In the Know: November 2, 2020

Days to the November Election: 1

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Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden
Biden in Minn.: ‘We choose unity over division’, Star Tribune

Governor Tim Walz
Minnesotans make election pitches in final weekend, Fox 9

DFL CD 1 Candidate Dan Feehan
Candidates make final push in SE MinnesotaRochester Post Bulletin
Feehan campaign makes case to Worthington votersDaily Globe

Continue reading “In the Know: November 2, 2020”

Will Trump’s Broken Promises to Working-Class Voters Cost Him the Election?

Last December, Bob Kemper, the grievance chairman of United Steelworkers Local 1299, was summoned to a conference room at Great Lakes Works, a U.S. Steel plant just south of Detroit. A cohort of senior managers told Kemper and three other union officers that the automotive industry, which buys almost all of the plant’s steel, was cutting its car production. With reduced demand for its product, most of Great Lakes would be “indefinitely idled.” Kemper knew this meant that members were getting laid off, but the terminology was unfamiliar. “Our contract says the facility has to be declared shut down in order for our members to get a severance,” Kemper told me. “We were trying to figure out what the fuck ‘indefinitely idled’ means.”

Nearly a thousand workers have since lost their jobs. The layoffs came at an inauspicious time for Donald Trump, who won the Presidency, in 2016, by flipping Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania by a combined total of seventy-seven thousand votes. (His winning margin in Michigan, barely ten thousand votes, was the slimmest of any state.) Two days before Election Day, Trump had held a rally in Macomb County, Michigan, a national bellwether for the white working-class voters who were once known as Reagan Democrats. “We are going to stop the jobs from going to Mexico and China and all over the world,” Trump said. “We will make Michigan into the manufacturing hub of the world once again.” A Republican Presidential candidate had not won Macomb County since 2004; Trump carried it by nearly fifty thousand votes. View the post here.

Trump Complains D.C. Virus Outbreak May Ruin His Election Night Party

Donald Trump on Friday said he is mulling moving an election night party planned to be held at his Washington, D.C., hotel to the White House in order to avoid city coronavirus-related restrictions that ban large gatherings.

“So we have a hotel. I don’t know if it’s shut down, if you’re allowed to use it or not,” Trump toldreporters Friday morning. “But I know the mayor has shut down Washington, D.C. And if that’s the case, we’ll probably stay here or pick another location. I think it’s crazy. Washington, D.C., is shut down. Can you imagine?”

The New York Times reported the same day that Trump would not make an appearance at his campaign’s party at the Trump International Hotel. The campaign raised money from donors by promising he would appear at the event. Continue reading.

Trump officials blur lines on campaigning, governing

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Multiple Trump administration officials have turned into surrogates for the president’s reelection campaign this week, further muddying the distinction between government work and politicking in a White House that has pushed those boundaries for four years.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has appeared on TV multiple times this week as a “Trump 2020 campaign adviser.” Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller and chairman of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow both phoned into Trump campaign calls to tout Trump’s agenda on immigration and the economy, respectively, saying they were acting in their personal capacity.

National security adviser Robert O’Brien this week visited Wisconsin and Minnesota, two battleground states that Trump is spending significant resources targeting and could be critical to his reelection. Continue reading.

Judges nominated by President Trump play key role in upholding voting limits ahead of Election Day

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An analysis by The Washington Post found that nearly three out of four opinions issued in voting-related cases by federal judges nominated by the president favored maintaining restrictions.

Federal judges nominated by President Trump have largely ruled against efforts to loosen voting rules in the 2020 campaign amid the coronavirus pandemic and sided with Republicans seeking to enforce restrictions, underscoring Trump’s impact in reshaping the judiciary.

An analysis by The Washington Post found that nearly three out of four opinions issued in federal voting-related cases by judges picked by the president were in favor of maintaining limits. That is a sharp contrast with judges nominated by President Barack Obama, whose decisions backed such limits 17 percent of the time.

The impact of Trump’s court picks could be seen most starkly at the appellate level, where 21 out of the 25 opinions issued by the president’s nominees were against loosening voting rules. Continue reading.

You have rights when you go to vote – and many people are there to help if there’s trouble at the polls

Despite all the challenges to this year’s election – long lines, calls for voter intimidation, baseless claims of fraud – voting is a fundamental civil right

As a political scientist who studies campaigns and elections, I have confidence in American democracy. Lots of people are working at the polls and behind the scenes to ensure election 2020 runs smoothly and safely. 

Here, I’ll outline your rights as a voter and explain where to turn if you encounter trouble at the polls. Continue reading.

The Republican ‘Protect Act’ Will Protect Nobody’s Health Care

As Election Day draws near, another important date is looming for tens of millions of Americans with preexisting health conditions: Nov. 10, the day the Supreme Court will hear arguments on striking down the Affordable Care Act.

Despite the claims of Republican lawmakers, who swear abolishing Obamacare will not result in millions losing insurance, an examination of their alternative, the so-called Protect Act, shows that they’re lying through their teeth.

The GOP effort to bulldoze the ACA was put on blast Wednesday when Democrat Jon Ossoff, whom current poll averages show in a tight race against Georgia Republican incumbent Sen. David Perdue, confronted Perdue during a debate with his deceptive talking points on the future of the American health care system. Continue reading.

White House sidestepped FDA to distribute hydroxychloroquine to pharmacies, documents show. Trump touted the pills to treat covid-19.

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Documents detail efforts by White House officials to distribute hydroxychloroquine to coronavirus patients in ‘hard hit’ cities

The phone call in March from President Trump’s adviser carried an urgent message.

For days Trump had touted the off-label use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential cure for covid-19, despite a lack of scientific evidence it worked and amid mounting concerns about the dangers to patients with underlying medical conditions.

Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro wanted to make sure the administration’s top vaccine expert would be on board with a White House plan to distribute the unproven drug to hard-hit cities. Continue reading.

‘Very tired’ president shocks with short speech: ‘I’ve never seen Trump look less interested’

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President Donald Trump has given rally speeches that last longer than 100 minutes, but on Friday cut thing short for his speech at a rally in Minnesota.

“President Trump only spoke for 21 (!) minutes at this smaller event in Rochester, MN tonight. Can’t remember him ever speaking for less than 45 minutes at a rally but this was restricted to only 250 people due to coronavirus safety guidelines and Trump was not pleased,” NBC News correspondent Monica Alba reported.

ABC News producer John Santucci said, “I’ve never seen Trump look less interested. Continue reading.

The Memo: Trump retains narrow path to victory

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Victory for President Trump in Tuesday’s election remains a distinct possibility, despite the fact that he lags in national polls.

There is no question that Trump is the underdog against his Democratic opponent Joe Biden

Biden has several realistic routes to the 270 electoral votes needed to claim the White House, and a Democratic landslide is also possible. Continue reading.