Category: 2020 Election

Here’s why Trump still has a shot at a surprise victory in November

AlterNet logoAs the coronavirus death toll continues to increase in the United States and American cities are being rocked by huge “Justice for George Floyd” protests, President Donald Trump is not looking good in the polls. One poll after another has found Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee — some of them by double digits. But journalist Daniel Strauss, in an article published by The Guardian on June 24, stresses that there is still a chance that Trump will somehow manage to pull off a surprise victory in November.

“If Donald Trump wins the 2020 election and returns to the White House, it won’t be by a landslide,” Strauss explains. “And if he’s going to win at all, he will need the U.S. economy to rebound, to see suburban voters swing back in his direction, and overwhelm voters with a sense of optimism about another term under Trump. That’s the verdict of about a dozen Republican veteran political strategists and operatives spoken to by the Guardian.”

Trump’s campaign has been favoring a rally-the-base approach. But Strauss notes that according to the GOP strategists the Guardian interviewed, the MAGA base alone will not get Trump reelected. Continue reading.

Here are 3 ways Trump will try to steal the election as he enters a tailspin

AlterNet logoIt would be foolish to try to predict the outcome of the 2020 presidential race with over four months to go before the ballots are counted. But let’s be very clear: if the election were held today, Joe Biden would win. Along with all of the other chaos going on across the country right now, that is what has Donald Trump in a tailspin.

At this point, the president is doing two things in preparation for November.

  1. Employ grievance politics to motivate his base, and
  2. Do everything he can to steal the election.

On number two, there are three primary strategies the president is counting on. Continue reading.

2020 Primary Election Voting Window Now Open

From today through August 10, you can vote early for the primary election.

Things to Consider this Election Year

With COVID-19, you may be concerned with how you’ll  vote this November. So, think of this year’s primary election as a “dry run” for the general election. In Minnesota you have several options:

  • Vote early by mail. You can find out more about how to do this as well as request a ballot here.
  • Vote early in person. You can find your nearest location to do this here.
  • Vote on primary election day, Tuesday, August 11

We have several races in CD3 where our endorsed DFL candidates are facing challenges: Continue reading “2020 Primary Election Voting Window Now Open”

Jason Lewis Refused to Denounce George Floyd Crisis Actor Conspiracy Theory

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA- Yesterday, in a bizarre press conference, Republican Senate candidate Jason Lewis refused to unequivocally denounce a conspiracy theory that there were crisis actors involved in the video of George Floyd’s murder.

The conspiracy theory has been debunked by FactCheck.org – “Bogus Claims of ‘Crisis Actors’ in Death of George Floyd”

Watch the video (beginning at 5:55) and read the full exchange below where Lewis leaves open the possibility he believes the offensive conspiracy theory:

QUESTIONER: This is kind of a statement, and y’know I don’t want to get into the conspiratorial things, but I have a friend who has been with the local acting community for years. There’s just a lot of very suspicious stuff wrong with this. He stated specifically that his friends in the acting community recognized a lot of people from the George Floyd video that might need to be looked into. The paramedics, he said, were both local actors. Continue reading “Jason Lewis Refused to Denounce George Floyd Crisis Actor Conspiracy Theory”

Rudy Giuliani may be dropping hints about the real reason Bill Barr fired a US attorney

AlterNet logoThe last time Rudy Giuliani’s co-conspirator Lev Parnas spoke publicly was January 16, 2020, when he sat for interviews with both Rachel Maddow and Anderson Cooper. Along with providing details about Trump’s extortion efforts with the Ukrainian president, he made this rather explosive claim about the role of Attorney General William Barr in the Trump administration.

Parnas actually said that he was more frightened of people in our Justice Department than he was of the mobsters he was turning on in Ukraine.

Parnas’s trial was originally scheduled to begin in early October, but due to the coronavirus, it has been delayed until February 2021, well after the November election. The prosecutors that have been investigating this matter work in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York—where Barr just ousted Geoffrey Berman. Continue reading.

Obama implores Americans to feel ‘a sense of urgency’ about defeating Trump

Washington Post logoJoe Biden’s campaign has long viewed his partnership with former president Barack Obama as one of his chief assets in running for president. He spoke often of “my buddy Barack” during campaign events. To mark National Best Friends Day last year, Biden posted a photo of a friendship bracelet reading “Joe” and “Barack.” He touts work from the “Obama-Biden administration” and defends the “Obama-Biden record.”

But for the past year and a half, there has often been a critical piece missing: Obama.

That began to change in April, when Obama endorsed Biden. On Tuesday, it went a step further, as Obama and Biden made their first joint appearance in years, the former partners allied as they attempt to defeat President Trump. Continue reading.

Facebook boycott gains momentum

The Hill logoFacebook is coming under mounting pressure from major companies to rein in hateful content on the platform or risk further loss of ad revenue.

In the past week, companies like Patagonia, The North Face, Ben & Jerry’s and REI have joined the Stop Hate for Profit campaign organized by civil rights groups in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.

Organizers of the Facebook boycott acknowledge that while previous efforts to change Facebook’s platform have fallen short, the national focus on racial injustice has put a spotlight on all aspects of life, including social media. Continue reading.

Trump visits border barrier in push of immigration message amid pandemic and civil unrest

Washington Post logoSAN LUIS, ARIZONA — President Trump toured a border barrier along the U.S.-Mexico line here Tuesday, seeking to tout what he views as a key reelection accomplishment in a critical state as his bid for a second term has been upended by a resurgent pandemic, an economic crisis and racial unrest.

Trump, who has increasingly focused on immigration during the novel coronavirus crisis, said he was marking the 200th mile of border wall erected since his election and reviving one of the most contentious issues of a first term now defined by more pressing challenges.

“It’s never mentioned anymore — the wall is never mentioned anymore,” Trump said during a roundtable in Yuma. “The reason it’s not mentioned — it’s not that we won the battle. It’s that it’s such a compelling thing to have done. Because you see the number, and where that wall is going, as you’re seeing, it’s like magic.” Continue reading.

Fiorina planning to vote for Biden

The Hill logoCarly Fiorina, the former 2016 Republican presidential candidate and CEO of Hewlett-Packard, said in an interview published Thursday that she intends to vote for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden this November.

Fiorina, who was also briefly Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) prospective running mate in 2016, said she will not vote third party and that she’s been discouraged by President Trump’s conduct in office.

“I’ve been very clear that I can’t support Donald Trump,” Fiorina said in an interview on The Atlantic’s “The Ticket” podcast. “And elections are binary choices.”  Continue reading.