The 2020 Presidential Election - Convention & General Election

[knapplc]

53 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

Cult members have a hard time seeing the truth.  A waste of time. 

 

The amount of ink spilled trying to convince a person who won't see reason continues to baffle me. Such a wasted effort.

[BigRedBuster]

35 minutes ago, knapplc said:

The problem is, no matter what happens, this will remain at most a he-said/she-said situation. Biden will continue to deny it, and in the absence of absolute proof, it's going to get tossed on the scrap heap of history as another accusation of bad actions by a person in power.

 

Good post.  This quote is so true and frustrating.  I want to believe women when they accuse a man of such things.  But, as you pointed out, her changing story doesn't make sense.  How do you for years, claim he touched your neck and ran his fingers through your hair and wanted you to serve drinks because he likes your legs (something she admits she didn't even hear him say)....and then all of a sudden it goes to "digitally penetrated" you?  Ummm....wouldn't that be at the absolute TOP of the list of complaints?

 

Meanwhile, we have a guy on audio tape bragging about basically doing that even when a woman doesn't want it and she's married.  He has cheated on every wife he's had even when they are in the hospital having his baby.  He has to pay them off to keep them quiet because they are porn stars and that would look bad.

 

I mean....what am I missing here?  If Biden did this, he needs to be shamed and confront the accusations.  However, let's get within reality of the other choice in this election.  

 

Until someone can come up with hard evidence that this happened, what proof do we have to go on?

[knapplc]

29 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

 

Good post.  This quote is so true and frustrating.  I want to believe women when they accuse a man of such things.  But, as you pointed out, her changing story doesn't make sense.  How do you for years, claim he touched your neck and ran his fingers through your hair and wanted you to serve drinks because he likes your legs (something she admits she didn't even hear him say)....and then all of a sudden it goes to "digitally penetrated" you?  Ummm....wouldn't that be at the absolute TOP of the list of complaints?

 

Meanwhile, we have a guy on audio tape bragging about basically doing that even when a woman doesn't want it and she's married.  He has cheated on every wife he's had even when they are in the hospital having his baby.  He has to pay them off to keep them quiet because they are porn stars and that would look bad.

 

I mean....what am I missing here?  If Biden did this, he needs to be shamed and confront the accusations.  However, let's get within reality of the other choice in this election.  

 

Until someone can come up with hard evidence that this happened, what proof do we have to go on?

 

First bold:  I think you're like me - you want to hear them out, give them a safe space to tell their story, but the story gets to be looked at critically. Men can't just be accused and found guilty, they have to be shown to be guilty. Greatest example of that is the Duke Lacrosse team. Those kids' lives were upended based on a false accusation, but they were originally believed guilty, and portrayed as such by the media.

 

Second bold:  I don't think there's anything that can be done at this point, not with the evidence we have at hand. Unless some heretofore unknown witness steps forward, or there's somehow a photo or video or audio, what can you do?

 

At this point I'm willing to believe this event happened to her. I'm also willing to believe it didn't, or it was someone else and she's willing to say it was Biden, or something. Anything. It's a story light on facts, and we can thank shoddy reporting and Reade's unwillingness/inability to tell the full story start to finish on that.

 

[BigRedBuster]

15 minutes ago, knapplc said:

First bold:  I think you're like me - you want to hear them out, give them a safe space to tell their story, but the story gets to be looked at critically. Men can't just be accused and found guilty, they have to be shown to be guilty. Greatest example of that is the Duke Lacrosse team. Those kids' lives were upended based on a false accusation, but they were originally believed guilty, and portrayed as such by the media.

Yes, they need a chance to tell their story in a manner that is not threatening to them.

 

16 minutes ago, knapplc said:

Second bold:  I don't think there's anything that can be done at this point, not with the evidence we have at hand. Unless some heretofore unknown witness steps forward, or there's somehow a photo or video or audio, what can you do?

 

At this point I'm willing to believe this event happened to her. I'm also willing to believe it didn't, or it was someone else and she's willing to say it was Biden, or something. Anything. It's a story light on facts, and we can thank shoddy reporting and Reade's unwillingness/inability to tell the full story start to finish on that.

The problem with stories like this with someone who is, for instance, in the middle of a campaign is, OK you made an accusation and for a very long time there hasn't been witnesses.  Then...when people start questioning it, then a few people come out and say, "well, she told me....back then".  Then, when it's questioned more, some how some way a witness is all of a sudden found?  

 

The entire thing just smells like someone being paid to stir up dirt, then someone else is paid to corroborate the dirt, then someone else is paid to say they witnessed something.

[FrantzHardySwag]

1 hour ago, BigRedBuster said:

Until someone can come up with hard evidence that this happened, what proof do we have to go on?

I have had friends sexually assaulted and I have had friends falsely accused. I don't want to assume on stuff like this because both ends can be devastating for the victim. I hope we do get evidence one way or another, but I'm skeptical we ever will. 

[BigRedBuster]

1 minute ago, BlitzFirst said:

Honestly, her story is out now and it is considered credible enough by news agencies/media companies that they are printing it finally.

 

 

 

 

I'd like someone to actually ask Biden for his side in an interview...you know, do what press is supposed to do with a meaty news nugget like this one.  Instead of pu&&y footing around him and walking on egg shells all timid like and avoiding the 900 lb elephant in the room each time.  I'd also like them to ask his possible FEMALE vice president picks for their opinion on it...because it's what they would do if it were anyone else besides Biden...but since he's been ordained savior from Trump...media hasn't been holding him to the same standard they hold others to.

 

 

 

At this point, with what you know, how do you think they a female VP candidate should respond?

[BigRedBuster]

1 minute ago, BlitzFirst said:

 

 

Honestly and genuinely.  I don't care what their answer is as long as they're truthful.

And, how do you know that it is?

[BigRedBuster]

17 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

 

 

The same way someone might claim to know that Tara Reade is or isn't being truthful.

Well, those are very different questions.  

 

A)  Tara Reade is making accusations that she is free to do and society needs to provide the ability for her to do so in a safe way.  But, ultimately, she needs to have some type of evidence to prove what she says is true and be able to answer questions as to why her story seems to have changed.

 

B)  You're asking a VP candidate her feelings on accusations that she has nothing to do with other than being on the ticket with the person being accused.

 

Now, in (A) the person should be required to prove what they say.  In (B) you're asking for something that is improvable.  How do you prove someone's feelings?  How is she supposed to have any more facts to the case as to what is true or not than we do?

[BigRedBuster]

12 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

 

 

So, hearing what she thinks on the accusations would be HUGE considering the campaign she ran and her history as a Senator...and if media asks her, I'd think they'd do the same for the other candidates as well.  Afterall, they are all women and thus would have a different perspective than a man would.

 

So, what do you want to hear her say?

[TGHusker]

Interesting OP Ed quoted in part.   NY canceled their primary - if other states follow, Biden may not have all of the delegates he needs when the convention opens.

 

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/analysis-did-ny-democrats-just-tank-bidens-nomination-69495

 

Quote

 

On Monday, officials in New York announced the cancellation of the state’s Democratic presidential primary, calling the event “essentially a beauty contest,” and a risk to public health in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

While New York Democrats cited the inevitability of Joe Biden’s nomination for the party's candidacy as justification for calling off the primary, it could actually make the former VP's spot on the ticket anything but a forgone conclusion.

Biden is the prohibitive favorite for the nomination to face Donald Trump in November. But New York could be the first step in an unlikely path to a contested Democratic convention between two Catholic politicians with national profiles.

Although Bernie Sanders is officially out of the race, Biden does not yet have an overall majority of convention delegates. As of April 27, the former vice president has 1,305 of the 1,991 delegates needed to clinch a first-round coronation at the party’s convention. New York offered 320 delegates up for grabs, 274 pledged to the primary winner; a prize that would have brought Biden closer to the nomination.

If New York’s decision triggers other states to cancel their own primaries, it is entirely possible that Biden could arrive at the Democratic convention without a guarantee of the nomination.  

Assuming the convention begins without a majority of delegates pledged to Biden, the nomination process, during which delegates conduct floor votes, would become a live-fire exercise, rather than a pro forma step in Biden’s coronation as nominee. 

If Biden does not secure a majority on the first ballot, delegates could offer another candidate from the floor.

Official Democratic operatives would likely dismiss talk of a contested convention as fanciful, but it will not stop some of them from quietly acknowledging the benefits of the possibility.

While Biden performs well in head-to-head polling with Trump, especially in key states like Michigan, Florida, and Pennsylvania, his recent media appearances have been inconsistent. In live interviews from his family home, the presumptive nominee has appeared flustered, even under friendly questioning, and during early state primaries Biden appeared to bristle on the stump at even modest criticism from voters. 

Questions have been asked about how the former vice president would fare in a live head-to-head debate with Trump, an aggressively provocative debater.

More recently, media coverage has begun to re-examine accusations of sexual harassment against Biden by former Hill staffer Tara Reade.

Even as Trump’s own approval numbers are dropping after his initial pandemic bump, Democratic party leaders might quietly welcome the reserve option to field another candidate against the president.

In that event, New York’s own Gov. Andrew Cuomo looks the most likely to benefit from a potentially contested nominating convention. Cuomo has been widely praised for his handling of the coronavirus in New York, so far the state hardest hit by the virus.

As the governor of the state at the pandemic’s frontline, Cuomo also has the campaigning advantage of a daily press platform, perhaps second only to the president’s, at a time when Biden has struggled to remain part of the news cycle.

Even before the coronavirus outbreak, Cuomo was a regular face on the cable news circuit and an aggressive debater in his own right. Many would see him as a more obvious match for Donald Trump in a televised head-to-head.

Cuomo is having a moment, as they say, but unless he gets the nomination in a convention surprise, he will likely be of little help to Democrats in the presidential election. Biden has pledged to nominate a woman to the ticket’s v.p. slot; Cuomo is not a woman. And if Cuomo has ambition to run in a future election cycle, he might decide there’s little benefit in campaigning for Biden this time around, especially if a Biden win would set up his vice presidential pick for a future election.

 

 

[BigRedBuster]

10 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

 

What do you want me to say in my answer?  This constant questioning of me is repetitive and brings nothing to the discussion.

No, you originally posted that the media needs to be asking the VP Candidate about this and her answer better be honest.

 

I'm trying to figure out what kind of response would satisfy someone.  It's an honest discussion.  Many times we want a politician asked something when, if we are honest there really isn't an answer that would satisfy us.

[knapplc]

Cuomo will not be on the Democratic ticket. I don't know why this keeps coming up. 

 

Maybe it's because Biden isn't anyone's favorite choice? He's not a guy anyone really wants to rally behind, I guess. He's just... not as bad as Trump.

 

Welcome to the 2020 Election, folks! 

 

[BigRedBuster]

3 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

 

I said the media would normally be asking those questions and there are angles they would normally be looking at (Kloubuchar especially because of her history).

 

What I care about from the VP candidates has little to no bearing on what I've said and matters very little overall on the topic.  Let's redirect your energy less to my take on something and more on the topic...the fact that media hasn't asked Biden or his VP candidates directly about the allegations.

I agree they should ask Biden about them.  But, unless the accuser comes up with some new evidence, I'm not a fan of making this a major issue and avoiding questions about actual policy and governing.  The media also likes to dwell on things like this instead of discussing it then moving on.

 

Again....not really sure what the purpose of asking the VP candidate is.  Sure, maybe because of Kloubuchar's history.  But....I guess I don't know what she's supposed to say.  She has no information about the issue.

[knapplc]

"The media" have barely asked trump these questions of any of the 23 women he's been accused by, so why we expect this for Biden (other than the people demanding it are Bernie supporters with a little salt) is beyond me.

 

 

[RedDenver]

1 minute ago, knapplc said:

"The media" have barely asked trump these questions of any of the 23 women he's been accused by, so why we expect this for Biden (other than the people demanding it are Bernie supporters with a little salt) is beyond me.

 

 

Because the media should have asked about Trump's accusers AND Biden's accuser. In fact Biden being accused is a good reason for the media to now ask Trump about his accusers. We can expect the media to be able walk and chew gum at the same time.