“Florida Democrats don’t know why Taylor Swift is naming an upcoming song on her new album ‘Florida!!!’ or the reason she chose to hold three concerts in Miami less than a month before the November elections,” Politico reports.

“But their excitement around the news is less about ‘why?’ and more about leveraging Swift’s celebrity status to fill the blank space for beleaguered voters tired of losing to Republicans.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    It’s weird how moderates think Taylor likes Biden and doesn’t just hate trump.

    It’s the only reason most Biden voters are Biden voters, which is why he’s polling so terribly

    There’s no reason we have to be running such an unlikable candidate again, just because trump is even more unlikable. It’s only worked 50% of the time now.

    Edit:

    Wow. A lot of people don’t seem to know many Dem politicians…

    Biden himself said over 50 Dems could easily beat trump.

    I think this guy would be a good option, but there’s lots of others

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Ossoff

    • CountVon@sh.itjust.works
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      9 months ago

      I’m not exactly a fan of Biden, but he’s on the ballot for two reasons:

      • Incumbents historically have an advantage, and it would be crazy to throw that advantage away.
      • Who else would run in his place? It’s not like there’s some other obvious candidate. I can think of lots of progressives that I’d personally love to see on the ballot, but the reality is that none of those candidates are seen as being electable in swing states. Be nice if it were otherwise, but it ain’t.
      • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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        9 months ago

        Incumbents historically have an advantage, and it would be crazy to throw that advantage away.

        In lower offices maybe, but since 1980 (Carter) we’ve only had 4/7 incumbents reelected. People may talk about how Carter/Bush/Trump all had something uniquely terrible that caused them to lose their reelection, but Biden’s got a 38% approval rating, is tied to an unpopular foreign war, and has record low numbers with critical voting blocs. He’s not riding high and doing fine.

        • Weirdfish@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          And yet I’ll still go out and vote against Trump instead of staying home in november.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Who else would run in his place?

        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Ossoff

        That guy’s 36, but ran the most funded US Senate campaign in America’s history.

        So he’s got the money neoliberals say they care about.

        He was an investigative journalist going after corruption, his positions line up with what Dem voters want…

        And he’s really popular with gen z voters.

        Why not him if all that matters is “not trump”?

        • lennybird@lemmy.world
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          The most funded in America’s history isn’t because of him; it was because it was a special election with the entire nation pouring money in for the sake of winning a Senate majority. It could’ve been Joe Manchin and the same outcome would’ve happened. That’s not a reflection of Jon’s campaign prowess.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Did someone stop him from putting his hat in the ring? Because otherwise, I think the problem is that he doesn’t want to run in Biden’s place and I don’t know that voting for someone who isn’t running in the first place is an especially good strategy to beat Trump.

          • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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            9 months ago

            The issue is no one wants to challenge Biden, not that no one would want to run in his place. Biden shouldn’t have run for reelection, but if he doesn’t step aside a challenge is likely to just blow up the party (at least unless Biden has some major senior movement that causes people to abandon him en masse). But that’s an actuarial gamble, and if it doesn’t happen you’ve got a split party and a weakened candidate. We’re seeing the in Republican party how well challenging the presumptive nominee goes when you’re simultaneously not trying to say anything remotely negative about him.

              • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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                9 months ago

                Expressing an interest in running is challenging Biden, they’re the same thing.

            • nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de
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              9 months ago

              Dens also spent a ton of money getting him into the senate majority. They’d have to risk doing that again if he left to be president (not that they couldn’t, but it could be pressure against running).

              The real problem is that most of the people smart enough to run, are too smart to want to be president.

        • ilinamorato@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Ossoff would be great. I’d also be up for Jeff Jackson, who has a pretty solid social media following due to his “I’m a newcomer in Washington, here’s what it’s like” videos.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            I don’t know why people act like there aren’t other options.

            Biden himself literally said he could think of 50 other Dems who could beat trump.

      • winky9827b@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I will pour my heart, soul and life savings into an AOC for president campaign as soon as she decides she’s ready.

        • harry_balzac@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I said I’d vote for her as Prez and pretty much all of my coworkers (Trump suckers) nearly had heart attacks.

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        9 months ago

        You realize the DNC went into overdrive to kill the primary this election cycle, right?

        Reordering states to favor Biden, keeping candidates off ballots, and some state Democratic parties even effectively cancelled their presidential primary.

        Now, if you only consume mainstream media sources, it wouldn’t be surprising that you weren’t aware, as they have been mostly ignoring it.

        • ImFresh3x@sh.itjust.works
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          Biden wasn’t even on the ballot in NH and easily won via write ins. Presidential incumbents who seek the nomination of their win primaries. Without exception. Always. Biden might not be popular, but he’s much much more popular than anyone who even imagined running an opposition.

        • fkn@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          And? Just because I am not a fan of how the democratic party is run doesn’t mean I’m not going to vote for them.

          There are a lot of problems… But this argument is awfully close to apologetics for Trump.

          • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
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            9 months ago

            Maybe you missed the part where I was responding to another comment that casually mentioned there’s no other viable Democratic candidates.

            Stating objective facts isn’t an argument, they’re just facts. The DNC did those things, and worse. It’s not up for debate, and there was no point being argued.

            It sounds like you believe anyone saying anything critical of the DNC, is actually secretly a Trump supporter, or Trump apologist?

            Well… golly gee, you got me there. Good work!

            Keep it up, and don’t worry, there’s definitely no way that approach to political discourse will ever spectacularly backfire on you.

            • fkn@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              Again. And?

              It still sounds like you are one of those “it’s broken so don’t vote” assholes.

              • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
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                9 months ago

                Twice now you’ve invented positions for me, based off nothing that I’ve actually said i.e. straw man.

                Lame dork.

                  • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
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                    9 months ago

                    What argument???

                    argument /är′gyə-mənt/

                    noun

                    1. A discussion in which disagreement is expressed; a debate.
                    2. A quarrel; a dispute.
                    3. A reason or matter for dispute or contention

                    Please, tell me what I’ve actually said that qualifies as an argument.

                    Not what you’ve imagined or mystically determined using tea leaves or tarot cards, but my actual words.

      • Serinus@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        You’d be moving that advantage to 2028 most likely. It sure would be amazing to get 12 years of democratic presidents.

      • hglman@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        Maybe they could have held a preliminary contest to pick a candidate.

        • CountVon@sh.itjust.works
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          9 months ago

          I respect Warren a lot, but she’s 74 and I’d really like to see a US president who isn’t well past retirement age.

          • NataliePortland@lemmy.ca
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            9 months ago

            Omg is she really? She doesn’t look that old to me I wouldn’t have guessed. Is she single? What’s her story? Asking for a friend

            • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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              9 months ago

              Would you believe she also doesn’t drink caffeine? There are some people who just have unbelievable amounts of energy.

          • hddsx@lemmy.ca
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            9 months ago

            Well, Warren is the one person I’d like to see in office right now. I don’t like Biden. I hate that he is running for reelection. I only voted Biden because I would vote a steaming bucket of literally dog poo over Trump.

            I really, really hate our two party FPTP system but I realized in 2016 that third party is a waste. I just want someone I’m excited to vote for and not someone I’m voting for because it’s not Trump.

      • Tremble@sh.itjust.works
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        9 months ago

        Polling indicates among democrat voters that LITERALLY ANY OTHER DEMOCRAT IS PREFERRED OVER BIDEN.

        It’s so bad that next presidential election (if we have one) the democrat can candidate can say “at least I’m not Biden” and probably win on that alone. That’s basically all Biden is doing.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Seriously.

        People act like a candidate has to be perfect, if oring that Biden has been polling terribly and failed multiple times at becoming president before narrowerly squeaking by trump.

    • 7u5k3n@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Yeah it would be really nice if there was a D that folks liked… I’d love to see a landslide election. But those days are gone I’m afraid.

      THO… has there been a Democrat or Republican in the last… 50 years that folks really liked?

      Maybe Obama… But other than him…idk

      • ilinamorato@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Yeah, both parties seem to just be running on “I’m not the other guy” recently, and it’s getting old (though admittedly the Republicans have been running on it a lot harder). Obama was the last candidate to be nominated on a platform that tried to make the case for a future.

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        9 months ago

        Bill Clinton was popular for a while, which is a shame since he contributed heavily to the deregulated economy we have now

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Ossoff

        I’m not a huge supporter of the guy, but he’s young, progressive, really popular with the youth, and just raised more money for his Senate run than any other politician in American history.

        Sounds like he’s going to be president anyways eventually, why wait 30 years before it’s “his turn”?

        Like, remember all the talk about the Georgia runoffs and no one expected Dems to win?

        Ossoff is one of the Dems that won that

        • tux@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Didn’t recognize that name at all. After reading his wiki I recognized that he was one of the Georgia run-off Senate races. Maybe he’ll do some stuff and gain some popularity in the future. From what I saw in wiki the only thing he has done so far is vote with the party and help get a college re-accredidated. The reason his campaign was somhighly funded was because he was running in one of the most contested races in the country that was flooded with cash from all over.

          I’m very glad he won, but also would someone who barely won their district really be a great possible push for a national candidate?

          Also, “not a huge supporter” and have now posted him as a name/possibility all over the thread lol… You campaign for him? Are you him?

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Because just saying:

            Biden himself said there’s over 50 other options.

            Just gets me Biden supporters doing their best owl impressions until I start blocking them for sea lioning.

            Which it’s probably time for by now.

            I mean, by the time the fifth person asks the same question instead of scrolling down… I don’t think I’m gonna be missing much. Especially since I edited Ossof into my top reply now.

            • Serinus@lemmy.world
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              You’ve said the same thing five times and you’re surprised you’re getting the same response five times?

              • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                What?

                You really thought I was talking to all the people who kept asking:

                Who?

                I gave the same answer each time…

                I just don’t understand how someone wouldn’t have understood that

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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        Then people who love milquetoast candidates will find a new arbitrary criterion that must be met before we can criticize their candidates.

    • lennybird@lemmy.world
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      Who is a likable candidate, with experience but younger, who has name-recognition, can offset incumbent advantage, and not be an easy punching-bag for right-wing propaganda? Maybe Gretchen Whitmer? I don’t know.

      Unfortunately Democrats don’t have great candidates at least for another election cycle or two. They’re between two generations with nobody in the Goldilocks zone.

      I was concerned a while back that Republicans would rally behind someone like DeSantis or Haley and the age difference alone, let alone being a “fresh face” would be enough to put them over the top. Fortunately, the same match-up goes in our favor right now — especially with the backdrop of (a) the economy, (b) women’s rights, and © corruption trials (based on independents polling).

      It looks like the Senate is going to be much harder to keep than the White House.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Jon Ossoff

        But Biden himself said there’s over 50 other Dems who could beat trump.

        Why are you acting like that’s not true?

        • lennybird@lemmy.world
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          I mean, maybe? But Jon Osseff is untested. A brand-new US Senator whose background hasn’t been scrutinized to the degree Biden’s has (and who largely remains clean). Quite a gamble. And before you mention Obama, Obama wasn’t hijacking an Incumbent presidency. Entirely different situation.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            And before you mention Obama, Obama wasn’t hijacking an Incumbent presidency. Entirely different situation.

            He ran against Hillary…

            She had more party support than most incumbents.

            And suddenly we’ve switched to Joe Biden fighting to win a primary from him begrudgingly taking the nomination because no one else can.

            Giving voters a say in who they have to vote for in the general is never a bad thing. People feeling like they have no say in the primary are less likely to vote in the general

            • lennybird@lemmy.world
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              I don’t know what to say. Biden won; Hillary didn’t. And Ossef is no Obama. We’re in a shitty situation with no good data-backed solutions.

              At the end of the day, nobody stopped anyone from running a primary against Biden.

              • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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                9 months ago

                At the end of the day, nobody stopped anyone from running a primary against Biden.

                Lol, yeah, the blacklisting stopped when the DNC stopped publicly announcing it.

                Biden himself said there’s a bunch of other options, so if I’m wrong so is Biden.

                Stop defending someone by disagreeing with them, listen to what they say instead of just rationalizing with whatever you assume

                And do t expect me to try and help you understand anything else.

                • lennybird@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  There’s a hefty amount of cognitive dissonance if you’re saying I’m disagreeing with Biden, and yet, Biden chose to not step down and run for a lack of anyone else throwing their hat in the ring. So how, exactly, am I disagreeing with Biden? These are not mutually-exclusive.

                  lol ok. You continue speculating on blind hypotheticals and I’ll just focus on reality of what is. Nobody of substance threw their hat in the ring; Biden chose to continue running despite also saying others could beat Trump. These are facts. Don’t expect me to help you understand anything else.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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            You didn’t hear about the Georgia runoffs?

            You didn’t hear about the Senator who raised more money for a campaign than any other Senator in US history?

            One of the handful that Gen Z voters not only know but genuinely support and follow?

            The youngest Dem Senator since Joe Biden’s first term?

            Mate, just because you don’t recognize a name, doesn’t mean no one does.

            And it should be common sense that we should go with a name that non-voters know. Because they’re the votes we need. We’re talking about politics on social media, we’re both voting anyways.

            https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Ossoff

            So yeah, name recognition is important, but we’re not the demographic Dems need to focus on, so it doesn’t matter if we recognize the name. We’re voting D regardless