ELECTION 2020 Part 22

Anyone else nervous about the Georgia recount?

I just read that 80% of Americans accept that Biden won the race and 50% of the Republicans accept that too. That's a huge majority. The Orange Asshole and his minions cannot do anything about it. He just loves to create chaos.

All this tsuris is just a grift to get Trump out of hock. I'm sure it won't amount to a real coup attempt.

Well, kinda sure.

R1, WHY?

R1 - “Anyone else nervous about the Georgia recount?”

Only trolls and trumpies are nervous about the Georgia recount, R1. They’re nervous that the recount numbers will be the same as it is today, with Biden in the lead. Nice try, and thanks for playing, troll.

The investigations into the actual cheating by the Repugs will take place quietly over the first year of the Biden Justice Department. Instead of announcements in front of lawn care businesses and lawsuits about Sharpies, it will include ironclad proof. There's no way in hell that the Dems are jumping into this craziness.

So from what I can see, the only states they haven't called yet are NC and GA. What's the prognosis on when that will happen?

State E.V. Leader Margin Est. votes in

Arizona 11 Biden ✓ +12,614 99%

Georgia 16 Biden +14,108 99%

Nevada 6 Biden ✓ +36,870 95%

North Carolina 15 Trump +73,268 99%

Pennsylvania 20 Biden ✓ +49,064 99%

GA must be certified by 20th November. That's the law.

[quote]Anyone else nervous about the Georgia recount?

No. I don't think Biden's 14,111 lead will change except for a handful of ballots. It will be thorough and put any legal action by Trump to rest.

[quote]“With the margin being so close, it will require a full, by-hand recount in each county,” Raffensperger said. “It will be an audit, a recount and a recanvass all at once.”

New batch of Arizona votes increases Biden's lead slightly to 12, 828:

R10 The Maricopa ballots just came in. From News12 Phoenix:

[quote] UPDATE Maricopa County releases 12,845 ballots.

[quote] Trump nets 1,193, but it's just not enough.

[quote] Biden lead down to 11,635

[quote] Ballots left: Up to 27,634, per SoS

[quote] Trump needs 71% to tie

[quote] Bottom line: @GeneralBrnovich called race earlier. Trump's situation now worse.

-- #12News

Top story right now:

Biden’s Policy Agenda Rests Heavily on Senate Outcome

Which party controls the Senate will largely dictate how ambitious President-elect Joe Biden can get on taxes, health care, climate change and other policy priorities.

Biden leading in Arizona by 11,635 votes with less than 25,000 ballots statewide remaining. Trump would need 73% to win the state, 66% to force a recount.

Christ almighty. When will all this drama end? I just want to time travel to 1/21, “the day after”. It’s pure hell, and I want to sue — why can’t I bring suit regarding the damage to my mental health? This is literally a violation of my right to pursue happiness, yes I’m serious. That fat fuck can bring literally fucking frivolous lawsuits based upon LIES about the vote, but I’m supposed to just suffer through it? BULL FUCKING SHIT. I’m no martyr.

Biden has it. Landslide victory.

Maricopa and Pima are the big ones left and they went for Biden.

Please AZ end this already...but I guess good for being so thorough...

I would guess that Arizona will finish tomorrow, Friday at the latest.

I just realized the "shy Trump voters" were the white women. Based on polls, the story was expected to be that 2020 was a bit less racially polarized (Trump getting more minorities, Biden taking back some white voters) but with a big gender split. Yet white women voted for Trump by 55% this time...that's 2% MORE than 2016. Evidently lots of them told pollsters they weren't voting for the pussygrabber, but it was a lie.

R18, I'm just not buying it. We'll see the cheating come to light over the next year as actual investigations into Russian hacking of the in-person voting in both 2016 and 2020.

It appears that Biden may have won back enough of the Catholic vote to make a difference in his rust belt wins.

I'm still not trusting the election day exit polling, because we know that was skewed Republican. I think we're going to need about 3 months to get the REAL data on how various groups voted. But what is undoubtedly true, because the election returns show it, is that the real divide in the country is urban vs. rural. Rural voters went for Trump in huge percentage points. Many counties 90% or more, which obviously had to include a lot of white women. It just happens that urban voters far outnumber rural voters. Urban voters only went for Biden perhaps 65% to 70%, but that was plenty to overcome the smaller population rural votes. The question is, how do Democrats get out their message to rural voters? They obviously don't read big-city newspapers, and I suspect their main news sources are FOX and conservative talk radio.

Trump wins another state.

I don’t get this who’s narrative of “he’s used to always ‘winning,’ he can’t stomach the thought of losing,” blah. What??!? The same person who’s gone bankrupt what, 7, 10, 12 times? Just about everything he touches turns to shit eventually. He sure has an odd concept of “winning.”

The government and media are coddling a psychopath.

The liberal/Democratic billionaires of the world need to start spending some of their money buying up all kinds of media outlets in rural America. I swear, if some liberal billionaire bought Sinclair Broadcasting and Fox News and just started airing liberal stuff with no announcement of the change, all the fucking idiot Repugs would just simply still go along with everything that was being said and would withing six months all be spouting liberal ideas.

We need to stop treating these fuckers like they are smart and start treating them like they are sheep. They like being sheep and having other people tell them what to think.

Trump's idea of winning was alway about screwing other people over and when the try to take a stand sue them until they back off.

What was his first reaction to Biden winning the election? TRUMP: I'm gonna sue, sue, sue, sue until Biden will beg me to have my second term.

R26, that's why Biden's response of "Who dat?" while Trump rants and raves and acts out like a big loser is just perfect.

Sorry, ... when they try to take a stand

... until Biden begs me to free him of this burden and I get to be president again. (at r26 I wasn't clear what I meant).

One of the affidavits in Michigan was from Articia Bomer, a loon who was also running for office, and as such isn't eligible to be a challenger

Also, for some good coverage (and debunking) of the lawsuits and fraud rumors follow Isaac Saul and Marc E Elias on twitter. Jennifer Cohn is great for a look at election security and technology over the years.

From thread 21:

[quote]Georgia dems want the Obamas. down there.

Many on the Datalounge also want Obama. Down there.

It's been like a week, and I'm still like this:

r25 Speaking of media outlets, this should be interesting to watch, that is if he's not indicted and convicted 1st by Vance, James, and/or new AG

r23, he purposely goes bankrupt so he doesn't have to pay taxes or monies due, and keep what he has grifted...in a lot of eyes, that is "winning".

The only Dem I’ve witnessed do a good job of puncturing their bubble is Pete, because he’s willing to not only consistently appear on Fox, but he is adept at flipping the script on their hosts over and over. We will NOT succeed in getting our message to them unless we are willing to go where they get their news — the sewer. We need a few good men and women who are willing to work in the sewers.

Do we have an update on Arizona?

What is wrong with you, R36? Go fucking look.

Nancy Pelosi must have some amazing undergarments.

I always assumed she went commando r38.

I'm the man for the job, r35!

[quote] Do we have an update on Arizona?

Biden is currently leading by 11,635 votes with less than 25,000 ballots to count statewide. Trump would need at least 73% to win and about 66% to force a recount. He’s done.

Politico:

White House press secretary: Trump will break his post-election silence ‘at the right moment’

Does the pigeon-headed whore expect us to hold our breath or something?

Today's Ezra Klein with Anne Applebaum about the GOP's erosion of democracy was scary AF.

Opinions | Trump is now sabotaging the transition. Democrats have a way to fight back.

Kayleigh McEnany, White House press secretary and Trump campaign spox, refuses to answer a question by referring it to herself

Really smart talk from PA's Lt. Governor John Fetterman. Anyone else think he could make a real difference with Middle America Trumpers? Or is he too well-educated (Masters from Harvard, etc.)?

The NY Times gets it, Trump is no longer the headline. When he realizes his silence is not the story, he will concede to bump up his standing from irrelevancy.

As for other things:

I welcome the internecine battle between Trump and Murdoch.

Fox will shred him esp. when the NYS AG issues indictments in 2021.

What's the old phrase? Never pick fights with people who buy ink by the barrel.

R47 As a PA citizen, I love Fetterman. I hope he runs for Piece-of-Shit Toomey's Senate seat.

[quote] The only Dem I’ve witnessed do a good job of puncturing their bubble is Pete, because he’s willing to not only consistently appear on Fox, but he is adept at flipping the script on their hosts over and over. We will NOT succeed in getting our message to them unless we are willing to go where they get their news — the sewer. We need a few good men and women who are willing to work in the sewers.

I'm not even sure that FOX is where they get new, the true Trump base, that is. It's Trump's and Trump adjacents' ramblings on Twitter, FB, YouTube, and other social media, along with OANN, 4Chan, QAnon dumps, etc. The one Murdoch franchise they have some trust in is Sky News Australia since it makes FOX seem like The Nation in comparison.

I try to imagine a successful coup in which Trump is installed as president for life, and the question I keep coming up with is, how would that work? Because this is a lazy, stupid, incompetent, obese 74 year old man in obvious physical and mental decline. Are they going to bring in the obese, decrepit, failed ratfucker Steve Bannon to run the country behind the scenes? How's that going to work out?

Most people have said that Jared and Ivanka have been running the country these last 4 years. I don't doubt it, based on the shit show everything has been.

White House squatter!

NYT's Alan Feuer:

[quote]Kory Langhofer, a lawyer for the Trump campaign, just said: "This is not a fraud case. We are not alleging fraud. We are not saying anyone is trying to steal the election." Rather, he's saying there were "good faith errors" in the count.

He might want to share that perspective with his boss.

Murdoch turned on him because he knows that Trump has already begun setting up his media company, which will be in direct competition to FOX.

If anyone is interested, Malcolm Turnball, ex conservative PM for Australia, got absolutely stuck into one of Murdoch’s people a day or two ago. He said he and his cronies were responsible for the appalling attitude towards Climate change and said the situation in the US was completely down to Fox News. He said it was time some of them stood up to Murdoch the way his own son did. I suppose I would expect it from Australian conservatives who would be slightly centre right. If I could remember where I watched it I would link but I am sure anyone interested would find it via google.

Coming Soon to a White House Gift Shop probably not near you.

[quote]Malcolm Turnball, ex conservative PM for Australia, got absolutely stuck into one of Murdoch’s people

Pics please.

Are people still talking about this failed coup? That was last weeks news.

It’s all about Biden now and his new cabinet. Get with it

Here you go R58

Somebody tweet that thing from the WH gift shop to Dump. It's bound to send him into another Twitter storm and possibly cause him to stroke out. Such petty shit gets to him more than anything else.

It will be great to see trump out of office.

[quote]Biden is currently leading by 11,635 votes with less than 25,000 ballots to count statewide.

Oh, dear.

[quote]If anyone is interested, Malcolm Turnball, ex conservative PM for Australia, got absolutely stuck into one of Murdoch’s people a day or two ago. He said he and his cronies were responsible for the appalling attitude towards Climate change and said the situation in the US was completely down to Fox News.

Someone posted on the other thread the NZ prime minister saying their country isn't divided because they didn't allow Murdock media in.

Murdoch will be all "Trump Trials 24/7" to keep the audience.

R62 We need to pre-order it en masse, make it the biggest selling tchotchke EVER. Trump will die.

Great idea

PLUS those Biden 46 coins will become Collector’s Items when tRump lets Pence take the reins as “Pardoning 46” and thus make Biden #47.

Harris County (Houston) will switch to paper ballots for the next election. Yay!

Harris County (Houston) will switch to paper ballots for the next election. Yay!

It's a good thing NY isn't in play. It currently shows only 80% of the vote counted. California's doing a little better at 92%.

Puerto Rico voted for statehood but very narrowly and the vote is non-binding.

If they ever want to become a state (the article below explains why that may not be the case), they'll probably have to hold a binding referendum.

R70 What gets me is that in many states ballot selection and design is still a county thing, and not something determined statewide by the Secretary of State. It's what fucked up the 2000 election with Palm Beach's screwy butterfly ballot. You'd think that after 20 years, states would have figured out a way to design one uniform ballot to be counted on the same type of equipment.

[quote]Opinions | Trump is now sabotaging the transition. Democrats have a way to fight back.

That suggested way to fight back is a subpoena. Have they not been paying attention for the last four years?

Glad Houston will be going to all paper ballots. Bet they noticed some inconsistencies in the computer-aided voting but won't be talking about it until after Trump is gone so as not to get lost in his tantrum.

R73, be careful what you wish for. What if the SoSs in red states decide to put races that Democrats will win on the back or put referenda that are Dem-lead upside down on the back of the ballot?

Going after Fox news is pointless. People don't get their news from Fox anymore. They get it from Facebook.

Go after the tech companies.

[bold]Evidence suggests several state Senate candidates were plants funded by dark money[/bold]

MIAMI – Why would candidates for Florida Senate seats do no campaigning, no fundraising, have no issue platforms, nor make any effort to get votes?

Local 10 News has found evidence to suggest three such candidates in three Florida Senate district races, two of them in Miami Dade County, were shill candidates whose presence in the races were meant to syphon votes from Democratic candidates.

Comparisons of the no-party candidates' public campaign records show similarities and connections that suggest they are all linked by funding from the same dark money donors, and part of an elaborate scheme to upset voting patterns.

In one of those races, District 37, a recount is underway because the spread between the Democratic and Republican candidates is only 31 votes. The third party candidate received more than 6300 votes.

That third party candidate is Alexis Rodriguez, who has the same last name as the Democratic incumbent senator Jose Javier Rodriguez. The Republican challenger is Ileana Garcia.

more at link

I hope this reaches straight to the FL Governor's office!

I hope in 2024 Ronald Frump runs as the Republic Can Party candidate.

Apparently, any small-dollar donations don't go towards litigation at all, they go to Trump.

This was never about a coup. This was about grifting the Deplorables one last time.

Yep! SCAM SCAM SCAM!

Six Lawsuits Awaiting Trump:

1) Manhattan district attorney's office looking into financial inner workings of the Trump Organization. This case, which is being overseen by Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr., grew out of questions regarding several hush money payments made in the run-up to the 2016 election by then-Trump fixer Michael Cohen to women alleging they had engaged in extramarital affairs with Trump. (Cohen told Congress, under oath, in 2019 that there was "no doubt" in his mind that Trump knew about the hush money payments.) The investigation is broader than just the hush money, however. As CNN's Kara Scannell and Erica Orden wrote last month: "Prosecutors have suggested in court filings that the investigation could examine whether the President and his company engaged in bank fraud, insurance fraud, criminal tax fraud and falsification of business records." Trump has repeatedly sought to block the DA's subpoena of eight years of his tax returns and financial records as part of the investigation.

2) New York state attorney general examining how Trump valued his assets. In the wake of Cohen's testimony alleging that Trump, along with his family members, had repeatedly "inflated his total assets when it served his purposes, such as trying to be listed among the wealthiest people in Forbes, and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes," New York AG Letitia James announced that she would investigate the claims to see if they elevate to the level of fraud. Just last month, Eric Trump was questioned under oath about whether he or the Trump organization sought to artificially inflate and deflate their assets.

3) Attorneys general of Maryland and Washington, DC, suing over the emoluments clause. This suit was originally brought way back in 2017, alleging that Trump was violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution by profiting from foreign governments' spending in his Trump hotel in downtown Washington. (Much more on the emoluments clause here.) The case appeared dead until May, when the 4th Circuit overturned the ruling of a three-judge panel that said the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the case. Trump has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. (There is also a second emoluments case that is still pending -- this one brought by a group of restaurants and a hotel operator.)

4) E. Jean Carroll's defamation lawsuit. Days before the 2020 election, a federal judge rejected an attempt by Trump, represented by Department of Justice lawyers, to effectively dismiss a case brought by Carroll alleging that Trump had raped her in the 1990s. He denied her allegation, saying, "She's not my type." The case is now proceeding through the federal court system.

5) Summer Zervos' defamation lawsuit. Zervos, a former contestant on "The Apprentice," sued Trump back in 2017, arguing that in his denial of her allegation that he had sexually assaulted her in 2007, he had defamed her and subjected her to harassment. Trump lost a bid to dismiss the case in late 2019, but the proceedings -- including a possible subpoena for Trump to provide a deposition -- have been put on hold until he leaves office.

6) Mary Trump's lawsuit against Trump family over family money.

Pope Francis spoke by phone with Joe Biden on Thursday morning, becoming the latest world leader to congratulate the American president-elect.

Biden thanked Francis “for extending blessings and congratulations and noted his appreciation for His Holiness’ leadership in promoting peace, reconciliation, and the common bonds of humanity around the world,” according to a statement from the Biden transition team.

Biden also “expressed his desire to work together on the basis of a shared belief in the dignity and equality of all humankind on issues such as caring for the marginalized and the poor, addressing the crisis of climate change, and welcoming and integrating immigrants and refugees into our communities,” the statement said.

Also: if you REALLY want to stick it to Trump, throw some money to Eliza Orlins, former Survivor/Amazing Race contestant, current public defender, and candidate for Manhattan DA. She would put a world of hurt onto the Trump Syndicate.

Biden's lead in PA increases to 54,273:

I think in one of the previous threads someone asked why, "Q" idiots always have Monster drinks being represented in whatever idiotic posting they make. I just found out why.

Apparently people consider the M in monster to be a symbol of the Devil. The reason being that the lines in the M do not connect and because of which it looks like the Hebrew (?) lettering for 6... and because there's three of them...

That big fat cow at the GSA needs to be investigated

Holy shit r85......I know how insane they are, but every story like your post still truly shocks me.

R75, and what clips are being posted on FB???? FAUX NEWS. I agree with you that people are going to other sources too, but Faux still has literally millions of viewers, so it is indeed a great place to pierce their info bubble.

I was going to defend Murphy because I was assuming that Meadows, Jared or some Cabinet Secretary was pulling her strings, but GSA is an independent agency. There is nothing stopping her from releasing transition funds. I included an org chart and definitions. Emily Murphy is fucking herself for no reason. I hope it's worth it.

[quote]Independent federal agency is a term used to describe an executive agency that operates with some degree of autonomy from the executive branch. These agencies are generally headed by a commission or board made up of five to seven members. According to the Sourcebook of United States Executive Agencies, a study produced by the Administrative Conference of the United States and Vanderbilt University, independent federal agencies generally fall into one of the two following categories:[1][2][3]

[quote]An independent federal agency may be defined as any agency established outside of the Executive Office of the President or the 15 executive departments. Since these agencies are not required to report to a higher official within the executive branch, such as a department secretary, they may be considered independent.

[quote]An independent federal agency may also be defined as an agency in which the top official has cause removal protections and, therefore, is insulated from political interference by the president or other elected officials. According to the Sourcebook, cause removal protections ensure that "political appointees cannot be removed except 'for cause,' 'inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office,' or similar language."

The thing between Faux News and Dump is hilarious. Let them kill each other.

What is this fat whores email address? On another thread, they said phone lines are overwhelmed, you can’t get through. Call this fat cunt and tell her she hates America, and we will haunt her cellulite ass until she dies of COVID.

Google is your friend (sometimes)

I’m tired r92, it’s been a hell of a fucking year.

LOL DHS agency over election security says, "The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. ... There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”

Why do the media insist on calling government agencies "Trump's own"? He doesn't own them and won' t be shoving them in storage when he leaves the WH.

All it does is plant the thought in the head of low information people that government officials are basically beholden to Dump personally, instead of the constitution and laws.

R95, I bet they do that to try to show that this has had a beginning, a middle, and an end. They need people to understand that this IS Trump’s show — he is accountable for everything. You’re conflating institutions with accountability. The institutions always function, are always working. But the head of says institutions is indeed totally responsible for each and everything that happens under their watch. “The buck stops here”.

I'm not conflating anything, R96. I know what bureaucracy means, and what a political appointee is. My statement stands because the media got into the habit of calling the whole institutions "Trump's own".

I've heard "Trump's own Justice Department" a thousand times. Even "Trump's own generals" shortly after the same media mocked him for saying "my generals".

My only explanation is language mirroring. The media directly adopts the language of Dump, his minions and covid Barbies. They start rotating the WH buzz words and soon everybody is repeating these phrases. It works as subliminal propaganda.

16K votes left in AZ Biden leads by 11,034 votes

Some of those votes are provisional and won't be counted.

I disagree r97, I do think that word is used to link him and his team as being accountable — but I respect your points, they are valid. Media must do more and do better right now. I think they’re trying, but we have to demand more from them.

Why is it that NY is only at 80% counted, when almost every other state is at 99%?

Clearly the democrats in NY (led by Hillary, of course) are too busy drinking the blood of young children to bother counting the illegal votes for Sleepy Joe. Lazy cannibals!

Glenn Kirschner:

Trump Begins Acknowledging He's Lost the Election, Now Let the Transition of Power to Biden Begin

[quote]On cross-examination, a witness concedes to being the business partner of the Trump campaign's lawyer in today's proceedings. - Adam Klasfeld

Jesus, they are like The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight.

INBOX: Rep Max Rose (D) concedes in #NY11 to Nicole Malliotakis (R)

That brings House Republicans to a net a gain of SEVEN seats and counting. Malliotakis is the 16th new GOP woman elected in 2020.

I liked this one:

Speaking of the Senate:

Are folks going to believe me now when I tell them to forget about winning Senate seats in deep red states, especially during a presidential election?

Bullock -10 Harrison -10 Hegar -10 Bollier -12 McGrath -19

Seeing a pattern here?

The video graphic says Fox News, but this sounds more like a SNL bit, back when it had good political writers.

[quote]This is one of Trump’s biggest “whistle blowers” in Michigan.

[quote]I can’t stop laughing. - Republicans for Joe Biden

Bullock’s margin was a shocker. He’s very popular.

Hegar didn’t have the best commercials but soon to be x-prez over preformed. Something is fishy about those TX numbers. When the gop screams voting fraud it’s complete projection.

Bollier was also a surprise. KS seemed like it was going to be closer.

McGrath wasn’t surprising. It’s hopeless unless your last name is Beshear.

Collins was a shocker.

I’ll never listen to a poll again. Dems need to be up 20 points in red states before I’d even get a tiny bit hopeful.

Yep Republicans stick together and vote

Republicans are better at teamwork and messaging than we are. Teamwork, well I'm not getting my hopes up. I'm with Will Rogers on this. But we can improve messaging.

But wait, r104, there's more!

[quote]Trump lawyers appear to have filed a lawsuit in the wrong court, sending what was supposed to be a Michigan suit to a special D.C. federal court that only hears monetary claims against the federal government. - Bryan Tau

Those inclined to the left aren’t predisposed to be followers. We are too independent and like to make our points. We aren’t good little soldiers willing to follow orders......to our detriment. Yet, winners of 7 out of the last 8 in the popular vote. 5 out of those 8 were big electoral wins as well. The gop margins in for wins/losses in both the popular vote and the electoral college were mostly small. They cheat to win.

AZ called for Biden

LOL FInally MSNBC calls AZ for Biden

His legal team appears to have graduated from the Trump University School of Law.

Yah, thats’ why there so smart and you cant under stand the 8-dementianal chest game their playing, r116! #MAGA lololol

The remaining total number of votes left to be counted is lower than Biden's lead. No wonder it was finally called.

Brian Williams mentioned tonight that the Biden transition team is talking to former officials in the Dump admin.

That's one way to get the 411 on where the bodies are buried.

But what about Puerto Rico, r118?!?!

[quote]Another example of why it is prudent to let the process run its course: Thousands of Uncounted Votes Found a Week After Election in Puerto Rico - Senator John Cornyn

[quote]This man is a US Senator. - Ilhan Omar

NC update: Trump leads by 71K votes.

There are potentially as many as 137,000 votes left to count, but that includes 92,300 absentee ballots that were mailed to voters but haven’t yet been received by election officials (many of them were probably never mailed back) as well as more than 20,000 provisional ballots.

It is still a question mark what the outcome may be but it may not be enough for Biden to overcome Trump's lead, but it is unclear.

Fetterman will run for Senate. He can appeal to smart working class folks, but he’s the enemy to deplorables. He won’t turn them.

Cal Cunningham was the most shocking loss to me. He was ahead in every poll for months and was running ahead of Biden.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

How many times do you have to be told that polls consistently underestimate the Republican vote in NC by 3 to 5 points.

R98 I think Maricopa came in after that figure. They're now showing that there are only 10,315 votes left in AZ.

People are joking that Trump only needs 110% of what's left ... LOL!

CNN finally called Arizona for Biden.

Will Arizona go through automatic recount though?

An auto recount is 0.10% or less in AZ,

Biden is at 0.34.

Recount requests are not permitted. I suppose a judge could order one, but Trump has no case.

[quote]An auto recount is 0.10% or less in AZ, Biden is at 0.34.

If Republicans were ahead by 0.34%: "It's not even close. It didn't even trigger an automatic recount. A decisive victory."

Democrats, ahead by 0.34%: "It was close, and we'll work with our opponent on our shared vision for all the people."

Apache 1,700 Solid D

Cochise 1,817 Solid R

Maricopa 990 Leans D

Pima 3,639 Solid D

Yuma 2,155 Leans R

10K left to count in AZ.

VERY HIGHLY unlikely the remaining votes will push it to aut-recount territory.

For those of you sitting in perplexed wonderment about where all these Repug votes (only in certain states, of course!) suddenly came from, the answer is...

THEY FUCKING CHEATED!!!

It's only a week later and its already coming out in Florida with nonexistent dark money candidates with no platforms or websites getting thousands of votes in, wait for it...Miami Dade.

They are fucking lying cheaters. We have four years to investigate 2016 and 2020. I can't wait until the analysis of this election shows the mail-in votes matching the polls but the in-person computer-based voting being way, way off ALWAYS in favor of the Repug candidate.

Dave Wasserman:

Biden just became the first presidential candidate in U.S. history to surpass 78 million votes.

Dave Wasserman:

Biden's statewide PA lead just surpassed 60k.

Can you even imagine what Trump, his minions, and his loser cult would be doing if Trump had won the popular vote by millions of votes but lost the electoral college? I can't even imagine what would be happening.

Biden is the first Democrat to win Maricopa County since Truman.

Dear President-elect Joe Biden. Please, please, please investigate Lady Lindsay and Moscow Mitch. It's obvious they cheated. It's also certain they engaged in highly controversial activities. Mitch even has a Russian oligarchs aluminum factory in Kentucky.

I don't believe him when he says no cheating or fraud occured. I think it did. I think the rethugs and their Russian assets fucked with the voting machines, hence the huge polling errors. There's no way in hell the dems cheated. They lost several house seats and they lost all the close senate races. If they cheated they failed miserably. Now lets talk about the voting machines and the hundreds of thousands missing mail-in ballots. Where did they go? How about Trump's tampering with the USPS? The rethugs are guilty. I hope if there will be an investigation that they will get caught.

Why is that idiot saying Trump is close to accepting the loss when Trump's tweets say otherwise?

Why is nobody talking about the fact that Biden is the first democrat in decades to flip Arizona. Why is nobody talking about what a huge deal this is?! FFS, give the man some credit! 75 million people voted for him, a record. Yet all you hear about is Dump claiming fraud and cheating and lawsuits. Fuck him and his supporters. Also, fuck you to all the dems who said Biden was unelectable because he was too old or too centrist/moderate. He just proved y'all wrong.

R140 It’s the tranny of high expectations. People expected Texas.

*TYRANNY not tranny I’m so sorry

I hate it when my tranny expectations are too high. Hoping for a cute ladyboy, and I get a crusty man in a wig

A tranny's tyranny is never done.

[quote]the tranny of high expectations

How DARE you steal my drag name r141!

@Morning_Joe the Democrats need stronger messages during upcoming elections to counteract Republican messages about “defund police” and “socialist”. Democrats will lose Florida again if Dems can’t counteract the socialism message.

Is Cindy McCain going to get an ambassadorship?

There is no way polls were this off. No way. Twice with the Russian asset in the Oval. They actually targeted House races this time as well. Second cycle in a row the Senate was a disappointment way underperforming polls.

This is highly suspicious given how the FREAKED OUT over mail-in voting. That spoke volumes.

Dear r141, thank you for making me LOL

And if Tranny of High Expectations were a cult or religion I would so join it.

R148 Literally what I said. I truly believe there was cheating going on, but not by the dems. The hundreds of thousands missing mail-in ballots in battleground states are suspicious, same with the possible tampering of the voting machines in Florida.

[quote]Why is nobody talking about the fact that Biden is the first democrat in decades to flip Arizona. Why is nobody talking about what a huge deal this is?! FFS, give the man some credit! 75 million people voted for him, a record.

Cindy McCain was on CNN to talk about that, and laughed when the host brought up her daughter's tweet.

There may have been cheating, but we also know Democratic turnout was lackluster in Florida and North Carolina. It wasn’t great in the Midwest and PA, despite narrow wins there

NYT: The law firm alleging voter fraud in PA on behalf of the Trump campaign has RESIGNED.

Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, the law firm leading the Trump campaign’s efforts to cast doubt on the presidential election results in Pennsylvania, abruptly withdrew from a federal lawsuit that it filed days earlier on behalf of President Trump.

R153 Did they finally realize there is no evidence hence no case?

@riotwomennn The party needs to work on messaging. And they should listen to veterans like Jim Clyburn who had warned that “socialism” doesn’t sell in the South. “Defund the police “ was also a horrible slogan to run on. They should have gotten on top of that quickly.

AZ.

R140 Depends on your news sources. I've seen a lot of talk about AZ, how important it is, and the significance of the high mobilization of the Native American vote that put Biden over the top.

The NA vote really won AZ for Biden. Trump got a significant share of the Latin vote

I'm going to refused to be embarrassed by this, but one of the first moments of grace I had in this entire weird two weeks was this tweet, from a damned PR account for a cat on Star Trek: Discovery. I saw it on Election Day, and I'm like, okay we can do this.

Parse the DHS statement [italic] very [/italic] carefully.

They said there is no “evidence” of hacking. Doesn’t mean Putin didn’t do it. (Indeed, Trump’s vehemently projected accusations of fraud strongly suggests he did.)

I’m guessing that in 2016, Putin attacked voter registration rolls. Enough last minute voters were disenfranchised to secure Hillary’s loss of the Blue Wall.

Not willing/able to repeat that trick in 2020 Putin instead assured Trump that he’d subtly turn an extra 1 or 2% of Election Day machine votes in bellwether states - Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and especially Pennsylvania -his way, guaranteeing reelection. But the HUGE (and originally unanticipated) influx of separately tabulated mail in ballots screwed that pooch.

Even though they know it’s misleading as to Russia, the DHS statement cockblocks Trump’s claims of Dem fraud and they put it out for that reason. They also did it before Trump could complete his decimation of our security agencies.

Agreed, r160.

All right, just shut your mouth right now. When you talk to me, you talk to me professionally. You don't get personal. 'I'm very proud of bein' a woman, Dr. Brewster. I'm very proud of this hospital, and you should be too. And I must tell you, that before I let it be destroyed by your petty tranny tyrannies, by your callous inhumanities, sir, I'm going to recommend to the board that you be turned out into the street. Good day, Dr. Brewster. I said good day, sir.

Yeah, it works here, too.

Thanks R161

>130 Secret Service Officers infected

Funny: just a week ago Trump was sending his minions to every corner of the country to uncover fraud. Now the mood is shifting to, "Well *ahem* let's wrap this up...". Did they uncover some sticky little Russian fingerprints on things?

Native people and Latinos turned Arizona blue, and it should remain blue since those two groups are very young.

A little humor is needed at this time.

@DouglasLukasik @neipate96 In Texas, whites voted for Trump by 67-32 and Latinos voted for Biden 62-37. Arizona whites were 53-46 Trump and Latinos 59-40 for Biden. h

That's what indicates fraud R168

How?

[quote] Sherrilyn Ifill @Sifill_LDF; Heads up. Was the Esper firing just in time for the “Million MAGA” march in D.C. on Saturday, which I now am thinking is a planned provocation to draw out opposing marchers, with the hope for violent clashes that can become Trump’s basis for calling in the military

[quote] ⁦@RonWyden ⁩ goes directly there:

Let us not take the bait....just let the MAGATs and Proud Boys do their thing. There shouldn't be any counterprotesting.

Mr. Colbert's 1,000th show

Mr. Colbert opening his 1,000th show with...

R166 I think people here are too hard on Latinos. Not all Latinos are Trump supporters, just the Cubans and Venezuelans in Florida. Most Mexican Americans probably vote dem and they voted for Biden.

R168 Thank you for that. Now can the DL cunts please stop vilifying Latinos for voting Trump.

Question from across the pond: would it require a Constitutional Amendment to put the FEC in complete charge of elections, or could it be done via Congress? It seems crazy that the methods and rules of elections are so different. And it's outright insane that whichever party controls statehouses draw the electoral boundaries.

[quote]Biden just became the first presidential candidate in U.S. history to surpass 78 million votes.

Remember how all last year the Bernie Bros. warned us that Biden wouldn't inspire anyone and voter turnout would be dismal? Boy, were they wrong. And in the end, it was Bernie's brand of socialism that turned-off Independents and Latinos and cost us the Senate and some House seats.

Bernie Bros couldn't be bothered to show up to vote for him in the primary.

Although in fairness, Bernie was a surrogate for Biden in a much bigger way than he was for Hillary. Also in fairness, how much of that is due to misogyny?

If someone's reaction to policies being pushed by someone who didn't win the primary was to go and vote for the misogynistic racist fascist, they were never independents to begin with.

R178 In fact the Bernie bros live in opposite world. What they meant to say was that if Bernie was the candidate the dems would lose badly. The idiot bernie bros still don't get that it was the fact that Biden was a centrist that led to his win.

[bold]Navarro: White House’s operating ‘assumption is a second Trump term’[/bold]

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said Friday that the Trump administration is operating as if it will extend into a second term, attempting to stiff-arm the reality of last week's election and dismissing talk that the incoming Biden administration might unwind many of President Donald Trump's policies.

“We are moving forward here at the White House under the assumption there will be a second Trump term,” Navarro said on Fox Business, echoing a refrain from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the president’s most steadfast allies. Those remarks represent a sharp departure from the electoral reality that President-elect Joe Biden was the victor in last week's presidential election, claiming at least 290 electoral votes and winning the popular vote by more than 5 million votes.

The president has refused to concede to Biden and his administration has rejected any appearance of assisting with the transfer of power while Trump’s campaign pursues a portfolio of legal challenges in a last-ditch attempt to save the president’s reelection.

“Until we do that, our assumption is a second Trump term,” Navarro said. “Any speculation about what Joe Biden might do, I think, is moot at this point.”

Navarro’s comments came in response to a question about whether a forthcoming Biden administration would reverse an executive order Trump signed Thursday prohibiting Americans from investing in a group of Chinese companies that the White House said has ties to the People's Liberation Army.

Navarro also amplified Trump’s assaults on the integrity of the democratic process after the president's election night lead in battleground states evaporated as more votes were counted.

“We have what appears, in some sense, to be an immaculate deception” the White House trade adviser said of the legal vote-counting process.

The president has been largely out of public view since Election Day, save for glimpses of Trump from last weekend's golf trip to his private Virginia club. He briefly attended a Veterans Day ceremony Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery but did not speak at the event.

And aside from frequent Twitter missives, the president last addressed the public at a fiery White House press conference on Thursday where he took no questions, repeated his attacks on the U.S. electoral system and his unfounded claims of rampant voter fraud.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Thursday did not give a timeline for when the president’s postelection public appearances will pick up but said the country will “be hearing from him at the right moment.”

Trump’s defeat threatens to overshadow Republicans otherwise strong Election Day performance, forcing the GOP to contort itself to rationalize why its downballot victories were on the level while allowing Trump and others to claim the presidential race was not.

There have been some signs that parts of the party are ready to move on. The editorial page of conservative megadonor Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Review-Journal urged Trump to drop his conspiratorial rhetoric and begin cooperating with Biden’s transition while the legal challenges play out. And some Republican senators are demanding that the White House extend intelligence briefings to Biden and his team.

Navarro....another punchable face in that administration...

Enough is enough with this shit. Is there seriously NO one who can step in and stop this madness? It’s insane

Navarro's alternative facts don't mean shit. Only diehard Magats believe Trump will have a second term.

Wishing isn't going to make it so.

These shit stains are just trying to placate the Orange Child in the White House so he's not mean to them on Twitter.

Mighty Joe is ready for action!

And yet, r186, he will inevitably be mean to them on Twitter.

It really is cultish r188. Even being yelled at and slapped around by Dear Leader is an honor to these freaks.

The GOP is the party of doing anything to earn daddy's love. (It’s almost like every male Republican was smacked around by their dads when they were kids and every female Republican was sexually abused.)

Joint Chiefs Chairman Milley lays it out for Trump.

Peter Navarro is a complete psycho. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he had raped, murdered, and buried in shallow graves throughout the DMV several young boys in the past four years.

Trump takes credit for the safety and security of this year's election. It was absolutely perfect ... except for that thing about the Democrats totally stealing it.

Trump, his administration, and the Deplorables are like hardcore New Age bigots who think that if they believe (pray?) strong enough it will come true even when truth and reality are against them.

The Mega Maga Millions march accounts on twitter have very few likes/retweets (like 1200 likes, a few hundred re-tweets), hoping that means a low turnout but who knows what they talk about on Parler or their secret fb groups.

John Wayne and Jesus are coming to rescue the election and give Trump another four years.

The White House is literally orange in that pic, R196. How appropriate.

Trump's various lawsuits don't seem to be working out well for him.

Georgia just called for Biden by CNN.

That is one ugly painting of Dump, r196.

It does capture the lovely bitterness and angry stupidity, though, r200

Now that Arizona and Georgia are called, does that mean Biden has 306 in the electoral college and Trump has 232 (the opposite of Trump and Hillary in 2016)?

Jesus looks like a gay porn star in that "painting'.

R202, YES.

... which was a MASIVVE LANDSLIDE !!! per Dump

and he didn't even win the popular vote.

306 for Joe Robinette Biden!

Yep r202, poetic justice.

That will certainly put Trump in a fine mood for his 4 p.m. presser.

Will Joe go down to Georgia to support Warnock and Ossoff?

[quote]does that mean Biden has 306 in the electoral college

He may end up getting more actual electoral votes than Trump. Trump previously won states with a total of 306 electoral votes. But two electors from Texas chose to not cast their votes for him, giving him 304 actual votes. I don't think that there will be any faithless Biden electors.

Just in time for Trump to speak at 4! Christ, what is that maniac going to say. I’m scared.

[quote]I think people here are too hard on Latinos. Not all Latinos are Trump supporters, just the Cubans and Venezuelans in Florida. Most Mexican Americans probably vote dem and they voted for Biden.

Not just in FL. Trump did well in RGV in Texas. Despite the TX polls, anecdotal reports from there were skeptical because they knew Latinos / Mexicans who were voting for Trump because they are conservative, religious, and also largely small businesses who suffered during the pandemic closedown and liked that Trump wants to keep things open. Assuming Mexicans should be anti-Rethug and anti-Trump is proving to be a major blind spot.

Oh the irony is not lost!

Biden wins 306 and Trump ends up with Hillary's number 232.

Landslide!!!!

The difference, of course, is that Trump's 306 delegates were the best delegates. The biggest, most admired delegates. Everybody's talking about this.

For reference:

From twitter:

AZ can't be recounted (Campaigns can't ask for recounts, and Biden's margin is too big for an automatic recount.) AZ gives Biden 270 EVs without PA & GA. In other words, all the litigation in PA & GA can't change the outcome.

Jimmy Kimmel @jimmykimmel

One reason Trump’s advisors are so worried he might not be able to win, is because he lost.

[quote]Just in time for Trump to speak at 4! Christ, what is that maniac going to say. I’m scared.

It's reportedly going to be an update on the Covid vaccine, for which he will no doubt be taking credit.

Biden winning Arizona and Georgia is fucking delicious. Twist the knife and watch it bleed.

I'm more interested in what that crazy guy standing at the corner yelling at people has to say. It's just as informative and grounded in reality.

^^Sorry, wrong thread.

I can’t believe Trump he is going to give a news conference. That is not gonna be a good day.

Well, where is he? Did I miss it? I want to watch him as he goes down with the ship.

First, some adderall, then the address.

Haha Nancy is waiting for Trump. Then she'll start her briefing. Lol

[quote] During Congressional orientation, several Republican leaders thought @CoriBush was Breonna Taylor.

If Trump takes questions from reporters , I bet every one of 'librul media' will ask about conceding the election.

Trump just made a speech. His hair was natural white with a slight bit of gray in the sides. I’ve never seen it that color. Looks a lot better than that piss yellow dyed crap.

I thought I read a while back that Ivanka did his hair. Does that mean Ivanka is gone? Does it mean that we are now unworthy of his best grooming efforts? Did the White House hairdresser walk off the job? Is this lack of hair dye the real reason we haven’t seen him for a week?

Somehow, that seems the most likely option. When the world is falling apart and you’ve just been fired, don’t go to work if you have a bad hair day.

For 70K, I expect much better looking hair.

R230, don’t you feel your taxpayer dollars have gone to waste? I feel like the piss yellow hair for 70K was overpriced. At least do it cotton candy pink.

Great moment on CNN just now.

Tapper asks Gloria: there have to be some patriots left in the trump White House. When do they leave?

Gloria says something and mentions the pigeon headed whore.

Jake says: yeah I’m talking about the patriots not the sycophants.

There are no patriots left in this WH.

A Michigan state judge has rejected an attempt by two poll challengers to block the certification of a Joe Biden win in Detroit, which helped carry his victory in the state. The judge also denied the request for an audit of the election.

[quote]That is one ugly painting of Dump

There is another kind?

Touché r235. I meant especially ugly.

You won't hear them say it on TV, they won't be tweeting about it, but Georgia flipping blue is scaring the ever-loving shit out of Republicans in DC. AZ

Some things you might see: doubling down on voter suppression, voter-roll purges, and gerrymandering in states with Republican governors and legislatures like GA, TX, and AZ; demonization of Stacey Abrams; a nine-state plan like Howard Dean's 50-state model for candidate development and voter registration in 2020 Red states that could go Blue.

They can try to demonize Abrams but she WON. And she ain't going nowhere. They are right to be scared. They should be looking at TX next.

Democracy

Glenn Kirschner:

DHS Refutes Trump's Claim of Election Fraud. 16 Federal Prosecutor Tell AG Barr NO Election Fraud

No recount in Pennsylvania.

[quote] Based on unofficial returns submitted by all counties, no statewide candidate was defeated by one-half of one percent or less of the votes cast, Boockvar said. That includes races for president, as well as Pennsylvania attorney general, auditor general and treasurer.

[quote]DHS Refutes Trump's Claim of Election Fraud. 16 Federal Prosecutor Tell AG Barr NO Election Fraud

[quote]No recount in Pennsylvania.

I won BIG!

Scamming his deplorables.

Trump, in part, doesn't want Biden's transition team in the WH and department agencies, and they notice much evidence of corruption and illegal transactions.

The other reasons for not cooperating are vindictiveness and denial of the reality.

[quote] Years after President Donald Trump promised to ban openly trans people from serving in the military, President-elect Joe Biden has appointed trans veteran Shawn Skelly to his transition team.

[quote] A retired commander in the U.S. Navy, Skelly became one of the first trans people to receive a presidential appointment when President Barack Obama made her a member of the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service in January 2017, during his final weeks in office. She’s also worked for the Department of Transportation and the Department of Defense

Now there’s this:

[quote] NEW - Trump has put Rudy Giuliani in charge of his campaign lawsuits related to the outcome of the election, as well as all public communications related to them

The Trump and Rudy show! Comedy gold!

Now his plans are REALLY over.

But it will be a boon to landscaping businesses, sex shops and crematoriums nationwide!

R246 that just proves this isn’t a serious thing. This is a media thing.

I think the MAGA march will be a bust. These people complain but don’t like to leave their house.

R248 He put Rudy in charge of digging up dirt on Hunter Biden during the campaign, he was serious about that. I think he’s serious about this too (as much as his tiny half-demented lizard brain is capable of being serious.)

Rudy is one of the sycophants like Navarro and Kayleigh that will egg Trump on and feed his delusions and also go out in public and repeat those delusions.

CA-39 just flipped to red. That's a net six seats lost by D and seven gained by R. Not good.

Thanks for your concern but not worried.

Reuters is reporting that Newsmax has offered Dump a tv show on their cable network.

I am not seeing Trump be a big deal after the White House, especially if he resigns to get a pardon. The media needs to stop paying attention to him when he is no longer President.

R255 What will they do for ratings then?

Cover actual news.

R257 When was the last time CNN, MSNBC or Fox News has covered anything besides Trump all day every day (and Covid)?

Bill Maher is currently slaughtering Trumps Senior Legal Advisor on HBO. BREAK OUT THE POPCORN!

R258 And mass shootings and natural disasters? That’s it.

R260 They obsess for days on end about POLICE BRUTALITY and SYSTEMIC RACISM too. Actual news? Not so much.

Those actually are news items. People need to stop drinking the Trump Kool-Aid, and I mean the entire planet. He is just an obnoxious 74 y.o. clown.

[quote]NEW - Trump has put Rudy Giuliani in charge of his campaign lawsuits related to the outcome of the election, as well as all public communications related to them

That should work out really well for both of them.

[quote]I am not seeing Trump be a big deal after the White House, especially if he resigns to get a pardon. The media needs to stop paying attention to him when he is no longer President.

I don't expect there to be very much interest in Trump once he's gone from the White House, whether he leaves under his own power or whether he's removed by a forklift. What kind of third act can there be for someone who has gained the distinction of having been the worst president of all time?

CNN: Stop the Steal's massive disinformation campaign connected to Roger Stone

Stone's political action committee launched a "Stop the Steal" website in 2016 to fundraise ahead of that election, asking for $10,000 donations by saying, "If this election is close, THEY WILL STEAL IT."

Stop the Steal briefly resurfaced around the midterms in 2018 -- with Republicans employing the hashtag during a recount in a neck-and-neck Florida race for U.S. Senate -- but it wasn't until 2020 that it really caught fire.

A Stop the Steal Facebook group was managed by a loose coalition of right wing operatives, some of whom have worked with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. The group amassed hundreds of thousands of followers in little more than a day before Facebook shut it down on November 5 -- the day after it was launched.

Also on November 5, Bannon started his own "Stop the Steal" Facebook group; he changed the name to "Own Your Vote" the following day. It was not removed by Facebook, but the social media company did later remove several other pages affiliated with Bannon.

Decker of Memetica said he watched the Facebook group radicalize people in real time during the peak of its virality. "You had otherwise normal Trump supporters who suddenly wanted to understand what was being done against President Trump in this election," he said. "And suddenly you see comments where people are asking, 'What is this QAnon thing?' 'What is red pilling?' And immediately you see all of these different users engage and share harmful, toxic conspiracy theories that they otherwise would have never seen had they not joined the group."

----- Can't link to CNN. The article has more details and is worth reading.

Linda Carter congratulating the Navajo nation for helping on flipping Arizona.

[quote]Linda Carter

Who?

The Hill: The Carter Center announced Friday it will monitor the hand recount of Georgia’s election results amid a fierce campaign from Republicans to cast doubt over President-elect Joe Biden’s victory there.

Yup. R268 the CEOs have the last say in America. They aren’t about to support a coup.

However, my favorite moment was cute pocket gay Vaughn Hillyard finally getting his moment [which was taken away from him by PA] when Arizona was called for Biden. Marry me Vaughn <3 <3

One observation though, he's not Biden's biggest fan.

[quote]Who?

Your mother bitch.

Exit poll analysis: Which voters supported Biden or Trump in Georgia and North Carolina?

Although President Trump was projected by CBS News as the winner of North Carolina, President-elect Joe Biden narrowed the gender gap in North Carolina and turned out Black voters in greater numbers – and won them by slightly larger margins – than Clinton did four years ago, and he narrowly edged out Mr. Trump among White voters with college degrees, by one point.

Those gains were not enough to overtake Mr. Trump's double-digit advantage among White voters overall, and in particular, White voters without college degrees who Donald Trump won by an enormous 57-point margin – and who comprised four in 10 voters in North Carolina. Mr. Trump also won with the strong support of White evangelical voters, voters who were most concerned about the economy, and voters who said being a strong leader was the most important candidate quality when they were deciding who to vote for.

(R271) Get in line. While Vaughan is a cute twink, he's most likely straight.

Here are the gays fighting over Vaughan on his Instagram.

ethanbroitman_ Cutie 😊

anormalturtle @ethanbroitman_ I'll fight you for him 😍

maximus_international Love the blue eyes 🔥

anormalturtle @maximus_international Easy tiger, that's my Bae 😂

After the Collins fiasco, good news for DL from Maine:

[quote]Gay Rep. Ryan Fecteau is set to become speaker of the Maine House of Representatives. Democrats nominated Fecteau as speaker Thursday, and because they hold a majority in the House, he is “all but assured” of election to the position when the House votes in December, the Portland Press Herald reports. He will be the first out member of the LGBTQ+ community to be Maine speaker and one of about two dozen to have held such leadership positions nationwide. Also, at age 28, he will be the youngest speaker of the House in Maine history.

R259 that was fucking good!!

I would enjoy seeing Vaughan in a jockstrap, as he eats Phil Mattingly’s litely hairy bunghole.

How has Kaitlyn Collins not banged half these guys? The little Brit Doctor Erin is hot as fuck too.

JFC, what is that CREATURE at R245? My eyes! My EYES!

(R279) Vaughan is over at MSNBC, so I don't think Kaitlyn would even know him. Phil, yes.

Barack will be on CBS Sunday Morning and 60 Minutes.

Fat Donnie gonna melt the fuck down this weekend, r282.

Good times!

[quote]oracle (You say Lynda. I say Linda.)

You say oracle. I say idiot.

Charles Koch's regrets: In a rare interview, the libertarian billionaire concedes that his GOP partisanship and activism badly deepened America’s divisions. As he puts it in his new book, “Boy, did we screw up! What a mess!” via @WSJ

Dana Millbank in his latest column for the WaPo notes that more than 1 in 4 voters is a White evangelical (despite being no more than 15% of the country's total population). And more than 80% voted for Trump, and were just as energized this year as any other group (accounting for the 10 million MORE votes he got this time).

[quote]White voters without college degrees who Donald Trump won by an enormous 57-point margin

"I love the poorly educated." -- Donald Trump, February 2016

Trump lawyers have abruptly dropped core claims, been admonished in court for lack of candor and even been forced to admit they had no evidence of fraud, while their client inaccurately rails to the contrary on Twitter.

Barry Richard, a veteran election law attorney who also handled George W. Bush’s recount case in 2000, said the Trump campaign's legal strategy looks amateurish and disjointed.

“This is just purely outlandish stuff,” Richard said. “But we have an outlandish president. So I guess this makes sense.”

Koch "regrets" so much that he's giving millions to the Republicans in the GA Senate runoffs.

We need some sort of deTrumpification process to clear our minds of all the lies the media and Republican party stuffed in them about Trump the glamourous genius self-made billionaire business god. Otherwise in a couple of years we're going to have yet another cycle of propaganda selling us on the idea of yet another glorious comeback.

[quote]Koch "regrets" so much that he's giving millions to the Republicans in the GA Senate runoffs.

Get 'im, greasefire!

R288 It would be great if Dubya issued a public statement telling Orange Cancer to concede.

"Look y'all, I know a thing or two about stealing elections. This election wasn't stolen."

R290, that is inevitable dude

Donald Trump was the best thing to ever happen to W Bush. Leave it to Trump to always up the stakes.

Finally, some good news for Dems in uncalled House races: Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D) is on a tear w/ absentee ballots in #NY22.

With last night’s vote updates, California just joined the exclusive “red shift” club alongside Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii and Utah (IL, MS and NY are still counting a lot of mail ballots).

I really don’t understand Americans. The GOP has proven themselves to be corrupt, craven, duplicitous and traitorous, but somehow, Americans go “meh” and give them power again. It seemed impossible, but I suppose the nation gets the government it deserves.

The road ahead will be determined by Democrats' answer to "I'm a low-wage worker who was unemployed four years ago, and I can't afford liberal policies --so I'm voting for..."

Shouldn't be difficult and would shift the topic off of unisex toilets, Main Street mayhem, etc

Here's a good article on how lopsided the EC system is. Reds can run extreme right and win. But blues have to stick just left of center to win even with their historically huge popular-vote margins.

[quote]I really don’t understand Americans. The GOP has proven themselves to be corrupt, craven, duplicitous and traitorous, but somehow, Americans go “meh” and give them power again. It seemed impossible, but I suppose the nation gets the government it deserves.

In another thread I made a point about scared white people. That is why the GOP is never going anywhere.

And a significant number of black and Latin people want to identify with the Alpha Party

[quote] I really don’t understand Americans. The GOP has proven themselves to be corrupt, craven, duplicitous and traitorous, but somehow, Americans go “meh” and give them power again. It seemed impossible, but I suppose the nation gets the government it deserves.

The same is happening around the world. People feel that things are out of control and want swift and hard action. Republicans will gladly do that. They’re fascists.

Obama White House Veterans Urge Biden To Embrace Executive Action

Emanuel, who ran the White House during Obama's window of large legislative majorities, knows perhaps more than anyone that political capital can be limited. So, he argued that Biden should pack as much as possible into executive orders. "The fewer things you have to clog up the legislative pipeline with allows you to concentrate your political capital in that legislative front," he said.

Democrats need to start identify simple wedge issues. Here’s one: Social Security taxes. Middle class people pay social security tax all year long. Rich people get to stop. Fix that shit.

Most people do not make more than $142800 and don’t even know this.

Republicans would never agree, so it would not pass. But it can drive elections. Then, the Democrats pass it and their in something like a public option. And then find another wedge issue.

Good idea bro

[quote] Middle class people pay social security tax all year long. Rich people get to stop. Fix that shit.

Middle class people are the rich. They make six figures easily. Fuck them.

I forgive the Republicans nothing. They created conditions that allowed Donald Trump to rise to the presidency. They don’t get to disavow him now. *They* are the problem, not Trump.

[quote] Most people do not make more than $142800 and don’t even know this.

The majority of Americans make $68,703.

Biden should have nonstop town halls in Midwest states.

When will people get it into their heads that Republicans haven't done well with the economy since Eisenhower. Repubs ALWAYS run the economy into the ground and it's the Dems who have to save it over and over again. Small government? Hahahaha...

But people are voting culture and tribe over the economy

Nate Cohn: Democrats *do* need to recognize just how much Trump pitch has really undermined the way they usually win elections. This has been true since 2016, but it's been obscured by the focus on Trump's appeals on race/immigration--and that liberals didn't appreciate the 'old' way.

So Democrats need to become racists. Okay.

Nate Cohn: Democrats have a really tough to choice on how to compete with a Trump-like GOP. OTOH, they appear unwilling to own the anti-Trump position on many of his favored issues--IE become a rich left-liberal party of free trade, immigration, no trade wars, various lefty social stuff

Nate Cohn: OTOH, they do not appear willing to co-opt his message, and several influential minorities of the party remain pretty committed to playing into the Trump wedge issues where the party, as a whole, realizes it's not on firm ground (defund police as one ex.)

Greg Sargent: While Biden is obviously not Bernie, he appropriated some of the Bernie/Warren progressive populist agenda. He ran on big stimulus spending, including on job creation, and on tax hikes on the rich. That's a response to both Trump's populism and his subsequent sellout of it.

I read that all the Trump lawsuits should be tossed by Friday 11/20.

I wonder if they have an internal calendar:

December: Say election didn’t go their way (not concede). Trump gives out a ton of pardons, fires more people, and appoints loyalists.

January: After GA runoff, Trump takes credit (or blames loss on cheating), he resigns. Pence pardons Trump and his entire family.

Trump moves out before 1/20, does not attend inauguration.

Progressive policies are fine on a small stage. When you go national, keep it moderate and keep it to simple kitchen table issues. Silence your crazy opinions until have people have voted. I don't care if the polls say people want a progressive agenda, that isn't how they vote. People vote on soundbites, how they feel, and their pocketbooks. I still believe things went too far after George Floyd. I do think the voters were on our side about cops murdering black people, then the progressives decided to tack on other shit that black people (at least me and the black people I know) didn't ask for and that cost us in down ballot races.

Amen. Americans might claim to support progressive issues in polls, but when they vote, they prioritize cultural identity

Also remember that the progressive and liberal label still is anathema to middle America. Many more people identify as conservative than identify as liberal or progressive. Democrats can’t be foolish and ignore this reality of self identity. Branding is everything, and the progressive label is toxic in swing states.

[quote] I do think the voters were on our side about cops murdering black people, then the progressives decided to tack on other shit that black people (at least me and the black people I know) didn't ask for and that cost us in down ballot races.

Agree,

Toxic Progressivism is the progeny of toxic masculinity.

True, Democrats could have won in a landslide in the wall occurred within the first week or so after the George Floyd murder. It was the riots and the defund the police movement that really started to turn the issue against Democrats

Nice piece from Politico on how Rudy just totally fucked Trump's legal campaign, which was a long shot to begin with.

Democrats were in a difficult spot in the wake of the George Floyd murder. Democrats feared alienating and upsetting black voters by denouncing some of the radical elements of the protest and riots, yet it was clear that the suburbs and white voters were quite uncomfortable with elements of Black Lives Matter and its offshoots. Plus, white Americans have a very low tolerance for talk about systemic racism and white privilege.

Let’s not overestimate the blowback from the protests. In the 60s or 70s, the riots would have been decisive for the law and order candidates. Yet, even Minnesota remained solidly blue.

It was used strategically R325

Take Max Rose, a veteran and first-term Congressman in NYC who was very much a moderate, one of the more conservative Democrats.

He showed up at a single BLM rally and his opponent quickly made that into "Max hates the police, he loves rioters" and spread the photo of him at the BLM rally.

His district is uber-Guido Staten Island and the GOP nutjob they had running against him won because she'd convinced voters that Rose was anti-cop in an area where a lot of cops actually live.

We are so lucky Minnesota remained blue. It has good blue dynamics, but Democrats need an action plan to keep it from turning into Wisconsin

You know, the tradition of the outgoing President leaving a letter for the incoming one is lovely.

I figured that Trump was more likely just to take a dump on the Resolute Desk, but I think we shouldn’t discount the possibility that he might just steal the desk.

The problem is that way too many people rely on precious little soundbites (based on some nefarious social media algorithm) as their main source of gathering information. And that is going on for over a decade (if not even longer).

They see progress not only as something to fear, but something coming right out of Satan's ass. Compassion is now a terrible weakness some sleazy people abuse by getting way too many abortions, or exploit socialist programs.

And you see it right here on DL where progressives should shut their dirty mouths to not piss off these legions of mouth breathers who rather vote for Trump than have some liberal Satan give them affordable healthcare (oh, no!). Once again we are being told that we need to be more conservative to please conservatives and get the them on our side which I don't think will ever happen, but hey! Let's just kick those progressives in the cuntbone, so the "moderate" Republicans will like us more and agree to work with us and Joe Biden. And if that doesn't happen at least we have shown those hippy dippy progressives who's boss. Winning!

No, we do what it takes to win

[quote] No, we do what it takes to win

Oh really? Were it the conservatives who helped Biden win, say, Arizona?

Democrats only need to make it to January 20th.

If Biden is smart, as the new Unitary DEMOCRATIC Executive, he should direct appoint Sally Yates (she has been Senate approved before) and let her 1] reinstate all the Trump fired IGs, 2] Restart every investigation that Barr shut down for Trump, 3] start investigations into Senate Republican ties to Russia.

Putting the Republicans on defense will give him time and power to run the country. McConnell will not stand up to Biden and spit in his face about making him a one-term President while he, and his thieving grifter wife, are under investigation. Biden's ultimate goal should be to wash out Trump traitors from the Senate.

I don't know how likely that is, r332, but it would be absolutely delicious.

R327, sorry to say but if Max Rose's district was cop central, why does he show up at a BLM rally? Either he doesn't know his district and the line he has to walk, or he overestimated people's capacity to resist propaganda in the age of Trump.

Dems should get smart pronto, and play the game like the Rethugs do.

Young DataLounger helping Trump

Cal Cunningham is a mess

[quote]The majority of Americans make $68,703.

I don't think you understand what "majority" means.

Democrats need to elect better leaders. Biden is middle of the road and it shows. He won in spite of his terrible ground game. People were voting against Trump more than voting for Biden.

Thankfully people showed up.

Defund the police and the Trans politics were clear obstacles. Once BLM got out of control it turned people off and it affected the down ballot races. Dems should have never allowed BLM to get out of control. The Repubes and other bad actors also hijacked the BLM in order to turn people off. The Dems did very little in reminding people this was actually happening.

Shut up with the bitching. You sound like Fox News.

What do you think Rudy’s strategy is as new head of litigation? Look for a judge to bribe?

[quote]He won in spite of his terrible ground game.

Oh, please.

Democrats unilaterally disarmed registered new voters; going door to door; having rallies; and other traditional campaign activities. It was morally the correct thing to do, but voters did not reward them for it. Doing the right thing thing sometimes costs you elections

Republicans salivated as Democrats suspended voter registration drives this year

You guys are such sore winners. Biden is going to end up with over 80Million votes and yet the tone here sounds like a loss

Because their ideology is wrong. Consumers make an economy, not rich businessmen, who are no better at planning an economy than communist apparatchiks.

Eisenhower had a highly liberal Congress directing his moves. He had no problem with 98% taxes on the rich, and the economy moved forward.

Republicans won the issue of taxation

Tbh, I hadn't done a deep dive into the numbers in #NY22 until today and kinda can't believe I'm saying this given what else happened down-ballot, but I think Rep. Anthony Brindisi (D) might be on pace to win reelection in a heavy Trump district - saving Dems a key House seat.

Once the Dems have control of the Senate, they need to go balls out and pass whatever is in their agenda. I don't want a repeat of the Obama administration where the Dems had congress for two years but were too careful because they wanted to work with the other side. Fuck that shit! They need to work like these next two years are their last. Elections are not guaranteed. The Repubes always do this. It's time for us to do the same. Expand the courts, investigate the GOP, pass a good stimulus bill, police reform (not to be confused with defunding the police, and a good infrastructure bill. Also work on 2022 starting now. We need new leaders.

[quote]Once the Dems have control of the Senate

Don't plan on that happening any time soon. The party in the White House almost always LOSES seats in Congress in the midterms. And the Democrats even managed to lose seats in the House in this election, despite winning the Presidency.

[quote]Biden is going to end up with over 80Million votes and yet the tone here sounds like a loss

Because Biden was all we got, at least until the Georgia runoffs. If the Senate remains under the turtle's control, we're going to be limited in what we can get done. Losing House seats and failing to flip any state legislatures coming up on a year when new district maps are going to be drawn didn't help.

[quote] The party in the White House almost always LOSES seats in Congress in the midterms.

Who says we are waiting for 2022 to win the Senate? We can gain control of it if we win the January GA special elections.

Why is there so little discussion of why over 70 million Americans still didn’t vote?

[quote]Because Biden was all we got

Democrats increased their number in the Senate.

And Turtle just said that is the determining factor in deciding who gets to approve judges.

r332

Cut the head off the snake first.

r308 just sounds mean

Failing to win state legislatures was the big one. Dems need to be ruthless and they need to investigate the GOP.

Part 22 is full of whining bitches

The more I see Jon Ossoff the more attracted I get to him.

@jkempcpa I knew it when the apolitical western pa guys at my local bar who couldn't be bothered to even vote for Romney suddenly joined Facebook, became full-time Trump footsoldiers, and draped themselves head to toe in Trump gear...and demanded to talk politics 24/7.

r359, it's the RACISM and White Supremacy.

Romney is a French-speaking Mormon who has nothing in common with the Trump nigger lynchers.

[quote]Who says we are waiting for 2022 to win the Senate? We can gain control of it if we win the January GA special elections.

Yeah, good luck with that.

R360, you could have made your point without going there dude

r362, methinks not.

r360

[quote]Part 22 is full of whining bitches

This is why the Repubes win. They are always thinking ahead and rarely stop to smell the flowers.

We need to asses the aftermath and work to build up for a successful 2022 and 2024. Feel good that we won, but we need to work on where we underperformed. Redistricting for the next Decade was on the line in this election, and we did not make any grounds on the states we will to battling on for the next decade.

[quote] Yeah, good luck with that.

You don't sound like a Republican at all...

But the point should be made that culture matters. Obama in 2008 masterfully diffused just enough white voters by portraying himself as a NASCAR-loving, Scripture-quoting, state fair attending, megachurch pastor befriending, can’t we all get along Midwesterner.

Trump created the Deplorable culture and never bothered to appeal to moderates or Liberals. And yet it took COVID-19 and appointing DeJoy as head of the USPS for people to show up to vote against him.

And people showed up to vote for him Too. we are lucky just enough Republicans crossed over to vote for Biden at the top of the ticket despite voting Republican otherwise

Still 48 percent of voters preferred Trump

[quote]Still 48 percent of voters preferred Trump

Many of whom would have voted for Hitler if he had an R next to his name. There are many Republicans who would rather die than vote for a Democrat. It doesn't mean they all necessarily thought Trump was a great president, or even a competent one.

Biden brilliantly portrayed himself as a Scranton kid to inoculate against charges of cultural elitism

[quote]Republicans haven't done well with the economy since Eisenhower

Remember, except for Eisenhower's first two years, 1953-55, both the senate and the house were under Democratic control. It wasn't the Republicans who created the economic growth.

Is there an actual, legit statistic how many Republicans voted for Biden?

How to win the Midwest

Exit polling is the best empirical evidence we have for how people vote it right now

I want to know about those Democratic districts that voted for Lindsey Graham.

The next President and First Lady will be a fun couple to watch.

Two people that actually give a shit about the job and about making America better, r376. Yes, it will a very pleasant change.

[quote] I still believe things went too far after George Floyd. I do think the voters were on our side about cops murdering black people, then the progressives decided to tack on other shit

Well, Defund the Police mantra didn't help, burning down buildings and keeping the city of Seattle hostage. People were on the side of George Floyd but the Dems allowed BLM free access to whatever they wanted even when it involved violence. I'm sure the far Right took advantage of the violence and mayhem but this should have been addressed more. The Dems made the mistake of not condemning the violence. If we want to win Congress in 2022, the Dems need to move more Centrist.

"The Dems made the mistake of not condemning the violence."

[quote]You don't sound like a Republican at all...

Not a Republican (have never voted for one for any office since my first election in 1974)--just a realist.

[quote]Cut the head off the snake first.

Or the turtle as the case may be.

We know Russians targeted black voters in 2016, I do wonder if it was the Russian influence which resulted in "defund the police" as the name for what is a universally popular policy. Likewise, "white privilege" - again, I have no problem with what it means, but the name almost seems designed to turn white people off.

WEHT to that Opie Taylor-looking Repub Senator who said he would "step in" if Orange Cancer hadn't conceded by Friday? Gone fishin'?

R383 Lankford wasn't talking about Dump "conceding" per se, it was about Biden getting intelligence briefings and GSA funding for transition activities.

[quote] burning down buildings and keeping the city of Seattle hostage.

Which “Seattle” are you talking about?

Must be the imaginary one,

[quote] burning down buildings and keeping the city of Seattle hostage.

Which “Seattle” are you talking about?

Must be the imaginary one,

[quote] We need to asses the aftermath

Oh, dear.

[quote]Still 48 percent of voters preferred Trump

Funny how Trump managed to get a higher percentage of votes than he's ever had as a favorability rating, or a doing a good job rating, or a 'country moving in the right direction' rating, and on and on.

THEY FUCKING CHEATED.

See also:

Lindsey Graham

Susan Collins

Mitch McConnell

State Legislative Races

The entire state of Texas

The entire state of Florida (specifically Miam-Dade)

Don't let them get away with the 'all the polls were just wrong' again! The computerized, in-person voting was hacked to a ridiculous degree. They overcompensated because they couldn't know the mail-in results. It's blatant. We have four years to find it, prove it, and fix it.

One month from today the Electoral College meets.

Trump will no longer be able to hide all the Russian intel he is blowing off.

And now for some good news from North Carolina:

[bold]Attorney General: Josh Stein is leading by more than 14,000 votes against Jim O'Neill.[/bold]

Josh Stein, the state's Democratic attorney general, saw his lead widen Friday over his Republican challenger, Jim O'Neill, Forsyth County's elected district attorney.

Several counties were still busy certifying mail-in absentee ballots and provisional ballots, but Stein was leading by 14,337 votes late in the evening. On Election Day, Stein had about a 10,000-vote lead over O'Neill.

rest of story at link

I'm glad that any state has a Democratic attorney general (I wish mine did). It's especially good news because North Carolina is Louis DeJoy's home state, which means we might see both federal and state prosecutions of that evil rat bastard.

Boies and Olson, the two lawyers on opposite sides of the Bush v. Gore case in 2000, agree that "Biden won the election" and that this year "bears no resemblance" to the Florida recount.

Isn't it ironic that after the election, all these red states are starting to issue mask mandates? It's almost like they sacrificed the lives of people in their states to appease Trump. If the Repug voters in those states actually had functioning brains, these governors would have already been tarred and feathered.

Actually Trump’s approval rating was 45-48% in Some of the last polls before the election

[quote]THEY FUCKING CHEATED.

Of course the GOP cheated. The Democrats have to go hardcore on their asses or we are toast in 2022.

[bold]Trump and GOP Are Moving to Pack the FEC With Partisans, Says Watchdog Group[/bold]

Senate Republicans plan to move forward with three Federal Election Commission (FEC) nominations next week, raising concerns that the party is attempting to pack the panel with “partisans” after blocking it from enforcing election laws for more than a year.

The FEC has been without a quorum for most of the last 14 months, preventing it from holding meetings and enforcing laws throughout nearly the entire presidential campaign. The commission faces a backlog of more than 350 matters, according to Ellen Weintraub, the lone Democratic commissioner.

Shortly ahead of the election, the Senate Rules Committee announced plans to take up the nominations of two Republicans and an independent next week, which a watchdog group warned would stack the panel with “biased” commissioners and result in “gridlock” that would leave key cases undecided.

more at link

R384 But did he do anything? Friday has come and gone.

R395 This would result in two independents, three Republicans and only one Democrat. And the Democrat and current independent are both term expired, but serving until a replacement is made - which raises the worrying possibility Trump could try to replace them too.

@ThePlumLineGS But in 2020, 50% of voters were saying the economy was good? With 8% unemployment? In 2016 the economy was clearly better off. Obama had bigger Wall St gains and faster job growth. But all we heard in 2016 was “stagnant wage growth.

Te Dems were too timid with get-out-the-vote efforts and canvassing neighborhoods.

God forbid they catch Covid-19 being outside and knocking on doors. Sheesh!

R388 yes which is why they are busy creating drama around the postal votes. Deflection.

R396 He was on an Oklahoma radio show on Friday to explain what he can do (but hadn't done), and he's getting dragged on twitter. So the simple answer is 'no.'

*National Vote*

BIDEN 78,640,128 votes (50.8%)

TRUMP 73,100,922 votes (47.2%)

Insane Clown Posse:

“I believe that Donald Trump has added to the Republican Party just as Lincoln did and Reagan did and Goldwater did,” Darrell Issa said on "Fox News Saturday." “These are lasting people still mark each of those historical figures in a very special way. And so I think when you take the party of Reagan, and then you add Lincoln, then you add Trump you get our party.”

They have litearlly nothing in common with the party of Lincoln.

It’s typical that they want to make Trump a hero - he will be remembered as the absolute worst American President.

Now that Biden is the DEMOCRATIC Unitary Executive, he can fire the FEC board and install whomsoever he wishes.

LOL

Hey R329, talking about unicorn socialism and defund the police is nothing any reasonable politician would do, unless they wanted to shoot themselves in the foot.

[quote]they wanted to shoot themselves in the foot.

Pics please.

r407, way to use Republican rhetoric (Defund the Police) to prove my point.

Mary for the win!

Again, for the people in the back...

Here's the original tweet.

[quote]Donald J. Trump@realDonaldTrump [bold]He won[/bold] because the Election was Rigged. NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn’t even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more!

R412 - all lies except for the part that HE WON!

When is Twitter going to take this motherfucker's account away? I'm tempted to reactivate my account just so I can report that tweet.

R409 is trying very hard to make sense and is still failing!

Such a gracious concession speech. It tears me up. Why do democrat presidents never concede like that?

He needs to go - willingly or bodily.

For anyone who wants to know why the Democrats lost seats in the House and didn't win the Senate or flip a single State House, Bill Maher distills it pretty well.

What Maher misses is that the electoral composition allows Republicans to be batshit crazy while requiring Democrats to be just left of center. Republicans are judged on a curve (whiteness=goodness) and Democrats are judged by the most extreme leftist activists, even if they are unaffiliated with the party.

Asymmetrical political justice is reality. I wish Democrats and leftists would just recognize that and build a strategy, rather than getting surprised by this every damn time.

Exactly. Republicans win by being far right hateful extremists. Democrats lose if they are even Slightly progressive

Dave Wasserman: If anyone thought that Kamala Harris's addition to the ticket would boost the Black share of the electorate closer to '08/'12 levels after a major dip in '16...it's pretty clear now from the county-level data that didn't happen.

like I said, NYT is going to do Trump Voter stories for next 4 yrs...on page one

Maher is a whataboutist Libertarian whose opinion is irrelevant. He can have his circle jerk with Bari Weiss, Milky Loads, and Ann Coulter - I ain't got no time for that.

Dem presidential vote margin surge '16-'20, by GA county:

1. Fulton +64,636 2. Gwinnett +56,250 3. DeKalb +49,869 4. Cobb +49,178 5. Henry +20,756 6. Clayton +14,088 7. Douglas +11,142 8. Rockdale +8,455 9. Chatham +8,415

GA's other 150 counties: -57,256

[quote]Maher is a whataboutist Libertarian whose opinion is irrelevant.

And this is why we lost seats in the House. Reasonable democrats know that everything he said was right on the money.

To be sure, metro Georgia stands out as a place where there was real Black turnout growth '16-'20, but the bigger numerical shift was suburban ATL whites defecting from Trump.

And turnout was relatively flat '16-'20 in Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Detroit, rural Black counties etc.

Wasserman: One thing that's quite clear in the places where we're already up to A-minus level turnout data (most of FL, NV, a couple of NC counties): the GOP enjoyed a pretty significant turnout advantage, even though most polls/analysts expected no side to enjoy a big advantage

I can confirm the Three Florida districts where Biden underperformed Clinton the most

#FL27 - Went from 19% win to 3% win #FL25 - Went from 2% loss to 22% loss #FL26 - went from 16% win to 6% loss

The 22 point swing in #FL26 was the biggest and doomed @DebbieforFL #flapol

Maher didn't miss that, R419. See vid below at 2 min mark. Or better watch the whole episode (it's this week's.)

What we still miss is that ordinary people don't have time to dissect which wing of the party and what affiliated or nonaffiliated group came up with Defund the police, and why shouldn't be indicative of the party as a whole. In theory, people should vote on policy and should research the candidates to see who's objectively better for them.

But people don't do that, period. The best proxy for the above which ordinary people use is what they feel is common sense to them. That's why Bill is a thousand times right.

This isn't about the racists, the white supremacists, the unmitigated deplorables. It's about the voters the Democrats lost in the last decade.

Feel bad for all the grassroots activists in South FL--they have been badly let down by local and national Dem Party strategists.

I guess our Breitbart interns realized that pushing the narrative that Trump may somehow win the election is dead and buried. Now, it's back to their favorite strategy: identity politics division, divide and conquer, etc. This is just a small preview of what we'll be seeing for the next 4 years.

Wasserman: You can also make the case that had the Trump campaign been as laser-focused on growing its voter registration in GA as it was in FL/NC/PA etc., we wouldn't be talking about Biden winning GA right now.

[quote]Dave Wasserman: If anyone thought that Kamala Harris's addition to the ticket would boost the Black share of the electorate closer to '08/'12 levels after a major dip in '16...it's pretty clear now from the county-level data that didn't happen.

I didn't support Harris in the primaries, but I am fine with VP Kamala and genuinely happy for her. From what I've seen in my little corner of the world and online is I don't think think that Kamala as a candidate ever had anywhere close to Obama like levels of support in the black community -- even though she has all the black cred. She identifies as black. She went to an HBCU and was in a black sorority. There is a saying in the black community that goes, "skin folk ain't always kin folk" and I think many black people, for better or worse, apply that to Harris.

I never want to hear the term Latinx from the mouth of a Democrat ever again.

Turn on MSNBC, it's Latinx all the time. When the next talking head or SJW says Latinx, I wish someone will ask them, "Have you asked Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Venezuelans, Cubans, Dominicans, etc. if they want to be called Latinx? Are you sure that's the way to win over these voters?"

FUN FACT: The counties won by Joe Biden generated 70% of the GDP in 2018.

One thing GA Dems have going for them is that there's good evidence the state has been moving left irrespective of the national environment. Here are the top of the ticket margins since 2012:

2012: R +7.9 2014: R +7.7 2016: R +5.1 2018: R +1.4 2020: D +.3

Would they prefer politicians who would want to put children in cages and who apply the general labels of rapists and criminals to them? Sure, "Latinx" is so MUCH worse of an offence!

The Democratic party already caters to the Center. The Dems already win the popular vote so their ideals are not unpopular.

The biggest problem facing our elections is the corruption and vote tampering that happens all over the country, especially in the South. If our elections were a fair process, Democrats would hold majorities in both chambers of congress.

R437, when you lost a chunk of that electorate relative to four years ago, you should ask yourself why instead of telling these people how they should feel.

Latinos are social conservatives. Many Latino Catholics have a more conservative version of Catholicism than other American Catholics. They are more devout and take it more seriously. They follow the church’s conservative teachings more closely.

It’s alienating to them to claim it’s really important to them to be called some woke term that is actually offensive to them. It would be like insisting that calling all Native Americans “Pocahontas” is what they really want, when they don’t want it at all. And look who Native Americans voted for. Not the Pocahontas guy.

[quote] Latinos are social conservatives. Many Latino Catholics have a more conservative version of Catholicism than other American Catholics. They are more devout and take it more seriously. They follow the church’s conservative teachings more closely.

So, the Democratic Party should become anti-abortion, anti-gay, or whatever in order to suck up to them? In that case, that demographic is lost, let's move on, and stop trying to cater to an assortment of fundies.

Hasn’t Trump already back-walked his “He won“ comment? She’s a MESS

Bill Maher is like a Gay Log Cabin Troll. It's because of the bad gays the conservatives hate all the gays and if only those bad gays would behave themselves the conservatives would love and accept the gays and welcome them with open arms. Maher singles out those Liberal SJWs for being so incredibly unreasonable giving conservatives an excuse to say "yeah, we don't like Trump, but we like Liberals even less" and it's the Liberal's job to clean themselves up and be more attractive for the conservatives. Fuck. That. How about Republicans clean up their act and take back their party from the unreasonable Deplorables? Oh, that makes me a stupid, confrontational SJW? Ok, then. I simply refuse to take the blame for whatever Trump and Fox News created. That is the GOP's problem and they complain about us Socialist Liberals all day, but Trump and the COVID-19 deaths are on their hands. They should clean up their act first then there may be ways for both sides to come together.

Even without SJWs the conservatives would come up with something why they don't like Liberals and why they will never vote Liberal. And yet Maher insists that the Liberals have to do everything to make a bipartisan relationship work? Obama did everything right while he was POTUS and yet McConnell sabotaged him at every chance he got. Fox News riled their viewers up against Obama and Tea Party hanged Obama effigies and burned them. But yeah, "we" Liberals are the problem for not reaching out.

R441, way to play strawman.

R443, where did Maher say that? Maher literally said, pack the courts and the Senate.

The Dems have to prioritize securing our elections, at least in enough states to make a difference in 2022. GO after corrupt governors like Desantis if you have to. We cannot keep allowing corruption to determine the outcome of elections.

[quote]Maher singles out those Liberal SJWs for being so incredibly unreasonable giving conservatives an excuse to say "yeah, we don't like Trump, but we like Liberals even less" and it's the Liberal's job to clean themselves up and be more attractive for the conservatives

By no means continue to think that SJW is a winning strategy. Any party who does so will find itself losing, bigly and badly,

What Maher said is have common fucking sense.

Republican Arkansas governor: "I expect Joe Biden to be the next president of the United States"

[quote] where did Maher say that? Maher literally said, pack the courts and the Senate.

Maher insisted that Democrats' message is not based on common sense in his "New Rules" segment and declared the Democrats are the Party of every hypersensitive social justice warrior woke bullshit story in the news. Being the party that disappears people (aka. cancel) (cue slideshow of various celebriets like Al Franken, Roseanne, Ellen Degeneress, and others) or tries them to apologize for ridiculous things.

[quote] What Maher said is have common fucking sense.

I don't disagree with that, but in the end Biden was elected, but Maher has nothing better to do than to say "Sure, Biden was elected but let us blame the Democrats for not being Republican enough to win in a landslide, because that's the only way to succeed in the US right now!".

R448, Democrats should take a hard look at what works and what doesn't for them. They have power over that. They don't have power over what the Republicans do or say. So the constant harping on how vile the Rethugs are is a vicious circle, we know they are, that's a given.

Lady Liberty, work your magic!

SJW is Nazi-speak for anyone who thinks a fair and just society is a good thing.

[quote] Democrats should take a hard look at what works and what doesn't for them.

Call me crazy, but I don't think calling all Democrats too woke and too liberal is a winning strategy. All it does is turn on each other for being not the right level of Liberal, start infighting and basically let ourselves we divided and conquered.

A unifying message where progress is in our reach when we act as a united front would work better for Liberals in general.

The Dems control the narrative now. Make the Republican party appear even more toxic, not a hard thing to do and then drill it into the brains of the American people until they are forced to accept it.

Dems can do a little brainwashing too....

Sorry, .... and basically let ourselves be divided and conquered.

R449, Biden won but the Democrats sorely underperformed to expectations. I think Maher speaks exactly to that.

Biden is a moderate common sense candidate. He immediately nixed the Defund the police. (That's why the attacks against him weren't "he's a socialist" but that "he has dementia and will be a puppet for the 'radical left'.) When people saw he makes a lot of sense, speaks reasonably and doesn't come across as dementia-ed, they chose him.

But the downballot candidates lost. Seems it was easier to tie them to SJW and leftist slogans. Also keep in mind that in order to win, Democrats need a good chunk of Independents.

If Biden selects the cabinet he seems to aiming for, it will (hopefully) defang the 'radical leftist puppet' propaganda.

[quote] If Biden selects the cabinet he seems to aiming for, it will (hopefully) defang the 'radical leftist puppet' propaganda.

If only Bill "The Liberal Sky Is Falling!" Maher could work with that.

Maher is just a professional instigator.

The D.C. scuttlebutt is that Mayor Pete was *this close* to UN Ambassador (which he really wanted), but it’s now going to someone else.

It's going to Beto O'Rourke.

Some of you clearly don't get it, which is fine. No one is saying betray your basic principles, but at the same time stop the crazy. You can treat people and groups fairly, equitably, and with kindness without getting offended by every goddamned thing.

What you did in high school is not an indication of who you are now, it's just not. Allowing your 3 year old son to live as a girl because one time he said he's a girl is not good parenting. Pausing Gone With The Wind or casting a black woman to play Anne Boleyn is not going to solve systemic racism. Taking the position that every joke, every look, every touch is sexual assault should be offensive to women. Canceling comedians for telling jokes should be offensive. In fact canceling anyone should be offensive.

And maybe thinking this way puts me on the wrong side of history, but I don't fucking care.

And yes republicans are going to always try and paint us as out of touch with regular people, but you know what... we don't always have to help them do it.

What rubs me the wrong way is the guys like Maher insist that we should change to get the moderate Republicans on our side. It didn't happen with Obama, it will not happen with Biden, and it will not happen when we turn on the so-called Social Justice Warriors who apparently have the power to make the entire Democratic Party look crazy and unreasonable (Really? WE are the crazy and unreasonable ones? Not Trump and the Deplorables? Oh, we have to be way, way better than them? OK then. *two thumbs up*)

R452, calling anyone to the right of AOC a Nazi, sounds like a Russian propaganda. The majority of Americans are centrists and always have been.

Calling someone a SJW doesn’t mean you’re a Nazi. It means you’re tired of extremists telling you if you’re not an extremist too, you have no right to be heard. Plenty of the minority and underprivileged people extremists claim to defend, are right down the middle of the road themselves. Many poor and minority people are social conservatives from traditional patriarchal cultures. They’re not throwing their culture away over some candidate.

Everyone on the left is on a broad spectrum, from socially conservative devout religious people, that are liberal as far as workers’ rights, minority or women’s rights are concerned, to atheists. You can’t have a significant enough number of Democrats to change anything, if you’re demonizing Democrats that have been Democrats longer than you’ve been alive. Save your demonization for the Trump party.

Extreme left wingers have been trying to define the Democrat party in their own image for years. But people were turned off from voting for Democrats by BLM, “defund the police,” and violent protesters, whether they were real Democrats or professional agitators pretending to represent the party. Shouting “defund the police” louder doesn’t do anything if people didn’t like it the first time.

I blame a lot of this on Tom Perez. He did a horrible job of defining the party, and Biden had to constantly deny things the party traditionally has never stood for, and Biden has never stood for. When you’re denying you’re losing. We lost a lot of local Congressional seats over this. And it’s given Republican momentum in some reddish or purplish states that we could have turned around down the road. Now Republicans have gained ground and it will be harder. And gerrymandered even more. It would take a very large majority to reverse a lot of Trump’s work, and we don’t have it. So it will be a very hard fight for very little progress. And we’re likely to lose even more seats at the mid-term elections. The last two years of Biden’s Presidency could be almost worthless.

Ironically, all those BLM and defund the police people will get less help than if they’d just shut up and not alienated so many potential crossover voters, that might have given Democrats a chance because they hated Trump. That advantage is now never to be repeated.

[quote] Ironically, all those BLM and defund the police people will get less help than if they’d just shut up and not alienated so many potential crossover voters, that might have given Democrats a chance because they hated Trump. That advantage is now never to be repeated.

So all these extra voters who voted for Biden are now lost, because they don't like the BLM message? Nobody voted because of the BLM message? That's your argument? For real?

Glenn Kirschner:

Lawsuits Won't Work, Faithless Electors Won't Work. It's Over. Trump Lost/Biden Won. Transition Time

Jim Clyburn told you that the majority of black voters don't want to Defund the police. If the group that is most affected by systemic issues in policing doesn't want to defund the police, listen to them.

R464, a lot of people voted for Biden but left the rest of the ballot blank, and a lot of Republicans split their vote, Biden at the top and straight Republican down the rest. If those people were willing to vote for Biden, they also could have voted for more Democrats down the ballot, if they weren’t preaching to the choir, instead of trying to sound inclusive.

R466, college educated young whites living in good neighborhoods with little crime want to tell poor people of color living in high crime neighborhoods they don’t need police. And they don’t want to listen if people on the front line don’t agree. Because privileged whites want to tell poor blacks what’s good for them, because they know better. That’s a SJW in a nutshell. Don’t listen to anybody who actually knows, because your ivory tower theories are just so much smarter than what real people can see with their own eyes.

[quote]What you did in high school is not an indication of who you are now, it's just not.

This cost Democrats crucial votes. If they don't learn from the Kavanaugh hearing, they have only themselves to blame. The attack should've been on his lies and perjury about his work at Bush's WH counsel office. That's something people understand and make sense to them.

Instead, their strategy was high school yearbooks and an allegation that was bound to not be able to be substantiated. Not that I don't believe Dr. Ford. But the reality is, that ship had sailed.

[quote]The D.C. scuttlebutt is that Mayor Pete was *this close* to UN Ambassador (which he really wanted), but it’s now going to someone else.

Getting anything should be a win for Pete.

Kamala's message to young girls and women.

It always seemed like a silly idea to make Pete UN Ambassador. Why do we do this to ourselves? Send somebody with virtually no foreign policy experience into a role like that? I know why they sent Nikki Haley, brown skin. But what a stupid way to go about staffing a post.

R469, The problem Pete has is, he’s going to be outbid by party insiders that want every one of the roles he’s qualified for. It doesn’t mean Pete couldn’t do it better than some better known Washington insider, but it does mean he doesn’t have the inside track.

Biden is going to feel he owes a lot of people that want these jobs. But Pete carried water for Biden on Fox and on television elsewhere, and he’s competent and hardworking. He deserves something too, and not dog catcher. He’s a team player. He went to Fox when others refused. And I’m sure it wasn’t fun either.

If Biden shoves him in a back corner, it’s a missed opportunity to promote a young person who can’t succeed in his red home state, and that’s frustrating for people that want younger moderate leaders in the party.

Wouldn’t it be sad to be a child in a MAGA family and see your parents run towards Trump’s car to try and get a picture of him waving? I genuinely can’t think of anything more sad.

Pete is in no way qualified for UN Ambassador, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense or any other top foreign policy job. Petistas should think about domestic policy and think smaller. I've always thought HUD makes sense for him, as a former mayor, housing and homelessness and of course urban problems are in his background.

Whatever he gets, I do think he'd be a good surrogate on various things, as he has shown on Fox

Pete is perfect for UN Ambassador. Beto can’t speak Spanish and would be an embarrassment.

How exactly is Pete perfect for UN Ambassador?

Smart, military experience, more knowledgeable about Middle East and foreign policy than most, would reassure allies and actually be good at representing a new face for America.

Biden went biking. Good to see a healthy president, unlike Dump.

Biden went biking. Good to see a healthy president, unlike Dump.

Pete can be U.S Ambassador to Malta.

It would give him time to learn Russian r476, for a future undersecretary of state position, possibly SoS.

I was thinking Pete could be better to be Ambassador to NATO.

[quote]How exactly is Pete perfect for UN Ambassador?

Pete speaks several languages fluently, has military experience and is a Rhodesian scholar.

If Pete wants to run for president again, then the foreign policy experience he would gain by serving as UN Ambassador would be immeasurable. Why do you think that Nikki Haley wanted that job?

CNN:

Obama: This is what 72 million votes for Trump says to me

[quote]How exactly is Pete perfect for UN Ambassador?

If Pete were straight and had the exact same educational background and the same work resume, no one and I mean no one would be questioning his ability to do anything he wanted in the Cabinet. In fact, they would be calling him some kind of wunderkind. This isn't Trump appointing any ole doofus he can find to important positions in the administration. This is Pete Fucking Buttigieg who is smart and talented and ready to do his thing.

Whatever problems some of you have with this man, you need to get over it.

Rhodesian Scholar?

Today finally there is no election news.

Suggesting Pete is ideal for the role of UN Ambassador because he has military experience says so much about the US's relationship with the UN.

Oh, but he's a "Rhodesian" scholar.

Pete should be Undersecretary of the Army for LGBT Personnel Policy.

After all, he was in the military and he is gay. And only a small city mayor. So let's not elevate him too highly just yet.

Let's make Pete the Director of the CIA.

Pete can still become the US ambassador of Mykonos (which would make Aaron Schock's head explode).

I thought Pete was a shoo-in for Vet Affairs, then make a senatorial run in 2022

No if Pete were straight and budding cultists were suggesting he was perfect for any role he wanted in the cabinet it would be equally idiotic.

R492 What state will Pete take up residence in for this senate run?

Indiana is so fucking red.

Trump’s election lawyer HUMILIATES herself on Fox News over bogus lawsuits

[quote]then make a senatorial run in 2022

If he is considering a run in 2022 he shouldn't be taking any cabinet posts. After four years of Trump damage, these roles need people who are going to be dedicated to fixing it, not just taking the role for a year to improve their political credentials.

Trump in Twitter:

Many of the court cases being filed all over the Country are not ours, but rather those of people that have seen horrible abuses. Our big cases showing the unconstitutionality of the 2020 Election, & the outrage of things that were done to change the outcome, will soon be filed!

What “big” cases are Trump Co. planning to file 13 days after the election? He is so full of shit.

I really don't see Veterans Affairs as a stepping stone to anything. Can anyone name someone who's ever used it as such?

The only person I even remember ever having that position is Eric Shinseki (appointed by Obama), but I'm sure that has more to do with Shinseki's testmony before the Senate when he was Army Chief of Staff, and he disagreed with Defense Secreatary Dumsfled over the number of troops needed in Iraq.

Don't know what he's talking about, R498. I'm waiting to see how the case next week in federal court pans out.

[quote]The campaign and others in the Pennsylvania case are set to appear on Tuesday and Thursday in a federal courtroom in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. There, Judge Matthew Brann, a longtime Republican, will hear arguments on a bold bid to block the state from certifying Pennsylvania's election results -- which could theoretically deprive Biden of his win in the state -- because of supposed unfairness related to voting by absentee ballot. Brann also may hear witness testimony.

(cnn doesn't link)

R500 If PA can't certify election results for Biden, they can't certify them for Dump either. He still loses.

And . . .if they both lose PA

It’ll be Trump 232

Biden 286

And . . . in the (highly unlikely event Trump were to get PA

It’ll be Trump 252

Biden 286

These are all Hail Mary lawsuits. Even if they got a judge to bite, s/he would be overturned by a higher court. It’s just political theater, like Rudy brining a wheelbarrow of “affidavits” which unfortunately I can see him doing. Amateurs.

bookmarked!

Where the voting-machine conspiracy came from:

One post on TheDonald, which seems to be like a Datalounge for Orange-lickers. From there to OAN to Twittler's short fat fingers on the phone.

In California the Dems got the majority of the votes of the state's 5 major ethnic groups.

1) 77% Latinos.

2) 53% Whites (awesome. Dems are winning the white vote once again !!!! )

3) 76% Asian

4) 83% Black

5) 59% Other (of any race)

R506, I just see that as more proof that there was cheating in other states. There was no reason to bother fucking around with California but California has plenty of white Repugs. That we won whites there but lost a ton of ground with African Americans and Latinos in other states (all swing states or states the Repugs needed desperately to hold) is absolute bullshit. Georgia is more proof. They didn't hack Georgia because they didn't realize it was actually in play.

Totally, I don't buy those numbers in Florida, Texas, and North Carolina. Who knows how many ballots were actually delivered, especially in a place like Florida and Texas where corruption is abundant.

[quote]3) 76% Asian

Yet two Democratic House seats were lost to Republican challengers who happened to be .... ASIAN.

R508 Oracle, you have to be right. Obviously, something has come up because Harris County is looking to upgrade their voting machines to machines that will allow for a paper trail. I wouldn't be surprised to hear about what they found very soon.

r497, those shitty complaints have been filed on behalf of the local GOP and the Trump Campaign.

Trump continues to believe that people believe what he says. He is in for a rude awakening on December 14th.

[bold]Lawsuits that tried to disrupt Biden's wins in four states are withdrawn[/bold]

Voters in four states who had brought longshot lawsuits to disrupt President-elect Joe Biden's win and went nowhere in court have dropped their cases Monday morning.

The cases were short-lived in Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania federal courts, and fed into a pro-Trump legal strategy that's almost certain to fail to block Biden's presidential win before the Electoral College formalized it.

The suits mirrored one another and were all backed by the law firm of a nationally known conservative attorney, James Bopp Jr. In Michigan and Pennsylvania, the cases had also gone hand in hand with ones brought by the Trump campaign.

The announcement that the voters are dropping their suits comes three days after a federal appellate court said voters couldn't bring some constitutional claims, essentially shutting down the path the Pennsylvania voters wanted to take in their suit.

~CNN

Thanks, R32.

For those of us who are utterly bewildered by all this, is that the PA lawsuit that was mentioned earlier, about throwing out postal ballots? Or is that another one? I'm losing track.

The former vice president failed to produce the massive big-city margins some Democrats expected. One reason is that Trump surpassed his own 2016 performance in many cities.

By HOLLY OTTERBEIN

11/15/2020 06:50 AM EST

PHILADELPHIA — Democrats were counting on massive big-city margins this year, hoping to avoid a repeat of four years ago when unexpectedly low voter turnout in several key cities helped Donald Trump win the presidency.

But it was suburbia — not large cities — that delivered the over-the-top margins that put Joe Biden in the White House. And in at least a handful of cities in key battleground states this month, Trump actually ran slightly better than in 2016.

Trump improved on his performance in urban areas in part because he did better in mostly white, working-class precincts where he ran strongly four years ago. And in some places, Trump also picked up slightly more votes in neighborhoods with large Latino populations and, to a lesser degree, majority-Black communities.

The results aren’t enough to signal a GOP resurgence in urban America — Biden won overwhelmingly in most big cities. But when paired with Trump expectation-defying performance in predominantly Latino areas in south Texas and Florida, it’s a warning sign for the Democratic Party in the years ahead.

Bill Maher made a case that Trump is checking off all the boxes of ways how he can still "win" through a coup. If the lawsuits don't help and SCOTUS rejects his case all he has left is a military coup, and he just fired Esper and his loyal underlings to, very likely, replace them with Trump loyalists. He is setting it all up and - hopefully - fucks it up like everything else and humiliates himself further (that loser couldn't even come up with a successful coup). But imo it shows that Trump isn't done yet and accepted his defeat.

True

Meanwhile, he's trying to enforce as many policies as he can to destroy our environment with the little time he has left.

Anyone who doesn’t think this is a coup is in denial. I’m not suggesting he will succeed — the deck is stacked against him. But make no mistake, you are witnessing the most blatant power grab ever seen in these United States of America. Be strong right now, be focused, pay attention. They’re counting on your fatigue, that you won’t pay attention.

Bill Maher is somewhat right, but I would say that the Democrats problem is messaging, not the ideas.

Why not Reform the Police instead of Defund the Police? I know that defund the police is what plays to the base and gets the protesters all excited, but it clearly scared off voters in the rest of the country. It also allowed Republicans to control the narrative. Nobody wants to get rid of police all together, but instead reform the services that they offer. But that thought takes nuance, and it is clear that vast swaths of the American public do not understand nuance. I would even bet that defund the police cost Democrats votes amongst Black and Latino communities. Polls have shown that those communities want more police presence in their neighborhoods.

The ultimate problem with progressive ideals is that they necessarily require change. Humans prefer stasis, even if change could improve their lives. The more extreme you make that change sound (Defund the Police! Abolish private insurance!), the easier it is to convince voters that it's too risky. Instead of cancel culture, why not respect culture? The message should be: treat others with the respect you would like to be afforded, not: if you don't respect me, I will destroy your life. Instead of abolish private insurance: a public option will be so affordable that you won't even want your private insurance.

The Republicans are really good at messaging, and sticking together like a band of thieves. Biden won handily, but we can't call the results in the house and the Senate of success for Democrats. I'm scared to see what 2022 looks like if we don't learn from the Republicans and get better at the game.

“Reform the police” is no better than “defund the police” because the police will take it as an affront to them and characterize everyone without a blue line flag a socialist/Commie/Antifa.

“Fund Our Communities” is better. It leaves “police” out of the slogan while suggesting exactly what should be done - fund the communities, not the police.

[quote] “Reform the police” is no better than “defund the police” because the police will take it as an affront to them and characterize everyone without a blue line flag a socialist/Commie/Antifa.

So, they can shoot black people in the back, but whine like pussies about slogans because "words hurt y'all"?

I agree with you, r521. But being morally right means nothing if you don't have the power to implement your policies.

R521 Yes. And a lot of people will take their side. Is hypocrisy in politics genuinely that shocking to you?

r532, so why should Liberals care about these hypocritical pussies who help destroy Democracy? You think some reasonable argument will draw them to our side?

Oh no, don't get them mad! You wouldn't like them if they get mad. Just let them keep doing whatever they are doing. Don't make waves, please! If some black people get shot or choked to death ... oh well, that's the price we have to pay to be protected by these brave, fine men!

Lady Liberty (and the American people) have spoken!

R524, it's not about reaching the most deplorable of the deplorable, but about the squishy middle who go either way. And there are quite a few of them. They are the ones who are persuaded by these arguments of socialism, or defund the police. We saw that in South Florida this year.

There are probably 60 million people that we will never reach, but Trump got 72 million votes. I think we could easily peel off a good portion of that 12 million with better messaging. It's not about changing our principles, it's about changing how we present them. And if we don't do that, after 2022, we are going to have a lame duck president when we lose the house. And then nothing will change.

R521 doesn’t get politics.

R524 At some point you're going to have to realise you need to fight elections based on the electorate which actually exists, rather than the one you wish existed.

Protesting/Rioting/Marching in 2020 changes NOTHING.

Voting in 2020 (and the future) changes EVERYTHING.

When will they (youth, minorities, etc.) learn? They march but still don't use the power of their vote. Until they figure that out, they will continue to suffer.

I hope next year on Jan 20th someone in the WH takes a picture of all the orders to be reversed sitting on Pres. Biden's desk.

LOL!

Trump bureaucrat blocking Biden transition team is job hunting

[quote] At some point you're going to have to realise you need to fight elections based on the electorate which actually exists, rather than the one you wish existed.

Black people stood in line for hours and hours to vote against those who wanted to suppress their votes. They gave the win to Joe Biden.

Now you're telling them "Fuck you, we rather take our chances winning the electoral vote by sucking up to the Republicans!"? Yeah, really smart move.

Most Black people are against Defund the Police and radical leftists. We are a politically pragmatic and centrist people

[quote] We are a politically pragmatic and centrist people

Oh, brother.

I need a stand-in when productions re-start. Call me, Emily.

[quote]The Republicans are really good at messaging, and sticking together like a band of thieves.

This is the most important lesson that we can learn from Republicans. Democrats need to vote every single election and we need to stop criticizing fellow Democrats. If a candidate has a "D" next to their name on the ballot, then we have to vote for them no matter what. That's the only way that we can take control of all branches of government.

As for messaging, we need to dumb it down and get to the point. Most voters are just plain stupid and don't pay attention to the finer details, so we need to break it down to: If you don't vote this way, you will die!

A Wisconsin recount will cost Trump $7.9 million.

R532 that pig won’t be able to show her fat face in DC ever again. She needs to fuck off back to Kansas and eat herself into an early grave.

[quote] As for messaging, we need to dumb it down and get to the point.

But doesn't that imply that Democratic voters are as dumb as Republican voters who watch Fox News all day or get their news now from Q-Anon?

I believe that Democratic voters like it even less when people talk to them like they are simple minded children than the mouth breathing Deplorables.

Get in touch, Emily! We're looking for a spokesmodel.

[quote]A Wisconsin recount will cost Trump donors $7.9 million.

FTFY.

You know damned well he's not going to be the one paying.

R532 - didn't the Trump administration say that if they catch anyone looking for a new job that person will be fired. Uh-oh! That would be one way to hold up the transition further.

R533 If that's really what you took away from my post then you're too fucking dumb to get involved in politics.

The WI recount has to be paid for upfront. The deadline to request and pay is Wednesday. We’ll see what happens.

[quote]A Wisconsin recount will cost Trump donors $7.9 million.

Perfect! It just so happen's i'm wating on $8million dollar's thats suppose to be deposset in my prepayed creditcard acount as soon as my nigirian Princes kid naper's let him go!!

#MEGA

Lololol....he does NOT have the money, Mr Billionaire’s pockets are empty.

R543, maybe they’ll fire her and maybe the next one in line is closer to reality, or at least open to the possibility.

R532 She'd do well in Billing; she might be able to out-cunt Ginny!

She should only suffer Ginny's fate r549.

When you think of the polls, 2018 was pretty spot on while 2016 and 2020 were outliers. What do these two years have in common that 2018 doesn't?

Trump was on the ballot.

It could be that Trump is a unique skewing factor because he managed to activate voters who the polls can't capture (because they are non-voters, lie to pollsters, etc.) -- or there was Trump-centric voter machine hacking and vote changing. Or a combo of the two.

Bright spot for the Democrats - as well as poll accuracy -- is that it seems both have better prospects with Trump not on the ballot.

Conclusion: Make sure his ass doesn't run again by putting him in jail.

R551, that’s a really interesting observation that I never thought about — I think you’re spot on, it’s a very useful data point.

Maybe there is some kind of Bradley effect with Trump.

On the other hand, I doubt that Democrats would've voted in such large numbers and early had he not managed to be the most reprehensible candidate in the history of the country. And, unlike 2016, everybody knew what he is all about this time around and a lot of people realized they cannot be complacent and count on others to vote him out.

The bad news is that Trump might be on the ballot in 2024

All along, Trump and his campaign have believed there were more blue collar white votes out there they file activate to vote. Pundits thought he was crazy, but he was correct.

Trump is Jesse Helms on a national level, except dumber and less politically conventional

This IS an attempted coup. A bad one, but we need to call it what it is. The Georgia SOS said that none other than Lindsey Graham asked him to throw out ballots

[quote]All along, Trump and his campaign have believed there were more blue collar white votes out there they file activate to vote. Pundits thought he was crazy, but he was correct.

It's a fact that almost half (give or take) of eligible voters don't vote. This is a huge pool to mine.

It was said that Trump brought non-voters to the polls in 2016. So if the pundits didn't consider the same possibility in 2020, they have only themselves to blame.

After these statements, the Georgia SoS should hire personal security pronto.

Rethugs never have to explain the dissonance between their slogans vs their reality.

They scream Democrats will raise taxes but most working class people do BETTER under Democrats. Yet they continue to stay "on brand" and insist Democrats destroy everything and the majority of people never question it.

Dems need to hire a PR firm. The DNC needs to hire a PR firm or a brand executive and get on board with a slogan. It doesn't matter if the slogan is a lie or not.

It just needs to fit on a bumper sticker and everyone needs to repeat it endlessly.

Once we get the majority, fix the shit with NO APOLOGIES or explanation.

Hiring PR is fine but it wouldn't work if you don't get ALL your people on message, this includes Congressmen, State Democrats, local Democrats, spokespeople -and their little dogs too.

Remember how post-2018 election every Congress Democrat was saying "we can walk and chew gum at the same time"? So it's not like they can't but someone needs to bring the fear of god (aka election loss) in them and keep them all on message 100% of the time.

r551, we will see if there is another Blue Wave in 2022.

The only variable is Trump.

R556 - that is a theory, but it's no more likely than having lots of "help" tossing voter registrations for voters who will vote for your opponent or even flipping votes for your opponent to you (as was reported in the Beto/Cruz run in Texas). We saw a record voter turnout overall this year - yet suspiciously the big cities needed for Dem votes in key states seemed to vote at record low levels (Miami, Philadelphia, etc.). This doesn't make sense and needs to be looked into. There are only two things that I can say without a shadow of doubt when it comes to the GOP. First, I admire their cultish devotion and second - they CHEAT every which way from Sunday.

R564 Exactly. We KNOW the big cities were motivated as was everybody. How did so many crucial big cities all in swing states how lower turnout? The suburbs pulled this out for us but we must get to the bottom of this curiousness. Mail in ballots also saved us. When republicans flipped out over this I knew they were cheating. IT IS OBVIOUS!

R563, We don't know yet what the polls will say in 2022.

Hopefully Dems will buck the usual trend that the party in power loses seats in the midterms. 2018 was on trend in this respect.

R565, I think it reflects lackluster enthusiasm for Biden among young urban people of color. We knew this was a problem months before the election

R567 No

Suburban turnout pushed Joe Biden to victory

Surging Democratic turnout in swing-state suburbs carried Joe Biden to the US presidency, according to a Financial Times analysis of detailed election results from thousands of voting precincts.

R567 - I 100% do not agree with this assessment. The youth of all colors have never been more motivated AGAINST any candidate than they have been to oust Trump and his minions in the Senate. I'm not buying that theory at all. Once GOP politicians stop fighting transparency into securing fair elections, I might start listening. Until then, this sounds like a cover-up and a bad one at that.

R570, polling has reflected lackluster Democratic support among young blacks for a while

Utah’s only Democrat in Congress admits defeat.

Channel 12 News Phoneix reporter tweets late this afternoon:

[quote] UPDATE/2 Maricopa County will certify results as planned by Thurs/Fri, per board spox. "Evidence overwhelmingly shows election was accurate." Board will have formal response to Biggs/Schweikert/Gosar call for hand count of all 2 million ballots cast, "just not today."

[quote] Democrats need to vote every single election and we need to stop criticizing fellow Democrats.

Tell it to AOC & Tlaib. They will not be silenced.

State GOP lawmakers say they'll seek to impeach Whitmer

R571 - I will repeat myself again: "Once GOP politicians stop fighting transparency into securing fair elections, I might start listening. Until then, this sounds like a cover-up and a bad one at that."

Democrats are too nice. They think if they play by the rules, then everyone else will. Republicans will actively cheat and lie, and say or do ANYTHING to stay in power. It’s also not helpful that BLM protesters are throwing fireworks at people. That just makes Democrats look crazy when they don’t condemn it.

R577 It isn't helped by the fact that whenever Democrats get in power they don't do a single thing to punish Republicans for breaking the rules. Instead we have to sit through months of "it's time to come together" bullshit and watch as Democrats reach out and try and act in a bipartisan manner, despite the fact it's obvious the GOP will never reciprocate.

And given this, why should the Republicans stop cheating? If they keep getting away with it, why wouldn't they keep doing it? We should be hearing Dems talk about giving controls of elections to an independent body, and creating a similar independent body to ensure standards in public service are maintained - and make the Inspectors General independent too whilst you're at it.

We definitely need to stick together; however, I hope we always encourage open discourse among ourselves. It is one thing that separates us from the Republican's hive mentality.

Clown Show

The good news is that the Democrats have secured a majority in the house. The bad news is that it's going to be a very slim majority.

Fuck.

So. Much. Cheating.

We hang onto every word our bumbling fuhrer says!

In the incoming Senate, Democratic senators will represent at least 20,314,962 more people than their Republican counterparts.

Democrats defeated Republican senators in Arizona and Colorado this year, while Republicans gained a Senate seat in Alabama.

That means that Republicans will control at least 50 seats in the incoming Senate, out of 100 total, assuming Republican incumbents Sens. Thom Tillis (NC) and Dan Sullivan (AK) keep their seats, as seems likely. Both of Georgia’s Senate seats are likely to be decided in runoff elections in January.

Wins in North Carolina and Georgia would give Republicans the Senate majority — something they would hold only because Congress’s upper house is malapportioned to give small states like Wyoming exactly as many senators as large states like California, even though California has more than 68 times as many people as Wyoming.

In the incoming Senate, Democratic senators will represent at least 20,314,962 more people than their Republican counterparts — and that’s if we assume that Republicans win both runoff elections in Georgia. If the two Georgia seats go to the Democrats, the Senate will be split 50-50, but the Democratic half will represent 41,549,808 more people than the Republican half.

I derived these numbers using 2019 population estimates by the United States Census Bureau. In states where both senators caucus with the same party, I allocated the state’s entire population to that party. In states where the Senate delegation is split, I allocated half of the state’s population to each party. Although Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Angus King (I-ME) identify as independent, both Sanders and King caucus with Democrats. So I coded them as Democratic senators.

One other fact is worth noting. In the current Senate, Democrats control a majority of the seats from the most populous half of the states (26-24). Republicans owe their current majority to a crushing 29-21 lead in the least populous half of the states. In the new Senate, Democrats will control between 27 and 29 seats from the most populous half, depending on who prevails in the Georgia runoffs.

Republicans, in other words, would not be in the majority now — and they certainly would not be in the majority next year — if not for malapportionment.

The implications of this malapportionment are breathtaking. Among other things, Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett were all nominated by a president who lost the popular vote and confirmed by a bloc of senators who represent less than half of the country. If the United States chose its leaders in free and fair elections, none of these individuals would serve on the Supreme Court — and it is likely that Democratic appointees would have a majority on the Court.

Similarly, if Republicans control the Senate in 2021, the GOP will have the power to prevent Joe Biden from confirming a Cabinet, to block everyone Biden nominates to the federal bench, to prevent Biden from signing any legislation, and even to shut down the government.

This is not what the American people voted for in November. But it is what a deeply broken Constitution, which effectively gives extra Senate seats to white conservatives in small states, has given us.

[quote] r. It’s also not helpful that BLM protesters are throwing fireworks at people.

Are they really BLM? Or are they a group of mentally ill idiots being run by some Roger Stone-type ratfucker who hires right wing bugaboo boys to play “leaders” of these groups?

Is there an actual BLM? Or is it random over-emotional college students? Because if BLM has a leader, the Dems need to hold talks and say “We hold power now. Back off. You now become like every other group who wants to be heard by the establishment & play by our rules or we'll find out every infraction you’ve ever committed and blow it up into a story that discredits your entire organization in all media.”

[quote]Because if BLM has a leader,

They don't.

It's a movement, not an organization....

It’s becoming a turnoff.

At least we got rid of one big turnoff: Trump.

Now, if we could only get rid of his supporters, too.

Sorry,,

Now, if only we could get rid of his supporters, too.

I never in a million years would have expected Georgia to go for Biden. It gives me hope that we'll win those two Georgia senators in the upcoming election. That would make Itch McCuntall's hands turn blue again for sure.

Without Trump a good part of his cult will not show up to the polls.

Does anyone else still feel uneasy about all of this? I’m not celebrating yet.

[quote]Because if BLM has a leader,

Sure it does! Although I believe the position is currently vacant.

YES R594, I won’t relax until the Inauguration and GA is over. They are capable of anything. Literally ANYTHING,

All Wisconsin counties have now canvassed and certified their results.

All these top Republican politicians, particularly Senators, behave as if they are being blackmailed. Trump via Putin and/or Pecker must have files of dirt on a number of them, being sexual behavior, financial bribes, or other illegal activity. This information could have been collected for years.

They all know Trump lost and Biden won legitimately and handily. They are afraid and it is not just about Trump's base.

Lindsey Graham, who is not from Georgia, is pushing to discredit targeted, legally cast votes in Georgia. Either it is extreme affection for Trump or Senator Graham is scrambling to keep secrets hidden. If it all basically political gamesmanship, it shows another example of a lack of a moral compass.

R598 deserves twenty W&Ws.

Louis Gohmert of Texas (I apologize, y'all), is pushing a claim that the U.S. military seized 7 election servers from Scytl in Germany.

Reuters fact check says no, nope, no way.