Colin Powell to back Democrat Joe Biden

[LONDONER]

The first crack in the Republican Party?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-e...SKBN23E0JK

At last an (ex)Republican who's got balls!  Viva Colin Powell!

[Chase]

I can't wait to vote for a man who made it impossible for me to go bankrupt on my student loan debt, something I entered into as a teenager and was pressured by my parents, all while allowing people like to Trump to go bankrupt on billions and still live a life of luxury.

I will never register as a Democrat. They called me a sexist "Bernie Bro" for supporting Bernie over Hillary in 2016, even after backing Hillary after she won the nomination, and now that same crowd gave us Biden, a straight white man who sniffs women's hair on the senate floor, over a field of candidates who were women, funny how that worked out.

It's a stupefying logic - we need to back Hillary or Biden over a more left candidate, because there are moderates who would vote for Trump over someone on the left. So it's the lefties who are the bad guys for fielding a left wing candidate that turns away the moderates, and not the moderates who would vote for Trump over someone like Bernie if they don't get Hillary or Biden.

The Democrats have done nothing but weaponize Trump. All I ever heard from them is "Don't you dare rock the boat right now, because we need to get rid of Trump!"

To Hell with Biden. I have scars all over my chest because I got chemically burned one time, and I couldn't go to the hospital because I didn't have health insurance at the time. Biden has absolutely zero proposals that are for my self interest. The only thing he offers me is he's not Trump, who is definitely against my interest. Because of freaking Trump, I have to deal with "American Education Services" calling me at 9 at night demanding I make a monthly payment I can't afford.

I hate the system we have in the USA. I'm not saying that as an anti-American, I'm saying that as an American who wants something better for my country. Enjoy Biden, but if moderates can get a pass for voting for Trump if they don't get their Hillary or Biden, than I get a pass for being less-than enthusiastic over a Biden presidency.

[Genersis]

Well, Biden officially made the delegate count to become Democratic nominee the other day. So the timing makes some sense I guess.

This election is going to be a shit show. Trump sounds smart to people like himself, Joe is just...ugh. I dread any exchanges the candidates are going to have.
I don't think Biden will win. Certainly not easily. Best of luck though. He is better than Trump, but that's a low bar; not something I am enthusiastic about...

Hope a lefty, or in the least, a Universal Healthcare supporter is the next Democratic nominee. The issue is an obvious life and death one for everyone, good for campaigning, but also just plain good.

[InbetweenDreams]

@Genersis Why do you think Trump will win? What I have seen here locally last week in a very right-wing area suggests that Trump probably won't win. Yes, Trump has his base particularly in rural areas but I don't think he'll be re-elected.

[Chase]

@Genersis Why do you think Trump will win? What I have seen here locally last week in a very right-wing area suggests that Trump probably won't win. Yes, Trump has his base particularly in rural areas but I don't think he'll be re-elected.

Do you mean you've seen right-wingers disavowing Trump, or right-wingers pessimistic about winning again in 2020? Because if it's the latter, they almost certainly will win again. In 2016, Clinton was expected to win in a landslide. The idiotic HuffingtonPost, a supposedly left-wing news source, gave Hillary a "98.2% chance of winning the presidency" - 
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/polls-hil...0b02cc2a94

Whoops.

All the Trumpsters I know were all very pessimistic and hopeless about their god-emperor winning 2016. Then they won.

I live in a predominately left-wing area. If I were to split my area up into groups, I would say you have the disenfranchised working class who thankfully haven't been brainwashed (yet) into worshiping the sacred "job creators" - and the upper class chardonnay democrats who pretend to be for the poor and working class, but really spit on them. Mixed in, you have the acolytes of Trump, flying their Trump flags (why oh why they have to have a flag, I have no idea). From both groups, they have their own who say "There's no way Trump is going to win again."

We all said Trump would never run for president, and then he ran. We all said Trump would never win the spotlight in the GOP debate, and he won (and next to Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz that's not a hard thing to accomplish). We all said he'd never win a primary state, and he started winning them. We all said he'd never win the primary, and he won it. We all said he'd never win the general election, and yet, he won it. Now we're all saying he won't win reelection, and history will soon repeat itself.

The only hope I've seen in Trump supporters disavowing Trump is them being disgruntled in how he handles the coronavirus - not that he hasn't done enough, oh no, that he's done too much. Yep, for some Trumpers, their denial of the coronavirus outweighs their support of Trump.

The economy is currently tanking from the coronavirus, but it was doomed to tank from the start. Trump inherited a booming economy from Obama (and by boom, I only mean a boom for the rich. When the economy booms only the rich prosper, and when the economy tanks, the poor get taken down before the rich do, funny how that works). During a boom, the government is supposed to either limit spending or increase taxation. The Republicans, being Republicans, of course wanted to limit spending, because cutting food stamps and letting poor Americans starve to death in the streets is better than a 2% increase in taxes for the rich, in their minds. Well I'm getting ahead of myself, I don't realy know what I'm talkign about. The point is, the economy booms and tanks, booms and tanks, in cycles. Well, Trump can now blame the tanking on the coronavirus, a natural phenomenon. It could have been limited more by a better president, yes, but Trump has an excuse now for the failing economy.

The only reason I'll be voting for Biden is because I just have that pessimism that Trump will win again, and I live to say "Don't blame me, I voted for . . . "
Add to that is the fact that Biden doesn't energize young voters. I don't know if I'm still considered young, but he certainly doesn't energize me. I honestly just don't see any hope in politics at this point. In our political system, our only option is the Dem or Rep. Republicans at least cater to their own base, even though it's against their self interest. If a poor conservative worships the rich as these magical "job creators" then at least the Republicans are continuing to give away slush funds for the rich. But the Democrats are supposed to be for the working person, and I just don't see them as that anymore. People on the left clamor for healthcare, student debt relief, affordable college, affordable housing, a green economy, but instead Dems like Nancy Pelosi give us some bizarre, convoluted, means-tested bread crumbs that give you a million hoops you have to jump through.

I mean, during the primary, I (briefly) fell in love with Kamala for telling off Biden - that was epic. Then I read her student loan forgiveness plan - you had to be at a certain income level and open some sort of business in a poor neighborhood for oh so many years - um question Kamala, how the heck are we supposed to make a business last in a low-income neighborhood? How about pumping money into that neighborhood? It just reeked of "job creator"

Well, there goes my second rant for the day. My goodness. I need to log off.

[InbetweenDreams]

@Chase Oh no worries, rant away. I think your rant is well stated.

But yeah, I'm not thrilled about Biden. I do get the feeling that people are kind of pessimistic about Biden winning the election. On the other hand if we look at all that Trump has done makes you wonder how many people that were rooting for Trump had different expectations to say the least. I didn't like Trump in 2016 and I didn't like him before that. He was a piece of shit before he ran for president. I don't think anyone expected the colossal shit show that Trump's presidency has been.

I was a Bernie hopeful. It is a shame that many of the people who supported him didn't bother to vote. Not sure what the total number of registered voters are in my county but 244 votes for Bernie tell me we didn't have turnout. Granted, this is a rural county with about 10,000 residents and most are republican.

More people need to get involved in the process.

The problem with getting good policies though is the other side expects favors, edits, rewrites, kickbacks you name it if you want some legislation. If we got rid of all the lobbying, all these big campaigns that cost millions. When elections are predicted by how much money is raised, there's something wrong.

Biden isn't what we hoped for but he's certainly better than Trump, all I can say is vote and make sure everyone you know does as well. I think we can do better than 58% of registered voters.

[CellarDweller]

I wasn't thrilled with the aspect of Trump Vs. Biden either. It's my hope that he picks someone farther left as a running mate.

I also hope that Mayor Pete runs again in the future, after he's had more experience in government, and gets a higher rank (like Senator or Governor).

[eastofeden]

I liked Hillary alot who BTW became the dragon lady BECAUSE she walked into the White House as First Lady and proposed a Health Care Plan. The cries were loud and vicious because she "didn't know her place"

I also like Joe Biden and all of the other potential candidates to some degree with the exception of Tulsi Gabbard.

The purity tests are going to be the end of us but hey - one more Supreme Court Justice and you can kiss any progressive movement and YEARS of hard fought battles good-bye. It is insane to me how many people really don't understand that.

For the most part I dislike Bernie but I would plug my nose every time if he was the nominee and vote for him BECAUSE of the Supreme Court. I would even plug my nose for Tulsi. He knows damn well he can't get the votes for the Health Care and College Programs he wants unless he becomes a dictator. He certainly is NOT an "outsider" - none of the Senators are. Until we rid Congress of lobbyists and unlimited $$$$ in politics all Senators are beholden to the system WE voted for and WE means all of the people who have ignored the importance of the Supreme Court - mostly the ones who never bother to vote - is why we are here. Just as bad is ignoring the District Courts. The courts are the bottom line.