Anyone watching the US Presidential debate tonight?

You must not be from Illinois. We loved Paul Simon*

*the Senator. We could go either way on the musician.

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A question for Americans who watched the Debate:

Was that the Declaration of Independence behind them?

And, if it was, do you think it was intentional that the two most-disliked Presidential candidates in history have, behind them as they speak, a speech stating that sometimes, itā€™s necessary just to overthrow the whole damned government?

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Citations needed for that hunk of made-up drama.

And I think the relevant element of the Declaration of Independence as a backdrop to the debate is this phrase, not the context of the document as a separation from a foreign power:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

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Thatā€™s an interesting chart, yet I think I recall a whole lot of history happening before 1980, and a whole lot of deeply unfavorable candidates. Nixon, anyone? Ford?

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Lincoln was loathed by half the country until he became a martyr for the other half.

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Still, I think public disdain for Washington in general is one of the forces driving these poll numbers. Just look at the abysmal approval rating for Congress.

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Taft was so unliked Roosevelt came back into politics and got a ton of people to vote for him. And if you think US Grant had an easy time of it in the South youā€™d be pretty far wrong.

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Funny, though, that the part directly behind the candidates reads:

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

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That chart only goes back to 1980 though.

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*after 1980, that is.

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If I can learn anything from this chart, itā€™s that whatever is on the y axis is a poor predictor of outcome. It gets one right out of seven, or two if you say Bush won in 2000. Itā€™s not like Dukakisā€™ low single digit numbers helped him when he got owned 426-111* that election.

*Lloyd fucking Bentsen got a vote.

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Iā€™m surprised itā€™s not closer to 80% for Trump.

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Iā€™m a bit of a 1st Amendment absolutist, and the V-Chip was offensive to my sensibilities. I give him props for not going corrupt, though, seems like some sort of infectious disease in Illinois politics.

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