2020 Presidential Election

[Baby_Yoda]

Aside from that a few key Senate seats are on the ballot this year that could change the majority increasing the odds of an impeachment being successful.

[C0LLETTE]

Sorry, I had to step away for a few minutes to try to put in a broker's order to beat out all those Trump cabinet members buying up all the shares of the Remdesivir maker (Gilead?)

[Kelt]

Originally Posted by Baby_Yoda

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.

I reluctantly agree at this point I feel there is simply no option.

I am concerned by the fact that I believe we will end up with an appointed president. That is to say that whoever Biden chooses as his running mate will have a fair chance of ending up running this country and possibly before the end of his first term. In addition to a number of health challenges that can come his way at his age and in this time of medical uncertainty, he is showing very clear signs of cognitive decline. I can’t help but wonder if he is up to the challenge of steering this country through the next couple of bound to be bumpy years. If not, it will be his chosen and not elected running mate we will have to pick up the pieces. We are between a rock and a hard place.

[Baby_Yoda]

Originally Posted by Kelt

I reluctantly agree at this point I feel there is simply no option.

I am concerned by the fact that I believe we will end up with an appointed president. That is to say that whoever Biden chooses as his running mate will have a fair chance of ending up running this country and possibly before the end of his first term. In addition to a number of health challenges that can come his way at his age and in this time of medical uncertainty, he is showing very clear signs of cognitive decline. I can’t help but wonder if he is up to the challenge of steering this country through the next couple of bound to be bumpy years. If not, it will be his chosen and not elected running mate we will have to pick up the pieces. We are between a rock and a hard place.

There is talk of Harris being his running mate so even if something happens to Biden she was my first choice for president out if all the Dems. Of course nothing is solid in that yet anyone beats Trump either way. A 10 year old couldn't do any worse.

[BullDog]

Biden has no signs of cognitive decline. He stuttered as a child and still needs to compensate for it and sometimes stumbles over a few words here and there.

Of course, the Bros spread that far and wide before the phony rape charge. Now they all act like fake feminists.

BTW she accused her ex-husband of the same thing - same description of the alleged event, and it also appears in one of her late father's novels- both of them without the Senate hallway of course. But using the digits in both of them. Would someone actually do that in a hallway in the Senate. Really?

[Martina]

I see some evidence of cognitive decline. We've all watched him for years. There's a difference. Is it enough to affect his work? Who knows. It worries me a little. I hope he picks a good VP.

Re the most recent sexual assault allegation from Tara Reade, I don't believe it. But of course it has to be investigated.

[BullDog]

I strongly disagree that Biden shows signs of cognitive decline. People need to educate themselves on what people with stuttering challenges go through -especially when talking spur of the moment. Obviously he has accomplished a great deal in his life and overcome many challenges and adversity.

The Bros would cobble together video snippets as “proof.”. Really dudes you were supporting a guy a year older and who had a heart attack. Get real.

Does Biden seem a bit older than even when he was Vice President? Yes and he is by a few years. Quite frankly Trump, Sanders, and Biden are all on the old side to be president yet they were the final three left standing.

Unlike the current narcissist in the White House, Biden welcomes having strong and accomplished people around him. I have a strong hunch he is going to pick Kamala Harris for VP. We’ll see. He will have a strong team.

[charley]

Originally Posted by Martina

I see some evidence of cognitive decline. We've all watched him for years. There's a difference. Is it enough to affect his work? Who knows. It worries me a little. I hope he picks a good VP.

Re the most recent sexual assault allegation from Tara Reade, I don't believe it. But of course it has to be investigated.

IDK about Biden's cognitive decline, but he is ageing, and some slowness in any cognitive response is normal. Unlike MF-45* (the narcissist in chief), Biden does not have an ongoing life history of being a sexual predator.

I don't believe that anything re: any allegations by Tara Reade will eventually have any significant impact on the upcoming American election.

re: Tara Reade, it doesn't seem that she is credible/believable... as per an article in:

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinio...mn/3046962001/

* (I must say I like A. Spectre's term - MF-45, so I am borrowing it.)

[BullDog]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/01/opini...rod/index.html


When it became clear that Barack Obama would be the nominee of the Democratic Party in the spring of 2008, he commissioned a team of lawyers to begin an in-depth vetting process of potential candidates for vice president.

Dozens of women and men under consideration were reviewed. Those who rose on the list of contenders were subject to a deep-dive investigation of their strengths, vulnerabilities and, of course, any disqualifying defects.
At the top of the list of those contenders was Senator Joseph R. Biden of Delaware.

The comprehensive vet certainly would have turned up any formal complaints filed against Biden during his 36-year career in the Senate. It did not. The team would have investigated any salacious rumors of the sort that travel far and wide in Washington. There were none.

While I was not on the vetting team, as senior strategist to the campaign, I was briefed on their work and potential problems.

Through that entire process, the name Tara Reade never came up. No formal complaint. No informal chatter. Certainly, no intimation of sexual harassment or assault from her or anyone else. The team of investigators, expert in their work, would not have missed it.

Reade did not surface her allegations of a criminal sexual assault when Biden was a candidate for president in 2008, nor did she offer them confidentially to the Obama vetting team when Biden emerged as a principal contender for vice president later that year.

Had any credible issue been raised, you can be sure Biden would not have been the nominee. Obama would not have tolerated it, even if he and Biden were close then, which they were not. Their friendship grew only after Biden joined the ticket and through their eight-year partnership in the White House. At that time, they were distant Senate colleagues and most recently rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Our society is just now confronting a long, sordid history of disregarding accusations and silencing women who were sexually abused or assaulted. Women who come forward deserve to be taken seriously and treated with respect, and Tara Reade's story should be heard and thoroughly investigated.

But it is striking that when an experienced vetting team put Biden under a microscope before he was chosen to be second-in-line for the presidency, neither her allegations, nor anything resembling them in Biden's history, showed up.

[Cin]

The fact that Biden is an infinitely better choice for president than Trump does not change the fact that he, on more than one occasion, has been guilty of inappropriate conduct and remarks where women and young girls are concerned. A few of those occasions have taken place during events dealing with sexual assault.

" Caruso told The New York Times that after she shared her story of sexual assault at a University of Nevada event in 2016, Biden hugged her "just a little bit too long" and put his hand on her thigh."

To me, being borderline inappropriate to women right after they shared something like this is very dark indeed. I know Biden straddles the line and even parents and husbands defend him after he is inappropriate with their loved ones however, I feel it is especially damaging to invade an abuse victim's space and distress her with behavior that is confusing and intimate right after she has made herself vulnerable by sharing her story.

Nevertheless as creepy as Joe Biden is, he is the only acceptable choice for president. But that doesn't mean we have to close our eyes to his inappropriate behavior.

Still I find Tara Reade's story suspect because it is out of character for Biden. I mean if he made a habit of crossing that line he straddles so athletically and actually sexually assaulting women we would have heard about it by now. We wouldn't only have that one incident. That doesn't change the fact that he is inappropriate with women a lot. And in very dark ways like at events dealing with sexual assault. But he is a world class line straddler so not much to be done.

However he is not Donald Trump and that's the most important thing in this coming election. So he has my vote.

https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-...ampaign-2019-6

[BullDog]

If Biden is so creepy how come nothing came up until now?

He is a hugger and hands-on. He does that with everyone- both men and women. If some people are uncomfortable with it they certainly have the right to speak up and he says he will change that.

He shows great empathy for people. The only ones who think he is creepy are those who are politically biased against him.

[Baby_Yoda]

Originally Posted by Cin

The fact that Biden is an infinitely better choice for president than Trump does not change the fact that he, on more than one occasion, has been guilty of inappropriate conduct and remarks where women and young girls are concerned. A few of those occasions have taken place during events dealing with sexual assault.

" Caruso told The New York Times that after she shared her story of sexual assault at a University of Nevada event in 2016, Biden hugged her "just a little bit too long" and put his hand on her thigh."

To me, being borderline inappropriate to women right after they shared something like this is very dark indeed. I know Biden straddles the line and even parents and husbands defend him after he is inappropriate with their loved ones however, I feel it is especially damaging to invade an abuse victim's space and distress her with behavior that is confusing and intimate right after she has made herself vulnerable by sharing her story.

Nevertheless as creepy as Joe Biden is, he is the only acceptable choice for president. But that doesn't mean we have to close our eyes to his inappropriate behavior.

Still I find Tara Reade's story suspect because it is out of character for Biden. I mean if he made a habit of crossing that line he straddles so athletically and actually sexually assaulting women we would have heard about it by now. We wouldn't only have that one incident. That doesn't change the fact that he is inappropriate with women a lot. And in very dark ways like at events dealing with sexual assault. But he is a world class line straddler so not much to be done.

However he is not Donald Trump and that's the most important thing in this coming election. So he has my vote.

https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-...ampaign-2019-6

It seems to me that the younger generations are getting less physically demonstrative and more ready to jump on the bandwagon of calling just about anything harassment or assault. I have been hugged by older relatives longer than was comfortable and have had friends male and female place a hand on my leg during conversation. Neither has been creepy to me nor have a I felt assaulted even when I found one or the other slightly uncomfortable. Both are normal everyday actions that some people take. If Biden were a woman the actions would probably have been viewed as emotionally supportive or seen as one of those every day actions. Now I am not in Bidens head nor have I ever met the man personally. I do not know the motivation behind his actions. They could have been truly innocent or they could have not been. I am simply pointing out the generational difference for one, and that some people are more inclined to physical contact than others. Women dont want men to be the only ones able to practice medicine or make more money than they do. They want equality across the board... So honestly, are women willing to give men equality across the board as well in being physically and emotionally demonstrative, and not look down on them if they choose a classically female career? I am kind of rambling with this I know... I just woke up. Anyhow, the point I am trying to get to I think is that Biden has no straight up allegations of sexual assault that I have heard of... No pussy grabbing or anything blatantly sexual in nature, just what some people viewed as creepy, or inappropriate, unless I missed something major. If I was charged with something every time someone saw my actions as creepy or inappropriate, I would have lost every job within possibly a day in a few cases. I watch people a lot until I get to know them and feel comfortable with them in my vicinity and the intense looks I know I am capable of coupled with frequent looks towards someone could certainly make them uncomfortable. Just saying. Ok Im gonna stop now. Morning all... The generational difference was pointed out to me by someone else... That one I probably would not have seen on my own so just to give credit or not claim it where it isnt mine... Bye

[CherylNYC]

Originally Posted by BullDog

https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/01/opini...rod/index.html


When it became clear that Barack Obama would be the nominee of the Democratic Party in the spring of 2008, he commissioned a team of lawyers to begin an in-depth vetting process of potential candidates for vice president.

Dozens of women and men under consideration were reviewed. Those who rose on the list of contenders were subject to a deep-dive investigation of their strengths, vulnerabilities and, of course, any disqualifying defects.
At the top of the list of those contenders was Senator Joseph R. Biden of Delaware.

The comprehensive vet certainly would have turned up any formal complaints filed against Biden during his 36-year career in the Senate. It did not. The team would have investigated any salacious rumors of the sort that travel far and wide in Washington. There were none.

While I was not on the vetting team, as senior strategist to the campaign, I was briefed on their work and potential problems.

Through that entire process, the name Tara Reade never came up. No formal complaint. No informal chatter. Certainly, no intimation of sexual harassment or assault from her or anyone else. The team of investigators, expert in their work, would not have missed it.

Reade did not surface her allegations of a criminal sexual assault when Biden was a candidate for president in 2008, nor did she offer them confidentially to the Obama vetting team when Biden emerged as a principal contender for vice president later that year.

Had any credible issue been raised, you can be sure Biden would not have been the nominee. Obama would not have tolerated it, even if he and Biden were close then, which they were not. Their friendship grew only after Biden joined the ticket and through their eight-year partnership in the White House. At that time, they were distant Senate colleagues and most recently rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Our society is just now confronting a long, sordid history of disregarding accusations and silencing women who were sexually abused or assaulted. Women who come forward deserve to be taken seriously and treated with respect, and Tara Reade's story should be heard and thoroughly investigated.

But it is striking that when an experienced vetting team put Biden under a microscope before he was chosen to be second-in-line for the presidency, neither her allegations, nor anything resembling them in Biden's history, showed up.

I don't think this argument, 'It would have come up in our vetting process', holds water today. Until, oh... about five minutes ago when #Me Too swept our world, a subordinate woman's claims about a powerful man's caddish or criminal behavior towards her carried no weight at all. Zero. End of discussion. It was the woman who suffered the consequences if she dared to speak up. No, it wouldn't have come up in the vetting process. Had it come up, it would have been dismissed. I remember speaking to some straight men I worked with about Bill Clinton's behavior towards women. They were slightly amused. One co-worker told me that Clinton's clearly caddish behavior made him respect Clinton more as a man. Because that's the way a strong man behaves.

Did Biden commit sexual assault? I don't think the fact that Tara Reade claimed it happened in the Senate hallway seems ridiculous. I once came upon my boss sexually assaulting his cousin in the hallway of the movie studio where we were working. There were no repercussions to him, but I demonstrably lost plenty of work for talking about it. In my opinion, doing it in a public place was part of his power dynamic. "I can do whatever I want, wherever I want.' (Needless to say, the cousin continued on as if nothing ever happened, probably because it was long term behavior.)

I don't think there's any contradiction between Biden's championship and support of women and his choice to assault one. They're not mutually exclusive because people are complicated. Elliot Spitzer championed women professionally and abused them privately, too.

Reade told others about her experience, and they attest to it. That's an important fact, and it gives her allegations plenty of weight. Had this been an allegation against someone who isn't poised to evict that evil rust stain from the White House before he defecates in every corner, we would have no reason to doubt the allegation.

I'm voting for Biden, and I would still vote for him even if Reade produced a semen stained dress. Trump endangers us all every single day. The stakes are high and our choices are limited.

[BullDog]

Cheryl, yes women have been subjected to horrific treatment for far too long and more women are speaking up thanks to the Me Too Movement. They should be taken seriously and any allegations they have should be thoroughly investigated.

I totally disagree with you that the Obama vetting process would have dismissed it. I don't believe that for one second. I guess neither you or I have proof of that one way or the other but I do believe Axelrod and that Obama wouldn't have tolerated it.

There is tons of evidence that shows how unreliable Reade is. I already posted a bunch of it earlier.

[Kätzchen]

Just got my Oregon Primary Ballot in the mail, today.

I am registered as a Democrat, so I checked all boxes for those who are Democrats, including who we want for POTUS.

I am dropping it off at county headquarters, on Monday.

Keeping my fingers crossed, as well.

[Martina]

Originally Posted by BullDog

I strongly disagree that Biden shows signs of cognitive decline. People need to educate themselves on what people with stuttering challenges go through -especially when talking spur of the moment. Obviously he has accomplished a great deal in his life and overcome many challenges and adversity.

The Bros would cobble together video snippets as “proof.”. Really dudes you were supporting a guy a year older and who had a heart attack. Get real.

Does Biden seem a bit older than even when he was Vice President? Yes and he is by a few years. Quite frankly Trump, Sanders, and Biden are all on the old side to be president yet they were the final three left standing.

Unlike the current narcissist in the White House, Biden welcomes having strong and accomplished people around him. I have a strong hunch he is going to pick Kamala Harris for VP. We’ll see. He will have a strong team.

Bullshit. I've been watching him for years. There's a difference, and it has nothing to do with stuttering. Don't tell me to educate myself about speech pathology. I'm a special education teacher. I know a little about it. Why are you so rude, Bulldog?

I haven't even seen any videos on the subject put together by the Sanders camp. And I am sick as fuck of hearing us referred to as Bros. Want to influence people to vote third party? Keep calling them Bernie Bros.

Re Sanders and even Trump, they aren't showing their age the way Biden is. It varies.

My reason for not trusting Reade is that she reported it differently two times. But I think Congress and the FBI need to do a thorough investigation.

[BullDog]

Martina as far as I’m concerned you are the one being extremely rude to me. I never said every Sanders supporter was a Bro.

Biden aging worse than Sanders and Trump? Is that supposed to be a joke. Sanders had a bloody heart attack - physical - but certainly a big concern especially since there is nothing wrong with Biden’s mind. Trump has gone down from an already seriously demented state. Biden is older but his mind is fine. This crap is b.s.

There is so much bullshit from many Sanders supporters about his so-called mental decline and now running away with the fake rape charge. They are trying to get Sanders in the back door of the back door and get rid of Biden illegitimately and they don’t care what they do to Biden in the process. And I’m so done with the hostage taking threats. Vote third party if you want to. I could care less.

Sure investigate Biden from here to sundown. And now who is going to investigate the 24 plus allegations against Trump. Way to go to re-elect Trump and the charges against Biden are not even credible. Easy way to take someone out. Up the ante at just the right time.

Unrelated to my response to Martina I’m still completely agog that people are dismissing the very strong vetting - one of the strongest vetting processes anyone in the world could ever go through yet it’s dismissed as oh if there was anything they would just ignore it anyway. I have never heard anything more unreal in my life. Both Axelrod and one of the attorneys who directly worked on the vetting have been very clear they found nothing. And she claims to have complained to his staff and the three involved are very emphatic that she never came to them and if she had they certainly would have remembered it. So are all of them lying? Where’s the complaint she supposedly filed? It’s not going to be in Biden’s personal papers. I swear the reporting on this is so shoddy. There is so so so much more.

Carry on with your hatefest of Biden and Trump’s re-election campaign. I have better use of my time.

I look forward to voting for Biden twice - the primary and the general election. And I would never vote for a rapist.

[Martina]

Originally Posted by BullDog

Sure investigate Biden from here to sundown. And now who is going to investigate the 24 plus allegations against Trump. Way to go to re-elect Trump and the charges against Biden are not even credible. Easy way to take someone out. Up the ante at just the right time.

These are some specious arguments. Just because Trump got away with it doesn't mean anyone else should. It's like a kid saying he got away with it, so why can't I?

Also, whether it hurts the Biden candidacy can't be an argument for investigating or not investigating the allegations.

[Kelt]

Opinions
It’s fair to speculate whether Biden is mentally fit to be president

March 12, 2020 at 11:09 a.m. PDT

After a disastrous performance in his first debate with Walter Mondale, many in the media began to openly question the then-73-year-old Ronald Reagan’s mental fitness. Writing in the New York Times, James Reston pointed out that Reagan “got his figures mixed up, and didn’t seem to be mentally alert in dealing with Mr. Mondale’s arguments.” The Wall Street Journal noted that “the president’s rambling responses and occasional apparent confusion injected an unpredictable new element into the race” and pointed out that at age 75, "10 percent of people suffer from significant mental impairment — senile dementia, or senility.” The networks ran montages of Reagan stumbling over his words and brought on doctors to discuss the effects of aging on mental capacity.

When the second debate came around, Reagan put the aging question to rest with his now famous line: “I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” A decade later, Reagan announced to the world that he had Alzheimer’s disease.
Joe Biden is 77, four years older than Reagan was during the 1984 campaign. If Biden is elected, he’ll be older on the day he takes office than Reagan was on the day he left office. So yes, his mental fitness is a legitimate issue.

There is plenty of cause for concern. Biden recently announced “I think we can win back the House” and promised to ban the “AR-14.” He mistook Super Tuesday for “Super Thursday,” and forgot the words of the Declaration of Independence, saying “We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women are created, by the, you know, you know the thing.” In South Carolina, he misstated what office he was running for, declaring “My name’s Joe Biden. I’m a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate.” On three occasions last month, Biden declared he was arrested in South Africa trying to visit Nelson Mandela in prison — an incident his campaign later admitted never happened. He earlier described meeting a Navy captain in Afghanistan, but The Post reported that “almost every detail in the story appears to be incorrect.” He claimed to have worked with Chinese leader “Deng Xiaoping” on the Paris Climate Accord (Deng died in 1997)/. He claimed during a debate that “150 million people have been killed [by guns] since 2007” (which would be nearly half the U.S. population). He said he met with Parkland victims while he was vice president even though the shooting took place after he left office. He has declared that Democrats should "choose truth over facts” and that “poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.” He pledged to use biofuels to power “steamships.” He repeatedly gets confused about what state he is in; called “Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace “Chuck”; said his late son Beau “was the attorney general of the United States”; and confused former British prime minister Theresa May with the late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

Any one of these gaffes in isolation would be nothing more than that. But taken together they form a pattern – and raise questions about whether Biden has experienced a cognitive decline. Biden’s defenders say this is unfair, and some have even suggested raising it is ageism. No, it’s not. His socialist rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is 78 — almost a year older than Biden — yet no one is questioning his mental fitness. On Monday night, Sanders spent an hour at a Fox News town hall where he was challenged to defend his policies and answered in great detail and without any gaffes or senior moments. Could Biden do the same?

Many of President Trump’s critics have suggested that he suffers from cognitive impairment. Well, in 2018, Trump took a test designed to screen for dementia — the Montreal Cognitive Assessment — and the White House physician reported he received a perfect score. Will Biden submit to the same test?

Sanders took a subtle dig at Biden during the town hall, pointing out that while he speaks for 45 minutes to an hour at his campaign events, Biden recently spoke for seven minutes. The two men will have their first mano-a-mano debate on Sunday. How will Biden perform over the course of a two-hour discussion? Perhaps he will put concerns about his mental fitness to rest. This much is certain: Democrats are about to pick a man they hope will be the first octogenarian president in American history. It is fair to ask whether voters are choosing a candidate who’s not up to the job.

[A. Spectre]

Starting out this post with my disappointment that once again we, the voting block have a choice of

A Old white man
B Old white man

With numerous choices of female candidates who were/are so capable and brilliant, only for it to come down to this, is a disappointment. THAT being said.......

"...During 2017 when Reade was praising Biden, she was condemning Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s efforts to hijack American democracy in the 2016 election. This changed in November 2018, when Reade trashed the United States as a country of “hypocrisy and imperialism” and “not a democracy at all but a corporate autocracy.”

Reade’s distaste for America closely tracked her new infatuation with Russia and Putin. She referred to Putin as a “genius” with an athletic prowess that “is intoxicating to American women.” Then there’s this gem: “President Putin has an alluring combination of strength with gentleness. His sensuous image projects his love for life, the embodiment of grace while facing adversity.”

In March 2019, Reade essentially dismissed the idea of Russian interference in the 2016 American presidential election as hype. She said she loved Russia and her Russian relatives — and "like most women across the world, I like President Putin … a lot, his shirt on or shirt off.” ...(more)

*barf

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opini...mn/3046962001/

________________________________________________

We need to support Joe, holding your nose or not at the ballot box. If MF45 steals the election again, I don't know if any of us, our planet will survive him.