It astounds me when people talk about "the next election". Please tell me why you think the GOP would ever allow it

[ProfessorPlum]

and instead won't just make the Democratic party illegal. What would stop them? The Supreme Court? The Press?? It is to laugh.

This country has slit its own throat, and mark my words, there will never be another election except ones where the GOP mysteriously wins 95% of the vote, like Putin.

[Wounded Bear]

1. Oh, there will be an election...

we just have to fight to make sure it isn't handled Putin-style.

[elleng]

4. Yes, and be sure our localities (states and counties) do what they are required to do.

[mountain grammy]

33. I have the worst feeling the last election was handled Putin style.

[brush]

95. Folks, many of us haven't come to realize yet that we are now a...

a dictatorship. The corrupt SCOTUS has given the MFer totally immunity for 'official acts.'
He can deport, imprison, even KILL whoever he wants now with impunity.

And if you think he won't use that power, review in you mind the history of his actions. The consequences of what SCOTUS has done has not begun to unfold yet.

Sorry to say it but a dictatorship 'R Us.

[elleng]

2. YOU gonna LET them?

Your friends, family, colleagues???

FOOLISHNESS!

[BootinUp]

3. Elections are run by the states. nt

[ProfessorPlum]

5. half of which are under the benighted cretin's thumb.

[BootinUp]

7. Our asses were fairly kicked. The problem is we were in office during one of

the worst 4 years any of us remember.

[Lucky Luciano]

53. Worst four years?!?!

There was world wide inflation, but at least Covid got cleaned up.

I get it that incumbents are massively disadvantaged by inflation even if they had nothing to do with it.

[BootinUp]

60. We agree completely. I am simply

Stating it the way the “most people” see it. I think Biden did a fantastic job.

[Karasu]

58. The worst 4 years ANY of us can remember? Seriously?

You have got to be joking, because I can't even begin to dissect all the problems with that statement. Especially after 2016-2020.

[BootinUp]

62. No I am not.

[BootinUp]

63. Perhaps a news bubble would help.

[Cosmocat]

91. I disagree vehemently with this

Joe dug the country out from the pandemic and overall turns over a strong economy.

90% of the teeth nashing is indulging right wing bullshit.

[oswaldactedalone]

93. WTF

are you talking about? That’s ridiculous.

[Woodwizard]

102. I sell at art and craft shows.

The last few years have been my best in sales. Wasn't bad for me.

[BootinUp]

103. I don't really think you grasp the magnitude of my comment.

Millions died. Lives were significantly altered for various reasons. And then you had the fact that people in this country could not work together to get through it. It really did suck.

[elleng]

6. Right.

Sounding like DUers don't understand our system.

[ForgedCrank]

25. There's a

lot of that going around. It's the main reason I am getting tired of this BS getting spread around. It's getting people all worked up and upset for unfounded reasons. And it's not just DU; social media is absolutely infected it this rash. Hell, 8 years later and I still see even people referencing Russian hooker peepee videos.
Trump will do plenty of stuff to piss us off over the next 4 years, no need for them to keep spreading ridiculous garbage.

[XanaDUer2]

40. I had to tell a friend

She won't be hunted down and killed. And I'm a catastrophizer.

[kiri]

34. system? It brought us Federalist fellow-traveler Garland.....

"Sounding like DUers don't understand our system."

We do. It brought us Federalist fellow-traveler Garland; it brought us Moscow Mitch; it brought us Clarence, Alito, Roberts; it brought us Trump, Vance, Desantis......

One might conclude that it is a failed system, n'est pas?

[BootinUp]

50. It's the system we deserve apparently. Make it better

Don’t tear it down.

[spike jones]

27. But most of them use the same computer voting and counting machines. ES&S.

[Cirsium]

75. Yes

Elections are run by the states and states are increasingly falling under the control of Republicans.

[WestMichRad]

8. Disenfranchisement is their main game.

The Dem party won’t be outlawed, that’s my guess. Rather, outspoken Dems and liberal independents (and POC who tend to vote against them) will be convicted as enemies of the state, and thus won’t be allowed to vote.

I think that’s how they will try to engineer their future electoral success.

Since the Voting Rights Act has been essentially gutted, there is little to stop them .

[uponit7771]

71. +1, voter denial works and the GQP "purges" rolls like there's no tomorrow every election. We're supposed to act like ..

... that makes no difference at all.

Stacy Abrams would've had a run off if it weren't for 1000s votes after Kemp purged 300,000 months before the GA election.

[Silent Type]

9. I'm planning on ordering my ballot. There will be an election. Another GOPer might win, but too many people vying for

public office.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

23. People are not getting their ballots, tons are being rejected.

Don’t forget, there are people who are process them. The post office is not very efficient, at least 500 ballots were set on fire - who’s to say that doesn’t look like a great idea??!! I will only early vote. You cannot vote on election day with all the bomb threats/long lines, etc.

[uponit7771]

78. ☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾THIS !!!☝🏾☝🏾☝🏾 ..... Be prepared more than scared and plan ahead to fight their cheating !!

[Baitball Blogger]

10. Protests. Why do I think they will work?

Last edited Sat Nov 16, 2024, 09:33 PM - Edit history (1)

Because the BLM movement brought so much attention to the injustices that they were dealing with, that they undermined every effort that Scalia tried to give Republicans Court ruling with opinions that favored the creation of high crime zone designations and different treatment for black people. This resulted in major changes in the Police Department.

Also, history has shown that the ordinary citizen does not have the stomach for intense protests.

[milestogo]

14. But now Trump is organizing an obedient military

which will shoot protesters. He's not going to allow us to fill the streets.

[Baitball Blogger]

16. Can he do it in two years?

[milestogo]

19. He can do it much sooner than that.

He will eliminate anyone who isn't a sycophant.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

22. If he gets all the crazy nominees in, yes. Just listen to

To Maria Ressa who is warning us that the same things are being done in this country as the Philippines?

[Arthur_Frain]

28. Read Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here"

It is going to happen so fast it’ll make your head spin. Think I’m joking? You won’t recognize this country by summer anymore

[Pegasus30]

82. So true

This is 100% over the target.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

21. And putting someone in charge of the military will allow them to come in and

Sweep us all up. Maybe let Trump shoot the protestors? And it will be allowed by Matt Gaetz being Attorney General (or whoever gets in) and the Supreme Courts in many states and the federal one? Florida now has ALL right wing justices on their court- just 15-20 years ago they were very liberal.

[AverageOldGuy]

39. Watch for . . .

DOJ to bring charges of something against prominent BLM people as well as Congressional “investigations”of BLM - MAGAts are already promising this.

[uponit7771]

72. RIGHT !! We should be notified of indicators not people digging their heads into the sand acting like it can't happen...

... here when it almost did ion Jan 6 2020.

[yaesu]

11. the only future elections will be putin like where 99% of the vote will be for fascists, it will just be for "show" nt

[EdmondDantes_]

12. People said the same thing after previous presidents

It wasn't true then either.

[dpibel]

29. Name one

I've voted in quite a few presidential elections and the only time I've heard anything like that was Qanon MAGA wack jobs in 2020.

After which other presidential election were there claims there'd never be another?

[Sympthsical]

76. Oh this is easy. Dubya.

People were convinced he'd declare martial law and cancel the 2008 election, and that FEMA was already setting up camps in Montana and the like getting ready for the big dictatorship. I remember, because I was a young gay man, and people were swearing up and down to me that I would be one of the first to go.

Hold on. Let's see if I can dig for you.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/10/election-conspiracy-theory-du-jour-bush-declare-martial-law/

https://towardfreedom.org/story/archives/americas/bush-moves-toward-martial-law/

Hey look, it's DU from back in the day . . .

https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2848087

And so on and so forth. All I had to google was Democratic Underground along with Bush martial law to find that. Took three seconds, and I didn't dig very far.

Plus ça change . . .

[HUAJIAO]

47. Do you not see the vast difference?

[uponit7771]

64. Please name a previous president who staged a text book coup with fake electors? thx in advance

[milestogo]

13. I don't think there will be another election unless

there is a revolution.

[tritsofme]

15. This is beyond ridiculous. How do you suppose he will stop California from holding an election?

[Diraven]

51. Designate the Democratic Party as a terrorist organization

The AG and FBI director could do this just by themselves, it doesn't even need to be a vast conspiracy. We could object, but if the conservative Supreme Court (which could have even more Trump appointees by then) sides with them that would be the end.

[uponit7771]

74. +1, Hitler did similar with trade unions which kneecapped the left in Germany. He didn't have to kill off the left in ..

... German parliament just the trade unions who voted for them.

[uponit7771]

73. Don't need to hold California just the more purple states with MAGA officials "purging" voters and no DOJ to protect

[tritsofme]

79. There are Democratic governors in states like MI, PA, WI, NC

[uponit7771]

83. Congressional power wont hinge on those states alone in two years. We need to educated and be prepared more than scared

... one way is to ask for mail ins seeing MAGA loves to deny access to polls and mass purge before elections.

People have a rational reason not to trust people who attempted coups with fake electors

[Prairie Gates]

17. Most of the model authoritarian countries have pseudo-elections

Russia still has elections. Hungary still has elections. But they are essentially done deal, fixed through various mechanisms. Some softer versions are already visible through extreme gerrymandering in states like Alabama.

So, there will be elections, but they will be pseudo-competitions, the mere appearance of electoral choice.

[uponit7771]

77. +1, "extreme gerrymandering" ... which the MAGA SC allowed too much of

[Prairie Gates]

86. Both parties do it to some degree

But the conservatives have raised it to an artform in places like Alabama, and it is extremely racialized against the black population. Some Chicago districts are a bit of a joke, for instance, but it's not really disenfranchising (for example, if IL5 - Quigley was de-gerrymandered, it wouldn't become Republican.)

[kerry-is-my-prez]

18. People here are in denial. Look at everything that has being going on and add it all together?

This country is in serious danger. A lot of people here are aware of it, unlike the public. We are obligated to do something. I’m 69 and have lived a good life - remember the quote “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for this country” or “give me liberty or give me death.” There are a lot of people who are much more at risk than I am: People of Color, women of childbearing age, the LBGTQ community younger women and girls who are being told “Your body, my choice.” There are signs and tee shirts being sold/given out with this saying in it. Where I live, a man was seen holding a sign saying that in one of the busiest (and exclusive) shopping centers.

I plan on going down fighting….

[uponit7771]

84. +1, it was like this the first two years Hitler was in power in Germany while Trump is entering office with more power

... and immunity than Hitler did the chancellery.

We need to be prepared with asking for mail ins, harder to stop people going to the polls.

[Meowmee]

96. Yes

I see the signs of it again which happened after the first time he won. Magas driving around in cars with huge flags. Last night a pick up truck drove very fast down our street with people screeching, also fireworks which never happens at this time of year usually.

The odd thing was for this election cycle there were almost no signs of any kind that I saw. Only one house near us which had all D signs.

[peregrinus]

20. Pitchforks and torches

I don’t think there is much that would get an armed public out into the streets to fight the Trump coup. But I think that would be one of them.

[Sympthsical]

24. It is an unfortunate peril

That when crafting an ad campaign for others one begins believing it themselves.

There will be elections. I will bet an even $100 with every individual poster who takes me up that we will continue to have midterm and presidential elections.

I will even up the ante. I will pay each of those bets an additional $500 if Donald Trump somehow goes beyond a second term. Let's say this offer lasts until January 1st, 2025. I will bookmark, take down poster names who step up, and put it in a Google doc. Easy peasy. We can declare the results final and pay outs due on January 20th, 2029.

If people actually believe in this stuff as much as they say, let's go. Don't just doom on social media. Make easy money while doing it!

[JustAnotherGen]

42. That Maggot's

Days are numbered. He won't live the entire 4 years. Sick and old.

[Sympthsical]

44. You'd think so

Then I realize Rupert Murdoch is still alive.

Wealthy assholes sometimes have some spiteful longevity.

[JustAnotherGen]

46. Someone pointed out to me

A colostomy bag that Trump shifted when he sat down with Biden at the White House.

[uponit7771]

87. "There will be elections." ... there are "elections" in Hungary, come on people ... we need to catch up on the myriad of

... ways democracy is fragile.

[Ilikepurple]

101. Ok, I guess discussion settled

[Karasu]

26. They likely won't.

Last edited Sat Nov 16, 2024, 07:02 PM - Edit history (1)

Every political analyst I've seen asked about this over the last 4 years--even the conservatives--has stated unequivocally that if Trump is alive in 4 years, he isn't leaving office. They're absolutely going to do exactly what they've been doing for the last 8 years and change the rules to their benefit, and it's highly unlikely that they'll stop with term limits.

Mac Stipanovich, the GOP consultant who infamously advised Katherine Harris, said this:

“If Donald Trump is elected president in 2024, there is literally no predicting the future of representative democracy in America. The one thing we can be sure of, if past is prologue, is that there is no length to which he would not go to remain in power, including attempting to delay or cancel the 2028 election altogether. The man is a no-kidding existential menace to the republic.”

I think he's 100% correct, especially now that we have full GOP control. They have no incentive to relinquish it outside of adhering to rules they've made it abundantly clear they no longer care for. Frankly, we ought to be screaming this from the rooftops.

If we actually do continue to have elections, I would expect Russia-style dog and pony shows to maintain the illusion for the masses.

Heck, HuffPo also did a whole article on this last year, which I would strongly recommend reading.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-second-term-autocrat_n_64d6841ae4b03966864a12b9

[uponit7771]

85. +1, Benedict Donald already tried a violent coup with fake electors no one should give him BoD

[Karasu]

105. All these people claiming it's completely impossible clearly have too much faith in the GOP...

...and apparently haven't been paying much attention to all the precedent that's already been broken in these last 8 years alone. This is a party that no longer has any respect for democracy or democratic norms. At all.

[uponit7771]

107. RIGHT !!! .... Its not just Trump its GQP SoS's who are purging the most people they can at the latest time they can ...

... purge to keep people from voting.

Ohio SoS only had disproportionate early voting and the SC allowed some states to purge withing 90 days.

It's the party, they're against democracy because their policies are unpopular

[Intractable]

106. I don't think he'll make it four full years. His dementia will be overriding.

[AkFemDem]

30. What makes you think the ladder climbers in the GOP don't want to run for higher office?

Do you actually think everyone in the party is going to be hunky dorey with pushing aside their own ambitions?

[SidneyR]

31. The best way to run a dictatorship is to set it up so people don't even realize it's a dictatorship.

All they have to do is make it virtually impossible for their opposition to win. Firm up the gerrymandering, keep their cowed media subservient, suppress unwanted voters, and voila! It's election time in "the greatest democracy on Earth," but your vote is meaningless. You can't possibly win.

[uponit7771]

69. +1, this is **EXACTLY** what the Nazis did for the first two years is to act like there was no "Mien Kompf" written

The last 3 years was their parliament fire and Hitler got the German version of immunity with EOs

[Pesky1]

32. The Plan

I believe that this is the final rollout of the plan put forth in the famous Powell Memo of 1971 (https://reclaimdemocracy.org/powell_memo_lewis/). We don't know yet about any future elections, but I'm expecting the attempt to convert to Russian style. You know, we CERTAINLY have elections...but Putin wins,.

So whats next. Here are two things keeping me up. (1) Muzzle the free press. Like Victor Orban has been tutoring Trump how to do this. The Washington Post is already showing the way; (2) If Trump's clown car of coneheads can be forced into cabinet positions, the government will be infiltrated with maga zealots. At some point then, I expect a Reichstag fire to use as a trigger to really lock things down. At that point, we could have out Hitler.

[Shrek]

35. I saw the same kind of stuff posted here during both Bush terms and the first Trump term

And yet somehow elections kept happening and Democrats won some of them.

[uponit7771]

80. Neither attempted a text book coup with fake electors

[hadEnuf]

94. GW Bush was a dry-drunk and an idiot, but not insane.

Trump is.

Bush also never even came close to having the power that Trump will be handed in two months and look at what he was still able to do.

The media, radio and internet were not nearly as saturated with right wing propaganda as it is now.

Bush had a warped sense of democracy as most Republicans do, but Trump and his cabal are completely off the rails authoritarian.

[Doodley]

104. Did you miss the insurrection?

[Evolve Dammit]

36. Agree Prof. The genie is out of the bottle. Already told evangelicals they won't ever have to vote again. Believe him.

[Kaleva]

37. It's odd that you are here to talk politics while claiming it's meaningless

Last edited Sat Nov 16, 2024, 06:55 PM - Edit history (1)

[Karasu]

54. Eh...I don't think anyone here is claiming that politics is meaningless.

This topic is about the future of elections. Politics in general encompasses a lot more than just elections.

[Kaleva]

98. Without elections, we cannot enact our policies

So what would be the point of discussing politics?

[uponit7771]

65. People need to be warned and prepared more than being afraid ... that's a mission in itself.

[Kaleva]

99. I'm not afraid and I'm concentrating on preparing for climate change

Which is very likely to happen regardless of what Trump does or does not do.

[1WorldHope]

38. This is where we start.

?si=yla5I8ek41FzhaHV

[paleotn]

41. Because to think otherwise is to give up. I don't give up.

No offense, but that's the coward's way out.

[uponit7771]

68. We can be prepared and fight and not give up all at the same time. One way to fight is to vote early or demand mail ins

... that can be tracked if Benedict Donald tells the military to deny voting for instance.

He has immunity and a MAGA SC

[DENVERPOPS]

43. Of course there is this, if true.......

Rigged? Computer Security Experts Urge Harris To Demand Hand Recount

From the Daily KOS:

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/16/2286632/-Rigged-Computer-Security-Experts-In-Dual-Duty-To-Warn-Letters-Urge-Harris-To-Demand-Hand-Recount?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web

Much of the alarm revolves around so-called "bullet ballots". They are cast ballots with only one candidate in a single race selected and no down ballot choices made. Approximately 600,000 bullet ballot votes were logged for Donald Trump with no down ballot choices made in the seven swing states.

“In every swing state, but not in their neighbor states, voters cast 100x or more Trump bullet ballots than any prior election,” wrote Spoonamore Tuesday on “X”, a week after election day. “Where are these precincts? They are where to audit.”

North Carolina stands out as the “most extreme case” for suspect votes. More than 350,000 voters cast votes for Trump and no other race on their ballots, making up 11% of Trump bullet ballots. In all these cases, Spoonamore emphasizes, these suspect votes would have been electronically created with no paper record. Hence, the dire need for hand recounts in the seven swing states.

“It is very simple to prove this (fraud),” wrote Spoonamore in an “X” post. “Take the two most outlandish precinct results from any county and just hand count the ballots. They won't match the tabulation outputs.”
________________________________________________________________________

He has sent Harris a "Duty to Warn" letter stating she needs to question the outcome of the election. He says the presidential vote was willfully compromised. But hey, as he states pick 2 of the most ridiculous results and hand count them. If they match then no harm no foul, but if they are off by 100,000's...

[Hermit-The-Prog]

45. Of course those were rigged, but nobody is stepping up to demand it be investigated.

[DENVERPOPS]

100. Of course

Just like in 2000, 2004,2016

[Figarosmom]

49. Yep

Last edited Sat Nov 16, 2024, 07:53 PM - Edit history (2)

There are reasons he had Urbon at Mar a Lago and phone calls to Putin

Protests will be out unless you want to be gassed or shot. He already rested the gas last time he was in office, only next time it will be more lethal. I am worried that he will do something with Sharpton' s protest with private security. He did say he would be a dictator on day one. What better way to show he's serious and will put down any protest. He thinks he has total ummunity and can do whatever he wants. I don't think there will be any way back with him alive. He's already talking about a third term. Who's going to stop him? If he lives long enough ( with his diet who knows) he'll put himself in for a third term and keep on going.

And confirmation hearings? Won't happen. He's getting all these people ready so that day 1 right after he's sworn in he'll sign an order seating his cabinet choices while Congress is in recess. He's got everything set for day 1 already, that's the transition he hopes runs smoothly not the hand over from Biden.

[RandySF]

52. Unless/until that day comes

I’m gearing up for the 2025 elections.

[Groundhawg]

55. This kind of talk isn't helpful. There will be an election.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

56. Oh, nonsense.

Or should I say, complete and utter bullshit. The next election won't be cancelled.

[uponit7771]

67. FACT: Benedict Donald enters office with more immunity than Hitler when he entered chancellery, are we to ignore that?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

97. So? Remind me all the other times elections have been cancelled,

like during the Civil War and after 9/11.

Right.

[uponit7771]

108. You think we would've had an election if MAGA took over congress on J6? Does anyone remember history so we don't repeat

... the bad parts of it?!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

109. After 9/11 lot of people were saying that the election of 2004

would definitely be cancelled. Didn't happen. Won't happen in 2028.

I'm not predicting all will be sweetness and light 4 years from now, but there really will be an election. And I seriously doubt that Democrats will quietly sit around, biting their nails, watching Repubs steal it.

[BeyondGeography]

57. Holy smokes!

Someone tell New York City we can’t have an election for Mayor next November.

As.fucking.if.

50+ recs for this hysteria. Get a grip people.

[uponit7771]

70. FACT: Trump enters office with more power (immunity and EOs) than Hitler entered the chancellery

[JoseBalow]

59. They would prefer the illusion of legitimacy

It's all about appearances and the veneer of legitimacy.

But if came down to it, they would be fine with doing away with elections if it was in their best interest.

Even Putin holds "election" events.

[uponit7771]

88. +1, the Reichstag fire gave Hitler immunity and EOs he didn't have before incident. Trump has that now without a fire

[Mr. Evil]

61. It always seems

the Democrats immediately capitulate and roll over like a lost puppy against a hungry wolf.

They always think if we just play by the rules and be nice everyone will see all the goodwill we offer. When someone finds me a Russian instigator of this bullshit and all the republican traitors that will be hanged for treason, wake me from my drunken stupor.

The Russian and American oligarchs have won. We're fucked. As the evangelicals like to believe, the masses are to be born into servitude to the chosen. In other words, we're seen as worker drones to the super-rich so they can become even more super-richer.

As V said in the movie V For Vendetta "Violence can be used for good."

[claudette]

66. Because there is a

movement called “Democracy Forward” which is formed to protect us. Heard this on John Fugelsang’s podcast. The rep was very intelligent and she was convincing. I was so relieved to hear her speak and read this website. Here is the website.

https://democracyforward.org/updates/280-organization-coalition-launches-multimillion-dollar-legal-effort-to-combat-threats-to-people-democracy-expected-in-trump-vance-administration/

John’s podcast entitled “Camelot to Scamalot ” is on I Heart Radio.

[Loupe Garoue]

81. Have you seen and shared this letter?

https://open.substack.com/pub/spoonamore/p/duty-to-warn-letter-to-vp-harris?r=d569l&utm_medium=ios

[kirby]

89. There are elections in facist countries...

The incumbent normally gets like >90%, but there are still elections. They gerrymander and add restrictions and use intimidation. Even in Russia there was an election and Putin 'won' with 88%.