[Maru]

So, it does seem the media is starting to show concern about where the wind is blowing. There's been more polls and insider information that is not working in her favor. It's interesting that there's more clips going around that are more critical towards her coming straight from mainstream. Reminds me of 2016 when all the information was coming out about Hillary and suddenly there was this wall of concern and criticism. Same with Biden post-debate.

Normally campaign ads are kinda "blah", but the ones that I've seen against her could be very effective as they're delivering information that may not have already been known about her by the voter, such as past things she said (and the intensity at which she says them...). Simply because Trump is so well known, it's harder for him to put a "foot wrong". This is the one downside of over-saturating viewers with negative coverage for any candidate. It's true for American "dynasty" candidates, is that the more we know about them, the more comfortable we are allowed to become with them especially if the options they're running against are not nearly as well known or predictable. Trump has only run as himself, but with his name being so well known and all the scuffles already having been had in the public, he's becoming a de facto dynasty candidate in some ways without ever having another family member enter into a political race (though I think it's inevitable..). Whether that helps or hurts him, we won't know until we get the vote, but that's certainly what comes to mind as a casual viewer of politics. Anyway, polls being what they are, they're not a constant.


The Goldstar situation is significant. At least it is for those who are from a military family who has lost friends or family. If a candidate was invited and didn't show, that is definitely going to be noted, probably in any speeches made there. I'm familiar with this personally and it is not unusual for these gatherings to occur, for major emotions to come out and for individuals to speak on how certain politics or policies has impacted them personally. Especially any lack of government support... on the other hand, if they felt or received support, they would note that also and any gratefulness...

Trying to portray these gatherings as being politics free is comedy hour. If a family member dies, of course, war is going to be mentioned and the impacts of any terrible decisions made from higher ups in terms of their death. That's often why surviving service members meet in the first place is to vent their emotions about such sensitive topics that otherwise would be too inappropriate to discuss out in the public. For a number of reasons, 1) the public, on average, does not understand what they actually went through.. and can't be expected to have a reasonable take on such things... 2) Criticizing the govt or military openly is easily misconstrued and comments like that can be used to "help" the enemy... most still support our military and govt despite even obvious flaws 3) Often there are other mental health issues involved and that can put them in worse off situation... so actually, inviting Candidates who have the chance to take in the input and maybe even act on it behind the scenes is really relieving. It's also more productive than trying to "go to the media" and vent those concerns... some might already feel their pain has been used for political purposes, so what better than to bring all that to the gathering themselves and force them to face uncomfortable questions and criticisms... it doesn't usually bear fruit, so the fact that Trump even showed is significant to them.