dailykos--2020-11-11--Good News Roundup for Wednesday, November 11 — lots and lots of good news!!

This exciting article prompted a DKos diary ( sorry , I can ’ t find it now to link it ) and a comment here at Good News Roundup ( sorry again for forgetting by whom ) .
But it ’ s so encouraging and surprising that I want to bring it up again at greater length .
Please do open the link and read the whole thing when you can .
Next to the fact that Biden was elected , this gives me the most reason to hope for meaningful change sooner rather than later .
A president has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maneuver through .
But America has also been passing laws for over 232 years , and buried in the U.S. Code are the raw materials for fundamental change .
… The Prospect has identified 30 meaningful executive actions , all derived from authority in specific statutes , which could be implemented on Day One by a new president .
These would not be executive orders , much less abuses of authority , but strategic exercise of legitimate presidential power .
Without signing a single new law , the next president can lower prescription @ @ @ @ @ @ @ break up the big banks , give everybody who wants one a bank account , counteract the dominance of monopoly power , protect farmers from price discrimination and unfair dealing , force divestment from fossil fuel projects , close a slew of tax loopholes , hold crooked CEOs accountable , mandate reductions of greenhouse gas emissions , allow the effective legalization of marijuana , make it easier for 800,000 workers to join a union , and much , much more .
We have compiled a series of essays to explain precisely how , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president can accomplish all this .
[ For example , ] Presidents can make regulatory decisions like who qualifies for overtime pay .
They can decide who serves as a worker ’ s employer , a critical determination for collective bargaining .
They can choose whether corporations should still enjoy a “ safe harbor ” to facilitate stock buybacks that enrich investors at the expense of workers .
They can ’ t bring forth Medicare for All , but they can use Section 1332 waivers from the Affordable Care Act to enable single-payer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potentially use nearly $ 1 billion from the ACA ’ s Prevention and Public Health Fund to defray startup costs .
Once you start thinking about the possibilities , it ’ s hard to stop .
Statutory language is sometimes clear and sometimes muddled , but regulatory discretion is almost always broad .
What a president chooses to emphasize , and how much the letter of the law can be bent to their preferences , makes a huge difference .
And more good news on the same theme : Joe Biden Begins to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Immediately When He Gets to the White House Jaime Harrison lost , but the Deep South has already changed The South , and the Deep South in particular , fielded more Black candidates in 2020 than it has since Reconstruction .
This year was the manifestation of [ Stacey ] Abrams ’ s efforts , and those of southern Black activists and politicians before her , like Fannie Lou Hamer .
On Sunday , at a rally in Charleston along the banks of the Ashley River , [ Jaime ] Harrison reflected on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the verge of having this great state being represented by two African American senators at the same time .
First time that ’ s ever happened in this country , ” he told me .
He allowed himself to hope ; his campaign , as he ’ d repeat at stop after stop , allowed people in the state to hope .
“ And that ’ s the progress that we have made.
” Harrison will not be the next United States senator from South Carolina .
But his campaign allowed Democrats to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state ; it reminded national leaders why they should not write off the region .
If Democrats had invested in South Carolina—in the same way they invested in Georgia , for Abrams ’ s gubernatorial race and the 2020 election—might the result have been different ?
Using the voter list Harrison has assembled , will Democrats be competitive in the state moving forward ?
Abrams turned an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid into sustained influence within the Democratic Party .
She made former Vice President Joe Biden ’ s shortlist for potential vice-presidential nominees .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ recognition among Democrats , now has a bona fide national profile .
[ Lauren ] Underwood again expands lead over Oberweis in 14th Congressional District race I had a chance to hear Underwood speak at a Dem event in Portland several years ago , and she knocked my socks right off .
She ’ s a nurse , whip-smart , passionate , and altogether impressive .
As of Tuesday afternoon , she ’ s hanging onto a slim lead with more ballots left to count .
Let ’ s hope she prevails over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against her .
Vote Forward volunteers will be able to write GOTV letters to Georgia And although messaging details are still being worked out , it looks pretty certain that we ’ ll also be able to write for Postcards to Voters for the Georgia runoffs .
Friends , our schadenfreude cup doth truly run over !
Most of the best examples have come from the Twitterverse , and as usual , OHD ’ s Tweets of the Week captured the outstanding ones , with more added by the commenters .
I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be a shame if any of you missed them .
( And if you didn ’ t read Tweets of the Week , go open the link !
! )
We ’ ll start with Rudy , because this is just so delicious : Ted Cruz is also always good for a laugh : And on to the COVIDiot-in-Chief : And then there are the QAnon crazies , who are beginning to think that there be something wrong with The Plan : Rick Wilson is having fun .
And the man definitely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump is in ‘ full collapse ’ as he tries to stave off the inevitable “ The Trump regime is in full and robust collapse .
It ’ s not just his loss at the polls .
He ’ s lost the magic .
The mojo is shot .
Gone is the impervious Trump of legend , ” ... “ Now , desperation is delicious and spreading nearly as fast as the virus is among his inner circle .
The dying twitches of the apparat built to support the whinging sociopath who stains @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have become more and more apparent .
The unenviable job of telling the Maximum Leader that the game is over has fallen to his hapless son-in-law , who hardly cuts the figure of wartime consigliere .
He ’ s more of a wartime hand model.
” “ If this were some Third World despot ’ s collapse of power , Trump would be ordering his last few loyal aides to load the blood diamonds , bearer bonds , and bullion into the presidential getaway jet .
They ’ d race to the airport @ @ @ @ @ @ @ army seized the field , taking with him only a loyal cadre of bodyguards and his second and third most attractive mistresses , ” he explained .
“ Instead , he ’ s spending his last days in power on a public hissy fit to keep the General Services Administration from beginning its legal duties in the transition .
That move is Trumpism distilled to its purest form : petty , illegal , and stupid in equal measures.
” Jeez , even Dan Quayle says tRump needs to get over it !
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a comment on Nov. 5 , but I wanted to highlight the best news .
Bonds , levies , and taxes : Measures to renew the funding of Portland Parks and the Multnomah County Library both passed , which is excellent news .
But the most important successful funding measure is the one that will establish free universal pre-school for Multnomah County 3-4 year olds .
It will be funded by a tax on incomes over $ 125,000 .
Willamette Week commented : The NY Times picked it up : How an Oregon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ National Model .
And they mentioned an important part of this plan : City measures : Another ground-breaking measure that passed overwhelmingly is a new police oversight board which will be made up of a diverse group of civilian volunteers who will have the power to investigate and discipline Portland police officers , including firing them .
The police union has now filed a grievance with the city , arguing that the measure is a violation of the city ’ s contractual obligations , but Mayor Wheeler says the city will actively defend @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Merkley was re-elected , as was Representative Peter Defazio .
Both of them are indispensable Progressive heroes , so this is news .
Oregonians approved a constitutional amendment — at last !
— to allow limits on campaign contributions and expenditures .
But the big news was two ballot measures that are .
Nifty highlighted these yesterday , but they ’ re important enough to repeat !
Coincidentally , these research results just came out : Oregon becomes 1st state in the US to decriminalize drug possession Of course , Twitter had its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrap up Oregon news , here ’ s a sweet story of artistic recognition after years of obscurity .
A Central Oregon Musician Has Released Her First Album on a Renowned Austin Record Label Decades After She Stopped Playing Professionally Good news from around the nation ‘ Obamacare ’ likely to survive , high court arguments indicate In a Landslide , Nebraska Voters Say ‘ No More ’ to 404 % Interest Rates on Payday Loans Chefs for the Polls served 500,000 meals to voters and poll workers From an email from World @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world And here ’ s a sweet video of Kamala ’ s ancestral village celebrating her election : Why 2020 is turning out be a pivotal year for fossil fuel exits From the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis [ IEEFA ] : The newest product made from captured CO2 is explosive New Study Shows Garden Areas Improved the Immune Systems of Daycare Children in Only a Month In Historic Vote , Coloradans Give Thumbs-Up For Gray Wolves to Be Reintroduced West of the Rockies Fresh off their recovery from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ getting another bit of support to ensure their continued recovery , this time from the voters in Colorado .
On Tuesday Coloradans voted to reintroduce wolves into the Northwestern part of the state—and it was a historic proposition because never has a state delegated such a significant wildlife management decision to its citizens .
By a narrow margin of 20,000 votes , it was agreed that the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department should establish a suitable population west of the Rockies ’ continental divide by the end of 2023 .
A big focus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ implement the initiative while working alongside the ranchers and homeowners who voted against the resolution .
Ecologists hope to dampen some of the mistrust of rural Coloradans by pointing out some of the ecological benefits of having wolves on the landscape .
Overly-large herds of elk and mule deer can overgraze fields which leads to soil erosion and stream bank collapse , as well as poorer genetics and greater spread of diseases .
Apex predators like the wolf can mitigate ungulates ’ occasional destructive forces , and support other carnivores like wolverines , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more , by leaving kills behind .
The plants benefit from this more balanced ecosystem , as well .
Finally , a presence in the flatlands on the western side of the southern Rocky Mountains will link the northern-dwelling wolves with gray wolves living alone on the border in Mexico , creating an unparalleled opportunity for genetic diversity .
Saving Caribou and Preserving Food Traditions Among Canada ’ s First Nations The traditional territories of the West Moberly [ First Nations ] and their neighbors , the Saulteau First Nation , include portions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mountains and the surrounding boreal forests in northeastern British Columbia ( B.C . )
, Canada .
Both First Nations have been battling for decades to save caribou , a traditional food for their people , from extirpation .
Caribou , Rangifer tarandus , are a circumboreal species native to Europe , Asia , and North America .
But in the rugged interior mountains of the Pacific Northwest , the caribou are part of a behaviorally unique and endangered ecotype of the species , known as mountain caribou .
There used to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provided a sustainable staple food source for Indigenous peoples for millennia .
But when miners entered the region in the 1800s , market hunting for caribou to feed the burgeoning settler community began to damage the population .
Today , their numbers are on a steep downward trajectory ; currently only about 1,200 remain , divided into a dozen disconnected subpopulations including a small number in the territory of the West Moberly and Saulteau .
Rather than waiting for the colonial governments to fix the problem , the [ First Nations ] began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ capturing and penning pregnant caribou cows to protect them and their calves during birthing , then releasing them back into the wild ; predator control efforts on landscapes where logging , mining , and road construction has destroyed refuge habitat for caribou ; and restoration work to recover this habitat so caribou will be able to thrive on their own once again .
Commercial whaling may be over in Iceland I see this as an encouraging sign that humans are indeed evolving in their capacity to accept that the creatures with whom we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ live .
www.politico.com/ ... POLITICO Playbook : The last gasp of Trumpism .
The authors argue that the foundation of Trumpism , unquestioning loyalty , “ has a rapidly approaching termination date ” — i.e.
, Jan. 20 , 2021. www.nytimes.com/… Hakeem Jeffries Wants Democrats to Take a Deep Breath .
The likely successor to NDP ( after she chooses to step down ) tells us to chill out , “ take a deep breath , and stay focused on economic and social justice.
” www.wonkette.com/ ... Kimberly Guilfoyle , Boyfriend Want To @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wonkette ’ s Stephen Robinson is on a roll : “ Trump Jr. and his girlfriend for at least the next three months , Kimberly Guilfoyle , are `` making moves to expand their influence '' at the RNC .
Junior was court-ordered to social distance from any charity in the state of New York , but sure , put him in charge of the RNC .
( No , really , we mean it .
That 'd be hilarious . )
” www.wweek.com/… A look back at how Portland was feeling four @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump Threatens Portland—and Why You Must Fight Back .
We did !
!
Before I close , I ’ d like to recognize that today is Veterans Day ( aka Remembrance Day ) , the anniversary of the end of the War to End All Wars .
( Of course , it didn ’ t . )
But I think it ’ s worth noting that that was the hope of the people who suffered through it .
May we remember that hope as our country honors veterans today .
This is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s just-released first album , “ Anam.
” She wrote it originally for her yoga classes , and I think it ’ s perfect for calming down and breathing deep .

Greetings!
Greetings to all you Gnusies, Gnewbies, occasional drop-ins, silent regulars, and first-timers! Come sit with us to find and share messages of hope and to celebrate all the ways good people are triumphing over evil-doers. The task we have set ourselves here in Gnuville is to search out hope no matter how difficult the situation might be. We have learned over the past four years that hope can be found even in the darkest days, and now, as we come to the end of the collective nightmare of this maladministration and celebrate the coming Biden era, hope is everywhere!
This is a collaborative effort. After you read a Good News Roundup, we warmly encourage you to add your own good news finds in our comment section, The Best Comment Section on the Internet™, where sanity reigns, Gloomy Guses and Debbie Downers are encouraged to see the light, and pie fights are forbidden.
Let’s get started!
Introduction
I’ll keep my intro short, because this will be a long roundup.
I took a long walk on the afternoon following the news that Biden had won PA and the election. On the way home, the gray drizzly sky broke open to sunshine while some rain clouds persisted, so I looked for a rainbow. What I saw made me cheer out loud: there was a vivid rainbow, and just below it, perched in his favorite tree, was our neighborhood bald eagle. My iPhone camera wasn’t up to capturing the image as well as a telephoto camera would have, but this will give you an idea of the scene. After taking the rainbow photo, I got a closer image of the eagle, which I’ve inserted at the upper right:
I can’t imagine a more auspicious omen.
* * * * *
First musical break
Because we’re not ready to stop celebrating!
x YouTube Video
* * * * *
Good political news
This story broke yesterday evening. There goes the ballot tampering conspiracy!! Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!
Postal worker admits fabricating allegations of ballot tampering, officials say
From the Seattle Times:
A Pennsylvania postal worker whose claims have been cited by top Republicans as potential evidence of widespread voting irregularities admitted to U.S. Postal Service investigators that he fabricated the allegations, according to three people briefed on the investigation and a statement from a House congressional committee. Richard Hopkins’ claim that a postmaster in Erie, Pa., instructed postal workers to backdate ballots mailed after Election Day was cited by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., in a letter to the Department of Justice calling for a federal investigation. Attorney General William Barr subsequently authorized federal prosecutors to open probes into credible allegations of voting irregularities and fraud, a reversal of long-standing Justice Department policy. But on Sunday, Hopkins, 32, told investigators from the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of Inspector General that the allegations were not true, and he signed an affidavit recanting his claims, according to the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation. Democrats on the House oversight committee tweeted late Tuesday that the “whistleblower completely RECANTED.” Hopkins did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The Day One Agenda
This exciting article prompted a DKos diary (sorry, I can’t find it now to link it) and a comment here at Good News Roundup (sorry again for forgetting by whom). But it’s so encouraging and surprising that I want to bring it up again at greater length. Please do open the link and read the whole thing when you can. Next to the fact that Biden was elected, this gives me the most reason to hope for meaningful change sooner rather than later.
From The American Prospect:
A president has a thicket of checks and balances to maneuver through. But America has also been passing laws for over 232 years, and buried in the U.S. Code are the raw materials for fundamental change. … The Prospect has identified 30 meaningful executive actions, all derived from authority in specific statutes, which could be implemented on Day One by a new president. These would not be executive orders, much less abuses of authority, but strategic exercise of legitimate presidential power. Without signing a single new law, the next president can lower prescription drug prices, cancel student debt, break up the big banks, give everybody who wants one a bank account, counteract the dominance of monopoly power, protect farmers from price discrimination and unfair dealing, force divestment from fossil fuel projects, close a slew of tax loopholes, hold crooked CEOs accountable, mandate reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, allow the effective legalization of marijuana, make it easier for 800,000 workers to join a union, and much, much more. We have compiled a series of essays to explain precisely how, and under what authority, the next president can accomplish all this. ✂ [For example,] Presidents can make regulatory decisions like who qualifies for overtime pay. They can decide who serves as a worker’s employer, a critical determination for collective bargaining. They can choose whether corporations should still enjoy a “safe harbor” to facilitate stock buybacks that enrich investors at the expense of workers. They can’t bring forth Medicare for All, but they can use Section 1332 waivers from the Affordable Care Act to enable single-payer programs at the state level, and potentially use nearly $1 billion from the ACA’s Prevention and Public Health Fund to defray startup costs. Once you start thinking about the possibilities, it’s hard to stop. Statutory language is sometimes clear and sometimes muddled, but regulatory discretion is almost always broad. What a president chooses to emphasize, and how much the letter of the law can be bent to their preferences, makes a huge difference.
And more good news on the same theme:
Joe Biden Begins to Spell Out What He’ll Do Immediately When He Gets to the White House
From Mother Jones:
Much of Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-environment, climate change-denying, pro-police, anti-civil rights agenda—to name some of its prominent features—was enacted through executive power, via Trump’s executive orders and rule changes made by his cabinet. President-elect Joe Biden can therefore set to work reversing much of Trump’s work on his first day in office, without needing approval of a potentially Republican controlled Senate. And his team is putting in place plans to do just that. ✂ On Sunday, the president-elect rolled out his transition website—along with social media feeds—detailing how he would tackle four prominent issues: COVID-19, the ongoing economic crisis, racial equity, and climate change. Named after his campaign policy platform Build Back Better, the transition plan shows how a Biden administration could quickly change official government policy.
Biden transition team announces coronavirus advisers, including whistleblower Rick Bright
From CNN:
In a speech Monday after meeting with the 12-member coronavirus task force advising him during the transition before his January 20 inauguration, Biden implored Americans to stop the politicization of basic public health precautions, like mask-wearing and social distancing. "The goal of mask-wearing is not to make your life less comfortable or take something away from you. It's to give something back to all of us: a normal life," he said. … Wearing a mask, he said, was "not a political statement, but it is a good way to start pulling the country together." ✂ Biden's transition team earlier Monday morning announced the group of public health experts that will make up his coronavirus advisory board, which includes Rick Bright, a whistleblower from the Trump administration who alleged that his early warnings about the pandemic were ignored and ultimately led to his removal. ✂ The task force is chaired by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler and Yale University's Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith. Among the other thirteen members are Dr. Luciana Borio, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations and Dr. Zeke Emanuel, one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act and an ex-Obama health adviser.
Jaime Harrison lost, but the Deep South has already changed
From The Atlantic:
The South, and the Deep South in particular, fielded more Black candidates in 2020 than it has since Reconstruction. This year was the manifestation of [Stacey] Abrams’s efforts, and those of southern Black activists and politicians before her, like Fannie Lou Hamer. On Sunday, at a rally in Charleston along the banks of the Ashley River, [Jaime] Harrison reflected on the moment. “We are on the verge of having this great state being represented by two African American senators at the same time. First time that’s ever happened in this country,” he told me. He allowed himself to hope; his campaign, as he’d repeat at stop after stop, allowed people in the state to hope. “And that’s the progress that we have made.” Harrison will not be the next United States senator from South Carolina. But his campaign allowed Democrats to imagine what was possible in his home state; it reminded national leaders why they should not write off the region. If Democrats had invested in South Carolina—in the same way they invested in Georgia, for Abrams’s gubernatorial race and the 2020 election—might the result have been different? Using the voter list Harrison has assembled, will Democrats be competitive in the state moving forward? Abrams turned an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid into sustained influence within the Democratic Party. She made former Vice President Joe Biden’s shortlist for potential vice-presidential nominees. Harrison, who already had high name recognition among Democrats, now has a bona fide national profile.
[Lauren] Underwood again expands lead over Oberweis in 14th Congressional District race
I had a chance to hear Underwood speak at a Dem event in Portland several years ago, and she knocked my socks right off. She’s a nurse, whip-smart, passionate, and altogether impressive. As of Tuesday afternoon, she’s hanging onto a slim lead with more ballots left to count. Let’s hope she prevails over the smug middle-aged white conservative dude running against her.
From Daily Herald:
With more tabulated votes released Tuesday, Democratic U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood of Naperville slightly expanded her lead over Republican challenger Jim Oberweis in the race for the 14th District seat. The new unofficial results show Underwood ahead 192,616 to 191,460, a 1,156-vote advantage. Underwood has 50.15% of the vote so far and Oberweis has 48.85%. ✂ The updated tally likely doesn't include all the votes cast in the race. Ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive at election offices by Nov. 17 will be counted, as will provisional ballots.
Vote Forward volunteers will be able to write GOTV letters to Georgia
From an email:
To answer the question we've heard from many of you: Yes! Vote Forward is planning several campaigns to help encourage voters in Georgia to vote in this election, so we hope your writing hands have had a rest and that you're ready to pick up your pens again. Please stay tuned for details about this campaign, which we plan to launch next week. Thank you again and as always for your heroic efforts this election cycle!
And although messaging details are still being worked out, it looks pretty certain that we’ll also be able to write for Postcards to Voters for the Georgia runoffs.
Schadenfreude!
Friends, our schadenfreude cup doth truly run over!
Most of the best examples have come from the Twitterverse, and as usual, OHD’s Tweets of the Week captured the outstanding ones, with more added by the commenters. I’m repeating my favorites here because it would be a shame if any of you missed them. (And if you didn’t read Tweets of the Week, go open the link now !!)
We’ll start with Rudy, because this is just so delicious:
x imagine being fooled by Borat only the 2nd most humiliating thing that's happened to Rudy Giuliani this month — Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) November 8, 2020
Ted Cruz is also always good for a laugh:
x Ted Cruz on Hannity looks like they sent a camera down to the Titanic and found a body. pic.twitter.com/3mRVl3NLsd — Daniel Kibblesmith (@kibblesmith) November 6, 2020
And on to the COVIDiot-in-Chief:
x We gave Trump the entire 2020 experience. He got COVID & now is unemployed! — steve. (@CarIegend) November 6, 2020
x I can't get over how Trump's presidential ambitions began with his descent down a golden escalator and ended with a sparsely-attended press conference in a sketchy parking lot next to a dildo store.
How can you not believe in God, and God's sense of humor, after witnessing this? — Eric Owens (@ericowensdc) November 8, 2020
And then there are the QAnon crazies, who are beginning to think that there might be something wrong with The Plan:
Rick Wilson is having fun. And the man definitely has a way with words!
Humiliated Trump is in ‘full collapse’ as he tries to stave off the inevitable
From Raw Story:
“The Trump regime is in full and robust collapse. It’s not just his loss at the polls. He’s lost the magic. The mojo is shot. Gone is the impervious Trump of legend,” ... “Now, desperation is delicious and spreading nearly as fast as the virus is among his inner circle. The dying twitches of the apparat built to support the whinging sociopath who stains the Oval Office, for now, have become more and more apparent. The unenviable job of telling the Maximum Leader that the game is over has fallen to his hapless son-in-law, who hardly cuts the figure of wartime consigliere. He’s more of a wartime hand model.” ✂ “If this were some Third World despot’s collapse of power, Trump would be ordering his last few loyal aides to load the blood diamonds, bearer bonds, and bullion into the presidential getaway jet. They’d race to the airport for a last-minute escape before the rebel army seized the field, taking with him only a loyal cadre of bodyguards and his second and third most attractive mistresses,” he explained. “Instead, he’s spending his last days in power on a public hissy fit to keep the General Services Administration from beginning its legal duties in the transition. That move is Trumpism distilled to its purest form: petty, illegal, and stupid in equal measures.”
Jeez, even Dan Quayle says tRump needs to get over it!
From the NY Times:
Former Vice President Dan Quayle, a Republican and the only surviving member of the last incumbent presidential ticket to be defeated in a re-election campaign, said on Monday that it was time for President Trump to accept the election results. … ”there have been a lot of allegations they continue to investigate, but from my viewpoint I don’t think there’s any systemic fraud.” He added: “It’s time to move on, and therefore I hope that there’s some sort of announcement from the White House sooner rather than later.”
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Good news from Portland
Election results
I reported a summary of our results in a comment on Nov. 5, but I wanted to highlight the best news.
Bonds, levies, and taxes: Measures to renew the funding of Portland Parks and the Multnomah County Library both passed, which is excellent news. But the most important successful funding measure is the one that will establish free universal pre-school for Multnomah County 3-4 year olds. It will be funded by a tax on incomes over $125,000. Willamette Week commented:
Opponents of the preschool measure have noted that it will raise the combined tax on the highest income earners in Multnomah County to the highest rate in the country—but Measure 26-214's success shows that a majority of county voters believe a redistribution of income from the top to the bottom is in order.
The NY Times picked it up: How an Oregon Measure for Universal Preschool Could Be a National Model. And they mentioned an important part of this plan:
Low-quality preschoo … can be worse than none at all. Yet it costs a lot of money to run a high-quality program. And some of the things it requires — like highly trained teachers and low turnover so teachers can develop relationships with children — are hard to achieve without raising teachers’ pay. The Multnomah County measure will pay preschool teachers roughly the same as public kindergarten teachers — around $74,000 a year for lead teachers, up from $31,000. Teaching assistants will earn about $20 an hour. The measure will eventually raise $202 million a year from taxpayers. It plans to add an estimated 12,000 preschool spots and hire 2,300 teachers.
City measures: Another ground-breaking measure that passed overwhelmingly is a new police oversight board which will be made up of a diverse group of civilian volunteers who will have the power to investigate and discipline Portland police officers, including firing them. The police union has now filed a grievance with the city, arguing that the measure is a violation of the city’s contractual obligations, but Mayor Wheeler says the city will actively defend the will of the voters.
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Good news from Oregon
Election results
Senator Merkley was re-elected, as was Representative Peter Defazio. Both of them are indispensable Progressive heroes, so this is great news.
Oregonians approved a constitutional amendment — at last! — to allow limits on campaign contributions and expenditures.
But the big news was two ballot measures that are firsts in the nation . Nifty highlighted these yesterday, but they’re important enough to repeat!
Oregon voters legalize therapeutic psilocybin
From OPB:
Oregon becomes the first state in the nation to allow the use of psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient of hallucinogenic mushrooms, in therapy. ✂ The measure does not decriminalize psilocybin. It’s still a Schedule I drug under federal rules and thus not approved for any medical uses. Instead, Measure 109 directs the Oregon Health Authority to create a state-licensed, psilocybin-assisted therapy program over the next two years and determine how it would regulate the ingredient. Ultimately, the measure allows therapists to use psilocybin to treat chronic mental health issues like PTSD and depression. Therapists also plan to use it to reduce anxiety for patients who are dying and to help people kick their addictions.
Coincidentally, these research results just came out:
Another Study Shows Psychedelic Psilocybin Mushrooms Offering Long-Term Relief From Depressive Symptoms
From the Good News Network:
In another study on the use of psychedelic compounds as medicine, two doses of psilocybin—the compound that gives “magic mushrooms” their magic—was found to significantly reduce major depressive symptoms in adults when it was combined with assisted psychotherapy. 24 adults were included in the small study that consisted of two five-hour psilocybin therapy sessions and 24 weeks of follow up—and the results seemed to shock researchers at the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research (CPCR) at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “The magnitude of the effect we saw was about four times larger than what clinical trials have shown for traditional antidepressants on the market,” says Alan Davis, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
Oregon becomes 1st state in the US to decriminalize drug possession
From OPB:
Oregonians made their state the first in the United States to decriminalize the personal possession of illegal drugs, including cocaine, heroin, oxycodone and methamphetamine. ✂ The ballot measure reclassifies possession of small amounts of drugs as a civil violation, similar to a traffic offense. The penalty becomes a $100 fine, which a person can avoid by agreeing to participate in a health assessment. Selling and manufacturing drugs will remain illegal. “It takes a lot of courage to try something new, and I’m really proud of our state,” said Haven Wheelock, a harm reduction specialist at [a Portland clinic for people living on the street] and one of the petitioners who filed the measure. “I’m excited to be a model for other places to show that we don’t have to harm people for being sick.” The decriminalization provisions of the measure take effect on Feb. 1.
Of course, Twitter had its own take on this:
x Oregon was the only state prepared for Nov 4th https://t.co/ItrduplSOP — Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) November 4, 2020
And to wrap up Oregon news, here’s a sweet story of artistic recognition after years of obscurity.
A Central Oregon Musician Has Released Her First Album on a Renowned Austin Record Label Decades After She Stopped Playing Professionally
From Willamette Week:
Early in 2020, Selah Broderick received a surprising piece of news: Her first album, Anam, was set to be released in October by Austin, Texas, label Western Vinyl. That's an exciting development for any artist, but one that came as quite a shock for Broderick since she stopped playing music professionally in the early '70s. "Of course, it's delightful," the 61-year-old says, speaking from her home in Sisters. "It's just that it's not something I planned for or pieced together.” The person responsible for this turn of events is Broderick's son, Peter. The renowned composer and former Portlander who, during his time here, was a member of folk-pop groups Horse Feathers and Loch Lomond, quietly recorded and collected performances by his mother over the past 15 years, tucking them away with the goal of eventually sharing them with the world. That day finally came when Peter Broderick played the recordings of his mom's work for Brian Sampson, the owner of Western Vinyl, who immediately agreed to release it through the label. Broderick broke the news to his mother soon thereafter on a Skype call. ✂ The appeal of Broderick's music is immediate. The foundational influence of artists like Bruce Cockburn and Shawn Colvin is evident through her strong acoustic guitar work, but there's a gauzy ambience to her vocals and melodies and a cutting directness to her lyrics. The record is something of a diary, with joyful tunes about the birth of her first granddaughter ("Bella's Song") and expressions of harder times. Anam also includes a pair of lovely instrumentals that set Broderick's flute atop a bed of warm synth drones and field recordings. Listen to Anam at westernvinyl.com/shop/wv212.
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Good news from around the nation
‘Obamacare’ likely to survive, high court arguments indicate
From AP:
A more conservative Supreme Court appears unwilling to do what Republicans have long desired: kill off the Affordable Care Act, including its key protections for pre-existing health conditions and subsidized insurance premiums that affect tens of millions of Americans. ...the justices on Tuesday took on the latest Republican challenge to the Obama-era health care law, with three appointees of President Donald Trump, an avowed foe of the law, among them. But at least one of those Trump appointees, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, seemed likely to vote to leave the bulk of the law intact, even if he were to find the law’s now-toothless mandate that everyone obtain health insurance to be unconstitutional. “It does seem fairly clear that the proper remedy would be to sever the mandate provision and leave the rest of the act in place,” Kavanaugh said. Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote two earlier opinions preserving the law, stated similar views, and the court’s three liberal justices are almost certain to vote to uphold the law in its entirety.
In a Landslide, Nebraska Voters Say ‘No More’ to 404% Interest Rates on Payday Loans
From the Good News Network:
On Election Day, voters in Nebraska voted to put significant limits on the interest rates payday lenders can charge. A 400% interest rate on small-dollar loans is the average across the States. Now that 83% of Nebraska’s voters have approved Initiative 428, that won’t be the case in this Midwestern state: Payday lending interest rates will soon be capped at 36%. Nebraska, in addition to D.C, is the 17th state to implement such a cap. Other states to have pushed such a measure in recent years include Colorado, Ohio, Montana, and South Dakota. ✂ In South Dakota, before 2016, payday lenders charged up to 574% interest. According to Brookings, the volume of payday alternative loans offered by credit unions grew considerably when the state voted to cap interest rates at 36% in the last US election.
Florida, a Trump stronghold, voted to increase minimum wage
From the Christian Science Monitor:
As Florida threw its support behind President Donald Trump this week, voters in the state also approved a hike to the minimum wage, a measure supported by unions and strongly opposed by business. More than 6.3 million of Florida’s 11 million voters approved a hike in the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026, a victory for workers made possible because the question was put directly to voters and not through the legislature, experts said. Florida’s Republican-led legislature has repeatedly rejected efforts to increase the minimum wage, and an effort to hike the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour failed in 2019 in the Republican-controlled United States Senate. “The primary obstacle to a higher minimum wage throughout the country is Republican control of legislatures,” said David Cooper, senior economic analyst with the Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit think tank. “Any time this question is put before voters, they overwhelming say they want a higher minimum wage,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Chefs for the Polls served 500,000 meals to voters and poll workers
From an email from World Central Kitchen:
Chefs For The Polls: Half a Million Meals! During early voting and Election Day, WCK teams from coast to coast served 500,000 meals in 250 cities and towns near more than 735 different polling locations. From California to Maine, Michigan to Arizona, Pennsylvania to Alaska – we were there with your help. We worked with 500 food trucks and restaurants to prepare comforting meals for their neighbors, using the power of food to bring hope to communities. By employing local restaurants and food trucks, we were able to support small businesses still dealing with the economic impacts of the pandemic. Read more Chefs For The Polls stories from the ground here. * * * * *
Good news from around the world
'God Bless America': world media react to Biden win
From Agence France-Presse:
With headlines like 'God Bless America', powerful media outlets around the world welcomed the defeat of Donald Trump but warned president-elect Joe Biden faced enormous challenges in healing the United States. The international press also focused on the feat of Kamala Harris, Biden's running mate who will become the United States' first female black vice president. "A new dawn for America," read the headline of The Independent in Britain, showing a photo of Biden standing next to Harris and noting her historic achievement. ✂ Germany's mass-market Bild newspaper carried a photo of Trump with a headline: "Exit without dignity". ✂ Brazil's leading media outlets reported Trump's defeat in the context of its own populist leader, Jair Bolsonaro, who has similarly sought to diminish democratic institutions and reject science-based facts. "Trump's defeat punishes the attacks against civilisation, it is a lesson for Bolsonaro," wrote Folha de Sao Paulo, one of Brazil's major daily newspapers. "May Brazil's leaders seize the spirit of the times -- or die, like Trump, who has already left it too late." Spain's centre-right El Mundo newspaper said Biden's [election] was a goodbye to Trump's populism, and described Harris as a "symbol of renewal". ✂ On a lighter note, the Ayrshire Daily News, whose patch covers the Trump Turnberry golf course in Scotland, took a more local look at the result. "South Ayrshire golf club owner loses 2020 presidential election," read its headline.
And here’s a sweet video of Kamala’s ancestral village celebrating her election:
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Why 2020 is turning out be a pivotal year for fossil fuel exits
From the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis [IEEFA]:
What started as a trickle is turning into a rush for the exit as countries, financial institutions and companies commit to quitting coal – and increasingly oil and gas as well. 2020 to-date has seen 56 global banks, insurers, pension funds and asset managers announce new or expanded coal exit policies – 143 globally significant financial institutions in total. This year also saw another accelerating trend similar to coal exits: financial institutions pledging to divest from the highest risk fossil oil and gas developers, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement for a 1.5-2.0°C world. ✂ Global capital is adopting the moral high ground on Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG), but mainly because it is the economically sensible thing to do. Their fiduciary duty is to manage risk, and there is no bigger risk than the financial risks of climate change.
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Good science news
Common Weed Stops the Growth of Breast Cancer Cells, Scientists in London Report This is amazingly good news for those of us dealing with breast cancer. A cancer-killing substance that doesn’t harm other cells is the holy grail of cancer research. From the Good News Network: Arabidopsis thaliana / thale cress flowers A plant which had previously been dismissed as not being medically useful could prove to be a hero in disguise, after scientists discovered that it stops the growth of breast cancer cells. The ground-breaking research, which could lead to future chemotherapy cancer advances, starred Arabidopsis thaliana – also known as thale cress. The leaves were treated with the plant hormone jasmonate, a substance discovered in jasmine that boosts plant responses to stress. Then they incubated the treated leaves with breast cancer cells. The researchers found that not only did the cancer cells stop growing, the normal cells remained unaffected. This is significant as use of the plant in breast cancer treatment could potentially lead to a quicker recovery time and fewer secondary effects for patients subjected to chemical treatment. They have also discovered molecular mechanisms associated with the changes in the breast cancer cells that will allow development of further new treatments.
The newest product made from captured CO2 is explosive
From Fast Company:
Air Company, a New York City-based startup that turns captured CO2 into products, launched in late 2019 with an entirely different offering—carbon-negative vodka. But it saw an opportunity to begin making rocket fuel from captured CO2 as its researchers were experimenting in the lab. “We discovered that we can make fuel very efficiently as somewhat of an accident,” says Stafford Sheehan, an electrochemist and cofounder of the startup. “We were running our systems at higher temperatures than normal, under some conditions that we don’t typically do, and found out that we could very efficiently make these fuel molecules.” The technology could also be used to make carbon-neutral fuel for some other applications, such as ships, though the company is focused on rocket fuel.
New Study Shows Garden Areas Improved the Immune Systems of Daycare Children in Only a Month
From Good News Network:
A study in Finland showed, for the first time, that the immune system of children ages 3-5 improved when forest undergrowth, lawns, and planter boxes were added outside daycare centers. Dozens of comparative studies have previously found that children who live in rural areas and are in contact with nature have a lower probability of catching an illness resulting from disorders in the immune system—and a lower risk of developing coeliac disease, allergies, atopy, and even diabetes. The recent study shows that repeated contact with nature-like elements five times a week diversified the body’s microbes which offered protection against diseases transmitted through the immune system in daycare children.
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Good news for animals
In Historic Vote, Coloradans Give Thumbs-Up For Gray Wolves to Be Reintroduced West of the Rockies
From the Good News Network:
Fresh off their recovery from the Endangered Species List, gray wolves are getting another bit of support to ensure their continued recovery, this time from the voters in Colorado. On Tuesday Coloradans voted to reintroduce wolves into the Northwestern part of the state—and it was a historic proposition because never has a state delegated such a significant wildlife management decision to its citizens. By a narrow margin of 20,000 votes, it was agreed that the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department should establish a suitable population west of the Rockies’ continental divide by the end of 2023. A big focus of the reintroduction authorities will be to implement the initiative while working alongside the ranchers and homeowners who voted against the resolution. ✂ Ecologists hope to dampen some of the mistrust of rural Coloradans by pointing out some of the ecological benefits of having wolves on the landscape. Overly-large herds of elk and mule deer can overgraze fields which leads to soil erosion and stream bank collapse, as well as poorer genetics and greater spread of diseases. Apex predators like the wolf can mitigate ungulates’ occasional destructive forces, and support other carnivores like wolverines, stoats, eagles, foxes, and more, by leaving kills behind. The plants benefit from this more balanced ecosystem, as well. Finally, a presence in the flatlands on the western side of the southern Rocky Mountains will link the northern-dwelling wolves with gray wolves living alone on the border in Mexico, creating an unparalleled opportunity for genetic diversity.
Saving Caribou and Preserving Food Traditions Among Canada’s First Nations
From Civil Eats:
The traditional territories of the West Moberly [First Nations] and their neighbors, the Saulteau First Nation, include portions of the northern end of the Rocky Mountains and the surrounding boreal forests in northeastern British Columbia (B.C.), Canada. Both First Nations have been battling for decades to save caribou, a traditional food for their people, from extirpation. Caribou, Rangifer tarandus, are a circumboreal species native to Europe, Asia, and North America. But in the rugged interior mountains of the Pacific Northwest, the caribou are part of a behaviorally unique and endangered ecotype of the species, known as mountain caribou. There used to be many thousands of mountain caribou. They provided a sustainable staple food source for Indigenous peoples for millennia. But when miners entered the region in the 1800s, market hunting for caribou to feed the burgeoning settler community began to damage the population. Today, their numbers are on a steep downward trajectory; currently only about 1,200 remain, divided into a dozen disconnected subpopulations including a small number in the territory of the West Moberly and Saulteau. ✂ Rather than waiting for the colonial governments to fix the problem, the [First Nations] began their own recovery efforts. These included capturing and penning pregnant caribou cows to protect them and their calves during birthing, then releasing them back into the wild; predator control efforts on landscapes where logging, mining, and road construction has destroyed refuge habitat for caribou; and restoration work to recover this habitat so caribou will be able to thrive on their own once again.
Commercial whaling may be over in Iceland
I see this as an encouraging sign that humans are indeed evolving in their capacity to accept that the creatures with whom we share the planet have a right to live.
From the National Geographic:
AS PUBLIC OPINION changes and consumption of whale meat declines, commercial whaling may be one step closer to a permanent end in Iceland and possibly the world. For the second year in a row, Iceland, one of three remaining whaling nations, will not hunt any whales. Iceland already harvested the lowest number of whales among the whaling holdouts, which include Japan and Norway. Since resuming whaling in 2003 after a 14-year pause, the island nation has killed 1,505 whales. Recent announcements by the country’s two whaling companies suggest that the annual hunt may be coming to an end. … ✂ “What has changed is that the fishing industry is not willing to support [Kristján Loftsson, CEO of Hvalur, a whale meat company], anymore. They feel that Iceland needs to be able to export fish to the U.S. market, and they don’t want to continue defending whaling. I think he’s done.” This change in attitude is seemingly a consequence of a dramatic shift in Iceland: Support for hunting whales has declined as the income derived from watching them has climbed.
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Hot lynx
www.politico.com/...POLITICO Playbook: The last gasp of Trumpism. The authors argue that the foundation of Trumpism, unquestioning loyalty, “has a rapidly approaching termination date” — i.e., Jan. 20, 2021.
www.nytimes.com/… Hakeem Jeffries Wants Democrats to Take a Deep Breath. The likely successor to NDP (after she chooses to step down) tells us to chill out, “take a deep breath, and stay focused on economic and social justice.”
www.wonkette.com/...Kimberly Guilfoyle, Boyfriend Want To Run RNC (Into Ground). Wonkette’s Stephen Robinson is on a roll: “Trump Jr. and his girlfriend for at least the next three months, Kimberly Guilfoyle, are "making moves to expand their influence" at the RNC. Junior was court-ordered to social distance from any charity in the state of New York, but sure, put him in charge of the RNC. (No, really, we mean it. That'd be hilarious.)”
www.wweek.com/… A look back at how Portland was feeling four years ago: Resist: How Donald Trump Threatens Portland—and Why You Must Fight Back. We did!!
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Before I close, I’d like to recognize that today is Veterans Day (aka Remembrance Day), the anniversary of the end of the War to End All Wars. (Of course, it didn’t.) But I think it’s worth noting that that was the hope of the people who suffered through it. May we remember that hope as our country honors veterans today.
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Closing music
This is a lovely instrumental piece from Selah Broderick’s just-released first album, “Anam.” She wrote it originally for her yoga classes, and I think it’s perfect for calming down and breathing deep.
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dailykos--2020-11-11--President Biden should get ahead of the news cycle, and openly 'Clean House.'

By that , I don ’ t mean blindly fire a bunch of folks , or just choose based on some political basis .
What I mean is — make a process where every leader is at work , and then at random is contacted with a task where they are asked to do their job .
Then they ’ re fired if they refuse to do their job , repeatedly .
Nothing complicated .
That ’ s how you clean house .
Throwing out the stuff that doesn ’ t work .
Just make sure the folks conducting the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ following the proper channels with appropriate oversight .
Because there ’ s probably a lot of folks that have been put in place that will be unwilling to perform their basic job functions .
No fault on them — that ’ s what they were put there for , and what they ’ ve been judged on the past few years .
But it is the fault of the process that put them there , and they DO need to be replaced with people that don ’ t follow that process .
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a process — and any media outlets that choose to complain about it… good .
This is a good controversy as these things go .
Now certainly — there ’ s also a lot of folks that have openly proclaimed various things that state that they won ’ t do their jobs — and those SHOULD count as points against them , and they can be fired directly for enough of that .
But even then — it ’ s firing them for openly refusing to do their job .
No need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ good faith — and no need to worry about the media companies that try and make everything scary .

By that, I don’t mean blindly fire a bunch of folks, or just choose based on some political basis.
No.
What I mean is — make a process where every leader is at work, and then at random is contacted with a task where they are asked to do their job.
Then they’re fired if they refuse to do their job, repeatedly. Nothing complicated.
That’s how you clean house. Throwing out the stuff that doesn’t work.
Just make sure the folks conducting the tests are independent of the agencies and following the proper channels with appropriate oversight.
Because there’s probably a lot of folks that have been put in place that will be unwilling to perform their basic job functions.
No fault on them — that’s what they were put there for, and what they’ve been judged on the past few years.
But it is the fault of the process that put them there, and they DO need to be replaced with people that don’t follow that process.
There’s nothing partisan about this kind of a process — and any media outlets that choose to complain about it… good. This is a good controversy as these things go.
Now certainly — there’s also a lot of folks that have openly proclaimed various things that state that they won’t do their jobs — and those SHOULD count as points against them, and they can be fired directly for enough of that. But even then — it’s firing them for openly refusing to do their job.
No need to scare anyone doing their jobs in good faith — and no need to worry about the media companies that try and make everything scary.


dailykos--2020-11-12--Looking Back at the Democrats’ Political Strategies in Florida and Georgia, by Steven Rosenfeld

There ’ s a lot to learn from the approach of the Biden campaign and its allies .
This article was produced by , a of the Independent Media Institute .
One day after Florida election officials announced that President Trump and Republican candidates had so badly beaten Democrats up and down the ballot that pundits were asking if Florida had become an irreversible red state , Joe Biden ’ s Florida campaign held a statewide conference call .
“ There was a Florida campaign call today that said Florida allowed us [ Biden ] to win the Midwest , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ longtime Florida Democratic county official , who cringed at the explanation .
“ It felt like a setup.
” “ Biden didn ’ t go all-in—in South Florida , ” said Sancho , who ran elections in the state ’ s capital county for nearly three decades .
“ It was a feint to draw Trump ’ s eyes off of the real prize , which was the three rust-belt states .
He never planned to do it [ win Florida ] from day one .
The Midwest was the prize all along.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ by ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg , who in mid-September announced that he would spend $ 100 million for late-breaking media and voter-contact efforts in Florida .
The feint led Trump , whose campaign was cash-poor , to concentrate its spending and rallies in Pennsylvania and Florida , especially in South Florida ’ s metro areas where a vast electorate including diverse Latino voting blocs lived .
“ The way I look at this [ result ] is that the effort here in Florida caused the Trump campaign to spend time , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a difference in states closely won by Biden , ” said Larry S. Davis , a Hollywood , Florida , attorney who this summer helped litigate a Florida Democratic Party lawsuit to preserve digital voting records , in case the state ’ s 2020 results were contested .
“ This was a battle we lost , but it helped win the war—a war this country could not afford to lose , ” Davis said .
Nobody likes to hear their hard work campaigning was not a priority .
But Sancho ’ s observations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in big and complex states like Florida .
His experience also contrasts with neighboring Georgia , where he has seen Democrats and voting rights activists steadily organize for years , and where Biden narrowly beat Trump ( in a vote that will be recounted ) and where two U.S. Senate runoffs will decide control of that body and much of Biden ’ s agenda .
“ In Georgia , the community of color groups have been active , ” said Andrea Miller , executive director of the nonprofit Center for Common Ground , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Georgia voters , followed up by 316,000 texts and 228,000 phone calls .
“ Black Voters Matter was going in its direction .
I was going in mine .
Stacey Abrams [ as well as her group , Fair Fight , ] was there in Atlanta , and I was out in the rural Black Belt.
” While many pundits have placed Florida in the red state column , there were some highlights suggesting , as was the case in Texas ( where Biden was briefly leading on election night ) , that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ exiled .
The state adopted a $ 15-an-hour minimum wage , a union-backed campaign .
Miami-Dade County elected its first female mayor , Democrat Daniella Levine Cava .
In 2018 , voters re-enfranchised more than a million ex-felons , which Republican legislators subverted before 2020 ’ s election .
But the observations by Sancho , the longtime supervisor of elections in Leon County , where Florida ’ s capital Tallahassee is located , underscored that the task of turning a demographically purple state blue can not rely on top-down or last-minute campaigning , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where they are .
In every election , there are always voting blocs that become the fulcrum even in states with millions of voters .
In 2020 in Florida , the various Latino communities , led by refugees from Cuba and South America , were targeted early on by Trump ’ s campaign .
Most visibly , Trump started with Spanish radio ads in June that accused Democrats of being “ radical socialists.
” The smears went unanswered for weeks , which , in retrospect , showed that the Biden campaign and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s tipping-point communities .
“ They had no idea what they were doing—there was no Latin campaign at all , ” said Sancho , who believed that South Florida ’ s Latino communities could have been persuaded to vote for Democrats , and had coattails that would have broken the GOP ’ s lock on statewide power .
Sancho listed a series of big lapses , starting with not responding to Trump ’ s Spanish ads .
A lack of support continued throughout Florida ’ s August primary , whose late date @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a fall campaign unless a vast field campaign is waiting in the wings .
But Biden ’ s campaign did not want Florida volunteers talking to voters in person due to COVID-19 , Sancho said , and did not support alternatives suggested by Latino Democratic officials .
When Biden finally visited , Sancho said that he did not invite enough local leaders and did not mention local issues—such as raising the minimum wage or restoring remittances and travel to Cuba .
Post-election media analyses echoed these points .
“ You can ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Sancho said .
“ You need a message .
I saw nothing that they did in South Florida with Latinos.
” What unfolded in Georgia , Florida ’ s neighbor to the north , is a different story .
Georgia is a regional hub and a populous Southern state , but it still has half as many voters as Florida .
Unlike Florida , Georgia has seen some of the nation ’ s most aggressive grassroots voting rights organizing in recent years .
These efforts are not just a counterpoint to Biden @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but could make the difference with the two impending U.S. Senate runoffs on January 5 , 2021 .
From a national perspective , the figurehead leading Georgia ’ s voting rights movement is Stacey Abrams , a Black woman and lawyer who was the Georgia House minority leader and 2018 ’ s Democratic gubernatorial candidate .
Abrams ’ opponent in what became the closest governor ’ s race in a quarter-century was Brian Kemp , a Republican and at the time Georgia ’ s top statewide election official .
Kemp was accused by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tactics that had gone on for years .
After the election , a federal court ordered Georgia to install a new voting system for 2020 , which , in part , is why its 2020 election results have so far withstood attacks by Trump supporters .
In 2018 , Abrams had an unapologetic progressive message and focused on reaching and turning out voters , especially from Georgia ’ s cities .
( Thirty-eight percent of Georgia ’ s voters are from communities of color , according to voting rights activists . )
Abrams @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thousands of voters and inspired many young activists—much like Bernie Sanders ’ presidential campaign .
Though she lost the 2018 governor ’ s race by fewer than 55,000 votes , Abrams continued her voting rights campaign by creating Fair Fight , filing a major federal lawsuit to overturn voting barriers , and branching out from Georgia to other states .
( Her efforts were helped by a $ 5 million donation from Bloomberg , Fair Fight ’ s biggest donor . )
But Abrams ’ new group , Fair Fight , was not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Georgia in 2020 .
The Black Voters Matter Fund is also headquartered in Atlanta and working with the state ’ s activists .
People Demanding Action , led by Miller , enlisted thousands of volunteers across the country to reach non-white voters in rural regions—what she calls “ the Black Belt ” —of eight Southern states .
Georgia also had active chapters of many older-line civil rights organizations .
“ We work on voter registration all over the state , ” Miller said .
“ But when we do GOTV [ get out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Georgia Black Belt .
Why ?
There ’ s no Democratic Party out there .
If the party exists , it ’ s small .
They don ’ t have any money .
They don ’ t have VAN [ voter activation network—the party ’ s national voter database ] access .
They don ’ t know how to use VAN.
” Unlike South Florida ’ s Latino Democrats who were frustrated by the Biden campaign , Georgia ’ s civil rights groups—and new allies such as the Lincoln Project run @ @ @ @ @ @ @ national media has made much of Biden ’ s debt owed to Black voters in South Carolina , whose 2020 primary victory revitalized his campaign , Miller said that organizers from communities of color in non-battleground states were not treated “ that great.
” During the next two weeks , Georgia will conduct a statewide audit to affirm the accuracy of its new voting system and then a presidential recount , both of which are likely to be controversial .
But behind those headline-grabbing exercises , a bigger political battle will be taking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will decide on January 5 who their next two U.S. senators will be .
If Democrats win both of those races , the Senate will be split evenly between Democrats and Republicans , and a tie-breaking vote will be cast by Vice President Kamala Harris , giving Democrats control and new power to pass reforms .
In short , a compressed presidential-scale election will emerge as soon as its 2020 recount ends .
In the past , the governing class in Georgia , like many Southern states , used voting barriers to preserve @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a new , far more transparent and reliable voting system , compared to 2018 .
And it has some of the nation ’ s most experienced voting rights activists , including organizations that have built up their infrastructure for years and aren ’ t waiting for directions from Washington .
“ We ’ re in the process of sending 2.7 million postcards to every active and inactive voter of color in Georgia , ” Miller said .
“ We have already distributed 1.5 million addresses—this was as of last Friday [ November 6 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of unregistered voters first , because December 7 is the [ runoff ’ s voter registration ] deadline .
Then we help people go early vote [ starting on ] December 14.
” Steven Rosenfeld is the editor and chief correspondent of , a of the Independent Media Institute .
He has reported for National Public Radio , Marketplace , and Christian Science Monitor Radio , as well as a wide range of progressive publications including Salon , AlterNet , the American Prospect , and many others .

rss@dailykos.com (Independent Media Institute)

There’s a lot to learn from the approach of the Biden campaign and its allies.
By Steven Rosenfeld
This article was produced by Voting Booth , a project of the Independent Media Institute.
One day after Florida election officials announced that President Trump and Republican candidates had so badly beaten Democrats up and down the ballot that pundits were asking if Florida had become an irreversible red state, Joe Biden’s Florida campaign held a statewide conference call.
“There was a Florida campaign call today that said Florida allowed us [Biden] to win the Midwest,” said Ion Sancho, a retired longtime Florida Democratic county official, who cringed at the explanation. “It felt like a setup.”
“Biden didn’t go all-in—in South Florida,” said Sancho, who ran elections in the state’s capital county for nearly three decades. “It was a feint to draw Trump’s eyes off of the real prize, which was the three rust-belt states. He never planned to do it [win Florida] from day one. The Midwest was the prize all along.”
Biden’s feint was helped by ex-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who in mid-September announced that he would spend $100 million for late-breaking media and voter-contact efforts in Florida. The feint led Trump, whose campaign was cash-poor, to concentrate its spending and rallies in Pennsylvania and Florida, especially in South Florida’s metro areas where a vast electorate including diverse Latino voting blocs lived.
“The way I look at this [result] is that the effort here in Florida caused the Trump campaign to spend time, money and resources that could have made a difference in states closely won by Biden,” said Larry S. Davis, a Hollywood, Florida, attorney who this summer helped litigate a Florida Democratic Party lawsuit to preserve digital voting records, in case the state’s 2020 results were contested.
“This was a battle we lost, but it helped win the war—a war this country could not afford to lose,” Davis said.
Nobody likes to hear their hard work campaigning was not a priority. But Sancho’s observations underscore what Democrats must do to win in big and complex states like Florida. His experience also contrasts with neighboring Georgia, where he has seen Democrats and voting rights activists steadily organize for years, and where Biden narrowly beat Trump (in a vote that will be recounted) and where two U.S. Senate runoffs will decide control of that body and much of Biden’s agenda.
“In Georgia, the community of color groups have been active,” said Andrea Miller, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Common Ground, whose volunteers sent 873,000 postcards to non-white Georgia voters, followed up by 316,000 texts and 228,000 phone calls. “Black Voters Matter was going in its direction. I was going in mine. Stacey Abrams [as well as her group, Fair Fight,] was there in Atlanta, and I was out in the rural Black Belt.”
Permanently Red Florida?
While many pundits have placed Florida in the red state column, there were some highlights suggesting, as was the case in Texas (where Biden was briefly leading on election night), that Florida’s Democrats are not permanently exiled. The state adopted a $15-an-hour minimum wage, a union-backed campaign. Miami-Dade County elected its first female mayor, Democrat Daniella Levine Cava. In 2018, voters re-enfranchised more than a million ex-felons, which Republican legislators subverted before 2020’s election.
But the observations by Sancho, the longtime supervisor of elections in Leon County, where Florida’s capital Tallahassee is located, underscored that the task of turning a demographically purple state blue cannot rely on top-down or last-minute campaigning, but takes ongoing organizing that meets voters where they are.
In every election, there are always voting blocs that become the fulcrum even in states with millions of voters. In 2020 in Florida, the various Latino communities, led by refugees from Cuba and South America, were targeted early on by Trump’s campaign. Most visibly, Trump started with Spanish radio ads in June that accused Democrats of being “radical socialists.” The smears went unanswered for weeks, which, in retrospect, showed that the Biden campaign and the national party were not staking out Florida’s tipping-point communities.
“They had no idea what they were doing—there was no Latin campaign at all,” said Sancho, who believed that South Florida’s Latino communities could have been persuaded to vote for Democrats, and had coattails that would have broken the GOP’s lock on statewide power.
Sancho listed a series of big lapses, starting with not responding to Trump’s Spanish ads. A lack of support continued throughout Florida’s August primary, whose late date makes it hard for winners to launch a fall campaign unless a vast field campaign is waiting in the wings. But Biden’s campaign did not want Florida volunteers talking to voters in person due to COVID-19, Sancho said, and did not support alternatives suggested by Latino Democratic officials. When Biden finally visited, Sancho said that he did not invite enough local leaders and did not mention local issues—such as raising the minimum wage or restoring remittances and travel to Cuba. Post-election media analyses echoed these points.
“You can’t replace hard work with anything else,” Sancho said. “You need a message. I saw nothing that they did in South Florida with Latinos.”
In Contrast, Georgia
What unfolded in Georgia, Florida’s neighbor to the north, is a different story.
Georgia is a regional hub and a populous Southern state, but it still has half as many voters as Florida. Unlike Florida, Georgia has seen some of the nation’s most aggressive grassroots voting rights organizing in recent years. These efforts are not just a counterpoint to Biden’s 2020 efforts in South Florida but could make the difference with the two impending U.S. Senate runoffs on January 5, 2021.
From a national perspective, the figurehead leading Georgia’s voting rights movement is Stacey Abrams, a Black woman and lawyer who was the Georgia House minority leader and 2018’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate. Abrams’ opponent in what became the closest governor’s race in a quarter-century was Brian Kemp, a Republican and at the time Georgia’s top statewide election official. Kemp was accused by Abrams of doubling down on voter suppression tactics that had gone on for years. After the election, a federal court ordered Georgia to install a new voting system for 2020, which, in part, is why its 2020 election results have so far withstood attacks by Trump supporters.
In 2018, Abrams had an unapologetic progressive message and focused on reaching and turning out voters, especially from Georgia’s cities. (Thirty-eight percent of Georgia’s voters are from communities of color, according to voting rights activists.) Abrams’ New Georgia Project registered hundreds of thousands of voters and inspired many young activists—much like Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. Though she lost the 2018 governor’s race by fewer than 55,000 votes, Abrams continued her voting rights campaign by creating Fair Fight, filing a major federal lawsuit to overturn voting barriers, and branching out from Georgia to other states. (Her efforts were helped by a $5 million donation from Bloomberg, Fair Fight’s biggest donor.)
But Abrams’ new group, Fair Fight, was not the only voting rights group active in Georgia in 2020. The Black Voters Matter Fund is also headquartered in Atlanta and working with the state’s activists. People Demanding Action, led by Miller, enlisted thousands of volunteers across the country to reach non-white voters in rural regions—what she calls “the Black Belt”—of eight Southern states. Georgia also had active chapters of many older-line civil rights organizations.
“We work on voter registration all over the state,” Miller said. “But when we do GOTV [get out the vote], we go straight to the Georgia Black Belt. Why? There’s no Democratic Party out there. If the party exists, it’s small. They don’t have any money. They don’t have VAN [voter activation network—the party’s national voter database] access. They don’t know how to use VAN.”
Unlike South Florida’s Latino Democrats who were frustrated by the Biden campaign, Georgia’s civil rights groups—and new allies such as the Lincoln Project run by anti-Trump Republicans—pushed ahead. While the national media has made much of Biden’s debt owed to Black voters in South Carolina, whose 2020 primary victory revitalized his campaign, Miller said that organizers from communities of color in non-battleground states were not treated “that great.”
The Senate Runoffs
During the next two weeks, Georgia will conduct a statewide audit to affirm the accuracy of its new voting system and then a presidential recount, both of which are likely to be controversial. But behind those headline-grabbing exercises, a bigger political battle will be taking shape.
The state’s voters will decide on January 5 who their next two U.S. senators will be. If Democrats win both of those races, the Senate will be split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, and a tie-breaking vote will be cast by Vice President Kamala Harris, giving Democrats control and new power to pass reforms.
In short, a compressed presidential-scale election will emerge as soon as its 2020 recount ends. In the past, the governing class in Georgia, like many Southern states, used voting barriers to preserve their power. But Georgia now has a new, far more transparent and reliable voting system, compared to 2018. And it has some of the nation’s most experienced voting rights activists, including organizations that have built up their infrastructure for years and aren’t waiting for directions from Washington.
“We’re in the process of sending 2.7 million postcards to every active and inactive voter of color in Georgia,” Miller said. “We have already distributed 1.5 million addresses—this was as of last Friday [November 6]… We are doing phone banks of unregistered voters first, because December 7 is the [runoff’s voter registration] deadline. Then we help people go early vote [starting on] December 14.”


dailykos--2020-11-12--Outline for large scale digitizing, transcribing, and monitoring of Republican talk radio

The outline below may be useful as a starting point for activists or organizations that might be interested in digitizing and monitoring talk radio on a large scale .
For three decades , broadcasting on hundreds of radio stations using public airwaves , political talk radio has operated as an undemocratic media monopoly that is immune to factual challenge and is practically invisible to those who don ’ t listen to it .
It has largely escaped analysis and its effects on American media and politics are not factored .
Recently it has even been suggested that talk radio is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and now paralleling social media election interference .
A Center for American Progress study in 2007 , The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio , concluded that the massive dominance/monopoly of conservative/Republican talk radio is Those numbers haven ’ t changed such since the study in 2007 .
91 % is a conservative estimate based on 257 stations .
Estimates including larger numbers of stations puts the proportion higher .
Paul Matzko is the author of “ The Radio Right : How a Band of Broadcasters Took on the Federal Government and Built @ @ @ @ @ @ @ NYT Oct. 9 , 2020 op ed Talk Radio Is Turning Millions of Americans Into Conservatives .
The medium is at the heart of Trumpism .
Yet talk radio still somehow manages to fly below the national media radar .
In large part , that is because media consumption patterns are segregated by class .
If you visit a carpentry shop or factory floor , or hitch a ride with a long-haul truck driver , odds are that talk radio is a fixture of the aural landscape .
But many white-collar workers , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reach of talk radio because they don ’ t listen to it , and don ’ t know anyone who does .
Moreover , anyone who wants to make an effort to understand talk radio runs into a barrier immediately : Because of the ocean of content , one must listen to it at great length , a daunting task for anyone not already sympathetic with a host ’ s conservative views .
The time commitment suggests the depth of listener loyalty .
If you have an interest in monitoring talk radio on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state of Georgia , or the country of Georgia ) this previous diary might help .
Or here is a shorter version at fakenewsradio.org .
The outline below suggests opportunities for software developers with respect to automating the recording , transcription , analysis , and presentation of talk radio content in forms that can be analyzed .
The outline was adapted from a crowdfunding campaign I was thinking about but decided against .
I couldn ’ t get past the social media , ‘ perks ’ , and communication required .
• @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now allows much faster and more accurate transcription .
A few years ago that would have been too expensive and time consuming .
• None Use modern text analysis tools to analyze those transcriptions to identify and quantify patterns and repetition .
• None Rank and publish the most repeated names , issues , topics , memes , etc.
, of national , and where possible , local interest .
• None Develop methods and software to help individuals and organizations automate the recording , transcription , and analysis of talk radio content @ @ @ @ @ @ @ None Explore possibilities for altering transcriptions so they can be made available for public research interest .
• None Help social media companies identify foreign political interference that may correlate with talk radio repetition .
Identification of interference in one medium may help identify and predict interference in the other • None If there is interest , spin off for-profit monitoring services for political , media , advertising interests , etc .
• None Assist where developed methods and software may be useful in other countries .
• None Encourage software developers to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Individuals and organizations interested in results and/or related software may include : • None political candidates and organizations and their supporters • None social media companies looking for foreign interference and trolling operations • None institutional and think tank researchers in political science , media , business Radio stations and talk shows to be sampled will be influenced by size of audience , geographical importance and signal reach , political importance , location and timing of events , funding , and similar factors .
A few major national hosts dominate hundreds of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of local hosts on national and local issues and events .
High levels of repetition are expected and will allow extrapolation to reduce sampling .
Of particular interest will be repetition of disinformation that relates to recent and current events with political implications , such as primaries and elections , and important issues .
Political campaigns may want to monitor an opponent ’ s use of talk radio .
Transcriptions could be searched for candidate names and particular issues .
Political campaigns and supporters may want to respond to attacks and factual errors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
National : Monitoring of influential national talk shows , some continuously and some periodically and/or randomly .
For example , 10 national shows x 3 hours/show x 5 days = 150 hours x $ 5/hour = $ 750/week x 4 weeks = $ 3,000/month or $ 36,000/year .
Local : Initial sampling of small numbers of local shows and stations .
Local shows generally include more apolitical programming than national shows .
The number and location of those shows sampled ( city , state ) will shift depending on newsworthy events .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ added .
For example , 1 station x 2 selected hours/day x 5 days = 10hours/week x $ 5/hour = $ 50/week/station , or $ 200/month/station .
Any combination of 20 local talk shows or stations or states = $ 4,000/month or $ 48,000/year .
Local monitoring can be reduced after facilitating software has been developed and made available to political campaigns and their supporters .
• None transcription of 1000s of hours at $ 5/hr and under Commercially available transcription services have approached under $ 5/hr .
Services could be selected for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well as ease of use relative to data storage and transfer , and ease of integration into text analysis .
What are hundreds of radio stations saying about your favorite candidates ?
Are your candidate 's opponents and their representatives getting free time on radio shows ?
What are they saying to those audiences ?
What is that worth as political advertising ?
Can what they say be used by your candidate in political advertisements or debates ?
Are hosts and callers repeating mischaracterizations , exaggerations , and disproven rumors about political candidates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on different radio shows in different states ?
What are radio hosts/stations saying about issues such as : • None use of US military Are foreign interests using US political talk radio ?
Is it possible for foreign interests to use political talk radio to inject disinformation and influence perception of political events and issues in the US ?
Are foreign interests calling and emailing shows and using other methods to influence hosts who reach millions of listeners ?
How does talk radio repetition correspond with foreign interference on social media , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interference ?
These and other questions can not be answered without monitoring political talk radio .
This recent diary might help : The biggest political mistake in history .
It 's the radio , stupid .

The outline below may be useful as a starting point for activists or organizations that might be interested in digitizing and monitoring talk radio on a large scale.
Why it’s needed
For three decades, broadcasting on hundreds of radio stations using public airwaves, political talk radio has operated as an undemocratic media monopoly that is immune to factual challenge and is practically invisible to those who don’t listen to it. It has largely escaped analysis and its effects on American media and politics are not factored.
Recently it has even been suggested that talk radio is being influenced by foreign interests, predating and now paralleling social media election interference.
A Center for American Progress study in 2007, The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio, concluded that the massive dominance/monopoly of conservative/Republican talk radio is
due to structural imbalances—not popular demand
It is a propaganda operation.
and 1,700: Number of commercial talk radio stations nationwide.
50 million: Number of listeners who tune into news/talk radio each week. and of the 257 news/talk stations owned by the top five commercial station owners reveals that 91 percent of the total weekday talk radio programming is conservative, and 9 percent is progressive.
Those numbers haven’t changed such since the study in 2007. 91% is a conservative estimate based on 257 stations. Estimates including larger numbers of stations puts the proportion higher.
“See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.” George Bush, May 24, 2005.
Paul Matzko is the author of “The Radio Right: How a Band of Broadcasters Took on the Federal Government and Built the Modern Conservative Movement.” In a NYT Oct. 9, 2020 op ed Talk Radio Is Turning Millions of Americans Into Conservatives. The medium is at the heart of Trumpism.
Yet talk radio still somehow manages to fly below the national media radar. In large part, that is because media consumption patterns are segregated by class. If you visit a carpentry shop or factory floor, or hitch a ride with a long-haul truck driver, odds are that talk radio is a fixture of the aural landscape. But many white-collar workers, journalists included, struggle to understand the reach of talk radio because they don’t listen to it, and don’t know anyone who does. Moreover, anyone who wants to make an effort to understand talk radio runs into a barrier immediately: Because of the ocean of content, one must listen to it at great length, a daunting task for anyone not already sympathetic with a host’s conservative views. The time commitment suggests the depth of listener loyalty.
If you have an interest in monitoring talk radio on a local or small scale (in the state of Georgia, or the country of Georgia) this previous diary might help. Or here is a shorter version at fakenewsradio.org.
The outline below suggests opportunities for software developers with respect to automating the recording, transcription, analysis, and presentation of talk radio content in forms that can be analyzed.
The outline was adapted from a crowdfunding campaign I was thinking about but decided against. I couldn’t get past the social media, ‘perks’, and communication required.
xxxxxxxxxx
Using artificial intelligence to monitor political talk radio
Goals:
Record selected samples of political talk radio shows. Transcribe those recordings. Artificial intelligence now allows much faster and more accurate transcription. A few years ago that would have been too expensive and time consuming. Use modern text analysis tools to analyze those transcriptions to identify and quantify patterns and repetition. Rank and publish the most repeated names, issues, topics, memes, etc., of national, and where possible, local interest. Develop methods and software to help individuals and organizations automate the recording, transcription, and analysis of talk radio content they may be interested in. Explore possibilities for altering transcriptions so they can be made available for public research interest. Help social media companies identify foreign political interference that may correlate with talk radio repetition. Identification of interference in one medium may help identify and predict interference in the other If there is interest, spin off for-profit monitoring services for political, media, advertising interests, etc. Assist where developed methods and software may be useful in other countries. Encourage software developers to facilitate the monitoring of talk radio content.
Individuals and organizations interested in results and/or related software may include:
political candidates and organizations and their supporters
news and media organizations and researchers
academic
social media companies looking for foreign interference and trolling operations
institutional and think tank researchers in political science, media, business
the advertising industry
polling companies
Selection of stations and shows
Radio stations and talk shows to be sampled will be influenced by size of audience, geographical importance and signal reach, political importance, location and timing of events, funding, and similar factors.
A few major national hosts dominate hundreds of major stations and influence and enforce opinions of local hosts on national and local issues and events. High levels of repetition are expected and will allow extrapolation to reduce sampling.
Of particular interest will be repetition of disinformation that relates to recent and current events with political implications, such as primaries and elections, and important issues. Political campaigns may want to monitor an opponent’s use of talk radio.
Transcriptions could be searched for candidate names and particular issues. Political campaigns and supporters may want to respond to attacks and factual errors by calling shows or alerting local media.
National: Monitoring of influential national talk shows, some continuously and some periodically and/or randomly.
For example, 10 national shows x 3 hours/show x 5 days = 150 hours x $5/hour = $750/week x 4 weeks = $3,000/month or $36,000/year.
Local: Initial sampling of small numbers of local shows and stations. Local shows generally include more apolitical programming than national shows. The number and location of those shows sampled (city, state) will shift depending on newsworthy events. As funding increases more monitoring can be added.
For example, 1 station x 2 selected hours/day x 5 days = 10hours/week x $5/hour = $50/week/station, or $200/month/station. Any combination of 20 local talk shows or stations or states = $4,000/month or $48,000/year.
Local monitoring can be reduced after facilitating software has been developed and made available to political campaigns and their supporters.
Equipment and expenses would include:
software
hardware
internet access
transcription of 1000s of hours at $5/hr and under
text analysis
data storage
software development
legal and technical consulting
related infrastructure and human resource costs
Transcription
Commercially available transcription services have approached under $5/hr. Services could be selected for accuracy, speed, and cost as well as ease of use relative to data storage and transfer, and ease of integration into text analysis.
What are hundreds of radio stations saying about your favorite candidates?
Are your candidate's opponents and their representatives getting free time on radio shows? What are they saying to those audiences? What is that worth as political advertising? Can what they say be used by your candidate in political advertisements or debates? Are hosts and callers repeating mischaracterizations, exaggerations, and disproven rumors about political candidates? Are callers repeating the same lies on different radio shows in different states?
What are radio hosts/stations saying about issues such as:
global warming
COVID 19, mask-wearing, shutdowns
use of US military
election interference and contested results
national and local emergencies
health care reform
media reform
election reform
racism
immigration
protests and protestors
supreme court nominees
Are foreign interests using US political talk radio?
Is it possible for foreign interests to use political talk radio to inject disinformation and influence perception of political events and issues in the US? Are foreign interests calling and emailing shows and using other methods to influence hosts who reach millions of listeners?
How does talk radio repetition correspond with foreign interference on social media, and can it be used to identify such interference?
xxxxx
These and other questions cannot be answered without monitoring political talk radio.
This recent diary might help:
The biggest political mistake in history. It's the radio, stupid.


dailykos--2020-11-12--What Trump Wants Is A "Participation Trophy" For The Election

Spend any time talking to a Republican and eventually you will hear emotional complaints about the Participation Trophy — trophies @ @ @ @ @ participates in Little League or similar games regardless of whether they win .
A number @ @ @ @ @ destroying the American character .
It occurred to me though that this is exactly what @ @ @ @ @ — that Trump receive a Participation Trophy for the election .
It hurts Donnie ’ @ @ @ @ @ gets to go home with an award .
So , for the sake of the @ @ @ @ @ agree to give Trump a Participation Trophy ( like the image above ) and allow @ @ @ @ @ move on and get back to governing .

Spend any time talking to a Republican and eventually you will hear emotional complaints about the Participation Trophy — trophies given to every kid who participates in Little League or similar games regardless of whether they win. A number of Republicans believe this is destroying the American character.
It occurred to me though that this is exactly what Trump and the Republicans want — that Trump receive a Participation Trophy for the election. It hurts Donnie’s feelings if only Joe gets to go home with an award.
So, for the sake of the country, let’s agree to give Trump a Participation Trophy (like the image above) and allow the rest of us to move on and get back to governing.