Election Year or Fear!

[ramAnag]

In an attempt to keep the politics on one thread and as election year begins on both sides of the Atlantic, let’s agree that it hasn’t been a great week for those, like me, of a ‘centre left’ persuasion.
Frankly any party that can’t defeat the dishonest and incompetent rabble masquerading as the current Government/ Conservative Party doesn’t deserve to win and, although they still have my full support, we’ve perhaps seen the first signs of a wobble from Keir Starmer in the last couple of days…certainly one which will arm and excite the ‘flip flop’ brigade.
There must also be concerns about the impact Reform UK - or whatever the reincarnation of UKIP is now called - on the Election result bearing in mind the still unresolved chaos they caused via Brexit.

More worrying still though is the ‘performance’ of Joe Biden in recent times. Now looking - and acting - every one of his 81 years it looks as if US citizens have a choice between the amoral and frankly deranged Trump v Joe Biden who is displaying the first sad signs of dementia.

Let’s not forget that this is an election of probably the most powerful individual in the World and certainly the leader of the West. Without being disrespectful, at least not to Biden who I believe to be a good man, can this really be the best the USA has got to offer and as JB shuffles onto another platform where he’ll forget his lines and confuse his countries/leaders, shouldn’t we be considering an age cut off where leadership is concerned?

I know I could no longer do the job I used to do and I’m well over a decade younger than Uncle Joe. From what we’ve seen this week I wouldn’t trust him to run our local Parish Council let alone the most powerful nation on the planet and I fear the images that we’ve seen this week are only going to provide further ammunition for Trump supporters. Where has the next Kennedy, Clinton or Obama gone…there surely has to be a stronger candidate somewhere.

Thoughts?

[Geoff Parkstone]

Clinton? Great role model! Thoughts - none, except we've maybe got a thread here that you and Swale can agree on.

[ramAnag]

I suspect,GP…if you balance Bill Clinton’s economic accomplishments against an ill advised but entirely consensual blowjob he’s generally in credit.

[SithHappens]

I don't even get why at their ages they want to run again, Trump and Biden that is.

As said surely there is someone younger who is capable.

In the UK I personally haven't decided where my vote will go. I'm almost thinking I wont bother, Brewsters Millions anyone?

I think there could be a general apathy and low turnout, who that will favour I'm not sure.

[MadAmster]

Put a tenner on Michelle Obama to be the Democrat candidate. It's still feasible that Trump won't be allowed on the ballot, which would be both a Godsend and a danger. No way should he be allowed to run, IMO, however, when one considers the "mental state" of his 70 odd million supporters, it would not surprise me one iota to see the Supreme Court disbarring him due to his part in the Jan 6 insurrection lead to a Civil War in the US. Putin would lap that up.

[Geoff Parkstone]

Putin and the Iranians would be supplying arms to both sides in such a civil war

[swaledale]

I don't even get why at their ages they want to run again, Trump and Biden that is.

As said surely there is someone younger who is capable.

In the UK I personally haven't decided where my vote will go. I'm almost thinking I wont bother, Brewsters Millions anyone?

I think there could be a general apathy and low turnout, who that will favour I'm not sure.

Might be, but don't add to that, your right to vote was won by sacrifice and surely at the very least this bunch of incompetent scoundrels ahve to be turfed out?

It all depends upon whose likely to win in your constituency, but I hope like me, you will vote for whomever seems likely to beat the Tory!

Labour are hamstrung by having to appeal to an electorate a large part of whom are incapable of thinking rationally if at all. That combined with aright wing media that conveniently forgets the **** up the Tories have made over the past 14 years.

Labour at least offers some relief from the current ****show, even if not perfect

[swaledale]

Clinton? Great role model! Thoughts - none, except we've maybe got a thread here that you and Swale can agree on.

To an extent, too much is made of Biden's age IMO, after all it wasn't so long ago that the wisdom of age was feted by the populace and the guy has certainly made a difference in the US, yes he makes the odd stumble, but then so do likes of Sunak, Johnson et al, even worse on some occasions they are deliberately lying.


Labour are hamstrung by the fact that they know the right wing media will attack them from every angle, quite why any sane person would question Labours record on the economy after 14 years of Tory **** up, but there you go that's the electorate for you.

We do seem to ahve got into this false economic rule of cutting public expenditure because of the national debt and the false equivalence of a country's budget being like a household budget.

There is money out there, its just that the richest 1% have got richer and the gap between the rich and the rest of us has got wider. Evidence of the fact that austerity does not work, in fact it impedes growth is to be found everywhere, but we will continue down this road it seems which will continue stagnation.

Anyway WW3 might have broken out before we get to an election, which may well resolve all the issues though at a cost which will be horrendous, but then thats perhaps the way of civilisations, boom , stagnation, war as a reset.

[ramAnag]

Put a tenner on Michelle Obama to be the Democrat candidate. It's still feasible that Trump won't be allowed on the ballot, which would be both a Godsend and a danger. No way should he be allowed to run, IMO, however, when one considers the "mental state" of his 70 odd million supporters, it would not surprise me one iota to see the Supreme Court disbarring him due to his part in the Jan 6 insurrection lead to a Civil War in the US. Putin would lap that up.

So far Michelle Obama has ruled it our saying, ‘no, no, no’. Make of that what you will.
She’d be popular but has never run for any sort of office and campaigning against Trump will be brutal.
Agree with you about the dilemma over Trump’s future. Suspect assassination, of either candidate, has never been quite so likely since the sixties or at least the attempt on Reagan in 1981…and God knows where that might lead.

[Geoff Parkstone]

Where are Squeaky Fromme, John Hinkley, Sirhan Sirhan or Lee Harvey Oswald when you most need them?