2024 U.S. Elections

Raoul

Admin
Staff
Joined
Aug 14, 1999
Messages
130,975
Location
Hollywood CA
Are we doing this again?

You have 4 options in November (lumping all 3rd party candidates together). Only 1 is likely to prevent a Trump second term. That's not an opinion, it's statistical fact.
If the sum of your utility on all issues (some kind of benefit/harm multiplied by likelihood) of Trump is greater than Biden, you should vote for Trump. If you place an infinity of harm on any one issue, and assign that to only one candidate, then you decide that way. (I.e. your red line). That's fine, but in my opinion irrational and detrimental to the world. But it's your opinion, your vote, so you be you.

What seems the incredibly likely outcome here is that enough liberals aghast at Biden's inability to reign in Israel will choose not to vote for him, Trump will sneak into power and make things worse in every area, including Gaza, at which point said non-voters will hopefully reconsider their staunch position if, there is in fact another election.

Personally I'm trying to make my peace with a second Trump term as the maga voters need to suffer, more, because clearly the actual actions and words of Trump mean nothing to them, and they're so poorly educated on important topics that the only way you can reach them is through actually seeing what a god-awful choice Trump is for them personally. Maybe another 4 years will be enough. Like lancing a boil. Which Trump is. They believe that sticking it to the system, to the elites is a good way to show their displeasure at how the country seems to have abandoned them, when in fact all it will do is remove more of the safety-nets they require to live, remove rights that are crucial to their future well-being and create an even larger gap between themselves and the elites.
Realistically, we have no idea what is going to happen in November given the amount of variables at play this year. Not just RFK but also Trump's trials, and dumb things he's yet to do between now and Nov. Eight years ago, Hillary was leading Trump in most polls and ended up losing despite nearly everyone expecting her to win.
 

Mike Smalling

Full Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2018
Messages
11,630
If moderate centrists applied the same pressure to biden to change course that they apply to leftists who say they won't vote for biden, that would be a much better use of their time and energy.
Yeah, but a lot of moderate centrists either agree with Biden's course, or don't care about the most egregious aspects of it.
 

oneniltothearsenal

Caf's Milton Friedman and Arse Aficionado
Scout
Joined
Dec 17, 2013
Messages
11,275
Supports
Brazil, Arsenal,LA Aztecs
Realistically, we have no idea what is going to happen in November given the amount of variables at play this year. Not just RFK but also Trump's trials, and dumb things he's yet to do between now and Nov. Eight years ago, Hillary was leading Trump in most polls and ended up losing despite nearly everyone expecting her to win.
Surely the brains eaten by a worm story would have killed any meaningful effect RFK could have on the election. Many American voters vote stupidly but I think that story will make it hard for even most idiots to vote for him.
 

Morty_

Full Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2013
Messages
3,131
Supports
Real Madrid
its definitely gonna work this time!
You can say that, but i reckon a lot of her supporters aren't really her supporters, just the anti-Trump faction of the party(and independents).

Reckon a bunch of them stays home this election, that is nothing to scoff at, imo.

Page up and page down about Palestina and Biden here, but hardly any for the unrest among voters Trump himself needs to win.
 

berbatrick

Renaissance Man
Scout
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
22,004

@Morty_ whatever the problems with sampling and response rates, many different polls are very consistently hitting voters who say "Trump--Gallego". Why do you totally refuse to believe it?
 

MrMarcello

In a well-ordered universe...
Joined
Dec 26, 2000
Messages
52,999
Location
On a pale blue dot in space
Yes, yes he was. The US has supplied millions, if not billions, of dollars worth of munitions. Sound familiar? Oh, and it started with Obama. Trump took some of the guide rails off, but they were both complicit.
Trump also veto'd a bill that would have ended US military involvement in Yemen.
 

MrMarcello

In a well-ordered universe...
Joined
Dec 26, 2000
Messages
52,999
Location
On a pale blue dot in space
This is a popular claim but r/askhistorians seems to say it didn't go entirely like this:
The link does contain a rebuttal that details behind the scenes interference by influential persons associated within the Reagan circle, so there's problem something in there. Not necessarily an outright covert act to stop a hostage release but certainly some likely shenanigans to further prolong the ordeal, thus damaging the incumbent.
 

berbatrick

Renaissance Man
Scout
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
22,004
This is a popular claim but r/askhistorians seems to say it didn't go entirely like this:
The reply to the only post there shows (as convincingly as it can be shown - from the personal papers of one of the conspirators) that the attempt was made to do exactly that. The remaining contention seems to be whether it was these attempts or the Iran-Iraq war that were the main reason behind the delay.
 

ManUtd1999

Full Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2013
Messages
3,667
I like Simon Rosenberg, and I followed him closely in 2022. He was right, and so was Matthew Dowd.

However, I’m not sure that I agree with him this time. The Biden brand, and the Democratic brand more generally, is damaged by the war in Gaza. I attended a graduation ceremony today, and a speaker mentioned the children of Gaza. There was a big roar from the crowd (normal people). The Gaza situation could play a bigger role than the Biden campaign thinks.


@Morty_ whatever the problems with sampling and response rates, many different polls are very consistently hitting voters who say "Trump--Gallego". Why do you totally refuse to believe it?
Unlike @Morty_ , I believe that we could see split tickets in AZ, PA and potentially other places.

However, this poll has Biden -3, and Gallego +10. That’s too much of a split. In addition, there are 15-20% in this poll with no vote for either of the 4 candidates (President and Senate). That doesn’t give me confidence in the poll. And so while I think that we could see split voting, polls like this are not reliable enough to affirm that.
 
Last edited:

berbatrick

Renaissance Man
Scout
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
22,004

another piece of evidence that suggests the obvious - Biden's Gaza policy is not about a domestic audience at all. Even as a potential constituency for a hawkish foreign policy openly supports Trump, and the leftist riff-raff protests against him, he supports Israel because he deeply believes in that project.
 

Raoul

Admin
Staff
Joined
Aug 14, 1999
Messages
130,975
Location
Hollywood CA
I like Simon Rosenberg, and I followed him closely in 2022. He was right, and so was Matthew Dowd.

However, I’m not sure that I agree with him this time. The Biden brand, and the Democratic brand more generally, is damaged by the war in Gaza. I attended a graduation ceremony today, and a speaker mentioned the children of Gaza. There was a big roar from the crowd (normal people). The Gaza situation could play a bigger role than the Biden campaign thinks.


Unlike @Morty_ , I believe that we could see split tickets in AZ, PA and potentially other places.

However, this poll has Biden -3, and Gallego +10. That’s too much of a split. In addition, there are 15-20% in this poll with no vote for either of the 4 candidates (President and Senate). That doesn’t give me confidence in the poll. And so while I think that we could see split voting, polls like this are not reliable enough to affirm that.
Rosenberg is way over the top in his predictions just as David Plouffe was in 2016. That said, no one knows what is going to happen this time. Even though 2016 and 2020 were absurdly unusual elections, this time may be even less predictable given the trials, RFK, Biden's age, and the weird Nikki Haley effect where people continue to vote for her even though she withdrew several months ago. So whatever votes Biden lacks in terms of foreign policy, economics, and age, could be offset by Trump's legal cases, abortion position, and inability to include Haley voters into his base. At the end of the day its going to be a GOTV game.
 

VorZakone

What would Kenny G do?
Joined
May 9, 2013
Messages
33,525
Trump is courting Libertarian activists and trying to ensure they’re not drawn to RFK Jr.'s campaign

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump plans to use an address Saturday night at the Libertarians’ national convention to court a segment of mostly conservative voters that has often been skeptical of the former president, while trying to ensure that party activists aren’t drawn to the campaign of independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
https://apnews.com/article/trump-li...rfk-jr-biden-816e3209fdf993c2ba7f6caed0ebcdb7
 

berbatrick

Renaissance Man
Scout
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
22,004
he's bringing the tactical voting debate from this thread to the libertarian party :lol:

 

berbatrick

Renaissance Man
Scout
Joined
Oct 22, 2010
Messages
22,004
Why would he be at this event? He only goes to things that adorn him
In 2016, despite all the publicity surrounding Jill Stein and the Green Party, by far the largest 3rd-party vote was for Gary Johnson of the Libertarians. They got roughly 3% of the vote in all the crucial swing states, compared to about 1% for the Greens. Libertarians are largely right-leaning, unlike left-leaning Greens - these were votes that might have gone for the Republican otherwise. With a remotely competent Democratic candidate, this 2% differential should have been a boost on top of Trump's existing unpopularity, and enough to assure victory.

Trump, despite his brash public speaking, is sometimes quite sharp about the reasons for his own success. I remember a leaked private recording where he spoke about how he was happy to face Hillary in the Midwest, and worried about her having Bernie as VP, because he opposed NAFTA.
He probably sees that this time, Biden and himself are the 2 most unpopular nominees of all time, paralleling 2016 when the same was true of him and Hillary. He also sees high polling for RFK and 3rd party alternatives, and remembers the 3% mark for Libertarians in 2016. If he got even a third of those voters, it would be a very useful buffer (since Biden is actively shunning the smaller numbers of left-wing defectors to the Greens/Cornel West).

Was a decent gamble, but it doesn't look like it worked.
 

2cents

Historiographer, and obtainer of rare antiquities
Scout
Joined
Mar 19, 2008
Messages
16,397
Had no idea Libertarian Party convention attendees could be such a rowdy bunch, or that they existed.
 

Morty_

Full Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2013
Messages
3,131
Supports
Real Madrid
Funny how Trump ca do whatever and get praised, no matter how stupid it is.

Imagine if Biden went to the green party convention and called them all a bunch of losers?

Yeah, "great strategy" insulting the libertarians to their faces, truly.
 

VorZakone

What would Kenny G do?
Joined
May 9, 2013
Messages
33,525
Funny how Trump ca do whatever and get praised, no matter how stupid it is.

Imagine if Biden went to the green party convention and called them all a bunch of losers?

Yeah, "great strategy" insulting the libertarians to their faces, truly.
If anyone is praising it, it's just his MAGA base. But they'll praise anything.
 

Morty_

Full Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2013
Messages
3,131
Supports
Real Madrid
If anyone is praising it, it's just his MAGA base. But they'll praise anything.
Been reading here and there, on right-wing forums, most seems to think it was hilarious, telling it like it is etc.

So yes, you are right it's his base, but it's still incredible how they can rationalize basically everything he does.