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Culture War Roundup for the week of November 4, 2024

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Who do you think will win, Trump or Harris?

If I had to bet, I guess I'd bet on Trump, but as a foreigner looking at the situation only through the Internet, I don't feel particularly confident.

Relatedly, do you think there will be issues certifying the election results? Which side do you think will struggle more if they lose?

Stranger things have happened I suppose, but it would be weird for Dems to do it after 4 years of handwringing over voter-fraud conspiracies. Don't think Trump will try anything either given how the last time turned out, unless they'll find a smoking gun.

And of course - do you think we'll see outright political violence? I certainly hope not, but it's good to be prepared.

My impression is people are tired. Maybe some half-heated protests. Maybe a lone-wolf attack. But nothing mass-scale, not even a repeat of J6.

Overall, how was your experience of this election? Did it seem noticeably different from any recent elections in any particular way?

It was bizarrely vibes based. No actual clash of ideas or policies, either from the candidates, or from their supporters.

Stranger things have happened I suppose, but it would be weird for Dems to do it after 4 years of handwringing over voter-fraud conspiracies

Democrats have absolutely no problem with threading that needle. They’ll just claim their claims to be real and republican’s to be false.

If the Democrats refuse to certify Trump I think its more likely to be due to claiming Trump is unqualified to hold office (for some reason) than voter fraud allegations. But don't be surprised if Trump wins and they try and do a similar challenge to what Trump did but somehow its preserving democracy instead of destroying democracy.

I’ll take that latter bet.

I don’t think they’ll resist certifying unless there’s a Bush v. Gore level of doubt.

Stranger things have happened I suppose, but it would be weird for Dems to do it after 4 years of handwringing over voter-fraud conspiracies. Don't think Trump will try anything either given how the last time turned out, unless they'll find a smoking gun.

Scoop: Some top Dems won't commit to certifying a Trump win

Words don't actually have meaning to politicians. They are just mouth sounds they make to keep their job.

I don't have an issue with only promising to certify 'fair' elections in hindsight, because that is Trump's current attitude too.

It was Bizarrely vibes based. No actual clash of ideas or policies, either from the candidates, or from their supporters.

Yeah agreed on this. The almost complete lack of genuine policy proposals, especially from the Harris camp, was shocking to me.

Like... I get that vibes are more important but usually there's at least the veneer of caring about the object level policies. This time it seemed that veneer was totally absent.

The almost complete lack of genuine policy proposals, especially from the Harris camp, was shocking to me.

'Who, whom?' is the only policy statement they need.