• Rentlar@lemmy.ca
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    6 months ago

    You had one person trying to listen, keep track and respond earnestly to each point of a serial liar, and struggling to do it.

    The serial liar would make one statement making light of the last thing that was said and then confidently go off on whatever they wanted.

    We’ve seen before that Americans want a confident but evil self-serving idiot over a tepid but smart, compassionate leader.

    Next morning Edit: My one hope is that the news of Grants Pass, EPA SCOTUS decisions show the real consequences of electing Trump.

      • kandoh@reddthat.com
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        6 months ago

        Biden used to be really good against that tactic, it’s why he won the debate in 2012 against Paul Ryan. Ryan gish galloped and Biden responded with a simple ‘POPPYCOCK!’. It worked.

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      a tepid but smart, compassionate leader.

      Is that really what you saw on that stage tonight? I saw a guy who lost his car keys because he was so angry at those kids on his lawn. Whether or not the narrative on Biden is fair, he just totally legitimized it.

      I get what you’re saying about debating with Trump, or any Republican really. Debate is a lot easier when you care nothing for the truth. Overcoming that is the Democratic candidate’s job. That’s what Biden signed up to do. That’s what the Democrats picked him to do. A candidate who can’t function in that situation has no business on that stage. There are a great many Democrats who could have wiped the floor with Trump.

      • Garbanzo@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        There are a great many Democrats who could have wiped the floor with Trump.

        AOC would fucking shred him

        • TBi@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          I like AOC. Unfortunately the majority of people, due to innate racism or misogyny, won’t vote for her. One of the only reasons Biden is there is they know he’s the most likely to get votes from all over the country.

            • LordGimp@lemm.ee
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              6 months ago

              And what a fuckin poison pill that bitch is. Honestly feel like Sarah Palin is more palatable.

            • TBi@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              I also think she wouldn’t win the vote. For similar reasons as AOC.

              As can be seen by the first person to reply to your post.

              • idiomaddict@feddit.de
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                6 months ago

                She’s also a cop with a very unpalatable record. But yes, misogynoir is also a huge hurdle for her, as per that other comment

      • Rentlar@lemmy.ca
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        6 months ago

        Yes, he is smart, and showed great intelligence, but in this instance severely underperformed in his ability to communicate clearly, like someone having a panic attack at a presentation. If you read a transcript of the debate it would be clear who is a leader and who is a clown. The raspy cold voice compounded things but those are all superficial elements, not on the substance (which Trump had nothing but lies and snide remarks).

        I agree this isn’t what any Democrat including Biden wanted in the debate and AOC, Sanders would be way better orators. I’m saying regardless of tonight, Americans have picked before a charismatic comic in Reagan over a tepid, but smart, compassionate leader like Carter.

        • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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          6 months ago

          See also: Bush vs Gore (though Republicans still had to cheat to win) and Bush vs Kerry. One candidate makes intelligent, considered points while the other throws out cheap bullshit soundbites. The bullshit soundbites guy wins the election every time.

      • Transporter Room 3@startrek.website
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        6 months ago

        I’m confident half of my highschool debate team could wipe the floor with Trump, including the ones who quit because it was boring to them.

        But can they wipe the floor, AND get elected?

        The sad reality is that is our choice.

        Eat a shit sandwich, or let the entire house get set on fire.

        There’s a secret third option, but most are too comfortable with their lives. ✊✊🏻✊🏽✊🏿

      • whoisearth@lemmy.ca
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        6 months ago

        I saw a guy who didn’t just lose his car keys. He shouldn’t be allowed to drive period. America is so fucked and thus so is the rest of the world.

      • Snapz@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        You told on yourself here.

        The first part of your response is illustrative of the bigger issue, Americans just can’t focus on substance over style. We’re solely fixated on tonality, body language and facial expressions… Like a still-developing toddler… Or a dog.

    • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      I didn’t watch the debate, but this is exactly what I expected. There was never a reason to have this debate. The democrats are so fucking stupid.

  • TurboWafflz@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    Honestly I don’t know how much better I could do than biden in an argument with trump. His look of just complete confusion as trump just continued to say complete nonsense was pretty much the same look I had listening to it.

    • spujb@lemmy.cafeOP
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      6 months ago

      really fair, it’s certainly an uncommon skill but it’s definitely a skill we should be able to expect of our literal leaders

        • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Fine line. We want “enough” charisma, but we don’t want demogoguery.

          I would have been fine with both of them having proxies for the debate and sitting in, with the proviso that they could chime in if their proxy said something they don’t approve.

          • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            we don’t want demogoguery.

            You sure about that? Could have fooled the rest of the parts of the world where people are legally allowed to even acknowledge demagoguery…

            • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              Buddy, then it’s you and me against the world. I’ll be your campaign manager, you’re the charismatic one.

              • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
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                Nah, I’m way too ideologically consistent to be a politician lol. Plus my hypoactive ADHD and social anxiety combo doesn’t lend itself well to public office 😄

        • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Obama spoiled us. Hell, even dubyuh was more articulate than either of the geriatrics we have now.

        • spujb@lemmy.cafeOP
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          6 months ago

          the ratio got better overnight while the DNC was asleep and eurobros had the floor but i expect it to get worse from here on out

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      6 months ago

      That’s pretty much been the playbook since day one, just shotgun blasts complete bullshit left and right, it’s the equivalent of verbal chaff. Misdirect, confuse, and trip up the opponent so that they have to waste time refuting your BS than actually talking about the facts.

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        6 months ago

        It’s really clear to me that that was trumps entire playbook. He more of his time attacking Biden and spouting lies and bullshit than answering the questions. It went exactly how I expected.

        I had really hoped that Biden would find his public speaking voice. He’s competent but not a great speaker.

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      6 months ago

      The man couldn’t even properly answer the abortion questions, I seriously hope you’d do better than that.

      • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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        6 months ago

        He did OKAY on the abortion question, but then incoherently rambled for a few seconds and somehow brought immigration up. Still better than Trump’s response.

    • samus12345@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      But this was bog-standard Trump for his entire political career. Gish galloping is what he does. This shouldn’t have been a surprised Pikachu moment.

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      6 months ago

      I think you can do a lot better than he did, any of us could. Just look at the transcript here. ctrl+f for “golf”. You’re gonna tell me you don’t have a better response than Biden here?

      I’m just gonna come up with 5 things right now Biden could’ve said:

      • “I don’t think the American people care how good my opponent’s golf game is. They care if he can run the country, and as you can tell from his answer he doesn’t even remember what that involves.”
      • “Again with the cognitive tests. No one asked whether you took a cognitive test Donald. But if you wanna brag about it, at least release them to the public so we can see if you actually passed.”
      • “I think everyone’s seen enough from both of our 4 years in the white house - they can see I’m focused on the economy and foreign policy, while he was focused on golf as he still is.”
      • “I’ll fully concede that he’s a better golfer than me. After all, he spent so much of his last administration practicing.”
      • “This guy claims he won two club championships at the age of 82? Does anyone seriously believe that? This guy is delusional folks.”

      Instead Biden talked about his height (which he didn’t mention) and challenged him to a driving contest. WTF. I recognize how bad this would’ve sounded before yesterday, but literally any random person we pick from this thread has better odds than Biden at this point.

      Trump did absolutely horribly. His answers can be fairly described as completely and transparently delusional. But Biden managed to make him look good.

  • Plume (She/Her)@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    6 months ago

    Thank fuck I’m not American. Now, if you’d excuse me, I must get ready for the potential imminent arrival of fascism in about 2 days in my country (France). Can’t wait to see the US fall as well! Wow! What a wonderful fucking world awaits us, huh? 💀

    • NegativeInf@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Shall we both bring out the guillotines? Or should start at setting things on fire? As an American, I’m not sure how your French protesting works, but I’m willing to learn.

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          6 months ago

          First you wait for an event that pulls a lot of media to your country like the Olympics, then you start fucking shit up

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      6 months ago

      We still kind of owe you for everything you guys did in the revolutionary war.

      Tell you what: when the time comes to fight the fascists again we’ll send your resistance movement munitions if you send us dope “uniforms” for ours.

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      Everybody said the same thing when the Swedish Democrats got into power in Sweden or when Meloni got into power in Italy or the Finns party in Finland… and every time nothing happened. In the Western world and it’s close allies, there have only been 3 examples of a right wing movement going rogue: Trump in the US, Orban in Hungary, and Netanyahu in Israel. If you consider Turkey a part of the West then Erdogan definitely fits into this category. Even then, it’s a stretch can any of these 4 fascist when considering the actual definition of the word. I highly doubt Le Pen is going to do anything. She’ll most likely be Meloni 2.0.

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      We are in the 4th turning. History repeats. The end of the 4th turning is a crisis. Call it mysticism but things are looking like a repeat of the 4 turnings in the past. Usually ends with war, disease, and famine before revolution.

  • _number8_@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    cynically i feel the DNC might just dig in their heels and hope people memory hole this. because jesus fuck i sure want to, that was horrifying

    • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
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      At this point what I think is happening is Joe has one of those old age bugs except this one specifically makes the brain to mouth communication issues that come with a stutter a lot worse.

      Because communication seems to always be this guy’s biggest stumbling block, if this were just a report card comparison there wouldn’t be a race, he’s obviously still a competent guy as old as he is, the problem is that something’s going on that makes it way harder for him to adequately communicate that whenever he needs to.

      That’s really the only way I can self reason why he then proceeded to be completely fine in the much lower pressure environment of his after debate rally.

      Edit: report card not credit card, although personally I’m willing to bet that Joe’s credit score is way better than Donny’s too

      • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I don’t even need Biden to be competent. Just surround himself with a competent cabinet. Which he has, and is why we’ve gotten so many wins and why Trump did so horribly in his first term.

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        6 months ago

        Yeah, good thing all that matters for a president is the ability to have good ideas, and there is no need to be able to convey these ideas to other humans.

        • Ð Greıt Þu̇mpkin@lemm.ee
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          Speaking is not the only means of communication, and I’d be surprised to find out that Biden doesn’t rely on email and memo communication behind closed doors to make his job easier.

          Thinking about it more I’d have probably still have been surprised at most points in his career. Not slipping back into stutter is something that requires a lot more focus than a politician really gets to commit to it at all times. Could be that Joe became mr. compromise because helping people get along lowers the amount of times he has to leave a conversation to reset his voice and get his focus back.

          Having recently been committed to bedrest I know what it’s like to get creative with your personal work environment in order to compensate for what you’re not able to do right now.

          It’s embarrassing even when everyone around you is as supportive and non judgemental as they can be, for a president, I could see the history books recording this as an echo of Roosevelt’s efforts to hide just how far his polio had actually progressed from the press. Even if not for ableist questioning of his legitimacy and ability to do the job, there’s still the personal embarrassment of having everyone know your chronic medical struggles and even picturing what your worst days must be like.

    • JasonDJ@lemmy.zip
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      I only got to see the closing statements. Biden looked worn down. Unconfident. Soft spoken. I could barely understand what he was saying and I had to turn on closed captioning.

      Then Trump starts talking…and it’s all bullshit, but God if he doesn’t sound good spewing it.

      America is fucked. The world is fucked. We’re all gonna die. Buckle in.

      • alcedine@discuss.tchncs.de
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        6 months ago

        I listened to about half an hour, as long as I could bear in any case. Your description fits all of what I saw, and probably the whole thing.

    • samus12345@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      People will memory hole it IF Biden does better in the future. The last thing that happened is always the only thing that matters in US elections.

    • HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world
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      They’ll tell us that Joe did great, and that anyone thinking otherwise is being subliminally influenced by Russian propaganda.

      • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        He had a decent performance. I understand more about his policies and called trump a felon and a fat loser. That’s what I wanted out of it. Trump literally could not answer half of the questions because he was still rambling about the previous question.

        Biden had a hoarse throat from a cold and a bit of a stutter but he turned on a dime when he was asked different questions. Both dudes are old af. The choice is: do you want senile grandpa who can’t answer the question or the guy who has a soft voice?

        Biden’s clearly still with it but slower, and trump is clearly still nuts, possibly moreso. I choose Biden because he’s the only one who occasionally says things that make sense.

        • Cataphract@lemmy.ml
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          6 months ago

          could you reference one better understanding of a policy you got out of it? Looking at it from the lens of undecided/independent voters, I didn’t get any information out of it but an upcoming golf game.

  • sh__@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    To be fair Biden has had a stutter for all his life. How quiet he was and with everything going on it didn’t look good though. I wish we could have different candidates. I’m not sure if this will change anyone’s vote or not though.

    • chingadera@lemmy.world
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      It for sure will, republicans have been ripping critical thinking out from the educational system since Reagan. In fact, it looks like they got a hold of journalists first.

      • rayyy@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        it looks like they got a hold of journalists

        Republicans understood that that they must control the news in order to control the people. Problem is that they made the “news” into a dumpster of lies. They are now going after education. Idiocracy, here we come.

        • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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          6 months ago

          They found they just need to accuse the media of treating them unfairly, and they’ll fall in line to avoid looking biased, ironically becoming biased in the process.

          Also Idiocracy would be an improvement because Komacho literally put the smartest man in the world in charge

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      To be fair Biden has had a stutter for all his life.

      That gets repeated a lot, but I think the people who think that’s a good enough excuse have not actually seen middle aged Biden speak.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_v00iGJCLY

      The Biden of that video has some incredible charisma, but he has nothing to do with the person today.

      • Kaity@leminal.space
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        Can you imagine a president like that, even Obama wasn’t close to that level of eloquence and charisma. Every president in my lifetime has been a joke, to mirror the circus in every tent in DC.

      • sh__@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        It is obvious age has effected his ability to communicate. I suppose it’s just something to keep in mind, not an excuse. Like I said before, I wish we had younger candidates on both sides. I think most people didn’t want this rematch. The person in that video would have been great, but we only have what’s left of that now.

    • Tier 1 Build-A-Bear 🧸@lemmy.world
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      I was considering voting for Biden. I’ve never voted before. I think after seeing all this though the only way I’ll vote for Biden is if my dad votes for Trump just so I can cancel his vote out lol

      • Shellbeach@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Voting for Biden is not voting for the man, it’s voting for an ideology, for hope, for a future less grim. Vote for Biden.

        • multifariace@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          Those are the same reasons people use to vote for Trump. I’m around it all the time. People on both sides are voting out of fear of the other side. Reason and reality are no longer relevant in politics. Only fear.

          • eric5949@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            “I wouldn’t be affected by project 2025 so there’s no reason for me to care”

            Just be honest dude.

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                Buddy you can go read it yourself. You won’t, because you erroneously think it won’t affect you, but you can.

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                Okay, but one side uses fear to roll out voting rights while the other takes those same rights away. Fear isn’t controlling all of us because it is up to us in how we respond.

                • Cataphract@lemmy.ml
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                  “roll out voting rights”, definitely agree with your other statement about the other party taking voting rights but I haven’t seen sources for “rolling out” voting rights from the Dems. They may fight gerrymandering which hurts their election chances but I don’t see actual democracy being expedited.

                • John Richard@lemmy.world
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                  6 months ago

                  And the left uses fear to say the polls are too close for Biden to have such a miserable debate performance to risk democracy… and what do the Trump supporters do? They say… no Biden is your only option against Trump.

              • Soulg@sh.itjust.works
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                6 months ago

                Because they have a very public plan to completely restructure the government to make Trump a dictator and the US a theocracy. This isn’t normal. They’re openly telling us they’re going to do that.

                If you’re not afraid, you’re either trying really hard to not pay attention, or you just hate America and want it to fall.

                • multifariace@lemmy.world
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                  Of course I’m afraid. Probably more realistically than everyone responding as if I wasn’t. I don’t see a way to stop America from sinking further into a dark age.

                  It blows my mind how anti-intellecualism is so strong when we have so much information at our finger tips. The greedy takeover of Reddit is painful. Like a lobotomy. Finding sources and more perspectives was never easier than what had been built on that site. This last year has made it indistinguishable from other forms of media.

                  We are perpetually getting dumber and more afraid. And before I am questioned again, “we” includes me.

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              6 months ago

              In current politics: Fears=Votes.

              That is the American way. If that is not clear, I can elaborate. But I’m pretty sure you can see it in every comment telling you why to vote a certain way.

        • zbyte64@awful.systems
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          Honestly that’s overselling Biden and their own pitch is you are voting against ending democracy. Biden isn’t going to make the future less grim (unless we protest), but Trump would certainly make it worse.

          • SupahRevs@lemmy.world
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            He absolutely is making the future less grim. The industry news I read for my work in the energy industry is full of progress in environmental regulation. It’s a fight vs Republicans and Biden is really making progress.

            • John Richard@lemmy.world
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              What progress will you have to make if Biden who has been polling 40/40 or 39/41 loses to Trump? It may be less grim (if he can win) but it is much more likely to be grim if Democrats don’t take their heads out of the sand and consider nominating someone actually able to handle a debate against Trump.

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    6 months ago

    I love the part where the democratic leadership made sure there were no viable alternatives during the primary.

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          Okay, and? What is your point?

          This is just a misunderstanding of how primaries work and basic civics. There are Democratic primaries in FL. For Senate seats, House seats, etc. Those primary dates differ state-to-state, and Florida’s just so happen to take place in August. Nobody met the requirements to be submitted on the Florida ballot in time, and second to that, it wouldn’t have made a difference ultimately as we would come to find out since nobody achieved any competitive results in earlier primaries or in national polling.

          There wasn’t a Primary for President because those who voluntarily threw their hat in the ring either (a) dropped out, (b) did not meet the minimum ballot requirements, or © Biden already earned enough votes for it to be irrelevant. Florida was never make-or-break for anyone else who, again, voluntarily threw their hat in the ring.

          • frog_brawler@lemmy.world
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            I was referring to the presidential primary (as that is the topic of discussion in this thread). Florida did not have one.

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              As was I, which I explained why it did not happen. Please read more closely.

              Basic civics.

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                The “explanation” doesn’t change that it did not happen. My previous comment did not require a qualifier.

                Basic reading comprehension.

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                  Ok, cool? I simply gave context showing your factoid contributes nothing meaningful to the conversation.

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        6 months ago

        Biden is the incumbent so obviously the only one that can possibly win. Crush all other prospects and tell them to wait their turn

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          Nobody stopped people from running, though. In fact people did run they just lost like primaries are supposed to work?

          • Cataphract@lemmy.ml
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            I get so tired of seeing people hand-wave away democracy like it’s some kind of amateur sport. This is not how fair and impartial primaries are ran. We can recognize the tech-monopolies and the unfair practices (and untold wealth) they use to squash competition but when it comes to elections? shrug

            • lennybird@lemmy.world
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              Even Bernie Sanders could’ve run again if he wanted to, but he chose not to. Nobody at the DNC “forced” him to not run as was suggested.

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                more hand-waving, “anyone can make a video platform”. No, you need infrastructure, SEO attention, Creators, etc etc. You don’t just “decide” to run in elections, the bar for entry is beyond anything a citizen or even most politicians can accrue. Bernie Sanders fell in line a long time ago with the same party he openly said was unfairly treating elections. Vote Biden if that’s your choice and I fully support that, but we need to stop sugar coating and pretending everything is A-ok in the DNC if we ever want an elected official who represents the average voter in the party.

                • lennybird@lemmy.world
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                  More hand-waving, indeed.

                  Bernie Sanders whose convictions and experience are without question understands the game better than anyone here, I suspect.

                  I’m okay with saying the DNC has poor strategy. But that is independent from claiming they prevented anyone from running. So I say again, NOBODY FORCED anyone to NOT Run, and zero evidence to the contrary has been provided. This is an obvious wedge-driving issue that originates from right-wing and foreign operatives intending to wedge-drive the Democratic coalition. Please, don’t drink the kool-aid.

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                Aside from his age being an issue for him just as much as Biden, he knew that challenging the Democrat incumbent would just split the support he desperately needs further.

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              Really? They didn’t drop out because of lackluster polling? Can you point to them rapidly rising in national approval ratings?

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                No candidate would ever win a primary against an incumbent president. Which is why the right decision would’ve been for Biden not to run.

              • Evotech@lemmy.world
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                Name one real option the democrats has promoted.

                The fact is that the democratic Party went all in on Biden early one and has refused to promote anyone else

                Yes there’s been a few candidates, but they are all largely unknown and no effort has been made to seriously bring them up.

                • zbyte64@awful.systems
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                  Name one real option the democrats has promoted.

                  Monkey paw curls a finger

                  DNC: We’re please to announce Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic Presidential Nominee!

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                  It’s news to me that “democrats” (???) have to promote a candidate as opposed to a candidate running and captivating the primaries electorate… You know… As Barack Obama did in 2007.

                  Yes there’s been a few candidates, but they are all largely unknown and no effort has been made to seriously bring them up.

                  Well I’m sorry but beggars can’t be choosers.

                  You could’ve run; why didn’t you?

                  But this beside the point, considering the goalpost has moved a mile from “The DNC didn’t allow anyone else to run.” lol. People here need a lesson in basic civics, clearly.

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        For one thing, they didn’t have a primary candidate debate, which would have helped the challengers get some exposure.

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    Trump is the perfect representative of the US tourists we see here in Europe.

    Not all, of course, because you don’t notice the quiet / decent ones. (Hey, just like the election , huh)

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    Lol yeah pretty much. Just got round to watching the highlights today and what a joke. Nobody even bothers to mention democracy or freedom any more because now its pure politics. It’s been perfected to the point that it finally bears no resemblance to human nature whatsoever.

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      Well, to be fair, you said you only watched the highlights.

      I guarantee you that none of the normal question and answer sections made it into the highlights reel.

      Both candidates said plenty of substance through the night.

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        Trump’s words were definitely a substance. A smelly, viscous, substance usually used for fertilizer.

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        “Both”, “plenty”, “guarantee”, etc.

        I’m getting the impression you have barely a passing understanding of what these words actually mean.

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          Plenty here means that most of the time was spent saying stuff, and the rest was the highlights everyone is passing around.

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        The whole debate was designed to generate clips. One minute responses is a terrible format. All the responses were just high energy rapid fire buzzwords with no real substance.

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    Yo, what kind of sick joke are y’all forcing your elderly from the closed ward to participate in?

    Just ease their life for as long as viable and take care of them.

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        Elders are supposed to scroll, not make policies for next generations when their cause of death could legitimately be listed as ‘old age’.

        • nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          Bidens so old any disease he gets would still be listed as natural causes. For Trump hes so unhealthy the same applies in addition to the fact that hes a fascist so even bullets would be considered natural causes for him.

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      Trump is the only guy who would bury his ex-wife on his own golf course just so that he could continue to cheat on her.

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      What’s weird is part of me just wishes they’d just settle it in a golf match. 1 month practice, PGA rules. I don’t even like golf.

      • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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        Biden challenged trump to a game, but only if trump carries his own clubs.

        🤣🤣🤣

        We all know that will never happen.

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          “You can’t even Carey your own Golf bag” is also is also such a rich guy insult. Imagine someoene in the street throwing that insult at your head.

      • Yareckt@lemmynsfw.com
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        Here’s a transcript:

        [While talking about the Intelligence Tests he did]

        TRUMP: […] He can’t hit a ball 50 yards. He challenged me to a golf match. He can’t hit a ball 50 yards. […]

        BASH(Moderator): Thank you.

        President Biden?

        BIDEN: You’re going to see he’s six-foot-five and only 225 pounds – or 235 pounds.

        TRUMP: (inaudible).

        BIDEN: Well, you said six-four, 200.

        TRUMP: (inaudible).

        BIDEN: Well, anyway, that’s – anyway, just take a look at what he says he is and take a look at what he is.

        Look, I’d be happy to have a driving contest with him. I got my handicap, which, when I was vice president, down to a 6.

        And by the way, I told you before I’m happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. Think you can do it?

        TRUMP: That’s the biggest lie that he’s a 6 handicap, of all.

        BIDEN: I was 8 handicap.

        TRUMP: Yeah.

        BIDEN: Eight, but I have – you know how many…

        TRUMP: I’ve seen your swing, I know your swing.

        (CROSSTALK)

        BASH: President Trump, we’re going to…

        (CROSSTALK)

        TRUMP: Let’s not act like children.

        BIDEN: You are a child.

        • Yareckt@lemmynsfw.com
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          I thought that was very funny. This and all the other Senates arent about facts or informing the viewer. It’s just two people bragging and insulting each other. Like a rap battle

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          Oh man, I wish his response was “Of course I’m bad at golf. I’ve been too busy leading a country to have time practicing my hand at golfing.”

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          I’m not really a golf person, but from passing knowledge, he said his handicap was +8 IIRC. I think that means that on an average course, he’d typically hit 8 strokes above par.

          Trump seemed incredulous of his claim, so I’m guessing that means Trump has a higher handicap?

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    Democrats are handing Trump another term on a silver platter. But I don’t expect them to do much soul searching if it happens. I expect them to just shift the blame onto everything else.

    Swing voters and those who haven’t decided yet often make the difference. I don’t believe for a second they will turn out in droves for Biden. He is not the guy. If he’s like this now, what’s he going to be like in 4 years time?

    If the Dems had a young firebrand type as a presidential candidate who could really take Trump to task, I think they’d walk the election.

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      I’m confused why people don’t consider the idea of Kamala taking over if Biden does win and steps down. I know she’s not popular, but it’s like everyone forgets our system can handle the president being incapacitated.

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        Probably doesn’t help that the administration has used Kamala as the bearer of bad news. Any time bad news gets released, it’s coming from Kamala instead of Biden. Because the administration wants to keep Biden’s nose clean, but that comes at the expense of Kamala.

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          I don’t think she has polled well, but who knows. Drives me fucking insane that a convicted felon that staged an attempted coup is polling better than anyone to begin with

  • Snapz@lemmy.world
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    This whole night was so many layers of exhausting, but probably not for the reasons you think… No rational, serious person was expecting Biden to Willy Wonka front somersault into this debate? it was going to be what this was, the only true surprise was probably the volume of his voice (which they chalk up to a cold, okay fine, I guess) and actually how well he did quickly processing and responding to trump’s gish gallop and unchecked stream of consciousness mistruth firehose with little help from the impotent moderators for the majority of the night.

    The people in this country, in their immediate reaction to this debate, demonstrate that they just fundamentally lack the focus, empathv and frankly basic intelligence to process the substance of this or any debate. On average, we respond solely to voice pitch, tonality, body language and facial expressions, like a still developing toddler… Or a dog.

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      I don’t know if you missed the part where he brought up “rapist immigrants” when trying to answer a question about abortion that should have been a layup and was absolutely key to this debate being meaningful to voters who are confused, apathetic, or considering voting 3rd party, especially those in swing states.

      That was also very unexpected, highly disappointing, and totally unrelated to his tone or volume. No amount of moderation could have helped that.

      • Snapz@lemmy.world
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        That’s part of the point, the gettable “swing voter”, who was hanging on this debate and nothing else to get their confidence just isn’t real… If that was the case, why didn’t the fucking SOTU seal it for them (again that’s if they even exist, as I challenge your basic premise).

        People generally know where they stand, with these two especially. And if they do exist and they are truly that “confused”… They are actually just ashamed to be 98% trump leaning and just waiting for any strong fart to push them towards him with " justification’ ( if it wasn’t this, they would have sought something to fill that need between now and election).

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          I don’t think any swing voter is “gettable” or “hanging on this debate” though. Pretty significant misrepresentation of my position there so hope this helps. Lot of time till November.

          I do, however, believe there are a) left leaning voters in swing states who are turned off from voting blue by the Democrat defense of Israel and capitulation to the conservative framing of the border, and b) right leaning voters in swing states who see that Biden brings up immigration in order to support his abortion position and feel hugely vindicated and double down on their intent to vote MAGA.

          Maybe I shouldn’t have used the term “swing voter,” I’ll to back and edit that.

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          IMO there’s also a contingent of people who are demotivated to participate. Lack of participation hurts Biden more than trump.

          Despite the danger, Trump doesn’t feel like an imminent threat to most people. He’s not motivating enough alone to bring out Democratic voters. However you do have a bunch of shit demotivating those voters. Gaza, money, immigration. The only big motivator is abortion, and Biden kinda flubbed that.

          A Dem win will be on abortion alone at this point, unless something huge changes.

    • bleistift2@sopuli.xyz
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      On average, we respond solely to voice pitch, tonality, body language and facial expressions, like a still developing toddler…

      You wouldn’t believe how close you are.

      […Researches] recruited 684 Swiss students and asked them to rate pairs of politicians who had run against each other in the 2002 French parliamentary elections. Based solely on black-and-white photos of the candidates, they had to say who was more competent and by what degree. There were 57 pairs in all, and each volunteer rated just one.

      They found that the students’ competence judgments predicted the actual winners of the run-offs with a 72% accuracy.

      https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/voters-use-child-like-judgments-when-judging-political-candidates

      [A] group of children would be able to predict the outcome of elections in another country, based only on photos of the candidates […] is exactly what a recent study in the journal Science has found.

      Swiss children as young as five years can predict which candidates are more likely to win French parliamentary elections.

      https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-look-of-a-winner/

      The children were just as good at predicting election results as the grown-ups were;

      (first article again)

    • Pilferjinx@lemmy.world
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      People were expecting state of the union Biden. Instead we got Magoo. We don’t need a strong man to lead, we just need more than what Biden currently is. The DNC is out to fucking lunch and probably handed Trump an easy win. Does this stop me from eating a shit sandwich to help protect our democracy? No, will angrily eat that shit sandwich for a few more good years.

      • Snapz@lemmy.world
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        The presidency is not one person, it’s an entire administration and general philosophy. We’re fed a lie that these debates always matter, they matter when candidates are unknown and then have a forum to stand out as leaders and educate voters about a vision for the country. That’s NOT the case here, the candidates are wholly known entities and these fucking debates absolutely do not matter.

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          The president is the leader of their presidency not the other way round. This debate has been very important to showcase that Biden is not capable of leading an argument let alone his staff. It’s not too late for him to bow out with dignity and get someone who has wit to lead.

          • Snapz@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            Genuinely curious, what do you think the Biden admin has accomplished in the last 4 years?

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                Ha… Yes it’s very telling, but [Whoooossshh] it’s actually telling about how tuned in you are beyond the basic surface talking points you absorb through social media - the Biden admin needs to do A LOT more and Gaza response is indefensible, while at the very same time, they are technically on paper the SINGLE most progressive administration of my lifetime.

                I’m not going to lie, your reply there was priceless. It was the equivalent of the arrogant, condescending, puffed up tone saying, “psssh, I already told you idiots… I don’t know how to read?” it’s like, you really think you’re looking down on people, while looking up at them from the ground. Golly.

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                  I think you’re mistaking that this election is determined by facts. It’s not. It’s a populist election driven on how people feel. I get your determination and frustration but you I think you need to reevaluate your strategy here.

    • samus12345@lemmy.world
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      they just fundamentally lack the focus, empathv and frankly basic intelligence to process the substance of this or any debate.

      The good side, if you can call it that, is that because they lack the focus they also don’t remember shit. If Biden has a good performance in the future this will be forgotten about.

      • Snapz@lemmy.world
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        Hopefully, but the focus on “performance” in a stage moment, versus performance in the job done (collective accomplishment of the administration over the last 4 years) is core to the problem here. Oh well.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      On average, we respond solely to voice pitch, tonality, body language and facial expressions, like a still developing toddler… Or a dog.

      Welcome to leadership 101. Projecting confidence is 90 percent of getting people to listen to you. This is why Con Artists are effective and Military Leaders cultivate an air of Stoicism. If you’re lucky you find a confident person who informs their decisions with science.

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      I think we all labour under the misapprehension that the person delivering the performance has correctly read the room.

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      I agree with everything but the comment on the moderators. It’s not their job to hold the candidates to account, that’s the job of the dude standing right next to the speaker. If a presidential candidate needs to rely upon a journalist to correct disinformation in a debate that he himself is participating in, they shouldn’t be the candidate.

      I’m a smooth-brained imbecile, but everytime that Trump opened his mouth I had 14 better responses than Biden had. He permitted the most outlandish untruths to go on the record unchecked. Biden would have done a better job by just replying “bulls*hit” in answer to Trump’s ramblings. The moderators just ask questions. They are not supposed to prop either side up.

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    Just sitting here watching the US elect a man who openly buffalo buffalo buffalo wants to turn it into a theocratic dictatorship…

    • aname@lemmy.one
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      Imagine US turning into a dictatorship.

      Imagine US being on the Axis side of the WW3.

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        The US chose the winning side in both wars, was extremely permeable to fascism after the second war, and use the Red Scare to purge political dissensions.

        The US not helping Germany is mostly due to financial interests (for the politicians) and Pearl Harbour (for the masses).

        My point is, let’s not pretend that the US being on the wrong side if history in WW3 is a surprising idea.

        • LordSinguloth@lemmy.ca
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          In which we can die in droves fighting the nazis for those other countries just to get called axis.

          You guys can’t be fr

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        We were halfway there with Prescott Bush and Hoover.

        But Biden is no FDR. Dude isn’t going to save us from a dozen George Wallace types crawling through the country’s interior.