# Why I will drink heavily on Election Day

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [October 12, 2023, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434 "2023-10-12T03:33:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 19\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/21 "2023-10-13T02:59:29Z")

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The last presidential election, my son and I went to the movie theater to distract ourselves, and it worked quite well. Suspect we will be doing that again.

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**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/22 "2023-10-13T03:17:38Z")

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> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> There’s absolutely no reason to start drinking heavily on Election Day, when there’s ample reason to up your intake much earlier

Well, sure, I suppose some people need a _reason_ …

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**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/23 "2023-10-13T03:50:48Z")

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With the OP’s eyebrow-cocking contention about student debt being a worse crisis than the 2008 mortgage crisis notwithstanding, I just wanted to add that on Tuesday, Nov. 5/24 I just might possibly entertain the idea of long-sworn-against boilermakers.

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**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/24 "2023-10-13T09:30:42Z")

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> [@Saint\_Cad](#):
>
> I have despised Biden since the 80s.

What happened? Did his dog bite you?

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/25 "2023-10-13T13:38:11Z")

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Shoulda left the dog on the roof of the car longer. Once they get good and chilled through they’re much less vicious.

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/26 "2023-10-13T13:50:45Z")

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> [@Saint\_Cad](#):
>
> Why are you drinking to near alcohol poisoning on November 5, 2024?

Well, last election I was in rehab, so no drinking there! That said, I had just completely tuned out the election as something beyond my control and not worth stressing about, and it worked well enough for me. I’ll be doing the same next year. I’ll vote, and that’s about as much of a fuck as I’m gonna give. It’s not worth the stress or my sanity. Whoever wins, wins. I made it through four years of Trump; I can make it through four more if I need to.

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**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/27 "2023-10-13T14:05:33Z")

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> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Whoever wins, wins. I made it through four years of Trump; I can make it through four more if I need to.

Here’s hoping the same for all of us!

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**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/28 "2023-10-13T14:15:59Z")

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> [@Cheesesteak](#):
>
> Why? I mean, I get that he’s a politician, and maybe his policies don’t align with yours, but as far as politicians go, his career is not one that screams “despise me”, it more like quietly indicates “competent guy from Delaware”.

Delaware is kind of the problem, with its tax laws that lean towards “haven” status. Corporations registered in Delaware that don’t do business in the state don’t have to pay corporate income tax. Such corporations include credit card companies and banks behind student loans. It’s good that Biden is making a serious effort to address (some) student loan debt, but lobbying in Delaware is one reason that student loans are one (the only?) debt that’s not helped a whit by declaring bankruptcy. There are generations of people struggling under debt, not just the student kind, who can lay the blame at the feet of Biden cozying up to predatory financial institutions to keep them in the state.

That said, I’m really in the “get him elected a second time, then hope he bows out one way or another in short order and Harris takes over” camp.

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**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 13, 2023, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/29 "2023-10-13T14:49:57Z")

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> [@veryfrank](#):
>
> It’s good that Biden is making a serious effort to address (some) student loan debt, but lobbying in Delaware is one reason that student loans are one (the only?) debt that’s not helped a whit by declaring bankruptcy.

The reason student loans aren’t dischargeable in bankruptcy is that they’re the most likely loans to be discharged in a purposeful strategic bankruptcy. i.e. I get a fancy education, but as a new grad I have almost no income and no assets, so an intentional bankruptcy is a good strategy. It costs me nothing except a derogatory credit report 7 years, but who cares, I don’t yet have the income or down payment to support a house purchase. 7 years is about the right span of time to make those preparations, so bankruptcy it is.

If you want to say college should be free, I’ll be the first one to get on board with that, but not using a farce of a loan system as a vehicle. That situation would unfairly privilege people with enough sources of gifts or income to survive without credit. Just make it equally free for everyone.

> [@](#):
>
> There are generations of people struggling under debt, not just the student kind, who can lay the blame at the feet of Biden cozying up to predatory financial institutions to keep them in the state.

What? That doesn’t make sense. You just explained why Delaware’s state tax policy keeps businesses i Delaware, but in the next breath you suggest they’re actually staying there because Biden is somehow influencing them? Biden was a US Senator. As such he never had any involvement in drafting or passing Delaware’s sketchy tax code, not to mention the fact that most of those policies were effected decades before Biden was even born.

Student loan forgiveness is an important topic but it sure does generate a lot of _weird_ takes.

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**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/30 "2023-10-13T15:06:35Z")

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> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#):
>
> What? That doesn’t make sense. You just explained why Delaware’s state tax policy keeps businesses i Delaware, but in the next breath you suggest they’re actually staying there because Biden is somehow influencing them? Biden was a US Senator. As such he never had any involvement in drafting or passing Delaware’s sketchy tax code, not to mention the fact that most of those policies were effected decades before Biden was even born.

My memory was fuzzy enough to muddle what I was trying to say…it’s more of a deregulation issue which inevitably bites consumers, particularly in a collapse like the 2008 one. [This article in Mother Jones](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/11/biden-bankruptcy-president/) is a good one about the kinds of banking “you scratch my back” shenanigans have gone on in the state over the years. To his credit, the article quotes Biden as saying that he regrets supporting Glass-Steagall.

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/31 "2023-10-13T19:39:25Z")

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> [@Love\_Rhombus](#):
>
> > [@pulykamell](#):
> >
> > Whoever wins, wins. I made it through four years of Trump; I can make it through four more if I need to.
> 
> Here’s hoping the same for all of us!

Cis het white men will be fine. Trans people will be facing concentration camps. I will have to seek goddamned political asylum in Canada with a well-founded fear of persecution.

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**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/32 "2023-10-16T04:29:59Z")

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The reason I want to drink is because people as monumentally stupid as OP go out and vote while celebrating their ignorance.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/33 "2023-10-16T11:57:04Z")

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Can’t top that comment. Perfect!

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**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/34 "2023-10-17T11:41:00Z")

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> [@Johanna](#):
>
> I will have to seek goddamned political asylum in Canada with a well-founded fear of persecution.

Keep your eye on our election likely for 2025. The same anti-trans bullshit is welling up in our right wing, and they have a good shot at becoming the government.

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**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/35 "2023-10-17T12:38:58Z")

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Sadly, not only do they vote and celebrate their ignorance, the folks they’re voting into office are insisting on perpetuating that ignorance as a matter of public education policy.

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/36 "2023-10-17T13:55:02Z")

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It’s ignorant turtles all the way down. And all the way forward.

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**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\
**Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/37 "2023-10-17T19:11:26Z")

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While this isn’t really Pit like, I would suggest the excellent (and very lengthy) book, _What It Takes_ about the 1988 contenders for the Presidential race.

> **[What It Takes: The Way to the White House](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_It_Takes:_The_Way_to_the_White_House?wprov=sfti1)**
>
> What It Takes: The Way to the White House (ISBN 9780394562605) is a nonfiction book about the 1988 United States presidential election, written by Richard Ben Cramer. It was published in 1992. It follows the campaigns of Republicans George Herbert Walker Bush and Bob Dole and Democrats Joe Biden, Michael Dukakis, Dick Gephardt, and Gary Hart.
> The bulk of the book covers the early lives and political careers of the candidates, their campaigns leading up to the New Hampshire primary, and the prima...

This isn’t a typical Bush vs Dukakis book, the idea behind the book is a story of the men (all men at that time) who really believed they could be President, their backgrounds and what drives them.

It’s fascinating because it does include Biden before the plagiarism along with Hart before the scandal.

It’s an interesting look at Biden before the even more toxic politics of the Obama/Biden era.

As mentioned, it’s a lengthy read but it’s easy enough to just focus on the Biden chapters if anyone is interested in the early history of Biden.

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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2024, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/38 "2024-04-16T03:43:44Z")

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I’ve resolved to have a drink every time my state (Oregon) is mentioned in the national news on Election Night.

Oh hell, I’ll throw in my home state (California) too.

All of you hand me your car keys; I’ll be the designated driver.

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**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-i-will-drink-heavily-on-election-day/991434/39 "2024-04-19T17:12:16Z")

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I once went to Oregon Pipe Cactus national monument. I think it’s in Arizona.

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