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Comment by api | Hacker News Reader

I have a speculation that some fraction of the tech-libertarian crowd likes him precisely because he was a dumpster fire. He helps discredit the state. Keep electing candidates of that quality and seasteading schemes start looking attractive.

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Trump's appeal is precisely that he's the worst candidate apart from all the others, and the opposition keeps proving his point. Plenty of people would have preferred a non-dumpster-fire conservative, but didn't get to pick. Meanwhile, Biden was nominated purely to be an easy mouthpiece for the DNC, (certainly not on his record for race and crime issues,) but had every corporate and media voice possible behind him.

This is such a lame excuse. In 2016 there were 16 other candidates in the primary, and 4 in 2020. Literally every single one of them would have been a better choice. If all else fails, you don't vote. Don't pretend like there weren't options.

Self-righteously holding your nose and voting for a dumpster fire is still voting for a dumpster fire.

I'm not so sure they all would have been better. Republican voters are wary of candidates who get into an establishment position and then abandon conservative policy--for all of Trump's personal ills, most of his voters were pretty happy with him from a policy standpoint. If you know that your party's nominee is going to be vilified by the media regardless, it does make some sense to pick one who's not going to waste time trying in vain to be likeable.

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