Because we are close to 100 pages, a new thread will be created on Election Day (likely at some point between 6-8AM PST), regardless of the page count of this current thread.. A lot of things will be happening Election Day, and we recognize that there will be a fair amount of live-blogging as things occur.
Here is your continuing general US election thread for the year 2024. Good lord, a lot has happened in the past month.
Just as a brief overview of all the crazy shit that's been happening:
- June 27, 2024 - President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump engage in the earliest debate ever staged between two Presidential candidates in an election year. Sick with a cold, Biden biffs it, causing widespread panic and despair among his supporters. Trump also pulls a bullshit crazy performance, but this largely goes unnoticed because that's par for the course.
- June 28, 2024 - Biden launches a rally in North Carolina trying to buoy the failing morale after a disastrous debate. "I don't debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know... When you get knocked down, you get back up!" Despite the wisdom of Chumbawumba, few are convinced.
- July 5-7, 2024 - Biden has an interview where he says "only the Lord almighty could persuade him to step aside" and "I'll feel as long as I gave it my all and I did as good a job as I know I can do - That's what this is about." This is not reassuring. Hakeem Jeffries meets with senior party leaders in a crisis session. Democratic leaders meet with Biden, but seem resigned to have Biden stay on the ticket.
- July 10, 2024 - Fucking George Clooney butts in with an op-ed in the New York Times.
- July 13, 2024 - Donald Trump survives an assassination attempt at a rally in PA. A lot of forumers panicked and thought the election was over when Pulitzer-worthy photos of a defiant Trump were widely distributed on mainstream news.
- July 15, 2024 - Random Twitter user rickrudescalves tweeted, "can't say for sure but he might be the first vp pick to have admitted in a ny times bestseller to fucking an inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions (vance, hillbilly elegy, pp. 179-181)." The tweet gained over 1.8 million views, 2,600 retweets and 35,000 likes in one week and spawns a huge wave of JD Vance couch memes.
- July 15-18, 2024 - The Republican National Convention occurs. JD Vance accepts the nomination of VP candidate to chants of "Mamaw". MAGA wears diapers on their ears. Hulk Hogan tears off his shirt. Kid Rock was also there. Trump locks in his coronation as King Trump of the GOP.
- July 17, 2024 - Biden tests positive for COVID and returns to his home in Delaware to isolate.
- July 19, 2024 - Biden reiterates that he's still in the race.
- July 21, 2024 - Psych! Biden announces that he will not seek re-election and endorses Kamala Harris, his VP.
- July 21, 2024 - Charli XCX declares "kamala IS brat"
- July 22-27, 2024 - In a shocking turn of events, Kamala Harris quickly consolidates support from wide swaths of the Democratic electorate, and multiple fundraisers over Zoom break records for attendance. A huge social media blitz across TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms quickly spreads a message of support for the new Presidential candidate.
- July 23, 2024 - Minnesota Governor Tim Walz appears on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and says the thing we're all thinking: "These guys are just weird"
- July 28, 2024 - In just one week, Kamala Harris raises $200 million from supporters and donors, with 66% of the donations coming from first-time donors.
- July 31, 2024 - Trump has a disastrous panel at the National Association of Black Journalists, where he accused VP Harris of "being Indian, not Black, until recently", among various personal attacks and insults against the journalists in attendance and VP Harris.
- August 6, 2024 - After much speculation over a vetted list of candidates that included PA Governor Shapiro, Sec. of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, AZ Senator Mark Kelly, and KY Governor Andy Beshear (among many others), Kamala Harris announces that she has selected Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate.
- August 12, 2024 - TIME magazine reveals their cover for the August 26th issue, featuring a portrait of Kamala Harris. Trump becomes obsessed with the quality of this picture, for some goddamn reason known only to him.
- August 14, 2024 - Amidst a surge in poll numbers for Harris, Republican strategists beg Trump to talk about economic policy. In North Carolina, Trump shakes two boxes of Tic Tacs calling this "Inflation", and then proceeds to go off-script to sling personal attacks against Harris, in front of a backdrop that says "No Tax On Tips" plastered all over it.
- August 15, 2024 - At his golf course in New Jersey, Trump stood in front of a bunch of food items placed on tables (ostensibly, to talk about grocery prices. They are barely referenced) to deliver what should have been an economic policy speech. He manages to dryly read from sheets of paper on his podium while exaggerating numbers, then fires off into personal attacks. Again.
- August 17, 2024 - MAGA are seen at a Trump rally brandishing JD Vance Jizz Cups. This is thought to be an attack against IVF and by extension Tim Walz, whose children were born via IVF.
- August 19, 2024 - The Democratic National Convention starts. Biden does not secretly reclaim the nomination as candidate for President, much to the chagrin of Trump and the GOP.
- August 20, 2024 - Lil Jon does the roll call for Georgia. The Obamas deliver a one-two punch dissing Trump and reminding everyone what 2008 was like.
- August 21, 2024 - Tim Walz accepts the nomination as VP of the Democratic Party ticket. John Legend attempts to cover Prince.
- August 22, 2024 - Kamala Harris accepts the nomination as President of the Democratic Party ticket. Beyonce and Taylor Swift are no-shows.
- August 22, 2024 - JD Vance visited Holt's Sweet Shop, a donut shop in Valdosta, Georgia. Cringe ensues.
- August 27, 2024 - Trump has a photo op at Arlington National Cemetery and commits yet another federal crime by bringing cameras to a restricted area. The response is a sternly worded letter from the US Army.
- September 1, 2024 - Trump says the quiet part out loud on a Fox News interview: "Whoever heard you get indicted for interfering with a presidential election where you have every right to do it"
- September 10, 2024 - The Harris-Trump debate. "They're eating cats and dogs" "A Concept of a Plan" "Trans Surgeries for Illegal Aliens in Prisons" there is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it's born."
- September 10, 2024 - Shortly after the debate, Childless Cat Lady Taylor Swift endorses Kamala Harris via Instagram post.
- September 15, 2024 - In an event that the media is calling another Trump assassination attempt, Secret Service agents open fire on Ryan Wesley Routh, a 58 year old white man with a rifle and bulletproof backpacks, for poking a rifle through the chain-link fence surrounding the Trump International Golf Club in Florida where Trump was golfing. Routh was approximately 500 yards away from Trump, but upon meeting resistance from the Secret Service, Routh fled the scene without firing a shot and was apprehended by authorities after vehicular pursuit. The man appears to be a former Trump voter and a current Republican Never-Trumper who backed Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy.
- October 1, 2024 - VP candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz have a debate. Largely considered a "draw", with JD pulling a more composed performance while also providing some embarrassing soundbites regarding the Jan. 6 coup attempt and fact-checking (which spawned a great meme).
US presidential elections as of late have become a stressful and contentious time on these forums, with a lot of infighting and poor posting habits that lead to accounts being jailed and/or banned. The moderators will be watching this thread more closely than any other thread on Debate and Discourse.
Also, a lot of congressional seats and governorships will be elected this year. Feel free to discuss those, but don't be surprised if all the oxygen is sucked out of the room by the presidential election discussion. Some of these side discussions may be easier to do in the appropriate state-level political threads.
General Rules and Posting Guidelines
Most of these rules and guidelines are already standing policy in Debate and Discourse political threads, but they are being reiterated here so you have absolutely no excuse for not knowing them. Some of them are for this specific thread only. You are responsible for these rules and reading the OP (and the entire thread, for that matter) if you want to participate in this discussion.
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Who Are The Candidates?
Okay. Stop. Just stop. Get out of the thread. We don't really have time to educate you if you aren't willing to put one iota of research into this topic, or you live under a rock (unlikely, since you post here). If you want to post here, don't do so from a position of ignorance of the very basic topics. For very basic information about the upcoming election (Presidential, Congressional, Gubernatorial, or other), head to
Ballotpedia.
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Not infractable (EDIT: Okay, maybe a little infractable, as a treat, but we'll give you a warning by default), but generally fruitless avenues of discussion that will get a LOT of side eye from the moderators.
- The results of any individual poll - This is distinct from talking about the accuracy of a given poll result (the infamous biases that exist with phone polling, for example) or discussing the legitimacy of a poll. In general, any single poll is going to be meaningless unless context is given against other similar polls or the methodology/sample size used in the poll. "Latest CNN poll shows..." is pretty useless, and results change on an almost daily basis as part of our cursed 24 hour news cycle.
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- Project 2025 - Yeah, this is the game plan given by conservative thinktanks in the US if they obtain enough power. But this is all stuff that happens AFTER the election. It's not their game plan for winning this election. There is a current thread about Project 2025, so lead discussion of Project 2025 here.
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- 7/16/2024 Addendum - The Trump Rally shooting and assassination attempt - Try to avoid talking about the shooting except how it directly pertains to the Election. We plan on having a separate thread to discuss the shooting. Doomposting based on how this will bump Trump chances is not allowed in this thread, as are snarky comments about the shooting in general. 9/3/2024 Addendum to the Addendum - Okay, so we never ended up caring enough about this to create a thread on this topic, which is okay, because apparently no one cared about it after a week passed by. Wild.
Thread Locks
This thread will almost inevitably get locked due to some sort of infighting or trolling or whatever. When this thread gets locked early, it will be locked for a minimum period of 24 hours (possibly longer based on mod coverage).
New Election Threads
After this thread is locked at 100 pages, the Moderators will create the next OP for the new Election thread. Don't spin up a follow up thread (unless it's about a specific off-topic subject instead of the election, of course). Repeated bad behavior or doomposting may result in thread-kicks being carried over into new Election threads.
Mods will update this OP over time as more things need to be said. We'll hopefully also announce in the thread if there are other rules/guidelines that are being added, but you are responsible for knowing the stuff in this OP.
Posts
Then a new one for the actual day of.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
We are for sure burning at least 100 pages on the 5th.
It's interesting that teens that transition into girls are referred to as 'men' instead of 'boys'. 'The Democrats want MEN to play along GIRLS' Apparently it's not testosterone that makes you a man, it's taking estrogen.
WoW
Dear Satan.....
I think i saw one "murderers are coming across the border" ad all day. That used to be more prevalent.
The Republican party really has fuck all to offer besides bigotry.
WoW
Dear Satan.....
It's so he can point out that Harris never worked at one.
That's it.
Do not engage the Watermelons.
The narcissism is about him proving that he was right to say Harris never worked at a McDonald's.
Paul Ryan 'scrubbing' clean pots and pans at a closed restaurant for a photo op is about trying to seem normal. (Right next to taking off the jacket and tie and rolling up the sleeves.) The things Trump says about the costs of groceries is more effective at making him look like he understands what people are struggling with. Hell, his general obsession with eating McDonald's does more work in that direction. This is almost literally about him trying to show her up personally. It's about him being all that is man superior.
Do not engage the Watermelons.
I'll file this one alongside "it's gay for men to have sex with women", shall I?
So there was an article I read recently
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/09/study-conversations-with-ai-chatbots-can-reduce-belief-in-conspiracy-theories/
Where basically chatbots are surprisingly effective at being able to convince people and reduce belief in conspiracy theories. Something to do with how chatbots sound authoritative, but have infinite patience and the persona they "speak" with that never gets irritated or condescening or whatever.
Which is interesting, but also definitely double-edged given all the other problems with LLMs right now.
Anyways, yes, the GOP is going all in on transphobia, seeing that shit getting blasted out in republican ads here in Virginia and I want to say given that I see stuff for Maryland because Spotsy is effectively an exhurb of DC now, probably also happening with Trump's stuff for Maryland, if any gets aired there. I know Hogan's people are trying to go all in on Alsobrook taking tax breaks she wasn't suppose to have taken, while trying to run fair away from what a piece of shit he is on all the important issues and that he would have probably pulled Youngkin's, the asshole republican governor of Virginia, if the Maryland legislature didn't keep telling him to get fucked with veto override and other legislation for times where he did use actual executive power to try to slide in vile republican policies. Hoping the voters there realize that the dude is actually pretty vile and he only seemed reasonable because he had a massive check on his ability to commit fuckery in the name of conservative bullshit. He'll just be one more asshole who could prevent a potential Harris administration from doing good things and one more rubber stamp for a potential second Trump term.
Anyways on the trans stuff, not surprised really. Usually, when you get fascists organizations that go all in on bigotry, the first two groups they target are the trans community and the community of individuals with disabilities. We've already seen some ableist shit during this election, probably not seeing as much because the various disability communities aren't as visible as the trans community in various media reporting. GOP probably also believes they are an easier group to target so publicly because the trans community is much smaller, thus believing such actions will alienate far fewer voters. Dumb bet because anyone in any of the marginalized communities knows how this shit plays, if they let the bigots get away with persecuting one marginalized group, the bigots will come for them sooner or later. So better to tell the bigots to go eat shit because any attack on a marginalized group is an attack on all marginalized groups. Also the GOP has gone full in on toxic masculinity, and insecure macho men really don't like the trans community.
Elon Musk is giving away a million dollars a day to any registered voter in Pennsylvania who signs his petition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0OZqmPLv0o
This seems to be skirting close enough to voter buying AND running an unlicenced Lottery that I'm suprised this is legal? The Excuse "Well, you don't have to vote Trump to get entered to win, you'll just have to sign that you will" seems...weak.
The reason they're running nonstop anti-trans ads is because Elon Musk gave them $150,000,000. If he didn't, then it'd just be wall to wall bigotry against immigrants instead.
Democracy delivered.
Once again going to complain about having two pages of judges on the ballot
Doesn't matter if it's illegal. They're not going to throw musk in jail, I assume. And any fine to him is trivial. Basically if the punishment is a fine, might as well be legal for Musk. On top of the fact that the legal system has to actually turn its wheels and catch up to the act.
But Biden was elected to Not Be That Guy
Wisconsin as well. Did you know that Tammy Baldwin pays for sex changes for illegal immigrants AND wants biological men in women's shelters?
Are they talking out of both sides of their mouths and also saying women’s shelters mean “the death of the Christian family”?
MWO: Adamski
Almost exactly the same in Iowa
Maybe. But it's likely more that there will be men in places meant to be safe for women. The constant refrain about how some guy will just declare themselves to be a woman so they can enter a women's restroom? Just some dude being a dangerous creep? And not somebody who is going through or has gone through a significant upheaval in their life, potentially lost contact with loved ones, spent years and years before, during, and after trying to come to terms with who they really are and now moving forward with their lives.
Nah. It'll just be some creepy dude who wants to go after vulnerable women in a time of need.
Do not engage the Watermelons.
Seems to be their closing message.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/pennsylvania-gov-shapiro-law-enforcement-take-look-elon-musk-voter-pay-rcna176279