[Politics] The 2024 US Election - *MATCH DAY*

[sparkie]

Tremendous day for the USA and the world. Biden has been a disaster, I'm not convinced Harris would have been any better given her performance in interviews where she had no idea what she was talking about. No idea why Michelle Obama bottled coming back as I think she may have been a decent bet.

God bless America.

Maybe you are right.

I have such a low opinion of Putin and such a high suspicion that Putin pulls Trump's strings that I fear you are mistaken.

 

[nicko31]

Currently:

Trump 71,009,944 votes (51.0%)
Harris 65,936,104 votes (47.4%)

Senate (51 for majority): 52 Rep - 42 Dem with 6 to declare
House (218 for majority): 202 Rep - 181 Dem with 52 to declare.

Is there any chance they don't get the house too?

 

[rippleman]

For all the faults with our political system, we can at least be reassured that we will never have anyone standing for PM who is a convicted criminal.

We can never have a PM who is able to pardon himself for any and all criminal offences.

We can never have a PM who can appoint senior judges based on their political allegiances.

For some small mercies, we are truly blessed.

Remember that we had been going for over 1700 years before the US was even founded. They have a lot of catching up to do.

 

[papachris]

I'm not convinced Trump will be alive next time.

I have thought all along because of Trump's own vanity he has been used a bit by the people pulling the strings (Musk etc) to win power through his charisma but long term they view somebody else in the White House. Maybe JD.Vance or maybe somebody else.
I would be amazed if he lasts the four years looking at his physical and mental condition!

 

[Curious Orange]

Sacking civil servants and replacing with political supporters
Tariffs
Largest Deportation in American history
Death penalty for drug dealers
Withdrawing from NATO
Imposing time limits for Congress members
Nationalizing energy and other strategic industries
Maximizing use of American fossil fuels
Finishing the wall and adding technology advances to it
Ending the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours



Well I'm sure many will support all of these regardless of the obvious pitfalls

Nationalising stuff sounds a bit, erm.., Communist.

 

[Goldstone1976]

Jest? jester, Clown. Go f*** yourself.

Nah thanks. Thread ban.

 

[Titanic]

Is there any chance they don't get the house too?

FT suggests they are leading in 23 of the remaining races... but some are very tight.

 

[Bozza]

Well civil unrest was definitely planned for on either side although as you rightfully point out the far right was more likely to instigate trouble. As it was a whitewash in the end I guess the far left have just been beaten down for now.

Absolutely no one predicted a victory of this scale, so I'm not sure any subsequent implications of that were really considered.

As you say, given how it's turned out, skulking off home to lick some wounds is really the only viable response.

 

[Commander]

I am not really blaming the electorate. I was trying to understand why they have made this decision. Thanks to Commander and Dwayne I now understand this more clearly.

I especially understand the problems experienced by those in rural areas (it is similar in Australia), I also understand the disillusionment with regular politicians (I feel the same). What I still fail to understand is how people can see Trump as the solution, but I guess time will tell if I am right about this. It is time for him to step up and make good on his promises as far as I am concerned.

I guess my answer to that would be "Well what was the other option?". I can't see how Harris was a plausible solution for those people. In fact she has basically looked down and sneered at them.

 

[Stato]

Saw some youths walk into a CVS pick a load of stuff up and walk out, no one battered an eyelid

Happens all the time in the small town Sussex local supermarket that my daughter works in. Company policy is that staff don't risk themselves. They don't employ security because its cheaper to swallow the losses than to employ anyone to help provide a safer environment for staff and customers. Shareholder profits come first.

Nothing to do with local politicians here on in the US. I may be repeating myself, but its surprising how many different things that are the fault of capitalism get blamed on government.

 

[Bozza]

Happens all the time in the small town Sussex local supermarket that my daughter works in. Company policy is that staff don't risk themselves. They don't employ security because its cheaper to swallow the losses than to employ anyone to help provide a safer environment for staff and customers. Shareholder profits come first.

Nothing to do with local politicians here on in the US. I may be repeating myself, but its surprising how many different things that are the fault of capitalism get blamed on government.

I was about to post the same.

Shoplifting is rife here, in exactly the same way described.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

This result was utterly predictable bets of the day were Trump 51% or more 13/2 - could go either way, college and electoral votes 33 to 1 - came in

Basically, ironically the sniper handed the presidency to trump on that day. As before the trump voters kept their cards to their chests in the opinion polls due to shaming by media and news channels

The meltdown here is a bit rich considering the uk's recent voting patterns

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I get the rationale behind most of that. I'm not sure there's a single policy that has been outlined that is intended to directly improve the lives of the people you mention though. They have voted for an ideal / a promise that doesn't exist, because he doesn't care about those people. Saying 'make America great again' is not a policy and everything he has said he will do, will be to the detriment of that country. Those who voted Trump are blindly ignoring that fact.

Democrats have failed again, as have the media outlets who care, to reach them and educate them. I do understand that some sections of society may be so disaffected that it was impossible to reach them. What's sad is their disaffection would have included the four years of Trump Presidency that also did nothing for them.

The only hope is that they aren't caught in a very cult like web and can see in four years time he has done nothing for them, again, and to vote for change.

I've spoken to a lot of US Citizens here and in the USA and I think people have underestimated the power of resentment.

Trump is a seething mass of it because of the sneers and contempt of the liberal media, the fact that he lost last time and even the jibes about the size of his crowds (and fingers). And many of those who voted for him are resentful of the fact that life isn't as good as it used to be when they had jobs in steel, coal, oil etc, petrol was less than $1 a gallon and there were fewer immigrants (not including themselves, of course). A bit like many Brexit voters, in fact.

I don't think his voters expect him to change any of that, they just recognise him as someone who shares their incoherent frustration at life not being exactly as they want it to be.

 

[nicko31]

For all the faults with our political system, we can at least be reassured that we will never have anyone standing for PM who is a convicted criminal.

We can never have a PM who is able to pardon himself for any and all criminal offences.

We can never have a PM who can appoint senior judges based on their political allegiances.

For some small mercies, we are truly blessed.

Remember that we had been going for over 1700 years before the US was even founded. They have a lot of catching up to do.

Indeed, though Johnson had a good go at trying to undermine things with rule breaking, shutting down parliament etc

The world democratic index classifies the US as a "flawed democracy", I expect it to slip to a "hybrid regime" such as Turkey, Argentina and most recently Hong Kong

 

[vegster]

For all the faults with our political system, we can at least be reassured that we will never have anyone standing for PM who is a convicted criminal.

We can never have a PM who is able to pardon himself for any and all criminal offences.

We can never have a PM who can appoint senior judges based on their political allegiances.

For some small mercies, we are truly blessed.

Remember that we had been going for over 1700 years before the US was even founded. They have a lot of catching up to do.

The founding fathers never conceived that a criminal or a man without honour would have had the gall to stand for office so, nothing was written in to prevent it.

Fast forward and we now have a felon as President backed by the majority of Supreme Court judges, the Senate and the House of Representatives... he said he would be " A Dictator " on day 1.. he's a Dictator for as long as he wants now.. can he be a force for good and get effective policies on to the statutes for the good of the many or will he carry on being a criminal narcissist?

 

[Audax]

ugh

 

[chickens]

I was thinking of changing my footer if the Dems had won. But populism and post truth hasn't gone away, anyone with democratic ideals is going to have a fight on their hands in the years ahead

More than that, this feels like a long-term shift to me. Away from “global policeman” to isolationist “looking after our own.”

In terms of domestic politics, this can’t help but be good for America, it’s only suckers like the UK who truly bought into “global markets” and the idea of selling anything we had to anyone who had the money. Jobs will be created in the US, per capita prosperity will rise, Americans bought British businesses, but remarkably few British businesses bought American companies.

So what now for global Britain? We’ve sold everything of value, alienated our neighbours, and now the Americans have announced they’re not playing any more and they’re taking their ball home with them.

How do we start rebuilding almost every vital industry from scratch, because we’ve sold or run down what we had, and thought we would always be able to buy cheap from abroad. In international trade terms, we’re now a third party to everyone, Europe, the US, India, everyone.

Grim. It makes every prime minister and civil servant from Thatcher onward seem asleep at the wheel.

 

[beorhthelm]

Happens all the time in the small town Sussex local supermarket that my daughter works in. Company policy is that staff don't risk themselves. They don't employ security because its cheaper to swallow the losses than to employ anyone to help provide a safer environment for staff and customers. Shareholder profits come first.

Nothing to do with local politicians here on in the US. I may be repeating myself, but its surprising how many different things that are the fault of capitalism get blamed on government.

you have that wrong. in some states in US they have de-criminalised shoplifting, steal under a certain amount there's no prosecution. here, there seems to have been similar approach, informally, leading to shop lifting increase. i dont recall in past local shops requiring security, and why start if upon catching a theif the law doesn't follow up?

 

[dwayne]

Happens all the time in the small town Sussex local supermarket that my daughter works in. Company policy is that staff don't risk themselves. They don't employ security because its cheaper to swallow the losses than to employ anyone to help provide a safer environment for staff and customers. Shareholder profits come first.

Nothing to do with local politicians here on in the US. I may be repeating myself, but its surprising how many different things that are the fault of capitalism get blamed on government.

Do a bit of research on this one. The above is true but also DAs have made it a lot easier for low level organised gangs to commit this kind of crime. And it's different to kiddies nicking sweets it's a lot more organised in California.

 

[AK74]

More than that, this feels like a long-term shift to me. Away from “global policeman” to isolationist “looking after our own.”

This superb documentary series makes a compelling case for America's failure in its 'global police' role. Be warned, it's a very harrowing watch, but the conclusions are inescapable and those involved in the decision-making process should be deeply ashamed.

Trump isn't among those guilty of inertia, and I say that as someone who wished he'd lost the election.

BBC Four - Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World? - Episode guide

All episodes of Corridors of Power: Should America Police the World?

www.bbc.co.uk