Purple states

Wyoming is the most red state, DC is the most blue area, but for states it's Vermont. I told my cousins I lost 3 friends to Trump stuff, and they hadn't lost anyone. They live in DC. 

6 Purple states: Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania could be the states that determine the next election. The problem with electoral college is that pure votes aren't equal. We need to do away with the electoral college. It's a relic of slavery. 

My sons are going to vote for the first time for a president, but New York is going for Biden, New York is just a blue state. Everyone everywhere should vote though, you never know what's going to happen. I can't tell if these polls saying Trump is leading are real, and if the left wing hysteria is just trying to whip up the base. Trump tells his voters to stay home, he communicates in paradoxes. His cult followers know what he's really saying--which could be anything and doesn't pin him down to anything, and is just emotional blurts of frustration. Say what you want, Trump is letting it all hang out, there's no mystery about this man any more. And they wish they could be as imperfect and biased and grifting like him.

The right thinks abortion is a lock for them. The left thinks abortion is a lock for them. The hyper partisan times we live in are really a split in personalities, subjective experience, and an unwillingness to work together. This is how we get the term "wedge issue". It confuses the people about the real policy choices they are making when they vote. Most people think Biden is slack on immigration, and he's actually made the policy harsher (source). Actually digging down and figuring out what each person policies will be isn't quite as necessary because both have records as presidents. Trump's bluster is setting the grounds for negotiations. Biden is more of a traditional politician with years of experience, and a record that even left wing people don't like, but they vote against Trump. This election sort of boils down to more who you're voting against than who you're voting for, and that leads to lower turnout which benefits the Republicans. 

People on the right think the problems with Trump are exaggerated to discredit him. That they're really nothing to worry about, and indeed take pleasure in triggering the woke crowd. Desantis campaign crashing and burning proves that drumming only on the woke crowd isn't a winning strategy yet, but few people win the presidency the first time they run. Many candidates run to figure out how to run and learn and put their name into people's consciousness. There are a lot of names I wish I didn't know.

The underlying conflict is to do something or don't do something. 

That also intersects with leave people alone and don't tax them, versus don't lie about taxes and try to ameliorate some systematic suffering through infrastructure, education, health care and a more fair taxation. 

One of my right wing friends who I let go of, used to say he doesn't care about abortion, he just doesn't want to pay for it. 

I was talking to a Ukrainian immigrant in the park. I was trying to encourage her to vote until she kept talking about how immigrants from the south don't want to work and just want to party. I've though a lot about being obsessed with this. 

Made me think of the idea that Democrats will feed 100 people in case one person was starving. Republicans won't feed 100 people in case one of them is not starving. 

I live near an ultra Orthodox Jewish community, and they vote right wing. 

I was once attacked in an AA meeting, before the meeting, by MAGA idiots. I can't remember it very well, but I left that meeting because I didn't feel comfortable. All I can remember was this guy who tries to 13th step all the pretty women in the meeting, when he called me self righteous, I yelled at him that he was certainly not righteous.

I have an uncle in Georgia who's Baptist and votes conservative. I have an aunt who votes conservative. My grandparents voted conservative, which is understandable to me because they saw a huge explosion of growth in the federal government. 

I read r/conservative on Reddit, and try to read right wing articles in the New York Times even if they really stir me up. Most people see the Times as a liberal rag, but I see it as fairly neutral and plays both sides. To me that's the #1 newspaper in America even though there are plenty of really good newspapers. I cannot read the NY Post even if my cousin says it's respected. Ew. But they are good for sports. 

(The Post was founded by Alexander Hamilton with about US$10,000 (equivalent to $175,880 in 2022) from a group of investors in the autumn of 1801 as the New-York Evening Post, a broadsheet.)

I have several friends who are libertarians, don't want government. I got that book about the Bear in New Hampshire that is supposed to refute libertarianism, but couldn't get into it. 

I think there are savage inequalities in our society, and American shouldn't have the highest percentage of Covid deaths of any nation, we should have the lowest. I really struggle with politics, but I try and read and educate myself. When NYC went to 5 ranked votes for mayor, I read up on every candidate and then formed my own opinion. Of course the person who won didn't make my top 5. I asked 10 people in the park while my daughter was playing what their 5 ranked choices were. Only two person could even name a candidate. My neighborhood has a lot of immigrants, who didn't take high school social studies, or have parents who really inculcated the importance of participation in democracy. 

For me it's an exercise in communication and equanimity. I have a lot of strong feelings about politics, that basically one side is a murder cult and hypocrites. I know they see my side as hypocritical, and I never really see it, so I imagine they never really see their hypocrisy. And that means it's so complex. And that there is a political dialectic, and that democracy is the best way to resolve it--without gerrymandering, and otherwise cheating like the electoral college.

In Wisconsin the Republicans are saying the Democrats are redrawing the districts is unfair--they would know how to redraw them unfairly. How would you know if it was going neutral or swinging over to the other side if all you see is losing power? Anyway, if it's legitimate to cheat like they did, then it's legitimate for the other side. A lot of the things Trump is threatening to do to his political opponents, people are suggesting Biden should to do to Trump before he can do them to him. 

Strong emotions and being reasonable and fair don't necessarily go hand in hand. Seizing power and being democratic seem to be in conflict in these times. 

Trump should be disqualified for his part in the insurrection of January 6th and the Republican party should choose another candidate. 

Unfortunately it's a 2 candidate race at the moment, and Trump keeps confusing Nikki Haley, the other candidate, and Nancy Pelosi. Probably on purpose. He also uses her full name Nimarata Nikki Haley (née Randhawa), but he does it incorrectly and calls her, “Nimbra." (source)

A democrat is someone who sees Trump mistakes, flaws and danger. A republican sees Biden's mistakes, flaws and danger. 

I'm afraid the business leaders are going to try and throw the economy and gas companies will raise the gas prices to try and influence the election. 

I'm afraid Chinese and Russian troll farms will spread misinformation to try and sabotage our open society. 

I'm afraid turnout will be low because voting against someone is less likely to get you out of the house than voting for someone. And Trump has an advantage on that side, his base is pretty motivated, sees themselves in his embattled criminality. They like the whiff of Hitler he exudes. 

"His appeal lay less in his bigotries than in the sense that he hated, and was hated by, the people they hate — and he didn’t hold back." (Brett Stevens NY Times) "If we’re going to defeat Trump in November, we’ll have to do a lot better than to just keep repeating, “Orange man bad.”"

"But a vote for Trump is just an invitation to the furies, both foreign and domestic. His victory will be great for Vladimir Putin and devastating for Volodymyr Zelensky. It will weaken the center-right and center-left while energizing both the MAGA faithful as well as the social-justice warriors. It will debase our culture, debilitate our democracy, disorient our allies and drive normal people nuts." (op cit)

New Hampshire will decide if Haley has any shot (source). I think policy wise I would hate her, but she's certainly less rapey and grifty and white supremacisty than Trump. It takes a woman to stand up to Trump finally, none of the men did. 

Billionaire says don’t worry. My feeling is he beat Hillary just barely, but didn't beat Biden, and if anything people are withdrawing support from him as they seem to come to know him. I thought we came to know him before he was elected, but some people are slow on the uptake. 

Trump won New Hampshire, but Heley isn't dropping out. I like the way she's tearing into his addled rants, and they think she stays in till the big Tuesday when everything will be clarified.