Remember 2004 when Guardian readers wrote to Ohio voters suggesting they shouldn’t vote for Bush – p
Remember 2004 when Guardian readers wrote to Ohio voters suggesting they shouldn’t vote for Bush – politicalbetting.com
Seeing how close the current battle is in Ohio is a reminder to me of the effort by the Guardian at WH2004 to try to influence the election in this key swing state.
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Remarkable news from Texas: more people have voted already than the entirety of the 2016 vote.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/10/30/us/trump-biden-election?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage
https://twitter.com/FinancialTimes/status/1322191580594343937?s=20
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-10-30/gop-increasingly-worried-about-losing-senate-control
Except until now . . . by Nigel Farage . . .
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/10/30/democrats-plan-to-win-texas-433644
Though pundits never seem to let looking foolish dent their confidence.
Herd immunity incoming....
Personally, I tend to think the vast majority say "meh" to it and very few are influenced either way (with roughly equal numbers each way). Similarly when Obama intervened on Brexit - the people who were furious were always going to be furious; the people who were delighted were always going to be delighted; and the people who mattered didn't give a sh1t either way ("that's nice, Barry, but not really interested in the view from Chicago").
I wasn’t aware of quite the extent of Democratic efforts in rural counties this year.
Also, James Felton's funniest ever tweet there
"Today's Trump vs. Biden poll finds Biden up by 26 points in blue states and Trump leading by 11 points in red states. Yet the two are tied at 48% in swing states. To be sure, those differentials reflect smaller samples, especially the swing state total, which comes with a wide credibility interval."
Now of course the samples as they say are much smaller than full state polls but it does feed into this narrative of Biden being so far up nationally due to increasing his vote in both blue and red states but not in the swing states.
I'm still not convinced of this but you can see why the narrative for a Trump win even more against the odds than 2016 is possible.
Worth noting that the Great Lake States may seem like much of a sameness to outlanders - including most Americans - but they are more diverse and WAY more divergent among themselves, extending the length of the Ohio River AND the upper Mississippi River, from the grimy harbor of Ashtabula, Ohio on Lake Erie hard on the PA line, to the wild rice and piney woods of Frostbite (sorry, International Falls, Minnesota, to Little Egypt and Cairo, Illinois where the Ohio meets the Mississippi, much closer to Memphis than Lake Michigan.
AND that's not counting Pennsylvania, which has a small "riviera" on balmy Lake Erie, the site of the fabled city of that name - "dreary Erie on the Lake". Parts of western PA are quite Midwestern, though central and PA not so much.
Electorally for most of the 21st century (which purists know began in 2001) Illinois has been a Democratic stronghold (statewide) while Indiana has been same for the Republicans (ditto) albeit with occasional bursts of rebellion. When Dems win Indiana for president means a national blowout their way; same would be true of Illinois (once noted as a bellweather) the other way.
Always been contrary. In Civil War was notorious for copperheads = confederate sympathizers and draft riots. AND also for the Iron Brigade which was one of the best fighting outfits in the entire Union Army.
As maybe you can tell, have spent some quality time in this region, and have always found it fascinating. IF you want to know ANYTHING about America, you must know SOMETHING about the Midwest and the Great Lakes - the heartland of the nation.
It also appears that the PM is on leave again this week, it being half term and the HoC in recess. I've not seen, or heard from, him - where is he? How many days leave does he get a year? At least as much as teachers (who thoroughly deserve it), it would appear.
Also props to visiting Point Judith light. I hope you had a chance to sample some of my wife's home town's finest seafood at George's or Champlain's or Iggy's while you were there!
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/oct/30/nobby-stiles-world-cup-winner-with-england-1966-manchester-united-dies
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1322204026407145477?s=20
https://twitter.com/NicholasGuyatt/status/1322194358351859712?s=20
As far as we colonials are concerned, the folks most likely to take umbrage re: interfering foreigners are right-wingers hopped-up on hyper-nationalist bullshit = Republicans. Not all, but plenty - and they are plenty plentiful among super-MAGAists.
Democrats, especially on the progressive wing but including vast majority of moderates, tend to like foreigners just for being foreign.
So doubt that Nigel F is coming across badly on that score, even with people who despise Trumpsky & his hordes.
Strikes me that WRITTEN communication may NOT be best way for Brits to persuade Americans, at least not in short texts & emails. Because to our ears you too often come across (like Elizabeth Warren did this year) as preachy, condescending and school-marmish.
NOT totally, or hugely or (for the most part) deliberately or consciously. In fact, it has more to do with cultural differences in how Americans & Brits habitually use and misuse our native tongues.
My guess is that a similar email-text campaign directed by US enthusiasts to UK skeptics would suffer from same problem, just in reverse.
HOWEVER, my sense is that this barrier is MUCH less when it comes to the spoken word, especially when the speaker is seen (in person or on screen) as well as heard.
Looks like some Remain voters fell for the old fool.....
Of course we are NOT on the battle ground for THIS election - but we ARE voting, and at a record-smashing pace.
If Trump loses he unleashes fire and brimstone on the ingrates.
For Republicans however the USA is the most rightwing and conservative developed nation on the planet and they take umbrage at foreigners trying to tell them to change that
I could see us getting to a stage where paper and ink are used very little, and then losing the social cohesion necessary to maintain the infrastructure for a wired world, in the meantime having lost the local ability to make paper. How would we maintain literacy without computers or paper and ink?
Nigel_Foremain said:
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Most of these political movements are essentially a mix of socialism (with possible exception of UKIP) and nationalism, but more importantly their support base define themselves by who they are and by often not so thinly disguised disdain for the groups or nationalities that fall outside their idea of utopia. For the Faragists it is the French, Germans, foreigners in general. For the Malcolmg type Nat it is the English, and anyone who criticises the SNP is a "Little Englander", and they have no right to even discuss anything to do with the Motherland.
I have spent plenty of time in Scotland (among many countries) and have Scottish relatives. I see Scottish Nationalism for what it is. Your clear belief in Scottish exceptionalism, and inability to accept the possibility that nationalism could possibly decline does little to disabuse me of this view. I don't doubt that there are some decent people that support Scottish Nationalism, but essentially it is a malign philosophy and it will never shake off its malign history. It has been nice debating with you, but I really must go and do some work. Have a nice weekend.
You are a complete moron , I have never ever said anything against the English. A lying little toerag. It is creeps like you I dislike, pompous little prigs who try to sound superior.
You could probably not find your way to Scotland if someone tied you into the London to Glasgow Express. Off you go and collect your jobseekers allowance.
Corbyn however was always ambivalent about the EU and plenty of hard left socialists like Galloway and Clare Fox backed Brexit
Sadly, have never been to Point Judith, or anywhere in the Great Ocean State for that matter. My loss, and I mean to make up for it some day. To pay my respects to Roger Williams AND Judge Caprio the TV judge ("Caught in Providence") who would be MY personal SCOTUS nominee.
But I think the general point is that interfering in the internal politics of another democracy rarely works. Even if you understand their politics (and how many Guardianistas really understand the mentalities of wavering Republicans?), you'll offend as many people as you convince.
PA - Biden 52 .. Trump 45 - 1012 LV - 28/29 Oct
FL - Biden 52 .. Trump 45 - 941 LV - 28/29 Oct
https://www.climatepower2020.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Pennsylvania-Results.pdf
https://www.climatepower2020.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2020/10/Florida-Results.pdf
Is that a best-case scenario for the government now?
https://mobile.twitter.com/RP131/status/1322212908739211268/photo/1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVGFi8balOM
What more do you expect from the man as the pandemic takes a dangerous turn for the worst?
Quite an unfortunate turn of events for Labour just as their ratings were hitting a high.
Not unconnected with Farage's oleaginous hyperbole about your leader's fearlessness.
https://twitter.com/jamesrbuk/status/1322206258980659202
School meals was the first issue to really separate full-fat libertarians and self-made men from the new Conservative voters, who don't mind money spent on their immediate neighbours.
Remember Boris's fundamental flaw. He is incredibly good at making people like him, because he can work out what to say to them. In this case, he's pulled two ways, which is why he's responded so slowly and badly. And his immediate circle is encouraging him towards a stingy response which his new friends in the north don't like.
Biden 46 .. Trump 48
https://nsjonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/NSJ-CPA-2020-10-29-POLL_Results.pdf