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I live in Tennessee, and I don’t think we’ve even had a statewide poll since Biden dropped. I wasn’t contacted for that one. But - everyone knows which way Tennessee’s gonna go, so it’s not like it matters. I’d be curious to see if Harris moved the needle, though.

“yer a jedi, harry” - Gandalf

I agree that his bark is worse than his bite; whether that’s because reality doesn’t agree with his rhetoric, or because the power to unilaterally imprison an opponent is outside the scope of presidential powers, or because he was only bloviating and never meant any of it.

I have always said that my main concern isn’t Trump himself. I don’t think he’s evil incarnate or a would-be dictator, largely because I personally don’t think he’s smart enough to be a supervillain. My main concern is that rhetoric like that whips up reactionary anger; it certainly motivates voters, which is almost certainly why he continues to do it (an angry mob is a force), but it’s also worsened an already deep political divide and created a situation where conservatives and liberals (I’m neither, for the record, I’m pretty far to the left of both) don’t even really see or hear each other anymore, they only see the masks that have been placed there by their own conditioning.

Feel free to respond again if you wish, I’m happy to let you have the last word since you were so kind as to engage civilly. I’ve enjoyed the interaction; thank you…

Well, I think you’re definitely correct that he’d crack down on immigration via as many means as are available to him, that seems to be a major talking point for him and was a theme for his first term. His platform pledges “peace in Europe and in the Middle East” but doesn’t go into any detail, so I won’t speculate on that. I won’t argue against your positions, because that’s not the point. Thanks for actually outlining some policy positions you agree with him on, it’s a better answer than I usually get.

I don’t think it’s a secret that he’s a bit of a loose cannon, though, and I think it’s pretty apparent from the debate that he’s prone to personal attacks and easily baited into pointless arguments about things that don’t matter for the country (though they matter to his ego, evidently). I am of the opinion that, policy aside, his first four years were marked by this tendency to double down against any perceived personal slight, to the detriment of his duties as president. He does not appear to be more in control of his outbursts now. Is that concerning for you?

With transparency, I’m a trans person, and Trump/MAGA have made it clear that they intend to demonize me and people like me. I’m aware of the argument that Trump only wishes to restrict trans healthcare for minors, though he’s said that he would work to prevent any agency from promoting “the concept of sex and gender transition at any age.” Regardless of whether this policy factually seeks to erase all transgender people, the rhetoric surrounding this issue has created, and continues to create, an environment that is harmful for me and people like me. For that reason if for no other, I cannot vote for him. I consider it self-defense. I hope that you can appreciate that position.

Let’s start with foreign affairs, because from my perspective he isn’t too good at getting along with other world leaders (or anyone) unless they praise him. How do you suppose foreign affairs would improve?

Honest question, not bait: why?

Theatre kid here. A friend of mine was tech director at a local theartre, a converted ‘show palace’ style place, really beautiful. Anyway, I remember him campaigning HARD against them booking Gallagher in the early 2010’s, because he had played a show there about a decade prior and had evidently made it his goal to create as much of a mess for the crew as possible. Purposefully aimed chunks of fruit he was throwing around at lighting instruments to gunk them up, etc. Evidently, the universal sentiment among everyone who worked that show was that Gallagher was a dick.