To the Biden supporters

I'm seeing a lot of high-pressure pitches out there. We must get rid of Trump, so a vote for a Green Party candidate or a non-vote helps Trump. Saying anything bad about Joe Biden, including some things about Joe Biden's past, helps Trump. No doubt Tara Reade's sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden helps Trump.

What do you plan to do about your candidate's past? Are you going to run on it or dismiss it? Dismissing it means it becomes a Donald Trump talking point. What will you do when that happens, when Trump brings up all of the points that others who are not his supporters have brought up previously? Running on your candidate's past might be difficult because it contains things such as the 2005 Bankruptcy Bill and the 1994 Crime Bill. To tell the truth, campaign promises made during an election season are probably not worth much. Campaign promises are the fantasy, they're like the whipped cream atop the dessert, and the candidate's background is like the dessert itself, what you're much more likely to get once you get the candidate into office.

Picking on people who are #NeverBiden and #NeverTrump and who live in safe states is a waste of time for you. You might as well be their friends, as they might be able to show you what is behind their perspectives. You can dismiss them as crybabies, but they are most likely partisans of a set of issues in which they don't feel they can gain any traction with either Biden or Trump. If there are a lot of #NeverBiden #NeverTrump people out there, your candidate will probably lose, because Trump's enthusiasm numbers are higher than yours. If there are only a few, then they are marginal and you have little to lose in befriending them.

Have you considered moving to the upper Midwest, and campaigning for Biden there when the quarantine period is over? I'm sure you can't do that now, so you'll have to keep it as a thought for the time being. At any rate, most of the public does not decide who gets to be President under the current dispensation. The decisions are made by voters in the swing states. For the most part the swing states are in the upper Midwest, because the West Coast and the Northeast vote Democrat while the South and the Great Plains vote Republican. So the upper Midwest, and Pennsylvania, are the battleground states. Pretty much any state with a Big Ten football team is where you should focus your efforts. Win those, and you've won the election.

And yes, I've seen your candidate's "plan to safely reopen America." It reads as a sensible document. Much of the defective nature of the US response to the coronavirus pandemic so far, though, has been because economic predators of various sorts have tried to take advantage of the pandemic to make a quick buck. Indeed, the history of the past forty years has been one of America's government in the hands of economic predators, from throwing money at pointless "defense" projects to benefit "defense" corporations, to for-profit prisons, to ending Glass-Steagall (which Joe Biden had a hand in), to foreclosure fraud. Why do you think your candidate will do a better job keeping economic predators in line than Donald Trump? Please don't respond with slogans that you think everyone knows, such as "Biden is far better than Trump." Good writing follows the axiom of show, don't tell.

And congratulations! Your candidate is ahead in the polls. The election, however, will be held in seven months. Both candidates, we can assume, have paid staffs, campaign plans, and outreach strategies to pass the time between now and then. How much time should we ordinary people spend on this kind of stuff, as opposed to, say, organizing for ourselves on the grounds of our own issues?

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Raggedy Ann's picture

"safe state" thinking. What about just having the courage of your convictions?

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Cassiodorus's picture

@Raggedy Ann Safe states are assumed to be safe for a candidate. Swing states are likely to go to either candidate because the vote totals are close. California is usually a safe state for Democrats because Democrats outnumber Republicans in California by a wide margin. Its 55 electoral votes will typically go to a Democratic candidate. Wisconsin is often a swing state because Democrats and Republicans are evenly matched in Wisconsin. Its 10 electoral votes went to Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, in 2016. They could easily have gone to Hillary Clinton.

Usually the winner of a Presidential contest needs to win swing states. The safe states are decided one way or the other.

You can choose to vote however you want; the distinction between safe states and swing states is about whether or not your vote will decide your candidate's election, or whether your vote is "extra" in one way or another. If you live in a safe state, your vote ix "extra" and it does not decide whether your state gets your electoral votes.

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“The loyal Left cannot act decisively. Their devotion to the system is a built-in kill switch limiting dissent.” - Richard Moser

Raggedy Ann's picture

@Cassiodorus
wrong thinking. It’s why the club won’t change. Well actually, the GOP changed when people went for Trump, which means they didn’t think about that swing state safe state baloney, which illustrates my point.

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Cassiodorus's picture

@Raggedy Ann and trying to unseat a Republican, your attention to the votes in the swing states will be important to the success of your candidate. Your candidate will need the electoral votes in the swing states if she or he is to win the election. You can say this is "wrong thinking" all you want; my statement nonetheless remains true, for the reasons I have laid out.

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“The loyal Left cannot act decisively. Their devotion to the system is a built-in kill switch limiting dissent.” - Richard Moser

Granma's picture

@Cassiodorus there is a swing county for a state. My county was the difference between keeping an incumbent conservative and electing a more liberal senator in 2008. That was an interesting experience to be a part of. Coattails were likely part of the picture too, that year. I'm glad I was a volunteer in the liberal senator's campaign office and got a close up look.

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Raggedy Ann's picture

@Cassiodorus
because we are in the shift of consciousness. This wrong thinking will go away.

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Cassiodorus's picture

@Raggedy Ann shows that the "wrong thinking" will not go away, that even if 1/3 of the American public were to die of the coronavirus, the wrong thinking would persist.

Active efforts to educate the public, however, might work. But I don't know if that's what you have in mind. Rather, it appears that you just like calling something "wrong thinking" if you don't like it, and that there's no meaning to "wrong thinking" beyond that.

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“The loyal Left cannot act decisively. Their devotion to the system is a built-in kill switch limiting dissent.” - Richard Moser

Raggedy Ann's picture

@Cassiodorus
I'm just telling you that this will go away. A new governmental and economic system will come and change everything. The universe is in charge,at this moment in time, not people.

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

wendy davis's picture

this was fascinating:

Much of the defective nature of the US response to the coronavirus pandemic so far has been because economic predators of various sorts have tried to take advantage of the pandemic to make a quick buck.

i'd say that about the more intense Green Capitalism as well, as bidnesses rush to capitalize on the greta thunberg effect, as in davos. even prince charles, lol.

i've seen folks posit such like: 'maybe We can take over the Green Party', whatever that may mean.

my guess is that some new golden D candidate promising the world will emerge net cycle, and the currently disaffected will be right there to tout him or her.

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Cassiodorus's picture

@wendy davis to lay out a piece of writing aimed at a specific audience. I hope my aim is true.

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“The loyal Left cannot act decisively. Their devotion to the system is a built-in kill switch limiting dissent.” - Richard Moser

But still, I am confused. For all the points you make, Joe Biden says that the republicans will fall in line, move to the center, to where he resides. He is also willing to consider a republican for Vice pres. Wouldn't that be worse than supporting Jill Stein? I am sorely puzzled how to have any reasonable conversation with his followers. Their hatred for the left is intense, while pointing to the dem party platform as out lefting the left on issues?

Forgive me, I visited TOP and all I could conjure up were the fight scenes from "Gangs of New York". Not in a bad way.

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Cassiodorus's picture

@Snode are decided because voters disliked one candidate less than the other one. The 2012 election, for instance, was decided through an intense anti-Romney ad campaign launched by Obama forces, whereas a Wall Street Journal poll revealed that most of Mitt Romney's supporters didn't care who he was as long as he was not Barack Obama.

Does that answer your questions?

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10 users have voted.

“The loyal Left cannot act decisively. Their devotion to the system is a built-in kill switch limiting dissent.” - Richard Moser

@Cassiodorus I just don't understand how one could be so highly enthusiastic voting for the lesser of 2 evils.

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polkageist's picture

@Snode
In 1755 when Dr. Johnson was asked by a woman why one of the definitions in his dictionary was incorrect, he replied, "Ignorance Madam, pure ignorance."

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-Greed is not a virtue.
-Socialism: the radical idea of sharing.
-Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy, In a speech at the White House, 1962

Pluto's Republic's picture

@Snode

...determines how they will vote, and predicts if they will vote at all.

I've seen it expressed this way:

People who throw their loyalty to a political Party, see candidates as somewhat interchangeable. Electability is the single issue that matters, not policies and not promises. They take their cues from the Party bosses and are quick to conform. The Party is like a 'Sports Team' for them and they are passionate about their Team winning. The LOTE vote doesn't exist for them, because the entire purpose of voting is to pull the entire Party into power.

People on the Left, Independents, and Ideologically driven factions — like Libertarians — are not particularly loyal to political Parties. The Party's platform and leadership cues are generally unnoticed or ignored. They are intensely focused on which policies the candidates will promote, and candidates are judged on the policies they embraced or rejected in the past. If the status quo causes harm to society, they seek a candidate with policies to eliminate that harm. If no candidate represents their interests, they may not feel compelled to vote simply to support the Party.

These two sides do not communicate well and have different political goals. This is a recent evolution and is one of many active splits in the Democratic Party.

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Cassiodorus's picture

@Pluto's Republic

People on the Left, Independents, and Ideologically driven factions — like Libertarians — are not particularly loyal to political Parties. The Party's platform and leadership cues are generally unnoticed or ignored. They are intensely focused on which policies the candidates will promote, and candidates are judged on the policies they embraced or rejected in the past.

Perhaps. In the United States, though, "people on the Left" are intensely devoted to offering up "lesser-evil" pretexts for voting for the Democratic Party offering, whatever it happens to be, as if each election with a Republican incumbent were a reprise of March 1933 in Germany and it were our last hope of getting rid of Hitler. Or maybe they think this is the March/April 1932 German election, and we all ought to pull together for von Hindenburg to keep Hitler out (after which von Hindenburg appointed Hitler). And that's what they do. Those people are part of the Biden supporter audience I'm addressing here. Sure, there are a few marginal individuals who say "vote Green," but they're usually either ignored or hated. It's also possible their votes aren't counted.

Here I've suggested that if such people desperately thought they were the difference between Trump totalitarianism in America and what Sheldon Wolin called "inverted totalitarianism," (and why the ruling class would opt for old-fashioned totalitarianism when inverted totalitarianism works so much more efficiently for them is beyond me), they ought to move to the upper Midwest where most of the important swing states are. The electoral map that currently reigns supreme in American politics, btw, has been more-or-less stable since 1992 and the election of Bill Clinton.

Also I've suggested that the multiple "issues" imaginary that we see trotted out in American politics is really one, and only one, issue -- the ongoing stranglehold of financial predators over the Federal budget. The big question is this: why should we imagine Joe Biden to be any more effective in ending the stranglehold than, say, not at all, which is what we see from Donald Trump? The argument, as I've made clear, has to reference Joe Biden's actual history, and there's plenty of that -- Joe Biden has been in politics for fifty years.

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“The loyal Left cannot act decisively. Their devotion to the system is a built-in kill switch limiting dissent.” - Richard Moser

TheOtherMaven's picture

@Snode

Republicans didn't budge, independents stayed home or voted third party, and even some Democrats defected.

Signalling "I'm really a Republican" is inviting more of the same and worse. Remember what Harry Truman said about that? (Dude had a lot of faults, but he could really sling a zinger.)

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

thanatokephaloides's picture

@TheOtherMaven

Signalling "I'm really a Republican" is inviting more of the same and worse. Remember what Harry Truman said about that? (Dude had a lot of faults, but he could really sling a zinger.)

Said zinger was the very best one Truman ever slung, IMHO.

Biggrin

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

wendy davis's picture

@Snode

While the Green Party won't be selecting our presidential nominee until July of 2020, the race for the 2020 Green Party presidential nomination has already begun. The Presidential Campaign Support Committee has published the documentation for those seeking our nomination. The PCSC also maintains a document listing those seeking our nomination.

At this point in the nomination process, the following candidates have met basic criteria for official recognition by the Green Party of the United States. They are Howie Hawkins, Dario Hunter and David Rolde.

The national Green Party is committed to maintaining a neutral stance towards those seeking our nomination. The individual campaigns are responsible for supplying the material that appears below and a posting does not imply endorsement or approval of the content by any Green Party entity.

https://www.gp.org/2020

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magiamma's picture

is counterproductive. Nevertheless I am hearing a lot of it. Especially, don’t say anything bad about byedone. Because that might affect the outcome.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

There aren't any. Nobody's voting for Joe Biden. And just voting against Trump isn't enough any more.

Trump is what Biden would be if he was all there. (With possible apologies to The Donald.)

Bad

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@thanatokephaloides
Up there with Slick Willie

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20 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Bollox Ref's picture

... but remember when Democrats used to remonstrate that all victims of rape should be believed....

Puzzling times.

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23 users have voted.

Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

snoopydawg's picture

wrote a rape scene? But now they think that Biden's rape of Tara Reid is a Russian bot scam. And from what I understand Bernie was trying to make a point about women and sexual assault. What point could ByeDone possibly been trying to make with his decades long history of fondling girls?

Still seeing lots of people saying "it's important that ByeDone be president because of the Supreme Court. This ship done sailed with Thomas and Scalia folks.

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The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt

Daenerys's picture

@snoopydawg not voting for either Trump or ByeDone=not voting at all, which of course isn't the case. No one is telling people to stay home and not vote. And saying 'a third party vote is a vote for Trump!' isn't gaslighting. No siree. *rolls eyes*

As for me, I rather like being able to sleep at night and look at myself in the mirror.

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This shit is bananas.

snoopydawg's picture

@Daenerys

Saw a funny diary on DK and this was discussed.

A vote for Trump is a vote against Biden is what they are saying. Here's some responses.

- No it's not. If the vote is 50-49 in favor of Biden and person X decides to vote (say) Socialist party. Well Biden still wins. Whereas if person X votes for Trump, then the vote is tied.

- Mathematically, “Never Biden” is ½ of a vote for Trump. The point is that, if you don’t vote for Biden, you’re helping Trump’s re-election.

Me? I just won't vote for Trump and that means I helped Biden win the presidency. Right? I'm voting my conscience and I have always refused to vote for warmongers and people who have voted to pass legislation that hurt me.

But wait there's more.

- There are two ways to vote against Trump: don’t vote for him, or don’t vote. When we vote Biden, we vote twice; once against Trump and once for Biden.

Umm isn't that election fraud if you vote more than once?

There has been lots of diaries on how bad Bernie's supporters have been during this primary and in everything one that was positive about him centrists fled in to dump on him and his supporters, but if you called them out it just proved their point. A few had enough of it.

- At what point do we stop giving him a pass on the people he hires and the behavior of the more toxic of his supporters?

- Yes. This is the entire primary season here in a nutshell. THEIR shit doesn't stink. Nope. Not ONE BIT! They haven't been hating on anybody, it's just those damned Bernie Bros! These are the same folks who sat at the cool kids table in junior high school and made fun of the nerds.

- This is it, again, in a nutshell. They are Pure As The Driven Snow; also the Adults In The Room; the Pragmatists, the Realists. And their shit smells like star jasmine and roses. Actually, what am I saying? They don’t shit. They simply deposit star jasmine and rose fertilizer, bringing rainbows and sunshine wherever they go. (But no ponies or unicorns. Those are for bratty entitled leftists, who won’t get any, also too.)

Booyah! If Biden wins then no one gets MFA or any of the other things Bernie was running on. And if he picks Harris or the Klub lady then she will probably get elected president after Biden steps down and that way we get nothing for 12 years. Trump wins again and after another progressive could win. Slight chance, but the next republican could be worse than Trump. Just like he was worse than Bush the lesser.

BTW this was in one that asked for time to mourn Bernie dropping out and the diarist was asking for time before they decided where their vote went.

- This whole “mourning” thing is so over the top and over-blown. That man didn’t die, he lost a primary campaign!

- - MANY OF BERNIE'S SUPPORTERS WILL DIE. AS WILL MANY CENTRISTS THAT SPENT THE PRIMARY SPEWING BILE ON HIM AND HIS SUPPORTERS.

- Biden will sign any legislation that passes congress.

- He is on record saying he will not vote for MFA if congress passes it.

This one is my winner.

- Bernie voters do not listen. Or at least way too many of them. They wanted Trump all along.

I was literally lmao this morning reading it. Hey this is what comes from asking for unity.

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The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt

thanatokephaloides's picture

@snoopydawg

- This is it, again, in a nutshell. They are Pure As The Driven Snow; also the Adults In The Room; the Pragmatists, the Realists. And their shit smells like star jasmine and roses. Actually, what am I saying? They don’t shit.

Then they're androids, and should be destroyed!

I bet they steal school supplies, too! Biggrin

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQTW7Pd1vqc]

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@snoopydawg While admitting Biden needs the 30% of Sanders primary voters, it's still "they lost, they deserve no consideration". While Sanders campaign was closer to the democrats traditional platform, it's "we can't go left, remember McGovern".

They demand our vote. They don't want us.

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TheOtherMaven's picture

@Snode

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Cassiodorus's picture

@snoopydawg is mere high-pressure rhetoric. There's no reason to analyze it mathematically. When we see this on our computer screens we are to imagine someone else on the other end, typing away at her or his computer screen, who thinks OMIGOD IF TRUMP WINS RE-ELECTION IT WILL BE THE END OF THE WORLD! Those of us with more vibrant imaginations think, "okay so how is it that electing Joe Biden will prevent the end of the world, and how is it that this is going to happen in some other way than with the Biden campaign appealing to voters in the Midwest?"

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“The loyal Left cannot act decisively. Their devotion to the system is a built-in kill switch limiting dissent.” - Richard Moser

snoopydawg's picture

@Cassiodorus

It was obviously snark and making fun of people who think that way.

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The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt

snoopydawg's picture

I won't forget this.

Nor will I forget that he was the president who could have been, but chose not to be. This is why I puke every time I see someone say that he was the best president since FDR. Please! And wake the f'ck up!

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The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt

snoopydawg's picture

Last week I said that now that Bernie has dropped out the media will now cover Biden's accusations of rape and sexual fondling. Today the NYT did just that.
Brb with the link. And boy is it a doozy of a story.

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The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt