Month: January 2020
Senate Republicans make clear: It’s not about Ukraine. It’s about ending American democracy for good
On Wednesday, the Senate conducted the first of two days of question-and-answer in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, with the House managers and Trump’s legal team. Throughout the sessions, Trump’s team made it clear that any attempt to get at the truth of what happened would result in retaliation in the form of asking for an endless stream of witnesses, fighting every request in court, and holding up activity in the Senate “for a very long time.” Meanwhile, the House managers continued to swing for the fences with a number of stirring moments, sharp responses, and ringing calls for the Senate to do its job for the country.
From the start of this session, it was clear that Republicans were not taking the day seriously. Confident that enough of their members had fallen in line to suppress any possibility of subpoenaing a witness, the Republican side indulged in question after question written for no other reason than to promote conspiracy theories and smears by having Chief Justice John Roberts read them aloud. But even that wasn’t the worst damage done during the course of the evening.
As the night wore on, Trump legal team member Alan Dershowitz rose repeatedly to make it very clear what Republicans were authorizing: They were not just embracing foreign interference, but literally allowing Donald Trump to do anything in pursuit of reelection.
Much of the evening seemed to be the Ted Cruz Show. Having abandoned any pretense that they were seeking information, Republicans allowed the Texas assassin to have a hand in at least eight questions, all of them designed to spread ridiculous, corrosive smears against the whistleblower, Rep. Adam Schiff, and former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump’s defense team joined in eagerly, citing information from the worst of right-wing sites as “public information” to justify repeating claims. By the end of the night, Senate Republicans had endorsed every aspect of the conspiracy theory that Trump had tried to extort from Ukraine, and they had gone on to indict the whistleblower as having a hand in the “double bribery.”
Again and again, Republicans such as Cruz and Josh Hawley demonstrated that they were laughing up their sleeves, playing the “Roberts will repeat anything” game. That included using questions to make statements that Adam Schiff had collaborated with the whistleblower, long after Schiff had explained—again—that he had not met the whistleblower, that he did not know the whistleblower, and that no member of his staff was involved in preparing the whistleblower’s complaint. It didn’t matter, because for Cruz, getting out the facts was never the point of the exercise.
A special award goes to Kentucky Republican Rand Paul. At one point in the late afternoon, he managed to concoct a question so vile that Roberts refused to read it—the only time that happened, even though some of the questions from Cruz included recitations of multiple false charges.
Trump’s team leaned into the chance to spread unfounded information. Despite hours and days of chest-beating over “hearsay” or “second-hand information,” Trump’s attorneys relished every word of the beyond-Q conspiracies that came their way (including a rare appearance from benchwarmer Pam Bondi so bad that it’s already gathered more than two million views). And when not rolling in vile claims with absolutely no foundation, they used much of their time to directly threaten the Senate, stating again and again that any attempt to call a witness would be met with an unending string of requests, privilege claims, and court fights.
In the middle of the evening, Schiff made a major play and said that, to expedite the process, the House managers would agree to be bound by decisions from Roberts when it came to validating subpoenas, authorizing witnesses, and requesting documents. Citing the way that the House had taken as many as five depositions in a week, Schiff made it clear that there was no reason that a process involving witnesses had to be lengthy. But Trump’s legal team said that it would not agree. Instead, it continued its threat to respond to any call for witnesses by wrecking the Senate, drowning the trial in frivolous requests, and demanding a string of witnesses (including every member of the Biden family, every House manager, the whistleblower, people cited in right-wing media … an unending parade). And Republicans on both sides of the table pretended that this threat wasn’t simply an argument that any legal process can be crushed by the power of the White House.
But it wasn’t the cudgel of delay, or the giggling efforts of Cruz, Hawley, Paul, and others to place their hands under Robert’s robe and make him talk that did the most damage. The worst damage to the evening, the trial, and America’s future came from doddering Alan Dershowitz, who used the evening to expand his previous defense to a degree that didn’t just exonerate Trump in this case, but also exonerated him in any possible case.
In a pair of appearances, Dershowitz expanded on his theory that abuse of power isn’t a permissible cause for impeachment. Deliberately and directly contradicting the historical sources he cited, Dershowitz called every constitutional expert in America a “never Trumper” for daring to disagree with him. And while claiming to be the only reasonable man in the country, he said he didn’t stand alone … because he had found a single attorney in 1867 whose views were similar. And 1867 is closer to when the Constitution was written, so that view wins. If you ignore all the people involved in the writing of it.
Then, having literally made up dictionary entries to support his redefinition of legal terms, Dershowitz went not just all-in, but completely overboard. According to Trump’s finest legal mind, there is nothing that Trump can’t do in pursuit of reelection. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. So long as Trump believes that his reelection would be good for the nation, he can extort foreign governments for made-up dirt. He can directly threaten an ally. There is no limit.
Along the way, Dershowitz also argued that there is absolutely nothing wrong with launching an investigation into a political opponent. In fact, he asserted that a run for office itself can be justification for investigating an opponent. He directly embraced the idea that a president launching investigations of his political opponents using domestic or foreign sources wasn’t just fine; it was desirable. He argued that daring to run against Trump painted a target on anyone’s back, and that Trump had all the power he needed to shoot at it.
If there was any doubt going into the evening, Dershowitz removed it: voting to acquit Trump means voting not just to dismiss this charge, but to embrace the idea that Trump trumps the law. He didn’t hint that Trump could do anything he wanted in pursuit of reelection; that was the core theme of his whole presentation. That was the point. That was what he said.
The Senate listened to a presentation from Trump’s legal team according to which there is nothing Trump can do in pursuit of reelection that isn’t justified. There is no limit to how Trump can use his power to persecute political opponents. According to the theory that was put forward on the floor of the Senate, Trump could simply lock up every Democratic opponent, or suspend elections indefinitely, and that would be just fine—not only an impeachable offense, but a good thing.
Republicans are going to vote for that. Republicans are going to press the button on not just a step toward autocracy, but a full-on embrace of it. They’re going to do it with a smile.
Here are the questions 2020 Dems asked during Trump impeachment trial
With four of the candidates for the Democratic nomination for president -- and two of the top four in the polls -- stuck in Washington, D.C., for President Trump's impeachment, asking questions during the Senate trial's nationally televised question-and-answer session is one of the only ways for them to reach voters ahead of Monday's Iowa caucuses.
'Game over!' Trump likely to be acquitted as impeachment trial draws to a close
What to expect at the impeachment trial today
Thursday brings eight more hours of impeachment question-and-answer
Thursday brings the second and final day of impeachment question-and-answer. As on Wednesday, senators will submit written questions to be read by Chief Justice John Roberts and answered by the House impeachment managers or Donald Trump’s defense team.
The impeachment trial starts at 1 PM ET and questions could run for another eight hours, unless senators run out of questions first. Which, given the way the questions have been used for positioning and allowing the two sides to air their arguments again, seems unlikely. Then again, since Republicans seem to have decided they’re okay with going through with the full cover-up and refusing witnesses, maybe they’ll also decide there’s no point in continuing.
It’s hard to imagine the level of exhaustion the House managers and, to a lesser extent, the Trump defense team must be feeling. (The lesser extent of exhaustion for the Trump defense team is because of their lesser degree of preparation. If one of these teams has been pulling all-nighters preparing really solid arguments, it ain’t them.) One question for Thursday is if and how much that exhaustion will come through.
Clashes Continue in Trial on Wednesday, GOP Holds Advantage
By David Kamioner | January 30, 2020
The mood was legal yet the elements of fiery controversy were there on Wednesday during the Democrat Combover Festival and Senate impeachment trial of President Trump.
Most GOP questions were handled by attorney Patrick Philbin. But Alan Dershowitz, Pat Cipollone, Pam Bondi and Jay Sekulow also got their turn at bat. The Democrats inexplicably continued to go with the hard on the ear team of Nadler and Schiff, relegating better litigators like Jeffries and Crow to the general sidelines for most of the day.
The Democrats also continued to let the unintentionally comic Val Demings take the podium. She is so inarticulate that her time on camera has become the designated bathroom break time for Democrat and GOP Hill staffers alike.
RELATED: Warren Wants to Control Your Freedom of Speech
Other developments were as follows:
- The questions from the senators were mostly contrived set ups to their own party’s lawyers. When they addressed the other side the questions became increasingly aggressive as the day wore on.
- Supposed swing vote GOP Senator Susan Collins of Maine was seen to be visibly upset at Democrat insults to her and other senators. The Democrats are pushing her towards acquittal.
- GOP Senator Rand Paul had a question thrown back at him by Chief Justice John Roberts when Paul named Eric Ciaramella as the informer. More details on that in a following article.
- The Democrats focused on Bolton. Yet the GOP, and you will be sure to hear of this today, unearthed videos where Bolton states there was nothing amiss with the president’s communications with the Ukrainians.
- A constant GOP theme during the day was that policy or political differences are not sufficient to meet the standard of impeachment set forth by the Founders.The Democrats countered with their usual “big lie” strategy of ignoring reality and focusing on their fictional talking points. Schiff even revisited his old trick of making up lines he then insinuates were the president’s real meanings.
- The Democrats stoked the fire on their love affair with the hapless Lt. Colonel “Flounder” Vindman, even though his was perhaps the worst and most discredited testimony during the House hearings.
- Jay Sekulow showcased the poison pill defense, as we predicted. He said he would call both Bidens, Schiff, and Ciaramella to the stand, at the very least, if the Senate voted for witnesses.
RELATED: Alan Dershowitz Hits Back at Elizabeth Warren
- The New York-California Axis was on display during the Democrat presentations, as the leftist party can’t seem to find very many legal acolytes or elected supporters much distant from the Big Rotten Apple or the Left Coast.
- Swing vote possibility Democrat Senator John Tester, given the nature of a question he sent to the Chief Justice for the Democrat House managers, may be leaning against the president.
More to follow…
This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
Read more at LifeZette:
More GOP Senators Could Defect in Impeachment Trial
Bolton Manuscript Leaked, Romney and Collins May Vote Against the President
Actress Evan Rachel Wood Gets Major Backlash For Calling Kobe Bryant A ‘Rapist’ After His Death
The post Clashes Continue in Trial on Wednesday, GOP Holds Advantage appeared first on The Political Insider.
Morning Digest: Anti-impeachment Trump surrogate launches bid against GOP senator in Georgia special
The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, Carolyn Fiddler, and Matt Booker, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
● GA-Sen-B: On Wednesday morning, Georgia Rep. Doug Collins announced that he would challenge appointed Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a fellow Republican, in this year’s special election. Collins is currently serving as one of Donald Trump’s designated surrogates during his impeachment trial, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that the congressman hopes to have Trump’s inner circle behind him.
Campaign ActionAs we recently noted, Collins’ decision to run almost certainly crushes the GOP’s hopes of winning outright in November, at least under the state’s current election law. That's because all candidates from all parties will run together on a single ballot, and if no one takes a majority, a runoff between the top two vote-getters—regardless of party—would be held in January of next year.
Collins’ run could be a mixed blessing for Democrats, though. While Team Blue would very much like a bloody intra-party battle between the Republicans, it’s possible that Loeffler and Collins could each secure enough support to lock Democrats out of a January runoff.
While there’s a chance that Democrats could instead secure both runoff spots and automatically flip this seat from red to blue, it’s not a good one. Businessman Matt Lieberman is the party’s only declared candidate so far, but former U.S. Attorney Ed Tarver recently said that he planned to run while the Rev. Raphael Warnock is also reportedly going to get in soon.
This lineup would mean that Georgia’s Democratic voters would be dividing their support among a trio of candidates while Republicans would have just a pair to choose from—a scenario that would give the GOP a very real shot to take the top two spots in the all-party primary.
However, it’s possible that this special election law will change soon. Both Collins’ allies in the state legislature as well as Democrats are backing a bill that would require a partisan primary in May and a general election in November, which are the same rules that govern the state’s regularly scheduled Senate race. Gov. Brian Kemp, who appointed Loeffler, has said he’d veto this legislation if it makes it to his desk, though Democrats and Republicans could override him with a two-thirds supermajority.
While it remains to be seen when Loeffler and Collins will compete, it’s clear that the congressman is a serious threat to her chances. While Collins has made a name for himself with the Trump fans across the state by loudly defending the White House from impeachment, Loeffler had very little name recognition when she was appointed in December. A survey from the Democratic firm PPP taken just after Loeffler was selected in December even showed Collins destroying her 56-16 in a hypothetical GOP primary.
However, Loeffler very much has the resources to get her name out and attack Collins. The wealthy senator recently launched a $2.6 million ad campaign to introduce herself to voters and declare her fealty to Trump, and she’s reportedly pledged to spend a total of $20 million of her own money on this race. While Collins might be able to raise a serious amount of cash for this contest, he’s probably going to have a tough time bringing in anywhere near enough to match Loeffler’s self-funding.
Two prominent GOP groups are also making it clear that they’re going to support Loeffler. The NRSC, which endorsed the incumbent right after Kemp appointed her, put out a statement right after Collins announced that contained this angry, though rather ungrammatical, pair of phrases: “Doug Collins’ selfishness will hurt David Perdue, Kelly Loeffler, and President Trump. Not to mention the people of Georgia who stand to bear the burden of it for years to come.”
The Senate Leadership Fund, a well-funded super PAC run by allies of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, also blasted Collins as “selfish” and praised Loeffler as “a warrior for the President.” It remains to be seen how much each group will be willing to spend here in a cycle when control of the Senate is on the line, but the SLF said of Loeffler, “We’ll have her back if she needs us.”
The biggest player in GOP politics, though, has not yet taken sides. The White House reportedly made an unsuccessful push to convince Kemp to appoint Collins instead of Loeffler, and Trump no doubt is still happily watching the congressman’s frequent appearances on his behalf on Fox News. (It’s almost certainly no accident that Collins launched his campaign on Wednesday on Trump’s beloved “Fox & Friends.”)
However, while Trump may be inclined to support Collins, Loeffler is doing whatever she can to quickly get into his good graces. She may already be succeeding: Hours after Collins entered the contest, Trump singled Loeffler out at a bill signing and said, “Congratulations, Kelly. They really like you a lot. That’s what the word is.” McConnell, who is arguably both the White House and Loeffler’s most important ally, may also be able to persuade Trump to at least stay out of this contest.
Of course, there’s never any telling what Donald Trump will or won’t do, so both Loeffler and Collins may be kept in suspense for a long time to come.
4Q Fundraising
● NH-Sen: Corky Messner (R): $51,000 raised, additional $200,000 self-funded, $1.07 million cash-on-hand
● TX-Sen: John Cornyn (R-inc): $2.75 million raised, $12.1 million cash-on-hand
● ME-02: Dale Crafts (R): $128,000 raised, additional $47,000 self-funded, $134,000 cash-on-hand
● MI-03: Lynn Afendoulis (R): $112,000 raised
● NV-04: Jim Marchant (R): $156,000 raised, $209,000 cash-on-hand
● NY-24: Dana Balter (D): $205,000 raised, $220,000 cash-on-hand; Francis Conole (D): $250,000 cash-on-hand; Roger Misso (D): $120,000 raised, $130,000 cash-on-hand
● WA-03: Carolyn Long (D): $498,000 raised
Senate
● MA-Sen: Sen. Ed Markey picked up a Democratic primary endorsement this week from former Gov. Michael Dukakis, who was the party's 1988 presidential nominee. Dukakis left office in 1991, though he's occasionally been in the news in recent years as he's pushed for a rail link between Boston's two major train stations. You can stop leaving your leftover Thanksgiving turkey carcasses outside his house, though.
● TX-Sen: Every poll we've seen of the March Democratic primary to take on GOP Sen. John Cornyn has found a large plurality of voters undecided, and new surveys from the nonpartisan nonprofit Texas Lyceum and the progressive group Data for Progress each are no different.
Texas Lyceum's poll gives 2018 House nominee MJ Hegar the lead with 11% of the vote while state Sen. Royce West edges nonprofit director Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez 8-7 for the second spot in the likely runoff. Former Houston City Council Member Amanda Edwards is just behind with 6 while a group of other candidates, including former Rep. Chris Bell and 2018 Senate candidate Sema Hernandez, take 5% each. The firm finds that 42% are undecided in a contest where no one has aired many ads yet.
Data for Progress' survey finds that more voters have chosen one of the candidates, but 34% are still undecided. The poll has Hegar ahead with 18%, while both West and Ramirez take 13%. Bell is at 8%, while none of the other contenders take more than 4%.
The survey also tests Hegar out in three different primary runoff scenarios:
32-33 vs. Ramirez 42-16 vs. Edwards 48-19 vs. WestOn Tuesday, West also picked up an endorsement from Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who leads Texas' largest city.
Gubernatorial
● AK-Gov: On Wednesday, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Eric Aarseth issued a stay preventing the committee trying to recall GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy from gathering signatures. Aarseth had taken this very action last week only to reverse himself the following day because that stay had been "inadvertently issued." However, Aarseth now says that the Alaska Supreme Court should rule on the constitutionality of the recall campaign before it is allowed to collect signatures to reach the ballot.
● MO-Gov: Uniting Missouri, which is the main super PAC supporting GOP Gov. Mike Parson, is out with a poll from the Republican firm American Viewpoint that gives the incumbent a 54-36 lead over Democratic state Auditor Nicole Galloway. The only other survey of this contest we've seen over the last several months was a November PPP poll for the Democratic Governors Association that gave Parson a smaller 45-36 edge.
House
● FL-26: While Donald Trump endorsed Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez last week, both former Miami-Dade County firefighters union president Omar Blanco and restaurateur Irina Vilariño say they plan to keep campaigning for the GOP nomination. However, neither of them looks like they'll be much of a threat to Giménez in the August primary to take on freshman Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
Vilariño didn't even commit to staying in the race, since The Miami Herald writes that "she's evaluating her options." The paper writes that Vilariño raised just $70,000 during the most recent quarter, so she may not be able to put up much of a fight even if she opts to keep running.
Blanco also acknowledged that Giménez has harmed his fundraising, though he hasn't revealed how much he brought in during the last months of 2019. It may not matter much, though, since Blanco said that he didn't plan to go negative on Giménez, who is actually his boss: The mayor oversees the county fire department, where Blanco serves as a lieutenant.
● GA-09: GOP Rep. Doug Collins' decision to run for the Senate opens up Georgia's 9th District in the rural northeastern part of the state. This seat backed Donald Trump 78-19, which was his best performance in any of the state's 14 congressional districts, and there's no question that whoever wins the GOP nod will prevail with ease in the general election.
The primary will take place in mid-May, and there would be a runoff in July if no one takes a majority of the vote. The filing deadline is March 6, so potential candidates have about five weeks to decide whether or not to run.
State Sen. John Wilkinson didn't need anywhere near that long to make up his mind, though, and he entered the race right after Collins announced that he was leaving to run for the Senate. Wilkinson has represented the 50th Senate District, which makes up about a quarter of this seat, since late 2011, and he's spent the last eight years as chair of the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee.
Several other Republicans are eyeing this contest, including one familiar name. Former 10th District Rep. Paul Broun confirmed that he was considering a comeback here, and Lauren Souther of the local news site Fetch Your News writes that he "indicated" that he'd decide this week. Broun was elected to the House in a 2007 special election, and he quickly emerged as the go-to guy for far-right quips, including his infamous 2012 proclamation that "[a]ll that stuff I was taught about evolution, embryology, Big Bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of hell."
It was Broun's career that soon descended into the pit of hell, though. In 2014, Broun gave up his seat representing the neighboring 10th District to run for an open Senate seat, but he finished a weak fifth in the primary with just 10% of the vote. Two years later, Broun relocated to the 9th District and challenged Collins for renomination, but the former congressman failed to raise much money and lost by a lopsided 61-22 margin.
State Rep. Kevin Tanner is also talking about running, and he told Fetch Your News on Wednesday that he would decide in "the next few days." Enotah Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jeff Langley called a congressional race "an intriguing possibility" and said he hadn't decided anything yet, but he also said he was very happy at his current post. In addition, Fetch Your News writes that fellow state Rep. Matt Gurtler is reportedly mulling it over, but Gurtler didn't respond for comment. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution mentioned fellow state Rep. Emory Dunahoo as a possibility, though there's no word on his interest.
Another group of Republicans sounds unlikely to run, though they didn't outright say no. Conservative radio host Martha Zoller, who lost the 2012 open seat primary runoff to Collins 55-45, said, "I am certainly going to consider running for this position, but I, at this time, am leaning toward not running."
Chris Riley, a longtime aide to former Gov. Nathan Deal, said Tuesday that, while he wasn't saying no, he was focused on "helping our friends who are seriously considering and helped make the Deal Administration successful." State Senate Pro Tem Butch Miller sounded even less enthusiastic, and he told the AJC that "the likelihood of me running for Congress is very low."
By contrast, Enotah Judicial Circuit Court Judge Stan Gunter and state Sen. Steve Gooch each made it clear that they would sit this race out.
● MD-07: Former state Democratic Party chair Maya Rockeymoore Cummings is out with her first TV ad ahead of Tuesday's crowded special primary to succeed her late husband, Rep. Elijah Cummings.
Rockeymoore Cummings begins by telling the audience, "Elijah worked hard, especially for children and youth. I know because I was right there with him." The candidate continues, "Together, we worked for social and economic justice, and we were in the trenches side by side fighting for Baltimore." Rockeymoore Cummings then says she's running "to continue that fight—for more affordable healthcare and prescription drugs, and an end to the gun violence and trauma that is wiping out a generation of black talent."
● NC-11: GOP state Sen. Jim Davis uses his first TV spot for the crowded March GOP primary for this open seat in Appalachian North Carolina to express his hatred for Mondays liberals. Davis, who is situated between a table with a huge plate of cheeseburgers and a black backdrop, begins the commercial wielding a handgun in what could easily be mistaken for an ad for the world's most terrifying fast-food restaurant.
But of course, this is really a political spot, and Davis continues by loading his weapon and telling the audience that liberals want to make his nine-millimeter gun illegal. He then drags his platter of burgers to him and repeats one of the GOP's favorite Trump-era lies by saying that liberals also want to outlaw cheeseburgers. That idea comes from conservatives' deliberate misreading of the Green New Deal, and a similar falsehood has already appeared in ads attacking Democratic Sen. Gary Peters in Michigan.
Davis then goes on a rant about how the left "want[s] to tell us how to live, how to worship, even how to eat." Davis never fires his gun during the spot, but he does end it by taking a hardy bite out of Chekov's cheeseburger. Wisely, though, the senator leaves the other dozen or so patties on the table uneaten.
● NY-15: End Citizens United has endorsed New York City Councilman Ritchie Torres in the crowded Democratic primary to succeed retiring Rep. José Serrano.
● NY-22: Freshman Democratic Rep. Anthony Brindisi uses his first TV spot of the cycle to stress how he's worked across party lines in Congress. The commercial features several clips of news people talking about his accomplishments, including how he got four bills signed by Donald Trump. The ad does not mention the conservative TV commercials that have already run here attacking the congressman, though Brindisi told Politico he was going on the air early "to set the record straight."
● TX-07: Army veteran Wesley Hunt, who is the national GOP's favored candidate in the March primary to face freshman Democratic Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, is out with a TV spot where he declares that Donald Trump is right to call drug cartels "terrorist organizations." The candidate calls for building the border wall before the narrator notes that Hunt has the endorsement of Sen. Ted Cruz.
● TX-22: Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star CEO Pierce Bush is out with a GOP primary ad starring his wife, Sarahbeth Bush. She tells the audience how her father developed a drug addiction when she was 10 and that "[d]rugs smuggled across the border ruin lives and shatter families." Sarahbeth Bush then praises the candidate as someone who understands the border crisis.
● WA-10: Democratic state Rep. Beth Doglio, who'd previously said she'd decide on whether to seek Washington's open 10th Congressional District after the legislature's session ends on March 12, has now filed paperwork to create a campaign committee with the FEC. Several notable Democrats are already running, and a number of others are considering. However, no prominent Republicans have expressed interest in seeking this seat, which voted 51-40 for Hillary Clinton.
Legislative
● Special Elections: Here's a recap of Tuesday's four special elections:
TX-HD-28: Republican Gary Gates defeated Democrat Eliz Markowitz 58-42 to hold this suburban Houston district for his party. The result is disappointing for Democrats, who aggressively targeted this race as part of a larger effort to flip the Texas House later this year, as Markowitz's performance in this district lagged behind Hillary Clinton's 10-point loss in 2016 and Beto O'Rourke's narrow 3-point loss in 2018.
Democrats will now ask themselves why Markowitz fell well short of what the fundamentals of this district would have augured. One key reason may have been the wealthy Gates' heavy self-funding, which totaled at least $1.5 million. In addition, younger voters and Latinos, who are among Democrats' most important constituencies in Texas, are less apt to turn out for an unusually timed special election as opposed to a November general election.
Markowitz and Gates will likely face off again in the fall, but one important reminder for Democrats is this district is not a prerequisite for taking the state House. The Texas Democratic Party recently ranked this district as its 16th-most attractive pickup opportunity on an initial target list of 22 seats, ranked by O'Rourke's 2018 margins.
TX-HD-100: Democrat Lorraine Birabil defeated fellow party member James Armstrong 66-34 to hold this deep blue Dallas seat.
TX-HD-148: Democrat Anna Eastman defeated Republican Luis LaRotta 65-35 to hold this seat for her party. These three special elections in Texas return this chamber to full strength, with Republicans in control 83-67.
GA-HD-171: Republican Joe Campbell took 58% of the vote in this three-way race to avoid a runoff and hold this south Georgia seat for the GOP. Democrat Jewell Howard was the runner-up with 33%, while Republican Tommy Akridge rounded out the voting with 8%.
This result moves the makeup of the Georgia state House to 105-74 in favor of Republicans with one seat vacant.
Will Joe Biden’s Mistakes Overshadow His Experience
By Robyn Kenney | January 30, 2020
It’s clear in this sea of Democratic Presidential candidates that if Joe Biden fails to lock in the nomination, it’s nobody’s fault but his own.
Biden’s gaffes are often laughable, or even puzzling, like the odd stories he’s told about his youth:
In addition to Corn Pop, apparently Joe Biden has another little friend named “Boom Boom Cannon.”
pic.twitter.com/COvJ4zhloy— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) December 2, 2019
However his recent aggression towards voters on the campaign trail show a more volatile side to Biden. Far from the friendly Joe of the Obama years who’s mistakes were usually more cringe-worthy than aggressive.
RELATED: Warren Wants to Control Your Freedom of Speech
Try to watch this without laughing out loud:
But lovable Joe Biden has shown a different side of himself; conveying either a lack of inhibition gone wrong, or perhaps, and more likely, a glimpse into a deep-seated arrogance that has given way to hostility.
Watch the way Biden handles this man and takes hold of his jacket:
Would he have talked to Corn Pop like that? I don't think so. https://t.co/iY34aWjaYf
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) January 29, 2020
The problem still remains for the Democrats that Biden is their best shot at even coming close to beating Donald Trump.
The former VP had the nomination teed up for him – but just like a high school athlete with a propensity to get into trouble who has a scholarship on the line – everybody around him is thinking, “Just get through the year without getting in trouble and it’s yours.”
That kid usually decides to participate in a senior prank that involves stealing farm animals and putting them on the roof of the school at night, gets suspended, and loses his free ride.
All Joe Biden has to do is not put a goat on the roof, and he will be fine. But he can’t help himself.
Biden has continued to argue with voters against the urging of his staff to move along, as heard in the video above. He presumably refuses to fully prepare for debates and media events, based on his responses to attacks from his opponents, and his overall verbal fumbling.
Biden still has so much power over the other candidates, because as long as he’s moderately coherent and remains to appear confident in the wake of his mistakes – no one can beat his resume.
Joe Biden, by the fact that he served as Vice President for Barack Obama for eight years, with no major discord made public by the press or the administration, puts him light years ahead of any other democratic candidate.
On paper, Joe wins. Just read his resume compared to that of say, Elizabeth Warren or Pete Buttigieg.
Personality, presentability, and ethics aside, Biden should hands down be the nominee in this motley crew that has people subbing the phrase “voter enthusiasm” for “voter confidence”.
What about Bernie, they say. Well, Bernie’s a long-time, self-proclaimed socialist and if I have any faith in the voting population of this country to recognize the dangers of socialism it will be extremely rocked if Bernie won the nomination.
I’m not that worried about it.
RELATED: Alan Dershowitz Hits Back at Elizabeth Warren
It seems in the end, we’re looking at Joe Biden vs. Elizabeth Warren.
Neither candidate is particularly trustworthy or captivating. And Joe Biden’s resume may hold more weight psychologically with the American voting public than we realize.
There are new polls discussing the so-called trust factor of each candidate. In a recent survey from Quinnipiac University, the top trusted candidate was Sanders, followed by Biden, and then Warren.
Of course Sanders won “most honest” in this survey. He is literally always admitted that he wants to take everyone’s money and spread it around as he sees fit. No change in that platform.
You can trust Bernie to run the country off a cliff.
So unless I’m wrong about the majority of American voters being slightly weary of socialist policies; Sanders’ perceived honesty is a symptom of his maniacal radical views remaining consistent.
People trust Warren less than Biden, not because Biden is proven to lie less than Warren, but because they trust him to run the show. They trust that he knows how to handle himself in the White House, to play it cool, and not run in the room with wild ideas about how to “fix” our entire economic system with a Robin Hood scheme.
Biden knows what it’s like to be in high intensity situations and standby and listen. Warren is an intellectual egomaniac. It’s her way or the highway, and she has a lot of ideas.
If Joe Biden ever became the President of the United States, moderate Democrats can trust, for the most part, that he won’t be bullied by the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez agenda. He won’t go radical.
Biden might pander to the far-left to keep things quiet, but if he were to become President, things wouldn’t be that different policy-wise then from then when Obama was in office. That scares conservatives, but is a relief to middle of the road Democrats.
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When it comes to Burisma, or any other scandal, Biden has the connections, power, and money to cover up, or at least get away with most of it in the end.
Look at Hillary and Benghazi. Or her email scandal. They made her sweat, but in the end she got away with everything. Other than the fact that she has to look in the mirror.
Scandal is not likely to bring down Joe Biden’s campaign, even if there’s truth to it. Only Joe can ruin his campaign – it’s his to lose.
This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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