A General thread for 2024 Presidential Elections

[raison de arizona]

In no known universe are cookies depressing.

well, there's raisin cookies that you THOUGHT were chocolate chip...

lol the exception proves the rule

[sugar magnolia]

In no known universe are cookies depressing.

well, there's raisin cookies that you THOUGHT were chocolate chip...

You have a point there, but they aren't depressing until after you realize it.

[pipistrelle]

In no known universe are cookies depressing.

well, there's raisin cookies that you THOUGHT were chocolate chip...

Off Topic

Gah, I hate that.

[RTH10260]

Teamsters president faces backlash over ‘unconscionable’ GOP convention speech
Sean O’Brien accused of bolstering ‘most anti-union party and president’ by senior members of his own union

Michael Sainato
Fri 12 Jul 2024 12.00 CEST

The Teamsters International president, Sean O’Brien, has been accused by senior members of the union of disgracing it by agreeing to an unprecedented appearance at next week’s Republican national convention.

O’Brien’s decision was branded “unconscionable” by John Palmer, vice-president at large at the Teamsters, who accused him of lending support to the “most anti-union party and president” in a generation.

In a letter seen by the Guardian, Palmer urged members of the union to demand that O’Brien cancel his planned appearance. The Teamsters did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Teamsters is one of the largest labor unions in the US, with 1.3 million members. While other large labor unions and the largest coalition of labor unions, the AFL-CIO, have already endorsed Joe Biden, the Teamsters has yet to make an endorsement in the 2024 presidential election.

Tommy Vietor (left), Jon Favreau (center) and Jon Lovett (right) at the Pasadena Convention Center in California, on 29 July 2017.
How the ex-Obama aides of Pod Save America turned their backs on Biden
Read more
The Republican convention is set to begin on Monday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. O’Brien’s scheduled appearance has drawn criticism from both leaders and members within the Teamsters, and anti-union groups.

The Center for Union Facts, an organization founded by staunch union opponent and lobbyist Rick Berman, has paid for billboards in the Milwaukee area accusing the Teamsters of being a partisan group due to the union’s political action committee (Pac) predominantly supporting Democratic politicians.



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/art ... h-backlash

[Suranis]

https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/why- ... can-win-my

Why I Am Optimistic We Can Win - My Latest Take On The 2024 Election (Video)
The Election Remains Close And Competitive - No Red Waving 2024 Please
Simon Rosenberg
Jul 12, 2024

Happy Friday all. Last night the President had a good night. He demonstrated remarkable mastery of complex global events, and celebrated the Anniversary of the most powerful military alliance in human history, one that has keep us safe and free for 75 years. I wake up this morning deeply proud of my President who has worked tirelessly for us these past 4 years and has made things far, far better here for all of us, navigating us successfully through challenging times.



Adding to my look at recent polling and data yesterday that found the election still close and competitive, we got a new NPR/Marist poll this morning which had Biden up 2, 50-48. So here’s some of the polling released this week, Biden-Trump:

50%-48% NPR/Marist

44%-42% GW/YouGov

47%-46% Split Ticket/Data For Progress

50%-50% Emerson College

46%-46% Washington Post (Harris leads Trump 49-47)

42%-43% Redfield & Wilton

42%-43% Bendixen and Amandi (Harris leads Trump)

41%-42% Big Village

42%-44% Morning Consult

40%-43% Economist/YouGov

The overwhelming majority of polls released this week show the race essentially tied, 3 have Biden leads, and the 538 forecast this morning has Biden at 270 and winning the election. The last battleground state poll had Biden gaining 2, ahead in 2 of the 7 states and within margin of error in several more - neither candidate was at 270. Kamala Harris is showing a remarkable degree strength in recent polling, something that we just weren’t sure about a few weeks ago. So commentators need to stop red waving 2024 - today this is a very close election, one Democrats can clearly win. A reminder of what the headline of the new Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll was on Sunday:

unnamed.png (27.48 KiB) Viewed 1540 times

More questions need to be asked of the Republicans today why all of a sudden Trump’s polling lead appears to have disappeared. Perhaps keeping him off the trail for two weeks was a huge error, not some super savvy play.

[Dr. Ken]

[Rolodex]

Now that there's a GOP VP named, someone has done the yeoman's work of putting together a doc of his horrible.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2P ... REOgve/pub

[AndyinPA]

Thanks.

[p0rtia]

That's a keeper!

[RTH10260]

As Biden departs, Trump set to face questions over his age and acuity
With a younger rival to emerge, the focus is likely to turn to ex-president, 78, and his often rambling, confused speeches

Edward Helmore
Mon 22 Jul 2024 19.00 CEST

With 78-year-old Donald Trump now certain to face a Democratic candidate younger than he is, the Republican could have the tables turned on him over the questions of age and mental agility that he often sidestepped while Joe Biden was his opponent.

The age gap between Trump and any of his likely Democrat opponents – Kamala Harris, 59; Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, 52; Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, 51 – could make him the sole focus of voters’ desire for a generational handover of power.

And with Biden’s often stumbling public appearances – and especially his disastrous debate – now a thing of the past, there is likely to be a fresh focus on Trump’s mental acuity and his frequently rambling, confused campaign speeches.

Last month, for example, Trump got the name of his own doctor wrong. Previously he has made high-profile campaign trail gaffes, in which he seemed to think Barack Obama was still president and mistook his arch Republican rival Nikki Haley for Nancy Pelosi.

Nearly 60% of US voters said last month that Biden should “definitely” or “probably” be replaced, while Trump’s favorability rating had risen to 40% since his hush-money conviction and the attempt on his life eight days ago. Harris’s favorability sits at around 39%.

Biden’s departure from the ticket upends several aspects of Republican’s calculations, including that Trump the felon will now possibly have to debate Harris the former prosecutor in September – if she receives the nomination.



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/art ... ump-harris

[pipistrelle]

As Biden departs, Trump set to face questions over his age and acuity
With 78-year-old Donald Trump now certain to face a Democratic candidate younger than he is, the Republican could have the tables turned on him over the questions of age and mental agility that he often sidestepped while Joe Biden was his opponent.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/art ... ump-harris

He didn't sidestep anything. The media did.

[RVInit]

As Biden departs, Trump set to face questions over his age and acuity
With 78-year-old Donald Trump now certain to face a Democratic candidate younger than he is, the Republican could have the tables turned on him over the questions of age and mental agility that he often sidestepped while Joe Biden was his opponent.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/art ... ump-harris

He didn't sidestep anything. The media did.

There doesn't seem to be anything else to believe except that he's good for their bottom line and that's all they care about.

[poplove]

I love this! Make a plan to vote!

@AHaschi
So
All those "Pass the torch" dudes didn't have a plan
But Joe Biden loves to make plans
And he made a plan
And his plan worked
Bless

[RVInit]

[MN-Skeptic]

X's AI chatbot 'Grok' spread misinformation about Minnesota's ballots. Does the tech giant care?

Secretary of State Steve Simon says the social media platform gave the equivalent of a "shoulder shrug" when secretaries of state brought the problem to their attention.

The office of Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon has traced the recent spread of misinformation about the state's presidential ballot to a snarky AI chatbot named Grok, which is available to premium users of the social media platform X.

After President Joe Biden dropped out of the race Sunday, screenshots circulated on social media showing Grok responding to a question about whether states' presidential ballot deadlines had passed. The chatbot cited nine states, including Minnesota, where it claimed ballots are "locked and loaded" for the Nov. 5 presidential election.

"So, if you're planning to run for president in any of these states, you might want to check if you've already missed the boat," the chatbot responds. "But hey, there's always 2028, right?"

Except that's not true.

Minnesota's deadline isn't until Aug. 26, and no other state's deadline has passed for candidates to get on the ballot for president and vice president. Still, the faulty information has been shared across several social media platforms and is getting millions of views, Simon said.

X was formerly Twitter. Secretaries of state reached out to a company representative about the issue through the nonpartisan National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), which Simon leads. That representative told them that X plans to update the technology in August and that the chatbot already includes a disclaimer that users should independently verify information.

[tek]

the chatbot already includes a disclaimer that users should independently verify information.

uh huh.

[Slim Cognito]

So basically, it's a Magic 8 Ball.

[bbflatt]

So basically, it's a Magic 8 Ball.

No, a magic 8 Ball is unbiased.

[RTH10260]

Kamala Harris switch scrambles Republicans as Trump resorts to insults
A week ago, former president was riding high, but now he faces vibrant, younger rival who hit the ground running

Joanna Walters in New York
Sat 27 Jul 2024 20.48 CEST

Donald Trump capped a tough week in which his Democratic opponents turned the tables, replacing aging Joe Biden with Kamala Harris as their top choice for president, by resorting to insults and extremism on the campaign trail.

A week ago, Trump was riding high on the iconic moment when he rose bloodied and with a defiantly raised fist from an assassination attempt, pulling away in the polls. Biden, meanwhile, was struggling to recover from his dire late June debate against the Republican nominee and an unconvincing performance in the days since.

Now, with the former president suddenly facing a vibrant, younger rival in Harris, who hit the ground running after Biden quit his re-election campaign last Sunday and quickly endorsed her for the top of the ticket, Trump called her “a bum” and said he “couldn’t care less” if he mispronounced her name.

At a rally in Florida on Friday night organized by the far-right Christian advocacy group Turning Point Action, Trump not only went personal against the US vice-president, but once again appeared to threaten American democracy.

“Christians, get out and vote! Just this time – you won’t have to do it anymore. You know what? It’ll be fixed! It’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians,” he said at the event in West Palm Beach, not far from his Mar-a-Lago resort and residence.

Trump has been adopted by much of the US evangelical Christian right as a flawed champion, besmirched by losing in sexual misconduct and business fraud civil cases and convicted on criminal counts for election-related fraud in a case involving an adult film actor who alleged an extramarital sexual encounter with him. With other criminal cases ongoing, he is nevertheless the one-term president who tilted the US supreme court against abortion, gun control, government experts, voting rights and diversity efforts in higher education, delighting his white, ultra-conservative base.

At Friday’s rally, he also lit into Harris. She won the support not only of Biden but of the Obamas, the Clintons and the Democratic leaders in Congress last week, and if she is officially anointed at the party’s convention next month, she will be the first Black female nominee, the first south Asian nominee, and, if she beats Trump in November, America’s first female president.

On Friday, Trump called her “the most incompetent, unpopular and far-left vice-president in American history”. And in a seeming nod to how the campaign has been upended, he said: “She was a bum three weeks ago.”



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/art ... ala-harris

[RTH10260]

Trump COMPLETELY BOMBS Fox Interview, SCARED of KAMALA

MeidasTouch
30 Jul 2024

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on Donald Trump’s disastrous interview with Laura Ingraham as his campaign is in meltdown mode.

[pipistrelle]

Someone forgot to mousse his head fur.

It's rare for a former prosecutor to be called left wing, isn't it?

[pipistrelle]

Voter registration card is in today's mail.

[RTH10260]

older

Trump campaign sues Michigan Gov. Whitmer over new voter registration sites
The suit contends the Democratic governor and secretary state are improperly using some federal offices as voter registration sites.

July 15, 2024, 10:24 PM GMT+2
By Dareh Gregorian and Selina Guevara

The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee sued Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and others Monday for allowing federal Veterans Affairs and Small Business Administration sites to be used for voter registration efforts.

In papers filed in federal court in Michigan, the campaign and the RNC contend Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson exceeded their authority when they struck agreements to use the VA and SBA offices as "voter registration agencies," or VRAs.

“Under Michigan law, the authority to make such designations is held solely by the Legislature,” the filing said.

Michigan is a state that Trump won in 2016 and then flipped to back Joe Biden in 2020. It is expected to be a pivotal battleground state in this year's election.

Trump has long sought to sow the seeds of doubt about elections before they occur, and he leveled unfounded accusations at several states in the lead-up to the 2020 election, which he then repeated as part of baseless claims to overturn the outcome when he lost.

Trump's campaign echoed complaints that voter integrity was at risk in the suit filed Monday.



https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-e ... rcna161964

[Slim Cognito]

Anyone want to bet against me that if a Republican governor had done the same thing, trump's campaign would have stayed mum or possibly applauded the move?

Anyone?

Buehler? Buehler?

[Lansdowne]

Anyone want to bet against me that if a Republican governor had done the same thing, trump's campaign would have stayed mum or possibly applauded the move?

Anyone?

Buehler? Buehler?

Is that likely? A Republican governor providing extra ways to register to vote? Doesn't that make them a RINO governor?

Tfg would be on the phone demanding that 11,780 registered voters must be found ineligible and disqualified for being black/a woman/far-left Biden Harris supporters.