US politics

[SuperBacon]

3 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

I don't know as well as someone living in the US, but I get the impression from political commentators that the Republicans enjoy a lot of support from the Latino communities; they seem to take it as a given that there is a heavy conservative presence, possibly connected to modern Catholicism.

Isn't Joe Biden Catholic?

[BomberPat]

2 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

I don't know as well as someone living in the US, but I get the impression from political commentators that the Republicans enjoy a lot of support from the Latino communities; they seem to take it as a given that there is a heavy conservative presence, possibly connected to modern Catholicism.

there's also a lot of conservatism among Hispanic communities like the Cubans in Florida whose families fled Castro, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's similar stories among those who fled various South American countries for fear of Communism and became devout Republicans as a result.

I was reading something from Jamelle Bouie recently, who said that it's not so much an uptick in black Republicans as the connection between black voters and the Democrats isn't nearly as strong for the younger generation, and it's because church attendance is decreasing in that same demographic, and black Americans are the only demographic where regular church attendance correlates with voting Democrat more than with voting Republican.

[David]

6 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

I don't know as well as someone living in the US, but I get the impression from political commentators that the Republicans enjoy a lot of support from the Latino communities; they seem to take it as a given that there is a heavy conservative presence, possibly connected to modern Catholicism.

I'm in the US right now, and the number of minorities rocking the Trump hat was quite a shock to me. It's a totally different situation here to the UK I think, where a fair amount of minorities are big on embracing the flag and US culture. As if actually being here is a privilege of sorts and they really do buy into the ideals that we hear from the likes of Trump.

[Carbomb]

5 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Isn't Joe Biden Catholic?

Yeh, but I don't think said Hispanic minority would be taking their lead from him as a person as they would from the institution of the actual Church. Also, given the sheer proliferation of Irish American conservative commentators and politicians, he really does strike me as an outlier.

2 minutes ago, David said:

I'm in the US right now, and the number of minorities rocking the Trump hat was quite a shock to me. It's a totally different situation here to the UK I think, where a fair amount of minorities are big on embracing the flag and US culture. As if actually being here is a privilege of sorts and they really do buy into the ideals that we hear from the likes of Trump.

One thing to bear in mind about a lot of minorities here in the UK (not all, but a significant number) is that they're here because of imperial/colonial relationships. Not just in terms of established frameworks and culture facilitating migration and residence here, but also in terms of the framing of their motivation to come here - you get a lot of white British talking about how immigrants "should be grateful to the country that opened its arms to them", but they've missed an entire section of history there. My father, and a lot of people who came from former British colonies, don't see it as Britain graciously opening up to them - they see it as "coming to take back what's theirs", i.e. coming to reclaim their share of the wealth that was stolen from their own countries by British imperialism. 

The US doesn't have that specific kind of imperialist history, so I can see how migrants to America would see it as a privilege to be there and carve out their own share of the wealth that was on offer at the time, backed up by the apparent promise that "anyone could make it". Of course, history shows that it was never quite like that, and it's usually people like Trump who make that promise in one breath while in another betraying it in order to build their own wealth and power, but the historical circumstances make it a much easier sell.

[Loki]

Speaking to an American friend of mine yesterday, a journalist, and they said they believed that the US was about to put boots on the ground in Gaza and that the Biden administration was gearing up to be a wartime government.  They believe that the building of the supply dock is effectively the start of the Americans trying to insert themselves between the IDF and Hamas, to effectively take over the campaign against Hamas but try and protect the civilian population.

They're not someone given to hyperbole and they have good connections so it'll be interesting to see if this takes place.

[Chest Rockwell]

Makes sense tbf. They have such an excellent record of successful campaigns against insurgency on foreign soil.

[d-d-d-dAz]

In terms of the hispanic vote, a lot of that will be breaking for Trump because he's seen as someone who embodies the 'American Dream', to an audience who typically have a historical aversion to the ideas of left wing politics (which is why Trump so often calls Biden a 'communist', despite that being clearly hilarious).

I think the central flaw at the heart of the anti-Trump campaign is the message that 'don't vote for him, he's a threat, and now he knows how Washington works he'll be much more effective at doing what he wants next time.'

How is that their key message? It completely ignores the fact that if you actually want what Trump's selling, or think you do, that's quite attractive.

The Democrats incredibly STILL assume people vote for Trump out of blind ignorance, and its still their weakest point and why they'll probably lose this year.

They need to find someone who can convince people that pulling up the drawstring and creating a 'Fort America' is a bad idea, and someone who can find a way of putting into simple terms how global leadership and democracy actually benefits their daily lives.

Just like in 2016, I'm left thinking - again - that I can fully understand why people would vote Trump over Biden. To apolitical people, he's promising strong leadership and a promise that nothing bad will happen to American's whilst he's in charge; and the Democrats appear to be offering no counter to the idea that strong leadership is good, and still place America at the heart of global conflicts with no real argument as to why that's a good thing.

The best argument against Trump was his own personal chaos, which is 4 years in the rearview so far less effective. It's such a mess.

Edited March 17, 2024 by d-d-d-dAz

[SuperBacon]

1 hour ago, Chest Rockwell said:

Makes sense tbf. They have such an excellent record of successful campaigns against insurgency on foreign soil.

Biden and Harris: 

[FLips]

Was hoping to wake up this morning to a barrage of Trump memes and reports of how bad he did and shockingly it seems the other way round. I’ve seen clips of Biden and he looks on death’s door. I thought our choices were rough.

[LaGoosh]

I saw it described as "the world's dumbest Hitler vs the world's oldest man". Depressing scenes.

[westlondonmist]

Watching Biden was like watching Weekend at Bernie's. How the fuck does anybody think it's a good idea he runs?

[BigJag]

A lot of people like to say that American politics, especially in the Trump era. Has a habit of aping pro wrestling. I definitely heard and saw elements of decent promo work in this speech by Ramaswamy. I haven't seen a lot of his political speaking. What I have seen has impressed me. He comes across as genuine, and someone who could be a positive influence in government.

[Chest Rockwell]

He seems like a total dickhead. 

Edit: also big lol @ 'genuine'. Only if you don't even take two seconds to try to reconcile the words he's saying with the actual actions of his party.

Edited July 17, 2024 by Chest Rockwell

[Carbomb]

Was gonna say. He's a modern Republican; they're almost by definition shitheads. 

[Mr_Danger]

I still say give it to RFK Jr, brain worm and all. Cheryl Hines as First Lady and a buff slightly less old man with a cool robot voice.