2024 US Presidential Elections Megathread

[Sophie Scholl]

Had this been the general election, I would agree. It was not. It was the primary where there is basically zero chance for any outcome other than Biden winning in absolutely dominant fashion. If not voicing one's displeasure with policy in such a zero stakes situation is wrong, how can people do it? It seems like no matter how people try to signal they are not happy with things, no matter how benign, is met with anger, mockery, and attacks. I fear it will only lead to people turning their back on the system in apathy or much more damaging ways of voicing their displeasure.

[garbon]

Had this been the general election, I would agree. It was not. It was the primary where there is basically zero chance for any outcome other than Biden winning in absolutely dominant fashion. If not voicing one's displeasure with policy in such a zero stakes situation is wrong, how can people do it? It seems like no matter how people try to signal they are not happy with things, no matter how benign, is met with anger, mockery, and attacks. I fear it will only lead to people turning their back on the system in apathy or much more damaging ways of voicing their displeasure.

But we already know people are angry. Protests of Palestinian marches have gotten coverage even here in the UK. I also just saw that Biden was at a new low in approval ratings. It isn't a secret that people are happy with the policy.

And as I said, primaries don't happen in isolation. Articles like the below (unintentionally), highlight the potential damage this coordinated protest votes can have. They can make people lose sight of what's at stake in November either leading voters to not show up or vote third party.

So again the uncommitted voters are voicing something we a) already know and b) could have the pernicious influence of getting people not to vote for Biden in the general.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/28/if-biden-loses-in-november-dont-blame-voters-who-are-angry-over-gaza

I'll put my cards on the table: I'm a permanent resident of the US which means I'm not allowed to vote. (I'm not sure what happened to the whole no taxation without representation idea.) But if I could vote and the election were tomorrow I would not be able to bring myself to support Biden. And I'd feel betrayed by my American wife if she voted for Biden. As someone of Palestinian heritage I have watched aghast as Biden has given Israel a green light to do whatever it wants in Gaza, international law and civilian deaths be damned. I have watched in horror as the entire population of Gaza starves and the US vetoes ceasefire resolution after resolution. And I have watched in disbelief as Biden has cast doubts on the number of Palestinians who have died, repeated inflammatory misinformation and ignored the suffering of Palestinians in official statements on the conflict.

I'm sorry but I simply could not bring myself to cast a vote for a man who doesn't seem to believe that people like me are fully human. I cannot support a man who seems to think that it's OK that babies in Gaza are needlessly starving to death. A vote for Biden is not just a vote against Trump, it is a vote endorsing his clear disdain for Palestinians, his dehumanization of Arabs, and his complicity in what many experts have termed a plausible genocide.

But, Arwa, Trump would have been even worse on Gaza! I know that. But, let me tell you something, that argument loses a lot of its potency when Gaza looks like hell on earth as its.

[OttoVonBismarck]

That whole line of Palestinian reasoning is predicated on an entire "pyramid of lies", and that seems to be typical of how Palestinians and their allies in the West view the conflict.

No Democrat who was sane enough and who has broad enough appeal to win election was ever going to side with Hamas as they continue to hold Israeli hostages in a war they started. That appears to be the position these people expect.

[Tamas]

Had this been the general election, I would agree. It was not. It was the primary where there is basically zero chance for any outcome other than Biden winning in absolutely dominant fashion. If not voicing one's displeasure with policy in such a zero stakes situation is wrong, how can people do it? It seems like no matter how people try to signal they are not happy with things, no matter how benign, is met with anger, mockery, and attacks. I fear it will only lead to people turning their back on the system in apathy or much more damaging ways of voicing their displeasure.

But we already know people are angry. Protests of Palestinian marches have gotten coverage even here in the UK. I also just saw that Biden was at a new low in approval ratings. It isn't a secret that people are happy with the policy.

And as I said, primaries don't happen in isolation. Articles like the below (unintentionally), highlight the potential damage this coordinated protest votes can have. They can make people lose sight of what's at stake in November either leading voters to not show up or vote third party.

So again the uncommitted voters are voicing something we a) already know and b) could have the pernicious influence of getting people not to vote for Biden in the general.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/28/if-biden-loses-in-november-dont-blame-voters-who-are-angry-over-gaza

I'll put my cards on the table: I'm a permanent resident of the US which means I'm not allowed to vote. (I'm not sure what happened to the whole no taxation without representation idea.) But if I could vote and the election were tomorrow I would not be able to bring myself to support Biden. And I'd feel betrayed by my American wife if she voted for Biden. As someone of Palestinian heritage I have watched aghast as Biden has given Israel a green light to do whatever it wants in Gaza, international law and civilian deaths be damned. I have watched in horror as the entire population of Gaza starves and the US vetoes ceasefire resolution after resolution. And I have watched in disbelief as Biden has cast doubts on the number of Palestinians who have died, repeated inflammatory misinformation and ignored the suffering of Palestinians in official statements on the conflict.

I'm sorry but I simply could not bring myself to cast a vote for a man who doesn't seem to believe that people like me are fully human. I cannot support a man who seems to think that it's OK that babies in Gaza are needlessly starving to death. A vote for Biden is not just a vote against Trump, it is a vote endorsing his clear disdain for Palestinians, his dehumanization of Arabs, and his complicity in what many experts have termed a plausible genocide.

But, Arwa, Trump would have been even worse on Gaza! I know that. But, let me tell you something, that argument loses a lot of its potency when Gaza looks like hell on earth as its.

My favourite line is he'd get offended if his wife voted Biden. Know your place, woman!


At one hand I want to give this guy a pass. He is a Palestinian, he clearly does not give a damn where US politics end up. But that's still incredibly stupid. He and his family live there. How can he not think further than a UN ceasefire resolution? How can he not consider how life is going to be for an Arab without citizenship if Trump's line of politics become dominant?

The Democrats, and also Labour over here, must make a stand on this because if this madness is not nibbed in the bud now we'll forever be hostage of Middle Eastern sectarian violence.

[garbon]

Arwa, the writer, is a woman.

[Tamas]

Ah right.

[Josquius]

The ice cream fuss is just insane.

That whole line of Palestinian reasoning is predicated on an entire "pyramid of lies", and that seems to be typical of how Palestinians and their allies in the West view the conflict.

No Democrat who was sane enough and who has broad enough appeal to win election was ever going to side with Hamas as they continue to hold Israeli hostages in a war they started. That appears to be the position these people expect.

Don't be daft. Nobody wants anybody to side with Hamas.
Again stop conflating Hamas and Palestinian civilians.

[Razgovory]

The ice cream fuss is just insane.

That whole line of Palestinian reasoning is predicated on an entire "pyramid of lies", and that seems to be typical of how Palestinians and their allies in the West view the conflict.

No Democrat who was sane enough and who has broad enough appeal to win election was ever going to side with Hamas as they continue to hold Israeli hostages in a war they started. That appears to be the position these people expect.

Don't be daft. Nobody wants anybody to side with Hamas.
Again stop conflating Hamas and Palestinian civilians.

  Lots of people side with Hamas.  Including a significant number of Palestinians.  Lots of Westerners too, you know, like when people projected "glory to our martyrs" on buildings on US campuses.

[garbon]

Supreme Court ruled states can't use 14th amendment to kick Trump off ballots.

[Maladict]

The Supreme Court was united on the idea that Donald Trump will remain on the ballot in Colorado and that the state cannot unilaterally dump him off the ballot, in their opinion issued Monday.

But the justices were divided about how broadly the decision would sweep. A 5-4 majority said that no state could dump a federal candidate off any ballot – with four justices asserted that the court should have limited its opinion.

[Tamas]

The slow-burn fascist coup continues.

But who cares, when there's a UN resolution over Gaza is at stake.

[Josquius]

The ice cream fuss is just insane.

That whole line of Palestinian reasoning is predicated on an entire "pyramid of lies", and that seems to be typical of how Palestinians and their allies in the West view the conflict.

No Democrat who was sane enough and who has broad enough appeal to win election was ever going to side with Hamas as they continue to hold Israeli hostages in a war they started. That appears to be the position these people expect.

Don't be daft. Nobody wants anybody to side with Hamas.
Again stop conflating Hamas and Palestinian civilians.

  Lots of people side with Hamas.  Including a significant number of Palestinians.  Lots of Westerners too, you know, like when people projected "glory to our martyrs" on buildings on US campuses.

You vastly overestimate their numbers and conflate them to anyone who says "Israel is being a bit bad in Gaza isn't it?"

[grumbler]

Supreme Court ruled states can't use 14th amendment to kick Trump off ballots.

The least-surprising USSC ruling in years.  That provision of the 14th Amendment was one of the most poorly-thought-out-and-written provisions in a document crammed with such. Passive voice in law-writing is moronic.

[PJL]

So much for state's right then eh? Of course that only applies if it suits their agenda.

[garbon]

I only just encountered this meme.

"But they are both so old!"