NBC News finds that Democrats have a voter registration advantage in four battleground states: Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona and North Carolina.
It’s Crunch Time for Voting Litigation
CNN: “Several major courts cases over voting in multiple states have trials set in September or may have decisions soon, spotlighting legal disputes among state elections officials, Republicans, Democrats and voting access advocacy groups in the next few weeks.”
“With 10 weeks until Election Day and ballots in several states going out well before then, the clock for courts to decide is already ticking loudly. September brings major court hearings and possible decisions on voting access disputes in large states like Texas, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, with some voting rights groups involved in trials across the country on the same days or within a week.”
A Big Difference from 2016
First Read: “One of the major differences between 2016 and 2020 is that this year’s presidential contest features a smaller third-party vote than four years ago, and Gary Johnson/Jill Stein voters from 2016 are breaking more toward Joe Biden than they are Donald Trump. And given Trump’s narrow win four years ago, that movement – if it holds – is a big deal.”
“The combined national NBC News/Wall Street Journal polls from this year have interviewed 215 voters who said they backed either Johnson or Stein in 2016, and Biden holds a 2-to-1 advantage among them.”
“Forty-seven percent say they’re voting for Biden, 20% are supporting Trump, and 33% are unsure or say they’re backing another candidate.”
Trump’s Support Slips Among Active Duty Military
The latest Military Times poll shows a continued decline in active-duty service members’ views of President Trump and a slight but significant preference for former Joe Biden in the upcoming November election among troops surveyed.
Biden leads Trump, 43% to 37%.
Trump Accepts Donations from Neo-Nazi Leader
The Trump campaign has been accepting thousands of dollars in donations from a notorious neo-Nazi leader and other racist extremists, according to Popular Information.
Trump Suggested ‘Settling’ with Robert Mueller
“One of the crazy nuggets in a deeply reported book by the N.Y. Times’ Michael Schmidt — Donald Trump v. the United States, out tomorrow — is that President Trump mulled the idea of ‘settling’ with special counsel Robert Mueller,” Axios reports.
Writes Schmidt: “At one point, as the investigation seemed to be intensifying,Trump told White House counsel Don McGahn that there was nothing to worry about because if it was zeroing in on him, he would simply settle with Mueller. He would settle the case, as if he were negotiating terms in a lawsuit.”
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Schmidt, Michael S. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 473 Pages - 09/01/2020 (Publication Date) - Random House (Publisher)
New Trump Adviser Pushes ‘Herd Immunity’ Strategy
“One of President Trump’s top medical advisers is urging the White House to embrace a controversial ‘herd immunity’ strategy to combat the pandemic, which would entail allowing the coronavirus to spread through most of the population to quickly build resistance to the virus, while taking steps to protect those in nursing homes and other vulnerable populations, according to five people familiar with the discussions,” the Washington Post reports.
“The administration has already begun to implement some policies along these lines, according to current and former officials as well as experts, particularly with regard to testing.”
Zombie Herman Cain Tweets Virus ‘Not as Deadly’
“The Twitter account formerly used by the late Herman Cain fired off a head-scratching message on Sunday, insisting that the coronavirus ‘isn’t as deadly’ as once thought,” the HuffPost reports.
Cain died in July after being hospitalized for more than a month with COVID-19.
Swift Boat Mastermind Launches Super PAC
“Senior Republicans are launching a massive new super PAC this week to bolster Donald Trump’s reelection in the final stretch of the campaign — a move that comes as the president has been pummeled by Joe Biden on TV,” Politico reports.
“Preserve America will be overseen by Chris LaCivita, a veteran Republican strategist who orchestrated the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth takedown of John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race.”
Trump Attempts to Rebrand an Ugly Economy
“In the nine weeks left in the 2020 campaign, President Trump has an especially daunting task: Convince a skeptical American public that the coronavirus-ravaged U.S. economy is actually roaring back and will soon return to the status he regularly calls the greatest in world history,” Politico reports.
“He faces serious obstacles. The U.S. economy pre-coronavirus was far from the greatest in history, leaving most Americans with little cushion for the latest plunge. Now Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other senior White House officials risk sounding out of touch cheerleading a still-struggling economy with a jobless rate over 10 percent — above its peak during the Great Recession — and close to 30 million people getting some kind of unemployment assistance.”
Quote of the Day
“This campaign has always known that it’s going to be a close race, it’s going to be a tough race… It’s a polarized nation and we expect this kind of tightening.”
— Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn, quoted by the Associated Press.
Wisconsin Governor Tells Trump Not to Come
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) urged President Trump to “reconsider” his plans to visit Kenosha, Wis., which has been rocked by unrest for the past several nights following the shooting of Jacob Blake by police, The Hill reports.
Said Evers: “I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together.”
Inside Trump’s Pressure Campaign on FDA Scientists
Demoralized FDA staff say a misleading announcement last week on convalescent plasma undermined scientists’ credibility and turned the agency into a prop in the president’s reelection campaign, the Washington Post reports.
Many worry such incidents erode public trust before regulators make a sensitive and potentially fraught decision — deciding when a coronavirus vaccine is safe and effective.
Trump Offered Top FBI Job to John Kelly
President Trump offered John Kelly the job of the head of the FBI, the day after he fired James Comey, according to Michael Schmidt’s writes new book, Donald Trump v. The United States, Axios reports.
“But the president added something else—if he became FBI director, Trump told him, Kelly needed to be loyal to him, and only him.”
” •Kelly immediately realized the problem with Trump’s request for loyalty, and he pushed back on the president’s demand. Kelly said that he would be loyal to the Constitution and the rule of law, but he refused to pledge his loyalty to Trump.”
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Schmidt, Michael S. (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 473 Pages - 09/01/2020 (Publication Date) - Random House (Publisher)
Portland Mayor Responds to Trump
Axios: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler reacted to President Trump’s tweets attacking Democratic officials in the wake of a fatal shooting Saturday night during clashes between Trump supporters and protesters: “I’d appreciate that either the president support us or stay the hell out of the way.”
Biden Accuses Trump of ‘Encouraging Violence’
Joe Biden issued a statement unequivocally condemning violence on all sides after a man was fatally shot Saturday night during a clash between supporters of President Trump and anti-racism protesters, Axios reports.
Said Biden: “We must not become a country at war with ourselves. A country that accepts the killing of fellow Americans who do not agree with you. A country that vows vengeance toward one another. But that is the America that President Trump wants us to be, the America he believes we are.”
He added: “What does President Trump think will happen when he continues to insist on fanning the flames of hate and division in our society and using the politics of fear to whip up his supporters? He is recklessly encouraging violence.”
Trump Still Hasn’t Called Jacob Blake’s Family
Jacob Blake’s attorney Benjamin Crump told CBS News that President Trump has not contacted the Blake family ahead of his planned visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, more than a week after police shot Blake seven times in the back.
Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris spoke with the Blake family for over an hour last week.
Trump Claims Protests Are an Organized Coup
“President Trump unleashed an especially intense barrage of Twitter messages overnight and Sunday morning, embracing fringe conspiracy theories claiming that the coronavirus death toll has been exaggerated and that street protests are actually an organized coup d’état against him,” the New York Times reports.
“In the weekend blast of Twitter messages, Mr. Trump also embraced a call to imprison Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, threatened to use force against demonstrators outside the White House, attacked CNN and NPR, embraced a supporter charged with murder, mocked his challenger, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and repeatedly assailed the mayor of Portland, even posting the mayor’s office telephone number so that supporters could call demanding his resignation.”
Peter Baker: “Even for Trump, it was a morning of especially wild tweets.”