US Election Week 2020

[Oexmelin]

I'm sure at least some moderates are smart enough to see the problem with "defund the police" even before fascists point it out.

Sure. And I think I am smart enough to see the problem with whatever other "moderate" position is touted as the perennial best thing since sliced bread. The problem is not whether one may or may not disagree with whatever progressive policy is put forward. It's that, in their rush to appear reasonable and wise, "moderates" end up deferring to the essence of the Republican caricature. That's how Republicans have been able to more or less dominate the political discourse for the last 30 years.

[Admiral Yi]

Sure. And I think I am smart enough to see the problem with whatever other "moderate" position is touted as the perennial best thing since sliced bread. The problem is not whether one may or may not disagree with whatever progressive policy is put forward. It's that, in their rush to appear reasonable and wise, "moderates" end up deferring to the essence of the Republican caricature. That's how Republicans have been able to more or less dominate the political discourse for the last 30 years.

How have moderates deferred to the Republican caricature that God will smite the earth if we allow gay marriage, or the Republican caricature that global warming is a hoax dreamed up by a bunch of self-serving scientists?  I could go on.

[Razgovory]

It certainly didn't dissuade Republicans from claiming he raped children and ate their blood, a lie that half of Republicans believe.

By any chance do you have a cite for this startling claim?

Sure.  https://civiqs.com/reports/2020/9/2/report-americans-pessimistic-on-time-frame-for-coronavirus-recovery

QAnon, a far-right conspiracy theory about "deep state elites" has extensive support among Republican voters. One in three Republicans (33%) believe that the QAnon theory is mostly true. Another 23% of Republicans say that some parts of the QAnon conspiracy are true. Only 13% of Republicans think that it is not true at all. In contrast, 72% of Democrats say the QAnon conspiracy theory is not true at all.

Awareness of QAnon has grown substantially since one year ago. In July 2019, 35% of Americans had never heard of QAnon -- that number has fallen to 14% now. For Republicans, greater awareness has led to greater support. The percentage of Republicans who believe that the QAnon theory is partially or mostly true has grown from 46% one year ago to 56% today.

[Eddie Teach]

It didn't ask what they thought the Qanon conspiracy was.

[Syt]

[Syt]

It didn't ask what they thought the Qanon conspiracy was.

Regardless, that's still a disturbing number of people believing in a high level deep state elites conspiracy.

[Razgovory]

It didn't ask what they thought the Qanon conspiracy was.

True, but they also asked about police violence without asking the respondent to define the word "police".

[Eddie Teach]

I reckon most people know that one.

[garbon]

We're just doing the re-hash of Dems need to act like saints to get conservative voters to not act like assholes. But if conservative voters are happy to buy into things that aren't even true (QAnon, the election wasn't free and fair, Joe Biden is a socialist) can that really matter?

[Eddie Teach]

Do you want to win or not? Presuming you do, you can't just write half the electorate off.

[Syt]

Do you want to win or not? Presuming you do, you can't just write half the electorate off.

If a milquetoast, middle of the road, lowest common denominator presidential candidate only barely manages to eke out a win against Trump and the current GOP then I'm not sure catering to the crazy "other half" is the way forward, tbh.

[Richard Hakluyt]

They have been catered to for far too long imo. Less than four years to the next election and about half the US population appear to be cultists; Biden has a monumental task ahead of him.....assuming the attempted coup is not successful.

[garbon]

Do you want to win or not? Presuming you do, you can't just write half the electorate off.

I'm not sure it really matters what they say, beyond as a figleaf for conservatives to hide behind as reason for their assholish behavior.

Biden has said nothing akin to being a socialist and yet endless attacks he is a secret socialist. Standards only seem to come into play for Dems and their supporters.

[garbon]

They have been catered to for far too long imo. Less than four years to the next election and about half the US population appear to be cultists; Biden has a monumental task ahead of him.....assuming the attempted coup is not successful.

[katmai]

Do you want to win or not? Presuming you do, you can't just write half the electorate off.