Category: 2020 Election

Foreign threats loom ahead of US presidential election

NEW YORK (AP) — As the Nov. 3 presidential vote nears, there are fresh signs that the nation’s electoral system is again under attack from foreign adversaries.

Intelligence officials confirmed in recent days that foreign actors are actively seeking to compromise the private communications of “U.S. political campaigns, candidates and other political targets” while working to compromise the nation’s election infrastructure. Foreign entities are also aggressively spreading disinformation intended to sow voter confusion heading into the fall.

There is no evidence that America’s enemies have yet succeeded in penetrating campaigns or state election systems, but Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential campaign confirmed this week that it has faced multiple related threats. Continue reading.

Noam Chomsky: We are racing madly towards total catastrophe under the leadership of sociopathic fanatics

AlterNet logoAs the U.S. coronavirus death toll tops 150,000, we spend the hour with world-renowned political dissident, linguist and author Noam Chomsky, who says decades of neoliberal policies that shredded the social safety net and public institutions left the country ill-prepared for a major health crisis. “We should understand the roots of this pandemic,” he says.

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, Democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

On The Trail: The first signs of a post-Trump GOP

The Hill logoFor four years, President Trump has held an iron grip over the Republican Party, basking in the warm glow of adulation from a base that follows his direction to punish critics and reward allies.

But with polls showing an increasingly perilous path to reelection, there are new signs that his grip is loosening, as some Republicans begin to explore what the future of the Grand Old Party might look like once Trump becomes a lame duck or an ex-president.

In interviews with more than a dozen strategists, party leaders and current and former members of Congress, Republicans said their party is searching for a new direction even before Trump leaves the stage. Continue reading.

Experts fear political pressure on COVID-19 vaccine

The Hill logoPublic health experts are raising red flags that the Trump administration could exert political pressure on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve a COVID-19 vaccine before one is ready.

President Trump, searching for a political win just over three months from the election, has latched onto the push for developing a vaccine in record time and promoted it in a number of recent appearances.

Trump spoke optimistically of the prospects for a vaccine during a visit to a biotech facility in North Carolina on Monday, despite experts cautioning one may not be widely available for another year. Continue reading.

Biden’s Real Health Care Reform Is Far Better Than Trump’s Imaginary Plan

Health care policy has been a major issue for a long time. It played a big role in Barack Obama’s 2008 election victory, his entire presidency and the 2010 GOP takeover of the House of Representatives. Repealing Obamacare was a Republican priority before and after Donald Trump became president. The debate on “Medicare for All” dominated the 2020 Democratic primaries.

Now, in the middle of the nation’s worst pandemic in 100 years, you would think health care policy would be the object of obsession among politicians and voters. Instead, the issue has gone missing.

Congress is absorbed with economic stimulus and help for the unemployed. The Trump administration’s favorite topic is law and order. Racial justice is paramount among Democrats right now. Continue reading.

McConnell Gives GOP Senators Permission To Dump Trump

With Donald Trump sinking ever lower in the polls and odds-makers increasingly favoring Democrats to flip the Senate in November, the polls on the first day of August showed Democrats likely to emerge in the fall with complete control of Capitol Hill. It’s enough to have Mitch McConnell sweating about his status as a future minority leader, if not future former senator. With that in mind, CNN reports that McConnell has given Republican Senate candidates permission to distance themselves from Trump, particularly on his mass-murder approach to the coronavirus and Trump’s continued claims that it’s safe for children to return to school.

The problem for Republicans looking to separate themselves from Trump is … they can’t. By now, every single candidate up for election in House or Senate who carries a GOP label has signed on to Trump’s most outrageous claims repeatedly. McConnell may have authorized them to show “flexibility” and “independence,” but neither of those qualities have on display in the least over the last three years. Instead, even Republicans who went into the Trump era after disparaging Trump the candidate have been utterly subservient to his every random whim. They’ve backed Trump on his destruction of vital alliances, backed Trump in his racism and xenophobia, backed Trump on an endless array of unsupported conspiracy theories. And in January, they underscored their support for Trump by signing the ultimate loyalty pledge when Republicans in both House and Senate refused to remove Trump from office despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt. Continue reading.

Stimulus impasse threatens both economy and Trump

The Hill logoBungled negotiations over the next stimulus package and a resurgence of coronavirus infections are threatening the U.S. economic recovery, creating problems for President Trump as he charts the path forward for his reelection campaign. 

The White House and Congress remain far from a deal negotiations over the next stimulus package, even as expanded unemployment benefits and a federal moratorium on evictions expire, though the two sides touted progress following an unusual weekend meeting.

The White House has sought to blame Democrats for the failure to reach a short-term deal to extend the employment benefits and pause evictions, but Republicans waited weeks to begin formal negotiations and have yet to come together on a package themselves. Continue reading.

Alienated by Trump, Suburban Voters Sour on G.O.P. in Battle for the House

New York Times logoHouse Republicans are on the defensive in suburban strongholds as voters reject President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus.

BALLWIN, Mo. — For Heather Vaughn, a substitute teacher and graduate student, the decision last month to place the black sign with colorful lettering in her front yard — the one that said, “Black Lives Matter” and “Science is Real” — felt like an act of courage.

In previous years, such a placard might have drawn unwanted attention in her suburban, tree-lined neighborhood, where expansive homes with manicured gardens had been decked out with blue ribbons and signs of support for the police. But now it is one of three on her block that reflect support for nationwide protests against police brutality and a growing sense of unease with President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus.

A self-described independent, Ms. Vaughn, 41, had supported Representative Ann Wagner, her Republican congresswoman, in past years, but more recently soured on her. This year, given her frustration and anger with Mr. Trump, Ms. Vaughn is confident she will not vote for Ms. Wagner and is wrestling with whether she in good conscience can vote again for any of the local Republicans down the ballot whom she would normally back. Continue reading.

A day after Trump floated delaying the presidential election, which he cannot do, the White House condemned Hong Kong for delaying its election

One day after President Donald Trump suggested delaying the November US presidential election, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said during a press conference that the White House condemned Hong Kong’s decision to postpone its legislative council elections for one year.

“We condemn the Hong Kong government’s decision to postpone for one year its legislative council elections and to disqualify opposition candidates,” McEnany said Friday after a reporter asked whether Trump supported the move to delay the elections.

“This action undermines the democratic processes and freedoms that have underpinned Hong Kong’s prosperity,” she said, according to a transcript of the press conference produced by the White House. Continue reading.

Portland Protestors Hand Trump New Public Failure

Donald Trump’s attempt to halt Portland’s protests through violent escalation ended in public failure as protests at the federal courthouse were non-violent for the second day in a row. Trump’s demand that state police bring the situation under control in only 2 days were filled as organizers and individual protestors policed crowd actions. Limited acts of destruction were recorded, including an American flag burned for a short time on the federal courthouse fence and a large graffiti message spray painted on the courthouse wall. Deference was generally given to Black Lives Matter organizers throughout the night, although some individuals did attempt to maintain an atmosphere conducive to a leaderless movement.

Many actions, such as the lighting of a fire on 3rd Ave, seemed to be planned in advance. The fire, well controlled and distanced from the federal courthouse, acted as a location for a “fireside chat” by a BLM organizer using a megaphone for the few protestors remaining in the early morning hours August 1. Even the small number of destructive acts witnessed had the effect of managing crowd behavior as protestors policed each other and effectively brought crowd actions under control. The effect of the night’s activities was to place continuing protest leadership at the feet of BLM organizers.

Whatever disagreements these groups may have in the future, it seems self-evident that Donald Trump would be a common adversary. His attempts to violently end legitimate dissent is a threat to Americans’ core values. By organizing in alignment with Governor Brown’s agreement to end federal policing, Portland protestors handed Donald Trump another public failure. He is increasingly unable to keep promises made to his followers and consistently forced to step-back on statements, even reversing his opinions on salient issues like coronavirus containment efforts. Continue reading.