thewashingtonexaminer--2020-08-21--Republicans say 'depressing' Democratic convention is a loser

Grim .
Gloomy .
Depressing .
Those were some of the words Republican campaign professionals used to describe the Democratic National Convention , which culminated in former Vice President Joe Biden delivering his acceptance speech as the party ’ s presidential nominee on Thursday night .
Asked how next week ’ s GOP convention renominating President Trump will differ , Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News , “ It will be more aspirational , less grim , less attacking , more of a greatness of America and what we are.
” '' The Democrat Party has spent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to achieve greatness and pushing lectures from out-of-touch , failed Washington bureaucrats , '' said Kimberly Guilfoyle , a top Trump surrogate , in a campaign video .
Democrats counter that the somber tone of the convention was the inevitable result of the state of the country under President Trump .
They claimed that his mismanagement of the pandemic , which they blame for a U.S. death toll of 170,000 and cratering economy , made it impossible for them to hold a normal , live convention as opposed to the mostly virtual event @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days .
“ The current president has cloaked America in darkness for too long , ” Biden said in his speech accepting the nomination , in which he tried to strike a generally hopeful tone .
`` Would you rehire or work for someone who ran your business into the ground ?
” former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked small-business owners on Thursday night .
“ Whose reckless decisions put you in danger ?
And who spends more time tweeting than working ?
If the answer is no , why the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for another 4 years ? ''
Barack and Michelle Obama implied in their speeches that Trump ’ s reelection would endanger American democracy .
“ Over the past week , Democrats highlighted President Trump ’ s shortcomings as the nation ’ s chief executive , and they made the case that Joe Biden is of good character , but they never communicated to the American people how a Joe Biden presidency will improve their lives in the here and now beyond empty platitudes , ” said Republican strategist Ford O ’ Connell .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and company believe he is running for student body president and not president of the United States of America.
” Still , Democrats tried to pull the gloom and doom back ahead of Biden ’ s acceptance speech .
They mixed inspirational stories with comedians , featuring actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus , a one-time Seinfeld star , as emcee .
Biden was introduced by his children , including a video of his late son Beau .
“ Democrats have been closely focused during this convention on Trump , both in presenting their negative attacks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about how Biden intends to be different , ” said Republican strategist Christian Ferry .
“ I expected it would continue tonight.
” The Trump campaign and RNC constantly blasted out statements pointing out differences between Biden and convention speakers , especially those who ran against the former vice president in the presidential primaries this year .
Cory Booker , the New Jersey senator , was quoted calling Biden the “ architect of mass incarceration ” and questioning his mental acuity .
Pete Buttigieg , the former South Bend , Indiana , mayor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Iraq War , Biden “ supported the worst foreign policy decision made by the United States in my lifetime.
” Republicans nevertheless have no illusions about the campaign ahead .
Trump ’ s favorability ratings have never been high .
The coronavirus , the economic downturn , and the civil unrest that followed George Floyd ’ s death have further depressed those numbers .
Over four days , Democrats portrayed Trump as a self-absorbed failure who coddles dictators , refuses to accept responsibility , and has ignored the pandemic , presenting Biden as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It didn ’ t have to be this bad , ” Biden said .
Yet Republicans also see the 77-year-old Biden and his running mate , Kamala Harris , as flawed candidates at the helm of an increasingly radical party .
They hope these facts make possible the second Trump upset in four years .
“ By accepting his party ’ s nomination tonight , Joe Biden has formally become a pawn of the radical leftists , ” said Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh in a statement .
“ His name is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ideas come from the socialist extremists.
” “ We are in a global pandemic , Americans are starving , and they are hurting .
All Biden and the Democrats had to do was provide a basic road map to success for America under a President Biden , and they failed dreadfully on that account similar to Michael Dukakis and John Kerry , ” O ’ Connell said .
“ There is no question about it , President Trump has an uphill climb to win reelection , but , ladies and gentlemen , I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Joe Biden .
”

Grim. Gloomy. Depressing. Those were some of the words Republican campaign professionals used to describe the Democratic National Convention, which culminated in former Vice President Joe Biden delivering his acceptance speech as the party’s presidential nominee on Thursday night.
Asked how next week’s GOP convention renominating President Trump will differ, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News, “It will be more aspirational, less grim, less attacking, more of a greatness of America and what we are.”
"The Democrat Party has spent their entire convention shaming Americans for wanting to achieve greatness and pushing lectures from out-of-touch, failed Washington bureaucrats," said Kimberly Guilfoyle, a top Trump surrogate, in a campaign video.
Democrats counter that the somber tone of the convention was the inevitable result of the state of the country under President Trump. They claimed that his mismanagement of the pandemic, which they blame for a U.S. death toll of 170,000 and cratering economy, made it impossible for them to hold a normal, live convention as opposed to the mostly virtual event that took place over the last four days.
“The current president has cloaked America in darkness for too long,” Biden said in his speech accepting the nomination, in which he tried to strike a generally hopeful tone.
"Would you rehire or work for someone who ran your business into the ground?” former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked small-business owners on Thursday night. “Whose reckless decisions put you in danger? And who spends more time tweeting than working? If the answer is no, why the hell would we ever rehire Donald Trump for another 4 years?" Barack and Michelle Obama implied in their speeches that Trump’s reelection would endanger American democracy.
“Over the past week, Democrats highlighted President Trump’s shortcomings as the nation’s chief executive, and they made the case that Joe Biden is of good character, but they never communicated to the American people how a Joe Biden presidency will improve their lives in the here and now beyond empty platitudes,” said Republican strategist Ford O’Connell. “It was almost as if Biden and company believe he is running for student body president and not president of the United States of America.”
Still, Democrats tried to pull the gloom and doom back ahead of Biden’s acceptance speech. They mixed inspirational stories with comedians, featuring actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, a one-time Seinfeld star, as emcee. Biden was introduced by his children, including a video of his late son Beau.
“Democrats have been closely focused during this convention on Trump, both in presenting their negative attacks and pushing the contrast when they talk about how Biden intends to be different,” said Republican strategist Christian Ferry. “I expected it would continue tonight.”
The Trump campaign and RNC constantly blasted out statements pointing out differences between Biden and convention speakers, especially those who ran against the former vice president in the presidential primaries this year. Cory Booker, the New Jersey senator, was quoted calling Biden the “architect of mass incarceration” and questioning his mental acuity. Pete Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor, said that by voting for the Iraq War, Biden “supported the worst foreign policy decision made by the United States in my lifetime.”
Republicans nevertheless have no illusions about the campaign ahead. Trump’s favorability ratings have never been high. The coronavirus, the economic downturn, and the civil unrest that followed George Floyd’s death have further depressed those numbers. Over four days, Democrats portrayed Trump as a self-absorbed failure who coddles dictators, refuses to accept responsibility, and has ignored the pandemic, presenting Biden as a competent and empathetic alternative. “It didn’t have to be this bad,” Biden said.
Yet Republicans also see the 77-year-old Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, as flawed candidates at the helm of an increasingly radical party. They hope these facts make possible the second Trump upset in four years.
“By accepting his party’s nomination tonight, Joe Biden has formally become a pawn of the radical leftists,” said Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh in a statement. “His name is on the campaign logo, but the ideas come from the socialist extremists.”
“We are in a global pandemic, Americans are starving, and they are hurting. All Biden and the Democrats had to do was provide a basic road map to success for America under a President Biden, and they failed dreadfully on that account similar to Michael Dukakis and John Kerry,” O’Connell said. “There is no question about it, President Trump has an uphill climb to win reelection, but, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Democrat Party of 2020 and Joe Biden.”


thewashingtonexaminer--2020-08-21--Joe Biden's foreign policy: Hawk or dove?

Now that Joe Biden is the Democratic presidential nominee , pundits , foreign policy analysts , and campaign beat reporters will be spending time between now and Nov. 3 deciphering how a hypothetical President Biden views the world , as well as America ’ s place in it .
As is usually the case during campaign season , this crucial storyline will be trivialized into two neat camps .
His detractors will label the former vice president as a member of an establishment class that brought us such luminary disasters such as the Iraq War and the 19-year-long war in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to convince voters that an incoming Biden administration will be calm , thoughtful , and deliberative .
Let no one tell you otherwise : Biden is no dove .
His record as a senator is eerily similar to a classic liberal internationalist .
He was one of the first lawmakers out of the gate to press then-President Bill Clinton to not only lift the arms embargo on the Bosnian Muslims , but use air power to pummel the Serbs into negotiations .
Biden spent a considerable amount of time in the 1990s speaking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for being passive as Yugoslavia 's Slobodan Milosevic deployed Serbian troops to wipe out entire villages .
In 1999 , when NATO was in the process of debating intervention in Kosovo ( again , against Milosevic ) , Biden was a high-profile senator urging the alliance to drop bombs on Belgrade .
And , of course , there was the 2002 Iraq War vote , which Biden voted in favor of in order to send a message to Saddam Hussein that the United States was deadly serious about disarming his supposed weapons of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden said during the Iraq resolution debate , `` either those weapons must be dislodged from Iraq , or Saddam must be dislodged from power.
” ( There were , of course , no weapons . )
Yet , to pigeonhole Biden into the same hawkish camp as Paul Wolfowitz , Dick Cheney , John Bolton , or Joe Lieberman would be an unfair simplification .
Unlike so many figures in the Beltway who aren ’ t interested in learning from their mistakes , Biden seems to have found his inner realist over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some areas .
During the Obama administration ’ s monthslong internal deliberations about U.S. policy in Afghanistan , Biden was the only senior-level Cabinet officer to push back against deploying tens of thousands of additional U.S. troops to the country .
Gen. David Petraeus , Defense Secretary Robert Gates , Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mike Mullen , and the vast majority of President Barack Obama ’ s national security team supported such a plan .
The belief underlying their view was that throwing more American firepower @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Afghanistan , provide the Afghan government with space to reform itself politically and address the endemic corruption in its ranks , and demonstrate to the Taliban that negotiating with Kabul was the only way they could salvage some political influence .
Biden saw through all of this and tried to use his personal relationship with Obama to balance out what the generals were selling .
Unfortunately , Biden was outnumbered .
The surge went ahead — a decision that was , at best , a tactical move to increase the Taliban ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long-term were dismal .
The Afghan security forces remain bloodied and overwhelmed , politics in Kabul are a mess , corruption seeps into all aspects of government , and the Taliban continue to be a major player in at least half of the country .
Then , there was Libya .
When Moammar Gadhafi ’ s forces were bearing down on Benghazi with an anti-government rebellion in their sights , the Obama administration was placed into a dilemma : Should the U.S. form a coalition and intervene with air power despite all the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to such an intervention ?
Once again , Clinton was a loud proponent for military action .
Biden , though , refused to endorse the policy ( Others legitimately disagree with this characterization .
Dan Caldwell , a senior adviser to Concerned Veterans for America , pointed me to a 2011 article in which Biden told an event in New Hampshire that “ NATO got it right.
” ) .
Reminiscing about that period of time in June 2016 , Biden said that he was most concerned about what would come after Gadhafi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , tell me what happens , ” the vice president told now-disgraced TV host Charlie Rose .
`` He 's [ Gadhafi ] gone .
What happens ?
Does n't the country disintegrate ?
What happens then ?
Does n't it become a place where it becomes a — Petri dish for the growth of extremism ?
Tell me.
” Fast-forward four years later and today ’ s Libya looks like a real-life Mad Max hellscape , chalked with mercenaries from Syria , Sudan , and Russia all battling it out for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s oil resources .
Biden ’ s remarks turned out to be prescient .
At this stage , nobody can know for sure what a Biden foreign policy would consist of if he wins .
There are too many elements we don ’ t yet have a hold on .
The answer will depend in part on the people Biden nominates and appoints to staff his administration and the international environment as it exists in January 2021 .
There is also a possibility of an unforeseen , earthshaking event upending whatever doctrine he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what we can be confident of is that it ’ s highly unlikely Biden will be the unabashed , unapologetic hawk his critics claim him to be .
Daniel DePetris ( @ DanDePetris ) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner 's Beltway Confidential blog .
His opinions are his own .

Now that Joe Biden is the Democratic presidential nominee, pundits, foreign policy analysts, and campaign beat reporters will be spending time between now and Nov. 3 deciphering how a hypothetical President Biden views the world, as well as America’s place in it. As is usually the case during campaign season, this crucial storyline will be trivialized into two neat camps. His detractors will label the former vice president as a member of an establishment class that brought us such luminary disasters such as the Iraq War and the 19-year-long war in Afghanistan. Biden's supporters will try to convince voters that an incoming Biden administration will be calm, thoughtful, and deliberative.
Let no one tell you otherwise: Biden is no dove. His record as a senator is eerily similar to a classic liberal internationalist.
He was one of the first lawmakers out of the gate to press then-President Bill Clinton to not only lift the arms embargo on the Bosnian Muslims, but use air power to pummel the Serbs into negotiations. Biden spent a considerable amount of time in the 1990s speaking to the White House and lambasting Clinton for being passive as Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milosevic deployed Serbian troops to wipe out entire villages. In 1999, when NATO was in the process of debating intervention in Kosovo (again, against Milosevic), Biden was a high-profile senator urging the alliance to drop bombs on Belgrade. And, of course, there was the 2002 Iraq War vote, which Biden voted in favor of in order to send a message to Saddam Hussein that the United States was deadly serious about disarming his supposed weapons of mass destruction. “Ultimately,” Biden said during the Iraq resolution debate, "either those weapons must be dislodged from Iraq, or Saddam must be dislodged from power.” (There were, of course, no weapons.)
Yet, to pigeonhole Biden into the same hawkish camp as Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney, John Bolton, or Joe Lieberman would be an unfair simplification. Unlike so many figures in the Beltway who aren’t interested in learning from their mistakes, Biden seems to have found his inner realist over the last decade — at least in some areas.
During the Obama administration’s monthslong internal deliberations about U.S. policy in Afghanistan, Biden was the only senior-level Cabinet officer to push back against deploying tens of thousands of additional U.S. troops to the country. Gen. David Petraeus, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mike Mullen, and the vast majority of President Barack Obama’s national security team supported such a plan. The belief underlying their view was that throwing more American firepower at the faltering war effort would stabilize Afghanistan, provide the Afghan government with space to reform itself politically and address the endemic corruption in its ranks, and demonstrate to the Taliban that negotiating with Kabul was the only way they could salvage some political influence.
Biden saw through all of this and tried to use his personal relationship with Obama to balance out what the generals were selling. Unfortunately, Biden was outnumbered. The surge went ahead — a decision that was, at best, a tactical move to increase the Taliban’s body count. The results over the long-term were dismal. The Afghan security forces remain bloodied and overwhelmed, politics in Kabul are a mess, corruption seeps into all aspects of government, and the Taliban continue to be a major player in at least half of the country.
Then, there was Libya. When Moammar Gadhafi’s forces were bearing down on Benghazi with an anti-government rebellion in their sights, the Obama administration was placed into a dilemma: Should the U.S. form a coalition and intervene with air power despite all the risks and unintended consequences that were attached to such an intervention? Once again, Clinton was a loud proponent for military action. Biden, though, refused to endorse the policy (Others legitimately disagree with this characterization. Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Concerned Veterans for America, pointed me to a 2011 article in which Biden told an event in New Hampshire that “NATO got it right.”).
Reminiscing about that period of time in June 2016, Biden said that he was most concerned about what would come after Gadhafi. “My question was, 'OK, tell me what happens,” the vice president told now-disgraced TV host Charlie Rose. "He's [Gadhafi] gone. What happens? Doesn't the country disintegrate? What happens then? Doesn't it become a place where it becomes a — Petri dish for the growth of extremism? Tell me.”
Fast-forward four years later and today’s Libya looks like a real-life Mad Max hellscape, chalked with mercenaries from Syria, Sudan, and Russia all battling it out for a patch of the North African country’s oil resources. Biden’s remarks turned out to be prescient.
At this stage, nobody can know for sure what a Biden foreign policy would consist of if he wins. There are too many elements we don’t yet have a hold on. The answer will depend in part on the people Biden nominates and appoints to staff his administration and the international environment as it exists in January 2021. There is also a possibility of an unforeseen, earthshaking event upending whatever doctrine he brings into the Oval Office.
But what we can be confident of is that it’s highly unlikely Biden will be the unabashed, unapologetic hawk his critics claim him to be.
Daniel DePetris (@DanDePetris) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. His opinions are his own.


thewashingtonexaminer--2020-08-21--Biden, in acceptance speech, pledges new era of 'light' over Trump failures

Joe Biden accepted the Democratic Party 's 2020 presidential nomination Thursday in an unconventional convention address that asked people to turn a page on President Trump 's chapter of `` darkness '' and choose his vision of `` light . ''
Better known for verbose retail politics than soaring rhetoric , Biden did n't ramble .
Instead , he stuck to a script he 's undoubtedly thought about since launching his first White House bid in 1987 .
In it , he emphasized decency and service .
`` I 'm a proud Democrat .
And I 'll be proud to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the general election .
It 's with great honor and humility that I accept this nomination for president of the United States of America , '' he said , resting his hands on a podium flanked by flags .
Vowing to be an `` American president '' after a contest defined by `` character '' and `` compassion , '' he added , `` If you entrust me with the presidency , I 'll bring out the best in us , not the worst . ''
Former President Barack Obama 's two-term vice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ story as a husband , father , and lawmaker who has lived a public life for almost half a century after being elected to represent Delaware in the Senate in 1972 .
Much of the 2020 Democratic National Convention showcased Biden 's appeal to centrist Democrats , independents , and wavering Republicans .
His speech Thursday mostly echoed the same theme , with lines specifically for union workers and seniors .
Yet in parts , he underscored his bona fides as a liberal on issues such as criminal justice , climate change , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at times disjointed due to awkward phrasing and misreading the teleprompter , while at other moments punctuated with forceful hand gestures ) did n't resolve tensions that emerged during the week between far-left and centrist Democrats .
Former GOP Ohio Gov .
John Kasich , for instance , promised other disenchanted Republicans on Monday that Biden would n't veer further to the political Left .
Meanwhile , socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders , the Democratic White House race 's runner-up , told his base that same hour Biden would be the most liberal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thursday , however , vanquished Democratic White House rivals former South Bend , Indiana , Mayor Pete Buttigieg and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker testified to Biden 's ability to unite the country .
They said together the nation could collaborate to achieve “ America ’ s Promise , ” the message of the four-day convention 's closing night .
Biden concentrated on his personal narrative and legislative accomplishments .
But he still found time to criticize the man he 's hoping to replace in the White House , particularly regarding his coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this president is if he ’ s given four more years , he ’ ll be what he was for the last four years , ” he said .
`` He 'll wake up every day believing the job is about him , not about you .
Is that what you want for your family and children ? ''
He continued , `` Our current president has failed in his most basic duty to the nation : He ’ s failed to protect us .
He ’ s failed to protect America .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ unforgivable . ''
Though he entered the 2020 election last April as the front-runner , it 's hard to believe he imagined giving Thursday 's address in Delaware 's Chase Center to a handful of reporters , TV crews , campaign aides , and his closest supporters , including his family .
There was no balloon drop when he was joined on stage by former second lady Jill Biden .
And the tinny applause from a big screen of fans was a cheap substitute for a crowded Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a pandemic-free parallel universe .
Rather , people parked their cars outside the new Wilmington-based venue to watch him on a Jumbotron like a drive-in movie , clapping with their horns and ending the night with fireworks .
Protesters gathered at the site earlier in the day .
Biden first sought the presidency in the 1988 cycle , but he dropped out before the opening Iowa caucuses because of plagiarism allegations .
Twenty years later , he exited the 2008 primary after Iowa following a fifth-place finish behind eventual victor Obama and Hillary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ another hurdle for Biden , as did New Hampshire .
He overcame self-inflicted errors on the trail and scrutiny of his long record to regain momentum in Nevada and win his first-ever primary in South Carolina .
Centrist Democrats then coalesced behind him before Super Tuesday .
Biden , 77 , will be the oldest president in U.S. history if he and vice presidential nominee California Sen. Kamala Harris beat Trump and Vice President Mike Pence after polls close on Nov. 3 .

Joe Biden accepted the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination Thursday in an unconventional convention address that asked people to turn a page on President Trump's chapter of "darkness" and choose his vision of "light."
Better known for verbose retail politics than soaring rhetoric, Biden didn't ramble. Instead, he stuck to a script he's undoubtedly thought about since launching his first White House bid in 1987. In it, he emphasized decency and service.
"I'm a proud Democrat. And I'll be proud to carry the banner of our party into the general election. It's with great honor and humility that I accept this nomination for president of the United States of America," he said, resting his hands on a podium flanked by flags.
Vowing to be an "American president" after a contest defined by "character" and "compassion," he added, "If you entrust me with the presidency, I'll bring out the best in us, not the worst."
Former President Barack Obama's two-term vice president used the platform to tell his story as a husband, father, and lawmaker who has lived a public life for almost half a century after being elected to represent Delaware in the Senate in 1972.
Much of the 2020 Democratic National Convention showcased Biden's appeal to centrist Democrats, independents, and wavering Republicans. His speech Thursday mostly echoed the same theme, with lines specifically for union workers and seniors. Yet in parts, he underscored his bona fides as a liberal on issues such as criminal justice, climate change, and gun control.
The address (at times disjointed due to awkward phrasing and misreading the teleprompter, while at other moments punctuated with forceful hand gestures) didn't resolve tensions that emerged during the week between far-left and centrist Democrats.
Former GOP Ohio Gov. John Kasich, for instance, promised other disenchanted Republicans on Monday that Biden wouldn't veer further to the political Left. Meanwhile, socialist Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Democratic White House race's runner-up, told his base that same hour Biden would be the most liberal president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
On Thursday, however, vanquished Democratic White House rivals former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker testified to Biden's ability to unite the country. They said together the nation could collaborate to achieve “America’s Promise,” the message of the four-day convention's closing night.
Biden concentrated on his personal narrative and legislative accomplishments. But he still found time to criticize the man he's hoping to replace in the White House, particularly regarding his coronavirus response.
“What we know about this president is if he’s given four more years, he’ll be what he was for the last four years,” he said. "He'll wake up every day believing the job is about him, not about you. Is that what you want for your family and children?"
He continued, "Our current president has failed in his most basic duty to the nation: He’s failed to protect us. He’s failed to protect America. And my fellow Americans, that is unforgivable."
Biden's acceptance speech culminates a 30-plus-year aspiration for the career politician.
Though he entered the 2020 election last April as the front-runner, it's hard to believe he imagined giving Thursday's address in Delaware's Chase Center to a handful of reporters, TV crews, campaign aides, and his closest supporters, including his family.
There was no balloon drop when he was joined on stage by former second lady Jill Biden. And the tinny applause from a big screen of fans was a cheap substitute for a crowded Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. That's where he would've spoken in a pandemic-free parallel universe. Rather, people parked their cars outside the new Wilmington-based venue to watch him on a Jumbotron like a drive-in movie, clapping with their horns and ending the night with fireworks. Protesters gathered at the site earlier in the day.
Biden first sought the presidency in the 1988 cycle, but he dropped out before the opening Iowa caucuses because of plagiarism allegations. Twenty years later, he exited the 2008 primary after Iowa following a fifth-place finish behind eventual victor Obama and Hillary Clinton.
In 2020, Iowa presented another hurdle for Biden, as did New Hampshire. He overcame self-inflicted errors on the trail and scrutiny of his long record to regain momentum in Nevada and win his first-ever primary in South Carolina. Centrist Democrats then coalesced behind him before Super Tuesday.
Biden, 77, will be the oldest president in U.S. history if he and vice presidential nominee California Sen. Kamala Harris beat Trump and Vice President Mike Pence after polls close on Nov. 3.


thewashingtonexaminer--2020-08-21--Final night of Democratic convention showcases Biden's faith amid Trump criticism

Longtime friends of Joe Biden attested to the former vice president 's personal faith at the final night of the Democratic National Convention amid criticism from the Trump campaign that he is an insincere Catholic .
Delaware Sen. Chris Coons , an ordained minister and Biden ally , delivered a speech defending Biden 's faith against critics , saying that , for him , `` faith isn ’ t a prop or a political tool . ''
Coons 's remark contrasted Biden with President Trump , who held up a Bible in late May in an effort to quell riots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` Joe is a man of faith and conscience , and he 'll be a president for men of all faiths , as well as for people of non-particular faith , '' Coons said .
`` Joe 's faith is really about our future , about a world with less suffering and more justice . ''
When Coons finished speaking , the night 's host , comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus , repackaged Coons 's point as a joke about how Biden 's Catholicism is more sincere than Trump 's gestures to religion .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ church so regularly that he doesn ’ t even need tear gas and a bunch of federalized troops to help him get him there , '' she said , referencing to the instance in which police cleared the area behind the White House , allowing Trump to cross the street and hold up the Bible in front of St. Johns , a historic Episcopal church in Washington , D.C. Later in the evening , Michael Beals , a Delaware rabbi who got to know Biden while he was a senator , said that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ respect for faiths that are not his own .
Beals has participated in the Biden campaign 's outreach calls to Jewish people .
Biden 's faith has been a subject of controversy throughout his campaign , especially as the Trump campaign has attempted to cast the former vice president as a bad Catholic , particularly because of his positions on abortion and religious liberty .
The Trump campaign has hammered hard on Biden 's opposition to the Hyde Amendment , which bars federal funding for most abortions .
It has also criticized Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mandate on the Little Sisters of the Poor , a Catholic religious order .
Trump inflamed the controversy when early in the month he said that Biden would `` hurt God '' and `` hurt the Bible '' if elected .

Longtime friends of Joe Biden attested to the former vice president's personal faith at the final night of the Democratic National Convention amid criticism from the Trump campaign that he is an insincere Catholic.
Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, an ordained minister and Biden ally, delivered a speech defending Biden's faith against critics, saying that, for him, "faith isn’t a prop or a political tool." Coons's remark contrasted Biden with President Trump, who held up a Bible in late May in an effort to quell riots then breaking out in many cities.
"Joe is a man of faith and conscience, and he'll be a president for men of all faiths, as well as for people of non-particular faith," Coons said. "Joe's faith is really about our future, about a world with less suffering and more justice."
When Coons finished speaking, the night's host, comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus, repackaged Coons's point as a joke about how Biden's Catholicism is more sincere than Trump's gestures to religion.
"Just remember, Joe Biden goes to church so regularly that he doesn’t even need tear gas and a bunch of federalized troops to help him get him there," she said, referencing to the instance in which police cleared the area behind the White House, allowing Trump to cross the street and hold up the Bible in front of St. Johns, a historic Episcopal church in Washington, D.C.
Later in the evening, Michael Beals, a Delaware rabbi who got to know Biden while he was a senator, said that he was always touched by Biden's respect for faiths that are not his own. Beals has participated in the Biden campaign's outreach calls to Jewish people.
Biden's faith has been a subject of controversy throughout his campaign, especially as the Trump campaign has attempted to cast the former vice president as a bad Catholic, particularly because of his positions on abortion and religious liberty. The Trump campaign has hammered hard on Biden's opposition to the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funding for most abortions. It has also criticized Biden for his promise to reinstate a contraception mandate on the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic religious order.
Trump inflamed the controversy when early in the month he said that Biden would "hurt God" and "hurt the Bible" if elected.
Biden responded that Trump's words were "shameful."


thewashingtonexaminer--2020-08-21--'Resistance comedy night': Julia Louis-Dreyfus Democratic convention jokes fall flat

The Democratic National Committee likely made actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus of the sitcom Veep the host of the last night of its convention , the night Joe Biden is to accept the party 's presidential nomination , with the thought of lightening the mood of the convention after days of serious warnings about the state of the country under President Trump .
But Louis-Dreyfus 's jokes and bits juxtaposed against still-serious programming left some political observers bewildered .
Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang introduced Louis-Dreyfus , and they engaged in banter revolving around intentionally mispronouncing Vice President Mike Pence 's name @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris 's first name .
The biggest blunder came after a long segment about Biden 's Catholic faith and how it has helped him deal with personal tragedy .
Louis-Dreyfus had a jarring transition after an emotional clip of Biden .
`` Just remember , Joe Biden goes to church so regularly that he doesn ’ t even need tear gas and a bunch of federalized troops to help him get him there , '' she said , referencing law enforcement dispersing demonstrators outside the White House so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's Episcopal Church , which was set on fire the day before .
Political observers found it `` off-key , '' as the New York Times 's Jonathan Martin put it .
`` I 'm not quite sure why they paired disarmingly sincere faith night with Resistance comedy night , but they 're really not communicating at the same level here , '' said NBC News policy editor Benjy Sarlin .
`` I wonder if Biden is watching and if he ’ s comfortable with the bizarre , unfunny jokes ruining his vibe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Later , she brought back the joke about mispronouncing the vice president 's name alongside a joke about mail-in voting .
`` Joe Biden shares John Lewis 's belief that every vote matters .
Personally , I plan to follow the example of six current Cabinet members , Vice President 'Pahnce , ' and President Trump himself , and vote by mail , '' Louis-Dreyfus said .
She then directed people to text the Biden campaign number : `` 3-0-3-3-0 .
That would be the president 's golf score if he did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Trump 's presidential campaign , who is an apparent Veep fan , chimed in on the jokes .
`` I ’ ll never forgive the # DemConvention writers for doing this to Julia Louis-Dreyfus , '' rapid response director Andrew Clark said .
Louis-Dreyfus was not the only comedian featured on the last night of the convention .
TikTok star Sarah Cooper , known for lip-syncing to Trump , also made an appearance , angering some on the Left for receiving just as much speaking time as leftist firebrand New York Rep. @ @ @

The Democratic National Committee likely made actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus of the sitcom Veep the host of the last night of its convention, the night Joe Biden is to accept the party's presidential nomination, with the thought of lightening the mood of the convention after days of serious warnings about the state of the country under President Trump.
But Louis-Dreyfus's jokes and bits juxtaposed against still-serious programming left some political observers bewildered.
Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang introduced Louis-Dreyfus, and they engaged in banter revolving around intentionally mispronouncing Vice President Mike Pence's name, a reference to those who mispronounce Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris's first name.
KAMALA V PAHNCE: @OfficialJLD and @AndrewYang jab at @VP at #DemConvention:
JLD: "I can't wait to see her debate our current Vice President, “Meeka Pints.” Or is it “Paints”?
Yang: It’s pronounced “Pahnce"
JLD: It’s some kind of weird foreign name
Yang: Not very American sounding pic.twitter.com/8aBCFsGW95 — Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 21, 2020
The bit received mixed reviews.
We need to talk about the Democrats' swing and miss relationship with comedy. — Brittany Shepherd (@brittanys) August 21, 2020
The biggest blunder came after a long segment about Biden's Catholic faith and how it has helped him deal with personal tragedy.
Louis-Dreyfus had a jarring transition after an emotional clip of Biden. "Just remember, Joe Biden goes to church so regularly that he doesn’t even need tear gas and a bunch of federalized troops to help him get him there," she said, referencing law enforcement dispersing demonstrators outside the White House so Trump could visit the historic St. John's Episcopal Church, which was set on fire the day before.
Political observers found it "off-key," as the New York Times's Jonathan Martin put it.
"I'm not quite sure why they paired disarmingly sincere faith night with Resistance comedy night, but they're really not communicating at the same level here," said NBC News policy editor Benjy Sarlin.
I'm not quite sure why they paired disarmingly sincere faith night with Resistance comedy night, but they're really not communicating at the same level here — Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) August 21, 2020
"I wonder if Biden is watching and if he’s comfortable with the bizarre, unfunny jokes ruining his vibe," said CNN contributor Scott Jennings.
I wonder if Biden is watching and if he’s comfortable with the bizarre, unfunny jokes ruining his vibe — Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) August 21, 2020
Later, she brought back the joke about mispronouncing the vice president's name alongside a joke about mail-in voting.
"Joe Biden shares John Lewis's belief that every vote matters. Personally, I plan to follow the example of six current Cabinet members, Vice President 'Pahnce,' and President Trump himself, and vote by mail," Louis-Dreyfus said.
She then directed people to text the Biden campaign number: "3-0-3-3-0. That would be the president's golf score if he didn't cheat."
A staff member on Trump's presidential campaign, who is an apparent Veep fan, chimed in on the jokes. "I’ll never forgive the #DemConvention writers for doing this to Julia Louis-Dreyfus," rapid response director Andrew Clark said.
I’ll never forgive the #DemConvention writers for doing this to Julia Louis-Dreyfus. — Andrew Clark (@AndrewHClark) August 21, 2020
Louis-Dreyfus was not the only comedian featured on the last night of the convention. TikTok star Sarah Cooper, known for lip-syncing to Trump, also made an appearance, angering some on the Left for receiving just as much speaking time as leftist firebrand New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.


Trump's Christian soldiers

A conservative Northern Virginia pastor was holding court with his flock in the narthex of the church .
This was in pre-pandemic times , before masks , social distancing , and the shift of most large worship services to online video platforms such as Zoom .
“ I don ’ t know that I ’ d want to have President Trump over for dinner , ” he said , “ but he has delivered on the issues as well or better than any Republican president in my lifetime . ''
This is a common theme among conservative Christians in an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be going Trump ’ s way .
They put their faith in a brash New York businessman and reality TV star .
When they judge him by the normal standards they apply to Republican politicians — pro-life on abortion , sympathetic to religious liberty , and now with a proven track record of nominating and securing the confirmation of a large number of conservative judges — he has mostly delivered .
Although a subset of evangelical Protestant dissenters try to persuade their co-religionists to look at other factors where Trump may be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ poised to support the president overwhelmingly once again over Democratic challenger Joe Biden .
Trump was the first sitting president to address the March for Life in person .
( Ronald Reagan , George H.W .
Bush , and George W. Bush spoke to the abortion foes remotely from the White House . )
Trump noted the historical distinction in his remarks and called it “ a profound honor.
” He told the crowd that when “ we see the image of a baby in the womb , we glimpse the majesty of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of us here today understand an eternal truth : Every child is a precious and sacred gift from God , ” Trump said .
“ Together , we must protect , cherish , and defend the dignity and sanctity of every human life.
” The Trump administration has defended the Little Sisters of the Poor from the Obamacare contraceptive mandate .
The Trump Department of Education has sought to remove the federal government from local school transgender bathroom policy discussions .
The Trump Justice Department has defended in federal courts the administration ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ religious conservatives say in some cases require participation in sex-reassignment procedures by doctors with faith-based objections .
A federal judge blocked the Trump administration ’ s revised rule on this issue earlier this month .
Judges have been a major Trump selling point .
He and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell celebrated the confirmation of 200 of them in June .
And while Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch outraged social conservatives with an opinion interpreting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to expand gay and transgender employment rights — at the expense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — they are mostly pleased with his and Justice Brett Kavanaugh 's record on the highest court .
The president has also been staunchly supportive of Israel .
His administration brokered a landmark agreement between the Jewish state and the United Arab Emirates .
He moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem , a decision he frankly acknowledged was in part due to evangelical influence .
“ And we moved the capital of Israel to Jerusalem .
That ’ s for the evangelicals , ” Trump said in remarks in Oshkosh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ widely covered in the Israeli press .
“ You know , it ’ s amazing .
...
The evangelicals are more excited about that than Jewish people .
That ’ s really right .
It ’ s incredible.
” Evangelicals have a strong presence in the Trump administration .
The most prominent example by far is Vice President Mike Pence , whose selection as Trump ’ s running mate was intended to solidify the Republican ticket ’ s social conservative support .
In May , press secretary Kayleigh McEnany opened a White House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ apologist Ravi Zacharias .
“ Our prayers are with Ravi 's family during this time , ” she said .
“ He meant a lot to a lot of people around this administration.
” McEnany also tearfully recounted Zacharias ’ s influence in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network .
One of her predecessors at the podium was Sarah Huckabee Sanders , the evangelical daughter of Mike Huckabee , the Southern Baptist preacher-turned-Arkansas Republican political leader .
“ Jesus isn ’ t running , ” said Chad Connelly , a former South @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an organization dedicated to registering churchgoers to vote and encouraging their political participation .
“ By definition , we ’ re always voting for the lesser of two evils.
” A few polls have shown a slight dip in Trump ’ s approval rating among white evangelicals amid the pandemic and the racial justice protests taking place across the country .
In early July , the Pew Research Center recorded a 6-point drop among this demographic .
But that still indicated that a solid 72 % of white evangelicals approved of Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % in a previous poll , and 82 % intended to vote for him in November .
Pew ’ s polling found Trump winning 77 % of white evangelicals in 2016 , slightly below the exit polls , to Hillary Clinton ’ s 16 % .
“ The available evidence suggests that it is very unlikely that evangelical support for Trump will diminish very much in 2020 , ” said John Green , of the Ray C. Bliss Institute for Applied Politics at the University of Akron .
“ But the most likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is with lower turnout : Fewer evangelicals may actually vote .
This could be because of COVID but also because disaffected evangelicals are very unlikely to vote for Biden.
” Trump ’ s strong evangelical base was never a given .
When he famously descended the escalator in June 2015 to announce his unconventional presidential candidacy , there was little in his background that would suggest he was an ally in the culture war .
He was twice divorced and thrice married , with a reputation as a playboy for much of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ serious sexual misconduct from women , and often foul-mouthed .
These traits all came home to roost when his campaign was nearly derailed , shortly before the election , by lewd talk about women in an old Access Hollywood tape that was released as an October surprise .
Trump apologized , calling the remarks “ foolish , ” but also argued they constituted “ locker room talk , ” more or less innocent braggadocio rather than a literal description of his behavior toward women , which he compared favorably to Bill Clinton ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been entirely out of character : Earlier that year , Fox News host Tucker Carlson recounted in Politico that he ’ d made fun of Trump ’ s hair on television some 15 years ago .
“ It ’ s true you have better hair than I do , ” Carlson said Trump told him in a voicemail afterward .
“ But I get more p -- -y than you do.
” When Trump announced for the presidency , most of the organized Christian Right preferred Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas or Sen. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also a solid cadre of evangelicals behind the neurosurgeon and inspirational author Ben Carson , who briefly rose to the top of the national polls among Republican voters and surged in Iowa .
Carson later emerged as a Trump ally and now serves as secretary of housing and urban development .
Many early Never Trumpers were committed social conservatives who strongly objected to the future president ’ s temperament and personal character , while also suspecting he was a liberal Trojan horse disrupting the Republican primaries to the detriment of proven allies .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ had a decade earlier spearheaded a group of evangelical supporters of Mitt Romney , was a representative figure .
Trump had been pro-choice and supportive of gay rights in an earlier , short-lived campaign for the Reform Party ’ s 2000 presidential nomination , against the man who helped introduce the phrase “ culture war ” into the national lexicon , Pat Buchanan .
Buchanan was a conservative Catholic who had done quite well himself with evangelical voters in his two Republican presidential bids .
Trump was a Protestant with some history of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The religious leader with whom Trump and his parents were most associated was Norman Vincent Peale , a former Methodist and self-help guru whose best-known book was The Power of Positive Thinking — a very different cultural milieu than that of the evangelical voters packing Iowa caucus sites .
When the voting commenced , Trump did well with voters who described themselves as born-again Christians .
But he performed better among Republicans the less frequently they attended church .
The Washington Examiner 's Tim Carney reported in his book Alienated America that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump did 30 points better among GOP voters who said they never went to services ( 62 % ) than those who went more than once a week ( 32 % ) .
Geoffrey Layman , a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame , observed : “ Trump does best among evangelicals with one key trait : They don ’ t really go to church.
” In fact , to compete with Cruz , Rubio , and Carson , Trump had to elevate a group of religious conservative supporters who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Jerry Falwell Jr. was the son of the Moral Majority founder but hadn ’ t followed his father and namesake into politics or the pulpit .
The younger Falwell ran Liberty University , the conservative Christian college his father had founded .
The Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress and the controversial televangelist Paula White became prominent evangelical Trump surrogates .
Many of these early supporters had deep roots in the prosperity gospel , which teaches that God blesses the faithful with material wealth .
But even back then , there were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with mainstream evangelicals .
He purchased a table at the 95th birthday party for Billy Graham , the massively influential evangelist , at which he mingled with Sarah Palin .
This was in 2013 , when few thought Trump was serious about running for president .
Palin herself became a prominent evangelical Trump supporter during the campaign .
`` It 's a relationship that goes back to his childhood , '' David Brody , the evangelical journalist who authored the book The Faith of Donald J. Trump : A Spiritual Biography , later @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an affection for Billy Graham based on the fact that his father loved Billy Graham . ''
Nearly five years later , Trump was the only living president in attendance at Graham ’ s funeral , even though the evangelist had counseled many of his predecessors and prayed at their memorial services .
`` My father said to me , 'Come on , son ' — and , by the way , he said , 'Come on , mom .
Let 's go see Billy Graham at Yankee Stadium . '
And it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recalled to reporters .
Whatever he lacked in theological sophistication — “ two Corinthians , ” his reference to a communion wafer as a “ little cracker , ” his admission that he had never asked God for forgiveness — he had a strong appreciation for the public speaking skills of gifted preachers .
For the real estate developer-turned-politician , this was an investment that paid off handsomely .
Trump won 81 % of white evangelicals in 2016 , according to the exit polls .
This was an improvement over the 78 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ W. Bush in 2004 , with John McCain taking 74 % in 2008 .
And Bush ’ s reelection was powered by a “ values vote ” in which white evangelicals cast a third of the ballots for his ticket .
This vote was especially helpful in some battleground states .
In Florida , for example , Trump polled 85 % among white evangelicals .
Trump is going to need this kind of support again in November .
He is not shy about attempting to win it .
Biden will `` take away @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Amendment .
No religion , no anything , '' Trump said earlier this month , portraying his opponent as something out of John Lennon ’ s song “ Imagine.
” `` Hurt the Bible .
Hurt God .
He 's against God.
” Biden ’ s campaign shot back with a statement noting that the former vice president is a Mass-attending Catholic : `` Joe Biden 's faith is at the core of who he is.
” While the Trump administration has generally sided with social conservatives on LGBT issues , the president @ @ @ @ @ @ @ times described himself as the first to take office as a supporter of same-sex marriage .
( Barack Obama said he opposed gay marriage during his 2008 campaign and changed his position while seeking a second term — only after Biden preempted him . )
“ As your president , I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology , ” Trump said in his 2016 GOP acceptance speech , haltingly spelling out the acronym .
When the delegates cheered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ And I have to say , as a Republican , it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said .
Thank you.
” Conservative Christian priorities have changed since the 1990s and 2000s .
At a China-themed conference this year at the D.C. Trump Hotel , organized by the Falwell-co-founded Falkirk Center , Ted Cruz chided the Chinese Communist Party for wanting references to the late Queen lead singer Freddy Mercury ’ s homosexuality censored out of the movie Bohemian Rhapsody and claimed Hollywood meekly complied with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the forefront of recognizing that evangelicals feel embattled and besieged by the dominant American cultural forces .
He has offered to be their protector .
While the picture of Trump holding aloft the Bible outside of St. John ’ s Church after it was burned by rioters was widely panned , mainly for the methods employed to clear the crowd to make the photo-op possible , the symbolism and cultural solidarity were recognized by his intended audience .
“ He was making a very clear statement : ‘ We won ’ t be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Research Council President Tony Perkins told the Christian Science Monitor .
“ Christianity will have power , ” Trump vowed in 2016 .
“ If I ’ m there , you ’ re going to have plenty of power .
You don ’ t need anybody else .
You ’ re going to have somebody representing you very , very well .
Remember that.
” Many evangelical voters feel Trump has kept that promise , though some worry his approach to politics , and the concept of Christian nationalism more generally , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ concerns have led to Mormons voting for Trump less than most Republicans , but this remains very much a minority position among evangelicals and conservative Catholics .
John Fea , a historian at Messiah University and the author of Believe Me : The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump , said “ there is a small , but growing , faction of white evangelicals who held their nose and voted for Trump in 2016 largely because they could not imagine voting for Clinton.
” “ They hoped that Trump would become more ‘ presidential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Fea said .
“ The evangelicals in this second group are disgusted by Trump ’ s lies , Twitter feed , rhetoric , empowering of white supremacists and racists , demonization of his enemies , etc .
They have already made up their mind to vote for Biden .
In a close election , this may be just enough to turn the tide in places like Wisconsin , Michigan , Florida , and Arizona.
” To win over additional evangelicals , Fea said Biden will have to talk about his faith and connect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the lack of affordable healthcare — and continuing the downward trajectory of abortions in America .
That last item , he conceded , would be difficult politically .
“ No white evangelical who voted for Trump in 2016 is going to be happy about voting for Biden , ” he said .
“ In the end , there are white evangelicals out there who do not want to vote for Trump but are looking for a reason , any reason , to vote for Biden and still sleep at night.
” Evangelical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a much easier case to make : promises made , promises kept .

A conservative Northern Virginia pastor was holding court with his flock in the narthex of the church. This was in pre-pandemic times, before masks, social distancing, and the shift of most large worship services to online video platforms such as Zoom. “I don’t know that I’d want to have President Trump over for dinner,” he said, “but he has delivered on the issues as well or better than any Republican president in my lifetime."
This is a common theme among conservative Christians in an election year in which little else appears to be going Trump’s way. They put their faith in a brash New York businessman and reality TV star. When they judge him by the normal standards they apply to Republican politicians — pro-life on abortion, sympathetic to religious liberty, and now with a proven track record of nominating and securing the confirmation of a large number of conservative judges — he has mostly delivered. Although a subset of evangelical Protestant dissenters try to persuade their co-religionists to look at other factors where Trump may be found wanting, this voting bloc seems poised to support the president overwhelmingly once again over Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
Trump was the first sitting president to address the March for Life in person. (Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush spoke to the abortion foes remotely from the White House.) Trump noted the historical distinction in his remarks and called it “a profound honor.” He told the crowd that when “we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation.”
“All of us here today understand an eternal truth: Every child is a precious and sacred gift from God,” Trump said. “Together, we must protect, cherish, and defend the dignity and sanctity of every human life.”
The Trump administration has defended the Little Sisters of the Poor from the Obamacare contraceptive mandate. The Trump Department of Education has sought to remove the federal government from local school transgender bathroom policy discussions. The Trump Justice Department has defended in federal courts the administration’s attempts to relax Obama-era mandates that religious conservatives say in some cases require participation in sex-reassignment procedures by doctors with faith-based objections. A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s revised rule on this issue earlier this month.
Judges have been a major Trump selling point. He and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell celebrated the confirmation of 200 of them in June. And while Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch outraged social conservatives with an opinion interpreting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to expand gay and transgender employment rights — at the expense of religious liberty, these conservatives argued — they are mostly pleased with his and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's record on the highest court.
The president has also been staunchly supportive of Israel. His administration brokered a landmark agreement between the Jewish state and the United Arab Emirates. He moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a decision he frankly acknowledged was in part due to evangelical influence.
“And we moved the capital of Israel to Jerusalem. That’s for the evangelicals,” Trump said in remarks in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, this month that were widely covered in the Israeli press. “You know, it’s amazing. ... The evangelicals are more excited about that than Jewish people. That’s really right. It’s incredible.”
Evangelicals have a strong presence in the Trump administration. The most prominent example by far is Vice President Mike Pence, whose selection as Trump’s running mate was intended to solidify the Republican ticket’s social conservative support. In May, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany opened a White House briefing by noting the death of Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias. “Our prayers are with Ravi's family during this time,” she said. “He meant a lot to a lot of people around this administration.” McEnany also tearfully recounted Zacharias’s influence in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network. One of her predecessors at the podium was Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the evangelical daughter of Mike Huckabee, the Southern Baptist preacher-turned-Arkansas Republican political leader.
“Jesus isn’t running,” said Chad Connelly, a former South Carolina Republican Party chairman who currently runs an organization dedicated to registering churchgoers to vote and encouraging their political participation. “By definition, we’re always voting for the lesser of two evils.”
A few polls have shown a slight dip in Trump’s approval rating among white evangelicals amid the pandemic and the racial justice protests taking place across the country. In early July, the Pew Research Center recorded a 6-point drop among this demographic. But that still indicated that a solid 72% of white evangelicals approved of Trump’s job performance, down from 78% in a previous poll, and 82% intended to vote for him in November. Pew’s polling found Trump winning 77% of white evangelicals in 2016, slightly below the exit polls, to Hillary Clinton’s 16%.
“The available evidence suggests that it is very unlikely that evangelical support for Trump will diminish very much in 2020,” said John Green, of the Ray C. Bliss Institute for Applied Politics at the University of Akron. “But the most likely way that this unlikely change might occur is with lower turnout: Fewer evangelicals may actually vote. This could be because of COVID but also because disaffected evangelicals are very unlikely to vote for Biden.”
Trump’s strong evangelical base was never a given. When he famously descended the escalator in June 2015 to announce his unconventional presidential candidacy, there was little in his background that would suggest he was an ally in the culture war. He was twice divorced and thrice married, with a reputation as a playboy for much of his adult life and periodic allegations of more serious sexual misconduct from women, and often foul-mouthed. These traits all came home to roost when his campaign was nearly derailed, shortly before the election, by lewd talk about women in an old Access Hollywood tape that was released as an October surprise.
Trump apologized, calling the remarks “foolish,” but also argued they constituted “locker room talk,” more or less innocent braggadocio rather than a literal description of his behavior toward women, which he compared favorably to Bill Clinton’s. Yet it might not have been entirely out of character: Earlier that year, Fox News host Tucker Carlson recounted in Politico that he’d made fun of Trump’s hair on television some 15 years ago. “It’s true you have better hair than I do,” Carlson said Trump told him in a voicemail afterward. “But I get more p---y than you do.”
When Trump announced for the presidency, most of the organized Christian Right preferred Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas or Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. There was also a solid cadre of evangelicals behind the neurosurgeon and inspirational author Ben Carson, who briefly rose to the top of the national polls among Republican voters and surged in Iowa. Carson later emerged as a Trump ally and now serves as secretary of housing and urban development. Many early Never Trumpers were committed social conservatives who strongly objected to the future president’s temperament and personal character, while also suspecting he was a liberal Trojan horse disrupting the Republican primaries to the detriment of proven allies. David French, a conservative writer who had a decade earlier spearheaded a group of evangelical supporters of Mitt Romney, was a representative figure.
Trump had been pro-choice and supportive of gay rights in an earlier, short-lived campaign for the Reform Party’s 2000 presidential nomination, against the man who helped introduce the phrase “culture war” into the national lexicon, Pat Buchanan. Buchanan was a conservative Catholic who had done quite well himself with evangelical voters in his two Republican presidential bids. Trump was a Protestant with some history of attending church, but a mainline Presbyterian. The religious leader with whom Trump and his parents were most associated was Norman Vincent Peale, a former Methodist and self-help guru whose best-known book was The Power of Positive Thinking — a very different cultural milieu than that of the evangelical voters packing Iowa caucus sites.
When the voting commenced, Trump did well with voters who described themselves as born-again Christians. But he performed better among Republicans the less frequently they attended church. The Washington Examiner's Tim Carney reported in his book Alienated America that the difference wasn’t trivial: Trump did 30 points better among GOP voters who said they never went to services (62%) than those who went more than once a week (32%). Geoffrey Layman, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame, observed: “Trump does best among evangelicals with one key trait: They don’t really go to church.”
In fact, to compete with Cruz, Rubio, and Carson, Trump had to elevate a group of religious conservative supporters who were not necessarily top-tier Christian Right leaders. Jerry Falwell Jr. was the son of the Moral Majority founder but hadn’t followed his father and namesake into politics or the pulpit. The younger Falwell ran Liberty University, the conservative Christian college his father had founded. The Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress and the controversial televangelist Paula White became prominent evangelical Trump surrogates. Many of these early supporters had deep roots in the prosperity gospel, which teaches that God blesses the faithful with material wealth.
But even back then, there were signs Trump was interested in making inroads with mainstream evangelicals. He purchased a table at the 95th birthday party for Billy Graham, the massively influential evangelist, at which he mingled with Sarah Palin. This was in 2013, when few thought Trump was serious about running for president. Palin herself became a prominent evangelical Trump supporter during the campaign.
"It's a relationship that goes back to his childhood," David Brody, the evangelical journalist who authored the book The Faith of Donald J. Trump: A Spiritual Biography, later told ABC News. "Trump has an affection for Billy Graham based on the fact that his father loved Billy Graham." Nearly five years later, Trump was the only living president in attendance at Graham’s funeral, even though the evangelist had counseled many of his predecessors and prayed at their memorial services.
"My father said to me, 'Come on, son' — and, by the way, he said, 'Come on, mom. Let's go see Billy Graham at Yankee Stadium.' And it was something very special," Trump recalled to reporters. Whatever he lacked in theological sophistication — “two Corinthians,” his reference to a communion wafer as a “little cracker,” his admission that he had never asked God for forgiveness — he had a strong appreciation for the public speaking skills of gifted preachers.
For the real estate developer-turned-politician, this was an investment that paid off handsomely. Trump won 81% of white evangelicals in 2016, according to the exit polls. This was an improvement over the 78% received by Romney in 2012 and George W. Bush in 2004, with John McCain taking 74% in 2008. And Bush’s reelection was powered by a “values vote” in which white evangelicals cast a third of the ballots for his ticket. This vote was especially helpful in some battleground states. In Florida, for example, Trump polled 85% among white evangelicals.
Trump is going to need this kind of support again in November. He is not shy about attempting to win it. Biden will "take away your guns, take away your Second Amendment. No religion, no anything," Trump said earlier this month, portraying his opponent as something out of John Lennon’s song “Imagine.” "Hurt the Bible. Hurt God. He's against God.” Biden’s campaign shot back with a statement noting that the former vice president is a Mass-attending Catholic: "Joe Biden's faith is at the core of who he is.”
While the Trump administration has generally sided with social conservatives on LGBT issues, the president is quieter about them and has at times described himself as the first to take office as a supporter of same-sex marriage. (Barack Obama said he opposed gay marriage during his 2008 campaign and changed his position while seeking a second term — only after Biden preempted him.) “As your president, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology,” Trump said in his 2016 GOP acceptance speech, haltingly spelling out the acronym. When the delegates cheered, Trump offered this unscripted acknowledgment: “And I have to say, as a Republican, it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said. Thank you.”
Conservative Christian priorities have changed since the 1990s and 2000s. At a China-themed conference this year at the D.C. Trump Hotel, organized by the Falwell-co-founded Falkirk Center, Ted Cruz chided the Chinese Communist Party for wanting references to the late Queen lead singer Freddy Mercury’s homosexuality censored out of the movie Bohemian Rhapsody and claimed Hollywood meekly complied with the request.
But Trump has been at the forefront of recognizing that evangelicals feel embattled and besieged by the dominant American cultural forces. He has offered to be their protector. While the picture of Trump holding aloft the Bible outside of St. John’s Church after it was burned by rioters was widely panned, mainly for the methods employed to clear the crowd to make the photo-op possible, the symbolism and cultural solidarity were recognized by his intended audience.
“He was making a very clear statement: ‘We won’t be forced into hiding,’” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins told the Christian Science Monitor. “Christianity will have power,” Trump vowed in 2016. “If I’m there, you’re going to have plenty of power. You don’t need anybody else. You’re going to have somebody representing you very, very well. Remember that.”
Many evangelical voters feel Trump has kept that promise, though some worry his approach to politics, and the concept of Christian nationalism more generally, is ultimately bad for the faith. Such concerns have led to Mormons voting for Trump less than most Republicans, but this remains very much a minority position among evangelicals and conservative Catholics.
John Fea, a historian at Messiah University and the author of Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump, said “there is a small, but growing, faction of white evangelicals who held their nose and voted for Trump in 2016 largely because they could not imagine voting for Clinton.”
“They hoped that Trump would become more ‘presidential’ once he entered office,” Fea said. “The evangelicals in this second group are disgusted by Trump’s lies, Twitter feed, rhetoric, empowering of white supremacists and racists, demonization of his enemies, etc. They have already made up their mind to vote for Biden. In a close election, this may be just enough to turn the tide in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, and Arizona.”
To win over additional evangelicals, Fea said Biden will have to talk about his faith and connect it to fighting poverty, systemic racism, the lack of affordable healthcare — and continuing the downward trajectory of abortions in America. That last item, he conceded, would be difficult politically.
“No white evangelical who voted for Trump in 2016 is going to be happy about voting for Biden,” he said. “In the end, there are white evangelicals out there who do not want to vote for Trump but are looking for a reason, any reason, to vote for Biden and still sleep at night.”
Evangelical Trump supporters believe the president will have a much easier case to make: promises made, promises kept.
W. James Antle III is the Washington Examiner's politics editor.


thewashingtonexaminer--2020-08-21--Two Republicans from red states are in races designated as toss-ups.

Kamala Harris made history in her acceptance of the Democratic Party ’ s vice presidential nomination .
Still , it was former President Barack Obama who stole the spotlight on Wednesday with his grim speech about a divided nation and a historically sharp rebuke of Trump .
Harris , the California senator and the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants , leaned into her personal story as a jumping-off point for laying out values that she argued President Trump lacks .
She recognized her history-making nomination , listing women trailblazers who came before her .
And she artfully delivered some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ predator when I see one , ” she said while talking about taking down a for-profit college in her prosecutorial career , purposely pausing to transform the line into a not-so-subtle dig at the president .
“ There is no vaccine for racism .
We ’ ve got to do the work , ” Harris said later .
The result was a speech checking the boxes , introducing Harris to the nation and making a case for her on the ticket .
Some commentators mentioned that the address softened Harris , who long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cable news panels that started immediately after her speech turned their focus to Obama ’ s dark warnings about democracy .
MSNBC ’ s Rachel Maddow said Obama ’ s speech “ slayed ” her .
“ This may have been the most powerful address he ever gave , ” said CNN ’ s Wolf Blitzer .
The lack of a live audience may have harmed Harris by making her speech feel less celebratory while helping Obama in making his more intimate and solemn .
Obama was initially scheduled to be the last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reportedly suggested that he switch places with Harris to “ pass the torch , give her her moment and spotlight , ” according to one person close to him who spoke to CNN .
Despite that intention , he was the star of the night .
- by Emily Larsen In an unusual year , going second brings a considerable advantage .
Republicans have been watching the Democratic convention and working out how they can do a better job of connecting with voters when social distancing and virtual appearances risk a dull , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chief of staff Mark Meadows , that might mean President Trump ’ s convention speech on the south lawn will be delivered in front of the sort of audience from which he famously draws energy .
“ I would hope that there would be some individuals there for there to be that interaction back and forth , ” he said aboard Air Force One , returning from a presidential trip to Iowa and Arizona .
Republicans have been quick to criticize the stilted , artificial nature of some contributions to the Democratic convention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its noisy audience and balloon drops .
Instead , Michelle Obama recorded her speech in her sitting room , and vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris spoke live in a conference hall , empty but for a couple dozen journalists .
Trump , ever the reality TV producer , said it was “ not the best television I ’ ve ever watched ” and promised to deliver his speech live .
Meadows said everyone was grappling with how best to connect with the public .
“ I think that it ’ s really hard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interactions that give you hopefully a feel for America , ” he said .
- by Rob Crilly Rep. Chip Roy is betting that the Texas electorate has n't changed that much .
Democrats contend that shifting demographics in the Lone Star State and a favorable political environment nationally can help them beat up to seven House Republicans in Texas .
That 's including Roy , 48 , who was first elected in 2018 to a district running from north of San Antonio to the state capital of Austin .
Roy faces former @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doyenne of the Left in Texas whose political stock dropped considerably after losing the 2014 governor 's race in a landslide .
Davis is seeking a political comeback against Roy , as the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is running competitively in Texas and GOP Sen. John Cornyn faces a tougher-than-expected race against Afghanistan War veteran M.J. Hegar .
Roy is fighting for reelection in the mold of his former boss , Texas Sen. Ted Cruz , the runner-up to President Trump in the 2016 GOP primaries .
Like Cruz , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and then backed in the presidential race through an outside group , Roy is unafraid to offend colleagues on either side of the aisle in pursuing principles of fiscal discipline and other conservative goals .
In 2013 , Cruz forced a partial government shutdown by filibustering a Senate bill to fund Obamacare , and in May 2019 , Roy was the only House member to raise procedural objections delaying passage of a request for unanimous consent for a $ 19.1 billion disaster aid package for damage caused by Hurricane Harvey .
That stalled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before it passed 354-58 , with Roy voting against it .
- by David Mark Perhaps the Georgia Republican is a victim of President Trump ’ s struggles against Democratic nominee Joe Biden , or perhaps Perdue is feeling the weight of incumbency amid the coronavirus and a pandemic-induced recession , or maybe the senator is simply threatened by a transforming Georgia electorate that is shedding its rock-ribbed Republicanism and embracing Democratic candidates .
Maybe it ’ s a combination of all three factors .
Whatever the case , a Georgia Senate race @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the 2020 election cycle is now considered a “ toss-up ” by the Cook Political Report and “ tilt-Republican ” by Inside Elections , two of Washington ’ s premier congressional campaign prognosticators .
That assessment is supported by a fresh poll conducted for Perdue ’ s Democratic challenger , Jon Ossoff .
The internal survey , conducted in mid-August , showed Ossoff leading Perdue 48 % to 46 % , although with a 4 % margin of error that amounts to a statistical tie .
For Ossoff , a high turnout @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Democrat ’ s own poll , his competitiveness is predicated on a voting universe that is 30 % black and 62 % white .
The good news for Ossoff ?
Black turnout in 2016 was 30 % , with white people comprising 60 % of the vote .
Meanwhile , Perdue still holds key advantages .
The Republican , although a wealthy businessman before coming to Congress , grew up in rural Georgia and is poised to maximize his vote in this important GOP stronghold .
Simultaneously , the senator ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appealing in the suburbs , a one-time conservative bastion that has become a trouble spot for Republicans in the Trump era , including in the Peach State .
Perdue supporters are hoping that this race is a replay of his first campaign .
In 2014 , polls showed the first-time candidate in a toss-up race against Democrat Michelle Nunn , daughter of Sam Nunn , a former senator , all the way up until Election Day .
Perdue won , crushing Nunn by more than 7 points .
- by David M. Drucker

Biden/Harris campaign
Kamala Harris made history in her acceptance of the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nomination. Still, it was former President Barack Obama who stole the spotlight on Wednesday with his grim speech about a divided nation and a historically sharp rebuke of Trump.
Harris, the California senator and the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, leaned into her personal story as a jumping-off point for laying out values that she argued President Trump lacks. She recognized her history-making nomination, listing women trailblazers who came before her.
And she artfully delivered some memorable one-liners. “I know a predator when I see one,” she said while talking about taking down a for-profit college in her prosecutorial career, purposely pausing to transform the line into a not-so-subtle dig at the president.
“There is no vaccine for racism. We’ve got to do the work,” Harris said later.
The result was a speech checking the boxes, introducing Harris to the nation and making a case for her on the ticket. Some commentators mentioned that the address softened Harris, who long had a hard-as-nails political persona.
But cable news panels that started immediately after her speech turned their focus to Obama’s dark warnings about democracy. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said Obama’s speech “slayed” her. “This may have been the most powerful address he ever gave,” said CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
The lack of a live audience may have harmed Harris by making her speech feel less celebratory while helping Obama in making his more intimate and solemn.
Obama was initially scheduled to be the last speaker of the night, but he reportedly suggested that he switch places with Harris to “pass the torch, give her her moment and spotlight,” according to one person close to him who spoke to CNN.
Despite that intention, he was the star of the night. - by Emily Larsen
Trump/Pence campaign: Previewing the GOP convention
In an unusual year, going second brings a considerable advantage.
Republicans have been watching the Democratic convention and working out how they can do a better job of connecting with voters when social distancing and virtual appearances risk a dull, overproduced event.
According to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, that might mean President Trump’s convention speech on the south lawn will be delivered in front of the sort of audience from which he famously draws energy.
“I would hope that there would be some individuals there for there to be that interaction back and forth,” he said aboard Air Force One, returning from a presidential trip to Iowa and Arizona.
Republicans have been quick to criticize the stilted, artificial nature of some contributions to the Democratic convention.
Gone is the convention setting with its noisy audience and balloon drops. Instead, Michelle Obama recorded her speech in her sitting room, and vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris spoke live in a conference hall, empty but for a couple dozen journalists.
Trump, ever the reality TV producer, said it was “not the best television I’ve ever watched” and promised to deliver his speech live.
Meadows said everyone was grappling with how best to connect with the public. “I think that it’s really hard in a virtual setting to see perhaps interactions that give you hopefully a feel for America,” he said. - by Rob Crilly
House races: Chip Roy squares off against Wendy Davis
Rep. Chip Roy is betting that the Texas electorate hasn't changed that much.
Democrats contend that shifting demographics in the Lone Star State and a favorable political environment nationally can help them beat up to seven House Republicans in Texas. That's including Roy, 48, who was first elected in 2018 to a district running from north of San Antonio to the state capital of Austin.
Roy faces former state Sen. Wendy Davis, a one-time doyenne of the Left in Texas whose political stock dropped considerably after losing the 2014 governor's race in a landslide. Davis is seeking a political comeback against Roy, as the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is running competitively in Texas and GOP Sen. John Cornyn faces a tougher-than-expected race against Afghanistan War veteran M.J. Hegar.
Roy is fighting for reelection in the mold of his former boss, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the runner-up to President Trump in the 2016 GOP primaries. Like Cruz, for whom Roy was chief of staff and then backed in the presidential race through an outside group, Roy is unafraid to offend colleagues on either side of the aisle in pursuing principles of fiscal discipline and other conservative goals.
In 2013, Cruz forced a partial government shutdown by filibustering a Senate bill to fund Obamacare, and in May 2019, Roy was the only House member to raise procedural objections delaying passage of a request for unanimous consent for a $19.1 billion disaster aid package for damage caused by Hurricane Harvey. That stalled the bill's consideration for 11 days before it passed 354-58, with Roy voting against it. - by David Mark
Senate races: David Perdue is in a dogfight
Perhaps the Georgia Republican is a victim of President Trump’s struggles against Democratic nominee Joe Biden, or perhaps Perdue is feeling the weight of incumbency amid the coronavirus and a pandemic-induced recession, or maybe the senator is simply threatened by a transforming Georgia electorate that is shedding its rock-ribbed Republicanism and embracing Democratic candidates. Maybe it’s a combination of all three factors.
Whatever the case, a Georgia Senate race that was an afterthought at the outset of the 2020 election cycle is now considered a “toss-up” by the Cook Political Report and “tilt-Republican” by Inside Elections, two of Washington’s premier congressional campaign prognosticators. That assessment is supported by a fresh poll conducted for Perdue’s Democratic challenger, Jon Ossoff.
The internal survey, conducted in mid-August, showed Ossoff leading Perdue 48% to 46%, although with a 4% margin of error that amounts to a statistical tie. For Ossoff, a high turnout among black voters is critical. According to the Democrat’s own poll, his competitiveness is predicated on a voting universe that is 30% black and 62% white. The good news for Ossoff? Black turnout in 2016 was 30%, with white people comprising 60% of the vote.
Meanwhile, Perdue still holds key advantages. The Republican, although a wealthy businessman before coming to Congress, grew up in rural Georgia and is poised to maximize his vote in this important GOP stronghold. Simultaneously, the senator’s genteel demeanor and business background are appealing in the suburbs, a one-time conservative bastion that has become a trouble spot for Republicans in the Trump era, including in the Peach State.
Perdue supporters are hoping that this race is a replay of his first campaign. In 2014, polls showed the first-time candidate in a toss-up race against Democrat Michelle Nunn, daughter of Sam Nunn, a former senator, all the way up until Election Day. Perdue won, crushing Nunn by more than 7 points. - by David M. Drucker


Ask not ...

The Democratic primary in Massachusetts is showing that times have changed in that state .
In a recent , Sen. Ed Markey adopts a quote made famous by the all-time prince of Massachusetts politics , John F. Kennedy .
But Markey inverts the key clauses .
“ We asked what we could do for our country , ” Markey says .
“ We went out .
We did it .
With all due respect , it ’ s time to start asking what your country can do for you.
” Markey 's refusal to settle for Kennedy 's standard is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Joe Kennedy , JFK 's grandnephew .
The elder Kennedy is obviously both a Democrat and Massachusetts royalty , and Markey ’ s new version of “ ask not ” clearly swipes at his challenger and the Kennedy family .
It 's a bit revolutionary , really .
The selfless modus operandi that JFK prescribed at his inauguration is now apparently passe .
Beyond the quote , Joe Kennedy has not taken kindly to Markey ’ s approach during the primary , which has been to suggest that Kennedy is running with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Markey seems intent on making [ my family ] an issue in this race in our debates , on his social media platforms , in his fundraising emails , and his campaign ads , questioning their integrity , weaponizing their history , appropriating their words , ” Kennedy on Monday .
“ I am proud of their contribution and their history , but I recognize that that work is theirs , ” he continued .
In any case , the original version of President John F. Kennedy ’ s words are still in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states .
A day before Markey ’ s ad went live on Twitter , Robert Redfield , the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , encouraged selflessness as a way to beat the coronavirus .
“ I ’ ve said before , when John Kennedy said , ‘ Don ’ t ask what your country can do for you , ask what you can do for your country , ’ [ I ’ m ] going to try and paraphrase that for your country right now and for the war @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I ’ m asking you to do for simple things : wear a mask , social distance , wash your hands , and be smart about crowds .
”

The Democratic primary in Massachusetts is showing that times have changed in that state.
In a recent campaign ad , Sen. Ed Markey adopts a quote made famous by the all-time prince of Massachusetts politics, John F. Kennedy. But Markey inverts the key clauses. “We asked what we could do for our country,” Markey says. “We went out. We did it. With all due respect, it’s time to start asking what your country can do for you.”
Markey's refusal to settle for Kennedy's standard is particularly notable because his challenger is Rep. Joe Kennedy, JFK's grandnephew. The elder Kennedy is obviously both a Democrat and Massachusetts royalty, and Markey’s new version of “ask not” clearly swipes at his challenger and the Kennedy family. It's a bit revolutionary, really. The selfless modus operandi that JFK prescribed at his inauguration is now apparently passe.
Beyond the quote, Joe Kennedy has not taken kindly to Markey’s approach during the primary, which has been to suggest that Kennedy is running with a sense of entitlement. “Sen. Markey seems intent on making [my family] an issue in this race in our debates, on his social media platforms, in his fundraising emails, and his campaign ads, questioning their integrity, weaponizing their history, appropriating their words,” Kennedy said on Monday. “I am proud of their contribution and their history, but I recognize that that work is theirs,” he continued.
In any case, the original version of President John F. Kennedy’s words are still in fashion outside of Democratic primaries in deep-blue states. A day before Markey’s ad went live on Twitter, Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, encouraged selflessness as a way to beat the coronavirus. “I’ve said before, when John Kennedy said, ‘Don’t ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,’ [I’m] going to try and paraphrase that for your country right now and for the war that we’re in against COVID, I’m asking you to do for simple things: wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands, and be smart about crowds.”
A timely message.


thewashingtonexaminer--2020-08-22--Republican convention to include more live content than Democrats aired

Republicans are planning a televised convention similar to the event just staged by the Democrats but with more live programming , per a directive from President Trump .
The confab celebrating the renomination of Trump is to feature a mixture of prerecorded and live remarks by prominent party officials and rank-and-file voters , with most live coverage happening in the 10 p.m. EDT hour over four nights .
The largely , but not entirely , virtual gathering will culminate Thursday evening , when Trump formally accepts the GOP nomination for a second term on the South Lawn of the White @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Republican National Committee delegates , elected officials , and grassroots supporters .
Throughout the week , wealthy Trump donors and influential campaign backers are planning to congregate at the Trump International Hotel in Washington for convention watch parties and other meetings .
Matt Schlapp , chairman of the American Conservative Union and a top Trump supporter , said clues to the president ’ s convention message can be found in the speeches he delivered this past week as he traveled the country for smaller , coronavirus-acceptable rallies that aimed to counterprogram Joe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nominee .
“ He ’ s already giving his speech in little vignettes at airport hangers , ” Schlapp said Friday .
“ He should continue to be content full — talk about all of the things he did and how the job is half done.
” Republican sources said the basic architecture of the convention was in place but that many of the details regarding what viewers would see on their television screens were in flux .
One of those details appears to be how the RNC plans to handle the traditional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the party ’ s 2020 presidential nominee .
Traditionally , RNC delegates would gather on the convention floor , and slowly , each state ’ s delegation would announce its tally for the nominee with great fanfare , until put over the top .
A smattering of RNC delegates were meeting in Charlotte this week , and through Monday , to conduct party business that includes the certification of Trump ’ s renomination .
But exactly how the party intends to carry out this task was being kept under wraps .
“ There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ except for the generalities discussed in public , ” a GOP convention delegate said .
A Republican official in Washington , attempting to obtain more information on the convention for planning purposes , said the RNC has not been forthcoming .
“ We can ’ t get answers , ” this Republican said .
Elected Republicans invited to speak include South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott ; South Dakota Gov .
Kristi Noem ; former United States ambassador to the United Nations , Nikki Haley ; House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst , who is up for reelection and in a dogfight ; and Sen. Tom Cotton .
Cotton 's prerecorded speech airs Thursday and is focused on contrasting Trump and Biden on national security .
The Democrats had months to plan their virtual convention , deciding early on that the pandemic made gathering in Milwaukee too risky .
But Republicans only had weeks to prepare after Trump pulled the plug on having it live in Jacksonville .
The short lead time , combined with the Trump campaign ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clues to what worked well and what did not , was extending decisions on the production ’ s creative direction to the eleventh hour .
However , some elements of the convention are solidified .
Vice President Mike Pence is to accept renomination as Trump ’ s running mate from Fort McHenry in Maryland .
And the themes of the gathering , designed to portray Trump ’ s patriotic vision for the country over the next four years , are locked in , beginning with Monday evening ’ s “ Land of Promise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Opportunity , ” then “ Land of Heroes , ” and finally , “ Land of Greatness .
”

Republicans are planning a televised convention similar to the event just staged by the Democrats but with more live programming, per a directive from President Trump.
The confab celebrating the renomination of Trump is to feature a mixture of prerecorded and live remarks by prominent party officials and rank-and-file voters, with most live coverage happening in the 10 p.m. EDT hour over four nights.
The largely, but not entirely, virtual gathering will culminate Thursday evening, when Trump formally accepts the GOP nomination for a second term on the South Lawn of the White House in front of a live audience of Republican National Committee delegates, elected officials, and grassroots supporters.
Throughout the week, wealthy Trump donors and influential campaign backers are planning to congregate at the Trump International Hotel in Washington for convention watch parties and other meetings.
Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union and a top Trump supporter, said clues to the president’s convention message can be found in the speeches he delivered this past week as he traveled the country for smaller, coronavirus-acceptable rallies that aimed to counterprogram Joe Biden’s coronation as the Democratic nominee.
“He’s already giving his speech in little vignettes at airport hangers,” Schlapp said Friday. “He should continue to be content full — talk about all of the things he did and how the job is half done.”
Republican sources said the basic architecture of the convention was in place but that many of the details regarding what viewers would see on their television screens were in flux. One of those details appears to be how the RNC plans to handle the traditional delegate roll call vote certifying Trump as the party’s 2020 presidential nominee.
Traditionally, RNC delegates would gather on the convention floor, and slowly, each state’s delegation would announce its tally for the nominee with great fanfare, until put over the top. A smattering of RNC delegates were meeting in Charlotte this week, and through Monday, to conduct party business that includes the certification of Trump’s renomination. But exactly how the party intends to carry out this task was being kept under wraps.
“There has been zero info to the members except for the generalities discussed in public,” a GOP convention delegate said.
A Republican official in Washington, attempting to obtain more information on the convention for planning purposes, said the RNC has not been forthcoming. “We can’t get answers,” this Republican said.
Elected Republicans invited to speak include South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott; South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem; former United States ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley; House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky; Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who is up for reelection and in a dogfight; and Sen. Tom Cotton. Cotton's prerecorded speech airs Thursday and is focused on contrasting Trump and Biden on national security.
The Democrats had months to plan their virtual convention, deciding early on that the pandemic made gathering in Milwaukee too risky. But Republicans only had weeks to prepare after Trump pulled the plug on having it live in Jacksonville. The short lead time, combined with the Trump campaign’s move to study the Democratic convention for clues to what worked well and what did not, was extending decisions on the production’s creative direction to the eleventh hour.
However, some elements of the convention are solidified. Vice President Mike Pence is to accept renomination as Trump’s running mate from Fort McHenry in Maryland. And the themes of the gathering, designed to portray Trump’s patriotic vision for the country over the next four years, are locked in, beginning with Monday evening’s “Land of Promise,” followed by "Land of Opportunity,” then “Land of Heroes,” and finally, “Land of Greatness.”