# This is how you blow a very winnable election **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 26, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094 "2020-08-26T21:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/361 "2020-09-02T18:18:05Z")
More from Nate: > > > David Weigel @daveweigel ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/362 "2020-09-02T19:25:29Z")
> [@Earl\_McCabe](#): > > Case in point. I see that we have anecdotal evidence that use of food stamps is correlated with sympathy for “food rioting”. Food rioting can only result in decreases in the food supply, which increases prices for everyone else. Someone who is starving may not be willing to let themselves suffer so that your high-school-AP economics lesson is respected. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_McCabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@Earl\_McCabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_McCabe)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/363 "2020-09-03T02:21:47Z")
Unfortunately, food rioters make decisions that harm society at-large. Also unfortunately, there are some non-rioters that cannot secure food for themselves on the free market. These people seem to be far more [influential](https://www.redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2020/08/27/soros-da-diana-becton-requires-officers-consider-whether-a-looter-needed-stolen-goods-before-charging/), and thus they are a larger problem for our society because they support the food rioters, and they don’t seem to understand that such rioting will increase food prices. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/364 "2020-09-03T03:15:34Z")
This is all pretty academic in our country, where no one is at risk of flat-out starving to death and groceries are much cheaper as a share of average income than they were in the mid-20th century. There are a lot of problems with Big Food, factory farming, etc., but the “green revolution” really did make food plentiful and cheap. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > And the problem with that is that it encourages insurance companies to allow and even encourage healthcare cost inflation. > > The higher the medical costs, the higher the premiums they get to charge, which they get to keep 15% of. That’s fair. But I still think it was an important reform. > [@JohnT](#): > > Biden campaign is expected to announce it raised more than $310 million in August The first time I heard a mention of this on the news, I thought they said “three million” and I was like “hmm, that’s not very much”. It was hard to grasp that the number could actually be three _hundred_ million. I mean, holy shit! I actually kind of wish some of that were going to downballot races. I’m not really sure the presidential ticket needs that much or can even effectively use it. > [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > In the interests in hopefully, possibly, easing some worry about the protests helping Trump, I offer this link from Nate Silver. He ain’t especially buying it. I think it was a lot more of a risk before Biden gave that excellent speech (he should have done it sooner, but better late than never). Still, the kind of thing those protesters did as cited in the OP are never helpful and they really need to stop doing that shit or get a verbal smackdown when they do. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/365 "2020-09-03T04:05:31Z")
> [@bump](#): > > with the exception of journalistically questionable sources who are little more than his cheerleaders. The problem is, a large swath of the electorate is incapable of the critical thinking required to realize that those sources are questionable. There is still an awful large part of the population that believes “if it wasn’t true, they couldn’t say it on the tee-vee!” ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/369 "2020-09-03T16:30:27Z")
> [@Earl\_McCabe](#): > > Unfortunately, food rioters make decisions that harm society at-large. Also unfortunately, there are some non-rioters that cannot secure food for themselves on the free market. Something that people don’t really care about when they are starving. But you are correct that such things harm society at large, and so it is not only society’s moral obligation, but also in its own best interest, to not allow things to get that bad. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_McCabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@Earl\_McCabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_McCabe)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/370 "2020-09-04T00:17:39Z")
Societies don’t have moral obligations. Have leftists discarded moral relativism? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/371 "2020-09-04T00:32:25Z")
> [@Earl\_McCabe](#): > > Have leftists discarded moral relativism? Rigghhtt, it’s the ‘leftists’ that are the ‘moral relativists’! ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/372 "2020-09-04T08:10:37Z")
Rosenbaums conviction and imprisonment was in AZ [https://inmatedatasearch.azcorrections.gov/PrintInmate.aspx?ID=172556](https://inmatedatasearch.azcorrections.gov/PrintInmate.aspx?ID=172556) The thing I find a little disconcerting as a moderate dem is that three for three of the protesters has serious criminal history. Not that its a huge sample, but compared to the general population how likely are you to pull a three felon hat trick shooting 3 random people. We need better heroes than this. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/373 "2020-09-04T10:51:00Z")
I haven’t been able to find these supposed conviction records anywhere but right wing propaganda sites. How certain are you that any of this is legitimate? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/374 "2020-09-04T11:03:25Z")
On the overall question of the OP: [Trump’s Law And Order Message Isn’t Resonating With Most Americans | FiveThirtyEight](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/trumps-law-and-order-message-isnt-resonating-with-most-americans/) There’s no evidence so far that this issue is at risk of “blowing” the election. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/375 "2020-09-04T13:56:49Z")
Well, I won’t speak for others, but I never considered these guys “heroes”. I just think they are victims. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/376 "2020-09-05T01:25:27Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > There’s no evidence so far that this issue is at risk of “blowing” the election. Clearly the experienced Obama hands in the Biden campaign believed it was a serious risk, or they wouldn’t have had him come out and make the speech he did Monday, followed by taking highlights from it to cut an ad, and putting major money behind it in swing states. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/377 "2020-09-05T01:59:21Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Clearly the experienced Obama hands in the Biden campaign believed it was a serious risk, or they wouldn’t have had him come out and make the speech he did Monday, followed by taking highlights from it to cut an ad, and putting major money behind it in swing states. As I pointed before, I do think that you need to stop reinventing the political wheel. Me and others elsewhere did point that this move was to be expected, ever since 1992. IOW, you are not really countering what [iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii) said. He is pointing at evidence that shows that indeed most people are finding that it is asinine what Trump and most Republicans are doing regarding their “who is to blame” tactics. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/378 "2020-09-05T02:00:41Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > As I pointed before, I do think that you need to stop reinventing the political wheel. I don’t believe that expression means what you think it means. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/379 "2020-09-05T02:10:17Z")
To _reinvent the wheel_ is to duplicate a basic method that has already previously been created or optimized by others. It shows when one can notice how **surprised** you are when Democrats or others are doing what you suggest as if it was a new thing. Also, when there is surprise when others like **iiandyiiii** bring evidence of how many others are seeing what the Republicans are up to, even when trying to control the narrative. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/380 "2020-09-05T03:58:18Z")
Telling someone they don’t need to reinvent the wheel means you are telling them they don’t have to come up with some fancy, hitherto-unthought-of plan. I was doing nothing of the sort, so your use of that idiom made no sense. But it’s a good idea to avoid idioms in a second language for that reason (I am very proficient in French, but I steer clear of them in that langauge). ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/381 "2020-09-05T04:16:21Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I was doing nothing of the sort Again, you were surprised, many times already. The point stands, particularly when I noticed that awhile ago and you are still ignoring that Democrats did counter the same way to the asinine Republican allegations of today as they did in 1992. BTW it is rich when you insist that I’m using the idiom wrong, I got it a long time ago and checked the dictionary, you are the one getting it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/382 "2020-09-05T04:35:12Z")
No, I am definitely not. Again, the only reason to caution me not to “reinvent the wheel” is if I were advising Democrats to apply some new convoluted strategy, all to get to the same result you can achieve “the old fashioned way”. That’s definitely not what happened here. (What actually happened is that Biden did just what I’ve been urging him to do.) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2020, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094/383 "2020-09-05T05:14:43Z")
The old fashioned way you were talking about was the hapless one from 1968. Clearly you were surprised in this thread by going “😍” when finally noticing what Biden and Harris are doing now, when it was a tactic that worked in 1992. No need to urge Biden, and I really don’t think you talked to him about that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-how-you-blow-a-very-winnable-election/919094.md?page=20)