2020 Presidential Election

[CameronBornAndBred]

In a different scenario, I'm trying to understand what the 3 Wisconsin Supreme Court justices were thinking when they voted no on today's case?

I think they were hoping to allow it come to them so they could definitively rule on it and set precedent. There was the thinking about some of the SCOTUS dismissals, that while good, they also allow for repeats down the road.

[cato]

California’s College of Presidential Electors just cast their 55 ballots for Biden, pushing him over the top. Harris is up next.

[bundabergdevil]

I believe most of the electors have cast their votes. Regardless, Biden is at 302 and will address the nation this evening. Trump has continued to tweet about election fraud today.

[bundabergdevil]

According to an alert on CNN, Trump has said Barr will resign from DOJ, effectively December 23.


A few more GOP senators are also coming out and saying it's over.

[Tripping William]

According to an alert on CNN, Trump has said Barr will resign from DOJ, effectively December 23.


A few more GOP senators are also coming out and saying it's over.

Yeah, but when we say “it’s over” around here, some, ummmm, unusual things happen ...

[CameronBornAndBred]

Similar to Chris Krebs suing the reporter that said he "should be shot", a company that operates voting machines has put Fox, Newsmax and OAN on notice.

I hope there is lots more of this to come, since seemingly "news" sources have been given wide open permission to spread disinformation without consequence.

A voting technology company swept up in baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election said on Monday that it had sent legal notices to Fox News and two other right-wing media companies for participating in a "disinformation campaign" aimed at damaging it.

The company, Smartmatic, said that Fox News, One America News, and Newsmax have helped spread false and defamatory claims that are not supported by real evidence and could easily have been debunked with basic research.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/14/media...oan/index.html

[OldPhiKap]

Yeah, but when we say “it’s over” around here, some, ummmm, unusual things happen ...

To be fair, I said it was over when Joe was reportedly in a boot.

[bundabergdevil]

A pretty sad story about the head of WH security getting a severe case of COVID-19, the effects of which required his right foot and lower leg be amputated.

[JasonEvans]

A few more GOP senators are also coming out and saying it's over.

Some details on this: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/1...den-win-445309

“I understand there are people who feel strongly about the outcome of this election,” said Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), the second-ranking Senate Republican. “But in the end at some point you have to face the music. And I think that once the Electoral College settles the issue today, it’s time for everybody to move on.”

“There’s clearly a constitutional president-elect,” added Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the No. 4 GOP leader. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said “the Electoral College vote today makes clear that Joe Biden is now president-elect.” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) agreed that “it’s time to turn the page and begin a new administration.” And Sen Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) was unequivocal: “Vice President Biden is the president-elect based on the electoral count.”

[JasonEvans]

Interesting article on Trump running in 2024 and why he may act like a candidate and then back out: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/1...ble-run-444460

The president has spent days calling a dozen or more allies to ask what they think he needs to do over the next two years to “stay part of the conversation,” according to two people, including one who spoke to the president. And while Trump has told allies he plans to run for president again, he has also indicated he could back out in two years if he determines he’ll have a tough time winning, said three people familiar with the discussions.

Formally running for president would mean a lot of things aides say Trump doesn’t want to deal with: financial disclosure forms, building campaign infrastructure, the possibility of losing again. But simply teasing a presidential run — without actually filing the paperwork or erecting a campaign — gets Trump the attention he needs for the next two years.

Attention will help sustain his business, parts of which lost millions of dollars while he was in office. Attention will help pay off his debts, which will need to be paid off in the coming years. Attention will help discredit his investigators, who are examining whether Trump illegally inflated his assets.

[OldPhiKap]

Sounds like after giving a lot of leeway, Biden feels this has gone on long enough.

It’s time for McConnell to end this farce for the good of his party, IM_O. But they don’t ask independents like me.

[Bostondevil]

Sounds like after giving a lot of leeway, Biden feels this has gone on long enough.

It’s time for McConnell to end this farce for the good of his party, IM_O. But they don’t ask independents like me.

That was my interpretation of the speech as well.

[Skydog]

Sounds like after giving a lot of leeway, Biden feels this has gone on long enough.

It’s time for McConnell to end this farce for the good of his party, IM_O. But they don’t ask independents like me.

I don't think McConnell asks anyone - independent or otherwise. He's been the most powerful person in the country for a quite a while now.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I don't think McConnell asks anyone - independent or otherwise. He's been the most powerful person in the country for a quite a while now.

He's sweating. In Winter.

[JasonEvans]

GOP folks are frustrated that Trump is raising buckets full of money by talking about the Ga Senate races... and not giving a penny of it to the Ga Senate race: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/1...raising-445207

“We MUST defend Georgia from the Dems!” Trump wrote in one recent fundraising text message. “I need YOU to secure a WIN in Georgia,” he said in another. “Help us WIN both Senate races in Georgia & STOP Socialist Dems,” he pleaded a few days later.

There’s just one hitch: Trump’s new political machine is pocketing most of the dough — and the campaigns of the Georgia senators competing in the Jan. 5 races aren’t getting a cent.

Trump’s aggressive fundraising blitz appears to be devoted to helping the party defend Georgia’s two Senate seats and, with them, the Senate majority. But the fine print shows that most of the proceeds are going toward Trump’s newly launched PAC, which he plans to use to fund his future political activities.

Trump’s fundraising ploy has rankled senior Republicans, who worry small-dollar donations are being redirected away from the runoffs. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has reached out to the White House and RNC to express its concern and to question the decision, according to two people familiar with the discussions. The predicament has intensified broader concerns within the GOP that Trump will use his post-presidency to advance his own interests at the expense of the party.

-Jason "it is that last line that puzzles me... don't these GOP folks realize that Trump is the party at this point?

[JasonEvans]

Fascinating article on the success of Raphael Warnock's ads that feature his pet beagle: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...-black-people/

some close observers of race and politics have noted that there is much more here than just an adorable electoral campaign. These ads, they argue, are carefully crafted attempts to neutralize racial stereotypes that work against Warnock in his bid to become Georgia’s first African American senator.

Hakeem Jefferson, a Stanford professor and FiveThirtyEight contributor, tweeted, “This ad is doing a lot. It’s obv[iously] cute, but it is also meant to deracialize Warnock with this cute ‘white people friendly’ doggy.” Fordham University political scientist and MSNBC contributor Christina Greer similarly tweeted, “This ad will be taught in Race Politics classes for years to come…it is doing A LOT of silent heavy lifting.” And The New York Times’s Jamelle Bouie concurred, tweeting in response to Greer’s comments, “Yep. The setting, Warnock’s outfit, even the dog breed all are sending a specific message.”

[MarkD83]

Putin congratulates Biden before many of our elected officials in DC.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/15/europ...ntl/index.html

[bundabergdevil]

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/14/trump-republicans-georgia-fundraising-445207[/url]



-Jason "it is that last line that puzzles me... don't these GOP folks realize that Trump is the party at this point?

Maybe. Trump cares so little about the GOP aside from its usefulness to him that as the internal Republican civil war wages on, one option is a new “America First” party. As many of us has recognized, Trump is doing what he did in the later years of his business: selling the family brand regardless of the underlying product. I think there’s a non-zero chance that Trump acts on the “destroy the GOP” chants that have been popping up at his rallies recently and does a solo album.

So, yeah, Trump is the party but that party doesn’t have to continue being the Grand Orange Party.

[ClemmonsDevil]

https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=80149685&refid=asa

The 538 discussion of these election shenanigans is basically what I have been thinking. They were never particularly close to actually doing anything that succeeded. We have had lots of posters on here say that and put a period at the of the sentence. Let's all agree that none of this was particularly close to succeeding and that the court system and the everyday bravery of State elections officials of both parties are a firm foundation to continue our democracy.

The points made by Perry Bacon Jr about why some Republicans still are backing Trump have to be discussed and dealt with for us to continue (the country, not this thread). Bacon Jr said the two options are that Republicans are deathly afraid of alienating Trump because the entire base is in his grasp. This has been my view, and it continues to be my view. The other point he made is that if that's not the case, then perhaps the party has an ethos that makes it less supportive of keeping Democratic principles and more interested in governing as a minority party. Under this supposition the ends justify the means, even if it is a violation of democratic norms and principles. The push we are seeing at the Statewide level in the aftermath of the election is to roll back voter rights and to make it harder to vote, especially in cities where there are large minority communities.

[Mike Corey]

News out of Georgia: The first day of early voting saw 168,000 in-person votes cast.

For the first day of early voting for the general election, there were 136,000 in-person votes cast.