2024 Presidential Election Thread - Let's keep the party going.

[David Dennison 19,560]

Norms and traditions that started in 1960?

[TexArcher 39,074]

19 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Spend a day in college station and then reflect on the fact that almost everyone you met is in the top quartile of human intelligence.

 

Yeah, when they get there.........

[The Dog 44,862]

 

[David Dennison 19,560]

There shouldn't be any debates. They're pointless.

[Ted Lange 16,426]

 

[Js1 87,213]

[atomheartbevo 90,663]

9 hours ago, Js1 said:

CNN

No audience, mics can be cut off 

They won't cut Trump's mic.

[pearlandhorn 3,343]

Can they agree on no ear pieces too?

[Js1 87,213]

[TwiceHorn 32,087]

22 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Trying to keep China from flooding the American EV market - they've got a surplus of EV batteries or EV cars or something and are trying to dump them on the American market below cost.

Yeah, upon further reading, that appears to be the deal.

But, also a political move in the vein of Trump.  And subject to the exact same criticism by thinking folk.

[YGIFS 19,458]

Wasn't "Nino's Corner" the prequel to "New Jack City"?  

[Neonmoon 38,130]

Tariffs are stupid. By both Biden and Trump 

[Dahobbs 18,337]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

Tariffs are stupid. By both Biden and Trump 

Well, these tariffs actually make sense. I'm not sure how else you protect domestic production from very heavily subsidized foreign production. You could go tit for tat on subsidies I suppose, but could luck getting Congress to go for that. 

[atomheartbevo 90,663]

Just now, Dahobbs said:

Well, these tariffs actually make sense. I'm not sure how else you protect domestic production from very heavily subsidized foreign production. You could go tit for tat on subsidies I suppose, but could luck getting Congress to go for that. 

Especially when China is desperate to dump that production onto other markets, and willing to do so below cost, in order to try to get at least a little money back.  They fucked up on their projections.

[fattyflattie 4,640]

9 hours ago, wildcat09 said:

It's true but fuck you for saying it. 

Ugh. Honestly, most of their students are top 10% of third respective Houston and Dallas burb schools.  

[SydneyCarton 49,512]

5 hours ago, fattyflattie said:

Ugh. Honestly, most of their students are top 10% of third respective Houston and Dallas burb schools.  

That hasn’t been true for a long time. UT is 31% for comparison. A&M admits 62% and has an undergrad enrollment of over 60k. UT admits 31% and had an undergrad enrollment of 40k. You don’t have top 10% enrollments at those numbers. 

 

Edited May 16 by SydneyCarton

[South Austin 53,232]

19 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

What starts here changes the oil?

[Neonmoon 38,130]

6 hours ago, Dahobbs said:

Well, these tariffs actually make sense. I'm not sure how else you protect domestic production from very heavily subsidized foreign production. You could go tit for tat on subsidies I suppose, but could luck getting Congress to go for that. 

Tariffs are always passed onto the consumer, and any tariffs will be met with counter tariffs, which hurt not only the consumer but whatever domestic industry is targeted. EV makers and auto makers in general aren’t some infant industry in need of protection. More competition is good. 

[BamaATL 16,593]

2 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Tariffs are always passed onto the consumer, and any tariffs will be met with counter tariffs, which hurt not only the consumer but whatever domestic industry is targeted. EV makers and auto makers in general aren’t some infant industry in need of protection. More competition is good. 

While that is true, it leaves out a couple of caveats.  It presumes that the competition is playing fairly (China isn't).  Perhaps more important than that, it also ignores the part where you are financing at best a non friendly economic rival and at worst a flat out enemy.  China is somewhere in between both of those.  

[fattyflattie 4,640]

2 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

That hasn’t been true for a long time. UT is 31% for comparison. A&M admits 62% and has an undergrad enrollment of over 60k. UT admits 31% and had an undergrad enrollment of 40k. You don’t have top 10% enrollments at those numbers. 

 

I know they have big enrollment.  Their avg test scores are still very good (compared to all the other schools in Texas not named UT and Rice). They either get dumbed down in fish camp or there’s something in the water, but they’ve got plenty of “smart” kids attending.  There’s roughly 370k kids graduating high school  in Texas this year.  
 

 

[Dahobbs 18,337]

2 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Tariffs are always passed onto the consumer, and any tariffs will be met with counter tariffs, which hurt not only the consumer but whatever domestic industry is targeted. EV makers and auto makers in general aren’t some infant industry in need of protection. More competition is good. 

Yes, tariffs get passed onto to consumers. But it doesn't matter here because the point is that China shouldn't be allowed to dump heavily subsidized product. The point of the tariffs isn't to tax the consumer, but rather prevent the product from being sold here at levels that would significantly impair our domestic manufacturing base. Further, while automakers in the US don't need protection from fair competition, they absolutely need protection from heavily subsidized dumping. Chinese automakers aren't building better products or building the same product for significantly less money. Rather, they are taking $ billions of dollars directly from the Chinese government so that they can unload vehicles at or below cost, drive out competition, and then own the market. That's exactly what killed US manufacturing for solar panels. Once our manufacturing base is weakened or destroyed, than the Chinese companies can charge whatever they want AND it isn't a capability that can be instantly replaced in the US. It takes a long time to build up a work force and institutional knowledge. 

Were we talking about US companies, these Chinese entities would be subject to anti-trust litigation for anti-competitive practices, again, fueled by the Chinese government itself. 

Edited May 16 by Dahobbs

[LCHorn 2,751]

5 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

But it doesn't matter here because the point is that China shouldn't be allowed to dump heavily subsidized product

This-BYD isn’t making $10k EV’s because of low-cost labor and technology innovation.  The CCP wants to dominate market share after watching Japan and Korea do the same successfully with consumer electronics.  

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11,669]

 

yeah, they might say that.

Quote

R.F.K. Jr. Draws Another $8 Million From His Running Mate, Nicole Shanahan

Ms. Shanahan, who has fueled Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign financially since becoming his running mate, has now poured nearly $15 million into the long-shot effort to elect him president.

 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate, the Silicon Valley investor Nicole Shanahan, said on Wednesday night that she had given another $8 million to their independent presidential campaign as it carries out the expensive endeavor of gaining ballot access across the country and tries to propel Mr. Kennedy onto debate stages.

Ms. Shanahan’s new donation, which she announced at a comedy fund-raiser in Nashville, brings her total contribution to the campaign to $10 million, not including the $4 million she gave to a super PAC backing Mr. Kennedy to help pay for a Super Bowl advertisement early this year. Ms. Shanahan, a lawyer who was formerly married to the Google co-founder Sergey Brin, gave the campaign $2 million shortly after Mr. Kennedy named her as his running mate in March.

After a nod to the media, Ms. Shanahan said, “I think I know what they’re going to say — they’re going to say Bobby only picked me for my money,” a remark that drew laughter from the crowd.

Ms. Shanahan’s comments came near the end of a four-hour event at the storied Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. She followed performances by comedians including Russell Brand, Rob Schneider and Jim Breuer, a former “Saturday Night Live” cast member. Many of the performers praised Mr. Kennedy, but they also used their time onstage to rail against Covid vaccinations, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the mainstream news media and President Biden.

 

 

Ms. Shanahan’s personal wealth has been a significant asset for Mr. Kennedy. While campaign finance laws constrain individuals from donating more than $6,600 to a campaign, the candidates themselves can give unlimited sums of their own money.

 

Her cash has provided a financial lifeline as their campaign undertakes a costly effort to get on the ballot in all 50 states — which would be a challenging and expensive undertaking under any circumstances, even more so because the Democratic Party and its allies have pledged to mount legal challenges to the effort.

Ms. Shanahan made her announcement the same day that Mr. Biden and former President Donald J. Trump agreed to two debates, one on June 27 on CNN and another on Sept. 10 on ABC News. In doing so, they rejected the traditional Commission on Presidential Debates, which had hosted the events for decades.

Both candidates were seeking to keep Mr. Kennedy off the stage, with Mr. Biden’s campaign chair, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, writing explicitly in a letter to the commission, “President Biden made his terms clear for two one-on-one debates, and Donald Trump accepted those terms.”

But Mr. Kennedy could potentially qualify for the CNN debate, and the effort could actually be easier under the network’s polling rules than it would have been under the guidelines set by the debates commission. Mr. Kennedy needs to show at least 15 percent support in four approved national polls between March 13 and June 20. He already has at least two polls that show him above that threshold, one from CNN and one from Quinnipiac University. He has another five weeks to earn more qualifying polls.

 

 

To qualify for the CNN debate, Mr. Kennedy must also get on the ballot in enough states so that he could potentially win the 270 Electoral College votes needed to be elected president. He is currently on the ballot in five states, which in total have 84 electoral votes, but his campaign has another five weeks to place him on the ballot in other states before the deadline to qualify for the debate.

Mr. Kennedy criticized both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump after news of their planned debates became public on Wednesday.

“They are trying to exclude me from their debate because they are afraid I would win,” he wrote on social media. “Keeping viable candidates off the debate stage undermines democracy.”

 

[SydneyCarton 49,512]

1 hour ago, fattyflattie said:

I know they have big enrollment.  Their avg test scores are still very good (compared to all the other schools in Texas not named UT and Rice). They either get dumbed down in fish camp or there’s something in the water, but they’ve got plenty of “smart” kids attending.  There’s roughly 370k kids graduating high school  in Texas this year.  
 

 

I understand your sentiment, but you are once again mistaken:

• Top 10%

  1360–1600, with a math score of 690–800 and a reading and writing score of 670–800
• Top 25%

  1210–1340, with a math score of 600–680 and a reading and writing score of 610–660

Texas A&M University has an acceptance rate of 63%. Half the applicants admitted to Texas A&M University--College Station who submitted test scores have an SAT score between 1150 and 1390 or an ACT score of 25 and 31.

 

That sir, is not top 10% numbers. The overlap is a sliver. 

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11,669]

really interesting study on change of number of donors by county.  a nice measure of support i've not seen looked at.  so you're not just looking at numbers, but the change since 2020, which is useful to compare against because you know who won each state in 2020.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/05/16/us/elections/biden-trump-donors.html

 

AZ: Biden (left), Trump (Right). Green is positive delta against 2020, orange negative.

 

[texasdago 7,771]

10 minutes ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

really interesting study on change of number of donors by county.  a nice measure of support i've not seen looked at.  so you're not just looking at numbers, but the change since 2020, which is useful to compare against because you know who won each state in 2020.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/05/16/us/elections/biden-trump-donors.html

 

AZ: Biden (left), Trump (Right). Green is positive delta against 2020, orange negative.

 

So if I'm reading that correctly, Biden making massive gains in PHX and Tucson while Trump is hemorrhaging money there.  Looks like Biden not doing great in Vegas but while Trump has made some gains, it looks like they are offset by losses.  

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11,669]

Other interesting ones include big gains in NC for Biden, which is my one pic for Red -> Blue this cycle.

 

There are circumstantial effects here that are a big deal on a state-by-state basis, as explained by the Times.

Quote

The shifts in North Carolina and South Carolina are another illustration of how circumstances have changed for the two candidates. In South Carolina, Mr. Biden has lost donors compared with where he was in 2020, which makes sense: In 2020, the state had a competitive Democratic primary, which Mr. Biden won, setting off his march to the nomination. This year, it was Mr. Trump who had the competitive primary in South Carolina.

In North Carolina, a battleground state, Mr. Biden has gained donors relative to Mr. Trump since 2020. This could be welcome news for Democrats, who see the state as potentially winnable for Mr. Biden, after Mr. Trump won it narrowly in 2020.

 

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11,669]

NYT: Votes for Haley aren't predictive of anything.  In fact, they are low by historic standards. (Biden 2020 had 23% of people voting for folks other than him in the primaries after all other serious contenders dropped out)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/04/24/us/elections/nikki-haley-trump-zombie-votes.html

 

  

[Red Five 41,758]

Hard to envision a path to victory for Dotard if Biden wins NC. Winning back Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.... he'd still need both of Wisconsin and Michigan, if my math is correct. 

[aggie08 21,839]

14 minutes ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

NYT: Votes for Haley aren't predictive of anything.  In fact, they are low by historic standards. (Biden 2020 had 23% of people voting for folks other than him in the primaries after all other serious contenders dropped out)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/04/24/us/elections/nikki-haley-trump-zombie-votes.html

 

  

Biden wasn't the quasi-incumbent in 2020.

Edited May 16 by aggie08

[wildcat09 29,595]

11 minutes ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

NYT: Votes for Haley aren't predictive of anything.  In fact, they are low by historic standards. (Biden 2020 had 23% of people voting for folks other than him in the primaries after all other serious contenders dropped out)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/04/24/us/elections/nikki-haley-trump-zombie-votes.html

 

  

Biden was running in an actually competitive primary in 2020. Trump may not be the incumbent, but for purposes of the Republican presidential primary he basically is this year. We won't know what it means that Trump is losing so many primary voters to Haley months after she's dropped out until the election, but there isn't really any modern historical analog to compare his 2024 campaign. I do know, however, that if Biden were only pulling ~80% of the vote in each of his primaries it'd be repeated front-page news in the Times with headlines about what a horrible disaster was looming for Biden. 

[Pato del Muerto 53,548]

2 minutes ago, aggie08 said:

Biden wasn't the quasi-incumbent in 2020.

4 years removed from the VP role - he did have some Obama coattails that made him incumbantish. 

[Js1 87,213]

17 minutes ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

NYT: Votes for Haley aren't predictive of anything.  In fact, they are low by historic standards. (Biden 2020 had 23% of people voting for folks other than him in the primaries after all other serious contenders dropped out)

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/04/24/us/elections/nikki-haley-trump-zombie-votes.html

 

  

NYT is so desperate and it’s quite sad they won’t be impartial bc Biden still refuses to interview with them 

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11,669]

Just now, Js1 said:

NYT is so desperate and it’s quite sad they won’t be impartial bc Biden still refuses to interview with them 

this board's ability to get hurt feelings is desperate and sad.

[Js1 87,213]

3 minutes ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

this board's ability to get hurt feelings is desperate and sad.

Okay cool. Hook em

[wildcat09 29,595]

Lol. It's not this board having hurt feelings. Everyone left of Bill Kristol on social media has been bitching about the Times' treatment of Biden for months and Biden's administration and Biden himself are pretty openly contemptuous of the Times.  

[Js1 87,213]

The NYT is going to end up endorsing Trump bc they have decided that only their editorial board is capable of determining if Biden is mentally fit to hold the office again. Despite none of them being medical professionals and Biden refuses to acquiesce. I’m sure Nate Bronze is going to pundit his way about how dare Biden violate norms and precedent 

[SydneyCarton 49,512]

2 hours ago, Red Five said:

Hard to envision a path to victory for Dotard if Biden wins NC. Winning back Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.... he'd still need both of Wisconsin and Michigan, if my math is correct. 

I mean, the bath is to riot in some swing states and destroy some votes and try to get the election thrown to the house. 

[Biff Tannen 46,175]

2 hours ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

Other interesting ones include big gains in NC for Biden, which is my one pic for Red -> Blue this cycle.

 

There are circumstantial effects here that are a big deal on a state-by-state basis, as explained by the Times.

 

lol at Biden getting waxed in SC.  What a bunch of goons.  Arizona is going dark blue and NC looks good too.

[Hard Times 323]

4 hours ago, Dahobbs said:

Yes, tariffs get passed onto to consumers. But it doesn't matter here because the point is that China shouldn't be allowed to dump heavily subsidized product. The point of the tariffs isn't to tax the consumer, but rather prevent the product from being sold here at levels that would significantly impair our domestic manufacturing base. Further, while automakers in the US don't need protection from fair competition, they absolutely need protection from heavily subsidized dumping. Chinese automakers aren't building better products or building the same product for significantly less money. Rather, they are taking $ billions of dollars directly from the Chinese government so that they can unload vehicles at or below cost, drive out competition, and then own the market. That's exactly what killed US manufacturing for solar panels. Once our manufacturing base is weakened or destroyed, than the Chinese companies can charge whatever they want AND it isn't a capability that can be instantly replaced in the US. It takes a long time to build up a work force and institutional knowledge. 

Were we talking about US companies, these Chinese entities would be subject to anti-trust litigation for anti-competitive practices, again, fueled by the Chinese government itself. 

One could make an argument that China shouldn't be allowed to sell products in the US at all not just because of what they're doing to US companies, but what they're doing to the earth. Saving the planet is expensive but it must be done. China is destroying the planet one day at a time. US companies spend billions to comply with EPA, USDA, FDA regulations while Chinese companies dump toxic wastes in the nearest sewer.

And that's just in addition to their effort to put US companies that manufacture defense products out of business. And they can do it by paying workers barely enough to buy road kill for dinner.

It's silly to think there should be no tariffs on Chinese products. Higher product costs are better than 50% unemployment and no ability to defend yourself.

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11,669]

9 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

lol at Biden getting waxed in SC.  What a bunch of goons.  Arizona is going dark blue and NC looks good too.

With SC and iowa, the primaries are the reason you see weird effects there.  Those are the two states with important primaries which drives a ton of contributions that don't happen in nonprimary years.  2020 was a contested D primary, lots of donations to everyone D, so the 2024 sees a huge negative delta.  2024 was contested R, lots to everyone R, so huge positive delta over 2020.  

[Js1 87,213]

7 minutes ago, Hard Times said:

US companies spend billions to comply with EPA, USDA, FDA regulations

[HenryJames 67,423]

9 minutes ago, Hard Times said:

One could make an argument that China shouldn't be allowed to sell products in the US at all not just because of what they're doing to US companies, but what they're doing to the earth. Saving the planet is expensive but it must be done. China is destroying the planet one day at a time. US companies spend billions to comply with EPA, USDA, FDA regulations while Chinese companies dump toxic wastes in the nearest sewer.

And that's just in addition to their effort to put US companies that manufacture defense products out of business. And they can do it by paying workers barely enough to buy road kill for dinner.

It's silly to think there should be no tariffs on Chinese products. Higher product costs are better than 50% unemployment and no ability to defend yourself.

Also what they're putting in Cokes.

[Hard Times 323]

1 minute ago, HenryJames said:

Also what they're putting in Cokes.

Well, it probably isn't Strychnine, but it probably isn't much better.

[YGIFS 19,458]

2 hours ago, Hard Times said:

Well, it probably isn't Strychnine, but it probably isn't much better.

Well they are certainly putting that in the guacamole.  

This is a weird pivot for the newspaper of record.  Say what you will about the NY Post, they have the transparency to proudly announce what they are as a news "outlet."  Now, you've got the Times which is just running shit so we all talk about why they're running shit so they can relevant and in the national conversation, despite them admitting to what they are doing to stay in the national conversation.  They're like a reverse Onion at this point.  But i guess all dying species get weird at the end.  

 

 

[Rimbo 27,050]

[Snake Diggity 4,714]

My current prediction is repeat of 2020 with GA and NC flipped.  Trump goes apeshit trying to overturn AZ and NC which are both within 20k votes.

[atomheartbevo 90,663]

6 hours ago, Hard Times said:

One could make an argument that China shouldn't be allowed to sell products in the US at all not just because of what they're doing to US companies, but what they're doing to the earth. Saving the planet is expensive but it must be done. China is destroying the planet one day at a time. US companies spend billions to comply with EPA, USDA, FDA regulations while Chinese companies dump toxic wastes in the nearest sewer.

And that's just in addition to their effort to put US companies that manufacture defense products out of business. And they can do it by paying workers barely enough to buy road kill for dinner.

Damn, if ever a user name matched a post, this would be it.

 

[atomheartbevo 90,663]

8 hours ago, Js1 said:

NYT is so desperate and it’s quite sad they won’t be impartial bc Biden still refuses to interview with them 

8 hours ago, Js1 said:

The NYT is going to end up endorsing Trump bc they have decided that only their editorial board is capable of determining if Biden is mentally fit to hold the office again. Despite none of them being medical professionals and Biden refuses to acquiesce. I’m sure Nate Bronze is going to pundit his way about how dare Biden violate norms and precedent 

CNN: Donald Trump choked to death on a McDonald's hamburger.

New York Times: Donald Trump choking to death is going to drive up turnout among people who have lost a loved one to choking on a hamburger, and this means Biden will lose by 10 points.

[BamaATL 16,593]

2 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Damn, if ever a user name matched a post, this would be it.

 

He's worked there for thirty years, thirty years, and they give him a watch, kick him in the butt and say, "a computer took your place, daddy."  That's hard times!