11/08/2022, The Midterms, aka build on 2020 aka The Election Thread

[allegro]

And here’s the “Kamala’s A Cop” contingent (mostly Biden stans) ...

[Sarah K]

IT ME.

Though I also hate Biden. And all of my academic research centers around policing practices and accountability, and some post-incarceration employment discrimination and education access so this is what I am constantly researching. It is more or less my life for now!

Policing the police is one of my career goals.

[bobbie solo]

i will now place this in the right thread...

Andrew Yang, who I'm not voting for in any way mind you, got hosed tonight. They barely went to him.

Kamala def. stood out tonight obviously. Only negative was her rehearsed food fight comment. So lame. Other than that she went to work on that out of touch PoS Biden with a blowtorch.

Bernie had some ups & some downs. Closing statement was great. His passion is obvious & you know he will not waiver, but too many casual viewers are gonna be turned off by the way he yells. And his response to Swalwell re: guns was weak. Loved his idea for rotating Supreme Court seats. I am not opposed to packing the courts though.

Hinkenlooper & Cloud Boot Jar need to ride the fuck off into the sunset post haste.

What exactly is a Michael Bennet?

[versusreality]

not a Biden stan, but I still stand by the fact that I feel Harris is a phony people pleaser. as prosecutor: "you're a single mom, your kid missed too much school, you're going to jail." as candidate: "I'd never have immigrant kids separated from their families, they will be released from the cages!" some can use the "people change!" argument, which I don't disagree with. I just feel that she's a fake. the only way I'd vote for her is if she's going directly against Trump.

My girlfriend is not a fan of how she uses the race card. She's not a fan of when mixed people proclaim they are black. I understand this is a complex issue, something I was certainly ignorant to as a white dude before I was in this relationship with a black woman. there are some in my girlfriend's community that side with my gf on the issue, some that don't, and some that are totally oblivious either way. but I get where my girl is coming from.

[Swykk]

I feel like Beto, Biden, and Bernie all crashed and burned in a pretty significant manner, doubt it will have much of an impact on the latter two, but wouldn't be surprised if Beto is one of the first casualties.

Moderators: Senator Sanders, when it com--

Bernie: WE HAVE TO HAVE THE GUTS TO TAKE ON WALL STREET

Not seeing a problem. He’s right. I’d be annoyed too if I changed the party (I feel the counters coming but it would be difficult to disprove) and they still didn’t have the guts to follow through. I understand you don’t like him. He did have one stumble on the gun question but I didn’t think it was “crash and burn” level.

[Demogorgon]

Bernie already crashed and burned in 2016. He's not a serious contender and no amount of hopes and dreams are going to change that. From where I'm sitting, the DNC will be choosing between Biden and Warren. The rest of this is just theater.

[Sarah K]

Sure, "take on Wall Street", but screaming that can't be your response to every question.

[allegro]

She's not a fan of when mixed people proclaim they are black.

[allegro]

[versusreality]

it is a very divisive topic in the black community. as for the memes, that of course looks like a planned target attack.

[allegro]

it is a very divisive topic in the black community.

It wasn't for this President (that's his Mom):



This is Kamala Harris's mother, Shyamala Gopalan, an immigrant from India (Kamala's dad is a black immigrant from Jamaica):

[versusreality]

It wasn't for this President (that's his Mom):

it was though. I (awkwardly) sat in the middle of conversations at a big family party of hers discussing if mixed people, and in the topic of that day, Obama, should proclaim "blackness" or "mixed raceness" . it got very, very heated.

There isn't many white folks where I live. I have had and heard some very interesting discussions in person. it isn't always pretty. and the internet is just a slice of it (as it is with any topic really) .

as for Harris, yes I know her mother is Indian and her father Jamaican. I also know that her father publicly was not happy with Harris's quote of her stereotype saying that she of course smoked pot in her younger years because "half of her family is from Jamaica." I heard the video where she said it and was like "damn..she's trying really hard to sound cool and appeal to the hip hop radio station right now, not cool" . just my thoughts.

here's the referenced video. you can scroll the comments if you like (I know, youtube comments are not the best thing in the world) but you can see she does not have a lot of support from black commentors. again, it's not an entire indication, but there is some backing into people calling her out etc

[allegro]

That video was linked here ages ago.

stereotype saying that she of course smoked pot in her younger years because "half of her family is from Jamaica."

Except that’s not stereotype; Rastafarians smoke marijuana as part of their religion, and in the 70s and 80s there were a shitload of real and fake Rastas everywhere. (Jamaican pot was also some of the WORST pot, ugh.) I never look to YouTube to define voting. Her campaign donations and polling numbers will ultimately show her success (or lack thereof).

Disagree with her political history; disagree with her history as a Prosecutor; disagree with her decision not to press charges against Steve Mnuchin’s bank or to prosecute parents with truant children. All valid criticisms.

But she went to Howard University; she belongs to a black sorority; she identifies as black and has every right to do so.

Anyone who says otherwise is buying into the Russian propaganda. (edit: No, Harris is not African-American. She's Jamaican-Indian-American. But, she's still black. And she's most assuredly 100% a person of color.)

I guarantee you: The KKK sees both her and Obama as negroes.

There’s a lot of horrible racist shit out there depicting Obama as a monkey with a banana.

[versusreality]

it is a stereotype because you (not you in particular, but the majority of society) are then assuming all Jamaicans are rastas, which they are not.

"anyone who says otherwise is buying into the Russian propaganda" ...I think that's a bit unfair to say. my gf's 83 year old aunt, who doesn't have the internet, who's marched in the Civil Rights era of the 60's, and who doesn't watch much TV, would strongly disagree with you because she knows nothing about the Russian propaganda movement that's happening. she just has a difference of opinion on the subject. and there are more that are like her aunt. but you can say that perhaps they are not in the majority of this particular conversation. that doesn't make their perspective invalid. my gf hasn't liked Harris for years. so you're saying she too buys into the Russian propaganda?

and of course, the KKK would see Harris and Obama as negroes. but you probably shouldn't use the KKK as an example to justify your point. (I know you meant no harm by that comment though).

[allegro]

I’m saying that Harris is half black and half brown and has the right to identify as black.

There’s a lot of pot in Jamaica, not just because of Rastas. She was JOKING. Someone who's part-Jamaican is allowed to joke about that.

Again, if you live in CA and you don’t like her policies, fair enough. Refusing to vote for her (if she is the Democratic candidate) because “she identifies as black and shouldn’t” is accepting 4 more years of minority abuse by Trump and his racist henchmen.

but you probably shouldn't use the KKK as an example to justify your point.

No, that exactly IS the point. Why wouldn’t you just pass as white to avoid the KKK and pander to the majority?

[Sarah K]

Gatekeeping social identities is weak.

[versusreality]

indeed...*sigh*...it is a tough topic. something that will be going on for the rest of our lives, unfortunately. anyway, we agree on a lot of things. thank you for the discussion. as random as it may sound, it was this forum that really kicked my love of politics into high gear over the past year. so thanks!

[Jinsai]

I think the whole "full-black" "half-black" "looks light skinned" thing is just a way to divide and conquer. I thought it was hilarious when Obama-hating republicans (who were very clearly visibly all-white) were yelling shit like "he's not even REALLY black!" As if his black component wasn't really rubbing them the wrong way, but they wanted to try to sell the idea to the black community that this "isn't even a REAL win for black people." It's like when Philip Morris ran ads begging you to stop smoking cuz it's so bad for you and, also, "totally impossible and you'll never succeed in quitting."

I don't know where to weigh in really, but... there is a word I've never been called, and I've never worried about being called that word, because that'd be surreal and strange, and it starts with the letter "n." There is ONLY ONE president I've heard called that name.

EDIT: Also, watching these debates again... y'know what, a lot of these people need to hang the hat up and GTFO. You aren't just wasting everyone's time, you're ruining your future political ambitions. Fuck this... what we need now is REALISM. How about some REALISTIC ideas. If you don't have a REALISTIC chance at winning, stop and go home.

[Sarah K]

I'm pumped for when Harris and Warren are on the stage together. These dudes are not ready for that.

[Sarah K]

[Wretchedest]

I think of any thing this puts her even further forward. The conversation co tibues to revolve around her, but two days after she went after Biden firmly, and surprisingly fairly, she has the entire slate of nominees rushing to defend her. Don Jr. *Deleted his tweet* that seems like a very rare thing to do in that family, a fearful sort of wavering.

I think if I had any doubts she could take on Trump, which I certainly did, they have been erased this week. I really look forward to seeing her go one on one with him.

[allegro]

[Jinsai]

Don Jr deleted his tweet because it was a REALLY bad look for that fucker, even if he thought he could get away with it because of his dad's birtherism bullshit and "Pocahontas" stuff. I don't know if he figured out that it looked really bad on his own... I assume he needed help.

[theimage13]

I haven't really dug too deep into their algorithms, but I love that this site exists.

https://www.isidewith.com/

I almost feel like this should actually be how voting works. You don't just go into the booth and tick "D" or "R". But I understand the reasons why voting like that wouldn't actually work, so the best I can hope is that people will at least utilize sites like this.

[sweeterthan]

^^ Um ... guys? Wrong thread.

True. My bad.

Moved to the election thread.

[versusreality]

I haven't really dug too deep into their algorithms, but I love that this site exists.

https://www.isidewith.com/

I almost feel like this should actually be how voting works. You don't just go into the booth and tick "D" or "R". But I understand the reasons why voting like that wouldn't actually work, so the best I can hope is that people will at least utilize sites like this.

well, that was pretty damn accurate. my top 5 after doing that list: Elizabeth Warren, Mayor Pete, Julian Castro, Bernie Sanders, and Andrew Yang.

[allegro]

My top choice is (obviously) Warren, but my second choice is Julian Castro.

[Sarah K]

I answered all of the questions and my top 10 goes:

Warren - 90%
Harris (lol) - 90%
Bernie (lol) - 88%
Beto (lol) - 88%
Gillibrand (lol) - 87%
Castro - 86%
Pete - 86%
Booker - 83%
Republican Gabbard (LOL) 83%
Yang - 81%

As of this moment, I feel like Warren is so far ahead of everyone else, I don't even know who my second choice would be.

[Swykk]

Sanders - 94%

Then quite a few tied at 93% which I don’t understand how...

Castro, Harris, O’Rourke (what), Buttigieg, and Warren - 93%

Gillibrand (nah) and Gabbard (nope) - 92%

Yang - 90%

Klobuchar - 89%

So kinda confusing results here but like I have been saying, Warren is my top choice with Sanders, Harris
and Buttigieg rounding out the list. Maybe I should look into Castro more. I am not into Beto for president but I think he could strategically be a good choice for VP (getting centrist on the fence democratic votes). I wish Bernie was younger.

[marodi]

It was an interesting poll for me since I don't know much about these candidates, aside from what I see in headline news. So I answered it with my absolute convictions, without having any candidate in mind (except for the raging anti Trump feeling).

So as a result, I got Kamala Harris at 85%, followed by Elizabeth Warren at 84%.

And what does it mean? Jackshit; I'm Canadian.