I totally agree with you on messing with the payroll taxes Katchen. They need money to go towards fighting the virus and provide people with paid leave and things that will actually help, not try to artificially prop up the economy (I'm not sure it would do that anyway).

The Blue Surge is out in force and they are constituencies that are voting for Biden.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaig...n-in-primaries

I think Biden will choose Amy Klobuchar as VP. What do you think?

i have no idea but i would be strangely happy with that

Not in a political way, though. Like in a kinky way.

Amy's kinda hot. Biden not so much. I hear she's bossy too. ;)

I think it's going to be Kamala Harris or another woman of color. Both Jim Clyburn and Governor Gretchen Whitmer (who is one of the national co-chairs of his campaign) have said the VP should be a woman of color.

I think Amy Klobuchar would be good too - especially campaigning in the Midwest - but she's white. I did think it was strange that she wasn't on stage with Biden, Whitmer, Harris, and Booker at the Detroit rally after she had campaigned hard for him for several days in Michigan. Maybe just scheduling or they wanted to make as big a deal as possible out of the Harris and Booker endorsements.

I saw in a couple of news outlets that it might be Stacey Abrams, and I could totally go for her. In addition to the fact that I think she would be a great VP, it would give me some really satisfying schadenfreude over our stupid f***ing Georgia governor, Brian Kemp.

I would also be really happy to see Bernie Sanders on the ticket as VP, but I doubt that will happen.

Bulldog? I think you're right, and I agree that there needs to be prompt and concise action for the virus issue people face. Also, it makes me wonder if voting will be affected by the current serious co-vid 19 virus epidemic.

We do mail in ballots, as you might remember; but I think it's concerning for those who live in states where you have to go to a polling location to cast your vote.

Do you know if crisis teams are working on remedies so voting impacts are narrowed down to 'no crisis' status?

Ditto for Harris

I can't go supporting vp candidates just based on whether i would want to have a scene with them* though :superfunny:

It's like the people who voted for W bc he'd be more fun to have a beer with.

* Stacy Abrams is not in this category bc i saw her speak at my conference and now i feel like we're BFFs

Therefore i'd be all set with any of them

As good a reason as any!

How Groups Voted in 2016
 

https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/how-groups-voted-2016

The Roper numbers were based on CNN's exit polls:
https://www.cnn.com/election/2016/results/exit-polls

Will be interested to see the exit polls for 2020.

Yes, I remember mailing in my ballot in Oregon. It is more fun to go to the polls but mail definitely seems a lot safer in these times.

I am concerned too. Of course, the most important thing is for voters to stay safe and to get to vote.

People are being encouraged to use early voting, mail, drop off, vote at off hours, etc. Of course, so many volunteers at polling places tend to be older so that's a concern for them too. I think each state and location is just having to cope on its own.

Louisiana was supposed to hold its primary on April 4 but has just postponed it to June 20. That's a blow out state for Biden so I'm bummed but at the same time the most important thing is people's safety.

I wonder how many times Trump has heard "to little too late " lolol ~ on the national emergency ?

Does anyone think he may have had a vaccine to prevent him from catching the virus ?

Think it will be Harris for VP, but he may surprise me with a geographic choice. Biden is from the North East. He and his team may feel like they need to choose someone from the Midwest or from one of the Southern states as a strategic move to capture the most electoral college votes.

I would LOVE to see Stacy Abrams on the ticket. She's just so cool. BUT... she's doing incredibly important work on voting rights now. I would hate to lose such a dynamic force in the place we need it most right now.

Anyone have any ideas abt why 90% of Republicans still support Trump ?

Response doesn't have to be long dense polemic...just a few ideas, perhaps about human nature, that we could discuss .

I definitely do not have a decent answer, but what my mind tends to think, is this: It's like Cancer. Cancer is the root problem. And if Cancer and it's cells are not treated and/or eradicated, it metastasizes across the spectrum of connecting/connected tissue.


That's the only thing that comes to mind, C0llette.

One Idea:
I remember this from a marketing course I once took.

CHOICE-SUPPORTIVE BIAS

Choice-supportive bias or post-purchase rationalization is the tendency to retroactively ascribe positive attributes to an option one has selected and/or to demote the forgone options. It is part of cognitive science, and is a distinct cognitive bias that occurs once a decision is made.
‎

I think that is a worthy subject of discussion and consideration, C0LLETTE.

I majored in Sociology and Communication. Both fields of study have interesting takes on Bias Theory. I imagine Psychology and Business fields of study have a commingling of ideas which finds its roots in Bias Theory.

Sociology defines Bias (in general terms of) as: A tendency (either known or unknown) to prefer one thing over another that prevents objectivity, that influences understanding or outcome in some way.

Emile Durkheim, one of the early founders of Sociology, developed theories around the subject of Bias.

I forget who to credit for this strand of thought, but someone once said that a "...good Sociologist is aware of their own bias, and the bias of others, and takes precautions."

Bottom line (generally speaking):

Be aware of bias, in terms of biased behaviors and observations and how it informs one of subsequent actions associated (directly or indirectly) by any given or demonstrated particular bias.

My dear Katzchen,

Thank you for your response. So many of us can't understand why opinions stay fixed in the face of what "seems" to be the "obvious" but maybe things aren't so obvious to those who've become intransigent in the face of every rationalization that led them to make their first decision.

So what to do, what to do?
Surely people change their minds. So what is the mechanism that makes them do that? And I doubt it is a simple "Eureka " moment.

Any ideas?

I view it as a massive struggle for remaining in Power.

The proverbial Power Struggle.

But it's not the have-not's who are winning. It's those who own and have everything, that keep winning.


You should make a separate thread for this subject, so we don't detract from the subject of discussion in d_c's politics thread, ok?

If you do that, I'll meet up with you, in your own thread, if you create it, C0LLETTE.

Guess What?

I just saw this news story on the NBC website. Stacey Abrams is definitely the one, that a progressive think tank is highly recommending: A Biden-Abrams presidential Democratic ticket for 2020.

And I quote:

LINK: Progressive group's analysis finds Stacey Abrams is Biden's best choice. Here's why (NBC)

Gretchen Whitmer - Democrat (Michigan Governor)
 

From fast breaking news headlines, this Friday, over on the Politico website, they feature an inspiring article about Michigan's Democratic Governor, Gretchen Whitmer. It's a worthy read, if you are not familiar with her.

Governor Whitmer has been navigating not only the Covid-19 crisis in the state of Michigan, but she's got a full plate of other serious issues she is addressing for people who live in Michigan.

Here is but one excerpt from the article:

Bonus item of interest: Joe Biden has publicly stated that Governor Whitmer is on his "Short List" as a VP contender (See, link to article below).




POLITICO's Friday Cover: 'The Woman In Michigan' Goes National:
Governor Whitmer is dealing with a historic pandemic, a bullying President, and a big job tryout.

If she is truly the pick I will be very relieved

I heard Amy will tell ya where to go in a heartbeat, if you like BOSSY she's your gal.....:giggle:

This is encouraging.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...l-swing-state/

Barack Obama endorses Joe Biden for President ...
 

The full video...

Why aren't we hearing anything from Joe Biden? Isn't he supposed to be running for something?

Seems like he could at least come up with something to say about stuff that's already in the news, like coronavirus or the economy.

I saw a news video over on CNN.... Apparently Joe Biden's wife, Jill, would like to see Michelle Obama as his running mate.

I'd like to see Joe Biden's administration be more representative of the current cultural diversity in America.

Right now, Andrew Cuomo is doing a better job of running for President than Joe Biden is.

Joe Biden does interviews and has virtual events all the time but the media doesn't cover them usually - too busy airing the insane buffoon telling people to ingest disinfectants. Maybe there are other things he could do. I don't know. Allegedly Trump is giving up on his daily briefings, although I'm sure he won't be able to stay away for long.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are holding a virtual town hall on Monday, April 27 at 3:30 PM EDT.

Confronting Coronavirus: Addressing Impacts And Disparities In The Black Community

It can be viewed at:

joebiden.com/Live



Also on Monday April 27 at 6 pm EDT Dr. Jill Biden hosting an LGBTQ+ Social Hour

joebiden.com/Live

If Bidien has committed crimes, I want to know the truth.
and if ideed he has committed crimes, the stakes were different in the 80s and 90s.....but if with no provocation he was fingering his emoployees, we need another plan.

I read 8 or 9 women. Did he do it, or is this Russing Troll info. I honesly dont know, or believe anything anyone says.

Would President Obama support him? Biden has run for President before...why now? No its not easy to accuse someone of sexual assault. To win a case.


Thats a sad place to be.

Tara Reade's sexual assault accusation against Biden
 

I heard yesterday that Biden would appear on "Morning Joe", so I watched this morning. Mika was the one who grilled (to put it mildly) Biden. He categorically denied the assault.

Apart from "he said, she said", my "takeaway" from listening attentively to the above was the hypocrisy of Biden who really pushed for a stance to "believe" a priori Christine Blasey Ford's testimony accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. I call it hypocrisy because he hedged Mika's grilling on his previous comments during Kavanaugh's nomination. It was, to my mind, an unsurprising double standard response on Biden's part. Biden is a politician, eh? (lol, smh)

part of transcript:

MB: ..."You said if someone like Dr. Ford were to come out, the essence of what she is saying has to be believed, has to be real. Why, why, why, why is it real for Dr. Ford but not for Tara Reade?"
....

JB: ..."And if there’s anything that makes it — that is consistent with what’s being said, and she makes the case or the case is made, then it should be believed"...

What I got from this is that he is saying that he is innocent until he is proven guilty; it's here that I make my little scoffing cough...

MB: "Well, I’m going to try and ask many different ways. Stacey Abrams said during the Kavanaugh hearings: “I believe women. I believe survivors of assault should be supported and their voices heard.” Kirsten Gillibrand tweeted: “Do we believe women? Do we give them the opportunity to tell their story? We must be a country that says yes every time... Are women to be believed — are women to believed unless it pertains to you?"

JB: "Look, women are to be believed, given the benefit of the doubt. If they come forward and say something that is, that they said happened to them, they should start off with the presumption they’re telling the truth. Then you have to look at the circumstances and the facts. And the facts in this case do not exist. They never happened, and there’s so many inconsistencies in what has been said in this case. So yes, look at the facts, and I assure you it did not happen. Period. Period."

Of course, this went on, but the interesting part was when Mika insisted that a search of the name "Tara Reade" in the University of Delaware records be done to find proof/mention of some accusation by her, etc. To which, again, Biden rationalized that such records contained only info that was political in nature and left it at that.

All I can say is that idk what happened, but I was not impressed by Biden's response.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/01/u...ade-msnbc.html

There is plenty of evidence to show how unbelievable Reader's accusation is if you bother to look.

Believing women means taking what they seriously and investigating it - not believing every story someone comes up with.

First of all, Biden was thoroughly vetted to be President Obama's Vice President. I have no doubt they were thorough.

Reade's story has changed many, many times.

Time's Up Legal Defense Fund referred her to multiple attorneys at the National Women's Law Center and every single one of the attorneys declined to take her case. They said she was asking for PR help - not legal representation.

Ronan Farrow, Jodi Kantor, and Megan Twohey all did extensive interviews with her and decided not to report her story because of the unsubstantiated claims and inconsistencies. They all won Pulitzer Prizes for covering the Weinstein investigation.

In 2009 - after the alleged assault she praised Biden for sponsoring the Violence Against Women's Act

She has written multiple pieces praising Russia and Putin and claimed Putin was secretly in love with her.

Supposedly she has also stolen from a charity.

She is NOT credible.

Democrats do have a very formidable enemy - Trump and the Republicans. But who needs one when they constantly shoot themselves in the foot.

This is NOT a credible story and it's not going to bring St. Bernard's campaign back to life.

I am going to say this one time... I am voting for whichever Democrat is on the ballot. Whatever stories and allegations that come up against that person can not be worse than those about Trump. Political standing aside, any of them that started campaigning, whether dropped out or still running, would make a way better president than Trump. Aside from that, voting for a third party or not voting at all might as well be counted as a vote for Trump at this point. Anyone that does not want Trump as president for another 4 years, should do the same.

The baboon could be up for an IMPEACHMET ll << yes 2nd impeachment !! FBI from what I read has the goods on Dolly Hands ( ty Spectre )and Russia ~

An impeachment is not worth the cost or time for the proceedings. Senate will not convict no matter the proof provided for any charges brought nor will his base ever recognize the truth.

your so right !! I'm not sure if any president has been impeached 2 x's or not ~ do you think somewhere out there , their is someone making YOUR FIRED T- shirts.

I used to think so, too, but not anymore. Let’s pay the cost — political, economical, psychological — knowing the senate won’t convict and the Supreme Court would probably rule in Trump’s favor (if proceedings went that far on any related issues).

Let’s pay and put it on the record that Trump’s actions were challenged with impeachment.

I’m willing to pay and now feel obligated to do so.

That said, I don’t think it’s likely he’ll be impeached again, but I’d support it if he was.

Want to have a government free ( for the most part ) of accusations of sexual assault by leaders....elect women.

I never heard the faintest rumour of Indira Gandhi or Golda Meir sexually assaulting anyone.

Think of the possible negative repercussions at the point though. A second attempt at impeachment could have serious fallout on Democrats from the middle. While most have already decided who they will vote for or at least not vote for there is still a healthy group of middle ground voters who have not. A second impeachment trial will look more like Dems are just out for blood. If I thought there was a chance of it succeeding I would be all for it myself. This close to an election then it should be held until after elections just in case the joker somehow pulls it off again.