TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

The General US Politics Thread

Go To

Nov 2023 Mod notice:


There may be other, more specific, threads about some aspects of US politics, but this one tends to act as a hub for all sorts of related news and information, so it's usually one of the busiest OTC threads.

If you're new to OTC, it's worth reading the Introduction to On-Topic Conversations and the On-Topic Conversations debate guidelines before posting here.

Rumor-based, fear-mongering and/or inflammatory statements that damage the quality of the thread will be thumped. Off-topic posts will also be thumped. Repeat offenders may be suspended.

If time spent moderating this thread remains a distraction from moderation of the wiki itself, the thread will need to be locked. We want to avoid that, so please follow the forum rules when posting here.


In line with the general forum rules, 'gravedancing' is prohibited here. If you're celebrating someone's death or hoping that they die, your post will get thumped. This rule applies regardless of what the person you're discussing has said or done.

Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#275801: Mar 26th 2019 at 2:36:19 PM

"What do you make of my analysis above?"

I hope that you are right.

Edited by DeMarquis on Mar 26th 2019 at 5:37:12 AM

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
MarkVonLewis Since: Jun, 2010
#275802: Mar 26th 2019 at 2:46:52 PM

Really, a Republican is quoting goddamn Mein Kampf"?!

Fuck it, I'm gonna vote in 2020, and Democrat too even if I hate the candidate.

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#275803: Mar 26th 2019 at 2:49:07 PM

Be sure to check the deadline for voter registration in your state; hopefully, you can register online right now, and be all set for the 2020 election. You should also check when the primary is in your state, and encourage your friends to get registered as well.

And thank you. There were far more people who didn’t vote in 2016 than people who supported Trump; getting people to register and to go vote is of crucial importance, so seriously, thank you.

Edited by wisewillow on Mar 26th 2019 at 5:51:32 AM

MarkVonLewis Since: Jun, 2010
#275804: Mar 26th 2019 at 2:51:48 PM

I'm already registered; my card is in my lockbox alongside my DD-214.

I didn't vote last election due to work and other life events, but goddamn I'm going to this next one. I've always hated Republican idealogoy, but to quote the goddamn book of a man many American lives were lost to stop?! Fuck no, fuck Republicans.

Edited by MarkVonLewis on Mar 26th 2019 at 5:54:10 AM

Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#275805: Mar 26th 2019 at 2:54:44 PM

Worth noting is also that Donald Trump didn't have popular vote and has generally been an unpopular president throughout his term, so that argument doesn't work either. As pointed out by others, Bernie was never favored by democratic voters either.

I do agree that you're right to some degree. The thing with Hillary is that she's very controversial and the GOP has perceived her as an arch-enemy for a very long time now.

Leviticus 19:34
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#275806: Mar 26th 2019 at 2:55:19 PM

[up][up]You might be able to vote absentee or vote early in your state; you should be able to look it up online in case getting to the polls is difficult.

[up] The Electoral College is an abomination. “Fun” new angle I saw a black journalist point out on Twitter yesterday- due to winner take all, Black (vast majority Democratic, like >80%) Presidential votes are completely erased in most of the South.

Edited by wisewillow on Mar 26th 2019 at 5:57:39 AM

ElSquibbonator Since: Oct, 2014
#275807: Mar 26th 2019 at 2:58:44 PM

It's wrong. Clinton had several policies laid out, but the emails things was "juicy" I guess and thus was the thing people paid attention to.

I don't know why you're saying it's wrong, because that was my point. Clinton had a flaw that the media picked up on, and she wasn't able to present herself as an honest candidate because of it. But whoever the Democrats choose to nominate in 2020, it will not be Hillary Clinton. So the email scandal that cost the Democrats their voter support will not be an issue this time.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#275808: Mar 26th 2019 at 3:02:35 PM

Sanders lost decisively to Clinton, though he did better than most thought he would.

Not focusing on the Rust Belt was definitely a mistake though.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#275809: Mar 26th 2019 at 3:03:24 PM

That is one of the reasons why I like Warren as candidate. I mean, yes, they will keep hammering on about the Pocahontas story, but I think that the more left-leaning Democratic voters are sick and tired of it by this point and would still pick her over him, and the swing voters, they most likely won't care. If they can stomach voting for Trump, I doubt that they are bothered by what they will most likely consider SJW BS. And if the Republicans haven't found anything else yet, it is unlikely that they will dig something up.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#275810: Mar 26th 2019 at 3:06:19 PM

Speaking in Appalachia, Trump claimed he'd "save coal" and despite only 40K people being employed by it in WV these days, it was something that everyone kept repeating over and over again.

Also that Clinton quote where she said, "We're going to put a lot of coal miners out of business" with a big smile on her face (removing the, "because we're going to replace the jobs with natural gas.")

Clinton really didn't do well conveying her economic policy, which wasn't nearly as radical as people wanted either—and everyone kept saying it was more solid but it was designed around benefiting people who already have money and not elevating the destitute like Bernie claimed his was.

In short, she offended certain Americans in the Rust Belt and didn't appeal to the ultra-poor who really could have swung things.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Gilphon (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#275811: Mar 26th 2019 at 3:10:15 PM

I mean, I think it's still too early to try to quantify Trump's chances of re-election with a percentage value. I think is fair to say that he's in an unusually bad position for an incumbent, but I think they are reasonable arguments that has chances are ~20%, and equally reasonable ones that put his chances are ~60%

PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#275812: Mar 26th 2019 at 3:15:24 PM

[up]x5 So what was "they didn't have a clear, effective goal" supposed to mean?

i'm tired, my friend
RainehDaze Nero Fangirl (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Nero Fangirl
#275813: Mar 26th 2019 at 3:30:05 PM

Increased polarisation has done a number on the actual advantage of incumbency, which makes predictions particularly hard.

Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#275814: Mar 26th 2019 at 3:41:35 PM

As for his odds of being re-elected, I'm going to go out on a limb and say they're lower than they were when he ran in 2016. Even if you ignore Russian interference, the 2016 election was a clusterfuck of epic proportions on the part of the Democrats. They pushed for Hillary Clinton to be nominated when it was clear that voters were favoring Bernie Sanders, they refused to campaign in Rust Belt states even though those were important swing states, and they didn't listen to people who wanted change instead of being happy with the way things were. They didn't have a clear, effective goal or slogan.

This is a lie.

Clinton won several million more votes then Sanders, it's simply false to say the voters were favoring him.

So yes, she was a weak candidate (with great policy) but she was not one forced on us. She won because she had more support.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
Kaiseror Since: Jul, 2016
#275815: Mar 26th 2019 at 3:53:20 PM

I registered last summer to vote for Beto, will I have to renew that come 2020?

Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#275816: Mar 26th 2019 at 3:59:36 PM

In any case I would advise you to double check your registration both at the primary phase and at the general phase.

"Yup. That tasted purple."
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#275817: Mar 26th 2019 at 4:50:21 PM

"U.S. Supreme Court divided on partisan electoral maps" - http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-gerrymandering/u-s-supreme-court-divided-on-partisan-electoral-maps-idUSKCN1R70Z2


https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2019/03/26/day-796/

    Day 796: Invalidated 
1/ The Trump administration supports a federal appeals court ruling that the entire Affordable Care Act should be invalidated and thrown out. In a reversal, the Justice Department now says it agrees with the ruling of a federal judge in Texas that declared the ACA unconstitutional on the basis of a 2017 change in federal tax law that eliminated the penalty on uninsured people. Previously, the administration had pushed to remove the protections for people with pre-existing conditions. More than 20 million Americans are covered through the ACA's Medicaid expansion and its insurance exchanges. Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that "The Republican Party will become 'The Party of Healthcare!'" (CNN / NPR / Politico / Washington Post / Vox / Axios / Mother Jones / New York Times)

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/26/706869835/trump-administration-now-says-entire-affordable-care-act-should-be-repealed

2/ The House failed to overturn Trump's veto of legislation blocking his national emergency declaration at the border. House Democrats needed roughly 50 Republican defections to override the veto with two-thirds of the House. Fourteen Republicans crossed party lines. The failed effort leaves Trump's emergency declaration at the southwestern border intact despite bipartisan passage of a resolution to terminate the emergency declaration, which Trump declared after Congress rejected his request for $5.7 billion to build the wall. (ABC News / New York Times / Politico / Washington Post)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-committee-denies-pentagons-reprogramming-billion-president-trumps/story?id=61953216

3/ The Department of Defense transferred $1 billion for new border barrier construction along the U.S.-Mexico border. Up to $1 billion will go toward the construction of 57 miles of 18-foot-high "pedestrian fencing," improving roads, and lighting for the southern border. An additional $1.5 billion is expected to be shifted for wall funding in the near future. Trump's emergency declaration seeks to divert $3.6 billion from military construction to fund a border wall. Last week, the Pentagon gave Congress a list of $12.8 billion in approved construction projects that could be redirected to fund a border wall. (CNN / Reuters / Wall Street Journal / NPR)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pentagon-mexico-idUSKCN1R707J

4/ Six Democratic House committee chairs requested that Attorney General William Barr submit Robert Mueller's full report to Congress by April 2. Lawmakers say Barr's summary of the report "is not sufficient for Congress," calling on Barr to turn over the underlying evidence and documents by the same day. Democrats said that providing the report "in complete and unredacted form" would be consistent with DOJ policies and precedent. (NBC News)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/democratic-chairmen-call-barr-submit-mueller-report-congress-april-2-n987241

Barr plans to issue a public version of Mueller's report within "weeks, not months." A Justice Department official said there is no plan to share an advanced copy of the report with the White House. (Reuters)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-report-idUSKCN1R72HX

5/ The FBI will brief lawmakers on the counterintelligence findings from Mueller's investigation. The FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into Trump, but Barr's summary report of Mueller's findings didn't include any information about whether or not investigators found that Trump or anyone around him might be compromised or influenced by Russia. Officials expect the FBI to brief leaders from the House and Senate, as well as the chairs and ranking members of the intelligence committees in a closed session. (NBC News)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/fbi-expected-brief-house-senate-gang-8-mueller-s-counterintel-n987111

Day 725: The FBI opened a counterintelligence investigation into whether Trump had been working on behalf of Russia after he fired Comey in May 2017. Law enforcement officials became concerned that if Trump had fired Comey to stop the Russia investigation, his behavior would have constituted a threat to national security. Counterintelligence agents were also investigating why Trump was acting in ways that seemed to benefit Russia. No evidence has publicly emerged – yet – that Trump was secretly taking direction from Russian government officials. Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the report "absurd" and claimed that, compared to Obama, "Trump has actually been tough on Russia." (New York Times / CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/11/politics/nyt-russia-trump-investigation/index.html

poll/ 42% of voters approve of Trump's job performance following the release of a summary Mueller's findings – unchanged from the week before. 55% disapprove. 52% believe Russia has compromising information on Trump. (Morning Consult)

https://morningconsult.com/2019/03/26/trumps-popularity-unchanged-after-completion-of-mueller-probe/

poll/ 84% of voters want Mueller's report to be made public, including 75% of Republicans. 55% of voters say Mueller conducted a "fair" investigation. (Quinnipiac)

https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2609

    Notables 
Mike Pence talked Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats out of resigning at the end of last year over his frustrations with Trump. Pence stepped in after Trump's decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria, convincing him to stay until at least this summer. Trump has also pushed Coats to find evidence that Obama wiretapped him, demanded that Coats publicly criticize the U.S. intelligence community as biased, and accused Coats of being behind leaks of classified information. (NBC News)

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/mike-pence-talked-dan-coats-out-quitting-trump-administration-n985096

Trump's nominee to lead the Interior Department blocked a report on the effect of pesticides on endangered species. The report found that two pesticides, malathion and chlorpyrifos, were so toxic that they "jeopardize the continued existence" of more than 1,200 endangered birds, fish and other animals and plants. At the time, David Bernhardt, a former lobbyist and oil-industry lawyer, was the deputy secretary of the interior. He is now Trump's nominee to lead the Interior Department. (New York Times)

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/us/politics/endangered-species-david-bernhardt.html

George Papadopoulos has formally applied for a pardon from Trump. The former Trump campaign adviser served a 12-day prison sentence after being charged by Mueller for lying to the FBI. (Reuters)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-papadopoulos/ex-trump-campaign-aide-papadopoulos-disavows-mueller-plea-deal-idUSKCN1R70AJ

Trump asked his top aides for ways to limit federal funding for Puerto Rico. Trump has also privately suggested that he will not approve any additional help for Puerto Rico beyond the food-stamp money. (Washington Post)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/puerto-rico-faces-food-stamps-crisis-as-trump-privately-vents-about-federal-aid-to-hurricane-maria-battered-island/2019/03/25/ade500fe-4cb3-11e9-b79a-961983b7e0cd_story.html

Edited by sgamer82 on Mar 26th 2019 at 6:00:39 AM

golgothasArisen Since: Jan, 2015
#275818: Mar 26th 2019 at 5:00:23 PM

The problem with blindly voting Democrat this election is that you might end up just voting for a politician who does to the Republicans what Obama did before. One of the hosts on Chapo Trap House put it best, saying that if another centre-left candidate won, the Republicans would most likely just put up a Nazi slug or some shit. The Republican base is primarily a reactionary group of people, and they most easily unite against an establishment candidate.

"If you spend all your heart / On something that has died / You are not alive and that can't be a life"
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#275819: Mar 26th 2019 at 5:01:15 PM

You say that as if there's an actual, viable alternative to voting Democrat when, in fact, we have Donald J. Trump.

Edited by sgamer82 on Mar 26th 2019 at 6:01:33 AM

kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#275820: Mar 26th 2019 at 5:01:29 PM

[up][up]So you're saying we should vote Republican?

What other conclusion are we supposed to draw here?

Edited by kkhohoho on Mar 26th 2019 at 7:01:42 AM

wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#275821: Mar 26th 2019 at 5:03:13 PM

Vote in the primaries to pick which Dem you want.

But in the general, I don’t care if it’s Joe goddamn Biden (I HATE him), you vote for the Dem. I’d rather raise hell at Biden’s condescending centrist ass for 4 years than have 4 more years of Trump stacking the federal courts with LIFETIME APPOINTMENTS.

Ultimatum Disasturbator from the Amiga Forest (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#275822: Mar 26th 2019 at 5:04:36 PM

> What other conclusion are we supposed to draw here?

third party candidates!

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Soban Since: Aug, 2009 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
#275823: Mar 26th 2019 at 5:13:27 PM

> What other conclusion are we supposed to draw here?

[up]And what he might say with irony, I say with conviction.

kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#275824: Mar 26th 2019 at 5:14:46 PM

[up]All that's going to do is take votes away from Dem candidates and possibly cost them the election. A vote for a third party might as well be a vote for a Republican in this climate.

Edited by kkhohoho on Mar 26th 2019 at 7:24:05 AM

DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#275825: Mar 26th 2019 at 5:19:27 PM

The Green New Deal has been rejected in the Senate; 57-0-43. Most of the Democrats, as well as Independent Bernie Sanders, simply voted 'Present'. Joe Manchin, Krystin Cinema, Angus King and Doug Jones joined the Republicans in voting against the measure.

Of course the measure was doomed to fail because the Republicans had the Majority in the Senate, but I think the Democrats should've gone on record and voted Yes, not voted Present. I guess with the 3 Democrats and Angus King voting against the measure it would look bad for the other 43...


Total posts: 417,856
Top