Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania on September 15 approved subpoenas for a wide range of data and personal information on voters, advancing a probe of the 2020 election in a key battleground state former president Donald Trump has repeatedly targeted with baseless claims of fraud. The move drew a sharp rebuke from Democrats who described the effort as insecure and unwarranted and said they would consider mounting a court fight. Among other requests, Republicans are seeking the names, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, last four digits of Social Security numbers, addresses, and methods of voting for millions of people who cast ballots in the May primary and the November general election.
Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Tom Wolf called the September 15 vote “merely another step to undermine democracy, confidence in our elections and to capitulate to Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.” Wolf added in a statement, “Election security is not a game and should not be treated with such carelessness. Senate Republicans should be ashamed of their latest attempt to destabilize our election system through a sham investigation that will unnecessarily cost taxpayers millions of dollars.” But Senator Cris Dush, the Republican chairman of the committee that approved the subpoena, argued during the hearing that the information is needed because “there have been questions regarding the validity of people who have voted — whether or not they exist.” “Again, we are not responding to proven allegations. We are investigating the allegations to determine whether or not they are factual,” he said, adding that the vetting process for outside vendors will be “rigorous.”
Judges, including on the Pennsylvania and US Supreme Courts, have denied bids by Trump and his allies to overturn President Biden’s win in the state or invalidate millions of ballots. Yet in Pennsylvania and other battleground states, Republican legislators have bowed to pressure from Trump and his base to investigate the results, despite a consensus among judges, election officials, and experts that there was no widespread fraud in the election. Several prominent Republican governors have continued to spread 2020 election falsehoods, echoing former President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated fraud claims. In Wisconsin, protesters gathered at the state Capitol last week to call for a ballot review like the one conducted in Arizona and push for an examination of voting machines. As of late last month, multiple reviews were ongoing in the state — including one by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau and one led by former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, whose approach recently raised fresh concerns with some election clerks.
In Pennsylvania’s state Senate, the Intergovernmental Operations Committee voted 7 to 4 to subpoena Wolf’s administration after a testy debate. In addition to voters’ records, the subpoenas for the Pennsylvania Department of State also request all guidance issued to counties, as well as communications between the Department of State and county election officials, for the period covering the two votes. The party-line vote advanced the Republican probe, which state Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman has promised will be a “full forensic investigation” of the 2020 election. After the vote, Corman sought to allay fears that Pennsylvania voter information could be vulnerable if obtained by the committee.“Every necessary step will be taken to ensure this information is secure, including making any vendor personnel sign non-disclosure agreements to make sure the data are protected under penalty of law,” he said in a statement.
Republicans also emphasized that the subpoena would not seek information about voters’ party affiliation. But Senator Cris Dush declined to answer further questions from Democrats, including about the outside vendors he is considering to handle the data. “What you’re now describing sounds very much to me like a partisan investigation,” said state Senator Steven Santarsiero, noting that the subpoenas could cover information for “nearly 7 million Pennsylvanians.” The hearing was stopped multiple times because of tensions between members. Senator Vincent J. Hughes called Republicans’ justifications for the subpoenas “absurd.” “And the majority knows it,” he said. “However, the majority also knows it needs to create a legislative purpose to justify their fishing expedition.” Dush, though, has said the goal is not to revisit Trump’s loss. “That horse is out of the barn, as far as this investigation is concerned,” he said last week. But he and other Republicans used the hearing to insist that their constituents are still asking questions about election conduct and said those questions must be addressed.
In an interview, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) called the hearing “a dud.” “They introduced exactly zero evidence in their attempt to satisfy the people of Pennsylvania whom they’ve been lying to for the last 10 months,” he said. Shapiro said his office would carefully review any election-related subpoenas issued by the legislature, particularly any that sought tabulating machines or ballots. “I would expect a subpoena like that to face litigation,” he said. Pennsylvania Senate Republican Leader Jake Corman has been trying to assure Trump supporters that he has buy-in from the former president for his approach to investigating the election. But in a stark reminder that Trump’s most loyal supporters demand total capitulation, he has still faced deep suspicion, particularly over a decision to appoint Dush to lead the investigation rather than Senator Doug Mastriano (R), a close Trump ally who had been threatening to issue subpoenas to several counties.
In a Twitter Post, One America News host Christina Bobb, who has emerged as a national advocate for ballot reviews and who The Washington Post has previously reported speaks frequently to Trump, criticized the subpoenas as not going far enough. “PA Voters want a real audit. What does the PA senate subpoena? Emails. Not the ballots, not the machines, not the poll books. While emails may be helpful, they are not enough. The PA Senate must do better,” she wrote. Khalif Ali, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, a good-government advocacy group that works on issues related to voter access, called the subpoenas a “frightening violation of voters’ privacy and an egregious abuse of power.”
Pro-Donald Trump rioters overwhelmed the Capitol Police and stormed Congress on January 6, interrupting the certification of Joe Biden’s Electoral College win and throwing the US Capitol into a spiral of chaos and violence. Shortly after 2:30 p.m., lawmakers, staff, and reporters were forced to shelter in place, and several House office buildings were evacuated due to potential bomb threats. Vice President Mike Pence was pulled from the Senate chamber. But the situation quickly spun out of control. Protesters breached the Capitol, entering the Senate chamber and streaming through Statuary Hall. They broke windows, and one man sat in the very seat Pence had been sitting in just a few minutes before, while another was in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. Lawmakers, reporters, and staffers sheltered throughout the building as pro-Trump rioters banged on doors and shouted. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) were quickly whisked away to undisclosed locations as the violent protesters broke through the Capitol, busting through secure doors, shattering windows and even scaling scaffolding outside of Senate leadership offices. One person was injured when they fell more than 30 feet from the scaffolding. By mid-afternoon, the National Guard was called up to help suppress the unrest, nearly two hours after the first reports of a breach.
What unfolded at the Capitol was the culmination of months of President Donald Trump’s tweets and statements pushing his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election based on baseless claims of fraud. Lawmakers, helpless amid the chaos, tweeted urgently at the president to call off his supporters and described, in real-time, the violence and destruction they were witnesses to. Some immediately called President Trump’s conduct impeachable, while others, Republicans and Democrats alike, described it as a “coup” attempt and an insurrection. Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE), a Trump critic, described the violence as “the inevitable and ugly outcome of the President’s addiction to constantly stoking division.” Utah Senator and 2012 Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who also frequently calls out Trump, directly blamed the President, saying, “What happened here today was an insurrection, incited by the United States President.” “There’s no question the president formed the mob, the president incited the mob, the president addressed the mob. He lit the flame,” said Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY).
Shortly after both chambers were evacuated, President Donald Trump tweeted: “I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful.” But he did not tell the demonstrators to leave the Capitol. He followed that with a recorded message, saying, “You have to go home now. We have to have peace, we have to have law and order,” President Trump said while still falsely insisting the election was “stolen from us.” President-elect Joe Biden also called on the rioters to stop, saying “This is not dissent. It’s disorder. It’s chaos. It borders on sedition. And it must end now.” The security was in starkcontrastto Trump’s impeachment trial or even Black Lives Matter protests last year, when police presence was more pronounced and restrictive. Before rioters were cleared from the complex, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Schumer called forthem to exit the Capitol. “We are calling on President Trump to demand that all protestors leave the U.S. Capitol and Capitol Grounds immediately,” Schumer and Pelosi said.
At 5:30 p.m., three hours after rioters breached the Capitol, the sergeant at arms informed members that the building was finally again secure. Minutes before a 6 p.m. curfew began, an announcement was made warning that anyone who did not leave would be arrested. Shortly before 6 p.m., Senators reconvened behind closed doors to process President-elect Joe Biden’s win and House leaders also vowed to continue their work. Inside the House chamber, the atmosphere was frantic. Capitol Police were warning people they may need to go behind their seats. The House floor quickly turned into chaos. Some top lawmakers, including Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Whip Jim Clyburn, were pulled from the chamber. Minutes later, police rushed members from the floor to be evacuated. Police and floor staff handed out protective hoods as police warned that tear gas had been dispersed outside the chamber. The House evacuation effort was interrupted, however, and roughly two dozen members and reporters huddled in upper gallery, crouching behind seats, as multiple armed officers barricaded the main chamber door. Loud banging noises could be heard, as members exchanged prayers and made calls to loved ones. As the last group of members and staff was escorted from the chamber, multiple protesters appeared to be restrained by police on the House floor.
Lawmakers and staff had already been on high alert as crowds of Trump allies descended upon the Capitol and local DC officials braced for violence. Then around 1 p.m., offices in both the Cannon and Madison buildings were urgently instructed to leave and move to another building. In some hallways, Capitol Police officers ran door-to-door, instructing staff to leave, according to several of those evacuated. The lockdowns and evacuation orders fueled further anxiety inside the Capitol, as staff were told to stay away from windows and doors. Staff in some office buildings were also instructed to take “escape hoods,” reserved for some kind of chemical attack in the building, and head to the tunnels in Longworth. “All of the members of Congress are just texting each other and trying to make sure that everyone is safe,” said Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin on MSNBC as the chaos was unfolding. “I understand as you just reported that in the chamber they’re now trying to don some gas masks. I dug one out of my storage. We’re sheltering in place. I’m glad to see that the president is now putting out a message that this has gone way too far.”
Elections to the US Senate will be held November 3, 2020, with 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested in regular elections and two seats being contested in special elections. The winners will serve six-year terms from January 3, 2021, to January 3, 2027. Counting the special elections, Republicans have 21 seats up for re-election, whereas Democrats have 12 seats up for re-election. There are also two spatial elections: Republicans can afford to have a net loss of three or four seats to still remain in the majority, whereas the Democrats need to have a net gain of 4-5 seats to gain a majority in the Senate depending on which party wins the Presidency. Three of the Republican seats are open as a result of retirements in Wyoming, Tennessee, and Kansas, whereas one Democratic seat is open due to the retirement of Democratic Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico. The current polling shows many competitive races that can go either way. As such, current control of the Senate remains a tossup, with a slight edge to the Republicans.
Here is a complete list of the Senate seats up in 2020 and an analysis of the likely results of each race:
Alabama:
One-term Democrat Doug Jones is running for election to a full term and faces an uphill battle against Trump-aligned Republican Tommy Tuberville
Incumbent Democrat Doug Jones was elected in a special election in 2017, narrowly defeating Republican nominee Roy Moore, who was weakened due to allegations of sexual misconduct against minors as well as numerous controversial statements on policy issues. Jones is running for his first full term as a Senator. Former Auburn University football head coach Tommy Tuberville defeated former senator and attorney general Jeff Sessions in a July 14 runoff to secure the Republican nomination. Sessions occupied the seat until early 2017 when he resigned to become attorney general in the Trump administration.
Despite the fact that Doug Jones is the first Alabama Democrat elected to a statewide office since 2006, most polling tends to paint a dim picture of his re-election bid. Alabama is one of the most conservative states in the entire country and Jones’s 2017 win was mostly attributed to the fact that Roy Moore was a weak candidate. As such, it has been long expected that the seat will flip back to the Republicans as Jones faces much stronger opposition from Tommy Tuberville. Despite some competitive polling, Tuberville has led Jones by an average of 12% in nearly all polls. As such, Alabama is a likely pickup for the Republicans.
Alaska
One term Republican Dan Sullivan is running for re-election and faces a potentially competitive race against Independent Democrat Al Gross
Republican Dan Sullivan was elected in 2014, defeating incumbent Democrat Mark Begich. He is running for a second term. Potential Democratic candidates included Begich, who was the Democratic nominee for governor of Alaska in 2018, and Anchorage mayor Ethan Berkowitz, who was the Democratic nominee for governor of Alaska in 2010. One Democrat, Edgar Blatchford, filed to run by the June 1 filing deadline. On July 2, 2019, Al Gross an orthopedic surgeon and fisherman, declared his candidacy as an Independent. In a joint primary for the Alaska Democratic Party, Alaska Libertarian Party and Alaskan Independence Party, he won the nomination as an independent supported by the Democratic Party.
Overall, the Alaska Senate race is considered one of the more competitive Senate races this election cycle. Dan Sullivan thus far has only led by about 3-5% against Al Gross, though there still remains a high number of undecided votes. The election was impacted by the revelation of recordings related to the controversial Pebble Mine project, which could adversely impact the ecosystem of Bristol Bay. Though Dan Sullivan has publicly opposed the mining project, corporate executives of the Pebble Limited Partnership indicated that he would quietly support the project after the election, if he is re-elected, in secret recordings that were made public. Moreover, Al Gross’ status as a doctor may resonate with Alaskans who are impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. As such, the Alaska Senate race is considered a lean Republican race, with the potential for Al Gross to win in an upset.
Arizona:
Appointed Republican Martha McSally is widely expected to lose her race to earn a full Senate term.
Republican senator John McCain (who is largely considered one of the greatest Senators in US history) was elected to a sixth term in 2016 but died in office in August 2018 from a brain tumor. Republican governor Doug Ducey appointed former senator Jon Kyl to fill the seat temporarily. After Kyl stepped down at the end of the year, Ducey appointed outgoing Congresswoman Martha McSally to replace him. McSally is running in the 2020 special election to fill the remaining two years of the term. Retired astronaut Mark Kelly won the Democratic nomination.
Once a solidly Republican state from the early 1950s until the 2000s, Arizona has trended heavily towards the Democrats in recent years. Incumbent Republican Martha McSally was appointed to the late John McCain’s seat two months after losing the 2018 Arizona U.S. Senate election to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema. Her Democratic opponent, astronaut Mark Kelly (who is married to former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords), has raised significantly more money and generally leads her by 5-15 points in the polling. McSally is also suffering from low approval ratings due to her strong allegiance to Trump, who is unpopular in Arizona despite winning the state by 3.5% in 2016. A s such, the Arizona Senate race is expected to be won by Mark Kelly by ~5%.
Arkansas
First term Neo-conservative aligned Republican Tom Cotton is expected to face an easy re-election considering that the Demcoratic party did not even field a candidate.
Neo-conservative-aligned Republican Tom Cotton was first elected in 2014 after serving two years in the House of Representatives, defeating incumbent Democratic senator Mark Pryor by a 17% margin. Cotton is seeking a second term. Joshua Mahony, a nonprofit executive and 2018 Democratic nominee for Congress in Arkansas’s 3rd congressional district, filed to run for the Democratic nomination, but dropped out just after the filing deadline. No other Democrats filed within the filing deadline. Progressive activist Dan Whitfield ran as an independent but suspended his campaign on October 1, 2020, after failing to qualify for the ballot. Christian missionary Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. is running as the Libertarian nominee and is thus Tom Cotton’s only opponent due to the lack of any other major candidates in the race.
Overall, the Arkansas Senate race is generally viewed as safe for Tom Cotton, who is likely to win by anywhere by a 11-55% margin. A stronger Democratic candidate such as former Arkansas governor Mike Beebe or former congressman Mike Ross might have made this race competitive, though Arkansas has trended heavily Republican over the past 10 years due to the Democratic party’s leftward drift on social issues, as well as the increasingly populist message of the Republican party. What is interesting about this election is that despite being the Libertarian candidate, Harrington will likely win the few remaining Democratic counties in Arkansas, which will make for an interesting election results map.
Colorado
First term Republican Cory Garder faces a formidable opponent in former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and is expected to lose his re-election bid by a comfortable margin.
Republican Cory Gardner was elected in 2014 after serving four years in the House of Representatives, narrowly defeating one-term Democrat Mark Udall. Gardner is seeking a second term.
Former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper is the Democratic nominee and generally leads Gardner by 10-20 points in the polls, with many pundits already considering him a favorite to win. Gardner is Colorado’s only Republican statewide officeholder, and the once competitive state has trended increasingly Democratic since Gardner’s narrow win in 2014. Gardner also has low approval ratings due to his strong allegiance to President Donald Trump, who lost Colorado in 2016 to Hillary Clinton by 4.9%. Hickenlooper has raised significantly more money than Gardner, as well. As such, the Colorado Senate election is widely considered to be a comfortable pick up for the Democratic party.
Delaware:
Democrat Chris Coons is expected to win a third Senate term against QAnon supported Republican Lauren Witzke.
Democrat Chris Coons was reelected in 2014; he first took office after winning a 2010 special election, which occurred after longtime Senator Joe Biden resigned to become Vice President. He faced a primary challenge from technology executive Jessica Scarane. Conservative activist and QAnon supporter Lauren Witzke is the Republican nominee, having defeated attorney Jim DeMartino in the Republican Senate primary on September 15, 2020. Witzke’s campaign has mostly focused on her support for labor unions and opposition to gun control.
Overall, the Delaware Senate race is considered to be a safe hold for the Democratic party. No Republican has won a statewide office in Delaware since 2008, and the state is largely considered to be safe for the Democratic party in terms of the Presidential race due to the presence of native son Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee. As such, Chris Coons is expected to win re-election with at least 35% of the vote.
Georgia (Regular Election)
First term Republican David Perdue is facing a tough re-election bid against Democrat Jon Ossoff.
Republican David Perdue was elected in 2014. He is seeking a second term. Former Columbus mayor Teresa Tomlinson and 2018 lieutenant governor nominee Sarah Riggs Amico lost the Democratic nomination to former congressional candidateJon Ossoff, a documentary film producer and investigative journalist. (Other potential Democratic candidates who did not run included former state senator Jason Carter and state representative Scott Holcomb) Ossoff will face Perdue in November.
Overall, the Georgia Regular Election is largely considered to be one of the more competitive Senate elections and a potential pick up opportunity for the Democratic party. Georgia is largely considered a pivotal swing state (that Joe Biden has a decent chance in carrying) and Jon Ossoff has thus far run a positive, issue-oriented campaign. The trends in favor of the Democratic party, couple with Ossoff’s strong campaign, have resulted in David Perdue losing by an average of 3% in recent polling, thus pointing to a victory by Ossoff. Assuming that neither candidate reaches 50%, Georgia law requires a run-off election. The Georgia run-off elections generally favor the Republican party (as was evident in 2008 and 2014), so if the election goes to a run-off, then Perdue is likely to be favored
Georgia (Special Election):
Democrat Raphael Warnock is running a strong campaign for the Georgia special election and stands a chance at winning assuming that the race does not go to a run-off.
Three-term Senator Johnny Isakson announced that he would resign from the Senate at the end of 2019, citing health concerns. A “jungle primary” will be held November 3, 2020; a candidate earning a majority of votes cast will win, but if no candidate wins a majority, a runoff election between the top two finishers will be held January 5, 2021. The winner of the special election will serve until the expiration of Isakson’s term on January 3, 2023. Georgia governor Brian Kemp appointed Republican Kelly Loeffler to replace Isakson until an election could be held; Loeffler took office on January 6, 2020, and will compete in the November 2020 election. Other Republicans running for the seat include Wayne Johnson, former chief operating officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid, and four-term Congressman (and staunch Trump ally)Doug Collins
Unlike the regular election, the special election is being conducted as a jungle primary: all candidates are listed on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation, and if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two will advance to a runoff on January 5, 2021. Doug Collins remains close to Kelly Loeffler in the polls due to allegations of insider trading against Loeffler. Democrats running for the seat include Raphael Warnock, Matt Lieberman, Ed Tarver, and Richard Dien Winfield. Prominent national Democrats and the Democratic National Senatorial Committee have endorsed Warnock.
Much like Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock has run a very strong campaign and has opened up a substantial polling lead over both Kelly Loeffler and Doug Collins. Despite his polling lead, Warnock has not yet hit the 50% mark required to avoid a run-off election. As such, while Warnock is likely to lead in the initial election, the Georgia Special election is likely to be headed to a run-off, in which either Kelly Loeffler or Doug Collins would be slightly favored to narrowly win.
Idaho:
Republican Jim Risch should likely experience a relatively easy re-election bid in one of the most Republican states in the country.
Two-term Republican Jim Risch was easily reelected in 2014. On August 13, 2019, he announced that he would seek a third term. Former gubernatorial nominee and former Coeur d’Alene Tribal Councilwoman Paulette Jordan won the Democratic nomination in a primary against retired policeman Jim Vandermaas.
Overall, Idaho is a safe hold for the Republican party. Idaho is one of the most Republican states in the entire country and no Democrat has been in office as a Senator from Idaho since Frank Church (one of the greatest Senators in modern history) lost re-election in 1980. Additionally, Jim Risch is a relatively non-controversial incumbant, with his only notable positions being his strong support for Saudi Arabia and Israel. As such, Risch will likely win re-election by a least a 25% margin.
Iowa:
Republican Joni Ernst is experiencing a difficult re-election fight due to her strong support for President Donald Trump, advocacy for trade policies that adversely impact Iowa’s farmers.
Republican Joni Ernst was elected in 2014 after serving four years in the Iowa Senate. She is seeking a second term. Theresa Greenfield won the Democratic nomination, defeating former vice-admiral Michael T. Franken, attorney Kimberly Graham, and businessman Eddie Mauro in the primary.
Joni Ernst’s popularity has dropped in the polls, allegedly due to support for President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs that have impacted Iowa farmers. But Democrats have had a hard time winning statewide in Iowa in recent years, narrowly losing the governor’s election in 2018. Trump won the state by 9 points in 2016 after Barack Obama carried it in both 2008 and 2012. Democrats do hold three of Iowa’s four congressional seats, picking up two of them in 2018. Ernst and Greenfield, a first-time candidate, are polling neck-and-neck in the general election, but Greenfield lacks name recognition, despite raising more money than Ernst. As such, Joni Ernst is likely to narrowly win re-election, although an upset victory by Theresa Greenfield is possible
Kansas:
Republican Roger Marshall is expected to win his first Senate term by a relatively close margin.
Four-term Republican Pat Roberts is retiring and will not run for reelection. Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, state Turnpike Authority chairman (and former Kansas City Chief defensive end) Dave Lindstrom, Congressman Roger Marshall, plumber/businessman Bob Hamilton, Kansas Board of Education member Steve Roberts, state senate president Susan Wagle, and Republican socialist Brian Matlock all announced their candidacies. Wagle later withdrew. Congressman Marshall won the primary election on August 4, having defeated Kobach by a 14% margin.
Among Democrats, former Republican turned Democratic state senator Barbara Bollier ran and faced Robert Tillman, nominee for Kansas’s 4th congressional district in 2012 and candidate in 2016 and 2017. Former US attorney Barry Grissom, mayor of Manhattan Usha Reddi, and former congresswoman Nancy Boyda announced runs but withdrew before the primary. Former governor Kathleen Sebelius declined to run.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to win his re-election bid by a landslide margin.
Incumbent Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who has been Senate Majority Leader since 2015 and senator from Kentucky since 1984, is running for reelection to a seventh term. He faces the Democratic nominee, US Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath, and Libertarian Brad Barron.
Overall, Mitch McConnell is heavily favored to win re-election by perhaps his largest margin of victory of his Senate career. Amy McGrath has thus far run a very weak Senate campaign that has pulled resources away from other more competitive Senate races. Additionally, Donald Trump’s strong popularity in Kentucky is expected to help Mitch McConnell immensely in his re-election bid. As such, the Kentucky Senate election represents a lost opportunity for the Democratic party. Assuming that a stronger candidate such as former Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, former Kentucky House of Representatives minority leader Rocky Adkins, or Kentucky House of Representatives member Charles Booker received the Senate nomination, this seat would have been a potential pick-up opportunity for the Democrats.
Louisiana:
First term Republican Bill Cassidy is expected to easily win re-election in heavily Republican Louisiana.
Republican Bill Cassidy was elected in 2014 after serving six years in the United States House of Representatives, defeating three-term Democrat Mary Landrieu. He is running for reelection. Multiple Democratic candidates are running, but the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has endorsed Shreveport mayor Adrian Perkins. Similarly to the Georgia Special election, a Louisiana primary (a form of jungle primary) will be held November 3; if no candidate wins a majority of the vote in the primary, a runoff election will be held.
Thus far, Bill Cassidy seems to be heavily favored to win re-election. Over the past 10 years, Louisiana has trended heavily towards the Republican party and is expected to be won by Donald Trump by ~25%. These factors tend to point to a strong victory by Bill Cassidy in the run-off election.
Maine:
Despite facing a strong challenge from Maine’s state House Speaker Sara Gideon, four term Republican incumbent Susan Collins is expected to narrowly win re-election
Four-term Republican Susan Collins was reelected by a wide margin in 2014. She is seeking a fifth term in office Democrats running included state House speaker Sara Gideon, attorney Bre Kidman, and activist and 2018 gubernatorial candidate Betsy Sweet. Gideon won the nomination.
Susan Collins is a formidable incumbent who defeated her last serious challenger, in the democratic wave year of 2008, by a resounding 20 point margin. However, Collins has taken some tough votes recently, and there is some indication that things are genuinely competitive this time. However, Collins is an entrenched incumbent and should be able to win, albeit by a very narrow margin.
Massachusetts:
Democrat Ed Markey is expected to win re-election easily in one of the most solidly Democratic states in the entire country.
Democrat Ed Markey was reelected in 2014, after first winning a 2013 special election to replace longtime incumbent John Kerry, who resigned to become Secretary of State. He is running for a second term. Joe Kennedy III, four-term Congressman for Massachusetts’s Fourth District and grandson of former senator and US attorney general Robert Kennedy, unsuccessfully challenged Markey for the Democratic nomination. Noted conspiracy theorist Shiva Ayyadurai, an independent candidate for Senate in 2018, unsuccessfully ran against attorney Kevin O’Connor for the Republican nomination. On August 24, 2020, perennial candidate Vermin Supreme launched a write-in campaign for the Libertarian nomination but received too few votes to qualify for the general election ballot.
Ed Markey is expected to win re-election by a landslide margin this year. Since the late 1920s, Massachusetts has been a heavily Democratic state and has not elected a Republican to a full Senate term since Edward Brooke in 1972. Additionally, Massachusetts is expected to be one of Joe Biden’s best states in the Presidential election. As such, Ed Markey is heavily favored to win a second full Senate term without too much difficulty.
Michigan:
Republican John James is expected to narrowly defeat Democrat Gary Peters in the Michigan Senate election.
Democrat Gary Peters was elected in 2014 after serving six years in the House of Representatives. He is seeking a second term. 2018 Senate nominee John James won the Republican nomination. He faced token opposition for the Republican nomination from perennial candidate Bob Carr.
Overall, Michigan represents a pick-up opportunity for the Republican party. Despite his strong support for Donald Trump, John James has run a very strong campaign and has promoted a positive, inclusive message. In contrast, Gary Peters has thus far run a lackluster campaign and is expected to run significantly behind Joe Biden. As such, John James is likely to narrowly win the Michigan Senate election.
Minnesota:
Democrat Tina Smith is generally viewed as the favorite to win re-election, though an upset victory by Republican Jason Lewis remains a possibility.
Incumbent Democrat Tina Smith was appointed to the Senate to replace Al Franken in 2018 after serving as lieutenant governor and won a special election later in 2018 to serve the remainder of Franken’s term. On August 11, she won the Democratic nomination to serve a full term. Former Congressman Jason Lewis is the Republican nominee, having defeated minor candidates Cynthia Gail, John Berman, Bob Carney, and James Reibestein in the primary election.
Overall, the Minnesota Senate election can be described as a race leaning towards the Democrats. While Jason Lewis polled somewhat strongly early on in the race, Tina smith has narrowed the gap and is leading as of right now by a 7-13% margin. As such, the Minnesota Senate race is expected to remain in Democratic hands, although an upset by Jason Lewis cannot be entirely ruled out.
Mississippi:
Controversial Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith is expected to win re-election by at least a 20% margin over Democrat Mike Espy
After seven-term Republican senator Thad Cochran resigned in April 2018, Republican Governor Phil Bryant appointed state agriculture commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith to succeed him until a special election could be held later in the year. Hyde-Smith won the November 2018 special election to fill the remainder of Cochran’s term, which ends in January 2021. Hyde-Smith is running for a full term. She was unopposed in the Republican primary. Former Clinton Agriculture Secretary and 2018 Senate candidate Mike Espy won the Democratic primary with 93.1% of the vote. Libertarian candidate Jimmy Edwards also made the general election ballot.
Despite her strong support for Donald Trump and white supremacist views, Cindy Hyde-Smith is expected to easily win re-election. Mississippi has been a solidly Republican state since the 1980s and has not elected a Democrat to any Senate seat since 1982. While Mike Espy is expected to do better than previous Democratic Senate nominees in Mississippi, Donald Trump’s coattails are expected to enable Cindy Hyde-Smith to win re-election by a 15-20% margin.
Montana:
First term Republican Steve Daines is locked in a competitive race with Montana governor Steve Bullock.
Republican Steve Daines was elected in 2014 after serving two years in the House of Representatives He is seeking a second term. Daines was opposed (prior to his nomination) in the Republican primary by hardware store manager Daniel Larson and former Democratic speaker of the Montana House of Representatives John Driscoll, who changed parties in 2020. Incumbent governor Steve Bullock won the Democratic nomination, defeating nuclear engineer and Navy veteran John Mues. Libertarian and Green party candidates were set to appear on the general election ballot, but the Libertarians refused to nominate a replacement after their nominee withdrew and the Greens’ nominee was disqualified.
Once seen as likely to remain in Republican hands, Daines’s seat is now competitive due to Bullock’s last-minute entry. Daines leads Bullock by single digits in the most recent polling, while Bullock raised more money than Daines. But Montana is expected to be safely Republican in the presidential election, meaning that Bullock is relying on Montana’s history of ticket-splitting, as he did in 2016 when he was re-elected to a second gubernatorial term by 4 points despite Trump winning the state by 20 points. Montana also reelected Jon Tester, a Democrat, to the Senate in 2018, by 4 points. As such, the Montana Senate race is largely viewed as a toss-up race with a slight edge to Steve Bullock.
Nebraska:
Trump critic Ben Sasses is expected to win re-election over his Democratic challenger Chris Janicek, who has been weakened by sexual assault allegations.
Anti-Trump Republican Ben Sasse was elected to the Senate in 2014 after serving as the president of Midland University. He is seeking a second term. Sasse defeated businessman and former Lancaster County Republican Party chair Matt Innis in the Republican primary with 75.2% of the vote. Businessman and 2018 Senate candidate Chris Janicek won the Democratic primary with 30.7% of the vote, defeating six other candidates. Libertarian candidate Gene Siadek will also appear on the general election ballot.
After the primary election, the Nebraska Democratic party withdrew its support from Janicek when allegations that he sexually harassed a campaign staffer emerged. Janicek refused to leave the race despite the state party endorsing his former primary opponent, which led former Democratic Congressman Brad Ashford to announce a write-in campaign on August 23, 2020. After Janicek vowed to remain in the race anyway, Ashford then withdrew on August 27, citing a lack of the time and resources necessary to run a Senate campaign. The state Democratic Party subsequently threw its support behind long-time Nebraska activist Preston Love, Jr., who declared a write-in candidacy for the seat. Due to his relatively moderate positions, as well as the poor candidate quality of Chris Janicek, Ben Ssse is expected to easily win re-election by at least a 30% margin.
New Hampshire:
Despite New Hampshire being a toss-up state at the Presidential level, two term Democrat Jeanne Shaheen is expected to easily win re-election over her Republican rival.
Two-term Democrat Jeanne Shaheen was narrowly reelected in 2014. She is seeking a third term. Former brigadier general Donald C. Bolduc, perennial candidate Andy Martin, and attorney Corky Messner ran for the Republican nomination. Messner won the nomination on September 8. Libertarian Justin O’Donnell will appear on the general election ballot.
While New Hampshire is a toss-up state in the Presidential election and has a reputation as one of the more conservative states in New England, Jeanne Shaheen is heavily favored against Corky Messner. The main reason why Shaheen is heavily favored is due to the weak campaign Messner has thus far run. Assuming that a stronger Republican candidate such as New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, New Hampshire State Representative Al Baldasaro, former Senator Kelly Ayotte, or former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown (who now resides in New Hampshire) opted to run, this Senate race would have been far more competitive. Based on these factors, Jeanne Shaheen is expected to win re-election by at least a 25% margin.
New Jersey:
Democrat Cory Booker is running for a second full term and is expected to be re-elected by a strong margin.
Democrat Cory Booker was reelected in 2014; he first took office by winning a 2013 special election after serving as Newark Mayor since 2006. Booker sought the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2020 and polled strongly at first. Although the state allows him to simultaneously run for both president and the Senate, Booker suspended his presidential campaign on January 13, 2020, and confirmed his intention to seek a second Senate term Republican candidates included engineer Hirsh Singh, 2018 Independent Senate candidate Tricia Flanagan, 2018 independent Senate candidate Natalie Lynn Rivera, and Eugene Anagnos. The party ultimately nominated pharmacist, Georgetown University law professor, and attorney Rik Mehta. Green Party candidate Madelyn Hoffman and two independent candidates will also appear on the general election ballot.
Overall, Cory Booker is heavily favored to win re-election. While New Jersey experienced close Senate races in 1988, 1994, 2000, 2006, and 2018, no Republican has served as a Senator from the state since appointed Senator Nicholas Brady left office in December of 1982. Additionally, Rik Mehta has thus far run a lackluster campaign. Assuming that the New Jersey Republican party instead nominated 2018 Senate candidate Bob Hugin, state assembly member Jack Ciattarelli, Congressman Chris Smith, or state senator Thomas Kean Jr., this race would have been slightly more competitive. Based on these factors, Cory Booker is expected to cruise to re-election
New Mexico:
In the race to succeed retiring Democrat Tom Udall, Congressman Ben Ray Luján is the clear favorite to win.
Two-term Democrat Tom Udall is the only incumbent Democratic Senator retiring in 2020. Congressman Ben Ray Luján was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Among Republicans, former Interior Department official Gavin Clarkson and executive director for the New Mexico Alliance for Life Elisa Martinez ran. They lost in the primary to former KRQE chief meteorologist Mark Ronchetti. Libertarian Bob Walsh will appear on the general election ballot.
As of right now, Ben Ray Luján is heavily favored in the Senate election. New Mexico is a heavily Democratic state, having last voting in a Republican Senator in 2002. Additionally, New Mexico is expected to go to Joe Biden by at least 15% These factors, combined with Mark Ronchetti’s poor quality campaign, will result in Ben Ray Luján winning the election by at least 10%.
North Carolina:
Despite allegations of sexual misconduct, Democrat Cal Cunningham is the slight favorite in the North Carolina Senate election.
Republican Thom Tillis was elected in 2014 after serving eight years in the North Carolina House of Representatives, narrowly defeating one-term Democrat Kay Hagan. He faced a primary challenge from three different candidates. State senator Erica D. Smith, Mecklenburg County Commissioner Trevor Fuller, and former state senator Cal Cunningham ran for the Democratic nomination. On March 3, 2020, Tillis and Cunningham won their parties’ primaries. The Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party have candidates on the general election ballot.
Thom Tillis has grown unpopular among both centrist and conservative Republicans due to his inconsistent support of Trump. He also suffers from low name recognition, and North Carolina is trending towards the Democratic party. The Tillis campaign experienced a slight resurgence in early October, when several sexual misconduct allegations were levied against Cal Cunningham. Despite these allegations, the Cunningham campaign actually gained a few percentage points in the polls. As such Thom Tillis is not currently favored to win re-election and is expected to underperform Donald Trump in North Carolina by 1%.
Oklahoma:
In one of the most conservative states in the entire country, Republican Jim Inhofe is the clear favorite to win re-election.
Four-term Republican Jim Inhofe was easily reelected in 2014. He is seeking a fifth term. J.J. Stitt, a farmer and gun shop owner, Neil Mavis, a former Libertarian Party candidate, and John Tompkins unsuccessfully challenged Inhofe for the Republican nomination. Democrats in the race included attorney Abby Broyles, perennial candidate Sheila Bilyeu, 2018 5th congressional district candidate Elysabeth Britt, and R.O. Joe Cassity Jr. Broyles won the nomination. Libertarian candidate Robert Murphy and two Independents will also appear on the general election ballot.
Oklahoma is one of the most solidly Republican states and is expected to give Donald Trump over 70% of the vote in favor of his re-election. Additionally, no Democrat has won a Senate race there since David Boren’s landslide re-election in 1990. Based on these factors, James Inhofe is expected to win re-election easily, perhaps by a 30% margin.
Oregon:
Democrat Jeff Merkely is expected to win re-election by a wide margin over his QAnon-backed Republican opponent.
Two-term Democrat Jeff Merkley was reelected by a comfortable margin in 2014. Merkley, who was considered a possible 2020 presidential candidate, is instead seeking a third Senate term and was unopposed in the Democratic primary. 2014 US Senate and 2018 US House candidate Jo Rae Perkins is the Republican nominee, defeating three other candidates with 49.29% of the vote. She is a supporter of QAnon. Ibrahim Taher will also be on the general election ballot, representing the Pacific Green Party and the Oregon Progressive Party. Gary Dye will represent the Libertarian Party.
Overall Jeff Merkely is expected to easily win re-election. Oregon is a heavily Democrattic state and has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 2002. Additionally, Jo Rae Perkin’s strong support for QAnon is expected to be a major campaign issue. As such, Jeff Merkely is expected to win re-election by at least a 20% margin.
Rhode Island:
Even though Rhode Island has slightly trended Republican in recent years, Democrat Jack Reed should expect an easy re-election against weak opponents.
Four-term Democrat Jack Reed was easily reelected in 2014. He is seeking a fifth term and was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Investment consultant Allen Waters was unopposed for the Republican nomination. One independent candidate filed for the election.
Trump aligned Republican Lindsey Graham is expereincing a stronger than expected re-election challenge in Democrat Jamie Harrison
Three-term Republican Lindsey Graham was reelected in 2014 and is seeking a fourth term. He defeated three opponents in the June 9 Republican primary. After his primary opponents dropped out, former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Bill Bledsoe won the Constitution Party nomination. On October 1, 2020, Bledsoe dropped out of the race and endorsed Graham, but he will remain on the ballot as required by state law.
Despite the significant Republican lean of the state as a whole, polls indicate that the Senate election is competitive, with summer polling ranging from a tie to a modest advantage for Graham. Graham’s popularity has declined as a result of his close embrace of Trump, reversing his outspoken criticism of Trump in the 2016 campaign. As such, the South Carolina Senate race is one of the more competitive races this cycle and will likely be won by Graham by a margin of less than 5%.
South Daokta:
One term Republican Mike Rounds is the clear favorite to win re-election in South Dakota.
Republican Mike Rounds was elected in 2014 after serving two terms as governor of South Dakota. He faced a primary challenge from state representative Scyller Borglum. Former South Dakota state representative Dan Ahlers was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
Mike Rounds is expected to win an easy re-election. South Dakota is a heavily Republican state, with the last Democratic Senate victory occurring in 2008. Additionally, Donald Trump handily won South Dakota in 2016 and is expected to win the state by a 20% margin this year. As such, Mike Rounds will win a strong re-election victory against Dan Ahlers.
Tennessee:
Republican Bill Haggerty is the clear favorite to win the Tennessee Senate election this year.
Three-term Republican Lamar Alexander was reelected in 2014. He announced in December 2018 that he would not seek a fourth term. Assisted by an endorsement from Trump, former ambassador to Japan Bill Hagerty won the Republican nomination. Orthopedic surgeon Manny Sethi also ran for the nomination, as did 13 other Republicans. James Mackler, an Iraq War veteran, and Nashville attorney, ran for the Democratic nomination with support from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee but was upset in the primary by environmental activist Marquita Bradshaw of Memphis.
Overall, the Tennessee Senate election is expected to be an easy victory for Bill Haggerty. Tennessee as a whole has trended heavily Republican over the past 10 years and is expected to give Donald Trump one of his largest victories out of any state. Additionally, Republican dominance at all levels of government in the state has decimated the Democratic bench. As such, Bill Haggerty is expected to win with at least 30% of the vote.
Texas:
Even though Texas will likely vote Democratic at the Presidential level, three term Republican John Cornyn is the clear favorite due to ticket splitting in the Dallas, Houston, and Fort Worth suburbs.
Three-term Republican John Cornyn was reelected in 2014 by a wide margin and is seeking a fourth term. He defeated four other candidates in the Republican primary with 76.04% of the vote. Democrats MJ Hegar, an Air Force combat veteran who was the 2018 Democratic nominee for Texas’s 31st congressional district, and state senator Royce West were the top two vote-getters in a field of 13 candidates in the Democratic primary and advanced to a primary runoff election on July 14 to decide the nomination. Hegar prevailed.
While Joe Biden has a strong chance to become the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976 to win Texas at the Presidential level, John Cornyn is heavily favored to win re-election. MJ Hegar has been heavily outspent and only started to outraise John Cornyn in recent weeks. Additionally, there is reported to be a good deal of ticket-splitting in the Dallas, Houston, and Fort Worth suburbs that should help John Cornyn. Based on these factors, John Cornyn is likely to win re-election with at least 5% even if Joe Biden carries Texas at the Presidential level.
Virginia:
Two term Democrat Mark Warner is the clear favorite to win re-election in Virginia.
Two-term Democrat Mark Warner was reelected by a very narrow margin in 2014 after winning easily in 2008. He is seeking a third term and was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Republicans nominated professor and Army veteran Daniel Gade. The primary also included teacher Alissa Baldwin and Army veteran and intelligence officer Thomas Speciale.
The Virginia Senate race is expected to be easily won by Mark Warner. While Daniel Gade has run a relatively decent campaign, Virginia has trended heavily towards the Democratic party since 2006. Additionally, Donald Trump is deeply unpopular in the state and is expected to lose by at least 10%. As such, Mark Warner is expected to win re-election, though Daniel Gade may overperform Donald Trump slightly.
West Virginia:
Republican Shelly Moore Capito is the clear favorite to win re-election in one of the most Republican states in the US.
Republican Shelley Moore Capito was easily elected after serving 14 years in the House of Representatives. She was unsuccessfully challenged in the Republican primary by farmer Larry Butcher and Allen Whitt, president of the West Virginia Family Policy Council. Environmental activist Paula Jean Swearengin, a candidate for US Senate in 2018, won the Democratic primary, beating former mayor of South Charleston Richie Robb and former state senator Richard Ojeda, a nominee for the House of Representatives in West Virginia’s 3rd congressional district in and briefly a 2020 presidential candidate. Libertarian candidate David Moran will also appear on the general election ballot.
Overall, the West Virginia Senate race is expected to be a safe hold for Shelly Moore Capito. West Virginia is arguably one of the most Republican states in the entire country and voted for Donald Trump by a 42% margin in 2016. Additionally, the Democratic party has a weak bench at best in the state. Due to these factors, Shelly Moore Capito should expect an easy re-election.
Wyoming:
Former Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis should expect an easy election victory in heavily Republican Wyoming
Four-term Republican Mike Enzi was reelected in 2014, and announced in May 2019 that he will retire. Announced Republican candidates included former Congresswoman and eventual nominee Cynthia Lummis and eight others. Merav Ben-David, the Chair of the Department of Zoology and Physiology at the University of Wyoming went on to defeat community activist Yana Ludwig, think-tank executive Nathan Wendt, community activist James DeBrine and perennial candidates Rex Wilde and Kenneth R. Casner for the Democratic nomination.
Overall, the Wyoming Senate race is expected to be a safe victory for Cynthia Lummis. Like West Virginia, Wyoming voted for Donald Trump by over 40% in 2016 and no Democrat was elected in a Senate race in Wyoming since Gale McGee in 1970. As such, Wyoming is widely expected to be a safe Republican hold.
Less than a week before Election Day, Joe Biden is tantalizingly close to a prize that has eluded generations of Democratic presidential candidates: Texas. Public opinion polls show Biden and Republican President Donald Trump tied in the state. They also suggest the former vice president is leading among those helping to set its staggering early vote totals. As of October 27, nearly 8 million Texans had cast ballots, approaching 90% of the entire 2016 vote, a higher percentage than any state in the country, according to the US Elections Project at the University of Florida. Trump appears to have the edge with voters planning to cast ballots on November 3, according to polls, which also show him improving his standing among Hispanics in Texas, a huge constituency, mirroring modest gains he has made with that demographic nationally since 2016. Texans do not register by party, which makes it difficult to say with certainty who is leading in early voting. A Biden win in Texas, which has not voted for a Democratic nominee for president since Jimmy Carter narrowly won the state in 1976, would end any chance of Trump’s re-election. Since 1976, the only elections years when the Democrats came close in Texas were 1992 and 1996.
The Democrat’s campaign has been cautious not to lose its focus on the battleground states, however. Four years ago, Hillary Clinton was criticized for miscalculating by spending time in Republican states late in the campaign only to lose seemingly solid Democratic states to Donald Trump. “We’ve been really focused on our top six states,” said Jenn Ridder, the Biden campaign’s national states director, referring to Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina. “But in these last 10 days, if we can do a little bit to put (other states) over the edge, we’re going to take that opportunity.” Joe Biden’s running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, will visit Texas on October 30, and billionaire Michael Bloomberg plans to spend $15 million in Texas and Ohio in a last-minute bid to flip both Republican-leaning states. The campaign’s reluctance to go all-in has frustrated some Texas Democrats, including Julian Castro and Beto O’Rourke, who both ran for their party’s 2020 presidential nomination. “They’ve invested close to zero dollars in the state of Texas, and they’re doing this well,” O’Rourke told reporters last week. “Imagine if they invested some real dollars.”
Texas added a week of early voting to ease crowds on Election Day in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic. Harris County, which includes Houston and has become a Democratic stronghold in recent years, has already seen more than 1.1 million votes. But early voting is surging in all corners of the state, including Republican areas like Denton County, near Dallas, as well as Democratic centers like San Antonio’s Bexar County. Both counties have already surpassed their total votes cast in 2016. Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University, conducted a poll from October 13-20 with the University of Houston that showed Joe Biden leading among those who had already voted by a 59% to 39% margin. But Trump led by a similar amount among those who planned to vote on November 3. “Democrats are clearly dominating the early turnout,” Jones said. “The pivotal issue for Republicans is whether they can get their voters to turn out on Election Day.”
Besides the early vote, there are signs that Texas’ shift toward the Democratic Party is not a mirage. Donald Trump and Joe Biden have been close in the state polls all year, and Democratic and Republican candidates are fiercely contesting dozens of congressional and state legislative races. As in other parts of the country, President Donald Trump has seen his poll numbers erode in Texas’ rapidly diversifying suburbs. That could have calamitous effects on down-ballot Republicans. According to James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, Biden has made gains among independent voters, who make up roughly 10% of the state’s electorate. An October poll conducted by Henson’s organization found Biden outperforming Trump among independents, 45% to 37%. In 2016, Clinton lost the same group by nearly 30 percentage points. Democrats also point to more than 3 million newly registered voters in the state, many of whom moved to Texas from predominantly Democratic states.
Rebecca Acuna, Joe Biden’s Texas campaign director, noted that the early voters include close to a million people who have never voted in a presidential election, many younger and more diverse voters who likely lean Democratic. “We have every reason to believe that Texas is a tossup,” Acuna said. Citing its own internal analysis, the Trump campaign asserted the president is ahead by hundreds of thousands of votes among early ballots. Trump won Texas by a nine-point margin in 2016. In recent days, Trump has tried to hurt Biden with the state’s dominant oil and gas industry by playing up comments he made at last week’s debate about the need to transition eventually from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. “Texas voters recognize Biden’s radical anti-energy agenda will destroy the state’s economy,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Samantha Cotten said.
The US Supreme Court on October 28 dealt setbacks to Republicans by allowing extended deadlines for receiving mail-in ballots in next Tuesday’s election in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, states pivotal to President Donald Trump’s re-election chances. With their new colleague, Amy Coney Barrett immediately recusing herself, the justices’ action means a September 17 ruling by Pennsylvania’s top court allowing mail-in ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and received up to three days later to be counted will remain in place for now. The Supreme Court already had rejected a prior Republican request to block the lower court ruling on October 19. This time, the justices opted not to fast-track their consideration of an appeal of the state court ruling by the Republican Party of Pennsylvania to hear and decide the case before the election. The conservative-majority court on October 28 also rejected a request by Trump’s campaign to block North Carolina’s extension of the deadline for receiving mail-in ballots, in another key battleground legal loss for Republicans.
Associate Justice Samuel Alito, joined by fellow conservatives Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, said in a written opinion that there is a “strong likelihood” that the Pennsylvania court’s decision violates the US Constitution, and it should be reviewed before the election. But I reluctantly conclude that there is not enough time at this late date to decide the question before the election,” Alito wrote. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, in a statement urged voters to drop off mail ballots at drop boxes or county election offices in an effort to “stave off further anticipated legal challenges.” The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and various Democratic officials and candidates who had asked for the court to protect voting rights during the Coronavirus pandemic. Democrats in the case also raised concerns about whether the US Postal Service, led by Louis Dejoy, an ally of President Donald Trump, would be able to handle the surge of ballots promptly.
On October 26, the conservative justices were in the majority when the Supreme Court on a 5-3 vote declined to extend mail-in voting deadlines sought by Democrats in Wisconsin. Despite their ruling on the Wisconsin mail-in balloting procedures, the conservative justices indicated they did not see the Pennsylvania matter as closed. They said the case could still be reviewed and decided relatively quickly. Pennsylvania officials have said that ballots arriving after Election Day will be kept separate from the other ballots “so that if the State Supreme Court’s decision is ultimately overturned, a targeted remedy will be available,” Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote.
President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans in many states have opposed measures to facilitate voting during the Coronavirus pandemic. The public health crisis has prompted an increase in mail-in ballot requests as voters seek to avoid crowds at polling places. In their earlier decision, the justices, shorthanded after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, were divided 4-4, leaving in place the state court ruling. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the three liberal justices in denying the request.
More than two dozen candidates for Congress in the November 3rd elections have endorsed or given credence to QAnon or promoted QAnon content online, the non-profit watchdog group Media Matters says. Two are independents; the rest are Republicans. At least one of them is expected to be elected to the House of Representatives next week, and a second has a good chance. The FBI has listed QAnon as a domestic terrorism threat. The unfounded conspiracy theory, which began in 2017 with anonymous web postings from “Q,” posits that President Donald Trump is secretly fighting a global cabal of child-sex predators that includes prominent Democrats, Hollywood elites, and “deep state” allies. Messages pushed online by its adherents aim to vilify and criminalize political rivals with unfounded allegations. The ADL civil rights group called it “an amalgam of both novel and well-established theories, with marked undertones of antisemitism and xenophobia.”
After amplifying conspiracy theorists, social media platforms lately have been trying to crack down on QAnon’s sprawl. But a recent poll by Morning Consult said 38% of Republicans believe that at least parts of the QAnon conspiracy are true. A supporter of an early form of the conspiracy, predating President Donald Trump’s election, in 2016 opened fire at a Washington pizzeria that early proponents of the conspiracy claimed was the site of a child sex trafficking ring. President Trump has refused to renounce QAnon and even praised it as patriotic. He has frequently retweeted QAnon-linked content.
Despite the growing support for the anon conspiracy theory amongst Republicans, some Republicans have publicly denounced the conspiracy theory. “We simply cannot continue to be a party that accepts conspiracy theories and lives in crazy echo chambers,” said Brendan Buck, who worked for two former House Republican speakers, Paul Ryan and John Boehner. “There is no place for QAnon in the Republican party,” House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy told Fox News in August, becoming the highest-ranking Republican to condemn QAnon publicly.
Early Voting counts show a record level of civic participation before Election Day. The tens of millions of ballots already cast show highly enthusiastic voters are making sure their votes are counted amid a pandemic. Democrats hope this energy leads to a decisive victory in the Presidential election. Registered Democrats are outvoting Republicans by a large margin in states that provide partisan breakdowns of early ballots. Republicans, however, are more likely to tell pollsters they intend to vote in person, and the Republican party is counting on an overwhelming share of the Election Day vote going to President Donald Trump. Voting before Election Day has been expanded this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, an option that more than 60 percent of registered voters want, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll in September.
More voters than ever before can vote by mail this election. While the concept of voting by mail can be traced back to the Civil War and some Western states have long conducted their elections by mail, others, such as New Hampshire, allow all voters to cast ballots by mail for the first time. Several key states, such as Wisconsin, Arizona, and Iowa, greatly expanded mail-in voting, bringing to 12 the number of states that now mail absentee applications to everyone registered. By the end of September, requests for absentee ballots had already surpassed 2016 levels in nearly every state. In 10 states, all voters are being sent a mail-in ballot automatically. Voters are also taking advantage of in-person early voting, with a record-breaking number showing up on the first day of early voting in some states. This is Virginia’s first election with early voting, a change made after Democrats assumed control of the state House and Senate last fall. A handful of states expanded early voting in response to the pandemic, including Texas, where Republican Governor Greg Abbott extended it by a week. The critical question for Democrats is whether these 2020 early ballots are additional voters or just people who would have voted on Election Day anyway.
For states where early ballots can be matched against a voter file, roughly 1 in 5 votes have come from someone who did not cast a ballot four years ago in the same state. These new voters, who may have moved to a new state, turned 18, or just sat out the last presidential election, will probably play a pivotal role in choosing the next president. Even with so many ballots already cast, it is not definitive that unprecedented early voting will translate into voter turnout to exceed the historically high number of votes cast in 2016: 139 million. It is possible that when the dust settles after November 3, the number of Americans who voted will be similar to numbers in previous presidential elections, though they used different methods. One thing is clear through: Despite weeks of campaigning and news still to come, the election is well underway. A large share of Americans have not just made up their minds; they have sealed in their vote.
On October 7, Vice President Mike Pence and California Senator Kamala Harris met for the only Vice Presidential Debate. In contrast to last week’s debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, both Vice President Pence and Senator Harris sought to discuss actual public policy. Both Pence and Harris sparred over topics ranging from climate change, taxes, foreign policy, the Coronavirus pandemic, and the Supreme Court. Both candidates were on the defense at times. Pence found himself in the hot seat when he had to answer for the Trump Administration’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic, which polling shows most Americans deem lackluster at best. Pence, who leads the White House’s Coronavirus Task Force, unequivocally defended the Trump Administration’s handling of Coronavirus and argued that the deaths of more than 210,000 Americans were effectively inevitable, despite scientific studies showing otherwise.
The debate began with moderator Susan Page laying out rules and saying that each candidate would have two minutes to talk uninterrupted, unlike the first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. “Americans also deserve a discussion that is civil,” she said. Senator Kamala Harris opened by laying out the case against the Trump Administration’s handling of the Coronavirus pandemic. “The American people have witnessed the greatest failure of any presidential administration in our history,” Harris said. She did not outline a specific response that she and Biden would take if they were to take office January but repeatedly hammered Trump for downplaying the virus and telling Americans it was less dangerous than it is while millions of people lost jobs and lives. “They knew and they covered it up,” she added. Pence hit back by defending the Administration’s response and said he constantly thinks about the victims of the virus, but that the White House wanted to respect the “freedom” of the American people. “You respect the American people when you tell them the truth,” Harris replied.
Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence clashed over the issues of police violence and the country’s reckoning on racial justice this year. When asked whether justice was done in the case of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black EMT who was killed by Louisville police officers earlier this year, Vice President Pence said his heart breaks for her family but “I trust our justice system.” He added that he and President Donald Trump have fought for criminal justice reform. Senator Harris hit back by emphasizing her record as a prosecutor. She then criticized Trump for his treatment of racial issues over the years, including at last week’s presidential debate when Trump did not condemn the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, and instead told them to “stand back and stand by,” a message that was taken by the group as encouragement.“Last week the President of the United States took a debate stage in front of 70 million Americans and refused to condemn white supremacists,” Harris said. She added that this was not the first time Trump has emboldened those who hold racist views. “This is a part of a pattern of Donald Trump’s,” she said, calling out Trump’s reference to Mexicans as “rapists,” his proposed “Muslim ban,” and of his comments after the white supremacist riots in Charlottesville, where Trump said there were “very fine people on both sides.”
Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris’s discussion about climate change typified the campaign trail debate on global warming. Even before being asked, Vice President Pence sought to tie Joe Biden to the Green New Deal, a congressional resolution introduced in 2019 that calls for bold public spending to address climate change and other social ills, and claimed that Biden would ban fracking. Fracking and the Green New Deal have become hot-button issues in the election, particularly in the swing state of Pennsylvania, where fracking is a significant source of employment. Senator Harris adamantly denied the claim that the Biden administration would ban fracking while sidestepping any in-depth discussion of the Green New Deal. On the science of climate change, Pence adhered to the talking points, acknowledging that “the climate is changing.” Meanwhile, Harris emphasized both the destruction wrought by climate change and the potential for new jobs.
When the subject of the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation hearings inevitably came up, Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence were both asked how they would want their respective states to respond if the new court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision protecting a woman’s right to have an abortion. Although Vice President Pence asserted he was “pro-life” and felt no need to apologize for it, and Harris stressed her belief in a woman’s right to choose whether to have an abortion, it was clear that both candidates wanted to avoid the topic. Pence repeatedly stressed Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s credentials and argued that Democrats would criticize her Catholic faith and pack the court, expanding it beyond nine justices, if they won the election.
Kamala Harris responded by noting that both she and Joe Biden are people of faith and that if elected, Biden would be the second practicing Catholic to hold that office. But Harris also spent the majority of her time reiterating the main line of attack Senate Democrats have been employing against Barrett: that, as a justice, she would help to overturn the Affordable Care Act. When Mike Pence repeated his allegation that Democrats would pack the court if they win, Harris brushed off the attack and pointed to the Trump Administration’s outsized list of federal judge appointees, but ultimately declined to directly answer the question. Biden has previously said he opposes court packing, but progressives ratcheted up their calls to do so in the wake of Barrett’s nomination, and it is increasingly seen as a fault line between progressive and centrist Democrats.
While foreign policy was barely discussed in the presidential debate, Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris engaged in a substantive exchange about the standing of the US in the world. Senator Harris said in a Biden Administration, foreign policy would be based on longstanding relationships. “You’ve got to keep your word to your friends, you’ve got to be loyal to your friends,” Harris said. “You’ve got to know who your adversaries are, keep them in check.” Harris said President Donald Trump has “betrayed” American allies, noting his close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and rough treatment of allies in NATO, and the fact that he withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal. She decried Trump’s “unilateral approach to foreign policy” and his “isolationism.” She also noted the reporting in The Atlantic that Trump had called members of the U.S. military “suckers” and “losers.”
Vice President Mike Pence countered that President Donald Trump has “stood strong with our allies,” but, he acknowledged, “we’ve been demanding.” He said NATO members are paying more in defense spending, and cited achievements including moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, launched a raid that resulted in the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi the leader of the Islamic State, and authorized the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani Pence also denied the reporting about Trump’s comments about the military, saying Trump “respects” and “reveres” those who serve in the US military.
Overall, the Vice Presidential debate was far more civil when compared to the Presidential debate. Neither Senator Kamala Harris nor Vice President Mike Pence interrupted each other and instead focused on substantive policy as opposed to personal insults. The case can be made that Vice President Pence narrowly won the debate overall. Whereas Senator Harris was well-prepared in her arguments and directly hit the Trump administration over many policy issues, Pence was strong in his rebuttals and was able to frame his responses in an effective way despite their dubious factual backing. Despite Vice President Pence’s victory in the Vice Presidential debate, it is likely that the debate will do little to change the final results of the Presidential election.
A CNN poll released on October 6 found Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leading President Donald Trump by 16 points, his most comprehensive lead of the election cycle. Biden leads Trump 57 to 41 percent in the survey conducted after the first presidential debate and partially after the President’s Coronavirus diagnosis. The survey also found likely voters supporting Biden by wide margins on several issues. Voters prefer the former Vice President on Supreme Court nominations, 57 to 41 percent. Biden also leads on health care, 59 to 39 percent, and on the Coronavirus pandemic, 59 to 38 percent. Biden’s lead is 62 to 36 percent on racial inequality, and he leads on crime and public safety at 55 to 43 percent. The two are statistically tied on the economy, with 50 percent preferring Biden versus 48 percent preferring Trump.
The survey also finds Joe Biden leading on whom respondents consider honest and trustworthy, 58 to 33 percent. He also leads on the question of which candidate “cares about people like you,” 58 to 38 percent, and on who has a clear plan to solve the country’s problems, 55 to 39 percent. While most surveys show Biden leading Trump among women, the CNN poll shows him beating President Donald Trump among women by a 2 to 1 margin, at 66 to 32 percent. This is an increase from a September poll that put his lead at 20 percentage points. The former vice president’s lead among people of color has also widened, from 28 points in September to 42 points in October. Fifty-seven percent of respondents who watched last week’s debate said Biden did the better job, compared to 26 percent who chose Trump and 14 percent who said neither.
Overall, this most recent polling should be a major sign of concern for the Trump campaign. Since assuming office in 2017, President Donald Trump has done little to expand his shrinking base of support. His mishandling of the Coronavirus pandemic, racial unrest, and the economy has only served to reduce his public support to record-low levels. Assuming that these polling trends continue, it is likely that Joe Biden will win the 2020 Presidential election with a historic margin of victory.
President Donald Trump decided on September 29 to bring his chaotic and confrontational style directly to the Presidential Debate stage at his first face-off with Democrat Joe Biden, seemingly unconcerned that his approach has alienated many independent and moderate voters. Despite his confidence in this approach, President Trump’s performance is likely to be remembered as one of the worst debate performances of any politician in recent memory. Trump’s frequent interruptions and personal barbs during the roughly 90-minute showdown were the personifications of his re-election strategy, which has mainly focused on exciting a core group of die-hard supporters who revel in his willingness to insult and shock while giving no ground. And he at times flustered Biden, who Trump has for months attempted to paint as senile, with unrelenting attacks on his family and policies. But Biden never looked out-of-touch, and he did match Trump attack for attack, calling the President a “clown,” a “racist” and “the worst president America’s ever had.”
Even some of his supporters though President Donald Trump took it too far. “It was too hot,” former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, President Trump’s debate coach, said after the debate on ABC News. “Listen, you come in, decide you want to be aggressive and that was the right thing to be aggressive, but that was too hot. And I think that what happens is, with all that heat, as you said before, you lose the light.” The display was unnerving for viewers at home, with the sitting President goading and talking over his rival, matched with a two-term former Vice President reduced to name-calling. Moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News struggled to maintain order, reminding Trump frequently that his own campaign had agreed to the debate’s rules. CNN anchor Dana Bash, flabbergasted, called the event a “s–tshow” on live television after it was over. In a CBS News poll of debate watchers, 69% described themselves as “annoyed” while another 19% said they were “pessimistic.”
The intent of President Donald Trump’s strategy was apparent in Joe Biden’s performance: the former Vice President offered some of his best answers of the night on issues like voting rights and the President’s tax returns when given stretches of uninterrupted time. He gave an emotional tribute to his son, Beau, an Iraq war veteran who died of brain cancer. At other times Biden adopted a look of weary resignation as he struggled to wrangle a President who revels in confrontational insults and made-for-TV verbal sparring. Biden seemed to struggle under some of President Trump’s barrages, particularly involving his family, simply repeating that the president’s statements were untrue. “Will you shut up, man?” Biden said to Trump at one point. But the frenetic pace and sloppy arguments meant the former vice president at no point committed a debate-night gaffe likely to jeopardize his steady lead in the race. And for Trump, his behavior seemed only to solidify, or even worsen, existing perceptions, while doing little to change the underlying dynamics.
President Donald Trump’s worst moment in the debate was his hesitation to condemn White supremacist organizations under pressure from both Wallace and Biden. When Wallace asked a second time what he would say to the Proud Boys, a violent White nationalist group, President Trump said they should “stand back and stand by.” But, Trump added, “This is not a right wing problem, this is a left wing problem.”Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only African American Republican in the Senate, said it is his view that Trump “misspoke” by not condemning White supremacists but that he needs to make it clear. “I think he should correct it,” Scott told reporters . “If he doesn’t correct it I guess he didn’t misspeak.”
President Donald Trump consistently gets low ratings for his combative style. A New York Times/Siena College poll released on September 28 showed that 34% approve of his efforts to unify America, even less than the 41% who approve of his handling the coronavirus. And while 35% of Americans say the country’s political divisions will get worse if Joe Biden is elected, half of all Americans believe a second Trump term would further fracture the nation. That image is a particular problem with women and independents, two-thirds of whom say he is doing a poor job bringing the country together.
A focus group of undecided voters conducted by Republican pollster Frank Luntz after the debate saw voters acknowledge that President Donald Trump dominated the debate, but reject his tactics. The majority described Trump negatively, with one Pennsylvania woman saying she was now voting for Biden because the President acted like a “crackhead.” Whitney Mitchell Brennan, a Democratic strategist tracking suburban women in the election, said that Trump’s demeanor throughout the debate cost him. She was texting with female friends from across the political spectrum during the debate, and they all were upset by what they saw as disrespectful behavior toward Biden and Wallace. “I think he turned off suburban swing women with this, and they’re the very voters he needs to win over right now,” she said.
President Donald Trump’s allies defended his approach, saying he had succeeded in raising questions about Joe Biden’s son Hunter work overseas and appearing to be the more agile debater. And, they argued, Chris Wallace’s criticism of Trump fed the notion, particularly acute among the President’s core supporters, that the media was working against him. “I think people want to see people who are fighters,” Donald Trump Jr. said of his father’s performance.
US security officials warn that violent domestic extremists pose a threat to the presidential election next month, amid what one official called a “witch’s brew” of rising political tensions, civil unrest, and foreign disinformation campaigns. A joint FBI and US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo issued on September 29 says that domestic extremists’ threats to election-related targets will likely increase in the run-up to the Presidential election. Those warnings so far have primarily remained internal. But New Jersey’s homeland security office took the unusual step of publicly highlighting the threat in a little-noticed report on its website last week. “You have this witch’s brew that hasn’t happened in America’s history. And if it has, it’s been decades if not centuries,” said Jared Maples, director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, which published the threat assessment.
In recent months, nation-wide protests over racial justice and police brutality have been mostly peaceful. Still, some have led to violent confrontations, including between extremist factions from left and right. The US also continues to grapple with the Coronavirus pandemic, high unemployment, and a contentious Presidential election in a polarized political climate. Last week, President Donald Trump refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election to Democratic rival Joe Biden. Trump has sought to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election because he was concerned about mail-in voting, which Democrats have encouraged during the coronavirus pandemic. Documented mail-ballot fraud cases are sporadic and election experts say it would be nearly impossible for foreign actors to disrupt an election by mailing out fake ballots.
A recent internal FBI bulletin warned that domestic extremists with varying ideologies would likely pose an increasing threat to government and election-related targets in the run-up to the election. An FBI spokeswoman said the agency “routinely shares information with our law enforcement partners in order to assist in protecting the communities they serve,” but declined to comment on the specific document. A DHS memo dated to August 17 said ideologically driven extremists and other actors “could quickly mobilize” to engage in violence related to the election. The document, first reported by Yahoo News, was confirmed to Reuters by a person familiar with it. The memo said that lone offender white supremacists and other lone offenders with “personalized ideologies” pose the greatest threat of deadly violence. A DHS spokesperson directed Reuters to early September remarks by acting Secretary Chad Wolf, in which he said that the department “has taken unprecedented actions to address all forms of violent extremism, to specifically include threats posed by lone offenders and small cells of individuals.”
President Donald Trump and his top officials have not publicly highlighted any threat by violent extremist groups to the election. Trump administration officials have pointed the finger at left-wing anarchists and anti-fascists during protests against police brutality and racism over the summer, but federal court records provide little evidence showing those arrested for violent acts had affiliations to far-left groups. Last week, the top two DHS officials acknowledged in congressional hearings, however, that white supremacists have posed the most lethal domestic threat to the United States in recent years. During congressional hearings earlier this month, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that his agency was conducting investigations into violent domestic extremists, including white supremacists and anti-fascist groups. He said the largest “chunk” of investigations were into white supremacist groups.
According to data compiled by the Anti-Defamation League, white supremacist, anti-Semitic, anti-government, and related ideologies were tied to 77 percent of 454 alleged domestic extremist murders in the past decade, a New York City-based anti-hate advocacy organization, and presented at one of the congressional hearings last week. National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot told Reuters that President Donald Trump’s highest priority is “protecting the US from all threats, both foreign and domestic” when asked if the president had publicly addressed the election threat. Jared Maples, the New Jersey homeland security director, said his agency did not issue a pre-election threat assessment in 2016, but that it was necessary this time around. “We want our allies and folks across the state to recognize that we need to be thinking about this,” he said.
The New Jersey report outlines three possible scenarios for the November election: a quick election outcome, a protracted process where determining a winner takes months, and a legal battle that eventually goes to the Supreme Court. Each of the scenarios could lead to extremist violence, with the possibility of deadly confrontations between protesters and targeted violence toward police officers, the assessment concludes. The agency’s report says the extremists will likely be “anarchist, anti-government, and racially motivated,” but does not say which groups pose a greater threat. The domestic extremist threat has always been present, but is getting more attention this year, according to Mike Sena, president of the National Fusion Center Association, which represents state-run “fusion centers” staffed by federal, state and local public safety personnel who monitor threats and facilitate information sharing. “We have always had threats during the national election cycles from violent extremists, including terrorist organizations,” he said. “With current events, it is more in the spotlight than ever.”
President Donald Trump declined on September 23 to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the Presidential election to Democratic rival Joe Biden and said he expected the election battle to end up before the Supreme Court. “We’re going to have to see what happens,” President Trump told reporters at the White House when asked whether he would commit to transferring power. Trump, who substantially trails Biden in national opinion polls, has repeatedly cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election, asserting without evidence that mail-in voting would lead to fraud and a “rigged” outcome. “The ballots are a disaster,” Trump said. Democrats have encouraged voting by mail as a way to cast ballots safely during the coronavirus pandemic. Millions of Americans, including much of the military, have cast absentee ballots by mail for years without problems. In 2016, Trump also raised questions about whether he would accept the results of the election. He went on to win the presidency.
Overall, the reaction to President Donald Trump’s comments was met with scorn by members of both political parties. Joe Biden, while speaking to reporters in Delaware, said Trump’s comments on the transition of power were “irrational.” His campaign said it was prepared for any “shenanigans” from Trump, and reiterated comments from July that “the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House.” Mitt Romney, a rare Trump critic among Republican senators, said on Twitter that “Fundamental to democracy is the peaceful transition of power; without that, there is Belarus. Any suggestion that a president might not respect this Constitutional guarantee is both unthinkable and unacceptable.” Additionally, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, two of President Trump’s staunchest congressional allies, denounced the President’s statements and underscored that there will be a peaceful transfer of power assuming that President Trump loses re-election.
Fundamental to democracy is the peaceful transition of power; without that, there is Belarus. Any suggestion that a president might not respect this Constitutional guarantee is both unthinkable and unacceptable.
Despite the overwhelmingly negative reaction to President Donald Trump’s comments, they were generally brushed aside by some of President Trump’s political allies. For example, Senator Mike Braun (R-IN), a strong Trump supporter, said that the topic is “preposterous” and no one should focus on the President’s equivocation. “He stokes the fire sometimes,” Braun said. “If you took it seriously it would be alarming. And I don’t think that that’s the case.” Additionally, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), attempted to shift the argument and claimed that Joe Biden will do the same if he loses to Trump. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer chastised Senate Republicans for their response to the president, arguing “this is not a partisan issue” and that “democracy is at stake.”
President Donald Trump, who is moving quickly to nominate a successor to liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, said that he thinks the election “will end up in the Supreme Court and I think it’s very important that we have nine justices.” A Senate confirmation vote before the election would seal a 6-3 conservative majority on the court, potentially spelling trouble for Democrats should it be called on to decide any legal dispute over the results of the election. “This scam that the Democrats are pulling, it’s a scam, the scam will be before the United States Supreme Court, and I think having a 4-4 situation is not a good situation,” President Trump said. Only one US presidential election, the 2000 contest between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore, has had its outcome determined by the Supreme Court.
Overall, President Donald Trump openly floating the idea of ignoring the results of the Presidential election and instead opting to stay in power despite the results may spell the end of democratic governance in the US. For example, a hallmark of any Democratic political system is the peaceful transfer of power. Without assurances for peaceful transitions of power, a democratic system will likely become unstable and ultimately collapse into dictatorship. Additionally, there are some parallels between President Donald Trump’s actions over the course of his Presidency and the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany during the early 1930s. For example, both Trump and Hitler demonized the press, sought to create common enemies to distract their people from their power grabs and failed policies, and promoted nationalism and militarism as a way to “make their countries great again.” It is imperative for the American people to make their voices heard at the ballot box to prevent America from inadvertently sliding into fascism and autocracy, as was the case in Germany during the early 1930s.
Acting US Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told a former top aide to stop providing assessments of the threat of Russian interference in the 2020 Election and to play down US white supremacist activity, according to a whistleblower complaint released on September 9. Brian Murphy, a former Homeland Security deputy undersecretary for intelligence, said in the complaint that Wolf told him in mid-May to begin reporting instead on political interference threats posed by China and Iran and to highlight the involvement of left-wing groups in domestic disorder. The instruction had come to Wolf from White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien, Murphy cited Wolf as saying. The White House and Department of Homeland Security denied the claims. “Ambassador O’Brien has never sought to dictate the Intelligence Community’s focus on threats to the integrity of our elections or on any other topic; any contrary suggestion by a disgruntled former employee, who he has never met or heard of, is false and defamatory,” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Matthews. Homeland Security spokesman Alexei Woltornist added: “We flatly deny that there is any truth to the merits of Mr. Murphy’s claim.”
US intelligence assessments that a Russian influence operation aimed at swaying the 2016 election in then-Republican nominee Donald Trump’s favor has overshadowed much of his presidency with a series of investigations being dismissed by Trump as a hoax. President Trump has expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose government denied election meddling. US officials say Russia, China, and Iran have been working to influence the 2020 election between Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Brian Murphy’s complaint said he declined to comply with Chad Wolf’s order because doing so “would put the country in substantial and specific danger.” On a second occasion in July, Murphy said Wolf told him an intelligence notification on Russian disinformation efforts should be “held” because “it made the president look bad.” Murphy said that he “objected, stating that it was improper to hold a vetted intelligence product for reasons for political embarrassment. In response, Wolf took steps to exclude Murphy from relevant future meetings on the subject,” according to the complaint.
Brian Murphy filed the complaint on September 8 with the DHS Office of Inspector General. It was released on September by the intelligence committee of the Democratic-controlled US House of Representatives. The complaint outlined other allegations of misconduct by Trump administration officials. Murphy said he was instructed by senior DHS officials to ensure that intelligence assessments he produced for former Homeland Security Secretary Kirsten Nielsen supported administration claims that large numbers of suspected terrorists were entering the country from Mexico. Murphy said he declined to censor or manipulate the intelligence, believing this would be “improper administration of an intelligence program,” and that he warned one of the officials that doing so would constitute a felony. Officials said they would hold back one homeland threat assessment, according to Murphy, following expressions of “concerns” by Wolf and Ken Cuccinelli, a top DHS official, about how it would “reflect upon President Trump.” Brian Murphy further said that two sections of the threat assessment particularly concerned the officials: one on white supremacist extremists and the other on Russian influence. Cuccinelli, Murphy said, told him to modify the section on white supremacists “in a manner that made the threat appear less severe, as well as include information on the prominence of violent ‘left-wing’ groups.” Murphy said he refused to make the requested changes, and advised Cuccinelli that doing so would amount to censorship of intelligence information.
President Donald Trump and the Republican Party jointly raised $210 million in August, a robust sum but one dwarfed by the record $364.5 million raised by Democrats and their nominee, Joe Biden. Trump’s campaign released its figure on September 9, several days later than usual, and nearly a week after the Biden campaign unveiled its total, the highest for any one month during a presidential campaign. The President’s reelection team said it brought in more money during its party’s convention than the Democrats did in theirs, and officials insisted they “will have all the resources we need” ahead of November. “Both campaigns are raising massive amounts of money but have very different priorities about how to spend it,” said Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien. “In addition to advertising, President Trump’s campaign has invested heavily in a muscular field operation and ground game that will turn out our voters, while the Biden campaign is waging almost exclusively an air war. We like our strategy better.” The noticeable fundraising gap between the two candidates was certain to further rattle Republicans already nervous about Biden’s advantage over Trump in some battleground states that could decide the election. And whispers about a financial disadvantage led President Trump himself this week to suggest he may put some of his own fortunes into the race.
Joe Biden’s August total spoke to the enthusiasm among Democrats to oust Trump from office. The flood of new contributions came from grass-roots supporters as well as deep-pocketed donors, and should alleviate any lingering concern over whether Democrats will be able to inundate the airwaves in key states. The Trump campaign, however, faces questions about how it has managed to lose a massive financial advantage. Announcing for reelection the day of his inauguration in 2017, which allowed him to begin raising money right away, President Donald Trump built an enormous war chest early on that advisers believed put him at a big advantage over the eventual Democratic nominee.
President Donald Trump’s reelection effort, including the Republican National Committee, has spent more than $800 million so far, while Joe Biden and the Democrats have spent about $414 million through July, according to campaign spending reports. But President Trump’s team has also gone dark on the airwaves for stretches as the general election has heated up, raising questions as to whether it was short on cash. Trump campaign officials have kicked off a review of expenditures, including those authorized by former campaign manager Brad Parscale, who was demoted this summer. Some of his decisions have raised eyebrows, including a $100 million blitz earlier this year before voters were largely paying attention, though that plan was defended by Trump in a Twitter post. Parscale also had a car and driver, unusual perks for a campaign manager, and his spending was the subject of an ad campaign by the Lincoln Project, a group of current and former Republicans looking to defeat Trump. The ad imagined a glitzy Parscale lifestyle full of luxury cars and a tony condo in Florida. The ad infuriated Trump, who has long been sensitive to the perception that others are enriching themselves on his name. And many in the campaign, who largely liked Parscale, grumbled that he rarely showed in the suburban Virginia campaign headquarters, instead frequently calling in from his home in Fort Lauderdale.
Some of the Trump campaign’s expenditures clearly were designed with the President in mind, including a series of cable buys solely in Washington, a Democratic stronghold yet a TV market personally viewed by President Donald Trump, a voracious consumer of television news. Moreover, the campaign dropped millions on a swaggering World Series ad as well as two on Super Bowl game day intended to match former Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg’s $10 million spending that day that totaled more than Trump’s combined advertising in Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and Minnesota.
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale had been a favorite of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, who is perceived to be the de facto campaign manager. But Kushner soured on Parscale since the debacle of President Trump’s intended comeback rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, this summer and the President has complained to advisers that the campaign squandered its massive fundraising advantage, according to two campaign officials not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. But even Parscale’s internal critics give him credit for helping the Trump campaign construct an unparalleled Republican operation to attract small donors online. Parscale, who did not respond to a request for comment, directed a major investment in digital ads and list-building that appears to have largely paid for itself. Stepien, who replaced Parscale as campaign manager in July, says he is “carefully managing the budget.” He also says the team’s advertising will be “nimble,” and include a TV spree in early-voting states as well as an urban radio campaign in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida that will contrast Trump’s record for African-American voters with Joe Biden. The increased focus on African-American voters has become a key strategy for President Donald Trump, who may win the highest percentage of African-American votes for a Republican candidate since Richard Nixon in 1972.
“We have much more money than we had last time going into the last two months. But if we needed any more, I’d put it up,” President Donald Trump said on September 8, vowing to open his wallet. “If I have to, I would.” Campaign officials, however, privately acknowledge that it is unlikely President Trump will spend much of his own money, something he resisted doing during the general election four years ago. Perhaps in an effort to bury disappointing news, the campaign released its numbers just a short time after the release of explosive excerpts from Bob Woodward’s book in which Trump acknowledges knowingly downplaying the severity of the coronavirus pandemic to the American public. In August, as the President’s campaign held a busy calendar of events, he upped his fundraising haul from $72 million in July. Biden’s campaign raised $49 million in July, and Democratic officials attributed the eye-popping amount raised in August to antipathy toward Trump, the selection of California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, and a convention that showcased the nominee’s empathy.
Democrat Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by 12 percentage points nationally among likely US voters, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll that also showed the number of persuadable voters had shrunk compared with four years ago. The most recent polling poll, released on September 8, found that 52% of likely voters planned to support Biden, while 40% would back Trump. Three percent said they would vote for another candidate, and just 5% said they remained undecided with less than two months to go until the Presidential Election. The survey showed the number of voters who had not yet backed a major-party candidate to be less than half of what it was in 2016, and that Biden currently had the advantage in securing the national popular vote. Even if the remaining undecided voters threw their support behind Trump, the poll showed, he would still lose the popular vote to Biden.
Despite these good poll numbers for Joe Biden, President Donald Trump can still win re-election, however, without winning the national popular vote. US presidential elections are not decided by the national vote but rather who wins the Electoral College, a contest based on a tally of wins from state-by-state contests. Four years ago, Democrat Hillary Clinton got almost 3 million more votes than Trump, only to see her Republican rival narrowly win the Electoral College and the presidency. This was the first time the Reuters/Ipsos poll measured support for the 2020 candidates among likely voters. When measured by registered voters who include those less likely to vote, Biden leads Trump by 8 percentage points, versus his 7-point lead in a similar poll last week.
The poll showed likely voters being primarily motivated by the Coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 190,000 Americans and put millions out of work, and restoring trust in government. When asked what was driving their pick for President, 28% said it was the candidate’s perceived ability to handle the Coronavirus, and 23% said it was the ability to restore trust in government. An additional 19% said it was the candidate’s ability to boost the economy, and 14% said they were looking for a candidate who is “tough on crime.” Fifty-one percent of likely voters said Joe Biden would be better at handling the US Coronavirus response, while 38% said Donald Trump would be better. But President Trump has the edge when it comes to their perception of who would be “tough on crime and civil unrest,” with 45% choosing Trump, while 40% said Biden would be better.
On the economy, neither candidate has the upper hand among likely voters: 45% of likely voters said they thought Joe Biden would be better for the national economy and expanding the workforce, while 45% said they thought President Donald Trump would be best. Biden, who has led Trump for much of the year in most national opinion polls, has benefited from a recent migration toward the Democrats among some of the most reliable voters in the United States: college-educated whites. While non-college whites still largely support Trump over Biden, the president has not consolidated the dominant level of support he enjoyed with that group four years ago when he was running against Clinton. So far, opinion polls by other media outlets show Biden with a small edge over Trump in a handful of competitive states, including Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida. That advantage also appears to have narrowed in some cases over the past few weeks.
Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee announced it raised $364.5 million in August, an astonishing haul that Democrats believe was propelled by fundraising around the selection of California Senator Kamala Harris as Biden’s running mate and the Democratic convention. The Biden campaign said that 57% of the haul, or more than $205 million, came from online, small-dollar donors, a figure that signals the Democratic base is animated by the Biden-Harris ticket and the prospect of defeating President Donald Trump in November. The Biden campaign claimed in its announcement that the haul represents “the best month of online fundraising in American political history.” “In August, together, we raised $364.5 million,” Biden said in an email to supporters. “That figure blows me away.” Biden said his campaign “raised it the right way, from people across the country stepping up to own a piece of this campaign, investing in the future we want to see for our kids and grandkids.” The Trump campaign has yet to release their August fundraising totals.
It was clear in August that the month would be a strong one for Joe Biden, as sources told CNN on August 1 the campaign was set to announce they raised more than $310 million. The campaign said earlier that month that they raised more than $34 million in the two days after Harris was named as Biden’s running mate. And the campaign said that they raised $70 million during the four days of the Democratic National Convention. The fundraising haul is a significant swing for Biden, who entered 2020 with a substantial fundraising disadvantage and had at-times anemic fundraising numbers during the Democratic primary. That changed once the primary ended and Democrats coalesced around Biden, allowing him to sign a joint fundraising agreement with the Democratic National Committee and significantly increase the max donations that could be given to his campaign.
Joe Biden, after a handful of good fundraising quarters, began closing the cash on hand gap with the Trump campaign this summer. Despite President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee outraising Biden and the Democratic National Committee in July, $165 million to $140 million, the Democrats ended that month with $294 million in the bank, just $6 million less than the $300 million Trump and the RNC reported having on hand. The Biden campaign did not release their cash on hand numbers on September 2, but the record-breaking haul, combined with the campaign not spending nearly as much as past campaigns on travel, makes it likely that Biden’s operation will surpass Trump’s money in the bank this month. Biden’s haul also dwarfs what the presidential candidates raised in August 2016, with Trump bringing in $90 million and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raising $143 million that month. Clinton’s haul, at the time, was her campaign’s fundraising record.
Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden on August 31 issued a forceful rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s claim that the former Vice President would preside over a nation overwhelmed by disorder and lawlessness, asserting that it was President Trump who had made the country unsafe through his erratic and incendiary governing style. condemned the violence that has occasionally erupted amid largely peaceful protests over racial injustice, and noted that the chaos was occurring on the president’s watch. He said Trump had made things worse by stoking division amid a national outcry over racism and police brutality. “Does anyone believe there will be less violence in America if Donald Trump is re-elected?” he said. “We need justice in America. We need safety in America. We’re facing multiple crises — crises that, under Donald Trump, have kept multiplying.” Biden also pressed a broader argument that the President was endangering Americans with his response to the public health and economic challenges the country confronts.
The address was Joe Biden’s most prominent effort yet to deflect the criticism that President Donald Trump and Republicans leveled against him at their convention last week, when they distorted his record on crime and policing. And in a fusillade of tweets over the last 48 hours the President suggested Biden was tolerant of “Anarchists, Thugs & Agitators.” Speaking at the site of a converted steel mill in Pittsburgh with no audience, in a rare campaign appearance outside eastern Pennsylvania or his home state of Delaware, Biden rejected the suggestion that lawlessness would go unchecked under his leadership. “Ask yourself: Do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters?” Biden said. “Really? I want a safe America. Safe from Covid, safe from crime and looting, safe from racially motivated violence, safe from bad cops. Let me be crystal clear: safe from four more years of Donald Trump.” The former Vice President sought to refocus the spotlight on Trump and make the election a referendum on the President’s character and his stewardship of the pandemic. He cast Trump as a destabilizing force who had exacerbated the most urgent problems facing the nation, from the public health crisis, international affairs, and unemployment to issues around police brutality, white supremacy, and racism.
When is Slow Joe Biden going to criticize the Anarchists, Thugs & Agitators in ANTIFA? When is he going to suggest bringing up the National Guard in BADLY RUN & Crime Infested Democrat Cities & States? Remember, he can’t lose the Crazy Bernie Super Liberal vote!
The exchange between Joe Biden and President Donald Trump over public safety, law enforcement, and civil rights represents a significant, high-profile clash in an election that is now just nine weeks away. The issue is emerging as a test of whether President Trump can shift voters’ focus away from the Coronavirus pandemic and persuade a small slice of undecided white voters to embrace him as a flawed but fierce defender of “law and order,” or whether Biden can counter that appeal by assailing the President as a provocateur of racial division and social disorder. Biden took pains to differentiate between his support for peaceful protests and his opposition to acts of destruction. “Rioting is not protesting,” he said. “Looting is not protesting. Setting fires is not protesting. None of this is protesting. It’s lawlessness, plain and simple. And those who do it should be prosecuted.”
President Donald Trump has been wielding law-and-order arguments against the former Vice President. In the Pittsburgh speech, Joe Biden tried to turn the story around. He promised he would seek to “lower the temperature in this country,” something he suggested President Trump was unable to do. “He can’t stop the violence because for years he’s fomented it,” Biden said. At a briefing late on August 31, President Trump declined to condemn his supporters’ use of paintballs and pepper spray against protesters in Portland, Oregon, over the weekend. He used the bulk of his time at the podium to criticize Democrats and Biden, saying, “for months Joe Biden has repeated the monster lie that this is a peaceful protest,” and falsely claiming that the former Vice President blamed the police and law enforcement for the violence that was flaring.
As Presidnt Donald Trump increasingly uses the protests as a wedge issue, election analysts in both parties are taking a second look at a Marquette Law School poll of Wisconsin voters that came out in August. The share of Wisconsin voters expressing support for the protest movement that arose after George Floyd’s death dropped to 48%, from 61% in June. Still, most Wisconsin voters said they do not like President Trump’s handling of the protests. 58% disapproved, while just 32% approved, the poll showed. And Trump saw no improvement in his favorability rating after the Republican National Convention, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released on August 30. Joe Biden, who for years fashioned himself as a “tough on crime” Democrat, won the Democratic primary as an unapologetic moderate, defeating his chief opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. All summer and throughout their convention, Republicans sought to paint Biden as both soft on crime and overly punitive, a strategy that has yet to show it can define the Democrat to Trump’s advantage.
President Donald Trump warned that Joe Biden would usher in violence and chaos if elected, making the case for his own re-election as he formally accepted his party’s nomination on August 27 on the final night of the Republican National Convention. “This election will decide whether we will defend the American way of life or whether we allow a radical movement to completely dismantle and destroy it,” President Trump said, speaking to a crowd on the White House South Lawn. “In the left’s backward view, they do not see America as the most free, just and exceptional nation on Earth. Instead, they see a wicked nation that must be punished for its sins.” “Joe Biden is not the savior of America’s soul,” Trump continued. “And if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of American greatness.” Trump accepted the nomination trailing his Democratic rival in the polls. Facing criticism for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed over 180,000 people in the US and devastated the economy, President Trump is leading an America roiled by national protests against racial injustice, with the latest wave originating in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after police shot Jacob Blake, an African-American man. The four-day convention, forced by the pandemic to abandon the original North Carolina location and relocate to Washington, tried to drive a consistent message: Trump is due credit for his coronavirus response and, if re-elected, will quash protests and rescue the injured economy.
Republicans amplified a “law and order” message throughout the convention, warning of violence and chaos under Democratic leadership while seeking to counter perceptions that President Donald Trump is a racist who has purposefully inflamed racial tensions for political benefit. “I have done more in three years for the Black community than Joe Biden has done in 47 years — and when I’m re-elected, the best is yet to come,” Trump said. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson was the only RNC speaker to mention Jacob Blake by name. “Before I begin, I’d like to say that our hearts go out to the Blake family and the other families who’ve been impacted by the tragic events in Kenosha,” Carson said in his remarks. “History reminds us that necessary change comes through hope and love, not senseless and destructive violence.” Trump referred to the recent unrest in Wisconsin briefly but made no mention of Blake or other African-Americans whose deaths have dominated much of the national conversation this election year. “In the strongest possible terms, the Republican Party condemns the rioting, looting, arson and violence we have seen in Democrat-run cities like Kenosha, Minneapolis, Portland, Chicago and New York,” Trump said. Trump began his remarks by briefly acknowledging Hurricane Laura, which hit along the Gulf of Mexico, and announced that he would visit the affected areas over the weekend.
President Donald Trump also addressed the Coronavirus in his speech, offering an optimistic view of the pandemic and promising a vaccine by the end of the year, a timeline that health experts say is unrealistic. “If we had listened to Joe, hundreds of thousands more Americans would have died,” Trump said. “Joe Biden’s plan is not a solution to the virus but rather a surrender.” The White House crowd embodied Trump’s message that the virus is under control, as 1,500 supporters crowded on the South Lawn for the speech. Chairs for guests were not spaced out, and few wore masks. White House chief of staff Mark Meadow said “a number of people” attending the event would be tested for the coronavirus. The campaign contracted a firm of experts to advise on appropriate precautions for all parts of the convention that had live audiences.
President Donald Trump’s remarks were punctuated by rounds of applause and cheers from the crowd, a feature noticeably absent from the Democratic convention. President Trump has raised eyebrows throughout the week over his use of government tools to make his case for re-election, and the South Lawn setting seemed a provocation to his critics. “Gathered here at our beautiful and majestic White House — known all over the world as the people’s house — we cannot help but marvel at the miracle that is our great American story,” Trump said. “This has been the home of larger-than-life figures like Teddy Roosevelt and Andrew Jackson who rallied Americans to bold visions of a bigger and brighter future.” Some have warned that members of the Trump administration could be at risk of violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in certain political activities. The president and the vice president are exempt from the law, but other White House employees are not. Trump’s speech was followed by a fireworks show near the Washington Monument, across the street from the White House complex. The Trump family was serenaded by a performance from opera signer Christopher Macchio, who performed classics such as “Ave Maria” from the White House balcony, as guests watched from their seats. Trump spoke for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, the second-longest convention addresses in modern history, following his own speech in 2016, at 1 hour and 16 minutes.
Here are the main events that occurred in Politics this week:
1. Former President Barack Obama Assails President Donald Trump in Democratic National Convention Speech
In his Democratic National Convention speech, former President Barack Obama assailed President Donald Trump for his overall poor record as President and framed Joe Biden as a proven leader who would restore the US political system.
Former President Barack Obamadelivered an unsparing attack on President Donald Trump at the virtual Democratic National Convention on August 19, accusing his successor of using the nation’s highest office to help himself and his friends, and treating the presidency like a “reality show” to get “the attention he craves.” Speaking from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia under the convention night’s theme of “A more perfect union,” Obama accused Trump of failing to take the job seriously, resulting in a massive death toll due to the pandemic, job, and economic losses, and the diminished US standing around the world. “He’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves,” Obama told a national prime-time audience. “Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe: 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed. Our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before,” Obama said.
2. Former Vice President Joe Biden Accepts Democratic Nomination
Former Vice President Joe Biden formally accepted the Democratic Presidential nomination this week.
Former Vice President Joe Bidenaccepted the Democratic presidential nomination on August 20, beginning a general-election challenge to President Donald Trump that Democrats cast this week as a rescue mission for a country equally besieged by a crippling pandemic and a White House defined by incompetence, racism, and abuse of power. Speaking before a row of flags in his home state of Delaware, Biden urged Americans to have faith that they could “overcome this season of darkness,” and pledged that he would seek to bridge the country’s political divisions in ways President Trump had not. “The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long — too much anger, too much fear, too much division,” Biden said. “Here and now, I give you my word: If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst. I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness.” Biden’s appearance was an emphatic closing argument in a four-day virtual convention in which Democrats presented a broad coalition of women, young people, and racial minorities while going to unusual lengths to welcome Republicans and independent voters seeking relief from the tumult of the Trump era. The former Vice President alluded to that outreach, saying that while he is a Democratic candidate, he will be “an American president.” And in implicit contrast with Trump, Biden said he would “work hard for those who didn’t support me.” “This is not a partisan moment,” he said. “This must be an American moment.”
3. House of Representatives Introduces Bipartisan Measure Condemning QAnon Conspiracy Theorist Organization
The House of Representatives this week introduced a resolution condemning the QAnon right-wing conspiracy theorist organization.
Two lawmakers introduced a bipartisan measure on August 25 condemning the ring-wing conspiracy theory QAnon a week after President Donald Trump said the theory’s followers “like me very much” and QAnon-linked candidates won Republican congressional primary races across the country. Congressmen Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), and Denver Riggelman (R-VA), said their bill would make it clear the debunked conspiracy theory had no place in the American political mainstream. “Conspiracy theories that falsely blame secret cabals and marginalized groups for the problems of society have long fueled prejudice, violence and terrorism,” Malinowski said. “QAnon and the conspiracy theories it promotes are a danger and a threat that has no place in our country’s politics,” said Riggelman, who lost a Republican primary this year. The measure would condemn QAnon; ask federal law enforcement agencies to remain vigilant against violence provoked by conspiracy theories; and urge Americans to get information from trustworthy sources. The measure must first pass the House Judiciary Committee before it can be considered by the full House of Representatives.
4. US Officials See No Evidence Of Foreign Meddling With Mail-In Ballots
Officials charged with protecting the 2020 election said on August 26 they have “no information or intelligence” that foreign countries, including Russia, Iran, and China, are attempting to undermine any part of the mail-in voting process, contradicting President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly pushed false claims that foreign adversaries are targeting mail ballots as part of a “rigged” presidential race.
US officials charged with protecting the 2020 election said on August 26 they have “no information or intelligence” that foreign countries, including Russia, Iran, and China, are attempting to undermine any part of the mail-in voting process, contradicting President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly pushed false claims that foreign adversaries are targeting mail ballots as part of a “rigged” presidential race. Specifically, a senior intelligence official discounted the possibility of foreign actors mass producing fake ballots to interfere in the November elections, again breaking with Trump who has continued to insist that mail-in voting poses a significant threat to election security. “We have no information or intelligence that any nation-state threat actor is engaging in activity … to undermine any part of the mail-in vote or ballots,” the official told reporters. However, senior officials declined to discuss Russia’s efforts to seize upon the President’s attempts to sow mistrust and doubt about the mail in voting process.
5. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s Republican National Convention Speech From Jerusalem Sparks Criticism, Investigation
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised President Donald Trump’s foreign policy record in a Republican National Convention speech on August 25 that Democrats criticized as a breach of protocol and perhaps the law.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised President Donald Trump’s foreign policy record in a Republican National Convention speech on August 25 that Democrats criticized as a breach of protocol and perhaps the law. Speaking in a recorded video from a Jerusalem rooftop during an official trip, Pompeo, a Trump appointee widely believed to harbor presidential aspirations, said the president had exposed the “predatory aggression” of the Chinese Communist Party while defeating Islamic State militants and lowering the threat from North Korea.
6. In Republican National Convention Speech, Vice President Mike Pence Slams Joe Biden As “Irresponsible Leftist,” Praises President Donald Trump’s Record
US Vice President Mike Pence on August 26 cast the re-election of President Donald Trump as critical to preserving America’s safety and economic viability while cautioning Democrat Joe Biden would set the country on a path to socialism and decline.
Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shot Jacob Blake, 29, multiple times in the back at close range on August 23, reigniting protests against racism and police brutality that erupted across the US earlier in the year. During the third night of unrest on August 25, three people were shot, two fatally. The state’s lieutenant governor said the white teenager arrested on homicide charges was apparently a militia member who sought to kill innocent protesters. Ahead of Vice President Mike Pence’s speech, President Donald Trump said he would send federal law enforcement to Kenosha by agreement with the state’s governor.“Let me be clear: the violence must stop – whether in Minneapolis, Portland or Kenosha,” said Pence, who did not mention Blake. “We will have law and order on the streets of this country for every American of every race and creed and color.” Joe Biden said earlier he had spoken with Blake’s family and, like the family, also called for an end to the violence. But unlike Trump, who has yet to publicly comment on the police shooting, Biden called for justice and defended the right to protest. “Protesting brutality is a right and absolutely necessary, but burning down communities is not protest. It’s needless violence,” Biden said in a video posted by his campaign.
Throughout his speech, Vice President Mike Pence repeated the unfounded charge that Joe Biden supports liberal activist calls to “defund” the police. Biden rejects that approach and has promised instead to invest $300 million in grants to hire more diverse officers and train them to develop better relationships with communities. President Donald Trump has intensified his “law and order” campaign theme as polls have shown voters give him poor grades for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 179,000 Americans.
During this week’s convention, Republican speakers have tried to shore up President Donald Trump’s slumping support among women, African-American voters, and immigrants, groups that opinion polls show have been alienated by his divisive style. On August 26, several speakers highlighted his support for women, part of a broader effort to portray Trump as caring and supportive of colleagues, family and even strangers, a picture often contradicted by his actions and words. Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, who announced earlier this week she would step down at the end of the month to spend time with her children, said Trump had given her an influential role in his 2016 campaign and at the White House. “A woman in a leadership role can still seem novel. Not so for President Trump. For decades, he has elevated women to senior positions in business and in government. He confides in and consults us, respects our opinions, and insists that we are on equal footing with the men,” Conway said.
A former Indiana governor and congressman and a self-described “Evangelical Catholic,” Vice President Mike Pence has served as a key connector between Trump and evangelical voters, an influential part of the Republican political base. Pence sought to reshape the narrative around the economy, casting the millions of jobs lost to the pandemic as a temporary setback. Despite lagging behind Biden in opinion polls, Trump gets higher marks as a steward of the economy than his Democratic rival does. “Last week, Joe Biden said ‘no miracle is coming.’ What Joe doesn’t seem to understand is that America is a nation of miracles, and we’re on track to have the world’s first safe, effective coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year,” Pence said. President Trump and other administration officials have predicted a vaccine could be ready by the end of the year, but some experts are skeptical the trials, which must study potential side effects on different types of people, can be completed so soon.
At their own party convention last week, Joe Biden and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris of California, warned another four years in the White House for Trump would lead to chaos and threaten democracy. Vice President Mike Pence cast the choice in similar terms from the other side. He accused Biden, the former vice president under Barack Obama and a centrist who defeated an array of more progressive candidates for the Democratic nomination, of being a stalking horse for the radical left. “Last week, Joe Biden said democracy is on the ballot, and the truth is our economic recovery is on the ballot, law and order are on the ballot,” he said. “But so are things far more fundamental and foundational to our country. The choice in this election is whether America remains America.”
US officials charged with protecting the 2020 election said on August 26 they have “no information or intelligence” that foreign countries, including Russia, Iran, and China, are attempting to undermine any part of the mail-in voting process, contradicting President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly pushed false claims that foreign adversaries are targeting mail ballots as part of a “rigged” presidential race. Specifically, a senior intelligence official discounted the possibility of foreign actors mass producing fake ballots to interfere in the November elections, again breaking with Trump who has continued to insist that mail-in voting poses a significant threat to election security. “We have no information or intelligence that any nation-state threat actor is engaging in activity … to undermine any part of the mail-in vote or ballots,” the official told reporters. However, senior officials declined to discuss Russia’s efforts to seize upon the President’s attempts to sow mistrust and doubt about the mail in voting process.
While the intelligence community and other relevant agencies have made a concerted effort to release information related to election security threats in recent weeks, they have been reluctant to address questions about the President’s actions or whether Russia, specifically, is tailoring its messaging based on Trump’s comments. Still, the comments from senior US intelligence officials highlight just how isolated President Donald Trump is with his rhetoric about election security and voting misconduct. His conspiratorial claims about widespread fraud and “rigged elections” have now been rejected by top US officials from his own administration, state officials from both parties, and nonpartisan voting experts. It is also the latest example of how President Trump is routinely out-of-step with the views of the US intelligence community regarding issues of national importance, including Russian meddling in the 2016 election and the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump campaign officials and the White House have repeatedly declined to comment when asked why the President continues to promote lies related to mail-in voting despite being told by election security officials that there is no intelligence or information to back up his claims. In an email to CNN hours after the briefing, Trump campaign spokesperson Thea McDonald declined to address why the President’s theories about voting were publicly rejected by top US intelligence officials. She instead offered an ominous and misleading warning about potential election shenanigans by Democrats. “The intelligence community is right to keep a close eye on this issue, as Democrats attempt to flood the zone with tens of millions of unrequested mailed ballots that will undoubtedly throw our election system into chaos,” McDonald said, omitting that unrequested absentee ballots are mailed out in only nine states and ballots go only to registered voters.
Former Vice President Joe Bidenaccepted the Democratic presidential nomination on August 20, beginning a general-election challenge to President Donald Trump that Democrats cast this week as a rescue mission for a country equally besieged by a crippling pandemic and a White House defined by incompetence, racism, and abuse of power. Speaking before a row of flags in his home state of Delaware, Biden urged Americans to have faith that they could “overcome this season of darkness,” and pledged that he would seek to bridge the country’s political divisions in ways President Trump had not. “The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long — too much anger, too much fear, too much division,” Biden said. “Here and now, I give you my word: If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst. I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness.” Biden’s appearance was an emphatic closing argument in a four-day virtual convention in which Democrats presented a broad coalition of women, young people, and racial minorities while going to unusual lengths to welcome Republicans and independent voters seeking relief from the tumult of the Trump era. The former Vice President alluded to that outreach, saying that while he is a Democratic candidate, he will be “an American president.” And in implicit contrast with Trump, Biden said he would “work hard for those who didn’t support me.” “This is not a partisan moment,” he said. “This must be an American moment.”
The Democratic Party has offered Joe Biden, less as a traditional partisan standard-bearer than as a comforting national healer, capable of restoring normalcy and calm to the US and returning its federal government to working order. He has campaigned as an apostle of personal decency and political conciliation, and as a transitional figure who would take on some of the worst American crises, not just the coronavirus outbreak but also economic inequality, climate change, and gun violence, before handing off power to another generation. That rising generation, defined by its diversity and in many cases by its liberalism, was again in evidence on August 20, as it has been throughout the week, most notably with the introduction on August 19 of Biden’s running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, the first woman of color to appear on a major party’s presidential ticket.
The program leading up to Joe Biden’s address included speakers such as Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Asian-American military veteran; Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta, one of the country’s most prominent African-American mayors; and Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay major presidential candidate. All are younger than Biden by a quarter-century or more. Buttigieg hailed Biden’s leadership on the issue of same-sex marriage in the not-distant past as a sign of how much progress Democrats could quickly make toward building “an America where everyone belongs.” Senator Duckworth, a former helicopter pilot who lost her legs in the Iraq war, used her remarks to denounce President Donald Trump’s leadership of the military and singled out for scorn his administration’s tear-gassing of peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C., in June. “Donald Trump doesn’t deserve to call himself commander in chief for another four minutes, let alone another four years,” said Duckworth, whom Biden considered seriously for his running mate.
The task that faced Joe Biden on August 20, and that looms over him for the next 10 weeks, was assuring Americans that he had both the grit and the vision first to topple President Donald Trump and then to deliver on a governing agenda that would materially improve their lives. Biden has laid out an ambitious suite of plans for next year, should Democrats win power, but in the daily din of public health emergencies and Presidential outbursts, it is not clear how many voters are familiar with them. Democrats have promised to redraw the country’s energy economy to fight climate change and to build new protections for Americans’ voting rights. Biden promised to strengthen labor unions and to ensure that “the wealthiest people and the biggest corporations in this country paid their fair share” in taxes, even as he emphasized that he would not seek to “punish anyone.” Every night of the convention featured front-and-center vows to take on racism in the economy and criminal justice system, and to empower the generation of women whose political mobilization has reshaped the Democratic Party into a powerful anti-Trump coalition.
Joe Biden enters the general election with a clear upper hand against President Donald Trump, leading him by wide margins in most national polls and appearing to hold a clear advantage in crucial swing states. Biden’s electoral strength is derived mainly from the president’s deep unpopularity. And swing voters this year appear far more comfortable with Biden than they were with several of his 2020 primary rivals, or with the Democratic Party’s previous nominee, Hillary Clinton. Yet Biden’s advisers have cautioned that they expect the polls to tighten in the fall, and there is widespread anxiety among Democrats about the possibility that the pandemic may complicate the process of voting in ways that will disadvantage minority voters and others in their urban political base. Up to this point, Biden has taken a less-is-more approach to his campaign against President Donald Trump, converting his candidacy into a largely virtual affair and holding only sparse and infrequent public events. And so far that approach has seemed to work for him, much as this week’s stripped-down, long-distance party gathering has appeared to do. While television ratings have been down since the 2016 conventions, the Democratic events have still garnered robust viewership, and the party has avoided any significant technical glitches or eruptions of internal strife.
Former President Barack Obamadelivered an unsparing attack on President Donald Trump at the virtual Democratic National Convention on August 19, accusing his successor of using the nation’s highest office to help himself and his friends, and treating the presidency like a “reality show” to get “the attention he craves.” Speaking from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia under the convention night’s theme of “A more perfect union,” Obama accused Trump of failing to take the job seriously, resulting in a massive death toll due to the pandemic, job, and economic losses, and the diminished US standing around the world. “He’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves,” Obama told a national prime-time audience. “Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe: 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed. Our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before,” Obama said.
Former President Barack Obama’s remarks were his sharpest and most direct attacks on President Donald Trump since leaving office after two terms in 2017. It represents the latest evolution of the former President’s decision to go harder on President Donald Trump as the election approaches. And just as Trump has upended many norms in the office, Obama’s speech reflects a decision to dispense with the long-standing tradition that has largely had former Presidents remain silent about their successors. Obama was under no illusions that Trump, upon taking over, would continue with his policies or embrace his vision of the country. But Obama said he hoped “for the sake of the country” that Trump would take the job seriously and feel the weight of the office and have some reverence “for the democracy that had been placed in his care.” “But he never did,” the former president said. In anticipation of Obama’s criticism, Trump said at a White House news conference earlier Wednesday that his Democratic predecessor was “bad” and “ineffective.” “President Obama did not do a good job, and the reason I am here is because of President Obama and Joe Biden,” Trump told reporters. “Because if they did a good job, I wouldn’t be here, and probably if they did a good job, I wouldn’t have even run. I would have been very happy, I enjoyed my previous life very much. But they did such a bad job that I stand before you as president,” Trump said.
Vouching for the Democrats’ 2020 nominee, Joe Biden, the former Delaware senator who former President Barack Obama tapped to be his running mate in 2008, Obama said that in his search for a vice-presidential candidate, “I didn’t know I’d end up finding a brother.” “Joe and I came from different places and different generations. But what I quickly came to admire about Joe Biden is his resilience, born of too much struggle; his empathy, born of too much grief,” Obama said. “Joe is a man who learned early on to treat every person he meets with respect and dignity, living by the words his parents taught him: ‘No one’s better than you, Joe, but you’re better than nobody,’” the former president said. “That empathy, that decency, that belief that everybody counts, that’s who Joe is.” Biden, Obama said, “made me a better president” and has got “the character and the experience to make us a better country.”
It was former President Barack Obama’s fifth consecutive address to the Democratic National Convention, the first occurring in 2004 when he delivered the keynote speech in Boston as a senatorial from Illinois. That speech, seeking unity, and denying a pundit-driven divide between “red states” and “blue states” and “liberal America” and “conservative America,” was widely regarded as propelling him to the White House four years later. Seeking to bestow his continued popularity among Democrats on behalf of Biden and his running mate, California Senator Kamala Harris, Obama said both have the ability to “lead this country out of dark times and build it back better.” Of Biden’s choice of Harris, Obama called her an “ideal partner, who is more than prepared for the job, someone who knows what it’s like to overcome barriers and someone who has spent their career fighting to help others live out their American Dream.” Together, Obama said, Biden and Harris “believe that no one, including the president, is above the law, and that no public official, including the president, should use their office to enrich themselves or their supporters. The former President urged the public, particularly the younger generation, to reject Trump and Republicans “who are counting on your cynicism.” “They know they can’t win you over with their policies, so they’re hoping to make it as hard as possible for you to vote and convince you that your vote does not matter. That is how they win,” he said.
Even as he promoted Biden’s candidacy, former President Barack Obama warned, “No single American can fix this country alone. Not even a president.” “So I am also asking you to believe in your own ability — to embrace our own responsibility as citizens — to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure. Because that’s what’s at stake right now. Our democracy,” he said. “This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down, if that’s what it takes for them to win,” Obama said. “So we have to get busy building it up by pouring all our efforts into these 76 days and voting like never before, for Joe and Kamala, and candidates up and down the ticket, so that we leave no doubt about what this country that we love stands for today and for all our days to come.”
David Axelrod, who served as former President Barack Obama’s top political strategist, said critics who think the former president is “fighting to protect his ‘legacy’” misread him and the moment. “He’s fighting to protect our democracy against the assault of a @POTUS who, unlike his predecessors of EITHER party, simply doesn’t believe in its rules, laws, norms or institutions,” tweeted Axelrod, using the acronym for president of the United States to refer to Trump. Obama has become more strident toward Trump and his presidency in recent months, publicly criticizing his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and telling donors in remarks leaked to the New York Times that the President played on “nativist, racist, sexist” fears. Delivering the eulogy for the late civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat, in Atlanta on July 30, Obama did not use Trump’s name but decried the actions of his administration on issues of race and voting. “George Wallace may be gone. But we can witness our federal government sending agents to use tear gas and batons against peaceful demonstrators,” Obama said. He was referring to the late former racist governor and third-party segregationist Presidential candidate from Alabama. “But even as we sit here, there are those in power doing their darnedest to discourage people from voting — by closing polling locations, and targeting minorities and students with restrictive ID laws, and attacking our voting rights with surgical precision, even undermining the Postal Service in the run-up to an election that is going to be dependent on mailed-in ballots so people don’t get sick.”
Those who suggest @BarackObama is fighting to protect his “legacy” misread him and the moment. He’s fighting to protect our democracy against the assault of a @POTUS who, unlike his predecessors of EITHER party, simply doesn’t believe in its rules, laws, norms or institutions.
Former President Barack Obama showed his disdain for then-candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 race for President when Hillary Clinton, his secretary of state, vied against the Republican to be his successor. Trump had adopted the “birther” conspiracy that wrongly claimed Obama was born in Kenya. Trump as president later pushed what he called “Obamagate,” claiming an illegal conspiracy by Obama-era officials to investigate and sabotage his presidency. That prompted Obama to become more active in the 2018 midterm elections. Speaking at the University of Illinois in Urbana in September of that year, Obama called Trump “a symptom, not the cause” of “a fear and an anger that’s rooted in our past” involving racial and economic divisions that have been exploited by politicians for years. “Appealing to tribe, appealing to fear, pitting one group against another, telling people that order and security will be restored if it weren’t for those who don’t look like us, or don’t sound like us or don’t pray like we do — that’s an old playbook. It’s as old as time. And, in a healthy democracy, it doesn’t work,” Obama said.
Accusing New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy of a “brazen power grab,” President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has asked a federal judge to overturn New Jersey’s plan to send ballots to all 6.2 million registered voters this fall. The suit was filed in US District Court by the Trump campaign, joined by the Republican National Committee and the New Jersey Republican State Committee. Among their lawyers is state Senator Michael Testa (R-Cumberland County), a frequent critic of Governor Phil Murphy. “In the state of New Jersey, where their universal vote-by-mail system has already resulted in fraud and disenfranchisement, Governor Murphy continues to remove safeguards against abuse,” Trump campaign counsel Matt Morgan said. “With a stroke of his pen, the governor told his people their votes may not count – they may even be stolen – and that’s fine by him.”
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has sought to expand mail voting due to the coronavirus pandemic, and New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said the state will sue the US Postal Service over concerns the Trump administration is purposely crippling the agency ahead of the surge in mail-in ballots. Postmaster General Louis Dejoy on August 18 backed off on making changes blamed for delaying mail delivery, but Grewal said the lawsuit would proceed and the House is to vote on August 22 to rescind the adjustments to mail operations already made. “Governor Murphy has consistently put people ahead of politics and protected the health and safety of New Jersey residents throughout the pandemic, and his decision to allow universal mail in voting in the November election is no different,” state Democratic chairman John Currie said. “President Trump’s lawsuit is another clear attack on our democracy and on our voting rights, just like his efforts to destroy the Post Office and delegitimize the electoral process.” President Donald Trump and other Republicans, though, claimed that more absentee balloting would lead to more vote fraud. “We said every option was on the table,” New Jersey Republican Party Chairman Doug Steinhardt said. “We picked one. Governor Murphy, we’ll see you in court, again.” The Trump campaign also has sued Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Iowa, which also have sought to expand vote by mail, according to Rick Hasen a professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine, and author of a blog on election law.
Studies have shown vote by mail has not prompted widespread fraud, as Republicans have claimed. A 2017 study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University found that the rate of voter fraud for mail-in ballots was 0.00004% to 0.0009%. And the Washington Post found possible double voting or voting on behalf of dead people in just 372 of 14.6 million ballots cast in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, which send ballots to all registered voters as New Jersey plans to do this fall. Still, there were cases of voter fraud in Paterson’s municipal elections in May, where 800 ballots were thrown out and state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal brought charges against four individuals. “In New Jersey’s primary election, dead people voted, a mail truck carrying ballots actually caught fire, countless voters saw their ballots rejected, and the Democrat attorney general is prosecuting multiple people for fraud, yet Democrats still want to implement a rushed transition to an all-mail election,” Republican National Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said. Governor Phil Murphy acknowledged some problems with the July 7 primary, the first election conducted primarily by mail but said that the system overall worked well and county clerks will have a lot more time to prepare for the general election.
Primary turnout was 26% of New Jersey’s registered voters, the same percentage as the presidential primary four years ago. Both recorded the highest percentage turnout since 2008 when 35% of New Jersey voters cast ballots. “We think largely it was a very good result, particularly balancing the sacred right to vote at the center of democracy along with public health and respecting people’s health and the combination of vote-by-mail and in-person,” Governor Phil Murphy said August 10 at his coronavirus press briefing. He also contended that the fact that the Paterson voter fraud was easily found showed that systems are in place to prevent ballots from being cast illegally. “I view that data point in Paterson as a positive one,” Murphy said during his coronavirus press briefing. “People tried to mess with the system and they got caught and they’ve been indicted, and that’s the way it should be.”
President Donald Trump and other Republicans have cited fear of fraud in fighting efforts across the country by states to send out ballots to all registered voters or count votes postmarked by Election Day but received later. They have been been able to be so active because this is the first presidential election in almost four decades where the Republican National Committee’s voter activities are not encumbered by court-ordered restrictions stemming from the 1981 New Jersey gubernatorial election. Those activities had been limited by a court decree after the state Republican Party was accused of targeting heavily minority communities that tend to support Democratic candidates.
Michelle Obama delivered a scathing indictment of President Donald Trump’s policies and character August 17 on the first night of the all-virtual Democratic National Convention accusing the White House of sowing “chaos” and “division” and showing a “total and utter lack of empathy.” Coming at the end of a jam-packed two-hour program that tackled the coronavirus crisis, racial justice and the nation’s economic woes, Obama began by acknowledging Americans’ weariness with the current state of affairs. “I know a lot of folks are reluctant to tune into a political convention right now or to politics in general. Believe me, I get that,” she said. “You know I hate politics.” But the former first lady, who has never entertained calls to run for office despite being one of the most popular women in the world, said now is no time to check out. “If you think things cannot possibly get worse, trust me, they can, and they will if we don’t make a change in this election,” she said.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama said President Donald Trump “is clearly in over his head” in handling the Coronavirus pandemic despite ample time to catch up. “He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is,” she said. Obama added: “Whenever we look to this White House for some leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division, and a total and utter lack of empathy. We know that what’s going on in this country is just not right.” The former first lady warned that Trump would do everything he could to stay in power and that the only way to stop him was to commit to vote him out in overwhelming numbers. “We’ve got to be willing to stand in line all night (to vote) if we have to,” Obama said. “We have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it.” On August 18, Trump responded on Twitter to the former first lady, saying that he became President because of “the job done by your husband, Barack Obama.”
Somebody please explain to @MichelleObama that Donald J. Trump would not be here, in the beautiful White House, if it weren’t for the job done by your husband, Barack Obama. Biden was merely an afterthought, a good reason for that very late & unenthusiastic endorsement…..
Speaking before Michelle Obama, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont made a similar appeal, focused not on the politically weary but on the politically active people who supported him. He subtly invoked his own Jewish family’s experience in the Holocaust to warn that Trump is trying to destroy democracy. “Under this administration, authoritarianism has taken root in our country. I, and my family, and many of yours, know the insidious way authoritarianism destroys democracy, decency and humanity,” Sanders said. “As long as I am here, I will work with progressives, with moderates, and, yes, with conservatives to preserve this nation from a threat that so many of our heroes fought and died to defeat.” Sanders touted the success his two presidential campaigns have had in moving the Democratic Party and the nation to the left, but said it could all be for naught if Biden does not win. “I say to you, to everyone who supported other candidates in the primary and to those who may have voted for Donald Trump in the last election: The future of our democracy is at stake,” he said. “We must come together, defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next president and vice president.”
The socially distanced 2020 Democratic convention is arguably the most unique political convention since the 1944 Democratic and Republican conventions, which occurred during the height of World War II. While both conventions had full coverage on radio, the television coverage of both conventions aired on a one-day film delay due to wartime restrictions and the primitive state of television broadcasting at the time. These technical issues reduced the feelings of immediacy that live coverage would have brought about. Similarly to the 1944 political conventions, the largely virtual nature of the 2020 conventions perhaps reduced the effectiveness of the live convention coverage. Actress Eva Longoria served as emcee, interviewing everyday Americans over video chat between politicians’ speeches, some of which concluded with many tiny video boxes of people applauding from their couch at home. The virtual format allowed for a wider range of backdrops and for the program to stick closely to schedule, but it also felt eerily quiet and rootless at times with no cheering crowds in a packed arena to center the proceedings. There were a few minor technical glitches, such as speakers unsure of when to begin, but they did little to disrupt the flow.
Former Governor John Kasich of Ohio, the last candidate standing against then-candidate Donald Trump for the Republican nomination four years ago, crossed the partisan divide on August 17 to speak at the Democratic National Convention and call on fellow Republicans to abandon the president in November. In a move that would have once been unthinkable for a committed Republican who toiled for decades in the Ohio statehouse and Congress for conservative causes, Kasich declared that the country could not afford four more years of President Trump in the White House because he was pitting Americans against each other. “I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country,” Kasich said in his speech, which was recorded at a literal country crossroads in Westerville, Ohio, to signify the choice he sees facing the nation. “That’s why I’ve chosen to appear at this convention. In normal times, something like this would probably never happen. But these are not normal times.”
John Kasich offered a warm testimonial to former Vice President Joe Biden who is set to be ratified as the Democratic nominee this week, calling him “a good man, a man of faith, a unifier.” And he sought to rebut President Donald Trump’s argument that Biden was a weak-willed captive to the “radical left” of his party. “I’m sure there are Republicans and independents who couldn’t imagine crossing over to support a Democrat,” Kasich said. “They fear Joe may turn sharp left and leave them behind. I don’t believe that. Because I know the measure of the man — reasonable, faithful, respectful. And you know, no one pushes Joe around.”
Three other disenchanted Republican political leaders joined John Kasich in addressing the convention on its first night, former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey, former Representative Susan Molinari of New York and Meg Whitman, the chief executive of Quibi and the 2010 Republican candidate for Governor of California. A series of everyday Republican voters were also shown in recorded messages supporting Joe Biden. But it was unclear whether any of them would draw other Republicans in large numbers. The featured leaders were rising stars in their day, but their day was long ago. Molinari was the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention in 1996, Whitman’s last election as governor was in 1997. John Kasich has held office more recently, but won just one primary in 2016, in his home state of Ohio. During his time as governor, John Kasich developed a reputation as a moderate Republican, supporting moderate positions on social issues and national security issues, but supporting conservative fiscal policies. Kasich was a very popular and highly-regarded governor as well, getting re-elected with nearly 64% of the vote in 2014 and a 62% overall approval rating.
The NAACP, the largest US civil rights organization, is launching a drive ahead of November’s presidential election to boost African-American voter turnout in six key states, it said on August 12. The initiative aims to enlist the services of about 200,000 “high-propensity” African-American voters, or people who turned out to vote in a high number of recent local, state and presidential elections. Those voters, in turn, will seek to mobilize so-called “low-frequency” African-American voters, people who were registered to vote, but who had not voted in the most recent election cycle or several election cycles, in Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all competitive states in the 2020 Presidential election that recently saw Joe Biden leading in the polls. The goal is to increase African-American turnout by more than 5% compared to 2016. That year, African-American voter turnout declined to its lowest level since 1996, according to the Pew Research Center. “We’ve seen the outcome of when we have a drop in voter activity in the Black community,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson. “We have racism germinating from the White House,” he said, stressing the urgency of getting African American voters to the polls.
The voter turnout initiative comes during a national reckoning on race after a summer of nationwide protests sparked by the killing of African-American George Floyd by a police officer. A majority of Americans said they were sympathetic with the protests, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll in June. Earlier on August 11, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden selected Senator Kamala Harris to be his running mate in the 2020 election, the first African-American woman to appear on the presidential ticket for a major party. Joe Biden will face off against President Donald Trump, who has often publicly stated that he has done more for African-American than previous presidents. Polling has found his approval rating among African-Americans remains low due to his racist rhetoric, support from white supremacist organizations such as the KKK and white supremacist politicians such as David Duke, Pat Buchanan, and Richard Spencer, and the disproportionate negative impact that his policies, as well as the Coronavirus pandemic, has had on the African-American community. Due to this situation, it is likely that Joe Biden will receive the highest majority of the African-American vote since Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.
Joe Biden has selected California senator Kamala Harris as his Vice-Presidential running mate, a historic choice he believes will bolster his chances of beating Donald Trump in an election year shaped by the Coronavirus pandemic and a national reckoning on race. Senator Harris, Biden’s one-time presidential rival and a barrier-breaking former prosecutor, is the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India and is the first African-American woman and the first Asian-American to be nominated for a major party’s presidential ticket. “I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked Kamala Harris – a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants – as my running mate,” Biden wrote on Twitter. In a tweet, Harris said she was “honored” to join Biden on the Democratic ticket and pledged to “do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief”. Biden announced his selection in a text and email message to supporters. His campaign said the two would hold their first event together on August 12, in Biden’s home town of Wilmington, Delaware.
I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate.
Though Kamala Harris clashed with Joe Biden during the Democratic debates before she dropped out of the race last year, she has become a strong supporter and a voice of authority on issues of racial justice in an election year convulsed by nationwide protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. The decision is of great consequence, not only for Democrats’ immediate political prospects but for the future of the party. Biden, who at 77 would be the oldest person ever elected, has pitched himself as a “transitional candidate” and a “bridge” to a new generation of leaders, fueling speculation that should he be elected, he would be a one-term president. In selecting Harris, a 55-year-old Democratic star, he may not only be naming a partner but a potential successor who could become the nation’s first female president.
Kamala Harris’ own presidential campaign began on a high note in January 2019, as she announced her candidacy on Martin Luther King Day and paid tribute to Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman to seek the nomination of a major party. She officially kicked off her campaign with an Oakland rally attended by more than 20,000 people. The one-term senator was considered an early frontrunner for the nomination, and her polling numbers surged after a contentious exchange with Joe Biden at the first Democratic debate. Harris pushed Biden on his past opposition to mandated busing to racially integrate schools. “There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bussed to school every day. That little girl was me,” Harris told Biden. Biden appeared taken aback by the confrontation, but the two Democrats indicated they had made amends after Harris suspended her campaign in December of 2019. Harris endorsed Biden’s presidential bid in March.
The Trump campaign immediately seized on their debate exchange to cast Harris as hypocrite, while assailing her in the same sentence, as both a tough-on-crime prosecutor and a far-left radical. “Not long ago, Kamala Harris called Joe Biden a racist and asked for an apology she never received,” said Katrina Pierson, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign and one of his most high-profile African-American surrogates. “Clearly, Phony Kamala will abandon her own morals, as well as try to bury her record as a prosecutor, in order to appease the anti-police extremists controlling the Democrat party.”
Though Kamala Harris has long been viewed as a likely contender for the nomination, some advisers and allies of Joe Biden harbored reservations. In the weeks before she was selected, reports surfaced that the former senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, part of Biden’s vice-presidential vetting panel, had told donors she demonstrated “no remorse” for her attacks on Biden while on a debate stage. Others anonymously accused her of having too much “ambition” and a personality that can “rub people the wrong way”. For many Democratic women, the backlash was further evidence of the importance of selecting a candidate who demonstrated the vital role of African-American women within the party. “Senator Harris is a fearless champion for justice,” said Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of BlackPac. “She understands the urgency of the moment and will work to restore competent, moral leadership to Washington.”
Kamala Harris was elected to the Senate in 2016, becoming only the second African-American woman ever to serve in the chamber. A fierce critic of President Donald Trump, Harris drew national attention for her prosecutorial-style inquisitions during Senate committee hearings with Trump administration officials. In one memorable exchange, a flustered Jeff Sessions, then the attorney general, told her: “I’m not able to be rushed this fast – it makes me nervous.” Joe Biden was unusually candid about the selection process, an affair traditionally shrouded in secrecy and intrigue. Having spent eight years serving as vice-president to the nation’s first African-American president, Joe Biden recalled the experience fondly and presented their working relationship as a model for what he was looking for in a running mate. During Zoom meetings with donors and supporters, he would often expand on his search, emphasizing that he wanted someone “simpatico” with his personality and his world view as well as someone who was ready to govern on day one.
Joe Biden will not travel to Milwaukee to formally accept the Democratic 2020 presidential nomination at his party’s convention due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, the Democratic National Committee said on August 5. Biden will accept his nomination virtually from his home state of Delaware, the DNC said. The other scheduled speakers, including Biden’s eventual running mate, will now address the convention, remotely through Zoom as well, the committee said,a move that, in effect, makes the event all-virtual. “From the very beginning of this pandemic, we put the health and safety of the American people first. We followed the science, listened to doctors and public health experts, and we continued making adjustments to our plans in order to protect lives. That’s the kind of steady and responsible leadership America deserves. And that’s the leadership Joe Biden will bring to the White House,” said DNC Chair Tom Perez. Perez said that the decision to make the August 17-20 convention all-virtual came after “ongoing consultation with public health officials and experts” who he said “underscored the worsening coronavirus pandemic.”
Joe Biden told attendees of a virtual fundraiser afternoon that he felt the move was “the right thing to do.” “I’ve wanted to set an example as to how we should respond individually to this crisis,” he said. Earlier, in an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Jansing, Tom Perez said that “from the beginning of this pandemic, our North Star has always been public health and safety … and the situation, quite frankly, in Wisconsin, and in many other places, has been worsening.” The change in plans means an even more significantly scaled-down convention amid the raging outbreak. The announcement comes just weeks after the DNC said Biden had planned to accept the nomination, but that the rest of the event would be nearly all virtual. In late June, the DNC had said publicly that delegates were being told to stay home because of COVID-19 concerns but that Biden would accept the nomination in person in Milwaukee. Wisconsin has had a steady rise in confirmed cases since July. Perez reiterated that the convention will showcase just two hours of programming each of its four nights, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. He said the committee had built “a custom virtual video control room” to “take in hundreds of feeds from around the country.” Perez told MSNBC that Biden would accept the nomination and deliver his address on August 20.
The DNC had initially planned to have its convention in July in Milwaukee, but it was postponed until August because of the Coronavirus pandemic to give planners more time to determine how to proceed. Wisconsin, which Trump won by a slim margin in 2016, is a key battleground state for the Democrats to win in November. At the convention, Democrats will officially nominate Joe Biden as their candidate. The developments around the Democrats’ convention came just hours after President Donald Trump said he would “probably” deliver his own acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination later this month from the White House — a precedent-breaking move that would blur the lines between political campaigning and taxpayer-supported governance at the highest level of American government. Tom Perez, in his interview with MSNBC, called Trump’s statement “ethically breathtaking.”
The Trump campaign filed a lawsuit on August 3 against the state of Nevada over its plan to send absentee ballots to all active voters this November in a major expansion of mail-in voting in the battleground state. “The RNC has a vital interest in protecting the ability of Republican voters to cast, and Republican candidates to receive, effective votes in Nevada elections and elsewhere,” the lawsuit, filed by the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and the Nevada Republican Party, said. As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread throughout the country, some states have looked to expand mail-in voting options ahead of November’s election. President Donald Trump, however, has falsely claimed that expanded mail-in voting will lead to fraud in the election.
The Democratic-controlled Nevada state legislature passed a sweeping election bill along party lines over the weekend, and Governor Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, signed the legislation on August 2. Sisolak said in a tweet, “I signed AB 4, which ensures protections for Nevadans to vote safely at the November election during the pandemic. During this global pandemic, I made a commitment that we’d do all we can to allow Nevadans to safely cast a ballot in the upcoming November election.” The legislation will allow election officials to send absentee ballots to every “active registered voter” in the state. It will also extend the deadline for when mail-in ballots can be counted after Election Day, so mailed-in ballots can still be counted if they arrive one week after November 3. The legislation will also ease some restrictions for who can legally handle and submit other people’s ballots, a move that Republicans claimed could lead to voter fraud.
Nevada State Democratic Party Chair William McCurdy called the lawsuit a “sham.” “As states fill the void of Trump’s leadership and begin to step up to the challenge of protecting both voters’ health and their constitutional right to vote, Trump and Republicans are throwing a fit. That is because Trump does not want to hear from the people, he knows what they will say,” he said in a statement. President Donald Trump previously criticized Nevada’s plan to expand mail-in voting and threatened a lawsuit. “In an illegal late-night coup, Nevada’s clubhouse Governor made it impossible for Republicans to win the state,” Trump tweeted. “Post Office could never handle the Traffic of Mail-In Votes without preparation. Using Covid to steal the state. See you in Court!” In addition to Nevada, eight other jurisdictions will mail ballots to all voters in November. Hawaii, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, and Washington state had this plan all along. Vermont, California, and the District of Columbia switched to this method this year because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
In an illegal late night coup, Nevada’s clubhouse Governor made it impossible for Republicans to win the state. Post Office could never handle the Traffic of Mail-In Votes without preparation. Using Covid to steal the state. See you in Court! https://t.co/cNSPINgCY7
President Donald Trump explicitly floated delaying November’s presidential election on July 30, lending an extraordinary voice to persistent concerns that he will seek to circumvent voting in a contest where he currently trails his opponent by double digits. Hours later, President Trump seemed to acknowledge the move was meant to be a “trial balloon” of sorts primarily to inject uncertainty into an election he appears determined to undermine, though he did not entirely back away from the notion of a delay. Trump has no authority to delay an election, and the Constitution gives Congress the power to set the date for voting. Lawmakers from both parties said almost immediately there was no likelihood the election would be delayed and even some of Trump’s allies said his message reflected the desperate flailing of a badly losing candidate. Yet as toothless as it was, Trump’s message did provide an opening, long feared by Democrats, that both he and his supporters might refuse to accept the presidential results. In questioning it ahead of time, Trump is priming those in his camp to doubt the legitimacy of whatever outcome emerges in the first weeks of November.
In his Twitter post early on July 30, coming 96 days before the election and minutes after the federal government reported the worst economic contraction in recorded history President Donald Trump offered the suggestion because he claimed without evidence the contest will be flawed. “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA,” he wrote. “Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???” During a late-afternoon news conference, President Trump was asked to explain his motivations. At first, he suggested he was trying to avoid a drawn-out counting process that might stretch for days or weeks if large numbers of voters cast ballots by mail. But he eventually acknowledged the real impact of his message: sowing doubts early in whatever outcome emerges in November. “What people are now looking at is … are all these stories right about the fact that these elections will be fraudulent, they’ll be fixed, rigged,” he said. “Everyone is looking at it,” Trump added. “A lot of people are saying that probably will happen.”
With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???
There is no evidence that mail-in voting leads to fraud. American elections have proceeded during wars and depressions without delay. The general election has been fixed on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November since 1845. President Donald Trump has previously sought to stoke fear and lay the groundwork to question the election’s results by promoting the idea that mail-in voting leads to widespread fraud and a “rigged” election. Democrats have warned his efforts are meant both to suppress voting and to provide a reason to refuse to leave office should he lose. Trump’s representatives had previously scoffed at Democratic suggestions he would attempt to delay the election, claiming they were unfounded conspiracies. His tweet marks the first time Trump has openly raised the idea of moving the date of voting. On July 30, Trump’s campaign said the President was offering a query. “The President is just raising a question about the chaos Democrats have created with their insistence on all mail-in voting,” campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley said. “They are using coronavirus as their means to try to institute universal mail-in voting, which means sending every registered voter a ballot whether they asked for one or not.”
President Donald Trump’s Twitter post comes as a spate of recent polling in battleground states, and even states he won handily in 2016, show him trailing or virtually tied with former Vice President Joe Biden, and widespread disapproval of his handling of the Coronavirus pandemic. While Trump has encouraged states to lift restrictions on businesses and said schools must reopen for in-person learning in the fall, his suggestion that the election might be delayed because of the pandemic undermines his efforts to act as the Coronavirus is under control. Due to the utter failure of his policies, President Trump has turned instead to stoking racial divisions and appealing to white voters as he works to consolidate support among the constituencies he won in 2016. And he has taken steps to undermine the election results in ways that reflect an extraordinary break in tradition. Asked during an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace last week whether he would accept the results of the election, Trump refused. “No, I’m not going to just say ‘yes.’ I’m not going to say ‘no,’ and I didn’t last time, either,” he said.
Responding to President Donald Trump’s comments, both Republicans and Democrats said Trump’s suggestion was a non-starter. “I don’t think that’s a particularly good idea,” said Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of President Trump’s strongest allies. “I think that’s probably a statement that gets some press attention, but I doubt it gets any serious traction,” said Senator John Thune, the Senate Republican whip. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi simply replied to President Trump’s tweet quoting the passage in the Constitution that gives Congress the authority to set the date of elections. Presumptive Democratic nominee former Vice President Joe Biden has previously raised the possibility of Trump attempting to delay the election. “Mark my words: I think he is gonna try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can’t be held,” Biden said at a virtual fundraiser in April, according to a pool report. At the time, a spokesman for Trump said the claim amounted to “incoherent, conspiracy theory ramblings of a lost candidate who is out of touch with reality.”
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden said on July 28 he will choose his Vice Presidential running mate next week. The former Vice President’s comment came during a news conference after a speech in Wilmington, Delaware. Asked by CNN whether he will meet in person with finalists for the role, Biden said, “We’ll see.” Biden has said he will choose a female running mate, and has faced pressure within the party to choose a woman of color. His campaign’s vetting process has played out amid the Coronavirus pandemic, making meetings that could allow Biden to better get to know those being considered more difficult. Noting that news crews were stationed outside his home in Delaware, Biden joked that he is “going to try to figure out how to trick you all so I can meet with them in person.” “I don’t think it matters, actually,” he said.
A surge of campaign contributions in the second quarter gave Democrats seeking to flip Republican-held Senate seats in those races $86 million for the three months ending on June 30, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Republican incumbents raised $52 million in the same 10 states: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Carolina, and South Carolina. But they maintained a significant cash advantage over their challengers, with nearly $100 million in hand as the campaign entered its final months. The combined Democratic cash position equaled the quarterly fundraising total of $86 million. While the general election away, the flood of campaign contributions shows Democrats benefiting from voter discontent over President Donald Trump’s responses to the Coronavirus pandemic and race relations, among other issues, analysts say.
Republicans currently hold a four-seat majority in the 100-seat Senate. With Democrats controlling the House of Representatives, Republican control of the Senate has been crucial in buttressing President Donald Trump’s presidency including keeping him in power after his impeachment trial. Superior fundraising does not guarantee Democratic challengers success on Election Day against Republican incumbents, who have had longer to build up their financial firepower. But the challenges facing Republicans have deepened with Trump’s falling poll numbers to the point where Democrats are outraising stalwarts such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky and Senator Lindsey Graham in South Carolina, putting the party under pressure to defend them. “If they are defending these seats, that suggests there are really no offensive opportunities,” said Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative think tank. Despite the Democratic advantage, the Republicans do have a pick-up opportunity in Alabama, where Democratic Senator Doug Jones is widely expected to lose his reelection bid. Democrats would need a net gain of four Republican-held seats to take control of the chamber if President Trump wins re-election, or three if Democratic candidate Joe Biden defeats him.
Polls show Senate Republican incumbents running slightly behind their Democratic challengers in half a dozen states: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Montana and North Carolina. Democratic second-quarter fundraising swamped Republicans in each of those states. Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly scored the biggest total: $12.8 million, versus Republican Senator Martha McSally’s $9.3 million. Iowa Democrat Theresa Greenfield, who is running against Republican Senator Joni Ernst, nearly tripled her quarterly fundraising total to $6 million from $2.3 million earlier this year. Although she out-raised Ernst’s $3.6 million, Greenfield ended up with only $5.7 million in cash on hand, behind Ernst’s $9.1 million. The same was true with Jon Ossoff, the Georgia Democrat running against Republican incumbent David Perdue. Ossoff’s $3.9 million in quarterly donations surpassed Perdue’s $2.2 million. But the challenger was still behind in cash, with only $2.5 million on hand, versus Perdue’s $10.7 million. But Democrats ended with more cash in Arizona, where Kelly ended the quarter with $24 million on hand, versus McSally’s $11 million, and in Montana where Democratic Governor Steve Bullock had $7.6 million in cash compared with Republican Senator Steve Daines’ $7.1 million. Bullock also outraised Daines by $7.8 million to $5 million.
President Donald Trumprefused to commit to accepting the results of the 2020 election and ensuring a peaceful transition of power in an interview with “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace. In the interview, which aired on July 19, President Trump undermined confidence in the result of the 2020 election by falsely claiming that mail-in ballots are “rigged,” and opened the door to later contesting the results if he loses to Democratic nominee Joe Biden. “In general, not talking about November, are you a good loser?” Wallace asked. “I’m not a good loser, I don’t like to lose, I don’t lose too often” Trump replied. “But are you gracious?” Wallace pressed. “You don’t know until you see, I think it depends. I think mail-in voting is going to rig the election,” Trump said. “I really do.” “But are you suggesting you might not accept the results of the election?” Wallace continued. “I have to see,” Trump said. Wallace then reminded Trump that he asked him a similar question as to whether he would concede the election if he lost in an October 19, 2016 presidential debate. At the time, Trump told Wallace he would “tell you at the time” and “keep you in suspense.” “The American people will decide this election. And the United States government is perfectly capable of escorting trespassers out of the White House,” Joe Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates told the Washington Post in response to Trump’s comments.
The most recent polling of the 2020 election has shown President Donald Trump far behind Biden both nationally and in key swing states as voters continue to give Trump poor marks on his handling of the Coronavirus pandemic, race relations, and a slew of other important issues. In a statement issued on July 7, the Trump campaign’s communications director Tim Murtaugh accused Democrats of wanting to eliminate key election integrity provisions, like signature matching for absentee ballots, and cited some of the problems states have experienced in trying to scale up mail-in voting as a good reason to be skeptical over the results. “We don’t know what kind of shenanigans Democrats will try leading up to November,” Murtaugh said. “If someone had asked George W. Bush and Al Gore this same question in 2000, would they have been able to foresee the drawn-out fight over Florida? The central point remains clear: in a free and fair election, President Trump will win.”
As states have moved over the past few months to expanded absentee and mail-in voting, President Donald Trump, who voted by mail himself in Florida earlier this year, has attacked mail-in voting as inherently fraudulent and untrustworthy. He has falsely claimed that an expansion of absentee and mail-in voting will lead to massive fraud and corruption (rates of absentee ballot fraud are very low), that expanding mail-in ballot hurts Republicans (studies show that it confers no partisan advantage to either side), and even raised a baseless conspiracy that children in California will go around stealing ballots out of mailboxes and forging them. Both President Trump and Attorney General William Barr have also raised a theory, for which there is no evidence to support, that foreign adversaries will try to interfere in the 2020 election by making and sending out “counterfeit ballots” to voters.
While cases of voter fraud using absentee and mail-in ballots do occur, they are extremely rare. According to the conservative Heritage Foundation’s own database of voter- and election-fraud cases, there have been 1,100 criminal convictions for all voter fraud and fewer than 150 criminal convictions for fraudulent use of absentee ballots over the past 20 years. And even though Donald Trump won the 2016 election, he continued to claim for months that millions of undocumented immigrants had improperly voted in that election and were partly responsible for 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote. To this day, no evidence has surfaced to prove that any widespread voter fraud occurred in 2016. “For five years, Trump has sought to undermine our elections again and again—from soliciting foreign interference to making baseless claims about voter fraud to lying about the results of the 2016 election,” Sean Eldridge, the president of the progressive grassroots democracy reform group Stand Up America said. “Today’s comments are an escalation in these attacks on our democracy and show the insidious ways in which Trump is working to sow doubt about the outcome of this election before votes are even cast.”
Facebook is considering imposing a ban on political ads on its social network in the days leading up to the US Presidental election in November, according to people familiar with the company’s thinking. The potential ban is still only being discussed and has yet been finalized, said the people, who asked not to be named talking about internal policies. A halt on ads could defend against misleading election-related content spreading as people prepare to vote. Still, there are concerns that an ad blackout may hurt “get out the vote” campaigns, or limit a candidate’s ability to respond widely to breaking news or new information. Such an action would amount to a major change for Facebook, which has so far stuck to a policy of not fact-checking ads from politicians or their campaigns. That has prompted criticism from lawmakers and advocates, who say the policy means ads on the platform can be used to spread lies and misinformation. Civil rights groups also argue the company does not do enough to remove efforts to limit voter participation, and a recent audit found Facebook failed to enforce its own voter-suppression policies when it comes to posts from President Donald Trump.
Ad blackouts before elections are common in other parts of the world, including the UK, where Facebook’s global head of policy, Nick Clegg, was once deputy prime minister. Facebook is an important platform for politicians, especially at a time when many people are stuck at home and campaign rallies pose potential health risks due to the coronavirus. In 2016, President Donald Trump used Facebook ads and the company’s targeting capabilities to reach millions of voters with tailored messaging, a strategy that some believe helped win him the election. Alex Stamos, Facebook’s former top security executive, said that any political ad ban could benefit Trump. “Eliminating online political ads only benefits those with money, incumbency or the ability to get media coverage,” he tweeted. “Who does that sound like?”
Political advertising has been a complicated issue for online platforms, and many of them have taken different approaches. Twitter has banned most political ads, but still sells some “cause-based” ads that touch on economic, environmental, or social issues. Google’s YouTube has already sold ad space on its homepage to the Trump campaign for the days leading up to November’s election, a deal that ensures Trump will be highly visible on the video service when people start to vote. In 2016, Russian operatives used Facebook to spread misleading and divisive ads and posts. The company has made a series of changes since then to tighten up its political ad process, including the implementation of stricter requirements for buying marketing spots and the addition of a searchable ad archive.
Hundreds of officials who worked for former Republican President George W. Bush as a July 1 are set to endorse Democratic Presidential nominee, Joe Biden, people involved in the effort said, the latest Republican-led group coming out to oppose the re-election of Donald Trump. The officials, who include Cabinet secretaries and other senior members of the Bush administration, have formed a political action committee, 43 Alumni for Biden, to support former Vice President Joe Biden as opposed to President Donald Trump. The Super PAC will launch on July 1 with a website and Facebook page, they said. It plans to release “testimonial videos” praising Biden from high-profile Republicans and will hold get-out-the-vote efforts in the most competitive states.
The group is the latest of many Republican organizations opposing President Donald Trump’s re-election, yet another sign that his radical policies relating to race, foreign policy, and the norms of governance have alienated many Republicans. “We know what is normal and what is abnormal, and what we are seeing is highly abnormal. The president is a danger,” said Jennifer Millikin, one of the 43 Alumni organizers, who worked on Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign and later in the General Services Administration. The other two members who spoke to Reuters are Karen Kirksey and Kristopher Purcell. Purcell worked as a communication official in the Bush White House. Kirksey was on the Bush 2000 campaign, and later in the Agriculture and Labor Departments. Millikin said the group was not yet ready to name all its members or its donors. It has to provide a list of initial donors to the Federal Election Commission by October.
Former President George W. Bush, who is still admired by many moderate Republicans and has seen his overall legacy improve dramatically over the past few years, won praise for saying the death of George Floyd reflected a “shocking failure”, and urged that protesters be heard. Earlier, Bush released a video calling for Americans to unite in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic. Despite policy differences with Biden, “hundreds” of former Bush officials believe the Democrat has the integrity to meet America’s challenges, the 43 Alumni members said. “This November, we are choosing country over party,” said Kristopher Purcell. “We believe that a Biden administration will adhere to the rule of law… and restore dignity and integrity to the White House.” “We really have had overwhelming support for our efforts,” Karen Kirksey said.
43 Alumni for Biden is backing the former Vice president as President Donald Trump’s support slips in the polls. Last month, a group of Republican operatives launched “Right Side PAC,” that, according to the group’s founder Matt Borges, will work to turn “that group of Republicans who feels that President Trump is an existential threat to the country and this party.”A group called Republican Voters Against Trump launched a $10 million ad campaign in May targeting Republican-leaning voters in top swing states to encourage them to support Biden. And a group of “Never Trump” Republicans formed the Lincoln Project in late 2019 and have run negative ads that have drawn the ire of Trump.
Democratic Presidential candidateJoe Biden has opened up a 13-point lead over President Donald Trump, the widest margin this year, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll as Americans grow more critical of President Trump over the Coronavirus pandemic and protests against police brutality. In the June 10-16 poll, 48% of registered voters said they would back Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, in the Presidential election, while 35% said they would support Trump. Biden’s advantage is the biggest recorded by the Reuters/Ipsos poll since Democrats began their state nominating contests this year to pick their party’s nominee to challenge Trump in November. A similar CNN poll from earlier this month showed Biden with a 14-point lead over Trump among registered voters. The Reuters/Ipsos poll also showed that 57% of adults disapproved of Trump’s performance in office, while just 38% approved, marking Trump’s lowest approval rating since November of 2019 when Congress was conducting its impeachment inquiry into the Republican President. In a clear warning sign for Trump, his own support base appears to be eroding. Republicans’ net approval of Trump is down 13 points from March to June, declining every month in that span.
The shift in opinion comes as Americans are whipsawed by the Coronavirus pandemic, the ensuing economic collapse, and the outpouring of anger and frustration following numerous deadly confrontations between police and African-Americans, including the death last month of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody. President Donald Trump, who dismissed the threat of the Coronavirus early on, sparred with state governors as they tried to slow its spread and has pushed authorities to allow businesses to reopen despite warnings from health experts about increasing risks of transmission. More than 116,000 people in the US have died from the virus and more than 2 million people have been infected, by far the most in the world. Some states that have reopened such as Florida, Arizona, and Texas are seeing a jump in cases. Altogether, 55% of Americans said they disapproved of Trump’s handling of the Coronavirus, while 40% approved, which is the lowest net approval for the President on the subject since Reuters/Ipsos started tracking the question in early March.
President Donald Trump also has been criticized for the way he has responded to the protests that were sparked by George Floyd’s killing. While nearly two-thirds of respondents sympathized with the protesters, according to the poll, Trump has openly flirted with deploying the military to “dominate” them. Earlier this month, police in Washington DC forcibly removed peaceful protesters so that Trump could pose for photographs in front of a church near the White House. As businesses shuttered across the country because of coronavirus lockdowns, Americans have increasingly turned their focus to the economy and jobs as a top concern. In that area, President Trump still has the upper hand over Joe Biden. 43% of registered voters said they thought President Trump would be a better steward of the economy than Biden, while 38% said Biden would be better.
State-backed hackers from China have targeted staffers working on the US presidential campaign of Democrat Joe Biden, a senior Google security official said on June 4. The same official said Iranian hackers had recently targeted email accounts belonging to Republican President Donald Trump’s campaign staff. The announcement, made on Twitter by the head of Google’s Threat Analysis Group, Shane Huntley, is the latest indication of the digital spying routinely aimed at top politicians. Huntley said there was “no sign of compromise” of either campaign. Iranian attempts to break into Trump campaign officials’ emails have been documented before. Last year, Microsoft announced that a group often nicknamed Charming Kitten had tried to break into email accounts belonging to an unnamed US presidential campaign, which sources identified as Trump’s. Google declined to offer details beyond Huntley’s tweets, but the unusually public attribution is a sign of how sensitive Americans have become to digital espionage efforts aimed at political campaigns. “We sent the targeted users our standard government-backed attack warning and we referred this information to federal law enforcement,” a Google representative said.
Hacking to interfere in elections has become a concern for governments, especially since US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia ran a hacking and propaganda operation to disrupt the American democratic process in 2016 to help then-candidate Donald Trump become president. Among the targets was digital infrastructure used by the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign. The Russian government has denied any meddling. Attempts by foreign adversaries to break into presidential campaigns are commonplace but the unusually public attribution offered by Google is a sign of how sensitive Americans have become to digital espionage efforts aimed at candidates. “We are aware of reports from Google that a foreign actor has made unsuccessful attempts to access the personal email accounts of campaign staff,” a Biden campaign spokesman said. “We have known from the beginning of our campaign that we would be subject to such attacks and we are prepared for them.” The Trump campaign, the Chinese Embassy in Washington, and the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Charming Kitten, the group identified by Google as being responsible for the targeting of the Trump campaign, has also recently hit the headlines over other exploits, including the targeting of the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences Inc. Earlier this year, Reuters tied the group to attempts to impersonate high-profile media figures and journalists. John Hultquist, senior director of intelligence analysis with US cybersecurity firm FireEye Inc., described the two hacking groups as “espionage actors” and said they were likely attempting to collect intelligence rather than steal material to leak online.
The Republican Party’s nominating convention has also been impacted by the pandemic, with current public health rules preventing President Donald Trump from delivering his acceptance speech before a full house of delegates and supporters in Charlotte, North Carolina as initially planned. On June 8, a separate campaign adviser said the President and the Republican National Committee were leaning toward moving Trump’s speech to Jacksonville, Florida, where they expect to be allowed to gather in larger numbers. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one of President Trump’s strongest supporters, has endorsed the idea of having the Republican convention in his home state despite the rapid increase in Coronavirus cases in Florida over the past few weeks.
President Donald Trump is under pressure to reverse his tumbling prospects for re-election and is counting on a rebound in the US economy, which was rocked by the global pandemic. He also is grappling with mass protests that erupted after African-American George Floyd died in police custody. A number of public opinion polls show Joe Biden with a substantial lead over President Trump nationally and in some of the battleground states where the election will be decided. Trump’s political advisers, however, see active Republican enthusiasm for his candidacy based on a record of victories by the 64 party candidates he has endorsed in special elections since the 2018 midterms.
Presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden on June 2 blasted President Donald Trump’s response to US protests over racism and police misconduct, vowing to try to heal the country’s racial divide and not “fan the flames of hate.” Speaking in Philadelphia, a city rocked by sometimes violent demonstrations in recent days, the former Vice President sought to draw a vivid contrast between himself and President Trump, whom he will face in the general election. Biden, who served eight years as Vice President under Barack Obama, the first African-American US President, cast himself as the candidate who best understands the longstanding pain and grief in the country’s African-American communities. He said the killing of George Floyd, the African-American man who died at the hands of Minneapolis police last week, was a “wake-up call” for the nation that must force it to address the stain of systemic racism.“We can’t leave this moment thinking we can once again turn away and do nothing,” Biden said. “We can’t.” He accused Trump of turning the nation into “a battlefield riven by old resentments and fresh fears.” “Is this who we want to be?” he asked. “Is this what we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren? Fear, anger, finger-pointing, rather than the pursuit of happiness? Incompetence and anxiety, self-absorption, selfishness?” Biden pledged he would “not traffic in fear or division.”
Joe Biden’s speech on June 2 at Philadelphia’s City Hall marked the first time he has left his home state of Delaware to campaign in person since mid-March when the outbreak of the Coronavirus forced him to halt in-person campaigning indefinitely. While Biden had made public appearances in Delaware in recent days and convened a virtual conference of big-city mayors on June 1, his most recent speech suggested he may soon begin to again move about the country as states slowly re-open. Biden formally launched his White House bid in Philadelphia last year, and it is also where his campaign headquarters, currently empty because of the pandemic, is located. The city was also the birthplace of the US Constitution, which Biden cited in his speech as support of the right to peacefully protest. “Our freedom to speak is the cherished knowledge that lives inside every American,” he said.
As the nation prepared for another series of violent protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, President Donald Trump on June 1 threatened to deploy the military if states and cities failed to quell the demonstrations. “I am mobilizing all federal and local resources, civilian and military, to protect the rights of law-abiding Americans,” President Trump said during a hastily arranged address at the White House. “Today I have strongly recommended to every governor to deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets. Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming presence until the violence is quelled,” Trump said. “If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” said the president. Trump stopped short of invoking the Insurrection Act, an archaic law from 1807 that would allow Trump to deploy active-duty U.S. troops to respond to protests in cities across the country. “During his address, Trump said he was taking “swift and decisive action to protect our great capital, Washington DC,” adding, “What happened in this city last night was a total disgrace.” “As we speak, I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults, and the wanton destruction of property.”
As President Donald Trump spoke, riot police and military police outside the White House were using tear gas to clear protesters out of Lafayette Square, a public square in front of the president’s residence. Following his remarks, President Trump left the White House and walked through the square, and it appeared strongly as though the riot police had forcibly cleared the square for the sole purpose of clearing a path for the President. Once he reached the far side of the square, Trump raised a bible in front of St. John’s Church, which had been set on fire by protesters the night before. The President did not try to talk to any of the protesters, however, leaving little doubt as to where his sympathies lay.
President Donald Trump’s address followed a weekend where he threatened the protesters gathered outside the gates of the White House with the promise of “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons.” During a teleconference with governors on June 1, President Trump berated them for not using harsher tactics to quell the protests that have lit up dozens of American cities since last week, when George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man, was killed by Minneapolis police. “You have to dominate if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you. You’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate,” the President told governors. Trump pressured the governors to mobilize more National Guard units, called for 10-year prison sentences for violent protesters, and effectively blamed the governors themselves for the racial unrest in their states. “The only time [violent protests are] successful is when you’re weak. And most of you are weak,” Trump can be heard saying on the audio recording. Trump also told the governors he was putting the nation’s highest-ranking military officer “in charge.” “General Milley is here who’s head of Joint Chiefs of Staff, a fighter, a warrior, and a lot of victories and no losses. And he hates to see the way it’s being handled in the various states. And I’ve just put him in charge,” Trump told the governors.
As of June 1, 23 states and the District of Columbia have mobilized more than 17,000 National Guard personnel in support of state and local authorities. More than 45,000 members of the National Guard are already supporting Coronavirus response efforts at their governors’ direction. Inside the White House, there was little consensus over what President Donald Trump should do next. Some aides advised the president to deliver a formal address to the nation, urging calm and unity. Other advisers recommended that Trump take the opposite tack, and escalate the federal response, up to and including Trump invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act to order federal troops into Washington D.C. Proponents of involving the Insurrection Act to quell the protests (the most notable of which being Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas) have pointed to the fact that Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John F. KennedyLyndon Johnson, and George H.W. Bush invoked the Act in response to racial disturbances during their Presidencies. On the other hand, opponents of such measures argue that they will do little more than to inflame the racial tensions that have steadily increased since President Trump took office and may set negative precedence that may encourage future Presidents to utilize the military to crack down on their political opponents.
To those who claim the military has no role in stopping anarchists and other criminals from tearing apart our cities: read a book.
The military has intervened to maintain public order since the Whiskey Rebellion. Here are a few recent examples.
On May 30, President Donald Trump had attempted to empathize with protesters and with George Floyd’s family during remarks he delivered at a SpaceX launch in Florida.“I understand the pain that people are feeling,” Trump said. “We support the right of peaceful protesters, and we hear their pleas. But what we are now seeing on the streets of our cities has nothing to do with justice or with peace. “The memory of George Floyd is being dishonored by rioters, looters, and anarchists. The violence and vandalism is being led by Antifa and other radical left-wing groups who are terrorizing the innocent, destroying jobs, hurting businesses, and burning down buildings.” But even in his scripted sympathy, Trump politicized the protests to a great extent by blaming “radical left-wing groups” as the main culprits behind the civil disturbances.
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s lead over President Donald Trump has fallen by three points over the last week, according to new polling data. The latest survey by Reuters and Ipsos found that Biden led Trump by six points among registered voters, with 45% backing him and 39% favoring Trump. The former Vice President also had a four-point lead among Independent voters. A third of the group (33%) said they would back Biden, while 29% said the same of Trump. When the same poll was published last week, the presumptive Democratic nominee had a nine-point lead on the president, with 47% of polled voters saying they would back Biden as only 38% opted for Trump. The former Vice President also had a stronger eight-point lead among Independent voters polled last week.
Despite the fact that he lost some ground compared to last week, former Vice President Joe Biden is polling well in the twelve battleground states in the 2020 campaign. For example Joe Biden is polling well ahead of President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Michigan, New Hampshire, Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina, and Arizona. Additionally, Biden is polling narrowly ahead of Trump in the battleground states of Texas, Georgia, and Utah. Assuming that his lead continues to remain, is likely that former Vice President Joe Biden will win the 2020 election with a substantial electoral college margin and solid popular vote margin.
In their latest survey on the 2020 election, Ipsos pollsters also found that President Donald Trump’s Coronavirus approval rating remained steady this week as the US death toll in the growing Coronavirus pandemic topped 100,000 on May 27. 41% of polled US adults said they approved of the President’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, down by just a single point on last week. 53% told Ipsos they disapproved of Trump’s handling of the outbreak, giving the commander-in-chief a net disapproval rating of 12%. When the same poll was conducted the week before, the President’s net coronavirus disapproval rating was at 10%. President Trump’s rating on healthcare reform will make harder reading for the President and his team, with just 38% of polled Americans approving of his handling of the issue and 52% disapproving. However, the President recorded net approval ratings on the economy and employment, despite almost 40 million Americans filing initial jobless claims since March.
A key figure behind the US investigation into links between Russia and President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign will testify next week before a Republican-led Senate committee examining the origins of the probe, the panel said on May 27. Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed former Special Counsel Robert Mueller in 2017, will testify on June 3 as part of a Senate Judiciary Committee examination of an FBI probe of Trump campaign officials code-named “Crossfire Hurricane,” which led to the Mueller investigation. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of President Trump’s strongest congressional allies, said Rosenstein would offer “new revelations” about federal surveillance practices.
President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have long claimed that the Trump-Russia probe was intended to undermine his candidacy and presidency, whereas supporters of the investigation note that there is clear and convincing evidence that members of the 2016 Trump campaign conspired with Russian President Vladimir Putin to release damaging information against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as a way to sway the election in Trump’s favor. In December of 2019, a Justice Department watchdog found evidence of numerous errors but no political bias when the FBI opened the probe. “Even the best law enforcement officers make mistakes and … some engage in willful misconduct,” Rosenstein said in a statement announcing his senate testimony. “We can only hope to maintain public confidence if we correct mistakes, hold wrongdoers accountable and adopt policies to prevent problems from recurring,” he added.
The Rosenstein hearing is set a day before the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote whether to subpoena Rosenstein, former FBI Director James Comey, and other former top officials from the Obama administration, as part of its probe. The panel’s top Democrat, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), has sharply criticized the committee investigation as an effort to attack President Donald Trump political rival Joe Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee. The Mueller probe found that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 election to boost Trump’s candidacy and that the Trump campaign had numerous contacts with Russians. But Mueller concluded that there was not enough evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
President Donald Trump on May 27 threatened to regulate or shut down social media companies for stifling conservative voices, a day after Twitter attached a warning to some of his tweets prompting readers to fact check the president’s claims. Without offering evidence, President Trump accused such platforms of bias, tweeting: “Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down before we can ever allow this to happen.” Trump, a heavy user of Twitter with more than 80 million followers, added: “Clean up your act, NOW!!!! Trump’s threat to shut down platforms such as Twitter and Facebook was his strongest yet within a broader conservative backlash against Big Tech.
Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen. We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016. We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that….
Twitter for the first time attached fact-check labels on President Donald Trump’s tweets after he made unsubstantiated claims on May 26 about mail-in voting. In a pair of early morning posts on May 27, the Republican president again blasted mail-in ballots. President Trump falsely claims that mail-in ballots lead to vote fraud and ineligible voters getting ballots. Twitter and Facebook declined to comment on Trump’s tweets. Asked during Twitter’s annual meeting why the company decided to affix the label to Trump’s mail-in ballot tweets, General Counsel Sean Edgett said decisions about handling misinformation are made as a group. “We have a group and committee of folks who take a look at these things and make decisions on what’s getting a lot of visibility and traction…,” he said. In recent years Twitter has tightened its policies amid criticism that its hands-off approach allowed fake accounts and misinformation to thrive. Tech companies have been accused of anti-competitive practices and violating user privacy. Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon face antitrust probes by federal and state authorities and a US congressional panel. The Internet Association, which includes Twitter and Facebook among its members, said online platforms do not have a political bias and they offer “more people a chance to be heard than at any point in history.”
Republican and Democratic lawmakers, along with the Justice Department, have been considering changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a federal law largely exempting online platforms from legal liability for the material their user’s post. Such changes could expose tech companies to more lawsuits. Republican Senator Josh Hawley, a frequent critic of Big Tech companies and strong supporter of President Donald Trump, sent a letter to Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey asking why the company should continue to receive legal immunity after “choosing to editorialize on President Trump’s tweets.”
In a last-minute bid to unite the moderate wing of the Democratic Party, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg on March 2 threw their support behind former Vice President Joe Biden, giving him an extraordinary boost ahead of the Super Tuesday primaries that promised to test his strength against the liberal front-runner, Senator Bernie Sanders. Even by the standards of the tumultuous 2020 campaign, the dual endorsement from Klobuchar and Buttigieg, and their joint appearances with Biden at campaign events in Dallas on March 2, was remarkable. Rarely, if ever, have opponents joined forces so dramatically, as Klobuchar and Buttigieg went from campaigning at full tilt in the South Carolina primary on Saturday to joining on a political rescue mission for a former competitor, Joe Biden, whom they had once regarded as a spent force.
Amy Klobuchar, who sought to appeal to the same moderate voters as Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg, and focused her campaign on calling the Democratic Party’s attention to Midwestern states like her native Minnesota, withdrew from the race after intensive conversations with her aides following Biden’s thumping victory in South Carolina. Rather than delivering a traditional concession speech, Klobuchar told associates she wanted to leverage her exit to help Biden and headed directly for the joint rally. Before a roaring crowd in Dallas, she hailed her former rival as a candidate who could “bring our country together” and restore “decency and dignity” to the presidency. Pete Buttigieg, for his part, endorsed Biden at a pre-rally stop, saying that Biden would “restore the soul” of the nation as president. And Biden offered Buttigieg the highest compliment in his personal vocabulary, several times likening the young politician to his own son, Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015.
For the three moderates, as well as for Bernie Sanders and other remaining candidates, the crucial question hanging over the fast-moving events was whether any of it would make a difference in Tuesday’s primaries across 15 states and territories, including the critical battlegrounds of California and Texas. Millions of voters are expected to go to the polls, but many states have had early voting underway; more than 2.3 million Democratic and independent ballots have already been processed in California. Bernie Sanders has significant head starts in many of the Super Tuesday states and beyond: His popularity has risen in recent weeks, and so has Democratic voters’ estimation of his electability in a race with President Donald Trump. The Vermont senator has a muscular national grass-roots organization, backed by the most fearsome online fund-raising machine in Democratic politics, one that collected more than $46 million last month, far outdistancing every other candidate in the race.
As news emerged of the shift of centrist support toward Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders projected confidence and defiance, dismissing it as a phenomenon of “establishment politicians” supporting one another. On Twitter, Sanders posted a video criticizing Biden for having supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, linking him to unpopular Republicans like former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney. Additionally, Sanders assailed Biden’s record on the Iraq war and Social Security. “It is no surprise they do not want me to become president,‘’ Sanders said, referring to his moderate opponents.
I do not believe we will defeat Donald Trump with a candidate like Joe Biden who supported the Iraq War. pic.twitter.com/8tII7O3Mal
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s resounding victory in the South Carolina primary was a major win for a politician who has been in public life for nearly 50 years, and his first primary victory in his three presidential runs. Cheers went up at a Biden election-night rally in Columbia when MSNBC called the race, Biden cast the win as the first of many number of dominoes that will now fall his way, noting that some were counting him out just days ago. “Now, thanks to all of you — the heart of the Democratic Party — we just won and we won big . . . and we are very much alive,” Biden said in a victory speech that was pointed directly at Sanders. “We have the option of winning big or losing big. That’s our choice,” Biden told a raucous crowd in Columbia. “We have to beat Donald Trump and the Republican Party, but here’s the deal: We can’t become like them. . . . We can’t have a never-ending war.” The Biden campaign hopes to use Saturday’s win to consolidate support from many of his rivals, hoping that several drop out, which one of them, businessman Tom Steyer, did shortly after the polls closed. “Honestly, I can’t see a path where I can win the presidency,” Steyer said in announcing his decision. Biden also plans a series of high-profile endorsements over the coming days. Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) and former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe announced shortly after Biden’s win that they were backing the former vice president. Nearly half of South Carolina voters said Congressman James Clyburn’s (D-SC) final-week endorsement of Biden was an important factor in their vote, according to exit poll results from Edison Research.
Bernie Sanders, speaking at a February 28 rally in Virginia sought to put the results in perspective, ticking off his previous strong performances in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. “But you cannot win ’em all . . . and tonight we did not win in South Carolina,” Sanders said. “And that will not be the only defeat. There are a lot of states in this country, and nobody wins them all.” After congratulating Biden, he proclaimed, “And now we enter Super Tuesday — and Virginia!” For all the candidates but Sanders, a further winnowing of the field is crucial to winning the nomination. Sanders is broadly expected to come out of Super Tuesday with a substantial delegate lead in the race, anchored in his huge polling advantage in California. Under party rules, such leads can be difficult to overcome as the race moves on.
With most precincts reporting, Joe Biden was poised to win about half the vote, giving him a symbolic victory over Bernie Sanders, who did not win more than 34% of the vote in any of the first three states. Under party rules, nominees need to secure more than 50 percent of delegates to win the nomination at the convention in Milwaukee. But the continued viability of so many candidates has increased the likelihood that no candidate will be able to secure such a victory with initially pledged delegates alone, setting up the potential for either a brokered convention or a pre-convention horse-trading of delegates by the candidates. Complicating the hunt for the nomination is former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has spent hundreds of millions of dollars advertising his candidacy to the Super Tuesday states, after deciding not to compete in the first four contests. Although his rise in polls had slowed since his first debate performance, Bloomberg still appears positioned to win delegates in many early states, as he continues to swamp his rivals in spending. His advisers vowed Saturday night that Bloomberg will stay in the race at least through Super Tuesday when he will appear on the ballot for the first time. They cited internal campaign data showing that if Bloomberg dropped out it would strengthen Sanders, whose left-leaning policies the former mayor abhors “Mike Bloomberg has not been on the ballot yet,” said Bloomberg campaign manager Kevin Sheekey. “Our campaign is focused on organizing Democrats and building infrastructure in states all around the country.”
After Saturday’s outcome became clear, President Donald Trump tweeted, “Sleepy Joe Biden’s victory in the South Carolina Democratic primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloomberg’s Joke of a campaign.” Biden’s support among black voters, who made up most of the electorate in South Carolina, appeared ready to lift a campaign that has struggled to find its footing for more than a year. Biden, a national polling leader in 2019, finished in fourth place in Iowa, fifth place in New Hampshire and second place in Nevada. African American voters have been a crucial part of the Democratic Party Coalition since the New Deal era, and Biden, along with other Sanders critics, have argued that it will be hard for the Democratic nominee to defeat Trump if he does not have enthusiastic support from the black community. Sanders has replied that he alone among the Democratic contenders has shown the ability to electrify voters and draw big crowds from a broad portion of the electorate.
Sleepy Joe Biden’s victory in the South Carolina Democrat Primary should be the end of Mini Mike Bloomberg’s Joke of a campaign. After the worst debate performance in the history of presidential debates, Mini Mike now has Biden split up his very few voters, taking many away!
Senator Bernie Sanders won the caucuses in Nevada,solidifying his frontrunner status in the race for the Democratic nomination. “We’ve brought together a multigenerational, multiracial coalition that is not only going to win Nevada, but it’s also going to sweep this country,” Sanders told supporters in San Antonio, Texas, after the Associated Press and several networks projected his win. With almost half of precincts officially reported, Sanders held a large lead on Saturday night.At this stage of results, the former vice-president Joe Biden appeared to be in second place, with the former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Senator Elizabeth Warren trailing behind. The Nevada caucuses come at a critical moment in the Democratic primary, a week before the South Carolina race and just before Super Tuesday, in March, when 14 states will vote. In a state that is nearly 30% Latino, 10% black and has a rapidly growing Asian American community, the Nevada results were a compelling sign of Sanders’ strength in diverse states that more closely reflect the demographics of the Democratic party. The victory for the self-proclaimed democratic socialist follows strong results in Iowa and New Hampshire this month and his momentum comes as the support of more centrist Democratic voters remains divided among his rivals. With none of those moderate Democrats indicating they will drop out anytime soon, Sanders has a solid lead in the race to win the nomination and take on President Donald Trump.
Nevada is the third contest in the Democratic primary race. The first two primary states,Iowa and New Hampshire,which are 90% white, also delivered strong results for Pete Buttigieg. But the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, appeared to have been unable to capture strong support among Nevada’s diverse electorate. Buttigieg, who took the stage in Vegas before his standing in the Nevada results was clear, directly targeted Sanders in his speech, criticizing the “inflexible, ideological revolution” of the Vermont senator and urging Democrats not to “rush to nominate” him. Nevada’s “first-in-the-west” caucuses were also a major test for the campaign of the former Vice President Biden, who was a frontrunner in polls last year but performed poorly in the first two state contests. Biden gave a triumphant speech in Vegas before the results were finalized, and his campaign manager said he appeared to be in second place. “The press is ready to declare people dead quickly. We’re alive. We’re coming back,” Biden said to cheers. “We’re going to win in South Carolina, and then Super Tuesday.”
Senator Amy Klobuchar, another midwestern candidate vying for moderates, had earned an unexpected third-place win in New Hampshire but also polled poorly with voters of color. With 43% of precincts reporting, Klobuchar appeared to be near the bottom in Nevada. Senator Elizabeth Warren was pushing for a surge in Nevada after her widely celebrated performance at the debate days earlier in Las Vegas. The Massachusetts senator announced that she had raised $14 million in the last 10 days, double the amount her campaign had set out as a goal ahead of the caucuses. She came in fourth in Nevada, making a path to the nomination increasingly difficult. At a Saturday night rally in Seattle, Warren congratulated Sanders and thanked Nevada voters “for keeping me in the fight”. She emphasized her recent fundraising surge, adding, “We have a lot of states to go, and right now I can feel the momentum.” Former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg was not on the ballot in Nevada due to his late entrance into the race, and the billionaire’s campaign has faced intense scrutiny this week after a particularly embarrassing first debate performance in Vegas.
In an early Iowa Democratic caucus vote count, Senator Bernie Sander held a slight popular-vote lead, while former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg led in a measure of state delegates. With 62 percent of precincts counted, Sanders earned 26 percent of the popular vote; Buttigieg hit 25. By both measures, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) was in third place with 20 percent of the vote, and former Vice President Joe Biden placed fourth at 13 percent. The results were released nearly a day after the caucuses were held, thanks to widespread reporting issues. The Iowa Democratic Party blamed inconsistencies in reporting for the delay. A New York Times analysis of the data, however, said that the results were “riddled with inconsistencies. Technical glitches in an app used to report caucus data delayed results typically released the night of the Iowa presidential caucuses, which took place on February 3. Candidates started to move on to New Hampshire on February 4 ahead of its February 11 primary, but not before they put a positive spin on the Hawkeye State outcome in the absence of official numbers.
Iowa Democratic Party spokeswoman Mandy McClure said this week that the party would “continue to release the results as we can.” The first set of data from more than half of the precincts came at about 5 p.m. on February 4, followed by more results just before midnight. New chunks of numbers came throughout the day on February 5. Adding to confusion and frustration, Iowa Democrats had to update one batch of data after acknowledging they needed to make a “minor correction.” The figures the party initially released showed Buttigieg jumping barely ahead of Sanders in one of its three data sets, reallocated preference. But Sanders once again had an edge in that category when the numbers were reissued. Just before the party released its first batch of data, its chairman, Troy Price, apologized for the botched reporting process. He called it “unacceptable.” Price said Iowa Democrats would undertake a “thorough, transparent and independent examination of what occurred.” Price said the party faced “multiple reporting challenges” including a “coding error” in the app used at caucus sites. He noted that Iowa Democrats have taken their time out of an “abundance of caution” to make sure the data is accurate. Price said the party has a paper trail to verify electronically reported data.
Multiple Democratic campaigns criticized the delay in releasing results. The chaos fueled more calls from observers to do away with caucuses or Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status. In the absence of results, campaigns announced internal tallies, which can skew toward their candidates. The data suggested some combination of Sanders, Buttigieg and Warren were competing at the top of the caucus field. Buttigieg declared victory early on February 5, the only candidate to do so before the state party released any data. Speaking in New Hampshire after Iowa Democrats released results, he said a campaign that “some said should have no business even making this attempt has taken its place at the front of this race.” Speaking before results were released, Sanders said “we’re not declaring victory.” After the Iowa results started to come out, he said to reporters in New Hampshire, “I’m very proud to tell you that last night in Iowa we received more votes on the first and second round than any other candidate.” “For some reason in Iowa, they’re having a little bit of trouble counting votes,” he continued. “But I am confident that here in New Hampshire I know you’ll be able to count those votes on election night.”
"And I'm very proud to tell you that last night in Iowa we received more votes on the first and second round than any other candidate. That is with 62% of the vote in, for some reason in Iowa they're having a little bit of trouble counting votes…https://t.co/TTnpXt0kl8pic.twitter.com/xOCGlVyp4M
One of the main candidates running for the Democratic Presidential nomination is former Vice President Joe Biden
Background
Joe Biden developed an interest in politics from an early age and was inspired to pursue a career in public policy by the likes of President John F. Kennedy.
Joe Biden was born on November 20, 1942, in Scranton Pennsylvania to a middle-class, Irish Catholic family. His father, Joseph, Biden Sr., had a variety of jobs ranging from cleaning furnaces to selling used cars, and his mother, Catherine Eugenia “Jean” Finnegan was a housewife who took care of Biden and his three other siblings. In 1955, the Biden family moved to Mayfield, Delaware, a rapidly growing middle-class community sustained primarily by the nearby DuPont chemical company. Biden attended the St. Helena School and later on, the Archmere Academy, graduating in 1961. Joe Biden Biden attended the University of Delaware, where he studied history and political science and played football. He would later admit that he spent his first two years of college far more interested in football, girls and parties than academics. But he also developed a sharp interest in politics during these years, spurred in part by Presidency of John F. Kennedy. After graduating from the University of Delaware in 1965, Biden enrolled in Syracuse law school, graduating in 1968. During this time, Biden also met his first wife, Neilia Hunter and married her in 1966.
Early Political Career (1968-1972)
After graduating from law school in 1968, Biden moved to Wilmington, Delaware, to begin practicing at a law firm. He also became an active member of the Democratic Party, and in 1970 he was elected to the New Castle County Council. While serving as councilman, in 1971, Biden started his own law firm. In addition to his increasingly busy professional life, Biden had three children: Joseph Biden III (born in 1969), Hunter Biden (born in 1970) and Naomi Biden (born in 1971). “Everything was happening faster than I expected,” Biden said about his life at the time.
Joe Biden during his first Senate campaign, 1972.
In 1972, the Delaware Democratic Party encouraged the 29-year-old Biden to run against the popular Republican incumbent J. Caleb Boggs for the US Senate. Although few thought he had any chance of winning, Biden ran a tireless campaign organized mostly by family members. His sister, Valerie Biden Owens, served as his campaign manager, and both of his parents campaigned daily. That November, in a tight race with a large turnout, Biden won an upset victory to become the fifth-youngest senator elected in the nation’s history. Just as all of Biden’s wildest dreams seemed to be coming true, he was struck by devastating tragedy. A week before Christmas in 1972, Biden’s wife and three children were involved in a terrible car accident while out shopping. The accident killed his wife and daughter and severely injured both of his sons. Biden was inconsolable and even considered suicide. He recalls, “I began to understand how despair led people to just cash in; how suicide wasn’t just an option but a rational option … I felt God had played a horrible trick on me, and I was angry.” At the encouragement of his family, Biden decided to honor his commitment to representing the people of Delaware in the Senate. He skipped the swearing-in ceremony for new senators in Washington and instead took the oath of office from his sons’ hospital room. To spend as much time as possible with his sons, Biden decided to continue to live in Wilmington, commuting to and from Washington each day by Amtrak train, a practice he maintained through his entire long tenure in the Senate.
Senate Career (1972-2008)
During his time in the Senate, Joe Biden established a reputation as a leader on foreign policy and legal issues and earned the respect of politicians from both political parties.
From 1972 to 2008, Joe Biden served a distinguished Senate career. During his time in the Senate, Biden won respect as one of the body’s leading foreign policy experts, serving as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations for several years. His many foreign policy positions included advocating for strategic arms limitation with the Soviet Union, promoting peace and stability in the Balkans, expanding NATO to include former Soviet-bloc nations and opposing the First Gulf War. In later years, he called for American action to end the genocide in Darfur and spoke out against President George W. Bush’s handling of the Iraq War, particularly opposing the troop surge of 2007, and Middle Eastern foreign policy in general. In addition to foreign policy, Joe Biden was an outspoken proponent of tougher crime laws. In 1987, Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork’s failure to receive confirmation was largely attributed to harsh questioning by Biden, who was then chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In 1994, Biden sponsored the Clinton Administration’s Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act to add 100,000 police officers and increase sentences for a host of crimes.
Joe Biden first ran for the Presidency in the 1988 Democratic presidential primary, but his campaign gained little traction.
In 1987, having established himself as one of Washington’s most prominent Democratic lawmakers, Joe Biden decided to run for the Presidency. He dropped out of the Democratic primary after reports surfaced that he had plagiarized part of a speech. Biden had been suffering severe headaches during the campaign, and shortly after he dropped out in 1988, doctors discovered that he had two life-threatening brain aneurysms. Complications from the ensuing brain surgery led to blood clots in his lungs, which, in turn, caused him to undergo another surgery. Always resilient, Biden returned to the Senate after surviving a seven-month recovery period.
In 2007, 20 years after his first unsuccessful presidential bid, Biden once again decided to run for the Presidency yet again. Despite his years of experience in the Senate, however, Biden’s campaign failed to generate much momentum in a field dominated by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Biden dropped out after receiving less than one percent of the vote in the crucial Iowa caucuses. Several months later, Barack Obam, having secured the Democratic nomination after a hard-fought campaign against Clinton, selected Biden as his running mate. With his working-class roots, Biden helped the Obama campaign communicate its message of economic recovery to the blue-collar voters crucial to the swing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. On November 2, 2008, Barack Obama and Joe Biden convincingly defeated the Republican ticket of Arizona Senator John McCain and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin by a 7% margin, willing back several states that had not voted Democratic for decades such as Virginia, Indiana, and North Carolina.
Vice Presidency (2009-2017)
Joe Biden established a reputation as an active and effective Vice President under Barack Obama and helped to redefine the role for the first time in many decades.
On January 20, 2009, Obama was sworn in as the 44th U.S. president and Joe Biden Biden became the 47th vice president. While Biden mostly served in the role of behind-the-scenes adviser to the president, he took particularly active roles in formulating federal policies relating to Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2010, the vice president used his well-established Senate connections to help secure passage of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation.
Running for re-election in 2012, the Obama-Biden team faced Republican challengers Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. Obama defeated Romney in the 2012 election, earning a second term as president and Biden another term as vice president. President Obama received nearly 60 percent of the electoral vote and won the popular vote by more than 1 million ballots. Later that year, Biden showed just how influential a vice president he could be. He was instrumental in achieving a bipartisan agreement on tax increases and spending cuts to avoid the fiscal cliff crisis. With a looming deadline, Biden was able to hammer out a deal with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. On January 1, 2013, the fiscal cliff bill passed in the Senate after months of tough negotiations. The House of Representatives approved it later that day.
Around this time, Biden also became a leading figure in the national debate about gun control. He was selected to head up a special task force on the issue after the school shooting at a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school that December. Biden delivered solutions for reducing gun violence across the nation to President Obama in January 2013. He helped craft 19 actions that the president could take on the issue using his power of executive order among other recommendations.
Joe Biden has been married to his second wife, Jill Biden, since 1977. The couple’s daughter, Ashley, was born in 1981. On May 30, 2015, Biden suffered another personal loss when his son Beau died at the age of 46, after battling brain cancer. “Beau Biden was, quite simply, the finest man any of us have ever known,” Biden wrote in a statement about his son. Following this tragedy, Biden considered a run for the presidency, but he put the speculation to rest in October 2015 when he announced that he would not seek the 2016 Democratic nomination. In the White House Rose Garden with his wife Jill and President Obama by his side, Biden made his announcement, referring to his son’s recent death in his decision making: “As my family and I have worked through the grieving process, I’ve said all along what I’ve said time and again to others, that it may very well be that the process by the time we get through it closes the window. I’ve concluded it has closed.”
Joe Biden receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
On January 12, 2017, President Obama presented Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in a surprise ceremony at the White House. Obama called Biden “the best vice president America’s ever had” and a “lion of American history,” and told him he was being honored for ‘‘faith in your fellow Americans, for your love of country and a lifetime of service that will endure through the generations.’’
Post-Vice Presidency (2017-2019)
Defying the traditional role of most former Vice Presidents, Joe Biden refused to remain quiet even after leaving office. Known for his fervent opposition to Obama’s successor, Donald Trump, Biden occasionally surfaced to criticize the 45th president. At an October 2017 campaign event for NJ Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Phil Murphy, he declared that Trump “doesn’t understand governance,” and the following month he blasted the White House incumbent for his seeming defense of white nationalist groups.
Additionally, Joe Biden occasionally revealed his mixed feelings on bypassing the chance to run for president in 2016. In March 2017, he said he “could have won,” and in November, he elaborated on those thoughts in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. “No woman or man should announce they’re running for president unless they can answer two questions,” he said. “One, do they truly believe they’re the most qualified person for that moment? I believed I was — but was I prepared to be able to give my whole heart, my whole soul, and all my intention to the endeavor? And I knew I wasn’t.”
2020 Presidential Campaign
On April 25, 2019, Joe Biden delivered the expected news that he was running for president in 2020. In his 3 1/2-minute video announcement, the former Vice President referenced President Trump’s attempt to equate people on both sides of the violent, racially charged clash in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, saying he knew then that “the threat to our nation was unlike any I’d ever seen in my lifetime.”
Although he has easily led in a majority of Democratic primary polls at the time he entered the race, Joe Biden’s candidacy soon became a litmus test for a party with an increasingly progressive base. Underscoring the challenges of presenting himself as a moderate, Biden drew criticism regarding his record on foreign policy, abortion rights, and his role in implementing “tough on crime” policies at the federal level during the 1990s that many critics claim directly resulted in the rise of the prison-industrial complex and mass incarceration. Despite this criticism, Joe Biden remains the clear front-runner for the Democratic nomination, with the support of anywhere from 20% to 35% of likely Democratic primary voters. Additionally, Joe Biden is currently leading President Donald Trump by roughly 8-15% in most polls and is ahead in numerous swing states such as Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, and Florida.
Joe Biden’s policies are aligned with the centrist wing of the Democratic Party.
Economic Policy
Joe Biden supports increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, arguing that higher minimum wage will do much to reduce income inequality.
Joe Biden is in favor of closing the gender wage-gap and compelling businesses to abolish policies that discriminate against their employees based on gender.
Joe Biden notes that the tax code is excessively friendly to investors as opposed to workers and has called for higher taxes on rich busienss owners passive income to finance things including a tripling of the Child Tax Credit and other benefits for working-class individuals.
Joe Biden notes that regional inequality is a major economic issue facing the US and has pledged to promote development in areas of the country facing much inequality.
Joe Biden has called for “laws that allow labor unions to flourish and fight for basic worker protections” but also for a suite of new kinds of protections that operate outside the scope of traditional union-focused labor law.
Joe Biden wants a ban on non-compete agreements, a suite of measures to ensure that workers can discuss their pay without fear of retaliation, and stronger measures against wage theft.
Foreign Policy
Joe Biden wants to implement a more multi-lateral approach to foreign policy in direct contrast to the bilateralism and neo-conservative foreign policy position promoted by the Trump Administration.
Joe Biden wants to “forever wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East” by removing the “vast majority of troops” from the region.
Joe Biden has pledged to end support for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in the Yemen war, which is guilty of committing genocide against the Shi’a Muslims of Yemen
Joe Biden strongly supports re-entering the 2015 Iranian Nuclear Deal and would work to strictly enforce the provisions of the agreement.
Work to empower negotiators to work on denuclearizing North Korea with the help of regional powers such as Japan, South Korea, and China.
A more interesting aspect of Joe Biden’s foreign policy platform is his idea of convening a “summit of the world’s democracies” to strengthen the ties between leaders of foreign democracies, private industry executives, and heads of US technology companies.
Joe Biden wants to challenge social media companies to take responsibility in upholding Democratic values, including addressing the abuse of technology by “surveillance states facilitating oppression and censorship, spreading hate, stirring people to violence.”
Social Policy
Joe Biden supports a women-right-to-choose and would fight against Republican efforts to overturn this right by codifying the Roe v. Wade precedent into federal law in case the ruling is overturned by the US Supreme Court
As a way to address the issue of gun violence, Joe Biden supports the implementation of an assault weapons buyback program, universal background checks, and reinstating the assault weapons ban and high-capacity magazines, which was a piece of policy he helped craft in 1994. Additionally, Biden also calls to ban gun manufacturers from building modifications to their products that make pistols as deadly as rifles and to build smart-gun technology, which has long been opposed by gun manufacturers.
In contrast to many of the other Democratic candidates, Joe Biden has reservations about legalizing marijuana. Instead, he calls for expungement of all past convictions for pot use and would take marijuana off of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s most severe drug classifications list.
Joe Biden has pledged to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals in the face of attempts to roll back the 2015 Oberfell v. Hodges decision by the Republicans. Biden supports the Equality Act, which would expand the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to ban discrimination in employment, housing, jury selection and public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Criminal Justice
Joe Biden supports the elimination of mandatory minimum prison sentences for non-violent crimes.
Despite hsi past support for the death penality as recently as 1995, Joe Biden is now opposed to the death penalty and would work to abolish the death penality in the US
Joe Biden is opposed to the private prison system, the practice of cash bail, and the incarceration of children and would work to eliminate all three practices as President.
Joe Biden would also create a new $20 billion grant program that encourages states to reduce incarceration and crime. And he would direct the savings from less incarceration at the federal level, along with additional federal money, to boost spending on education (including universal pre-K), mental health care, addiction treatment, and other social services.
Healthcare
Joe Biden has pledged to defend and build upon the Affordable Care Act to ensure every American has access to quality, affordable health care.
Joe Biden wants to allow every American the right to choose a public option healthcare plan such as Medicare.
The Biden healthcare plan would offer premium-free access to any public option healthcare plan to people who would otherwise qualify for Medicaid, but for the fact they have been denied access to it by governors and state legislatures who have refused the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion.
Joe Biden will dedicate the full force of our nation’s expertise and resources to tackle public health challenges such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, opioid addiction, and mental health.
Racial Justice
Joe Biden stated that the US needs to “deal with the systemic things” that plague the African-American community over the past 300 years and has made racial justice a centerpiece of his campaign.
Joe Biden supports implementing federal programs meant to close the gap between white Americans and racial minorities and to directly address the lingering issues of racial inequalities.
Joe Biden has yet to comment whether he would support reparations for slavery but signaled a willingness to explore the issue at the Congressional level.
Joe Biden has promised to push for reforms that would allow the federal government to conduct oversight of how some jurisdictions with track records of voter discrimination conduct their elections.
Immigration
Joe Biden is strongly opposed to President Donald Trump’s bigoted immigration strategy, calling it “inflammatory rhetoric” that does little than to inflame tensions in the US regarding the immigration system.
Joe Biden supports a pathway to citizenship for a majority of undocumented immigrants in the US.
The first step of Joe Biden’s immigration reform plan includes recognizing the DREAMers (the children of undocumented immigrants in the US) as American citizens.
Joe Biden also pledged to on addressing the “root causes that push people to flee” their homelands by improving security, reducing inequality and expanding economic opportunity in Central America, citing his success in this area during his time as Vice President.
Joe Biden is opposed to the Trump Administration’s proposed border wall, calling it a proposal “divorced from reality.”
Environmental Policy
Joe Biden has come out in favor of the “Green New Deal,” a proposed climate change mitigation program in the mold of the New Deal programs implemented by President Franklin Roosevelt during the 1930s.
Joe Biden has pledged to ensure that the US will achieve 100% clean energy and reach net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest.
Joe Biden supports making smart infrastructure investments a priority.
Joe Biden supports re-entering the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (which President Trump withdrew from at the urging of all Senate Republicans and one Senate Democrat, Joe Manchin) and working aggressively with the global community to solve the issue of climate change.
Joe Biden will stand up to the industries and businesses that disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income communities with pollution and environmental degradation.
Education Reform
Joe Biden has been in favor of four years of free college education for all American citizens since at least 2015 and will work to implement this policy as President.
Joe Biden calls to triple the money the federal government sends to low-income school districts.
Joe Biden also supports increasing mental health care in schools and expanded resources for families, including home visits by nurses for parents of newborns and the creation of “community schools” in low-income areas that offer social services, doctors, and other help.
Joe Biden has called on the Department of Education to create grants to help schools diversify.
One of the frontrunners for the 2020 Democratic nomination is Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Background
The Civil Rights movement was one of the main catalysts that encouraged Bernie Sanders to get involved in politics.
Bernie Sanders was born on September 8, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York to a working-class Jewish family. As part of a struggling working-class family, Sanders recognized early on America’s economic disparity. Sanders graduated from Brooklyn’s James Madison High School in 1959 and then enrolled in the University of Chicago. During his time in college, Sanders became involved in the Civil Rights Movement during his university days. As a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), Sanders participated in a sit-in against the segregation of off-campus housing in 1962. He also served as an organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and participated in the March on Washington in 1963. After finishing college in 1964 with a degree in political science, Bernie Sanders lived on a kibbutz in Israel before settling in Vermont. He worked a number of jobs, including filmmaker, freelance writer, psychiatric aide and teacher for low-income children through Head Start, while his interest in politics grew.
Political Career
1970-2006; Early Activism
Bernie Sanders first began to make a name for himself when he was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont in 1981.
In the 1970s, Bernie Sanders made several unsuccessful bids for the Senate as a member of the anti-war Liberty Union Party. His first political victory came in 1981 when he was elected mayor of Burlington, Vermont, by less than 1% of the vote. Sanders was able to achieve this win with the support of the Progressive Coalition, a grassroots organization. He was re-elected three more times, proving that the self-described “democratic socialist” had staying power.
Known for his “eccentric appearance“, Sanders made an unlikely candidate for national office but scored a 1990 win for a seat in the US House of Representatives. Outspoken on the issues, Sanders criticized both parties whenever he felt they were in the wrong. He was a vocal opponent of the Iraq War, concerned about the social and financial impact that the conflict could cause. In an address to the House of Representatives, Sanders said, “As a caring Nation, we should do everything we can to prevent the horrible suffering that a war will cause.” Sanders also questioned the timing of military action “at a time when this country has a $6 trillion national debt and a growing deficit.”
2006-2016; Senate & First Presidential Bid
After eight terms in the House of Representatives, Bernie Sanders sought to switch to the Senate in 2006, running against Republican businessman Richard Tarrant. He managed to win with 65% of the vote despite his opponent’s significant advantage in funding. In 2010, Sanders made the news with his more than eight-hour-long filibuster against the extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for the wealthy. He felt that this legislation was “a very bad tax agreement” between President Barack Obama and Republican legislators. Sanders also champions campaign reform and advocates for an amendment to overturn the Supreme Court decision on Citizens United. Sanders has advocated for expanding voting rights and opposed the Supreme Court decision to disband part of the landmark Voting Rights Act. He is also an advocate for universal single-payer health care system. Driven by his sense of protecting the environment, addressing climate change and interest in renewable energy, Sanders is a member of the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works and the Energy & Natural Resources Committee.
Bernie Sanders on the campaign trail, 2015.
In April 2015, Bernie Sanders announced that he was seeking the presidential nomination for the Democratic Party. In his political platform, Sanders called for increased tax rates on the wealthy, greater government oversight of Wall Street, eliminating the gender wage gap, and the implementation of a single-payer healthcare system. Additionally, Sanders called for the implementation of a non-interventionist foreign policy, criminal justice reform, taking corporate money out of politics, and the promotion of socially liberal policies. One of the trademarks that defined Sanders’ campaign was his call for a “political revolution,” which asked for everyday citizens to become active in the political process and be the change they wanted to see on any given issue. Although many observers initially discounted his candidacy as a “longshot bid,” Bernie Sanders was able to come within 12% of defeating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination and was able to gain much support from millennial voters as well as individuals who were not previously involved in the political system.
2016-Present; Progressive Cult Hero
On February 19, 2019, Bernie Sanders announced that he would once again be a candidate for the Democratic nomination. Calling President Donald Trump “the most dangerous commander-in-chief’s in US history,” Sanders underscored the importance of taking on both President Trump and the far-right political movement within the US in his announcement speech. Within a week of his announcement, Sanders had received nearly $18 million in donations from nearly 400,000 supporters and was polling strongly, with the only candidate ahead of him being former Vice President Joe Biden.
Overall, Bernie Sanders is running on a strongly progressive and comprehensive platform reminiscent of his 2016 bid for the Presidency. Here are his positions on the key issues (as compiled from his campaign website, voting record, and public statements):
Economic Policy
Increase the federal minimum wage to at least $15 per hour by 2025.
Implement a “green jobs” public works and infrastructure program reminiscent of the New Deal-era programs put forward by President Franklin Roosevelt.
Enact a universal childcare program.
Sign into law the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would work to reduce the “gender wage gap” and eliminate ender discrimination at the workplace.
Guarantee all workers paid medical leave, family leave, and paid vacation time.
Pass the Workplace Democracy Act, which makes it easier for workers to join unions without the fear of retribution on the part of their employers.
Foreign Policy
Implement a humble foreign policy which focuses on democracy, human rights, diplomacy and peace, and economic fairness as opposed to warfare and funding the US military-Industrial complex.
Allow Congress to reassert its Constitutional role in war-making, so that no President can wage unauthorized and unconstitutional interventions overseas.
Eliminate American support for the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen, which has created the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe.
Rejoin the Iran nuclear agreement and seek to restore diplomatic ties with Iran.
Work with pro-democracy forces around the world to build societies that work for and protect all people.
Social Policy
Protect a woman’s right-to-choose amid efforts by Republican lawmakers at all levels to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Reinstate the federal assault weapons ban, expand background checks on gun purchases, and close the “Gun Show” loophole as a way to address the rise in mass shootings in recent years.
Decriminalize marijuana by removing it as a Schedule I drug at the federal level, paving the way for states to legalize it without fear of the federal government stepping in. Sanders is also in favor of the sale and tax of marijuana at the state level in a similar manner to alcohol and tobacco.
Stand up for the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans and work to pass the Equality Act, which would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation in places of public accommodation.
Criminal Justice
Abolish the death penalty and work to encourage all countries to eliminate this inhumane practice.
Work to demilitarize police forces and hold police officers accountable for abusive practices
Start to roll back the practice of mass incarceration for the first time in over 50 years.
End the practice of cash bail, which preys on nearly half a million low-income prisoners in the US.
Abolish private prisons, end profiteering in the criminal justice system, and reduce recidivism by focusing on rehabilitating currently serving prisoners through education and job-training programs.
Work to address the root cause of many violent crimes through programs that promote better policing and prevent domestic and sexual violence
Racial Justice
Work to confront America’s entrenched history of racial inequality head-on.
Pass legislation that creates more jobs, raises the minimum wage, and increases access to education and training. Also expand social safety net programs and guarantee affordable healthcare and nutrition programs so that we enable working families of color to get ahead.
Directly combat voter ID laws and felony disenfranchisement at all levels.
Eliminate residential segregation and expand access to quality affordable housing, as both have a pervasive and disproportionate impact on minorities in the US.
Supports studying the idea of paying reparations to the descendants of slaves in the US as a way to reduce income inequality for African-Americans.
Healthcare
Implement a single-payer healthcare system for every American as a way to bring the number of uninsured individuals down to zero.
Until a single-payer system is implemented, work to expand and improve the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) and Medicare/Medicaid.
Increase the number of Community Health Centers for low-income individuals
Make mental health services available to all individuals regardless of their income.
Work to control prescription drug costs and tackle fraud at the highest levels of the big pharmaceutical companies.
Immigration
Pass meaningful immigration reform that includes a path to legal residency of citizenship for most undocumented immigrants in the US today.
Support the DREAM Act, which creates a path towards permanent residency for young undocumented immigrants.
Increase opportunities for qualified individuals to take steps towards permanent residency.
Education
Believes that all public colleges and universities should be tuition-free, and all current student loan debt should be canceled.
Supports implementing high-quality, affordable early childhood education.
Favors colleges and universities hiring more faculty and increase their percentage of tenured and tenure-track professors.
Supports not requiring students to reapply for financial aid every year.
Supports reducing student loan interest rates and cancelling all existing student debt.
Environmental Policy
Phase-out the use of fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal and move aggressively towards renewable energy sources as a way to combat climate change.
Stop building nuclear power plants and find a solution to the growing nuclear waste problem.
End fossil fuel subsidies
Transformation to a sustainable energy system based on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources will create thousands of jobs.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, former Vice President Joe Biden contacted a group of his supporters on March 19 to ask for help in raising several million dollars from major donors, making it known he is planning to enter the 2020 presidential election. Biden has been contemplating a White House run for some time and continues to lead in polls among Democrats as a favorite to take on President Donald Trump. Biden would enter a crowded field of close to 20 presidential candidates that have already declared, or are expected to announce that they will be joining the 2020 race. The report said Biden asked at least a half-dozen supporters for help in lining up major donors. Biden also reportedly expressed concern he may not have the same immediate success in raising political funds online as other Democrats, such as Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Congressman Beto O’Rourke of Texas. O’Rourke, who formally entered the 2020 race on March 14, raised more than $6 million in the first 24 hours, trouncing the $5.9 million Bernie Sanders raised in the first 24 hours.
A day before the Wall Street Journal report, President Donald Trump criticized Biden’s indecision about running for President, calling him “another low I.Q. individual!” in a Twitter post. Despite some concern for his indecisiveness regsrding making the plunge into the Democatic primaries, Joe Biden still retains much support among Democratic Primary voters. A CNN Poll released on March 19 shows Joe Biden enjoys 28 percent support among the crowded field of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents. Bernie Sanders comes in second with 20 percent support followed by Kamala Harris, who is third with 12 percent.
Joe Biden got tongue tied over the weekend when he was unable to properly deliver a very simple line about his decision to run for President. Get used to it, another low I.Q. individual!
The reaction to former Vice President Joe Biden’s candidacy is mixed. It can be argued that Joe Biden perhaps has the most comprehensive record of any of the candidates running, having served in the Senate for 36 years before becoming Vice President. During his time in the Senate, Biden emerged as a leader on both international and legal issues, having served as both the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Additionally, Biden developed a reputation as a dedicated, honest, and hard-working politician during his time in the Senate and earned the universal respect of his colleagues. Joe Biden also took an active role as Vice President, working closely with President Barack Obama on both foreign and domestic policy. Despite his strong resume and depth of experience, some liberal activists have expressed concern with Joe Biden’s record regarding criminal justice issues, foreign policy, and votes in favor of confirming conservative Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas in the 1986 and 1991 respectively.
Overall, it seems that Joe Biden has the strongest chance out of all the Democratic Presidential candidates for several reasons. The first reason is that he retains much appeal in several states in the industrial Midwest (namely, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan). All three of these states voted for President Donald Trump by narrow margins in 2016 and are vulnerable to flipping back to the Democrats with the right candidate. Considering Joe Biden’s political record in support of many policies that benefit this area of the country, as well as his time as Vice President during the Obama administration, he might be the right candidate to flip these three states, which are worth 46 Electoral Votes in total, which would give Biden 278 Electoral Votes, slightly more than what is required to win the Presidency.
Another reason why Joe Biden could potentially defeat Donald Trump is because his appeal in the Midwest could force the Trump Administration to play defense in what is typically an area of the country that votes Republican. While it is unlikely for Joe Biden to come close to winning states such as Ohio and Iowa considering how far to the right they have swung in recent years, his presence on the ballot would slightly improve Democratic support in those states, which would trigger President Trump to make unnecessary campaign stops in those states. By distracting the Trump campaign, Joe Biden would be able to campaign in several of the key swing states such as Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, Arizona, New Hampshire, and Maine. While Biden may not carry all of these states, his campaigning in all of them will help out Democratic Congressional candidates, which may be enough to secure a Democratic Senate majority and larger House majority after the 2020 elections.
Many people are asking if the Democrats will take back the House of Representatives in 2018? I suspect they will make significant gains. Upsets in Pennsylvania and elsewhere have shown a weakened Republican party. The Republicans across the state have been slowly eaten by the Tea Party movement and even the Bannon movement where they have been running candidates and working hard to get rid of “moderates”, meaning centrists Democrat types like Bob Mendez (NJ) or others modern neo-liberal Democrats. What the media has been ignoring is “insurgents” candidates across the country that have been chipping away at the Democratic Machine.
In America, money almost always determines victory in an election, but since the Sanders Movement during the 2016 elections we saw an underfunded candidate nearly take over America’s major political party (the Democratic Party). He created a group OUR Revolution which has affiliates in every state in America. Even Puerto Rico! America politics have just been changed forever and people don’t seem to understand it. Sanders victory would not have been winning the presidency, I don’t think he had the political muscle to get anything significant done, the Democrats hate him, the Republicans would have controlled congress, what could he have really done but slow down the de-funding of government? Another debate for another time. Now he goes around, traveling across the country, talking to the American people while Clinton goes on book tours trying to sell her book. He has built the infrastructure for a new style of American Democracy not seen since the 1960s. He has the largest support among millennial’s, now the largest voting block in America. He has a fairly good history on most issues and being on the right side of history except foreign policy (Sanders is relatively weak on anti-war policy). He should have won the black vote but the churches are so establishment-controlled that he couldn’t break through. The only thing Sanders needs is the backing of religious zealots who are progressive and can destroy the notion that Republicans are the only people who talk to God. Over time I doubt those groups will disappear, you’re looking at a long drawn out civil war on both parties, but worse off for the Democrats. You have a long history of political corruption in some states more than others and you have the truth. Its simple enough to pull up statistics and see that the percentages for big companies donating to Democrats or Republicans can be evenly split.
The single-payer idea is the only rational policy and then you have the Democrats being unable to support it because their being funded by the same people destroying American healthcare. Over time with reforms, you could see insurgent candidates stay in power and continue to build stronger power bases for more “working class heroes” or Bernie Sanders-esque politicians. Where Ralph Nader failed in 2000, Sanders succeed in 2016, with many of the same issues, just different microphones. A graph I did personally at Monmouth University showed the vast majority of young MU college students under 50,000 support Sanders, even many in the upper income brackets, but as people get poorer because of the global economy and poor policies that increase poverty, will we see the rise of a new party growing inside the old? A party that is Democratic, a party that fails for a few years and then starts to rebirth the Democrat party? I think so, its the right time in America, unless there is a war where many troops are used then we could see the process speed up, as wars often do to these things. The Our Revolution groups have nowhere to go but up, the mainstream parties battling each other and the ‘insurgent’ candidates can really only become more unpopular as they fail to get real policy in place and start to bring in people who traditional aren’t in the process or haven’t been accepted as a decision maker. We see similar politics in the UK with labor changing under Jeremy Corbyn. We are seeing infrastructure for the Sanderist movement grow, where communication and cooperation between different groups are growing. They are running decent candidates, many of which will lose this time, but will be able to run again, and again, and again. The 2020 election is where everything will likely start to break down. Sanders is the Henry Wallace of his time, although this time labor is set for a huge victory, its the speed that is hard to figure out.
