thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--DOJ Faults Jeffrey Epstein Prosecutor For 'Poor Judgment,' Clears Of Misconduct

WASHINGTON ( Reuters ) ― An internal Justice Department investigation has concluded that then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta exercised “ poor judgment ” by allowing financier Jeffrey Epstein to enter a non-prosecution agreement over alleged sex crimes , but cleared him and other prosecutors of any professional misconduct in their handling of the case .
In a statement released on Thursday , the Justice Department said that when Acosta let Epstein enter the non-prosecution agreement in 2008 that spared him from federal sex trafficking charges , he “ failed to make certain that the state of Florida intended to and would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about the state plea hearing.
” The department added that while no federal prosecutors engaged in wrongdoing , Epstein ’ s victims “ were not treated with the forthrightness and sensitivity ” they deserved .
The controversial 2008 agreement with Epstein has come under intense scrutiny in recent years following an investigation by the Miami Herald .
Under the terms of the deal , Epstein pleaded guilty to lesser state charges and served a brief stint in jail where he was granted daily work release .
At the time , Alex Acosta was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Southern District of Florida .
President Donald Trump ( left ) announced in July 2019 that Labor Secretary Alex Acosta ( right ) would be stepping down amid renewed attention on Jeffrey Epstein 's case .
( AP Photo/Andrew Harnik ) Last year , federal prosecutors in New York were able to resuscitate the case and charged Epstein with sex trafficking of minors .
Acosta , who was serving as labor secretary then under President Donald Trump , initially tried to defend his role in the previous Epstein investigation .
But he resigned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in New York of an apparent suicide about a month later .
His longtime friend Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested earlier this year and has pleaded not guilty to charges that she lured underage girls so that Epstein could sexually abuse them .
The findings by the Justice Department ’ s Office of Professional Responsibility were announced earlier on Thursday by Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska , who blasted the agency for not taking a more forceful stance .
“ Letting a well-connected billionaire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sex trafficking isn ’ t ‘ poor judgment ’ - it is a disgusting failure , ” Sasse , who had requested the internal Justice Department probe , said in a statement .

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) ― An internal Justice Department investigation has concluded that then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta exercised “poor judgment” by allowing financier Jeffrey Epstein to enter a non-prosecution agreement over alleged sex crimes, but cleared him and other prosecutors of any professional misconduct in their handling of the case.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Justice Department said that when Acosta let Epstein enter the non-prosecution agreement in 2008 that spared him from federal sex trafficking charges, he “failed to make certain that the state of Florida intended to and would notify victims identified through the federal investigation about the state plea hearing.”
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The department added that while no federal prosecutors engaged in wrongdoing, Epstein’s victims “were not treated with the forthrightness and sensitivity” they deserved.
The controversial 2008 agreement with Epstein has come under intense scrutiny in recent years following an investigation by the Miami Herald. Under the terms of the deal, Epstein pleaded guilty to lesser state charges and served a brief stint in jail where he was granted daily work release.
At the time, Alex Acosta was serving as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
President Donald Trump (left) announced in July 2019 that Labor Secretary Alex Acosta (right) would be stepping down amid renewed attention on Jeffrey Epstein's case. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ASSOCIATED PRESS
Last year, federal prosecutors in New York were able to resuscitate the case and charged Epstein with sex trafficking of minors.
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Acosta, who was serving as labor secretary then under President Donald Trump, initially tried to defend his role in the previous Epstein investigation. But he resigned amid growing pressure a few days later.
Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in New York of an apparent suicide about a month later.
His longtime friend Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested earlier this year and has pleaded not guilty to charges that she lured underage girls so that Epstein could sexually abuse them.
The findings by the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility were announced earlier on Thursday by Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who blasted the agency for not taking a more forceful stance.
“Letting a well-connected billionaire get away with child rape and international sex trafficking isn’t ‘poor judgment’ - it is a disgusting failure,” Sasse, who had requested the internal Justice Department probe, said in a statement.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--GOP Senator Says He Will Intervene If Biden Isn't Granted Access To Intel Briefings Soon

Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma said Wednesday that he will intervene if the Trump administration hasn ’ t allowed President-elect Joe Biden to access intelligence briefings by the end of the week .
Lankford , who hasn ’ t yet congratulated Biden on his win , told radio station KRMG that there ’ s “ nothing wrong ” with Biden receiving the highly classified briefings about national security that President Donald Trump is offered daily .
“ There is no loss from him getting the briefings , ” said Lankford , a member of the Senate Oversight Committee .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ occurring by Friday , I will step in as well and ... say , ‘ This needs to occur so that regardless of the outcome of the election , whichever way that it goes , people can be ready for that actual task.
’ ” Typically , the government ’ s General Services Administration ascertains the president-elect within a few days after Election Day .
But this year , the head of GSA ― a Trump appointee ― has delayed the process .
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is not permitted to meet with Biden ’ s transition team until GSA identifies Biden as the apparent winner .
Lankford on Wednesday said he ’ s already discussed the issue with his fellow Oversight Committee members .
He said his “ first question ” was about the 2000 presidential election , in which former Vice President Al Gore didn ’ t concede to George W. Bush until December after legal battles and a recount in Florida .
At least four other Republican senators said Thursday that they believe Biden should have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Graham of South Carolina , John Cornyn of Texas , Susan Collins of Maine and Chuck Grassley of Iowa .
“ We ought to do what we did ” when the 2000 election was contested , Grassley , the most senior Republican in the Senate , told CNN .
Sen. Josh Hawley ( R-Mo . )
told reporters Thursday that Biden should continue to have access to the intelligence briefings he received as a candidate , but not the presidential-level briefings , which are at a higher classification .
“ The briefings he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should continue , ” Hawley said .
“ I think he should continue to get what he ’ s been getting and then let ’ s get to with the resolutions on some of these disputes.
” Only a handful of Republican senators have congratulated Biden on his victory .
Some have continued to fuel the voter fraud conspiracies , including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina , who urged Trump on Sunday not to concede .
Lankford said Wednesday that he understands both Trump ’ s efforts to contest the results of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ victory .
“ If the roles were reversed , Joe Biden would be in court right now , ” Lankford said .
“ And President Trump would say , ‘ I ’ m the president-elect and we ’ re moving on.
’ So I get it.
” CLARIFICATION : An earlier version of this story stated Hawley believes Biden should have access to intelligence briefings .
The story has been updated to note that Hawley was referring to the briefings Biden has already been receiving as a candidate ― not the more highly @ @ @ @ @

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Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma said Wednesday that he will intervene if the Trump administration hasn’t allowed President-elect Joe Biden to access intelligence briefings by the end of the week.
Lankford, who hasn’t yet congratulated Biden on his win, told radio station KRMG that there’s “nothing wrong” with Biden receiving the highly classified briefings about national security that President Donald Trump is offered daily.
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“There is no loss from him getting the briefings,” said Lankford, a member of the Senate Oversight Committee. “And if that’s not occurring by Friday, I will step in as well and ... say, ‘This needs to occur so that regardless of the outcome of the election, whichever way that it goes, people can be ready for that actual task.’”
Typically, the government’s General Services Administration ascertains the president-elect within a few days after Election Day. But this year, the head of GSA ― a Trump appointee ― has delayed the process.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees the president’s security briefings, is not permitted to meet with Biden’s transition team until GSA identifies Biden as the apparent winner.
Lankford on Wednesday said he’s already discussed the issue with his fellow Oversight Committee members. He said his “first question” was about the 2000 presidential election, in which former Vice President Al Gore didn’t concede to George W. Bush until December after legal battles and a recount in Florida.
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Lankford said then-President Bill Clinton made the intelligence briefings available to Bush during “that whole challenge.”
At least four other Republican senators said Thursday that they believe Biden should have access to the briefings, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, Susan Collins of Maine and Chuck Grassley of Iowa.
“We ought to do what we did” when the 2000 election was contested, Grassley, the most senior Republican in the Senate, told CNN.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told reporters Thursday that Biden should continue to have access to the intelligence briefings he received as a candidate, but not the presidential-level briefings, which are at a higher classification.
“The briefings he’s been getting as a candidate should continue,” Hawley said. “I think he should continue to get what he’s been getting and then let’s get to with the resolutions on some of these disputes.”
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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters that “whoever” is president on Jan. 20 will get the intelligence briefings.
“I’ll trust the intel community,” McCarthy said, adding that Biden is “not president right now.”
Nearly five days after virtually all major media networks ― including Trump-friendly Fox News ― projected Biden’s win, Trump has continued to push baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud and ballot-counting irregularities.
Only a handful of Republican senators have congratulated Biden on his victory. Some have continued to fuel the voter fraud conspiracies, including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who urged Trump on Sunday not to concede.
Lankford said Wednesday that he understands both Trump’s efforts to contest the results of the election and Biden’s declaration of victory.
“If the roles were reversed, Joe Biden would be in court right now,” Lankford said. “And President Trump would say, ‘I’m the president-elect and we’re moving on.’ So I get it.”
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“I’m going to wait this out,” he added. “I totally understand where President Trump is coming from. I totally understand where Joe Biden is coming from.”
CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story stated Hawley believes Biden should have access to intelligence briefings. The story has been updated to note that Hawley was referring to the briefings Biden has already been receiving as a candidate ― not the more highly classified presidential intelligence briefings.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Pennsylvania Officials Ask Judge To Toss Trump's Election Lawsuit

WASHINGTON , Nov 12 ( Reuters ) - Officials in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Thursday asked a federal @ @ @ @ @ brought by U.S. President Donald Trump ’ s campaign seeking to prevent the state from @ @ @ @ @ .
In a court filing in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of @ @ @ @ @ Pennsylvania secretary of state and seven counties of the state said the case should be @ @ @ @ @ won the majority of the vote in all seven of the counties cited in the @ @ @ @ @ than 53,000 votes in the state .

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WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Officials in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Thursday asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign seeking to prevent the state from certifying its presidential election results.
In a court filing in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, lawyers for the Pennsylvania secretary of state and seven counties of the state said the case should be tossed.
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President-elect Joe Biden won the majority of the vote in all seven of the counties cited in the lawsuit and is up more than 53,000 votes in the state.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Trump Campaign's Libel Lawsuit Against CNN Gets Dismissed

WASHINGTON , Nov 12 ( Reuters ) - A U.S. judge dismissed on Thursday a libel lawsuit filed by President @ @ @ @ @ campaign against CNN over its publication of a 2019 opinion piece , according to a @ @ @ @ @ sued CNN in March over an opinion piece it had run in which the author @ @ @ @ @ be open to Russian interference in the 2020 election .
U.S. District Judge Michael Brown @ @ @ @ @ the campaign hadfailed to prove the piece was maliciously published .

WASHINGTON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge dismissed on Thursday a libel lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump ’s re-election campaign against CNN over its publication of a 2019 opinion piece, according to a court document.
The campaign sued CNN in March over an opinion piece it had run in which the author suggested the Trump campaign would be open to Russian interference in the 2020 election. U.S. District Judge Michael Brown dismissed the suit, saying the campaign hadfailed to prove the piece was maliciously published.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Former KKK Leader Tom Metzger Dead At 82

The former grand dragon of the California chapter of the Ku Klux Klan became one of racism ’ s most prominent figures after he left that organization in the 1980s to form the White Aryan Resistance movement .
He eventually was pushed into the shadows and financial ruin , however , for his organization ’ s role in the 1988 beating death of Ethiopian college student Mulugeta Seraw in Portland , Oregon .
Seraw ’ s family won a $ 12.5 million judgment against Metzger , his organization and others in 1990 following a trial in which a recording was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ performing what he called their “ civic duty.
” He posted regularly on his organization ’ s website until just a few months ago , according to a brief biography announcing his death on the website .
Metzger ’ s death was first reported by the Times of San Diego .
“ Tom Metzger spent decades working against core American values as one of the most visible hardcore white supremacists in the country , ” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt told The Associated Press .
“ Throughout his life , he engaged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from spreading anti-Semitic and racist rhetoric to launching vigilante border patrols as a California Klansman to recruiting skinheads to the white supremacist cause.
” “ We became known as Skinhead City .
We had racist skinheads and anti-racist skinheads doing battle in the streets , which is sort of a precursor of antifa and the Proud Boys , ” he said , referencing those involved in recent violence that have gripped the city .
He joined the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in the mid-1970s , rising to the role of grand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the White Aryan Resistance in the early 1980s .
He ran for Congress from northern San Diego County in the early 1980s , winning the Democratic Party primary but losing by a landslide in the general election after Democrats and Republicans united against him .
Tom Metzger ’ s downfall began after he sent one of his White Aryan Resistance members to Oregon to organize a local Nazi skinhead group .
Within a month , local skinheads had beaten to death the 28-year-old Seraw with a baseball bat .
They later admitted they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We chased him for 20 years .
We collected money from him for 20 years , which is the limit under Oregon law , ” Rosenthal said .
“ The goal of the case was to put him out of business and to impact his standing in the white supremacy movement — and we thought we accomplished both of those things.
” Although Metzger has long been identified as a white supremacist , he actually shunned that term , saying he was a white separatist and didn ’ t have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with whites .
“ At the time , I looked at him as totally on the fringe , ” Rosenthal said .
“ What we have unfortunately learned over the last 30 years is that there ’ s a whole lot of people who share his views .
… At the time it seemed fringy , now it seems a bit frightening .
”

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tom Metzger, the notorious former Ku Klux Klan leader who rose to prominence in the 1980s while promoting white separatism and stoking racial violence, has died at age 82.
Riverside County Department of Public Health spokesman Jose Arballo Jr. said Metzger died Nov. 4 at a skilled nursing facility in Hemet. The cause was Parkinson’s disease, Arballo said Thursday.
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The former grand dragon of the California chapter of the Ku Klux Klan became one of racism’s most prominent figures after he left that organization in the 1980s to form the White Aryan Resistance movement.
He eventually was pushed into the shadows and financial ruin, however, for his organization’s role in the 1988 beating death of Ethiopian college student Mulugeta Seraw in Portland, Oregon.
Seraw’s family won a $12.5 million judgment against Metzger, his organization and others in 1990 following a trial in which a recording was played of Metzger praising the killers for performing what he called their “civic duty.”
Metzger lost his San Diego-area home, his television repair business and other assets. Although left penniless, Metzger continued to produce a racist newsletter for years and operated a racist hotline, taking calls personally.
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He posted regularly on his organization’s website until just a few months ago, according to a brief biography announcing his death on the website. Metzger’s death was first reported by the Times of San Diego.
“Tom Metzger spent decades working against core American values as one of the most visible hardcore white supremacists in the country,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt told The Associated Press. “Throughout his life, he engaged in a wide range of hateful activities from spreading anti-Semitic and racist rhetoric to launching vigilante border patrols as a California Klansman to recruiting skinheads to the white supremacist cause.”
The killing of Seraw left racial wounds in Portland that continue to this day, said Randy Blazak, a former sociology professor at Portland State University who has written extensively about hate groups.
“We became known as Skinhead City. We had racist skinheads and anti-racist skinheads doing battle in the streets, which is sort of a precursor of antifa and the Proud Boys,” he said, referencing those involved in recent violence that have gripped the city.
Born in Warsaw, Indiana, on April 9, 1938, Thomas Linton Metzger served in the Army from 1956 to 1959 before settling in California and a career as a TV repairman.
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He joined the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in the mid-1970s, rising to the role of grand dragon of California before leaving to form the White Aryan Resistance in the early 1980s.
He ran for Congress from northern San Diego County in the early 1980s, winning the Democratic Party primary but losing by a landslide in the general election after Democrats and Republicans united against him.
He became a prominent media figure during those years, appearing on TV talk shows, organizing white supremacist demonstrations and cross burnings and promising a white civil war that would result in “blood in the streets.”
His son, John Metzger, and other white racists appeared on Geraldo Rivera’s TV talk show in 1988 and brawled with Roy Innis and other Black civil rights activists. Rivera suffered a broken nose during the televised mayhem, which created a national furor.
Tom Metzger’s downfall began after he sent one of his White Aryan Resistance members to Oregon to organize a local Nazi skinhead group. Within a month, local skinheads had beaten to death the 28-year-old Seraw with a baseball bat. They later admitted they singled him out because he was Black.
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The civil judgment stemming from the killing was devastating for Metzger, said Elden Rosenthal, one of the attorneys who represented the Seraw family.
“We chased him for 20 years. We collected money from him for 20 years, which is the limit under Oregon law,” Rosenthal said. “The goal of the case was to put him out of business and to impact his standing in the white supremacy movement — and we thought we accomplished both of those things.”
Another attorney, James McElroy of San Diego, arranged the sale of Metzger’s house to a Latino family to help satisfy the judgment.
“Poetic justice,” said McElroy, who went on to adopt Seraw’s 7-year-old son.
Although Metzger has long been identified as a white supremacist, he actually shunned that term, saying he was a white separatist and didn’t have a problem with Blacks who did not interact with whites.
Still, the racial hatred he fomented continues to this day, McElroy and Rosenthal said.
“At the time, I looked at him as totally on the fringe,” Rosenthal said. “What we have unfortunately learned over the last 30 years is that there’s a whole lot of people who share his views. … At the time it seemed fringy, now it seems a bit frightening.”
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___


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Democrats Question Decision To Give Up Canvassing During Election

JIM WATSON/Getty Images President-elect Joe Biden gestures speaks at a drive-in rally in Pittsburgh on the eve of Election Day .
He was more cautious about in-person campaigning than President Donald Trump .
Although the policy may have been ethically and scientifically wise , it cost Democrats at the ballot box , according to several Democrats in battleground states , who believe that face-to-face contact is more effective than reaching voters by phone or text .
As members of the party spar over the ideological and messaging reasons for their failure to meet down-ballot expectations , the failure to knock @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by members of both the centrist and progressive wings of the party .
“ At the local level , door-knocking is often one of the best ways for candidates to distinguish themselves and introduce themselves to voters , ” said DLCC spokesperson Christina Polizzi .
“ And because they weren ’ t able to do that safely during a pandemic , it certainly made it harder for them to push back on any narratives that the Republicans were pushing on them and then also to really talk to your neighbors about why you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Our Future took the utmost safety precautions while canvassing , requiring all door-knockers to wear masks and gloves , maintain social distance from people with whom they were speaking , and remain outdoors .
The safety protocols adopted by the organizations , which consulted with public health experts and monitored canvassers ’ health , sound a lot like what a former Obama administration assistant health secretary told Politico in August would be needed to conduct canvassing safely during the pandemic .
There was not a single confirmed case of COVID-19 among UNITE HERE @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the union .
The Republican National Committee ’ s communications director , Michael Ahrens , rejected the idea that official Democratic Party organs ’ decision not to canvass had no impact on election outcomes , particularly given the GOP ’ s massive investment in canvassing this cycle .
The RNC said its coordinated campaign apparatus knocked on 36.7 million doors as part of a larger field outreach effort that produced 185 million confirmed voter contacts .
The party has explicitly tried to model its field efforts on then-President Barack Obama ’ s successful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ staffers with the book “ Groundbreakers , ” about Obama ’ s army of volunteers .

President-elect Joe Biden gestures speaks at a drive-in rally in Pittsburgh on the eve of Election Day. He was more cautious about in-person campaigning than President Donald Trump. JIM WATSON/Getty Images
A number of Democratic elected officials, candidates and campaign operatives believe that the national party’s decision not to canvass and hold in-person campaign events until the final days of the general election hurt Democrats down-ballot.
In order to avoid exposing volunteers, staffers and voters to the coronavirus, the presidential campaign of former Vice President Joe Biden did not sanction door-to-door campaigning in battleground states until October.
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House Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, advised candidates against it and declined to finance any new hiring that campaigns conducted for the specific purpose of door-knocking. State parties and state legislative candidates, who frequently coordinated with the national party, generally steered clear of the practice as well.
Although the policy may have been ethically and scientifically wise, it cost Democrats at the ballot box, according to several Democrats in battleground states, who believe that face-to-face contact is more effective than reaching voters by phone or text. As members of the party spar over the ideological and messaging reasons for their failure to meet down-ballot expectations, the failure to knock on doors has become a regret shared by members of both the centrist and progressive wings of the party.
In the clearest sign the party is regretting its decision, Democrats in Georgia are leaving the door open to a door-knocking campaign in that state ahead of two runoff elections that could determine control of the U.S. Senate. One strategist in the state told HuffPost “safe door-knocking closer to Jan. 5 may be necessary to win.”
The effect of canvassing “may not be determinative, but in a close election, it can help you with a point or 2 points,” said Mark Nevins, a Philadelphia-based Democratic campaign strategist who advised the party’s unsuccessful auditor general candidate, Nina Ahmad. “There’s really no substitute for the kind of effectiveness of direct communication with a voter.”
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Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) thinks Democrats' refusal to campaign in person until the end of the election hurt the party at the ballot box. Bill Clark/Getty Images
Sen. Jon Tester of Montana said the lack of large-scale events and canvassing hurt Democratic candidates in his state, where Republicans swept statewide offices for the first time in decades and the party lost seats in the state legislature. Other Montana Democrats have said the lack of canvassing impeded the party’s ability to defend candidates from GOP attacks linking them to socialism and other unpopular left-wing ideas.
“Montana’s a state where people like to see their candidates and like to hear from them. The virus impeded that a lot,” Tester said. “I think we paid a price for that.”
Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa told HuffPost last Friday that national policies discouraging door-knocking and other in-person campaign events cost Democrats with Latino voters in particular.
“It’s very hard to do effective campaigning with Latinos unless you’re talking to them in person,” he said.
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Former presidential and Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke of Texas echoed this advice in an email to supporters on Thursday. “Nothing beats meeting your voters, eyeball to eyeball,” he wrote. “We should always find a way to canvass directly at the voter’s door.”
“The DCCC worked constantly and aggressively to find safe ways to reach voters.” - Cole Leiter, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
One national progressive strategist, speaking on condition of anonymity to speak frankly about the party’s tactics, said the decision also reinforced the working-class voters’ perception of Democratic candidates as elites whose economic lives were undisturbed by the pandemic.
“This is part of how we’ve become divorced from the working class,” the strategist said. “They had to get back to their jobs in two weeks’ time. It felt like we were well-to-do, like we were hiding behind a Zoom screen. That’s not a life that most working-class people can afford to engage in.”
The DCCC maintains that the alternative methods it developed for contacting voters ― through phone calls and text messages ― were highly effective. It said the campaigns of House Democratic candidates contacted 2 million voters by text message in the final weekend of the campaign.
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“The DCCC worked constantly and aggressively to find safe ways to reach voters, including through our Virtual Action Center,” said DCCC communications director Cole Leiter. “Recognizing our responsibility to keep our volunteers, voters, and staff safe, the DCCC approached in-person canvassing with the extreme caution that is necessary during the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.”
The impact of the protocol against canvassing was more acute for candidates running for Congress or state legislature, because coverage of Biden’s campaign and his saturation of the television airwaves and other media with advertisements ensured that voters were already aware of his message, according to Danny Barefoot, a Democratic consultant who worked on some Senate and state legislative races.
A volunteer knocks on doors for Joe Biden in Landsdowne, Pennsylvania. Critics believe that the party adopted traditional field tactics like canvassing too late to match Republican efforts. Mark Makela/Getty Images
“As you go down the ballot, we have more voters who are likely to drop off,” said Barefoot, referencing some voters’ tendency to cast votes in the presidential or other prominent races but abstain from voting in lower-profile contests. “One of the ways we make sure they don’t is by canvassing ― going door to door.”
In fact, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which elects Democrats to state legislatures, believes the lack of canvassing played a “huge role” in its poor performance this cycle. Notwithstanding legislative maps in some states that are gerrymandered to favor Republicans, Democrats had their sights set on flipping between five and 10 legislative chambers.
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Instead, the party lost control of the state House and Senate in New Hampshire. And though the votes in some states are still being counted, Democrats are not expected to pick up any chambers to offset those losses.
“At the local level, door-knocking is often one of the best ways for candidates to distinguish themselves and introduce themselves to voters,” said DLCC spokesperson Christina Polizzi. “And because they weren’t able to do that safely during a pandemic, it certainly made it harder for them to push back on any narratives that the Republicans were pushing on them and then also to really talk to your neighbors about why you were running.”
The DLCC did not have any formal policy on whether its campaigns should engage in door-knocking during the pandemic.
But Emily Skopov, a Democrat who lost a high-profile bid to flip a Pennsylvania state House seat in Pittsburgh’s northern suburbs, was concerned that local Democratic Party officials and activists would punish her if she resumed canvassing over the summer. Skopov waited until the final six weeks of her campaign to return to the doors with strict health precautions after a hiatus that began in March. Skopov’s Republican opponent, who began canvassing in June, would end up winning the race by about 8 percentage points.
“The lack of canvassing did hurt,” Skopov said.
By contrast, the handful of Democratic organizations that did mount robust canvassing operations believe it helped flip key battleground states for Biden.
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For Our Future, a progressive group backed by labor unions and liberal billionaire Tom Steyer’s NextGen America, credits its door-knocking operation for helping turn out infrequent, Democratic-leaning voters in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada. The group, which spent weeks preparing for an Oct. 1 launch, said it knocked on 1.3 million doors, including 600,000 in Pennsylvania alone. The group’s 1,000-plus paid canvassers found that, as a result of the pandemic, they were actually more likely to succeed in engaging people at the doors than in previous election cycles.
“Our contact rate on the doors was higher this fall than what it’s been in the past,” For Our Future spokesperson Liz Cattaneo said during a call with reporters on Monday. “That contributes to our thinking that our organizing in person to reach folks who were less likely to connect through traditional means made a difference.”
“When we hear in the polls that Biden has these huge leads, it just doesn’t translate on the ground.” - Gwen Mills, UNITE HERE
UNITE HERE, a labor union that represents some 300,000 hospitality workers, has likewise touted its success knocking on 2.8 million doors in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Nevada. The union began knocking doors in Arizona and Nevada in July, and in Pennsylvania in October. (Both UNITE HERE and For Our Future had significant canvassing operations in Florida as well, but they were less keen to highlight their work there to reporters.)
A secondary benefit of the door-knocking was an opportunity to see firsthand that public polling might have been overstating Biden’s standing, according to Gwen Mills, the union’s secretary-treasurer.
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“By talking to people on the doors, you can tell, four years of Donald Trump have left many, many people feeling hopeless, and apathetic and disenfranchised from the voting process,” Mills said on a Nov. 5 press call. “And so, when we hear in the polls that Biden has these huge leads, it just doesn’t translate on the ground.
UNITE HERE and For Our Future took the utmost safety precautions while canvassing, requiring all door-knockers to wear masks and gloves, maintain social distance from people with whom they were speaking, and remain outdoors. The safety protocols adopted by the organizations, which consulted with public health experts and monitored canvassers’ health, sound a lot like what a former Obama administration assistant health secretary told Politico in August would be needed to conduct canvassing safely during the pandemic. There was not a single confirmed case of COVID-19 among UNITE HERE’s 1,700 canvassers, according to the union.
The Biden campaign estimates that its staff and volunteers knocked on a total of 5 million doors across the country in the final weeks of the campaign.
But Democratic Party officials involved in the national party’s planning operations are skeptical that the potential benefits of an earlier and more robust door-knocking program outweighed the risks, particularly given Biden’s emphasis on President Donald Trump’s mismanagement of the pandemic. These officials point to a cautionary tale: The Progressive Turnout Project, a liberal super PAC, had to end its canvassing program in July after some of its in-person canvassers tested positive for COVID-19.
Some academic research supports the contention that canvassing is not an essential tool for winning campaigns. A 2017 study of multiple campaigns conducted by University of California, Berkeley, political scientists found that canvassing has no impact as a persuasion tactic in general elections. The study’s co-authors found that the technique is nonetheless an effective way of turning out voters who already support a given candidate.
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“The reality is there is a coronavirus pandemic,” a national Democratic Party official said. “We had to find ways to reach voters and we did so very effectively.”
A volunteer knocks doors for President Donald Trump in Nashua, New Hampshire. The Republican National Committee modeled its field program on Barack Obama's 2012 effort. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe/Getty Images
The official cited the results of the presidential race, which Biden won, as evidence of the party’s success, as well as the lack of a clear positive correlation between the handful of congressional candidates who decided to engage in canvassing earlier in the election and those who won their races.
For example, in Maine, where Sara Gideon’s Senate campaign led Democrats’ coordinated campaign efforts, Democrats began canvassing over the summer. Gideon still ended up losing to Sen. Susan Collins (R) by a comfortable margin, despite polling that consistently showed Gideon with a narrow lead.
The congressional campaign of Rep. Max Rose, a New York Democrat, paused its door-knocking program in March, but resumed canvassing in July, reaching tens of thousands of households in South Brooklyn and Staten Island. Together with its phone-banking operation, the campaign estimates that it tried to reach 1.2 million voters and successfully connected with 200,000 voters. Conversations at the doors were an especially effective way for Rose’s volunteers to debunk inaccurate claims that Rose supported “defunding” the police.
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“If Democrats are going to argue that in-person canvassing didn’t make an impact, they’re going to have to throw out everything they argued in 2012 when Biden was running for vice president.” - Michael Ahrens, Republican National Committee
In the end though, while Rose outperformed Biden in Staten Island, his race did not end up being close. He formally conceded to Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis on Thursday.
The Republican National Committee’s communications director, Michael Ahrens, rejected the idea that official Democratic Party organs’ decision not to canvass had no impact on election outcomes, particularly given the GOP’s massive investment in canvassing this cycle. The RNC said its coordinated campaign apparatus knocked on 36.7 million doors as part of a larger field outreach effort that produced 185 million confirmed voter contacts. The party has explicitly tried to model its field efforts on then-President Barack Obama’s successful 2012 reelection campaign, providing its field staffers with the book “Groundbreakers,” about Obama’s army of volunteers.
“If Democrats are going to argue that in-person canvassing didn’t make an impact, they’re going to have to throw out everything they argued in 2012 when Biden was running for vice president,” Ahrens said.
Even if more canvassing might have given Democrats better election results, the party rightly holds itself to a higher ethical code than the GOP, according to Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, a progressive group.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Newspaper Owned By Trump Megadonor Sheldon Adelson Tells President To Concede

The Las Vegas newspaper owned by Donald Trump megadonor Sheldon Adelson is calling on the president to stop denying the inevitable and cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden ’ s transition team .
“ It is too fitting that the Trump presidency concludes amid a babel of bluster and bravado , ” read an editorial published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal , the largest newspaper in Nevada .
“ But the president does a disservice to his more rabid supporters by insisting that he would have won the Nov. 3 election absent voter fraud .
That ’ s simply false.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that fraud cost Mr. Trump the election , no matter how much the president tweets the opposite , ” the editorial continued .
“ Mr .
Trump lost this election because he ultimately didn ’ t attract enough votes and failed to win a handful of swing states that broke his way in 2016.
” The Review-Journal was the first paper in the nation with a circulation of more than 100,000 to endorse Trump in 2016 , and it endorsed him again in the 2020 presidential race .
But as Trump continued to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he had a testy phone call with Sheldon Adelson in August , complaining that the casino mogul wasn ’ t doing enough for him , Politico reported .
Trump is now claiming , without evidence , that thousands of people voted illegally in Nevada , where Biden has a widening lead .
The editorial did say that the Trump campaign is “ certainly within its rights to request recounts or challenge what it believes are improprieties.
” An “ electoral system that involves the participation of 150 million Americans will have its share @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But the editorial also insisted : “ It ’ s an insult to reason and logic to argue that isolated irregularities constitute proof of a grand national conspiracy.
” Trump “ can keep fighting — and no doubt will .
In the meantime , however , he has nothing to lose by cooperating with President-elect Biden ’ s transition team , ” the editorial concluded .
“ Mr .
Trump expected no less from the Obama administration in 2016 even as Hillary ’ s acolytes floated ways to manipulate the Electoral College vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ today regardless of how long the president seeks to delay the inevitable .
”

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The Las Vegas newspaper owned by Donald Trump megadonor Sheldon Adelson is calling on the president to stop denying the inevitable and cooperate with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team.
“It is too fitting that the Trump presidency concludes amid a babel of bluster and bravado,” read an editorial published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the largest newspaper in Nevada. “But the president does a disservice to his more rabid supporters by insisting that he would have won the Nov. 3 election absent voter fraud. That’s simply false.”
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There is “no evidence ... that fraud cost Mr. Trump the election, no matter how much the president tweets the opposite,” the editorial continued. “Mr. Trump lost this election because he ultimately didn’t attract enough votes and failed to win a handful of swing states that broke his way in 2016.”
The Review-Journal was the first paper in the nation with a circulation of more than 100,000 to endorse Trump in 2016, and it endorsed him again in the 2020 presidential race.
But as Trump continued to trail in the polls this year, he had a testy phone call with Sheldon Adelson in August, complaining that the casino mogul wasn’t doing enough for him, Politico reported. Trump is now claiming, without evidence, that thousands of people voted illegally in Nevada, where Biden has a widening lead.
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The editorial did say that the Trump campaign is “certainly within its rights to request recounts or challenge what it believes are improprieties.” An “electoral system that involves the participation of 150 million Americans will have its share of issues,” it argued.
But the editorial also insisted: “It’s an insult to reason and logic to argue that isolated irregularities constitute proof of a grand national conspiracy.”
Trump “can keep fighting — and no doubt will. In the meantime, however, he has nothing to lose by cooperating with President-elect Biden’s transition team,” the editorial concluded.
“Mr. Trump expected no less from the Obama administration in 2016 even as Hillary’s acolytes floated ways to manipulate the Electoral College vote. Mr. Biden deserves the same consideration today regardless of how long the president seeks to delay the inevitable.”
Read the entire editorial in the Las Vegas Review-Journal here.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Mark Zuckerberg: Steve Bannon Hasn't Violated Enough Policies For Facebook Ban

PALO ALTO , Nov 12 ( Reuters ) - Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told an all-staff meeting on Thursday that former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon had not violated enough of the company ’ s policies to justify his suspension , according to a recording heard by Reuters .
“ We have specific rules around how many times you need to violate certain policies before we will deactivate your account completely , ” Zuckerberg said .
“ While the offenses here , I think , came close to crossing that line , they clearly did not cross the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last week that FBI Director Christopher Wray and government infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci should be beheaded , saying they had been disloyal to U.S. President Donald Trump , who last week lost his re-election bid .
Facebook removed the video but left up Bannon ’ s page .
The company had not previously answered questions about those actions and did not immediately respond to a Reuters request about Zuckerberg ’ s comments .
Zuckerberg spoke on the issue at a weekly forum with Facebook employees where he is sometimes asked to defend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ question on Thursday from a staff member asking why Bannon had not been banned .
Arrested in August , Bannon has pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors to the $ 25 million “ We Build the Wall ” campaign .
Bannon has dismissed the charges as politically motivated .
As Trump ’ s chief White House strategist , Bannon helped articulate Trump ’ s “ America First ” policy .
Trump fired him in August 2017 , ending Bannon ’ s turbulent tenure .
( Reporting by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Howard Goller )

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PALO ALTO, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told an all-staff meeting on Thursday that former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon had not violated enough of the company’s policies to justify his suspension, according to a recording heard by Reuters.
“We have specific rules around how many times you need to violate certain policies before we will deactivate your account completely,” Zuckerberg said. “While the offenses here, I think, came close to crossing that line, they clearly did not cross the line.”
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Bannon suggested in a video last week that FBI Director Christopher Wray and government infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci should be beheaded, saying they had been disloyal to U.S. President Donald Trump, who last week lost his re-election bid.
Facebook removed the video but left up Bannon’s page. The company had not previously answered questions about those actions and did not immediately respond to a Reuters request about Zuckerberg’s comments.
Twitter banned Bannon last week over the same content.
Zuckerberg spoke on the issue at a weekly forum with Facebook employees where he is sometimes asked to defend content and policy decisions, like the question on Thursday from a staff member asking why Bannon had not been banned.
Arrested in August, Bannon has pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding hundreds of thousands of donors to the $25 million “We Build the Wall” campaign. Bannon has dismissed the charges as politically motivated.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Republican Nicole Malliotakis Ousts Democrat Max Rose In NYC House District

In a statement on Thursday , Rose said he conceded the race .
House Republicans have gained seven seats in the 2020 election cycle so far , and several races remain uncalled .
Rose ’ s fate has a long history in New York ’ s 11th District , where a Democrat hasn ’ t won back-to-back congressional races since the 1970s .
The race was Republicans ’ only real shot at winning back a House seat in New York City this year .
Malliotakis , a 39-year-old who ran for mayor against New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio @ @ @ @ @ @ @ represented the district in the state Assembly for nearly a decade and has long been cast as a rising star in New York ’ s Republican party .
Until 2015 , the district was represented by Republican Michael Grimm , who resigned from Congress after pleading guilty to a tax evasion scheme connected with a restaurant he owned prior to becoming a congressman .
Malliotakis was among the names floated to run in his place , but she opted not to .
Instead the seat was filled by Republican Dan Donovan , whom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and health care executive , defeated in 2018 as part of the blue wave that gave Democrats a majority in the House of Representatives .
Rose ’ s centrist politics and abrasive political style seemed to fit with the district , but Malliotakis effectively painted him as just another New York City Democrat , too liberal for the whiter and more conservative district .
Republicans tied Rose to self-described democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez ( D-N.Y. ) and de Blasio , who is deeply unpopular in the district .
Malliotakis said her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and “ save America.
” Malliotakis ’ ads featured local law enforcement and Thin Blue Line flags , and highlighted Rose ’ s decision to participate in Black Lives Matter marches .
Rose tried to counteract Republicans ’ narrative by releasing a six-second ad in which he said , simply , “ Bill de Blasio is the worst mayor in the history of New York City .
That ’ s the whole ad.
” In another , he supported Trump ’ s killing of high-ranking Iranian military general Qassem Soleimani and balked at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ When my country went to war in Afghanistan , I put on the uniform , ” Rose said in the ad .
“ When Bill de Blasio tried to defund the police , I stood up and said it was 100 % wrong .
And I stood with President Trump when Democrats attacked him for killing an Iranian terrorist .
Because when you kill American soldiers , we kill you.
” Trump won Staten Island by 17 percentage points in 2016 , and remains popular there .
When she ran for mayor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the president , saying she regretted voting for him , but when it came time to run for Congress , she changed her tune and emphasized Trump ’ s endorsement of her .

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Republican state Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis has beaten first-term Democratic Rep. Max Rose in a New York House district that spans from Staten Island to South Brooklyn.
In a statement on Thursday, Rose said he conceded the race. House Republicans have gained seven seats in the 2020 election cycle so far, and several races remain uncalled.
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Rose’s fate has a long history in New York’s 11th District, where a Democrat hasn’t won back-to-back congressional races since the 1970s. The race was Republicans’ only real shot at winning back a House seat in New York City this year.
Malliotakis, a 39-year-old who ran for mayor against New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) in 2017, has represented the district in the state Assembly for nearly a decade and has long been cast as a rising star in New York’s Republican party.
Until 2015, the district was represented by Republican Michael Grimm, who resigned from Congress after pleading guilty to a tax evasion scheme connected with a restaurant he owned prior to becoming a congressman. Malliotakis was among the names floated to run in his place, but she opted not to.
Instead the seat was filled by Republican Dan Donovan, whom Rose, a 33-year-old Army combat veteran and health care executive, defeated in 2018 as part of the blue wave that gave Democrats a majority in the House of Representatives.
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Rose’s centrist politics and abrasive political style seemed to fit with the district, but Malliotakis effectively painted him as just another New York City Democrat, too liberal for the whiter and more conservative district. Republicans tied Rose to self-described democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) and de Blasio, who is deeply unpopular in the district.
Malliotakis said her run was to “stop socialism” and “save America.” Malliotakis’ ads featured local law enforcement and Thin Blue Line flags, and highlighted Rose’s decision to participate in Black Lives Matter marches.
Rose tried to counteract Republicans’ narrative by releasing a six-second ad in which he said, simply, “Bill de Blasio is the worst mayor in the history of New York City. That’s the whole ad.”
Rep. Max Rose, a Democrat running for reelection in Staten Island, with a digital ad: “Bill de Blasio is the worst mayor in the history of New York City. That’s the whole ad.” pic.twitter.com/mZrR5XW0BE — Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) September 9, 2020
In another, he supported Trump’s killing of high-ranking Iranian military general Qassem Soleimani and balked at rallying cries to defund the police.
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“When my country went to war in Afghanistan, I put on the uniform,” Rose said in the ad. “When Bill de Blasio tried to defund the police, I stood up and said it was 100% wrong. And I stood with President Trump when Democrats attacked him for killing an Iranian terrorist. Because when you kill American soldiers, we kill you.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Partisanship Is Making Americans Vote For Things They Don’t Actually Want

Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images Miami Shores voters fill in their ballots at the C. Lawton McCall Community Center on Election Day , November 3 , 2020 .
Voters in Florida decisively passed a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage , but also decisively favored Donald Trump , a candidate who believes the minimum wage is just fine where it is .
Deep-red Montana , Mississippi and South Dakota liberalized marijuana laws .
Bright-blue California and Illinois rejected rent control and income taxes , respectively .
This is nothing new .
Every election is a fresh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nation of individuals , not groups , and that those individuals have beliefs that don ’ t fall neatly along partisan lines .
“ Most people aren ’ t ideological in the way journalists , political scientists and talking heads are , ” said Christopher Witko , a professor at Pennsylvania State University who researches inequality and American elections .
“ If you ’ re someone who follows politics closely , knowing your position on the minimum wage makes it pretty easy to predict your position on taxes and abortion .
But that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most of the public.
” Most Americans , Witko said , have political beliefs that are less consistent than those of the politicians they vote for .
They want better health care but lower taxes ; a smaller government but a bigger military ; higher wages but cheaper products .
In a 2014 study , researchers found that most so-called “ moderate voters ” were , in fact , people who hold extreme positions from both the political right and the political left .
“ You ’ ve got voters who say they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ want abortion criminalized , ” said Chris Ellis , a political science professor at Bucknell University .
“ That person doesn ’ t exist in Congress , but they do exist in the population in large numbers.
” Partisanship Is Becoming An Identity The explanation for this mismatch of voters ’ inconsistent beliefs and their strikingly consistent voting patterns is the influence of political parties .
Over the last 40 years , partisanship has become a kind of social identity , a way of signaling to other people that you hold a distinct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and social issues .
“ I always chuckle when people say , ‘ I ’ m tired of identity politics , ’ ” said Andrea Benjamin , a University of Oklahoma professor who studies race and voting behavior .
“ What do you think ‘ Democrat ’ or ‘ Republican ’ mean ?
For a lot of people , that is an identity.
” The benefit of ballot initiatives is that they appear as independent ideas free from the influence of partisanship .
Over the last 10 years , proposals to raise the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the wealthy pass nearly every time they appear on ballots , even in places where voters reject progressive politicians .
“ Candidates run on partisan platforms , and people already know how they feel about the parties , ” Benjamin said .
“ But when it comes to ballot initiatives , voters have to engage and consider where they stand on the issue.
” This trend may be good for passing liberal ballot initiatives , but it is alarming for American democracy .
As partisanship becomes a defining schism in our social lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to assess their policy ideas .
According to Ellis , political identities are already beginning to resemble sports fandom or other group memberships .
They have less to do with political ideals and more to do with unspoken cultural values and a sense of belonging to a group .
“ When we ask people whether they ’ re conservative or liberal , they ’ re not talking about the minimum wage or Obamacare , ” Ellis said .
“ They ’ re talking about things like respecting tradition , eating dinner with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s permission before proposing to his daughter .
It ’ s about things that express people ’ s cultural values and give them self-esteem.
” What Does This Mean For American Politics ?
This incoherence creates a paradox for politicians .
Americans generally favor a set of policies more liberal than any president has endorsed since Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal : universal health care , strict gun control and progressive taxation all enjoy majority support .
And yet they also overwhelmingly identify as conservative or moderate .
The coming decades @ @ @ @ @ @ @ partisanship becomes a more important aspect of identity , voters are becoming more rigid in their beliefs .
So-called “ split-ticket ” voting — ticking the box for , say , a Democratic president and a Republican senator — has fallen to its lowest level in decades .
Even as votes are still being counted , the 2020 election has already broken turnout records , largely due to the expansion of early voting and mail-in ballots .
Texas and Florida are gaining population ; Illinois and New Jersey are shedding it .
Young @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before the pandemic anyway ) arriving in Seattle .
All this flux means counties could have “ flipped ” from one party to the other without anyone changing their political preferences .

Miami Shores voters fill in their ballots at the C. Lawton McCall Community Center on Election Day, November 3, 2020. Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Last week’s election was, as usual, utterly baffling.
Voters in Florida decisively passed a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage, but also decisively favored Donald Trump, a candidate who believes the minimum wage is just fine where it is. Deep-red Montana, Mississippi and South Dakota liberalized marijuana laws. Bright-blue California and Illinois rejected rent control and income taxes, respectively.
This is nothing new. Every election is a fresh demonstration that the United States is a nation of individuals, not groups, and that those individuals have beliefs that don’t fall neatly along partisan lines.
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“Most people aren’t ideological in the way journalists, political scientists and talking heads are,” said Christopher Witko, a professor at Pennsylvania State University who researches inequality and American elections. “If you’re someone who follows politics closely, knowing your position on the minimum wage makes it pretty easy to predict your position on taxes and abortion. But that’s not how it works for most of the public.”
Most Americans, Witko said, have political beliefs that are less consistent than those of the politicians they vote for. They want better health care but lower taxes; a smaller government but a bigger military; higher wages but cheaper products. In a 2014 study, researchers found that most so-called “moderate voters” were, in fact, people who hold extreme positions from both the political right and the political left.
As opposed to party platforms, which at least hint at ideological consistency, most voters’ opinions are all over the map.
“You’ve got voters who say they want single-payer health care and they also want abortion criminalized,” said Chris Ellis, a political science professor at Bucknell University. “That person doesn’t exist in Congress, but they do exist in the population in large numbers.”
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Partisanship Is Becoming An Identity
Despite these confounding political views, Americans’ voting behavior is remarkably consistent. Only around 7% of Americans regularly switch parties.
The explanation for this mismatch of voters’ inconsistent beliefs and their strikingly consistent voting patterns is the influence of political parties. Over the last 40 years, partisanship has become a kind of social identity, a way of signaling to other people that you hold a distinct set of views about values, economics and social issues.
“I always chuckle when people say, ‘I’m tired of identity politics,’” said Andrea Benjamin, a University of Oklahoma professor who studies race and voting behavior. “What do you think ‘Democrat’ or ‘Republican’ mean? For a lot of people, that is an identity.”
“Most elections are decided by people who don’t follow politics very closely.” - Christopher Witko, Pennsylvania State University political scientist
The benefit of ballot initiatives is that they appear as independent ideas free from the influence of partisanship. Over the last 10 years, proposals to raise the minimum wage, legalize marijuana and tax the wealthy pass nearly every time they appear on ballots, even in places where voters reject progressive politicians.
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“Candidates run on partisan platforms, and people already know how they feel about the parties,” Benjamin said. “But when it comes to ballot initiatives, voters have to engage and consider where they stand on the issue.”
This trend may be good for passing liberal ballot initiatives, but it is alarming for American democracy. As partisanship becomes a defining schism in our social lives, politicians will struggle to convince voters to assess their policy ideas.
According to Ellis, political identities are already beginning to resemble sports fandom or other group memberships. They have less to do with political ideals and more to do with unspoken cultural values and a sense of belonging to a group.
“When we ask people whether they’re conservative or liberal, they’re not talking about the minimum wage or Obamacare,” Ellis said. “They’re talking about things like respecting tradition, eating dinner with the family every night and asking Dad’s permission before proposing to his daughter. It’s about things that express people’s cultural values and give them self-esteem.”
What Does This Mean For American Politics?
This incoherence creates a paradox for politicians. Americans generally favor a set of policies more liberal than any president has endorsed since Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal: universal health care, strict gun control and progressive taxation all enjoy majority support. And yet they also overwhelmingly identify as conservative or moderate.
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“Most people are conservative in their values but liberal in their ideas,” Witko said. “They don’t like liberal candidates, but they like their policies, and vice-versa.”
The coming decades could make this disparity worse. As partisanship becomes a more important aspect of identity, voters are becoming more rigid in their beliefs. So-called “split-ticket” voting — ticking the box for, say, a Democratic president and a Republican senator — has fallen to its lowest level in decades.
“The reason the vote totals change each election isn’t primarily that people are changing their minds, it’s that the electorate changes,” Witko said. “People move from state to state or you get different turnout rates.”
Even as votes are still being counted, the 2020 election has already broken turnout records, largely due to the expansion of early voting and mail-in ballots. Texas and Florida are gaining population; Illinois and New Jersey are shedding it. Young adults are fleeing New York and (before the pandemic anyway) arriving in Seattle. All this flux means counties could have “flipped” from one party to the other without anyone changing their political preferences.
In the future, Witko said, political campaigns could become even more devoid of policy debates. Parties will continue to shift from persuading swing voters to boosting turnout. Local politics, until now relatively free from national-level partisan battles, could become more polarized.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Record Number Of Women Of Color Are Headed To Congress

A record number of women of color ran for Congress in the 2020 election , and a record number won their races and are set to serve in 2021 .
At least 50 women of color ( including 46 Democrats ) will serve in the next Congress , breaking the previous record of 48 set in the last elections , according to a report Thursday by the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University .
The winners included a record number of women of color heading to the U.S. House — 47 of whom already won seats , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2018 .
Another three women of color remain in races that have not yet been called .
Notably , Cori Bush , a Black Lives Matter activist , is one of several lawmakers-elect who made history on Election Day .
Bush will be the first Black woman that Missouri sends to Congress .
The trailblazing candidates followed in the footsteps of barrier-breaking lawmakers elected in 2018 , including the first Muslim women elected to Congress , Reps. Ilhan Omar ( D-Minn. ) and Rashida Tlaib ( D-Mich. ) ; the first Native @ @ @ @ @ @ @ D-Kan. ) and Deb Haaland ( D-N.M. ) ; and the youngest congresswoman ever , Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( D-N.Y. ) .
All won reelection in 2020 .
Of the 47 women who won House seats so far , 25 are Black , surpassing the previous record of 22 Black women in the House who were elected in the midterms , and 13 are Latina , beating the previous record of 12 .
No women of color were elected to the Senate this year , and none of the four women of color @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for reelection .
Sen. and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris of California leaves the Senate in January .
It remains to be seen if Gov .
Gavin Newsom ( D ) will appoint a woman of color to replace her .
“ We ’ re heartened by the progress made this year in electing women of color to the House , but it is clear that there is much work left undone , ” Center for American Women and Politics Director Debbie Walsh said .
“ Expanding the diversity of experiences among the people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans .
”

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A record number of women of color ran for Congress in the 2020 election, and a record number won their races and are set to serve in 2021.
At least 50 women of color (including 46 Democrats) will serve in the next Congress, breaking the previous record of 48 set in the last elections, according to a report Thursday by the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
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The winners included a record number of women of color heading to the U.S. House — 47 of whom already won seats, compared to the previous record of 44 in 2018. Another three women of color remain in races that have not yet been called.
A record number of women overall are headed to the House in 2021.
Notably, Cori Bush, a Black Lives Matter activist, is one of several lawmakers-elect who made history on Election Day. Bush will be the first Black woman that Missouri sends to Congress.
Rep.-elect Cori Bush (D-Mo.) arrives for the House freshman orientation Thursday in Washington. Sarah Silbiger via Getty Images
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Of the 47 women who won House seats so far, 25 are Black, surpassing the previous record of 22 Black women in the House who were elected in the midterms, and 13 are Latina, beating the previous record of 12.
No women of color were elected to the Senate this year, and none of the four women of color currently serving in the body were up for reelection.
Sen. and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris of California leaves the Senate in January. It remains to be seen if Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will appoint a woman of color to replace her.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Biden Pledges To Boost Number Of Refugees Welcomed To U.S. After Trump's Deep Cuts

“ The U.S. has long stood as a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and oppressed , a leader in resettling refugees , in our humanitarian response , ” Biden said in a video recorded for the 40th anniversary of the Jesuit Refugee Service .
“ I promise as president I ’ ll reclaim that proud legacy for our country.
” Boosting the refugee resettlement program is important even as Americans face the COVID-19 pandemic , according to Dr. Anthony Fauci , a member of the White House ’ s coronavirus task force who also spoke at the virtual ceremony @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic as an excuse not to welcome refugees , he said .
“ Amidst the ongoing difficulties of the pandemic , we must not lose sight of the ongoing imperative to attend to their basic human rights and needs , such as health care , ” said Fauci , a Jesuit high school and college graduate .
Biden ’ s commitment aligns with the priorities of Pope Francis , who has helped resettle several refugee families and has encouraged global leaders and Catholics around the world to do the same .
The president-elect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spoke with Francis on a phone call Thursday morning about their shared policy goals , including “ welcoming and integrating immigrants and refugees into our communities.
” “ I think he sees that part of the Catholic faith is looking to welcome the stranger , acknowledging the stranger as our neighbor , ” she said .
“ That ’ s part of who we are as Catholics and a core part of Catholic social teaching.
” While the Jesuit Refugee Service isn ’ t one of the nine private agencies that the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it does aid refugees in the regions they ’ ve fled to around the globe .
McPherson said the group can testify to the misery felt by refugees about President Donald Trump ’ s cuts to the resettlement program .
“ We ’ ve seen the despair firsthand of refugees who , due to the U.S. policies over the past four years , have seen their chances of coming to the U.S. dwindle to almost zero , ” she said .
“ But there ’ s a lot of hope now that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump , who has often deployed xenophobic rhetoric to attack immigrants , used one of his earliest executive orders as president to temporarily freeze refugee admissions .
Since then , his administration has repeatedly slashed the number of slots available to people seeking refuge in the U.S .
In October , the administration capped annual admissions at a historic low of 15,000 , while also proposing to halt admissions from Somalia , Syria and Yemen in particular unless those refugees proved religious persecution .
The administration claimed it was worried about security in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ multiple layers of security screenings and background checks before they ’ re able to enter the U.S .
The Trump administration has effectively slowed down nearly every step of the admissions process ― from accepting new referrals from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to slashing the number of U.S. immigration officers assigned to interview refugees ― creating a bottleneck that could far outlast Trump ’ s time in the White House .
These changes were pushed through as the number of refugees worldwide reached levels not seen since World War II @ @ @ @ @ @ @ displaced people in the world , 40 % of whom are children , according to the U.N. refugee agency .
Trump ’ s approach cost the U.S. its place as a world leader in welcoming refugees .
Before he arrived at the White House , the U.S. resettled more refugees annually than all other countries combined .
Canada surpassed the U.S. total in 2018 .
Low admission levels over the past four years meant deep cuts in government funding for those nine agencies that contracted with the State Department to resettle refugees .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ lay off workers and scale back their operations .
Because the program ’ s infrastructure has been dismantled , resettling 125,000 refugees in the U.S. in the current fiscal year would be a challenge , said Jenny Yang , vice president of advocacy and policy at the Christian resettlement agency World Relief .
Biden will have to reset the program to receive U.N. referrals and ramp up refugee security interviews and processing .

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President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday reaffirmed his commitment to raise America’s annual refugee admissions target to 125,000, reviving a program that endured deep, historic cuts under the Trump administration.
“The U.S. has long stood as a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and oppressed, a leader in resettling refugees, in our humanitarian response,” Biden said in a video recorded for the 40th anniversary of the Jesuit Refugee Service. “I promise as president I’ll reclaim that proud legacy for our country.”
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Biden’s target, first proposed on the campaign trail, would set an even higher ceiling for admissions than the 110,000 slots approved by President Barack Obama in 2016.
Biden’s words aired during a virtual ceremony to commemorate the 1980 founding of the Jesuit Refugee Service, a global Catholic organization initially created to help people fleeing Vietnam.
Boosting the refugee resettlement program is important even as Americans face the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force who also spoke at the virtual ceremony. Americans shouldn’t use the pandemic as an excuse not to welcome refugees, he said.
“Amidst the ongoing difficulties of the pandemic, we must not lose sight of the ongoing imperative to attend to their basic human rights and needs, such as health care,” said Fauci, a Jesuit high school and college graduate.
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Biden pointed out that refugees and immigrants are working on the front lines of the pandemic as doctors, nurses, researchers and farmworkers.
“We’re safer, stronger, a better country because of their contributions,” he said.
Pope Francis shakes hands with then-Vice President Joe Biden, a lifelong Catholic, at the Vatican on April 29, 2016. L'Osservatore Romano/Pool photo via AP
Biden’s commitment aligns with the priorities of Pope Francis, who has helped resettle several refugee families and has encouraged global leaders and Catholics around the world to do the same. The president-elect, a devout, lifelong Catholic, spoke with Francis on a phone call Thursday morning about their shared policy goals, including “welcoming and integrating immigrants and refugees into our communities.”
Giulia McPherson, director of advocacy and operations at the Jesuit Refugee Service’s U.S. branch, said she believes Biden’s approach to the refugee crisis is influenced by his faith.
“I think he sees that part of the Catholic faith is looking to welcome the stranger, acknowledging the stranger as our neighbor,” she said. “That’s part of who we are as Catholics and a core part of Catholic social teaching.”
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While the Jesuit Refugee Service isn’t one of the nine private agencies that the U.S. State Department works with to resettle refugees, it does aid refugees in the regions they’ve fled to around the globe. McPherson said the group can testify to the misery felt by refugees about President Donald Trump’s cuts to the resettlement program.
“We’ve seen the despair firsthand of refugees who, due to the U.S. policies over the past four years, have seen their chances of coming to the U.S. dwindle to almost zero,” she said. “But there’s a lot of hope now that we anticipate a change in policy.”
Biden would set an even higher ceiling for refugee admissions than the 110,000 slots approved by President Barack Obama in 2016. Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Trump, who has often deployed xenophobic rhetoric to attack immigrants, used one of his earliest executive orders as president to temporarily freeze refugee admissions. Since then, his administration has repeatedly slashed the number of slots available to people seeking refuge in the U.S. In October, the administration capped annual admissions at a historic low of 15,000, while also proposing to halt admissions from Somalia, Syria and Yemen in particular unless those refugees proved religious persecution. The administration claimed it was worried about security in that region, although all refugees undergo multiple layers of security screenings and background checks before they’re able to enter the U.S.
The Trump administration has effectively slowed down nearly every step of the admissions process ― from accepting new referrals from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to slashing the number of U.S. immigration officers assigned to interview refugees ― creating a bottleneck that could far outlast Trump’s time in the White House.
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These changes were pushed through as the number of refugees worldwide reached levels not seen since World War II. There are currently 79.5 million forcibly displaced people in the world, 40% of whom are children, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
Congress standardized the refugee resettlement program in 1980 and it enjoyed robust bipartisan support over the years, with both Democratic and Republican presidents setting ceilings higher than Biden’s 125,000 cap.
Trump’s approach cost the U.S. its place as a world leader in welcoming refugees. Before he arrived at the White House, the U.S. resettled more refugees annually than all other countries combined. Canada surpassed the U.S. total in 2018.
Low admission levels over the past four years meant deep cuts in government funding for those nine agencies that contracted with the State Department to resettle refugees. They, in turn, had to lay off workers and scale back their operations.
Because the program’s infrastructure has been dismantled, resettling 125,000 refugees in the U.S. in the current fiscal year would be a challenge, said Jenny Yang, vice president of advocacy and policy at the Christian resettlement agency World Relief. Biden will have to reset the program to receive U.N. referrals and ramp up refugee security interviews and processing.
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“The current categories of admissions are so restrictive that many vulnerable refugees, including many Congolese, unaccompanied refugee minors and others, could not qualify to come in through the program,” Yang told HuffPost.
Still, she said her organization is “very heartened” by Biden’s “bold commitment.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Barack Obama Has A Damning Description Of Lindsey Graham In His New Book

Former President Barack Obama ’ s new book , “ A Promised Land , ” hits shelves next week , but the early reviews are already out ― and they cite some eye-popping descriptions of his political rivals .
According to a New York Times review , Obama writes that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-Ky. ) has “ discipline , shrewdness and shamelessness — all of which he employed in the single-minded and dispassionate pursuit of power.
” Russian President Vladimir Putin is physically “ unremarkable ” but reminds Obama of a Chicago ward boss from the city @ @ @ @ @ @ @ former Alaska Gov .
Sarah Palin ― the vice-presidential nominee on the 2008 Republican ticket ― had “ no idea what the hell she was talking about.
” But perhaps his most damning assessment of all was reserved for Sen. Lindsey Graham ( R-S.C. ) .
The former president compares Graham to a character in a spy movie “ who double-crosses everyone to save his own skin.
” Graham was an early critic of President Donald Trump , repeatedly attacking him during the 2015 and 2016 campaign for the Republican nomination .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , religious bigot , ” Graham said of Trump in 2015 .
“ You know how you make America great again ?
Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.
” But the senator has since come full circle , becoming one of the president ’ s regular golfing buddies as well as one of his staunchest defenders on Capitol Hill .
“ A Promised Land , ” the first of a two-volume memoir , is set for release Nov. 17 in print , digital and audiobook forms .

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Former President Barack Obama’s new book, “A Promised Land,” hits shelves next week, but the early reviews are already out ― and they cite some eye-popping descriptions of his political rivals.
According to a New York Times review, Obama writes that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has “discipline, shrewdness and shamelessness — all of which he employed in the single-minded and dispassionate pursuit of power.”
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Russian President Vladimir Putin is physically “unremarkable” but reminds Obama of a Chicago ward boss from the city’s infamous political machine.
And former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin ― the vice-presidential nominee on the 2008 Republican ticket ― had “no idea what the hell she was talking about.”
But perhaps his most damning assessment of all was reserved for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
The former president compares Graham to a character in a spy movie “who double-crosses everyone to save his own skin.”
Graham was an early critic of President Donald Trump, repeatedly attacking him during the 2015 and 2016 campaign for the Republican nomination.
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“He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot,” Graham said of Trump in 2015. “You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.”
But the senator has since come 180 degrees, becoming one of the president’s regular golfing buddies as well as one of his staunchest defenders on Capitol Hill.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Retired 4-Star General 'Alarmed' Trump May Try To Use Military To 'Defy An Election'

Retired four-star U.S. Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey said he ’ s “ alarmed ” by President Donald Trump ’ s replacement of key Defense Department personnel and fears that the White House is considering an attempt to use the military to “ defy an election.
” “ If I was a CIA officer trying to understand what was going on in a third-world country and I saw this pattern of behavior , I would say the strong man ’ s trying to take over the government and defy an election , ” he told Ari Melber on MSNBC Wednesday .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the military would violate the Constitution , but he is troubled by the changes at the top of the Pentagon .
There are also other federal forces the White House could mobilize .
“ We are in a risky situation right now , ” he warned .
The crisis at the top of the Pentagon is just beginning - ( DANGER .
We are watching a slow moving Trump coup to defy the Biden election and refuse to leave office by diktat .
Believe your eyes .
This will be a test of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — Barry R McCaffrey ( @ mccaffreyr3 ) November 11 , 2020 Melber specifically asked McCaffrey if he believed that “ there could be an effort to enlist the military in something unlawful.
” The general responded : “ The federal government tools could be used in an oppressive manner .
Start with the attorney general of the United States , the Department of Homeland Security and federal law enforcement officers , who — unless they get an order that is patently illegal — will carry out their instructions .
...
I don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ should be minimized or this is just a tantrum of a president trying to accommodate himself to the outcome of the elections .
This is some crazy thinking going on inside that White House.
” McCaffrey said he can ’ t “ imagine ” that Sen .
Rob Portman ( R-Ohio ) or even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-Ky. ) , and “ people like this are going to disregard the Constitution.
” But he warned : “ I think that ’ s the thinking that ’ s going on in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ought to be worried about it .
And the Republicans in Congress ought to speak up and push back.
” Of the personnel shakeup in the Defense Department , he said : “ No one in his right mind would have accepted an appointment for 90 days .
These people are in there to control a coercive institution of U.S. democracy .
Watch out , ” he warned .
“ We are watching a setup of some people who are unqualified for office to be in control of the 2.1 million men @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” McCaffrey added .
The “ only one who can give orders to the armed forces is the president and the secretary of defense , ” he noted .
He called the new acting defense secretary , Chris Miller , a “ perfectly good , experienced combat soldier , ” but said he is “ unqualified for this office .
”

Retired four-star U.S. Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey said he’s “alarmed” by President Donald Trump’s replacement of key Defense Department personnel and fears that the White House is considering an attempt to use the military to “defy an election.”
“If I was a CIA officer trying to understand what was going on in a third-world country and I saw this pattern of behavior, I would say the strong man’s trying to take over the government and defy an election,” he told Ari Melber on MSNBC Wednesday.
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McCaffrey said he doesn’t believe the military would violate the Constitution, but he is troubled by the changes at the top of the Pentagon. There are also other federal forces the White House could mobilize. “We are in a risky situation right now,” he warned.
The crisis at the top of the Pentagon is just beginning - (DANGER. We are watching a slow moving Trump coup to defy the Biden election and refuse to leave office by diktat. Believe your eyes. This will be a test of our institutions.) https://t.co/fB7JNUz1fg — Barry R McCaffrey (@mccaffreyr3) November 11, 2020
Melber specifically asked McCaffrey if he believed that “there could be an effort to enlist the military in something unlawful.”
The general responded: “The federal government tools could be used in an oppressive manner. Start with the attorney general of the United States, the Department of Homeland Security and federal law enforcement officers, who — unless they get an order that is patently illegal — will carry out their instructions. ... I don’t believe in any way this should be minimized or this is just a tantrum of a president trying to accommodate himself to the outcome of the elections. This is some crazy thinking going on inside that White House.”
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McCaffrey said he can’t “imagine” that Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) or even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and “people like this are going to disregard the Constitution.”
But he warned: “I think that’s the thinking that’s going on in the White House right now, and we ought to be worried about it. And the Republicans in Congress ought to speak up and push back.”
Of the personnel shakeup in the Defense Department, he said: “No one in his right mind would have accepted an appointment for 90 days. These people are in there to control a coercive institution of U.S. democracy. Watch out,” he warned.
“We are watching a setup of some people who are unqualified for office to be in control of the 2.1 million men and women of the armed forces,” McCaffrey added.
The “only one who can give orders to the armed forces is the president and the secretary of defense,” he noted. He called the new acting defense secretary, Chris Miller, a “perfectly good, experienced combat soldier,” but said he is “unqualified for this office.”
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Presidential Election ‘Most Secure’ In History, Top Security Experts At DHS Say

The 2020 presidential election was the “ most secure in American history , ” a group of top security and election officials at the Department of Homeland Security wrote Thursday , despite the White House ’ s ongoing lies about rampant voter fraud .
Members of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency , or CISA , released a joint statement days after Democrat Joe Biden was declared the president-elect but amid President Donald Trump ’ s ongoing efforts to deny his electoral loss by sowing doubt about the results .
As Axios notes , CISA ’ s overt rejection of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is likely to infuriate Trump and those in his administration , who have already vowed to punish government officials seeking new jobs outside the White House .
“ While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections , we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections , and you should too , ” the group wrote .
“ When you have questions , turn to elections officials as trusted voices as they administer elections.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ware , the assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA , on Thursday .
The Trump administration asked Ware to step down , Reuters reported , after CISA refused to echo the president ’ s accusations of voter fraud .
The head of the CISA , Christopher Krebs , has also told associates he expects to be fired , Reuters reported .
Biden was declared the winner of the election last week , but Trump has refused to concede .
His campaign has filed a bevy of legal challenges in battleground states , claiming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ widespread voter fraud around the nation that deprived Trump of a second term in office .
Many top Republicans have supported the president ’ s efforts and refused to acknowledge Biden as president-elect , but election officials have issued statement after statement rejecting the fraud claims while noting that the election went relatively smoothly even amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic .
“ All of the states with close results in the 2020 presidential race have paper records of each vote , allowing the ability to go back and count each ballot if necessary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ This is an added benefit for security and resilience .
This process allows for the identification and correction of any mistakes or errors .
There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes , changed votes , or was in any way compromised.
” Trump ’ s refusal to accept defeat is already hampering Biden ’ s transition to the White House .
The General Services Administration , the agency tasked with releasing funds so the president-elect and his staff can prepare the new administration , has refused @ @ @ @ @ @ @ electoral victory , a move that will likely impede a smooth transfer of power .

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The 2020 presidential election was the “most secure in American history,” a group of top security and election officials at the Department of Homeland Security wrote Thursday, despite the White House’s ongoing lies about rampant voter fraud.
Members of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, released a joint statement days after Democrat Joe Biden was declared the president-elect but amid President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to deny his electoral loss by sowing doubt about the results.
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As Axios notes, CISA’s overt rejection of the president’s baseless fraud claims is likely to infuriate Trump and those in his administration, who have already vowed to punish government officials seeking new jobs outside the White House.
“While we know there are many unfounded claims and opportunities for misinformation about the process of our elections, we can assure you we have the utmost confidence in the security and integrity of our elections, and you should too,” the group wrote. “When you have questions, turn to elections officials as trusted voices as they administer elections.”
The statement follows the resignation of Bryan Ware, the assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA, on Thursday. The Trump administration asked Ware to step down, Reuters reported, after CISA refused to echo the president’s accusations of voter fraud.
The head of the CISA, Christopher Krebs, has also told associates he expects to be fired, Reuters reported.
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Biden was declared the winner of the election last week, but Trump has refused to concede. His campaign has filed a bevy of legal challenges in battleground states, claiming, without evidence, that there was widespread voter fraud around the nation that deprived Trump of a second term in office.
Many top Republicans have supported the president’s efforts and refused to acknowledge Biden as president-elect, but election officials have issued statement after statement rejecting the fraud claims while noting that the election went relatively smoothly even amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“All of the states with close results in the 2020 presidential race have paper records of each vote, allowing the ability to go back and count each ballot if necessary,” the group wrote on Thursday. “This is an added benefit for security and resilience. This process allows for the identification and correction of any mistakes or errors. There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”
“The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history,” the group added.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-12--Ocasio-Cortez Counters Senator's 'Crazy Socialist' Tweet With Pic That Says It All

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( D-N.Y. ) didn ’ t need words to convey how she felt about Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia mocking efforts by progressive members of the party to slash police department budgets .
“ Defund the police ?
Defund , my butt , ” the conservative Democrat tweeted , with a link to a Washington Examiner interview in which he harshly criticized several progressive policy goals , including Medicare for All and reallocating funds away from police departments .
“ I ’ m a proud West Virginia Democrat .
We are the party of working @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protect Americans ’ jobs & healthcare .
We do not have some crazy socialist agenda , and we do not believe in defunding the police , ” he added .
Ocasio-Cortez has championed policies that would provide all Americans with comprehensive health care coverage and divert police department funding to nonpolice forms of public safety and community support , including social , youth and mental health services .
She posted an image to convey her feelings about Manchin ’ s remarks .
The photo , shot by Reuters photographer Jonathan Ernst , shows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Manchin stood and applauded President Donald Trump ’ s State of the Union speech in February .
Manchin could wind up the deciding vote in a Senate split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans if two Georgia runoff elections favor the election of Democrats .
Republicans currently have 50 Senate seats to the Democats ’ 48 .
The runoff elections in January could tilt the balance .
Manchin said earlier this week that he would block any party efforts to expand the Supreme Court and eliminate the filibuster if Democrats win the Georgia seats @

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) didn’t need words to convey how she felt about Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia mocking efforts by progressive members of the party to slash police department budgets.
“Defund the police? Defund, my butt,” the conservative Democrat tweeted, with a link to a Washington Examiner interview in which he harshly criticized several progressive policy goals, including Medicare for All and reallocating funds away from police departments.
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“I’m a proud West Virginia Democrat. We are the party of working men and women. We want to protect Americans’ jobs & healthcare. We do not have some crazy socialist agenda, and we do not believe in defunding the police,” he added.
Ocasio-Cortez has championed policies that would provide all Americans with comprehensive health care coverage and divert police department funding to nonpolice forms of public safety and community support, including social, youth and mental health services.
She posted an image to convey her feelings about Manchin’s remarks.
The photo, shot by Reuters photographer Jonathan Ernst, shows Ocasio-Cortez and other Democrats remaining seated as Manchin stood and applauded President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech in February.
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Manchin could wind up the deciding vote in a Senate split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans if two Georgia runoff elections favor the election of Democrats. Republicans currently have 50 Senate seats to the Democats’ 48. The runoff elections in January could tilt the balance.