Lauren WeinsteinMy view is that the number of voters who, after Trump was convicted of anything, would say, "Oh, well, I was going to vote for Trump but now I'll vote for Biden!" is somewhere south of 10.
powersoffour@lauren I guess I was hoping that there exist low-information voters who either both-sides or reflexively vote republican that it would have moderately impacted at a scale that could tip the margins. Perhaps this was merely wishful thinking on my part.
@powersoffour Back in pre-MAGA days such voters existed. No more. Not in a Biden/Trump race.
Matt Blaze@lauren I agree, but I think the significant number is not people for whom the trials, etc, cause them to change who they support, but rather whether they show up to vote (and also to donate and campaign) in the first place.
@mattblaze I think that in this case that's negligible. The differences between Trump and Biden are so enormous that there is essentially no middle ground for such voters. The only danger is Left voters who spout the "I'll vote for a third party and if Trump wins that'll teach the Democrats!" nonsense and then start complaining if Trump wins and he bundles them off to the concentration camps he's promised for the Left.
@lauren The enormous difference is why no one is going to change who they prefer. But I think enthusiasm to actually show up and vote for (and otherwise support) either candidate is still subject to many variables. That's what will determine the election outcome.
AI6YR Ben@mattblaze @lauren Yes... this is true. There are some portion of middle-of-the-road voters who will disconnect vs. vote in support. (although, I find there are also a lot of strangely deluded supporters who ignore all reality and facts of the matter and just vote all red candidates anyway)
@ai6yr @lauren I think the big unknown here is Trump's uncanny ability to convert otherwise disqualifying revelations into talking points.
If it came out that he was actually a space alien who came here to harvest humans for food, he'd campaign on his plan to own the liberals by sending them to another planet.
Paul Quirk@lauren @mattblaze what about Nikki Haley?
@quirk @mattblaze Huh? What about her? Just a footnote in the scheme of this election. Always was.
@lauren @mattblaze perhaps it's each of our very own entrenched biases and beliefs that keep people like Trump in power.
@quirk @mattblaze No, in Trump's case it's fairly simple evil. It's always been there, Trump just crystallized it effectively with a big boost from social media.
@lauren @mattblaze therefore, no Democrat would ever vote for Haley because they're afraid all Republicans will vote for Trump and Trump will win, so they vote for the lesser of two evils just to try to keep Trump from power...meanwhile, Republicans won't vote for Haley because they see Biden as part of an authoritarian government, which is the greater evil to them, so they vote Trump. Quite the shame, as the US is overdue for a female president. Perhaps the US does not deserve democracy.
@quirk @mattblaze They had a chance for a decent female president with Hillary, and they threw it away. Haley is actually even more conservative than Trump, just doesn't behave like a nutcase. With a short time her campaign will come to the end as the money dries up.
@lauren @mattblaze Hilary's relationship with a former two term president made her a terrible choice, as the presidency should never become a family business like it was with the Bushes. This only provided fuel for Trump. There were better candidates.
@quirk @mattblaze There were better candidates but the binary choice was her or Trump, and everyone already knew Trump was a sociopath.
@lauren @mattblaze and they allowed their fear of him to inform their decisions that helped him to win. That isn't democracy. Seems to me that allowing your decision on who to vote for to be guided by fear makes the United States no different than Russia.
@quirk @mattblaze No different than Russia? Bye Paul.
Hippasus500 aka jwn2@lauren
Cynic.
Probably not wrong.
Maybe, just maybe, the majority of SCOTUS regard another Presidency like the previous one an existential threat to the U.S. They will act expeditiously, despite his henchmen’s dragging out the arguments, and rule against him.
Boom!
If that happens, there might be an avalanche of states that run him off the ballot, and SCOTUS will rule against him again.
BOOM!
And he can scowl from behind bars.
Call me an optimist.
@Hippasus500 They'll never permit states to keep him off the ballot. That might well be a unanimous decision. And he will never go to prison. Maybe a day or two in jail for contempt, but MAGA would rally around that.
Fan of Shared Truth & Empathy@lauren All too many Americans aspire to emulate presidential immunity of apex grifting criminality including never paying taxes, lying to get favorable loans, cheating on your wife with porn stars and paying them off to keep their mouth shut, Trading national security secrets for favors and profits. You know, all that “upstanding patriotic Christian behavior”…
#TrumpTraitor
#CriminalPresident
#VassalOfEvil
#DestroyerOfDemocracy
#TerminatorOfConstitutions
#EnemyOfTheUnitedStates