Republicans will do anything to win

This is an excellent column. We saw this in 2000 when the Florida recount was stopped. From the column:

“A better way to put it is that when the 2000 election was thrown into chaos in Florida, Democrats operated under the mistaken belief that there was an orderly process to be undertaken and eventually it would all get sorted out fairly. Meanwhile, Republicans were all but crawling through the Okefenokee with knives in their teeth. Republicans knew that there were no rules that needed to be obeyed and no niceties that needed to be considered. All that mattered was winning, and the winner would be the one who was more ruthless and determined.”

We’re seeing it again now with the Republicans baseless claims of fraud in Florida and Georgia. Trump is the ringleader. Republicans don’t care how much damage this does to public confidence in the elections, they just want to win. They should just let the legal election process play out.

Once again, Republicans are showing how willing and eager they are to tear down the electoral system if that's what it takes to win: https://t.co/Je2oLyr2zb

— Paul Waldman (@paulwaldman1) November 13, 2018

CNN was wrong

In their effort to be even-handed, CNN asked voters about extremist violence without pointing out that the great bulk of it is by right-wing extremists. Left wing extremists attack Tucker Carlson’s house. Right wing extremists kill people (such as the recent killings in Pittsburgh and Kentucky and the bombs).

I understand that they want to be fair but this is very misleading. The screen print above is from my iPhone.

2018 elections update – 11/13/18

still more good comments

There are still undecided races.

That margin among voters age 45+ is historically (and catastrophically) low for the @GOP. https://t.co/1FtIWsfH7b

— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) November 12, 2018

With health care front and center in the election, the GOP scrambled to respond. They ultimately returned fire on the issue in ads aimed at seniors, alleging that Democrats plan to “end Medicare as we know it” https://t.co/vHnUkhuh0j pic.twitter.com/6RIwLc7Jd2

— POLITICO (@politico) November 14, 2018

Dems likely to get 38 net House seat gain, at least 7 gov pick ups, probably cap GOP senate gains at 2, pick up hundreds of state legislative seats. What would be a blue wave? https://t.co/SxE4ZWzQpt

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 13, 2018

Wow. In 1992, Republicans still held half of the 30 House districts with the highest level of educational attainment.

Now they hold just two. Two out of 30. (via WSJ) pic.twitter.com/oeaWxWLRja

— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) November 12, 2018

It didn't end up being a particularly superb Senate showing for Republicans. Democrats gained seats in Arizona and Nevada and defended seats in states Trump won by 42 (WV) and 21 (MT). With Dems defending 26 seats to their 9, Republicans will end up +2 if they get Florida.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 13, 2018

First-time midterm voters 2018: 47% under the age of 30, 46% non-white, 62% chose a Democrat in their House election. #exitpolls #Midterms2018 https://t.co/e73F2zgoYo pic.twitter.com/OsWzHIEFLS

— Edison Research (@edisonresearch) November 12, 2018

Voter turnout was **really** big. https://t.co/lTv7w8umpx pic.twitter.com/PX4mCfIvW7

— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) November 13, 2018

A lot of women and people of color won last week! And yet now white men are more likely to be represented by a white man in the House than they were at the beginning of 2017. https://t.co/NkcsG2bFlM

— Philip Bump (@pbump) November 13, 2018

14 key political trends from the 2018 exit pollshttps://t.co/0U2PuzgEmP pic.twitter.com/w8GIHWkbm1

— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) November 13, 2018

We're going to dial this back to "Lean D" from "Likely D". McAdams gained ground as some Salt Lake County ballots were reported, but his margins were not as wide as on Election Day and frankly it's not totally clear how much remaining vote is outstanding in which counties.

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 13, 2018

I was not aware that Kevin Brady expected to lose 30-plus seats and his chairmanship.

Our regressions find no sign that tax law helped in House races.

But I *do* think you can argue that w/o the law, GOP gets totally blown out on the donor front: https://t.co/JaH5Yus9ky https://t.co/98fx3Z1b30

— Jim Tankersley (@jimtankersley) November 13, 2018

Republicans are damaging the electoral process by claiming there is voter fraud

The real problems are Republican voter suppression and (mostly Republican) gerrymandering. It’s amazing that Trump and Florida Republicans are claiming fraud in elections they are leading!

This disgusting spectacle will reduce public confidence in election results…which may be their goal.

This isn't the first time Trump has questioned the legitimacy of our electoral process. Months before the presidential election in 2016, he began claiming that the election was rigged against him. Watch: pic.twitter.com/aWWcMwlshm

— Hardball (@hardball) November 14, 2018

The recent rhetoric from Trump, and often other Republicans, trying to delegitimize election results is awfully dangerous. Maybe the most openly authoritarian move he's made so far. https://t.co/gKb8B01YVx

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 12, 2018

Opinion: Republicans’ war on free and fair elections can’t go unpunished https://t.co/dPrhIWMhNq

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 13, 2018

Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, alleges voter fraud in "four races across the country." pic.twitter.com/CFkAEkoxty

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) November 10, 2018

My new one @Slate: What’s happening in Florida is a nightmare. 2020 could be so much worse. https://t.co/OL1Wr3HxAL via @slate

— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen) November 12, 2018

Yes —-> https://t.co/rQeUmir3Oh

— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) November 11, 2018

What do you do when the president's son grabs hold of a six-year-old story from your website and uses it to spread lies about voter fraud? NBC's station in Miami had that problem on Monday… (https://t.co/hoc9kHREOS) pic.twitter.com/k6RmTsrGq3

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 13, 2018

For the second day in a row, the president has invented claims of voter fraud to interfere in a recount required by law in a prominent Senate race. Not so much as a tweet condemning this behavior from McConnell. He is just as complicit in this assault on our democracy.

— Robert Reich (@RBReich) November 13, 2018

Because voter suppression is real but rampant voter fraud is a myth https://t.co/2AH7xZUiIZ

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) November 13, 2018

GOP candidate leading by ~2,400 votes suggests that outcome differing from what her campaign is expecting (her victory) "could reflect foul play" in CA39. We're expecting a big dump of votes tomorrow from @LACountyRRCC, where Cisneros has been running ahead. https://t.co/qYfOj02KEo

— Christine Mai-Duc (@cmaiduc) November 13, 2018

Russia is helping the Republicans

A network of suspected Russian social media accounts began propagating stories today about voter fraud in Texas, Florida and Ohio, according to the cyber firm Recorded Future. All are key battleground states where Dems are hoping to notch important gains. https://t.co/u8ka60i5HC

— Dustin Volz (@dnvolz) November 7, 2018

Sinema will win in Arizona

Projection: Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D) has defeated Rep. Martha McSally (R) in #AZSEN. This thing has been over for a while.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) November 12, 2018

What happened to Trump’s middle class tax cut?

Remember when Trump made up a 10% middle class tax cut? He hasn’t said anything about it since the election. It was just another scam to dupe his base.

2018 elections update – 11/11/18

still some good comments coming in

Love this. And love how much the women this cycle have supported each other in different ways across the country. https://t.co/dCo49M2qeN

— Christina Reynolds (@creynoldsnc) November 11, 2018

Also note that 87/101 (87%) of these women are a member of the Democratic party and that 87/235 (37%) of Democrats in the House are now women compared 14/200 (7%)… https://t.co/2eqob29m1H

— Baltimore Fiber (@BmoreFiber) November 11, 2018

While Pres. Trump says he "stopped the blue wave" by campaigning for GOP candidates, Democrats saw significant wins in historically-red strongholds across the country. https://t.co/zM8Mfq348s pic.twitter.com/GTaNYvzoHp

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 11, 2018

Dems had some decent showings in farm-belty parts of the Midwest (IA, KS, SD, nw OH), but had mediocre to outright bad showings in traditionally Dem, old industrial/union parts of the Midwest. Metro areas pretty bad for GOP across region, of course

— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) November 11, 2018

The media's insistence on trying to call races on election night, and its failure to inform people about the basic politics of vote counting and constituencies, are fanning the flames of right-wing conspiracy theories.https://t.co/C0dTTCz2vO

— David Atkins #11Justices (@DavidOAtkins) November 11, 2018

Don't (just) blame Trump for questioning the integrity of the vote count. It's a lot of mainstream Republicans too. https://t.co/q1rhp4VPB8

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 11, 2018

Tuesday's elections wiped out moderate House Republicans on the Climate Solutions Caucus, but the group's organizer insists it will recover. https://t.co/SLdsWFKBGW pic.twitter.com/2jAHCi34RA

— The New Republic (@newrepublic) November 11, 2018

When 17 female African-American lawyers realized that they were all taking on incumbent judges, they became friends. Then they all won together on Election Day. https://t.co/vsF9XfxsiS

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) November 10, 2018

Yes —-> https://t.co/rQeUmir3Oh

— Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) November 11, 2018

Another way of putting this: It is easily the highest midterm turnout since the beginning of universal suffrage. https://t.co/HYHjvMmUjD

— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) November 11, 2018

I think one of the most important, outstanding questions about this election, with big implications for 2020, is what went wrong for Democrats in Miami-Dade County

— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) November 11, 2018

Native Americans notched historic electoral wins on Tuesday, in a country where indigenous people were not granted the right to vote until 1924 https://t.co/Wlq0pvbpoR

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) November 11, 2018

My favorite bit is "virtually all of the Senate Democrats who voted against…Kavanaugh from the states that Trump won in 2016 were voted out of office" – yeah except for Tester. And also Baldwin, Brown, Casey and Stabenow. https://t.co/mMpAp9kvBT

— Jonathan Bernstein (@jbview) November 11, 2018

I think one of the most important, outstanding questions about this election, with big implications for 2020, is what went wrong for Democrats in Miami-Dade County

— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) November 11, 2018

This is exactly right. https://t.co/qxXXFd3iAM

— Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) November 11, 2018

Dan Crenshaw

I don’t agree with his views but I admire him and appreciate how he handled the Saturday Night Live bad joke.

I spent some time with Dan Crenshaw, who won his election to Congress and then appeared on "SNL" last night to clap back at Pete Davidson — and to get serious about #VeteransDay. https://t.co/a9dMe0UtRO

— Dan Zak (@MrDanZak) November 11, 2018

What a gracious, classy, funny moment by @DanCrenshawTX on #SNL as he accepted #PeteDavidson's apology. Best part comes at 3 min mark — what Veterans Day means, how it's a bridge to all Americans and a nod to Pete's dad who died on 9/11. https://t.co/le20vfAATC

— Lisa Olson (@Lisa_Olson1) November 11, 2018

Trump properties made $3.2 million from the midterms

Can you say conflict of interest?

New: Trump properties received $3.2 million during midterms, FEC records show | w/ @akesslerdc https://t.co/ULnib79D0F

— David Wright (@DavidWright_CNN) November 10, 2018

Florida elections update – 11/11/18

Recount time

Republicans allege fraud with no evidence – I will include some of their tweets so you can see what they are saying.

JUST IN: Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott is filing three lawsuits against county election officials as a recount has gotten underway in the Senate contest between himself and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson https://t.co/ViCXrAXyxO pic.twitter.com/BQRIDLbSSU

— CNN (@CNN) November 11, 2018

Voter suppression playbook in action in Florida. https://t.co/30BXAQnQGv

— Let America Vote (@letamericavote) November 11, 2018

Also, per the Sun-Sentinel, whatever the issue ends up being, in studies test voters “often overlooked races immediately beneath vertical instructions” — where Broward placed the Senate race. This violates best practices outlined by the US Election Assistance Commission: pic.twitter.com/OyQeHq0xkA

— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) November 11, 2018

Awaiting @senatemajldr condemnation of the “mob” … coming soon? https://t.co/d4b0pF9NT8

— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) November 11, 2018

Crazy that Trump is talking more about Broward County now than when 17 people were shot and killed here.

— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) November 10, 2018

Karl Rove: As Florida ballot count battle rages, Democrats are recklessly violating state law | Fox News https://t.co/PZfPFozJh8

— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) November 11, 2018

Nightmare in Florida II: For the second time in 18 years, is a pivotal race slipping away from Democrats thanks in part to the design of a ballot? https://t.co/X2q1dmjPbX

— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) November 11, 2018

Nearly 200,000 Florida Voters May Not Be Citizens: #VetEveryVote Now is the time to drill down on the Democrat's war on free and fair elections. #VoterFraud https://t.co/M5Thfu71kd pic.twitter.com/gNOfFWmG7r

— Pamela Geller (@PamelaGeller) November 11, 2018

A recount in Florida's second most-populous county has been delayed because of problems with voting machines. https://t.co/qhb157AbL6

— The Associated Press (@AP) November 11, 2018

From NRO: 'Brenda Snipes, the supervisor of elections in Florida’s Broward County, does not deserve to be within a thousand miles of any election office anywhere in these United States. She should be fired at the earliest possible opportunity.' https://t.co/2Xn9lWED5M

— Byron York (@ByronYork) November 11, 2018

Rick Scott accuses Nelson of "trying to commit fraud" to win Florida election https://t.co/ka1sJnER8S pic.twitter.com/JhJTmSbdMY

— The Hill (@thehill) November 11, 2018

"She waited for more than four hours, but the canvassing board reviewing ballots would not consider hearing her testimony because it was not completely sure why her ballot had been deemed illegal." https://t.co/t9mFWeFNfH via @pemalevy

— Sam Levine (@srl) November 11, 2018

I’m proud to announce we have a team of 7500 volunteer recount representatives available in FL. Reps will be deployed all over FL to make sure any potential issues are reported so they can be quickly reviewed and resolved. We won't allow unethical liberals to steal this election!

— Rick Scott (@ScottforFlorida) November 11, 2018

FL voters approved restoring voting rights to felons. Desmond Meade, an advocate for Amendment 4, said “you could lose your rights for life over something as simple as driving with a suspended license” in Florida. He’s correct. https://t.co/v1eWNeW0DB pic.twitter.com/WSogkoqri0

— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) November 11, 2018

Florida GOP's history of voter suppression:

Illegally purged 12,000 voters in 2000

7 hour lines in 2012

Shut down voter registration drives

Disenfranchised 1.6 million ex-felons

15k absentee ballots rejected in 2018

We know which party trying to steal election

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) November 11, 2018

This is a lie and you know it.

The Florida Department of State has said that there is no evidence of criminal activity and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said that there’s been no allegations of fraud.

Baseless comments like this inflict real damage on our democracy. https://t.co/bqvnBNrvVt

— Andrew Weinstein (@Weinsteinlaw) November 11, 2018

Scott alleged criminal violations and directed Florida law enforcement to investigate

They investigated and found absolutely no evidence anyone was breaking the law

The only fraud that is occurring is the baseless claims by GOP officials https://t.co/D0UDdvWFXQ

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) November 11, 2018

Sen. Cory Gardner: "I think there’s clear evidence that the Constitution was violated and a court in Florida has said the same”

Tapper: “Florida’s department of law enforcement said Friday they haven’t even received any allegations of criminal activity, of fraud, of stealing" pic.twitter.com/a61Aig77eD

— CNN (@CNN) November 11, 2018

Here's when key Florida counties will begin their recount efforts https://t.co/0neneC79Rs pic.twitter.com/gUwWYSSNfs

— CNN (@CNN) November 11, 2018

Democratic Rep. @CheriBustos on President Trump alleging voter fraud in Florida: “If you’re going to say…there’s criminal behavior or there’s unethical behavior or there’s corruption, you ought to have proof. He doesn’t have any proof of that” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/Z7G26lnqLg

— CNN (@CNN) November 11, 2018

Florida county collects uncounted ballots left in a mail facility https://t.co/lYaiPxCKyT pic.twitter.com/W0RG8laRrh

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 11, 2018

I spoke to one of the voters Rubio claims broke the law. She is 29 and works 2 jobs. She followed instructions at her polling station & provided a valid photo ID. She has no idea why her ballot was rejected. Likely her signature was deemed a mismatch https://t.co/gJg2D2MQWe https://t.co/985vNeGdPm

— Pema Levy (@pemalevy) November 11, 2018

Anyone get @marcorubio on the record yet about whether he has a shred of evidence to back up his accusation that Democrats are trying to steal an election? https://t.co/TU9EBobpCp

— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) November 11, 2018