US Presidential Election 2020

[RocketMan]

This election is shaping up to be pretty momentous even for many of us who often scorn electoral politics. So why not a dedicated thread for Dem primaries and the coming general election?

Bernie is in position to carry Iowa. According to the latest Emerson poll he is well positioned to absolutely storm New Hampshire with a double-digit lead on the next candidate.

We shall see.

[liminalOyster]

Seems very likely we wake up tomorrow to a Bernie Iowa win. And NH seems to be in the bag. Plus, even Nate Silver has Bernie projected to win Nevada. In bigger news, there's a new poll showing Bernie gaining significant ground on Biden in South Carolina which had been unthinkable.

I'm amused by Trump's comment that Bernie is a communist and "got married" in Moscow (he didn't) because it's a small taste of how Russiagate has set new precedent, IMO, for legitimizing Manchurian Candidate theatrics.

If Bernie wins the nomination it's going to be a fucking joy to watch him debate Trump.

[kelley]

Sanders-Bloomberg 2020

ahahahahaha

[Belligerent Savant]

.

Shocker.

Results for Iowa caucuses delayed as state Democratic Party finds 'inconsistencies'.

After 11 p.m. ET, no data had yet been made public in the first-in-the-nation voting state.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-e ... y-n1129431


Updates looming...

[Wombaticus Rex]

Sure as shit looks like Mayo Pete was working with a contractor called Shadow Inc to fix Iowa. It also looks like his team was too arrogant and incompetent to pull that off, didn't realize their ass was hanging out, and let him go ahead with the "upset victory" script. He delivered his speech and had the interns put out the "aw, shucks" celebration tweets. Walking all of this back will be extremely difficult and absolutely nobody on his staff is going to get any sleep tonight.

I have to admit, the DNC primary is shaping up to be far more entertaining than I had expected. This is good news for Democrats because if you want to beat Trump, you better be entertaining.

Speaking of which, Biden is looking pretty washed already -- looks like the DNC is happy to rig the game, but wary of doing it for a man with obvious dementia and no idea how the fuck to behave in public -- which means we won't get to see Biden vs. Trump debates, which would have been an apex moment for our great American Decline. Pour out a beer for a brighter day that will never come.

And, ah, Bernie. The poor, dear man, he must be flustered to see all the knives coming out at once. He also knew it was coming, though. Just like Amy Goodman at Democracy Now! or Alex Jones at Infowars, his role in the system is to function as a release valve for a certain specific demographic of populist rage.

His role is not to win a Presidential election; and furthermore, he's shown very little interest in campaigning like a winner, either in 2016 or 2020. Maybe I'm inferring too much, maybe it's just the entitled laziness of a man who's had his past dozen elections handed to him by the Democrats in exchange for not supporting third parties. Maybe he really is just another useful idiot. But I've always believed him to be witting, and that's why I've always had such contempt for his act.

Anyways, Trump 2020, huh?

[RocketMan]

Yep...

"Who knows?"

"THE SHADOW KNOWS."

I REALLY did not expect this kind of blatant shit IN THE VERY FIRST PRIMARY. I know, right. I'm a sap.

They are reaaaaally rubbing it in our faces aren't they. Jesus Fucking Christ. BUTTIGIEG'S CAMPAIGN APPARENTLY DIRECTLY FUNDED SHADOW INC.

I mean whattaaaaa fuck is going on.

[8bitagent]

Yep...

"Who knows?"

"THE SHADOW KNOWS."

I REALLY did not expect this kind of blatant shit IN THE VERY FIRST PRIMARY. I know, right. I'm a sap.

They are reaaaaally rubbing it in our faces aren't they. Jesus Fucking Christ. BUTTIGIEG'S CAMPAIGN APPARENTLY DIRECTLY FUNDED SHADOW INC.

I mean whattaaaaa fuck is going on.

Just saw this:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/iowa-cau ... dacc722824

Shadow, a Democratic tech firm, created the app that was supposed to deliver quicker caucus results.

A tech company affiliated with, and funded by, ACRONYM, a Democratic digital nonprofit group that has rapidly expanded in recent years, was responsible for building the Iowa caucus app that contributed to delays in reporting Monday night’s results in the first vote in the party’s presidential race. Multiple Democratic sources, including one of the presidential campaigns, confirmed the app’s creator.

State campaign finance records indicate the Iowa Democratic Party paid Shadow, a tech company that joined with ACRONYM last year, more than $60,000 for “website development” over two installments in November and December of last year. A Democratic source with knowledge of the process said those payments were for the app that caucus site leaders were supposed to use to upload the results at their locales.

Gerard Niemira, a veteran of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, is the head of Shadow. He previously served as chief technology officer and chief operating officer of ACRONYM, according to his LinkedIn page. In 2019, David Plouffe, one of the chief architects of President Barack Obama’s wins, joined the board of advisers for ACRONYM

Hoping it's all one big cock-up coinkydink...but surely the DNC and their Wall Street backers don't think they could do anything brazen in 2020 and have voters just accept it? Within minutes I saw hundreds of angry people reply to when Pete declared himself victorious on Twitter. Creepy handsy Biden has a slipping status in new national polls, which makes me think either Pete is who they'll put their muscle behind...or they really will up the "Shadow" games to get a Biden win by(or at) the convention?

[stickdog99]

Sure as shit looks like Mayo Pete was working with a contractor called Shadow Inc to fix Iowa. It also looks like his team was too arrogant and incompetent to pull that off, didn't realize their ass was hanging out, and let him go ahead with the "upset victory" script. He delivered his speech and had the interns put out the "aw, shucks" celebration tweets. Walking all of this back will be extremely difficult and absolutely nobody on his staff is going to get any sleep tonight.

I have to admit, the DNC primary is shaping up to be far more entertaining than I had expected. This is good news for Democrats because if you want to beat Trump, you better be entertaining.

Speaking of which, Biden is looking pretty washed already -- looks like the DNC is happy to rig the game, but wary of doing it for a man with obvious dementia and no idea how the fuck to behave in public -- which means we won't get to see Biden vs. Trump debates, which would have been an apex moment for our great American Decline. Pour out a beer for a brighter day that will never come.

And, ah, Bernie. The poor, dear man, he must be flustered to see all the knives coming out at once. He also knew it was coming, though. Just like Amy Goodman at Democracy Now! or Alex Jones at Infowars, his role in the system is to function as a release valve for a certain specific demographic of populist rage.

His role is not to win a Presidential election; and furthermore, he's shown very little interest in campaigning like a winner, either in 2016 or 2020. Maybe I'm inferring too much, maybe it's just the entitled laziness of a man who's had his past dozen elections handed to him by the Democrats in exchange for not supporting third parties. Maybe he really is just another useful idiot. But I've always believed him to be witting, and that's why I've always had such contempt for his act.

Anyways, Trump 2020, huh?

What an utter crock of shit.

The victory is in the struggle. If you can't see Sanders has changed the debate over the last 4 years, what the fuck can you see? Again, consider what Democratic candidates are debating about right now compared to what they debated about in 2008. And LOL at Sanders' being a release valve. His supporters are the only fucking hope we have, and if you think that his "winning" anything has anything to do with this, you have another guess coming.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/128064903

[RocketMan]

I too have to reject the Total Cynicism position of Rex, though I can intellectually understand and sympathize with it. Bernie has done an amazing amount of work since surprising himself in the 2016 election by forcing the DNC to deploy countermeasures against him in order to secure the Hillary Clinton candidacy. The way he has impacted the culture and attitudes towards the word "socialism" (REGARDLESS of what you think of the content of his "socialism", it is a massive win if the word itself is released from the status of Unmentionable), not to mention a fully public healthcare for all.

BUT, and this is a massive caveat. MASSIVE.

IF Bernie now folds when the DNC immediately has upped their assault on Bernie, IF he tries to sheepdog his movement, his base towards some "more realistic" candidate, most plausibly Warren, then I too will concede that the jig is up.

Until then, Rex, I ask you to take into consideration Bernie's entire career. Do you suggest that he was groomed by the powers that be since he was running for the mayor of Burlington? What's the mechanism by which he has been co-opted here?

[thrulookingglass]

The lack of pertinent results from the Iowa caucus, to which I've never seen before, is a clear sign that the "deep state/ptb's" cannot allow a socially progressive candidate to conquer the mass of shit they've piled up over the years. Power without oversight is bound to be abused. Unreal. Dewey Defeats Truman!

[JackRiddler]

(crosspost because here we go again with the multiple equally relevant discussion threads...)

.

Something very fucking shady going on, but in the way it's gone I do not see this damaging Sanders at all, but on the contrary providing confirmation that DNC, its contractors, its vote counts, its rules and pronouncements, and its favored candidates (today meaning especially Ex Mayor Juan Peter Guaido Buttigieg) cannot be trusted or even taken seriously.

Imagine if Iowa had been announced as a Sanders landslide and then we ran into serious vote fixing a few weeks hence, perhaps at a point with many votes happening simultaneously and no way for anyone to track all the reports of suspect activity and mishandling.

This provides a much simpler narrative. Two weeks of urgent stories screaming KILL BERNIE from all the leading whores of the corporate media and the Democratic establishment, followed by this spectacle (which was foretold and expected by many), makes for a very simple story that most people will know is true: any outcome without Sanders on top is bullshit.

Plus: Absolutely no doubt Biden's support was pathetic, and "second place" belongs to a charisma-free ratfucking little shit with a) no credible political path to winning and b) self-evident spook background.

Okay, following article is from Washington Examiner, a pub highly unreliable in interpretation, emphasis, and spin. But I have not seen them make shit up, and these claims are easily confirmed. According to it,

- Mook claims he has nothing to do with Iowa app development. (!) So says Mook's own Twitter.

- Article claims Buttigieg campaign are clients of the company that developed the app for Iowa and Nevada, which is known as Shadow, Inc. (!!!). Paid $58K to this company, according to FEC filings.

- My addition: Buttigieg campaign of course acted on the day before the vote to axe publication of the "gold standard" poll showing Sanders well ahead of all others. Setting the table.

- Buttigieg released victory announcement on Twitter at midnight, still at least 12+ hours before any official count will be publicized.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news ... cus-delays

Buttigieg campaign paid firm that developed voting app blamed for Iowa caucus delays
by Spencer Neale
| February 04, 2020 02:17 AM

Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg's campaign contributed money to the technological firm whose voting app that contributed to reporting delays in the Iowa caucuses.

Federal Election Commission filings reveal that Buttigieg's campaign gave tens of thousands of dollars to Shadow on July 23, 2019 for "software rights and subscriptions."

Shadow, a technology company that has an investor in the Democratic digital nonprofit organization ACRONYM, was also paid $60,000 over two installments by the Iowa Democratic Party to build an app to help make caucus voting easier and faster for precinct volunteers. Filings also reveal that the Nevada Democratic Party paid Shadow $58,000 for "website development."


Screen Shot 2020-02-04 at 1.50.01 AM.png (FEC)

The Iowa Democratic Party scrambled Monday night after precincts experienced trouble downloading and uploading results to the voting app. By 1 a.m. ET Tuesday morning, no results had been released as volunteers attempted to call in the numbers by phone.

Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, claimed victory before any numbers had been released, publishing a tweet that said he was "going on to New Hampshire victorious."

https://twitter.com/PeteButtigieg/statu ... 3040625665

Iowa, you have shocked the nation.

By all indications, we are going on to New Hampshire victorious. #IowaCaucuses
12:24 AM · Feb 4, 2020·Twitter Web App
2.1K Retweets 15.3K Likes

Robby Mook, the campaign manager for Hillary Clinton's 2016 team, denied involvement in the voting app after Twitter users suggested he was behind the app's development. Mook, who reportedly did have a role in preparing a video to alert campaigns of misinformation or hacking, instructed people to contact Iowa Democrats for more information on the botched results.

https://twitter.com/RobbyMook/status/12 ... 8790395904

Sorry, folks. I did NOT have anythjng to do with building the Iowa caucus app. I dont know anything about it, had no role in it, and dont own a company that makes mobile appa. Please contact
@iowademocrats
with questions about it.
11:49 PM · Feb 3, 2020·Twitter for iPhone
1.8K Retweets 7K Likes

The Iowa Democratic Party said it expects to release the caucus results sometime Tuesday.

PLUS, Sanders campaign ran their own reporting app, anticipating exactly that this kind of thing can happen. (Their suspicion that they need such a thing is a VERY PROMISING sign, I have to say!)



Oof, everyone copy these.

It may not be a joke at all to think of Ex Mayor Pete as the US-American Guaido.

.

[kelley]

Not claiming to actually knowing anything this morning, but my uh um ‘intuition’ reinforces that which I initially thought four years ago.

I don't see Sanders as having a complex role outside an oddly avuncular relationship to his demographic. He must know at some level his candidacy is based on a problematic generational position, and it mimics the proverbial stone tossed in the pond, with the initial splash rippling ever outward.

At the very least, a staggering number of adults in the US aged 18-34 still live at home. This number must be underreported, and may have changed in the last several years, but I doubt it. The figures don’t include those who do live apart from parents but receive substantial economic support from them. I see this even in the affluent city where I live, shaped by other factors but obdurately real from whichever spot one views things. These are simple economic facts which only hint at the structural problems which seemingly resist formulation, let alone resolution.

In this respect, Sanders ongoing quest reassures his base that, rhetoric aside, the aspirational white middle-class dream is based on noble social goals that, push come to shove, wouldn't have much to do with socialism per se, at least as it's sketched out in his head and accepted by his growing constituency. He's working with simple methods, wittingly or not, of indoctrination and deferral. His strategy seems fundamentally materialist in its fabrication.

Has his moment come? Is this not what’s inferred by recent events? It’s possible— anything is, almost, except that required by necessity, with the machinations of Shadow Inc making a small part of this explicit— but the participation of Sanders in this process, in my opinion, keeps the populace from seeing that the presidential election, at least since LBJ declined to seek a second term, is staged as an increasingly sophisticated op designed to perpetuate the civic narrative upon which the Republic once rested.

Wombat’s comments aren’t cynical. They’re pragmatic, and regardless, there’s always a gleam in every gimlet eye. Is the future indeed foreclosed? I’m not sure of that, but an expression of skepticism is the first step towards rebuilding the imagination.

[Cordelia]

Super Bowl Sunday; Super Bollocks Monday. Game time.

[JackRiddler]

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Bunch of screenshots laying out key personnel (all Clinton 2016 campaign) and "mission" of Shadow and their evident connections to the Buttigieg campaign, including as contractors, for those who can FB.

https://www.facebook.com/noahautumn.tom ... 1737935775

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[RocketMan]

Looks like someone else had the same idea that I did, vis-a-vis Shadow...

And sorry if I thread-proliferated with this separate general election thread... Please, mods combine with abandon if this is unwieldy.