Presidential Election.

[Dawn.]

Who are you going to vote for for the 2020 American Presidential Election? Why?

I am voting for Biden.

Trump is inciting violence and the Proud Boys are already taking in his slogan "Stand back, stand by." At this point anyone that supports is a white nationalist or condones white nationalism.

[Dawn.]

Originally Posted by .:Bibliophile:.

I am voting for Biden.

Trump is inciting violence and the Proud Boys are already taking in his slogan "Stand back, stand by." At this point anyone that supports is a white nationalist or condones white nationalism.

I don't know much about Proud Boys but am I right in saying they are rednecks?

The Proud Boys are a White Supremacist group.

I am voting for Biden, because he's the lesser of two evils.

My preferred candidate dropped out right before my state's primaries. But I'd already submitted my vote, so it was null.

[Celyn]

I know I don't live in America, but yesterday I saw part of the televised debate and wow, that was shockingly bad! Hope Trump doesn't get re-elected!

[Dawn.]

The media are saying it's the worst Presidential Debate.

[Proud90sKid]

I am voting for Donald Trump. Why? Because he doesn’t want to do another national shutdown. Also, many of the issues I am actually liberal on- Biden is conservative on.

[Ennui.]

Biden. I have more agreement over his views on things such as healthcare. Plus he's the lesser of the two evils.

[asian persuasion]

Most likely Biden, though I would not necessarily choose him by my own means. The two-party system is hugely flawed and I do not align with Trump nor Biden/Democratic party. Should I have to be voting for the lesser of two evils? No. But here we are in 2020.

Like in an ideal world, I would vote for whoever the closest there is to a socialist candidate. I just think that people in this country should have access to basic needs like food, healthcare, education, housing, etc. Is that too much to ask for?

Will never support Trump. He backs white supremacist groups and as a person of this color in this country, why would I vote for someone who literally is against my existance?

[Blackwing]

Like 2016 I'll vote independent again
I wish dems picked people who weren't controversial

[MWF]

I dont like Joe Biden at all, but I'd vote for a can of soup over Donald Trump.
I will despise the Democratic Party forever for screwing over Bernie Sanders in the primary. That said, Donald Trump turned Covid into a political issue, tossed out the USPS plan to provide masks for everyone, and did almost nothing to help the workers who are desperate for food and money. 7.5 million people got Covid in America and over 200,000 people have died from it. Frankly, a lot of that is directly his fault.

[Dawn.]

I don't live in the US but I'm hoping Donald Trump doesn't get re-elected.

[Dawn.]

I'm curious to know who is currently winning the polls?

[MWF]

There's an easy answer to that but I think you need some more context for what's going on here.
Short answer: Biden's crushing Trump in national polling and swing state polling (which decides who wins the electoral college and the presidency). Biden has barely had to do any campaigning to stay ahead of Trump since he was nominated. It's not like 2016, where the polls showed Trump just a little behind Hillary.

HOWEVER:
Trump has been complaining about nonexistent threats of "voter fraud" ahead of the election. He's been complaining that voting by mail is fraudulent even though its more secure than in-person voting. He's doing this because significantly more Democrats have been voting by mail out of concern for Covid. The biggest fear I have is that because it takes longer to process mail-in votes than in-person votes, it might look like Donald Trump is winning on election day before the mail-in votes are fully processed. If Biden comes back and wins after all the votes are counted, Trump will say the election was a fraud. This is an extremely scary scenario because there are a large number of right-wing terrorist militias and white supremacy terrorist groups in the United States that support Trump. During the last debate, the moderator asked Trump to tell those groups to stand down. Instead Trump said that most of the violence is coming from the left wing (its not) and then when asked to denounce the Proud Boys, an extremist group, he said, "stand back and stand by, but somebody's gotta do something about Antifa and the left".
The FBI caught one right-wing militia group in Michigan plotting to kidnap and kill at least two Democratic governors on election night.
November is gonna be really, REALLY bad.

The fact that people are watching the dumpster fire that is America continue to burst into greater flame as if it's reality TV and not the reality on the fate of America is extremely upsetting.

Instead of just standing by and LOL/create non-existent speculation and controversy, how about you actually raise awareness not only for your native friends, but also do the same for the ones in America who might be indecisive in regards as to they should vote for.

People are saying Biden is just as bad as Trump; but in what way exactly? People — those in America and overseas — need to educate themselves on just how Joe Biden is the better choice for America, as opposed to Trump who could drive this country to the ground in the next four years if elected.

Off the top of my head, I can only think of one way Biden is as bad as Trump. However — and I could be totally wrong here — unlike Trump, Biden does not boast and brag about what he's done or degrade the people he's hurt.

That's my rant of the day. Carry on.

[Dawn.]

Who do you think will win?

Let's say there are 100 regularly active users — coming on here at least twice a week.
Of those one hundred users, I am sure 98 of them want Biden to win. The other two...

But again, this is not a show. This is the scary reality of what's going on in America. It's so important for both foreigners and those on American soil to research and understand why we need to make the vote everyone has been pushing so hard for since the spring.

I'm going to end this here before I go off on a tangent that can be perceived as anti-American.

Just please, educate yourselves. Understand why people are saying #SettleForBiden & #BlueWave.

I cannot say who is going to win. I think Biden has a good chance and I know that a lot of early voters have come out and the number is higher than 2016. I also know they are saying that majority of the early voters are democratic. However, that does not mean that election night we will not see a Trump victory.

I do fear for America if Trump wins. We are already seeing a rise in coronavirus cases again and they're saying it could be bad because we are coming into Flu season. Too many people are under the impression that COVID is not a big deal and the current 'president' can be to blame. If he wins I anticipate COVID lasting a lot of next year and I also think that if a vaccine gets announced that he is pushing, a lot of people will not get it. I would be one of those people.

[Fanatic]

I've voted already and I voted for Trump because Biden seems like the evil in this one. Trump has been doing a good job unlike what others are saying about him.

[MWF]

Originally Posted by Fanatic

I've voted already and I voted for Trump because Biden seems like the evil in this one. Trump has been doing a good job unlike what others are saying about him.

In what ways do you think he's doing a good job? I'm not being flippant, I'm actually just curious.

[Fanatic]

Originally Posted by MWF

In what ways do you think he's doing a good job? I'm not being flippant, I'm actually just curious.

I would say the same for voting for Biden. Already voted so not taking it back #trump2020

[Dawn.]

Originally Posted by MWF

In what ways do you think he's doing a good job? I'm not being flippant, I'm actually just curious.

I was curious to know as well.

[MWF]

Originally Posted by Fanatic

I would say the same for voting for Biden. Already voted so not taking it back #trump2020

Biden's not the president, he isn't doing a job.

You keep saying Trump has made inappropriate comments. I'm assuming — and I respect that as you are on the Autism spectrum, as am I — you mean him using the "R" word more than once. As someone who was called that slur repetitively as a child and has been bothered for it by years; Trump using that word is the least of my issues with him. Of course, he's a grown man, not an eight year old, and shouldn't be throwing the "R" word around and making 'gimp' gestures; but looking at everything else, those are nothing.

Mind you, I am the first to jump down someone's throat breathing fire and throwing daggers when someone throws around the "R" word; but Trump is Trump and he is affecting a lot more people that just those with differences in abilities.

He pushed for the Supreme Court to introduce a new person to Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat just weeks after she passed away with no regard to her dying wish. RBG made huge changes in women sexual health and reproductive rights; and this new person is going to reverse everything Bader-Ginsburg has worked so hard for. That, I think, is the biggest thing we — women, specifically, who want autonomous control over our bodies — are struggling with right now.

So, saying he made the right decision in pushing the SC to make the vote is so ridiculous.

[Ennui.]

I voted today! They gave me a suffrage sticker that says "Equality is the sacred law of humanity."
Believe it or not, some people on my city's Facebook page were complaining about the sticker, or for not getting one at all.

I voted against hate, racism, bigotry and violence. The right wants to keep that alive by screaming about policitical correctness and all that. The fact is, Trump condones white nationalism, he's made racist and disparaging comments. To vote for him is to condone this and it is passive racism. People who are voting for Trump might not realize it but by saying yes to him, they are condoning what he stands for.

[Fanatic]

Originally Posted by .:Bibliophile:.

I voted against hate, racism, bigotry and violence. The right wants to keep that alive by screaming about policitical correctness and all that. The fact is, Trump condones white nationalism, he's made racist and disparaging comments. To vote for him is to condone this and it is passive racism. People who are voting for Trump might not realize it but by saying yes to him, they are condoning what he stands for.

How? I am curious how it is racist to vote for him. Every American is entitled to their own opinion so to say this I think the real hate and racist one comes from the one who talks about it so lightly like how you have.

[Blackwing]

This race is really close this year

[Rivière]

Originally Posted by Fanatic

How? I am curious how it is racist to vote for him. Every American is entitled to their own opinion so to say this I think the real hate and racist one comes from the one who talks about it so lightly like how you have.

My interpretation of the comment, as a non-US person, is that, given Trump has passed racist remarks, made derogatory comments towards women and those with disabilities and so on, anyone who voted for him, is supporting such ideology.

Whether this is the reason for voting for him or not, to those whom have suffered because of him, will not see the situation any other way.

It's like when the UK held a referendum on whether or not the leave the European Union. The majority of those who voted Leave, did so because of views on immigration. I too voted Leave, but not for such reasons. Given my vote, I'm instantly tarred with the same brush, and likely viewed as some immigrant-hating racist. This is not the case.

This section of the forum is to discuss and express opinions and views.

In some earlier posts, a couple of members were curious on why you voted for Trump. There was no aggression or dislike, just a genuine desire to see your side of the story. You had the perfect opportunity to express, and explain the positive points on why Donald Trump has your vote, yet for some reason, you responded in a way that wasn't even related, nor even helpful. Perhaps if you could re-read, and answer more appropriately, it may help clear the air.

Originally Posted by Rivière

My interpretation of the comment, as a non-US person, is that, given Trump has passed racist remarks, made derogatory comments towards women and those with disabilities and so on, anyone who voted for him, is supporting such ideology.

Whether this is the reason for voting for him or not, to those whom have suffered because of him, will not see the situation any other way.

It's like when the UK held a referendum on whether or not the leave the European Union. The majority of those who voted Leave, did so because of views on immigration. I too voted Leave, but not for such reasons. Given my vote, I'm instantly tarred with the same brush, and likely viewed as some immigrant-hating racist. This is not the case.

This section of the forum is to discuss and express opinions and views.

In some earlier posts, a couple of members were curious on why you voted for Trump. There was no aggression or dislike, just a genuine desire to see your side of the story. You had the perfect opportunity to express, and explain the positive points on why Donald Trump has your vote, yet for some reason, you responded in a way that wasn't even related, nor even helpful. Perhaps if you could re-read, and answer more appropriately, it may help clear the air.

This.

You can try and call me racist all you want. I have no need to defend it. I know myself, my values etc. Those around me know them as well.

[Fanatic]

Originally Posted by Rivière

My interpretation of the comment, as a non-US person, is that, given Trump has passed racist remarks, made derogatory comments towards women and those with disabilities and so on, anyone who voted for him, is supporting such ideology.

Whether this is the reason for voting for him or not, to those whom have suffered because of him, will not see the situation any other way.

It's like when the UK held a referendum on whether or not the leave the European Union. The majority of those who voted Leave, did so because of views on immigration. I too voted Leave, but not for such reasons. Given my vote, I'm instantly tarred with the same brush, and likely viewed as some immigrant-hating racist. This is not the case.

This section of the forum is to discuss and express opinions and views.

In some earlier posts, a couple of members were curious on why you voted for Trump. There was no aggression or dislike, just a genuine desire to see your side of the story. You had the perfect opportunity to express, and explain the positive points on why Donald Trump has your vote, yet for some reason, you responded in a way that wasn't even related, nor even helpful. Perhaps if you could re-read, and answer more appropriately, it may help clear the air.

I have nothing to prove to you or anyone because it is not like it will change your mind. The people who were “curious” were just baiting into an argument which is what I didn’t intend. I’m allowed to my own opinion [Edited].

Originally Posted by Amaranthus

Personally, as a disabled woman, I disagree. I know people who have voted both ways, and they are still my friends and family. The essence of a person cannot be reduced to a single moment in time. And honestly, I've seen a lot of people on the left make some incredibly ableist comments (a lot of the rhetoric that comes out of identity politics strikes me this way as an autistic person), so no side is immune. Plus, Biden has also made racist comments, like saying that the entire black community thinks the same way. Both sides are bigoted.

Trump has also condemned white nationalism a few times now. However, it is also true that he is probably one of the most inarticulate people I've ever met in my life, and so yes, he often says things that come across the wrong way. With that said, Richard Spencer, a self-avowed white nationalist, actually voted for Biden.

Personally, I think saying that any and all people who voted for Trump automatically support white nationalism and are racist, is pretty aggressive. I've seen quite a bit of aggression in these threads, but that might just be my own personal perception.

Identity politics does not exist. There's more I could say but it might come off as rude and I'd rather refrain.

Trumps come out against white nationalists a few times bht all you have to do is look at his wording on things... The way he calls BLM protestors thugs but the white men in Michigan who stormed the capital were good men. The way he told the proud Boys to stand back, stand by.

Then let's go to the way he condoned the caravan of white protesters who harassed the Biden bus in Texas. They had to cancel. We all know that BLM is condemned for blocking traffic and if Obama had condoned something like that it would have been the end of the world. I could go on and on.

The fact is that Trump condones racism and those that voted for him chose to look past that and say 'no worries'. That is a fact and many people don't like facts that's one of the biggest things trump is counting on and its why his #fakenewsmedia has gotten so far. His supporters like to toss out all fact and say it's fake news.

[MWF]

[/quote]
Trump has been complaining about nonexistent threats of "voter fraud" ahead of the election. He's been complaining that voting by mail is fraudulent even though its more secure than in-person voting. He's doing this because significantly more Democrats have been voting by mail out of concern for Covid. The biggest fear I have is that because it takes longer to process mail-in votes than in-person votes, it might look like Donald Trump is winning on election day before the mail-in votes are fully processed. If Biden comes back and wins after all the votes are counted, Trump will say the election was a fraud. This is an extremely scary scenario because there are a large number of right-wing terrorist militias and white supremacy terrorist groups in the United States that support Trump. During the last debate, the moderator asked Trump to tell those groups to stand down. Instead Trump said that most of the violence is coming from the left wing (its not) and then when asked to denounce the Proud Boys, an extremist group, he said, "stand back and stand by, but somebody's gotta do something about Antifa and the left".
The FBI caught one right-wing militia group in Michigan plotting to kidnap and kill at least two Democratic governors on election night.
November is gonna be really, REALLY bad.[/quote]

I said this before and I'm reiterating it because the 'red mirage' scenario seems to be taking effect. Michigan and Wisconsin are flipping for Biden now that the mail-in ballots are being counted and there's an excellent chance Georgia and Pennsylvania do to. This race was way too close for comfort and I'm never gonna trust a poll again.

I am curious what people think about Trump and his supporters now?

Don Jr posted on Twitter stating they should go to total war over the results: https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost....-election/amp/

Bannon got banned from Twitter: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn...ion/index.html

There are Trump supporters at the elections offices and some are armed: https://theintercept.com/2020/11/05/...es-rumors-fly/

How have BLM been condemned and this is okay? How can anyone condone this?

[Rivière]

Originally Posted by .:Bibliophile:.

I am curious what people think about Trump and his supporters now?

Don Jr posted on Twitter stating they should go to total war over the results: https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost....-election/amp/

Bannon got banned from Twitter: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn...ion/index.html

There are Trump supporters at the elections offices and some are armed: https://theintercept.com/2020/11/05/...es-rumors-fly/

How have BLM been condemned and this is okay? How can anyone condone this?

I watch a lot of his live press conferences and keep up with his Tweets. I already have a low opinion of him.

Given that the current standing is 253 to 214... it's starting to show in his behaviour. He tells people he wants the counting to stop (which... you know... would mean he loses the election. What a smart president!). He wants to stop the count. He claim that mail-in ballots are plagued with illegal ballots and that there are 'mystery ballots' (what???). He started filing lawsuits because of unsupported claims of illegal ballots and so on. He holds a press conference, to which, I believe for the first time ever, he didn't even bother to stay for questions. He just read off some panicked script he came up with and dashed off. As Jim Acosta rightfully asked him, 'Are you a sore loser?' - He is. He's panicking so hard that he realises he has a huge chance to lose the election, and how he's pulling anything and everything out of his behind to put fear into his fans.

It's really quit shameful, manipulating his fanbase into believing that a democratic system of mail-in ballots should be abolished just because the Democrat supporters primarily used it. How is that democracy? That's just control. In addition, Trump was a user of mail-in ballots. Now he wants to get rid of them just because his opponent's supporters use them far more? Further, from what I understand, the reason why democratic supporters used mail-in ballots more, was because those supporting democrats saw Coronavirus as a threat, and didn't want to risk catching it, which was why there was a considerably higher amount of them this year.

All in all, the man is behaving like a manchild. He's throwing his toys out of the pram because he realises he's finished if Pennsylvania turns blue. It was greatly anticipated he'd moan about fake or illegal ballots. As soon as something goes wrong, he blows up like a whiny child. But then I don't expect much from the guy who compared America to Germany and said how Americans who die of cancer should have COVID on their death certificate 'so they can get more money'. At this point it's basically endorsing the benefit of dying of corona, and caring about money rather than a human life.

[MWF]

^^^Nailed it. He's been telegraphing every way he's going to try to invalidate votes for months. It primes his base to agree with his so-called logic, but it prepares the Democrats and invalidates his potential legal arguments. When he tries to do a lawsuit alleging impropriety or fraud, even the right-wing judges call BS. He's also been saying he's gonna try to put this before the Supreme Court to give him the election. Even a right-wing Supreme Court like the one we have now is gonna toss that case. He's gonna get beat by at least 5 million votes and he'd have to invalidate votes in like four states to win the electoral college.

The people screaming at the poll workers are driving me nuts. They're spreading silly conspiracies nonstop as they watch the votes get counted. The dumbest one I saw was Steven Crowder filming a guy at 4AM that showed up to a polling place with a wagon and a box. He claimed it was a box of illegal votes without checking or providing evidence at all, and it turned out it was just a photographer with their camera in the box. All the conspiracies they're spreading are about that stupid and even if there actually was fraud going on, they've cried wolf so many times that its becoming impossible to believe anything they say at all.

All identity politics is, is white people's cries at being called out on their racism. That's why we've been hearing about it more the the past four years than we ever have. Trump has gotten off on scaring his base and making them hate people who are telling them that they need to reevaluate their thinking. He is enabling them to continue benefitting from a system that is notorious for oppressing people of color especially black men and woman.

There is no distinguishing. At this point, anyone who made the choice to vote for Trump and ignore his racism, calls for violence and all that...don't get a pass. Condoning it or giving people a pass on it is just as wrong as if we had made the choice to vote for Trump. Being silent in the face of oppression is wrong and I won't be silent. I am going to call it out any time I see it. This year has left me seeing even more of the racism and hate and this election shows that the vast majority of white Americans don't care about Trumps racism. If we don't call it out we will continue to see a rise in the acceptance of the racism and hate and that's not acceptable. Trump should have never happened but the majority of white men and woman knew they'd benefit from Trumps presidency and so they looked past everything which is passive racism. I'm done coddling the right and trying to rationalize them and make them understand why Trump is bad. They've seen everything and chose to continue to vote for him and I'm gonna call out the racism.

To be silent would be just as bad as it was for the Germans to say and do nothing when Hitler was coming to power.

I'm hearing Trump supporters who are upset with the way he's handling this election and I can't even wrap my head around it. They were okay looking past his blatant racism, his inciting of violence, his bullying and abusive behavior, his birther conspiracy but this is what is turning them off? To me, that says a lot about what these voters value and it isn't treating other humans with dignity and respect.

At the end of the day, this election was not political, it was an election about values, morality and ethics and unsurpringly, more white men and woman chose to vote for Trump then in the last election. That's hard to get past. That's hard to wrap my head around. I've lost great respect for a dear friend (more like family) who has been a vocal defendent of Trump. My opinion of him changed but I'm still trying to wrap my head around it and determine how I proceed with the friendship. Some people say to cut him off because he won't learn and they might be right. I'm choosing to remain friends with him and try to educate him and hope that he can see how voting for Trump was a passively racist thing to do and in many ways its just as bad as being blatantly racist.

I'm not sure how we move forward from this seeing how racist and bigoted the country is but all I know is we can no longer be silent about it and we must call it out. That's what I will continue to do and hope that people change.

I'd also like to add that no where in my interactions was I rude to you. I know a lot of people get upset when I explain that voting for Trump was passively racist but we've gotta call a spade a spade. We cannot move forward until the people who allowed Trump understand how it was harmful and wrong.

Originally Posted by Fanatic

I have nothing to prove to you or anyone because it is not like it will change your mind. The people who were “curious” were just baiting into an argument which is what I didn’t intend. I’m allowed to my own opinion [Edited].

It's weird you're asking me to prove my point but you won't prove your points? Huh?

[Rivière]

Originally Posted by Fanatic

I have nothing to prove to you or anyone because it is not like it will change your mind. The people who were “curious” were just baiting into an argument which is what I didn’t intend. I’m allowed to my own opinion so don’t act like a child if I don’t give you the answer you wanted.

With respect, I never expected you to prove anything to me or anyone else. I can't speak on behalf of those who were seeking your views and reasoning for voting for Donald Trump, so have no opinion on the matter.

With all of that said, I recognise that discussions involving Donald Trump (and political views in general) can become heated due to difference of opinion. I understand that Trump is someone who one either likes or hates. I can only assume that perhaps you've been attacked or berated in some way over your opinions before and so understand your need for such a defencive behaviour. I get it. It's frustrating when people don't see your side of the story and when you do try and explain, it exacerbates the situation further. Here you felt the same thing would happen so chose not to respond and that is perfectly fair and good.

The reason why I weighed in on the situation was because it's very clear the discussion was getting heated due to differences in views. If you didn't want to respond to whose wanting to know your opinion, you have the right to say No.

I apologise if the way I had written my response to you came across as if I were aggressive. It genuinely wasn't intended that way. However, please do not make statements that I am acting like a child. That is unnecessary and uncalled for. I made one reply. One in which I demonstrated that I saw both sides of the story, and that includes yours.

[hocus pocus]

Hi all,

I know 2020 has been a very difficult year for so many people and things can quickly become heated. I wanted to post a reminder to be respectful to others at all times. Posting guidelines can be found in TeenHelp's Code of Conduct.

TeenHelp is a place where opinions can be shared yet should be respected. It is important to respect the views of others even if you do not agree with them. Disagreements come up often and this is the perfect place to practice how you cope with them. If you ever need help on deciding whether to post something please feel free to ask. Something that may help when you're considering what to say is to think about how it would make you feel if someone said the same thing to you. If you would feel hurt, it probably means that you should not post.

It might help to remember that our opinions are just that: opinions. They aren't necessarily true or false, but are our own thoughts. Stating this (e.g. "I feel", "In my opinion", or "I think") could lower some tension that has been felt.

If you become frustrated, consider taking a step back and walking away for a while. Maybe go outside and get some fresh air, take a few deep breaths, or spend time with a pet. We're all human and we all deserve to be treated with kindness. If you're having difficulty being kind, take a step back and practice some self-care before returning.