[Discussion] Election 2020

Seems like the board is set. Let’s see how this goes.

DSGamer wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

Republicans are now obsessed over whether or not Kamala Harris is black enough or if she can really be black if she's descended from slave owners or whether or not she's really Indian or if she can be African-American and Indian-American at the same time.

Guys, this country is f*cking bonkers.

After the last 4 years, especially the last 6 months, this is the largest understatement.

There were Republicans who did this with Obama as well, it was just overshadowed by the Birther nonsense.

Amoebic wrote:

Delbin shared this in the discord, and I'm very much in agreement with everything stated here.

tl:dr get trump out above all else, good explainer on leftist vs liberal in this political climate.

That was really insightful.

I like Beau a lot.

I found this article fairly hopeful. Basically, it argues that while Harris has some ugly parts of her history, she is aware, and is actively trying to tack hard in the other direction. In addition, it points out that as she clearly sees VP as a stepping stone to the presidency (not a criticism, it's a smart play for an ambitious person). As such, the smart play is for her to push for progressive initiatives while in office to shore up support among leftists, especially since such policies are growing more and more popular.

Jordan Weissmann wrote:

This all gets at a larger meta-point. For ambitious politicians who try to track their party’s mainstream, their actual record is sometimes not that useful an indicator of what they’ll do in higher office, because by definition they try to move with the country’s and their party’s mood. This is the optimistic case you often hear for why a Biden presidency could result in real progressive achievements. But for a historical example, consider President Lyndon Johnson. The man spent the first decades of his career opposing pretty much any and all civil rights legislation, because he was a Democratic politician from the segregationist South. During his master-of-the-Senate phase in 1957 and 1960, he helped pass bills on the issue by largely allowing them to be watered down to near meaninglessness. If you’d told activists then that LBJ was destined to be the man who muscled through legislation ending Jim Crow and guaranteeing voting rights, they’d have been very skeptical. But that’s how history worked out, partly because he was an ambitious politician who could read the room (or, you know, turn on a television).

I was disappointed when I found out that Beau is just a character the guy does but I still like his videos.

ruhk wrote:

I was disappointed when I found out that Beau is just a character the guy does but I still like his videos.

I didn't know that but it doesn't surprise me. The aesthetic combined with the actual beliefs he espouses seems extremely unlikely to have come about authentically. i think i always figured he was at least playing up the redneck aesthetic for effect.

thrawn82 wrote:
ruhk wrote:

I was disappointed when I found out that Beau is just a character the guy does but I still like his videos.

I didn't know that but it doesn't surprise me. The aesthetic combined with the actual beliefs he espouses seems extremely unlikely to have come about authentically. i think i always figured he was at least playing up the redneck aesthetic for effect.

If you want actual redneck leftists try the Trillbilly Workers Party podcast. It’s pretty rough around the edges but it’s literally just a bunch of Appalachian socialists chatting about current events in a log cabin.

Trump admitted he's screwing with the post office to prevent mail in ballots this morning on Fox l.

Once again, just because he's commiting crimes in the open and admitting to them doesn't make them not crimes.

Video

Reaper81 wrote:

I keep expecting him to publicly crucify Pence and announce a new running mate after blaming everything on Pence.

There is some thought here in Iowa that our governor, Kim Reynolds, has been towing the trump line so hard (no mask mandate, schools must be in person, etc.) because she is hoping trump will dump Pence and pick her up. Some thought that might help with the female suburban vote.

Trump went with Pence in 2016 to win over the evangelical vote, but is that still the case in 2020? Are there really any Trump supporters who would vote for Biden or stay home if Pence was booted out? Honestly, it might be a good move for Trump to replace him. It would shake up the race and draw media attention away from Biden/Harris.

It's certainly not a safe move to make, but when you're behind you gotta roll those dice.

Good news from RI. Hopefully this is the setting of a precedent because it’s just a blatant move to reduce voter turnout.

Supreme Court won't block eased rules for Rhode Island absentee ballots

(CNN)The Supreme Court will not intervene in a legal fight concerning absentee ballots in Rhode Island, meaning the state's order removing a requirement that absentee ballots must be signed by two witnesses or a notary public will stand.

Won't matter if Trump destroys the post office.

Amoebic wrote:
JLS wrote:
Amoebic wrote:

The vileness of the person doesn't negate one's ability to access them as a resourceful tool of democracy when necessary.

The exact argument of many a Trump supporter, among them many conservative Christians in my own family.

The difference is that few progressives virtue-signal their values while voting for someone whose entire life is a mockery of those same values.

That's kind of how the whole system is wired. It's not a slippery slope just because Trumpers also do it, too.

The DNC is going with the old familiar tune of "Vote for us even though we're giving you nothing" strategy , again. The same strategy that Hillary Clinton went with in 16. This time it's going to be different, though... right? It's not like Bernie's supporters are going to stay home on election day, or gods forbid, vote for the other guy.

Drazzil wrote:

The DNC is going with the old familiar tune of "Vote for us even though we're giving you nothing" strategy , again. The same strategy that Hillary Clinton went with in 16. This time it's going to be different, though... right? It's not like Bernie's supporters are going to stay home on election day, or gods forbid, vote for the other guy.

Which parts of the 80-page Democratic platform document add up to "nothing"?

Drazzil wrote:

The DNC is going with the old familiar tune of "Vote for us even though we're giving you nothing" strategy , again. The same strategy that Hillary Clinton went with in 16. This time it's going to be different, though... right? It's not like Bernie's supporters are going to stay home on election day, or gods forbid, vote for the other guy.

I suggest you spend more time reading about policy and less time reading hot takes on twitter. You sound grossly uninformed with both Clinton and Biden's platforms.

Drazzil wrote:

The DNC is going with the old familiar tune of "Vote for us even though we're giving you nothing" strategy , again. The same strategy that Hillary Clinton went with in 16. This time it's going to be different, though... right? It's not like Bernie's supporters are going to stay home on election day, or gods forbid, vote for the other guy.

Some people can't be reached. Democracts probably shouldn't waste effort trying to reach Trumps 20% core voters either. If people cant figure out who to vote for in an election like this...

Dems seem to have moved a fair bit to the left regardless, so even if Nothing is endlessly better than Trump, those people are getting offered more than nothing.

Djinn wrote:
Drazzil wrote:

The DNC is going with the old familiar tune of "Vote for us even though we're giving you nothing" strategy , again. The same strategy that Hillary Clinton went with in 16. This time it's going to be different, though... right? It's not like Bernie's supporters are going to stay home on election day, or gods forbid, vote for the other guy.

I suggest you spend more time reading about policy and less time reading hot takes on twitter. You sound grossly uninformed with both Clinton and Biden's platforms.

Bingo.

Vice: The Post Office Is Deactivating Mail Sorting Machines Ahead of the Election

The United States Postal Service is removing mail sorting machines from facilities around the country without any official explanation or reason given, Motherboard has learned through interviews with postal workers and union officials. In many cases, these are the same machines that would be tasked with sorting ballots, calling into question promises made by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that the USPS has “ample capacity” to handle the predicted surge in mail-in ballots.
“I’m not sure you’re going to find an answer for why [the machines being removed] makes sense,” said Iowa Postal Workers Union President Kimberly Karol, “because we haven’t figured that out either.”

The postal workers Motherboard spoke to said having machines removed, replaced, or modified is nothing new, but this time it seems to be more widespread, include a larger number of machines at their respective facility, and potentially impacts the facility’s ability to process large numbers of mail, including ballots, in a short time span.

“Look at it this way: Your local grocery store was forced to cut 1/3 of its cash-out lines, but management expected the same productivity, quality, and speed for the customer,” said an employee at a Buffalo distribution facility, which they said is set to lose six out of 21 mail sorting machines. “It’s just never going to happen.”

Would it in any way be legal/possible for states election administration to setup their own temporary "postal services" for mail in ballots?

Shadout wrote:

Would it in any way be legal/possible for states election administration to setup their own temporary "postal services" for mail in ballots?

Ballot drop boxes.

Lent wrote:
Shadout wrote:

Would it in any way be legal/possible for states election administration to setup their own temporary "postal services" for mail in ballots?

Ballot drop boxes.

If you are not in a Republican held area that is trying to limit ballot drop boxes to one per county, because of course they are.

Shadout wrote:

Would it in any way be legal/possible for states election administration to setup their own temporary "postal services" for mail in ballots?

My Republican-controlled state government has decided that a single ballot drop box for absentee ballots per county is suitable even though the number of people voting by mail is expected to double to half the electorate.

And to get an absentee ballot I first have to fill out a form, mail it to my local county board of elections, wait for them to process the form, and then wait for the ballot to be mailed to me. And unless I want to drive 30 minutes to my county board of elections to drop my ballot off at the single approved drop box I have to mail my ballot.

So to avoid voting in a haze of COVID-19 I have to rely on the USPS three separate times and hope that neither my ballot request or my actual ballot doesn't get mysterious delayed.

I see that John Eastman's BS birther op-ed in Newsweek has already spread to Trump with him saying during tonight's press conference tonight "So I just heard that, I heard it today, that [Harris] doesn’t meet the requirements. And, by the way, the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer. I have no idea if that’s right. I would have assumed the Democrats would have checked it before she gets chosen to run for vice president. But that’s a very serious--you’re saying that they’re saying that she doesn’t qualify because she wasn’t born in this country?”

Here in NC at least, voter groups are mailing out the ballot request forms. We got them last week, checked the state web site to confirm it was the right form and address, and mailed them in. So hopefully part 1, request a ballot, is complete.

I haven't looked into the drop box part yet.

OG_slinger wrote:

I see that John Eastman's BS birther op-ed in Newsweek has already spread to Trump with him saying during tonight's press conference tonight "So I just heard that, I heard it today, that [Harris] doesn’t meet the requirements. And, by the way, the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer. I have no idea if that’s right. I would have assumed the Democrats would have checked it before she gets chosen to run for vice president. But that’s a very serious--you’re saying that they’re saying that she doesn’t qualify because she wasn’t born in this country?”

written by the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Harris in the race for California's AG. I'm sure he has no grudge whatsoever.

Stele wrote:

Here in NC at least, voter groups are mailing out the ballot request forms. We got them last week, checked the state web site to confirm it was the right form and address, and mailed them in. So hopefully part 1, request a ballot, is complete.

I haven't looked into the drop box part yet.

This actually freaked me out when we received the forms from the voting group because we had already mailed in our ballot request. Given the legitimately paranoid times we live in, my first thought was that some shadow group found out we had requested a mail in ballot and sent a duplicate request form with the goal of getting us barred from voting by requesting too many ballots. I spent way too much time researching who sent the forms before finally concluding that the timing was just a coincidence.

As for drop boxes. The only thing I can find on the state board of election website is that you can drop them off at your local board of election, but I really hope we add more drop off locations.

NC's Board of Election page covering absentee ballots

*Edit*
Further research:

May I hand-deliver my voted absentee ballot to my county board of elections office?
Yes. If you are delivering your voted ballot in person, it must be returned to your county board of elections office by 5 p.m. on Election Day. You may also return it to any early voting site in the county.
If you drop off a sealed absentee ballot at an early voting site, do you have to wait in line?
Yes. If you do not want to wait in line, you can mail your ballot.

How much does it cost to mail my ballot in?
55 cents (one first-class stamp) or one Forever Stamp

Yeah I mean I usually early vote and am in and out in 15ish minutes. Standing in line again there defeats the purpose of dropping off in person to avoid crowds.

OG_slinger wrote:

I see that John Eastman's BS birther op-ed in Newsweek has already spread to Trump with him saying during tonight's press conference tonight "So I just heard that, I heard it today, that [Harris] doesn’t meet the requirements. And, by the way, the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer. I have no idea if that’s right. I would have assumed the Democrats would have checked it before she gets chosen to run for vice president. But that’s a very serious--you’re saying that they’re saying that she doesn’t qualify because she wasn’t born in this country?”

I read the Newsweek op-ed at work: Some Questions for Kamala Harris About Eligibility. I was pretty annoyed throughout, but then I got to this part (bold is mine):

I have no doubt that this significant challenge to Harris' constitutional eligibility to the second-highest office in the land will be dismissed out of hand as so much antiquated constitutional tripe. But the concerns about divided allegiance that led our nation's Founders to include the "natural-born citizen" requirement for the office of president and commander-in-chief remain important; indeed, with persistent threats from Russia, China and others to our sovereignty and electoral process, those concerns are perhaps even more important today. It would be an inauspicious start for any campaign for the highest offices in the land to ignore the Constitution's eligibility requirements; how else could we possibly expect the candidates, if elected, to honor their oaths to "faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and...to the best of [their] Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States?"

I about lost it. I was so pissed. Veiled racist attack under the guise that you're concerned US leadership could come under malign foreign influence, when you've been defending Trump all this time!?! The man who has actively asked for Russia to meddle in our election and turned a blind eye to their ongoing efforts in this area? The man who is bending over backward to appease Putin to the point of completely ignoring bounties on our soldiers? The man who is doing his absolute best to completely undermine our electoral process in his favor as we speak? F. U.

Shame on Newsweek as well for publishing this.

Stele wrote:

Trump admitted he's screwing with the post office to prevent mail in ballots this morning on Fox l.

Once again, just because he's commiting crimes in the open and admitting to them doesn't make them not crimes.

Yeah. He hates mail-in voting with a passion. Just ask him, it's the worst thing ever.

Meanwhile, in completely unrelated news, Trump and Melania requested mail-in ballots for Florida's primary election.

gewy wrote:
But the concerns about divided allegiance that led our nation's Founders to include the "natural-born citizen" requirement for the office of president and commander-in-chief remain important; indeed, with persistent threats from Russia, China and others to our sovereignty and electoral process, those concerns are perhaps even more important today.

By all means, let's guard ourselves against the shadowy intelligence cabals of *checks notes* Jamaica.