Trump and other stuff
This is a setback to fair elections for 2018 and 2020. The Supreme Court understandably does not want to get into politics but they are letting unfair maps stand.
However, states can do things on their own:
The Texas case is different – based on race, not party affiliation.
Don’t forget what Trump wants to do to the 2020 Census:
This analysis reviews the possible outcomes of Supreme Court rulings on gerrymandering.
After discussing the options, it concludes:
“No matter how the court rules, here’s what we know already: People are increasingly paying attention to how districts are drawn, and they aren’t happy about it. If the court does strike down extreme partisan gerrymandering, the legal battles could continue for years. If the court sides with the gerrymandering states, opponents will try to change things outside the Supreme Court.”
Trump turns almost every speech into a campaign rally. He did it again in Cleveland yesterday.
From this article: “Though billed as an official White House event, and therefore funded with taxpayer money, Trump was overtly political in his remarks ahead of Tuesday’s primary election. He celebrated his own poll numbers, repeatedly attacked Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and urged Ohioans to elect Rep. James B. Renacci (R-Ohio), who is running against Brown.”
This is obviously wrong. Trump needs to separate campaign events from presidential ones. Taxpayers should not be paying for his campaign.
Any network that covered the campaign part of his speech should give equal time to the Democrats.
Trump is already running for reelection in 2020. He lies more than ever since there are no consequences for it. His base either believes him or doesn’t care. The media still spread his lies even though they may correct them after the fact. Trump opponents complain but can’t do anything to stop him from lying. Trump lies so much it’s hard to tell if he’s lying or believes his false statements.
I assume he’ll still be president and still be a liar in 2020. This will have a major impact on the debates vs. the Democratic candidate. When (not if) Trump lies, who will do something? Who is responsible for correcting him? If the moderator does it, Trump and his supporters will say they are anti-Trump. If the Democratic candidate does it, it cuts into their time to tell the public about their plans. Just being anti-Trump is not a winning strategy.
Sad!
This analysis discusses how demographic shifts could affect the 2020 election. It runs through several plausible scenarios. The column states:
“A new bipartisan report runs through some of the scenarios that would lead to Trump’s reelection or a win for Democrats. The States of Change report, authored by a long list of groups including the Center for American Progress and the Bipartisan Policy Center, suggests there is a long-term structural advantage for the Democratic Party but a much more complicated short-term picture.”
I don’t feel sorry for anyone who voted for Trump who is hurt by his policies. He’s doing what he said he would do during the campaign. Trump voters have forced all of us to put up with an incompetent, lying bigot.
This is an excellent article in the New York Times. The writer got out of New York and spoke with Midwestern farmers about their concerns and the potential impact on future elections.
Crooked.com is looking for answers to those questions.
I sent them this in an email:
Here are my thoughts which are too long to leave on a voice message
Anti-Trump is not a winning message. We saw that in 2016. People knew he wasn’t qualified but voted for him anyway. Why? Because of issues such as abortion.
I’m sure you have polls that show what voters are interested in such as health care, jobs, gun safety, income inequality, bigotry, the environment, etc. Focus on what voters are interested in. Don’t focus on Russia and Stormy Daniels. That doesn’t affect everyday living.
I’m tired of getting email, paper mail and requests for contributions from so many overlapping groups. I disregard a lot of it because I get so much. I suggest having a central clearing house similar to the Combined Federal Campaign for federal employee charitable donations. Within the one site, you could designate which component(s) you want to send funds to. ActBlue seems like a start.
Most times when I see Democrats on TV, they are being asked about what they think of the day’s Trump tweets or action. They need to respond to that but that also need to show how Democratic positions would be different than cutting health care and taxes for the wealthy.
When he gives a speech that is part or all an election speech (which is most of them), Democrats should ask for equal time from TV networks comparable to the time they showed Trump focusing on politics rather than presidential stuff. He has a huge head start in getting his message out. Democrats should designate a few people to give the responses. (I’m thinking of something like shorter versions of the response to the State of the Union address.) Trump is brilliant at sucking up all of the TV time – Democrats need to fight this.
I think that will only motivate the Republicans and it will fail in the long run. Concentrate on supporting the Mueller investigation and we’ll see how it plays out.
Do focus on getting out the vote, fighting voter suppression and fighting gerrymandering.
Trump is already talking about voter fraud, especially in CA. Remember that he said the election was rigged and only committed to accepting the results if he won. The Republicans will never voluntarily accept the new map in PA. Make sure to point out that it was a victory for fairness, not for Democrats.
This is the scenario that concerns me:
Imagine if the Democrats win the House by 2 or 3 and pick up 4 or 5 seats in PA and/or CA. Do you really think Trump and his conspiracy theory-supporting followers will accept the results? Remember, many of these people believe in things like Pizzagate, the birther movement, and that mass shootings didn’t happen. Do you think it would be hard to convince them that there was voter fraud.
Thanks for letting me rant.
update: This looks like a good start.
