Oh golly jeepers! You could just knock me over with a feather! I must sit down now.
:smack: … Get ready, what follows is really hard to believe. I feel…vapors…coming on…
“Users from pro-Trump communities on 4chan and Reddit implored fellow members to vote for lower-polling candidates in online polls, specifically Tulsi Gabbard and Bill de Blasio, in the hours after Wednesday’s Democratic debate — a sign that digital manipulation efforts related to U.S. politics and elections remain very much alive.”
One more quote from that, in case you don’t feel like clicking the link:
“Users on 4chan’s anonymous far-right /pol/message board repeatedly posted links to polls across the web, encouraging one another to “blow the polls out” for Gabbard, the congresswoman from Hawaii who has developed a substantial support base among many of its users.
The posts pointed users toward polls on national news websites like the Drudge Report, The Washington Examiner…”
Drudge, Washington Examiner. Boy, that sure rings a bell.
I think what people see is the a range of visual and aural data. I suspect voice is a thing, but so is passion, energy, enthusiasm, and looking like you know what you’re talking about. I would agree that Warren’s style and mannerisms could work against her once we get away from the Democratic partisans, but as someone who doesn’t really want Warren to win the nomination, I thought she looked and sounded pretty solid last night.
Ovearall, a lot of the people who I don’t think are really strong general candidates did better than I expected them to. Not a De Blasio guy, but I thought he looked good. Not a Gabbard fan, but thought she mostly held her own except for her opening remarks. Booker was passionate but he really went to the identity politics a little too much, IMO.
By contrast, I think everything Beto and Ryan did last night looked strained, forced, painful. Beto looked like he was going to gag on his own Spanish vocabulary a few times. Ryan just looked like he had pulled over by the police or like he was about to be mugged. I thought he was going to put his hands up and throw his wallet on the floor.
What Castro did last night was take him to task on an issue about immigration at the border, not immigration as a whole. But Beto instead of rebutting him he just kept trying to double down on his “bigger picture talk into the camera” theme. Castro brought up specifics, clearly doing his homework to get the upper hand since both are Texans. Beto stuck to the script. It’s canned.
I really like Liz. I don’t think she stands a chance against Donald, but I still love her fire and passion.
I didn’t know anything about Booker - he impressed me favorably.
I liked Delaney cos he was an entrepreneur, and I liked that he seemed more bipartisan and concerned with what the important voters actually care about. It’s a shame he probably doesn’t stand a chance to get the nomination. Although, honestly, I don’t think anyone can beat Trumpyskin, so it doesn’t matter.
I like Gabbard better than Harris, but don’t super like either one. I don’t get why people are so hard on Beto, although I think Castro did a great job, and I liked him, too.
Inslee was very passionate, also, but he’s up there campaigning on what’s most important to him, not on what’s most important to Joe the plumber. Diblasio was okay. I don’t remember Tim. And I thought Amy lacked passion or energy.
Tonight we get Bernie, so that will be fun. I like Bernie but I think he’s too old. I really like Pete, and I hope he runs again after Trump is through.
She is the one Democratic candidate I can’t support. And the support she is getting from the MAGAs today as she is being pushed forward by the right wing makes me very suspicious about her. Particularly in light of Russia apparently favoring her.
I hate this format. Everyone wants to chime in and/or interrupt just to show how much of a tough guy or gal he or she is and if you are polite and wait your turn you look like a weakling.
I have been pretty hard on Mayor Pete, but I gotta give him props. “We also need to make sure people can afford NOT to go to college” is a great line. Agreed! “Medicare for all who want it” is also good. He has great potential, but he needs seasoning.
1,000 percent. It’s mystifying to me that so many people apparently can’t hear this. And it’s not a gender thing: Harris sounds better than most of the men. Marianne Williamson is actually impressing me. Gillibrand isn’t bad either.
Kamala is impressing me. I could possibly envision a Harris-Buttegieg ticket. Williamson and Bennett and Swalwell make me cringe whenever they open their mouths. Biden and Bernie are causing no harm, which I feel like is the best they can hope for tonight. The rest of them are just taking up space on the stage, imo.
This is definitely the night of the alpha personalities.
ETA: Mayor Pete’s (no doubt very carefully rehearsed) speech before that seemed huge at the time. That seems like forever ago, even though it was…ten minutes?
Every one of them is more or less guilty of dodging questions, but the worst is Bernie. Everything he’s said has been in response to a question that wasnt asked.
I think Harris probably stands out as the lone winner. Buttigieg did pretty well until he got hit wiht that question about his police force, but he probably responded to it well enough.
