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Post by curiousliberal on Aug 18, 2020 1:21:30 GMT
(Virtual) DNC now live. Lots of coverage online; this is streaming from their channel:
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Post by curiousliberal on Aug 18, 2020 3:24:24 GMT
Thoughts on night 1:
Getting police and the parents of police brutality into the same conversation was arguably the most risk-averse strategy, but it turns out one of the police officers was on Alex Jones' show, so that's going to be a bit of an embarrassment.
Cuomo is not the governor they should have advertised for a COVID-19 response. Even if they didn't want to pick those who did faster reopenings like Polis, they could at least have gone for someone who reduced R faster, did not cut Medicaid, etc. (Ned Lamont of CT might have been a good choice). Republicans will try to score points on this, although perhaps 2020 might not be the year in which Cuomo's record finally gets the scrutiny it deserves.
Michelle Obama is a stellar orator and advising people on how to vote was a great play considering that conventions engage more with the party faithful more than most events. Invoking "This is still not who we are," was calling out to Cthulhu but her speech otherwise seemed to be a strong, unifying pitch.
Bernie Sanders had a solid performance, but what made him stand out most was that he was the only one to mention specific policy commitments of the Biden campaign. This should not have been an outlier: "Trump bad," is being advertised every day by the Republican Party and Democrats should focus mostly on amplifying their own message instead.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2020 5:50:13 GMT
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ColinJ
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Post by ColinJ on Aug 18, 2020 6:32:52 GMT
Here is an incredible read on the current goings-on inside the Trump campaign. The main focus of the article is on the replacement of Brad Parscale with Bill Stepien, although it also delves deep into the myriad personal rivalries within Trumpworld. For instance, there's a deep-seated hatred between Jared Kushner and Chris Christie that I had never heard of before. The most striking thing about the campaign though is just how slapdash it all is - there's barely any strategy or organisation at all. Jon Sopel's excellent book A Year at the Circus also goes into the extraordinary circumstances surrounding this mutual loathing. Although Sopel plays his subject with 'a straight bat', his book amounts to 313 pages of jaw-dropping indictment of Trumpworld.
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Post by London Lad on Aug 18, 2020 9:31:45 GMT
And it starts... Due to the recent warning from the USPS that some States Election Law is not compatible with the service standards of USPS the Pennsylvania Secretary of State has gone to Court to allow votes received for 3 days after the election to be counted... For the Presidential election voters are electing Electors, who gather in mid-December, so there's fundamentally no flaw in allowing ballots to trail in well past 3rd November. so why not allow votes up until mid December? - why have an election day in November at all.
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Post by London Lad on Aug 18, 2020 9:35:58 GMT
For the Presidential election voters are electing Electors, who gather in mid-December, so there's fundamentally no flaw in allowing ballots to trail in well past 3rd November. Not to mention that this was fuelled by removal of USPS collection boxes and restriction of services ostensibly, according to the President, to make it harder to vote (he's also on the record as believing easier voting would hurt his chances of reelection). The removals have stopped, but I've read nothing about restoration of any that were taken away and voter suppression attempts must be resisted even if that makes the counting process a bit more cumbersome. The delivery performance of USPS has been falling for 10 years - it started under Obama. The USPS were warning before Trumps intervention that they would have problems meeting the timetable of some of the States. The fact is that the USPS simply cannot cope with a large increase in last minute mail-in voting - especially in the middle of a pandemic where Post Offices and sorting centres are regularly closed due to outbreaks.
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Post by curiousliberal on Aug 18, 2020 11:41:20 GMT
Not to mention that this was fuelled by removal of USPS collection boxes and restriction of services ostensibly, according to the President, to make it harder to vote (he's also on the record as believing easier voting would hurt his chances of reelection). The removals have stopped, but I've read nothing about restoration of any that were taken away and voter suppression attempts must be resisted even if that makes the counting process a bit more cumbersome. The delivery performance of USPS has been falling for 10 years - it started under Obama. The USPS were warning before Trumps intervention that they would have problems meeting the timetable of some of the States. The fact is that the USPS simply cannot cope with a large increase in last minute mail-in voting - especially in the middle of a pandemic where Post Offices and sorting centres are regularly closed due to outbreaks. People using less mail isn't the failure of a postal service but a result of greater digitisation and if this were a matter of maintaining a profit margin, the cuts would not be in urban areas. The current Postmaster (a Trump appointee who has investments in its competitors) has curtailed its abilities and you know as well as I that the president implied VBM election fraud was responsible for the removal of those boxes. Even if we're to assume Trump was implying he had more involvement in the process than he actually did and that his statement is unrelated to changes in the Post Office, a weakening USPS would be all the more reason for states to prepare for slower VBM.
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J.G.Harston
Lib Dem
Leave-voting Brexit-supporting Liberal Democrat
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Post by J.G.Harston on Aug 18, 2020 17:11:45 GMT
For the Presidential election voters are electing Electors, who gather in mid-December, so there's fundamentally no flaw in allowing ballots to trail in well past 3rd November. so why not allow votes up until mid December? - why have an election day in November at all. 'cos they've got to have enough time to saddle the horses and take the tallies into the county seat, and then for the Electors to travel to Washington.
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Post by London Lad on Aug 18, 2020 17:30:14 GMT
The delivery performance of USPS has been falling for 10 years - it started under Obama. The USPS were warning before Trumps intervention that they would have problems meeting the timetable of some of the States. The fact is that the USPS simply cannot cope with a large increase in last minute mail-in voting - especially in the middle of a pandemic where Post Offices and sorting centres are regularly closed due to outbreaks. People using less mail isn't the failure of a postal service but a result of greater digitisation and if this were a matter of maintaining a profit margin, the cuts would not be in urban areas. The current Postmaster (a Trump appointee who has investments in its competitors) has curtailed its abilities and you know as well as I that the president implied VBM election fraud was responsible for the removal of those boxes. Even if we're to assume Trump was implying he had more involvement in the process than he actually did and that his statement is unrelated to changes in the Post Office, a weakening USPS would be all the more reason for states to prepare for slower VBM.Then change their voting procedures to meet the requirements put forward by the USPS. Allowing votes received after the poll has closed is simply ripe for fraud and will add to disillusionment with the whole voting process and simply give ammunition to those wishing to challenge the result.
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Post by London Lad on Aug 18, 2020 17:37:23 GMT
ouch! - that is pretty brutal..
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Post by curiousliberal on Aug 18, 2020 18:19:08 GMT
People using less mail isn't the failure of a postal service but a result of greater digitisation and if this were a matter of maintaining a profit margin, the cuts would not be in urban areas. The current Postmaster (a Trump appointee who has investments in its competitors) has curtailed its abilities and you know as well as I that the president implied VBM election fraud was responsible for the removal of those boxes. Even if we're to assume Trump was implying he had more involvement in the process than he actually did and that his statement is unrelated to changes in the Post Office, a weakening USPS would be all the more reason for states to prepare for slower VBM.Then change their voting procedures to meet the requirements put forward by the USPS. Allowing votes received after the poll has closed is simply ripe for fraud and will add to disillusionment with the whole voting process and simply give ammunition to those wishing to challenge the result. What you mean is that states should respond to the sabotage of the USPS aimed to stop VBM by stopping VBM. If you're looking for fraud (which the PA measures don't create as ballots still have to be sent prior to close of polls), you've found it - the fairly obvious suppression is a form of fraud.
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maxque
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Post by maxque on Aug 18, 2020 18:36:24 GMT
People using less mail isn't the failure of a postal service but a result of greater digitisation and if this were a matter of maintaining a profit margin, the cuts would not be in urban areas. The current Postmaster (a Trump appointee who has investments in its competitors) has curtailed its abilities and you know as well as I that the president implied VBM election fraud was responsible for the removal of those boxes. Even if we're to assume Trump was implying he had more involvement in the process than he actually did and that his statement is unrelated to changes in the Post Office, a weakening USPS would be all the more reason for states to prepare for slower VBM.Then change their voting procedures to meet the requirements put forward by the USPS. Allowing votes received after the poll has closed is simply ripe for fraud and will add to disillusionment with the whole voting process and simply give ammunition to those wishing to challenge the result. No. USPS have to adapt to lawmakers, not the reverse.
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CatholicLeft
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Post by CatholicLeft on Aug 18, 2020 22:40:44 GMT
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Post by curiousliberal on Aug 19, 2020 0:29:37 GMT
The DNC could have scheduled Warren to speak at any time, but they decided it was a smart idea to have her participate in the Native American Caucus. If party bosses can mobilise the unification of high profile officials behind Biden within 3 days of the SC primary, they should also be able to stop the Committee making obvious mistakes like this one.
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timmullen1
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Post by timmullen1 on Aug 19, 2020 0:53:34 GMT
People using less mail isn't the failure of a postal service but a result of greater digitisation and if this were a matter of maintaining a profit margin, the cuts would not be in urban areas. The current Postmaster (a Trump appointee who has investments in its competitors) has curtailed its abilities and you know as well as I that the president implied VBM election fraud was responsible for the removal of those boxes. Even if we're to assume Trump was implying he had more involvement in the process than he actually did and that his statement is unrelated to changes in the Post Office, a weakening USPS would be all the more reason for states to prepare for slower VBM.Then change their voting procedures to meet the requirements put forward by the USPS. Allowing votes received after the poll has closed is simply ripe for fraud and will add to disillusionment with the whole voting process and simply give ammunition to those wishing to challenge the result. You do realise that most States have allowed for post-Election Day ballots for decades don’t you? Depending on the State it varies from a couple of days (Wisconsin) to a couple of weeks (Arizona). It’s only a handful of States such as Pennsylvania who are now trying to play catch-up with the rest. Fraud or disillusionment doesn’t seem to be a worry in Australia where you have 13 days after Election Day to return your mail ballot.
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Post by London Lad on Aug 19, 2020 6:56:21 GMT
Then change their voting procedures to meet the requirements put forward by the USPS. Allowing votes received after the poll has closed is simply ripe for fraud and will add to disillusionment with the whole voting process and simply give ammunition to those wishing to challenge the result. What you mean is that states should respond to the sabotage of the USPS aimed to stop VBM by stopping VBM. If you're looking for fraud (which the PA measures don't create as ballots still have to be sent prior to close of polls), you've found it - the fairly obvious suppression is a form of fraud. Not at all - the USPS have published a timeline for voting that they say they can meet. If States were to change their procedures to meet this timeline then we wouldnt need silly legal challenges to allow votes cast after the poll has closed to be allowed. The fraud comes from the proposal to send everyone on the voting roll a mail-in vote whether they have asked for it or not - voter rolls are notoriously unreliable and out of date, to the extent that something like 110% of the population of California are on their roll. Hence you end up with the dead voting and people who dont even live in the State getting a vote.
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Post by London Lad on Aug 19, 2020 6:57:26 GMT
Then change their voting procedures to meet the requirements put forward by the USPS. Allowing votes received after the poll has closed is simply ripe for fraud and will add to disillusionment with the whole voting process and simply give ammunition to those wishing to challenge the result. No. USPS have to adapt to lawmakers, not the reverse. And if they dont - is it a valid election?
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Post by London Lad on Aug 19, 2020 6:59:51 GMT
Then change their voting procedures to meet the requirements put forward by the USPS. Allowing votes received after the poll has closed is simply ripe for fraud and will add to disillusionment with the whole voting process and simply give ammunition to those wishing to challenge the result. You do realise that most States have allowed for post-Election Day ballots for decades don’t you? Depending on the State it varies from a couple of days (Wisconsin) to a couple of weeks (Arizona). It’s only a handful of States such as Pennsylvania who are now trying to play catch-up with the rest. Fraud or disillusionment doesn’t seem to be a worry in Australia where you have 13 days after Election Day to return your mail ballot. The difference is the scale - absentee Ballots are a relatively small number of the total votes cast and are unlikely to change the result in any State.. Universal Mail-in ballots brought in during the in middle of a pandemic where the USPS is already struggling with Post Offices and sorting centers closed will obviously cause massive problems. If Universal Mail-in voting is deemed necessary then it needs to be planned for with up to date and accurate voter rolls and systems in place to ensure that only valid votes are counted.
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timmullen1
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Post by timmullen1 on Aug 19, 2020 7:15:28 GMT
You do realise that most States have allowed for post-Election Day ballots for decades don’t you? Depending on the State it varies from a couple of days (Wisconsin) to a couple of weeks (Arizona). It’s only a handful of States such as Pennsylvania who are now trying to play catch-up with the rest. Fraud or disillusionment doesn’t seem to be a worry in Australia where you have 13 days after Election Day to return your mail ballot. The difference is the scale - absentee Ballots are a relatively small number of the total votes cast and are unlikely to change the result in any State.. Universal Mail-in ballots brought in during the in middle of a pandemic where the USPS is already struggling with Post Offices and sorting centers closed will obviously cause massive problems. If Universal Mail-in voting is deemed necessary then it needs to be planned for with up to date and accurate voter rolls and systems in place to ensure that only valid votes are counted. That’s not the USPS’ problem; they have a legal obligation, enshrined in legislation, to deliver mail within a fixed period of time. It is the USPS questioning their ability to do that whilst at the same time taking actions - banning overtime, removing post boxes, closing sorting offices - that would patently make it even harder to meet their legal obligations that is at issue. The voter rolls do not have to be any different for all mail voting than for in-person voting, and their maintenance and accuracy is a matter for the 50 State electoral authorities and should have no relevance to the performance of the USPS.
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timmullen1
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Post by timmullen1 on Aug 19, 2020 7:15:34 GMT
You do realise that most States have allowed for post-Election Day ballots for decades don’t you? Depending on the State it varies from a couple of days (Wisconsin) to a couple of weeks (Arizona). It’s only a handful of States such as Pennsylvania who are now trying to play catch-up with the rest. Fraud or disillusionment doesn’t seem to be a worry in Australia where you have 13 days after Election Day to return your mail ballot. The difference is the scale - absentee Ballots are a relatively small number of the total votes cast and are unlikely to change the result in any State.. Universal Mail-in ballots brought in during the in middle of a pandemic where the USPS is already struggling with Post Offices and sorting centers closed will obviously cause massive problems. If Universal Mail-in voting is deemed necessary then it needs to be planned for with up to date and accurate voter rolls and systems in place to ensure that only valid votes are counted. That’s not the USPS’ problem; they have a legal obligation, enshrined in legislation, to deliver mail within a fixed period of time. It is the USPS questioning their ability to do that whilst at the same time taking actions - banning overtime, removing post boxes, closing sorting offices - that would patently make it even harder to meet their legal obligations that is at issue. The voter rolls do not have to be any different for all mail voting than for in-person voting, and their maintenance and accuracy is a matter for the 50 State electoral authorities and should have no relevance to the performance of the USPS.
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