that is responsible for saving America's manufacturing industry in 2008 and brought back critical industry production like computer chips?
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I’m not about to say this in a sarcastic way, sometimes over the internet it is difficult to convey emotion, I am genuinely curious about that Manufacturing bit you mentioned from 2008, are there any articles I can read on that from the time? Well they don’t even have to be from the time, anything about CPU manufacturing coming to the US around 2008 I would like to read into.

As for who I’m voting for, well it doesn’t really matter. I will always vote, and I will always vote for who I vote for. Some may respond this and ask what this means, it is meant literally. For years before me people have either voted red or blue, it’s a 50/50 shot either way. I know morally, there’s hangups on both sides. My ideal candidate is not running in this race though.
 
DJ James said:
I have heard of neither 2025 or Agenda 47, if it’s some long republican thing I don’t have any interest in reading it sorry.
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Also, genuinely curious: Since you are willing to vote for Trump, should "some long Republican thing" be relevant and interesting to you? Your vote ends up supporting these "things", so shouldn't you know what you vote for and what you are passively supporting?

I'm not trying to change your mind as far as your voting behavior is concerned, you can do whatever you want. I'd just like you to approach these things a bit more critically, instead of going purely by vibes and by "making people that annoy me online upset".
 
I would be curious if living in a noncompetitive area makes a difference for James. I think you see a lot of apathy in areas where people know their vote doesn't matter.
 
I am far, far from a Republican, and equally, if not a farther bit away, from being a Democrat. Also not a sleight (or being sarcastic) do you live in America or are you from America? Actually being here and living in America it is very easy to be detached from National level politics. All that stuff feels so far away from me.
 
I'm not from America, I'm living in Germany, but I'm also invested in our local politics. I'm active and keep myself informed in all local and national elections, since every choice matters in the long run. I follow American politics, because whatever happens with you folks has a habit of being imported six months down the line over the pond.

I get that people can be apathetic. But to be honest it's a bit wild to me that people wouldn't spend an hour over the four years to familiarize themselves with the most important proposed policies of the parties. It's not like you have a bunch of parties, there are only two after all. Yeah, many people are single-issue voters for specific topics, but there are apparently also quite a few people who don't really pay any attention whatsoever. Explains why campaigning is so important, even if there are only two real choices. Just feels like a bizarro world to me lol
 
The thing that I don’t understand is how someone could get past Trump’s attempt to steal the election, capped by inciting a physical attack on another branch of government. If that’s not completely disqualifying, what would be?

Even if you set aside every other policy and character concern, how can you stomach those things, especially with the implications of SCOTUS’s ruling about criminal immunity for “official acts” while in office?
 
What James is talking about is a pretty common sentiment though and I think contributes a lot to why we get so many bad national candidates. American politics often feels like a race to the bottom, and with everything so nationalized I think there is a feeling that the only person who's vote actually matters is some guy in Michigan. Generally in America people tend to be really uninformed and so turned off by the discourse that they disengage entirely. It's very difficult to get people to be politically active in their own community, where their vote does make a difference, even for those who are already more politically engaged than average.
 
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