2020 Elections

[dismalist]

I had long thought that Biden had the best chance to beat Trump. I questioned my own judgement as he spoke over recent months. But now things look cool: Bernie vs. Biden in the finals before the real finals.

And remember: Politics is not about policy! :-)

[mamselle]

Interesting prediction by Paul Begala (CNN).

To upstage the DNC announcement, Begala figures Pence will be replaced on the ticket by Nikki Haley via an announcement from the Florida Camp David.

Reason: He will have done badly in overseeing the coronavirus mess....

   https://thehill.com/homenews/media/485562-cnns-begala-trump-will-dump-pence-for-haley-on-day-of-democratic-nominees

M.

[Diogenes]

Interesting prediction by Paul Begala (CNN).

To upstage the DNC announcement, Begala figures Pence will be replaced on the ticket by Nikki Haley via an announcement from the Florida Camp David.

Reason: He will have done badly in overseeing the coronavirus mess....

   https://thehill.com/homenews/media/485562-cnns-begala-trump-will-dump-pence-for-haley-on-day-of-democratic-nominees

M.

He needs the evangelical vote too much to ditch someone like Pence. Haley has moderate appeal but he'd need a Pence clone.

[RatGuy]

Interesting prediction by Paul Begala (CNN).

To upstage the DNC announcement, Begala figures Pence will be replaced on the ticket by Nikki Haley via an announcement from the Florida Camp David.

Reason: He will have done badly in overseeing the coronavirus mess....

   https://thehill.com/homenews/media/485562-cnns-begala-trump-will-dump-pence-for-haley-on-day-of-democratic-nominees

M.

He needs the evangelical vote too much to ditch someone like Pence. Haley has moderate appeal but he'd need a Pence clone.

I disagree. In my experience -- and this is coming from a red state in a predominately Baptist area -- the evangelicals I know already view Trump as the second coming of Christ. I've mentioned before that I have neighbors and colleagues who have Trump's autograph on their Bibles. They view all his actions as righteous, given that almost all define "liberal" or "left" or "not Republican" as literally diabolical. As that one politician from Alabama said, "we'd vote for Satan himself before we'd elect a Democrat." I don't think that's just rhetoric, at least around here. Evangelicals don't "hold their nose" as they defend Trump -- they defend him as if they're defending their own faith.

[marshwiggle]

As that one politician from Alabama said, "we'd vote for Satan himself before we'd elect a Democrat."

And there are people on the left who would say basically the same thing if you replaced "Democrat" with "Republican". That sort of polarization (on both ends of the political spectrum) is the true danger to democracy.

[writingprof]

Interesting prediction by Paul Begala (CNN).

To upstage the DNC announcement, Begala figures Pence will be replaced on the ticket by Nikki Haley via an announcement from the Florida Camp David.

Reason: He will have done badly in overseeing the coronavirus mess....

   https://thehill.com/homenews/media/485562-cnns-begala-trump-will-dump-pence-for-haley-on-day-of-democratic-nominees

M.

He needs the evangelical vote too much to ditch someone like Pence. Haley has moderate appeal but he'd need a Pence clone.

As one of the "evangelicals" you're talking about, I assure you that we'd all be fine with Haley and don't care about Pence one way or the other now that Trump has proven himself to us.  [Note: I despise Trump.]  I personally would enjoy a Haley candidacy, if only to see the Left beclown itself with "She's not a woman 'of color'; she's a Republican" bumper stickers.

[secundem_artem]

A bit of a change of topic....

I'm starting to wonder if the attention paid to who wins the presidency is a bit over-rated.  Trump (and Obama before him) has had much (most?) of his success more by executive order than by legislation.  He is staffing the executive branch with like minded sycophants.  I'm not happy with it, but all of that can be undone with a signature by a later Democratic administration.

The one that scares me is Mitch McConnell who is stacking the federal courts with people who will be able to influence the nature of the country for 2 generations.  That's the kind of influence that changes a country for a long time, not the tweet of the moment stuff that serves as red meat to the deplorables Trumpists.

[Parasaurolophus]

Looks like those last-minute withdrawals and endorsements paid off for Biden and resurrected his campaign last night. Ugh.

On the other hand, I welcome the narrowing of the race, and it's far from over. In fact, it's still neck-and-neck.

[spork]

[. . .]

I predict Biden's campaign will continue its downward spiral and that he will get crushed in South Carolina if his campaign lasts that long.

I am going to continue with this prediction.

I am comfortable enough in my masculinity to admit that my prediction was wrong.

[nebo113]

A bit of a change of topic....

I'm starting to wonder if the attention paid to who wins the presidency is a bit over-rated.  Trump (and Obama before him) has had much (most?) of his success more by executive order than by legislation.  He is staffing the executive branch with like minded sycophants.  I'm not happy with it, but all of that can be undone with a signature by a later Democratic administration.

The one that scares me is Mitch McConnell who is stacking the federal courts with people who will be able to influence the nature of the country for 2 generations.  That's the kind of influence that changes a country for a long time, not the tweet of the moment stuff that serves as red meat to the deplorables Trumpists.

He scares the living sh*t out of me.  We're screwed by SCOTUS until after I'm dead.

[mamselle]

Are there parliamentary systems in which we could end up with a combination like Pelosi for President and McCormack for Veep?

THAT would be interesting...

M.

[magnemite]

[. . .]

I predict Biden's campaign will continue its downward spiral and that he will get crushed in South Carolina if his campaign lasts that long.

I am going to continue with this prediction.

I am comfortable enough in my masculinity to admit that my prediction was wrong.

You are not alone.

Now that Warren is out, I have to revise my preference again before voting on Tuesday.

I am not thrilled by the prospect of being certain we'll have a president who is older than 73 starting in 2021. #notOKboomer!

[Anselm]

Are there parliamentary systems in which we could end up with a combination like Pelosi for President and McCormack for Veep?

THAT would be interesting...

M.

Did you mean Mitch McConnell?  I seem to recall reading that in the earliest elections the VP would be from a different party than the president's own party.

[dismalist]

Who is McCormack?

[Cheerful]

Who is McCormack?

Not be confused with Willoughby M. McCormick (1864–1932), founder of spice and condiments company in U.S.