2020 Presidential election

[The Thriller]

One more critique, I love how the moderators and Never Trumpers focus on Warren/Sanders and ask them how we’re supposed to pay for their plans. Really? They don’t know? Probably the same way we’ve paid for two middle eastern wars, new aircraft carriers, bank bailouts, and tax cuts for the rich.

Also, Medicare for all is far cheaper than what we’re paying. Not a single host as brought up that we already pay 18 percent of our GDP towards health care, the highest in the world by far. Will Medicare be expensive? Hell yes, it’ll cost billions in raw dollars. But it’ll actually turn out to be savings, as we’ll spend far less of our GDP on health care.

Facts matter. Of course, it might take more than 45 seconds to explain that.

 

[Hotdog]

One thing I don’t understand, why don’t the parties host and moderate the debates and invite news agencies to watch? I think asking a candidate to answer a question in 45 seconds that would take hours to fully explain isn’t informative at all.

Because news agencies are moderating these debates, they’re really only asking loaded questions and giving candidates just enough time to answer so that the news agency gets a hot sound bite they can replay for the next 24 hours.

The goal of these debates shouldn’t be to get ratings or sound bites, but to inform the public.

Hell, I’d be happy if PBS just did all of the debates.

I, 100% agree with this. Great take Thriller.

I cannot stand how debates are moderated.

I cant believe we elect our leaders this way. The whole thing isnt even fair. Every single participant should get equal amount of time. The moderators deciding would gets the most time is so ****ing fraudulent.

 

[The Thriller]

It highlights why our elections are always such a **** show. CNN basically just tried to make the whole thing into a sporting event. No wonder the discourse is in the gutter and entertainers like Trump have success.

Debates should be on PBS or CSPAN imo.

Right!

At some point we need to come face to face with our reality. And the reality is, we’ve allowed entertainment to dumb us down to the point where we can’t govern effectively. So instead of escalating the circus, lets focus on what these debates should be about:

1. Informing the public of the party’s plans/direction.
2. Informing the public on where candidates stand.

The point isn’t to entertain but to inform. Which is why williamson’s *** needs to be kicked to the curb. Let her do her dark psychic ******** on her own time. We’re a ****ing democracy trying to compete with China and Russia, two countries that take their governmental leadership far more seriously than we do. Putin would’ve had a candidate like Williamson drugged by an atomic isotope in the tea by now.

 

[Hotdog]

I love all the republicans making it sound like college Edu and universal health care are crazy debate topics.

I’m old enough to remember “carpet bombing the Middle East until it glows in the dark”, comparing hand/penis sizes, and Marco Rubio’s live on screen murder at the hands of Gov Chris Christie:

The Republicans debates of 2016 was one of the most entertaining things Ive ever watched. Certainly for politics is was. Thats when I becane a fan of Trump. I didnt like the Republicans in the first place. Watching him destroy them and win as an underdog was an awesome sight.

 

[Zombie]

One more critique, I love how the moderators and Never Trumpers focus on Warren/Sanders and ask them how we’re supposed to pay for their plans. Really? They don’t know? Probably the same way we’ve paid for two middle eastern wars, new aircraft carriers, bank bailouts, and tax cuts for the rich.

Also, Medicare for all is far cheaper than what we’re paying. Not a single host as brought up that we already pay 18 percent of our GDP towards health care, the highest in the world by far. Will Medicare be expensive? Hell yes, it’ll cost billions in raw dollars. But it’ll actually turn out to be savings, as we’ll spend far less of our GDP on health care.

Facts matter. Of course, it might take more than 45 seconds to explain that.

Their insistence on harping on increased taxes without the context of not having premiums/deductibles/out of pocket costs, is just infuriating. Or the other night when someone (Delaney?) tried to pit union workers against supporters of m4a. It's ridiculous. Yang made a good point about the boost our economy would get if we divorced employment and health care. The benefits this would give to entrepreneurs is obvious. And of course it would be great for workers as well. Millions of people are "stuck" in the jobs they have now because they can't afford to lose their health benefits.

 

[Hotdog]

Right!

At some point we need to come face to face with our reality. And the reality is, we’ve allowed entertainment to dumb us down to the point where we can’t govern effectively. So instead of escalating the circus, lets focus on what these debates should be about:

1. Informing the public of the party’s plans/direction.
2. Informing the public on where candidates stand.

The point isn’t to entertain but to inform. Which is why williamson’s *** needs to be kicked to the curb. Let her do her dark psychic ******** on her own time. We’re a ****ing democracy trying to compete with China and Russia, two countries that take their governmental leadership far more seriously than we do. Putin would’ve had a candidate like Williamson drugged by an atomic isotope in the tea by now.

I think that one way to solve this mess would be to have all the candidates, their stories, their views, their positions, and what they promise all in one spot. All formatted the same. Things can be summarized and also have detail behind it if you want to click on it. Something official like that.

This thing where the media controls who to shove down your throat is annoying.

 

[The Thriller]

Their insistence on harping on increased taxes without the context of not having premiums/deductibles/out of pocket costs, is just infuriating. Or the other night when someone (Delaney?) tried to pit union workers against supporters of m4a. It's ridiculous. Yang made a good point about the boost our economy would get if we divorced employment and health care. The benefits this would give to entrepreneurs is obvious. And of course it would be great for workers as well. Millions of people are "stuck" in the jobs they have now because they can't afford to lose their health benefits.

Right? Excellent points.

I’d love to know how many would be entrepreneurs stay in their regular jobs “working for the man” because of health insurance? How many would be great small business owners but don’t try because they fear losing health insurance? How many would then try and become successful entrepreneurs if freed from these bands that prevent them from innovating?

I personally have several friends who stay in the jobs they hate because they don’t want to lose health care benefits. I wonder if they’d go out and do something they’d actually enjoy doing if they knew that they’d still be able to get health care despite being not working for a company?

Probably won’t get any hot sound bytes by debating these things but damn wouldn’t it start an awesome discussion?

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

A lot can happen in 18 months, but I don't think Biden, Booker, Harris, Warren or Sanders can beat Trump in an election unless Trump does something that's so far beyond reproach that he basically takes himself out. So far, I think Biden is the most capable of posing a real challenge, but I think he'd ultimately lose. He just doesn't come off as having the fire, the passion or the vision that he needs. He's a real senior statesman though.

Personally, I actually like a few of these fringe candidates like Andrew Yang and the governor from Washington Inslee.

 

[Zombie]

Right? Excellent points.

I’d love to know how many would be entrepreneurs stay in their regular jobs “working for the man” because of health insurance? How many would be great small business owners but don’t try because they fear losing health insurance? How many would then try and become successful entrepreneurs if freed from these bands that prevent them from innovating?

I personally have several friends who stay in the jobs they hate because they don’t want to lose health care benefits. I wonder if they’d go out and do something they’d actually enjoy doing if they knew that they’d still be able to get health care despite being not working for a company?

Probably won’t get any hot sound bytes by debating these things but damn wouldn’t it start an awesome discussion?

I've heard plenty of business owners complain about how onerous it is to provide Healthcare to employees once a company reaches a certain size. It incentives them to keep people at part time hours, which probably contributes to this age we are in right now where unemployment is down, but millions with jobs are "underemployed," working multiple jobs with few benefits just to get by. And hell, those who are employed with benefits often can't afford to actually use their Healthcare. I don't have the savings to meet my deductible, even with my HSA, and I know I'm far from alone in this.

 

[The Thriller]

A lot can happen in 18 months, but I don't think Biden, Booker, Harris, Warren or Sanders can beat Trump in an election unless Trump does something that's so far beyond reproach that he basically takes himself out. So far, I think Biden is the most capable of posing a real challenge, but I think he'd ultimately lose. He just doesn't come off as having the fire, the passion or the vision that he needs. He's a real senior statesman though.

Personally, I actually like a few of these fringe candidates like Andrew Yang and the governor from Washington Inslee.

Donald is already pleading with the feds to cut interest rates. If the economy is so strong, why would he be begging for that? Personally, I think Trump’s nonstop corruption, tweeting, and racism as already lost him a great deal of support nationally. The question is whether it’s hurt him so much that he’s lost Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Seriously, that’s all that matters. Whoever wins those 3 states will win the EC. Fortunately, for Donald, those 3 states have a large non-college educated white working class. That helps him.

However, Once the economy craters in the next year, I feel like Democrats will be in prime position to retake those states.

 

[Zombie]

A lot can happen in 18 months, but I don't think Biden, Booker, Harris, Warren or Sanders can beat Trump in an election unless Trump does something that's so far beyond reproach that he basically takes himself out. So far, I think Biden is the most capable of posing a real challenge, but I think he'd ultimately lose. He just doesn't come off as having the fire, the passion or the vision that he needs. He's a real senior statesman though.

Personally, I actually like a few of these fringe candidates like Andrew Yang and the governor from Washington Inslee.

My gut instinct is that any of those five could, but it's just way too early to say one way or the other with confidence. Trump is not a popular president, and there are a lot of people of all political stripes motivated to get him out of office.

 

[The Thriller]

Andrew Yang and inslee have the combined personalities of cardboard.

I’m all about candidates who are less about entertainment and more about information. But my hell... the president also has to be able to lead too. Neither one of those guys can lead the nation imo

 

[Zombie]

Donald is already pleading with the feds to cut interest rates. If the economy is so strong, why would he be begging for that? Personally, I think Trump’s nonstop corruption, tweeting, and racism as already lost him a great deal of support nationally. The question is whether it’s hurt him so much that he’s lost Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Seriously, that’s all that matters. Whoever wins those 3 states will win the EC. Fortunately, for Donald, those 3 states have a large non-college educated white working class. That helps him.

However, Once the economy craters in the next year, I feel like Democrats will be in prime position to retake those states.

It would be nice if the democrats messaging on the economy was about how the economy is good for investors, but isn't working for the average American. Especially in those rust belt states, he hasn't delivered the economic prosperity he promised them.

 

[Zombie]

Andrew Yang and inslee have the combined personalities of cardboard.

I’m all about candidates who are less about entertainment and more about information. But my hell... the president also has to be able to lead too. Neither one of those guys can lead the nation imo

Inslee is a great guy, awesome ideas, but just so little charisma.

 

[The Thriller]

Serious scenario:

Iran helps spread disinformation to help elect democrats as they see democrats more open to renegotiating the nuclear deal.

Something to think about; foreign interference in our elections. What toll would hundreds/thousands of Iranian bots have if they pumped out anti-trump rhetoric throughout October and November of 2020? Especially if they take a page out of 2016’s book and target the elderly on Facebook living midwestern states? Does China also help because they want to end the trade wars? Again, something to think about.

 

[The Thriller]

It would be nice if the democrats messaging on the economy was about how the economy is good for investors, but isn't working for the average American. Especially in those rust belt states, he hasn't delivered the economic prosperity he promised them.

If I were a democratic strategist, I’d be telling my candidate to mention trump’s Tax cuts for the rich and failure to enact health care reform in every other sentence. Whether it’s a debate, interview, or campaign speech. Forget school busing, focus on the damn tax cuts for the rich and refusal to fix our health care system.

“Promises made promises (not) kept.”

 

[The Thriller]

Inslee is a great guy, awesome ideas, but just so little charisma.

So little...

Again, I’m all about information. I want the president to be a helluva lot smarter than me. I don’t want the president to be the guy to drink a beer with me. I want him to be the guy reading hours on end about foreign policy or discussing economics. We have drinking buddies. We need an executive leader.

But man, ya gotta have some charism too. Just a little at least.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

Serious scenario:

Iran helps spread disinformation to help elect democrats as they see democrats more open to renegotiating the nuclear deal.

Something to think about; foreign interference in our elections. What toll would hundreds/thousands of Iranian bots have if they pumped out anti-trump rhetoric throughout October and November of 2020? Especially if they take a page out of 2016’s book and target the elderly on Facebook living midwestern states? Does China also help because they want to end the trade wars? Again, something to think about.

Maybe like a lesser version of MSNBC....

Of course, you Democrats would never stand for something like that since it would be a trespass on our sacred Republic.

 

[The Thriller]

Maybe like a lesser version of MSNBC....

Of course, you Democrats would never stand for something like that since it would be a trespass on our sacred Republic.

Huh? Your post makes zero sense. I thought republicans demanded that people here speak American?

 

[Zombie]

Maybe like a lesser version of MSNBC....

Of course, you Democrats would never stand for something like that since it would be a trespass on our sacred Republic.

I certainly wouldn't.