U.S. Presidential debate

🥂

I often quietly wonder what the military think of trigger happy Trump. His relationship with them has been uneasy.

However, much of the military/arms/information is in the hands of private contractors now in the USA who if course have their foot and chequebooks in the door of Washington politics.

He's got his sights set against the FBI, as they have some independence, and were of course involved in the Mar o laga documents investigation that was quashed by a pro Trump judicial officer.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz5rpdrxevro

nanna8

Well I think we all seem to be in agreement about the candidates for once. Hallelujah. Rare occasion. 🥂

Unusually I'm going to quote The Telegraph Sept 9th (just before the big debate)

"Trump a ‘danger to US security’, say generals ahead of Harris debate
Ten former top military chiefs publish letter calling the vice-president the only candidate ‘fit to serve’ in the country’s highest office"

On the 8th Sept Politico ran a story and I quote

"Former President Donald Trump is facing backlash over his comments about veterans. Again.

Trump said Thursday that the country’s top civilian honor was “much better” than its top military honor, because the service members who receive the latter are “in very bad shape” or “dead” —

the latest in a yearslong pattern of inflammatory comments the former president has made about veterans as barbs over military service are being traded by both campaigns during a heated election.

Gas prices could perhaps impact the US election. Quite odd.

US gasoline prices set to fall under $3/gallon as election nears
Reuters
Shariq Khan
September 12, 2024 at 6:04 AM

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. motorists should see gasoline prices fall below $3 a gallon for the first time in over three years as soon as next month, shortly before they go to vote in November's presidential election, analysts said this week.

Softer gasoline prices, resulting largely from weaker fuel demand and sliding oil prices, are a relief for consumers who have struggled with record high fuel costs that have stoked inflation. Lower prices could also help Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats fight off sharp criticism from Republicans over pain at the pump.

As of Wednesday, the national average price for regular gasoline stood at $3.25 a gallon, down 19 cents from a month ago and 58 cents from a year ago, according to data from motorist association AAA.

The average should break below $3 a gallon by late October, if not sooner, with summer driving season over and retailers starting to sell cheaper winter-grade fuel in the weeks ahead, said Patrick De Haan, analyst at GasBuddy.com. In North Carolina, considered a swing state in the Nov. 5 presidential election, pump prices were already below $3 on Wednesday.

"Americans will definitely remember the price they see when they drive into polling stations, so this is definitely good news for Harris in her campaign for president against Republican Donald Trump," De Haan said.

Studies by the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, among others, show U.S. presidential approval ratings are inversely tied to gasoline prices. Therefore falling prices should lift Democrats in this election cycle, said John LaForge, head of real asset strategy at the investment advisory firm.

biglouis

Being a nightowl I stayed up to watch the debate.

Trump came across as a nutter (as usual) with his assertions about migrants eating pets and babies being executed. His stance on abortion alone would turn me off, childfree as I am. No man tells a woman what to do with her body.

Trump lost it for me when he made Obama produce his birth certificate and then went on to suggest it was fake. All the remarks about race will win him no favours with the US Black community.

I would like to have heard more about Kamala's actual policies. I feel she missed a trick there. However she won the debate for me.

Interesting to read a post from someone who watched in BigLouis, like most, I am basing my opinion on snatched reports and clips. Trump is on the back foot, I think, and will get increasingly desperate, and nasty, as he does.

RosiesMaw2

I find it incredible - if a sign of the sad times we live on - that the opinion of a pop singer (Taylor Swift) should matter so much to the US electorate.
Did Elvis (than whom none is greater) ever express an opinion?
Bing Crosby? Frank Sinatra?
Or closer to home , Gracie Fields or Vera Lynn?
I think entertainers should stick to entertaining, sportspeople to sport and politicians work a bit harder at being any good at what they claim to be able to do.

Elvis - no
Bing Crosby - yes, very much so - campaigned for the Republicans
Frank Sinatra - a proud Democrat until early 70s then switched publicly to support the Republicans
Vera Lynn - absolutely not, in fact she took the BNP to court for using her songs

Casdon

RosiesMaw2

I find it incredible - if a sign of the sad times we live on - that the opinion of a pop singer (Taylor Swift) should matter so much to the US electorate.
Did Elvis (than whom none is greater) ever express an opinion?
Bing Crosby? Frank Sinatra?
Or closer to home , Gracie Fields or Vera Lynn?
I think entertainers should stick to entertaining, sportspeople to sport and politicians work a bit harder at being any good at what they claim to be able to do.

Trump politicised Taylor Swift though by claiming she supported him, when she hadn’t previously said anything to indicate who she supported in this race..I think it serves him right, because she is hugely influential,

Exacly this! Taylor Swift had to do something.

I am burying my head in the sand and avoiding all of it! - it is just too grim.

Frankly, the very possibility of a Trump presidency should worry all of us, maybe apart from Putin and Netanyahu of course. I reserve my disgust for the Republican party, rather than Trump himself though, because they know he is dangerous, mentally unstable, convicted felon, sexual abuser etc., etc., but because they consider him the most likely of their field of candidates to win, they have backed him. Shame on them.

I don't even know much about Harris' policies, but I would back her, if I had the vote there, simply as the not Trump candidate.

Luckygirl3

I am burying my head in the sand and avoiding all of it! - it is just too grim.

It is very grim. The worst of it is that however obvious it may seem to us that Trump is unfit to run a parish council, let alone be president of the USA, there is still this small but incredibly important group of undecideds who, because of where they live, could put him into power.
It is terrifying because this isn't a normal election. Our last general election was, when all was said and done, a choice between parties led by two reasonably competent, sane people with no desire to overthrow democracy. This one is very different - it's a contest between one sane, reasonably competent - or competent enough - individual and a man who is more than just mad, he is bad and dangerous to the whole world. He does not like democracy. He does not understand democracy. He admires scumbags like Putin and Orban. He only agrees with election results that favour him. He is a menace to the free world.

biglouis

Being a nightowl I stayed up to watch the debate.

Trump came across as a nutter (as usual) with his assertions about migrants eating pets and babies being executed. His stance on abortion alone would turn me off, childfree as I am. No man tells a woman what to do with her body.

Trump lost it for me when he made Obama produce his birth certificate and then went on to suggest it was fake. All the remarks about race will win him no favours with the US Black community.

I would like to have heard more about Kamala's actual policies. I feel she missed a trick there. However she won the debate for me.

biglouis Being a nightowl I stayed up to watch the debate.

I would like to have heard more about Kamala's actual policies. I feel she missed a trick there. However she won the debate for me.

We watched. She did well baiting him. She was calm and composed. The double screen did her favours - she smiled whilst eye rolling.

I'd wanted to hear her policies, however I worked out that she couldn't risk being painted as a lefty green socialist - so she just smiled and replied with her "my values have never changed" non answer.

She did talk about help for small business and other things though.
I watched it all too.

If there were "waiverers" she was more convincing. 🤞

An interesting fact check:

www.cnn.com/2024/09/10/politics/video/fact-check-trump-harris-debate-abc-news-digvid

Perhaps JD Vance regrets cat lady remarks.

(Cartoon from The Economist)

Norah

Perhaps JD Vance regrets cat lady remarks.

(Cartoon from The Economist)

Well, Trumps reckons immigrants eat cats and dogs 🤔

Allira

Norah

Perhaps JD Vance regrets cat lady remarks.

(Cartoon from The Economist)

Well, Trumps reckons immigrants eat cats and dogs 🤔

He does.

Making the cartoon extra funny, as he reckons Taylor Swift 'will pay a price in the Marketplace' - I suspect she does well without his approval.

Love the cartoon Norah

What more can Trump do to convince the Americans that he is 24 carat bonkers?
(As well as being a criminal and a sex pest)

By rights KH should be a shoo-in.

Norah

Allira

Norah

Perhaps JD Vance regrets cat lady remarks.

(Cartoon from The Economist)

Well, Trumps reckons immigrants eat cats and dogs 🤔

He does.

Making the cartoon extra funny, as he reckons Taylor Swift 'will pay a price in the Marketplace' - I suspect she does well without his approval.

Taylor Swift is probably more popular than Trump could ever dream of!

MaizieD

^Yes, if he loses - he will insist it was another "Steal". God help America, and the rest of us in fact.^

I would suspect that the Democrats are well aware of the mayhem he will try to cause and I would hope that they would have contingence plans to deal with it. In the last resort, if Harris wins, they will be in command of the security forces and the police. it gives them an advantage...

Yes, I thought about that too.

I'm sure Security will be briefed.

Who knows what might happen though between now and November - Trump appears to become more unstable each time he appears, KH has really got under his skin.

Without wanting to seem over-dramatic, I do believe he's a very dangerous man - not least because of the zeal (for want of a better word) of some of his more 'out there' supporters, notably The Proud Boys and their affiliated groups.

static01.nyt.com/images/2021/01/05/us/05transition-brief-proud-boys/05transition-brief-proud-boys-superJumbo-v2.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp

... just look at them, with their bullet-proof vests and T shirts slogans, "Liberty or Death"...

Trump seems to be less and less credible to us in the UK, he still has a lot of support in rural USA, even so Harris is gaining support and should win comfortably

There isn’t going to be the disorder that Trump supporters caused last election, security services will be well prepared this time - the democrats have control of security

even so Harris is gaining support and should win comfortably

I sincerely hope you're right about this, David. UK commentators are being very cagey about predicting a Harris win.

We were touring USA this time of year during the Trump v Clinton elections, DH likes to chat with the bartenders and taxi drivers and we were both amazed at how the Trump supporters back then hung on his every word. It was like he was the second coming. Those who were for Hilary Clinton appeared more articulate and knowledgeable (yes I know it’s just what we found and not a scientific experiment)

DH vowed never to set foot in the US while he was POTUS, and we didn’t. I hope Kamala wins on a purely selfish level as I have plans to go to Disney with AC and GC.

The most worrying thing about Trump to me is that he is totally unpredictable, you never know what he is going to say and do. Added to the mix is I am not sure he would continue to support Ukraine but I guess he will continue to arm Israel and egg-on Netanyahu.

Trump has announced that he convincingly won the debate with KH so he has no need to do another one. Typical narcissist reaction to losing!

foxie48

Trump has announced that he convincingly won the debate with KH so he has no need to do another one. Typical narcissist reaction to losing!

I think he's sufficiently deranged to genuinely believe it.

This is a personal battle that Trump's towering ego can't lose.

MaizieD

^even so Harris is gaining support and should win comfortably^

I sincerely hope you're right about this, David. UK commentators are being very cagey about predicting a Harris win.

Boris Johnson, writing for the Daily Mail back in January, is fully behind Trump.

Apparently, his return to the White House could be just what the world needs.

It appears that those who oppose Trump are part of the "global wokerati". Whatever that is.

Both Johnson and Trump have their supporters here in the UK. Which I find unsettling.