It's not over until the Cat Lady sings - Trump thread #133

[Spandauer]

Bigly Thanks to BruceAndNosh for the thread title.

Hopefully people can open this link OK.
https://x.com/amy_siskind/status/1818015701023735951?s=46&t=sQEeBsNjiTta_B_D1Qh6IQ

Previous thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/politics/5058103-trump-trial-time-banish-all-memories-of-mueller

That's interesting... I wondered if they felt they had their fingers burnt with the 'basket of deplorables' that followed them around. Some of what they're saying is maybe more generalised as opposed to just one comment. Apart from 'weird' of course. I think that will stick!

Well, I'm on the West Coast in a solid blue state. She'll take my state hands down, and I assume the other solid blue states, but that's not enough to give her the Electoral College number (270) needed to win.

As far as the greater MidWest and the swing states, I really don't know how those are going to go and those are the states that will decide the election, especially the 'purple' and the swing states. At this point, I think no one takes anything for granted, at least I know I'm not. TBH, I think we aren't going to know until the wee hours of 5 Nov.

There are many in the more conservative areas who will say they're voting one way and then vote the other in the privacy of the booth. That's why the pundits are saying that polls are unreliable. Hilary's poll numbers were much higher than Trump's and she lost due to Dem voter apathy/complacency, and IIRC Trump and Biden were constantly flipping percentages with each other yet Joe won the Electoral and popular vote by healthy margins.

I wouldn't advise placing a wager on the outcome of this election. But the Good Lord knows how hard I'm praying for Harris to win.

Is publicly masturbating in a casino weird ?

Asking for a friend ...

https://www.casino.org/news/west-virginia-state-exposed-himself-in-slots-parlor-prosecutors-claim/

There are many in the more conservative areas who will say they're voting one way and then vote the other in the privacy of the booth.

cf. "Shy Tories" in the UK ?

I think we aren't going to know until the wee hours of 5 Nov

Another sleepless night for me then. Bracing myself, I did it for the GE here, I can do it again! It's weird, my brain tells me to wake up at the crucial times, good and bad to that...

I'm just hoping Trump keeps doing these press conferences at his various homes because they are 'weird' and surely don't help him...

I remember the night of the last election too well. Dejectedly sweeping my kitchen floor in the small hours. Then later, ds tapping me on my shoulder, as I was trying to sleep, "it's looking hopeful for Joe now mum!" 😊

In the meantime, I'm currently enjoying the fact that Trump is feeling discomforted these last few weeks. 😀

Small mercies

I honestly don’t think my nerves could take a Trump victory at this point. I think I would actually just expire on the spot. The news just constantly feels like such a shower of shit.

You need to picture Kamala carrying a priceless heavy Ming vase across a highly polished floor .... 😀

Even if we don't know until the wee small hours of November 6th at least it's a heck of a lot better than the nailed on certainty of the Trump landslide people were predicting so recently.

#clutchingatstraws #glasshalffull

As long as it doesn't drag on as long as 2020.
I'm pretty sure there will be multiple legal challenges whatever happens

It feels endless, but reflect on where we are, compared to the start of 2024:

• Electoral oblivion for the Tories in the UK
• France gets its act together to prevent the Far Right from taking power.
• India holds free & fair elections.
• Ukraine is still free & supported.
• The US election has gone from apathy to excitement with a very clear and stark choice between the two candidates. Trump might win, he might not, but he is now under intense scrutiny. The rest is up to the American people.

That's off the top of my head. Venezuela could be another turning point, whilst Bangladesh has ousted it's strong woman president of over a decade. I hope we will see progress in the Middle East but I think there’s going to be another war first.

Freedom means vigilance against those who want to wear us down. Ultimately, the dictatorships in this world are a lot more brittle than we give them credit for, because they don't have the chance to self correct like democracies.

If there are just legal challenges USA will have got off lightly

The sad reality is that Harris needs to win the Electoral College well and convincingly (forget about the popular vote - that's an irrelevance).

Trump and those that back him I hesitate to say "Republicans" have compromised the voting eligibility, counting and ratification processes at the lower levels, so that it needs to be beyond doubt that Harris wins where she does so, otherwise those results quite literally won't be counted

Trump will try and reverse any decisions that he doesn't like - the lawyers will make a killing (and our nerves will be shredded).

From my (comfortable) seat across the Atlantic, it looks like she and Walz are doing a good job of both attacking and making fun of Trump and Vance which they hate while not deriding their supporters however delusional they may be They need to be careful not to fall into Clinton's deplorables trap. I like Harris' talk about needing to represent all Americans.

I don't think anyone will be taking anything for granted until all the states' results are in

I guess it's the same. Although I expect this go round it'll be a pretty even split between people who will still vote for Trump whilst disavowing him and people who will vote for Harris whilst loudly stating they're not.

It just pisses me off. Have the courage of your convictions and don't be a hypocritical weasel, stand by those convictions. Although I have to admit, in the US in this day and age if I was deep in Trump Country, I might tend to try and slip under the radar for my own safety and to avoid property damage. Discretion being the better part of valor and all.

Now that Harris is our candidate I may decide to stay up and watch the returns. DH says he intends to go to bed early on election night and doesn't want to hear one single peep.

For those outside of the US, media outlets aren't supposed to start reporting actual returns on the presidential election until the last polls close at 1am Eastern. 'Exit polls' start earlier.

I usually start watching at 8pm local/11pm Eastern which is when my state's polls close so I can keep tabs on the state & local results. We have some important Congressional elections coming up this year.

Ah! Don't forget the election of 2000 and the hanging chads debacle. That result was disputed for 5 weeks! So the Supreme Court already has form for 'overturning' results...

"Bush v. Gore has been regarded as one of the most politically consequential decisions in the history of the court, and one that damaged the court's preferred image of itself as an institution far removed from everyday partisan politics."
www.npr.org/2018/11/12/666812854/the-florida-recount-of-2000-a-nightmare-that-goes-on-haunting

First they came for the cats

Then they came for the dogs

(Anyone remember the basis of "Planet of the Apes" ?)

https://www.rawstory.com/dog-owners-jd-vance/

So he's taking it seriously now?

Exerts From NYT article:
Trump Pulls in Tulsi Gabbard for Debate Prep
Former President Donald J. Trump has begun preparing for his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris and has brought in the former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to help sharpen his attacks in a recent practice session at his private club and home, Mar-a-Lago, according to two people with knowledge of Mr. Trump’s schedule.

Mr. Trump likes to say he doesn’t need to prepare for debates, and his team is under instructions to use the term “policy time” to describe their sessions. But Mr. Trump has spent more time this year practicing for debates than he did in either 2016 or 2020, according to advisers who have worked with him.

He still doesn’t do traditional debate prep. Nobody played Mr. Biden in his sessions ahead of their CNN debate on June 27. Instead, he sat with advisers for blocks of time or informally on plane trips and discussed potential topics and lines of questioning. In more formal sessions at Mar-a-Lago, aides have sat in chairs opposite him, playing the role of moderators. Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida asked especially combative questions, according to a person who was in the room. Other lawmakers, including his eventual running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, have also spent time with Mr. Trump on policy topics.

Ms. Gabbard brings some key qualities to the role for Mr. Trump: She’s a woman, at a moment when Mr. Trump is for a second time facing a woman as his general election rival; she’s a former House member, giving her policy experience; and, perhaps most importantly for Mr. Trump, she has been on a debate stage with Ms. Harris and delivered a stinging attack against her record as a prosecutor.

They really do have a weird lack of understanding of people and their pets.

Shades of purple states. This will be reinforced by the number of republican mayors etc she has speaking out for her, and the Republicans for Harris posters.

Does anyone ever try and suggest electoral reform in America? It seems the most ridiculous, undemocratic system.

Does anyone ever try and suggest electoral reform in America? It seems the most ridiculous, undemocratic system.

If you are posting from the UK, then take the tree trunk out of your eye before you comment on the mote in a friends eye. (One for the Bible Thumpers there).

Hello 👋 I'm all for electoral reform in the UK!

People do at least talk about it here. I've never heard any talk of reform in USA but appreciate I don't follow US politics as closely as UK.

This has brightened my morning.