Eventually, playing catch-up will no longer be an option. There may come a tragedy where the electorate has voted to avoid that tipping point with no manner to have that vote tabulated. I can't fathom that as the framers' original intent.
I really want the in-person voting on Tuesday to lean so hard for Biden and downballot Democrats that this entire scheme hilariously backfires on Trump and the GOP. Every gut instinct I have tells me this will backfire on them, and their push for this will only solidify Biden’s win and a massive downballot blue tsunami. It won’t even be close enough for Trump to challenge in court, and that’s before the absentee ballots are counted.
This is not 2000. That election was close enough to warrant a recount and an argument for court intervention. Trump isn’t even running ads in Florida anymore. They can’t even afford polling. So, either he is completely clueless about what’s really happening on the ground, or he thinks DeSantis will stop vote counts in Florida and declare him the winner. My gut says he’s clueless and this is just more of his bloviating nonsense and drama.
But it for sure is dependent on the media not getting sucked into it. I am cautiously optimistic they won’t, especially now that Fox “News” has a Covid outbreak, which will put a huge crimp in their disinformation Election Night plans..
This time, it seems, the Democrats also have a team of hard-nosed lawyers ready to go to war. That will help against shenanigans. There's no Lieberman in the campaign who's going to give up.
The only way a minority party, in terms of membership, can keep power is to cheat. We're going to see voter suppression like never before. The Supreme Court will be in the tank for Trump, that much seems clear know with Kavanaugh and Barrett. Potentially up to 80 million votes will could be discounted if Trump gets his way. The Republicans may not be counting on much of a protest but I believe there will be a backlash the likes this country has never seen if they pull off this coup. The fact the administration is pushing this winner on election night strategy is simply because they know they are losing large in the mail-in vote. The media better push back hard otherwise we are in for at least four more years of this and full on autocracy.
Trump claiming counting votes after Election Day is, typically, shocking. TV news has to be *very* clear what Election Night will be different this year
Mr. Boehlert, It’s not so much “the Media” declaring Trump a winner as much as Trump declaring himself the winner. Echoed by Fox and other complicit “news” sources.
And, if Trump can get the election results to the Supreme Court; he wins.
The reason that Republicans have to cheat and lie is that their policies are deeply unpopular. Most rank and file Republicans don’t even support tax cuts for the wealthiest but since they listen to Fox News they don’t realize that favoring the rich is Republicans main goal.
Correct! The Fox crowd, most of them hard working folks who live paycheck to paycheck continue to vote against their own best interest. To me the biggest mistake Democrats made was during the Jimmy Carter/Ronald Reagan campaign when Reagan demised the world "liberal". Instead of educating voters as to what proud liberal Democrats had done for them historically ie: Social Security, Medicare, the 40 hour work week, the Dems ran and hid claiming they weren't liberal. That was the beginning of the Dems being bullied by the Republicans and one reason why we are where we are today.
Forgot to add that Trump supporters have been shown to have a higher average income — +$70,000 — than did Hillary voters. There are a lot of well-educated, affluent Republicans like my sisters-in-law who just want those tax cuts. Granted the polls are showing that these people are starting to desert Trump but I can tell you I know quite a few Trumpers and none of them are struggling or uneducated. They all have a win-lose worldview and believe that poor people just don’t want to work. If they support taxes go to “those people” they hurt themselves. They can’t see that we all benefit when poverty is decreased, more people get a good education, etc. I actually told one of them who was carping about taxes that I didn’t mind paying higher taxes so that kids like his severely brain-damaged adult daughter could get the services they needed. He didn’t reply but he didn’t argue, either. He seemed surprised.
You are right that Democrats should have fought back against the disdain for liberals. On the other hand I remember the media using the word liberal as if it were synonymous for and extreme ideology. You would think the media had no idea that America is a liberal democracy founded on the classical liberal principles of the Enlightenment. Republicans clearly hate the ideals of the Enlightenment which is based on the sovereignty of reason, the dignity of all humans, the separation of church and state — all things the Republican Party have clearly rejected.
I can't disagree with anything you said. I too know well off folks who constantly whine that they are the victim and one of them is a sister-in-law as well. Maybe we're related :) But seriously you are 100 percent correct. The Republicans played the long game well. I just hope it's not too late for us to take the power back. There are more of us. We just all need to vote. This election can't be close. It must be an overwhelming trouncing of Trump and the Rep party.
My Tuesday night plans include a couple of fingers of bourbon, maybe a zzzquil and a quiet, dark bedroom.
trump could lose on Tuesday, but he won't win on Tuesday. Florida, I believe, starts counting its absentee/mail-in ballots before Tuesday so we could know who wins Florida before the end of the night. If it's Biden, trump loses. If it's trump, Biden can still win.
Good thing trump spent last night chasing after that one Nebraska EC vote instead of working to keep Florida a toss up.
Florida is key, since as you mention it's one of the swing states that does count early. if it's a clear Biden lead/win, there's no path for Trump to WH
North Carolina scans ballots as soon as they are received, recording your votes. On election day all they have to do is hit the total button. They still need to process the later arriving ballots. Votes postmarked by election day and received by the 6th will be counted. Results will be certified on the 10th.
It'll be interesting to see, and it may depend on who's running the election night coverage. If it's the DC-based members of the political media brothel there--the chief chucktodd of them all, madam--they'll fold. CNN probably will, since Jeff Zucker is too gamey even for that brothel. But beyond that, I actually think they'll behave well.
And who can forget that Bush’s first cousin John Ellis was running the Faux News election decision desk in 2000. Fox was the first to call Florida for Bush.
What drives me nuts is the idea that the populace demands an immediate outcome. the SCOTUS used a version of that in justifying their stopping of the Florida recounts. At the time, there were polls that showed the "Murcan Peepul" were perfectly happy to wait until all the votes were counted. They should be this time, too. Simple facts and history counter the argument that there is any need for an immediate declaration. It figures that Trump the reality star confuses TV tradition with political and legal reality.
I live in Dallas and I have never seen Texas so energized about an election. I love politics so I love all things elections, but this is something completely unexpected to me. No matter where I go, I ask "Have you voted?" if they say no, which very few have said, I ask them immediately if they are ready to get to the polls early on Tuesday. One person out of probably 100 I have asked has said, "no" because he is afraid due to COVID. My only response was "I am so sorry that his lack of leadership has stolen your vote. " I truly felt it and meant it. 1 diagnosis a second in this country is unforgivable and I hope no one in the media allows it to go unsaid.
that's the $64K Q...on paper this looks like easy call for the press, they stick to the numbers and don't rush any announcement. but GOP has a way of creating their own reality and getting press to play along.
I am not that worried about the media trying to rush the call on election night. What worries me the most, assuming Biden wins, is that they will return to their old ways and expect Biden to come up with quick, simple solutions to magically fix all the serious problems we fact and will willingly repeat right wing talking points designed to stop Biden from succeeding.
That is exactly how the media acted when Clinton was trying to reform our broken health care system. They weren’t much better when Obama’s plan was introduced. By focusing on things like the process used, the length of the proposal, how complicated they were (Medicare is also very complicated but why ruin a good talking point?) etc. the media contributed to the big losses Democrats suffered in the midterms in 1994 and 2010.
If Biden wins I fear that people who voted for him will assume the battle has been won and stop paying attention.
Eventually, playing catch-up will no longer be an option. There may come a tragedy where the electorate has voted to avoid that tipping point with no manner to have that vote tabulated. I can't fathom that as the framers' original intent.
I really want the in-person voting on Tuesday to lean so hard for Biden and downballot Democrats that this entire scheme hilariously backfires on Trump and the GOP. Every gut instinct I have tells me this will backfire on them, and their push for this will only solidify Biden’s win and a massive downballot blue tsunami. It won’t even be close enough for Trump to challenge in court, and that’s before the absentee ballots are counted.
This is not 2000. That election was close enough to warrant a recount and an argument for court intervention. Trump isn’t even running ads in Florida anymore. They can’t even afford polling. So, either he is completely clueless about what’s really happening on the ground, or he thinks DeSantis will stop vote counts in Florida and declare him the winner. My gut says he’s clueless and this is just more of his bloviating nonsense and drama.
But it for sure is dependent on the media not getting sucked into it. I am cautiously optimistic they won’t, especially now that Fox “News” has a Covid outbreak, which will put a huge crimp in their disinformation Election Night plans..
i do love that backfire scenario as well!
This time, it seems, the Democrats also have a team of hard-nosed lawyers ready to go to war. That will help against shenanigans. There's no Lieberman in the campaign who's going to give up.
From your keyboard to the ears of the Divine...
The only way a minority party, in terms of membership, can keep power is to cheat. We're going to see voter suppression like never before. The Supreme Court will be in the tank for Trump, that much seems clear know with Kavanaugh and Barrett. Potentially up to 80 million votes will could be discounted if Trump gets his way. The Republicans may not be counting on much of a protest but I believe there will be a backlash the likes this country has never seen if they pull off this coup. The fact the administration is pushing this winner on election night strategy is simply because they know they are losing large in the mail-in vote. The media better push back hard otherwise we are in for at least four more years of this and full on autocracy.
Trump claiming counting votes after Election Day is, typically, shocking. TV news has to be *very* clear what Election Night will be different this year
Mr. Boehlert, It’s not so much “the Media” declaring Trump a winner as much as Trump declaring himself the winner. Echoed by Fox and other complicit “news” sources.
And, if Trump can get the election results to the Supreme Court; he wins.
The reason that Republicans have to cheat and lie is that their policies are deeply unpopular. Most rank and file Republicans don’t even support tax cuts for the wealthiest but since they listen to Fox News they don’t realize that favoring the rich is Republicans main goal.
Correct! The Fox crowd, most of them hard working folks who live paycheck to paycheck continue to vote against their own best interest. To me the biggest mistake Democrats made was during the Jimmy Carter/Ronald Reagan campaign when Reagan demised the world "liberal". Instead of educating voters as to what proud liberal Democrats had done for them historically ie: Social Security, Medicare, the 40 hour work week, the Dems ran and hid claiming they weren't liberal. That was the beginning of the Dems being bullied by the Republicans and one reason why we are where we are today.
Forgot to add that Trump supporters have been shown to have a higher average income — +$70,000 — than did Hillary voters. There are a lot of well-educated, affluent Republicans like my sisters-in-law who just want those tax cuts. Granted the polls are showing that these people are starting to desert Trump but I can tell you I know quite a few Trumpers and none of them are struggling or uneducated. They all have a win-lose worldview and believe that poor people just don’t want to work. If they support taxes go to “those people” they hurt themselves. They can’t see that we all benefit when poverty is decreased, more people get a good education, etc. I actually told one of them who was carping about taxes that I didn’t mind paying higher taxes so that kids like his severely brain-damaged adult daughter could get the services they needed. He didn’t reply but he didn’t argue, either. He seemed surprised.
You are right that Democrats should have fought back against the disdain for liberals. On the other hand I remember the media using the word liberal as if it were synonymous for and extreme ideology. You would think the media had no idea that America is a liberal democracy founded on the classical liberal principles of the Enlightenment. Republicans clearly hate the ideals of the Enlightenment which is based on the sovereignty of reason, the dignity of all humans, the separation of church and state — all things the Republican Party have clearly rejected.
I can't disagree with anything you said. I too know well off folks who constantly whine that they are the victim and one of them is a sister-in-law as well. Maybe we're related :) But seriously you are 100 percent correct. The Republicans played the long game well. I just hope it's not too late for us to take the power back. There are more of us. We just all need to vote. This election can't be close. It must be an overwhelming trouncing of Trump and the Rep party.
My Tuesday night plans include a couple of fingers of bourbon, maybe a zzzquil and a quiet, dark bedroom.
trump could lose on Tuesday, but he won't win on Tuesday. Florida, I believe, starts counting its absentee/mail-in ballots before Tuesday so we could know who wins Florida before the end of the night. If it's Biden, trump loses. If it's trump, Biden can still win.
Good thing trump spent last night chasing after that one Nebraska EC vote instead of working to keep Florida a toss up.
Florida is key, since as you mention it's one of the swing states that does count early. if it's a clear Biden lead/win, there's no path for Trump to WH
Though Ohio is Swing State Lite, I'll note that Ohio doesn't count mail in ballots until election night. I did see online my ballot was accepted.
Oh my God, THIS. ☝️
North Carolina scans ballots as soon as they are received, recording your votes. On election day all they have to do is hit the total button. They still need to process the later arriving ballots. Votes postmarked by election day and received by the 6th will be counted. Results will be certified on the 10th.
It'll be interesting to see, and it may depend on who's running the election night coverage. If it's the DC-based members of the political media brothel there--the chief chucktodd of them all, madam--they'll fold. CNN probably will, since Jeff Zucker is too gamey even for that brothel. But beyond that, I actually think they'll behave well.
good news: the Decision Desks do seem to be separate entities onto themselves
I know, but then I remember Karl Rove in 2012 ... a beautiful moment. Of course, for years, people blamed Cronkite and Brinkley for the decisions!
Rove's meltdown confirmed my suspicion about 2004 election, which in Ohio was awash in baby rat conception.
And who can forget that Bush’s first cousin John Ellis was running the Faux News election decision desk in 2000. Fox was the first to call Florida for Bush.
I had forgotten that.
What drives me nuts is the idea that the populace demands an immediate outcome. the SCOTUS used a version of that in justifying their stopping of the Florida recounts. At the time, there were polls that showed the "Murcan Peepul" were perfectly happy to wait until all the votes were counted. They should be this time, too. Simple facts and history counter the argument that there is any need for an immediate declaration. It figures that Trump the reality star confuses TV tradition with political and legal reality.
I live in Dallas and I have never seen Texas so energized about an election. I love politics so I love all things elections, but this is something completely unexpected to me. No matter where I go, I ask "Have you voted?" if they say no, which very few have said, I ask them immediately if they are ready to get to the polls early on Tuesday. One person out of probably 100 I have asked has said, "no" because he is afraid due to COVID. My only response was "I am so sorry that his lack of leadership has stolen your vote. " I truly felt it and meant it. 1 diagnosis a second in this country is unforgivable and I hope no one in the media allows it to go unsaid.
that's the $64K Q...on paper this looks like easy call for the press, they stick to the numbers and don't rush any announcement. but GOP has a way of creating their own reality and getting press to play along.
I am not that worried about the media trying to rush the call on election night. What worries me the most, assuming Biden wins, is that they will return to their old ways and expect Biden to come up with quick, simple solutions to magically fix all the serious problems we fact and will willingly repeat right wing talking points designed to stop Biden from succeeding.
That is exactly how the media acted when Clinton was trying to reform our broken health care system. They weren’t much better when Obama’s plan was introduced. By focusing on things like the process used, the length of the proposal, how complicated they were (Medicare is also very complicated but why ruin a good talking point?) etc. the media contributed to the big losses Democrats suffered in the midterms in 1994 and 2010.
If Biden wins I fear that people who voted for him will assume the battle has been won and stop paying attention.