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2024-11-15 00:56:51

@nprofile…twuc
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A cartoon by Pedro Molina. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/14/2286012/-Cartoon-Explain-away?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-11-15 00:56:51

@nprofile…twuc
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A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. So much for a tight ship: Trump's already running over his chief of staff Wonder how long she’ll last. Trump picks RFK Jr. and his brain worm to be in charge of your health A bear-corpse collector could soon run America's public health systems. What a coincidence! Matt Gaetz resigns right before scandal explodes Does he know they background-check Cabinet members? Republican lawmakers 'shocked' that Trump is still Trump The party-over-country people are surprised by the man leading their party. So Lauren Boebert is investigating underwater alien bases now Priorities! Congress has thoughts on Matt Gaetz as attorney general and—yikes! Will he even make it to the confirmation hearing, much less through it? Alex Jones literally owned by the libs now Couldn’t have happened to a worse guy. Melania Trump skips White House visit—and may not go back at all But who will fill the White House with creepy Christmas trees next year?? Cartoon: Tom the Dancing Bug looks at reducing, reusing, and recycling in Chagrin Falls, USA Google: Don’t be evil environmental. RFK Jr. thinks he's in charge of staffing Trump administration Kennedy really wormed his way into Trump’s inner circle. Rudy Giuliani's lawyers ditch the disgraced Trump toady A noun, a verb, and no lawyers. Journalists begin new exodus from Elon Musk's X The site’s sketchy new terms of service take effect on Nov. 15! Click here to see more cartoons. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/14/2286305/-The-Recap-The-Onion-buys-Infowars-Gaetz-buys-a-ticket-out-of-Congress?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-23 19:50:01

Here's why Trump's Hitler praise is so dangerous, according to Harris
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Kamala Harris spoke from the steps of the vice president’s residence on Wednesday about the disturbing report concerning Donald Trump’s praise of Adolf Hitler and his desire for a Nazi army. "He said he wanted generals like Adolf Hitler had,” Harris remarked. “Donald Trump said that because he does not want a military that is loyal to the United States Constitution,” she said, referring to recent interviews with Trump’s White House chief of staff John Kelly. “[Trump] wants a military who will be loyal to him personally, one that will obey his orders even when he tells them to break the law or abandon their oath to the Constitution of the United States,” the vice president said. Harris also spoke about the numerous instances where Trump has commented on fellow Americans being the “enemy within”—threatening to use the military against his perceived opponents. “Anyone who refuses to bend a knee or dares to criticize him would qualify in his mind as the enemy within,” Harris explained. "This is a window into who Donald Trump really is,” Harris said, reminding Americans that multiple former Trump administration officials have publicly spoken out against Trump’s pursuit of a second term in office. "Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged and unstable, and in a second term people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guard rails against his propensities and his actions,” Harris warned. “Those who once tried to stop him from pursuing his worst impulses would no longer be there, and no longer be there to rein him in.” YouTube Video “So the bottom line is this: We know what Donald Trump wants. He wants unchecked power,” Harris said. “The question in 13 days will be, what do the American people want?" Let's get to work electing Kamala Harris our next President! Sign up for as many shifts as you can between now and November 5 to talk with progressive voters in key states who might not turn out without hearing from you!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/23/2278960/-Here-s-why-Trump-s-Hitler-praise-is-so-dangerous-according-to-Harris?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-23 17:50:01

Fox News: Maybe Trump didn’t realize Nazis were bad
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Donald Trump's favorite morning show beclowned itself once again on Wednesday morning, when "Fox & Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade defended Trump for reportedly saying that he needed "the kind of generals that Hitler had." In his embarrassing screed, Kilmeade said Trump was righteously angry that some of his generals refused to carry out his will—even though some of the things Trump wanted them to do were insane and illegal, such as using the military to shoot protesters at the White House in 2020. That lamentation led up to the pièce de résistance, in which Kilmeade said, "I could absolutely see [Trump] go, ‘Now you know what, it would be great to have German generals that actually do what we ask them to do’—knowing that's a third—maybe not fully being cognizant of the third rail of German generals who were Nazis and whatever." YouTube Video It goes without saying that probably everyone is cognizant of the fact that Adolf Hitler and his generals were bad. Together, they helped carry out one of the worst genocides in history in their effort to ethnically cleanse the world of Jews, LGBTQ+ people, other ethnic minorities, and anyone who disagreed with their goal. To even make the assertion that Trump maybe didn’t know Hitler and his generals were bad is absurd enough. But Kilmeade’s defense that maybe Trump wasn’t speaking about Hitler’s generals per se is just false. John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff who went public on Tuesday about Trump’s fascist behavior and praise of Hitler, said that Trump specifically wanted to have generals like Hitler. The Atlantic: This week, I asked Kelly about their exchange. He told me that when Trump raised the subject of “German generals,” Kelly responded by asking, “‘Do you mean Bismarck’s generals?’” He went on: “I mean, I knew he didn’t know who Bismarck was, or about the Franco-Prussian War. I said, ‘Do you mean the kaiser’s generals? Surely you can’t mean Hitler’s generals? And he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, Hitler’s generals.’ I explained to him that Rommel had to commit suicide after taking part in a plot against Hitler.” Kelly told me Trump was not acquainted with Rommel. Remarkably, this also wasn’t the only time Trump praised Hitler’s leadership. Kelly also told media outlets that Trump said Hitler “did some good things.” (This was first reported by CNN’s Jim Sciutto, in March.) “I said, ‘Sir, you can never say anything good about the guy. Nothing,’” Kelly recalled telling Trump. Trying to put Trump’s disgusting comments into context in an effort to sanitize them and erase their shock value is par for the course for Trump’s nihilistic defenders. They don’t want voters to internalize the warnings from multiple former Trump aides, like Kelly, who are warning how dangerous a second Trump term in office may be. But even some Republicans have had enough. “This… is insane. Hitler’s generals carried out GENOCIDE,” wrote Republican strategist Sarah Matthews, who has endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. “Republicans: STOP defending this. This is not normal. There is no way to spin this.” Looking to volunteer to help get out the vote? Click here to view multiple ways you can help reach voters—textbanking, phonebanking, letters, postcards, parties, canvassing. We’ve got you covered!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/23/2278905/-Fox-News-Maybe-Trump-didn-t-realize-Nazis-were-bad?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-23 17:05:02

Harris could benefit from this key voter group—and a good news cycle
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Swing-state polls show that 2-5% of the electorate remains undecided. Yes, that crowd is infuriating, but they exist, and if they vote, they can decide the election. Good news: They appear to be breaking toward Vice President Kamala Harris. Released last Friday, an Emerson College poll of likely voters gives Harris a 49-48 national lead over Donald Trump, but more interesting were the numbers about when respondents made their decisions. “Voters who made their decision on who to support over a month ago break for Trump, 52% to 48%, while voters who made up their mind in the last month or week break for Harris, 60% to 36%,” reported the pollster. “The three percent of voters who said they could still change their mind currently favor Harris, 48% to 43%.” It makes sense that late-breakers would trend Harris. Trump is a known quantity, and people’s opinions about him are extremely polarized. But we have more data validating this bit of common sense (or is it an educated guess?). I wrote Monday about a battleground poll conducted by The Washington Post and the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. It showed that 21% of likely voters were “uncommitted,” meaning they were either truly undecided or leaning one way but willing to change their minds. Those numbers included registered 43% of 18- to 25-year-olds and 34% of registered voters of color—two demographics that lean heavily Democratic. Of course, not all of them will vote—they are unenthusiastic voters, after all—but they offer Harris a growth opportunity compared with Trump. The news cycle should prove brutal for Trump in the coming week: Retired Gen. John Kelly, Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, went on the record with The Atlantic on Tuesday, saying that Trump praised Adolf Hitler so much that Kelly had to tell him, “Sir, you can never say anything good about the guy. Nothing.” There is a growing movement to get Kelly to host a press conference to communicate his experiences with Trump directly to the American people. That could be one hell of an October surprise. And yes, the story is getting heavy media coverage. From that same Atlantic story, we learn that Trump promised to pay for the funeral of a murdered Army soldier. But when he found out the price tag, he reportedly said, “It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a fucking Mexican!” He then barked an order: “Don’t pay it!” Spanish-language media is already all over it. The Army was ordered to release records related to Trump’s disrespectful Arlington National Cemetery visit in late August. Taken in tandem with the previous bullet point, all of this is giving new life to Trump previously calling our service members who lost their lives in combat “losers” and “suckers.” Trump is clearly operating on fumes and the final shreds of his sanity. We’re apt to get many more “Arnold Palmer” moments, and whatever the hell this is: Trump: I'm looking at the screen, I'm seeing this 20 story huge tube pouring down on fire at, you know, fires pouring out of it and it used to be white, but the heat is thousands of degrees coming down, they say thousands and thousands, so it's been beat up in that trip down, and… pic.twitter.com/2dcbnSceEX— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 23, 2024 In 2016, it was the late-breaking letter from then-Director of the FBI James Comey that helped doom Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid. But there looks to be nothing like that in store for Harris, who isn’t just squeaky clean but also hasn’t been around long enough for Republicans to invent scandals out of thin air. The focus should be on Trump and his cognitive decline, his racism and sexism, his violent rhetoric, his openly shared dictatorial aspirations, and all the ways in which he is among the nation’s most horrible people (even as Elon Musk gives him a run for his money). It’s our job to help bring this thing home. Let’s do it. We need your help if we’re going to defeat Trump, Vance, Project 2025, and Republicans up and down the ballot. Click here to volunteer to write letters so we can increase voter turnout.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/23/2278821/-Harris-could-benefit-from-this-key-voter-group-and-a-good-news-cycle?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-23 16:05:02

You won't believe some of the names rumored for Trump's Cabinet
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Former President Donald Trump is reportedly considering Judge Aileen Cannon to be his attorney general, ABC News reported, putting someone who has taken overt steps to ensure Trump faces no consequences for his illegal actions at the helm of the Justice Department. Cannon is the Trump-appointed federal judge who deliberately sabotaged special counsel Jack Smith's classified documents case against Trump, which alleged that Trump improperly retained classified documents from his time in the White House, and then obstructed justice during the federal government's attempts to get the documents back. She absurdly ruled in July that Smith's appointment as special counsel wasn't legal and thus dismissed the case. That followed a number of other rulings Cannon made to slow-walk the case so that it would not take place before the election, which could have hurt Trump’s chances in his comeback presidential bid. Experts say the classified documents case was cut and dry, and that Trump faced the most jeopardy of conviction amid his bevy of both state and federal indictments. Cannon’s actions were so egregious that lawyers and good government groups said she should be removed from the case altogether. “At every possible opportunity, Judge Cannon has demonstrated her apparent bias in favor of Donald Trump,” Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington President Noah Bookbinder said. In September, his group filed an amicus brief calling for her removal from the case. “She has at every stage made this case more difficult than the law mandated, and she then dismissed it on largely unprecedented grounds, delivering a significant win to Trump. Should the Court reverse her decision, it must also ensure that the case is reassigned to allow it to proceed fairly and expeditiously and to help restore the credibility of the federal court system.” Having Cannon as head of the DOJ would be terrifying. She has proven that she is willing to disregard legal precedent in order to protect Trump, and could play a role in dismissing the other federal indictment Trump faces for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Former President Donald Trump listens to White House chief of staff John Kelly, right, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Oct. 10, 2018. What’s more, Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly came out on the record on Tuesday to warn that Trump is a fascist and would rule like a dictator if elected to a second term. And it’s not likely that Cannon would stop Trump from acting on his worst impulses—including his threats to prosecute his detractors and to use the military against American citizens. Even conservatives are aghast at the fact that Cannon is being considered. “If this is true and it's not just a member of Trump's team freelancing, this looks like a pretty transparent attempt to buy off Aileen Cannon with a Cabinet nomination,” Republican consultant Liz Mair wrote in a post on X. “This is not okay. Even the appearance of buying a judge with an appointment is corrosive,” right-leaning Washington Post Columnist Megan McArdle wrote on X. ABC News reported that Cannon’s name appeared in a document titled "Transition Planning: Legal Principals," which laid out names of people to consider for roles in the DOJ, U.S. attorneys’ offices, and the White House counsel’s office. Aside from Cannon, Trump is also allegedly considering several questionable options for attorney general. One is Jeffrey Clark, the former Trump Justice Department official who was indicted in Georgia for his efforts to help Trump steal the election in 2020. There’s also lawyer Mike Davis, who promised a “three-week reign of terror” and to “rain hell on Washington, D.C.” Davis also said he would indict President Joe Biden, detain “a lot of people” in Guantanamo Bay, and help pardon Jan. 6 insurrectionists if chosen as AG. Lord help us all. Looking to volunteer to help get out the vote? Click here to view multiple ways you can help reach voters—textbanking, phonebanking, letters, postcards, parties, canvassing. We’ve got you covered!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/23/2278890/-You-won-t-believe-some-of-the-names-rumored-for-Trump-s-Cabinet?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-23 15:35:01

X marks the scam: Elon Musk using his PAC cash to pay himself
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Elon Musk’s America PAC is buying ads on Elon Musk’s social media platform X to promote Republican nominee Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. According to reporting by Wired, the Trump-supporting billionaire’s political action committee spent more than $166,000 for 59 ads targeting swing states between July 8 and Oct. 1. On one hand, this isn't particularly surprising. Since being purchased by the world’s richest midlife crisis stereotype, the website Musk bought in October 2022 has devolved into a right-wing thunderdome of misinformation. The billionaire’s personal X account, once the place to read Musk’s thoughts on his companies like Tesla and SpaceX, has increasingly become an outlet for his alarming far-right views. After Musk endorsed Trump in July, The Wall Street Journal reported on the exorbitant amount of money he planned to funnel through his new America PAC to get Trump elected. Since then, Musk's super PAC has been involved in some pretty dubious election practices. An early set of digital ads paid for by Musk’s PAC promising to register voters turned out to be a deceptive way to farm personal information about swing state voters. Musk then hosted a disastrous one-on-one interview with Trump on X that included the two incredibly wealthy tycoons fantasizing about breaking labor laws. Musk announced his newest scheme last Saturday: In order to get registered voters to sign his PAC’s petition, he has promised to give away $1 million daily. This “prize” is possibly illegal, according to experts. The Washington Post reports that the Musk-owned X has morphed into a Republican-dominated space. Accounts backing Republican candidates spent three times as much on political ads on X than those backing Democrats from March 6 to Oct. 1— $3 million to $1 million—according to an analysis of company data by AdImpact and The Washington Post. This election cycle has seen 50 “megadonors” donate more than $2.1 billion combined to candidates. In line with Musk’s largesse, most of that $2.1 billion has gone toward “Republican-leaning” campaigns. According to analysis by The Washington Post, Musk ranks at No. 6 in donations at $76.3 million, which is nearly twice as much as the only Democratic-leaning megadonor in the top 10—Mike Bloomberg—has donated. Every billionaire is a public policy failure and no one typifies that more than Musk. Let's get to work electing Kamala Harris our next president! Sign up for as many shifts as you can between now and Nov. 5 to talk with progressive voters in key states who might not turn out without hearing from you!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/23/2278691/-X-marks-the-scam-Elon-Musk-using-his-PAC-cash-to-pay-himself?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-23 14:35:01

Watch Obama take down Trump—and rap—at raucous Harris rally in Detroit
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Former President Barack Obama delivered a full-throated takedown of Donald Trump while rallying in support of Vice President Kamala Harris in Detroit, Michigan, on Tuesday night. Obama was introduced at the event by iconic Detroit native rapper Eminem. Michigan’s 15 electoral votes are critical to the election’s outcome and Obama’s visit on Harris’ behalf comes just days after Trump insulted the city, where a majority of the residents are Black. YouTube Video Obama remarked that he often speaks to people about Trump, and they have remarked that the Republican presidential nominee is “kind of goofy” but that they remember better economic conditions during his presidency. “And I say, yeah it was good because it was my economy,” Obama said. “I spent eight years cleaning up the mess that the Republicans left me.” Obama said Republicans “didn’t want to lift a finger” to help cities like Detroit recover, while his administration worked to rescue the U.S. auto industry, which employs thousands in Michigan. Obama added, “All [Trump] did was give a tax cut to people who didn’t need one, drove up the deficit in the process, now he wants to do it again. Do not fall for that okey doke, don’t be bamboozled.” When Obama took office in January 2009, the U.S. and the world were in the middle of the Great Recession, which began under former President George W. Bush. Democrats pursued economic stimulus via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but the legislation faced unified Republican opposition in the House and only three Senate Republicans backed the bill. By the time Obama left office in 2017, 11.6 million jobs had been added to the economy on his watch. Despite inheriting an economic recovery from Obama, the economy lost 2.7 million jobs under Trump—the only president in recent history with a net job loss. Under the Biden-Harris administration, the economy has added over 15 million jobs. YouTube Video Obama also criticized Trump for lying about election results and spreading election conspiracy theories, pointing out that his rhetoric has incited threats and violence against election workers. Obama noted that Trump has similarly promoted false conspiracy theories about the federal response to hurricanes in the south, leading to threats of violence against FEMA first responders. “If you had a family member who acted like that, you might still love them, but you wouldn’t put them in charge of anything,” Obama said. The former president also had some fun at the event and remarked that he was “feeling some kind of way following Eminem,” and launched into an Obamafied version of the hit song “Lose Yourself.” YouTube Video Watch Obama’s speech in full here: YouTube Video Volunteer to reach young voters and prepare them to get out to the polls to vote for Democrats! You can text, call, or post on social media. It's the final push and we need your help!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/23/2278891/-Watch-Obama-take-down-Trump-and-rap-at-raucous-Harris-rally-in-Detroit?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-23 13:05:03

Army ordered to release details of Trump's Arlington Cemetery stunt
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A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the U.S. Army to release any records it has of Donald Trump’s disgraceful campaign stunt at Arlington National Cemetery over the summer, when the former president reportedly defied the laws of the hallowed burial site by filming campaign content amid the graves of fallen soldiers. According to multiple news reports at the time, cemetery staff sought to prevent Trump’s campaign from filming in the cemetery’s Section 60, where political campaign activity is prohibited. Two of Trump’s campaign aides then reportedly physically assaulted the cemetery staffer who was seeking to ensure the cemetery’s laws were followed. While the Army said publicly that members of the Trump campaign pushed a cemetery employee, the cemetery staffer declined to press charges against the Trump aides, and the Army now considers the matter officially closed. The Trump campaign, for its part, denied that a physical altercation took place, with Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung telling NPR that the campaign was “prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made.” But the Trump campaign never released that footage. Seeking to get the truth, American Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog that seeks to use the Freedom of Information Act to pursue accountability in government, sued to force the Army to release the records. And on Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that the Army must release any responsive records. “With the election just two weeks away, the American people have a clear and compelling interest in knowing how the government responded to an alleged incident involving a major presidential candidate who has a history of politicizing the military,” Chioma Chukwu, interim executive director of American Oversight, said in a statement. “These records belong to the public, and we’re pleased the court agreed on the need to expedite our request. We look forward to receiving the incident report and making it available to the public.” Veterans were aghast at Trump and his campaign’s refusal to adhere to cemetery rules against campaign activity. Trump took photos in Section 60, smiling and giving a thumbs-up, which were later used in campaign videos. VoteVets, a progressive veterans group, wrote in a post on X: “Donald Trump is using footage and photos his campaign took at Arlington National [Cemetery] for political purposes—against the rules and laws that govern this hallowed ground. Arlington officials tried to stop him from politicizing the cemetery, and Trump staff physically attacked them. This whole episode is sickening and affront to all those hundreds of thousands of families who never agreed to allow their deceased loved ones to be dragged into politics.” Ultimately, Trump has a long record of denigrating military service members and veterans. In September, he said more than 100 troops who suffered traumatic brain injuries from an attack during Trump’s presidency merely had “headaches.” YouTube Video In August, Trump said that the civilian Presidential Medal of Freedom was “much better” than the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military honor awarded for valor in combat. “It’s actually much better, because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor—that’s soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets, or they’re dead,” Trump said. Trump has also criticized the late Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who spent years being tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, saying, “I like people who weren’t captured.” And Trump reportedly described troops who died serving in the military as “suckers” and “losers.” Looking to volunteer to help get out the vote? Click here to view multiple ways you can help reach voters—textbanking, phonebanking, letters, postcards, parties, canvassing. We’ve got you covered!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/23/2278714/-Army-ordered-to-release-details-of-Trump-s-Arlington-Cemetery-stunt?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-23 12:35:03

Cartoon: Performance issues
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For my weekly newsletter with background on each cartoon, please consider joining the Sorensen Subscription Service! Also on Patreon. Follow me on Mastodon or Bluesky
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/23/2278677/-Cartoon-Performance-issues?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-23 00:25:01

Here's how top Harris advisers plan to win this thing
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David Plouffe was Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager and is now a senior adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. He and other Harris advisers talked to CNN about the campaign’s closing strategy. There is a lot there to digest—both in what he says and when reading between the lines. “Historically, it would be unusual to have seven states come down to a point or less,” David told CNN. “But I think at this point, you have to assume that’s a distinct possibility.” As we all know, the polling shows a tight race. Seven battleground states will determine the next president—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. As Plouffe says, the polling margins in all those states are within 1 or 2 percentage points. So how does the Harris campaign see it working out? Turnout will be important CNN: Plouffe and other Harris advisers do not believe [Donald] Trump’s largely outsourced door-knocking and other on-the-ground outreach operations can match what the national Democrats and the Harris campaign—which inherited some of the same team from President Joe Biden—spent a year putting together. But they believe this advantage can only take them so far. In states with dead-heat polling, get-out-the-vote operations will make the difference, and we may very well have that in some or all of these battleground states. But GOTV wouldn’t, say, deliver Ohio or Florida to the Dems. This isn’t big news. Harris has room to grow “To get there, the campaign is finalizing marquee, attention-grabbing events showcasing Harris, with symbolic backdrops aimed at driving home the message,” CNN notes. Trump has universal name recognition, and people’s impressions of him are largely baked in. Harris is the fresher face, and her rapid rise in the polls since Biden ended his bid point to that. Indeed, the latest poll from the Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that 51% of registered voters have a favorable view of Harris, while 46% have an unfavorable view. Compare that to Trump, whose numbers are 40% favorable and 58% unfavorable. That means that Trump is polling higher than his favorables, garnering support of people who don’t like him. That’s a prime pickup opportunity for Harris, and it’s the reason you see her campaigning with Republicans like former Rep. Liz Cheney. (Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, has a dismal favorability rating of 33-48.) surrogates and celebrity supporters CNN: Campaign aides believe they can make the difference via the surrogates they have lined up, whether those are celebrities making targeted social media appearances or community members sending direct texts like the attendees at a Doug Emhoff event in Southfield, Michigan, with Jewish voters, who were asked to send messages encouraging people to host “Kamala Shabbat” dinners. Rapper Eminem is introducing former President Barack Obama at a Detroit rally on Tuesday night. Rock icon Bruce Springsteen is on tap later this week. And then there are the influencers you and I will never recognize who are promoting Harris on TikTok and other social media. “We’re not throwing spaghetti against the wall. We have literally studied who these voters listen to,” a campaign official told CNN. More CNN: Some will be new announcements: After months of carefully poll-testing well-known nonpoliticians, including entertainers and athletes, the campaign will roll out even more endorsements, interviews and appearances meant to break through to tuned-out voters. Expect more events like the vice president’s interview with Charlamagne tha God and Julia Roberts’ trip to Georgia, both ideas that came right out of the campaign’s research. Communicating beyond TV ads Hundreds of millions are still being spent on saturating broadcast TV with ads, but the campaign seems to see that as mostly irrelevant at this point. CNN: While several top Democratic operatives said they worry Harris may be losing the traditional TV ad wars in the face of Republicans’ extensive and intense attacks on transgender issues, the Harris aides disagreed. Most of the up-for-grabs voters aren’t paying attention to those ads if they’re watching TV at all, the aides contended. And the campaign believes it has the edge over Trump’s operation, thanks to months of precinct-by-precinct organizing and planning that is constantly being adjusted based on early vote and online data. Presumably, that data feeds into both message microtargeting and the robust GOTV operations mentioned above. But the campaign is planning for media-splashy events, like a rally in Houston, Texas, highlighting abortion rights. Texas, home to one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bans, is a great foil for that message, and a massive crowd will only amplify it nationally. (Trump is attempting a similar dynamic with his Madison Square Garden rally in New York City, minus the focused message.) White men White men will overwhelmingly vote Republican this November, but the Harris campaign is working hard to eat into Trump’s margins. This serves two purposes: to cut into Trump’s core base of support, and to possibly flip some women voters along the way. After all, while unmarried women voted for Biden 63-36 in 2020, married women voted for Trump 51-47, not far off married men, at 55-45 Trump. Marital peer pressure is real. The campaign’s weapon of choice for this? Harris running mate Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota. Here’s CNN again: [T]he Minnesota governor [is] expected to be deployed—in rural areas and among men, especially—for the kind of Trump bashing that the campaign finds harder to get across in ads. “Some of these folks say, ‘Eh, we got through one Trump term.’ They rewrite the history of it. They don’t recall that all of our neighbors were dying of Covid because of his idiocy of neglecting science, and telling us to inject bleach didn’t do much good,” Walz said Saturday at a rally in Papillion, Nebraska, previewing the kind of lines he’ll be dropping over the next two weeks. “They tell us we could survive another four years, and I’m an optimist. … But I truly don’t know if the institutions will hold if we get another four years of Donald Trump.” Walz then pointed to erstwhile Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn’s recent response when asked if he would preside over military tribunals if his former boss returns to the White House. “The answer to that is: ‘Are you out of your goddamn mind?’ Mike Flynn’s answer was: ‘We have to win first,’” Walz said. “I’ll be damned if I’ll give the flag to a fascist like these guys, and I’ll be damned if I’ll give them family issues because we know where the family values sat. We’re not going to give them freedom, that’s for damn sure, because we know what freedom looks like. And just for good measures I’m not giving them football—the posers.” The campaign will look to make that argument reverberate, with ads during games, online appeals and digital billboards along Nebraska highways that feature a man saying he’s a two-time Trump voter and a hunter but going with Harris this time. Not counting on a ‘silent majority.’ CNN: Despite lots of chatter that this year may see a flip in the 2016 and 2020 polling trends that underestimated support for Trump, top Harris aides are not counting on their own “silent majority” of women and Republicans in deep-red areas or families who aren’t saying how turned off or exhausted they are by the former president. There are a lot of anecdotes, even acknowledged by these campaign aides, of a shift among some Republicans, particularly women. But the campaign is treating those as nice-to-haves, not a core component of a winning strategy. So when the campaign talks about those 1-point battleground states, they’re assuming zero Republican defections and silent voters. That’s actually a relief, and it does open up the dream scenario: a clear and convincing Harris victory that negates any Republican post-election legal shenanigans. “The independents that I encountered are weighing voting for Harris, which is a good sign to me,” Nancy Quarles, who chairs the Oakland County Democratic Party in Michigan, told CNN last week ahead of an appearance by the vice president in the Detroit suburbs. While a few years ago, those people would have been Republican voters, “there’s a big opening, and they’re paying attention and being willing to listen to the discussions,” Quarles said. Ultimately, the story paints a picture of a campaign that is locked in, focused, executing on a plan months in the making and based on rich data. They are playing for the narrow victory while acknowledging the possibility of more. “I’m confident that we’re being conservative in how we view this race,” Plouffe told CNN, “so that we are more likely to be surprised on the upside by things.” We need your help if we’re going to defeat Trump, Vance, Project 2025, and Republicans up and down the ballot. Click here to volunteer to write letters so we can increase voter turnout.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/22/2278658/-Here-s-how-top-Harris-advisers-plan-to-win-this-thing?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-23 00:10:01

The Recap: Harris enlists some star power, Trump sued by men he wanted dead
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A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. Lindsey Graham hates that our country is doing well Yell more. Here's why we must double down on winning undecided voters Undecideds, as maddening as ever, still hold a key to a Harris victory. Central Park Five slap Trump with defamation lawsuit They should publish the lawsuit in a New York Times ad. Heckler hilariously destroyed by Harris at rally cries to New York Post The woman was given—bum, bum, BUM—“an evil smirk.” Want lies with that?: The right gobbles up Trump's fast-food stunt Ask yourself: Would you eat anything Trump served you? 'F-ck Donald Trump': Joni Mitchell pulls no punches on GOP candidate “I wish I could vote. I’m Canadian—I’m one of those lousy immigrants.” Cartoon: Not all there A few pieces short of a puzzle. Bad news, boomers: Trump's tax plan would doom Social Security He’s coming after one of the most popular policies in America. Voters don't buy Trump's desperate abortion flip-flop Survey says— Infant deaths skyrocket after Trump abortion bans And he’ll make things worse if he wins in November. Kamala Harris enlists A-list stars to get out the vote But hey, Trump’s countering that with two washed-up NFL players. Meet the guy who'll probably kick Mark Robinson's ass in North Carolina All the better that Robinson, a reportedly self-described “Black Nazi,” will probably get beaten by a Jewish guy. Trump and allies try to rally the vote ... while crying fraud But his 2020 strategy has many dark updates. Rachel Maddow does her thing and absolutely torches Trump Let her cook. Walz makes media rounds and nails it—again Building a big-tent ticket while refusing to compromise progressive values. Click here to see more cartoons. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/22/2278748/-The-Recap-Harris-enlists-some-star-power-Trump-sued-by-men-he-wanted-dead?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 23:35:01

Trump promised a health care plan exactly 4 years ago—so where is it?
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Exactly four years ago on Oct. 22, CBS News aired an interview with Donald Trump with "60 Minutes" reporter Leslie Stahl in which Trump promised he was going to release a "fully developed" health care plan "very soon." “Okay, I'll ask you another health question, okay? Told you. Okay. You promised that there was gonna be a new health package, a health care plan. You said that it was, ‘Gonna be great,’ you said ‘It's ready,’ ‘It's gonna be ready–’ ‘It'll be here in two weeks.’ ‘It's gonna be like nothing you've ever seen before.’ And of course we haven't seen it. So why didn't you develop a health plan?” Stahl asked Trump at the time. “It is developed, it is fully developed. It's going to be announced very soon,” Trump replied. Four years ago today, Trump claimed he had a “fully developed” health care plan that would be “announced very soon” (He still does not have a health care plan) pic.twitter.com/RuaEUAGj1T— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 22, 2024 But two weeks before voters make their decision on whether to send Trump back to the White House, Trump has still not released a detailed plan to improve the country's health care system. In fact, his lack of a plan has been a punchline highlighting his unseriousness as a candidate. At the presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris in September, Trump created a moment that’s dogged his campaign ever since by admitting that he still does not have a detailed health care plan to share with the American people. “I have concepts of a plan, I’m not president right now,” Trump said, as Harris looked on with shock and amusement. YouTube Video After Trump’s election in 2016, he made repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act—known more colloquially as Obamacare—one of his first goals. But the effort failed spectacularly, after the Republican Party’s Obamacare replacement would have led to the elimination of preexisting condition protections, and would have raised prices for consumers to boot. Americans overwhelmingly opposed the GOP’s effort, and their replacement gambit died in the Senate with the late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain’s iconic thumbs down. While Trump himself doesn't have a detailed health care proposal, Project 2025—the right-wing blueprint for a second Trump term—does. A report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said that the Project 2025 plan would increase the number of uninsured people in the country by putting lifetime limits on Medicaid. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans want to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act's Medicare drug price negotiation program, which would raise drug prices for millions of Americans. If Republicans win the House and Senate next month, Trump could sign their repeal into law. Harris, meanwhile, wants to make health care more affordable for Americans by permanently expanding subsidies to help people pay for plans in the Obamacare marketplace. Rather than eliminating the IRA’s Medicare drug price negotiation program, Harris wants to expand it to include more drugs. And she wants to extend the $35 cap on insulin, which currently only applies to Medicare recipients, to all Americans. Looking to volunteer to help get out the vote? Click here to view multiple ways you can help reach voters—textbanking, phonebanking, letters, postcards, parties, canvassing. We’ve got you covered!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/22/2278674/-Trump-promised-a-health-care-plan-exactly-4-years-ago-so-where-is-it?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 23:05:02

Trump praised Hitler and his generals, according to bombshell report
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In a sane world, this would be the “October surprise” that would end Donald Trump’s latest presidential bid. The headline in The Atlantic says it all: “TRUMP: ‘I NEED THE KIND OF GENERALS THAT HITLER HAD’” The story doesn’t go there right away, but eases the reader in with another horrible Trump story. After personally promising the family of murdered Army soldier Vanessa Guillen that he would help pay for her funeral, he lost his mind when he found out the final cost was $60,000. “Trump became angry. ‘It doesn’t cost 60,000 bucks to bury a fucking Mexican!’” wrote The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg. “He turned to his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and issued an order: ‘Don’t pay it!’ Later that day, he was still agitated. ‘Can you believe it?’ he said, according to a witness. ‘Fucking people, trying to rip me off.’” But the main course is Trump’s admiration for the kind of loyalty that Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler engendered from his military brass. White House chief of staff John Kelly listens as Donald Trump speaks at a briefing with senior military leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Oct. 5, 2017. In their book, The Divider: Trump in the White House, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser reported that Trump asked John Kelly, his chief of staff at the time, “Why can’t you be like the German generals?” Trump, at various points, had grown frustrated with military officials he deemed disloyal and disobedient. (Throughout the course of his presidency, Trump referred to flag officers as “my generals.”) According to Baker and Glasser, Kelly explained to Trump that German generals “tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off.” This correction did not move Trump to reconsider his view: “No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him,” the president responded. This week, I asked Kelly about their exchange. He told me that when Trump raised the subject of “German generals,” Kelly responded by asking, “‘Do you mean Bismarck’s generals?’” He went on: “I mean, I knew he didn’t know who Bismarck was, or about the Franco-Prussian War. I said, ‘Do you mean the kaiser’s generals? Surely you can’t mean Hitler’s generals? And he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, Hitler’s generals.’ I explained to him that Rommel had to commit suicide after taking part in a plot against Hitler.” Kelly told me Trump was not acquainted with Rommel. Kelly had to literally tell Trump to stop saying nice things about Hitler: “He said, ‘Well, but Hitler did some good things,’” Kelly recalled. “I said, ‘Well, what?’ And he said, ‘Well, (Hitler) rebuilt the economy.’ But what did he do with that rebuilt economy? He turned it against his own people and against the world.” Kelly admonished Trump: “I said, ‘Sir, you can never say anything good about the guy. Nothing.’” Trump cannot be elected again. We need your help to defeat Trump and Republicans up and down the ballot. Donate now to help Kamala Harris win the White House.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/22/2278767/-Trump-praised-Hitler-and-his-generals-according-to-bombshell-report?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 22:05:02

Trump will reportedly appear on Joe Rogan's podcast—is Harris next?
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Donald Trump will allegedly be speaking on Joe Rogan’s podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” this Friday, according to reporting from POLITICO, at Rogan’s studio in Austin, Texas. This appearance comes at a time when Trump has canceled several high-profile interviews, including a scheduled chat with NBC and an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” citing “exhaustion.” As reported by Emily Singer for Daily Kos, these cancellations have drawn sharp criticism from Democrats and the Harris-Walz campaign. “Being president of the United States is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world,” Vice President Kamala Harris said to reporters on Friday. “And so we really do need to ask ourselves: If he’s exhausted from being on the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job?” Trump's strategy has increasingly focused on appealing to younger male voters, or "podcast bros." His engagement with Rogan's audience is strategic, considering that the podcast boasts around 17 million subscribers, predominantly young and male. The demographics of Rogan’s listeners—71% male, with a balanced educational background—align with Trump's campaign outreach, where he is doubling down on his base in the final weeks of the election. Among the buzz surrounding Trump’s upcoming appearance, rumors have also circulated regarding Harris potentially sitting down with Rogan. However, her campaign has yet to confirm any plans for her to participate in one of the most listened-to podcasts in the country. As the final stretch of the campaign unfolds, both candidates are venturing into unfamiliar and challenging territory. Trump recently held an all-female town hall with Fox News host Harris Faulkner, attempting to broaden his appeal among female voters, though it was later revealed the audience was packed with Trump supporters. Trump also appeared on Univision to a less-than-adoring audience, where he faced lots of pushback. Meanwhile, Harris has been utilizing her team, running mate Tim Walz, and former President Barack Obama to connect with male voters in crucial swing states. She has also gone outside her realm of support, sitting for an antagonistic Fox News interview with Bret Baier where she more than held her own. Polling data shows that Trump consistently leads Harris among male voters. At the same time, she maintains a strong advantage with female voters, reflected in a 16 percentage point gender gap noted in a recent New York Times/Siena College poll. With the stakes high and voter sentiments in flux, both campaigns are adapting their strategies to resonate with their respective audiences as Election Day approaches. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/22/2278722/-Trump-will-reportedly-appear-on-Joe-Rogan-s-podcast-is-Harris-next?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 20:05:04

Walz makes media rounds and nails it—again
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In the final weeks of the campaign, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz has been hitting the media circuit and showing why he was the perfect pick. He’s helping Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign build its big-tent ticket while also not comprising progressive values. Appearing on “The Daily Show” Monday, he discussed campaigning in swing states and talking to Republicans disillusioned by Donald Trump but who “haven’t crossed over before.” “These are folks that want to find a reason to not vote for Donald Trump,” he said. “We need to give them that.” Drawing on his years of experience as a high school teacher, Walz reflected on the importance of understanding voters’ concerns. “I oftentimes talk about this as a teacher,” Walz continued. “You know, the Maslow's hierarchy … you got to have a lot of time on your hands and money to self-actualize,” he said. “When they say they’re worried about the economy, believe them. They are worried about the economy. Or they’re struggling. You can’t tell them, “Well, inflation is down. Interest rates are coming down.’ They need to see the tangible things that’ll make a difference.” YouTube Video As Election Day nears, the Harris-Walz campaign is focusing on persuading Trump-hesitant Republicans to back the Democratic ticket. Harris held an event with over 100 Republicans who endorsed her run for president. This week, former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Harris held events in battleground suburbs to remind voters that regardless of party, Trump poses a threat to our democracy—and barely represents Republican values. “For anybody who is a Republican who is thinking that, you know, they might vote for Donald Trump because of national security policy, I ask you, please, please study his national security policy,” Cheney said. “Not only is it not Republican, it’s dangerous.” It’s a note that Walz hit on his “Daily Show” visit while making sure to also remind voters that a Harris-Walz administration wouldn’t be taking cues from Republicans. “I think Liz Cheney and [former Vice President] Dick Cheney give permission to those folks who want to find a reason to do the right thing,” Walz told Stewart. “We’re not going to take their foreign-policy decisions and discussions, you know, and implement those.” “Promise?” asked Stewart. “Yes, promise,” said Walz. On ABC’s “The View” on Monday, Walz responded in a quick-fire round of questions to host Sara Haines. “My advice to JD Vance is?” Haines asked. “Just go in and order the chocolate doughnut, and don't add anything else.” “My first thought about Arnold Palmer is?” she asked. Walz considered it, then said, “I'm passing on that one.” “One nice thing about Donald Trump is?” she asked. “He will not be president again,” said Walz, eliciting rowdy cheers and applause from the audience. YouTube Video When asked how a Harris-Walz administration might differentiate itself from President Joe Biden, Walz discussed plans to expand Medicare, create a “care economy,” improve housing accessibility, enhance child tax credits, and protect rural hospitals. “[Harris is] her own leader. She’s got her own path, a new way forward,” he said, adding, “We’re putting meals in schools and trying to get guns out of them.” Walz echoes Harris' effort to unify Americans in an election cycle beset by unexpected upheaval, provocations, and lies from their political opponents. Walz’s emphasis on authentic connection to voters and tangible policies shows a dedication to representing all Americans, regardless of their party affiliation. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/22/2278685/-Walz-makes-media-rounds-and-nails-it-again?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 18:05:01

'Not normal American stuff': Watch Rachel Maddow expertly expose Trump
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MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow focused the opening of her show on the ramifications of Donald Trump's corruption and authoritarianism. “What Trump is proposing to do here in America, to the media, is what [Vladimir] Putin, of course, has already done in Russia,” Maddow explained. Trump’s supporters continue to try to obfuscate his recent comments fantasizing about using the federal government’s might in order to silence and punish what he perceives as the "enemy from within” our country—his political critics. “This is not normal American stuff. This is not American at all,” Maddow said after detailing some of Trump’s more specific threats to various media outlets that have reported critically on him from CBS to The New York Times. “This is a strongman, authoritarian form of government, stuff which our Constitution protects us from explicitly.” Added to this mix, Maddow explained, is the abject corruption Trump is involved with. One glaring example is Trump’s son-in-law and former jack-of-all-trades adviser, Jared Kushner. Kushner received $2 billion from Saudi Arabia as an investment in his equity firm. Democrats launched an investigation in June into the seemingly transparent conflict of interest. "If you wanted to create a kindergarten-level textbook to explain to a kindergartner what corruption is, right? This is how you spell it out,” Maddow said. “Now imagine your friend is running for president. Somebody gives your friend a huge sweet business deal while he's running for president, and that same someone then gives your friend's family billions of dollars while he's running for president. ‘C’ is for corruption. Your friend is corrupt, right?” And that money comes with a price, Maddow explains, giving an example of the soft reporting done by Saudi state-controlled media recently. It seems Trump did an interview with a Saudi media outlet that didn't get much traction in the U.S. That lack of coverage, Maddow notes, could have something to do with the insipid headline that followed the interview: "Trump says Middle East peace possible if elected, plans to extend Abraham accords." “You will be surprised to learn that that was not the actual newsworthy takeaway from that interview with Saudi state-controlled media,” Maddow reports. In fact, she continues by showing clips of Trump’s rambling cruelty about making deals with Hamas and how he claimed hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 are probably all dead anyway: Trump: Now, still, you have hostages, but many of them have been killed, and I'm sure many of them are dead. I think even early on, I think a lot of those hostages were dead. I think they were dead. [...] I would have made a deal with them and they wouldn't have done Oct. 7. "You know, Michael Dukakis's presidential campaign cratered because he put on a helmet that made his head look like a little bean, made his face look short,” Maddow pointed out. “Donald Trump pretended to work at a McDonald's this weekend while wearing this lovely ensemble. And then the next day, he said, all the hostages are dead, and I want to do a deal with Hamas.” You couldn’t find enough monkeys with typewriters to make this story up. YouTube Video Let's get to work electing Kamala Harris our next President! Sign up for as many shifts as you can between now and November 5 to talk with progressive voters in key states who might not turn out without hearing from you!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/22/2278646/-Not-normal-American-stuff-Watch-Rachel-Maddow-expertly-expose-Trump?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 16:05:01

Voters don't buy Trump's desperate abortion flip-flop
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A new poll released on Tuesday found that a majority of Americans believe former President Donald Trump would sign a national abortion ban into law, a sign that his desperate attempt to have it both ways on the abortion issue is not working. The Navigator Research survey found that 51% of Americans believe Trump would sign a federal abortion ban, including 49% of independent voters who could be decisive in deciding a close election. The poll also found that a whopping two-thirds think Trump believes that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases—even though 64% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. The poll is a warning sign for Trump, who has been desperately trying to thread the needle on the abortion issue since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, paving the way for Republican-controlled legislatures to ban abortion at any stage of pregnancy. Currently, 21 states ban abortion before fetal viability, with seven states banning the procedure in almost all circumstances, according to The New York Times. Trump has bragged multiple times about being responsible for the end of Roe. “After 50 years of failure, with nobody coming even close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade, much to the ‘shock’ of everyone,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social social media platform in 2023, adding that he “put the Pro Life movement in a strong negotiating position” to ban abortion across the country. “What I did is something—for 52 years they’ve been trying to get Roe v. Wade into the states. And through the genius and heart and strength of six Supreme Court justices, we were able to do that,” Trump said again at the Sept. 10 presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris. But Trump has also tried to claim that he wouldn't sign a national abortion ban into law—even though he’s advocated for a national abortion ban in the past. “Everyone knows I would not support a federal abortion ban, under any circumstances, and would, in fact, veto it, because it is up to the states to decide based on the will of their voters,” Trump wrote in a post on X. That is not the position Trump had when he was in office. In 2018, Trump told people gathered at the March for Life—an annual anti-abortion march in Washington, D.C.—that he wanted Congress to pass a national abortion ban. “I’ve called on Congress—two of our great senators here, so many of our congressmen here—and called upon them to defend the dignity of life and to pass legislation prohibiting late-term abortion of children who can feel pain in their mother’s womb,” Trump said in a speech at the March for Life, referencing the 20-week abortion ban legislation that Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina introduced. When Senate Republicans failed to pass that national ban, Trump said it was "disappointing" and called for the Senate to reconsider the legislation. Trump and the GOP have been dogged by abortion politics since the Supreme Court overturned Roe in June 2022, with the issue sinking Republican candidates in what should have been a banner year for the GOP in the 2022 midterm elections. In the 2024 presidential election, Republicans’ anti-abortion records could lead to a historic gender gap that could propel Harris to victory. Trump has even publicly complained that women voters still care so much about the issue. “Everything is wrong with our country and nothing’s right and all they talk about is abortion,” Trump moaned at a September campaign rally, whining that “the fake news keeps saying women don’t like me.” He later said that if he wins women, “will no longer be thinking about abortion”—a bizarre and absurd comment as women will continue getting pregnant and needing reproductive freedom even if Trump wins. YouTube Video Harris, meanwhile, has made her support for reproductive freedom a cornerstone of her campaign. She promised that if elected, she’d sign a law restoring the protections Roe provided if Congress puts it on her desk. Her campaign has been running ads highlighting Trump’s anti-abortion record. And at her rallies, she has been telling the story of Amber Thurman, a Georgia woman who died because she did not receive prompt abortion care. “Donald Trump still refuses to take accountability, to take any accountability, for the pain and the suffering he has caused," Harris said at a rally in Atlanta on Oct. 20. Looking to volunteer to help get out the vote? Click here to view multiple ways you can help reach voters—textbanking, phonebanking, letters, postcards, parties, canvassing. We’ve got you covered!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/22/2278612/-Voters-don-t-buy-Trump-s-desperate-abortion-flip-flop?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 15:05:03

Heckler hilariously destroyed by Harris at rally cries to New York Post
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Remember the hecklers who tried to interrupt Vice President Kamala Harris, only to be laughed out of the joint? They’re oh so sad about being the butt of the joke. Y’all remember the moment. Vice President Harris to MAGA hecklers: “Oh you guys are at the wrong rally. I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street” 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/mRjL561vbp— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 17, 2024 The hecklers were University of Wisconsin-Madison students. The New York Post calls them “Christians” in the headline, which is maybe supposed to give them a pass? Grant Beth and Luke Polaske, both juniors at the school, told “Fox & Friends Weekend” that they felt persecuted akin to Jesus and his early followers after they shouted such things as “Christ is King!” when the Democratic vice president and presidential candidate started talking about abortion rights. One of them said Harris even sarcastically waved to him and gave him “an evil smirk” as he held up the cross around his neck and pointed to her while being booted with his pal. “I was pushed by an elderly woman. We were heckled at, we were cursed at, we were mocked, and that’s the biggest thing for me personally,” Beth said. “In reflection of the event, Jesus was mocked. You know, his disciples were mocked, and that’s OK.” Turns out that Polaske loves Jesus so much and is such a disciple that he went to a Donald Trump event in early January and lied by pretending that he was an undecided voter. Thank you. My name is Luke Pulaske and I’m a junior here at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. I’ll be voting for the first time in November, and I’m researching each candidate and I have two questions for you. First, as I’ve been living on my own and buying my own gas and groceries, I have noticed that everything has become more expensive. For me personally, I try to eat healthy and stay lean. A pound of meat has gone from $4 to almost $7. I also would like to buy a home someday, but that seems just impossible. Now, what’s your plan to make life more affordable and bring down inflation for someone like me? Weird that he wasn’t yelling “Christ is King!” at that event, instead serving up a softball of a loaded question for Trump. Don’t worry, Trump totally flubbed the question. Unlike the traditional media, I won’t sanewash his answer: They say you’re going to vote with your stomach. I don’t know if you’ve heard it, but it’s a little bit true. And groceries, food has gone up at levels that nobody’s ever seen before. We’ve never seen anything like it, 50, 60, 70%. You take a look at bacon and some of these products and some people don’t eat bacon anymore, and we are going to get the energy prices down. When we get energy down… This was caused by their horrible energy wind. They want wind all over the place, but when it doesn’t blow, we have a little problem. This was caused by energy. This was really caused by energy and also their unbelievable spending. They’re spending us out of wealth. Actually, they’re taking our wealth away, but it was caused by energy. And what they’ve done is they started cutting way back. We were in third place. When I left, we were by far in first place beating Russia, beating Saudi Arabia, and we were going to dominate to a level that we’ve never seen before. And then we had a bad election. I’ll be very nice. I’m supposed to be nice when I talk about the election because everybody’s afraid to talk about, “Oh, please sir don’t talk about the election, please.” If you can’t talk about a bad election, you really don’t have a democracy if you think about it, right? But what they did, Tulsi, is they took back the oil production, the oil started going crazy. That started the inflation. Then they went back, they said, “Go back to where Trump was.” The problem is that we would’ve been three times that level right now. We would’ve been so dominant over Russia and Saudi Arabia. Look, Saudi Arabia, Russia, a lot of oil. We would’ve had more. We had something in Alaska ANWR that I created. I mean, Ronald Reagan wanted it. You remember Ronald Reagan wanted it. They all wanted it. And I got it approved. Nobody was able to get it approved. I got it approved. And the first week in office, they turned it back. They said, no, it’s the biggest site possibly in the world. Could be bigger than Saudi Arabia. Well, we’re going to start that up. We’re going to become the energy capital of the world. We’re going to pay down our debt, and we’re going to reduce your taxes still further, and your groceries are going to come tumbling down, and your interest rates are going to be tumbling down. And then you’re going to go out. You’re going to buy a beautiful house, okay? You’re going to buy a beautiful house that’s called the American Dream. The American Dream. Thank you. Ol’ Luke asked a question about the cost of living. Trump answered by saying something about windmills, bacon, energy, and how the election was stolen, and then the oil started going crazy, which started inflation, then they said “go back to where Trump was,” but that didn’t work because “we would’ve been three times that level now,” and then Saudi Arabia and Russia have a lot of oil, but he created ANWR, which totally didn’t exist until someone told Trump about it, and it has more oil than Saudi Arabia even though ANWR has at most 16 billion barrels of oil and Saudi Arabia has around 268 billion barrels, and then we’re going to be the energy capital of the world, even though we already are, and then there will be tax cuts and interest rates will magically drop further and then this student will buy a beautiful house, okay? AND THAT HOUSE WILL BE CALLED THE AMERICAN DREAM. Luke heard that answer, and his response was to go scream “Christ is King” at a Harris rally, only to be persecuted just like Jesus. Knowing more about this guy, it is even more hilarious how Harris laughed him out of her rally. Let’s watch it again! Vice President Harris to MAGA hecklers: “Oh you guys are at the wrong rally. I think you meant to go to the smaller one down the street” 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/mRjL561vbp— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 17, 2024 Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/22/2278518/-Heckler-hilariously-destroyed-by-Harris-at-rally-cries-to-New-York-Post?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 14:10:01

Meet the guy who'll probably kick Mark Robinson's ass in North Carolina
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North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is getting badly drubbed in the polls in his bid for governor of the Tar Heel State. The Republican nominee’s paltry polling follows revelations that he called himself a "Black Nazi,” said that "slavery is not bad," declared that civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. was "worse than a maggot," and called himself a "perv," among other disturbing and sexually explicit comments Robinson posted on a porn website forum. A number of polls have Robinson losing to Democratic nominee Josh Stein by double digits, a massive margin in a state that is considered a toss-up at the presidential level. In fact, Robinson is doing so badly that GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump tried to pull an "I don't know her" on the campaign trail on Monday and refused to say whether North Carolinians should still support Robinson. “I’m not familiar with the state of the race right now. I haven’t seen it,” Trump said upon leaving an event in North Carolina, where he defended his rhetoric attacking Federal Emergency Management Agency personnel working to help local residents dig out and rebuild after Hurricane Helene decimated large swaths of the western portion of the state. FEMA workers have faced violent threats after Trump and his supporters spread misinformation about their response. https://t.co/yfuvWhuHHi pic.twitter.com/ZbVBO9sPNf— Acyn (@Acyn) October 21, 2024 That marked lack of enthusiasm is an about-face for Trump, who previously backed Robinson’s bid and embraced him at campaign rallies in the state. In March, Trump even called the lieutenant governor “Martin Luther King on steroids.” “I think you’re better than Martin Luther King,” Trump told Robinson on stage at an event in March. “I think you are Martin Luther King times two.” With Robinson's bid looking dead on arrival, here's a look at North Carolina's likely next governor, Josh Stein. Stein is currently North Carolina's attorney general In 2016, Stein—then a North Carolina state senator—announced a bid to be the state’s top law enforcement officer. He won the election by less than 1 point, and narrowly won reelection again four years later. In his role as attorney general, Stein helped eliminate the backlog of untested rape kits, which has helped solve a number of cold cases in the state. Stein also successfully won a number of major settlements for the state. In December, he announced that the e-cigarette manufacturer Juul would pay the state $48 million after Stein sued the company for illegally advertising to minors. In 2021, Stein won a $1 billion settlement with Duke Energy that forced the company to pay for coal ash cleanup in the state, rather than force North Carolina taxpayers to foot the bill. Stein, along with attorneys general in a handful of other states, also won a settlement in 2019 from five drug companies they accused of playing a role in the country's opioid crisis. North Carolina received $1.5 billion from the settlement, which the state is using to fund treatment and recovery programs for those suffering from opioid addiction. Stein supports reproductive freedom Like current North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, Stein has vowed to veto any abortion bans passed by North Carolina's heavily gerrymandered GOP state Legislative majority. After the Republican-controlled Legislature in March overrode Cooper’s veto of the 12-week abortion ban Republicans passed, Stein said he would not enforce provisions within the law that he believed are unconstitutional. In July 2023, a federal judge allowed the law to take effect, ruling against a lawsuit filed by abortion providers in the state. "I support women’s reproductive freedoms," Stein said ahead of the judges ruling. "After a thorough review of the case in Planned Parenthood v. Stein, I have concluded that many of the provisions in North Carolina’s anti-abortion law are unconstitutional. My office will not defend those parts of the law." He comes from a family of activists Stein’s father, Adam Stein, was a prominent civil rights attorney in North Carolina who was involved in a case that ultimately led the United States Supreme Court to order the desegregation of Charlotte's schools. Stein spoke about his father during his May announcement that he was running for governor. “I learned from a young age to fight for what’s right,” Stein wrote in a Facebook post. “My dad, Adam Stein, helped found the state’s first integrated law firm. His effort to create a state rooted in equality and prosperity inspired me to become a public servant. I’ve fought for North Carolina as a state senator and as Attorney General — and now I’m running for Governor to create a North Carolina that creates opportunities for all of us.” His election would be historic for North Carolina Stein is Jewish. If elected, he would be the first Jewish governor of the Tar Heel State. As it stands, Stein is currently the first Jewish person elected to a statewide office in North Carolina. “I’m hopeful that supporting and electing Josh Stein is an indication of acceptance by many of the Jewish community in North Carolina,” Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer told the Jerusalem Post. Volunteer to reach young voters and prepare them to get out to the polls to vote for Democrats! You can text, call, or post on social media. It's the final push and we need your help!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/22/2278414/-Meet-the-guy-who-ll-probably-kick-Mark-Robinson-s-ass-in-North-Carolina?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 12:35:02

Cartoon: Love
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At the Univision Latino Town Hall Trump called Insurrection Day January 6th, "A day of love." Except for all the destruction, violence and deaths, yeah, sure. Please share #laloalcaraz cartoons!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/22/2277793/-Cartoon-Love?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 09:01:22

The Recap: Trump's fake photo op, and why 'the women' don't love him
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A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. Trump stages elaborate McDonald’s photo op to push absurd Harris lie Pretending to work an actual job was the hardest 15 minutes of his life. Who's 'sleepy' now? Tired Trump cancels yet another interview If he’s this tired on the campaign trail, how’s he going to do the job? Trump insists it’s not Putin’s fault he invaded Ukraine He will say anything to preserve that bromance. Fox News host awkwardly ends chat about Trump canceling events Because Fox News is all about open dialogue. Cartoon: Tied up It’s coming from the inside. Trump thinks 'the women' love him—except for this one tiny issue Let the backtracking begin! 'I remember': Pop megastar reminds voters about Trump's many failures #NeverForget Trump and other GOP goons can't stop stomping all over free speech Republicans sure do love a good cease and desist. State of the Race: Don't freak out—get to work It’s time to put our heads down and tunnel through to the end. The reason Trump's holding blue state rallies should terrify you If there’s one thing that Trump loves, it’s attention. Trump beat his polls twice—and it could happen again It’s going to be a close one. Add the American education system to things Trump wants to destroy Killing democracy just isn’t enough. Inside the GOP's scheme to stop ex-felons from voting Of course, there’s one felon that Republicans love. Trump bets big on this low-turnout demographic And he is certainly stoking their grievances. Click here to see more cartoons. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/21/2278442/-The-Recap-Trump-s-fake-photo-op-and-why-the-women-don-t-love-him?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 09:01:19

Cartoon: Not all there
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A cartoon by Clay Bennett. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/21/2277440/-Cartoon-Not-all-there?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 09:00:59

Here's why we must double down on winning undecided voters
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The Washington Post has a new poll of the battleground states. The overall gist is pretty positive news for Vice President Kamala Harris, but the newspaper doesn’t stop there. The article intersperses voter anecdotes throughout, and oh boy, it can be an obnoxious read. Conducted with the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, The Washington Post’s poll shows Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump tied at 48% among registered voters, but among likely voters, she leads 49% to 48%. That’s close to what is reflected in polling averages, such as 538’s, which finds Harris leading by about 2 percentage points. The good news is in the battleground states. While the poll finds Trump leading in Arizona (49-46) and North Carolina (50-47) among likely voters, Harris leads in Georgia (51-47), Michigan (49-47), Pennsylvania (49-47), and Wisconsin (50-47). Add it up and that’s a winning 286 electoral votes for Harris and no one cares what happens in Nevada, where the poll finds a 48-48 tie. Yay, great. That’s all good and well, and will either reassure you in these times of high anxiety or lead you to find that one other poll that isn’t as optimistic. You do you. But regardless of how we receive this kind of news, we can all probably agree on how frustrating it is that we have to spend all this time and energy on a few hundred thousand undecided and reluctant voters in this handful of swing states. This story gives us a painful reminder that they exist—and that they figuratively hold our democracy in their hands. “Steven Grissom, a 54-year old White stagehand in Las Vegas said, ‘I sure as hell don’t like my choice,’ but that he was going to vote for Trump,” the Post reported. “‘I could leave it blank,’ he said, ‘I don’t want my lack of vote to give [the election] to Kamala.’” In 2020, white men age 45-64 in Nevada voted for Trump 63-36, so this guy falls in line with expectations. We don’t know why this white dude thinks Harris is so much scarier than Trump, but we can pretty much guess. “Kobe Sifflet, a 21-year-old Black deli clerk in Atlanta, said he was still undecided and wanted to hear more about Harris’s plans,” reported the story. “Trump ‘seems a bit extreme,’ to him.” Oh boy. Not to be glib, but there isn’t a single 21-year-old man in the country who is undecided on a political candidate because they want to “hear more about [candidate’s] plans.” The internet exists. Heck, TikTok is replete with information on the candidates. Yet, as I wrote about on Sunday, young men are moving rightward at alarming rates. And while Black men are more likely to vote Democratic, a very real and persistent gender gap exists within all demographics. In Georgia in 2020, Black women voted for President Joe Biden 92-7, while it was 83-16 for Black men—a 9-point gender gap in support for Biden. This guy isn’t a guaranteed Harris vote. A robust GOTV effort will be necessary to turn him out, along with other young men (of all races), to vote for Harris. “Malik Williams, 27, a Black voter in Stone Mountain, Ga., who manages a tattoo parlor, said he would probably vote for Harris,” read another anecdote in the story. “I think Trump’s trying to push a more police state in terms of creating unnecessary conflict with citizens, versus actually trying to make the country better.” The danger with this quote is the “probably.” It seems very obvious he’s a natural Harris voter, as his distrust for Trump is clear and real. Yet “probable” doesn’t mean “I’ll walk over broken glass to cast my vote.” Again, GOTV will be critical to make sure he votes, because he’s not feeling particularly motivated to do so. “Kacey Campbell, a 30-year-old school administrator from Milwaukee who is White, said she is leaning more toward Harris, but calls it ‘just a slight lean,’” continued the story. “She watched both debates to try to lock in a decision but is disappointed in how both candidates have addressed the Israel-Gaza war. She said the ‘scale of destruction’ in Gaza affects her confidence in voting for the Democratic Party. She criticized Democrats for saying ‘we’re not Donald Trump, we’re not Project 2025,’ rather than running on their own policies.” It’s funny how people see what they want to see. Trump is literally talking about pushing out Palestinians from Gaza to turn it into a seaside resort town for the wealthy, and claims that Biden has unfairly held back Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu. No serious person doubts the dramatic difference a Harris or Trump presidency would have on residents of Gaza. Additionally, Harris and Democrats are of course running on their own policies. It’s all there for those who actually care to learn the details. But when people say “They’re not running on policy,” that often means, “They’re not saying exactly what I want them to say.” Most people look at the totality of what both candidates are offering and make a decision based on that analysis, and others talk about “just a slight lean” because they’re actually single-issue voters. Yet Kacey’s vote is absolutely critical, and the campaigns will spend untold energy to either get it—or suppress it. “Emily Dembs, a 33-year-old White voter from St. Clair Shores, Mich., said they are torn about whom to vote for,” starts another anecdote.“‘I really don’t like Trump at all. I think he’s a lying scumbag.’ But the Democratic Party to them, ‘has felt so phony.’ If they do vote, they will vote for Harris. ‘Voting for Harris is probably a good idea, I just wish we had more options or different people.’” The Democratic Party’s brand is absolute shit, no doubt about that. Trying to overcome that brand is a big part of the GOTV operation. Still, this idea that “I wish we had more options” is utter horseshit. We already played that game. “Oh no, Biden is too old, I wish we had other options!” Well, Emily got another option. Perhaps the problem isn’t “more options.” And yet … we need her vote, and the vote of every other Democrat-leaning voter in a battleground state who feels this way. It’s easy to get angry and exasperated about just how insipid these arguments can be, but they’re real. And for whatever reason they might cling to those arguments, we still have to work hard to get their votes. Ooh, this is a fun one: “‘I take it as a pretty big responsibility,’ said Richard Schall, a 31-year-old White postal worker and U.S. Army veteran from Latrobe, Pa., who plans to vote on Election Day. Despite his concerns about Trump frequently being disrespectful, he ‘leans more toward Donald Trump on the basis that I’ve seen him as president and the uncertainty of Harris … I don’t think the way Trump handled things was so inherently bad that it was dangerous.’” President Trump told people to inject bleach to combat COVID, but sure, he wasn’t so inherently bad, was he? Interestingly, the poll finds that 21% of likely voters are still “uncommitted”—that is, they are either undecided, or are leaning one way but could change their mind. Of those, the majority are younger (43% of registered 18- to 25-year-olds) and nonwhite (34% of registered voters of color compared with 23% of registered white voters). In the poll, Black registered voters break for Harris 82-12 across the battleground states, and registered Latinos favor Harris 56-34. While many of those uncommitted won’t vote in the end (by definition, they aren’t enthusiastic about the choices), Harris should pick up a disproportionate share of the ones who do. As for younger voters, there is a huge gender gap: Harris is winning women under the age of 30 by 20 points and losing young men by 15 points, once again tracking with what I wrote Sunday. Of these younger voters who do turn out, Harris will also benefit disproportionately, as young men have abysmal voting rates. In other words, Harris still has room to grow on the edges, while Trump’s growth possibilities are low to nonexistent. I do want to caution that as maddening as these voter anecdotes are, this isn’t an invitation to mock and belittle. Everyone has their own experiences and areas of interest, and it doesn’t serve us to diminish them. We can vent among ourselves about the challenges we face in educating our natural allies, but then we need to go out and talk to these people with curiosity, compassion, and understanding. If we don’t win them this year, you may plant a seed for the future. Even a mere two weeks before the election, the long game still matters. Looking to volunteer to help get out the vote? Click here to view multiple ways you can help reach voters—textbanking, phonebanking, letters, postcards, parties, canvassing. We’ve got you covered!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/21/2278418/-Here-s-why-we-must-double-down-on-winning-undecided-voters?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 09:00:47

'F-ck Donald Trump': Joni Mitchell pulls no punches on GOP candidate
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Folk music icon Joni Mitchell offered up some unfiltered thoughts on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Saturday. “Fuck Donald Trump!” Mitchell said after performing one of her more political songs, “Dog Eat Dog,” at a Los Angeles concert. More than two decades have passed since Mitchell headlined a concert in the City of Angels, but the music legend can still bring it. “Everybody get out and vote. This is an important one,“ Mitchell told the crowd. “I wish I could vote. I’m Canadian—I’m one of those lousy immigrants.” Mitchell joins a legion of well-loved creatives, young and old (and in between), who have voiced their support for Vice President Kamala Harris over Trump. The list includes megastars Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, who have shown their support for Harris by signing off on the use of their music, and in Swift’s case, openly endorsing her over Trump. Legendary musicians Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, and Bruce Springsteen have been open about their disdain for the misogynistic and bigoted GOP candidate. Nicks wrote an abortion anthem in support of women’s right to choose as a show of solidarity in the fight against Trump and the evangelical right, and Springsteen released a powerful video endorsing the Harris-Walz ticket. Actors Sally Field, Marc Anthony, and Dave Bautista have also endorsed Harris and slammed Trump publicly. Field shared her personal story of getting an abortion in Mexico as a teenager, before Roe v. Wade established a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. Bautista has posted his support for the Harris-Walz ticket and starred in a hilarious video attacking the MAGA candidate’s faux machismo. Anthony delivered a video for the Harris-Walz campaign detailing Trump’s xenophobic history while president. Never you fear, MAGA: Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock, and Ted Nugent are still on board the Trump train. Even football star and GOP welfare fraud beneficiary Brett Favre has said he supports Trump. And if you are worried about star power, just remember that the “Tiger King” guy, Joe Exotic—who is serving a 21-year sentence for hiring hitmen to kill a cat-rescuing rival—has offered tips on how to beat Harris this November, and would also like to serve in Trump’s Cabinet. Only the best people, amirite? Let's get to work electing Kamala Harris our next president! Sign up for as many shifts as you can between now and Nov. 5 to talk with progressive voters in key states who might not turn out without hearing from you!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/21/2278419/-F-ck-Donald-Trump-Joni-Mitchell-pulls-no-punches-on-GOP-candidate?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 09:00:39

Trump and allies try to rally the vote ... while crying fraud
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Once again, Donald Trump is trying to have it both ways: falsely claiming that Democrats will commit election fraud while also telling his own supporters to go … vote in the election. But unlike in 2020, Trump is now encouraging people to vote by mail, a voting method he has long criticized. “Christians must register to VOTE now,” Trump posted on X on Monday, including a link to a website called Swamp the Vote, which is paid for by the Republican National Committee. The page includes a video of Trump telling viewers they “must use every appropriate tool available to beat the Democrats. … Whether you vote early, absentee, by mail, or in person, we are going to protect the vote.” This vote-by-mail push comes despite Trump’s lies about mail-in voting. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, he called mail-in voting a “disaster” and falsely accused it of being “substantially fraudulent.” However, Trump also pushed vote-by-mail in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday, telling Pennsylvanians the deadlines to request and return mail-in ballots in their state. “The way you win is to swamp them,” Trump said in the video. “If we swamp them, they can’t cheat. It just doesn’t work out.” So which is it? Is he saying that voting is rigged or that it’s secure? (Of course, in reality, it is secure, with no sign of widespread voter fraud.) This year, Trump and the Republican Party are hedging their bets, priming their base for supposed “fraud” (i.e., Trump losing) amid polls that show a neck-and-neck race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. And so far? The base seems to be buying it. Republicans are more likely to trust Trump about election results than they are the government or news outlets, according to a recent poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts. Worse, according to data from the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute, 19% of Republicans believe that if Trump loses, he should declare the results invalid and “do whatever it takes” to get into office. And while 12% of Democrats troublingly say the same thing about what Harris should do, only one of the two candidates has a history of trying to overturn election results to hold onto power. The charged rhetoric and actions of Trump and his allies is what really threatens our elections. creating the chaos that is making our election system unstable. Election workers and officials have faced an onslaught of right-wing misinformation, harassment, and violence. It’s gotten so bad that this year election workers are preparing for Election Day with bulletproof glass and panic buttons, according to the Associated Press. Recently, Republican voter-suppression efforts in Georgia largely failed, removing from the voting rolls only about 1% of the 63,000 voters they challenged this summer and fall. And on Friday, in an appearance on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ show, far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia also claimed—without evidence, naturally—that a voter in Whitfield County, Georgia, had their vote changed by a Dominion Voting Systems machine. (Yes, the same Dominion that Fox News had to pay nearly $800 million after the network aired false claims about the company committing voter fraud.) “This is exactly the kind of fraud we saw in 2020 and it cannot be tolerated,” Taylor Greene said in a post on X on Friday. Meanwhile, appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he’d seen no evidence of fraud and went so far as directly debunking Greene’s lie. “What happened with Whitfield County was the lady thought she had pressed a certain, you know, selection, and then when she printed out the ballot, she … saw that, and so then she made them aware of it, and it got corrected,” Raffensperger said. “And then it got blown out of proportion by people that like to use, you know, Twitter and other forms of social media.” Raffensperger also addressed Trump’s nonsensical claim that paper ballots aren’t widely used, telling a podcaster in September that one way to “solve” (nonexistent) voter fraud was to “go to paper ballots.” “In Georgia, 100% of all the votes cast will be on a paper ballot,” Raffensperger said on CBS. “But actually, nationwide, it's going to be over 96 to 97% of all voting in America will be on paper ballots.” But of course, the persistent false claims of fraud serve to mobilize the MAGA base, which thrives on misinformation and fear. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/21/2278390/-Trump-and-allies-try-to-rally-the-vote-while-crying-fraud?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-22 09:00:23

Bad news, boomers: Trump's tax plan would doom Social Security
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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s tax plans would mean benefit cuts for millions of Americans receiving Social Security and lead to the popular program’s bankruptcy by 2031, a new report reveals. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released a report on Monday warning about Trump’s proposals, which feature reduced taxes on the ultrawealthy and large corporations. “President Trump’s proposals to eliminate taxation of Social Security benefits, end taxes on tips and overtime, impose tariffs, and expand deportations would all widen Social Security’s cash deficits,” the report said. The group said if it became law, Trump’s proposed tax plan would create a $2.3 trillion shortfall for the Social Security program. The Committee also determined that Trump’s plan would result in a 33% across-the-board benefit cut—meaning millions would see the checks they rely on significantly reduced. “Donald Trump’s agenda poses an imminent threat to Social Security, and seniors could have their benefits cut by a third,” Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Joseph Costello said in a statement. “This is yet another reason that Americans simply cannot afford the risk of another Trump term.” The campaign said that Vice President Kamala Harris is committed to protecting the program signed into law by Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. Trump has proposed further tax cuts skewed in favor of the wealthy, similar to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act he signed into law in 2017. That legislation failed to spur the economic growth Trump promised when first campaigning for the presidency. At a June event with a group of wealthy donors led by billionaire John Paulson, Trump promised that he would push for more tax cuts for them if he is elected and asked the roomful of tycoons and billionaires to donate to his campaign to make that happen. He received over $50.5 million in donations from that dinner. Similarly, billionaire Elon Musk is in the process of spending millions on his shady push to elect Trump and is in the elite class of the super-rich who would disproportionately benefit from Trump’s tax cuts. While in office, Trump proposed budgets that would have cut Social Security benefits for Americans. He also proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, popular safety net programs put in place by Democratic presidents. Before he was elected, Trump falsely described Social Security as a “Ponzi scheme” and supported efforts to privatize the program. President Joe Biden and Harris have backed efforts by congressional Democrats to expand and increase Social Security benefits. The Biden-Harris administration has called for tax increases on the ultrawealthy to protect the integrity of the Social Security program, while opposing benefit cuts for middle-class families. Democratic presidential nominee Harris has echoed these positions as part of her “New Way Forward” agenda. “Vice President Harris will protect Social Security and Medicare against relentless attacks from Donald Trump and his extreme allies,” her agenda states. Let's get to work electing Kamala Harris our next president! Sign up for as many shifts as you can between now and Nov. 5 to talk with progressive voters in key states who might not turn out without hearing from you!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/21/2278395/-Bad-news-boomers-Trump-s-tax-plan-would-doom-Social-Security?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-21 21:05:01

Central Park Five slap Trump with defamation lawsuit
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The men once known as the Central Park Five—five men who were wrongfully convicted of rape and assault over 30 years ago—filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump on Monday in federal court, alleging the former president acted with “reckless disregard” for the truth when he attacked them during the presidential debate in September. At the debate, Vice President Kamala Harris attacked Trump for his history of racism, bringing up the fact that he refused to apologize for calling for the death penalty for the men—Antron Brown, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Korey Wise and Yusef Salaam—even after they were exonerated in the 1989 rape and assault of a jogger in Central Park. The five men, now known as the Exonerated Five, had their convictions vacated in 2002, after another man confessed to the crime and DNA evidence confirmed it. Trump responded to Harris’ comments about the Exonerated Five at the debate by defending himself for taking out full-page ads in New York City newspapers that called for the men to receive the death penalty. “They admitted, they said they pled guilty and I said, ‘Well, if they pled guilty, they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately ... And they pled guilty, then they pled not guilty,” Trump said at the debate. But none of the five men ever pleaded guilty to the raping and beating of the female jogger. And none of the men were ever convicted of murder, as the victim in the Central Park jogging case did not die. “Defendant Trump’s statements were false and defamatory in numerous respects," attorneys for the five men wrote in the lawsuit. “Plaintiffs never pled guilty to the Central Park assaults. Plaintiffs all pled not guilty and maintained their innocence throughout their trial and incarceration, as well as after they were released from prison.” “Defendant Trump falsely stated that Plaintiffs killed an individual and pled guilty to the crime,” the lawsuit added. “These statements are demonstrably false." In the lawsuit, attorneys for the men brought up Trump's long history of lobbing false attacks, saying his comments at the debate were “part of a continuing pattern of extreme and outrageous conduct dating back several years, thus constituting a continuing tort.” Members of the Exonerated Five spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August, where they slammed Trump for his history of lies and racial division. "Forty-five wanted us unalive. He wanted us dead," Salaam, who is now a member of the New York City Council, said in his remarks at the DNC, referring to Trump. "Today we are exonerated because the actual perpetrator confessed and DNA proved it. [Trump] says he still stands by the original guilty verdict. He dismisses the scientific evidence rather than admit he was wrong. He has never changed, and he never will." “That man thinks that hate is the animating force in America,” Salaam added. “It is not.” "45 wanted us unalive, he wanted us dead," Yusef Salaam of the exonerated 'Central Park Five' says on Donald Trump. "He has never changed, and he never will. That man thinks hate is the animating force of America. It is not." pic.twitter.com/3TRppwrJ7U— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 23, 2024 Trump has a long history of racism. In 1973, the Department of Justice sued Trump and his father for discrimination, alleging that the men refused to rent their properties to Black people. He was one of the main voices in the racist “birther” conspiracy theories, which falsely accused former President Barack Obama of not being born in the United States. In 2020, when President Joe Biden chose Harris as his running mate, Trump falsely said that Harris was ineligible because she may not have been born in the U.S. Trump also fought against the removal of Confederate monuments, as well as against renaming military bases named for Confederate generals. Earlier this month, Trump said he would restore the name Fort Bragg to the North Carolina military base that was renamed Fort Liberty in 2023. The former Fort Bragg had been named after Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, a slave owner whose tenure in the Confederacy was marked by failure. “I think I just learned the secret to winning absolutely and by massive margins. I’m going to promise to you … that we’re going to change the name back to Fort Bragg,” Trump said at a town hall in North Carolina. Looking to volunteer to help get out the vote? Click here to view multiple ways you can help reach voters—textbanking, phonebanking, letters, postcards, parties, canvassing. We’ve got you covered!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/21/2278369/-Central-Park-Five-slap-Trump-with-defamation-lawsuit?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-21 20:10:01

Lindsey Graham hates that our country is doing well
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Thanks, NBC. You had to go and remind us that South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham exists, and boy is he angry at his fellow Kamala Harris-endorsing Republicans! For starters, it’s good that the frame was “what do you think about all those Republicans endorsing the vice president?” And Graham was hot at the idea that Republicans like former Rep. Liz Cheney would support Harris. (Transcript here.) “To every Republican supporting her, what the hell are you doing? You're supporting the most radical nominee in the history of American politics,” he said Sunday on “Meet the Press,” which is the same thing every Republican has ever said about every Democratic nominee in the history of nominees. “And I can't take four more years of this crap.” Four more years of this crap! You might be forgiven for being confused about what “this crap” might mean, given record unemployment, record stock markets, the best economy in the industrialized world, an unexpected avoiding of a recession, and a country finally out of any direct wars. We could all use some more of this “crap!” So what exactly are Graham’s concerns? “[A]s to the Democratic agenda, I think it will change America fundamentally, that they want to pack the court, they want to go to 13-9, they want to eliminate the Electoral College,” Graham argued. “You know, they want to make D.C. and Puerto Rico states. So yeah, I think their agenda's really radical.” Making America more (small “d”) democratic would change America fundamentally, but for the better. And better yet—expanding the Supreme Court and adding new states—all of that is permitted by our nation’s Constitution. Congress can set the size of the Supreme Court, as well as admit new states. It’s been done before. None of it is crazy, other than it would dilute the institutional power that Republicans have built for themselves in direct contradiction to the nation’s electorate. Remember, Republicans have lost the popular vote for the last 20 years. We should have a country that reflects popular support, not one with a 6-3 conservative Supreme Court majority. Republicans can’t be faulted for wielding power effectively when given the chance, but that courtesy should also be extended to Democrats, and it’s time for our side to do so as well. And the Electoral College? Is there a reason that billions should be spent to move a few hundred thousand people in just six states? Yes, it has benefited Republicans, but vast swaths of conservative voters in places like southern California, upstate New York, downstate Illinois, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and deep red outposts like Wyoming, Idaho, and West Virginia are ignored by presidential candidates every single election cycle. Get rid of the Electoral College, and every single conservative voter, no matter where they live, are suddenly critically important. That includes those in Graham’s home state of South Carolina. Republicans should only fear that if they don’t think they can win a simple American majority. (And they don’t.) YouTube Video What else got Graham hot under the collar? “The Green New Deal. Medicare for All.” Given this hurricane season, perhaps Graham shouldn’t be so scared of efforts to combat climate change? His is a coastal state after all. And boy, his constituents could surely use a serious dose of better health care, given South Carolina is the 11th least healthy state in the country by at least one measure. “She was the last person in the room before Biden decided to withdraw from Afghanistan.” His boy Donald Trump actually made that decision. “She was the border czar.” Harris wasn’t the border czar. But if she was, she could take credit for fewer border crossings than during the Trump presidency. “She cast a tie-breaking vote for the Inflation Reduction Act that gives you high prices.” The U.S. inflation rate is now at 2.4%, and has been steadily dropping as elements of the Inflation Reduction Act come online. And Republicans keep wanting to take credit for projects they voted against in that bill. “What are you doing? You're trying to convince me that Donald Trump's rhetoric is the danger to this country? The danger to this country is the policies of Biden and Harris. Her fingerprints are all over this disaster.” Yes, Trump claiming he wants to be a dictator, that he wants to send the military after his critics, that he wants to deport legal immigrants … yes, all of that is incredibly dangerous. Graham was clearly on air to make Trump happy. But despite all the angry bluster, his real fear is a Democratic majority that would undo the GOP’s ill-gotten institutional advantages. And that should sound pretty awesome to us. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/21/2278372/-Lindsey-Graham-hates-that-our-country-is-doing-well?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-21 19:05:03

White House aims to cut birth control costs for most Americans
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The proposed rule on contraception coverage could help 52 million women of reproductive age, officials said. By Nadra Nittle, Shefali Luthra for The 19th President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday announced a plan that would eliminate out-of-pocket expenses for most birth control for a majority of Americans. Officials called the proposed rule, which affects people with private health insurance, the most significant expansion of contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in over a decade. They estimate it could benefit 52 million women of reproductive age. “For the first time ever, women would be able to obtain over-the-counter contraception without a prescription at no additional cost, and health plans would have to cover even more prescribed contraceptives without cost sharing,” said Jennifer Klein, assistant to the president and director of the White House Gender Policy Council, in a call with reporters. The proposed rule would alleviate a significant financial burden for millions of Americans. The 2010 health law already required private health plans to cover at least one form of birth control for beneficiaries without any out-of-pocket costs. Research shows that the benefit has contributed to higher use of contraception, lower health care expenditures by women, and may have helped lower rates of unintended pregnancy. But applying the contraception mandate to over-the-counter methods has been difficult. If enacted, the proposed rule would require health plans cover forms of birth control such as condoms and emergency contraception – both typically bought without a prescription – as well as a new over-the-counter hormonal birth control pill. That pill, known as Opill, hit retail shelves earlier this year, and a six-month supply costs about $90. Democrats have pushed for years to strengthen enforcement of the ACA’s existing birth control mandate, citing reports of poor enforcement and of women receiving surprise bills for contraceptives that should have been covered. A 2021 survey by KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research, polling and journalism organization, found that 1 in 5 women with private insurance said they had paid something out of pocket for birth control. Biden administration officials reiterated those concerns. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said that his agency has heard from people who need a certain kind of birth control only to find out that their health insurance doesn’t cover a prescription for that brand. Insurers are only required to cover one drug per category of contraception. A White House official told reporters during the call that the proposed rule would change that so all FDA-approved drugs and drug-led combination products are covered unless there’s a medication available that will yield similar results. “We have made clear that in all 50 states, the Affordable Care Act guarantees coverage of women’s preventative services without cost sharing, including all birth control methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration,” Becerra said. “This proposed rule will build on the progress we have already made under the Affordable Care Act to help ensure that more women can access the contraceptive services they need without out-of-pocket costs.” Reproductive rights have been a hallmark of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for president, and the White House emphasized how both Biden and Harris have consistently taken steps to improve the public’s access to contraception. These measures include Biden’s June 2023 executive order to strengthen access to contraception and family planning services following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending federal abortion rights. “Dangerous and extreme abortion bans are putting women’s health and lives at risk and disrupting access to critical health care services, including contraception, as health care providers are forced to close in states across the country,” Klein said. Some Republican state lawmakers have been clear about their intentions to restrict birth control as well as abortion. Conservatives in Congress have called for the defunding of Title X, a federal program offering family planning and related health care services. They have also blocked federal legislation to protect contraception access. Harris, in contrast, has maintained that “contraception is health care.” Since Roe was overturned in June 2022, Harris has discussed the repercussions of limiting women’s health care during more than 100 events, according to Kristine Lucius, deputy assistant to the president and domestic policy adviser to the vice president. Harris has also criticized Republican efforts to repeal the ACA, which covers nearly 50 million Americans. Among those protected by the law are more than 100 million people with preexisting medical conditions. The law has already allowed millions of women to save on contraception costs. The proposed rule will likely have a 60-day comment period, meaning that it will be finalized in 2025, officials said during the call, making it uncertain if it would still take effect if former President Donald Trump is elected. Trump’s position on contraception hasn’t been clear. In May, he gave an interview in which he suggested he would consider certain restrictions, but he later said he would not impose any. Project 2025, which Trump has distanced himself from — even though its writers have ties to both him and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance — does support restricting some forms of contraception. The departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury on Monday also issued new guidance to ensure that consumers can access other preventative services without cost-sharing, including Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (or PrEP), a medication to prevent contracting HIV, and colonoscopies covered under the ACA.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/21/2278343/-White-House-aims-to-cut-birth-control-costs-for-most-Americans?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-21 19:05:03

Watch 'Coach Walz' break down the Project 2025 playbook as only he can
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During football season, when many are cheering for their beloved teams, former high school football coach turned Minnesota governor, and now running mate, Tim Walz knows just how to break down the American political landscape. He took us back to school, drawing on his coaching days to give voters the play-by-play of Project 2025 in a post on X on Sunday. With circles and squares on a whiteboard in a locker room, Walz laid out Project 2025’s plan in three points: an abortion ban, raising costs, and unchecked power. We’re all Coach Walz’s players now. YouTube Video In the playbook, Walz said, a national abortion ban would be instituted, IVF and infertility treatments would be threatened, and pregnancies would be monitored. Project 2025 would raise costs for everything, Walz said, by slashing taxes for billionaires, increasing the sales tax to 20%, and getting rid of overtime protections. Then, Walz called a penalty flag on the ultraconservative blueprint that would install unchecked power and destroy civil liberties by putting Trump loyalists into the Pentagon. Additionally, it would get rid of the Department of Education and fill the government with even more sycophants and yes-men than his first administration. “Donald Trump wants you to think that this is going to be good for you, Project 2025,” he said. “In football terms, they want you to think that this player, right here, the quarterback, is going to hand the ball to the running back, coming around this way and the real play looks like this … this guy flips the ball here and they run around this way. This is the tell. And I will call that Donald Trump.” “This linebacker is you, getting to the polls, voting; you got a chance to stop this, let’s play defense, folks.” Walz knows how to let his strengths shine: He’s relatable and authentic. Unlike Sen. JD Vance, he connects with voters through things they hold dear, like doughnuts, football, and democratic values. Polling shows he holds a much more favorable view from voters. More than 140 of Trump’s allies and colleagues created Project 2025. The far-right plan that describes Trump’s second term is considered unpopular and undemocratic and Walz reminds voters what’s at stake should Trump win back the White House in November. We need your help if we’re going to defeat Trump, Vance, Project 2025, and Republicans up and down the ballot. Click here to volunteer to write letters so we can increase voter turnout.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/21/2278364/-Watch-Coach-Walz-break-down-the-Project-2025-playbook-as-only-he-can?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-21 13:05:01

Arnold Palmer's daughter reacts to Trump's story about her dad's genitalia
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One of the late golf legend Arnold Palmer's daughters calls Donald Trump's references to her father's genitalia “a poor choice of approaches" to honoring his memory, adding that she wasn't upset by the remarks. “There’s nothing much to say. I’m not really upset,” Peg Palmer Wears, 68, told The Associated Press in an interview on Sunday. "I think it was a poor choice of approaches to remembering my father, but what are you going to do?” On Saturday in Latrobe, Pennsylvania — the city where Palmer was born in 1929 and learned to golf from his father — Trump kicked off his rally in the campaign's closing weeks with a detailed, 12-minute story about Palmer that included an anecdote about what Palmer looked like in the showers. “When he took the showers with other pros, they came out of there. They said, ‘Oh my God. That’s unbelievable,’” Trump said with a laugh. “I had to say. We have women that are highly sophisticated here, but they used to look at Arnold as a man.” Wears said that she had only had passing encounters with Trump at functions decades ago but that her father and the GOP presidential nominee, an avid golfer who owns courses around the world, primarily shared a kinship over “an interest in golf and a love of golf.” Emotional at times as she recalled conversations with her father, who died in 2016 at 87, Wears said her father “believed in the Republican Party.” “A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about what my father would say about something or what’s happening,” Wears said. “We didn’t always agree on things, but he was a quintessential American who believed fervently in this country, even when he questioned its direction.” Arnold Palmer, center, is seen with his daughters, Peggy Palmer, left, and Amy Saunders, inside the barn of the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve, in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, during the dedication of the reserve June, 30, 2007. Asked three times Sunday on CNN's “State of the Union,” about what he thought of Trump's remarks, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., refused to answer. “I’ll address it, let me answer it,” Johnson said, without ever answering the question. “Don’t say it again. We don’t have to say it. I get it.” Gov. Chris Sununu, R-N.H., told ABC's “This Week” that he didn’t like Trump’s comments, including one in which he used a profanity to refer to Vice President Kamala Harris, but that the former president’s remarks would not sway voters one way or the other. “I mean it’s just par for the course. He speaks in hyperbole. He gets his crowds riled up,” Sununu said. But Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who backs Harris, argued the comments show how little Trump is focusing on important issues, which will turn off voters. “I think you have a lot of Americans, whether you are conservative, whether you’re progressive or moderate, who say, ‘Really?’” Sanders said on CNN. “We have major issues facing this country. Is this the kind of human being that we want as president of the United States? Wears, who declined to say for whom she would vote in the Nov. 5 election, said she would be casting her ballot in North Carolina, a pivotal state, and described herself as an “unaffiliated” voter. “The people of western Pennsylvania are very smart people, and they’re very hard working, and they’ll make their own decisions, as I will make my own decision, using all the history and awareness I have,” Wears said of the upcoming election. “And that’s what I hope people go vote with.” Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/21/2278297/-Arnold-Palmer-s-daughter-reacts-to-Trump-s-story-about-her-dad-s-genitalia?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-20 23:05:01

Cartoon: Tied up
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A cartoon by Pedro Molina. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/20/2277451/-Cartoon-Tied-up?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-20 21:05:01

Inside the GOP's scheme to stop ex-felons from voting
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Republicans’ ongoing voter suppression campaign made headlines this week after the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that the state must immediately restore voting rights to former felons. While the court’s ruling is a major civil rights victory, it’s also a drop in the bucket compared to the GOP’s professionalized, nationwide efforts to keep certain Americans away from the ballot box. Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s plan to strip voting rights from over 7,000 Nebraskans is a slap in the face to democracy. It’s also a shockingly common form of election interference. Republicans have spent decades and millions of dollars crafting state laws designed to ensure permanent GOP majorities, even if that means overriding their own citizens’ wishes and steamrolling legally binding ballot measures. So far, they’ve faced almost no legal resistance. The end result is a broken system that prevents nearly 6 million Americans from casting a ballot, while millions more are subjected to the equivalent of an unconstitutional poll tax. That’s just fine with Republicans—and things will get even worse if GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump wins a second term in November. Republican efforts to keep former felons from voting are aided by a patchwork of laws that make the process of restoring voting rights confusing, costly, or even impossible. Take Virginia, where in 2021 Gov. Ralph Northam signed an executive order automatically restoring voting rights to all nonincarcerated Virginians. Not even a year later, newly elected Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin quietly reversed that order, instead requiring former felons to submit a request for voting rights restoration to the state. The result was widespread confusion and a near-total dropoff in former felons regaining their voting rights. Midway through Youngkin’s first year in office, only about 800 Virginians had regained their voting rights. Earlier this year, a federal court dismissed a challenge to Youngkin’s restrictive new approach on a technicality, meaning the process remains in place ahead of the Nov. 5 election. Florida is another nightmare scenario. In 2018, 65% of Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment that automatically restored voting rights to all felons upon completion of their sentence. That enraged Gov. Ron DeSantis, who took the extraordinary step of forcing through a new state law that required former felons to first pay off any outstanding court fees—without providing a way for former convicts to actually find out what fees they owed. DeSantis’ new law was so confusing that even Florida election officials didn’t understand it. In 2020, the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections provided incorrect voter registration information to felons nearing their release date. When those former convicts showed up to cast a ballot, they were arrested for voter fraud. Since then, DeSantis and Florida Republicans have used the threat of voter fraud prosecutions to intimidate thousands of former felons who are legally eligible to vote. Instead, those eligible voters choose to play it safe by staying home. Of course, there is one felon who has DeSantis’ full support: Donald Trump. Back in May, DeSantis took the unusual step of guaranteeing Trump would be able to vote in Florida despite not qualifying for voting rights restoration under DeSantis’ own law. The reason? Because DeSantis personally disagreed with the jury’s guilty verdict. “Given the absurd nature of the New York prosecution of Trump, this would be an easy case to qualify for restoration of rights per the Florida Clemency Board, which I chair,” Desantis declared in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Black Floridians aren’t as lucky as Trump. Nearly 20% of Florida’s Black population is legally disenfranchised, according to data compiled by the nonpartisan Sentencing Project. Those Black residents are also unlikely to see their rights restored. Under DeSantis’ predecessor, now-Sen. Rick Scott, the state clemency board restored voting rights to twice as many white ex-felons as Black ones. That trend has only amplified under DeSantis. Earlier this year the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition dropped its legal challenge to the law after DeSantis promised to sit down with civil rights advocates to develop clearer guidelines. That turned out to be a massive tactical mistake: As of October, the Florida Department of State still hasn’t implemented any reforms—meaning there’s virtually no chance the issue will be resolved in time for next month’s election. That’s a big win for Republicans and a massive loss for democracy. It’s no coincidence that the states with the toughest voting laws for felons are also the deepest red states. Research found that felons are four times as likely as non-felons to identify as Democrats. In the eyes of many red state governors, restricting felon voting rights helps make their states less politically competitive by artificially reducing the number of Democratic voters in the broader population. For the GOP, keeping those potential voters off the rolls is a matter of political survival. Trump shares the GOP’s hatred for restoring voting rights to former felons. The former president has repeatedly attacked Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz for ensuring formerly incarcerated Minnesotans can cast a ballot, calling the idea “dangerous.” Given Trump’s open hostility to free and fair elections, it’s likely a restored President Trump would push for Florida-style voting restrictions in states across the nation. The result would be a seismic shift in state-level electoral power toward Republicans. GOP leaders have worked tirelessly for decades to tilt the balance of political power by restricting the voting rights of former felons who have served their time. Despite encouraging outcomes like Nebraska’s recent court decision, too many states still make it too hard for formerly incarcerated people to vote—and Republicans are happy to keep it that way. Let's get to work electing Kamala Harris our next president! Sign up for as many shifts as you can between now and Nov. 5 to talk with progressive voters in key states who might not turn out without hearing from you!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/20/2277778/-Inside-the-GOP-s-scheme-to-stop-ex-felons-from-voting?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-20 19:05:01

Cartoon: Medal of dishonor
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A cartoon by Tim Campbell. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/20/2277453/-Cartoon-Medal-of-dishonor?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-20 17:10:01

Uphill battles over abortion unlikely to end even if ballot measures pass
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Voters in nine states are deciding next month whether to add the right to abortion to their constitutions, but the measures are unlikely to dramatically change access — at least not immediately. Instead, voter approval would launch more lawsuits on a subject that's been in the courts constantly — and more than ever since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door to state abortion laws. In some states where the issue is on the ballot, it's already widely available. If Missouri’s amendment passes and takes effect in December, the measure would not repeal a state ban at all stages of pregnancy or the layers of other regulations — including a 72-hour waiting period and 44-inch (112-centimeter) doorway rule for clinics — that forced Planned Parenthood to stop abortions in two offices years before Roe was overturned. “A yes vote for this is not a vote to overturn anything. It is a vote to ensure that the courts will have to fight this out for a long time,” said Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman. Coleman, who is also a conservative constitutional lawyer, said the Republican-dominated Legislature could also go back to voters to ask them to undo the amendment if it passes. Still, the measure would mean that “the wind will be at our back” in court fights to overturn restrictions, said Emily Wales, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which operates in four states and is the only group in recent years to provide abortions in Missouri. The last clinic in Missouri, run by another Planned Parenthood affiliate, stopped offering abortions just before Roe was overturned. “It will feel tremendously different to us to say, ‘Missourians have a constitutional right. If you’re going to interfere with it, you’ve got to have a pretty good cause,’” she said. There's some precedent for an amendment not settling everything right away. An Ohio measure passed last year all but undid a law that banned abortion after cardiac activity can be detected, at about six weeks and before women often realize they’re pregnant. Enforcement had already been blocked by a court. Ohio advocates have been prevailing in preliminary litigation against other regulations but those battles aren't finished yet, and they worry lawmakers will block the use of taxpayer funds to support access. “Having fewer legal restrictions is not necessarily meaningful to someone if they can’t afford the financial cost,” said Lexis Dotson-Dufault, executive director of the Abortion Fund of Ohio. Datawrapper Content The most populous state with an abortion ballot measure this year is Florida. It would take approval of 60% of voters to win. And Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis's administration has alleged fraud in the signature-gathering process that got it on the ballot. That could be the basis for a court challenge on whether the amendment would take effect on Jan. 7. Meanwhile, the measure's supporters are suing current and former state health department officials over their efforts to get TV stations to stop running one pro-amendment ad. The office of state Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican who sought to keep the measure off the ballot, did not respond to an interview request. A Nevada measure wouldn’t make an immediate splash because it would be required by law to not only pass in November, but in 2026 as well. In Colorado, Maryland and New York — where the measure doesn’t say “abortion” specifically but bans discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes” — abortion is already allowed at least until viability — generally considered to be after 20 weeks, with some exceptions. Colorado's measure would also repeal a ban on using taxpayer funds for abortion. A new law would be needed for abortion to be added to health insurance for government employees and people with Medicaid coverage. Anti-abortion protesters in Phoenix, Ariz., demonstrate on July 3 after an abortion rights measure gained enough signatures to be on the November ballot. Arizona’s amendment would go into effect with a governor’s proclamation if voters approve it. The state bars abortion after 15 weeks — and most occur before then. Earlier this year, some Republican lawmakers in the political battleground state joined with Democrats to repeal a much more restrictive 1864 ban before it could be enforced. In Nebraska, the ballot includes competing measures: One would bar abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions, echoing the current ban but leaving open the possibility of tighter restrictions. The other would allow abortion until viability. To take effect, an amendment would need not only majority support, but more votes than the other measure. In South Dakota, where abortion is banned throughout pregnancy, opponents and advocates have been fighting over a measure that would prohibit the state from regulating abortion in the first trimester and allow regulations for the second and third trimesters only under certain health circumstances. If the measure is adopted and survives the challenge, it would take effect July 1, 2025. Life Defense Fund is focused on its campaign to defeat the measure at the ballot box rather than what might come next, said group spokesperson Caroline Woods. Dakotans for Health sponsored the amendment and expects the Republican-dominated Legislature to try to “thread that needle” and impose restrictions during the second trimester if the amendment passes, said group cofounder Rick Weiland. And that would probably mean more lawsuits. “This is an issue that’s never going to go away,” Weiland said.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/20/2277753/-Uphill-battles-over-abortion-unlikely-to-end-even-if-ballot-measures-pass?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-20 12:35:02

Cartoon: Klan you hear me now?
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A cartoon by Clay Jones. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/20/2277447/-Cartoon-Klan-you-hear-me-now?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-19 23:05:01

The reason Trump's holding blue state rallies should terrify you
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Watching Donald Trump shamble into the election’s final stretch, it’s difficult to believe he’s serious about this campaign. His pitch to voters has boiled down to nothing but racism and random tax breaks. And now he’s taken to campaigning in blue states he has no hopes of winning. It’s the behavior of someone who believes he can’t lose, despite that he’s in the middle of what polls say is a toss-up race. Take his chaotic campaign stop in Coachella, California, over the weekend. He dragged his supporters out to the desert in 100-degree heat in a state where Biden pulled roughly 64% of the vote in 2020, just to ramble at them for 80 minutes. Besides literally overheating his fan base to the point where several needed medical attention, Trump also stranded many of those same fans in the desert for hours. Yes, after busing the faithful roughly 5 miles from their cars to the event, the campaign didn’t do enough to get them back when things were done. Posts on X showed hundreds of people still waiting around, vainly hoping for more buses, hours after the event ended. Trump fans speculated that the lack of buses was due to some nefarious influence from Democrats rather than the far simpler explanation: The candidate who marooned his supporters multiple times in 2020 is doing it again. Trump is also planning a rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, with an unnamed campaign adviser telling NBC News that this is just all part of a genius strategy. “Choosing high-impact settings makes it so the media can’t look away and refuse to cover the issues and the solutions President Trump is offering,” the adviser said. Because if there’s one thing Trump lacks, it’s media coverage. That same unnamed adviser also explained that getting those media eyeballs “increases the reach of his message across the country and penetrates in every battleground state.” Sure does seem like it would be easier to just go to one of those battleground states instead. Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally on Oct. 12 at the Calhoun Ranch in Coachella, Calif. Regular folks can attend the rally, but only the well-heeled will get the full Trump-in-NYC experience by getting to attend his fundraiser the same day. For the low price of $924,600, donors can have what the campaign is calling an “Ultra MAGA Experience.” There are several tiers of “experiences,” none of which is explained, but $5,000 is the lowest amount one can hand Trump to get in the door. It’s not just weird that nine days before the election, Trump is holding a rally in New York, which he lost by roughly 22 percentage points to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 and then did even worse against President Joe Biden in 2020. It’s also weird that nine days before the election, Trump is doing a massive fundraiser instead of stumping for votes. But he’ll need that money if he plans to win the election via post-election litigation instead of, you know, votes. From the day after the 2020 election to Biden’s inauguration in 2021, Trump raised over $254 million for an “election defense fund.” In theory, that money was supposed to fund many of the more than 50 unsuccessful lawsuits filed to try to overturn the 2020 elections. Ultimately, Trump used at least $100 million of that money for his personal legal bills. Just as Trump has made no secret of the fact that he plans to accept the results of the 2024 election only if he wins, Republicans haven’t hidden that they plan on wreaking havoc in court if he doesn’t. By early September, the GOP had already filed over 100 election-related lawsuits. By the end of the month, that had jumped to over 120 lawsuits in 26 states. Republicans have pretended this is to prevent voter fraud—which is largely a myth—but it’s really about sewing chaos and distrust ahead of the election. After all, this is the party that made Christina Bobb, a former correspondent for the far-right One America News Network, its head of election integrity—the same Christina Bobb currently under indictment in Arizona for her role in trying to subvert the 2020 results. Given that nearly two-thirds of Republicans still believe that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, they aren’t likely to find any scorched-earth tactics in 2024 problematic. Trump knows his base will throw him incredible sums of money for the effort, so why not play Coachella? Why not be in New York—a state he won’t win—only a handful of days before the election? Trump better hope a lot of his more well-heeled supporters feel like throwing him nearly seven figures for whatever low-rent tackiness the Ultra MAGA Experience might be. He certainly doesn’t seem interested in winning this thing at the ballot box. We need your help if we’re going to defeat Trump, Vance, Project 2025, and Republicans up and down the ballot. Click here to volunteer to write letters so we can increase voter turnout.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/19/2276982/-The-reason-Trump-s-holding-blue-state-rallies-should-terrify-you?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-19 23:00:01

Cartoon: The enemy within
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A cartoon by Mike Luckovich. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/19/2277450/-Cartoon-The-enemy-within?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-19 21:10:01

Trump thinks 'the women' love him—except for this one tiny issue
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Trump popped in on “Fox & Friends” on Friday and dropped this gem: “Without abortion, the women love me.” You almost have to give him a round of applause for nearly stumbling into a factual statement. Almost. He’s partly correct: Women are mad that the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, half of which he appointed, overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion. Like, throw-your-remote-at-the-TV mad. But “women love me”? Uh, no. The polling data is clear: Women are not loving him. The latest New York Times/Siena College national poll shows a staggering 16-percentage-point gender gap between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris—and it’s not in his favor. Why? For starters, abortion is the top issue for female voters under 30. And if Trump thought he could just fumble through an all-female town hall—one that Fox News stacked with MAGA supporters—and lip-service his way back onto women’s good side, think again. And now Trump is backtracking. “It’s going to be redone. They’re going to, you’re going to, you end up with a vote of the people,” Trump said on Tuesday. “They’re too tough, too tough. And those are going to be redone because already there’s a movement in those states.” But it’s too late. Amber Thurman, whose death is linked to Georgia’s strict abortion ban, cannot be brought back to life. Her son will have to live without his mother forever. And women in Texas are forced to carry ectopic pregnancies, thereby compromising their future fertility. A teenager forced to carry a child conceived by sexual assault to term will live with that trauma for the rest of her life. Meanwhile, even former first lady Melania Trump disagrees with her husband. In promoting her memoir, she vaguely asserted her belief in abortion rights—which is convenient timing, of course, coming about a month before the presidential election. And let’s not forget a primary demographic that helped put him in the White House in 2016: working-class white women, specifically those in the suburbs. In 2024, they are again key to a Trump victory. His mistake to help overturn Roe could cost him dearly, and he seems to know it. So while he’s frequently canceling interviews outside of his safe space, Harris is going into the Fox’s den, working a tight ground game, vowing to enshrine the protections of Roe into law, and mobilizing women to turn out at the ballot box. Volunteer to reach young voters and prepare them to get out to the polls so we can beat Trump! You can text, call, or post on social media. It's the final push and we need your help! Campaign Action
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2024-10-19 20:10:01

Democratic hopefuls fault GOP incumbents for anti-abortion records in Congress
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by Molly Castle Work for KFF Health News In a campaign ad this month, Derek Tran, a Democrat from Orange County, California, blasted his opponent, Republican U.S. Rep. Michelle Steel, for supporting a national abortion ban and voting to limit access to birth control. Democratic challenger Will Rollins also called out his rival, Rep. Ken Calvert, and “MAGA extremists” in an ad last week for their backing of a bill that could criminalize medical practitioners who provide abortions. A few blocks from state Route 14 in Lancaster, about 70 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, Rep. Mike Garcia’s Democratic opponent, George Whitesides, planted two billboards promising to protect reproductive health care, a jab at the Republican congressman, who has voted to cut taxpayer funding of abortions for service members and other Americans. As Election Day approaches, Democratic hopefuls are doing all they can to tie Republican opponents in contested congressional districts to their anti-abortion records. Aggressive ads are going up in California, Arizona, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon, as Democrats see an opportunity to take control of the House by engaging voters who might not vote straight-ticket — or at all. Republicans currently control the House by a slim margin. “What we all need to do is to make sure we look at her record, and that record is contrary to what she’s putting out there in her ads,” Tran said in an interview about Steel. “We’re making sure that we educate and remind the voters of who she really is.” Democrats are also linking Republican incumbents to former President Donald Trump, who has taken credit for the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Democrats are warning voters that more restrictions could come. During the Sept. 10 presidential debate, Trump dodged a question about whether he would veto a national abortion ban if elected. A majority of voters support restoring a federal right to abortion, according to a recent KFF poll. And 1 in 14 voters say abortion is the most important issue in determining their choice. Those voters have the potential to make a difference in the close races, said David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University. “The politics of abortion and reproductive health can get voters to participate at higher rates,” McCuan said. “It’s going to be a defining issue.” Democrats are hoping the issue plays to their favor in California. Voters two years ago codified abortion rights into state law. In May, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California launched a seven-figure campaign targeting seven Republican seats and Democrat Katie Porter’s open seat. As a result, political analysts say, Republicans have shied away from their votes on abortion and some incumbents — such as Steel, Garcia, and Central Valley U.S. Rep. David Valadao — have moderated their stances to appeal to voters. Steel, like Garcia and Valadao, has said she supports exceptions to abortion bans in cases of rape, incest, or threats to the life of the mother. All three co-sponsored a bill amounting to a blanket abortion ban in the previous Congress. Garcia and Valadao left their names off the bill last year, but Steel signed on again as a co-sponsor — briefly. She withdrew her support after she won her March primary, explaining that it could create confusion because the three-page bill could threaten in vitro fertilization. In a September campaign ad, Steel shared that she had used IVF to have children and reiterated her support for the procedure. Steel spokesperson Lance Trover said she opposes a national abortion ban. Republican Rep. Michelle Steel None of the Republican incumbents who represent a California “toss-up” district, as determined by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, granted KFF Health News an interview. Those who did respond said they do not support a national abortion ban. Rep. John Duarte added that he opposes a ban because he’s “pro-choice,” and Calvert said “the issue is best decided with the states and their voters directly.” Both voted for a bill to limit medication abortion and supported a measure that would have authorized prison time for medical providers who don’t resuscitate babies born after an attempted abortion. Tim Rosales, a political strategist who has represented Republican candidates, said these incumbents shouldn’t get heat for changing their minds over time, noting that Democratic former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama reversed their positions on same-sex marriage. “There has to be some allowance for evolution on a variety of issues,” Rosales said. Ben Petersen, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Democrats who have called out Republicans for inconsistencies want to move the conversation away from other topics, such as the “disastrous cost of living crisis hurting women and families caused by their one-party control of Sacramento.” This political dance is playing out on the national stage, especially in battleground races where Republicans find themselves on defense in states where abortion is on the ballot. Roughly two dozen races are considered toss-ups. In a March post on the social platform X, Republican Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon wrote, “I’ve always defended the life of the mother,” after his Democratic rival, Tony Vargas, called him out for supporting a national abortion ban, which makes no exceptions for cases in which the mother’s life is at risk. That same month, Rolling Stone reported that the Omaha-area congressman had deleted some anti-abortion endorsements from his website. Nebraskans will vote this November on competing abortion ballot measures. In Arizona, where voters will also be asked whether to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution, Republican incumbent David Schweikert this year did not support a national abortion ban, which he had co-sponsored at least six times from 2012 to 2021. In April, he wrote on X that he opposed an abortion ban in Arizona, calling on the state legislature to “address this issue immediately.” On the airwaves, on their websites, and on the campaign trail, Republican candidates are pivoting to convince voters that they have voted to protect women. For example, Steel this month released an ad titled “Champion,” in which the Orange County sheriff says Steel has “worked tirelessly to protect victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.” Trover, the Steel spokesperson, said she voted two years ago to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. That vote was on a larger $1.5 trillion government spending bill, which included the measure. The year before, Steel voted against reauthorizing the act. This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/19/2274345/-Democratic-hopefuls-fault-GOP-incumbents-for-anti-abortion-records-in-Congress?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-19 19:05:01

Cartoon: Friends share
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A cartoon by Clay Jones. Campaign Action
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2024-10-19 12:35:02

Cartoon: Mar-a-Lie-Go
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A cartoon by Clay Bennett. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/19/2277445/-Cartoon-Mar-a-Lie-Go?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-19 00:05:02

The Recap: Trump vs. Fox News, and Fox News vs. the truth
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A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. Trump keeps canceling appearances. What is he hiding? These cancellations follow a series of bizarre appearances on the campaign trail. Trump's latest tantrum shows he is clueless about how the media works Trump goes after … Fox News? Bret Baier admits he made a ‘mistake’ in Harris interview—a day later Premeditated whoopsie. Yet another Trump insider dishes on how truly awful the man is “I deeply regret that. And I regret that it has taken me so long to go public.” Trump barely gets through comedy routine at Catholic charity dinner Harris, though, hit comedy gold. 'Whiny little b-tch!': Watch famous action star shred Donald Trump So much for Trump’s tough-guy schtick. Cartoon: Your protector He’s trying to grab women by the vote. Trump needs Nikki Haley, but he can’t stop hating on her That’ll really help him turn out women voters. Biden taunts Bloomberg for prediction of a recession that never came Score another one for Biden. Here's what to make of polls showing Harris losing Latino support It’s more complicated than you think. 'Batsh-t crazy': Tim Walz and Bill Clinton team up to trash Trump A raucous good time. JD Vance's latest Trump claim shows why he'd make a terrifying VP He finally admits it. Maddow unwraps Trump’s unbelievable new plan to silence Stormy Daniels It’s a heck of a plan to silence a woman Trump claims he barely knows. Click here to see more cartoons. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/18/2277755/-The-Recap-Trump-vs-Fox-News-and-Fox-News-vs-the-truth?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-19 00:05:01

Cartoon: Campaign closers
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A cartoon by Brian McFadden. Follow me on Mastodon, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, or at my website.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/18/2277623/-Cartoon-Campaign-closers?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-18 21:05:01

Fox News host awkwardly ends chat about Trump canceling events
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On the Friday edition of her show, Fox News host Harris Faulkner cut short a discussion about Donald Trump’s recent string of canceled events and suggested that threats against his life have played a role. Faulkner is the host of “The Faulkner Focus,” part of the conservative network’s daytime programming. Faulkner and her guests Leslie Marshall, a liberal, and Kaylee McGhee White, a conservative, were discussing Trump’s recent speech at the Al Smith dinner in New York City. White argued that Trump’s appearance proved he was willing to speak before a hostile audience and claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris had not done the same. But Marshall noted that Harris had just given a widely watched interview to Fox News just two days before. She then referenced Trump’s cancellations. “I have to step in there,” Faulkner said, interrupting Marshall. “If you’re talking about a rally, for instance in Wisconsin, there are threats against his life.” Faulkner added, “There are reasons why they have to sometimes—I don’t know all the list—but when it comes to a rally, there’s a very good reason why they would have do that.” She then concluded the segment and did not allow Marshall to continue her point or provide a rebuttal. YouTube Video Faulkner’s convenient interjection is part of a pattern of behavior. The host has previously used her platform to spin events in Trump’s favor and cover for his actions. Trump’s camp has begun offering the excuse that he has been too “exhausted” to do interviews. Still, the former president has continued to make appearances in friendly venues in conservative media. But in his recent outings with others outside of his fanbase, the reception to his rhetoric and behavior has been frosty. The Harris campaign has been mocking Trump for his disappearing act, with posts asking, “You good realdonaldtrump?” juxtaposed with news articles citing his new “exhausted” excuse. At the same time, Harris has been busy with a flurry of media appearances and campaign rallies, during which she has directly challenged Trump on his track record. Harris noted Trump’s newest excuse while speaking at a Friday campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Kamala Harris: He is ducking debates and canceling interviews. His own campaign team recently said it's because of exhaustion. If you're exhausted on the campaign trail, it raises real questions about whether you are fit for the toughest job in the world. pic.twitter.com/hBWwuCE1vz— Acyn (@Acyn) October 18, 2024 “Now, he is ducking debates and canceling interviews. Check this out, his own campaign team recently said it is because of exhaustion. Well, if you are exhausted on the campaign trail, it raises real questions about whether you are fir for the toughest job in the world,” Harris said. Let’s beat Trump and Republicans up and down the ballot! Click here to write letters so we can increase voter turnout. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/18/2277738/-Fox-News-host-awkwardly-ends-chat-about-Trump-canceling-events?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-18 19:05:01

Who's 'sleepy' now? Tired Trump cancels yet another interview
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Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has dropped out of yet another interview, with his campaign saying he was too “exhausted” to participate, Politico reported. Trump had been in talks for weeks to appear on a podcast run by The Shade Room, a Black-owned media outlet that focuses on pop culture, in a probable effort to try to peel Black voters away from his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. When the podcast producers tried to nail down a specific date for the interview, an unnamed campaign staffer told them that the 78-year-old Trump was “exhausted and refusing [some] interviews but that could change,” according to Politico. While Trump was too tired to go on the show, Harris appeared on it last week and spoke about her “Opportunity Agenda For Black Men.” The agenda’s proposed policies include providing forgivable business loans to Black entrepreneurs, offering educational resources for Black men to get jobs in in-demand fields, and a new National Health Equity Initiative for Black men. The Shade Room cancellation follows a series of other events and interviews Trump has canceled in recent weeks. On Thursday, Trump “postponed” a planned interview with NBC News in Pennsylvania and canceled a planned event in Savannah, Georgia, with the National Rifle Association. On Tuesday, he also backed out of an interview with CNBC's “Squawk Box.” Earlier this month, he dropped out of a planned interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” making numerous excuses about why he wouldn’t participate in the program’s election special that has included every presidential candidate since 1968. (One big reason: Trump did not want to be fact-checked.) And after getting trounced at the Sept. 10 presidential debate, he refused to agree to a second debate with Harris. It's an ironic turn of events for Trump, who took delight in saying "sleepy Joe" Biden was too old and tired to campaign when the two men were facing off. To be sure, Trump has held events and sat for numerous interviews. But according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, they have largely been with friendly interviewers who do not challenge him. When he has participated in these interviews and events, he’s acted erratically and made comments that could be off-putting to the independent and swing voters he needs in order to win. On Friday morning, he appeared with the sycophantic hosts of “Fox & Friends,” where he threatened to withhold funding from public schools that accurately teach American history, said former President Abraham Lincoln should have “settled” with slave-owning Confederate states to avoid the Civil War, and claimed that former President Ronald Reagan was his favorite president when he was “little,” even though Trump was in his 40s when Reagan left office. Trump also held a bizarre town hall in Pennsylvania on Monday where he gave up on answering questions from the audience and instead spent nearly 40 minutes awkwardly dancing to his campaign playlist on stage. And on Sunday, he gave an interview to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo and said if he’s reelected, he’ll use the military to go after the “enemy from within,” whom he described as “radical left lunatics” and Democrats such as Rep. Adam Schiff. “Donald Trump has no message for the American people and is resorting to the same old tired playbook of darkness and division,” Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement. “For Donald Trump, this campaign isn’t about the American people, it’s about himself and his petty grievances. Not even Fox & Friends can protect Trump from himself, so it’s no wonder Trump’s handlers refuse to let him debate and keep canceling interviews with mainstream outlets.” Looking to volunteer to help get out the vote? Click here to view multiple ways you can help reach voters—textbanking, phonebanking, letters, postcards, parties, canvassing. We’ve got you covered!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/18/2277680/-Who-s-sleepy-now-Tired-Trump-cancels-yet-another-interview?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-18 19:05:00

Cartoon: Your protector
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When you need a protector from the protector... Please share #laloalcaraz cartoons
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2024-10-18 17:05:01

Biden taunts Bloomberg for prediction of a recession that never came
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Oct. 17, 2022, Bloomberg posted a story with this headline: “Forecast for US Recession Within Year Hits 100% in Blow to Biden.” “A US recession is effectively certain in the next 12 months in new Bloomberg Economics model projections, a blow to President Joe Biden’s economic messaging ahead of the November midterms,” wrote Bloomberg. “The latest recession probability models by Bloomberg economists Anna Wong and Eliza Winger forecast a higher recession probability across all timeframes, with the 12-month estimate of a downturn by October 2023 hitting 100%, up from 65% for the comparable period in the previous update.” Thursday was the two-year anniversary of that story, and guess what didn’t happen? There’s been no recession. “The forecast will be unwelcome news for Biden, who has repeatedly said the US will avoid a recession and that any downturn would be ‘very slight,’ as he seeks to reassure Americans the economy is on solid footing under his administration,” Bloomberg’s Josh Wingrove added in a smug know-it-all voice that mocked Biden for the temerity to predict what actually ended up happening. Instead, we got this: This has been an ongoing problem throughout Biden’s entire presidency: a press that was bored by the competence and accomplishments of one of our nation’s best administrations. In the epilogue of famed investigative journalist Bob Woodward’s latest book, he wrote: Many of the news-breaking scenes in my prior books are stories of failures, mismanagement, dishonesty and the corruption of executive power, most regularly demonstrated in my books on Presidents Nixon and Trump. Often I have said, only half-jokingly, that when I wake up in the morning my first thought is: "What are the bastards hiding?" My experience is the hidden is often significant, even monumental. War, this book on Biden, however, gave me what was often a real-time, inside-the-room look at genuine good faith efforts by the president and his core national security team to wield the levers of executive power responsibly and in the national interest. At the center of good governance, as evidenced in this book, is teamwork. [...] As this book shows, there were failures and mistakes. … But based on the evidence available now, I believe President Biden and this team will be largely studied in history as an example of steady and purposeful leadership. Our political press is broken. On everything from COVID-19, to foreign policy, to the economy, Biden’s administration has been one of overwhelming success. Not a single one of his administrative choices was felled by corruption, incompetence, or lawbreaking. So the media, like that Bloomberg story, literally made up problems that were supposedly bedeviling Biden. Why didn’t the American people appreciate Biden’s successes? I won’t pretend he was the best communicator, but the media itself fell flat on its face, refusing to give credit where credit was due. “The forecast will be unwelcome news for Biden” Bloomberg wrote, happy to spread bullshit to smear an administration and an economy that was doing exactly what we hoped it would do. I tried to look at this “probability model” to see what it’s up to now, but it’s hidden beyond a “professional services” paywall. I googled “professional services” and “Eliza Winger” to see if there were any public updates to that story, and I couldn’t find any. Both of the model’s authors are still employed as economists at Bloomberg, but nary a public acknowledgement of their stunning failure. The blatantly false prediction has been memory holed into oblivion. Well, almost. Biden himself isn’t letting it go. Proving the critics wrong will never get old. https://t.co/X0K3XwhO14— President Biden (@POTUS) October 17, 2024 The White House account piled on. Happy two year anniversary. https://t.co/5nT4QfKS1z pic.twitter.com/yxwbq5ZlMc— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 17, 2024 It’s tragic that it isn’t happening now, but the true measure of Biden’s successful presidency will be fully understood after the dust settles from the 2024 election. We were lucky to have him. We need your help if we’re going to defeat Trump, Vance, Project 2025, and Republicans up and down the ballot. Click here to volunteer to write letters so we can increase voter turnout.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/18/2277570/-Biden-taunts-Bloomberg-for-prediction-of-a-recession-that-never-came?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-18 16:05:01

Bret Baier admits he made a ‘mistake’ in Harris interview—a day later
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Fox News host Bret Baier is attempting to do damage control on his reputation, saying on Thursday that a deceptively edited clip he used during his interview with Vice President Kamala Harris was aired by "mistake.” During his Wednesday interview with Harris, Baier played a clip of Donald Trump in which the former president was trying to clean up a comment he had made in which he warned that Democrats are the “enemy from within.” Trump’s authoritarian suggestion that Democrats are even more dangerous than foreign adversaries, such as Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, has drawn widespread condemnation. Baier said Thursday that he was expecting the clip he aired to include the original “enemy from within” comments as well as Trump’s explanation of why he made those comments from the Wednesday town hall hosted by fellow Fox News host Harris Faulkner. “I did make a mistake,” Baier said on Fox News on Thursday. “When I called for a sound bite, I was expecting a piece of the ‘enemy from within,’ from Maria Bartiromo’s interview, to be tied to the piece from your town hall, Harris, where you asked the former president about the ‘enemy from within.’ It just had the piece from the town hall.” “I did make a mistake.” Bret Baier admits he did air the wrong clip during his interview with Kamala Harris. (Video: Fox News) pic.twitter.com/6PX29Sbm5W— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) October 17, 2024 Baier’s mea culpa came as mainstream media outlets called him out for his adversarial interview with Harris, in which Baier appeared to be trying to bait Harris into a “gotcha” moment by pushing Republican talking points. His apology is a far cry from the pat on the back he gave himself immediately following the interview, in which he accused Harris of trying to throw him off by showing up about 15 minutes late to the scheduled sit-down. “I’ll give you a little behind the scenes here, I know you love this. … You know when the kicker in football, they call a timeout right before he is going to kick the field goal. They’re icing the kicker,” Baier said, adding that he thought Harris was trying to throw him off by showing up a little later. But even former Fox News hosts were not buying Baier’s apology. “Newsflash: When wrong clips run (which happens) hosts can easily say ‘Sorry that was the wrong clip.’ He or his producers would have known it was the wrong one right then,” former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson wrote in a post on X on Thursday. Ultimately, despite Baier’s best efforts to bait Harris into making a mistake, Harris did well in the interview. She did not fall for Baier’s traps, including when he attempted to get her to call Trump voters “stupid”—which Harris refused to do. Baier: "Are they misguided, the 50%" that are supporting Trump? "Are they stupid? What is it?" Harris: "Oh god, I would never say that about the American people." Trump "is the one who tends to demean and belittle." pic.twitter.com/B8YzNpCrHH— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 16, 2024 Harris did so well that even Fox News hosts lamented the fact that she stayed on message. Looking to volunteer to help get out the vote? Click here to view multiple ways you can help reach voters—textbanking, phonebanking, letters, postcards, parties, canvassing. We’ve got you covered!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/18/2277646/-Bret-Baier-admits-he-made-a-mistake-in-Harris-interview-a-day-later?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-18 15:10:01

Trump barely gets through comedy routine at Catholic charity dinner
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Donald Trump struggled to deliver a series of insults and jokes at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner in New York City on Thursday night. The long-running event has traditionally been a venue for politicians of both parties to make lighthearted jabs while helping to bring in donations for Catholic charities. But Trump instead used the bulk of his time to repeat insults he has made on the campaign trail. “Right now, we have someone in the White House who can barely talk, barely put together two coherent sentences, who seems to have mental faculties of a child,” Trump said, haltingly reading his prepared statement. “But enough about Kamala Harris.” Trump also decided to emphasize the middle name of former President Barack Obama, stressing “Hussein,” a tactic that was frequently used by those promoting the racist “birther” conspiracy theory. Trump was for years the most prominent birther in the country. YouTube Video On Friday morning, Trump’s campaign emailed reporters a recap of his speech, declaring that it was a “knockout roast” that was a “master class in humor, delivery, and tact.” “Donald Trump struggled to read scripted notes written by his handlers, repeatedly complaining that he couldn't use a teleprompter,” Ammar Moussa, the Harris campaign’s rapid response director, said in a statement. “He stumbled over his words and lashed out when the crowd wouldn't laugh with him. The rare moments he was off script, he went on long incomprehensible rambles, reminding Americans how unstable he’s become.” Also on Friday, Trump appeared on “Fox & Friends,” where the hosts praised his speech. Trump said he received help writing his material from unnamed Fox News personalities and said he didn’t like the jokes that he read. In contrast to Trump’s appearance, Vice President Kamala Harris did not attend due to a scheduling conflict, but she did send in a video that was more in line with the traditional comedic tone of the event. YouTube Video Harris was joined by “Saturday Night Live” alumnus Molly Shannon playing her Catholic schoolgirl character Mary Katherine Gallagher. Gallagher advised Harris not to insult Catholics in her remarks and Harris replied, “I would never do that, no matter where I was. That would be like criticizing Detroit in Detroit.” Last week, Trump insulted the city of Detroit while campaigning for critical votes in the swing state of Michigan, drawing widespread condemnation and a fiery Harris ad in response. In September, after accepting the opportunity to speak at the Al Smith dinner, Trump questioned the mental stability of Catholics who might vote for Harris, saying on his Truth Social platform, “Any Catholic that votes for Comrade Kamala Harris should have their head examined…” The Al Smith dinner outing comes as Trump has suddenly canceled a series of public appearances and has largely focused on speaking on conservative media outlets, like Fox News. When he has gone outside of the bubble, like in a recent Univision town hall meeting, he has performed awkwardly and generated scorn. We need your help if we’re going to defeat Trump, Vance, Project 2025, and Republicans up and down the ballot. Click here to volunteer to write letters so we can increase voter turnout. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/18/2277654/-Trump-barely-gets-through-comedy-routine-at-Catholic-charity-dinner?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-18 14:05:02

Here's what to make of polls showing Harris losing Latino support
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Some polls are suggesting Donald Trump has made serious inroads among Latino and Black voters. Should we be worried? First off, for the most part, it doesn’t help to dig too far into polling crosstabs—i.e., how respondents break down by demographic. For example, if a poll has a national sample size of 800 adults, that means the pollster wants around 152 Latino respondents since Latinos make up about 19% of the U.S. population. While the margin of error for the overall poll would be around 3.5 percentage points, it would be around 8 points for the Latino respondents. In other words, that poll’s Latino numbers aren’t ones you want to base a narrative on. But not all punditry around the Latino vote has come from such small samples. The New York Times/Siena College polled over 900 Latino voters in a recent poll. “Like our other surveys this cycle, the polls find Mr. Trump faring unusually well for a Republican among Black and Hispanic voters,” The New York Times’ wrote Nate Cohn about the poll. “Overall, [Vice President] Kamala Harris is ahead, 78 percent to 15 percent, among Black voters, and she’s leading, 56-37, among Hispanic voters. … In 2020, Joe Biden’s Black support was 92 percent among major-party voters; his Hispanic support was 63 percent, according to Times estimates.” In other words, the Times’ numbers suggest Trump is doing about 5 points better with Hispanics than in 2020. That’s not insignificant. But another poll of Latinos suggests that things may not be as dire. On behalf of the Latino Victory Foundation and Hispanic Federation, BSP Research surveyed 1,900 Latino registered voters (twice the Times/Siena sample) in battleground states, in both English and Spanish (same as Times/Siena). Overall, 54% of Latino voters nationally favored Harris and 33% favored Trump in a multicandidate field, compared with 56% to 31% in the battleground states (excluding Florida). In a two-way race, Harris leads 59% to 37% nationally, and 62% to 34% in the battlegrounds. This would indeed be Democratic slippage from 2020, but it is a little more modest of a slide than what Times/Siena and other polling has shown, though it’s close to a margin-of-error difference. The memo also shows why it is important to poll in Spanish, which not enough pollsters do (though Times/Siena did). In BSP’s two-way matchups, Harris won Spanish-language households 64-32, but English-only ones 51-42. In other words, English-only polls fail to fully capture the sentiments of the Latino electorate. It’s probably a major reason why polling consistently misses in Nevada. The state simply has too many Spanish-speaking Latino voters, and that same dynamic applies to Arizona. My guess is that when the votes are counted, the Latino vote will end up looking a lot like 2020. The poll also shows that Harris is more trusted on the issues of abortion (63-23), immigration (64-23), LGBTQ+ rights (60-21), and health care (60-28). And Harris has even more room to grow, as 84% of Latinos would be more likely to vote for a candidate who advocates cutting middle-class taxes while raising taxes on corporations and billionaires. And 78% say the same for the candidate who would safeguard abortion protections, and 75% for the candidate advocating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. The reason Harris appears to be doing better among Latinos in battleground states than the national Latino electorate is because those are the states in which those voters are most exposed to her message. Donald Trump speaks during a Univision Noticias town hall event on Oct. 16, 2024, in Doral, Florida. Trump’s disastrous performance in front of a skeptical Univision audience this week won’t help his case. While Univision’s dominance among Latino viewers is fading thanks to the internet and the same media trends affecting the country at large, a Pew Research Center study found that 44% of them get all or some of their news in Spanish, and Univision is the 800-pound gorilla in that category. Trump’s gains among the Latino electorate are still on the margins, and it might not take much to move those margins back. The moral of the story? Don’t trust tiny crosstab samples, remember that polls are polls, and not final results, and make sure any Latinos you know are fully informed about which candidate stands for reproductive freedom, economic justice, and treating immigrants with respect and dignity. We need your help if we’re going to defeat Trump, Vance, Project 2025, and Republicans up and down the ballot. Click here to volunteer to write letters so we can increase voter turnout.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/18/2277468/-Here-s-what-to-make-of-polls-showing-Harris-losing-Latino-support?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-18 13:10:03

Trump's latest tantrum shows he is clueless about how the media works
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How dare Fox News let Vice President Kamala Harris appear on the right-leaning network and then allow some panelists to—gasp—praise her performance? That’s grounds for a predictable Donald Trump social media tirade. After the Democratic presidential nominee’s contentious Wednesday interview with host Bret Baier where she slammed Trump as “dangerous” and “unfit to serve,” the GOP nominee slapped a pouty post on his Truth Social site. “If I win and, I hope for the Country’s sake that I do, and this Radical Left Moron, Kamala, doesn’t get a chance to run the Country, it is DESPITE Fox, not because of them!” Trump declared. Who is going to tell him that the press does not exist to help him win elections? These objections are especially rich coming from someone still spewing threats against CBS' “60 Minutes” following the show’s interview with Harris. In his addled opinion, Fox News should be boosting him—but how dare a news show “help” his opponent? “60 MINUTES SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY TAKEN OFF THE AIR—ELECTION INTERFERENCE. CBS SHOULD LOSE ITS LICENSE,” Trump wailed on his Truth Social site Thursday. He has falsely claimed that the show’s editing of Harris’ answer to a question amounted to a campaign finance violation. Who is going to tell him that promotional videos can be stylized and cut differently than what ends up on the final broadcast? Even the conservative law firm that filed a complaint against CBS with the Federal Communications Commission admits news producers have the editorial authority to clip interviews however they deem fit. “Under this commission’s long-standing precedent, CBS retains the right to exercise news judgment when editing its material,” the filing said. “And that kind of editing is normal in the context of a news magazine style show like “Sixty Minutes.” But the Fourth Estate’s rights matter very little to Trump. Just like the strongmen and dictators he loves to take care of and write love letters to, Trump has a history of threatening journalists and news organizations who challenge or criticize him. He also likes to sling personal insults and publicly demean reporters who ask questions based on facts. “What a stupid question that is, but I watch you a lot. You ask a lot of stupid questions,” he told CNN reporter Abby Phillip in 2018. “Why don’t you act in—a little more positive?” he told PBS Newshour’s Yamiche Alcindor in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. “It's always trying to getcha, getcha, getcha, and you know what that’s why nobody trusts the media anymore. You didn’t hear me, that’s why you used to work for the Times and now you work for somebody else.” Trump seems especially fixated on belittling and threatening the paper known as the Gray Lady. “The New York Times is one of the most dishonest of all,” Trump said to right-wing podcaster Ben Shapiro. “I watched this New York Times, and it’s a classic. Wait until you see what I’m going to do with them. You’re going to have so much fun.” Trump threatened NBC and MSNBC with the same language on his Truth Social site in September 2023. “I say up front, openly, and proudly, that when I WIN the Presidency of the United States, they and others of the LameStream Media will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things, and events,” he wrote. “Why should NBC, or any other of the corrupt & dishonest media companies, be entitled to use the very valuable Airwaves of the USA, FREE? They are a true threat to Democracy and are, in fact, THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE!” It’s hilarious that Trump can barely stand the teensiest inkling of criticism from the rare Fox News personality with a shred of integrity who is willing to provide a voice of reason on occasion. He acts as if the news channel isn’t staffed almost exclusively by his former White House staffers and other assorted sycophants. “Twentieth-century dictators—notably Stalin, Hitler, and Mao—had all denounced their critics, especially the press, as ‘enemies of the people,’” Harvard’s Edward R. Murrow Professor Emeritus Marvin Kalb wrote in his book, “The Enemy of the People.” “Their goal was to delegitimize the work of the press as ‘fake news’ and create confusion in the public mind about what’s real and what isn’t; what can be trusted and what can’t be. That, it seems, is also Trump’s goal,” Kalb concluded. Yes, even in his safe space over at Fox News, Trump can’t take the heat. A president, like Harris said in her interview, should “be able to handle criticism without saying he’d lock people up for doing it.” Keep this wannabe dictator far away from the White House. Donate to Kamala Harris today!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/18/2277531/-Trump-s-latest-tantrum-shows-he-is-clueless-about-how-the-media-works?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-18 12:35:01

Cartoon: Beer
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/15/2277072/-Cartoon-Beer?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-18 00:20:01

'Batsh-t crazy': Tim Walz and Bill Clinton team up to trash Trump
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Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz and former President Bill Clinton campaigned in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, on Thursday, where they teamed up to shine a spotlight on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's increasingly desperate and erratic behavior. "Trump's plan to seize unprecedented power for himself isn't hypothetical. It's written down in Project 2025,” Walz told the crowd. He then highlighted some of the shady ghouls in Trump’s orbit, like former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who Trump pardoned after he lied to the FBI. Trump has said he would consider bringing Flynn back to the White House if he wins in November, even though Flynn was recorded saying scary shit just last weekend. The recent video shows Flynn answering questions at a right-wing Second Amendment-palooza in Pennsylvania. Flynn was asked a question about military tribunals and potential executions of perceived enemies if Trump is elected in November. Flynn’s answer? “We have to win first.” “He followed up that to make sure that we understood just how batshit crazy he was,” Walz told the rally audience. “He said, 'the gates of hell.' The gates of hell,” Walz repeated. “Mike Flynn said this. 'My hell will be unleashed.' This is the guy that Donald Trump wants to hand the keys to the federal government over to mind security." YouTube Video Walz then introduced Clinton, who poked fun at Trump's age and his unstable behavior during what was supposed to be a “town hall” event in Oaks, Pennsylvania, on Monday night. "I don't have any more elections I'll be involved with, and I'm too old to gild the lily,” Clinton remarked. “Heck, I'm only two years younger than Donald Trump,” he joked. “Good news for you is I will not spend 30 minutes swaying back and forth for you. And I've played enough music that I will not clap off beat, nor will I pretend to be a conductor.” “I've been doing this a long, long time,” Clinton continued. “And I can honestly say that this time I am not here running for anything anymore except for my grandchildren's future.” YouTube Video Recent polling from Quinnipiac University shows Democratic nominee Kamala Harris with a razor-thin 2-point lead over Trump in the Tar Heel state. It’s going to go down to the wire, so get out the vote. Donate now to help Kamala Harris win the White House!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/17/2277536/-Batsh-t-crazy-Tim-Walz-and-Bill-Clinton-team-up-to-trash-Trump?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-18 00:05:01

The Recap: Trump grabs at the lady vote, while Harris reaches across the aisle
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A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. 8 reasons Harris' Fox News interview was a great idea Who needs another presidential debate after this? Getting out the vote is crucial—and the GOP is blowing it This race is so close that no votes can be taken for granted. Ted Cruz blames his close Senate race on Mitch McConnell When in doubt, blame someone else. Cartoon: Cognitive assessment One filled-in circle can tell a lot. Trump's just-for-gals town hall goes just as you'd expect—only worse If only calling himself the “father of IVF” was the worst thing Trump did. Harris rallies with over 100 Republicans to say 'enough' of Trump She’s all about bringing people together. Rep. Jasmine Crockett tells Colbert the origins of her legendary insult Let’s just say she comes by it honestly. New poll: You'll be shocked how many people expect a landslide election They’re certainly not the folks who hang on every poll. Sean Hannity’s ‘nightmare scenario’: Harris helping Black people After all, can’t they just pull themselves up by their own bootstraps? Trump's plan for child care: Ask Ivanka Only Trump can say someone else is responsible while still patting himself on the back. Trump fails to impress Latinos at Univision town hall Trump struggled like a pescado out of water. Watch with delight as Fox News hosts whine about Harris interview One big critique: How dare she bring up Donald Trump?! McConnell called Trump a stupid narcissist but will vote for him anyway Mitch, please. Click here to see more cartoons. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/17/2277512/-The-Recap-Trump-grabs-at-the-lady-vote-while-Harris-reaches-across-the-aisle?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-17 23:15:01

Trump keeps canceling appearances. What is he hiding?
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For the second time in one day, Donald Trump has canceled a planned public appearance, leading to questions about whether his campaign is trying to limit exposure of their candidate in the home stretch of the election. On Thursday, CNN reported that the Trump campaign “postponed” a planned interview with NBC News set to take place in Philadelphia on Monday that was focused on the economy. Later on Thursday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the National Rifle Association canceled a planned Oct. 22 rally with Trump that was set to take place in Savannah, Georgia. The cancellations are the latest in a string of events and interviews Trump has backed out of in recent weeks. On Tuesday, Trump canceled a planned interview with CNBC's “Squawk Box.” “Trump canceled, and he was going to come on,” Squawk Box host Joe Kernen said Tuesday morning on CNBC. Trump also reneged on an agreed upon interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” for their election special, which presidential and vice presidential candidates have been participating in for more than 50 years. The Trump campaign canceled the interview after complaining that the vaunted news program would fact check their conversation. What’s more, Trump refused to agree to a second debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, after polls showed she beat him in their first match-up. “THERE WILL BE NO THIRD DEBATE!” Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social on Sept. 12, days after the first debate took place on ABC. Harris questioned why Trump was pulling out of planned interviews and appearances. “I agreed to a second debate. Trump refused. I released my medical records. Trump has not. I sat for a 60 Minutes interview. Trump backed out. One has to ask: What is Donald Trump trying to hide?” Harris wrote in a post on X. Indeed, Harris has been flooding the zone with campaign events and interviews in recent days. She even sat down for an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, the outlet that just hours earlier had hosted a Trump town hall that felt more like a Trump campaign event than one hosted by a supposed news organization. CNN later reported that the event was filled with fawning supporters whose praise of Trump was edited out of the segment that aired on the network. These cancellations also come after Trump has had a series of embarrassing and bizarre appearances on the campaign trail. First there was the town hall his campaign held on Monday in Oaks, Pennsylvania, in which he barely answered any questions from the audience—though he did advise that people advertise that they have assault weapons in their home—before he called off the Q&A entirely. Instead, Trump demanded his aides put on his favorite songs and swayed to the playlist for nearly 40 minutes. Many of the songs were from artists who do not support Trump and demanded he cease and desist use of their music. “Witnessing Trump and his supporters commune with this music last night was the height of blasphemy,” Rufus Wainwright, whose cover of the song “Hallelujah” was one of the many Trump played at the event, wrote in a post of X. “Of course, I in no way condone this and was mortified.” YouTube Video Then there was the Univision town hall on Wednesday night, in which Trump called the Jan. 6 insurrection a “day of love” and said there was “nothing done wrong at all” that day—answers that seemed to repel the audience members in the crowd. YouTube Video Ramiro González, a former registered Republican and construction worker from Florida who asked Trump to try to win back his vote by explaining his behavior on Jan. 6, 2021, said he left the town hall with a decision about his vote: He will not be voting for Trump. YouTube Video Looking to volunteer to help get out the vote? Click here to view multiple ways you can help reach voters—textbanking, phonebanking, letters, postcards, parties, canvassing. We’ve got you covered!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/17/2277489/-Trump-keeps-canceling-appearances-What-is-he-hiding?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-17 21:05:01

Yet another Trump insider dishes on how truly awful the man is
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John D. Miller, the former chief marketing officer for NBCUniversal, apologized for doing “irreparable harm by creating the false image of [Donald] Trump as a successful leader.” “I deeply regret that. And I regret that it has taken me so long to go public,” Miller wrote in an essay for U.S. News & World Report. Miller reflected on how “The Apprentice,” for which Miller led the marketing, created a false “narrative that Trump was a super-successful businessman who lived like royalty.” “In fact, Trump declared business bankruptcy four times before the show went into production, and at least twice more during his 14 seasons hosting,” he wrote, adding that the boardroom where Trump famously told contestants, “You’re fired,” was a set because “[Trump’s] real boardroom was too old and shabby for TV.” Miller also described how Trump had no issues with lying—repeatedly. “He thought he could simply say something over and over, and eventually people would believe it,” Miller wrote, saying that Trump would claim “The Apprentice” was the No. 1 show on TV when it wasn’t and after he’d been told it wasn’t. “He didn’t like being fact-checked back then either,” Miller added. Miller worked closely with Trump for over a decade, but he’s not the only former ally who’s turned on Trump. Those with the rare perspective of knowing what Trump behind closed doors have been warning Americans of his danger. Americans are less than three weeks away from finding out if the country will again be led by a wannabe autocrat. And Trump very well may be elected in November. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris holds only a 2.4-percentage-point lead over Trump, according to 538’s national polling average. The site’s presidential forecast gives Harris and Trump about equal odds of winning the Electoral College. The tight race has former Trump aides like Sarah Matthews speaking out against him. Matthews, a former Trump White House spokesperson, testified before Congress about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. More recently, she told CNN that if Trump were elected to a second term, “competency and experience” would be “out the window.” In 2023, John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, called him “a person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about,” adding, “God help us.” Mark Esper, Trump’s former defense secretary, reiterated in a CNN interview on Monday that Trump had urged him to use military intervention to shoot peaceful protesters in summer 2020. “President Trump has learned the key is getting people around you that will do your bidding, who will not push back, who will implement what you want to do,” said Esper. “I think he’s talked about that. His acolytes have talked about that. I think loyalty will be the first litmus test.” John Bolton, Trump’s former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, came out against him in a new edition of his memoir, “The Room Where It Happened,” released in January. In it, he wrote, "Trump is unfit to be president," adding, "If his first four years were bad, a second four will be worse." Arguably, the most blunt remarks came from retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who called Trump “fascist to the core.” “No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump,” Milley told journalist Bob Woodward, in Woodward’s latest book, “War.” Retired Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff “Now I realize he’s a total fascist,” Milley said. “He is the most dangerous person to this country.” Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, who admitted to paying off Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, once said he’d “take a bullet for Trump.” However, Cohen has also turned on Trump, calling him a “traitorous bastard who doesn’t give a fuck about anyone or anything other than himself.” “The man makes absolutely no sense. He’s a complete and total danger to our democratic republic in every way, shape, and form,” Cohen said on his “Political Beatdown” podcast on Thursday. Then there’s former Vice President Mike Pence. As one of Trump’s most loyal sycophants in his first term, Pence seems to have changed after Jan. 6. It took Trump more than three hours to call off a violent mob chanting “Hang Mike Pence” due to Pence’s job certifying the election victory of now-President Joe Biden. Pence has since decried Trump as “wrong then and wrong now.” In March, Pence said he would not endorse Trump for president but fell short of a formal endorsement of Harris: “It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year.” The chorus of voices—from ex-aides to military leaders—paints a disturbing picture of who Trump really is and what a second Trump term could entail. Monster, traitorous, unfit. We need your help if we’re going to defeat Trump, Vance, Project 2025, and Republicans up and down the ballot. Click here to volunteer to write letters so we can increase voter turnout.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/17/2277486/-Yet-another-Trump-insider-dishes-on-how-truly-awful-the-man-is?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-17 20:05:03

Actor and former wrestler Dave Bautista rips Trump's 'tough guy' BS
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Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue on Wednesday was filled with jokes about how incongruous it is that many young heterosexual men support Donald Trump. Kimmel enlisted “one of the toughest guys I know,” in messaging directly to those young men: actor and former WWE wrestler Dave Bautista. The video shows the exceptionally fit Bautista training in a gym. “A lot of men seem to think that Donald Trump is some kind of tough guy. He's not. I mean, look at him,” Bautista says in the video, before roasting every aspect of Trump: “He wears more makeup than Dolly Parton.” “He whines like a baby.” “The guy's afraid of birds.” “Donald Trump had his daddy pay a doctor to say his widdle feet hurt so he could dodge the draft.” “He sells imaginary baseball cards, pretending to be a cowboy fireman.” The video is relentless, and the harshest part is that it is all true. The video ends with a clip of Trump at a rally doing one of his weird things, this time saying, “Mommy, take me home. I want to go home.” “What's wrong, tough guy? Someone grab you by the pussy? Whiny little bitch.” YouTube Video In September, Bautista posted a video on his Instagram account that showed him wearing a “Harris-Walz” T-shirt. In the video, Bautista talks about how important and how easy it is to do your civic duty and vote. We need your help if we’re going to defeat Trump, Vance, Project 2025, and Republicans up and down the ballot. Click here to volunteer to write letters so we can increase voter turnout.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/17/2277466/-Actor-and-former-wrestler-Dave-Bautista-rips-Trump-s-tough-guy-BS?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-17 20:05:01

Panel says Secret Service needs ‘fundamental reform’ after Trump shooting
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WASHINGTON — An independent panel investigating the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania campaign rally says the Secret Service needs fundamental reform" and new leadership, and that “another Butler can and will happen again” without major changes in how candidates are protected. The review faulted the Secret Service for poor communications that day and failing to secure the building where the gunman took his shots. It also found more systemic issues at the agency such as a failure to understand the unique risks facing Trump and a culture of doing “more with less.” The 52-page report issued Thursday recommended bringing in new, outside leadership and refocusing on the Secret Service's protective mission. “The Secret Service as an agency requires fundamental reform to carry out its mission,” the authors wrote Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of the Homeland Security Department, the Secret Service's parent agency, in a letter accompanying their report. “Without that reform, the Independent Review Panel believes another Butler can and will happen again.” One rallygoer was killed and two others wounded when Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed onto the roof of a nearby building and opened fire as Trump spoke. The former president was wounded in the ear before being rushed off the stage by Secret Service agents. That shooting, along with another incident in Florida when Trump was golfing — a gunman there never got a line of site on the president or fired a shot — has led to a crisis in confidence in the agency. The report by a panel of four former law enforcement officials from national and state government follows investigations by members of Congress, the agency's own investigators and by Homeland Security's oversight body. The Secret Service said it was making changes. “We have already significantly improved our readiness, operational and organizational communications and implemented enhanced protective operations for the former president and other protectees,” the agency's acting director Ronald Rowe said in a statement Thursday. The agency said it was looking at how to retain personnel, modernize technology and bolster training, and was working with Congress to increase funding. A look at the report's key findings and recommendations: Poor communications, no plan for key buildings The panel echoed previous reports that have zeroed in on the failure to secure the building near the rally that had a clear line of site to where Trump was speaking and the multiple communications problems that hindered the ability of the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement to talk to each other. Police snipers return fire after the assassination attempt targeting Donald Trump on July 13 in Butler, Pa. The panel faulted the planning between Secret Service and the local law enforcement, and said the Secret Service failed to ask about what was being done to secure the building: “Relying on a general understanding that ‘the locals have that area covered’ is simply not good enough and, in fact, at Butler this attitude contributed to the security failure.” The review questioned why there were two separate command posts at the rally and found other communications problems, including the need to switch radio channels because radio traffic from agents protecting first lady Jill Biden at an event in Pittsburgh was coming across the channels of agents who were with Trump. Also, law enforcement personnel on the ground used a “chaotic mixture” of radio, cell phone, text, and e-mail. And it was unclear who had ultimate command that day. Cultural issues within the agency The report painted a picture of an agency struggling to think critically about how it carries out its mission, especially when it comes to protecting Trump. The panel said agency personnel operated under the assumption that they effectively had to “do more with less." The report said the additional security measures taken to protect Trump after the Butler shooting should have been taken before. "To be clear, the Panel did not identify any nefarious or malicious intent behind this phenomenon, but rather an overreliance on assigning personnel based on categories (former, candidate, nominee) instead of an individualized assessment of risk,” the panel wrote. Donald Trump is helped off the stage after the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pa. The panel also noted the “back-and-forth" between the Trump security detail and Secret Service headquarters regarding how many people were needed to protect him. The panel also faulted some of the senior-level staff who were involved in the rally for what they called a “lack of ownership.” In one example, the panel said a senior agent on site who was tasked with coordinating communications didn't walk around the rally site ahead of time and did not brief the state police counterpart before the rally about how communications would be managed. It cited the relative inexperience of two specific agents who played a role in security for the July 13 rally. One was the site agent from Trump's detail whose job it was to coordinate with the Pittsburgh field office on security planning for the rally. The panel said the agent graduated from the Secret Service academy in 2020, and had only been on the Trump detail since 2023. Before the Butler rally the agent had only done “minimal previous site advance work or site security planning.” Another agent assigned to operate a drone detection system had only used the technology at two prior events. What did the panel recommend? The panel recommended new leadership, specifically from outside the agency, but the report did not say whether anyone should be fired. Other recommendations included: having a unified command post at all large events; overhead surveillance for all outdoor events; security plans that specify how to mitigate line of site concerns out to 1,000 yards and who's in charge; and more training on how to get protectees out of dangerous scenarios. The panel said the agency needs renewed focus on its core protective mission while expressing skepticism that the agency should continue with the investigations it currently conducts. While the Secret Service is well known for what it does to protect presidents and other dignitaries, it also investigates financial crimes. “In the Panel’s opinion, it is simply unacceptable for the Service to have anything less than a paramount focus on its protective mission, particularly while that protective mission function is presently suboptimal," the report said. Scribd Content Panel members included Janet Napolitano, homeland security secretary under President Barack Obama; Mark Filip, deputy attorney general under President George W. Bush; David Mitchell, who served in numerous state and local law enforcement roles in Maryland and Delaware; and Frances Fragos Townsend, Bush's assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism. But this is not the first time that an independent review has found fault with the agency. After a man jumped the White House fence and evaded Secret Service to run into the building, a panel a decade ago looked into how the agency protects the White House. It recommended some of the same changes.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/17/2277509/-Panel-says-Secret-Service-needs-fundamental-reform-after-Trump-shooting?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-17 18:05:01

Watch with delight as Fox News hosts whine about Harris interview
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On Thursday morning, the hosts of Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” morning show offered up a litany of complaints about Vice President Kamala Harris’ performance during her interview with their colleague Bret Baier the night before. Harris appeared for a one-on-one interview with Baier on “Special Report,” in her first Fox interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy complained that Harris frequently brought up Donald Trump during her interview, even though Trump is her chief rival, de facto head of the Republican Party, and a former president. Doocy and co-hosts Ainsley Earhardt and Lawrence B. Jones agreed that a drinking game based on taking a drink every time Harris mentioned Trump would lead to a viewer being “smashed.” The hosts did not explain how Harris could make her case without drawing distinctions between herself and Trump and his record on the issues. YouTube Video Doocy also took issue with how Harris prepared for the event. “So going in, Kamala Harris knew that there were going to be a lot of questions about the border and migration, and she had some prepared answers,” Doocy said. Of course, this is standard practice for competent political candidates. In contrast to Harris, Trump frequently responds to questions with unrelated answers or rants about strange issues—but Fox has spent years praising Trump and backing his campaigns. YouTube Video In Wednesday’s interview, Baier repeatedly attempted to get Harris to accept questions framed through a conservative lens and in a way meant to elicit a conservative policy response, particularly on immigration. Harris pushed back on this behavior and explained to Baier and his viewers that the Biden-Harris administration has proposed immigration reform and backed a bipartisan border bill, efforts that were blocked by Republicans after urging from Trump. Jones argued during “Fox & Friends” that Baier’s technique—i.e., frequently interrupting Harris as she tried to respond to his questions—was valid due to the time constraints of the interview “If you allow the person that you’re interviewing to monologue, you won’t get to the substance,” Jones said. But Fox rarely acknowledges the policy ideas on border issues favored by Democrats, preferring instead to demonize migrants and offer up racist claims. YouTube Video Harris’ substantive responses are the sort of thing Fox viewers rarely hear, and surveys have shown that the audience is ill-informed on major issues in comparison to the population at large. During her interview, Harris confronted this behavior head-on, calling out Baier and the network for a deceptive edit of Trump remarks. In the footage, Trump referred to liberals and Democrats as the “enemy within” warranting a military response, but Fox edited out the context to omit his line of attack. Ultimately, Harris took part in a well-received interview on the major network most hostile to her candidacy and the Democratic Party. And Fox’s hosts were not happy about the result. We need your help if we’re going to defeat Trump, Vance, Project 2025, and Republicans up and down the ballot. Click here to volunteer to write letters so we can increase voter turnout.
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2024-10-17 13:05:02

Judge voids 7 election rules passed by Trump-backed board in Georgia
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A Georgia judge has declared that seven new election rules recently passed by the State Election Board are “illegal, unconstitutional and void.” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox issued the order Wednesday after holding a hearing on challenges to the rules. The rules that Cox invalidated include three that had gotten a lot of attention—one that requires that the number of ballots be hand-counted after the close of polls and two that had to do with the certification of election results. Cox found that the rules are “unsupported by Georgia's Election Code and are in fact contrary to the Election Code.” He also wrote that the State Election Board did not have authority to pass them. He ordered the board to immediately remove the rules and to inform all state and local election officials that the rules are void and not to be followed. The Associated Press has reached out to the lawyers for the State Election Board, as well as the three Republican members who had supported the rules, seeking comment on the judge’s ruling. They could appeal but time is running short with less than three weeks to go until Election Day. The State Election Board, which is controlled by three Republicans endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has passed numerous rules in recent months mostly dealing with the processes that happen after ballots are cast. Trump narrowly lost Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election but claimed without proof that widespread fraud cost him victory in the state. Democratic Party organizations, local election officials, and a group headed by a former Republican state lawmaker have filed at least half a dozen lawsuits over the rules. Democrats, voting rights groups and some legal experts have raised concerns that some rules could be used by Trump allies to delay or avoid certification or to cast doubt on results if he loses next month’s presidential election to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. Cox's ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Eternal Vigilance Action, which was founded and led by former state Rep. Scot Turner, a Republican. The organization had argued that the State Election Board overstepped its authority in adopting the rules. Reached by phone Wednesday evening, Turner said he was “thrilled with the victory.” “It was a complete and total victory for the Constitution of the United States,” he said. “These rules were opposed by citizens that are Republican, as well as Democrats and independents. This is not about party. It's about doing what's constitutional and reestablishing separation of powers, and that's something that every conservative in this country should be concerned with and support.” One new rule that the judge blocked requires that three separate poll workers count the number of Election Day ballots by hand to make sure the number of paper ballots matches the electronic tallies on scanners, check-in computers and voting machines. Georgia voters make selections on a touchscreen voting machine that prints out a piece of paper with a human-readable list of the voter’s choices as well as a QR code. That is the ballot that the voter puts into a scanner, which records the votes. The hand-count would be of the paper ballots—not the votes. Critics, including many county election officials, argued that a hand-count could slow the reporting of election results and put an extra burden on poll workers at the end of an already long day. They also said there isn't enough time to adequately train poll workers. The rule’s supporters argued the count would take extra minutes, not hours. They also noted that scanner memory cards with the vote tallies could be sent to central tabulation centers in each county while the hand-count is completed, so the reporting of results would not be slowed. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney on Tuesday had temporarily blocked the hand-count for the November election while he considers the legal merits. He said the hand-count may ultimately prove to be good policy, but it’s too close to the general election to implement it now. Cox wrote that the rule “is nowhere authorized” by Georgia laws, which “proscribe the duties of poll officers after the polls close. Hand counting is not among them.” Two other new rules that Cox invalidated were passed by the State Election Board in August and have to do with certification. One provides a definition of certification that includes requiring county officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying results, but it does not specify what that means. The other includes language allowing county election officials “to examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections.” Georgia's State Election Board members discuss proposals to a full room for election rule changes at the state capitol, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Atlanta. Supporters argued those rules are necessary to ensure the accuracy of the vote totals before county election officials sign off on them. Critics said they could be used to delay or deny certification. The first certification rule is not part of Georgia law and “adds an additional and undefined step into the certification process,” Cox wrote, saying it is thus “inconsistent with and unsupported by” Georgia law, making it “void and unenforceable." The second rule is “directly inconsistent” with Georgia law, “which provides the time, manner, and method in which election-related documents must be produced and maintained,” he wrote. The other rules Cox said are illegal and unconstitutional are ones that: require someone delivering an absentee ballot in person to provide a signature and photo ID; demand video surveillance and recording of ballot drop boxes after polls close during early voting; expand the mandatory designated areas where partisan poll watchers can stand at tabulation centers; and require daily public updates of the number of votes cast during early voting. At least half a dozen lawsuits had been filed challenging some or all of the new rules. The Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Georgia had filed two lawsuits and joined others. Election boards in some counties and individual election officials in other counties had also sued. Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the state’s top elections official, has said the last-minute nature of the rules creates confusion for voters and poll workers and can undermine confidence in election results. An association of county election officials also asked the state board to tap the brakes on new rules. And in a memo last month, the office of state Attorney General Chris Carr, also a Republican, warned that some rules appeared to conflict with existing law. A Georgia judge has declared that seven new election rules recently passed by the State Election Board are “illegal, unconstitutional and void.” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox issued the order Wednesday after holding a hearing on challenges to the rules. The rules that Cox invalidated include three that had gotten a lot of attention — one that requires that the number of ballots be hand-counted after the close of polls and two that had to do with the certification of election results. Cox found that the rules are “unsupported by Georgia's Election Code and are in fact contrary to the Election Code.” He also wrote that the State Election Board did not have authority to pass them. He ordered the board to immediately remove the rules and to inform all state and local election officials that the rules are void and not to be followed. The Associated Press has reached out to the lawyers for the State Election Board, as well as the three Republican members who had supported the rules, seeking comment on the judge’s ruling. They could appeal but time is running short with less than three weeks to go until Election Day. The State Election Board, which is controlled by three Republicans endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has passed numerous rules in recent months mostly dealing with the processes that happen after ballots are cast. Trump narrowly lost Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election but claimed without proof that widespread fraud cost him victory in the state. Democratic Party organizations, local election officials and a group headed by a former Republican state lawmaker have filed at least half a dozen lawsuits over the rules. Democrats, voting rights groups and some legal experts have raised concerns that some rules could be used by Trump allies to delay or avoid certification or to cast doubt on results if he loses next month’s presidential election to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. Cox's ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Eternal Vigilance Action, which was founded and led by former state Rep. Scot Turner, a Republican. The organization had argued that the State Election Board overstepped its authority in adopting the rules. Reached by phone Wednesday evening, Turner said he was “thrilled with the victory.” “It was a complete and total victory for the Constitution of the United States,” he said. “These rules were opposed by citizens that are Republican, as well as Democrats and independents. This is not about party. It's about doing what's constitutional and reestablishing separation of powers, and that's something that every conservative in this country should be concerned with and support.” One new rule that the judge blocked requires that three separate poll workers count the number of Election Day ballots by hand to make sure the number of paper ballots matches the electronic tallies on scanners, check-in computers and voting machines. Georgia voters make selections on a touchscreen voting machine that prints out a piece of paper with a human-readable list of the voter’s choices as well as a QR code. That is the ballot that the voter puts into a scanner, which records the votes. The hand-count would be of the paper ballots — not the votes. Critics, including many county election officials, argued that a hand-count could slow the reporting of election results and put an extra burden on poll workers at the end of an already long day.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/17/2277409/-Judge-voids-7-election-rules-passed-by-Trump-backed-board-in-Georgia?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-17 12:40:01

Cartoon: Tom the Dancing Bug presents Q-NUTS, in 'It's Election Day!'
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Announcing the historic brand new Tom the Dancing Bug book: "IT'S THE GREAT STORM, TOM THE DANCING BUG!" collecting all Tom the Dancing Bug comics (and more!) from 2020-2023! Now accepting orders right HERE! Get your personalized / signed / sketched / swagged copy today! "Intricate, incisive, shape-shifting" – The New Yorker JOIN THE INNER HIVE and get each week's Tom the Dancing Bug comic at least a day before publication! Plus other exclusive content like process pics, extra comics, contests, insider info, puzzles, puns, special gifts, and juicy gossip! Please do join the team that makes it possible for Tom the Dancing Bug to exist in this very world. E-Z and FUN! Sign up for the free weekly Tom the Dancing Bug Review! E-Z and less fun but FREE! Follow @RubenBolling on Bluesky, Threads, and/or Mastodon. And Facebook and Instagram.
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2024-10-17 00:15:01

Kamala Harris stands her ground during tense Fox News interview
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Vice President Kamala Harris’ first-ever interview on Fox News aired Wednesday. The pretaped segment was expected to be an ambush on the Democratic presidential nominee—and host Brett Baier did not defy those expectations. Baier immediately tried to bulldoze Harris on the issue of immigration and border security, not even allowing her to respond to his opening “question.” After all, allowing Harris to explain how GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and Republicans decided to exploit border security as an election issue instead of working on a solution wouldn’t make Fox News’ favored candidate particularly appealing. “I’m responding to the point you raised, and I'd like to finish,” Harris said when Baier tried to bulldoze through a second “question.” She proceeded to detail all of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to address border security that were ultimately obstructed by Trump and his minions in the Republican Party. “And Donald Trump found out about that bill and told them to kill it because he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.” Harris said, steamrolling right through Baier’s interruptions. “And in this election, this is rightly a discussion that the American people want to have. And what they want are solutions, and they want a president of the United States who is not playing political games with the issue.” YouTube Video Harris also set the record straight when Baier tried to downplay Trump’s indefensible threats to sic military forces on American citizens who he deems “radical left lunatics.” She objected when Baier instead showed a clip of Trump joking about being persecuted and comparing himself to infamous gangster Al Capone. "I'm sorry, and with all due respect, that clip was not what he has been saying about ‘the enemy within’ that he has repeated,” Harris insisted. “That's not what you just showed.” The vice president then broke it down for Fox News viewers. “Here's the bottom line. He has repeated it many times. And you and I both know that. And you and I both know that he has talked about turning the American military on the American people,” Harris told Baier. “He has talked about going after people who are engaged in peaceful protest. He has talked about locking people up because they disagree with him.” “This is a democracy,” Harris continued. “And in a democracy, the president of the United States, in the United States of America, should be willing to be able to handle criticism without saying he'd lock people up for doing it. And this is what is at stake” YouTube Video Help Kamala Harris win the White House!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/16/2277315/-Kamala-Harris-stands-her-ground-during-tense-Fox-News-interview?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-17 00:05:03

The Recap: Walz roasts Trump, Harris sets Fox News interview, and Trump screams, pt. 3,936
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A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. From Fox News to Joe Rogan, Harris has a plan: Win So much for taking only “friendly” interviews. Another public appearance confirms that Trump is an unstable mess Hard to believe he insulted autoworkers like this. Watch Ted Cruz get stomped in the Texas Senate debate Get some popcorn. CNN anchor spells out how Trump's threats are definition of fascism “The Republican nominee is telling you that as commander-in-chief, he will contemplate using the United States military or National Guard to go after his political opponents.” Sad! Poor Trump surrogates try to defend his ‘enemy within’ threats Speaking of fascism … Cartoon: Swing state confidential Stand up for what’s right, small-town folks! Harris blows Trump away in fundraising—again Citizens United is exhibit A in the Law of Unintended Consequences. Honorable discharges given to those booted by 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' It was long coming. The lie is working: Vast majority of Fox News viewers fear this hoax Donald Trump has his base right where he wants them. ‘This man is weak’: Harris blasts Trump in town hall with Black voters She’s hitting a wannabe strongman where it hurts. Walz roasts Trump—but reminds us a GOP win is no laughing matter A-plus to the joke Walz tells here. A-plus. Click here to see more cartoons. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/16/2277280/-The-Recap-Walz-roasts-Trump-Harris-sets-Fox-News-interview-and-Trump-screams-pt-3-936?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-17 00:05:02

Cartoon: FEMA season
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A cartoon by Clay Jones. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/16/2277078/-Cartoon-FEMA-season?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-16 22:05:02

Sean Hannity’s ‘nightmare scenario’: Harris helping Black people
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Fox News host Sean Hannity issued a dire warning to his prime-time audience on Tuesday night: Republican nominee Donald Trump must win in November to avoid a “nightmare scenario” where Vice President Kamala Harris becomes the president of the United States. “Try to imagine something actually pretty horrible: Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, this time next year, president and vice president in the White House,” Hannity said. Why would that be so “horrible,” you might ask? Because a President Harris might —gasp—enact progressive policies that would help students, empower Black people, and protect the environment. YouTube Video Hannity described the Democratic agenda as “radical” and “extreme” and singled out the Green New Deal, a package of environmental reforms meant to cut carbon dioxide emissions and reduce climate change. Harris has also championed student loan forgiveness and proposed new laws to address the housing crisis. “Kamala has made a lot of promises with your money—this is interesting—that includes more than a trillion dollars in so-called student loan forgiveness, $25,000 to first-time homebuyers, and that is only the beginning,” Hannity said. The host then focused on Harris’ proposals in her campaign’s recently released Opportunity Agenda for Black Men. “She announced another $20 million in forgivable loans to African Americans to be handed out on the basis of race,” he wailed. Citing her town hall hosted by Charlamagne Tha God of syndicated radio show “The Breakfast Club,” Hannity complained that Harris said she supported studying the idea of reparations for slavery. Harris has long supported such an inquiry and backed related legislation. “There is no amount of your money that Kamala will not spend to win a few votes,” Hannity complained, then accused the candidate of trying to “sweeten the deal with a different kind of green” by backing marijuana legalization. The host’s attack was in line with Fox News’ propensity to promote anti-Black narratives throughout the network’s 28-year-history. Fox has attacked diversity initiatives, supported police violence against Black communities, and promoted racist smears of Black leaders like President Barack Obama. Hannity has been a fixture at the network for most of that time, but beyond hosting his television and radio shows, he has been a close adviser to Trump. CNN reported that Hannity and Trump maintained open lines of communication while Trump was pushing election lies in 2020 and inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The connection is so close that Trump insiders have reportedly described Hannity as a “shadow” chief of staff. Despite Hannity’s sinister characterization of her policy proposals, the Harris campaign described her agenda as an effort to empower Black men who have historically been marginalized in American society. In its document laying out the agenda, the campaign took note of Trump’s attitude toward Black men. “Donald Trump spent four years making Black men’s lives harder,” the proposal states. “If he’s re-elected, his hostility toward Black men and their communities will continue.” We need your help if we’re going to defeat Trump, Vance, Project 2025, and Republicans up and down the ballot. Click here to volunteer to write letters so we can increase voter turnout.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/16/2277281/-Sean-Hannity-s-nightmare-scenario-Harris-helping-Black-people?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-16 20:35:01

People with felonies can now vote in Nebraska—and it could tip the election
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Nebraska’s top election official had no authority to strip voting rights from people convicted of a felony, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision that could add hundreds of new voters to the rolls and potentially help tip the balance on Nov. 5. The order by Republican Secretary of State Bob Evnen could have kept 7,000 or more Nebraskans from voting in the upcoming election, the American Civil Liberties Union has said. Many of them reside in Nebraska’s Omaha-centered 2nd Congressional District, where both the presidency and the makeup of Congress could be at stake. Evnen in July had ordered county election officials in Nebraska to reject the voter registrations of those with felony convictions, citing an opinion from the state attorney general. That opinion, which Evnen had requested, deemed as unconstitutional a law passed this year by the Legislature immediately restoring the voting rights of people who have completed the terms of their felony sentences. “Patty and Selma at the Department of Motor Vehicles may not be constitutional scholars, but they know that they are expected to follow the law,” Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman wrote in the high court's ruling, criticizing Evnen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers for taking it upon themselves to declare the law unconstitutional. “Do we want to live in a world where every state employee who has a hunch a statute is flawed gets to ignore it?” Nebraska overall is heavily Republican but is one of only two states — the other is Maine — that apportions its Electoral College votes by congressional district. The Omaha-area district has twice awarded its one vote to Democratic presidential candidates — to Barack Obama in 2008 and again to Joe Biden in 2020. In a 2024 presidential race shown by polling to be a dead heat, a single electoral vote could be decisive. Registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in the district by more than 13,000 following a redrawing of the borders in 2021. But the district also has nearly 114,000 independent and third-party voters. In 2020, Biden bested former President Donald Trump there by more than 22,000 votes. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Democratic groups have spent millions there to secure the precious electoral vote — far more than Trump and Republican groups. Nebraska also has competitive races for one U.S. Senate seat and the 2nd District’s U.S. House seat. Two-term Republican Sen. Deb Fischer faces her strongest challenge yet in independent candidate Dan Osborn, a former union leader who has eschewed both major parties. In the House race, Republican Rep. Don Bacon is running against Democratic state Sen. Tony Vargas in a rematch of the 2022 election, which Bacon narrowly won with 51% of the vote. The last day to register to vote for the 2024 general election in Nebraska is Oct. 25 and must be done in person. Election Day is Nov. 5. The attorney general's opinion said that the 2024 law allowing people with felony convictions to vote violated the state constitution’s separation of powers and that only the state Board of Pardons under the control of the executive branch could restore voting rights through pardons. Pardons are exceedingly rare in Nebraska. Evnen, Hilgers and Gov. Jim Pillen make up the three-member Board of Pardons, and all three are Republicans. The opinion also found unconstitutional a 2005 state law that restored the voting rights of people with felony convictions two years after they complete the terms of their sentences. In its ruling, the Nebraska Supreme Court unanimously agreed to order election officials to enforce the 2024 law, noting that the election is days away and that the state constitution allows only a supermajority of five state Supreme Court justices to determine whether a law passed by the Legislature is unconstitutional. But the justices diverged wildly in separate writings on whether they believe both voting-rights laws are constitutional. Several justices said the court should not reach a conclusion, while two of its most conservative members — Justices Jeffrey Funke and John Freudenberg — said they would find them unconstitutional. Miller-Lerman disagreed in a scathing retort, saying that to find the laws unconstitutional could disenfranchise 59,000 Nebraska residents who have been eligible to vote under the 2005 law for nearly two decades and that such a finding would consolidate power in the executive branch. The ACLU is representing advocacy group Civic Nebraska and two Nebraska residents — Jeremy Jonak, who plans to register as a Republican, and Gregory Spung, an independent. Both men have felony records and would have been denied the right to vote under Evnen’s directive. Because Evnen’s move came only weeks ahead of the November election, the ACLU took the lawsuit directly to the Nebraska Supreme Court. “For so long, I was uncertain if my voice would truly count under this law,” Spung said in a statement. “Today’s decision reaffirms the fundamental principle that every vote matters.” Jonak called the decision a weight off his shoulders. “Over the years, so many of us have earned a second chance. We live in every part of the state, and the truth is most of us are just trying to live our lives and leave the past behind us," he said. Felony disenfranchisement laws date to the Jim Crow era and mainly targeted Black people, according to experts. Black registered voters have an overwhelmingly positive view of Harris, according to a recent poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Restoration of the voting rights of people with felony convictions has drawn national attention in recent years. In Florida, lawmakers weakened a 2018 voter-approved constitutional amendment to restore the voting rights of most people convicted of felonies. Following that, an election police unit championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis arrested 20 such people. Several said they were confused by the arrests because they had been allowed to register to vote. In Tennessee, lawmakers killed a bipartisan bill this year that would have let residents convicted of felonies apply to vote again without also restoring their gun rights. Dozens of states allow people living with felony convictions to vote, either for those not currently in prison or upon completion of their sentences. Two states, Maine and Vermont, allow everyone, even those in prison, to vote. But despite a recent trend toward restoration of rights, felony disenfranchisement laws prevent around 5.85 million people across the country from voting, according to the ACLU. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/16/2277282/-People-with-felonies-can-now-vote-in-Nebraska-and-it-could-tip-the-election?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-16 19:35:01

Cartoon: Cognitive assessment
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A cartoon by Clay Bennett. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/16/2277073/-Cartoon-Cognitive-assessment?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-16 18:40:01

This key disaster loan program is out of money until Congress returns
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The Small Business Administration has run out of money for the disaster assistance loans it offers small businesses, homeowners and renters, delaying much needed relief for people applying for aid in the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to businesses and people affected by disasters. The SBA warned earlier this month that it could run out of funding, given the anticipated surge in claims from Hurricane Helene, without additional funding from Congress. There are other disaster relief programs available, including assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. The FEMA aid isn't affected by the SBA shortfall. Helene was a Category 4 storm that first struck Florida’s Gulf Coast on September 26, dumped trillions of gallons of rain and left a trail of destruction for hundreds of miles across several states. Hurricane Milton swept across Florida two weeks later. So far, the SBA has received around 37,000 applications for relief from those impacted by Hurricane Helene and made more than 700 loan offers totaling about $48 million. It has received 12,000 applications from those impacted by Hurricane Milton. The SBA is pausing new loan offers until it gets more funding, which means loans that have not already been offered will be delayed by at least a month. SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said people should keep applying for the loans, however. “We know that swift financial relief can help communities recover quickly to stabilize local economies.” Guzman said in a statement. She added that the SBA will continue to process applications so assistance can be quickly disbursed once funds are replenished. The SBA said it could also be able to make a small number of new loan offers during this time, if it gets more funds from loan cancellations or similar actions. House Speaker Mike Johnson assured there would be strong support to provide necessary funds – when Congress returns after the November election. “There’s no question these devastating back-to-back storms have stressed the SBA funding program,” Johnson, a Republican, said in a statement. “But the Biden-Harris Administration has the necessary disaster funding right now to address the immediate needs of American people in these hurricane affected areas.” The speaker has declined to recall lawmakers back to Washington to vote on aid in the aftermath of deadly hurricanes and declined to do so now. He said Congress is tracking this situation closely. “When Members return in just a few short weeks, the Administration should have an accurate assessment of the actual dollar amount needed and there will be strong bipartisan support to provide the necessary funding,” he said. A lane of Main Street is seen washed away by flood waters in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene on Sept. 30, 2024 in Old Fort, North Carolina. The SBA offers two different types of disaster loans. Business physical disaster loans are for repairing or replacing disaster-damaged property, including real estate, inventories, supplies, machinery and equipment. Economic injury disaster loans are working capital loans to help small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and most private, non-profit organizations meet financial obligations that cannot be met as a direct result of a disaster. Businesses can access loans up to $2 million. Interest rates are as low as 4% for businesses and 3.25% for nonprofit organizations. The SBA also offers disaster loans up to $500,000 to homeowners to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $100,000 to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed personal property. FEMA's disaster relief fund is a pot of money the agency uses to respond to disasters. The money pays for things like refunding state and local officials for debris removal and rebuilding public infrastructure damaged by disasters. FEMA also gives disaster survivors money for things like rent while their homes are uninhabitable or for emergency needs like diapers. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has repeatedly said that the disaster relief fund has enough money to respond to Helene and Milton. But Criswell has said that the agency eventually will need supplemental funding from Congress. If that doesn’t happen, the agency would go into what’s called “immediate needs funding.” That means the agency stops paying out for previous disasters and conserves its money for life-saving missions during any new ones. For more details about all aid programs the government offers visit https://www.disasterassistance.gov. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/16/2277207/-This-key-disaster-loan-program-is-out-of-money-until-Congress-returns?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-16 18:40:01

Vast majority of Fox News viewers believe a lie, new poll finds
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A new poll from Civiqs for Daily Kos shows that an overwhelming majority of frequent Fox News viewers expressed concern about “election fraud” in the 2024 presidential campaign, even though such fraud rarely occurs in American elections. Among registered voters identified as frequent viewers of Fox News in the October 2024 survey, 95% said they were “very” or “somewhat” concerned about fraud. By contrast, among those who said they don’t watch Fox, 47% were at least somewhat concerned, while 50% said they weren’t concerned. Datawrapper Content The disproportionately high level of concern among the Fox News audience comes after years of Donald Trump promoting falsehoods about elections. Trump has infamously claimed that he won the 2020 election “by a lot” after he lost both the popular vote and Electoral College to now-President Joe Biden. Trump has also alleged that millions of votes for Biden were fraudulent, and he was indicted on federal charges for his efforts to subvert the election. Even after he won the 2016 election, Trump pushed lies about fraud. That year, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton lost the Electoral College but defeated Trump in the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. Despite his victory, Trump lied and said, “I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.” Trump’s allies at the conservative Fox News, where many of the poll’s registered voters get much of their information, have a long history of promoting election-fraud falsehoods. In the 2024 campaign cycle, the network’s hosts and pundits have repeatedly pushed stories about Democrats conspiring to steal elections and promoted the myth of noncitizens voting in droves. Fox News has continued this practice despite facing financial consequences for promoting Trump’s 2020 election lies. In 2023, Fox News paid Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million in a settlement after the voting services firm sued the network for airing falsehoods about the company. The poll unfortunately finds that 60% of registered voters were at least somewhat concerned about election fraud. Such fraud in the U.S. is extremely rare. The Brennan Center for Justice notes that “most allegations of fraud turn out to be baseless and that most of the few remaining allegations reveal irregularities and other forms of election misconduct.” But voter suppression is real, and various tactics related to suppressing the vote—particularly among minority and youth voters—have been embraced by conservatives and Republicans over the years. And on the rare occasion when fraud related to elections has occurred, recent cases have often involved actions done either by Republicans or with the intent of helping Republican candidates. We need your help if we’re going to defeat Trump, Vance, Project 2025, and Republicans up and down the ballot. Click here to volunteer to write letters so we can increase voter turnout. Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/16/2277219/-Vast-majority-of-Fox-News-viewers-believe-a-lie-new-poll-finds?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-16 17:35:01

Harris blows Trump away in fundraising—again
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This was the blockbuster we all wanted to see. The Harris Victory Fund—which raises money for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and state Democratic groups—brought in a record-shattering $633 million in the third quarter, spanning July through September of this year. She spent nearly $600 million, and had $77 million left in the bank at the end of September. Meanwhile, Trump’s two joint fundraising committees, Trump National Committee JFC and Trump 47 Committee, collectively raised just under $340 million. In other words, a lot less. America PAC, which is doing much of Trump’s get out the vote operation, received $74.95 million from Elon Musk, its sole benefactor. Miriam Adelson, wife of the late casino mogul and big Trump donor Sheldon Adelson, gave $100 million to her own super PAC. Collectively, they were still swamped by Harris’ fundraising juggernaut. Overall, the Harris campaign, together with Democratic groups, has brought in over $1 billion. ActBlue logged its best quarter ever, with 6.9 million donors making 31 million contributions and raising a total of $1.5 billion for Democratic candidates up and down the ticket. That’s an average of $217 per donor. Take that, Musk and Adelson! As the ActBlue blog reports: U.S. House and U.S. Senate fundraising remained strong with small-dollar donors contributing $131 million and $187 million for those candidates, respectively. Local races (councils, legislatures, and more) saw a 23% increase in fundraised dollars from the same period in 2020. Gubernatorial fundraising saw a near 70% increase in dollars raised from Q3 of 2020. Organizations fighting for voting rights received over $76 million in grassroots donations. But oh no, let’s cherry-pick one mediocre poll to freak out about, right? The good news just keeps on coming: In the competitive House races, Democrats averaged raising $2.4 million in the third quarter, while Republicans averaged half that, $1.2 million. In Florida’s Senate race, Republican incumbent Rick Scott raised $4.2 million, his Democratic opponent, former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, raised $12.9 million. In Montana’s Senate race, embattled Democratic incumbent Jon Tester raised $32 million to his Republican challenger Tim Sheehy’s $9.8 million. Wow. In Nebraska’s Senate race, suddenly threatened incumbent Republican Deb Fischer raised $1.2 million, while independent challenger Dan Osborn pulled in $3.3 million. Here’s a fun one: In the Texas Senate race, endangered Republican incumbent Ted Cruz raised $17.2 million, while his Democratic challenger, Rep. Colin Allred, raised—you ready for it?—$30.3 million. RELATED STORY: Watch Ted Cruz get stomped in the Texas Senate debate This is nuts! Remember, everyone thought Citizens United would be the death of the Democratic Party, as it allowed corporate interests to flood Republicans with money. Instead, it forced Democrats to be more responsive to their base, giving space for ActBlue to emerge to handle this new way of financing campaigns. Some of you might remember that Daily Kos was ActBlue’s first partner. We were there at the very beginning of this. Citizens United is exhibit A in the Law of Unintended Consequences. Republicans cheered it as a way to use money to snuff out Democratic candidates. The exact opposite has ended up happening. We need your help if we’re going to defeat Trump, Vance, Project 2025, and Republicans up and down the ballot. Click here to volunteer to write letters so we can increase voter turnout.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/16/2277163/-Harris-blows-Trump-away-in-fundraising-again?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-16 16:45:01

‘This man is weak’: Harris blasts Trump in town hall with Black voters
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Vice President Kamala Harris laid out how a “weak” Donald Trump agenda would hurt millions of Black Americans during a radio town hall hosted by IHeartRadio’s Black Information Network on Tuesday. The discussion was led by Charlamagne Tha God, host of the syndicated radio show “The Breakfast Club.” Harris’ campaign has been reaching out to various constituencies via multiple media appearances, including outreach to Black voters—particularly Black men. YouTube Video “One of the things that I think is really ironic, but at play. Donald Trump, through his—his way of trying to name call and demean and divide, tries to project as though those things are a sign of strength, when in fact, the man is really quite weak,” Harris said. As evidence of his weakness, Harris pointed to Trump’s history of currying favor with dictators like North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, his smears against military service members, and his attempts to subvert the Constitution—like trying to undermine the results of the 2020 election that he lost. “This man is weak and he is unfit,” she concluded. Specifically addressing how Trump’s agenda and world view would affect Black Americans, Harris pointed to the Trump-affiliated Project 2025. YouTube Video “Ask Donald Trump what his plan is for Black America. Ask him. You know, I'll tell you what it is. Look at Project 2025,” she said. “Project 2025 tells you: the plan includes making police departments have stop and frisk policies. The plan includes making it more difficult for workers to receive overtime pay. The plan includes ending the ability of Medicare to negotiate drug prices.” Harris also cited Trump’s call in 2022 to “terminate” portions of the Constitution as he continued to fume over his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden. The Democratic nominee reminded listeners that constitutional amendments provide protections against abuses like unreasonable search and seizure, protection against self-incrimination, and the right to a fair trial. “And he's going to ‘terminate’ the Constitution of the United States, which, in most of those amendments, one thing or another was about a movement spurred by Black people to ensure that we would be equally protected under the law,” Harris said. Trump has an extensive history, across his life as both a public figure and as a politician, of racist behavior. In the 1980s he called for the execution of the Central Park Five, a group of Black and Latino teens who were falsely accused and imprisoned for years. Even after they were exonerated for their crimes and released from prison, Trump refused to back away from his rhetoric. Trump was the most prominent promoter of the racist “birther” conspiracy theory that falsely claimed that President Barack Obama—the first and only Black president in U.S. history—was not a natural-born citizen of the United States. As part of his attacks on immigrants, Trump alleged that migrant communities are taking “Black jobs,” which led to former first lady Michelle Obama rebuking him at the Democratic National Convention in August. “I want to know. I want to know who's going to tell him. Who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?” she asked. And in July, Trump told reporters at a National Association of Black Journalists conference that Harris had “happened to turn Black.” During his bizarre dance interlude at a campaign event on Monday, Trump played the song “Dixie” as sung by Elvis Presley, which has been described as the unofficial song of the pro-slavery Confederacy. Trump has backed keeping statues that honor the Confederacy and naming military bases after leaders of the pro-slavery movement. On Tuesday night at a rally in Georgia, Trump said Black and Latino voters who back Harris “got to have their heads examined.” Trump said something similar to Jewish voters in September. “I say all the time that any Jewish person that votes for her, especially now, her or the Democrat Party, should have their head examined,” CNN reported. He threw the same medical advice at Harris-supporting Catholics. In a statement, Harris/Walz spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said, “If Donald Trump thinks insulting Black and Latino voters is the key to earning their respect and their votes, it’s him who should have his head examined—and he should man up and release his medical records so that voters can understand what exactly is going on with comments like this.” You can watch the entire town hall here: YouTube Video Campaign Action
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/16/2277195/-This-man-is-weak-Harris-blasts-Trump-in-town-hall-with-Black-voters?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-16 14:05:02

Walz roasts Trump—but reminds us a GOP win is no laughing matter
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Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz called out Donald Trump’s recent behavior in a hilarious but pointed manner during a campaign stop on Tuesday. Speaking from a rural Pennsylvania farm owned by a former Trump supporter, Walz made some jokes at the Republican nominee’s expense before getting serious about why the prospect of another Trump presidency isn't funny. “[Trump] walks into this grocery store, and he hands a $100 bill to a lady to pay for his groceries,” Walz told the crowd. “I wonder what he's doing there, and then I got to thinking, I think it's just natural. Any woman he sees, he pays off because he did something.” Known for being a nice guy, the Minnesota governor acknowledged he was taking the gloves off. "I am not going to be generous at times because of the pain that Donald Trump has brought, and I think we know what four more years would look like,” Walz said. Walz spoke about some of Trump’s recent strangeness, including his bizarre meandering monologue about the word “grocery,” as well as his nearly 40-minute dance-a-thon during a supposed town hall event in Oaks, Pennsylvania. "I'm gonna be the first to say this: It is pretty funny stuff—if he didn't want to be president of the United States,” Walz said. “It's pretty funny stuff—if he weren't going to try and deny women their reproductive rights. It's pretty funny stuff—if he wasn't going to try and rip health care away from all of us with the ACA, or if he wasn't threatening us in different ways.” Walz then shifted to detailing the consequences suffered by Pennsylvanians due to Trump’s mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic and his pro-billionaire economic policies. YouTube Video You can watch Walz’s full speech below. YouTube Video Help Kamala Harris and Tim Walz win on Nov. 5!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/16/2277066/-Walz-roasts-Trump-but-reminds-us-a-GOP-win-is-no-laughing-matter?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-16 13:05:03

Getting out the vote is crucial—and the GOP is blowing it
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A good ground game is worth around three points in the final election results, making it an indispensable component of any winning campaign in a tight contest. Democrats are running their usual operation, which has served the party well in the last few cycles. Republicans? It is impossible to get a completely accurate census of what’s going on on the Republican side, but the signs aren’t looking so good for them. Let’s read some tea leaves. Big picture strategy “Ms. Harris’s team is running an expansive version of the type of field operation that has dominated politics for decades, deploying flotillas of paid staff members to organize and turn out every vote they can find,” reported the New York Times. “Mr. Trump’s campaign is going after a smaller universe of less frequent voters while relying on well-funded but inexperienced outside groups to reach a broader swath.” Democrats are deploying their trusted battle-tested GOTV operation, while Republicans are relying on “inexperienced” groups. I’ll take the side that already knows what it’s doing. But it’s even worse than that for Trump. “Mr. Trump’s team is largely operating under the assumption that Republicans who voted for Trump in previous elections will once again back him in large numbers,” reported the Times. “His campaign is focusing on a smaller number of infrequent voters who his team believes will back Mr. Trump if energized to vote. The campaign says it has “hundreds of paid staff” and over 300 offices across the battleground states.” First of all, assuming past supporters will turn out is perhaps the dumbest political assumption anyone can make. Remember Trump raised $88 million less this past September than in September 2020. There is objectively less intensity around Trump’s supporter base today than four years ago. They should be working hard to shore up any flagging support, instead of just taking them for granted. For context, Harris claims over 2,500 paid staff over 353 offices, exponentially more than Trump’s claims of “hundreds.” Early results Over the weekend, I noted signs of a GOTV operation in the early vote. “Nationally, Democrats and unaffiliated voters modeled to be voting Democratic are 55.8% of the early vote,” I wrote. “But in battleground states, that number is 58.9%. I’ve written multiple times how a good get-out-the-vote operation can be worth around 3 points, and there you have it, literally 3 points. It suggests what we’ve seen and heard the last several months—that Republican complaints about a lack of a Trump ground game are true.” Republican early vote woes “Republicans are pouring tens of millions of dollars into getting GOP voters to cast ballots before Election Day,” Politico reported last week. “They’re frustrated because Donald Trump keeps getting in the way.” The rest of the story features examples of the effort Republicans are putting into the early vote, only to, well, get the results I noted above. Republican GOTV woes A month ago I wrote about the dearth of any Trump get out the vote operation. Remember, the first thing Trump did upon taking over the Republican National Committee was fire the GOP’s entire ground operation. Donald Trump shakes hands with Charlie Kirk. Originally, Charlie Kirk and his Turning Point USA operation were supposed to handle all of Trump’s GOTV. Kirk boasted about the $100 million he was raising for those efforts. “Turning Point activists will descend on three vital swing states—Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin,” The Guardian reported back in June. “They will also fan out over six battleground states: Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania. ‘We are hiring hundreds of ballot chasers to work as full-time activists in the cities in which they live, and we believe we will absolutely have the most boots on the ground,’ TP Action’s spokesperson, Andrew Kolvet, told the Guardian.” By last week, those efforts had been dramatically scaled back. “After announcing ambitious goals to grow Trump’s base of support in Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan, the group scaled back its efforts to one district in the Wolverine State while maintaining its presence in the other two battleground states,” reported CNN last week. The Guardian pegged their presence as even smaller: “Turning Point Action ... has a smaller footprint; it has a presence in Arizona, Wisconsin and two specific districts in Michigan and Nevada, after dropping Georgia from its initial list.” To pick up the slack, Republicans are relying on that noted expert in voter turnout operations, Elon Musk. “But while the Trump campaign once predicted having multiple Pacs doing get-out-the-vote work, with six weeks until the election, only America Pac has a material presence of 300 to 400 paid and part-time people knocking on doors in each of the seven battleground states, the people said,” further reported The Guardian. “America Pac also remains the only entity—Trump campaign or otherwise—with a target to do three ‘passes’ of homes of likely Trump voters in every battleground state before election day.” A month ago, Musk’s America PAC fired its Nevada and Arizona GOTV canvassers, having to start from scratch just months from the election. This is not an operation that is firing on all cylinders, or even knows what cylinders to fire. Elon Musk is Elon Musk Elon Musk jumps on the stage as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. The NY Times, in a far-ranging story on Musk’s efforts, notes how Musk’s style of manic chaos has enveloped America PAC. “Veterans of past campaigns argue that canvassing operations generally take months or even years to become effective machines,” reported the Times. “There is little precedent for successfully standing up a group of this scale just months before a presidential election. And turmoil has plagued America PAC at times, as Mr. Musk has repeatedly jettisoned advisers and vendors that were supplying canvassers and replaced them, at one point stranding hundreds of paid door-knockers across the country.” The story also quoted an anonymous “Trump campaign official” claiming that they were not “relying” on America PAC. But if not them … then who? Republican GOTV app sucks “Donald Trump’s campaign has limited ability to know whether their ground game operation is reaching target voters in battleground states, as the software being used needs fast internet service to properly track canvassers, according to multiple people familiar with the situation,” reported The Guardian on Monday. “But the Trump campaign and the Elon Musk-backed America Pac, which is now doing an outsized portion of the Trump ground game, use a management app called Campaign Sidekick that struggles in areas with slow internet and means canvassers have to use an offline version.” Also, the broken app creates this problem: “[T]he Trump campaign and America Pac then have little way to know whether canvassers are actually knocking on doors or whether they are cheating—for instance, by ‘speed-running’ routes where they literally throw campaign materials at doors as they drive past.” Oh, there’s lots of “speed-running” going on. Republicans are terrible people who even hate each other By leaving GOTV to other people, the Trump campaign has essentially left their ground game to their worst local leaders. “The divisions are open, acrimonious and may be hindering efforts to register voters and get out the vote for Mr. Trump, who won this key swing county [in northwest Pennsylvania] in 2016 but lost it to President Biden in 2020,” reported the NY Times. The infighting, according to interviews with multiple people involved, is a byproduct of the Trump campaign’s decision to largely leave its ground game not only to local Republican Party offices but also to a variety of outside groups, all with their own methodologies and demands for attention. Tom Eddy, the Erie County Republican Party chairman, appears to be at war with a core group of Republican activists who have styled themselves as the mainstay of the party’s ground game in the county. Mr. Eddy calls those activists self-promoters and cranks. That story then notes that at the local Trump campaign, the three paid staff staffers thought all those other jokers were useless, calling themselves, “the real muscle behind the Republican ground game in the county.” Republicans are outgunned Those three Erie Trump staffers admitted that Democrats had 11 paid staffers in the county and were “outgunned” by them. And it’s clear they were. While the Trump staffers said they had “some volunteers” working with them, Democrats had 190 volunteers showing up on a Saturday to canvas the county. The NY Times also checked in on Kenosha, Wisconsin. The suburban county south of Milwaukee went Trump 51-48 in 2020, making it a key battleground in one of the most battleground-y states. It was 47-47 in 2016. So what are the campaigns up to? “Republicans have knocked on at least 3,000 doors of potential voters, and they expect to ramp up efforts in the final weeks, according to [local Republican Party chair Sandy] Wiedmeyer, who said she did not know of efforts by Turning Point Action and America PAC, which recently combined their operations in the state, in her area,” the NY Times reported. “By comparison, since Ms. Harris has been the Democratic nominee, Democrats have knocked on 25,000 doors in the county, according to a Democratic Party spokesman.” There were 89,000 votes cast in the county in 2020. It’s not all doom and gloom for Republicans Republicans have the experienced Faith and Freedom Coalition turning out the evangelical vote. Those people vote, and they vote in large numbers. And they don’t need to rely on Musk or Kirk or anyone else to do what they already do very well. And however clumsily or inefficiently they may be doing it, Musk’s tens (or hundreds) of million of dollars will have an impact. It might not be as effective as Democratic efforts, but it doesn’t need to be. That means that we need to commit to helping drive our own voter turnout.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/16/2276887/-Getting-out-the-vote-is-crucial-and-the-GOP-is-blowing-it?pm_campaign=blog&pm_medium=rss&pm_source=main

2024-10-16 12:35:02

Cartoon: Swing state confidential
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