2020 U.S. Presidential Debates

[pp4me]

The white supremacist question was nothing more than a "have you stopped beating your wife" gotcha kind of question that served no purpose other than to tie Trump to white supremacy.
[...]
I'm guessing Trump thinks to himself they should take the white supremacy question and stick it up their you know what because he knows very well how the game is played by now.

Yes. Scott Adams actually discussed this in more detail in today's show, and he pointed out that asking an opponent in a debate to say something using a specific phrase (in this case, "I disavow white supremacists") rather than in their own words is a power move. Whatever the phrase is, if the opponent says it as requested, it makes him look weaker than the other guy. It reduces his perceived power.

Trump is an expert at the persuasion game, so he knows all about power dynamics. So he would probably never parrot a specific phrase demanded by his opponent, even if the phrase is something he agrees with 100%.

There is no lack of advice to Trump about what he should have said but I would offer "Are you also going to ask me next if I've stopped beating my wife, Chris? I've already condemned white supremacists on many occasions and I don't need to do it again".

What's been missing in this discussion is Trump doing the same when he was badgering Biden about saying Trump's exact words regarding "Law and Order". I believe that Biden responded by saying, "Yes, I believe in law and order and [something else]. Therefore, Trump could have given some form of answer to the question as posed to him.

Vinny

Good point and I think Biden's response was handled no better than Trump's white supremacy response. As I recall he said something on the order of, "of course I believe in law" but left out the word "order" which seemed kind of strange. Not sure what point he was even trying to make.

Big difference to me is that the headline in the next day's news cycle was all about Trump's response and not Biden's. Nothing unexpected about that, of course. Just par for the course.

Also, Trump had to pose the "gotcha" questions because he knew Chris Wallace wasn't going to do it. At least that was my observation.

[vnatale]

Quite funny! C-Span showed the beginning of it this morning at the end of Washington Journal.

Vinny

First Debate Cold Open - SNL


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsije1KetVw

[vnatale]

Listening to today's Fox News Sunday.

I've NEVER ever heard Chris Mathews so irate. He's grilling this Trump surrogate ("Steve") why the Trump people at the debate were above following the Cleveland Clinic's rules. He pointed out that as a result of their transgressions if in future debates attendees refuse to follow the rules they will be escorted out.

He also pointed out that during the debate that Trump interrupted both Matthews and Biden 145 times.

Matthews is without a doubt a conservative but I rate him as being extremely fair and aggressive towards all when he does his Fox News Sunday interviews.

If I get back responses that he is no conservative then I think you may be guilty of having reverse TDS!

Vinny

[Cortopassi]

Wallace.

The first family is the epitome of Trump mentality.

We don't have to follow the rules. Only the peasants do.

And it bit them in the ass.

[Kbg]

Hard to say with polling in today’s world, but the approach the Trump team and Trump took appears to have backfired based on the latest polls. The COVID break out in the inner circle didn’t help either. If we use the 30% polling rule, pretty much the entire country minus the true believers who won’t change their minds for any reason think the administration has handled the issue poorly. It’s also a fairly well known phenomenon that when a crisis hits Presidential elections turn on how the public views the President handled it.

[Cortopassi]

We don't have to follow the rules. Only the peasants do.

Let's not pretend this is limited to Trump (or Republicans):
-Lightfoot's haicut
-Pritzker's daughter's equestrian participation
-Pelosi's hiar blow out
-Fauci at the ball game.
-Etc

No doubt. But he/they are openly blatant about it, and this have put a lot more people at risk.

Everyone for the most part is being cordial and saying he's in their prayers, but of course there's got to be some back of mind, Finally! thoughts.

[vnatale]

Poll: Trump’s Covid-19 Diagnosis Boosts Support For Biden

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcev ... f7f575202c

TOPLINE President Trump’s contraction of the coronavirus this week has led to a surge in support for Democrat Joe Biden, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found Sunday, as the majority of voters link Trump’s diagnosis to an overall cavalier attitude toward the virus.


KEY FACTS
The poll, measuring national opinion from Oct. 2 to Oct. 3, saw Biden gain his largest lead over Trump in a month.

Of those expected to vote in November, 51% said they would cast a ballot for Biden while 41% said Trump has their vote.

This 10-point lead for Biden—one to two points higher than how the former vice president polled over the past month—comes as Trump is hospitalized for the third day after testing positive for Covid-19 on Thursday night.

Trump’s diagnosis appeared to play a significant role in Biden’s fortunes with 65% of registered Democrats and 50% of registered Republicans saying Trump probably wouldn’t be sick if he had taken the coronavirus more seriously, while in a separate poll by ABC News/Ipsos also released Sunday, 72% of Americans said Trump did not take the risk of contracting Covid-19 seriously enough nor did he take the appropriate precautions when it came to his personal health.

The majority (57%) of those polled by Reuters/Ipsos said they disapproved of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, up three points from late last week, and most (34%) also said they don’t believe Trump has been telling the truth about the virus.


This poll gathered responses from 1,005 U.S. adults, 596 of whom are likely voters in the 2020 election.

[ahhrunforthehills]

We don't have to follow the rules. Only the peasants do.

Let's not pretend this is limited to Trump (or Republicans):
-Lightfoot's haicut
-Pritzker's daughter's equestrian participation
-Pelosi's hiar blow out
-Fauci at the ball game.
-Etc

No doubt. But he/they are openly blatant about it, and this have put a lot more people at risk.

Everyone for the most part is being cordial and saying he's in their prayers, but of course there's got to be some back of mind, Finally! thoughts.

Don’t count on it.

I was at a fall festival (huge non-political pumpkin patch/corn maze event). They have it every Fri, Sat, and Sun in the fall.

Probably a thousand people were there (despite both a outdoor mask mandate and a 250 people max gathering limit law in place). There were whites, blacks, hispanics, rich, and poor.

You would think that people would be freaked out yesterday about coronavirus b/c of Trump’s positive test.

Still, 95% of those people had no mask at all. My kid felt out of place wearing one. People were definitely packed together there. Even people working the concessions had masks around there neck, but not on their faces.

This was in a swing county of a must-win swing state.

I think people only really care in solid blue districts.

[Hal]

Do you think either candidate can turn the US around to greater prosperity?
Or is it just choosing the Captain on the Titanic?

As I child I remember almost everyone (except the school teachers) looked up to the US, not so now.....

[Mountaineer]

Do you think either candidate can turn the US around to greater prosperity?
Or is it just choosing the Captain on the Titanic?

As I child I remember almost everyone (except the school teachers) looked up to the US, not so now.....

I think my signiture addresses the issue you raise.

[Hal]

Do you think either candidate can turn the US around to greater prosperity?
Or is it just choosing the Captain on the Titanic?

As I child I remember almost everyone (except the school teachers) looked up to the US, not so now.....

I think my signiture addresses the issue you raise.

So, with the right leader do you think you could have a "God sparing Ninevah moment"? Or is society too far gone?
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotion ... s-nineveh/

[Mountaineer]

Absolutely! But we have currently abandoned that leader. We have abandoned him in public schools, abandoned his definition of marriage, abandoned his definition of care for the unborn, and we arrogantly think we have abandoned the need for repentance. But, he does not give up. The way forward is clear for those with ears to hear and eyes to see.

[Mark Leavy]

Absolutely! But we have currently abandoned that leader. We have abandoned him in public schools, abandoned his definition of marriage, abandoned his definition of care for the unborn, and we arrogantly think we have abandoned the need for repentance. But, he does not give up. The way forward is clear for those with ears to hear and eyes to see.

I'm more of a "sit under the tree and bitch that I did all of that preachin' and didn't get to see the wipe-out" kinda guy. And, hey, what happened to my tree?

[Mountaineer]

Absolutely! But we have currently abandoned that leader. We have abandoned him in public schools, abandoned his definition of marriage, abandoned his definition of care for the unborn, and we arrogantly think we have abandoned the need for repentance. But, he does not give up. The way forward is clear for those with ears to hear and eyes to see.

I'm more of a "sit under the tree and bitch that I did all of that preachin' and didn't get to see the wipe-out" kinda guy. And, hey, what happened to my tree?

I think it was submerged for forty days.

[Hal]

I'm more of a "sit under the tree and bitch that I did all of that preachin' and didn't get to see the wipe-out" kinda guy. And, hey, what happened to my tree?

Went to the wrong city to see the wipe-out
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodom_and_Gomorrah

[vnatale]

We don't have to follow the rules. Only the peasants do.

Let's not pretend this is limited to Trump (or Republicans):
-Lightfoot's haicut
-Pritzker's daughter's equestrian participation
-Pelosi's hiar blow out
-Fauci at the ball game.
-Etc

No doubt. But he/they are openly blatant about it, and this have put a lot more people at risk.

Everyone for the most part is being cordial and saying he's in their prayers, but of course there's got to be some back of mind, Finally! thoughts.

Don’t count on it.

I was at a fall festival (huge non-political pumpkin patch/corn maze event). They have it every Fri, Sat, and Sun in the fall.

Probably a thousand people were there (despite both a outdoor mask mandate and a 250 people max gathering limit law in place). There were whites, blacks, hispanics, rich, and poor.

You would think that people would be freaked out yesterday about coronavirus b/c of Trump’s positive test.

Still, 95% of those people had no mask at all. My kid felt out of place wearing one. People were definitely packed together there. Even people working the concessions had masks around there neck, but not on their faces.

This was in a swing county of a must-win swing state.

I think people only really care in solid blue districts.

I live in Massachusetts and when I go to the supermarket (once every two week so so) 100% of customers are wearing face coverings, including children. Is this only because the store says you have to wear them to be in the store?

Vinny

[Mountaineer]

I live in Massachusetts and when I go to the supermarket (once every two week so so) 100% of customers are wearing face coverings, including children. Is this only because the store says you have to wear them to be in the store?

Vinny

100%. Wow, that's perfect, huge, best results ever, better than Ivory soap.

[Mark Leavy]

I live in Massachusetts and when I go to the supermarket (once every two week so so) 100% of customers are wearing face coverings, including children. Is this only because the store says you have to wear them to be in the store?

Vinny

Again, Vinny, the answer is simply the blue color. IL is way blue, esp the NE part of the state where I live, and all of the state and local ordinances require masks in all indoor stores. Compliance is generally near 100%.

I'm in Florida right now. All government mask restrictions are removed. But all of the national stores and franchises have their own rules. Their employees are wearing masks half-heartedly. It's hard to keep up the charade when the customers are going about business like normal.