***** Official Election Game Day Thread *****

[RedDenver]

 

[RedDenver]

 

[RedDenver]

 

[Guy Chamberlin]

8 hours ago, Notre Dame Joe said:

 

Does Stacey Abrams count as a presidential candidate?  She claimed janus coin "voter suppression" to explain a loss for GA governor. She never quite explained the specifics of how who's votes were suppressed.

 

Likewise I never figured out what "Russian Collusion" materially did to win the election for Trump in 2016.  No one really thought Putin got into the polls. 

 

So it's not a surprise poorly defined rumors our flying around, nor that Trump is re-tweeting them.  There are however some specific ones getting picked up by Fox.  Poll watchers barred from observation in PA, flouting a court order at one point.  Illegal votes coming out of NV.  Neither would be a surprise to political historians. 

 

It's murky. There is definitely voter suppression going on, and it tends to target people inclined to vote Democrat, but it doesn't explain away Stacy Abrams' loss. On the other hand, Abrams coming that close in a state like Georgia is a meaningful trend by itself.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/30/did-racially-motivated-voter-suppression-thwart-stacey-abrams/

 

I also don't know anyone who seriously argued that Putin had hacked America's electoral system itself. I know many yearned to prove collusion, but there really was no evidence (I mean, beyond Donald Trump publicly urging Russia to release any and all hacked dirt on Hillary Clinton.) What's undeniable is that Putin targeted and financed a social media campaign out of Russia to infiltrate America with divisive messaging and uncredited conspiracies that skewed towards helping Donald Trump win the election. I personally think America's own bats#!t conspiracy theorists could have handled the job themselves, and I doubt the election hung in the balance of Vladamir Putin, but the volume of Russian output in the American election was pretty stunning. And it hardly cost Putin a thing. 

 

But Trump's efforts to subvert the voting process and cast doubt on any election result he didn't like were done loudly and in broad daylight. 

[ColoradoHusk]

6 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

Yep, if it's this close at the end...go ahead and recount. 

 

But, if Biden wins PA, it doesn't matter.

Yep, if Biden wins PA, or NV and AZ, the recount won't matter.

[Guy Chamberlin]

2 hours ago, teachercd said:

Are we looking at a big tax increase?  Under Biden, is that something you (anyone, anyone, Bueller) see happening?  

 

Dude, you're in the P&R forum.  Assumed you were following at least some of the basic issues. The only tax increase is for people making more than $400,000 a year,  and the tax rate would still be lower on the wealthy than it's been in for most of the last 70 years. 

 

Who knows? Maybe we could get some of the huge corporations paying ZERO taxes to pony up a bit.

 

But you gotta promise not to call it socialism. 

[RedDenver]

8 hours ago, Notre Dame Joe said:

anyone see this?

 

 

 

I tested one person until I found her birth month , in 1905.  It didn't say she voted but that she is still registered and on the permanent absentee ballot list.  I guess at age 115 in person voting is a chore. 

Here's a thread debunking these claims and explaining why they're ridiculous:

 

[Enhance]

Biden's Nevada lead has doubled.

 

I'm not going to say that I'm officially calling it, but... I think I've seen enough at this point.

[schriznoeder]

37 minutes ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

I also don't know anyone who seriously argued that Putin had hacked America's electoral system itself. I know many yearned to prove collusion, but there really was no evidence (I mean, beyond Donald Trump publicly urging Russia to release any and all hacked dirt on Hillary Clinton.) What's undeniable is that Putin targeted and financed a social media campaign out of Russia to infiltrate America with divisive messaging and uncredited conspiracies that skewed towards helping Donald Trump win the election. I personally think America's own bats#!t conspiracy theorists could have handled the job themselves, and I doubt the election hung in the balance of Vladamir Putin, but the volume of Russian output in the American election was pretty stunning. And it hardly cost Putin a thing. 

 

I still vividly remember watching Clint Watts testify about Russian election interference before the Senate Intelligence Committee back in March of 2017. I was so enamored by what he had to say, that I actually saved off the PDF of his opening statement. Here's an excerpt that plays right into the bold above...

 

"Why did Soviet Active Measures fail during the Cold War but succeed for Russia today?

Russia’s Active Measures today work far better than that of their Soviet forefathers. During the Cold War, the KGB had to infiltrate the West, recruit agents and promote communist parties and their propaganda while under watch by Western counterintelligence efforts. Should they be too aggressive, Soviet spies conducting Active Measures amongst U.S. domestic groups could potentially trigger armed conflict or would be detained and deported.

 

Social media provides Russia’s new Active Measures access to U.S. audiences without setting foot in the country, and the Kremlin smartly uses these platforms in seven ways to win Western elections. First, Russia chooses close democratic contests where a slight nudge can usher in their preferred candidate or desired outcome. Second, Russia targets specific audiences inside electorates amenable to their messages and resulting influence – in particular alt-right audiences incensed over immigration, refugees and economic hardship. Third, Russia plans and implements their strategy long before an election allowing sufficient time for cultivating an amenable audience ripe for manipulation. Fourth, their early entry into electoral debates allows them to test many messages and then reinforce those messages that resonate and bring about a measurable, preferred shift in public opinion. Fifth, Russia brilliantly uses hacking to compromise adversaries and power their influence messaging – a tactic most countries would not take. Sixth, their employment of social media automation saturates their intended audience with narratives that drown out opposing viewpoints. Finally, Russia plays either side should the contest
change – backing an individual candidate or party so long as they support a Kremlin policy position and then turning against the same party should their position shift against Russia.

The implications of Russia’s new Active Measures model will be two fold. The first is what the world is witnessing today – a Russian challenge to democracies throughout the West. Russian influence surfaced in Eastern Europe elections and the United Kingdom’s Brexit vote before the U.S. Presidential election, helped bolster a losing far-right candidate recently in the Netherlands and right now works diligently to shape the upcoming 2017 elections in France and Germany. Over the horizon, Russia has provided any authoritarian dictator or predatory elite equipped with hackers and disrespectful of civil liberties a playbook to dismantle their enemies through information warfare. Fledgling democracies and countries rife with ethnic and social divisions will be particularly vulnerable to larger authoritarian regimes with the time, resources and
patience to foment chaos in smaller republics."

[teachercd]

59 minutes ago, ColoradoHusk said:

It's so close in Georgia, that the recount totally makes sense, for both candidates, along with @teachercdwho has an outstanding bet on that result.

Crossing my fingers!!!!

 

I am also heading to Georgia right now to add in some votes!  I need my cash

[teachercd]

42 minutes ago, Guy Chamberlin said:

 

Dude, you're in the P&R forum.  Assumed you were following at least some of the basic issues. The only tax increase is for people making more than $400,000 a year,  and the tax rate would still be lower on the wealthy than it's been in for most of the last 70 years. 

 

Who knows? Maybe we could get some of the huge corporations paying ZERO taxes to pony up a bit.

 

But you gotta promise not to call it socialism. 

Works for me...as long as my taxes don't go up, as was promised!

[teachercd]

1 minute ago, BlitzFirst said:

Right on cue....time to blame Progressives and Socialist Democrats as the reason for Biden NOT winning in a landslide.  I know some of you don't like AOC...but remember, she's young and plugged in to the NEW WAY of campaigning...so read this with a lens of that instead of just dismissing her:

 

 

For those that don't like twitter, here is the entire thread rolled out on one page:

 

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1324694301234921474.html

I work with students that would be the ones voting for her in the near future.  She doesn't move the needle for most of them yet.  I thought they would be bigger fans but there is either a disconnect or they just don't buy what she is selling. 

 

I still think she leaves for a podcast/satellite gig for about 10-15 million a year.  

[Moiraine]

3 minutes ago, teachercd said:

I work with students that would be the ones voting for her in the near future.  She doesn't move the needle for most of them yet.  I thought they would be bigger fans but there is either a disconnect or they just don't buy what she is selling. 

 

I still think she leaves for a podcast/satellite gig for about 10-15 million a year.  

 

 

I think the GOP is more obsessed with her than liberal millennials and younger.

[RedDenver]

Just now, Moiraine said:

 

 

I think the GOP is more obsessed with her than liberal millennials and younger.

It's possible, but you and teach live in a very conservative state. AOC is very popular among younger Dems and of course progressives in the circles I talk politics with.

[teachercd]

Just now, BlitzFirst said:

 

Well, gonna be a while.  She just won re-election with 80% of the vote.

Yeah....but 15 million a year to host a podcast is way better than she makes now.  And she will reach a bigger audience AND gain more followers.

 

I think she is in a situation right now where a straight line is not her best path.