Another shining example of the forward-looking careful use of taxpayers dollars in times of crisis. /s
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/10/trump-oil-bailout/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/10/trump-oil-bailout/
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I saw that. Responding to one health crisis by subsidizing an industry that creates a different health crisis.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
TheTalkingMule
Distributed Energy Enthusiast
Trump was either going to make the election about Biden's gaffs being a sign of dementia (I and others with aphasia agree it's a neurological glitch that may have gotten worse because he's driving himself harder and doesn't have the stamina he used to) or Bernie being a communist/socialist. For Trump's attacks on Biden, there is an easy counter showing all the mental lapses Trump has had and point out that the people surrounding Trump are idiot yes-men who can't pick up the slack whereas a Biden administration will likely be a typical Democratic administration with competent and qualified people in every position. These people will all be capable of picking up the slack if Biden really is losing his marbles.
There is no simple counterattack strategy for the communist/socialist attacks on Bernie. The Bernie supporters just don't realize how devastating those memes will be among over 40 voters who aren't already on the Bernie bandwagon.
I was thinking last night that now that a crisis has landed in Trump's lap, he's showing all the acumen he showed when he went bankrupt in the casino business. He has a talent for sales. For those of us who look at the product more than listen to the sales pitch, he can't close the deal, but those who are vulnerable to a good sales pitch fall under his spell. He's disastrous at management. He always has been.
BTW I saw on CNN's website that exit polls today are showing that voters trust Biden in a crisis by a much larger margin than Bernie.
In 2016 there was a chunk of the electorate who were change curious. On the right, they gravitated towards Trump and on the left toward Bernie. This year people have seen the chaos Trump's brand of change has brought and they are ready to move back to the familiar. Ultimately this isn't Bernie's year. He's under-performing his 2016 performance because a) he's up against a more likeable candidate and b) a lot of people just aren't in the mood for making drastic changes right now.
I was also thinking about what works and doesn't work as an electoral insurgency. Candidates have come out of the woods with ideas that until recently had been fringe and won the presidency: FDR, Reagan, to some extent Lincoln.
But in each case they got fairly strong buy in from the center along with their side of the spectrum. Trump never won over a significant portion of the center and has doubled down on his base. His average approval rating has been the worst in the history of US polling. He has a loyal base and a bunch of people who have habitually voted Republican because that's what they have always done. The rest of the electorate is against him. In a Biden vs Trump race Trump needs to convince a lot of people already inclined to vote for Biden that Biden is a worse choice than Trump. Most of these people are the people who strongly disapprove of Trump to begin with so it's a very heavy lift for Trump.
Looking at it as a tepid Biden supporter, I don't see a scenario where Biden looks worse than Trump. There is a case to be made that both are losing their cognitive abilities, but even if Biden is and Trump isn't, I'd take a senile Biden over a completely functional Trump in a heartbeat. Trump at his absolute sharpest is still a horrible human being and a horrible leader. He has some very clear sociopathic tendencies that should disqualify him from the job.
Biden has played up to special interests in his career, but his record also shows he has compassion for the people he represents. He's made plenty of mistakes and I don't expect him to be an outstanding president, no matter his mental capacity. Biden will also surround himself with people who know how to govern and know what they are doing. Even if he is incapable of governing well, he will have competent people he can delegate to.
So convince me that Biden is senile and it makes no difference. I suspect the vast majority of those already inclined to vote for anyone but Trump would feel much different. History showed that the last months of the Woodrow Wilson presidency Wilson was pretty much incapable of governing because of a stroke and people around Reagan in the last year or two have admitted his Alzheimer's was kicking in then. But in both situations the government churned on and the public didn't really know it until later because the rest of the administration took up the slack.
There is no simple counterattack strategy for the communist/socialist attacks on Bernie. The Bernie supporters just don't realize how devastating those memes will be among over 40 voters who aren't already on the Bernie bandwagon.
I was thinking last night that now that a crisis has landed in Trump's lap, he's showing all the acumen he showed when he went bankrupt in the casino business. He has a talent for sales. For those of us who look at the product more than listen to the sales pitch, he can't close the deal, but those who are vulnerable to a good sales pitch fall under his spell. He's disastrous at management. He always has been.
BTW I saw on CNN's website that exit polls today are showing that voters trust Biden in a crisis by a much larger margin than Bernie.
In 2016 there was a chunk of the electorate who were change curious. On the right, they gravitated towards Trump and on the left toward Bernie. This year people have seen the chaos Trump's brand of change has brought and they are ready to move back to the familiar. Ultimately this isn't Bernie's year. He's under-performing his 2016 performance because a) he's up against a more likeable candidate and b) a lot of people just aren't in the mood for making drastic changes right now.
I was also thinking about what works and doesn't work as an electoral insurgency. Candidates have come out of the woods with ideas that until recently had been fringe and won the presidency: FDR, Reagan, to some extent Lincoln.
But in each case they got fairly strong buy in from the center along with their side of the spectrum. Trump never won over a significant portion of the center and has doubled down on his base. His average approval rating has been the worst in the history of US polling. He has a loyal base and a bunch of people who have habitually voted Republican because that's what they have always done. The rest of the electorate is against him. In a Biden vs Trump race Trump needs to convince a lot of people already inclined to vote for Biden that Biden is a worse choice than Trump. Most of these people are the people who strongly disapprove of Trump to begin with so it's a very heavy lift for Trump.
Looking at it as a tepid Biden supporter, I don't see a scenario where Biden looks worse than Trump. There is a case to be made that both are losing their cognitive abilities, but even if Biden is and Trump isn't, I'd take a senile Biden over a completely functional Trump in a heartbeat. Trump at his absolute sharpest is still a horrible human being and a horrible leader. He has some very clear sociopathic tendencies that should disqualify him from the job.
Biden has played up to special interests in his career, but his record also shows he has compassion for the people he represents. He's made plenty of mistakes and I don't expect him to be an outstanding president, no matter his mental capacity. Biden will also surround himself with people who know how to govern and know what they are doing. Even if he is incapable of governing well, he will have competent people he can delegate to.
So convince me that Biden is senile and it makes no difference. I suspect the vast majority of those already inclined to vote for anyone but Trump would feel much different. History showed that the last months of the Woodrow Wilson presidency Wilson was pretty much incapable of governing because of a stroke and people around Reagan in the last year or two have admitted his Alzheimer's was kicking in then. But in both situations the government churned on and the public didn't really know it until later because the rest of the administration took up the slack.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Did you see Sanders getting positive responses from Fox News audiences? The commie/socialist attacks are laughable to most of the population, everyone has been hearing this about Sanders for years, he's still quite popular across many demographics. In any case it's probably a moot point, Biden seems to be carrying the day.
Sure, as would I, but the independent voters and swing voters might not. They very well may prefer the failing lunatic they know than the one they don't.
MikeQ
Member
I'm pretty sure that audience was a plant. The Republicans would rather go against Bernie than Biden.
This is all I can find on how the audience was chosen.
Bernie Sanders in Bethlehem: How Fox News picked the audience
It says Fox mined the requests to get an audience of their choosing. Trump and the Republicans want to run against Bernie. Trump even endorsed Bernie in the primaries a week or two back. Fox as the propaganda arm of the Republican party wanted a pro-Bernie audience to make the case that Bernie even has support from Fox News viewers, but I would not be surprised if few in the audience had ever watched Fox News.
One of the big reasons the attacks on Biden don't work is the country knows Biden at least as well as they know Trump. He was in the Senate for 36 years and was vice president for 8. Most people see Biden as a the best chance to bring back the Obama administration and there is a lot of nostalgia for the day when people didn't worry about what the president was going to tweet today.
Trump's political experience is 3 years long and now that he's facing his first serious crisis, he's failing badly.
Rachel Bitecofer has pointed out that in the 2018 midterms the Democratic talking points were mostly irrelevant to the voters that joined the Democratic cause. The new voters were people casting anti-Trump votes. That was all that mattered to them. And that will be the case in 2020. As long as Biden looks at least a tiny bit better choice than Trump, he wins. And I don't think they care if he has dementia. He's not Trump.
In my analysis the candidate in the TV age that wins is always either the most likeable or if that's a tie (as 2016) it's the more interesting candidate. Biden's likeability is miles ahead of Trump.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
That's not saying much, and Joe's likeability drops with every new angry video of him yelling at potential voters, and telling women to "shush".
His popularity went up when he was confronted by a magabot at a town hall and after trying to be reasonable back and forth he told the guy he was full of sh**.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
That could be a tactical mistake since Sanders could easily out debate Trump while Biden, not so much these days.
Are such pages regularly invaded by mole-troll Trumpists? Or Russians? If not...why not? Surely throwing in material like that would be right up their alley?
It's a closed group that requires approval to join. It's not an unusual thought amongst this crowd. They're pissed right now!
TheTalkingMule
Distributed Energy Enthusiast
TheTalkingMule
Distributed Energy Enthusiast
Unbelievable. They deserve it this time around. I can't say I'm gonna stay home on election day.....but I'll be thinking about it.
How are we following up Obama I & II with this nonsense? At least AOC is just 4 short years away.
The reality of the carefree attitude toward COVID-19 may have a big impact on the number of 65+ voters whom also tend to vote Republican... election is still more than half a year away, think about that...
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