# Did Anyone Watch BOTH Town Halls? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 16, 2020, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102 "2020-10-16T11:50:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/81 "2020-10-16T23:10:47Z")
I’m an author, so people that are curious. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/82 "2020-10-16T23:12:51Z")
Durned if I know. I am not sure who _is_ undecided at this point and what they are undecided between, which I why I asked who seriously is the only self-declared undecided person I have come across in real life or online. There’s definitely [fewer of them](https://www.thestreet.com/mishtalk/politics/what-s-different-about-2020-vs-2016-undecided-voters-fuh8eSW2DUuOjwUkCdNZmg/2020-10-16T10:09:39.5931450Z/xsM41YhQRUWWmeK-WuaHVg/vqGSrYDjGEKPtMlh4UWYzA) this time. > [@](#): > > Reuters/Ipsos polling conducted between Oct. 9-13 shows there are far fewer undecided voters this year, and they are just as likely to pick Biden as they are Trump. … only about 8% of likely voters appear to be undecided, saying either that they do not know whom to support or that they are thinking about backing a third-party candidate. > > Four years ago at this stage of the campaign, more than twice as many people were similarly wavering between Trump and his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, injecting a volatile element late into a race that Clinton had been expected to win. … [CNBC says](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/16/gop-pollster-frank-luntz-on-trump-biden-town-halls-undecided-voters.html) they are voters who “dislike Trump but fear Biden’s policies”. [The Economist](https://www.economist.com/united-states/2020/10/16/joe-biden-could-get-a-boost-from-undecided-voters) agrees with you, an thinks they are more likely to swing to Biden than anything else. But I’d love to hear the thought process from a real live endangered critter! Before we release him back into the wild. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/83 "2020-10-16T23:14:57Z")
People that are curious pay you to have over twenty accounts to up vote to try to create trends that don’t really exist? Well I’m curious about that. But not gonna pay you. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/84 "2020-10-16T23:15:39Z")
I haven’t noticed ANY attention (as opposed to past years) about the Libertarian candidate, Green Party candidate (Howie Hawkins), etc etc… I just hope it’s not coercion, or simply a lack of attention, not to mention new rules to prevent 3rd parties, which seem to have disappeared after Perot. I know candidates need 5% to receive public funds… And I also think there are states with different requirements, which I think I’ve heard Kanye West’s name being mentioned, usually being disqualified. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/85 "2020-10-16T23:20:55Z")
I used the number twenty as an example… But even with less, it still forms a blueprint for new readers. If you’re curious, you should try it out. I’d love to see your results. Years ago, I would call numbers starting with my area code of course, prefix (_ **-** _-1900, followed by 1901, 1902) to ask certain questions such as “What is your favorite movie?”, but I’d keep data to compare how much my approach would affect cooperation. When I said I was doing a study, I got answers from almost everyone. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/86 "2020-10-16T23:22:41Z")
> [@MortSahlFan](#): > > I’m an author, so people that are curious. So, click bait? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2020, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/87 "2020-10-16T23:31:37Z")
Gosh gee it is interesting that you get paid to create an impression of greater interest in certain themes by having multiple accounts and up-voting specific ones. And how you, by your description, post the same thing with different preambles > [@](#): > > … something like, 'As a Bernie Sanders fan” and I’ll paste the same exact thing with Joe Biden and Donald Trump … I’m going to name that action, but I don’t think pointing out your exact words is against any guidance. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/88 "2020-10-17T02:04:46Z")
I think the OP is normalizing trumps debate style, and therefore his whole presidency. The reality that trump actually needed to be prodded to (finally at long last) provide real answers is not allowed by the OP. The OP is blaming the interviewer. This is only possible by portraying trumps world, of the last 4 years, which we have seen, as a baseline reality, and joining in the paranoia of it. It is paranoid to think trump was treated roughly. We got to start thinking about post trump and this is not a good way to do it IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/89 "2020-10-17T02:29:01Z")
When George W. Bush was doing the debates, pundits predicted that he would be outmatched and inarticulate. When it turned out that he didn’t completely suck, it came out looking like a victory. I think at some point Republican strategists started doing it on purpose; lowering the bar in advance so that it was easier for him to jump over it. It’s called “managing expectations”. I think that’s what Republicans are trying to do with Trump now. Everybody tuned in to the town hall to see Trump spew a chopped salad of words, so if he does manage a coherent sentence he looks smart in comparison. The mere fact that the event is over doesn’t mean our expectations aren’t still being managed. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/90 "2020-10-17T03:57:37Z")
> [@MortSahlFan](#): > > Yahoo used to have a comment section, and I use others… I do little experiments. For example, I’ll say the same exact thing, but I’ll add something like, “As a Bernie Sanders fan” and I’ll paste the same exact thing with Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and it’s funny how the up and down votes change because people pre-determine just on who they support, or the label they give themselves. You just confirmed the suspicions of the many here who saw your OP for the obvious pose it was. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/91 "2020-10-17T12:28:11Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I don’t like either candidate much. I’m still undecided. But you’ve narrowed it down to two, right? West is out of the picture for you? ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/92 "2020-10-17T12:44:28Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I don’t get this strategy. The now-banned **SlackerInc** would do the same thing - he’d preface his remarks with, “I hold leftwing views/I’m a progressive/whatever”…and then go on to make comments that only someone hostile to the left would want to make. Don’t have much to say about the thread otherwise but: Joe Biden isn’t “the left.” The OP here hasn’t made comments hostile to the left, except by implication in a sort of dramatically ironic sense. One of the super cool things about US politics in this particular moment is that both major parties are pretty hostile to the left, except one of them sometimes confuses references to the left with references to itself. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/93 "2020-10-17T13:03:40Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > > [@Bullitt](#): > > > > I’m still undecided. > > A sighting! There they are! The one still undecided voter!! > > 🙂 To quote Basil Fawlty, on the sighting of that rarest of creatures, a Satisfied Customer at Fawlty Towers, “we should have him stuffed.” 😁 ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/94 "2020-10-17T13:35:13Z")
Undecided voters in the US election: > **[Stephen Collins on the US election – cartoon](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/ng-interactive/2020/oct/17/stephen-collins-on-the-us-election-cartoon)** > > Pick a winner... ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/95 "2020-10-17T13:56:56Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Undecided voters in the US election:- Love the cartoon. My favorite part: _“I just can’t decide whether I prefer the human one or the reality-distorting vortex of chaos that wants me to die.”_ That’s pretty much how I see it. I don’t understand what there is to be undecided ABOUT at this late stage. What more do the undecided need to see/hear?? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/96 "2020-10-17T14:33:30Z")
> [@MortSahlFan](#): > > Yahoo used to have a comment section, and I use others… I do little experiments. For example, I’ll say the same exact thing, but I’ll add something like, “As a Bernie Sanders fan” and I’ll paste the same exact thing with Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and it’s funny how the up and down votes change because people pre-determine just on who they support, or the label they give themselves. In the above quote, you mention that you are intentionally dishonest about your political affiliation to get a response from others. That makes me wonder… in your OP, when you stated “I’m a left-winger”, was that sincere, or were you just reliving the glory days from being the shrewdest guy in the Yahoo comments section? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/97 "2020-10-17T15:02:41Z")
> [@MortSahlFan](#): > > Yahoo used to have a comment section, and I use others… I do little experiments. For example, I’ll say the same exact thing, but I’ll add something like, “As a Bernie Sanders fan” and I’ll paste the same exact thing with Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and it’s funny how the up and down votes change because people pre-determine just on who they support, or the label they give themselves. I also notice that most conform, even with opinion. If you load the sample, people follow the trend. For example, if I have 20 accounts, and I can up-vote people tend to follow that same trend with a few outliers, but then again, there are some like that on YouTube who can’t stand to see a 0 for down-votes. You can take the same comment, and do the opposite - 20 down votes, and many times people follow the trend. Moderating: IOW you are a professional troller. Suspended for two weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/98 "2020-10-17T17:19:15Z")
Okay guys: I vote for ice cream! Never cared for cyanide much. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/99 "2020-10-17T17:21:01Z")
How many scoops? 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2020, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102/100 "2020-10-17T17:57:17Z")
I don’t know. Have you REALLY weighed all the pros and cons of cyanide? I don’t know how someone could jump straight to “ice cream” without giving it any thought. I’m going to have to ponder this for awhile. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-watch-both-town-halls/923102.md?page=6)