The 2024 US presidential election.

[nw1]

JD Vance is the embodiment of these values.

He converted to Catholicism in 2019, and is a great story of someone who hauled himself up by his bootstraps. He's served his country, yet isn't a member of the political elite.

No, Vance is a very good example of those GOP hypocrites who claim to be Christians yet whose policies result in the poor becoming poorer.

Trump may not be the best candidate for the GOP, but Harris is extremely left wing and way out of step with the majority of Americans who do not reside in California or New York City.

Extremely left wing? Or just centrist or a little left-of-centre?

 

[Bantamzen]

JD Vance is the embodiment of these values.

He converted to Catholicism in 2019, and is a great story of someone who hauled himself up by his bootstraps. He's served his country, yet isn't a member of the political elite.

Trump may not be the best candidate for the GOP, but Harris is extremely left wing and way out of step with the majority of Americans who do not reside in California or New York City.

What utter rubbish! By extremely left wing what you meant to say is not extremely right wing like Trump & Vance. From their position even the Tories would be labelled communists in their eyes!

 

[edwin_m]

JD Vance is the embodiment of these values.

He converted to Catholicism in 2019, and is a great story of someone who hauled himself up by his bootstraps. He's served his country, yet isn't a member of the political elite.

Trump may not be the best candidate for the GOP, but Harris is extremely left wing and way out of step with the majority of Americans who do not reside in California or New York City.

I suggest many Trump voters exist in a filter bubble, where they are unware of these facts. Or if they get to hear any, they can dismiss them as fake news spread by a conspiracy.

 

[Tester]

Trump may not be the best candidate for the GOP, but Harris is extremely left wing and way out of step with the majority of Americans who do not reside in California or New York City.

With respect, your assessment of political positions is somewhat unusual.

In a previous post you described the UK Liberal Democrats as a right wing party, and chose not to respond to those telling you that this is not in fact the case, so credibility is in short supply.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Trump may not be the best candidate for the GOP, but Harris is extremely left wing and way out of step with the majority of Americans who do not reside in California or New York City.

Perhaps you could explain what specific things Harris believes/does that in your eyes make her extremely left wing, rather than simply repeating that assertion. She has after all just spent 3 and a half years as part of an administration that seems to me remarkably moderate.

 

[Tester]

Perhaps you could explain what specific things Harris believes/does that in your eyes make her extremely left wing, rather than simply repeating that assertion. She has after all just spent 3 and a half years as part of an administration that seems to me remarkably moderate.

To be fair, the poster has moderated their position.

Post #192 above.....

If I was a USA citizen I'd be voting for Trump, even though he's bombastic.

Biden has Parkinson's or similar, and as for the communist Kamala Harris...

 

[birchesgreen]

Sure, Vance came from nowt (though did go to Yale) and served in the Marines... in a non-combatant role we should add. Still, a lot more than his boss.

 

[railfan99]

Perhaps you could explain what specific things Harris believes/does that in your eyes make her extremely left wing, rather than simply repeating that assertion. She has after all just spent 3 and a half years as part of an administration that seems to me remarkably moderate.

Her stance on so-called 'abortion rights' is one example.

It's remarkable how those in favour of widespread abortion have all been born, but they conveniently forget there's a third person, the baby in the womb who is destroyed. Nor do they ever accept the existence of God. The far preferable alternative is to give woman what they need to survive and prosper physically, emotionally and socially. But that's put into the 'too hard' basket by bureaucrats. There are many examples of women who've sadly had abortions who subsequently grieve for their lost child.

She's dovish on mainland communist China despite that totalitarian regime's horrendous treatment of protestors including (but not limited to) Uyghurs and intellectuals who see a different way forward that doesn't include the CCP.

 

[Yew]

It always makes me laugh when Trump supporters suggest that Trump is the embodiment of Christianity, or even worse sent by a Christian god. I'm not religious myself, but even I know Trump is quite the opposite.

If Jesus was around today, the American right would call him a "commie"

She's dovish on mainland communist China despite that totalitarian regime's horrendous treatment of protestors including (but not limited to) Uyghurs and intellectuals who see a different way forward that doesn't include the CCP.

Should she instead be champing at the bit to invade and occupy China?

 

[jfollows]

Trump may not be the best candidate for the GOP, but Harris is extremely left wing and way out of step with the majority of Americans who do not reside in California or New York City.

"Left wing" and "socialist" are terms used by Trump and his supporters because in the USA they carry highly negative connotations to many likely supporters - government which takes away your money and gives it to people who haven't done anything to deserve it, or at least that's the intended implication.

Harris is only "extremely left wing" in their view - but it's one that has traction and gets votes. In our terms she'd probably be "one nation Tory" more than anything else. (And I don't mean that literally, so please don't pick up the reasons she isn't, the US is a weird and wonderful country and much more different than the UK than some people think it is.)

Of course, the election is set to decide what the "majority of Americans" think, in its own wierd way at least. Votes in California or New York "don't matter", as they don't for the opposite reason in a number of states like Alaska. But that's also the case here - voting in Manchester Central or in Tatton really doesn't make a difference.

Ultimately, as always, it's about the swing voters in the swing states. Will enough Hispanics in Arizona vote Democrat? What about Georgia again? These are the people Harris needs to appeal to, and I think she will do so better than Biden. She's not left wing, though.

 

[railfan99]

Should she instead be champing at the bit to invade and occupy China?

You made me laugh, but why not ask 127 million Filipinos who until the last few days had their territorial waters and small reefs regularly invaded by aggressive mainland Chinese "Coastguard" ships despite an international court ruling that said the area was not Chinese territory. The Chinese tried to prevent Filipino vessels from reprovisoning the supply ship that the Philippines has stationed on a small island.

Or ask the Vietnamese...

 

[edwin_m]

She's dovish on mainland communist China despite that totalitarian regime's horrendous treatment of protestors including (but not limited to) Uyghurs and intellectuals who see a different way forward that doesn't include the CCP.

Whereas Vance is doveish on Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

 

[nw1]

Her stance on so-called 'abortion rights' is one example.

It's remarkable how those in favour of widespread abortion have all been born, but they conveniently forget there's a third person, the baby in the womb who is destroyed.

There are of course time limits on abortion and those time limits are presumably set sensibly. For example, it would be absurd to ban the abortion of a one-day-old fertilised egg.

And what would you say to someone who needed to abort as a result of being the victim of rape? I note that some of the red states even ban that.

Nor do they ever accept the existence of God.

So what?

The far preferable alternative is to give woman what they need to survive and prosper physically, emotionally and socially.

So force them to bring up a child they don't want? Because some women might just not want the child, full stop, and then you're condemning the child to a bad upbringing and potentially a bad life full stop. Far better to allow abortion to prevent that happening.

It's funny how the So-Called-Christian Right are completely against State control when it comes to taxes and regulation of the market, but are fully behind State control when it comes to things like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. In the latter cases they are of course completely in favour of the State sticking its beak into people's personal affairs and choices.

 

[Yew]

Nor do they ever accept the existence of God.

This statement assumes that god exists, I'm going to require you to back that assumption up with empirical evidence.

 

[johnny_t]

Biden's speech was interesting, but there does seem to be an extreme amount of Gaslighting going on at the moment about he has nobly decided that the time is right to hand on the baton to a younger generation, putting country before himself, etc.

I understand that rewriting history is the nature of politics and that is just what goes on, but when we are, literally, talking about the events of a couple of days ago then this sort of thing really does make you think that they think we're all stupid.


In the main, though, I'm happy with the way the election is panning out. I did despair for the American people that the best choice they could be given was Trump vs Biden, where it did seem to be a contest between the least-worst-options. At least now they do have a choice, regardless of what they do with it. Kamala Harris 'could' win, and it really does depend on what she does between now and election day. What would be really interesting now is if Trump also chose this as a time to drop out and they had a real contest of ideas, not personalities.

(Hypothetical question - If Trump wins in November, but Biden dies between November and January (not being morbid, but it could happen), would they bother swearing Kamala Harris in for a month or so ? It'll make for a good pub quiz question in fifty years or so, a bit like who was British PM at the time of the Queen's death)

 

[nw1]

You made me laugh, but why not ask 127 million Filipinos who until the last few days had their territorial waters and small reefs regularly invaded by aggressive mainland Chinese "Coastguard" ships despite an international court ruling that said the area was not Chinese territory. The Chinese tried to prevent Filipino vessels from reprovisoning the supply ship that the Philippines has stationed on a small island.

Or ask the Vietnamese...

What do you expect Harris to do regarding China?

(Hypothetical question - If Trump wins in November, but Biden dies between November and January (not being morbid, but it could happen), would they bother swearing Kamala Harris in for a month or so ? It'll make for a good pub quiz question in fifty years or so, a bit like who was British PM at the time of the Queen's death)

Yeah who was it? Johnson wasn't it? Or was it Sunak? Not sure, I can't remember the date that the baton passed from one to the other.

 

[bahnause]

Her stance on so-called 'abortion rights' is one example.

It's remarkable how those in favour of widespread abortion have all been born, but they conveniently forget there's a third person, the baby in the womb who is destroyed.

Nope, not the case.

Nor do they ever accept the existence of God.

There is no god. Prove me wrong.

The far preferable alternative is to give woman what they need to survive and prosper physically, emotionally and socially. But that's put into the 'too hard' basket by bureaucrats.

Why are the same hypocrites fighting abortion taking away every possible support for people in need? You agree that a woman has her own free will to live her life her own way and ist not the property of a political party or her husband or som deranged "believers".

And since you already mentioned the ‘Judeo-Christian’ values, how do you reconcile their incompatibility regarding abortion?

 

[jfollows]

(Hypothetical question - If Trump wins in November, but Biden dies between November and January (not being morbid, but it could happen), would they bother swearing Kamala Harris in for a month or so ? It'll make for a good pub quiz question in fifty years or so, a bit like who was British PM at the time of the Queen's death)

The 25th. Amendment, amongst others no doubt, requires it, the Vice President becomes President.

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

Lyndon Johnson was sworn in on the plane carrying JFK's body, wasn't he? Anyway, it's instantaneous and the "swearing in" is just part of the process.

EDIT See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_inauguration_of_Lyndon_B._Johnson:

The first inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson as the 36th president of the United States was held on Friday, November 22, 1963, aboard Air Force One at Dallas Love Field, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy earlier that day. The inauguration – the eighth non-scheduled, extraordinary inauguration to ever take place – marked the commencement of the first term (a partial term of 1 year, 59 days) of Lyndon B. Johnson as president.

 

[railfan99]

Whereas Vance is doveish on Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

I agree that's far from ideal. Hopefully if elected, Trump and Vance will assist Ukraine.

 

[nw1]

I agree that's far from ideal. Hopefully if elected, Trump and Vance will assist Ukraine.

Bit of a risk though: "Hopefully".

I wouldn't trust that pair one iota on that matter.

 

[MP33]

President Harrison insisted on giving a long inauguration speech on one of the coldest days ever in Washington DC, without an overcoat. He caught Pneumonia and died a few weeks later. The VP took over for almost a full term.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

If Biden dies before January 20th 2025, Kamala Harris becomes president. End of

 

[Bantamzen]

You made me laugh, but why not ask 127 million Filipinos who until the last few days had their territorial waters and small reefs regularly invaded by aggressive mainland Chinese "Coastguard" ships despite an international court ruling that said the area was not Chinese territory. The Chinese tried to prevent Filipino vessels from reprovisoning the supply ship that the Philippines has stationed on a small island.

Or ask the Vietnamese...

This would be the same China whose despotic leader former President Trump expressed admiration for ? Or is this another China...??

It always makes me laugh that Trump supporters prattle on about the terrors of the left whilst their boy dreams of turning the US into a carbon copy of a very left wing republic. Muddled much?

 

[Senex]

This would be the same China whose despotic leader former President Trump expressed admiration for ? Or is this another China...??

It always makes me laugh that Trump supporters prattle on about the terrors of the left whilst their boy dreams of turning the US into a carbon copy of a very left wing republic. Muddled much?

Is China truly very left wing (if that means a communist society), or is it rather at the point on the circle where extreme meets up with extreme right, with all the horrors of both?

 

[simonw]

Is China truly very left wing (if that means a communist society), or is it rather at the point on the circle where extreme meets up with extreme right, with all the horrors of both?

China has an authoritarian government and a mainly free market economy, Although the government does have a significant role in some areas.. It is a long way removed from being left wing.

It is the authoritarianism that Trump admires.

 

[railfan99]

China has...a mainly free market economy...

Jack Ma and casino operators might question that.

But we are diverging from the topic.

 

[Bantamzen]

Is China truly very left wing (if that means a communist society), or is it rather at the point on the circle where extreme meets up with extreme right, with all the horrors of both?

At this point I'd say they are at the horrific point on the circle.

China has an authoritarian government and a mainly free market economy, Although the government does have a significant role in some areas.. It is a long way removed from being left wing.

It is the authoritarianism that Trump admires.

China really doesn't have a free market, far from it. And this is something else Trump likes, like China he wants more control what can be imported and sold in America.

 

[Broucek]

It always makes me laugh when Trump supporters suggest that Trump is the embodiment of Christianity, or even worse sent by a Christian god. I'm not religious myself, but even I know Trump is quite the opposite.

A US Christian explained it to me like this (in 2016)

1. Hillary has the opposite views to most Christians on social issues and holds those views strongly
2. Trump doesn't care about Christianity or those social issues

Therefore, Trump is a better choice for Christians

Personally, as a UK-based Christian, I would struggle to vote for Trump but it was an interesting perspective

 

[jfollows]

NBC reports (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/obama-plans-endorse-harris-president-soon-rcna163279) that Obama has always supported Harris and will ”officially” announce his support soon. He wants to play the “elder statesman” by keeping out of the day-to-day I think, hence the slight delay in his announcement, as some might see it.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

NBC reports (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/obama-plans-endorse-harris-president-soon-rcna163279) that Obama has always supported Harris and will ”officially” announce his support soon. He wants to play the “elder statesman” by keeping out of the day-to-day I think, hence the slight delay in his announcement, as some might see it.

And probably a good strategy too.