Political Cartoon is by Alexandra Bowman at alexandrabowmanart.com.
Thursday, October 29, 2020
Wednesday, October 28, 2020
Texas Is Headed For A Record Election Turnout This Year
In the first 14 of 18 days of early voting in Texas, 6,925,900 people have voted in person and 877,690 mail-in ballots have been received. That makes 7,803,590 votes that have already been cast in this election.
That's only about 1.1 million votes short of the total 2016 election votes (which was a record for a presidential election in Texas). With 4 more days of early voting, mail-in ballots continuing to arrive, and Election Day voters yet to be counted, it undoubtably will be a record voter turnout in the state for this election.
Three New Polls Have Biden With A Large Lead
The charts above reflect the results of three new national polls. All have Biden with majority support and a significantly large lead.
The Yahoo News / YouGov Poll was done between October 23rd and 25th of a national sample of 1,500 registered voters, with a 3 point margin of error.
The CNBC / All America Poll was done between October 21st and 24th of a national sample of 800 registered voters, with a 3.5 point margin of error.
The Public Opinion Strategies Poll was done between October 5th and 8th of a national sample of 1,000 registered voters (no moe given).
Schumer Promises Change/Progress If Democrats Elected
Change is hard, but it is never impossible. Unlike some countries around the world, when politicians in America fail to rise to the occasion, we have a way to replace them: elections. On Nov. 3, Americans will have a chance to exert their power, refresh the body politic and move our country in a dramatically different direction.
Given the gravity of the issues facing our country, the Senate must confront the deep-seated problems of racial injustice and redeem our nation's promise of equality, fairness and opportunity for all people — immediately.
The direction of our country will thus be shaped by the leaders we select.
I am committed to ensuring the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in the Senate. This legislation, developed by Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., as well as the Congressional Black Caucus, would ban chokeholds, "no knock" warrants and racial profiling while creating new tools at the state and federal levels to reform police departments engaged in systemic misconduct. It would also make it easier for Americans to hold individual officers accountable when those officers violate people's constitutional rights.
The challenges of racial injustice, though, extend far beyond law enforcement. More than half a century after the Voting Rights Act was signed into law, Republicans are still finding ways to make it harder for Americans of color to vote. In the wake of Shelby County v. Holder, Republican lawmakers have instituted draconian voter-identification laws, eliminated polling locations in the most diverse neighborhoods, purged voter rolls and drawn congressional districts with the explicit purpose of limiting the influence of African American and Hispanic voters.
We must put a stop to all forms of voter suppression by passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Finally, we must open the doors of economic opportunity to communities that have suffered from discrimination and underinvestment for decades. Democrats this year unveiled the Economic Justice Act, a $350 billion investment in child care, mental and primary care and new job opportunities for Black communities and other communities of color. I will work to get legislation passed that would invest — substantially — in communities that have been ignored for far too long.
Faced with a national reckoning over issues of civil rights, voting rights and racial justice, Senate Republicans squandered a historic opportunity to move our country closer to its highest ideals. It can feel disheartening that progress, so long delayed, has been delayed once more.
But you have the power to change that.
In a much different era, bus boycotts, lunch counter sit-ins and a march from Selma to Montgomery shook the conscience of the nation and propelled President Lyndon Johnson and a bipartisan majority in Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act — proving that when we give "the best that all of us have to give," progress is possible.
As our country confronts this once-in-a-generation pandemic and our voices are again shaking the conscience of the nation, we must take up the generations-long struggle for racial justice and equality. I and my colleagues are prepared to do it with bold and far-reaching legislation.
So don't lose hope in the fight for racial justice. Vote.
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
The New Surge Of Coronavirus Cases Won't Help Trump
The chart above (from Axios.com) shows one more thing working against Trump's re-election. Trump needs to carry all the states he did last time to be re-elected. The loss of one of the swing states he barely carried last time would mean defeat in the electoral college.
But the public believes he mishandled the Coronavirus pandemic, and they no longer believe what he is telling them about it. On top of that, there is a new surge of cases of the virus -- and much of it is in states he badly needs. States like Wisconsin (where the number of cases has climbed by 122% in the last four weeks), Pennsylvania (cases up by 117%), and Michigan (up by 162%).
Trump has been telling voters that we have "turned the corner" on the virus, but this surge just shows he is lying.
Is The Republican Party Being Destroyed By Donald Trump?
But those opponents weren't wrong. It has just taken a bit longer than expected.
I recommend you read the entire editorial, but here is just a tiny part of what the editorial board of The New York Times has to say about Trump killing the Republican Party:
Of all the things President Trump has destroyed, the Republican Party is among the most dismaying.
“Destroyed” is perhaps too simplistic, though. It would be more precise to say that Mr. Trump accelerated his party’s demise, exposing the rot that has been eating at its core for decades and leaving it a hollowed-out shell devoid of ideas, values or integrity, committed solely to preserving its own power even at the expense of democratic norms, institutions and ideals.
Tomato, tomahto. However you characterize it, the Republican Party’s dissolution under Mr. Trump is bad for American democracy.
A healthy political system needs robust, competing parties to give citizens a choice of ideological, governing and policy visions. More specifically, center-right parties have long been crucial to the health of modern liberal democracies, according to the Harvard political scientist Daniel Ziblatt’s study of the emergence of democracy in Western Europe. Among other benefits, a strong center right can co-opt more palatable aspects of the far right, isolating and draining energy from the more radical elements that threaten to destabilize the system.
Today’s G.O.P. does not come close to serving this function. It has instead allowed itself to be co-opted and radicalized by Trumpism. Its ideology has been reduced to a slurry of paranoia, white grievance and authoritarian populism. Its governing vision is reactionary, a cross between obstructionism and owning the libs. Its policy agenda, as defined by the party platform, is whatever President Trump wants — which might not be so pathetic if Mr. Trump’s interests went beyond “Build a wall!”
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