US election 2020 thread

[platinumsage]

It's clearer than ever, they need to scarp the electoral college system, and go for a simple national vote, putting a stop to this batshit crazy nonsense, once and for all.

That wouldn't work in a federal system surely - you could potentially have a president elected by a tiny minority of populous states. So presidents would just need to give California etc a few bungs and sod the rural states forever.

 

[Spymaster]

People like this woman did the hard work that it all seems to ends up hinging on and are having to sit there listening to these claims of fraud.

She's probably laughing at the fraud claims just as much as everyone else.

 

[Pickman's model]

That's true, and Trump doesn't have that support, and he won't stay in power...but he does have millions of supporters and a good number are very riled up and there's two months before power is handed over... Still a high chance of violence once the election is called.

It might be reassuring to think this is a peak moment but the US and the rest of the world is going into a deep Covid recession, poverty is going to deepen further, Biden set to be a lame duck, and so the underlying breeding ground conditions for further authoritarianism / neofascism seem ripe.

that might be an insurrection but it won't be a coup

 

[QueenOfGoths]

Has Trump's head exploded yet?

 

[littlebabyjesus]

That wouldn't work in a federal system surely - you could potentially have a president elected by a tiny minority of populous states.

What exactly is the problem there?

One position up for grabs, person to be elected will have equal power over all the electors. One person, one vote. Each vote equally weighted.

The states can all still have their own elections, areas of jurisdiction and legislatures just as now.

 

[platinumsage]

What exactly is the problem there?

One position up for grabs, person to be elected will have equal power over all the electors. One person, one vote. Each vote equally weighted.

The states can all still have their own elections, areas of jurisdiction and legislatures just as now.

Presidents would just need to keep the main population centres happy, the Dakotas or whatever would terminally be told to GTFO by both sides.

 

[Yossarian]

Has Trump's head exploded yet?

Not yet, but he is behaving in kind of the way you'd expect from an elderly man recovering from an illness who took amphetamines to get through a hectic week of rallies and then was bombarded with bad news during the comedown.

 

[MickiQ]

One Republican not distancing himself from Trump is Lindsey Graham. Not just supporting him in words, but even financially too!

Honestly thought he'd keep quiet like the others and do another 180 once Trump had gone. Maybe he feel like his support of Trump won him votes in his own election?

He might just be staking his claim to the mantle.
Trump may have lost but Trumpism will sadly not die with him, Come 2024, the Republican primary candidates are all going to try to out-Trump each other in order the get the nomination, Fuck knows they were bad enough before him.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

Has Trump's head exploded yet?

There’s still hope of a stray 5.56.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

So presidents would just need to give California etc a few bungs and sod the rural states forever.

Just saw your edit. No, that doesn't work. The votes of voters in the rural states will be just as important as the votes of voters from anywhere else. Proportionally sized bungs would be entirely logical. Under the current system, the logic is that those bungs should be disproportionately big for the smaller states.

 

[MickiQ]

Has Trump's head exploded yet?

I hate to be bearer of bad news but alas not yet

 

[prunus]

Mutterings of an imminent vote from from Philadelphia, which given it's 5 hours since the last one, is speculated might be a large, even significant, one. You know what I mean by significant, I think

 

[Chz]

Just saw your edit. No, that doesn't work. The votes of voters in the rural states will be just as important as the votes of voters from anywhere else. Proportionally sized bungs would be entirely logical. Under the current system, the logic is that those bungs should be disproportionately big for the smaller states.

Also, they'd still wield completely disproportionate power through the Senate.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Also, they'd still wield completely disproportionate power through the Senate.

Plus of course, the current system incentivises one party or the other to entirely ignore a state that they know is hugely unlikely to vote for them in the electoral college.

To use the example given, a Democrat president doesn't need to give any fucks at all electorally about North Dakota. Zero bungs.

 

[A380]

 

[belboid]

Just saw your edit. No, that doesn't work. The votes of voters in the rural states will be just as important as the votes of voters from anywhere else. Proportionally sized bungs would be entirely logical. Under the current system, the logic is that those bungs should be disproportionately big for the smaller states.

Naah, you’re wrong. California delivers the dems its lead, they’d merrily boost that and completely ignore the dakotas. They do to an extent anyway, but a simple OPOV would exacerbate it. Just one of the many reasons it will never happen.

 

[Crispy]

Presidents would just need to keep the main population centres happy, the Dakotas or whatever would terminally be told to GTFO by both sides.

Land doesn't vote

 

[killer b]

To use the example given, a Democrat president doesn't need to give any fucks at all electorally about North Dakota. Zero bungs.

Maybe Democrats not giving any fucks about North Dakota is one of the reasons why the Republicans have been able to leverage the current system in their favour.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Naah, you’re wrong. California delivers the dems its lead, they’d merrily boost that and completely ignore the dakotas. They do to an extent anyway, but a simple OPOV would exacerbate it. Just one of the many reasons it will never happen.

I think you're wrong. I don't know what the population of the dakotas is. Between 1 and 2 million, I think, combined. They would merit the attention that amount of votes up for grabs merits. In a close election, that could easily be the difference. They would also be incentivised to max out California, of course, but that doesn't detract from the dakotas' importance. They'd be as important as their population merits.

 

[Raheem]

Presidents would just need to keep the main population centres happy, the Dakotas or whatever would terminally be told to GTFO by both sides.

OTOH, under the current system, Republicans have held the presidency for 12 of the last 20 years, but have only once won the popular vote. Surely you can understand how someone might see that as the bigger problem.

 

[Dogsauce]

Biden now in the lead in GA by 917 votes. More to come.

Military ballots & overseas to still be counted, that could change things the other way.

just following up on this, apparently some military votes have already been counted and are in the total, so not as significant. GA should be OK I think.

 

[a_chap]

Four hours old now, but you can't get much more blatant than this:

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Under the current system nobody gives a fuck about North Dakota do they? The Democrats don't but the Republicans don't work for their votes either - they're in the bag so no need to worry.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

OTOH, under the current system, Republicans have held the presidency for 12 of the last 20 years, but have only once won the popular vote. Surely you can understand how someone might see that as the bigger problem.

Really, you have to work very hard, and perform some strange mental backflips, to argue that one person, one vote, each vote equally weighted, is not the best way to determine the election of one person to one position.

If they were making the system from scratch now, for this federal state, that's what they'd choose as the system. It's only as it is due to historical reasons dating back centuries combined with institutional inertia and vested interests that benefit from the status quo.

 

[David Clapson]

The Secret Service has just increased its protection for Biden. V. significant. He's slowly assuming the mantle.

 

[nogojones]

The Secret Service has just increased its protection for Biden. V. significant. He's slowly assuming the mantle.

The risk of him getting popped has also just gone through the roof mind

 

[gentlegreen]

.

The risk of him getting popped has also just gone through the roof mind

One of the myriad reasons I would never stand for office - or be a millionaire for that matter ...

 

[Flavour]

Be funny if Biden got covid now

 

[Sprocket.]

.

One of the myriad reasons I would never stand for office - or be a millionaire for that matter ...

I think you should just concentrate on enjoying your retirement matey.

 

[killer b]

.

One of the myriad reasons I would never stand for office - or be a millionaire for that matter ...

fairly sure you wouldn't have anything to worry about.