US Politics XXIX: The Final Thread Before XXX

[mikal]

I’m a little uneasy about AZ, but hoping it becomes apparent that Trump underperforms quickly as this last batch arrives.

 

[Hollow Island]

The Guardian has it 248-214

NYT has it 237-214

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Some places are happily calling Arizona+Nevada+Wisconsin. Others are not.

I went out for a long walk to tune it all out. It's just strange to me that a local affiliate has different calling standards than the network does. Of course I prefer what the local channel is saying. I just can't deal with CNN.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

I went out for a long walk to tune it all out. It's just strange to me that a local affiliate has different calling standards than the network does. Of course I prefer what the local channel is saying. I just can't deal with CNN.

Fuck CNN. CNN has no desire to call races because CNN preys on suspense to keep you tuned in to keep making money.

Don’t forget it: VA was called by a lot of different folks pretty much immediately once all the Trump came in and none of the Biden came in and the Trump vote did not look good at all and exit polls supported a clear decisive win. CNN refused to call it because it gives them suspense and something to talk about.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Trump campaign threatening a lawsuit in Michigan. Maybe they can say Governor Whitmer rigged it.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Rudy and... Ha... Haha....er.... Ba...hahahahah.... Eric tru...djahahahaha .... Eric trump are on the way to Philly to fight

 

[anitram]

Yeah, CNN was obviously trolling for suspense.

On the other hand, Fox News was super trigger happy to call everything first, not sure what that was about, and they doubled down when the Trump campaign ripped into them on AZ. All kinds of machinations could be at play behind the scenes there.

I think that one of the biggest problems with last night is that nobody got to experience any sort of catharsis. While I think many of us here who are plugged in and others who watch polls closely and understood the magnitude of the early vote knew that there was a very high probability of a result not being known on election night, most people either didn't know or just flat out ignored the possibility. So even if/WHEN Biden wins, it's like the world ending with a whimper, not a bang.

Therapists will tell you that human beings are resilient and equipped for handing change BUT what we as a species do not handle well is the unknown of indeterminate length. That's when things start to unravel and it feels now like we are living in a nightmare that doesn't really have a defined end to it. (Though it does! There are clearly defined dates for what happens next)

 

[Danny Boy]

Wisconsin called for Biden.

 

[phanan]

Fuck CNN. CNN has no desire to call races because CNN preys on suspense to keep you tuned in to keep making money.

Don’t forget it: VA was called by a lot of different folks pretty much immediately once all the Trump came in and none of the Biden came in and the Trump vote did not look good at all and exit polls supported a clear decisive win. CNN refused to call it because it gives them suspense and something to talk about.

I get the money angle, but John King barely mentioned the state last night. It was almost treated as an afterthought by them.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

Yeah, CNN was obviously trolling for suspense.

On the other hand, Fox News was super trigger happy to call everything first, not sure what that was about, and they doubled down when the Trump campaign ripped into them on AZ. All kinds of machinations could be at play behind the scenes there.

I think that one of the biggest problems with last night is that nobody got to experience any sort of catharsis. While I think many of us here who are plugged in and others who watch polls closely and understood the magnitude of the early vote knew that there was a very high probability of a result not being known on election night, most people either didn't know or just flat out ignored the possibility. So even if/WHEN Biden wins, it's like the world ending with a whimper, not a bang.

Therapists will tell you that human beings are resilient and equipped for handing change BUT what we as a species do not handle well is the unknown of indeterminate length. That's when things start to unravel and it feels now like we are living in a nightmare that doesn't really have a defined end to it. (Though it does! There are clearly defined dates for what happens next)

For as batshit as Fox News is there has never been any question of their credibility as election callers or pollsters. Keep in mind both of those are done via affiliate sites locally.

They were trigger happy because they probably took a different approach to calculating results. They weren’t trigger happy everywhere. I appreciated their swift calls.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Circus press conference will be happening in PA. Eric Trump and his wife, Pam Bondi, Ghouliani...can't remember the other names. ABC reported this.

 

[anitram]

Circus press conference will be happening in PA. Eric Trump and his wife, Pam Bondi, Ghouliani...can't remember the other names. ABC reported this.

Jesus Christ we will have days/weeks of this. Not sure if Rudy's liver can survive that long.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

so i let my dog outside last night, and inside i heard some screaming, fist-pounding tantrum coming from inside that tried to focus everyone's attention away from the election and to THEM and THEIR OWN personal set of grievances. there were tears and door slams and a lot of fist shaking and "you were all so mean to me!"

turns out it was just Trump. i think.

right?

Can you normally hear the bunker screams?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

https://twitter.com/TedNesi/status/1324073115224281089?s=19

Religion.

Fear of socialism.

 

[dazzledbylight]

*blinks*
Went to sleep after 3A. Didn't listen to (but read) drumph's bellowing lies. I did want to sleep after all!

Got my 8hrs listened a bit to WNYC before noon still too tired slept till 1P plus.
Pretty much been catching up with the 21 pages I missed here.

Thank goodness we got WI!
Now it's like a slowish but hopeful nail biting, then?

I have faith in the Dems lawyers.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Jesus Christ we will have days/weeks of this. Not sure if Rudy's liver can survive that long.

Yes I knew it would be a complete ?show. Forget democracy dies in darkness, it's being killed by an orange man baby narcissist. He's been killing it since 2016, but this is going to be even worse.

No one around him will tell him no Donnie, it's time to take your toys and go home.

 

[dazzledbylight]

Can you normally hear the bunker screams?

I thought you lived closer, headache?

 

[mikal]

So it looks like 9pm ET will be when we’re going to get more votes in AZ and NV.

If MI is called for Biden already and AZ doesn’t somehow pull a fast one, Biden could potentially be projected as President.

 

[dazzledbylight]

: FINGERSCROSSEd:

 

[mikal]

: FINGERSCROSSEd:

I’m hoping GA comes through to ease my AZ anxiety.

 

[dazzledbylight]

I’m hoping GA comes through to ease my AZ anxiety.

I hear ya.
More :FINGERSCROSSEd:

hoooboy!

 

[dazzledbylight]

Since I was reading 21 pages ASAP-

Thanks to whomever posted what Pres Biden can do even hobbled with a still gah McConnell Senate.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

So it looks like 9pm ET will be when we’re going to get more votes in AZ and NV.

If MI is called for Biden already and AZ doesn’t somehow pull a fast one, Biden could potentially be projected as President.

Need NV as well

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I was curious about how litigious Donnie has been. From the ABA Journal site, April 2020

While Donald Trump had no experience in working in government or in public service when he became president of the United States, he brought an astounding history of involvement in thousands of lawsuits to the nation’s highest office. Former federal prosecutor and author James D. Zirin illuminates more than 45 years of Trump’s legal disputes in his new book, Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3,500 Lawsuits, published in September 2019.

As a federal prosecutor, Zirin spent decades handling complex litigation. He’s also a self-described “middle-of-the-road Republican.” Plaintiff in Chief is not a partisan screed but a carefully documented legal study.

In his book, Zirin scrupulously details Trump’s life in courts of law. Based on more than three years of extensive research, the book examines illustrative cases and how they reflect on the character and moral perspective of the current president. Zirin references page after page of court records and other evidence to illustrate Trump’s legal maneuvering.

As Zirin points out, Trump learned how to use the law from his mentor, notorious lawyer Roy Cohn. Trump took Cohn’s scorched-earth strategy to heart.

“Trump saw litigation as being only about winning,” Zirin writes. “He sued at the drop of a hat. He sued for sport; he sued to achieve control; and he sued to make a point. He sued as a means of destroying or silencing those who crossed him. He became a plaintiff in chief.”

 

[Hollow Island]

Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has said it is also suing to halt vote-counting in Pennsylvania, after announcing a similar lawsuit in Michigan.
“Bad things are happening in Pennsylvania,” deputy campaign manager Justin Clark said in a statement. “Democrats are scheming to disenfranchise and dilute Republican votes. President Trump and his team are fighting to put a stop to it.”
There is no evidence Democrats are attempting to “disenfranchise” Republican voters. Pennsylvania election officials continue to count valid ballots cast by election day.
The Trump campaign said it would also sue to challenge the ruling upholding an extension to count Pennsylvania absentee ballots that were postmarked by election day.
“As the President has rightly said, the Supreme Court must resolve this crucial contested legal question, so President Trump’s Campaign is moving to intervene in the existing Supreme Court litigation over the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s unlawful extension of the mail-in ballot receipt deadline,” Clark said.
But the supreme court already rejected a request from Pennsylvania Republicans to overturn the extension last week.

 

[anitram]

At what point does McConnell decide to put Trump out to pasture?

This result is almost ideal for establishment Republicans. Why get bogged down in Trump's Hail Mary lawsuits? They are better off obstructing Biden, blaming everything about COVID on him, screaming about how our children will drown in the deficit and priming the country for Niki Haley 2024.

 

[mikal]

Need NV as well

I actually feel better about NV than I do AZ even though some networks have called the state for Biden.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

https://twitter.com/albamonica/status/1324086788978282499

 

[iron yuppie]

At what point does McConnell decide to put Trump out to pasture?

This result is almost ideal for establishment Republicans. Why get bogged down in Trump's Hail Mary lawsuits? They are better off obstructing Biden, blaming everything about COVID on him, screaming about how our children will drown in the deficit and priming the country for Niki Haley 2024.

I think this is sound logic. If it becomes clear Biden has 270 in the EC, what incentive does anyone (other than Trump) have to wade through endless lawsuits and recounts?

 

[LemonMelon]

With the Trump team desperately trying to stop counting in PA and declaring victory there, I am very comfortable in saying that Joe Biden will win PA.