US Presidential election 2020 megathread
 

My starter for ten: this Hunter Biden Ukraine shit is going to fuck the Dems because they're so fucking high and mighty about Trump family nepotism.

I like that so far as I've noticed Warren's platform hasn't been a vapid "first woman president!!1!"

She's certainly winning the meme campaign so far. But on the left she's got all the Bernie bros to contend with.

I think Bernie is a little past it, although he would get my vote. Having said that, I wouldn't surprised if Joe is the one who wins the nomination. Of course, if Trump actually loses the election, we'll probably hear the cries of "ELECTORAL FRAUD!!" from all the way over here.

Bernie has many radical ideas that would be beneficial for the US, but would never actually be implemented with the current political system they have. He'd be hamstrung every step of the way.
He's gone full Populares and it's incredible to hear, but it deviates too far from what the Democratic Party will be comfortable with. See also: 2016.

What's changed in the last four years in the Democratic Party that would have me think that they've learned from losing to Trump? Nada.

Biden's well known, has the safe middle aged white guy factor, and if he stays in the race, he'll get the Superdelegate endorsements because he's the epitome of what they stand for, and that'll be that.

Warren's intentionally playing it safe, probably out of fear of alienating the potential endorsers, but isn't making headlines of any sort just yet.

Agree with Bob.

The lesson from 2016 has to be that a candidate must be on the offensive, and their name must be in the headlines every day.

Warren seems to worry about the quality of her content before she posts. It's a losing strategy. Moreover, her best move has been appreciated only by a dwindling demographic.

Filter demographic by:
- Smart people who know Facebook is evil, but yet they still use social media; and
- who get irony; and
- who read articles that explain the joke to them if they didn't get it; and
- who already know election campaigns are full of lies.

Filter applied, no results found! Please try searching for something a little less specific.


Maybe it's the kind of things I subscribe to, but my news feed is full of Andrew Yang news and support more than any other politician. Also, Tulsi Gabbard has dropped off my feeds.

Middle-aged? The dude would turn EIGHTY in office if he won.

I think Warren is looking like the strongest candidate for the Dem primary. Biden's too cringey for the woke Left in 2020, Bernie's too frail, Kamala and Beto and Yang don't have enough mainstream recognition (yet).

All of which is irrelevant come election time, because the winner will be whoever has the biggest cleverest richest social media resources behind them. And by biggest cleverest richest social media resources I mean Russia. No party can compete with the clout of a fucking former superpower nation-state. Whoever Russia wants to win... will win.

Holy shit how did the world get to this state.

Jeepers, never realised he is only 1 year younger than Bernie

I'm watching some war history. 100 years ago right now was insane. It almost gives me hope for the future, how things can manage to turn around (with enough dead people.)

It may be other powers have had enough time to produce some of their own social media weapons and defences, that it might not be all about Russia.

However, if Trump loses you can bet he'll be crying vote manipulation. I can't see a peaceful transition of power, unless it's one of his kids he's handing the reigns over to.

The good thing is at least if Trump (somehow) wins again, he can't run again.

You seriously think a constitutional amendment would stop Trump and the current Republican Party? There's no way he'd stop at two terms, and there's no way the current government would stop him.

I have no idea how you can come to the conclusion that he's some sort of dangerous dictator that will cling to power at all costs. As far as I can tell it's the deep state/Democrats that are attempting to cling to power via unconstitutional means (FISA abuse, phony dossier, now "attempting" impeachment without a real crime or a house vote), but CNN and the rest that follow don't report it that way.

"If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're misinformed." - Mark Twain

Speaking of news, Hillary Clinton suggests Russians are 'grooming' Tulsi Gabbard for third-party run. Is there anything Russia isn't responsible for? Do we believe it? I don't.

On the Clinton front, NZ has agreed to stop donating to the Clinton Foundation. That's good news.

Will that well oiled meme machine that Ab spoke about manage to make a Hare Krishna President? That would totally amaze me, but I doubt it. Maybe she actually poses a threat to the Democrats' intended nominee (Biden, because he's obviously the most corrupt/connected), so she needs to be eliminated from the race?

8chan is almost back online (8kun.net). Which means things are about to heat up in the "deplorable"/Qanon camp. Had to wait for the corn to be harvested so there's enough for everyone to pop for the long awaited and much delayed FISA declas :P Trump doesn't seem at all worried about impeachment, and he's meeting with world leaders and working hard on the trade agreements. Getting shit done, while the Dems panic and smear. It will all come out eventually.

Whoever becomes President after Trump, whether 2020 (~10%) or 2024 (~90%), will be extremely dull in comparison.

I think you would find a LOT of people on both sides would be extremely upset if he tried to run for a third term, and I doubt their Electoral Commission would allow him to register to run a third time anyway. He can try, of course. Doesn't mean he will necessarily get anywhere. The majority of Americans (and I know lots of them - married to one as well) are quite adverse to change. The rule is two terms as president, and their would be an uproar if he tried to run a third time.

My sense is Trump would thrive in such circumstances. Also, Trump himself doesn't need to run for a third term, he just needs to appoint a successor.

He could always be appointed vice president :) [although I expect even this would be met with resistance].

There is no way in hell he would run as a VP, with maybe 1 exception, one of his kids is running for president.

A Narcissist's Prayer

That didn't happen.
And if it did, it wasn't that bad.
And if it was, that's not a big deal. <-- You are here.
And if it is, that's not my fault.
And if it was, I didn't mean it.
And if I did...
You deserved it.

Come on, this is just ridiculous.

Let's just find examples from this last weekend, and from his own people.

No misinformation, no deep state Democrats attempting to cling to power via unconstitutional means.


Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney suggests Trump withheld Ukraine aid in quid pro quo

Mick Mulvaney admits that Trump "still considers himself to be in the hospitality business" - Trump's acting chief of staff told "Fox News Sunday" that the president is still running his businesses in office

Giuliani says he won't comply with a congressional subpoena

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Joe Biden attach conditions to releasing aid to Ukraine in 2016?

I'm no expert in the Constitution/US law, so I'm not entirely sure why Joe Biden (as VP) can put conditions on aid while Trump can't. Is it because the commitment to investigating corruption relates to Joe Biden (being a political opponent of Trump), or is Biden also guilty of the same offence? Please clarify, as I honestly don't understand that part, or even why America has to provide foreign aid without anything in return. Everyone is saying "quid pro quo!" but aren't all deals/negotations made where both sides get something out of the deal? Is foreign aid really pure charity? If the President of the US uses a foreign nation to investigate his political opponent, that's a crime? Wasn't this what happened to Trump in 2016 with the whole Russian dossier? Would that make Obama guilty if he knew about the FISA?

I concede that the answers Mulvaney gave to questions didn't go down well and did more harm than good. I don't particularly care about Trump offering to provide services for less money than an alternative, but he's since backtracked on that, so the taxpayers just pay more, well done. As for Giuliani, he's a lawyer, he's acting like a lawyer, and I'm sure he's aware of processes and consequences, and what he can refuse or delay. Trump is the target of impeachment, not Giuliani.

The "I scratch your back and then you scratch mine" isn't the illegal part, it's about how it's used, and how it's dealt with.

It depends on the "pro" - Was it done for a legitimate, or a corrupt reason?

"You sleep with me and I'll get you that promotion". "I'll pay you and you make those tax issues go away."


Here's an NYT article with 15 times Trump denied that he got anything out of the deal.
Then all of a sudden Mulvaney says Trump did get something out of it, but it wasn't a big deal.
Then he attempts to go back and say he didn't say that thing everyone heard him say.

Conditions on aid isn't a bad thing. It's again, the condition that matters.
In the Ukraine case, the aid was approved, then Trump held up the military aid to Ukraine until that country agreed to assist with an investigation into his personal political rival. Does that sound like it's in the best interest of the American people?

There's definitely a swamp to drain. I'm least not thinking there are any innocent parties here.

But there are definitely significant differences. Politicians in the US are supposed to wait till they've left office before they start reaping in the benefits from those they made choices in favour of. Cushy jobs on boards, well paid speaking tours, the like.

Wait... you mean "old boy network - bureaucrat " kind of deep state, or "Infowars - Joe Rogan podcast" deep state?

Yes

The top American diplomat in Ukraine testified on Tuesday that President Donald Trump made the release of U.S. security aid to Ukraine contingent on Kiev publicly declaring it would carry out politically motivated investigations that he demanded.

This is the "You know that job you wanted, well it's yours, as long as you make it worth my while." *unzip*

Reuters said that Taylor said that Sondland said that Donald Trump said that he wants Zelenskiy to investigate Burisma in the Ukraine.

MY MIND IS CHANGED, I now want the corrupt guy to become President, because the current one is investigating him for corruption and he's shit scared. I realise the current one has BEEN investigated since 2016 and nothing was found, but never mind that.