hotair--2020-10-31--Trump and Biden continue to battle for black voters

Last week I wrote about some concern among Democrats that Joe Biden wasn ’ t doing quite as well with black voters , in particular black male voters .
Since then the concern has only grown .
Yesterday Allahpundit covered some signs of concern in the Biden camp that Black and Latino voters were not turning out for him the way they did for Hillary in 2016 .
Today the NY Times published a piece covering both campaigns ’ efforts to compete for black voters in the final days .
Four years after an election that came down to Michigan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Joseph R. Biden Jr. and President Trump are waging an intense and surprising battle in those states for votes among a crucial demographic : Black men .
The outreach is vital for Democrats , who lost the three industrial states in 2016 partly because of diminished support from Black voters .
They worry that not enough Black men will cast ballots — or that Mr. Trump might make enough marginal gains to help in close races .
The Biden campaign is now heavily focused on getting Black men to turn out to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barack Obama will campaign together for the first time this year on Saturday in Detroit and Flint , Mich. Mr. Biden is also running a series of ads featuring young Black men from Flint , tying local issues to the election .
One walks through the history of Black voter suppression ; another starts with Mr. Biden saying “ Black Lives Matter , period.
” … The Trump strategy has aimed to erode Mr. Biden ’ s support with a negative campaign .
One television ad replays Mr. Biden ’ s controversial “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in which he questioned how Black Americans could support Mr. Trump , and reprises his role in the 1994 crime bill .
A set of 40 digital ads claiming “ Joe Biden Insulted Millions of Black Americans ” has been running across the country for the past week .
It ’ s far from certain how all of this will turn out .
Having Biden campaign with Obama in Michigan and Pennsylvania is one way to try to convince black voters to show some enthusiasm for Democrats .
But there are still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either way .
Mr. Biden held a 78-11 percentage point lead among Black men in a recent national poll from The New York Times and Siena College , a comparatively weak number for a Democratic nominee whose ticket includes the first Black woman selected as vice president .
( Many undecided Black voters are widely expected to vote Democratic , though a number could well stay home . )
Mr. Trump won roughly 13 percent of Black male voters in 2016 , according to exit polls ; some Trump advisers are aiming to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Twenty percent would be a shockingly good outcome for President Trump but even he splits the 11 % of undecided voters with Biden that could put him at 16 percent .
The Times did speak to a few black voters who are voting Trump .
Marco Bisbee who attended a Trump rally in Michigan told the Times , “ We ’ ve been voting for Democrats for 50 and 60 years and no progress.
” Hakim Rahman from Philadelphia said , “ Just seeing Joe Biden saying ‘ you ain ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the Democrats feel entitled to the Black vote.
” It ’ s a given that Biden will receive the overwhelming majority of the black vote , but the Democrats ’ efforts to compete for those votes in the final days of the election is a sure sign that they are nervous about it .

Last week I wrote about some concern among Democrats that Joe Biden wasn’t doing quite as well with black voters, in particular black male voters. Since then the concern has only grown. Yesterday Allahpundit covered some signs of concern in the Biden camp that Black and Latino voters were not turning out for him the way they did for Hillary in 2016. Today the NY Times published a piece covering both campaigns’ efforts to compete for black voters in the final days.
Four years after an election that came down to Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the campaigns of Joseph R. Biden Jr. and President Trump are waging an intense and surprising battle in those states for votes among a crucial demographic: Black men. The outreach is vital for Democrats, who lost the three industrial states in 2016 partly because of diminished support from Black voters. They worry that not enough Black men will cast ballots — or that Mr. Trump might make enough marginal gains to help in close races. The Biden campaign is now heavily focused on getting Black men to turn out to vote: Mr. Biden and former President Barack Obama will campaign together for the first time this year on Saturday in Detroit and Flint, Mich. Mr. Biden is also running a series of ads featuring young Black men from Flint, tying local issues to the election. One walks through the history of Black voter suppression; another starts with Mr. Biden saying “Black Lives Matter, period.”… The Trump strategy has aimed to erode Mr. Biden’s support with a negative campaign. One television ad replays Mr. Biden’s controversial “you ain’t Black” comment, in which he questioned how Black Americans could support Mr. Trump, and reprises his role in the 1994 crime bill. A set of 40 digital ads claiming “Joe Biden Insulted Millions of Black Americans” has been running across the country for the past week.
It’s far from certain how all of this will turn out. Having Biden campaign with Obama in Michigan and Pennsylvania is one way to try to convince black voters to show some enthusiasm for Democrats. But there are still enough undecided voters that this could go either way.
Mr. Biden held a 78-11 percentage point lead among Black men in a recent national poll from The New York Times and Siena College, a comparatively weak number for a Democratic nominee whose ticket includes the first Black woman selected as vice president. (Many undecided Black voters are widely expected to vote Democratic, though a number could well stay home.) Mr. Trump won roughly 13 percent of Black male voters in 2016, according to exit polls; some Trump advisers are aiming to get closer to 20 percent next week.
Twenty percent would be a shockingly good outcome for President Trump but even he splits the 11% of undecided voters with Biden that could put him at 16 percent. The Times did speak to a few black voters who are voting Trump. Marco Bisbee who attended a Trump rally in Michigan told the Times, “We’ve been voting for Democrats for 50 and 60 years and no progress.” Hakim Rahman from Philadelphia said, “Just seeing Joe Biden saying ‘you ain’t Black,’ it’s exposing that the Democrats feel entitled to the Black vote.”
It’s a given that Biden will receive the overwhelming majority of the black vote, but the Democrats’ efforts to compete for those votes in the final days of the election is a sure sign that they are nervous about it.


hotair--2020-10-31--NBC's excuse for not covering the Hunter Biden laptop story is entirely lame

Now that we ’ re within a couple of days of the election and a huge chunk of the country has already voted anyway , some of the mainstream media outlets who blacked out the Hunter Biden laptop story apparently feel it ’ s safe to come out of the closet and mention it .
Among these is NBC News .
Mind you , they ’ re still not going cover the actual story .
They ’ re going to “ explain ” why they refused to cover the story .
But even when offering that tiny admission that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get to their reasoning for refusing to cover it without first making outlandish claims about how there is no basis for these stories to begin with .
This is utter horse hockey .
The emails regarding Hunter ’ s China deals may not have copied Joe Biden or included a response from him , but they certainly discussed his involvement .
There may not have been a smoking gun with Uncle Joe ’ s fingerprints on it , but the discussions were between a Biden family member and his business associates , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has since gone on record in multiple interviews .
That entire paragraph is malarkey , as Joe himself would say .
Next , they attempt to shoot down the Ukraine/Burisma storyline .
That ’ s another blatant falsehood in the final sentence .
When asked originally about the report , the Biden campaign didn ’ t say the meeting never happened .
They said they checked and there was no such meeting on the schedule .
And let ’ s be honest… if you were going to take a meeting like that , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schedule ?
Much better to simply make sure it was an “ accidental ” encounter where they just happened to run into each other .
Such incidents don ’ t have to be on the schedule since they weren ’ t “ technically scheduled.
” Finally , after throwing out that massive smokescreen , NBC gets down to explaining why they didn ’ t run any stories about it .
Some mean person apparently didn ’ t give them access to the documents .
Most mainstream news organizations , including NBC News , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ documents .
NBC News asked by email , text , phone call and certified mail , and was ultimately denied .
And , although no evidence has emerged that the documents are the product of Russian disinformation , as some experts initially suggested , many questions remain about how the materials got into the hands of Trump ’ s lawyer , Rudy Giuliani , who has met with Russian agents in his effort to dig dirt on the Bidens .
I don ’ t know why any of the relevant material wasn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was to others , but that ’ s still not the point here .
NBC already admitted in this same article that both the Wall Street Journal and Fox News had obtained access to them and reported on them .
You ’ re telling me that the Wall Street Journal isn ’ t credible enough to take as a starting point on the story ?
Further , splashing Rudy Giuliani ’ s name around is only another way to attempt to undermine the credibility of the underlying material .
A news organization that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ story that threw mud at Donald Trump , even if the only source was someone only known as “ anonymous , ” ( and a story that recently fell apart ) somehow didn ’ t find a story based on material from a confirmed , extant laptop harddrive to be enough backdrop to start digging ?
And even if they didn ’ t manage to view the original emails themselves , did it ever cross the minds of the powers that be at NBC to perhaps go talk to Tony Bobulinski ?
You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three different meetings with Joe Biden personally to discuss the China deals ?
Tony ’ s been out there giving interviews to anyone who asks .
Did they even drop him a note ?
He ’ s not hard to find .
Honestly , NBC News would have been better off saying nothing and continuing with the wall of silence than publishing this pile of claptrap .
They ’ ve run with many , many stories critical of conservatives based on far less meat than has been found at the heart of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they ’ d had any interest in actually covering the news in an honest fashion they could have cracked this particular nut without much effort .
But that might have been damaging to Joe Biden and/or helpful to Donald Trump .
And we couldn ’ t have that now , could we ?
Perish the thought .

Now that we’re within a couple of days of the election and a huge chunk of the country has already voted anyway, some of the mainstream media outlets who blacked out the Hunter Biden laptop story apparently feel it’s safe to come out of the closet and mention it. Among these is NBC News. Mind you, they’re still not going cover the actual story. They’re going to “explain” why they refused to cover the story. But even when offering that tiny admission that the story exists, they don’t get to their reasoning for refusing to cover it without first making outlandish claims about how there is no basis for these stories to begin with.
But the Wall Street Journal and Fox News — among the only news organizations that have been given access to key documents — found that the emails and other records don’t make that case. Leaving aside the many questions about their provenance, the materials offered no evidence that Joe Biden played any role in his son’s dealings in China, let alone profited from them, both news organizations concluded.
This is utter horse hockey. The emails regarding Hunter’s China deals may not have copied Joe Biden or included a response from him, but they certainly discussed his involvement. There may not have been a smoking gun with Uncle Joe’s fingerprints on it, but the discussions were between a Biden family member and his business associates, including the CEO of his company, who has since gone on record in multiple interviews. That entire paragraph is malarkey, as Joe himself would say.
Next, they attempt to shoot down the Ukraine/Burisma storyline.
As to Ukraine, a single email published by the New York Post suggests Joe Biden may have had a meeting with a representative of a Ukrainian company that employed his son. Trump and his allies alleged that means Joe Biden has lied when he said he never discussed his son’s business roles. The Biden campaign denies the meeting happened.
That’s another blatant falsehood in the final sentence. When asked originally about the report, the Biden campaign didn’t say the meeting never happened. They said they checked and there was no such meeting on the schedule. And let’s be honest… if you were going to take a meeting like that, would you put it on your official schedule? Much better to simply make sure it was an “accidental” encounter where they just happened to run into each other. Such incidents don’t have to be on the schedule since they weren’t “technically scheduled.”
Finally, after throwing out that massive smokescreen, NBC gets down to explaining why they didn’t run any stories about it. Some mean person apparently didn’t give them access to the documents.
Most mainstream news organizations, including NBC News, have not been granted access to the documents. NBC News asked by email, text, phone call and certified mail, and was ultimately denied. And, although no evidence has emerged that the documents are the product of Russian disinformation, as some experts initially suggested, many questions remain about how the materials got into the hands of Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who has met with Russian agents in his effort to dig dirt on the Bidens.
I don’t know why any of the relevant material wasn’t provided to some outlets when it was to others, but that’s still not the point here. NBC already admitted in this same article that both the Wall Street Journal and Fox News had obtained access to them and reported on them. You’re telling me that the Wall Street Journal isn’t credible enough to take as a starting point on the story? Further, splashing Rudy Giuliani’s name around is only another way to attempt to undermine the credibility of the underlying material.
A news organization that was willing to run with every single story that threw mud at Donald Trump, even if the only source was someone only known as “anonymous,” (and a story that recently fell apart) somehow didn’t find a story based on material from a confirmed, extant laptop harddrive to be enough backdrop to start digging? And even if they didn’t manage to view the original emails themselves, did it ever cross the minds of the powers that be at NBC to perhaps go talk to Tony Bobulinski? You know… the guy who said he had three different meetings with Joe Biden personally to discuss the China deals? Tony’s been out there giving interviews to anyone who asks. Did they even drop him a note? He’s not hard to find.
Honestly, NBC News would have been better off saying nothing and continuing with the wall of silence than publishing this pile of claptrap. They’ve run with many, many stories critical of conservatives based on far less meat than has been found at the heart of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal. And if they’d had any interest in actually covering the news in an honest fashion they could have cracked this particular nut without much effort. But that might have been damaging to Joe Biden and/or helpful to Donald Trump. And we couldn’t have that now, could we? Perish the thought.


hotair--2020-10-31--Trump's election night party at Trump International Hotel will be canceled, May move to the White Ho

Trump's election night party at Trump International Hotel will be canceled, May move to the White House

The Trump campaign was planning to hold an Election Night party at the Trump International Hotel in Washington , D.C. on Tuesday night .
Now it looks like he will celebrate at the White House instead of the hotel .
The 2020 presidential campaigns of both candidates have made lots of allowances for the coronavirus and this is the latest one .
Though the city of Washington , D.C. isn ’ t shut down completely , restaurants are capped at 50 % capacity , and gatherings are limited to 50 people .
That means a Trump campaign celebration would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ party in New York City .
Officially , the decision of the party ’ s location hasn ’ t been announced but the writing is on the wall .
“ We haven ’ t made a determination .
We have certain rules and regulations , you know , Washington , DC , is shut down , ” he told reporters on his way to a trio of rallies in the swing states of Michigan , Wisconsin and Minnesota .
The nation ’ s capital is not shut down but indoor dining is only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of more than 50 people are prohibited — spiking the Trump campaign ’ s plans to have a celebration at Trump International Hotel .
“ We have a hotel .
I don ’ t know if it ’ s shut down , if you ’ re allowed to use it or not , but I know the mayor has shut down Washington , DC , ” Trump continued .
Last weekend the Trump campaign began sending out fundraising emails offering donors the opportunity to enter a drawing “ to join Team Trump at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hotel , ” in Washington .
“ November 3rd will go down in history as the night we won FOUR MORE YEARS .
It will be absolutely EPIC , and the only thing that could make it better is having YOU there , ” Trump said in a fundraising solicitation .
The Washington hotel , which is blocks from the White House , has been sold out for weeks for Election Day as well as the days before and after Nov. 3 .
A basic room then is going for $ 1,200 a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ room rate on Monday .
Watchdog groups were quick to jump on the use of a Trump property as the party venue .
Critics have claimed throughout Trump ’ s four years in the White House that he and his family have enriched themselves due to his position .
Critics see it as one more reminder of how the president has used his office to personally profit as foreign leaders , conservative supporters and administration officials use the lobby of Washington ’ s Trump International Hotel as an unofficial clubhouse for the Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Republican National Committee have held several fundraisers at the president ’ s Washington hotel in the historic Old Post Office building , which the president ’ s company leases from the federal government .
Over the course of his presidency , the Trump campaign , the RNC and their joint-fundraising committees have spent over $ 7.4 million at Trump-branded properties .
“ Donald Trump has spent his entire presidency funneling taxpayer , campaign , special interest and foreign government money into the business that he still owns , ” said Donald Sherman @ @ @ @ @ @ @ watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington .
“ In some ways , election night is going to be the pinnacle of his self dealing.
” I won ’ t hold my breath for such concern about the intersection of political access and money if Biden wins the election .
The press and others will be in another deep slumber as they were during the Obama-Biden years .
The Trump campaign can host as many guests as they want at the White House .
Given the choice , I imagine supporters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the White House to celebrate .
When Mayor Bowser heard about the plans to hold the party at the hotel , she was quick to voice her disapproval .
“ We will be in touch with our licensee , which is the hotel .
You can believe that you can go to the White House and get COVID and that nothing ’ s going to happen to you .
Perhaps , ” Bowser said .
“ Or you can die from it.
” The White House was last used for Supreme Court Justice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That was criticized for both the optics of using the White House for effect and for a large number of people in attendance in the Rose Garden .
Never mind that it is standard for presidents to use the White House to host the swearing-in of their Supreme Court nominee .
The Orange Man is bad , no matter what , and he must be criticized .
There has been no talk of an Election Night party for Joe Biden and his campaign yet .
The speculation is that it will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sense since he has been so hesitant to leave home throughout the entire campaign .
Three more days until Election Day .
We likely won ’ t have the results fully reported for days after November 3 .
Eric Trump tweeted out the Trump family ’ s plans for campaigning up until Election Day .
They aren ’ t leaving anything on the field .

The Trump campaign was planning to hold an Election Night party at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday night. Now it looks like he will celebrate at the White House instead of the hotel. The 2020 presidential campaigns of both candidates have made lots of allowances for the coronavirus and this is the latest one.
Though the city of Washington, D.C. isn’t shut down completely, restaurants are capped at 50% capacity, and gatherings are limited to 50 people. That means a Trump campaign celebration would be a far cry from the 2016 victory party in New York City. Officially, the decision of the party’s location hasn’t been announced but the writing is on the wall.
“We haven’t made a determination. We have certain rules and regulations, you know, Washington, DC, is shut down,” he told reporters on his way to a trio of rallies in the swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The nation’s capital is not shut down but indoor dining is only allowed at 50 percent capacity and gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited — spiking the Trump campaign’s plans to have a celebration at Trump International Hotel. “We have a hotel. I don’t know if it’s shut down, if you’re allowed to use it or not, but I know the mayor has shut down Washington, DC,” Trump continued.
Last weekend the Trump campaign began sending out fundraising emails offering donors the opportunity to enter a drawing “to join Team Trump at the Election Night Party in my favorite hotel,” in Washington.
“November 3rd will go down in history as the night we won FOUR MORE YEARS. It will be absolutely EPIC, and the only thing that could make it better is having YOU there,” Trump said in a fundraising solicitation. The Washington hotel, which is blocks from the White House, has been sold out for weeks for Election Day as well as the days before and after Nov. 3. A basic room then is going for $1,200 a night, nearly triple the $476 room rate on Monday.
Watchdog groups were quick to jump on the use of a Trump property as the party venue. Critics have claimed throughout Trump’s four years in the White House that he and his family have enriched themselves due to his position.
Critics see it as one more reminder of how the president has used his office to personally profit as foreign leaders, conservative supporters and administration officials use the lobby of Washington’s Trump International Hotel as an unofficial clubhouse for the Trump presidency. Since 2017, the president and Republican National Committee have held several fundraisers at the president’s Washington hotel in the historic Old Post Office building, which the president’s company leases from the federal government. Over the course of his presidency, the Trump campaign, the RNC and their joint-fundraising committees have spent over $7.4 million at Trump-branded properties. “Donald Trump has spent his entire presidency funneling taxpayer, campaign, special interest and foreign government money into the business that he still owns,” said Donald Sherman, deputy director of the nonprofit government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “In some ways, election night is going to be the pinnacle of his self dealing.”
I won’t hold my breath for such concern about the intersection of political access and money if Biden wins the election. The press and others will be in another deep slumber as they were during the Obama-Biden years.
The Trump campaign can host as many guests as they want at the White House. Given the choice, I imagine supporters would relish the chance to go to the White House to celebrate. When Mayor Bowser heard about the plans to hold the party at the hotel, she was quick to voice her disapproval. “We will be in touch with our licensee, which is the hotel. You can believe that you can go to the White House and get COVID and that nothing’s going to happen to you. Perhaps,” Bowser said. “Or you can die from it.”
The White House was last used for Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s swearing-in ceremony. That was criticized for both the optics of using the White House for effect and for a large number of people in attendance in the Rose Garden. Never mind that it is standard for presidents to use the White House to host the swearing-in of their Supreme Court nominee. The Orange Man is bad, no matter what, and he must be criticized.
There has been no talk of an Election Night party for Joe Biden and his campaign yet. The speculation is that it will be close to his home. That makes sense since he has been so hesitant to leave home throughout the entire campaign.
Three more days until Election Day. We likely won’t have the results fully reported for days after November 3. Eric Trump tweeted out the Trump family’s plans for campaigning up until Election Day. They aren’t leaving anything on the field.


hotair--2020-10-31--Associated Press to bravely explain how they call elections

An odd item popped up in my news feed this morning from the Associated Press .
The title alone was enough to persuade me to click on it ( as all good titles should ) .
“ Show your work : AP plans to explain vote calling to public.
” By “ vote calling , ” they are of course referring to the various media outlets ’ practice of “ calling ” a race on election night ( or some time later than that ) when they feel that the results of any given election reach the point of being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as much thaumaturgy as science in this practice as demonstrated by the fact that not every news outlet calls races at the same time .
Some seem to leap to conclusions based on exit polls before a small fraction of the actual results are in , while others are more cautious .
So what are the dark secrets that the AP is about to reveal ?
We don ’ t actually know yet because they weren ’ t releasing the information .
This was just an announcement that they intend to do so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ polls close on Tuesday .
The Associated Press , one of several news organizations whose declarations of winners drive election coverage , is pulling back the curtain this year to explain how it is reaching those conclusions .
The AP plans to write stories explaining how its experts make decisions or why , in tight contests , they are holding back .
If necessary , top news executives will speak publicly in interviews about the process , said Sally Buzbee , senior vice president and executive editor .
Given high interest in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strong early voting and President Donald Trump ’ s warnings about potential fraud , television executives are making similar promises of transparency .
I suppose this might be of interest to the hardcore political nerds out there , but it ’ s also worth keeping in mind that the practice of media outlets “ calling ” races is entirely meaningless .
No race is “ over ” when the AP or any other news network declares a winner .
The race isn ’ t really close to being over until one candidate officially @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doesn ’ t carry any legal weight , as we saw in 2000 when Al Gore took the nearly unprecedented step of “ unconceding ” when the count in Florida turned out to be tighter than the networks had anticipated .
The case of the presidential race is a bit of an outlier since we have constitutionally mandated deadlines for seating the electors .
But every state is generally still counting votes for quite a while after the polls close .
In other races , this process can wind up stretching on for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that absentee ballots could potentially make the difference .
In 2018 , the congressional district where I live wasn ’ t decided until November 20th , despite one local newspaper calling it for the Democrat on the night of the race .
The difference between the two candidates ’ vote totals was barely 1,200 votes on election night and there were more than 15,000 absentee ballots to be counted .
Considering how many people have been requesting mail-in ballots this year , I won ’ t be shocked if it takes just as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we actually know about how the AP makes these decisions ?
They tossed out a few details in this article and it ’ s largely what you would likely expect .
They conduct exit polling in a process they call the AP VoteCast survey .
For each state , they assign an analyst who is paired with a “ race caller.
” If it ’ s a solidly red or solidly blue state , they will check to make sure the exit polling numbers match the projections and call the race almost immediately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the purplish states , the AP notes that they will need to “ rely on actual votes.
” Imagine that !
Waiting until a significant number of the votes have actually been counted before making the call .
But even then , they insist that they are comparing the votes as they come in to “ party enrollments and trends in previous elections.
” I realize that this is probably crazy talk , but if the difference between the candidates at any given point is still significantly lower than the total number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t reported in yet , you might want to hold off .
As far as the presidential race on Tuesday goes , the results will start coming in when the polls on the east coast start closing at 8 pm local time .
( Actually , the Florida panhandle is on Central time so it takes a bit longer . )
If North Carolina , Pennsylvania and Florida are too close to call , I think that will be a sign that we ’ re in for a long night .
If either @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three ) of those , it will probably be pretty much over except for the shouting .
But remember how many people got their projections so wrong in 2016 , and I ’ m not just talking about the “ shy ” or “ hidden ” Trump voters , either .
I think there ’ s still a chance that we ’ ll have a winner well before Wednesday morning .
It just might not be the winner that the cable news networks are banking on .

An odd item popped up in my news feed this morning from the Associated Press. The title alone was enough to persuade me to click on it (as all good titles should). “Show your work: AP plans to explain vote calling to public.”
By “vote calling,” they are of course referring to the various media outlets’ practice of “calling” a race on election night (or some time later than that) when they feel that the results of any given election reach the point of being a foregone conclusion. There’s as much thaumaturgy as science in this practice as demonstrated by the fact that not every news outlet calls races at the same time. Some seem to leap to conclusions based on exit polls before a small fraction of the actual results are in, while others are more cautious. So what are the dark secrets that the AP is about to reveal? We don’t actually know yet because they weren’t releasing the information. This was just an announcement that they intend to do so, presumably at some point before the polls close on Tuesday.
The Associated Press, one of several news organizations whose declarations of winners drive election coverage, is pulling back the curtain this year to explain how it is reaching those conclusions. The AP plans to write stories explaining how its experts make decisions or why, in tight contests, they are holding back. If necessary, top news executives will speak publicly in interviews about the process, said Sally Buzbee, senior vice president and executive editor. Given high interest in the presidential race, the complicating factor of strong early voting and President Donald Trump’s warnings about potential fraud, television executives are making similar promises of transparency.
I suppose this might be of interest to the hardcore political nerds out there, but it’s also worth keeping in mind that the practice of media outlets “calling” races is entirely meaningless. No race is “over” when the AP or any other news network declares a winner. The race isn’t really close to being over until one candidate officially concedes. And even then the concession doesn’t carry any legal weight, as we saw in 2000 when Al Gore took the nearly unprecedented step of “unconceding” when the count in Florida turned out to be tighter than the networks had anticipated.
The case of the presidential race is a bit of an outlier since we have constitutionally mandated deadlines for seating the electors. But every state is generally still counting votes for quite a while after the polls close. In other races, this process can wind up stretching on for weeks if the margins are so close that absentee ballots could potentially make the difference. In 2018, the congressional district where I live wasn’t decided until November 20th, despite one local newspaper calling it for the Democrat on the night of the race. The difference between the two candidates’ vote totals was barely 1,200 votes on election night and there were more than 15,000 absentee ballots to be counted. Considering how many people have been requesting mail-in ballots this year, I won’t be shocked if it takes just as long this time.
So what do we actually know about how the AP makes these decisions? They tossed out a few details in this article and it’s largely what you would likely expect. They conduct exit polling in a process they call the AP VoteCast survey. For each state, they assign an analyst who is paired with a “race caller.” If it’s a solidly red or solidly blue state, they will check to make sure the exit polling numbers match the projections and call the race almost immediately after the polls close.
But in the purplish states, the AP notes that they will need to “rely on actual votes.” Imagine that! Waiting until a significant number of the votes have actually been counted before making the call. But even then, they insist that they are comparing the votes as they come in to “party enrollments and trends in previous elections.” I realize that this is probably crazy talk, but if the difference between the candidates at any given point is still significantly lower than the total number of votes in the precincts that haven’t reported in yet, you might want to hold off.
As far as the presidential race on Tuesday goes, the results will start coming in when the polls on the east coast start closing at 8 pm local time. (Actually, the Florida panhandle is on Central time so it takes a bit longer.) If North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Florida are too close to call, I think that will be a sign that we’re in for a long night. If either candidate convincingly carries two (or all three) of those, it will probably be pretty much over except for the shouting. But remember how many people got their projections so wrong in 2016, and I’m not just talking about the “shy” or “hidden” Trump voters, either. I think there’s still a chance that we’ll have a winner well before Wednesday morning. It just might not be the winner that the cable news networks are banking on.


hotair--2020-10-31--Who's up for a whole bunch of mostly random data points about the state of the election?

There ’ s so much information about polling and turnout floating around right now that it ’ s almost impossible to shape it into a narrative that makes sense .
So let me toss what I ’ ve seen so far today at you and you can choose your own adventure .
We ’ ll start with the stuff that ’ s auspicious for Trump — although , for my money , nothing bodes as well for him as what Ed ’ s been writing about lately , the fact that Democrats appear to be taking Minnesota seriously .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ environment where Biden is supposedly eight points ahead and states like Iowa and Ohio are in play .
Minnesota should be a comfortable hold for Sleepy Joe if the electorate really has moved left by six points this year or whatever .
So what was he doing campaigning there yesterday ?
Ed and I each wrote about growing Democratic panic over turnout in Miami-Dade County yesterday but the hits keep on coming in the media .
Sixty-three percent of Republicans have voted already in M-D versus just 56 percent of Democrats .
Dem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about it either , with one telling CNN about the poor turnout , “ I don ’ t have a good answer for why that might be .
But that is certainly a factor at the moment that is giving Democrats a lot of worry.
” Light conspiracy theorizing has already begun to try to explain it : Maybe 50,000 ballots or so are stuck in a post office somewhere and just haven ’ t been delivered yet ?
I ’ m skeptical .
And then there ’ s this : As for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s encouraging , but make sure you read this about McLaughlin ’ s big misses in the past before you start celebrating .
He has a rap as a guy who tells his clients what they want to hear .
This very exciting result in RCP ’ s average of Arizona polls also comes with a caveat : Winning Arizona would be huge for Trump , and would really put the pressure on Biden in the Rust Belt .
But today ’ s average is being driven by the two Trumpiest pollsters in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of whom have the president ahead .
They could be right !
But when a bunch of polls that typically tilt in favor of one side drop , it ’ s worth discounting them accordingly .
Now for the less auspicious stuff .
A few days ago I wrote about how Democrats seemed to be underperforming in early voting in Nevada , potentially giving Trump a huge pick-up opportunity .
If he loses Michigan , Wisconsin , and Arizona but flips Nevada , he ’ d hold on narrowly for a second term @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stuff better than anyone else in Nevada , updated his projections last night to say that Dems there are now hitting their targets .
Enough voters have turned out early in NV that Ralston thinks it ’ s unlikely ( although of course not impossible ) that Trump can completely close the gap on Tuesday .
Meanwhile , in Texas : If you read my post on early voting in Texas yesterday , you know that Latino turnout in border counties like Hidalgo had been the one discouraging sign there for Biden so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shot at flipping that state , he needs those voters out in force .
Harris ’ s visit may have helped solve his problem .
Texas is still a longshot , but not nearly as long as it usually is .
The truly worrisome data for Trump today comes from polling conducted by *Republicans .
* This is from Remington , a GOP firm : Trump won Missouri by nearly *19 points* four years ago .
If Biden has trimmed double digits from him there , odds are that he ’ s cut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ margins in other states as well .
And Remington ’ s result isn ’ t a wild outlier .
Check the other polls of Missouri over this past month and you ’ ll find the president reliably ahead by mere single digits .
( He saw a 10-point lead in one poll . )
Other internal Republican surveys are flashing warning signs as well : “ Well , the president ’ s losing Arizona .
And , you know , we think that he and Martha are very intrinsically tied together , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the National Republican Senatorial Committee , explained during a 90-minute presentation on the state of the races Thursday .
Trump won Arizona by 3.5 percentage points in 2016 and is now trailing Democrat Joe Biden , according to both public and private polling , which Republicans feel is why Sen. Martha McSally ( R ) is also trailing in her key race .
At one point , NRSC strategists believed Biden hit 50 percent in Georgia — a figure they found “ terrifying ” as they try to defend two seats in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percentage points in 2016 .
Trump won Kansas by more than 20 percentage points in 2016 , but now his lead is in the low single digits , according to Republicans , after bleeding support in the Kansas City suburbs .
A state that has voted Democratic just once since 1940 could now be considered a relatively competitive fight between Trump and Biden .
The NRSC also recently found him trailing in Alaska .
See why it ’ s hard to believe that Minnesota is really in play ?
As for Georgia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Obama ’ s headed there on Monday to make a final pitch for voters to turn out .
Texas is still a longshot for Democrats but I ’ m not so sure Georgia is .
And if they flip that state , the allegedly all-important state of Pennsylvania would become a sideshow .
Georgia + Michigan + Wisconsin is all Biden needs , presuming Trump doesn ’ t flip any Hillary 2016 states — like Minnesota .
Speaking of which , the last Muhlenberg College poll of PA came out this morning and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in line with other recent polling there .
The good news for Trump is that he ’ s made up some ground ; last week ’ s Muhlenberg poll had him down seven .
The bad news for him is that 54 percent say he doesn ’ t deserve reelection .
Winning the state when a solid majority believes you deserve to lose would be … surprising .
Let me give you a comparison that might cut through all of this noise a bit .
At the end of the day , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s where the two candidates stood in 2016 on favorability : Don ’ t focus on the fact that Clinton led Trump the whole way over the final three months , focus on the raw numbers .
She was viewed more unfavorably than favorably for the entirety of 2016 , and her numbers dropped rapidly in the final week of the race after the Comey letter about Emailgate was published and late deciders started breaking for Trump .
Voters hated Hillary ; they hated Trump a little more , but ultimately her unpopularity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were willing to roll the dice on an intriguing outsider whom they disliked instead of an establishment dinosaur whom they also disliked .
Here are the favorables for Trump and Biden this year by comparison : Trump is less unpopular now than he was as a candidate four years ago , but look at Biden ’ s trajectory .
From mildly unpopular in August to somewhat *popular* now .
He ’ s gained closed to 10 points on balance in favorability over the past three months , which is remarkable given that Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now leads Trump by close to 20 points in net favorability .
( Although , importantly , Biden is still unpopular on balance in the Muhlenberg poll of Pennsylvania today , if not quite as unpopular as Trump . )
We ’ re all thinking hard about the race but that puts us at risk of overthinking it .
If the public kind of likes one candidate and really doesn ’ t like the other , and the guy they dislike has been managing a pandemic that ’ s killed 225,000 people and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ big deal , what ’ s the probable outcome ?
I ’ ll leave you with this , the USC Dornsife “ panel ” poll .
Famously , the final USC poll in 2016 had Trump ahead by three in the popular vote over Clinton , the only national survey to see him winning .
That was wrong inasmuch as Trump didn ’ t win the popular vote , but its numbers may have captured the late break towards him among voters just before Election Day .
This year their poll has scarcely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it Biden 54 , Trump 42 .
“ Catastrophic ” doesn ’ t begin to describe the magnitude of the polling error if Trump pulls it out on Tuesday .

There’s so much information about polling and turnout floating around right now that it’s almost impossible to shape it into a narrative that makes sense. So let me toss what I’ve seen so far today at you and you can choose your own adventure.
We’ll start with the stuff that’s auspicious for Trump — although, for my money, nothing bodes as well for him as what Ed’s been writing about lately, the fact that Democrats appear to be taking Minnesota seriously. That should not be necessary in a national environment where Biden is supposedly eight points ahead and states like Iowa and Ohio are in play. Minnesota should be a comfortable hold for Sleepy Joe if the electorate really has moved left by six points this year or whatever. So what was he doing campaigning there yesterday?
Ed and I each wrote about growing Democratic panic over turnout in Miami-Dade County yesterday but the hits keep on coming in the media. Sixty-three percent of Republicans have voted already in M-D versus just 56 percent of Democrats. Dem strategists aren’t hiding their anxiety about it either, with one telling CNN about the poor turnout, “I don’t have a good answer for why that might be. But that is certainly a factor at the moment that is giving Democrats a lot of worry.” Light conspiracy theorizing has already begun to try to explain it:
Raw footage of mailroom in post office here in Miami Dade. Source revealed “mail in ballots are within these piled up in bins on the floor. Mail has been sitting for over week!.” @AmandiOnAir @PeterSchorschFL @MarcACaputo @GlennaWPLG @CNNPolitics @NewsbySmiley @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/DO8jx1VUnz — Kionne “Commish” McGhee (@kionnemcghee) October 30, 2020
Maybe 50,000 ballots or so are stuck in a post office somewhere and just haven’t been delivered yet? I’m skeptical. And then there’s this:
Republicans gained another 50,000 today in Florida. Democrats’ lead has been cut from 430,000 to about 110,000. Republicans have 2 days to pick up 25,000 more to outperform their 2016 numbers. Unless Ds stop the slide this weekend, Biden is in a bind in Florida. — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) October 30, 2020
As for the big picture nationally:
Trump pollster @JMcLghln is privately telling people that Trump is ahead in ALL the swing states – including Penn and Michigan, and tied in Wisconsin. I don't believe it. But if he's right, he's a genius. If he's wrong, I wonder if he'll ever work again. — Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) October 31, 2020
That’s encouraging, but make sure you read this about McLaughlin’s big misses in the past before you start celebrating. He has a rap as a guy who tells his clients what they want to hear. This very exciting result in RCP’s average of Arizona polls also comes with a caveat:
Winning Arizona would be huge for Trump, and would really put the pressure on Biden in the Rust Belt. But today’s average is being driven by the two Trumpiest pollsters in America, Rasmussen and Trafalgar, both of whom have the president ahead. They could be right! But when a bunch of polls that typically tilt in favor of one side drop, it’s worth discounting them accordingly.
Now for the less auspicious stuff. A few days ago I wrote about how Democrats seemed to be underperforming in early voting in Nevada, potentially giving Trump a huge pick-up opportunity. If he loses Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona but flips Nevada, he’d hold on narrowly for a second term. Jon Ralston, who knows this stuff better than anyone else in Nevada, updated his projections last night to say that Dems there are now hitting their targets.
Early voting blog updated with numbers that show 81K Clark Dem firewall, 45K statewide lead. New models show Biden lead holding steady, Trump needs miracle scenario unless GOP can change mix of electorate.
Come for the numbers, stay for the "Vertigo" ref.https://t.co/QaEyq6ojmD pic.twitter.com/6MnI95pgNo — Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) October 31, 2020
Enough voters have turned out early in NV that Ralston thinks it’s unlikely (although of course not impossible) that Trump can completely close the gap on Tuesday. Meanwhile, in Texas:
Early vote jumped today in Hidalgo Co (McAllen), as @KamalaHarris @BetoORourke @JulianCastro rallied supporters County finishes w 187,893 early + mail votes. There were 173,437 total votes there in 2016 E Day to come. — Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) October 31, 2020
If you read my post on early voting in Texas yesterday, you know that Latino turnout in border counties like Hidalgo had been the one discouraging sign there for Biden so far. If he wants a realistic shot at flipping that state, he needs those voters out in force. Harris’s visit may have helped solve his problem. Texas is still a longshot, but not nearly as long as it usually is.
The truly worrisome data for Trump today comes from polling conducted by *Republicans.* This is from Remington, a GOP firm:
President (Missouri) Trump (R) 50%
Biden (D) 45%
Jorgensen (L) 2%
Hawkins (G) 1% 10/28-10/29 by Remington Research Group (C-)
1010 LV Arf arf! Have a nice day! Poll #135857 #ElectionTwitter — Stella (@stella2020woof) October 31, 2020
Trump won Missouri by nearly *19 points* four years ago. If Biden has trimmed double digits from him there, odds are that he’s cut a chunk from Trump’s 2016 margins in other states as well. And Remington’s result isn’t a wild outlier. Check the other polls of Missouri over this past month and you’ll find the president reliably ahead by mere single digits. (He saw a 10-point lead in one poll.) Other internal Republican surveys are flashing warning signs as well:
“Well, the president’s losing Arizona. And, you know, we think that he and Martha are very intrinsically tied together,” Kevin McLaughlin, the executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, explained during a 90-minute presentation on the state of the races Thursday. Trump won Arizona by 3.5 percentage points in 2016 and is now trailing Democrat Joe Biden, according to both public and private polling, which Republicans feel is why Sen. Martha McSally (R) is also trailing in her key race. At one point, NRSC strategists believed Biden hit 50 percent in Georgia — a figure they found “terrifying” as they try to defend two seats in the state, which Trump won by five percentage points in 2016. Trump won Kansas by more than 20 percentage points in 2016, but now his lead is in the low single digits, according to Republicans, after bleeding support in the Kansas City suburbs. A state that has voted Democratic just once since 1940 could now be considered a relatively competitive fight between Trump and Biden.
The NRSC also recently found him trailing in Alaska. See why it’s hard to believe that Minnesota is really in play? As for Georgia, the threat is real enough that Barack Obama’s headed there on Monday to make a final pitch for voters to turn out. Texas is still a longshot for Democrats but I’m not so sure Georgia is. And if they flip that state, the allegedly all-important state of Pennsylvania would become a sideshow. Georgia + Michigan + Wisconsin is all Biden needs, presuming Trump doesn’t flip any Hillary 2016 states — like Minnesota.
Speaking of which, the last Muhlenberg College poll of PA came out this morning and has Biden ahead by five, which is in line with other recent polling there. The good news for Trump is that he’s made up some ground; last week’s Muhlenberg poll had him down seven. The bad news for him is that 54 percent say he doesn’t deserve reelection. Winning the state when a solid majority believes you deserve to lose would be … surprising.
Let me give you a comparison that might cut through all of this noise a bit. At the end of the day, elections are popularity contests. Here’s where the two candidates stood in 2016 on favorability:
Don’t focus on the fact that Clinton led Trump the whole way over the final three months, focus on the raw numbers. She was viewed more unfavorably than favorably for the entirety of 2016, and her numbers dropped rapidly in the final week of the race after the Comey letter about Emailgate was published and late deciders started breaking for Trump. Voters hated Hillary; they hated Trump a little more, but ultimately her unpopularity seems to have neutralized his. Americans were willing to roll the dice on an intriguing outsider whom they disliked instead of an establishment dinosaur whom they also disliked.
Here are the favorables for Trump and Biden this year by comparison:
Trump is less unpopular now than he was as a candidate four years ago, but look at Biden’s trajectory. From mildly unpopular in August to somewhat *popular* now. He’s gained closed to 10 points on balance in favorability over the past three months, which is remarkable given that Trump has been attacking him relentlessly. He now leads Trump by close to 20 points in net favorability. (Although, importantly, Biden is still unpopular on balance in the Muhlenberg poll of Pennsylvania today, if not quite as unpopular as Trump.) We’re all thinking hard about the race but that puts us at risk of overthinking it. If the public kind of likes one candidate and really doesn’t like the other, and the guy they dislike has been managing a pandemic that’s killed 225,000 people and keeps acting like it’s no big deal, what’s the probable outcome?
I’ll leave you with this, the USC Dornsife “panel” poll. Famously, the final USC poll in 2016 had Trump ahead by three in the popular vote over Clinton, the only national survey to see him winning. That was wrong inasmuch as Trump didn’t win the popular vote, but its numbers may have captured the late break towards him among voters just before Election Day. This year their poll has scarcely budged in months. Today they have it Biden 54, Trump 42. “Catastrophic” doesn’t begin to describe the magnitude of the polling error if Trump pulls it out on Tuesday.


hotair--2020-10-31--You better believe Trump can win Minnesota, says ... Keith Ellison?

Does Keith Ellison really think Donald Trump has a shot at being the first Republican since Richard Nixon to win this state in a presidential race ?
Or does he want to use this to stoke Democratic turnout in the race ’ s final hours ?
It ’ s definitely the latter , but CNN ’ s Chris Cuomo noted that Trump seems to be ramping up his investment here — even as Joe Biden belatedly plays defense .
“ Honestly , yes I do , ” Ellison replies when Cuomo asks whether Trump has a “ real shot ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is putting a lot of money into your state .
He ’ s greatly increased his ad buy there , $ 1.2 million in TV advertising in the final week of the campaign , more than it spent there in the preceding three weeks combined .
Do you think the president has a real shot in Minnesota ?
ELLISON : Honestly , yeah , I do .
I will tell you that I believe in our campaign workers and organizers .
They ’ re working extremely hard .
I can tell you that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I can tell you that Minnesotans know what a problem Trump is .
They know he doesn ’ t care about their health care .
They know all the bad things about him .
But , you know , there are some folks who still are supporting him .
And so what I tell people is that if you — is that one , he does have a shot , don ’ t play it cheap , work hard for every single vote .
And don ’ t stop until 8 o @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of not stopping , though , Cuomo hits Ellison over the state ’ s decision not to appeal an Eighth Circuit decision made this week on ballot counting .
The state of Minnesota announced last night that they would not immediately appeal the ruling , which forbids counting any ballots received after Election Day .
The state doesn ’ t rule out an appeal later : Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said Friday that his office will not challenge an appellate court decision that requires the state to separate any mailed-in ballots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Day .
“ We disagree with the court ’ s decision , and there may be cause for litigation later , ” said Simon , who added that his office ’ s focus will be on making sure voters cast ballots by the 8 p.m. Election Day deadline .
Simon , and other elected officials and activists alike , spent Friday urging voters to return absentee ballots in person or elect to vote in person instead of mailing in their ballots .
They are concerned about an Eighth U.S .
Circuit Court of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after Tuesday ’ s 8 p.m. deadline to be segregated in response to a lawsuit from two GOP presidential electors .
Simon and political party leaders worry that future legal challenges could invalidate ballots in the hotly contested election .
“ We need to emphasize that there is no court ruling yet saying those ballots are invalid , ” Simon said .
“ We absolutely reserve the right to make every argument after Election Day that protects voters.
” That ’ s a surprise .
The state had entered into an agreement in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ access that essentially overruled the statute on ballot submissions .
The state Republican Party sued , claiming that Simon didn ’ t have any authority to override statutes , and the courts agreed , including the Eighth Circuit .
Their ruling declared that Minnesota had time to deal with COVID-19 issues in the legislature , and that this was no longer the kind of emergency that reasonably required extra-statute action .
The Supreme Court has been more flexible on these points this cycle , though .
It seemed likely that the state would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and if they did that they would get a sympathetic hearing .
Samuel Alito signaled last week that the window for emergency action had just about closed , however , which is why Simon hinted at post-Election Day legal action .
Ellison tells Cuomo that he believes that the case was “ wrongly decided , ” but notes that the order allowed Minnesota to sequester the post-deadline ballots .
“ They will be counted , ” Ellison emphasized three times , but that ’ s only true if the Supreme Court reverses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they won ’ t be counted .
And if Joe Biden wins the state on the initial count , there ’ s no way in hell that Ellison and Simon ever count the late arrivals .

Does Keith Ellison really think Donald Trump has a shot at being the first Republican since Richard Nixon to win this state in a presidential race? Or does he want to use this to stoke Democratic turnout in the race’s final hours? It’s definitely the latter, but CNN’s Chris Cuomo noted that Trump seems to be ramping up his investment here — even as Joe Biden belatedly plays defense.
“Honestly, yes I do,” Ellison replies when Cuomo asks whether Trump has a “real shot” in Minnesota:
“We did not shut down their rally,” says Minnesota AG Keith Ellison about Trump’s criticism of Dems limiting the capacity at his rally. “All we’re trying to do is protect people from a deadly virus that has taken the lives of about 2,400 Minnesotans and about 230,000 Americans.” pic.twitter.com/1qkejbAFpD — Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) October 31, 2020
CUOMO: The president is putting a lot of money into your state. He’s greatly increased his ad buy there, $1.2 million in TV advertising in the final week of the campaign, more than it spent there in the preceding three weeks combined. Do you think the president has a real shot in Minnesota? ELLISON: Honestly, yeah, I do. I will tell you that I believe in our campaign workers and organizers. They’re working extremely hard. I can tell you that Minnesotans know what a problem Trump is. I can tell you that Minnesotans know what a problem Trump is. They know he doesn’t care about their health care. They know all the bad things about him. But, you know, there are some folks who still are supporting him. And so what I tell people is that if you — is that one, he does have a shot, don’t play it cheap, work hard for every single vote. And don’t stop until 8 o’clock on November 3.
Speaking of not stopping, though, Cuomo hits Ellison over the state’s decision not to appeal an Eighth Circuit decision made this week on ballot counting. The state of Minnesota announced last night that they would not immediately appeal the ruling, which forbids counting any ballots received after Election Day. The state doesn’t rule out an appeal later:
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said Friday that his office will not challenge an appellate court decision that requires the state to separate any mailed-in ballots received after the polls close on Election Day. “We disagree with the court’s decision, and there may be cause for litigation later,” said Simon, who added that his office’s focus will be on making sure voters cast ballots by the 8 p.m. Election Day deadline. Simon, and other elected officials and activists alike, spent Friday urging voters to return absentee ballots in person or elect to vote in person instead of mailing in their ballots. They are concerned about an Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision Thursday ordering all ballots received after Tuesday’s 8 p.m. deadline to be segregated in response to a lawsuit from two GOP presidential electors. Simon and political party leaders worry that future legal challenges could invalidate ballots in the hotly contested election. “We need to emphasize that there is no court ruling yet saying those ballots are invalid,” Simon said. “We absolutely reserve the right to make every argument after Election Day that protects voters.”
That’s a surprise. The state had entered into an agreement in July to settle a lawsuit over ballot access that essentially overruled the statute on ballot submissions. The state Republican Party sued, claiming that Simon didn’t have any authority to override statutes, and the courts agreed, including the Eighth Circuit. Their ruling declared that Minnesota had time to deal with COVID-19 issues in the legislature, and that this was no longer the kind of emergency that reasonably required extra-statute action.
The Supreme Court has been more flexible on these points this cycle, though. It seemed likely that the state would press its case on an emergency basis, and if they did that they would get a sympathetic hearing. Samuel Alito signaled last week that the window for emergency action had just about closed, however, which is why Simon hinted at post-Election Day legal action.
Ellison tells Cuomo that he believes that the case was “wrongly decided,” but notes that the order allowed Minnesota to sequester the post-deadline ballots. “They will be counted,” Ellison emphasized three times, but that’s only true if the Supreme Court reverses the Eighth Circuit. If not, they won’t be counted. And if Joe Biden wins the state on the initial count, there’s no way in hell that Ellison and Simon ever count the late arrivals.


hotair--2020-10-31--Another "deplorables" moment, Joe?  Calls Trump supporters "those ugly people over there"

Are we watching Joe Biden unravel on the campaign trail , just days before the election ?
It is safe to say he isn ’ t getting any better as he steps out a little more from his basement in Delaware .
He had another “ deplorable ” moment in Minnesota on Friday .
Just five days before , Joe Biden became angry with Trump supporters who gathered across the street from his rally in Pennsylvania .
As they honked their car horns and waved Trump flags , Biden called the Trump voters “ chumps ” .
He did so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of all things .
During his rally in Minnesota Friday , the same thing happened but this time instead of chumps Biden called some Trump supporters who gathered to counter his rally “ those ugly people ” .
Poor old Joe has really thin skin , especially for a veteran of 47 years in political office .
It is reported through social media that there were more Trump supporters than Biden supporters Friday at the Minnesota rally .
Both campaigns made stops there yesterday , as the state looks to be in play @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Democrats if Trump wins Minnesota .
Team Biden seems to be suffering from last-minute jitters .
Why would Joe Biden be campaigning in Minnesota , a reliably Democrat state , if he was a far ahead as the pollsters tell us ?
Joe Biden traveled to more than one state Friday , just as Trump did .
The contrast between the two men is stunning .
President Trump is keeping a vigorous schedule while Joe Biden begins to fade after one 25 minute speech .
The campaign is nervous enough in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out more to attend drive-in rallies in carefully selected states .
Trump ’ s rally speeches usually go for an hour or more whether it is a cold climate like Minnesota or in warm weather in Florida .
Trump is still the Energizer Bunny after recovering from the coronavirus .
When Biden entered the Democrat primary , he gave the excuse of wanting to unify America as the reason for a 77-year-old man to come out of political retirement to run for president .
He is angry that Trump ’ s first term @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much of Obama ’ s damage to the country during his two terms in the White House .
The problem is that Joe Biden is different now than he was just a few short years ago .
He has noticeably slipped mentally and emotionally .
Not only does he slur his words and become unable to express himself intelligently , but he also has a real anger management problem that comes through as he campaigns .
It ’ s not a good look .
His campaign likes to say Biden is battling for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Florida Thursday .
In Coconut Creek , he gave his standard stump speech .
That speech lasted 23 minutes and Biden said that Trump “ doesn ’ t care about Cuban & Venezuelan people !
” Biden told the crowd .
That ’ s an interesting statement , given Trump ’ s consistent and strong support for the people of Venezuela as they fight against Maduro .
He stopped by for a surprise visit at a campaign field office in Fort Lauderdale .
While there he had an odd charge against President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the area , he said that Trump is sending Cuban-Americans back to Cuba .
What in the world he is talking about ?
There is no such thing happening in the real world .
It sure sounds as though Biden has another “ he ’ s gon na put you back in chains ” moment against Trump , doesn ’ t it ?
Remember when Biden told a black audience that Mitt Romney would put them back in chains ?
Ugh .
In Pennsylvania on Friday , Joe made an unusual campaign promise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has even heard about – because it is another jibberish word made up by Biden .
“ I ’ ll lead an effective strategy to mobilize trunalimunumaprzure.
” During a rally in Des Moines on Friday , Biden referenced a group of taxpayers that don ’ t exist .
He ’ s going to stick it to the “ trillionaires ” , y ’ all , in his tax plan .
Heads up , Joe , there are no trillionaires in America to tax .
During a 25-minute stump speech in Des Moines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his campaign pledge that Americans earning less than $ 400,000 a year would not see their taxes raised if he was elected president next week .
“ I guarantee you , I give you my word as a Biden , no one making less than $ 400,000 a year will see a penny in their taxes raised .
No one , ” the former veep , 77 , said to honks of approval from supporters at the “ drive-in rally.
” “ But I tell you what , it ’ s about time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the billionaires and trillionaires — um , the multi-billionaires , ” he went on , trailing off when he realized his error .
Joe Biden likes to say his tax plan will not affect anyone making under $ 400,000 a year .
Malarkey .
We know how this plays out because we lived it during the Obama-Biden administration .
Trump ’ s tax cut was very helpful for middle class workers , as economists have concluded .
Americans paid almost $ 64 billion less in federal income taxes during the first year under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in late 2017 by President Donald Trump , with some of the sharpest drops clustered among taxpayers earning between $ 25,000 and $ 100,000 a year , even as the overall number of refunds dropped during a turbulent tax season .
That ’ s according to Internal Revenue Service data released this week , giving the most up-to-date look yet at how people fared at tax time in the first year of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act .
The data were released Monday , providing the first substantial look at the effects @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for five of the seven income-tax brackets and also reduced the corporate income-tax rate .
That big tax cut helped fuel the economy that roared all the way up until the coronavirus pandemic .
Before the economic shutdown , every demographic of American was benefitting at historic levels from the Trump economy .
The Obama recovery from the 2008 financial collaspe of Wall Street was painfully slow – the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression .
It is almost painful to watch Biden drag himself across the finish line in this campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with lies and gaffes .
He name calls Trump supporters while he paraphrases Obama ’ s 2004 speech to the Democrat convention .
He says there is no red state or blue state but only the United States and that is how he ’ ll govern as president .
He has an odd way of proving that , though .
Trump may use crude language and pin nicknames on people but he doesn ’ t attack Biden voters .
He keeps the criticism on Biden , as he should .

Are we watching Joe Biden unravel on the campaign trail, just days before the election? It is safe to say he isn’t getting any better as he steps out a little more from his basement in Delaware. He had another “deplorable” moment in Minnesota on Friday.
Just five days before, Joe Biden became angry with Trump supporters who gathered across the street from his rally in Pennsylvania. As they honked their car horns and waved Trump flags, Biden called the Trump voters “chumps”. He did so as he was speaking about unity, of all things. During his rally in Minnesota Friday, the same thing happened but this time instead of chumps Biden called some Trump supporters who gathered to counter his rally “those ugly people”. Poor old Joe has really thin skin, especially for a veteran of 47 years in political office.
It is reported through social media that there were more Trump supporters than Biden supporters Friday at the Minnesota rally. Both campaigns made stops there yesterday, as the state looks to be in play. It would be a huge upset for Democrats if Trump wins Minnesota. Team Biden seems to be suffering from last-minute jitters. Why would Joe Biden be campaigning in Minnesota, a reliably Democrat state, if he was a far ahead as the pollsters tell us?
Joe Biden traveled to more than one state Friday, just as Trump did. The contrast between the two men is stunning. President Trump is keeping a vigorous schedule while Joe Biden begins to fade after one 25 minute speech. The campaign is nervous enough in the closing days that they are taking him out more to attend drive-in rallies in carefully selected states. Trump’s rally speeches usually go for an hour or more whether it is a cold climate like Minnesota or in warm weather in Florida. Trump is still the Energizer Bunny after recovering from the coronavirus.
When Biden entered the Democrat primary, he gave the excuse of wanting to unify America as the reason for a 77-year-old man to come out of political retirement to run for president. He is angry that Trump’s first term as president has been successful in undoing much of Obama’s damage to the country during his two terms in the White House. The problem is that Joe Biden is different now than he was just a few short years ago. He has noticeably slipped mentally and emotionally. Not only does he slur his words and become unable to express himself intelligently, but he also has a real anger management problem that comes through as he campaigns. It’s not a good look.
His campaign likes to say Biden is battling for the soul of America. Biden campaigned in Florida Thursday. In Coconut Creek, he gave his standard stump speech.
“I’ve never been more optimistic about America and the American people than I am today. On Nov 3 we’re going to unite this country and show the world who we are.” – Biden — Ernest Scheyder (@ErnestScheyder) October 29, 2020
That speech lasted 23 minutes and Biden said that Trump “doesn’t care about Cuban & Venezuelan people!” Biden told the crowd. That’s an interesting statement, given Trump’s consistent and strong support for the people of Venezuela as they fight against Maduro. He stopped by for a surprise visit at a campaign field office in Fort Lauderdale. While there he had an odd charge against President Trump. While targeting black voters in the area, he said that Trump is sending Cuban-Americans back to Cuba.
Interesting quotes from Biden’s visit to the Fort Lauderdale campaign field office earlier today.
Biden says point-blank that Trump is sending Cuban-Americans (very powerful voting bloc in the state) back to Cuba. pic.twitter.com/pQRSCT4LNj — Ernest Scheyder (@ErnestScheyder) October 29, 2020
What in the world he is talking about? There is no such thing happening in the real world. It sure sounds as though Biden has another “he’s gonna put you back in chains” moment against Trump, doesn’t it? Remember when Biden told a black audience that Mitt Romney would put them back in chains? Ugh.
In Pennsylvania on Friday, Joe made an unusual campaign promise. He will battle something no one has even heard about – because it is another jibberish word made up by Biden. “I’ll lead an effective strategy to mobilize trunalimunumaprzure.”
BIDEN: “I’ll lead an effective strategy to mobilize trunalimunumaprzure.”
pic.twitter.com/TAkj7bJndN — Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) October 30, 2020
During a rally in Des Moines on Friday, Biden referenced a group of taxpayers that don’t exist. He’s going to stick it to the “trillionaires”, y’all, in his tax plan. Heads up, Joe, there are no trillionaires in America to tax.
During a 25-minute stump speech in Des Moines, Iowa, the Democratic nominee repeated his campaign pledge that Americans earning less than $400,000 a year would not see their taxes raised if he was elected president next week. “I guarantee you, I give you my word as a Biden, no one making less than $400,000 a year will see a penny in their taxes raised. No one,” the former veep, 77, said to honks of approval from supporters at the “drive-in rally.” “But I tell you what, it’s about time, the wealthiest people in America, the billionaires and trillionaires — um, the multi-billionaires,” he went on, trailing off when he realized his error.
Joe Biden likes to say his tax plan will not affect anyone making under $400,000 a year. Malarkey. We know how this plays out because we lived it during the Obama-Biden administration. Trump’s tax cut was very helpful for middle class workers, as economists have concluded.
Americans paid almost $64 billion less in federal income taxes during the first year under the Republican tax overhaul signed into law in late 2017 by President Donald Trump, with some of the sharpest drops clustered among taxpayers earning between $25,000 and $100,000 a year, even as the overall number of refunds dropped during a turbulent tax season. That’s according to Internal Revenue Service data released this week, giving the most up-to-date look yet at how people fared at tax time in the first year of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The data were released Monday, providing the first substantial look at the effects of a tax law that reduced rates for five of the seven income-tax brackets and also reduced the corporate income-tax rate.
That big tax cut helped fuel the economy that roared all the way up until the coronavirus pandemic. Before the economic shutdown, every demographic of American was benefitting at historic levels from the Trump economy. The Obama recovery from the 2008 financial collaspe of Wall Street was painfully slow – the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression.
It is almost painful to watch Biden drag himself across the finish line in this campaign. His short campaign speeches are filled with lies and gaffes. He name calls Trump supporters while he paraphrases Obama’s 2004 speech to the Democrat convention. He says there is no red state or blue state but only the United States and that is how he’ll govern as president. He has an odd way of proving that, though. Trump may use crude language and pin nicknames on people but he doesn’t attack Biden voters. He keeps the criticism on Biden, as he should.


hotair--2020-10-31--Colorado removes Trump letter from millions of food shipments

The US Department of Agriculture ’ s Farmers to Families food box program has been in operation throughout most of the pandemic .
It helps support local farmers by offering a market for their vegetables , dairy and meat products .
Those items are boxed up and distributed to food banks and other charitable organizations around the country to help feed people impacted by the COVID-19 crisis .
Starting a couple of months ago , however , the boxes included something else .
Each box had a letter from President Donald Trump inside offering reassurance and information on common safety @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of spreading the disease .
This , of course , has outraged people , particularly in blue states , who see it as politicizing a nonpartisan relief program .
In Colorado , workers decided to take matters into their own hands and they have started removing the letters from all of the boxes before they are distributed to the families in need .
( CBS Denver ) The Denver Community Food Access Coalition is one of the groups distributing 1.8 million food packages to Colorado families .
They ’ re full of fresh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but not a letter signed by Donald Trump .
The Farmers to Families Food Boxes are sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture .
According to the DCFAC , each box contained a letter from the President reading in part “ consider wearing a face covering when in public.
” The excuse for this decision being offered by the Denver Community Food Access Coalition is weak tea at best .
They ’ re claiming that the President ’ s exhortation to “ consider wearing a face-covering in public ” is medical misinformation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recommends that everyone wear a mask over their nose and mouth when in public.
” This is essentially a distinction without a difference .
The CDC can ’ t mandate the wearing of masks , so they “ recommend ” that everyone does .
The President asks that people “ consider ” wearing one .
What the people running this program are really upset about is the idea that recipients of these boxes might be reminded that it ’ s the Trump administration ’ s Department of Agriculture sending out the relief .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ones .
Relief organizations in both Chicago and Oregon have been trashing the letters as well .
This wasn ’ t even something that Donald Trump cooked up himself .
Fox News reported at the end of July that the idea came from Ivanka Trump .
So was the letter political in nature , at least in part ?
C ’ mon , man… of course it was .
You can read the full letter at that Fox News link .
Most of it is fairly straightforward , describing the various benefits offered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about containing the spread of the virus .
But the first sentence starts with the words “ As President , ” and includes the phrase “ I prioritized ” sending out the boxes in the first paragraph .
The final paragraph describes the recipients as ” cherished members of our great American family.
” The wording is pretty clear .
The needed relief isn ’ t just coming from “ the government ” or the Department of Agriculture .
It ’ s a boon straight from Donald Trump ’ s largesse to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doesn ’ t look to me like something that rises to the level of a Hatch Act violation , as some Democrats are suggesting , but it ’ s clearly meant to suggest that people have the President to thank for this assistance .
Still , the decision to include the letters was made by the Agriculture Department so they were put in the boxes .
Does that mean that the people handing out the boxes are in violation of the law for tampering with them ?
Hard to say .
I was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ haven ’ t fallen so far down the ideological divide that we ’ re going to get into a Left vs .
Right spat over food relief , but I suppose that would be a silly thing to say .
This is 2020 , after all .
Of course we will .

The US Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families food box program has been in operation throughout most of the pandemic. It helps support local farmers by offering a market for their vegetables, dairy and meat products. Those items are boxed up and distributed to food banks and other charitable organizations around the country to help feed people impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Starting a couple of months ago, however, the boxes included something else. Each box had a letter from President Donald Trump inside offering reassurance and information on common safety procedures to follow to minimize the risk of spreading the disease.
This, of course, has outraged people, particularly in blue states, who see it as politicizing a nonpartisan relief program. In Colorado, workers decided to take matters into their own hands and they have started removing the letters from all of the boxes before they are distributed to the families in need. (CBS Denver)
The Denver Community Food Access Coalition is one of the groups distributing 1.8 million food packages to Colorado families. They’re full of fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy and meat, but not a letter signed by Donald Trump. The Farmers to Families Food Boxes are sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. According to the DCFAC, each box contained a letter from the President reading in part “consider wearing a face covering when in public.”
The excuse for this decision being offered by the Denver Community Food Access Coalition is weak tea at best. They’re claiming that the President’s exhortation to “consider wearing a face-covering in public” is medical misinformation because the CDC guidelines say “CDC recommends that everyone wear a mask over their nose and mouth when in public.” This is essentially a distinction without a difference. The CDC can’t mandate the wearing of masks, so they “recommend” that everyone does. The President asks that people “consider” wearing one.
What the people running this program are really upset about is the idea that recipients of these boxes might be reminded that it’s the Trump administration’s Department of Agriculture sending out the relief. And they aren’t the only ones. Relief organizations in both Chicago and Oregon have been trashing the letters as well.
This wasn’t even something that Donald Trump cooked up himself. Fox News reported at the end of July that the idea came from Ivanka Trump. So was the letter political in nature, at least in part? C’mon, man… of course it was. You can read the full letter at that Fox News link. Most of it is fairly straightforward, describing the various benefits offered by the program and the aforementioned cautions about containing the spread of the virus. But the first sentence starts with the words “As President,” and includes the phrase “I prioritized” sending out the boxes in the first paragraph. The final paragraph describes the recipients as ” cherished members of our great American family.”
The wording is pretty clear. The needed relief isn’t just coming from “the government” or the Department of Agriculture. It’s a boon straight from Donald Trump’s largesse to the dinner tables of the needy. It doesn’t look to me like something that rises to the level of a Hatch Act violation, as some Democrats are suggesting, but it’s clearly meant to suggest that people have the President to thank for this assistance.
Still, the decision to include the letters was made by the Agriculture Department so they were put in the boxes. Does that mean that the people handing out the boxes are in violation of the law for tampering with them? Hard to say. I was going to suggest that I hope we haven’t fallen so far down the ideological divide that we’re going to get into a Left vs. Right spat over food relief, but I suppose that would be a silly thing to say. This is 2020, after all. Of course we will.


hotair--2020-10-31--Hundreds of thousands of "dubious" ballots sent out just in Los Angeles County

As we were wrapping up the final week before election day , CBS Los Angeles was still finding errors of various types with the mail-in ballots being sent out to people in L.A. County .
How many errors are we talking about ?
Nearly 300,000 .
While it ’ s not as if even this level of incompetence and potential for fraud is going to risk flipping the state to Donald Trump , there are many down-ballot races on the line and they could certainly be impacted significantly .
Some of the problems that cropped up in this batch were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve covered here before .
Others , however , were previously unreported types of errors that should prove quite alarming , showing an even higher risk of voter fraud and a need for California ( and most of the states ) to work aggressively to clean up their voter rolls .
With Election Day next week , a new investigation has found hundreds of thousands of questionable ballots sent to Los Angeles County voters .
Investigative reporter David Goldstein found thousands of people received not one , but two ballots in their own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to people who ’ ve moved or died .
Becky Sprigg has lived in her Santa Monica apartment complex for 30 years .
That ’ s why she was surprised when a ballot was delivered to Carol ’ s old apartment – even though Carol — whose name we ’ re not revealing — moved 15 years ago and died almost ten years ago .
“ It ’ s curious that someone who passed away ten years ago would receive a ballot , ” Sprigg said .
“ Carol ” was far from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a ballot… or ballots ( plural ) .
CBS News reports that the Election Integrity Project California claims to have found more than 277,000 “ questionable ” ballots that were mailed out .
Shockingly , that represents more than 60 % of all the dubious ballots identified in the entire state , all coming from a single county .
As mentioned above , some of the other errors are even more alarming than dead people receiving ballots .
A guy named Tommy Robinson showed a reporter that he had received two ballots on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ name .
One was sent to his address including the identifier “ Apartment B406.
” The other was identical , except it said # 406 .
The Post Office dutifully delivered both of them .
Tommy assured CBS that he had only submitted one and destroyed the other .
If that had been a one-off error we likely wouldn ’ t have to worry too much , but it wasn ’ t .
The report referenced above found 4,800 cases where duplicate ballots were mailed to the same person at the same address @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rolls become polluted when someone moves and they don ’ t update their voter registration information .
But all of these people were obviously still living at the same address .
How does a second entry with only a minor , cosmetic change wind up on the rolls ?
Who fills out an updated voter registration form when they still live at the same address ?
I suppose this could still be a clerical error of some sort , but it certainly sounds suspicious .
Also , just because Tommy was honest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was everyone ?
The Board of Elections keeps telling us that they ’ re “ checking ” all of the incoming ballots to ensure nobody voted twice , but that ’ s a lot of checking to be doing on Tuesday .
Is this checking being done manually or is it automated ?
I only ask because if the system is looking for duplicate information and the addresses on the two ballots don ’ t match exactly , would that trigger a red flag ?
And if it ’ s a manual check @ @ @ @ @ @ @ standing by to do all of this work ?
CBS asked the country registrar how so many dead people wind up on the voter rolls and have ballots sent out to them .
The answer was far from inspiring .
Sure , Dean .
But when you ’ re talking about removing the voting rights of dead people , I think you ’ re pretty much in the clear .

As we were wrapping up the final week before election day, CBS Los Angeles was still finding errors of various types with the mail-in ballots being sent out to people in L.A. County. How many errors are we talking about? Nearly 300,000. While it’s not as if even this level of incompetence and potential for fraud is going to risk flipping the state to Donald Trump, there are many down-ballot races on the line and they could certainly be impacted significantly. Some of the problems that cropped up in this batch were similar to the recurring issues we’ve covered here before. Others, however, were previously unreported types of errors that should prove quite alarming, showing an even higher risk of voter fraud and a need for California (and most of the states) to work aggressively to clean up their voter rolls.
With Election Day next week, a new investigation has found hundreds of thousands of questionable ballots sent to Los Angeles County voters. Investigative reporter David Goldstein found thousands of people received not one, but two ballots in their own name. And thousands more were sent to people who’ve moved or died. Becky Sprigg has lived in her Santa Monica apartment complex for 30 years. That’s why she was surprised when a ballot was delivered to Carol’s old apartment – even though Carol — whose name we’re not revealing — moved 15 years ago and died almost ten years ago. “It’s curious that someone who passed away ten years ago would receive a ballot,” Sprigg said.
“Carol” was far from the only relocated and deceased person receiving a ballot… or ballots (plural). CBS News reports that the Election Integrity Project California claims to have found more than 277,000 “questionable” ballots that were mailed out. Shockingly, that represents more than 60% of all the dubious ballots identified in the entire state, all coming from a single county.
As mentioned above, some of the other errors are even more alarming than dead people receiving ballots. A guy named Tommy Robinson showed a reporter that he had received two ballots on the same day, both in his name. One was sent to his address including the identifier “Apartment B406.” The other was identical, except it said #406. The Post Office dutifully delivered both of them. Tommy assured CBS that he had only submitted one and destroyed the other.
If that had been a one-off error we likely wouldn’t have to worry too much, but it wasn’t. The report referenced above found 4,800 cases where duplicate ballots were mailed to the same person at the same address. You can sort of understand how the rolls become polluted when someone moves and they don’t update their voter registration information. But all of these people were obviously still living at the same address. How does a second entry with only a minor, cosmetic change wind up on the rolls? Who fills out an updated voter registration form when they still live at the same address? I suppose this could still be a clerical error of some sort, but it certainly sounds suspicious.
Also, just because Tommy was honest enough to destroy his extra ballot, was everyone? The Board of Elections keeps telling us that they’re “checking” all of the incoming ballots to ensure nobody voted twice, but that’s a lot of checking to be doing on Tuesday. Is this checking being done manually or is it automated? I only ask because if the system is looking for duplicate information and the addresses on the two ballots don’t match exactly, would that trigger a red flag? And if it’s a manual check, how many people do they have standing by to do all of this work?
CBS asked the country registrar how so many dead people wind up on the voter rolls and have ballots sent out to them. The answer was far from inspiring.
“When you’re talking about removing someone’s right to vote, that’s something we take seriously and that strikes to the integrity of the election,” said [country registrar Dean]Logan.
Sure, Dean. But when you’re talking about removing the voting rights of dead people, I think you’re pretty much in the clear.


hotair--2020-11-01--Sunday morning talking heads

Sunday morning talking heads

The last Sunday of the 2020 presidential campaign arrives with wall-to-wall coverage of the election on this morning ’ s shows , featuring a star guest whom none of us outside of Pennsylvania has heard of .
That would be Kathy Boockvar , the state ’ s secretary of state , who ’ s in charge of vote-counting there .
She ’ ll weigh in with “ Meet the Press ” on the legal wrangling over whether mail-in ballots that arrive after polls close will be counted , whether it ’ s fair for SCOTUS to suspend its verdict on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and how much chaos the president ’ s attempts to gaslight the public about whether ballots should fairly be counted after November 3 is causing locally .
Elsewhere , the governors of the three states that are most likely to decide the presidency — all Democrats — will preview their plans to handle post-election chaos if the vote is close .
Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan , Tony Evers of Wisconsin , and Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania will each chat with Jake Tapper on “ State of the Union ” about the frightening COVID @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they expect vote-counting to be done .
Ohio Gov .
Mike DeWine will be on as well , although no one expects Ohio to be decisive on Tuesday .
If Trump wins it , he still needs to take care of business elsewhere in the Rust Belt .
If he loses it , he ’ s done .
There are tons of surrogates for each campaign booked this morning too , of course .
For the GOP : RNC chair Ronna McDaniel will speak with “ Face the Nation , ” Corey Lewandowski @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” and Mark Meadows will sit with “ This Week.
” For the Dems : Biden advisor Anita Dunn and Pete Buttigieg both get the call on “ State of the Union ” while Amy Klobuchar appears on “ Fox News Sunday.
” The single strongest piece of evidence Republicans have right now that the election will be closer than everyone expects is the attention Democrats are paying lately to Klobuchar ’ s home state of Minnesota .
That shouldn ’ t be in play if an easy Biden win is in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what Klobuchar has to say about it this morning .
The full line-up is at the AP .

The last Sunday of the 2020 presidential campaign arrives with wall-to-wall coverage of the election on this morning’s shows, featuring a star guest whom none of us outside of Pennsylvania has heard of. That would be Kathy Boockvar, the state’s secretary of state, who’s in charge of vote-counting there. She’ll weigh in with “Meet the Press” on the legal wrangling over whether mail-in ballots that arrive after polls close will be counted, whether it’s fair for SCOTUS to suspend its verdict on that point until after Election Day, and how much chaos the president’s attempts to gaslight the public about whether ballots should fairly be counted after November 3 is causing locally.
Elsewhere, the governors of the three states that are most likely to decide the presidency — all Democrats — will preview their plans to handle post-election chaos if the vote is close. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Tony Evers of Wisconsin, and Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania will each chat with Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” about the frightening COVID surges in their states and how soon they expect vote-counting to be done. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine will be on as well, although no one expects Ohio to be decisive on Tuesday. If Trump wins it, he still needs to take care of business elsewhere in the Rust Belt. If he loses it, he’s done.
There are tons of surrogates for each campaign booked this morning too, of course. For the GOP: RNC chair Ronna McDaniel will speak with “Face the Nation,” Corey Lewandowski will talk to “Fox News Sunday,” and Mark Meadows will sit with “This Week.” For the Dems: Biden advisor Anita Dunn and Pete Buttigieg both get the call on “State of the Union” while Amy Klobuchar appears on “Fox News Sunday.” The single strongest piece of evidence Republicans have right now that the election will be closer than everyone expects is the attention Democrats are paying lately to Klobuchar’s home state of Minnesota. That shouldn’t be in play if an easy Biden win is in the works. We’ll see what Klobuchar has to say about it this morning. The full line-up is at the AP.