POTUS/General Election Thread 2020 + Aftermath

[spmetla]

It'll only be the new normal if it works, though it certainly highlights the danger to democracy that Trump and ilk have been when any unfavorable result will be declared as rigged.

I can only hope that Biden has the new congress enact laws to codify many of the norms that have been trampled upon by Trump. An honor system doesn't work with a thoroughly dishonorable person at the top.
Biden will need the courage to actually ask for legislation that can limit executive power, perhaps even a constitutional amendment.

[Montmorency]

Samurai, here's a Twitter clipping of a Senate floor speech by Chris Murphy. He's starting to talk just like how we need Dems to.
https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/st...67239906283531[VIDEO - 2 min]

“Right now, the most serious attempt to overthrow our democracy in the history of our of country is underway.

Those who are pushing to make Donald Trump President, no matter the outcome of the election, are engaged in a treachery against their nation.”

You cannot, at the same time, love this country and hate democracy.
[...]
Democracies are really fragile things. Ours only continues because we make choices so that it can remain. Our government really isn't the piece of paper upon which the Constitution is written. ...[D]emocracy comes first, not the perpetuation of our own political power.

This election wasn't close enough to steal. But it's clear that most Republicans now think if a Democrat wins an election, it is, by definition, fraudulent. And next time, when some GOP controlled election board DOES overturn a legitimate Dem victory, our democracy is cooked.

On the subject of messaging, what kind of play is this gesture getting in the media? Is it filtering down to the public? Good case study, because one can message however one wants, and with any level of organizational uniformity, but very few people actually go directly to legislators' pages to hear the words they choose to prioritize, so the impact depends on how the message is disseminated by third parties.

It'll only be the new normal if it works, though it certainly highlights the danger to democracy that Trump and ilk have been when any unfavorable result will be declared as rigged.

I can only hope that Biden has the new congress enact laws to codify many of the norms that have been trampled upon by Trump. An honor system doesn't work with a thoroughly dishonorable person at the top.
Biden will need the courage to actually ask for legislation that can limit executive power, perhaps even a constitutional amendment.

If we're very very lucky Biden and Dems will have just enough votes to pass a third-loaf pandemic stimulus - and little else. I don't believe a Constitutional amendment or convention can be activated under any circumstances given the established thresholds. Though there could be many distasteful submissions if the opportunity arose, such as maybe disabling the social welfare state or enshrining white nationalist immigration policy in some form.

Sadly, the only chance of legislating restraint on the executive in the medium-term was for Dems to win a decisive majority in both chambers.