theguardian--2020-10-30--'Voters are fed up': will Arizona's suburbs abandon the party of Trump?

In the agonizing days after the 2018 election , Christine Marsh , a Democratic candidate for state senate in a traditionally Republican suburban Phoenix district , watched her opponent ’ s lead dwindle to a few hundred votes , with thousands of ballots left to be counted .
In the end , just 267 votes separated them .
Marsh lost .
But the result was ominous for Republicans , in a corner of Phoenix ’ s ever-expanding suburbs where Barry Goldwater , the long-serving Arizona senator and conservative icon , launched his presidential campaign in 1964 from the patio of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In the decades since , population growth and shifting demographics have transformed the cultural , political and economic complexion of the region .
And the election of Donald Trump has exacerbated these trends across the country , perhaps nowhere more dramatically than in diverse , fast-growing metropolitan areas like Phoenix , where the coalition of affluent , white suburban voters that once cemented Republican dominance is unraveling .
“ We ’ ve seen a huge shift in my district , even in just the last two years , ” said Marsh , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ challenging the Republican incumbent , Kate Brophy McGee , again this year .
The district , which includes the prosperous Paradise Valley and parts of north central Phoenix , is now at the center of the political battle for Arizona ’ s suburbs .
Over the last four years , Republicans have watched their support collapse in suburbs across the country , as the president ’ s divisive rhetoric and incendiary behavior alienates women , college graduates and independent voters .
But as Trump continues to downplay the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nationwide and as cases continue to climb , his conduct is imperiling not only his own re-election campaign , but his entire party .
The depth of Trump ’ s problems with suburbanites is magnified in Maricopa county , one of the largest and most suburban counties in the nation , with a population of almost 4.5 million .
In 2016 , the suburbs helped deliver Trump ’ s narrow victory here .
But polling shows the president has lost significant ground with these voters , threatening his prospects in a state that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only once since 1952 .
“ If the president loses Arizona , it ’ ll be largely because he lost Maricopa county – because he lost the suburbs , ” said Jeff Flake , the former Arizona senator and a conservative critic of the president who has endorsed his Democratic opponent , Joe Biden .
The political dividing line in America now runs directly through suburbs like the ones around Phoenix , rare ground where Trump inspires both fierce loyalty and deep revulsion .
Here , across desert sprawl of stuccoed housing developments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ zero ” , said Mike Noble , the chief pollster at OH Predictive Insights in Phoenix .
Not only are these voters poised to deliver a referendum on Trump next week , they will also be decisive in determining control of the US Congress and the state legislature .
In his analysis of precincts that voted for Trump in 2016 yet backed the Democratic Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema two years later , the vast majority were in suburban parts of Maricopa county .
Sinema , who cast herself as an “ independent voice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , became the first Democrat in 30 years to win a US Senate seat in the state , beating the Republican Martha McSally , who had tied her fate to the president .
“ The big story of the last four years is the shift of white , college-educated independents and self-identified moderates , ” he said .
Independents , or unaffiliated voters , make up roughly a third of Arizona ’ s electorate .
In 2016 , they broke narrowly for Trump , but this year , polling suggests these voters are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ According to an October Monmouth poll , independent voters in Arizona favor Biden by 21 percentage points .
The survey also found that most of the state ’ s independent voters believe McSally , who was appointed to fill the unexpired term of the late Republican senator John McCain after losing to Sinema in 2018 , is too supportive of the president .
She now faces an uphill battle to keep the seat , after months spent trailing her Democratic challenger , Mark Kelly .
Unlike McSally , McGee – the Republican state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to her seat in Phoenix – has carefully cultivated a reputation as a moderate , breaking with her party on legislation related to Medicare expansion and school vouchers .
Yet like many Republicans running in increasingly formidable terrain , McGee faces strong national headwinds after four years of anti-Trump activism and resistance in the suburbs .
Arizona ’ s Red for Ed movement , which led to a week-long teacher walkout in 2018 , galvanized parents and students alike and helped build support for Marsh who was the 2016 state teacher of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ compounded by the coronavirus , is a top priority for Arizonans , and , on this issue , voters favor Democrats .
A ballot measure imposing a surtax on the highest earners to increase public education funding is poised for approval , with polling showing support from a majority of Democrats and independent voters .
“ I really do think it ’ s frustration , ” Marsh said .
“ Voters are really fed up with the lack of leadership and they realize that the only way we ’ re going to change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ balance of power.
” ‘ Suburban women , will you please like me ?
’ Trump has attempted to woo back suburban voters by casting himself as the protector of a certain “ suburban lifestyle dream ” who would forestall an “ invasion ” of low-income housing and keep their neighborhoods safe from the “ crime and chaos ” of America ’ s “ dysfunctional cities ” .
His appeals , intended to stoke the racist fears of white voters , conjures a decades-old image of suburbia that is completely detached from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around America ’ s biggest cities .
Polling suggests the entreaties have not worked .
Unlike four years ago , Trump is trailing by significant margins among white women , a group that includes independents and moderate Republicans likely to be turned off by Trump ’ s inflammatory speech .
“ Suburban women , will you please like me ?
” Trump pleaded at a recent rally in Pennsylvania .
“ Please ?
Please !
” Lisa James , a veteran Republican strategist in Phoenix , said a public safety message had the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who were upset by scenes of rioting and violence that occurred alongside largely peaceful protests against racism and police brutality this summer .
“ These voters are concerned about the safety and security of their families and their communities , ” James said .
“ Events like that will lead many of them right back to the Republican party.
” The October Monmouth poll found that nearly 60 % of Arizona voters , including a majority of voters in Maricopa county , worried “ a lot ” about the potential breakdown of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more of a concern for voters than the coronavirus pandemic and other financial matters .
However , it hasn ’ t reshaped their opinion of the president .
The same survey found that Arizonans preferred Biden over Trump , even though they trusted Trump more to maintain law and order .
Other national polls show Trump ’ s standing on the issue even more diminished , with voters saying Biden was better suited to handle crime and public safety .
In a national Fox News survey released earlier this month , 58 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talks about racial inequality and policing had lead to “ an increase in acts of violence ” .
In 2016 , Karie Barrera said , she was an independent who cast her ballot for Hillary Clinton .
Four years later , the recently retired educator said she was still not enthralled by the president .
But she became increasingly alarmed after the Black Lives Matter protests led to calls for making school curriculums more inclusive .
“ I don ’ t like that you ’ re going to mess with our real history @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has claimed that schoolchildren are being taught a “ twisted web of lies ” about systemic racism in America and called for a return to “ patriotic education ” .
Barrera agrees : “ You don ’ t rewrite our history.
” Yet the very rhetoric that reassures Barrera is jeopardizing a coalition that once cemented Republican dominance in states like Arizona .
“ The more that Trump ’ s rhetoric is designed to appeal to a white , male , working-class set of voters , the more alienated these college-educated , right-leaning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” said Sarah Longwell , a Republican consultant who has spent the last several years studying suburban voters .
In 2016 , women in Arizona narrowly favored Clinton over Trump .
In the latest New York Times/Siena College poll of Arizona voters , Biden held a daunting 18-point lead among women in the state .
From the outset , it was clear that many of the women Longwell convened in her focus groups didn ’ t like Trump : they didn ’ t like his tweets , his treatment of women , his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they took a chance on him in 2016 because they believed the alternative wasn ’ t any better .
These were often the voters who bolted first , helping Democrats retake the House in the 2018 midterm elections .
Among those who didn ’ t , Longwell said many have grappled with their discomfort over Trump ’ s behavior and their allegiance to the Republican party .
She said that despite the tumult of the last four years , little moved these women – until the pandemic arrived .
“ Suddenly there was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Voters started talking about the stakes being too high .
They were suffering personal consequences , which is very different from an abstract foreign policy issue .
This was personal.
” Longwell , who founded Republican Voters Against Trump , said the suburban shift away from the Republican party could be the beginning of a “ meaningful political realignment ” that will outlast Trump ’ s presidency .
“ It will depend who the Democrats are in the future and it will depend who the Republicans are in the future , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have no interest in a Trumpy Republican party.
” In 2008 and 2012 , Yasser Sanchez worked to elect John McCain and Mitt Romney to the White House .
But this year , for the first time in his life , the lifelong Republican is voting for a Democratic presidential nominee – and has no qualms about it .
Sanchez , an immigration lawyer in Mesa , a conservative Phoenix suburb with more than half a million residents , said he was appalled by Trump ’ s conduct , his vilification of immigrants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But equally disappointing , Sanchez said , was the near-unwavering loyalty he received from Republican leaders .
“ The Republican party used to stand for certain principles , ” he said .
“ Now it stands for defending whatever the president tweets that morning.
” The Trump presidency has forced Sanchez to reconsider his political identity .
He isn ’ t a Democrat , but he also doesn ’ t see a place for himself in the party he had supported all his life .
This year , Sanchez is doing everything he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He hosted a voter registration drive in the parking lot of his law firm and placed an “ Adiós Trump ” billboard along the busy Interstate 10 in Phoenix .
“ For now , I ’ m comfortable being an independent , ” he said .
“ Unless there ’ s a reckoning within the Republican party , I will not be going back .
”

Lauren Gambino  in Paradise Valley and Maanvi Singh in Phoenix

In the agonizing days after the 2018 election, Christine Marsh, a Democratic candidate for state senate in a traditionally Republican suburban Phoenix district, watched her opponent’s lead dwindle to a few hundred votes, with thousands of ballots left to be counted.
In the end, just 267 votes separated them.
Marsh lost. But the result was ominous for Republicans, in a corner of Phoenix’s ever-expanding suburbs where Barry Goldwater, the long-serving Arizona senator and conservative icon, launched his presidential campaign in 1964 from the patio of his famed hilltop estate in Paradise Valley.
In the decades since, population growth and shifting demographics have transformed the cultural, political and economic complexion of the region.
And the election of Donald Trump has exacerbated these trends across the country, perhaps nowhere more dramatically than in diverse, fast-growing metropolitan areas like Phoenix, where the coalition of affluent, white suburban voters that once cemented Republican dominance is unraveling.
“We’ve seen a huge shift in my district, even in just the last two years,” said Marsh, a high school English teacher who is challenging the Republican incumbent, Kate Brophy McGee, again this year. The district, which includes the prosperous Paradise Valley and parts of north central Phoenix, is now at the center of the political battle for Arizona’s suburbs.
Over the last four years, Republicans have watched their support collapse in suburbs across the country, as the president’s divisive rhetoric and incendiary behavior alienates women, college graduates and independent voters. But as Trump continues to downplay the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, even after more than 225,000 deaths nationwide and as cases continue to climb, his conduct is imperiling not only his own re-election campaign, but his entire party.
Hikers tell Marsh that they have already voted for her. Photograph: Caitlin O’Hara/The Guardian
‘Ground zero’
The depth of Trump’s problems with suburbanites is magnified in Maricopa county, one of the largest and most suburban counties in the nation, with a population of almost 4.5 million.
In 2016, the suburbs helped deliver Trump’s narrow victory here. But polling shows the president has lost significant ground with these voters, threatening his prospects in a state that has voted for a Democratic presidential candidate only once since 1952.
“If the president loses Arizona, it’ll be largely because he lost Maricopa county – because he lost the suburbs,” said Jeff Flake, the former Arizona senator and a conservative critic of the president who has endorsed his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden.
The political dividing line in America now runs directly through suburbs like the ones around Phoenix, rare ground where Trump inspires both fierce loyalty and deep revulsion.
Here, across desert sprawl of stuccoed housing developments and saguaro-scattered foothills, is “ground zero”, said Mike Noble, the chief pollster at OH Predictive Insights in Phoenix. Not only are these voters poised to deliver a referendum on Trump next week, they will also be decisive in determining control of the US Congress and the state legislature.
Kyrsten Sinema was the first Democrat in more than 30 years to win a US Senate seat in Arizona. Photograph: Alexander Drago/Reuters
In his analysis of precincts that voted for Trump in 2016 yet backed the Democratic Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema two years later, the vast majority were in suburban parts of Maricopa county. Sinema, who cast herself as an “independent voice” willing to break with her party, became the first Democrat in 30 years to win a US Senate seat in the state, beating the Republican Martha McSally, who had tied her fate to the president.
“The big story of the last four years is the shift of white, college-educated independents and self-identified moderates,” he said.
Independents, or unaffiliated voters, make up roughly a third of Arizona’s electorate. In 2016, they broke narrowly for Trump, but this year, polling suggests these voters are swinging heavily away from the president.
According to an October Monmouth poll, independent voters in Arizona favor Biden by 21 percentage points. The survey also found that most of the state’s independent voters believe McSally, who was appointed to fill the unexpired term of the late Republican senator John McCain after losing to Sinema in 2018, is too supportive of the president. She now faces an uphill battle to keep the seat, after months spent trailing her Democratic challenger, Mark Kelly.
Unlike McSally, McGee – the Republican state senator who is trying to hold on to her seat in Phoenix – has carefully cultivated a reputation as a moderate, breaking with her party on legislation related to Medicare expansion and school vouchers.
Yet like many Republicans running in increasingly formidable terrain, McGee faces strong national headwinds after four years of anti-Trump activism and resistance in the suburbs. Arizona’s Red for Ed movement, which led to a week-long teacher walkout in 2018, galvanized parents and students alike and helped build support for Marsh who was the 2016 state teacher of the year.
This year, education, compounded by the coronavirus, is a top priority for Arizonans, and, on this issue, voters favor Democrats. A ballot measure imposing a surtax on the highest earners to increase public education funding is poised for approval, with polling showing support from a majority of Democrats and independent voters.
“I really do think it’s frustration,” Marsh said. “Voters are really fed up with the lack of leadership and they realize that the only way we’re going to change anything in Arizona is by changing the balance of power.”
‘Suburban women, will you please like me?’
Trump has attempted to woo back suburban voters by casting himself as the protector of a certain “suburban lifestyle dream” who would forestall an “invasion” of low-income housing and keep their neighborhoods safe from the “crime and chaos” of America’s “dysfunctional cities”.
His appeals, intended to stoke the racist fears of white voters, conjures a decades-old image of suburbia that is completely detached from the racially diverse and economically prosperous communities growing around America’s biggest cities. Polling suggests the entreaties have not worked.
Cyclists ride past Camelback Mountain in Paradise Valley, Arizona, on 15 October. Photograph: Caitlin O’Hara/The Guardian
Unlike four years ago, Trump is trailing by significant margins among white women, a group that includes independents and moderate Republicans likely to be turned off by Trump’s inflammatory speech.
“Suburban women, will you please like me?” Trump pleaded at a recent rally in Pennsylvania. “Please? Please!”
Lisa James, a veteran Republican strategist in Phoenix, said a public safety message had the potential to resonate with conservative suburban women, who were upset by scenes of rioting and violence that occurred alongside largely peaceful protests against racism and police brutality this summer.
“These voters are concerned about the safety and security of their families and their communities,” James said. “Events like that will lead many of them right back to the Republican party.”
The October Monmouth poll found that nearly 60% of Arizona voters, including a majority of voters in Maricopa county, worried “a lot” about the potential breakdown of law and order. The issue was more of a concern for voters than the coronavirus pandemic and other financial matters.
However, it hasn’t reshaped their opinion of the president. The same survey found that Arizonans preferred Biden over Trump, even though they trusted Trump more to maintain law and order.
Other national polls show Trump’s standing on the issue even more diminished, with voters saying Biden was better suited to handle crime and public safety. In a national Fox News survey released earlier this month, 58% of voters agreed that the way Trump talks about racial inequality and policing had lead to “an increase in acts of violence”.
In 2016, Karie Barrera said, she was an independent who cast her ballot for Hillary Clinton. Four years later, the recently retired educator said she was still not enthralled by the president. But she became increasingly alarmed after the Black Lives Matter protests led to calls for making school curriculums more inclusive.
“I don’t like that you’re going to mess with our real history,” Barrera said.
The president has claimed that schoolchildren are being taught a “twisted web of lies” about systemic racism in America and called for a return to “patriotic education”. Barrera agrees: “You don’t rewrite our history.”
Yet the very rhetoric that reassures Barrera is jeopardizing a coalition that once cemented Republican dominance in states like Arizona.
“The more that Trump’s rhetoric is designed to appeal to a white, male, working-class set of voters, the more alienated these college-educated, right-leaning independents and Republicans start to feel,” said Sarah Longwell, a Republican consultant who has spent the last several years studying suburban voters.
A sign reads ‘Truth over lies. Biden for president’ in Scottsdale, Arizona. Photograph: Caitlin O’Hara/The Guardian
‘This was personal’
In 2016, women in Arizona narrowly favored Clinton over Trump. In the latest New York Times/Siena College poll of Arizona voters, Biden held a daunting 18-point lead among women in the state.
From the outset, it was clear that many of the women Longwell convened in her focus groups didn’t like Trump: they didn’t like his tweets, his treatment of women, his conduct or his leadership style. But they took a chance on him in 2016 because they believed the alternative wasn’t any better. These were often the voters who bolted first, helping Democrats retake the House in the 2018 midterm elections.
Among those who didn’t, Longwell said many have grappled with their discomfort over Trump’s behavior and their allegiance to the Republican party. She said that despite the tumult of the last four years, little moved these women – until the pandemic arrived.
“Suddenly there was a shift,” she said. “Voters started talking about the stakes being too high. They were suffering personal consequences, which is very different from an abstract foreign policy issue. This was personal.”
Longwell, who founded Republican Voters Against Trump, said the suburban shift away from the Republican party could be the beginning of a “meaningful political realignment” that will outlast Trump’s presidency.
“It will depend who the Democrats are in the future and it will depend who the Republicans are in the future,” she said. “But these voters have no interest in a Trumpy Republican party.”
Yasser Sanchez, a lifelong Republican, is supporting Joe Biden this year. Photograph: Ross D Franklin/AP File
‘Adiós Trump’
In 2008 and 2012, Yasser Sanchez worked to elect John McCain and Mitt Romney to the White House. But this year, for the first time in his life, the lifelong Republican is voting for a Democratic presidential nominee – and has no qualms about it.
Sanchez, an immigration lawyer in Mesa, a conservative Phoenix suburb with more than half a million residents, said he was appalled by Trump’s conduct, his vilification of immigrants and his disdain for American institutions. But equally disappointing, Sanchez said, was the near-unwavering loyalty he received from Republican leaders.
“The Republican party used to stand for certain principles,” he said. “Now it stands for defending whatever the president tweets that morning.”
The Trump presidency has forced Sanchez to reconsider his political identity. He isn’t a Democrat, but he also doesn’t see a place for himself in the party he had supported all his life.
This year, Sanchez is doing everything he can to ensure Arizona elects Biden. He hosted a voter registration drive in the parking lot of his law firm and placed an “Adiós Trump” billboard along the busy Interstate 10 in Phoenix.
“For now, I’m comfortable being an independent,” he said. “Unless there’s a reckoning within the Republican party, I will not be going back.”


theguardian--2020-10-31--US election 2020: Trump criticised over false claim doctors profit from Covid deaths - live updates

Kamala Harris is in the same position on the other side of the ticket to Mike Pence .
She ’ ll make history as the first woman , the first Black American and the first Asian American to hold the country ’ s second highest office if Joe Biden wins , and she will immediately be in a strong position to run for the top job four years from now .
Given his age , the 77-year-old Biden is not expected to seek a second term .
“ Harris always made the most sense as a running mate for Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him unify the Democratic coalition across racial and generational lines and was able to spike base enthusiasm , ” said Joel Payne , a Democratic strategist who worked for Hillary Clinton ’ s 2016 presidential campaign .
Accusations from progressives that Harris did not do enough to investigate police shootings and wrongful conviction cases when she was California ’ s attorney general helped doom her own presidential run , but have surfaced little during her time as Biden ’ s running mate .
The Trump campaign , notes James Oliphant for Reuters , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more of a tool of the Democratic left who would wield power and influence behind the scenes in a Biden presidency .
As the Senate ’ s only Black woman , Harris emerged this year as a leading voice on racial justice and police reform after Minneapolis police killed African-American man George Floyd in May .
She marched with protesters on the streets of Washington and won over some liberal skeptics .
Asked on “ 60 Minutes ” last month why , given Biden ’ s age , he believed Harris would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ something happened to him , the presidential candidate rapidly fired off five reasons .
“ Number one , her values .
Number two , she is smart as a devil , and number three , she has a backbone like a ramrod .
Number four , she is really principled .
And number five , she has had significant experience in the largest state in the Union in running the justice department that*s only second in size to the United States Justice Department .
And obviously , I hope that never becomes a @ @ @ @ @ @

1 Nov 2020 00.35 GMT Thousands of Donald Trump supporters appear to have been left out in the cold following his rally outside Pittsburgh tonight, according to CNN. CNN’s DJ Judd shared a photo from outside Trump’s rally in Butler showing hordes of rallygoers waiting in near-freezing temperatures for shuttles to take them back to the designated parking areas. Trump has finished and left, but there’s thousands of supporters who have been let loose into the night with no sign of the shuttles they’ve been told will take them back to parking. People are filling the street, blocking the road for ambulances and police. pic.twitter.com/uMgfvUZ4Jg — DJ Judd (@DJJudd) October 31, 2020 Judd said the temperature outside the venue at the time of his photos was 41F (5C). It’s the second time in four days that transportation snarls have left Trump rally attendees stranded after an event. On Tuesday, seven people were hospitalized after supporters at a late-night Trump rally at an Omaha airport remained at the site waiting on buses hours after Trump’s plane had departed. The problem was blamed on limited traffic flow on the two-lane road that led to the site of the rally. The Washington Post reported that Trump supporters were stuck after the president spoke at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. It said many elderly supporters of Trump were among those stranded. Omaha police said in a written statement that first responders dealt with 30 people for medical reasons throughout the day and seven were sent to hospital. At the rally, Trump said he’s issued a memorandum that calls on government agencies to determine fracking’s impact on the economy and trade and the costs of banning the oil and gas extraction through fracking. The president has repeatedly charged that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris support restrictions on the industry. “In other words, if one of these maniacs come along and they say we’re gonna end fracking we’re gonna destroy the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Trump said in announcing his memorandum during his remarks. “You can say ‘sorry about that.”’
Updated at 00.37 GMT
1 Nov 2020 00.15 GMT Barack Obama briefly showed off his silky left-handed shooting stroke at Flint Northwestern High School where he spoke at a drive-in rally with Joe Biden earlier today.
so this was absolutely insane pic.twitter.com/W4JL6LQZxq — Olivia Raisner (@OliviaRaisner) October 31, 2020 The clip of the impromptu three-pointer has gone viral in the hours since Saturday’s rally, garnering praise from no less than LeBron James. “Now you just showing out now my friend!!” the recently minted NBA finals Most Valuable Player tweeted. “That’s what you do huh?? Ok ok I see. All cash!”
Updated at 00.15 GMT
31 Oct 2020 23.44 GMT A federal judge has ordered the US Postal Service to take “extraordinary measures” to deliver ballots in time to be counted in Wisconsin and around Detroit, including using a priority mail service. The Associated Press reports: Chief US district judge Stanley Bastian in Yakima, Washington, issued the order on Friday after being presented with data showing on-time delivery of ballots sent by voters was too slow in Michigan and Wisconsin. They are both “battleground states” in the November election. Delivery of ballots in the USPS’ Detroit district, for example, has dipped as low as 57% over the past week, Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office said Saturday. “Every vote must be counted,” Ferguson said. “Our democracy depends on it.” National on-time delivery has been at 93% or higher, said the statement from Ferguson, who leads a coalition of 14 states that filed a lawsuit on 18 August over changes to the Postal Service. Bastian, an appointee of former US president Barack Obama, said that starting Sunday and continuing through 10 November, the USPS must report to his court the prior day’s “all clear” status for each facility and processing center in the Detroit area and a district covering most of Wisconsin. If the USPS identifies any incoming ballots in its “all clear” sweeps of these facilities, it must make every effort to deliver those ballots by 8pm local time on Election Day, including by using Priority Mail Express or other extraordinary measures, Bastian said. Priority Mail Express is an overnight service that costs a minimum of $26.35 per envelope, according to the USPS.com website. Asked for comment on the judge’s order, Postal Service spokesman Dave Partenheimer referred to a fact sheet posted Saturday that says as of Friday, Postal Service employees are authorized to use the Express Mail network to speed completed ballots to their intended destinations. “We take our legal obligations very seriously and (are) complying with all court orders,” Partenheimer said. “The Postal Service continues to implement extraordinary measures across the country to advance and expedite the delivery of the nation’s ballots.” They include extra pick-ups, extra deliveries, and collecting mail on Sunday, Partenheimer said.
31 Oct 2020 23.20 GMT US judge to hear Republican bid to void 100,000 votes in Texas A federal judge in Texas scheduled an emergency hearing for Monday on whether Houston officials unlawfully allowed drive-through voting and should toss more than 100,000 votes in the Democratic-leaning area, Reuters reports. US district judge Andrew Hanen in Houston on Friday agreed to hear arguments by a Republican state legislator and others that votes already cast at drive-through voting sites in the Houston area should be rejected. More from Reuters: The lawsuit was brought on Wednesday by plaintiffs including Steve Hotze, a conservative activist, and state representative Steve Toth. They accused Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins, a Democrat, of exceeding his constitutional authority by allowing drive-through voting as an alternative to walk-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic. Harris County, home to about 4.7 million people, is the third most populous county in the United States. It currently has 10 drive-through polling sites, which are available to all voters. The lawsuit came after the Texas Supreme Court, one of the most conservative state courts in the United States, rejected similar bids to halt drive-through voting in Harris County. The plaintiffs ask the court to “reject any votes it finds were cast in violation of the Texas Election Code” and “requir all memory cards from the 10 drive-thru voting locations be secured and not entered or downloaded into the Tally machine until this Court issues an order on this Complaint.” Hanen was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. The request is “wholly unreasonable,” Democratic groups, including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said on Friday in a motion asking to intervene in the case. “Plaintiffs ask this Court to throw Texas*s election into chaos by invalidating the votes of more than 100,000 eligible Texas voters who cast their ballots at drive-thru voting locations at the invitation of county officials and in reliance on the Texas Supreme Court’s decision to allow drive-thru voting to proceed,” the groups said. An election worker accepts ballots from voters in cars at a drive-through mail ballot drop-off site at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. Photograph: Go Nakamura/Getty Images
31 Oct 2020 22.47 GMT Donald Trump was greeted by former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz on the tarmac after Air Force One touched down at Pittsburgh International Airport, where he’s traveled for his third of four rallies today in the crucially important battleground state of Pennsylvania. “Lou Holtz is a friend of mine and it’s so nice for him to be here,” Trump said during a brief gaggle with reporters. “He’s getting the presidential medal of freedom. He’s a very inspiring guy.” He added: “I hear we’re doing great in Florida, great in Ohio. Doing really well in Florida, doing great in Texas. ... Iowa’s doing really great. We’re going tomorrow but we’re doing really good.” Trump’s rally in Butler, about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh, is expected to begin shortly. Donald Trump speaks with the press alongside former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz upon arrival at Pittsburgh International Airport on Saturday. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
31 Oct 2020 22.21 GMT Stevie Wonder was back in his home state on Saturday performing at a get-out-the-vote event for Joe Biden in Detroit. “The only way we’re gonna win this fight, a fight against injustice, is by voting,” the Saginaw native told a crowd at the drive-in rally. “We must vote justice in and injustice out.” Wonder, who stumped for both Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and Hillary Clinton in 2016, was warming up the crowd before scheduled remarks by Obama and Biden, their second joint campaign stop of the day in the battleground state oof Michigan. At one point he admonished the crowd for not adhering to social distancing guidelines while taking a swipe at Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. “I know you’re having a good time but I want y’all to social distance,” he said. “I’ve seen y’all get to close, come on. Don’t do all that. We’ve got a situation going on cause somebody didn’t handle their business right.” Stevie Wonder to attendees at a @JoeBiden rally:
"I know you're having a good time but I want y'all to social distance. I've seen y'all get to close, come on. Don't do all that. We've got a situation going on cause somebody didn't handle their business right." pic.twitter.com/21fo8MyAsa — Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) October 31, 2020 The 25-time Grammy winner also joked about Trump’s debate comments telling the far-right Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.” “You know what we say in the ghetto when somebody says that, right?” he asked the crowd, adding, “watch yourself, get your ass whipped.” Stevie Wonder performs during a mobilization event for Joe Biden at Belle Isle Casino in Detroit on Saturday. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
Updated at 22.28 GMT
31 Oct 2020 21.53 GMT Lois Beckett Amid rising partisan tension in the United States, at least 11 Americans have been killed while participating in political demonstrations since May this year, according to new data from a non-profit monitoring political unrest in the United States.
Nine of the people killed during protests were demonstrators taking part in Black Lives Matter protests. Two were conservatives killed after pro-Trump “patriot rallies”. All but one were killed by fellow citizens, and most of them were shot to death. Another 14 Americans have died in other incidents linked to unrest this summer, including two law enforcement officers allegedly killed by an anti-government “Boogaloo” extremist, who deliberately targeted federal law enforcement during a protest against police violence. At least 25 Americans were killed during protests and political unrest in 2020 Read more
31 Oct 2020 21.18 GMT A get-out-the vote rally in the battleground state of North Carolina on Saturday ended with police using pepper spray on some participants and making several arrests. Multiple people were arrested outside Alamance county’s courthouse and police used pepper spray to disperse a crowd which including a five-year-old girl and other children, according to the Raleigh News & Observer: A racially diverse group of about 200 people walked with a police escort from Wayman’s Chapel AME Church to Court Square, where they held a rally encouraging people to vote. The event was organized by Rev. Greg Drumwright, a Burlington native who leads the the Citadel Church in Greensboro, according to his website. At least three politicians participated in some parts of the event: the current mayor of Burlington, Ian Baltutis; Democratic candidate for county commissioner Dreama Caldwell; and Democratic school board candidate Seneca Rodgers. At one point, the marchers held a moment of silence in the street in honor of George Floyd, the Black man killed while in police custody in Minneapolis earlier this summer. After the moment of silence concluded, law enforcement told people to clear the road. Then, deputies and police officers used pepper spray on the crowd and began arresting people. Several children in the crowd were affected by the pepper spray. Melanie Mitchell said her 5-year-old and 11-year-old daughters were pepper-sprayed just after the moment of silence. She said Graham police approached the crowd assembled in the street and told them to move onto the sidewalk and soon began spraying pepper spray toward the ground. Mitchell’s 5-year-old took off running, she said. Both kids threw up. “My 11-year-old was terrified,” Mitchell said. “She doesn’t want to come down to Graham anymore.” Josh Stein, the attorney general of North Carolina, issued a statement on the conflagration, saying: “All eligible voters in North Carolina have a constitutional right to cast their vote safely and securely, without threats or intimidation. After today’s troubling events in Alamance county, I went to the courthouse in Graham and all is calm now. “I reached out to the State Board of Elections and was informed that the events appear not to have impacted voting at the early voting location. The site there was calm, and the voters got in line and voted. I have also reached out to the Alamance county sheriff but have not yet connected. I will update when I learn more.”
Updated at 21.22 GMT
31 Oct 2020 20.21 GMT Nina Lakhani reports from Pennsylvania, where she is speaking with Trump supporters outside his rally at Reading regional airport ... Vincent Tusa, 56, who works in advertising and twice voted for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, is a third-generation Italian American who supports Donald Trump’s hardline – some would say cruel and unjust – immigration policies. “I’m not a staunch Republican but we can’t be overrun by illegal immigrants. They need to come legally like my grandparents.” Advocates have documented the dismantling of America’s immigration and asylum system over the past four years, as well as the separation of thousands of children from their parents at the southern border. Tusa added: “Trump is a businessman and that gives me confidence. Biden doesn’t have the accomplishments, he’s cognitively challenged and he’s chosen an unqualified running mate based on identity politics.” Vice-president candidate Kamala Harris’s experience includes being state attorney general and a US senator for California. Tusa was wearing a mask but many people were not. However, volunteers were checking people’s temperatures as they entered the airport for the second of Trump’s four rallies on Saturday in the crucial swing state. Nicolette Miller, 30, is here with her friend Megan Shaddick, 30. They grew up nearby but now live in Philadelphia. Both will be voting for Trump for the second time and said the main reason for coming today was to be around like-minded people to express their support for the president without fear of being called racist. “He stands behind small businesses, our law enforcement and hard-working people – that’s what this country was built on. And look at what he achieved in the Middle East: four major peace deals,” said Miller. “He’s done more than any other president in the history of America. He’s trying to find the parents of those 500 children separated at the border but their parents are coming to claim them because they are illegal. The mainstream media spins and takes out of context everything he says,” added Shaddick. Trump won the state’s precious 20 electoral votes by just over 44,000 votes in 2016 – or less than one percentage point – but the RealClearPolitics average of recent Pennsylvania polls, taken between 21 and 27 October, shows Biden with an 3.7-point advantage.
Updated at 20.23 GMT
31 Oct 2020 19.57 GMT Donald Trump, who is currently at the podium at the second of four rallies today in Pennsylvania, has issued a statement on the rescue of an American citizen in Nigeria. US special forces rescued Philip Walton, 27, who was abducted on Tuesday from his home in neighboring southern Niger, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. Last night, at my direction, the United States military conducted a successful operation to rescue an American hostage in Nigeria, kidnapped just 96 hours earlier. United States Special Forces executed a daring nighttime operation to rescue their fellow American with exceptional skill, precision, and bravery. No United States Service Members were harmed. The former hostage is currently in good health and has been reunited with his family. Securing the freedom of Americans held in captivity abroad has been a top national security priority of my Administration. Since the beginning of my Administration, we have rescued over 55 hostages and detainees in more than 24 countries. Today’s operation should serve as a stark warning to terrorists and criminal thugs who mistakenly believe they can kidnap Americans with impunity. Niger, like much of West Africa’s Sahel region, faces a deepening security crisis as groups with links to al-Qaida and the Islamic State carry out attacks on the army and civilians, despite help from French and US forces. Four US soldiers were killed in an ambush in Niger in 2017, sparking debate about the US role in the sparsely populated West African desert that is home to some of the world’s poorest countries.
31 Oct 2020 19.15 GMT Axios reports that early voting in the 2020 election on Saturday afternoon had already reached 65.5% of 2016’s total turnout, citing state data compiled by the US Elections Project. Michael McDonald, the University of Florida professor who administers the US Elections Project, said last week the high level of early voting augurs a record turnout of about 150 million, representing 65% of eligible voters, the highest rate since 1908. People line up to cast their in-person absentee ballots at the Berkeley County Library on Friday in Hanahan, South Carolina. Voters waited about an hour and a half to cast their ballots. Photograph: Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images


theguardian--2020-10-31--Jimmy Lai distances himself from report on Hunter Biden's alleged China links

The Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has said he personally had “ nothing to do with ” a report on Hunter Biden ’ s alleged Chinese business links , but admitted funds from his private firm had been used to pay for it .
Lai , a prominent democracy advocate in Hong Kong and a staunch critic of China , said on Twitter he was sorry his flagship newspaper , Apple Daily , had been implicated in an article by the US media outlet NBC .
In the article , NBC alleged that a 64-page document circulating on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ connections to the Chinese Communist party and his business dealings in China had “ questionable authorship and anonymous sourcing ” .
The article cited the co-author of the “ intelligence document ” , Christopher Balding , as saying it had been commissioned by Apple Daily , which the paper said in a statement were “ false allegations ” .
Balding , an academic , did not immediately respond to a request for comment .
Lai said his newspapers had not personally commissioned the document , but admitted his senior executive , Mark Simon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” .
“ Mark used my private company ’ s money to reimburse for the research he requested .
It ’ s only $ 10,000 so he didn ’ t have to have my approval , ” he said on Twitter .
“ I know it is hard for anyone to believe that I didn ’ t know about it and my integrity is damaged.
” In a statement posted online , Simon said he had resigned because of the incident , and apologised for having “ allowed damage to Jimmy on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on ” .
He gave no further details when contacted .
The Apple Daily recently published two articles on Hunter Biden and his ties to a Taiwanese businessman , who the paper said was a purported broker “ enabling Hunter Biden ’ s deals in mainland China over a decade ” .
The paper , however , said in a statement that these stories had been carried out by its own journalists in Taiwan with independent verification of their own findings , and were separate from the 64-page document .

The Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has said he personally had “nothing to do with” a report on Hunter Biden’s alleged Chinese business links, but admitted funds from his private firm had been used to pay for it.
Lai, a prominent democracy advocate in Hong Kong and a staunch critic of China, said on Twitter he was sorry his flagship newspaper, Apple Daily, had been implicated in an article by the US media outlet NBC.
In the article, NBC alleged that a 64-page document circulating on the internet about Hunter Biden’s purported connections to the Chinese Communist party and his business dealings in China had “questionable authorship and anonymous sourcing”.
The article cited the co-author of the “intelligence document”, Christopher Balding, as saying it had been commissioned by Apple Daily, which the paper said in a statement were “false allegations”.
Balding, an academic, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lai said his newspapers had not personally commissioned the document, but admitted his senior executive, Mark Simon, had “worked with the project”.
“Mark used my private company’s money to reimburse for the research he requested. It’s only $10,000 so he didn’t have to have my approval,” he said on Twitter. “I know it is hard for anyone to believe that I didn’t know about it and my integrity is damaged.”
In a statement posted online, Simon said he had resigned because of the incident, and apologised for having “allowed damage to Jimmy on a matter he was completely in the dark on”.
He gave no further details when contacted.
The Apple Daily recently published two articles on Hunter Biden and his ties to a Taiwanese businessman, who the paper said was a purported broker “enabling Hunter Biden’s deals in mainland China over a decade”.
The paper, however, said in a statement the stories had beenproduced by its own journalists in Taiwan with independent verification of their own findings, and were separate from the 64-page document.


theguardian--2020-10-31--‘An awakening I haven’t seen before’: Detroit voters say 2020 won’t be like 2016

Cole Thompson isn ’ t voting this year – he can ’ t because he ’ s only 17 .
But on a frigid and rainy afternoon last week , he and about half a dozen of his classmates at University of Detroit Jesuit high school fanned out in the blocks around their school to leave flyers on door handles encouraging people to vote .
“ Last election , we didn ’ t put forth our effort and we didn ’ t vote and it kind of backfired on us because we wound up being a Trump state rather than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been a Hillary state , ” Thompson said .
“ It doesn ’ t matter whether or not I can vote .
It ’ s still important to get people who can vote to vote.
” Michigan , with 16 electoral college votes , is one of a handful of states that will determine the outcome of this year ’ s presidential election .
Detroit , the state ’ s largest city , will play a big role in determining that outcome .
There ’ s little doubt that Joe Biden will win @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but his margin of victory could shape whether he will carry the state .
In 2016 , turnout fell in Detroit ; Hillary Clinton got about 47,000 fewer votes in the city than Barack Obama did in 2012 .
Donald Trump won Michigan by just 10,704 votes .
Memories of that decline have helped fuel an aggressive blitz to turn out voters in the city in the final weeks of the campaign , even as Covid-19 has made in-person canvassing harder .
That effort includes not just encouraging Detroit residents to vote but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expanded its voting laws since 2016 , including allowing for no-excuse absentee and early voting .
“ I know people I ’ m speaking to now in 2020 that haven ’ t voted in eight years in a presidential campaign .
They are like , ‘ Thank you for telling me where to go , thank you for coming to talk to me , ’ ” the congresswoman Rashida Tlaib , who represents portions of Detroit and the suburbs , told the Guardian .
“ There ’ s an awakening that I haven @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the city have been aggressively using no-contact canvassing – essentially leaving door tags and flyers on people ’ s doors .
Organizers with the Detroit chapter of the NAACP have been canvassing neighborhoods across the city six days a week and say they are close to meeting their goal of 20,000 ground contacts .
Since the beginning of October , the core group of canvassers who have put leaflets on doors across the city have been men from Operation Get Down , a transitional housing program for people experiencing homelessness as well as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Many of them registered to vote for the first time this year , said Steele Hughes , a canvassing organizer with the Detroit NAACP chapter .
“ I ’ m doing it because I never really had a chance to vote … it ’ s a sense of renewal , ” Eddie Dillard , 62 , one of the canvassers , said as he bounded up and down porches in the cold on Friday morning .
“ You have a lot of people who really believe , ‘ Well , I can ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really matter ’ … What we do today is for them to bring themselves into a place where they understand why it is they ’ re voting and the people they ’ re voting for.
” Inga Balke , who attended a Jill Biden event in Westland , just outside Detroit , has volunteered to canvas nine times around Detroit since the beginning of October .
She said she was not taking anything for granted heading into the election ’ s final days .
“ I can ’ t trust the polls and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s taking place is obscene .
And because of that I ’ m worried that people are gon na get frustrated and maybe not vote , ” she said .
She ’ s been taking a map of Detroit ’ s satellite voting locations – in place for the first time this year – and teaching people about them .
Covid aside , activists see other substantial challenges in increasing voter turnout in the city .
A federal appeals court recently upheld a state law banning paid transportation to the polls , forcing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to give people rides to vote .
Organizers had planned to rent a handful of vehicles accessible for people with disabilities , but the court decision blocked them from doing so , said Andy Didorosi , the founder of the Detroit Bus Company , which planned to help run the program .
“ It hit us like ice water , ” he said .
There are also worries about outside agitators coming into the city to intimidate people at the polls after a state court lifted a ban on carrying firearms at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expecting that , ” said Kamilia Landrum , the executive director of the Detroit chapter of the NAACP , which said this week it planned to monitor voter intimidation in the city .
“ We are prepared.
” Meanwhile , others are worried about votes being counted .
On-time mail service in Detroit has been among some of the worst in the country .
Just 74.8 % of ballots were delivered on time in the city ’ s postal district over the last five days , according to data analyzed by the Washington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have encouraged people through TV ads and other messaging to return their ballots in person instead of through the mail .
In interviews across the city , voters at the polls said they did not expect 2020 to be a repeat of 2016 .
They blamed a combination of sexism and a lack of enthusiasm for Clinton ’ s loss , but this year , there was a greater sense of urgency in getting Trump out of office .
They pointed to Trump ’ s handling of Covid-19 , the environment and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than 78 % Black , and during his term in office , it has been impossible not to see the harsh impact Trump has had on the Black community , said Naje Safford , 23 , as he dropped off his ballot on Wednesday .
“ People were saying he was racist before he ran .
Now we ’ ve seen example after example of him being racist .
Now it ’ s like if you don ’ t see it now , you ’ re pretty much choosing not to see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ All these Black people are dying and you ’ re telling us it ’ s not that bad .
You ’ re encouraging people not to wear masks , not to protect themselves – that is affecting our community.
” Memories of Trump ’ s 2016 ’ s surprise razor-thin victory also linger strongly for some Biden supporters .
“ I honestly can ’ t trust the polls , ” said Ammara Ansari , who attended the Jill Biden rally in Westland .
“ I was an organizer back in 2016 and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was gon na win and that didn ’ t happen.
” Across the street from the Biden rally , Dawn Udell was among a small group of Trump supporters who waved flags at cars passing and screamed that Biden was a socialist .
“ Biden is for socialism .
We want freedom .
If we take our freedom away , we ’ ll never get it back .
The Democrats will pack the courts , we ’ ll never see democracy again , ” Udell said in an interview , claiming the media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is about good and evil .
This isn ’ t even about Republican and Democrat .
It ’ s about good and evil.
” But for Penny Mims , who waited in line to vote with her husband at the Northwest Activities Center , a satellite early voting location in Detroit , the election is about actual lives .
“ The funny thing about it is every election they say this is the most important election of our lifetime .
But I really think it ’ s true this time … A lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people , our people , particularly Black and brown people .
”

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Cole Thompson isn’t voting this year – he can’t because he’s only 17. But on a frigid and rainy afternoon last week, he and about half a dozen of his classmates at University of Detroit Jesuit high school fanned out in the blocks around their school to leave flyers on door handles encouraging people to vote.
“Last election, we didn’t put forth our effort and we didn’t vote and it kind of backfired on us because we wound up being a Trump state rather than a Hillary state and we should have been a Hillary state,” Thompson said. “It doesn’t matter whether or not I can vote. It’s still important to get people who can vote to vote.”
Michigan, with 16 electoral college votes, is one of a handful of states that will determine the outcome of this year’s presidential election. Detroit, the state’s largest city, will play a big role in determining that outcome. There’s little doubt that Joe Biden will win the vote in the Democratic-friendly city, but his margin of victory could shape whether he will carry the state. In 2016, turnout fell in Detroit; Hillary Clinton got about 47,000 fewer votes in the city than Barack Obama did in 2012. Donald Trump won Michigan by just 10,704 votes.
Memories of that decline have helped fuel an aggressive blitz to turn out voters in the city in the final weeks of the campaign, even as Covid-19 has made in-person canvassing harder. That effort includes not just encouraging Detroit residents to vote but also explaining how; Michigan has dramatically expanded its voting laws since 2016, including allowing for no-excuse absentee and early voting.
“I know people I’m speaking to now in 2020 that haven’t voted in eight years in a presidential campaign. They are like, ‘Thank you for telling me where to go, thank you for coming to talk to me,’” the congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who represents portions of Detroit and the suburbs, told the Guardian. “There’s an awakening that I haven’t seen before.”
Rashida Tlaib knocks on doors in Detroit on 18 October to encourage residents to vote. Photograph: Rebecca Cook/Reuters
Activists in the city have been aggressively using no-contact canvassing – essentially leaving door tags and flyers on people’s doors. Organizers with the Detroit chapter of the NAACP have been canvassing neighborhoods across the city six days a week and say they are close to meeting their goal of 20,000 ground contacts.
Since the beginning of October, the core group of canvassers who have put leaflets on doors across the city have been men from Operation Get Down, a transitional housing program for people experiencing homelessness as well as substance abuse and mental health issues. Many of them registered to vote for the first time this year, said Steele Hughes, a canvassing organizer with the Detroit NAACP chapter.
“I’m doing it because I never really had a chance to vote … it’s a sense of renewal,” Eddie Dillard, 62, one of the canvassers, said as he bounded up and down porches in the cold on Friday morning. “You have a lot of people who really believe, ‘Well, I can’t vote because it doesn’t really matter’ … What we do today is for them to bring themselves into a place where they understand why it is they’re voting and the people they’re voting for.”
Inga Balke, who attended a Jill Biden event in Westland, just outside Detroit, has volunteered to canvas nine times around Detroit since the beginning of October. She said she was not taking anything for granted heading into the election’s final days.
“I can’t trust the polls and the amount of voter suppression that’s taking place is obscene. And because of that I’m worried that people are gonna get frustrated and maybe not vote,” she said. She’s been taking a map of Detroit’s satellite voting locations – in place for the first time this year – and teaching people about them.
Kamilia Landrum, executive director of the Detroit NAACP, said her organization was prepared to guard against voter intimidation. Photograph: Sam Levine/The Guardian
Covid aside, activists see other substantial challenges in increasing voter turnout in the city. A federal appeals court recently upheld a state law banning paid transportation to the polls, forcing local groups to significantly scale back plans to give people rides to vote. Organizers had planned to rent a handful of vehicles accessible for people with disabilities, but the court decision blocked them from doing so, said Andy Didorosi, the founder of the Detroit Bus Company, which planned to help run the program. “It hit us like ice water,” he said.
There are also worries about outside agitators coming into the city to intimidate people at the polls after a state court lifted a ban on carrying firearms at the polls. “We’re fully expecting that,” said Kamilia Landrum, the executive director of the Detroit chapter of the NAACP, which said this week it planned to monitor voter intimidation in the city. “We are prepared.”
Meanwhile, others are worried about votes being counted. On-time mail service in Detroit has been among some of the worst in the country. Just 74.8% of ballots were delivered on time in the city’s postal district over the last five days, according to data analyzed by the Washington Post. Election officials and advocacy groups have encouraged people through TV ads and other messaging to return their ballots in person instead of through the mail.
In interviews across the city, voters at the polls said they did not expect 2020 to be a repeat of 2016. They blamed a combination of sexism and a lack of enthusiasm for Clinton’s loss, but this year, there was a greater sense of urgency in getting Trump out of office. They pointed to Trump’s handling of Covid-19, the environment and the spread of racial unrest.
Detroit is more than 78% Black, and during his term in office, it has been impossible not to see the harsh impact Trump has had on the Black community, said Naje Safford, 23, as he dropped off his ballot on Wednesday.
“People were saying he was racist before he ran. Now we’ve seen example after example of him being racist. Now it’s like if you don’t see it now, you’re pretty much choosing not to see it,” Safford said. “All these Black people are dying and you’re telling us it’s not that bad. You’re encouraging people not to wear masks, not to protect themselves – that is affecting our community.”
Memories of Trump’s 2016’s surprise razor-thin victory also linger strongly for some Biden supporters.
“I honestly can’t trust the polls,” said Ammara Ansari, who attended the Jill Biden rally in Westland. “I was an organizer back in 2016 and a lot of people assumed that Hillary Clinton was gonna win and that didn’t happen.”
A small group of Trump supporters gathered outside of a Jill Biden rally in Westland, Michigan, on Thursday. Photograph: Sam Levine/The Guardian
Across the street from the Biden rally, Dawn Udell was among a small group of Trump supporters who waved flags at cars passing and screamed that Biden was a socialist.
“Biden is for socialism. We want freedom. If we take our freedom away, we’ll never get it back. The Democrats will pack the courts, we’ll never see democracy again,” Udell said in an interview, claiming the media was biased against Trump. “This is about good and evil. This isn’t even about Republican and Democrat. It’s about good and evil.”
But for Penny Mims, who waited in line to vote with her husband at the Northwest Activities Center, a satellite early voting location in Detroit, the election is about actual lives.
“The funny thing about it is every election they say this is the most important election of our lifetime. But I really think it’s true this time … A lot of lives are on the line for people, our people, particularly Black and brown people.”


theguardian--2020-10-31--‘I’m not voting for personality’: why this Pennsylvania county is the one to watch

A steady stream of voters arrived to deliver their sealed ballots at an early voting drop-off box inside the courthouse in the Pennsylvania city of Easton , a diverse community in Northampton county which could be pivotal in deciding who wins the key battleground state – and the White House .
Northampton county , a mixed rural-urban area with about 300,000 habitants , has backed the winning presidential candidate all but three times since 1920 .
As Northampton county goes , so do Pennsylvania ’ s precious 20 electoral votes , according to electoral history .
It is the political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which helped deliver victory to Donald Trump in 2016 .
Northampton county was among just 206 out of 3,141 nationwide that backed Barack Obama twice and then flipped for Trump .
But with less than a week to go before election day , the polls here are mixed and too close to call .
The campaign signs scattered across the picturesque county seem pretty evenly spread between the president and Democratic challenger Joe Biden , and so do the votes being cast at the courthouse .
Voting for Biden is Shelene Monroe , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has divided us as a nation , severed relationships with our partners while aligning himself with dictators , and shown a total lack of leadership , ” said Monroe , who voted for Democratic candidates in the down-ballot races .
“ Elections are always about choosing the lesser of two evils , no candidate will be 100 % for your issues , but contemplating another four years of Trump disgusts me and should concern everyone who cares about healthcare , police brutality , the rights of workers , people of color and LGBTQ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Black woman originally from Brooklyn , New York .
On the other side but equally adamant is Kim Boucher , a middle school teacher who cast her ballot for Trump and Republican candidates for local and state government .
“ I ’ m not voting for personality , I ’ m voting for the economy and the second amendment and against the opposition … Biden hangs around with too many socialists like AOC and Bernie Sanders who want more government control , ” said Boucher , a 58-year-old white woman who supports basic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ restrictions .
“ It ’ s fantastic what President Trump achieved with the economy and in the Middle East , but he ’ s been under attack for three and a half years , ” Boucher added .
Analysts agree that Pennsylvania is a must-win state , which is why both candidates have made multiple campaign stops here in recent weeks .
An average of national polls on Thursday showed Biden leading Trump by almost nine percentage points , but only 5.1 points in Pennsylvania , according to the website FiveThirtyEight .
Early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – a week before election day – so folks like Monroe and Boucher who are worried about Covid but spooked by efforts to slow down the postal service and discount votes by mail , are hand delivering their ballots in record numbers .
Trump has made fracking a campaign issue in Pennsylvania by falsely claiming Biden will destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs by banning fracking .
Meanwhile Biden has tried to convince floating voters concerned about global heating and the economy that his ambitious $ 2tn climate plan is also an ambitious @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a factory worker , is voting for the first time after recently concluding that it is his duty as a Christian to do so .
He worries about the climate crisis but voted Republican because of what he sees as Christian values on abortion and same-sex marriage .
“ Trump could have a better climate control plan , but Biden goes back and forth on fracking so much that I ’ m not clear about either side ’ s plan .
Trump is a prideful stubborn person , he exaggerates , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s mishandled the pandemic , ” he said .
The numbers tell a different story .
As of Thursday evening , Pennsylvania had suffered at least 208,087 Covid cases including 8,828 deaths , according to the New York Times database .
The average daily case count is up 54 % compared with two weeks ago .
The unemployment rate is 8.15 % – slightly higher than the national average and twice the pre-pandemic rate , according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics .
Northampton county , a former heavy manufacturing and agricultural region @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diversifying as a growing number of Black Americans and Latinos are priced out of New York and New Jersey .
It ’ s part of the Lehigh Valley , the state ’ s third most populous metropolis after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh , where Biden must appeal to people of color in order to stand any chance of winning as former Democrat rural strongholds in Pennsylvania continue to turn red .
But registration drives have been impeded by Covid restrictions and some voters are still waiting on their ballots , according to Ivan Garcia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Road Pennsylvania .
“ The Latinx community is an important voting bloc which is mostly voting in person because this administration has done a good job attacking the integrity of postal voting even though the president votes by mail .
Every vote needs to be counted , the next phase will be challenging ballots after November 3 , ” Garcia said .
The county – and the state – are too close to call , according to Tara Zrinski , 45 , a Democrat running for state congress on an anti-corruption , healthcare @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Zrinski , a Northampton county councillor and environmental justice advocate who has fought against expansion of fracking , said : “ Pennsylvania can not become an extractive state where natural resources are exploited for the benefit of corporations .
But people here are very independently minded and stubborn , they don ’ t like being told what to do .
That ’ s why the county is pivotal and the state swings .
”

A steady stream of voters arrived to deliver their sealed ballots at an early voting drop-off box inside the courthouse in the Pennsylvania city of Easton, a diverse community in Northampton county which could be pivotal in deciding who wins the key battleground state – and the White House.
Northampton county, a mixed rural-urban area with about 300,000 habitants, has backed the winning presidential candidate all but three times since 1920. As Northampton county goes, so do Pennsylvania’s precious 20 electoral votes, according to electoral history.
It is the political bellwether county in a crucial swing state which helped deliver victory to Donald Trump in 2016. Northampton county was among just 206 out of 3,141 nationwide that backed Barack Obama twice and then flipped for Trump.
But with less than a week to go before election day, the polls here are mixed and too close to call. The campaign signs scattered across the picturesque county seem pretty evenly spread between the president and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, and so do the votes being cast at the courthouse.
Voting for Biden is Shelene Monroe, a 48-year-old business analyst. “Trump has divided us as a nation, severed relationships with our partners while aligning himself with dictators, and shown a total lack of leadership,” said Monroe, who voted for Democratic candidates in the down-ballot races.
Shelene Monroe, a 48-year-old business analyst who is voting for Biden. Photograph: Nina Lakhani
“Elections are always about choosing the lesser of two evils, no candidate will be 100% for your issues, but contemplating another four years of Trump disgusts me and should concern everyone who cares about healthcare, police brutality, the rights of workers, people of color and LGBTQ rights,” added Monroe, a Black woman originally from Brooklyn, New York.
On the other side but equally adamant is Kim Boucher, a middle school teacher who cast her ballot for Trump and Republican candidates for local and state government.
“I’m not voting for personality, I’m voting for the economy and the second amendment and against the opposition … Biden hangs around with too many socialists like AOC and Bernie Sanders who want more government control,” said Boucher, a 58-year-old white woman who supports basic healthcare for all and abortion with some restrictions.
An inflatable figure of Donald Trump stands on a porch int he Northampton county borough of Stockertown. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters
“It’s fantastic what President Trump achieved with the economy and in the Middle East, but he’s been under attack for three and a half years,” Boucher added.
Analysts agree that Pennsylvania is a must-win state, which is why both candidates have made multiple campaign stops here in recent weeks.
An average of national polls on Thursday showed Biden leading Trump by almost nine percentage points, but only 5.1 points in Pennsylvania, according to the website FiveThirtyEight.
Early in-person voting ended in Pennsylvania last Tuesday – a week before election day – so folks like Monroe and Boucher who are worried about Covid but spooked by efforts to slow down the postal service and discount votes by mail, are hand delivering their ballots in record numbers.
Trump has made fracking a campaign issue in Pennsylvania by falsely claiming Biden will destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs by banning fracking. Meanwhile Biden has tried to convince floating voters concerned about global heating and the economy that his ambitious $2tn climate plan is also an ambitious jobs plan.
Robert Fry, 32, a factory worker, is voting for the first time after recently concluding that it is his duty as a Christian to do so. He worries about the climate crisis but voted Republican because of what he sees as Christian values on abortion and same-sex marriage.
“Trump could have a better climate control plan, but Biden goes back and forth on fracking so much that I’m not clear about either side’s plan. Trump is a prideful stubborn person, he exaggerates, but I don’t believe he’s mishandled the pandemic,” he said.
An advertisement for Donald Trump’s re-election campaign plays as people sit in a diner in the Northampton county city of Easton. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters
The numbers tell a different story. As of Thursday evening, Pennsylvania had suffered at least 208,087 Covid cases including 8,828 deaths, according to the New York Times database. The average daily case count is up 54% compared with two weeks ago. The unemployment rate is 8.15% – slightly higher than the national average and twice the pre-pandemic rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Northampton county, a former heavy manufacturing and agricultural region, is 76% white but rapidly diversifying as a growing number of Black Americans and Latinos are priced out of New York and New Jersey.
It’s part of the Lehigh Valley, the state’s third most populous metropolis after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, where Biden must appeal to people of color in order to stand any chance of winning as former Democrat rural strongholds in Pennsylvania continue to turn red.
But registration drives have been impeded by Covid restrictions and some voters are still waiting on their ballots, according to Ivan Garcia, a grassroots organizer with Make the Road Pennsylvania.
“The Latinx community is an important voting bloc which is mostly voting in person because this administration has done a good job attacking the integrity of postal voting even though the president votes by mail. Every vote needs to be counted, the next phase will be challenging ballots after November 3,” Garcia said.
The county – and the state – are too close to call, according to Tara Zrinski, 45, a Democrat running for state congress on an anti-corruption, healthcare for all and green energy transition platform.
Zrinski, a Northampton county councillor and environmental justice advocate who has fought against expansion of fracking, said: “Pennsylvania cannot become an extractive state where natural resources are exploited for the benefit of corporations. But people here are very independently minded and stubborn, they don’t like being told what to do. That’s why the county is pivotal and the state swings.”


theguardian--2020-10-31--Critical mail delays hit swing states ahead of US election

Delivery of first class mail in several Michigan cities remains much slower than usual during the two weeks preceding the election , a test of the local postal system found .
The Guardian sent about 150 first class letters between locations in Detroit , Ann Arbor and Hamtramck , three Democratic strongholds in the critical battleground state .
The mail was sent to mimic the route that a ballot would take from a mailbox to a city clerk ’ s office in the same municipality .
About 83 % of the mail arrived on time .
But the service was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ % of letters arrived at least three days late , and one Detroit letter remains unaccounted for .
Detroit delays could spell trouble for Democratic candidates and the Biden campaign .
About 170,000 Detroiters , who are overwhelmingly Democratic , have requested absentee ballots ahead of the election .
Trump previously won the state by just over 10,000 votes , and a Michigan judge recently ruled that mail-in ballots arriving after election day will not count .
The Detroit city clerk exacerbated the situation by failing to send out 70,000 absentee ballots until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Before the pandemic , and changes made by the Trump-appointed postmaster general , Louis DeJoy , this summer , the United States Postal Service posted on-time delivery rates of around 95 % .
But new cost-cutting strategies , including the removal of sorting machines at the nation ’ s largest mail processing center in Pontiac , have slowed distribution .
The on-time delivery rate in the Guardian ’ s test is in line with the latest data from the postal service , which put its on-time rate in Detroit as low as 52 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The national rate was at 82 % for a week-long period ending on 16 October , though it has been much lower in key swing states .
The Michigan Senator Gary Peters called the rate “ completely unacceptable ” .
“ The postmaster general must immediately comply with all court orders and confirm he has reversed damaging changes that caused severe disruptions to mail service , ” he said in a statement .
The one-two blows delivered by DeJoy and the pandemic have been tough for the postal agency to recover from , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American Postal Workers Union in Michigan .
“ We ’ re still struggling , ” he told the Guardian .
“ Not having the extra firepower matters , and Covid has been hammering our workforce.
” However , Woods stressed that the postal service was prioritizing ballots and election mail .
Groups of employees on each shift pull ballots from the mail stream and expedite their processing , so Woods is confident that election mail is moving through the system quicker than the other first class letters .
Employees are also working overtime @ @ @ @ @ @ @ barred staff from putting in extra hours .
Woods said he couldn ’ t explain why mail was delivered quicker in Ann Arbor and Hamtramck than Detroit .
“ Delivery is spotty sometimes and there are certain cities that are doing better than others , and I can ’ t point to any particular reason why , ” he said .
Meanwhile , other technicalities could also threaten ballots .
About 11 % of the letters sent as part of the Guardian test had issues with illegible postmarks that include the time and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which Woods said could have resulted from printers running low on ink or not being quickly replaced .
While Michigan won ’ t count late-arriving ballots , Pennsylvania will count those postmarked on or before election day .
Ballots that are missing the date stamp , however , wouldn ’ t be counted .
( The Guardian is tracking mail-in ballots in critical swing states here . )
DeJoy , a Trump appointee , has been accused of intentionally crippling the mail service to delay ballots .
Though federal judges ordered the reversal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changes , Michigan ’ s sorting machines were never replaced .
In a written statement sent to the Guardian , a USPS spokeswoman , Martha Johnson , noted that the agency has implemented a number of measures to ensure that election mail is expedited and delivered on time .
She questioned the accuracy of the Guardian ’ s test despite it being in line with the postal service ’ s own data and Peters ’ investigation .
“ The postal service can not substantiate that your test represents a reasonable approximation of election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Michigan Democrats have recognized the potential for lost votes and in recent weeks have been asking voters to avoid the mail and take ballots to a drop box or city clerk ’ s office .
The office of the secretary of state , Jocelyn Benson , on 26 October began urging residents with absentee ballots to “ sign the back of the envelope and hand-deliver it to their city or township clerk ’ s office or ballot drop box as soon as possible ” .
Meanwhile , Voters Not Politicians , a non-partisan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since 19 October been urging residents to take ballots to drop boxes or election offices .
It set up an online dropbox locator , and partnered with the League of Women Voters on an information initiative that specifically targets Detroiters .
Dropping off ballots is the best way to “ have assurance that your ballot will be received ” , said Nancy Wang , Voters Not Politicians ’ executive director .
“ With the postal service there ’ s that uncertainty there , and you don ’ t want to push it and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so we ’ re playing our part to get people to act early to make sure their vote is in , and I ’ m happy to see a lot of voters voting as early as they could , ” she said .

Delivery of first class mail in several Michigan cities remains much slower than usual during the two weeks preceding the election, a test of the local postal system found.
The Guardian sent about 150 first class letters between locations in Detroit, Ann Arbor and Hamtramck, three Democratic strongholds in the critical battleground state. The mail was sent to mimic the route that a ballot would take from a mailbox to a city clerk’s office in the same municipality. About 83% of the mail arrived on time. But the service was much worse in Detroit where about 36% of letters arrived at least three days late, and one Detroit letter remains unaccounted for.
Detroit delays could spell trouble for Democratic candidates and the Biden campaign. About 170,000 Detroiters, who are overwhelmingly Democratic, have requested absentee ballots ahead of the election. Trump previously won the state by just over 10,000 votes, and a Michigan judge recently ruled that mail-in ballots arriving after election day will not count. The Detroit city clerk exacerbated the situation by failing to send out 70,000 absentee ballots until the election’s final weeks.
Before the pandemic, and changes made by the Trump-appointed postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, this summer, the United States Postal Service posted on-time delivery rates of around 95%. But new cost-cutting strategies, including the removal of sorting machines at the nation’s largest mail processing center in Pontiac, have slowed distribution.
The on-time delivery rate in the Guardian’s test is in line with the latest data from the postal service, which put its on-time rate in Detroit as low as 52% during a recent three-day period. The national rate was at 82% for a week-long period ending on 16 October, though it has been much lower in key swing states.
The Michigan Senator Gary Peters called the rate “completely unacceptable”. “The postmaster general must immediately comply with all court orders and confirm he has reversed damaging changes that caused severe disruptions to mail service,” he said in a statement.
The one-two blows delivered by DeJoy and the pandemic have been tough for the postal agency to recover from, said Roscoe Woods, president of the American Postal Workers Union in Michigan. “We’re still struggling,” he told the Guardian. “Not having the extra firepower matters, and Covid has been hammering our workforce.”
However, Woods stressed that the postal service was prioritizing ballots and election mail. Groups of employees on each shift pull ballots from the mail stream and expedite their processing, so Woods is confident that election mail is moving through the system quicker than the other first class letters. Employees are also working overtime, reversing a summer DeJoy directive that barred staff from putting in extra hours.
Woods said he couldn’t explain why mail was delivered quicker in Ann Arbor and Hamtramck than Detroit. “Delivery is spotty sometimes and there are certain cities that are doing better than others, and I can’t point to any particular reason why,” he said.
Meanwhile, other technicalities could also threaten ballots. About 11% of the letters sent as part of the Guardian test had issues with illegible postmarks that include the time and date that the envelopes were received – which Woods said could have resulted from printers running low on ink or not being quickly replaced. While Michigan won’t count late-arriving ballots, Pennsylvania will count those postmarked on or before election day. Ballots that are missing the date stamp, however, wouldn’t be counted. (The Guardian is tracking mail-in ballots in critical swing states here.)
DeJoy, a Trump appointee, has been accused of intentionally crippling the mail service to delay ballots. Though federal judges ordered the reversal of many of DeJoy’s operational changes, Michigan’s sorting machines were never replaced.
In a written statement sent to the Guardian, a USPS spokeswoman, Martha Johnson, noted that the agency has implemented a number of measures to ensure that election mail is expedited and delivered on time. She questioned the accuracy of the Guardian’s test despite it being in line with the postal service’s own data and Peters’ investigation.
“The postal service cannot substantiate that your test represents a reasonable approximation of election mail,” Johnson wrote.
But Michigan Democrats have recognized the potential for lost votes and in recent weeks have been asking voters to avoid the mail and take ballots to a drop box or city clerk’s office. The office of the secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, on 26 October began urging residents with absentee ballots to “sign the back of the envelope and hand-deliver it to their city or township clerk’s office or ballot drop box as soon as possible”.
Meanwhile, Voters Not Politicians, a non-partisan non-profit that promotes voting access, has since 19 October been urging residents to take ballots to drop boxes or election offices. It set up an online dropbox locator, and partnered with the League of Women Voters on an information initiative that specifically targets Detroiters.
Dropping off ballots is the best way to “have assurance that your ballot will be received”, said Nancy Wang, Voters Not Politicians’ executive director.
“With the postal service there’s that uncertainty there, and you don’t want to push it and risk having your vote not counted, so we’re playing our part to get people to act early to make sure their vote is in, and I’m happy to see a lot of voters voting as early as they could,” she said.


theguardian--2020-10-31--Women will decide this election – and Trump keeps insulting them

Trump has a very weird way of wooing women Suburban women can be so ungrateful .
Donald Trump saved your damn neighbourhood , OK ?
He ’ s saving your house .
He ’ s saving your community .
He fixed your dishwashers .
He ’ s keeping your crime way down .
And he ’ s getting your husbands back to work !
But despite this unhinged , and racism-tinged , list of imaginary accomplishments – which Trump trots out at every rally – suburban women are turning their backs on the president .
Biden leads by 23 points @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to recent polls , and by 19 points among suburban women overall , according to Pew Research .
This is a big problem for Trump .
53 % of white women voted for him in 2016 ; white women in battleground states like Pennsylvania helped usher him to victory , now they could lose him the election .
Biden is currently beating Trump by 6.7 points in Pennsylvania , largely because he ’ s lost the support of white women .
( It should be noted that while there are plenty of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Women tends to be code for white women – Trump certainly uses it that way . )
Trump can ’ t seem to figure out why on earth the Suburban Housewives of America , who he tweets incessantly about , aren ’ t keen on him .
Nor can he figure out a coherent strategy to get them back : like an abusive ex-boyfriend , he ’ s been veering between angry threats and pathetic groveling , demanding that women appreciate all he ’ s done for them .
“ Suburban women , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump bellowed at a recent rally in Pennsylvania .
“ Please .
I saved your damn neighborhood , OK ?
” That isn ’ t all he ’ s done for women , apparently .
At a rally on Tuesday , Trump boasted that he ’ s “ getting your husbands back to work ” .
This would be a condescending thing to say in any context , but it ’ s particularly infuriating when women have had to leave the workforce at a greater rate than men due to the pandemic .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ US workforce , four times more than men .
It ’ s also a little strange that Trump doesn ’ t seem to think women work , considering his own daughter , Ivanka , wrote a book called Women Who Work where she drops pearls of wisdom like “ women who work are real.
” Something not everyone realised before Ivanka pointed it out .
Ivanka , it should be said , has certainly been working hard for her father ’ s campaign lately .
Over the last few weeks she ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country to woo suburban women with her peerless Stepford charm .
She ’ s recited fun facts about ice-cream in Milwaukee ( “ I learned that the first ice-cream sundae was created in this amazing state !
” ) She ’ s posted cute photos of doughnuts in Michigan .
She ’ s tweeted articles about women ’ s empowerment and promised to help kids and parents .
Except , you know , the 545 children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border , who she ’ s stayed pretty quiet about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her position on abortion , Ivanka has also come out as being “ unapologetically ” anti-abortion .
In an interview with Real Clear Politics on Thursday , Ivanka seemed to suggest that her choosing to have children made her realize other people should be forced to give birth .
“ I respect all sides , ” Ivanka said when asked about abortion , “ but I am also a mother of three children , and parenthood affected me in a profound way in terms of how I think about these things.
” I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coming out as anti-abortion is supposed to help Trump win back women .
Most people in America do not have extremist views about abortion after all .
Rather , the sudden clarification of her abortion stance seems to be a last-ditch effort to drum up support amongst white Catholics , who have cooled on Trump a bit .
With Biden leading in the polls and the election around the corner it seems like the Trump campaign is getting desperate ; throwing whatever they can against the wall and hoping something sticks .
Things @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the moment but , if 2016 taught us anything , it ’ s to take the polls with a pinch of salt and not get complacent .
Please Suburban Women , I ’ m begging you , don ’ t mess it up this time .
The supreme court to hear LGBTQ right case Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the supreme court on Tuesday , meaning there is now a 6-3 conservative supermajority .
We ’ re going to find out very quickly what this means for LBGTQ rights .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hear arguments in Fulton v City of Philadelphia , a case that looks at whether religious foster agencies can refuse to work with same-sex prospective parents .
A ruling could come as soon as 9 November and open the doors to discrimination on the basis of “ religious liberty ” .
“ I beg you to please share your stories and to please be kind to those pouring their hearts out , ” Teigen said .
There is still far too much silence around pregnancy loss and too many women suffering alone .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ save her and not forget her while she languishes in prison , ’ says Loujain ’ s sister .
Shame on everyone who participated in Saudi Arabia ’ s sham of a women ’ s summit earlier this month .
The Royal National Institute of Blind People has developed a prototype pregnancy test that delivers results by raising silicone bumps , rather than visually .
A test like this means visually impaired people can check their results privately .
How America invented the white girl who absolutely loves fall “ The basic white @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solidified in the cultural imagination that she may as well be the season ’ s Easter Bunny , ” this interesting piece in Jezebel notes .
It traverses pumpkin spice , Taylor Swift , nostalgia and the Gilmore Girls to explain why .
Ever wanted to haunt a theatre after you die ?
Now ’ s your chance .
The Regent Theatre in Ontario , Canada has come up with an inspired way to raise some funds : buy a $ 25 ticket and you ’ ll be put into a Halloween raffle @ @ @ @ @ @ @ official ghost of the theatre once you shuffle off this mortal coil .

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Trump has a very weird way of wooing women
Suburban women can be so ungrateful.
Donald Trump saved your damn neighbourhood, OK? He’s saving your house. He’s saving your community. He fixed your dishwashers. He’s keeping your crime way down. And he’s getting your husbands back to work! But despite this unhinged, and racism-tinged, list of imaginary accomplishments – which Trump trots out at every rally – suburban women are turning their backs on the president. Biden leads by 23 points among suburban women in swing states, according to recent polls, and by 19 points among suburban women overall, according to Pew Research.
This is a big problem for Trump. Fifty-three per cent of white women voted for him in 2016; white women in battleground states like Pennsylvania helped usher him to victory, now they could lose him the election. Biden is currently beating Trump by 6.7 points in Pennsylvania, largely because the president has lost the support of white women. (It should be noted that while there are plenty of non-white women in the suburbs, Suburban Women tends to be code for white women – Trump certainly uses it that way.)
Trump can’t seem to figure out why on earth the Suburban Housewives of America, who he tweets incessantly about, aren’t keen on him. Nor can he figure out a coherent strategy to get them back: like an abusive ex-boyfriend, he’s been veering between angry threats and pathetic groveling, demanding that women appreciate all he’s done for them. “Suburban women, will you please like me?” Trump bellowed at a recent rally in Pennsylvania. “Please. I saved your damn neighborhood, OK?”
That isn’t all he’s done for women, apparently. At a rally on Tuesday, Trump boasted that he’s “getting your husbands back to work”. This would be a condescending thing to say in any context, but it’s particularly infuriating when women have had to leave the workforce at a greater rate than men due to the pandemic. In September, 865,000 women left the US workforce, four times more than men.
It’s also a little strange that Trump doesn’t seem to think women work, considering his own daughter, Ivanka, wrote a book called Women Who Work where she drops pearls of wisdom like “women who work are real”. Something not everyone realised before Ivanka pointed it out.
Ivanka, it should be said, has certainly been working hard for her father’s campaign lately. Over the last few weeks she’s been parachuting into battleground states across the country to woo suburban women with her peerless Stepford charm. She’s recited fun facts about ice-cream in Milwaukee (“I learned that the first ice-cream sundae was created in this amazing state!”) She’s posted cute photos of doughnuts in Michigan. She’s tweeted articles about women’s empowerment and promised to help kids and parents. Except, you know, the 545 children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border, who she’s stayed pretty quiet about.
After years of being vague about her position on abortion, Ivanka has also come out as being “unapologetically” anti-abortion. In an interview with Real Clear Politics on Thursday, Ivanka seemed to suggest that her choosing to have children made her realize other people should be forced to give birth. “I respect all sides,” Ivanka said when asked about abortion, “but I am also a mother of three children, and parenthood affected me in a profound way in terms of how I think about these things.”
I’m not entirely sure how Ivanka coming out as anti-abortion is supposed to help Trump win back women. Most people in America do not have extremist views about abortion, after all. Rather, the sudden clarification of her abortion stance seems to be a last-ditch effort to drum up support among white Catholics, who have cooled on Trump a bit. With Biden leading in the polls and the election around the corner it seems like the Trump campaign is getting desperate; throwing whatever they can against the wall and hoping something sticks.
Things don’t look good for Trump at the moment but, if 2016 taught us anything, it’s to take the polls with a pinch of salt and not get complacent. Please Suburban Women, I’m begging you, don’t mess it up this time.
The supreme court to hear LGBTQ right case
Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the supreme court on Tuesday, meaning there is now a 6-3 conservative supermajority. We’re going to find out very quickly what this means for LBGTQ rights. The day after the election the court will hear arguments in Fulton v City of Philadelphia, a case that looks at whether religious foster agencies can refuse to work with same-sex prospective parents. A ruling could come as soon as 9 November and open the doors to discrimination on the basis of “religious liberty”.
Chrissy Teigen wrote a moving piece about losing her baby
“I beg you to please share your stories and to please be kind to those pouring their hearts out,” Teigen said. There is still far too much silence around pregnancy loss and too many women suffering alone.
Loujain Al-Hathloul, jailed Saudi activist, on hunger strike
“The world has a duty to save her and not forget her while she languishes in prison,’ says Loujain’s sister. Shame on everyone who participated in Saudi Arabia’s sham of a women’s summit earlier this month.
A tactile pregnancy test for visually impaired people
The Royal National Institute of Blind People has developed a prototype pregnancy test that delivers results by raising silicone bumps, rather than visually. A test like this means visually impaired people can check their results privately.
How America invented the white girl who absolutely loves fall
“The basic white girl who loves fall has become so solidified in the cultural imagination that she may as well be the season’s Easter Bunny,” this interesting piece in Jezebel notes. It traverses pumpkin spice, Taylor Swift, nostalgia and the Gilmore Girls to explain why.
The week in poltergeistarchy
Ever wanted to haunt a theatre after you die? Now’s your chance. The Regent Theatre in Ontario, Canada has come up with an inspired way to raise some funds: buy a $25 ticket and you’ll be put into a Halloween raffle to gain the rights to become the official ghost of the theatre once you shuffle off this mortal coil.