Vote!

[4everwarriors]

Played golf with his dad yesterday.

Told his dad how proud I am to call to Wesley a fellow Marquette alum.

Dad told me that all the MU hoop players  (not just the one's Wesley played with) text each other every day, multiple times a day.

Sumwon oughta let Woj inn on it, hey?

[real chili 83]

Sometime this year there was a Tom Cream interview during BLM protests and he said there was a "former player text group from all eras" and they were in regular contact.

There is definitely a text group with the FfF team, and it includes Crean.   That group is very tight, and they love crean too. 

[Uncle Rico]

There is definitely a text group with the FfF team, and it includes Crean.   That group is very tight, and they love crean too.

Tom Crean was one of the best things to happen to Marquette

[4everwarriors]

Crean sucks

[Lennys Tap]

There are numerous reasons why 2016 is vastly different than 2020. Off the top of my head, here are a dozen of them ...

1. There is not a visceral hate for the 2020 Dem candidate. In 2016, a huge percentage of the population hated, hated, HATED Hillary. There are plenty of folks who think Biden is too old, or too handsy, or too much a part of the establishment, but relatively few Americans "hate" Biden. As Lindsey Graham said in the best political ad ever made: "If you can't admire Joe Biden as a person then you've got a problem. He is as good a man as God ever created."

2. In 2016, Trump was a "concept." He was the outsider, the non-politician, the anti-establishment candidate running against an ultimate Washington insider. There was a significant percentage of the population that said, "I don't know if this boorish reality TV star is going to be any good, but I don't like Hillary and I don't like politicians and I don't like Washington, so let's see what he can do." We now know everything about Trump. We know exactly who he is and what kind of president he is. He is a totally known quantity, and he is historically unpopular. For example ... My best friend, a fellow Marquette '82 grad, admitted to his wife and kids and me earlier this year that he voted for Trump in 2016 because he hated Hillary and thought he'd give Trump a shot. A lifelong Republican, he said it was the worst mistake he ever made, and he is not only voting for Biden this time but has actually campaigned some for him. There are a good number of stories like his.

3. There is no significant 3rd party presence. It might not seem like Jill Stein got many votes, but she got enough in key battleground states from Hillary haters to make a difference.

4. Bernie's early, sincere, enthusiastic support for Biden should help Biden get many of the votes that Bernie's people refused to give Hillary in 2016. Many of the Bernie bros and babes who voted for Stein or Trump or nobody in 2016 -- enough to cost Hillary the election -- will be voting for (or have already voted for) Biden this time.

5. Hillary assumed she would win Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Biden has not made a similar assumption, and has campaigned aggressively in those states either in person, through surrogates and/or via the airwaves.

6. A significant number of Republicans, especially women, are disgusted by Trump and are going with Biden this time. The Lincoln Project, Republican Voters Against Trump and a few other Never-Trump Republican operations have helped take votes away from Trump and give them to Biden.

7. Trump decisively won the white vote in 2016, and easily won the senior vote. By all available measurements so far, neither will be the case in 2020. The only demographic that Trump easily wins are white men without college degrees. Biden is way ahead with women, young people and minorities, and is leading among white people with college degrees and seniors.

8. The groundswell for the anti-Trump vote was set in 2018, when Dems flipped the House. A surprising number of House districts that had voted Republican for decades -- especially those with majority women -- turned blue.

9. The Dems succeeded in making health care a major issue in 2018 and have amplified that in 2020, with Trump's help. To many voters, trying to take health insurance away from millions of people during a deadly pandemic, with absolutely no replacement plan offered, is immoral. It's an easy "sell" for Dems and Independents, and even many Republicans.

10. More than ever, it's math. There are more Dems than Republicans and more Independents than either. The fastest growing "party" these last 4 years has been Independents. And poll after poll after poll, for months and months now, have shown that Independents disapprove strongly of Trump.

11. The pandemic obviously is a major drag on Trump, and there was nothing similar to it in 2016. Depending upon which poll one looks at, anywhere from 55% to 66% of Americans think Trump totally botched the handling of it. Independents are extremely critical of Trump's response to the coronavirus.

12. As hard as Trump has tried, he has been unable to create the kind of October surprise that badly hurt Hillary in 2016. Very few voters who were undecided or leaning Biden have changed their minds due to the conspiracy theories being peddled at the 11th hour by the desperate Trump team. Tens of millions of votes were cast, mostly by Dems and Independents, before the hard-to-believe Hunter Biden allegations even started getting peddled.

None of the above guarantees a darn thing. After all, another major difference is that the pandemic is keeping millions from voting in person even as one party is actively, admittedly, working OT to suppress the mail-in vote. Nobody knows how that dynamic will end up affecting the outcome.

As a Never-Trump Independent, I am a nervous nelly because of that last point, but I do get a little smile on my face every time a Trump supporter's main argument for why their guy will win is, "Everybody was wrong in 2016, too."

It is not 2016. Almost everything is different now, and almost all of those differences favor Biden. So if 2016 is the big hope of Trump supporters, that's cool with me.

Either way, can't wait for this election to be over, whenever that turns out to be.

Every election is "different".

As a counterpoint, yes, Trump was only a "concept" in 2016. But by 2020, his list of accomplishments (a booming economy, higher wages, record low unemployment among Blacks and Latinos, prison reform, enterprise zones, etc.,) were tangibles. As for 2018, how many Dems deserted Obama in 2010? And he won handily in 2012.

Bottom line - Trump was a near shoe in pre Covid. Post Covid he's a long shot. Black swan events change things.

[wadesworld]

Every election is "different".

As a counterpoint, yes, Trump was only a "concept" in 2016. But by 2020, his list of accomplishments (a booming economy, higher wages, record low unemployment among Blacks and Latinos, prison reform, enterprise zones, etc.,) were tangibles. As for 2018, how many Dems deserted Obama in 2010? And he won handily in 2012.

Bottom line - Trump was a near shoe in pre Covid. Post Covid he's a long shot. Black swan events change things.

You forgot Trump's biggest accomplishment, ending the Covid 19 pandemic.

https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000175-6bc5-d2df-adff-6fdfff5c0000

So, booming economy, shoe in before the pandemic, ended the pandemic...how will Sleepy Joe get a single vote?  Trump's batting 1.000.

[GB Warrior]

Biden has been ahead in national polls since the beginning of the year, and above Clinton's margin effectively the entire time (caveat: national polls). It's tough to weed out the effects of the 'plague' against Biden simply officially being the nominee, but Trump has been behind for all of it.

None of that is to say he didn't have a good chance of winning the EC (esp when the margin was closer to 3-4 in the nationals), or that he can't now. He has a pretty obvious if narrow path, and it should be even more obvious given where he's laying groundwork in the courts.

[jesmu84]

Every election is "different".

As a counterpoint, yes, Trump was only a "concept" in 2016. But by 2020, his list of accomplishments (a booming economy, higher wages, record low unemployment among Blacks and Latinos, prison reform, enterprise zones, etc.,) were tangibles. As for 2018, how many Dems deserted Obama in 2010? And he won handily in 2012.

Bottom line - Trump was a near shoe in pre Covid. Post Covid he's a long shot. Black swan events change things.

Our economy, for the majority of americans, is a joke.

[shoothoops]

Harris County, Houston Texas, surpassed its 2016 voting turnout with one day of early voting to go:

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/politics/election-2020/2020/10/29/385142/harris-county-surpasses-2016-voting-numbers-setting-new-turnout-record/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

9,009,850 people have voted so far in the state of Texas. Texas us expecting a 3 million vote increase this year.

[lawdog77]

You forgot Trump's biggest accomplishment, ending the Covid 19 pandemic.

https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000175-6bc5-d2df-adff-6fdfff5c0000

So, booming economy, shoe in before the pandemic, ended the pandemic...how will Sleepy Joe get a single vote?  Trump's batting 1.000.

Here's the actual document, not some powerpoint from politico.com
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Trump-Administration-ST-Highlights-2017-2020.pdf

[Pakuni]

Our economy, for the majority of americans, is a joke.

Some facts about Trump's booming economy:

The economy added 6.6 million jobs during Trump's first three years. It added 8.1 million in the last three years under Obama.
Real GDP grew 2.6 percent during Trump's first three years. It grew 2.5 percent during Obama's final three.
Median income grew 7.8 percent during Trump's first three years. It grew 8.4 percent during Obama's final three.
The national deficit was about $500 billion in 2015  it was $984 billion in 2019.
The one area that Trump's economy has outperformed Obama's is the market. Of course, only 55 percent of Americans even own stock, and the top 1 percent owns 46 percent of the market.

[Lennys Tap]

Our economy, for the majority of americans, is a joke.

Our economy was vastly better for Americans of every race, gender and class in January 2020 than it was in January 2017.

[4everwarriors]

Y'all don't know a wrecked economy. And, hopefully you never will. You think Purell is hard to get? The Big Guy, Radical Kamala, and Da Squad will cause a run on vasoline like never seen before.

[Uncle Rico]

Y'all don't know a wrecked economy. And, hopefully you never will. You think Purell is hard to get? The Big Guy, Radical Kamala, and Da Squad will cause a run on vasoline like never seen before.

I was alive in 2008.  I know a wrecked economy

[shoothoops]

Attention Chester County, PA voters:

https://www.dailylocal.com/news/mail-in-voters-in-chester-county-urged-to-get-ballots-to-drop-boxes-ahead-of/article_356164a6-19f3-11eb-8228-071e9b1589de.amp.html?__twitter_impression=true

[Pakuni]

Bottom line - Trump was a near shoe in pre Covid. Post Covid he's a long shot. Black swan events change things.

Lenny ... Trump was trailing Biden, Sanders and Klobuchar in January. He may have ultimately, but he was far from a shoe in.

As for black swan events, this was a golden opportunity for a leader to rally the country around a common purpose and come out a national hero.  How'd that go?

[Hards Alumni]

Y'all don't know a wrecked economy. And, hopefully you never will. You think Purell is hard to get? The Big Guy, Radical Kamala, and Da Squad will cause a run on vasoline like never seen before.

To be fair, neither do you then.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Our economy was vastly better for Americans of every race, gender and class in January 2020 than it was in January 2017.

Where's Rodney Dangerfield to ask where is this factory, Fantasyland?

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Every election is "different".

As a counterpoint, yes, Trump was only a "concept" in 2016. But by 2020, his list of accomplishments (a booming economy, higher wages, record low unemployment among Blacks and Latinos, prison reform, enterprise zones, etc.,) were tangibles. As for 2018, how many Dems deserted Obama in 2010? And he won handily in 2012.

Bottom line - Trump was a near shoe in pre Covid. Post Covid he's a long shot. Black swan events change things.

He was on track to lose to anyone nominated by the Dems, but it was most likely going to be more of a squeaker.

[jesmu84]

Our economy was vastly better for Americans of every race, gender and class in January 2020 than it was in January 2017.

Can I ask by what measure? I truly don't believe the gig economy is good for anyone long term.

Note, I'm talking about those without retirement savings, without significant personal savings, without decent benefits.... Things which a large percentage of US citizens are lacking (they were lacking them in 2017 too).

As things have been since 2008, there are certain groups benefitting greatly economically but it isn't the majority of americans or certainly the average american.

[GooooMarquette]

As of today, more ballots have been cast in Texas than there were in the entire 2016 election. Amazing effort on the early voting.

[shoothoops]

As of today, more ballots have been cast in Texas than there were in the entire 2016 election. Amazing effort on the early voting.

Numbers and link a few posts above. Pretty impressive.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Bottom line - Trump was a near shoe in pre Covid. Post Covid he's a long shot. Black swan events change things.

It's easy to solve manufactured crises -- even easier in a splintered society.  We've gotten a good look in the mirror with all the things that have come to the surface with COVID.  A portion of the country is ok with what they see - we will see how big that portion is in the coming weeks.   

[lawdog77]

Can I ask by what measure? I truly don't believe the gig economy is good for anyone long term.

Note, I'm talking about those without retirement savings, without significant personal savings, without decent benefits.... Things which a large percentage of US citizens are lacking (they were lacking them in 2017 too).

As things have been since 2008, there are certain groups benefitting greatly economically but it isn't the majority of americans or certainly the average american.

Unemployment and average wages

[shoothoops]

Sumter County Florida has surpassed its 2016 voting numbers already, with 78,778 votes cast and counting. DT would need at least a 2 to 1 margin here to likely have a chance to win the state.  This county and Pinellas County should have a very high total in Tuesday night which would say a lot about the direction of Florida.