1y ago

‘Like choosing between a hedgehog and a porcupine’: US braces for presidential election no one wants

www.theguardian.com

“I think this is the worst election in my lifetime,” said George Argodale, a Nikki Haley supporter from Gainesville, Virginia. “It’s just terrible that we don’t have better candidates.”

“That’s a sad state of affairs for our country that those are the two best candidates that we can come up with,” agreed Peggy Hudson, a primary voter in Charleston, South Carolina.

Judith Smith, from Moncks Corner, South Carolina, said of Biden and Trump: “That’s like choosing between a hedgehog and a porcupine.”

As the primary season sputters to an expected ending, following Haley’s withdrawal from the Republican primary on Wednesday, voters’ frustration with their general election options is palpable.

54 comments

By contrast effect, any human being running against Donald Trump is clearly the better choice.
Pretending that it's difficult to decide between Biden and Trump is fucking absurd.
- These articles are pro-Trump propaganda. It's the same bullshit they've been saying since Bush v Gore. It's the far right putting all their weight into pulling the Overton window as far to their side as possible.
- That’s the point. It really isn’t a choice, you must vote Biden or it gets the Trump again. Just forego these next 8 months of bullshit and just get it over with already. So much wasted time and money, and nothing accomplished. Best case scenario it right-of-center Biden for 4 years
  
  If enough Democrats come out against Biden, he could be pressured to bow out of the race, and we could hold an open convention to choose another candidate. We aren't stuck with Butcher Biden.
A hedgehog who believes we can do better and a porcupine who wants to burn down your house and kill your entire family.
- But only if the porcupine gets all your money after the murder, and he can hire some one to do all the hard murder work, and he doesn't have to pay the hired murder person after the murdering.
- Yeah, what a stupid analogy. It's the difference between "Oh, this thing is cute and slightly prickly" and "OH MY GOD I HAVE SPINES STUCK IN MY SKIN AND NEED MEDICAL ATTENTION!"
  Like, one of those is clearly worse than the other.
- A hedgehog who is committing genocide and a porcupine who approves of the genocide.
  
  No, a hedgehog who isn't stopping genocide and providing material support to both the genociders and genocidees versus a porcupine who said the genocide isn't going far or fast enough.
“I think this is the worst election in my lifetime,”
Were they not alive for 2016?
- I think there was one where the losers tried to overthrow the government, let me check my notes
  
  1860 and 2020.
- I disagree a lot with the idea that 2016 was a worse election. While a lot people absolutely hated Hillary, she also inspired a TON of people (both men and women). I see way way way fewer Biden stickers and signs than I did for Hillary. And back then there were a ton of conservatives who didn't know just how bad Trump was/is. This election has a Trump that most people know is terrible versus Biden who, while I think he has done a good job as a president outside of his support for Israel, hasn't really inspired anyone.
- Hillary sucked, but she wasn't literally supplying bombs to an ongoing genocide while campaigning.
"We interviewed Nikki Haley supporters, who hate Trump and would never vote for any Democrat, and they don't like their options"
The only "anti-Biden" quote in here basically says "he's done a pretty good job, I just wish he were younger," and the Haley supporters they interviewed said they'll probably vote for Biden
It's more like choosing between a hedgehog and porcupine Hitler who somehow retains a massive following of porcupine Nazis despite constant incoherent ranting about how windmills are an existential threat to the Third Porcupine Reich.
Not a difficult choice, I'll take the hedgehog.
- Yep. I'll take nice old granpa over old man Hitler. At least the worst thing nice old granpa can do is die.
  
  Nice old grandpa is genociding babies in Palestine
Wtf hedgehogs are cute! Who wouldn't want a hedgehog?!
- Porcupines are also cute!
  So now I don't know who to choose!
  
  And neither are very aggressive species.
  
  I'm just going to leave this here:
  https://youtu.be/UGz8jcbJjRw
  https://youtu.be/_dnB3IapeAA
  
  Hedgehogs are objectively cuter. How can you not love this cute face: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60dba790c5ae61712e955f52/94364a70-a3f4-4381-95cf-11feabbb2fd4/2ebbd7e3093ef030462542ad4008756b_9056d8ca2a7faeb6b0d90c261fb00a05.jpg
I don't see it that way.
one candidate wants to ensure the continued operation of democracy.
one candidate wants to be a dictator and inflict the american government on his perceived enemies and the enemies of his benefactors and cult members.
this is not a hard choice in my opinion.
- Our baselines are so low
- One candidate wants to ensure the perpetuity of the existing corruption in the system... and democracy.
  The other is an angry orange man-child with tiny hands and an authoritarian complex that wants to be the next dictator of the world.
  So yeah, I agree, it's a no brainer.
- One candidate is funding genocide.
  
  One former president killed 1,000,000 of his own people by sitting on his ass and downplaying the risk of infection while hundreds of thousands died under his watch in 2020. By the time he left office, it was far too late to contain the damage; we were well on our way to one million being dead.
  He doesn't give a fuck about anyone. This isn't an election to sit out over a single issue; this election could determine whether Russia attacks Europe and China attacks Taiwan if Ukraine falls and the former president is re-elected.
No no no, we WANT a presidential election; that's literally the point of democracy. We just want better options.
The party system is at the root.. That and megalomania
- ... and super rich men who decide who wins and loses.
Biden is currently the president. Why are people so fucking surprised that he’s one of the choices? The only surprising thing is that the republicans are running Trump again, after he lost last time.
- According to four people who regularly talk to Biden, all of whom asked for anonymity to discuss internal campaign matters, it is virtually inconceivable that he will run for reelection in 2024, when he would be the first octogenarian president.
  https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/11/biden-single-term-082129
- Because he could have stepped aside for Kamala (or someone else) to run instead. The fact he's the incumbent doesn't mean he should be running.
  And I say this because Canada is facing the same issue -- Trudeau will run again in the next election even tho many Canadians are sick and tired of his wishy-washy leadership and failure to stick to his promises.
  
  Yes, but as in Canada, pretending Biden is just as bad as Trump (or Trudeau just as bad as PP) is really like saying " hey, I got a burn by touching that hot pot... Better off put my hand in the fire, iT'S tHe saME ThiNg"
Sonic the hedgehog is a hero, Porcupine is a master of evil that's orange and yellow ffs. It's not a hard decision to make.
Welcome to Russian-style presidential elections
- You mean elections pumped full of useless propaganda?
  This article interviewed a bunch of supporters of a candidate that isn't in the running anymore, so big suprise they aren't happy with the choices left over.
  Just stunning reporting.
  
  And if you watch Jordan Klepper's recent daily show segment, they're all going to vote for Trump anyway.
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wx_5Zr0Lzw
  
  They also quoted statistics to back their thesis.

54 comments