If your team wins the election, are you going to feel like gloating?

Nah. I just want it to be over.

Also, there is so much to do.

I think the reason there’s been no gloating yet is because everyone is still nervous about who’s going to win.

I am hoping there will be no gloating and bragging because both sides were so close, the winner (whoever it may be) really ju-u-u-s-t made it.

I think when Trump won four years ago, there were a lot of elated people bragging.

I haven’t heard from people in my family who are Trump supporters yet. They consider me a liberal, although I’m not liberal about everything.

Hopefully we’re done with division and can try to be nice to each other, although I doubt it.

Everyone should watch the documentary “The Social Dilemma.” It talks a lot about the division we’re experiencing. They don’t blame it on Trump. They blame a lot on social media. Employees and previous employees from tech giants were interviewed. Interestingly, they don’t let their kids own smart phones or go on social media. I’m digressing.

@longgone: “Also, there is so much to do.”

^ This! My “side” lost in March. I didn’t have side in the general. But man, I beg people: If/when Biden wins, please get active to demand change. Please don’t sleep for 4 years and just hope there will be anything worth saving in 4 years.

As I see it, the fact that this election is even close is reason for despair rather than gloating. The aberration of Trump is truly a bad sign on public reaction to the stress of falling economic viability.

No, I will just feel a lot of relief.

I’ll just feel less stressed.

The only place I come close to gloating is if Arizona goes to Biden and I can blame Trump’s uncouth bullying attitude towards John McCain. I don’t even call that gloating, but I guess it’s still having to make a small dig or make some sort of point. I won’t be saying it on a loudspeaker though. More likely in discussions like what we have on fluther.

Otherwise, not at all. I want everyone to get along. I don’t want to antagonize anyone. Mostly, I feel like reassuring my Trump friends if they are nervous.

The only people who win this election are billionaires and fools.

I don’t gloat. But I told my son last night if I were Joe Biden, and my winning was for sure, my first policy announcement would be naming Hillary Clinton as Attorney General.

I̳̣͈ w̺̠̗͢a̳̹̖̬͙s̞͖̜͎̕ ̵͖̱r͏̳̭̻̩ͅo̵̹̼̬̦o̹ͅt̡̜̠̳i̥̱̻̼͇n̞͔̱̫g̟̱̟̞͕͝ ̵f͠ͅo̜̻r͔ ̨̮Go҉̞̯̬̦̹͉z̸͈̭͍̫͕e͍͔̗̰͚̥ͅr ̤͎̙̣͚̣́ͅth̡̳̤̫̞̫͈e̴̪̱͓͔ ̯̩͕͔̥̟G̛̟͈̲̠̩̟o̞̤z̠͍ͅe̺̯̫̰͝r̛̞͎͚̦͙ͅi̶̞̪͕a̘n͙͠,̺͚͝ ͍G̭o̼̲̻̖̗̹z̶͓̰̬ę̗̦r̷̭ ̞͍t̙̲͕h̗̺͈̘͈̲e̩͢ ̣̘͓̠̼̤De̴̜̤͖͖̯s̤̻t̗͍̮͕̼ͅͅr̟̩͇ù̫͖̻͉c͉͍̤̥̪̘̖tu̻or̝̰̦̜,̤͜
̼̜̝͚Vo̯l̨̹͔̘͙g̛̤͓͍̮ͅu҉̳̖͔̼̟͇u̢͓̻̥̪s̫͜ Z̛̰i̭̙̬͟ḷ̡̼̱̲̮͕d̷̟̼̞͔r͙͓͖̙͙o̕h̘̦͎̟̝a̯͚̦̮̮̬̤ŕ͎̙͓,̦͔͉̖̳ ̟̺̖͇̤̲͞T̶h͏̩̳͉̗̜̲e̶̠ ̘̭͙̫̪̳ͅT̩̠̗̲̜r̜̦̩̥̦͈͉a̴͚̼̣v͓̫̱̳̺͕ͅe̡͚͈̥̥͓l͇͈l͎͉̤ḛ͎͕̜͖r̘̬̦̳̼̟̙,͔͔̖̞̯̺t̝̙̰̠o̵͖̺͚ ̹̥̻̭̜̝͢c̸̞ŕ͓͙͖̯o̢̯͙̣̰͖͔s̻͠s̠̫̰̦̖ ͖͟o͓̬v̝͉͎̳̭͇̟e̙̣̖̠̤ŕ̥͇̻̰̩̮ ̶͍̺̗i̧͕̖͚ņ̬ț̤̯̼͔o͎̭̯̹͠ ͏t̷̰h̷̗̝͉̺͈͚̤i̠̯̳̗̕s̶ ̳̦͉̰̻̭̬d̶̼̜͔̯i̻m̩̮̝͇͟ͅe̷̘͎͕̯͉͓͕n̯̺s͕i͠o͓͉͕̤͙n͖͖͇ͅ,̤̬̩̟̰̣ ̖͓̘͕c̠̰o̰̣͇̩̗̼̭͝n̗̻̼̦s̶ͅu̫̹̬̫͇̳̬ḿ͇̬̭̥e̥̜ ̡͍̪̰y͘o̖u̼̗̹͍̺ͅr̩͉̻̥̙̜ ̬͎̺f̸̠̙ļe̙̣s̰̺h̖͇͖͇̤̙ ͇͔̝͚̖̦a̞̹̹̰̻̲n̹ḓ̻͚͞ͅ ̬̪̯̱̱̪s͠o̟͓̙̮͙ṳ̝͔̩l̰̼̭͓͞s̯̖̥̦͙̩ͅ,̮̯̪̼ ̘̣̬͖̦̀a̬̲̣̖n͚̯̲̝̜̬̜d͔͜ ̖͇̰̼͕̦͇͜l͎̥͟a̙͔̦̟͍y̤̟ ̞̫̰͕̭̣w̛a̢̙̘̬͓̪s͚̘͉t̴̙̥ę̙̟̗̗ ̧̰͍̤̖͓͚̰t҉o͓͕̯̫ ͙̝̲͓̬̱̻͝y̞̝̼̺o̱u̻̳̲ṟ̮̦͖ ̟͕͘w̝o̞̗̗r҉̟l̥̮̻̗͙̝͔d͎͍̫.̴͇

But had I been supporting Biden, his performance was so pathetic and embarrassing, that there would be no reason to gloat.

It was far too close for either side to gloat, for me. And I agree with @gorillapaws, as usual.

I think the entire “team” sports analogy is an illusion used to keep people divided and focused on that idea, rather than getting how both big parties are corrupt, etc.

If Trump is out, I will be extremely relieved, and probably have steam to let out in celebration. But that’s not “my team” winning. I politically identify as “environmentalist”, and a few other labels, but no US political party really aligns with my views. The closest is perhaps Bernie Sanders, and clearly the Dems had no intention of letting him be their candidate.

If we were allowed to vote in order of preference and have our votes count, my ballot would be arranged something like this:

Fanatical Environmentalist
Environmentalist
Bernie Sanders & actual progressive candidates
Independents & good Democrats
Democrats
dubious Democrats (I put Bill Clinton about here)
the best of the traditional moderate Republicans
tolerable traditional moderate Republicans
barely tolerable traditional moderate Republicans (like Joe Biden)
cooky independants
====== The Bar Of Possible Acceptability ======
bad Independants
bad Democrats
other Republicans
worse Republicans (I put George W Bush about here)
modern alt-right-style Republicans
crazy & idiotic modern alt-right style Republicans
Donald Trump
overt white supremacists

So in my mind, Trump is about 16 levels of distinctly worse beyond my own (non-existant) “team”, or 14 levels below my preference.

I would love to post a gi of Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead, but I see that as counter productive, not that the other side would care about my restraint.

That was already used by the Brits when Margaret Thatcher died.
Speaking of which, what happened to ucme?

@ragingloli He left a few months ago with some others.

@Zaku, I don’t knowingly use any sports analogies. The use of “team” in sports is a figure of speech coming from “teams” of yoked or bridled draft animals.

I used it mainly to indicate that I saw the election as a choice between two groups of people and not just two individual men; although I do see more of a team sense on one side than the other.

I really like your ranking system, though. I wouldn’t mind if we voted by being given x amount of points (say 20) and being able to distribute them any way we like, from 20 points for one candidate to one point each for 20 different candidates. On your scale, I would probably spread them among three or four choices. This would be a considerable step closer to reflecting actual sentiments than a so-called preferential voting system, but even that would be an improvement, in my opinion.

And no electoral college.

By “cooky independants” did you mean “kooky independents”? Not something about cookies, right?

@gorillapaws that’s true of any of our elections. We are allowed the choice of guessing which of the 2 (for whatever reason) is the lesser evil.

No. Like Joshua L. Chamberlain, at Appomattox, at the end of the Civil War, I will treat my fellow Americans like the fellow American brothers and sisters they are. Not need to start or perpetuate a fight!

@gorillapaws HA! Good one!

@Zaku I don’t so much mean that the parties are like sports teams, but that the way people/voters relate to them is often like the way they relate to their teams. Especially this year I have seen people with political flags in their trucks driving around, wearing insignia, dressing up, chanting… it’s largely the same behavior that sports fans do. More importantly, I think the voting logic and thinking (or lack thereof) patterns are similar: irrational stubborn loyalty to their team mainly just because it’s their team, and/or repeated reasoning that has near-zero chance of changing.

Having a limited number of points to distribute would be better, but if they were still just added up to determine the winner by the highest total, there would still be a reason to inauthentically give all one’s votes to the candidate one thought was the lesser evil of the candidates thought most likely to win.

What can really make a voting system much better able to represent actual preference for more than two candidates, is being able to rank the preference, or at least to say Approve or Disapprove to every candidate.

There are a few possible variations, but they all are very possible and in use elsewhere, and provide a very good answer to the “lesser of two evils” problem.

A popular version that actually made it to consideration recently (but was drowned out in Trump-related-ridiculousness) is called Instant-runoff voting .

And yes, I meant kooky independents, thanks!

Cookie independents, I would tend to rank several levels higher, depending on their non-baked policies.

@Jeruba Oh whoops I @-ed myself instead of @-ing you above.

This election is like if your friends pick dinner and three vote “pizza” and two vote “kill and eat you”.

Even if “pizza” wins, there’s a big problem.

- Andrew Shvarts

So—now that it’s effectively over, do you feel like gloating?

Trump richly deserved the jeering, hooting crowd that greeted his Saturday return from golfing, “You’re fired” signs and all, but I still think it would have been better to hold back and maintain some dignified decorum. I liked Biden’s inclusive victory message and hope it will help us move away from strife. We have so much more to do than battle one another.

Like it or not, though, Trump has fueled a mob-rule mentality, and in the end it could eat him up, if he hasn’t eaten them first.

Thanks, @raum, for sharing a disconcertingly vivid image.

Not at all. The celebrating in the streets made me uneasy.

I went out last night to one of our town squares with my husband. I ran into a friend and he said he had come to the square hoping Biden people would be there making noise, and I told him I was grateful nothing political was happening.

It was like a regular night in The Villages. The band was awesome! We danced. Honestly, it gave me hope that people here will go back to everyone wanting to be friends and have fun.

My husband and I walked around the perimeter where people park and it was packed with golf carts maybe we walked by 60 or 70, and there was only a few golf carts with small Trump signs, it was like almost everyone had already taken down their political paraphernalia.

It was a little short lived, because a friend told me this morning that today there was a Trump golf cart rally planned to raise money for court cases, but in my own little world with my blinders on last night, it had been normal again.

My dad told me when I was very young how the calm transfer of power is something to be treasured. I don’t want to see celebrating in the streets and I don’t want to see protests and riots, I want everything to carry on like nothing happened to feel good. Not that I am against protests when warranted, I am just saying what makes me feel good about an election. I want to feel good. I don’t want to gloat.

I hear the French had
a celebration with fireworks over the Eiffel tower as the whole world rejoices.

Not gloating per se.
Though I did order a shirt from
Four Seasons Total Landscaping

You’re very welcome. :P