The 2024 Us Presidential Election Thread

[Axaday]

1) They don't have the senate votes to push through a Constitutional amendment, so that's going to be locked in, even if the House goes red.

Louis Napoleon, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, rallied some men in 1836 and attempted to take over the government of France. He was arrested and exiled and kept getting more popular afterward. He just came back in 1840 and tried again. They arrested him and put him in prison. He disguised himself as a workman and walked out of the prison and went back to exile in England. Then his dad died and he felt he was clearly Napoleon's heir. France had another revolution in 1848, much more orderly than the first, and he came back and was elected President. Their Constitution limited President to one term. He attempted to amend that, but didn't have the votes. So he kinda took over. He seized the press and the legislature and named himself Napoleon III. And he called a national referendum that legitimized it. He reigned 20 years and then was captured in a war with Prussia and France disavowed him and formed a new Republic.

You would think Trump would talk about him, but he might not be aware of him and might feel like the end isn't interesting enough.

 

[wonko the sane?]

They don't need musk when they have the likes of vance anyway.

 

[lastmaximal]

No one's ever NEEDED Musk, but there he is.

...

I'm tired, boss.

I'm halfway around the world and not even American, and I'm disappointed and fearful and exhausted. Sure, so many of the things this will immediately lead to are well out of my sphere of worry. But America's movements ripple outward, and the last time this ************ was in charge, a pandemic ripped through the world, my part of it included, as he and other leaders including ours just... grifted their way through it. And now he's got a laundry list of orders and plans from the people pulling the strings, and lots of people he now owes who will no doubt collect.

[And no, no amount of smug and/or sage "well, this is always how it was going to turn out because the Dems and she and this and that" is going to help right now, so maybe read the room.]

I don't know. I'm still reeling from my own country's two-year-old decision to put a useless, corrupt, self-serving pair (in the Pres AND VP) in charge of looting an already-broken nation. And we're about to head into midterms next year with even more morons and influencers trying for HOUSE positions, and I've long since given up on the people ever finding two brain cells to rub together or two shits to give about their children's future.

I was hoping the US would find it in themselves to be different. Behavior like this from MY country doesn't surprise me anymore. I've lived a lifetime of it. Been privileged enough to survive that. But apparently this is just the beginning, stateside.

Sorry, the power's out and I can't get any work done. Not that I've been able to do much since checking for this news anyway.

 

[Axaday]

Republicans are going to be saying that sexism isn't why they voted for Trump as if sexism wasn't one of the reasons they voted for him over Biden too.

 

[G.B.Blackrock]

Harris ran an amazing campaign with the cards that she was dealt. Ultimately, I think turnout was against her this time, possibly due the way she was nominated. I’m not sure the logistics required to do anything else, but I’d imagine the DNC unilaterally choosing her as their nominee after President Biden dropped out alienated some of her potential base.

There's no doubt that there's going to be several rounds of "what if?" to be played in the coming era, but I really don't see an option where Biden stayed in the race as long as he did that would have come out any differently, no matter what the DNC did before settling on their candidate. It was just too late by then.

 

[Dekafox]

Louis Napoleon, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte, rallied some men in 1836 and attempted to take over the government of France. He was arrested and exiled and kept getting more popular afterward. He just came back in 1840 and tried again. They arrested him and put him in prison. He disguised himself as a workman and walked out of the prison and went back to exile in England. Then his dad died and he felt he was clearly Napoleon's heir. France had another revolution in 1848, much more orderly than the first, and he came back and was elected President. Their Constitution limited President to one term. He attempted to amend that, but didn't have the votes. So he kinda took over. He seized the press and the legislature and named himself Napoleon III. And he called a national referendum that legitimized it. He reigned 20 years and then was captured in a war with Prussia and France disavowed him and formed a new Republic.

You would think Trump would talk about him, but he might not be aware of him and might feel like the end isn't interesting enough.

In the US's case, again, the military swears their oath to the Constitution, not the office of President, so trying to ignore that and stay in power runs up against that check. There may be some Trumpers, but there is also military folk that value their oaths, and as I said, that's the second defense line in case he tries to emulate that guy.

 

[Axaday]

In the US's case, again, the military swears their oath to the Constitution, not the office of President, so trying to ignore that and stay in power runs up against that check. There may be some Trumpers, but there is also military folk that value their oaths, and as I said, that's the second defense line in case he tries to emulate that guy.

Yeah.

As I already said, I am certain that Trump won't even try. It's just an interesting historical parallel.

 

[NovaSaber]

18 million people suddenly vanished in between elections. Nobody will talk about that part though.

Ironbite-makes me wonder where they all went.

It makes no sense, even with voter suppression being as bad as it was.

Was the "don't vote at all because no candidate is good enough" crowd really that big?

 

[Deathy G1]

Was the "don't vote at all because no candidate is good enough" crowd really that big?

I really do think that's what it boils down to. Harris turned off a generally active part of her base by backing Israel instead of the Palestinians. Combine that with the fact that she wasn't even properly nominated, and you have a recipe for low voter turnout.

 

[Shadewing]

the fact that she wasn't even properly nominated, and you have a recipe for low voter turnout.

I know one person that voted Republican SHEERLY for this.

 

[Ultra Magnus13]

What are you basing that on?

Reality.

 

[Dekafox]

My local elections only had around 25% total turnout, FWIW. And that is of current registered voters. Was actually surprised to see it that low especially after having to wait an hour in line.

 

[NovaSaber]

Going by the popular vote numbers on Ballotpedia, it looks like the third-party/independent candidates put together got less votes than the difference between Trump and Harris, so low turnout is definitely more of a factor than wasted votes.
(Why did people vote for RFK, Jr.? He withdrew from the election; his name still being on the ballot in some states was just because no one bothered removing it. But he actually got more votes than the Libertarian candidate.)

 

[Axaday]

his name still being on the ballot in some states was just because no one bothered removing it. But he actually got more votes than the Libertarian candidate.)

He actually went to court to get it removed and was denied because it was too late. They have to print those things up.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

it looks like the third-party/independent candidates put together got less votes than the difference between Trump and Harris

Elon Musk offered Ron Paul a spot in the proposed Department of Government Efficiency. That probably swung some Libertarians to the Trump ticket.

 

[The Predaking]

Going by the popular vote numbers on Ballotpedia, it looks like the third-party/independent candidates put together got less votes than the difference between Trump and Harris, so low turnout is definitely more of a factor than wasted votes.
(Why did people vote for RFK, Jr.? He withdrew from the election; his name still being on the ballot in some states was just because no one bothered removing it. But he actually got more votes than the Libertarian candidate.)

There are two states that actually made the difference for Trump.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Locally, Democrats still have Broward County. My man Ben Sorensen made it. He's the only candidate I managed to meet this year, so I'm happy for him.

 

[Thylacine 2000]

Harris turned off a generally active part of her base by backing Israel instead of the Palestinians.

I bet those exact same people mock Republicans for "voting against their own economic interests because of culture war issues." Leftists For Trump Because Palestine is the clearest example of a gamified online social contagion we've ever seen, beyond QAnon.

And directly related to this - Shapiro would have carried Pennsylvania and almost certainly would be VP-Elect right now. But the fangtoothed antisemitism of that same part of the base ruled him out despite his stances being exactly the same as all the other prospects and the same as Harris herself, so instead we got the Undersecretary of Dad Jokes Tim Walz, who you will never hear of again.

 

[PrimalxConvoy]

This is the start of a very dark time for the US right now. America's global reputation (politically and population) hasn't ever really been great (most of us in the world look down on it) but this is going to sink it even further down.

 

[NovaSaber]

I bet those exact same people mock Republicans for "voting against their own economic interests because of culture war issues." Leftists For Trump Because Palestine is the clearest example of a gamified online social contagion we've ever seen, beyond QAnon.

Well, we're talking about people who didn't vote (or voted third-party), not people who voted for Trump.
(Even though the result is the same, and they're stupid for not seeming to understand that.)