2020 Elections - Trump FIRED

[smoova]

And if the margin is over 1/4% Trump has to pay for the recount.

Heh - put it on his tab.

[ggait]

Come on Kra. Do better.

First, Ginsburg's oped is not behind a pay wall. I got it for free but I will post it so you don't have an excuse to dodge this.

Second, Ginsburg isn't just some guy with an opinion. JFC. He is THE GOP guy on election law. Counsel to the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Republican Governors Association. As counsel to the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign, he did the Florida recount.

My party is destroying itself on the altar of Trump

Opinion by Benjamin L. Ginsberg
November 1, 2020 at 2:35 p.m. MST

Benjamin L. Ginsberg practiced election law for 38 years. He co-chaired the bipartisan 2013 Presidential Commission on Election Administration.

President Trump has failed the test of leadership. His bid for reelection is foundering. And his only solution has been to launch an all-out, multimillion-dollar effort to disenfranchise voters — first by seeking to block state laws to ease voting during the pandemic, and now, in the final stages of the campaign, by challenging the ballots of individual voters unlikely to support him.

This is as un-American as it gets. It returns the Republican Party to the bad old days of “voter suppression” that landed it under a court order to stop such tactics — an order lifted before this election. It puts the party on the wrong side of demographic changes in this country that threaten to make the GOP a permanent minority.

These are painful words for me to write. I spent four decades in the Republican trenches, representing GOP presidential and congressional campaigns, working on Election Day operations, recounts, redistricting and other issues, including trying to lift the consent decree.

Nearly every Election Day since 1984 I’ve worked with Republican poll watchers, observers and lawyers to record and litigate any fraud or election irregularities discovered.

The truth is that over all those years Republicans found only isolated incidents of fraud. Proof of systematic fraud has become the Loch Ness Monster of the Republican Party. People have spent a lot of time looking for it, but it doesn’t exist.

As he confronts losing, Trump has devoted his campaign and the Republican Party to this myth of voter fraud. Absent being able to articulate a cogent plan for a second term or find an attack against Joe Biden that will stick, disenfranchising enough voters has become key to his reelection strategy.

Perhaps this was the plan all along. The president’s unsubstantiated talk about “rigged” elections caused by absentee ballot “fraud” and “cheating” has been around since 2016; it’s just increased in recent weeks.

Trump has enlisted a compliant Republican Party in this shameful effort. The Trump campaign and Republican entities engaged in more than 40 voting and ballot court cases around the country this year. In exactly none — zero — are they trying to make it easier for citizens to vote. In many, they are seeking to erect barriers.

All of the suits include the mythical fraud claim. Many are efforts to disqualify absentee ballots, which have surged in the pandemic. The grounds range from supposedly inadequate signature matches to burdensome witness requirements. Others concern excluding absentee ballots postmarked on Election Day but received later, as permitted under state deadlines. Voter-convenience devices such as drop boxes and curbside voting have been attacked.

Texas Republicans even thought it was a good idea to challenge 100,000 ballots already cast at a Harris County drive-through voting center that they want retroactively declared illegal. Perhaps they forgot the Republican expressions of outrage in Florida in 2000 when Democrats sought unsuccessfully to exclude 25,000 absentee ballots in GOP counties because of administrative error, not voter fault.

I was there, and I haven’t.

The GOP lawyers managing these lawsuits may have tactical reasons for bringing each. But taken as a whole, they shout the unmistakable message that an expanded electorate means Trump loses.

This attempted disenfranchisement of voters cannot be justified by the unproven Republican dogma about widespread fraud. Challenging voters at the polls or disputing the legitimacy of mail-in ballots isn’t about fraud. Rather than producing conservative policies that appeal to suburban women, young voters or racial minorities, Republicans are trying to exclude their votes.

“We have volunteers, attorneys and staff in place to ensure that election officials are following the law and counting every lawful ballot,” Justin Riemer, chief counsel for the Republican National Committee, said Friday.

That’s not precisely true. The Republican challenging effort is focused almost exclusively in heavily Democratic areas. Signature mismatches will go unheeded by Trump forces in friendly precincts. This is not about finding fraud and irregularities. It’s about suppressing the number of votes not cast for Trump.

Maybe the president foreshadowed his real purpose at a Pennsylvania rally Saturday night, predicting “bedlam” if the results aren’t known Nov. 3. In fact, challenged ballots aren’t reviewed until days later. So in a tight race, Trump’s demands for a quick result could cause the very bedlam he rails against. Or allow him to claim a false election night victory based on bad-faith challenges.

How sad it is to recall that just seven years ago the Grand Old Party conducted an “autopsy” that emphasized the urgency of building a big tent to reach communities of color, women and young voters. Now it is erecting voting barriers for those very groups. Instead of enlarging the tent, the party has taken a chain saw to its center pole.

My party is destroying itself on the Altar of Trump. Republican elected officials, party leaders and voters must recognize how harmful this is to the party’s long-term prospects.

My fellow Republicans, look what we’ve become. It is we who must fix this. Trump should not be reelected. Vote, but not for him.

[RedFromMI]

I was thinking the same. I haven't seen your results, but Trump was up with over 50% and 94% counted - seemed like it would be improbable for Biden to go to 62%.

I have no idea why, but last night the NY Times "needle" for GA went from 80% Trump win probability over to like 65% Biden.

Currently 64% Biden. Still there. Their algorithm must be seeing something...

From the Times in the margin of the needle page:

Of the 200,000 uncounted votes in Georgia, most come from left-leaning areas of metropolitan Atlanta, suggesting they’re likely to skew Democratic.

[dislaxxic]

The question becomes...Does Trump run again in 4 years?

Or does he fade away to fight lawsuits and try to capitalize on his time as president?

Republican field is barren, unless they find some new blood...like Larry Hogan.

Trump Junior next GOP candidate in 2024...book it!

..

[kramerica.inc]

Come on Kra. Do better.

First, Ginsburg's oped is not behind a pay wall. I got it for free but I will post it so you don't have an excuse to dodge this.

Second, Ginsburg isn't just some guy with an opinion. JFC. He is THE GOP guy on election law. Counsel to the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Republican Governors Association. As counsel to the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign, he did the Florida recount.

My party is destroying itself on the altar of Trump

Opinion by Benjamin L. Ginsberg
November 1, 2020 at 2:35 p.m. MST

Benjamin L. Ginsberg practiced election law for 38 years. He co-chaired the bipartisan 2013 Presidential Commission on Election Administration.

President Trump has failed the test of leadership. His bid for reelection is foundering. And his only solution has been to launch an all-out, multimillion-dollar effort to disenfranchise voters — first by seeking to block state laws to ease voting during the pandemic, and now, in the final stages of the campaign, by challenging the ballots of individual voters unlikely to support him.

This is as un-American as it gets. It returns the Republican Party to the bad old days of “voter suppression” that landed it under a court order to stop such tactics — an order lifted before this election. It puts the party on the wrong side of demographic changes in this country that threaten to make the GOP a permanent minority.

These are painful words for me to write. I spent four decades in the Republican trenches, representing GOP presidential and congressional campaigns, working on Election Day operations, recounts, redistricting and other issues, including trying to lift the consent decree.

Nearly every Election Day since 1984 I’ve worked with Republican poll watchers, observers and lawyers to record and litigate any fraud or election irregularities discovered.

The truth is that over all those years Republicans found only isolated incidents of fraud. Proof of systematic fraud has become the Loch Ness Monster of the Republican Party. People have spent a lot of time looking for it, but it doesn’t exist.

As he confronts losing, Trump has devoted his campaign and the Republican Party to this myth of voter fraud. Absent being able to articulate a cogent plan for a second term or find an attack against Joe Biden that will stick, disenfranchising enough voters has become key to his reelection strategy.

Perhaps this was the plan all along. The president’s unsubstantiated talk about “rigged” elections caused by absentee ballot “fraud” and “cheating” has been around since 2016; it’s just increased in recent weeks.

Trump has enlisted a compliant Republican Party in this shameful effort. The Trump campaign and Republican entities engaged in more than 40 voting and ballot court cases around the country this year. In exactly none — zero — are they trying to make it easier for citizens to vote. In many, they are seeking to erect barriers.

All of the suits include the mythical fraud claim. Many are efforts to disqualify absentee ballots, which have surged in the pandemic. The grounds range from supposedly inadequate signature matches to burdensome witness requirements. Others concern excluding absentee ballots postmarked on Election Day but received later, as permitted under state deadlines. Voter-convenience devices such as drop boxes and curbside voting have been attacked.

Texas Republicans even thought it was a good idea to challenge 100,000 ballots already cast at a Harris County drive-through voting center that they want retroactively declared illegal. Perhaps they forgot the Republican expressions of outrage in Florida in 2000 when Democrats sought unsuccessfully to exclude 25,000 absentee ballots in GOP counties because of administrative error, not voter fault.

I was there, and I haven’t.

The GOP lawyers managing these lawsuits may have tactical reasons for bringing each. But taken as a whole, they shout the unmistakable message that an expanded electorate means Trump loses.

This attempted disenfranchisement of voters cannot be justified by the unproven Republican dogma about widespread fraud. Challenging voters at the polls or disputing the legitimacy of mail-in ballots isn’t about fraud. Rather than producing conservative policies that appeal to suburban women, young voters or racial minorities, Republicans are trying to exclude their votes.

“We have volunteers, attorneys and staff in place to ensure that election officials are following the law and counting every lawful ballot,” Justin Riemer, chief counsel for the Republican National Committee, said Friday.

That’s not precisely true. The Republican challenging effort is focused almost exclusively in heavily Democratic areas. Signature mismatches will go unheeded by Trump forces in friendly precincts. This is not about finding fraud and irregularities. It’s about suppressing the number of votes not cast for Trump.

Maybe the president foreshadowed his real purpose at a Pennsylvania rally Saturday night, predicting “bedlam” if the results aren’t known Nov. 3. In fact, challenged ballots aren’t reviewed until days later. So in a tight race, Trump’s demands for a quick result could cause the very bedlam he rails against. Or allow him to claim a false election night victory based on bad-faith challenges.

How sad it is to recall that just seven years ago the Grand Old Party conducted an “autopsy” that emphasized the urgency of building a big tent to reach communities of color, women and young voters. Now it is erecting voting barriers for those very groups. Instead of enlarging the tent, the party has taken a chain saw to its center pole.

My party is destroying itself on the Altar of Trump. Republican elected officials, party leaders and voters must recognize how harmful this is to the party’s long-term prospects.

My fellow Republicans, look what we’ve become. It is we who must fix this. Trump should not be reelected. Vote, but not for him.

Reached my story limit for the mos. Thx for posting.

But again, he's entitled to his opinion. Just wish he would back it up with palpable facts. And as I said before, the article didn't age well, even in just a couple days, given the massive turnout this year, which helped trump keep it much closer than any imagined.

[a fan]

Some Repub senators may want to get back on the fiscal responsibility boat and let Joe take the blame for higher taxes in the event he does indeed win.

Been saying that's the obvious game plan since Trump took office. It worked on Obama. "Spending is bad now that a little D is in the White House. And of course, taxes are bad because we think fuzzy bunnies pay for all that Covid money we got with rainbows and hugs".

Republicans----99% of them----don't understand the idea of paying for what they get anymore. If you tell them we should raise taxes to pay for the Covid bailouts, or the billions in cash to farmers? They'll look at you like your insane.

Heck, just take Medicare, which I have pointed out for years gives out $3 in bennies for every $1 put in. Well----tell that to a Republican voter. Tell them that they have two choices: either triple everyone's payroll tax, or cut medicare bennies by 2/3rds. They'll look at you like you have five eyes. Their heads will explode at the very idea of having to pay for what they get. They're hippies, without the good music.

They weren't like this when I was a kid. They MOCKED people who didn't understand that you have to pay for what you get. Well...that horse left the barn, and the barn burned to the ground.

[jhu72]

Collins just won re-election. Gideon lost. Bummer. The only way the dems can control the Senate now is to win the two Georgia seats. Highly unlikely. Looks like they will pick up only a single Senate seat.

[kramerica.inc]

Collins just won re-election. Gideon lost. Bummer. The only way the dems can control the Senate now is to win the two Georgia seats. Highly unlikely. Looks like they will pick up only a single Senate seat.

Gridlock- Great news for the stock market!

[ggait]

But again, he's entitled to his opinion. Just wish he would back it up with palpable facts.

JFC.

This guy is LITERALLY the single best person alive who can speak to whether or not the GOP are vote suppressors.

Look at his freaking resume!!!! He was the GOP lawyer on the FL recount!!

Saying he's just some guy with an opinion and no facts is wilful blindness gaslighting bull shirt. The guy cites decades of hands on experience.

Sheesh!!!

P.S. FYI, if you clear your browser history then your free story limit resets.

[ggait]

Is Georgia going to have two run-offs?

Current count is 50.6 Perdue, 47 Ossoff, and 2.3% libertarian. With 200k Dem leaning votes still to count.

And two run-offs happening when the Senate is 48-50 and Joe maybe just won GA in a squeaker?

Holy moly.

[MDlaxfan76]

The question becomes...Does Trump run again in 4 years?

Or does he fade away to fight lawsuits and try to capitalize on his time as president?

Republican field is barren, unless they find some new blood...like Larry Hogan.

Larry Hogan doesn't appeal to the current Republican base. He believes in compromise. I suspect Larry is done in two years unless he wants to try running for the Senate.

I have a friend who was up for a judgeship and a good friend I coached who is on Larry's executive team. Both said a 2024 run is likely. For what it's worth. Even if it ends in the primary.

I wish Hogan had the charisma necessary, but I don't think he does.
On the other hand, it's not clear what's on the GOP bench that's better and not tarnished.
He'd get my vote.
But Trumpism won't have been fully repudiated, so Larry's going to face someone 'loyal' and probably won't be able to overcome it.

If you look at the field from 4 years ago. Not a lot to get excited about. Part of the reason why we got Trump.

Rubio, Cruz Pence, Desantis, Haley?

Gotta be some new names.

I'd have been interested in Haley but I think she's soiled the bed. The rest no way.

Gotta be someone...if Trump family is not doing time, expect a play from that quarter...

[Matnum PI]

Julius Sharpe@juliussharpe
1 hour ago
Shocked that the guy who went bankrupt running a casino doesn’t understand how counting works.

Julius Sharpe@juliussharpe
2 hours ago
The one thing I’m learning is where the cool people in every swing state live.

[ggait]

Regarding a Wiscy recount.

Walker, fyi, lost his gov re-election in 2018 by 1.1% and 29k votes. So he knows what he's talking about:

Scott Walker
@ScottWalker
After recount in 2011 race for WI Supreme Court, there was a swing of 300 votes. After recount in 2016 Presidential race in WI, @realDonaldTrump
numbers went up by 131.

As I said, 20,000 is a high hurdle.

[jhu72]

Wisconsin just called for Biden.

Given what's left in Michigan, Michigan probably gives Biden a victory of about 80,000. Likely called this evening.

[njbill]

Regarding a Wiscy recount.

Walker, fyi, lost his gov re-election in 2018 by 1.1% and 29k votes. So he knows what he's talking about:

Scott Walker
@ScottWalker
After recount in 2011 race for WI Supreme Court, there was a swing of 300 votes. After recount in 2016 Presidential race in WI, @realDonaldTrump
numbers went up by 131.

As I said, 20,000 is a high hurdle.

I think Trump’s chances of winning an honest recount are close to zero.

What I am much more concerned about, however, is that he will fraudulently trump up some claims of misconduct, improper ballots, etc., and then go to the Wisconsin courts. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is controlled by the Republicans. And they have shown in the past a proclivity for rendering politically biased decisions not based on the merits.

[njbill]

Wisconsin just called for Biden.

Given what's left in Michigan, Michigan probably gives Biden a victory of about 80,000. Likely called this evening.

Trump now says he is going to file suit in Michigan. What a surprise.

[Matnum PI]

Joe Biden has now won more votes than any presidential candidate in American history, passing Obama's 2008 record of more than 69.4 million ballots cast in his name.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-e ... BlogHeader

[a fan]

Wisconsin just called for Biden.

Given what's left in Michigan, Michigan probably gives Biden a victory of about 80,000. Likely called this evening.

Trump now says he is going to file suit in Michigan. What a surprise.

Well, they cheated there, obviously.

And, obviously, no one cheated in the States that Trump won.

[njbill]

Recounts for me, but not for thee.

[youthathletics]

Joe Biden has now won more votes than any presidential candidate in American history, passing Obama's 2008 record of more than 69.4 million ballots cast in his name.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-e ... BlogHeader

You mean Trump provided Biden with more votes than any other candidate in history.