2020 US Elections | Biden certified as President | Dems control Congress

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Fergies Gum

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This alone is sufficient ground for him to not select her imo. A contingent of Dems are still unsettled about how she attacked him at the debates, another thinks she wouldn't be loyal, and of course progressives still think she's a cop. He should probably consider someone else who has more broad support among the party - especially among progressives.
I think the vp pick will either be Harris, Rice or Bass. Bass would be the most appealing choice for progressives if it comes down to those 3 picks.
 

nimic

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This alone is sufficient ground for him to not select her imo. A contingent of Dems are still unsettled about how she attacked him at the debates, another thinks she wouldn't be loyal, and of course progressives still think she's a cop. He should probably consider someone else who has more broad support among the party - especially among progressives.
It's funny how basically "no one" wants Harris as VP.
 

Kentonio

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I'm presuming he's worried about poll numbers, covid and the GDP figures

But what happens next? Will the RNC/GOP back him on this and is there a historical/legal precedent that might allow this?
Nope, absolutely not. Spanish flu, a civil war and two world wars weren't enough to postpone elections, so the chances of it happening now when the Democrats hold congress is exactly zero.
 

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I think the vp pick will either be Harris, Rice or Bass. Bass would be the most appealing choice for progressives if it comes down to those 3 picks.
It seems to be heading towards Rice at the moment. She would check all his boxes in terms of prior relationship with Biden, being politically aligned with his world view etc.
 

SirAF

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I'm presuming he's worried about poll numbers, covid and the GDP figures

But what happens next? Will the RNC/GOP back him on this and is there a historical/legal precedent that might allow this?
100% no chance.
 

WI_Red

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I'm presuming he's worried about poll numbers, covid and the GDP figures

But what happens next? Will the RNC/GOP back him on this and is there a historical/legal precedent that might allow this?
Elections were held during the Civil War, both World Wars, and most relevant, in the middle of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. So no, not only is there no historical precedent for delaying the election, there is precedent for NOT delaying it.
 

Wolverine

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Elections were held during the Civil War, both World Wars, and most relevant, in the middle of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. So no, not only is there no historical precedent for delaying the election, there is precedent for NOT delaying it.
Gotcha. I wonder what the angle is then, if there is one, strategically for election purposes for denigrating the mail-in voting system.
 

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Gotcha. I wonder what the angle is then, if there is one, strategically for election purposes for denigrating the mail-in voting system.
His angle is to discredit the circumstances surrounding why he suffered a humiliating loss - first by attempting to discredit mail in voting, then to discredit the very concept of an election during a pandemic.
 

Organic Potatoes

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Nope, absolutely not. Spanish flu, a civil war and two world wars weren't enough to postpone elections, so the chances of it happening now when the Democrats hold congress is exactly zero.
The Dems don’t hold Congress, but yes there is no chance.
 

Simbo

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The Dems don’t hold Congress, but yes there is no chance.
So if Trump announces the election is called off, backup up by all his republican cronies, judges and whatever other bullshit they can put together... What is actually stopping them from ignoring anything the senate/congress has to say about it, along with the results?

Genuinely curious, I assume some element of the armed forces has to step in, ordered by?
 

WI_Red

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So if Trump announces the election is called off, backup up by all his republican cronies, judges and whatever other bullshit they can put together... What is actually stopping them from ignoring anything the senate/congress has to say about it, along with the results?

Genuinely curious, I assume some element of the armed forces has to step in, ordered by?
It would be tough since this is one of those cases where the constitution is unambiguous:

The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
Since congress has already specified the date of the election this can not be undone, and red states would have no recourse to follow dear leader since the constitution does not allow for it.
 

Organic Potatoes

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So if Trump announces the election is called off, backup up by all his republican cronies, judges and whatever other bullshit they can put together... What is actually stopping them from ignoring anything the senate/congress has to say about it, along with the results?

Genuinely curious, I assume some element of the armed forces has to step in, ordered by?
Elections are controlled at a state level, so that couldn’t happen without cooperation from local governance. Even pulling all their strings they couldn’t manage that.

The real worry here is if they can contest it as a faulty count until the deadline for the electors to cast their votes. Then instead of the Presidency automatically going to Pelosi on Jan 20th, the House would vote. The trick there is it is not the whole House that votes, which the Dems control, but one House Rep from each state...which the GOP has more of.
 

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there won’t be a peaceful transition of power and if possible, there won’t be free elections (one could argue there never were any before). The American public still doesn’t seem to realise what’s at stake here.
 

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Some possible scenario I can think off for rigging election

1. They create a situation where martial law applies (blaming riots), send in the national guard and freeze election
2. They plant some prove of some Mail in voters fraud, demanding a recount / reelection or possibly demanding the SC to declare the election as fraudulence. Every dispute ended up at court eventually
3. Trump could start a war with Iran/China or Russia and use it as an excuse to hold election (looks improbable but doable)
4. Declare the pandemic to be widespread and only mail in counts in certain areas (according to his interest)
5. Reject the outcome of election, citing fraud and asking the SC to decide (happens in my country btw)
6. Delay Mail in Voters tactically, quickly do a quick count and claim he won. Or something like that, early results would stop late voters to participate.
7. Outright closing voting booth discriminately
8. Get some dirt of Biden and use it as last minute blitz. Hillary's email 2.0

None of them is plausible normally, but it's never normal with Trump, he really has everything to lose
 

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Trump has now set the floor for his cult followers to not accept an election result that isn't a trump victory. He does not have to push much further before this becomes frightening.

Americans must now be very careful of attempts for violent power grab. This is not just about an orange clown tweeting nonsense. he has proper authoritarians and likely out-and-out fascists working in the administration. Authoritarianism only needs to decide to act, and lazy unprepared democracies can be caught off guard.
 

Raoul

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Trump has now set the floor for his cult followers to not accept an election result that isn't a trump victory. He does not have to push much further before this becomes frightening.

Americans must now be very careful of attempts for violent power grab. This is not just about an orange clown tweeting nonsense. he has proper authoritarians and likely out-and-out fascists working in the administration. Authoritarianism only needs to decide to act, and lazy unprepared democracies can be caught off guard.
Most Republicans aren't falling for what Trump said about delaying the election. There may be a smaller contingent who don't accept it, but it won't really matter since the results will be overwhelmingly credible.
 

WPMUFC

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Most Republicans aren't falling for what Trump said about delaying the election. There may be a smaller contingent who don't accept it, but it won't really matter since the results will be overwhelmingly credible.
You don't need a majority of your party to implement a violent overthrow of your political system. Do I think the worst case scenario is likely? Not at all. I'm simply saying it's now at a point where complete dismissal of the worst outcome can not be completely ignored
 

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You don't need a majority of your party to implement a violent overthrow of your political system. Do I think the worst case scenario is likely? Not at all. I'm simply saying it's now at a point where complete dismissal of the worst outcome can not be completely ignored
Trump and a sliver of his supporters can dismiss it all they want. It won't matter if the results are certified. This is something both parties agree on.
 

WPMUFC

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Trump and a sliver of his supporters can dismiss it all they want. It won't matter if the results are certified. This is something both parties agree on.
What does certified results have to do with trump asking his loyal supporters after the first key battleground states are lost on election night, to protect their second amendment president and come to protect the white house from the unfolding illegitimate election?
 

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What does certified results have to do with trump asking his loyal supporters after the first key battleground states are lost on election night, to protect their second amendment president and come to protect the white house from the unfolding illegitimate election?
He doesn't really have the power you are giving him. A vast majority of Trumpers are ordinary Republicans who are using him to advance their policies. These are largely the same people who supported Dubya, and are not interested in some sort of dramatic military takeover. Also, Trump's power over his flock has been fading over the past year or so after the mid terms.
 
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nimic

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What does certified results have to do with trump asking his loyal supporters after the first key battleground states are lost on election night, to protect their second amendment president and come to protect the white house from the unfolding illegitimate election?
And... then what? Then the military comes in and violently crushes the militia movement.
 

The Firestarter

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What does certified results have to do with trump asking his loyal supporters after the first key battleground states are lost on election night, to protect their second amendment president and come to protect the white house from the unfolding illegitimate election?
That's too unrealistic even for Trump. First , he has three months do organise his coup , it doesn't have to be on election night. Then, even if he stays in the white House, that doesnt mean anything if everybody else stops following his orders at the end of January.

If he decides to go full dictator mode, he will need to find loyalist commanders around certain units in the army and air force. But that basically means civil war and Handmaid's tale type of developments.
 

utdalltheway

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Great. Can california secede in such an environment?
All the blue states with their massive GDP should.
We could have a normal US and then a separate one for the trumpers - we could call that one The Confederate States. Or if that’s trademarked, the Idiot States of America, ISA.
 

utdalltheway

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The election postponement is a distraction from the big economic news today. That’s why he’s off on that tangent. Let’s get back to the issues that face everyone.
 

oneniltothearsenal

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He's totally gonna declare victory on the night and seek legal challenges on any mail in votes
That's basically a variation on the Bush 2000 legal argument. Declare victory as President and then argue that counting all the votes will delegitimize the declared President thus violating his Constitutional rights.
 

sun_tzu

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That's basically a variation on the Bush 2000 legal argument. Declare victory as President and then argue that counting all the votes will delegitimize the declared President thus violating his Constitutional rights.
Well I'm pretty sure Bush won i 2000... so if it aint broke
Though some covid infested in person voting... with no face masks for id purposes and unamed federal forces providing security against antifa targeting democracy should give it a nice 2020 twist rather than hanging chads
 

Beachryan

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Apparently new voter registration is massively down in April/ May compared to 4 years ago. Gulp.
 
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