csmonitor--2020-12-14--Americans are giving more than ever to charities. Is it enough?

The American spirit of generosity this holiday season may be no match for the coronavirus .
Despite record amounts of charitable donations this year , the effects of the pandemic are suffocating nonprofits across the country as organizations face soaring costs and demand for help , yet are largely without their own support systems , including volunteers and in-person fundraising events .
December is typically the most important month for nonprofit revenues , as Christmas and end-of-year tax deductions drive a flood of charitable giving .
The holiday campaign season that charities big and small rely on is underway in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has infected more than 16 million people and claimed nearly 298,000 lives in the United States alone .
The Salvation Army , already down 18 % in funding this year , projects its Red Kettle campaign will net half as much as it did in 2019 .
That ’ s a $ 60 million drop for the iconic fundraising drive being crippled by the pandemic in numerous ways .
Thousands of kettle locations were eliminated because the businesses that once hosted them have closed and foot traffic has diminished as much of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Its pool of volunteer bell ringers is smaller , as many older helpers – some who dress up as Santa Claus – are unable to participate because they ’ re at high-risk for COVID-19 .
There ’ s even a national coin shortage , in part because pandemic shopping has turned increasingly digital .
The Salvation Army ’ s thrift stores as a separate funding stream are also projected to take a $ 150 million hit this year .
The Christian social services charity expects 6.6 million people – a 155 % increase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ help between Thanksgiving and Christmas , for food , toys , and rent assistance as eviction moratoriums expire .
“ The numbers in terms of the people who we are serving are simply off the charts and how we ’ re going to meet the increased need is causing us to be concerned about the giving levels we ’ re seeing so far , ” said Kenneth Hodder , the U.S. national commander for the Salvation Army .
But multiple studies and surveys say more people than ever are giving and at greater @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Commons estimates there was a 23 % jump in the number of people who participated in the movement to donate on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the U.S .
The organization said 16.8 million people across the country gave a collective $ 2.47 billion on Dec. 1 – a 25 % increase in total dollars compared to Giving Tuesday last year .
That ’ s more than what any single U.S. philanthropic foundation gave in 2019 , with the exception of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation , said Woodrow Rosenbaum , GivingTuesday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Charitable said it has distributed 32 % more grants and seen a 20 % increase in people setting up investment accounts for charitable giving this year .
But , the donor-advised fund operator , which generally caters to a wealthier donor base , also said two-thirds of its surveyed donors decreased or stopped volunteering during the pandemic .
There have been efforts to encourage more giving since the coronavirus took hold of modern life in March .
The IRS is urging the public to utilize a special $ 300 tax deduction that can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2020 to tax-exempted nonprofits .
The initiative allows non-itemized filers to get the tax break only for 2020 , as part of the Coronavirus Aid , Relief , and Economic Security Act passed by Congress last spring .
Big philanthropic players have also stepped up .
The Ford Foundation said it has already surpassed last year ’ s total giving with $ 580 million in grants .
It ’ s giving another $ 400 million through a bond .
Ford and four other foundations announced earlier this year they would borrow $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ afloat donations-dependent nonprofits through the crisis .
“ Even in the best of times , even the most well-known nonprofits live on the edge financially , ” said Hilary Pennington , an executive vice president at Ford .
That all might not be enough .
When stay-at-home orders were first issued in March , Adam Porter , the Meals on Wheels director for the nonprofit Sound Generations in Seattle , feared the worst because volunteers typically deliver more than half of the hundreds of thousands of meal kits the organization provides to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : ‘ Well , game over .
We gave it a good shot but we won ’ t have a program without our volunteers , ’ ” Mr. Porter said .
The program has made do with 40 fewer active volunteers this year compared to last , while Sound Generations has raised $ 200,000 , or nearly 10 % , more in donations overall .
The remaining volunteers , Mr. Porter said , have taken on more work to ensure there ’ s no waitlist for food .
Nationally , Meals on Wheels @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , on average , serving 77 % more meals this year compared to 2019 , and nearly all of them are facing financial strain because they ’ ve also had to buy additional safety equipment and pay drivers to replace volunteers .
Though the national organization has given emergency grants worth more than $ 31 million to local programs since April , increasing donations are simply not bridging the gap in many cases .
The nonprofit tracker Candid also projected in July that 22,000 or 7 % of nonprofits in the U.S. may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Among those struggling the most are arts organizations , which have collectively lost an estimated $ 14.6 billion in revenue to date this year , according to the Americans for the Arts .
The national advocacy group projects 12,000 arts and cultural nonprofits are at risk of being wiped out forever .
But as the world recovers from the isolation of the pandemic , Mr. Rosenbaum of GivingTuesday said , arts and social services organizations that draw people together will be among the most integral to rebuilding a sense of community .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Mr. Rosenbaum said .
“ And a role of healing.
” This story was reported by The Associated Press .

The American spirit of generosity this holiday season may be no match for the coronavirus.
Despite record amounts of charitable donations this year, the effects of the pandemic are suffocating nonprofits across the country as organizations face soaring costs and demand for help, yet are largely without their own support systems, including volunteers and in-person fundraising events.
December is typically the most important month for nonprofit revenues, as Christmas and end-of-year tax deductions drive a flood of charitable giving. The holiday campaign season that charities big and small rely on is underway in full force amid a resurging pandemic that has infected more than 16 million people and claimed nearly 298,000 lives in the United States alone.
The Salvation Army, already down 18% in funding this year, projects its Red Kettle campaign will net half as much as it did in 2019. That’s a $60 million drop for the iconic fundraising drive being crippled by the pandemic in numerous ways.
Thousands of kettle locations were eliminated because the businesses that once hosted them have closed and foot traffic has diminished as much of the public opts to stay at home. Its pool of volunteer bell ringers is smaller, as many older helpers – some who dress up as Santa Claus – are unable to participate because they’re at high-risk for COVID-19. There’s even a national coin shortage, in part because pandemic shopping has turned increasingly digital.
The Salvation Army’s thrift stores as a separate funding stream are also projected to take a $150 million hit this year.
The Christian social services charity expects 6.6 million people – a 155% increase over last year – will seek their help between Thanksgiving and Christmas, for food, toys, and rent assistance as eviction moratoriums expire.
“The numbers in terms of the people who we are serving are simply off the charts and how we’re going to meet the increased need is causing us to be concerned about the giving levels we’re seeing so far,” said Kenneth Hodder, the U.S. national commander for the Salvation Army.
But multiple studies and surveys say more people than ever are giving and at greater amounts than usual.
The GivingTuesday Data Commons estimates there was a 23% jump in the number of people who participated in the movement to donate on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the U.S.
The organization said 16.8 million people across the country gave a collective $2.47 billion on Dec. 1 – a 25% increase in total dollars compared to Giving Tuesday last year. That’s more than what any single U.S. philanthropic foundation gave in 2019, with the exception of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said Woodrow Rosenbaum, GivingTuesday’s chief data officer.
Fidelity Charitable said it has distributed 32% more grants and seen a 20% increase in people setting up investment accounts for charitable giving this year. But, the donor-advised fund operator, which generally caters to a wealthier donor base, also said two-thirds of its surveyed donors decreased or stopped volunteering during the pandemic.
There have been efforts to encourage more giving since the coronavirus took hold of modern life in March.
The IRS is urging the public to utilize a special $300 tax deduction that can be claimed next year for cash donations in 2020 to tax-exempted nonprofits. The initiative allows non-itemized filers to get the tax break only for 2020, as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act passed by Congress last spring.
Big philanthropic players have also stepped up.
The Ford Foundation said it has already surpassed last year’s total giving with $580 million in grants. It’s giving another $400 million through a bond. Ford and four other foundations announced earlier this year they would borrow $1.7 billion through bonds to help keep afloat donations-dependent nonprofits through the crisis.
“Even in the best of times, even the most well-known nonprofits live on the edge financially,” said Hilary Pennington, an executive vice president at Ford.
That all might not be enough.
When stay-at-home orders were first issued in March, Adam Porter, the Meals on Wheels director for the nonprofit Sound Generations in Seattle, feared the worst because volunteers typically deliver more than half of the hundreds of thousands of meal kits the organization provides to the elderly.
“I said to myself: ‘Well, game over. We gave it a good shot but we won’t have a program without our volunteers,’” Mr. Porter said.
The program has made do with 40 fewer active volunteers this year compared to last, while Sound Generations has raised $200,000, or nearly 10%, more in donations overall. The remaining volunteers, Mr. Porter said, have taken on more work to ensure there’s no waitlist for food.
Nationally, Meals on Wheels America said its 5,000 community programs are, on average, serving 77% more meals this year compared to 2019, and nearly all of them are facing financial strain because they’ve also had to buy additional safety equipment and pay drivers to replace volunteers. Though the national organization has given emergency grants worth more than $31 million to local programs since April, increasing donations are simply not bridging the gap in many cases.
The nonprofit tracker Candid also projected in July that 22,000 or 7% of nonprofits in the U.S. may close because of the coronavirus crisis.
Among those struggling the most are arts organizations, which have collectively lost an estimated $14.6 billion in revenue to date this year, according to the Americans for the Arts. The national advocacy group projects 12,000 arts and cultural nonprofits are at risk of being wiped out forever.
But as the world recovers from the isolation of the pandemic, Mr. Rosenbaum of GivingTuesday said, arts and social services organizations that draw people together will be among the most integral to rebuilding a sense of community.
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“They have a role of community,” Mr. Rosenbaum said. “And a role of healing.”
This story was reported by The Associated Press.


csmonitor--2020-12-14--From streets to museums: Artists archive 2020 summer of protest

Neither woman could bear to watch the video of George Floyd ’ s final moments , his neck pinned under a Minneapolis police officer ’ s knee .
But as their city grieved , Leesa Kelly and Kenda Zellner-Smith found much-needed comfort in the messages of anguish and hope that appeared on boarded-up windows as residents turned miles of plywood into canvases .
Now , they ’ re working to save those murals before they vanish .
“ These walls speak , ” said Ms. Zellner-Smith , who said she was too numb to cry after Mr. Floyd ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expressions of communities .
We want these feelings , hopes , calls to action to live on.
” Together , the two Black women formed Save the Boards to Memorialize the Movement , part of a push to preserve the ephemeral expressions of anger and pain born of outrage over racial injustice that triggered weeks of protests across the country .
Some artists began painting intricate murals , but many spray-painted raw messages of anguish .
Ms. Zellner-Smith started with the simple pieces .
“ Some of these boards aren ’ t pretty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is collective pain and grief in each board , and each one tells a different aspect of this story .
And now we get to tell that story to everyone.
” One is the word “ MAMA ” scrawled hastily onto the side of an abandoned Walmart .
The word was among Mr. Floyd ’ s last .
Now it ’ s part of a database of protest art called the Urban Art Mapping George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art database .
“ The art was changing quickly , and these raw , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over , ” said Todd Lawrence , an associate professor of English at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul , Minnesota , and one of the database ’ s creators .
“ We want people to see the full range of responses , the complexity , the multitude of voices.
” Mr. Lawrence and art history professor Heather Shirey were part of a research team already documenting street art .
When the streets of countless cities became temporary galleries after Mr. Floyd ’ s death , they set out to capture @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many of the 1,600 artworks in the crowdsourced database come from Minneapolis , Ms. Shirey says they hope to expand to pieces from around the world .
“ Oppression and racial violence is unfortunately universal , so art is responding to it around the world , ” she said .
Similar work is going on across the country as groups take measures to keep the art alive .
In New York City , the Soho Broadway Initiative worked with local arts groups to get permission for murals and provide artists with materials .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ organization returned 22 artworks to artists and collected 20 more waiting to be returned .
In Indianapolis , organizer Malina Jeffers is unsure about the future of the Black Lives Matter street mural stretching across Indiana Avenue .
The mural is wearing down from traffic , and with winter will come weather damage and snowplows .
But it will live on in prints and on T-shirts created by the local Black artists behind the original mural .
More than 1,000 shirts have been sold .
Vinyl banners representing 24 other murals painted in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city ’ s Central Library .
“ All of us know the mural won ’ t be there forever , ” Ms. Jeffers said .
“ So we all wanted a piece of it to hold onto.
” For Seattle ’ s Black Lives Matter street mural , Mexican American artist Angelina Villalobos mixed her mother ’ s ashes into the bright green paint she used for the letter A .
City workers scrubbed the mural from the asphalt after it began chipping , but one worker collected paint from each letter , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her mother ’ s altar in the kitchen .
“ I ’ m getting my mom back , but she ’ s been transformed , ” she said .
“ It ’ s like ... a time capsule of that mural experience and all the work and thought and pain that went into it.
” The original artists have repainted the mural , planning to touch it up again in five years .
Designers at the Seattle architecture and design firm GGLO are using a different approach to preserve protest art by creating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ visitors to use smartphones to view works scattered around the city .
The show includes a digital version of the “ Right to Remain ” poster by local artist Kreau , 3D graffiti honoring victims of police brutality , and digital tears pouring over Seattle ’ s skyline .
Gargi Kadoo , a member of the design team , says much of the protest art around Seattle was removed .
Street art has been erased in many other cities , including Tulsa , Oklahoma , where workers in October removed a Black Lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tulsa Race Massacre , where in 1921 a white mob attacked a prosperous African American district , killing an estimated 300 people .
Other cities such as Indianapolis and New York City have seen their Black Lives Matter murals vandalized .
“ This is our homage to the art that is gone , ” Ms. Kadoo said .
“ It ’ s trying to keep the message alive virtually , in a form that no one can take down or hose off.
” In Oakland , California , community arts organizations are preserving @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The team is discussing plans including a December outdoor exhibition , a 2021 indoor exhibition , and high school lesson plans centering the artwork , said Jean Marie Durant , president of Oakland Art Murmur Board of Directors .
The Black-led Black Cultural Zone has a leading role in the project .
“ We ’ ve been living this story , this trauma for a long time , ” CEO Carolyn Johnson said .
“ That gives us a perspective that others may not have .
We know how to best tell this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Boards is working with the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery to document , archive , and plan an exhibition in May 2021 , the anniversary of Mr. Floyd ’ s death .
Museum co-founder Tina Burnside says the initiative hopes to preserve the murals in a way that continues dialogue on systemic racism , provides context , and allows for public access .
“ It ’ s an important chapter in the fight for racial justice in this country , ” she said .
“ We ’ re documenting history.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ filled their warehouse space to capacity .
They started out by hoarding boards in their garages .
Now , they have 537 in a warehouse .
They say watching the space fill up was surreal .
“ Being surrounded by these boards that encompass this pain and grief and hope , it was spiritual , ” Ms. Kelly said .
The group ’ s next steps are to catalog the boards , do 3D scans , and build a virtual gallery .
But while Ms. Kelly and Ms. Zellner-Smith created a GoFundMe to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have quickly dwindled .
“ They all need to be saved , ” Ms. Zellner-Smith said .
“ They all matter , and we want to keep collecting .
We ’ re just a little stuck right now .
But the work is far from over.
” This story was reported by The Associated Press .

Neither woman could bear to watch the video of George Floyd’s final moments, his neck pinned under a Minneapolis police officer’s knee.
But as their city grieved, Leesa Kelly and Kenda Zellner-Smith found much-needed comfort in the messages of anguish and hope that appeared on boarded-up windows as residents turned miles of plywood into canvases. Now, they’re working to save those murals before they vanish.
“These walls speak,” said Ms. Zellner-Smith, who said she was too numb to cry after Mr. Floyd’s killing. “They’re the expressions of communities. We want these feelings, hopes, calls to action to live on.”
Together, the two Black women formed Save the Boards to Memorialize the Movement, part of a push to preserve the ephemeral expressions of anger and pain born of outrage over racial injustice that triggered weeks of protests across the country.
Some artists began painting intricate murals, but many spray-painted raw messages of anguish. Ms. Zellner-Smith started with the simple pieces.
“Some of these boards aren’t pretty,” she said. “There is collective pain and grief in each board, and each one tells a different aspect of this story. And now we get to tell that story to everyone.”
One is the word “MAMA” scrawled hastily onto the side of an abandoned Walmart. The word was among Mr. Floyd’s last. Now it’s part of a database of protest art called the Urban Art Mapping George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art database.
“The art was changing quickly, and these raw, immediate responses were being erased and painted over,” said Todd Lawrence, an associate professor of English at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and one of the database’s creators. “We want people to see the full range of responses, the complexity, the multitude of voices.”
Mr. Lawrence and art history professor Heather Shirey were part of a research team already documenting street art. When the streets of countless cities became temporary galleries after Mr. Floyd’s death, they set out to capture the art before it disappeared.
Although many of the 1,600 artworks in the crowdsourced database come from Minneapolis, Ms. Shirey says they hope to expand to pieces from around the world.
“Oppression and racial violence is unfortunately universal, so art is responding to it around the world,” she said.
Similar work is going on across the country as groups take measures to keep the art alive.
In New York City, the Soho Broadway Initiative worked with local arts groups to get permission for murals and provide artists with materials. As murals started coming down, the organization returned 22 artworks to artists and collected 20 more waiting to be returned.
In Indianapolis, organizer Malina Jeffers is unsure about the future of the Black Lives Matter street mural stretching across Indiana Avenue. The mural is wearing down from traffic, and with winter will come weather damage and snowplows.
But it will live on in prints and on T-shirts created by the local Black artists behind the original mural. More than 1,000 shirts have been sold. Vinyl banners representing 24 other murals painted in the downtown area are displayed at the city’s Central Library.
“All of us know the mural won’t be there forever,” Ms. Jeffers said. “So we all wanted a piece of it to hold onto.”
For Seattle’s Black Lives Matter street mural, Mexican American artist Angelina Villalobos mixed her mother’s ashes into the bright green paint she used for the letter A. City workers scrubbed the mural from the asphalt after it began chipping, but one worker collected paint from each letter, which Ms. Villalobos plans to keep on her mother’s altar in the kitchen.
“I’m getting my mom back, but she’s been transformed,” she said. “It’s like ... a time capsule of that mural experience and all the work and thought and pain that went into it.”
The original artists have repainted the mural, planning to touch it up again in five years.
Designers at the Seattle architecture and design firm GGLO are using a different approach to preserve protest art by creating an augmented reality art show that allows visitors to use smartphones to view works scattered around the city. The show includes a digital version of the “Right to Remain” poster by local artist Kreau, 3D graffiti honoring victims of police brutality, and digital tears pouring over Seattle’s skyline.
Gargi Kadoo, a member of the design team, says much of the protest art around Seattle was removed. Street art has been erased in many other cities, including Tulsa, Oklahoma, where workers in October removed a Black Lives Matter painting at the site of the Tulsa Race Massacre, where in 1921 a white mob attacked a prosperous African American district, killing an estimated 300 people. Other cities such as Indianapolis and New York City have seen their Black Lives Matter murals vandalized.
“This is our homage to the art that is gone,” Ms. Kadoo said. “It’s trying to keep the message alive virtually, in a form that no one can take down or hose off.”
In Oakland, California, community arts organizations are preserving and cataloging more than 700 murals. The team is discussing plans including a December outdoor exhibition, a 2021 indoor exhibition, and high school lesson plans centering the artwork, said Jean Marie Durant, president of Oakland Art Murmur Board of Directors.
The Black-led Black Cultural Zone has a leading role in the project.
“We’ve been living this story, this trauma for a long time,” CEO Carolyn Johnson said. “That gives us a perspective that others may not have. We know how to best tell this story.”
Back in Minneapolis, Save the Boards is working with the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery to document, archive, and plan an exhibition in May 2021, the anniversary of Mr. Floyd’s death.
Museum co-founder Tina Burnside says the initiative hopes to preserve the murals in a way that continues dialogue on systemic racism, provides context, and allows for public access.
“It’s an important chapter in the fight for racial justice in this country,” she said. “We’re documenting history.”
Ms. Kelly and Ms. Zellner-Smith have filled their warehouse space to capacity. They started out by hoarding boards in their garages. Now, they have 537 in a warehouse. They say watching the space fill up was surreal.
“Being surrounded by these boards that encompass this pain and grief and hope, it was spiritual,” Ms. Kelly said.
The group’s next steps are to catalog the boards, do 3D scans, and build a virtual gallery.
But while Ms. Kelly and Ms. Zellner-Smith created a GoFundMe to raise money for the project, funds have quickly dwindled.
Get stories that
empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
“They all need to be saved,” Ms. Zellner-Smith said. “They all matter, and we want to keep collecting. We’re just a little stuck right now. But the work is far from over.”
This story was reported by The Associated Press.


csmonitor--2020-12-14--How will a Black Texas GOP chief nurture Trumpism after Trump?

Frustrated grassroots Republicans are `` ready for their elected officials to actually deliver conservative results , '' says Luke Macias , a conservative political strategist .
“ Chairman West recognizes that and has rightfully [ become ] an ambassador of the grassroots.
” The Trump base hopes Colonel West – whose hero , Davy Crockett , is known for his dying last stand – will leverage his rigid conservative ideology to force state leaders to finally fight for their interests and concerns .
Those include banning abortion , reinforcing traditional views of sexuality , and cracking down on unauthorized immigrants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this moment , ” says Fred Wellman , a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who is now a senior adviser at the Lincoln Project , a group of Republicans opposing Mr. Trump .
“ Trumpism rises , and here he is , state chair of a large state.
” Colonel West ’ s unbending commitment to conservative principle has become a window on how Trumpism will survive the Trump presidency , say party regulars watching in astonishment as well as grassroots Republicans watching in righteous support .
The conservative firebrand newly elected to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ West , is an African American retired Army officer who calls himself “ liberals ’ worst nightmare.
” And he has rebranded the state GOP with the slogan , “ We are the storm , ” linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory ( though the party disputes that connection ) .
As dark fell over Taji , Iraq , on an August evening in 2003 , Lt. Col. Allen West – angry and afraid – decided to take matters into his own hands .
His battalion had been ambushed several times , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plot to attack them – and an alleged accomplice in custody .
“ I came here for two reasons , to get the information I need or to kill you , ” Colonel West , his 9 mm pistol drawn and resting on his knee , told the alleged accomplice , according to a U.S. Army investigation of the incident .
But with each denial of knowledge of the plan by the alleged accomplice , local police officer Yehiya Hamoodi , the rumored attack grew more imminent and deadly in Colonel West ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Minutes later , he was pushing Mr. Hamoodi ’ s head into a clearing barrel – a sand-filled container used to clear ammunition from weapons .
He put the pistol a foot from Mr. Hamoodi ’ s head and fired a round into the barrel .
“ The man inside me probably did want to inflict hurt , ” Colonel West told an investigator , “ but the soldier and leader just wanted the pertinent intelligence for the safety of my soldiers.
” To this day , the incident – which dislodged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It ’ s a case study in Army officer training for how to navigate moral gray areas in a war zone .
But even when a situation is gray , Colonel West has a penchant for viewing it in black and white .
He wasn ’ t court-martialed , but the incident brought his Army career to an end – while launching his political career as a conservative cause célèbre for sticking to his principles despite the consequences .
Now , as the new chairman of the Texas Republican party , Colonel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ principle has become a window on how Trumpism will survive the Trump presidency , say party regulars watching in astonishment as well as grassroots Republicans watching in righteous support .
A Tea Party forerunner of Trumpian disruption , he criticized the president in 2017 but now backs him to the hilt .
Last week , within an hour of the U.S. Supreme Court dismissing a Texas lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump ’ s election defeat in four states , he blasted the ruling , suggesting that “ law-abiding states should bond together and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ outright calls for secession – “ America needs Texas to lead , not secede , ” he also said last weekend – but as the Republican Party fractures nationally over Mr. Trump ’ s election defeat , he is staking a claim to be a vocal , earnest leader of the party ’ s grassroots Trumpian wing .
“ Allen West is tailor-made for this moment , ” says Fred Wellman , a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who is now a senior adviser at the Lincoln Project , a group of Republicans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approach to this day [ is ] ‘ take no prisoners , ’ ” he adds .
“ He doesn ’ t work with anyone .
He ’ s constantly making threats .
... Trumpism rises , and here he is , state chair of a large state.
” With a precise high-and-tight military haircut and wire-rimmed spectacles , the conservative warrior presents seriously in measured tones and frequent historical references .
But the content of his zero-sum view of politics – as a war between conservatism and “ progressive socialism ” – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it does the trustees of the old Bush “ compassionate ” conservatism .
An African American born in a Blacks-only Atlanta hospital , he grew up in the same neighborhood that decades earlier produced Martin Luther King Jr .
But he has called himself “ liberals ’ worst nightmare ” and has rebranded the state GOP with a slogan , “ We are the storm , ” linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory ( though the state party disputes that connection ) .
His shoot-from-the-hip critiques are aimed equally at “ socialist ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would consort with them .
And while the majority of Texas Republicans may not share that Manichaean view of U.S. politics , it ’ s a pillar of the Trump base .
“ West wants to say you ’ re either with us or against us , ” says Brandon Rottinghaus , a University of Houston political scientist .
“ That sends a clear signal that Donald Trump ’ s influence on American politics continues.
” Like one of his heroes , Davy Crockett , Colonel West likes to say he ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Texas .
He graduated from the University of Tennessee before joining the Army , where a glittering 22-year career included tours in the first and second Gulf Wars and a Bronze Star , among other decorations .
Crockett and another of West ’ s heroes – the Spartan King Leonidas – both perished in heroic last stands , and it ’ s this angle that best illustrates how Colonel West views his job in Texas and nationally .
The political marketplace of ideas is , in his view , more a battlefield @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or even an argument , but a conflict .
“ Right now what we see are two conflicting philosophies of governance , two conflicting ideological agendas , ” Colonel West told the Monitor in a September interview .
“ People are truly ready to get out there and make sure that [ conservatives ] hold on to Texas.
” A state party chair is supposed to help the party gain or stay in power , but Colonel West has put his personal stamp on the job .
Where past chairs kept a low @ @ @ @ @ @ @ finances healthy , he makes regular appearances at rallies and on cable news .
While he most often rails against Democrats , he ’ s fueled his rise in Texas by criticizing the state ’ s Republican leaders for what he calls the “ tyranny ” of Gov .
Greg Abbott ’ s response to the COVID-19 pandemic : “ My criticisms of Governor Abbott have nothing to do with the person .
It has everything to do with the fact that we should not be ruled with orders , mandates , edicts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of uproar generated , Colonel West ’ s attacks on the governor pale compared with his November criticism of Dade Phelan , a Republican state representative from East Texas , as “ a Republican political traitor ” for seeking “ affirmation from progressive socialist Democrats.
” State representatives were quick to hit back at Colonel West with one of the most potent political attacks in Texas : not being a true Texan .
“ Allen West [ needs ] to be bought a one-way bus ticket back to Florida , ” said Dennis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in a radio interview .
“ The problem is that I don ’ t think Florida will take him.
” Colonel West ’ s approach also runs counter to how the GOP has been able to comfortably hold political power in the state for 25 years , some Texas Republicans say .
Making a heroic stand against “ progressive socialism ” in Texas is all well and good , but the reality is that Republicans have been winning voters just fine already – in part because they have worked with Democrats without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ West is certainly focused on the grassroots perspective of the party , ” says Jamie McWright , president of the Associated Republicans of Texas .
“ We have to stay focused on issues that matter most .
If we do , we ’ ll continue to win.
” While the state GOP as a whole has drifted to the right of the business-friendly , “ compassionate ” conservatism of the Bush family , it has declined to push the envelope in governing .
Bombastic ultraconservatives have always been a feature of Texas politics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas , Austin , but they haven ’ t been “ overly successful.
” “ I ’ m not saying he ’ s not important or relevant , ” he says , but Colonel West “ wants to claim a majoritarian status within the Republican Party , and to my mind it ’ s not clear that that ’ s true .
... Allen West is a thorn in the side of many people .
My suspicion is they ’ d rather pluck it than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the colonel ’ s political start on Florida ’ s Treasure Coast , and it embarrasses her still that she spelled the newcomer ’ s name wrong – Alan West – on publicity material .
As president of the Broward County Federation of Republican Women , her group was getting tired of cookie-cutter speeches from local candidates .
She asked Colonel West to say something different , and he obliged : A talk about the women he served with in the military and the differences they ’ d faced in the countries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He had everybody sold , ” recalls Ms. Stolberg , who decided on the spot to volunteer for him .
“ He ’ s one of those people who will stand up for what he believes in and it doesn ’ t matter what the consequences are .
...
If he ran for president tomorrow , I ’ d probably work for him again.
” “ Not your average politician.
” It ’ s a compliment often heard about Colonel West – and another trait he seems to share with President Trump .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Washington , D.C. , ] and I ’ m going to drain that cesspool , ” he said at one April 2010 rally , foreshadowing the 45th president .
And in his one term in Congress , from 2010 to 2012 , he was committed to his ideological mission .
“ He was all business , ” says Tom Rooney , a former Florida Republican congressman who served with him on the House Armed Services Committee .
“ On the House floor he ’ d talk to you about issues , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” And , he adds , in trying to compromise with some lawmakers on the Hill “ you don ’ t know how to get from Point A to Point B .
… You may never get to Point B with Allen , because he ’ s set in his ways , but at least you know where he stands.
” Florida ’ s Treasure Coast was an ideologically diverse area at the time , and Colonel West may have lasted longer in the House save for his consistently favoring principle over compromise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two passed , neither with Democratic cosponsors .
In Texas , frustrated grassroots Republicans hope his rigid conservative ideology will force state leaders to finally fight for their interests and concerns – like banning abortion , reinforcing traditional views of sexuality , and cracking down on unauthorized immigrants .
“ The energy to keep Texas red didn ’ t come from Texans who want purple government , ” says Luke Macias , a conservative political strategist .
“ Republicans in Texas are ready for their elected officials to actually deliver conservative results , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that and has rightfully [ become ] an ambassador of the grassroots.
” Colonel West would certainly be an earnest ambassador .
Had he been willing to compromise on some of his values , he might still be in the Army or Congress .
As it stands , with a constituency comprised exclusively of Republicans , he hopes to maintain – and expand – that grassroots base as a new standard-bearer of the Republican Party ’ s Trumpian wing .
“ I would rather be in a position where I could do something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do something to support Texas overall , ” he says .

Frustrated grassroots Republicans are "ready for their elected officials to actually deliver conservative results," says Luke Macias, a conservative political strategist. “Chairman West recognizes that and has rightfully [become] an ambassador of the grassroots.”
The Trump base hopes Colonel West – whose hero, Davy Crockett, is known for his dying last stand – will leverage his rigid conservative ideology to force state leaders to finally fight for their interests and concerns. Those include banning abortion, reinforcing traditional views of sexuality, and cracking down on unauthorized immigrants.
“Allen West is tailor-made for this moment,” says Fred Wellman, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who is now a senior adviser at the Lincoln Project, a group of Republicans opposing Mr. Trump. “Trumpism rises, and here he is, state chair of a large state.”
The takeover of the Texas GOP by retired Lt. Col. Allen West – a Black Republican of unbending principles – mirrors President Donald Trump's takeover of the party at the national level. The colonel's popularity with the grassroots is a window on how Trumpism can survive the Trump presidency.
Colonel West’s unbending commitment to conservative principle has become a window on how Trumpism will survive the Trump presidency, say party regulars watching in astonishment as well as grassroots Republicans watching in righteous support.
The conservative firebrand newly elected to chair the Texas Republican party, Allen West, is an African American retired Army officer who calls himself “liberals’ worst nightmare.” And he has rebranded the state GOP with the slogan, “We are the storm,” linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory (though the party disputes that connection).
As dark fell over Taji, Iraq, on an August evening in 2003, Lt. Col. Allen West – angry and afraid – decided to take matters into his own hands.
His battalion had been ambushed several times, and now it had information of another imminent plot to attack them – and an alleged accomplice in custody.
“I came here for two reasons, to get the information I need or to kill you,” Colonel West, his 9 mm pistol drawn and resting on his knee, told the alleged accomplice, according to a U.S. Army investigation of the incident.
Why We Wrote This The takeover of the Texas GOP by retired Lt. Col. Allen West – a Black Republican of unbending principles – mirrors President Donald Trump's takeover of the party at the national level. The colonel's popularity with the grassroots is a window on how Trumpism can survive the Trump presidency.
But with each denial of knowledge of the plan by the alleged accomplice, local police officer Yehiya Hamoodi, the rumored attack grew more imminent and deadly in Colonel West’s mind. He ordered everyone outside. Minutes later, he was pushing Mr. Hamoodi’s head into a clearing barrel – a sand-filled container used to clear ammunition from weapons. He put the pistol a foot from Mr. Hamoodi’s head and fired a round into the barrel.
“The man inside me probably did want to inflict hurt,” Colonel West told an investigator, “but the soldier and leader just wanted the pertinent intelligence for the safety of my soldiers.”
To this day, the incident – which dislodged faulty information – vexes ethicists and academics. It’s a case study in Army officer training for how to navigate moral gray areas in a war zone. But even when a situation is gray, Colonel West has a penchant for viewing it in black and white.
He wasn’t court-martialed, but the incident brought his Army career to an end – while launching his political career as a conservative cause célèbre for sticking to his principles despite the consequences.
Now, as the new chairman of the Texas Republican party, Colonel West’s unbending commitment to conservative principle has become a window on how Trumpism will survive the Trump presidency, say party regulars watching in astonishment as well as grassroots Republicans watching in righteous support.
A Tea Party forerunner of Trumpian disruption, he criticized the president in 2017 but now backs him to the hilt. Last week, within an hour of the U.S. Supreme Court dismissing a Texas lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s election defeat in four states, he blasted the ruling, suggesting that “law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union.” He has critiqued outright calls for secession – “America needs Texas to lead, not secede,” he also said last weekend – but as the Republican Party fractures nationally over Mr. Trump’s election defeat, he is staking a claim to be a vocal, earnest leader of the party’s grassroots Trumpian wing.
“Allen West is tailor-made for this moment,” says Fred Wellman, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who is now a senior adviser at the Lincoln Project, a group of Republicans opposing Mr. Trump.
“His political approach to this day [is] ‘take no prisoners,’” he adds. “He doesn’t work with anyone. He’s constantly making threats. ... Trumpism rises, and here he is, state chair of a large state.”
With a precise high-and-tight military haircut and wire-rimmed spectacles, the conservative warrior presents seriously in measured tones and frequent historical references. But the content of his zero-sum view of politics – as a war between conservatism and “progressive socialism” – fires up restless grassroots Texans more than it does the trustees of the old Bush “compassionate” conservatism.
An African American born in a Blacks-only Atlanta hospital, he grew up in the same neighborhood that decades earlier produced Martin Luther King Jr. But he has called himself “liberals’ worst nightmare” and has rebranded the state GOP with a slogan, “We are the storm,” linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory (though the state party disputes that connection).
His shoot-from-the-hip critiques are aimed equally at “socialist” Democrats and “traitorous” Republicans who would consort with them. And while the majority of Texas Republicans may not share that Manichaean view of U.S. politics, it’s a pillar of the Trump base.
“West wants to say you’re either with us or against us,” says Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political scientist. “That sends a clear signal that Donald Trump’s influence on American politics continues.”
A Florida “thorn”
Like one of his heroes, Davy Crockett, Colonel West likes to say he’s another Tennessee Volunteer who followed the call to Texas. He graduated from the University of Tennessee before joining the Army, where a glittering 22-year career included tours in the first and second Gulf Wars and a Bronze Star, among other decorations.
Crockett and another of West’s heroes – the Spartan King Leonidas – both perished in heroic last stands, and it’s this angle that best illustrates how Colonel West views his job in Texas and nationally. The political marketplace of ideas is, in his view, more a battlefield of ideas – not a dialogue, or even an argument, but a conflict.
“Right now what we see are two conflicting philosophies of governance, two conflicting ideological agendas,” Colonel West told the Monitor in a September interview. “People are truly ready to get out there and make sure that [conservatives] hold on to Texas.”
A state party chair is supposed to help the party gain or stay in power, but Colonel West has put his personal stamp on the job. Where past chairs kept a low profile, recruiting candidates and keeping party finances healthy, he makes regular appearances at rallies and on cable news.
While he most often rails against Democrats, he’s fueled his rise in Texas by criticizing the state’s Republican leaders for what he calls the “tyranny” of Gov. Greg Abbott’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic: “My criticisms of Governor Abbott have nothing to do with the person. It has everything to do with the fact that we should not be ruled with orders, mandates, edicts, and decrees.”
But in terms of uproar generated, Colonel West’s attacks on the governor pale compared with his November criticism of Dade Phelan, a Republican state representative from East Texas, as “a Republican political traitor” for seeking “affirmation from progressive socialist Democrats.”
State representatives were quick to hit back at Colonel West with one of the most potent political attacks in Texas: not being a true Texan.
“Allen West [needs] to be bought a one-way bus ticket back to Florida,” said Dennis Bonnen, the outgoing Republican House speaker, in a radio interview. “The problem is that I don’t think Florida will take him.”
Colonel West’s approach also runs counter to how the GOP has been able to comfortably hold political power in the state for 25 years, some Texas Republicans say. Making a heroic stand against “progressive socialism” in Texas is all well and good, but the reality is that Republicans have been winning voters just fine already – in part because they have worked with Democrats without compromising their fundamental principles.
“Colonel West is certainly focused on the grassroots perspective of the party,” says Jamie McWright, president of the Associated Republicans of Texas, adding that they need to focus on issues that matter most to all Texans. “If we do, we’ll continue to win.”
While the state GOP as a whole has drifted to the right of the business-friendly, “compassionate” conservatism of the Bush family, it has declined to push the envelope in governing. Bombastic ultraconservatives have always been a feature of Texas politics, says Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, Austin, but they haven’t been “overly successful.”
“I’m not saying he’s not important or relevant,” he says, but Colonel West “wants to claim a majoritarian status within the Republican Party, and to my mind it’s not clear that that’s true. ... Allen West is a thorn in the side of many people. My suspicion is they’d rather pluck it than support him.”
“All business”
Colleen Stolberg was there at the colonel’s political start in southeast Florida, and it embarrasses her still that she spelled the newcomer’s name wrong – Alan West – on publicity material.
As president of the Broward County Federation of Republican Women, her group was getting tired of cookie-cutter speeches from local candidates. She asked Colonel West to say something different, and he obliged: A talk about the women he served with in the military and the differences they’d faced in the countries he’d served in.
“He had everybody sold,” recalls Ms. Stolberg, who decided on the spot to volunteer for him. “He’s one of those people who will stand up for what he believes in and it doesn’t matter what the consequences are. ... If he ran for president tomorrow, I’d probably work for him again.”
“Not your average politician.” It’s a compliment often heard about Colonel West – and another trait he seems to share with President Trump.
“I’m going up [to Washington, D.C.,] and I’m going to drain that cesspool,” he said at one April 2010 rally, foreshadowing the 45th president. And in his one term in Congress, from 2010 to 2012, he was committed to his ideological mission.
“He was all business,” says Tom Rooney, a former Florida Republican congressman who served with him on the House Armed Services Committee. “On the House floor he’d talk to you about issues, but he wasn’t a back slapper.”
And, he adds, in trying to compromise with some lawmakers on the Hill “you don’t know how to get from Point A to Point B. … You may never get to Point B with Allen, because he’s set in his ways, but at least you know where he stands.”
Southeast Florida was an ideologically diverse area at the time, and Colonel West may have lasted longer in the House save for his consistently favoring principle over compromise. Of 11 bills he sponsored, two passed, neither with Democratic cosponsors.
In Texas, frustrated grassroots Republicans hope his rigid conservative ideology will force state leaders to finally fight for their interests and concerns – like banning abortion, reinforcing traditional views of sexuality, and cracking down on unauthorized immigrants.
“The energy to keep Texas red didn’t come from Texans who want purple government,” says Luke Macias, a conservative political strategist.
“Republicans in Texas are ready for their elected officials to actually deliver conservative results, he adds. "Chairman West recognizes that and has rightfully [become] an ambassador of the grassroots.”
Colonel West would certainly be an earnest ambassador. Had he been willing to compromise on some of his values, he might still be in the Army or Congress. As it stands, with a constituency comprised exclusively of Republicans, he hopes to maintain – and expand – that grassroots base as a new standard-bearer of the Republican Party’s Trumpian wing.
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“I would rather be in a position where I could do something to support candidates, where I could do something to support Texas overall,” he says.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify a statement by Jamie McWright, president of the Associated Republicans of Texas, that the party should focus on issues that matter most to all Texans. And the regional name of Mr. West's southeast Florida congressional district has been corrected.


csmonitor--2020-12-14--How Georgia GOP blends fraud claims with needed voter turnout

Convinced that the presidential election had been stolen from Donald Trump , the young couple from Blairsville , Georgia at first resolved to skip the state ’ s Jan. 5 runoffs for two United States Senate seats .
What ’ s the point , they figured , of voting in another rigged election ?
Then they thought better of it , setting aside their anger for the more pressing concern of keeping one of the two houses of Congress under Republican control .
“ Everybody is going to vote , ” said Kayla Frank .
Ms. Frank and her partner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thousands of Trump supporters at a rally in Valdosta , Georgia on Saturday night .
Mr. Trump had come to tell Georgia Republicans to vote in the Senate races that would decide which party controls Congress .
But he spent most of the rally repeating his false and widely debunked election-fraud claims – and bashing leading Georgia Republicans for not helping him overturn his loss .
It ’ s a mixed message that many Republicans fear could tilt the tight Georgia Senate races in favor of Democrats if any significant number of Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the president ’ s supporters have advocated in right-wing social media circles .
Among those calling for sitting out the races in protest are two prominent pro-Trump lawyers – Sidney Powell and Lin Wood – who have promoted outlandish election-fraud conspiracy theories .
But voters like Ms. Frank and Mr. Townsend have tuned them out , according to Reuters interviews with 50 Republican voters over the past week in rural , urban , and suburban areas of Georgia .
All 50 said they planned to vote in Senate runoffs they deemed crucial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presidential election was tainted by fraud .
( One , however , said he would support Democrats . )
The interviews suggest that Republican Senate candidates could see strong voter turnout despite the turmoil that has engulfed the Georgia Republican party , pitting Trump loyalists against top Republican state officials the president has attacked for rebuffing his fraud allegations .
Georgia has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator in two decades , but Mr. Biden ’ s slim victory there has given Democrats hope that Senate candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Perdue in the runoffs , which were triggered after no candidate won a majority of votes on Nov. 3 .
Polls show both races are tight .
Mr. Townsend , at the Trump rally , said he believes that there is overwhelming evidence that Mr. Trump was cheated .
Ms. Frank said her sense of being robbed was all the more painful because it had been the first time she voted in a presidential election .
Both said they had considered but ultimately dismissed sitting out the Senate contest .
While they still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s last-ditch efforts to overturn the election , they said they want to ensure a Republican Senate can provide a check on Democrat Joe Biden if Mr. Trump ’ s efforts fail .
“ I was kind of on the fence , ” Mr. Townsend said .
“ But I don ’ t see how that is going to help anything .
If we all sit at home , they are still going to allow the vote to continue.
” The attitude of voters like Mr. Townsend and Ms. Frank should come as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scrambled to muffle calls for boycotts .
They have struggled to meld two incongruous messages – that U.S. elections are rife with fraud favoring Democrats , but Republicans ’ votes in the critical Senate races will count .
Jason Shepherd , chairman of the Republican Party in Cobb County , said he has been receiving a few emails a day from members claiming they won ’ t vote because they believe the process is corrupt .
Chuck Clay , an Atlanta lawyer and the former statewide head of the party , said he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in about Republican voters that could dampen turnout .
But several voters said in interviews they believed Mr. Trump ’ s fraud allegations would motivate voters rather than discourage them .
The prospect of fraud has made voters believe that Ms. Loeffler and Mr. Perdue might need an overwhelming advantage to win .
The Rev .
Ike Jefferson , of Fellowship Baptist Church , about 20 miles north of where Mr. Trump ’ s rally was held , said he believed the prospect of Democratic control of Congress will be enough to drive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is going to get out and vote .
I pray they do , ” he said after leading Sunday services .
A handful of the 50 voters interviewed by Reuters dismissed Mr. Trump ’ s fraud claims entirely , acknowledging Mr. Biden won fairly .
William Connelly , a Trump supporter , considers the stolen-election uproar irrelevant to the Senate runoffs .
“ He ’ s just a crybaby , and he ’ s lost , and that ’ s all there is to it , ” Mr. Connelly , a former professional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mr. Trump as he stood outside a grocery store in Nahunta , a rural town in southeastern Georgia .
“ I think there will be a good turnout.
” The runoffs , however they turn out , have put Georgia at the center of increasingly bitter warfare between Trump loyalists and establishment Republicans that could have profound implications for the party ’ s future .
Mr. Trump has repeatedly trashed Georgia Republicans , including Gov .
Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger , for saying the election result was accurate and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Under intense pressure , Mr. Raffensperger and Governor Kemp have defended the fairness of the election , a stance underpinned by two recounts .
But they ’ ve walked a fine line between defending the state ’ s election system while also declaring their continued support for Mr. Trump even as the president publicly rebukes and ridicules them .
Georgia Republicans ’ reluctance to repudiate Mr. Trump underscores his continuing influence in motivating massive numbers of voters and pulling the party toward his brash brand of populism .
In a striking example @ @ @ @ @ @ @ heaped praise on the president in a tweet responding to Mr. Trump ’ s tweet calling for Mr. Duncan ’ s ouster from office because he ’ s “ too dumb or corrupt to recognize massive evidence of fraud in GA. ” Mr. Duncan tweeted back : “ Thank you for 4 years of conservative leadership … you have proven that a business minded outsider can be effective in DC.
” Republicans who reject Mr. Trump ’ s fraud claims will suffer consequences when they seek re-election , said Ronald Ham , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He plans to vote against Governor Kemp when he faces election in 2022 – even though he considers the governor a friend .
Mr. Ham likened what he called an assault on the U.S. election system by Democrats to the September 11 , 2001 attacks .
“ This is our 9/11 , ” he said .
“ We will use our voice , and we will vote.
” The governor , the lieutenant governor , and the secretary of state might as well “ pack their bags , ” he said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ mounting , Mr. Ham said he was now most optimistic about a petition filed this week by the state of Texas with the U.S. Supreme Court .
The case argues that changes made by Georgia , Michigan , Pennsylvania , and Wisconsin to expand mail-in voting amid the coronavirus pandemic were unlawful and should nullify those states ’ election results .
Mr. Trump and Republican attorneys general in 17 U.S. states on Wednesday threw their support behind the lawsuit , which the office of Georgia ’ s attorney general – a Republican – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ factually wrong.
” Senate candidates Ms. Loeffler and Mr. Perdue endorsed the Texas legal action .
But they , too , are treading carefully in navigating the bitterness that has engulfed the state party .
While neither has explicitly said the election was stolen from Mr. Trump , they have generally supported his efforts to overturn it and have called for Mr. Raffensperger ’ s resignation .
For Chasity Pawvlik , that ’ s not enough .
The Trump supporter said she would vote for Mr. Perdue but maybe not Ms. Loeffler , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ therefore needed to take bolder action to earn Ms. Pawvlik ’ s support .
Among other things , Ms. Pawvlik wants Ms. Loeffler to push Governor Kemp to conduct a third-party investigation of voting machines that have become the focus of debunked conspiracy theories about altered votes .
“ If she wants my vote , she needs to call him out , ” said Ms. Pawvlik .
“ We need to see those machines.
” One Republican voter interviewed by Reuters , however , said he had decided to support Democrats for Senate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mr. Perdue had aligned themselves so closely with Mr. Trump .
Corey Rudolph , a resident of Alpharetta , an Atlanta suburb , lamented that conventional Republican principles have been lost under Mr. Trump .
He hoped a more centrist party would emerge but had his doubts .
“ If he keeps control of the media the way that he has , especially the right-wing media , I don ’ t see how Republicanism as I have known it in the past can come back , ” Mr. Rudolph said .
This story @ @ @ @ @

Convinced that the presidential election had been stolen from Donald Trump, the young couple from Blairsville, Georgia at first resolved to skip the state’s Jan. 5 runoffs for two United States Senate seats. What’s the point, they figured, of voting in another rigged election?
Then they thought better of it, setting aside their anger for the more pressing concern of keeping one of the two houses of Congress under Republican control.
“Everybody is going to vote,” said Kayla Frank.
Ms. Frank and her partner, C.J. Townsend, had joined thousands of Trump supporters at a rally in Valdosta, Georgia on Saturday night. Mr. Trump had come to tell Georgia Republicans to vote in the Senate races that would decide which party controls Congress. But he spent most of the rally repeating his false and widely debunked election-fraud claims – and bashing leading Georgia Republicans for not helping him overturn his loss.
It’s a mixed message that many Republicans fear could tilt the tight Georgia Senate races in favor of Democrats if any significant number of Trump supporters boycott the election – as some of the president’s supporters have advocated in right-wing social media circles. Among those calling for sitting out the races in protest are two prominent pro-Trump lawyers – Sidney Powell and Lin Wood – who have promoted outlandish election-fraud conspiracy theories.
But voters like Ms. Frank and Mr. Townsend have tuned them out, according to Reuters interviews with 50 Republican voters over the past week in rural, urban, and suburban areas of Georgia. All 50 said they planned to vote in Senate runoffs they deemed crucial – even though almost all believed the presidential election was tainted by fraud. (One, however, said he would support Democrats.)
The interviews suggest that Republican Senate candidates could see strong voter turnout despite the turmoil that has engulfed the Georgia Republican party, pitting Trump loyalists against top Republican state officials the president has attacked for rebuffing his fraud allegations.
Georgia has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator in two decades, but Mr. Biden’s slim victory there has given Democrats hope that Senate candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff can beat Republican incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in the runoffs, which were triggered after no candidate won a majority of votes on Nov. 3. Polls show both races are tight.
Mr. Townsend, at the Trump rally, said he believes that there is overwhelming evidence that Mr. Trump was cheated. Ms. Frank said her sense of being robbed was all the more painful because it had been the first time she voted in a presidential election.
Both said they had considered but ultimately dismissed sitting out the Senate contest. While they still hold out hope for Mr. Trump’s last-ditch efforts to overturn the election, they said they want to ensure a Republican Senate can provide a check on Democrat Joe Biden if Mr. Trump’s efforts fail.
“I was kind of on the fence,” Mr. Townsend said. “But I don’t see how that is going to help anything. If we all sit at home, they are still going to allow the vote to continue.”
Hopes for high turnout
The attitude of voters like Mr. Townsend and Ms. Frank should come as some relief to Republican officials who have scrambled to muffle calls for boycotts. They have struggled to meld two incongruous messages – that U.S. elections are rife with fraud favoring Democrats, but Republicans’ votes in the critical Senate races will count.
Jason Shepherd, chairman of the Republican Party in Cobb County, said he has been receiving a few emails a day from members claiming they won’t vote because they believe the process is corrupt. Chuck Clay, an Atlanta lawyer and the former statewide head of the party, said he worries about a “malaise” setting in about Republican voters that could dampen turnout.
But several voters said in interviews they believed Mr. Trump’s fraud allegations would motivate voters rather than discourage them. The prospect of fraud has made voters believe that Ms. Loeffler and Mr. Perdue might need an overwhelming advantage to win.
The Rev. Ike Jefferson, of Fellowship Baptist Church, about 20 miles north of where Mr. Trump’s rally was held, said he believed the prospect of Democratic control of Congress will be enough to drive Republican turnout.
“I believe Georgia is going to get out and vote. I pray they do,” he said after leading Sunday services.
A handful of the 50 voters interviewed by Reuters dismissed Mr. Trump’s fraud claims entirely, acknowledging Mr. Biden won fairly. William Connelly, a Trump supporter, considers the stolen-election uproar irrelevant to the Senate runoffs.
“He’s just a crybaby, and he’s lost, and that’s all there is to it,” Mr. Connelly, a former professional boxer and factory worker, said of Mr. Trump as he stood outside a grocery store in Nahunta, a rural town in southeastern Georgia. “I think there will be a good turnout.”
Political minefield
The runoffs, however they turn out, have put Georgia at the center of increasingly bitter warfare between Trump loyalists and establishment Republicans that could have profound implications for the party’s future. Mr. Trump has repeatedly trashed Georgia Republicans, including Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, for saying the election result was accurate and refusing to help Mr. Trump overturn it.
Under intense pressure, Mr. Raffensperger and Governor Kemp have defended the fairness of the election, a stance underpinned by two recounts. But they’ve walked a fine line between defending the state’s election system while also declaring their continued support for Mr. Trump even as the president publicly rebukes and ridicules them.
Georgia Republicans’ reluctance to repudiate Mr. Trump underscores his continuing influence in motivating massive numbers of voters and pulling the party toward his brash brand of populism. In a striking example, Republican Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan heaped praise on the president in a tweet responding to Mr. Trump’s tweet calling for Mr. Duncan’s ouster from office because he’s “too dumb or corrupt to recognize massive evidence of fraud in GA.”
Mr. Duncan tweeted back: “Thank you for 4 years of conservative leadership … you have proven that a business minded outsider can be effective in DC.”
Republicans who reject Mr. Trump’s fraud claims will suffer consequences when they seek re-election, said Ronald Ham, the party’s head in Brantley County. He plans to vote against Governor Kemp when he faces election in 2022 – even though he considers the governor a friend. Mr. Ham likened what he called an assault on the U.S. election system by Democrats to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
“This is our 9/11,” he said. “We will use our voice, and we will vote.”
The governor, the lieutenant governor, and the secretary of state might as well “pack their bags,” he said.
With Mr. Trump’s court losses mounting, Mr. Ham said he was now most optimistic about a petition filed this week by the state of Texas with the U.S. Supreme Court. The case argues that changes made by Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to expand mail-in voting amid the coronavirus pandemic were unlawful and should nullify those states’ election results. Mr. Trump and Republican attorneys general in 17 U.S. states on Wednesday threw their support behind the lawsuit, which the office of Georgia’s attorney general – a Republican – called “constitutionally, legally, and factually wrong.”
Senate candidates Ms. Loeffler and Mr. Perdue endorsed the Texas legal action. But they, too, are treading carefully in navigating the bitterness that has engulfed the state party. While neither has explicitly said the election was stolen from Mr. Trump, they have generally supported his efforts to overturn it and have called for Mr. Raffensperger’s resignation.
For Chasity Pawvlik, that’s not enough. The Trump supporter said she would vote for Mr. Perdue but maybe not Ms. Loeffler, who was appointed by Governor Kemp and therefore needed to take bolder action to earn Ms. Pawvlik’s support. Among other things, Ms. Pawvlik wants Ms. Loeffler to push Governor Kemp to conduct a third-party investigation of voting machines that have become the focus of debunked conspiracy theories about altered votes.
“If she wants my vote, she needs to call him out,” said Ms. Pawvlik. “We need to see those machines.”
One Republican voter interviewed by Reuters, however, said he had decided to support Democrats for Senate, in part because Ms. Loeffler and Mr. Perdue had aligned themselves so closely with Mr. Trump.
Corey Rudolph, a resident of Alpharetta, an Atlanta suburb, lamented that conventional Republican principles have been lost under Mr. Trump. He hoped a more centrist party would emerge but had his doubts.
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empower and uplift daily. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads.
“If he keeps control of the media the way that he has, especially the right-wing media, I don’t see how Republicanism as I have known it in the past can come back,” Mr. Rudolph said.
This story was reported by Reuters.


csmonitor--2020-12-14--Obama alumni reunited as Biden fills out Cabinet

President-elect Joe Biden is getting the old gang back together .
Increasingly deep into the process of selecting Cabinet members and other senior staff , the incoming Biden administration has a distinctly Obama feel .
There ’ s Denis McDonough , former President Barack Obama ’ s chief of staff who Mr. Biden announced on Thursday would be nominated as the secretary of veterans affairs .
Susan Rice , Mr. Obama ’ s former national security adviser , was named the director of Mr. Biden ’ s White House Domestic Policy Council .
That ’ s on top of Mr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agriculture secretary , Tom Vilsack , to head the department once again , former Secretary of State John Kerry to serve as special envoy on climate and Mr. Kerry ’ s Obama-era deputy Antony Blinken to lead the State Department .
Jeff Zients , who did stints as acting Office of Management and Budget director and a top economic adviser in the Obama White House , will return as Mr. Biden ’ s coronavirus response coordinator .
With the exception of President Donald Trump , a political outsider when he was elected in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recent history for new presidents to rely heavily on pools of talent that had cut their teeth in their parties ’ previous administrations when filling out their own government .
But Mr. Biden , who is assuming the presidency in the midst of the worst public health crisis in a century and a flagging economy , is putting a greater premium on past experience and , as a result , has gone frequently back to the Obama well as he fills out his government .
“ Many of the folks who are returning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ service and know that after four turbulent and destructive years and a brutal pandemic , this is a particularly important time to serve , ” said David Axelrod , who served as a senior adviser to Mr. Obama .
“ Their experience is valuable .
Their values and outlooks are consonant with [ Mr. Biden ’ s ] .
The challenge is to look forward and not back and innovate beyond what ’ s simply been broken.
” But the swelling ranks of Obama officials in Mr. Biden ’ s orbit seem to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rahm Emanuel , a three-term former congressman who served as Mr. Obama ’ s first White House chief of staff , seems increasingly unlikely to win a Cabinet post .
He had lobbied for the yet-to-be-filled transportation secretary slot but has faced criticism for his handling as mayor of the 2014 deadly police shooting of Laquan McDonald , a Black teen shot 16 times by a white officer .
The reliance on Obama veterans carries some risks .
For one , some of the nominees represent the Washington establishment that Mr. Trump dubbed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaign and are still distrusted by some Republicans .
Progressive Democrats , meanwhile , view the Obama era with frustration , believing that those in power acted too cautiously at a time that called for bold change .
They ’ re pressing Mr. Biden to focus in particular on the diversity of his Cabinet after several early picks were white men .
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , a New York Democrat , questioned earlier this week “ the overall message ” that Mr. Biden is aiming to send with his Cabinet picks .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Thursday called the pick of Mr. Vilsack for agriculture secretary over Rep. Marcia Fudge , an Ohio Democrat who was looking to become the agency ’ s first Black secretary , as a “ slap in the face to Black Americans.
” Mr. Biden did nominate Ms. Fudge to serve as housing and urban development secretary and retired four-star Army general Lloyd Austin to serve as defense secretary .
If confirmed , he would be the first Black Pentagon chief .
The president-elect ’ s allies say he ’ s making good on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that reflects the diversity of the nation while putting a premium on the ability of his picks to hit the ground running .
“ Each of these nominees are forward-thinking , crisis-tested , and experienced , and they are ready to quickly use the levers of government to make meaningful differences in the lives of Americans and help govern on day one , ” the Biden transition team said in a statement .
Former aides to Mr. Vilsack said he felt the need to return to duty , in part out of loyalty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ repair a bedraggled agency gutted with career staff departures and program cuts during the Trump administration .
Ms. Rice , a longtime Democratic foreign policy expert who was in the running to serve as Mr. Biden ’ s vice president , will switch gears in her domestic policy role to help shape the administration ’ s approach on immigration , health care , and racial inequality .
The appointment of Ms. Rice is expected to lift the prominence of the role of the White House Domestic Policy Council .
Mr. McDonough , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s eight years as National Security Council chief of staff , deputy national security adviser , and finally as White House chief of staff , was plucked to lead the sprawling Department of Veterans Affairs .
With a thinned majority in the House and a closely divided Senate , leaning on former Obama world aides to fill senior White House positions will be a necessity for Biden world for at least the first two years of his term , said University of Chicago political scientist William Howell .
“ If you ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ’ re going to be disappointed , both in terms of its politics and the ambition of his agenda , ” Mr. Howell said .
“ The Cabinet he ’ s putting together is consistent of both the hand he ’ s been dealt and moderate position that delivered him the nomination.
” Mara Rudman , a senior adviser on national security affairs in the Obama and Clinton administrations , said the tug back to government of her former colleagues reflects an acknowledgement of the enormity of the public health and economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there ’ s also a desire to repair the breach in public trust caused by Mr. Trump ’ s norm-shattering four-year term .
“ This is a moment , ” said Ms. Rudman , who is now executive vice president for policy at the liberal Center for American Progress .
“ Obviously , there is getting the vaccine distribution and pandemic relief out to the public .
But there ’ s also an urgency on a whole host of fronts showing that American institutions can deliver for the American people.
” Josh Earnest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s White House press secretary , said Mr. Biden ’ s picks reflect the immediacy of now .
“ The problems that each of these agencies is faced with solving are so significant and consequential , ” Mr .
Earnest said .
“ There needs to be a focus on what we can do now.
” This story was reported by The Associated Press .
AP writers Michael Balsamo in Washington and Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines , Iowa , contributed to this report .

President-elect Joe Biden is getting the old gang back together.
Increasingly deep into the process of selecting Cabinet members and other senior staff, the incoming Biden administration has a distinctly Obama feel.
There’s Denis McDonough, former President Barack Obama’s chief of staff who Mr. Biden announced on Thursday would be nominated as the secretary of veterans affairs. Susan Rice, Mr. Obama’s former national security adviser, was named the director of Mr. Biden’s White House Domestic Policy Council.
That’s on top of Mr. Biden already tapping Mr. Obama’s agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, to head the department once again, former Secretary of State John Kerry to serve as special envoy on climate and Mr. Kerry’s Obama-era deputy Antony Blinken to lead the State Department. Jeff Zients, who did stints as acting Office of Management and Budget director and a top economic adviser in the Obama White House, will return as Mr. Biden’s coronavirus response coordinator.
With the exception of President Donald Trump, a political outsider when he was elected in 2016, it's been common in recent history for new presidents to rely heavily on pools of talent that had cut their teeth in their parties’ previous administrations when filling out their own government. But Mr. Biden, who is assuming the presidency in the midst of the worst public health crisis in a century and a flagging economy, is putting a greater premium on past experience and, as a result, has gone frequently back to the Obama well as he fills out his government.
“Many of the folks who are returning are returning because they believe in public service and know that after four turbulent and destructive years and a brutal pandemic, this is a particularly important time to serve,” said David Axelrod, who served as a senior adviser to Mr. Obama. “Their experience is valuable. Their values and outlooks are consonant with [Mr. Biden’s]. The challenge is to look forward and not back and innovate beyond what’s simply been broken.”
But the swelling ranks of Obama officials in Mr. Biden’s orbit seem to have some limits.
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a three-term former congressman who served as Mr. Obama’s first White House chief of staff, seems increasingly unlikely to win a Cabinet post. He had lobbied for the yet-to-be-filled transportation secretary slot but has faced criticism for his handling as mayor of the 2014 deadly police shooting of Laquan McDonald, a Black teen shot 16 times by a white officer.
The reliance on Obama veterans carries some risks. For one, some of the nominees represent the Washington establishment that Mr. Trump dubbed the “swamp” during his 2016 campaign and are still distrusted by some Republicans.
Progressive Democrats, meanwhile, view the Obama era with frustration, believing that those in power acted too cautiously at a time that called for bold change. They’re pressing Mr. Biden to focus in particular on the diversity of his Cabinet after several early picks were white men.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, questioned earlier this week “the overall message” that Mr. Biden is aiming to send with his Cabinet picks. And the left-leaning climate group Sunrise Movement on Thursday called the pick of Mr. Vilsack for agriculture secretary over Rep. Marcia Fudge, an Ohio Democrat who was looking to become the agency’s first Black secretary, as a “slap in the face to Black Americans.”
Mr. Biden did nominate Ms. Fudge to serve as housing and urban development secretary and retired four-star Army general Lloyd Austin to serve as defense secretary. If confirmed, he would be the first Black Pentagon chief.
The president-elect’s allies say he’s making good on his pledge to fill out a Cabinet that reflects the diversity of the nation while putting a premium on the ability of his picks to hit the ground running.
“Each of these nominees are forward-thinking, crisis-tested, and experienced, and they are ready to quickly use the levers of government to make meaningful differences in the lives of Americans and help govern on day one,” the Biden transition team said in a statement.
Former aides to Mr. Vilsack said he felt the need to return to duty, in part out of loyalty to Mr. Biden and to attempt to repair a bedraggled agency gutted with career staff departures and program cuts during the Trump administration.
Ms. Rice, a longtime Democratic foreign policy expert who was in the running to serve as Mr. Biden’s vice president, will switch gears in her domestic policy role to help shape the administration’s approach on immigration, health care, and racial inequality. The appointment of Ms. Rice is expected to lift the prominence of the role of the White House Domestic Policy Council.
Mr. McDonough, who served through most of Mr. Obama’s eight years as National Security Council chief of staff, deputy national security adviser, and finally as White House chief of staff, was plucked to lead the sprawling Department of Veterans Affairs.
With a thinned majority in the House and a closely divided Senate, leaning on former Obama world aides to fill senior White House positions will be a necessity for Biden world for at least the first two years of his term, said University of Chicago political scientist William Howell.
“If you’re a liberal looking for sweeping change, you’re going to be disappointed, both in terms of its politics and the ambition of his agenda,” Mr. Howell said. “The Cabinet he’s putting together is consistent of both the hand he’s been dealt and moderate position that delivered him the nomination.”
Mara Rudman, a senior adviser on national security affairs in the Obama and Clinton administrations, said the tug back to government of her former colleagues reflects an acknowledgement of the enormity of the public health and economic crises. But, she added, there’s also a desire to repair the breach in public trust caused by Mr. Trump’s norm-shattering four-year term.
“This is a moment,” said Ms. Rudman, who is now executive vice president for policy at the liberal Center for American Progress. “Obviously, there is getting the vaccine distribution and pandemic relief out to the public. But there’s also an urgency on a whole host of fronts showing that American institutions can deliver for the American people.”
Josh Earnest, who served as Mr. Obama’s White House press secretary, said Mr. Biden’s picks reflect the immediacy of now.
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“The problems that each of these agencies is faced with solving are so significant and consequential,” Mr. Earnest said. “There needs to be a focus on what we can do now.”
This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writers Michael Balsamo in Washington and Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.