To think that Trump is not going to get re-elected?

[Anon778833]

There are still a few fringe types who think he’s going to get a landslide victory.

Personally I find this unlikely.

Any MNers from across the pond have a view more informed than myself?

@HoldMyLobster

Yank here. Not RTFT. Waves at HoldMyLobster

Waving back - are things going OK in your bit of the US? Did you vote yet?

Things are good here. I PM'd you with a full update.

I voted by mail a week ago, so I'm all set. The lines for early in person voting here in New York have been horrendous so I'm glad I did the absentee route.

I reckon Trump will win. Especially after this latest faux pas by Biden not even knowing who he was standing against.

Oh lord what did he say?

He called Trump, " George" as in Bush.

To be fair I've made the same mistake before.

Making it out like he doesn't know who is standing against is a major exaggeration, but typical of Trumpanzees.

His appeal covers the red necks to the business types I'm afraid.
He's done great things for the economy that we dont hear about in the UK, so is appeal is wider than we'd think.
My money is he gets another turn.

@safariboot

Don't assume Trump won't win.

Also don't assume he won't essentially pull of a coup, for example by getting the courts to declare mass numbers of early or mail-in ballots invalid.

And if he does, he'll be "Trump unchained". Emboldened by his victory and with no re-election to worry about. If you thought the last four years were bad, wait til you see four more.

We should be sending in UN peace-keepers to oversee the election

I don’t think anyone makes a decision on who to vote for based on one of the candidates saying a name wrong. I do that daily with the DC’s!
Trump is using it as an argument to deflect from the worsening Covid figures.

It's anybody's guess. But the opposition would have a better chance if they had put up a half decent candidate. I don't think Biden is up to being President in these difficult times. My bet is on Trump winning.

Trump hasn’t done great things for the economy. He inherited an economy in great shape. All he contributed was to increase the debt.

@IncorrigibleTitmouse

I’m a Brit living in the US and there is huge support for him where I live (not us...). Our neighbourhood is full of Trump yard signs, people are driving around with big Trump flags on their cars. I’ve seen plenty of ‘Trump 2020: Make Liberals Cry Again’ bumper stickers on people’s cars in our wider area. The local Christian Police Association were handing out Trump yard signs on the corner on multiple days last week. It’s very regional here. We moved from a large city to a suburb about 30 miles north and it’s like night and day. There are some very divisive issues that separate people politically here: even among families. My FIL and SIL and his side of the family (DH’s grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins etc) are all voting for Trump. DH and my MIL are the only ones who aren’t (I’m a permanent resident, not a citizen, so no vote) and it has caused arguments.

‘Make liberals cry again’ is basically why people are voting for Trump. You cannot be nice and understanding to people who vote for a candidate purely because they get off on the thought of people they don’t like being upset about it.

"He's done great things for the economy that we dont hear about in the UK, so is appeal is wider than we'd think."

Like what?

Seriously all the metrics point to him having taken over a growing strong economy with lowering unemployment, not actually done anything for the first 11 months, then passed fiscal policy in Dec 2017.

That means any growth until mid 2019 can't be taken as under Trump's influence.

MissConduct
I voted by mail a week ago, so I'm all set. The lines for early in person voting here in New York have been horrendous so I'm glad I did the absentee route.
Being nosy, is that in the city or rural
just that I know of people who are expecting to be able to turn up and vote without hanging around on Manhattan

I really feel for the Americans.
2 grandads past their use by date aiming to run one of the greatest countries in the world. One already off his trolley and another who cannot remember who he’s up against.

@PhilSwagielka That’s exactly why everything feels so bloody awful at the moment. Everything is so geared around being nasty to each other, people are falling out with their neighbours here and ostracizing ‘discovered liberals’. It’s horrid. And don’t get me started on the childish campaign ads. I’ve had to go on a social media/broadcast TV blackout for the sake of my own sanity!

He's done great things for the economy that we dont hear about in the UK, so is appeal is wider than we'd think.

Could you articulate some of these ‘great things’, so people could have a better understanding?

@ShandlersWig I live in the US and haven’t seen any ‘great things’. He inherited a great economy thanks to Obama, and the only people benefiting from his policies are businesses and the wealthy.

@PhilSwagielka

The Overton window must have moved very far to the right.

In some ways, but the effect isn't always predictable.

Voters who would normally be interested in more leftists positions have no very clear candidates to vote for. If we ignore the weirdness and chaos of Trump, and just look at his positions, it's not really all that clear that he is more right-wing than Biden. Some of his ideas around protectionism would normally be considered left. There were Marxists who voted for Trump the first time round. I think most won't this time, but OTOH are they likely to vote for Biden? If they did it would only because they thought Trump was actually dangerous, not because Biden represents their views in any way.

It's a mistake for the Democrats to assume that because they see themselves as more left than Trump, or the Republicans, that others will see them that way.

@ListeningQuietly

MissConduct I voted by mail a week ago, so I'm all set. The lines for early in person voting here in New York have been horrendous so I'm glad I did the absentee route. Being nosy, is that in the city or rural just that I know of people who are expecting to be able to turn up and vote without hanging around on Manhattan

I'm in Westchester county so it's suburban. The lines here were about a two hour wait over the weekend, so not quite as bad as the city, but still long.

MissConduct
I know Westchester well. That makes sense.
I'll warn them to take a folding chair

I'm following it with a lot of interest. Not sure what I'll think if Trump wins tbh. I can't imagine how such an ignorant, lying idiot can be voted in as president of a civilised, democratic country. The only conclusion is that by voting him in the country must not be either civilised or democratic. Utterly bamboozling. The rest of the world is watching with their heads in their hands.

I mean I wouldn't vote for BJ, but if he came out with 1% of the shit that Trump does, he'd be out on a vote of no confidence within days.

Its going to be interesting

Will Trump accept defeat? IF It happens?

It would also be great to get an idea of any policies Trump has for a second term - economy? COVID? Because the debates didn’t throw anything up.

You might’ve thought they would have, but they were purely spent defending his failures in his first term, and throwing insults at his opponent.

Lines for early voting are horrible here as well--I had a friend wait in line this morning for five hours. She had to bail, but she's going back crack of dawn tomorrow..

Most people I know have decided to vote in person and have taken the day off of work.

They’ve given us all PTO to go and vote at my job, up to a full day if needed.

That's amazing. Frankly, it should be a paid national holiday, but that's never happening. A lot of people I know, including those on minimum wage, have just decided to take the day and lose the pay. I think it's extraordinary.