U.S. Elections 2020

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John Swain
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U.S. Elections 2020

Post by John Swain » Wed Nov 04, 2020 11:15 am

Phil Ehr, past CEO and Director of Junior Chess of the ECF, was standing in District 1 of the Florida elections for the House of Representatives.

With 94% of the votes counted, Matt Gaetz (Republican) has 64.6% of the vote and is on course to win by a large margin. Phil Ehr (Democrat) has 34% and Albert Oram (no party affiliation) 1.4%.

David Robertson

Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by David Robertson » Wed Nov 04, 2020 12:28 pm

I've been idly following Phil's prospects here for some while. District 1 is a rock-solid REP seat. Yet the local polling has, these past several weeks, been calling it far, far closer than 65-34; never 'too close to call' though. The incumbent, Gaetz, is a rancid piece of work. But clearly, the voters don't mind

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Wed Nov 04, 2020 4:21 pm

I was discussing the election results (briefly) with a group of people in their early twenties and it made me feel old when memories of the Bush-Gore election in 2000 came up. It was along the lines of the result then being a 'travesty' and realising that if you are in your 40s you have direct memories of this, but those in their early 20s were literally in nappies at the time... :lol: (I'd better not say too much more in case any of those people know I post here!)

[Cue people older than me to reminisce about the Nixon-Kennedy years...]

Mick Norris
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Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by Mick Norris » Wed Nov 04, 2020 4:49 pm

David Robertson wrote:
Wed Nov 04, 2020 12:28 pm
I've been idly following Phil's prospects here for some while. District 1 is a rock-solid REP seat. Yet the local polling has, these past several weeks, been calling it far, far closer than 65-34; never 'too close to call' though. The incumbent, Gaetz, is a rancid piece of work. But clearly, the voters don't mind
The Democrats have done a lot worse in Florida than the polling expected; there are no doubt specific reasons for this, it can't all be Phil's fault :lol:
Any postings on here represent my personal views

Alan Walton
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Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by Alan Walton » Wed Nov 04, 2020 6:07 pm

Mick Norris wrote:
Wed Nov 04, 2020 4:49 pm
David Robertson wrote:
Wed Nov 04, 2020 12:28 pm
I've been idly following Phil's prospects here for some while. District 1 is a rock-solid REP seat. Yet the local polling has, these past several weeks, been calling it far, far closer than 65-34; never 'too close to call' though. The incumbent, Gaetz, is a rancid piece of work. But clearly, the voters don't mind
The Democrats have done a lot worse in Florida than the polling expected; there are no doubt specific reasons for this, it can't all be Phil's fault :lol:
The reason being quoted last night around the Florida result, was that the Latino vote went Republican due to the majority in Florida coming from Cuba and Venezuela; they hate socialism thus wouldn't vote Democrat.

David Sedgwick
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Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by David Sedgwick » Wed Nov 04, 2020 6:43 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
Wed Nov 04, 2020 4:21 pm
[Cue people older than me to reminisce about the Nixon-Kennedy years...]
Ah, yes. The US Presidential Election of 1960 is my first political memory.

If you want to estimate someone's minimum age by asking what they were how they heard a key piece of news, then 22nd November is a key date.

How did you hear that President Kennedy had been shot? (22nd November 1963)

How did you hear that Margaret Thatcher had resigned? (22nd November 1990)

Chris, let's hear your answer to the second question.

David Sedgwick
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Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by David Sedgwick » Wed Nov 04, 2020 6:46 pm

Reverting to the subject of the thread, I posted the link below on the Phil Ehr thread before I noticed that this one had been started.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/202 ... ict-1.html

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Wed Nov 04, 2020 7:18 pm

David Sedgwick wrote:
Wed Nov 04, 2020 6:43 pm
Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
Wed Nov 04, 2020 4:21 pm
[Cue people older than me to reminisce about the Nixon-Kennedy years...]
Ah, yes. The US Presidential Election of 1960 is my first political memory.

If you want to estimate someone's minimum age by asking what they were how they heard a key piece of news, then 22nd November is a key date.

How did you hear that President Kennedy had been shot? (22nd November 1963)

How did you hear that Margaret Thatcher had resigned? (22nd November 1990)

Chris, let's hear your answer to the second question.
I don't remember. Sorry! I was 13 and I was only really properly starting to follow the news at that point (though that might sound strange). I do remember the 1986 Football World Cup! My memory of those years (from 1990 onwards) is more focused on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the break up of the Soviet Union and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the First Gulf War (I distinctly remember coming downstairs one day early to do some homework and my Dad listening to the radio and saying Operation Desert Storm had started). In the years that followed, I remember following the politics of the Major government and the goings on with Europe there. I remember John Smith dying and Blair coming to power. US politics is mostly a memory of Clinton being impeached. The death of Princess Diana was a big moment and imprinted on my memory (as is the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin as I was busy studying at the time and only found out when opening my mail and seeing the front page of TIME magazine). The attack on the Twin Towers (that was an epoch-defining moment, and I remember to this day following it from where I worked in London), the invasion of Iraq and the wars in Afghanistan, the tsunami in 2004, the London bombings in 2005. And then since then, I suppose the big moments have been the Brexit vote (unexpected!) and the resulting politics (far surpassing what happened in the Major years), and also the Trump years. The politics of the Obama years in the USA didnt really register as much for some reason.

The other classic epoch-defining moment is asking people alive at the time what their memories are of the first Moon landing of 20/21 July 1969.

[Re: chess, some people here will have memories of every World Chess Championships going back a fair number of years!]

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Wed Nov 04, 2020 9:09 pm

On your last point, no proper recollection of Fischer v Spassky (didn't learn the moves until a couple of years later)

Remember the Battle of Baugio very well, though.
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

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MJMcCready
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Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by MJMcCready » Thu Nov 05, 2020 5:12 am

Everyone I know who was alive on the first moon landing said they stayed up to watch it since it was such a big thing.

John McKenna

Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by John McKenna » Thu Nov 05, 2020 10:51 am

Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Wed Nov 04, 2020 9:09 pm
On your last point, no proper recollection of Fischer v Spassky (didn't learn the moves until a couple of years later)

Remember the Battle of Baugio very well, though.
BAGUIO City in the Philippines hosted Karpov-Korchnoi 1978 and it was a long battle that lasted from 18th July to 18th Oct.

I was alive to Spassky-Fisher 1972 but was camping in Newquay when the first human foot stepped down onto the lunar surface in 1969.

Andy McCulloch
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Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by Andy McCulloch » Thu Nov 05, 2020 12:17 pm

I was aware of Spassky-Fisher, but as I only took up chess about 2006, I didn't take a great interest in it.
I do remember the first moon landing, I was one of five in a three man tent in the Lairig Ghru in the Cairngorms, listening to a transistor radio. I remember the wait before it was announced that they were close enough to being vertical for a successful lift off for the return.

Paul Cooksey
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Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by Paul Cooksey » Thu Nov 05, 2020 1:14 pm

Merano 1981 was the first match I remember. We discussed in Pannal Primary School Chess Club every lunchtime. I suspect the consensus, that Karpov was a good guy who we hoped would win, said more about my teacher's antipathy to smoking than geopolitics or chess. Although 1 e4 was seen as a sign of good character too.

Johnny Wilkinson kicked a wining penalty in the Rugby World Cup final on 22 November 2003 if David wants to extend his test to a slightly younger audience.

J T Melsom
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Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by J T Melsom » Thu Nov 05, 2020 2:36 pm

I was on a rail replacement service in the West Midlands during the 2003 World Cup final. I cannot recall how the result was received by the supporters of Wrexham or Wycombe Wanderers football clubs that afternoon. I'm sure the final was won on the playing fields of RGS High Wycombe - Wilkinson gets too much of the credit :).

Ian Thompson
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Re: U.S. Elections 2020

Post by Ian Thompson » Thu Nov 05, 2020 2:43 pm

On the subject of the election, I found this newspaper cartoon amusing.

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