2020 Elections

[Vrede too]

TV news:
57% of Floridians disapprove of the DeSantis pandemic response.
59% of Floridians disapprove of the PINO pandemic response.

I know that DeSantis is not up for reelection, but Floridians will be voting on many other Repugs.

[billy.pilgrim]

TV news:
57% of Floridians disapprove of the DeSantis pandemic response.
59% of Floridians disapprove of the PINO pandemic response.

I know that DeSantis is not up for reelection, but Floridians will be voting on many other Repugs.

Not so much up here. I can vote for gaetz or the losing dem or write-in Bugs Bunny. No president, governor or senator, just matt by 10+

[Vrede too]

Not so much up here. I can vote for gaetz or the losing dem or write-in Bugs Bunny. No president, governor or senator, just matt by 10+

That sucks. Any other statewide races like AG, Educ, etc?

'We are living in fear': Florida health department workers write to DeSantis after several employees test positive

I would excerpt, but the entire article damns DeSantis and his admin*.

[Vrede too]

I remember posting good things about her way back when.

Nikki Haley's 'Groveling' Claim About Donald Trump Leaves People Bewildered

...

He turned our economy and foreign policy around in that everyone lost their jobs and then the world said Americans aren't allowed.

This lady is the Ted Cruz of Lindsey Grahams. Phony. Awful.

The depths of degradation to which power-hungry, racist Republicans are willing to sink for this ludicrous fraction of a human being never ceases to appall me. #votetheGOPintoextinction #NikkiHaley

"Turned our economy around" in two charts.

We know how badly trump hated to cancel, but no one was going to show up because they didn’t want to get CV-19. You’ve become quite the embarrassment.

According to Trump It's NOT safe enough for Trump and the GOP to hold its convention for 4 days in Jacksonville but it is SAFE enough for our children and teachers to be crowded into classrooms five days a week for 6 hours a day. #Selfless #NikkiHaley

She is certainly right about one thing. Trump inherited a prosperous economy and turned it around.

This kind of groveling might even be too embarrassing for @scottwalker.

Just kidding.

Lots more tweets at link.

[Vrede too]

did you notice that Boof and friends disenfranchised a million Florida voters today

https://amp-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/ ... index.html

The 5 didn't even give an explanation

Yeah, it sucks that your 2:1 vote has been watered down. They usually don't explain when allowing a lower court ruling to stand. The written dissent by 3 justices - Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan - is a little unusual.

Let's also give credit to:
"the GOP-led Florida Legislature"
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis
"Secretary of State Laurel Lee, also a Republican"
The Eleventh Circuit

"The appellate court set a hearing for the case on August 18 -- the same day as Florida's primary elections."

Apparently, it's unlikely to rule one way or the other by Nov 3.

"The unsigned order likely means the law will be in effect for the November election, although the court did not declare the law to be unconstitutional or limit ongoing court challenges."



Dems should quickly GoFundMe the outstanding fines and fees.

LeBron James group to donate $100,000 toward paying Florida ex-felons' fines so they can vote

Help Returning Citizens Pay Fines & Fees

We at the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, as returning citizens ourselves, know first-hand how financial hardships can prevent people from fully engaging in their communities. So we created a fund to help returning citizens with outstanding fines and fees complete their sentence and move forward with their lives. 100% of your tax-deductible donation will go to those who have completed incarceration and probation but still have to complete financial portions of their sentence. Please give whatever you can and help us spread the word!

Contributions $1,697,944
Donors 14241

Fundraising global stats: 43% left
Amount raised: $1,697,944
Amount left: $1,302,056

[Vrede too]

https://news.yahoo.com/poll-biden-leads ... 00617.html

Great news about the Senate race. AZ would be an important pickup in the effort to get a Dem majority. If AZ is still in play for Biden in October I think he is POTUS.

The Reagan Foundation Wants Nothing To Do With Trump's Fundraising Appeals

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute has demanded that President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee stop using the 40th president’s image and name for fundraising.

The complaint involved a fundraising email that offered commemorative coins featuring the late president and Donald Trump, implying an important link between the men.

“We own the likeness of President Reagan and they used his image for a coin without our consent,” Melissa Giller, chief marketing officer for the foundation, told The Hill. “We called the RNC and asked them to cease and desist the use of President Reagan on the coin, and they agreed.”

Foundation officials were moved to action after a Trump fundraising email went out last week with the subject line, “Ronald Reagan and Yours Truly.” ...

PINO is a thief, again.

... Earlier this month, the Republican Voters Against Trump group used excerpts from Reagan’s “A Vision For America” speech to make a case against Trump. Reagan’s words were juxtaposed with recent news footage to create a damning indictment of the Trump presidency. (Check out the video up top.)

In May, the “never Trump” Republican Lincoln Project also used excerpts from Reagan’s hopeful 1984 reelection ad “Morning in America” to contrast against what it characterized as “Mourning in America” under Trump.

No mention of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation objecting.

Boris Johnson's government is privately 'desperate' for Trump to lose the election to Joe Biden

... "A lot of stuff will change if Biden wins," the diplomat said.

"The venal corruption of the Trump family and the nasty narcissistic aspects of his behavior — all that will go with a different sort of president," they said....

Too nasty for Boris is really saying something.

[Vrede too]

Cook Political Report:
Almost 100 Days Out, Democrats Are Favored to Take Back the Senate

Tons of data and analysis.

July Ratings Changes:

Arizona: Martha McSally (R) — Toss Up → Lean D
Iowa: Joni Ernst (R) — Lean R → Toss Up
Georgia: David Perdue (R) — Lean R → Toss Up
Minnesota: Tina Smith (D) — Likely D → Solid D
New Mexico: OPEN (Udall) — Likely D → Solid D

Georgia!

Democratic candidates have the fundraising momentum, with challengers crushing virtually every incumbent in a competitive race in the second quarter reports released last week. Party committees and the major outside PACs for each side are also spending heavily, with the most overall invested in North Carolina, a race some Republicans are feeling more pessimistic about.

Which competitive Senate races are shaping up to be the most expensive?

The chart below shows the amount of money the party committees and other major groups have spent in 2020 and have reserved for the fall. Data is provided through July 21.

● 97.4% of Dem spend is offensive.
● 96.6% of GOP spend is defensive.

Chart not copied here, but NC is shaping up to be the costliest at over $42M. Ugh.

Even with a probable loss in Alabama — increasingly the only bright spot for Republicans — that would require the Democrats to flip four seats if Biden wins (and five if he does not), the current map leaves multiple plausible paths for them to a majority.

By looking at the numbers, the battleground becomes clear — Arizona is falling down the list for the GOP to defend, and Colorado is threatening to. If the election were today, Arizona, Colorado and North Carolina stand as the most vulnerable, closely followed by Maine. That leaves what Republicans see as the tipping point states of Montana, Iowa and Georgia. But they have other states they have to watch and worry about, including Kansas, Texas, and even Alaska and South Carolina....

If that trend holds for 2020, as state polling stands now Republicans would be on pace to lose seats in Arizona, Colorado, Maine and North Carolina, according to FiveThirtyEight’s polling averages as of Thursday. Both Iowa and Georgia remain incredibly close with Trump just narrowly ahead. Still, even those first four states would be enough to give Democrats a majority. On the flip side, for Democrats that could make Montana a more difficult gain.

Georgia on Democrats’ Minds (long discussion)

There's also a GA Senate special election which will likely go to a runoff in Jan. GA could flip 2!

[Vrede too]

The Texas GOP Held Its Convention on Zoom—and It Was a Comic Disaster
When Texas Republicans gather for their biennial convention, it’s usually an impressive show of force. This time, it was an embarrassment.

... When the coronavirus first hit, both political parties in Texas faced the question of what to do about their conventions this summer. The Texas Democratic party didn’t take long to decide that the prudent thing to do would be to hold an online convention. The event, which officials spent months planning, went off in early June without a hitch, something the party has gloated about endlessly....

The entire article is hilarious, but for one example of how bad the Texas GOP Convention was:

... In the morning, chairman Dickey briefly appeared on a livestream in front of a makeshift set to announce that the party had decapitated him, and replaced him with Allen West, a former Florida congressman and tea party personality....

[Vrede too]

Why Montana Is a Test Case for Democrats' Winning the Senate

PPP (D) poll, 7/9 - 7/10: Bullock (D) +2

Battle for the White House
RCP Poll Averages

RCP National Average Biden 50.6, Trump 41.3, Biden +9.3
Betting Odds Biden 60.8, Trump 36.5
Electoral College Biden 222, Trump 115

Battlegrounds

North Carolina Biden 48.0, Trump 45.0, Biden +3.0
Florida Biden 50.5, Trump 42.7, Biden +7.8
Wisconsin Biden 48.2, Trump 41.8, Biden +6.4
Pennsylvania Biden 50.2, Trump 42.8, Biden +7.4
Arizona Biden 49.0, Trump 45.0, Biden +4.0

Congress

Battle for Senate Dems 46, GOP 47
U.S. House Dems 214, GOP 190
Generic Ballot Dems 48.4, GOP 39.8, Dem +8.6

[Vrede too]

Reversing course, Trump suggests he'll be in North Carolina to accept GOP nomination for second term

Crap. On behalf of the state, I apologize.

[GoCubsGo]

Reversing course, Trump suggests he'll be in North Carolina to accept GOP nomination for second term

Crap. On behalf of the state, I apologize.

I caught the q&a part of his "presser". He doesn't have a clue or a plan.
Situation Normal.

[GoCubsGo]

Encouraging.

[Vrede too]

Encouraging.

Michigan: Trump vs. Biden

RCP Average 7/18 - 7/26, Biden +8.0

Maybe PINO's support for the armed rightwing, anti-masker, 'open up' terrorists did not go over well there.

[Vrede too]

viewtopic.php?p=123470#p123470

Daddy's little girl!

Kellyanne Conway's 15-Year-Old Daughter Claudia Is Posting Anti-Trump TikToks

shortfakeblond?

Claudia Conway, daughter of Kellyanne and George Conway, returned to Twitter with a bang — encouraging her followers to vote and asking AOC to adopt her

[Vrede too]

Encouraging.

It's everywhere now.

Trump campaign pauses TV ad spending for 'review' of messaging strategy

... With less than 100 days until Election Day, the Trump campaign spent virtually nothing on television or radio ads on Wednesday and Thursday, according to data from Advertising Analytics. And it has effectively nothing booked through August.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden's campaign has spent $3.9 million over those two days and has another almost $6 million booked through the end of August....

As part of a broader strategy to shift the public's focus from to coronavirus to fears over crime and anarchy, the campaign has so far put most of its money behind a spot that attacks Biden over Democratic calls to "defund the police." Advertising Analytics data shows the campaign has spent almost $17 million to run the spot on broadcast and national cable since the beginning of July.

But Michigan was first:

... After spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a week running ads in Michigan through June and half of July, the campaign dropped that to just $78,000 for the week of July 14 and to less than $10,000 the week of July 21.

Recent polling from Fox News and CNN have found Trump trailing Biden by margins of 9 points and 12 points among registered voters in Michigan in recent days.

The campaign also had made other ad spending changes in the weeks before this pause, ramping up spending in Iowa, Georgia, Florida and Ohio since the middle of June.

While the Trump campaign has been off the airwaves, its allies haven't gone dark. America First Action, the campaign's top aligned super PAC, spent $1 million over the past two days, while Restoration PAC, another super PAC, has spent $360,000.

And the campaign still has the $146.6 million in general-election television and radio spending booked from Labor Day through Election Day.

But America First Action has been getting heavily outspent by other Democratic PACs in recent months, causing growing anxiety among Republicans. Democratic super PACs have spent almost four times as much on television and radio as America First, and the trend is set to continue, according to ad spending figures through the end of last week.

The Repugs best new "messaging strategy" would be for PINO to drop out and resign.

[GoCubsGo]

They're asking each other how to make a shit sandwich appetizing.

And no one has a clue.

[billy.pilgrim]

I sure hope that I'm wrong, but I don't see Biden winning. It's 68 law and order all over again.

[GoCubsGo]

I sure hope that I'm wrong, but I don't see Biden winning. It's 68 law and order all over again.

How so? Was trump running in 68?

[O Really]

No, Trump is just having a pretend "law and order" phase as part of his effort to keep the base happy. But there are a lot of differences, starting with Dem candidate Humphrey having been part of the outgoing and unpopular administration. It would be like '68 if in '68 Johnson had been running for re-election and started abusing protesters to build his popularity. Neither of the major '68 candidates were widely hated, and then you had that pesky Wallace who actually won several states. And now, you've also got 60%+ generally supporting the BLM protesters.

[Vrede too]

I sure hope that I'm wrong, but I don't see Biden winning. It's 68 law and order all over again.

My hope is that enough people are reading and accepting articles like this, and that the "review of messaging strategy" means that the scare campaign isn't working.

Protesters vary as much as their arrests, AP analysis shows

However, I won't make predictions on my hopes yet. Americans have let me down too many times.