He’s doing this with Social Security judges too. He treats everything as partisan.
This will do long-term damage to the country. When the Democrats are in charge, should we reasonably expect them to go back to a non-partisan process?
Trump is running on lies and fear
He has really gone for the bottom. Why isn’t he talking about 3.7% unemployment? I think he understands his cult is motivated by bigotry and fear and will believe anything he says. It’s frightening. It worked in 2016 and may work now. Trump doesn’t care if he divides the country. He just cares about winning at any cost.
Trump is running a midterm campaign based on stoking racial divisions and fear of immigrants, and in some cases the GOP is making open appeals to racism @AsteadWesley & me, w/@llerer @elizabethjdias @jwpetersNYT >>https://t.co/oSPncMl3ti
— Alex Burns (@alexburnsNYT) October 23, 2018
All lies, all the time. My story on Trump's midterms strategy of making things up to scare people, especially about Democrats and dark-skinned foreigners: https://t.co/YtVAob2gxd
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 22, 2018
“Trump’s embrace of a fraught term — ‘nationalist’ — could cement a dangerous racial divide”
“Trump and Republicans settle on fear — and falsehoods — as a midterm strategy”
Also key: how it gets reported. Lies spread & get reinforced when they're repeated. The way to debunk them, psychologists say, is to report the truth first, before the lie. https://t.co/CMyDkmMyqR https://t.co/ubtVn1a91a
— Holly Ojalvo (@heoj) October 22, 2018
My only prediction for the midterms: Already Dark Trump is going to get darker and uglier by Election Day. Much darker and uglier. And every GOPer who doesn't speak out or quit the party is complicit.
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) October 23, 2018
.@MaxBoot on Trump’s “cynical ploy to use racism and xenophobia as voter turnout tools.” @washingtonpost https://t.co/CAaevLo0kk
— Caroline Baum (@cabaum1) October 23, 2018
Facing what could be a sweeping defeat next month, Trump and Republicans play to the their supporters’ paranoia https://t.co/EtiYAvlGuy
— Salon (@Salon) October 23, 2018
2018 elections update 10/23/18
Audio leaked to @RollingStone reveals @BrianKempGA telling attendees at a closed-door campaign event that @staceyabrams’s voter turnout operation “continues to concern us, especially if everybody uses and exercises their right to vote.” Read my report. https://t.co/uAob3x4TVx
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) October 23, 2018
Not the story you want dropping two weeks before Election Day… #FLGOVhttps://t.co/Br4EGUHFpf
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) October 23, 2018
White supremacist group targets Florida’s Andrew Gillum in new racist robocall https://t.co/e0ZdXpTt1T
— Post Politics (@postpolitics) October 23, 2018
Nevada GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Laxalt's family members say that he "is the wrong choice" in an op-ed https://t.co/MgJpQYpvlm pic.twitter.com/n4w9i9xc9H
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 23, 2018
Florida Gov. Rick Scott gave $7.45 million more to his U.S. Senate campaign yesterday, per FEC filing: https://t.co/77chywYlQg #flsen #flpol
— Greg Giroux (@greggiroux) October 23, 2018
Reminds me of why Obama ended up campaigning in Rhode Island in late October 2010 *and* 2014 – Providence was one of the only places left in those bad years for Dems where a presidential visit would help https://t.co/Cyqyv3r676
— Ted Nesi (@TedNesi) October 23, 2018
Hard to overstate how much different this midterm electorate will look vs. 2014/2010, which were utterly dominated by older & white voters.
If 2010 was the "Year of the Angry White Senior," 2018 is most definitely the "Year of the Fired Up Female College Graduate." pic.twitter.com/tsCKPefo25
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) October 22, 2018
Latest NBC/WSJ data: Republicans have narrowed Dems' enthusiasm gap from 10% earlier this year to 4% in mid-October.
The even better news for Dems: new data shows huge, unprecedented last-minute surge in Latino/18-34 voting enthusiasm. Is it an outlier? We'll see. pic.twitter.com/rnWq78lDt2
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) October 22, 2018
New WaPo/Schar poll of 69 battleground House districts, 63 of which are currently GOP-held
—48 races are about even
—Ds lead in 21 Hillary-won districts—Among voters who dislike both parties, Ds lead by 15; in 2014, Rs led by 17 with this grouphttps://t.co/Kw4o6QRaBd
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 23, 2018
Opinion: If there is a "blue wave," Democrats would have black women to thank https://t.co/EvhI2wPo78
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 23, 2018
Democratic gains in relatively white, well-educated, suburbs have pushed the GOP near the breaking point.
Here are the types of seats that will decide whether the Dems go over the top, or the GOP holds on https://t.co/u0VkFfUJXQ— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) October 23, 2018
Big things happening in Texas. First day of early vote numbers up significantly from 2014 in some of the largest counties in the state:
Harris- up 213%
Bexar- up 153%
Tarrant- up 200%
Dallas- up 325%
Travis- up 219%— Xochitl Hinojosa (@XochitlHinojosa) October 23, 2018
At the moment, there are 17 GOP-held seats in Lean/Likely Dem and 2 Dem-held seats in Lean/Likely R. If all those races break as forecast, Dems only need to win 9 of the 30 Toss Ups (30%) to win the majority.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) October 23, 2018
One Trump ally tells us that the migrant caravan is a “political gift” and ideal midterm wedge issue for Trump. “I wish they were carrying heroin,” the former Trump campaign adviser said. “I wish we had thought of it.” https://t.co/WcthUaOTs6 pic.twitter.com/2yzsC4RHdm
— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) October 23, 2018
Trump approval polls 10/23/18
The more he lies, the higher his approval rating goes?
I am guessing this is about the economy.
Trump's current RCP avg is 44.2% approval.
That's equal to or better than 7 of the last 17 presidents on the eve of a midterm (using Gallup data). pic.twitter.com/6dQVbCEvK9
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) October 22, 2018
ICYMI
The way Donald Trump is handling his job as president:
Approve 44%
Disapprove 50%
(Gallup tracking, 10/15-21/18)
trend: https://t.co/rgbas8B8xA— PollingReport.com (@pollreport) October 22, 2018
New NBC/WSJ poll shows Trump job approval rating w/ college+ women at 27%-70% (!) vs. non-college men at 64%-32%.
Biggest GOP problem in 2018: women w/ college degrees are the likeliest demographic to turn out in a midterm election.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) October 22, 2018
Trump approval up to -9 in FiveThirtyEight
It was -19 at VA-GOV https://t.co/PwfzZ6Pp2g— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) October 22, 2018
Trump's approval rating is now 47%, the highest of his presidency, per WSJ-NBC poll. Makes the midterms a "barnburner," per pollster who conducted the survey. https://t.co/c94khZf1tg
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) October 21, 2018
Dump Trump magnet
You can get this excellent magnet on Amazon.
It’s also available on eBay. The magnet is 5.3 x 5.9 inches.
Trump lies about another tax cut before the elections
He’s just making this crap up.
White House officials spent the day trying to decode what Trump meant because no one knew of any policy proposal related to his grand promise of upcoming tax cuts for the middle class https://t.co/uLgXoiPkO3
— POLITICO (@politico) October 22, 2018
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 22, 2018
Trump’s lies are so insidious because they are believed. There are likely millions of voters who wrongly believe a wall is being built. How many duped supporters are making awful financial decisions based on Trump lying about a middle class tax cut that literally doesn’t exist?
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) October 22, 2018
-There is no new legislative tax cut circulating on the Hill, 10% or otherwise.
-Sr GOPers in both chambers have no idea what POTUS is talking about.
-No time/will to pass anything in lame duck either.
-Don't even get me started on it being referred to as a "resolution"-30-
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) October 22, 2018
Asked about President Trump’s recent comments about a new tax cut proposal, Speaker Paul Ryan’s office is referring questions back to the White House
— Ashley Killough (@KilloughCNN) October 22, 2018
“He knows he’s lying. Everybody in Congress knows he’s lying. The reporters know he’s lying. So why is he doing it?” – @JoeNBC notes that Congress is not in session as @realDonaldTrump promises tax cut for the middle class ahead of the midterm elections.
https://t.co/aQ8SD5aF5S— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) October 22, 2018
Trump is loving this new line about a 'major middle class tax cut' ahead of November elections — even tho no one I have spoken to in WH, Hill, or among tax geeks knows what he is talking about…
— Nancy Cook (@nancook) October 22, 2018
Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have been promising more tax cuts to get voters out for the midterms With Congress out of session, and given how last year's #TaxScam benefited billionaires and big businesses, it's a myth. #TellEveryVoter https://t.co/LvRx4wl961
— Swing Left (@swingleft) October 22, 2018
Yesterday Trump said he is "studying deeply" a "major tax cut for middle income people." When asked for a time frame for that, Trump predicted "sometime around the 1st of November, maybe a little before that."
One issue … Congress is not in session until after Election Day. pic.twitter.com/mIHLimOdBD
— Kasie DC (@KasieDC) October 21, 2018
update 10/23/18:
Trump's advisers want Congress to "hold a symbolic vote promising a tax cut in the future."
Yes, you read that right. This is the extent of Trump's 10% tax cut "plan" for the middle class. https://t.co/v5ap31lEfW via @damianpaletta @ericawerner #taxes #TaxCuts
— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) October 23, 2018
Brady says he's working with Trump on new tax cut – POLITICO https://t.co/zTG8up1WrH
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 23, 2018
Brady pretty clear here there’s no middle-class tax cut plan ready to go as Trump has suggested in recent days. https://t.co/hWR8vws3ls
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 23, 2018
2018 elections update – 10/22/18 (part 2)
Third straight day, Dems with decisive win in Washoe, where GOP has 2 percent reg edge. pic.twitter.com/zB4YrP9opu
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) October 23, 2018
Republicans currently control 27 attorney-general offices, while Democrats control 22. But that balance of power could shift if Democrats win even a handful of races. https://t.co/oC9w7y3AzG
— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) October 22, 2018
Weird day of Senate polls. I'd say more bad than good though for Democrats. Why? Because Democrats need everything to go right at this point. So good numbers in FL & WV don't offset bad ones in ND and IN; they need to win almost all the competitive races. https://t.co/n2QjFRwGxw pic.twitter.com/72ifYxSSCk
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) October 22, 2018
Republican tax law is not popular
The public understands it primarily helps the wealthy. Republicans have not used it as much as planned on the campaign because they know it won’t help them.
Brutal numbers for the tax bill.
* 46-36 against
* 2/3 of voters, and even 1/3 of Trump voters, think middle class will be worse off or the samehttps://t.co/Euut0TThAH pic.twitter.com/QQF0pYQloc— Jesse Lee (@JesseCharlesLee) October 22, 2018
The "strategy" can be found in the polls.
Approval:
Obamacare – 51%
2017 tax cut – 40%
Democrats – 50%
Republicans – 39%
Trump – 41%
Trump immigration – 39%
Trump foreign policy – 37%
Trump race relations – 33%
(Fox News poll, Aug 19-21)— Terry Morse (@terrymorse) October 22, 2018
ICYMI: Internal RNC poll recently warned candidates that "most voters believe that the GOP wants to cut back on (Social Security and Medicare) in order to provide tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy." Urged them to counter it.https://t.co/puxEloOUvS
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 17, 2018
A recent Fox News poll found that 36% of likely voters said they've seen more money in their paycheck "as a result of the 2017 tax reform law," while 59% said they haven't.https://t.co/7CpXQ2XwMx
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 22, 2018
New poll from @DemocracyFund helps explain why Trump & Rs are sadly desperate for a do-over on taxes:
"Almost two-thirds of the general public, and one-third of those who voted for Donald Trump, believe that the middle class … will be worse off or the same under the tax cuts." https://t.co/PTFGERO7aW
— Seth Hanlon 🌊 vote.org (@SethHanlon) October 22, 2018
72% of Republicans approve of the tax law passed by Trump and Congress, compared with just 12% of Democrats https://t.co/vnMSEe0rhX pic.twitter.com/Pu2Ag0fGLC
— Pew Research Center (@pewresearch) October 23, 2018
Bolton lies about Russian 2016 meddling
Bolton told the Russians that the Russian meddling in US elections had hardly any effect. He has no way to know that. It has not been assessed and it’s probably impossible to determine. Trump won/Clinton lost for many reasons. This is one of them.
Context is important, but how does Bolton know how many voters were impacted by what? It’s unknowable. Also, Trump won by <1% in the decisive states.
It’s a completely speculative contention that Trump admin folks keep trotting out to mollify Trump. And it’s not in good faith. https://t.co/bC8yjBsWas
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) October 22, 2018
This is what the Intelligence Community wrote in early 2017: "We did not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election…. [The US Intelligence Community] does not analyze US political processes or US public opinion." https://t.co/SjJrdx2ijG
— Ned Price (@nedprice) October 22, 2018
Bolton sure changed his tune now that he is working for Russia’s pal Trump.
John Bolton in July 2017 called Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election “a true act of war, and one Washington will never tolerate.”https://t.co/pX5AuAPYmz https://t.co/XSwgMCz45D
— David P Gelles (@gelles) October 22, 2018
Someone please tell John Bolton this is why the small Russia influence effect works, they pick close contests. Elections decided by a percent or 2. That’s why is it works https://t.co/TMguU4lWQq
— Clint Watts (@selectedwisdom) October 22, 2018
Trump attacks transgender people to please evangelicals
The evangelical right have been warning people of "gender ideology" here and around the world, as if it were the new communism. Now, the department of health and human services are trying to define gender based on biological determination at birth. https://t.co/ZBSxbALGmh
— Cloee Cooper (@cloeefcooper) October 22, 2018
Trump's new attack on transgender people is another sign it's about the cruelty itself: https://t.co/ZralpYUKVK pic.twitter.com/clCaFr5nHP
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) October 22, 2018
Within hours, the hashtag #WontBeErased circulated on social media. By Sunday evening, a rally for transgender rights took place in New York; another was planned for Monday in Washington. https://t.co/pafTrk8nYL
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 22, 2018
Administration's conservatives may actually believe this, and may be playing to evangelical base, but in 2018 I bet this is a political loser, esp in swing House districts: https://t.co/uwWfvoNbWc #BadTiming #Transgender We'll talk about it Monday morning on @630khow
— Ross Kaminsky (@Rossputin) October 22, 2018
The Trump administration continues to attack protections for transgender Americans.
We will not stand for this discrimination.
Because transgender rights are human rights.
And, they #WontBeErased.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 22, 2018
Human Rights Campaign calls on Trump administration not to go forward with potential rollback of transgender protections https://t.co/PI2wi655ap pic.twitter.com/ByzwjVZ5aa
— CNN (@CNN) October 22, 2018
All the ways the Trump administration has rolled back protections for transgender people https://t.co/F9lsq1s2iT pic.twitter.com/ZJqIASW9c0
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 22, 2018
Tweet from June 14, 2016. pic.twitter.com/HgtAIzKGsx
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 21, 2018
If Trump and the HHS thought that the trans community would mutely consent to being erased, they were proven wrong at a press conference, White House protest, and online https://t.co/FCrmyk0hMS #WontBeErased
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) October 22, 2018
"I was wrong" to back Trump, Caitlyn Jenner writes for The Post. "He has ignored our humanity" and used transgender people as pawns. https://t.co/zUkP4CZZ0m
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 25, 2018
Reports that the federal government is attempting to establish a narrow legal definition of gender prompts swift outrage from psychology, civil liberty and transgender rights organizations https://t.co/CjPO72EXc2 pic.twitter.com/uFKhcjno54
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 26, 2018
