2024 U.S. Presidential General Election Thread

[Poetical Poltergeist]

People are acting like Walz got cooked. He didn’t.

He didn't get cooked he just didn't do much either.

 

[Piff Perkins]

There you go sucking republican dikk again. Why did America handle it worse than Europe, Canada and Oceania?

Trump’s Policies Resulted In The Unnecessary Deaths Of Hundreds Of Thousands Of Americans: Lancet Report

The Trump Administration's cuts to global health programs and public health agencies greatly hindered the country’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the report asserts.

www.forbes.com

While I generally agree Hillary would have handled it better, I'm not sure the overall outcomes would be better overall. For instance on one hand she wouldn't have shytcanned the pandemic preparedness equipment the Obama administration left, so out the gate we would have had more resources and be more prepared. Before getting to that point I also think a Hillary admin - or frankly any serious candidate who ran as a democrat or republican in the 2016 primary process except for Donald Trump - would have taken heed to the intel warnings months before the virus arrived in the US and taken some basic preventative actions. I think travel would have been shut down faster, resource coordination with states would be better, messaging would be better, etc. Honestly I think all those are undeniable arguments. Whether it was Hillary or Jeb Bush or Rubio or Christie, the response would have been better because they are normal humans with normal human brains, whereas Donald Trump clearly has mental issues (hyper narcissism, selfishness, etc) that make it impossible for him to emotionally handle a crisis.

Those are all the advantages of Hillary being president. The disadvantage is quite clear: a democrat president calling for quarantines, shut downs, etc would result in the issue becoming far more partisan far faster. Fox News would have been the epicenter for republican resistance to shut downs, republican governors would be auditioning for future political ambitions, and a lot of people would die. I think there's something about Hillary Clinton telling people what to do that would have resulting in major failures throughout the country. My disdain for Hillary aside, I think the same would have happened to Obama, who I am a fan of. Ironically I think Biden would have handled covid the best in 2020, not because of any particular talent but simply because he has never been more toxic or disliked as Obama or Hillary when it comes to republicans. You can say Biden was unpopular, more unpopular than Obama ever was....but he never stirred the partisan hatred that Obama and Hillary did in republicans. Likely because he's just a likable old white guy whereas Obama is black and Hillary is a woman.

 

[Hood Critic]

He didn't get cooked he just didn't do much either.

The only thing he could do was either entertain or maintain the course.

The media networks can pull all the focus groups together they want, no one is getting a significant swing of new or undecided voters because of a VP debate a little more than 30 days out from the election.

It would have been entertaining for Walz to call Vance out on his bs but it wasn't going to move the needle either way.

 

[Poetical Poltergeist]

The only thing he could do was either entertain or maintain the course.

The media networks can pull all the focus groups together they want, no one is getting a significant swing of new or undecided voters because of a VP debate a little more than 30 days out from the election.

It would have been entertaining for Walz to call Vance out on his bs but it wasn't going to move the needle either way.

Walz just isn't a good debater is all. He's good at doing events and rallies but he proved last night that he's mid when it comes to debates. That's my assessment. But at least it's over now and we can focus on winning this thing because that's all matters now.

 

[Frump]

Walz just isn't a good debater is all. He's good at doing events and rallies but he proved last night that he's mid when it comes to debates. That's my assessment. But at least it's over now and we can focus on winning this thing because that's all matters now.

I also don’t put it past the campaign to maybe have gotten too much into Walz head and told him to stay out of specific topics and stay away from personal insults which had him overthinking

He’s seemed nuetered ever since they told him to lay off the weird thing and personal insults towards Vance

 

[Outlaw]

While I generally agree Hillary would have handled it better, I'm not sure the overall outcomes would be better overall. For instance on one hand she wouldn't have shytcanned the pandemic preparedness equipment the Obama administration left, so out the gate we would have had more resources and be more prepared. Before getting to that point I also think a Hillary admin - or frankly any serious candidate who ran as a democrat or republican in the 2016 primary process except for Donald Trump - would have taken heed to the intel warnings months before the virus arrived in the US and taken some basic preventative actions. I think travel would have been shut down faster, resource coordination with states would be better, messaging would be better, etc. Honestly I think all those are undeniable arguments. Whether it was Hillary or Jeb Bush or Rubio or Christie, the response would have been better because they are normal humans with normal human brains, whereas Donald Trump clearly has mental issues (hyper narcissism, selfishness, etc) that make it impossible for him to emotionally handle a crisis.

Those are all the advantages of Hillary being president. The disadvantage is quite clear: a democrat president calling for quarantines, shut downs, etc would result in the issue becoming far more partisan far faster. Fox News would have been the epicenter for republican resistance to shut downs, republican governors would be auditioning for future political ambitions, and a lot of people would die. I think there's something about Hillary Clinton telling people what to do that would have resulting in major failures throughout the country. My disdain for Hillary aside, I think the same would have happened to Obama, who I am a fan of. Ironically I think Biden would have handled covid the best in 2020, not because of any particular talent but simply because he has never been more toxic or disliked as Obama or Hillary when it comes to republicans. You can say Biden was unpopular, more unpopular than Obama ever was....but he never stirred the partisan hatred that Obama and Hillary did in republicans. Likely because he's just a likable old white guy whereas Obama is black and Hillary is a woman.

The question is would we have needed shutdowns if proper mitigations were in place?

 

[Jesus H. Christ]

I don't like neutered walz

 

[Piff Perkins]

The question is would we have needed shutdowns if proper mitigations were in place?

I think the answer to that is clearly yes. Let's say we shut down travel to/from China sooner. The virus was still going to make its way here, just as it did throughout the world. Hospitals would still be overrun even if the WH had a perfect communication strategy because we simply have too many densely populated cities. Would the hospital resource situation be better under Hillary, in a world where the Obama-era supplies were not thrown in the trash by Trump's people? Of course. But we'd still face a shortage eventually. Would a democrat be more receptive to reviving WWII era government manufacturing in order to pump out more equipment? Yes but the global supply chain would remain an obstacle in the early months.

How does DeSantis operate with Hillary as president? Worse than he did under Trump. Multiply that across the nation in regards to republican governors and that's why I think the outcome would have been similar (or possibly worse) despite Hillary no doubt handling it better.

 

[Big Jo]

I don't like neutered walz

I dont either, but him slinging insults and calling Vance weird on the debate stage may have not come off well.

I get that Vance is a dweeb and should be ridiculed, but the fact both guys were amicable last night and more or less stuck to policy was fine and in some ways better than Trump era fukkery.

IF there were any undecided voters as of yesterday (how?) than Walz did enough to convey the platform & criticize Trump/policy. He didnt decimate Vance like we were hoping but he showed up and did a fine job. Vance held his own too as much as I hate to say it. I really dont think the VP debate had much of an impact, other than reinforcing some general talking points we've already heard from both campaigns

 

[No1]

She should have picked Shapiro. Locking up Pennsylvania >>> neutered Walz.

Independents liked Walz last night and that was likely their plan. There are people in the Harris campaign who told him to stop calling these guys weird. Their goal is to get disaffected republicans and “moderates.” Shapiro also had more dirt to pick on than Walz.

 

[Poetical Poltergeist]

Only the best people.

 

[Slim]

I think Walz was playing it safe but was still able to stick some points and performed well. He's not a prosecutor or executive so he's admitted debates are his weakness.

To continue the football analogies:

Harris-Walz had a lead with two minutes left and they were sticking to a sound running game (Just continue being the likeable Midwestern Dad) but the QB saw the safety looking into the backfield and called play action (Did Trump lose in 2020 + why isn't Pence on this stage?) for a wide open TD.

 

[taker597]

 

[King Static X]

I don't like neutered walz

Walz has never been a good debater. He did OK though.

Vance was a slick bullsh!tter and Walz was a bit awkward but good on substance.

Regardless, VP debates don't matter.

 

[Poetical Poltergeist]