Election 2020 – Pensito

A Close Race in Wisconsin

January 16, 2020 Buck Banks

49% to 45%

A new Marquette Law poll in Wisconsin finds very close general election matchups between Trump and four Democratic candidates. Joe Biden would beat Trump 49% to 45%, while Bernie Sander would top him 47% to 46%. However, Trump would beat Elizabeth Warren 48% to 45%, and would top Pete Buttigieg 46% to 44%.

Republicans Out-Raising Democrats for 2020

December 23, 2019 Buck Banks

$63 million

The RNC goes into the presidential election year with more than seven times as much cash on hand as the DNC: $63 million vs. $8.3 million, according to FEC filings.

Pelosi’s Take on the Republican Exodus from Congress

December 23, 2019 Buck Banks

“It means that they know they’re gonna lose. And if you win, you’re going to serve in the minority under a Democratic president. You may want to spend more time with your family.”

— Speaker Nancy Pelosi, quoted by Politico, on the high number of Republican retirements from Congress.

Ex Ethics Watchdog Warns Barr Will Interfere in 2020 Election

December 12, 2019 Buck Banks

“It’s important not to make the same mistake twice. Some people underestimated Barr’s ruthless partisanship before. No one should do that again. Like Trump, Barr is capable of doing anything he can get away with— and that includes interfering in the 2020 election, if we let him.”

— Walter Shaub, former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, called Attorney General William Barr a “threat to democracy” and warned he may try to interfere in the 2020 presidential election to benefit President Trump, the HuffPost reports.

Trump’s Sordid History of Accepting, Requesting, and Encouraging Foreign Interference in US Elections

December 6, 2019 Buck Banks

Here’s a good one from David Corn at Mother Jones

One of the key lines in the House Democrats’ impeachment report distills the Trump-Ukraine scandal to a simple idea: “[T]he impeachment inquiry has found that President Trump, personally and acting through agents within and outside of the U.S. government, solicited the interference of a foreign government, Ukraine, to benefit his reelection.”

And in the report’s preface, the Democrats place Trump’s Ukrainian caper within the larger context of foreign intervention in US elections, namely Russia’s covert attack on the 2016 contest, which was mounted in part to help Trump win the White House: “we were struck by the fact that the President’s misconduct was not an isolated occurrence, nor was it the product of a naïve president. Instead, the efforts to involve Ukraine in our 2020 presidential election were undertaken by a President who himself was elected in 2016 with the benefit of an unprecedented and sweeping campaign of election interference undertaken by Russia in his favor, and which the President welcomed and utilized.”

The point was clear. Trump muscling Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to produce political dirt that could influence the 2020 election for Trump’s personal advantage was a continuation of Trump’s behavior in 2016. This contextualization brings back into the spotlight Vladimir Putin’s clandestine assault on American democracy—and how Trump encouraged and exploited that attack. So now, as Trump is under scrutiny for pressing Ukraine to influence the 2020 race, it’s a good time to review all the ways that Trump aided and abetted a foreign adversary’s scheme to subvert a US election the last time the nation was choosing a president.

Read the whole sordid history here.

Biden Would Consider Harris for Veep

December 5, 2019 Buck Banks

“Of course I would. Look, Sen. Harris has the capacity to be anything she wants to be. I mean it sincerely. I talked to her yesterday. She’s solid, she can be president someday herself, she can be vice president, she could go on to be a Supreme Court justice, she could be attorney general. I mean she has enormous capability.”

— Joe Biden told CNN he would consider Sen. Kamala Harris as a potential running mate, a day after she dropped out of the presidential race.

Obama Tells Dems to ‘Chill Out’

November 25, 2019 Buck Banks

“Everybody needs to chill out about the candidates but gin up about the prospect of rallying behind whoever emerges from this process.”

— Former President Barack Obama, quoted by the Washington Post, on the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.

In America Sociopaths Beat Socialists

November 21, 2019 Buck Banks

“In America, a sociopath will beat a socialist seven days a week and twice on Sunday. Nobody should underestimate Donald Trump’s ability to frame an argument, to demagogue an opponent.”

— GOP strategist Steve Schmidt, quoted by The Hill.

Bloomberg Funding Voter Registration Drive in Battleground States

November 21, 2019 Buck Banks

$15 million to $20 million

“As he moves toward a presidential announcement, New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg is rolling out plans to spend an estimated $15 million to $20 million on a voter registration drive designed to weaken President Trump’s reelection chances in five battleground states,” the AP reports.

Steyer to Spend $45 Million to Get Out the Youth Vote

November 19, 2019 Buck Banks

$45 million

A progressive nonprofit funded mainly by Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer is investing $45 million as part of a youth voter turnout campaign ahead of the 2020 election, The Hill reports.

49% to 45%

$63 million

The RNC goes into the presidential election year with more than seven times as much cash on hand as the DNC: $63 million vs. $8.3 million, according to FEC filings.

“It means that they know they’re gonna lose. And if you win, you’re going to serve in the minority under a Democratic president. You may want to spend more time with your family.”

— Speaker Nancy Pelosi, quoted by Politico, on the high number of Republican retirements from Congress.

“It’s important not to make the same mistake twice. Some people underestimated Barr’s ruthless partisanship before. No one should do that again. Like Trump, Barr is capable of doing anything he can get away with— and that includes interfering in the 2020 election, if we let him.”

— Walter Shaub, former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, called Attorney General William Barr a “threat to democracy” and warned he may try to interfere in the 2020 presidential election to benefit President Trump, the HuffPost reports.

— Joe Biden told CNN he would consider Sen. Kamala Harris as a potential running mate, a day after she dropped out of the presidential race.

“Everybody needs to chill out about the candidates but gin up about the prospect of rallying behind whoever emerges from this process.”

— Former President Barack Obama, quoted by the Washington Post, on the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.

“In America, a sociopath will beat a socialist seven days a week and twice on Sunday. Nobody should underestimate Donald Trump’s ability to frame an argument, to demagogue an opponent.”

— GOP strategist Steve Schmidt, quoted by The Hill.

$15 million to $20 million

“As he moves toward a presidential announcement, New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg is rolling out plans to spend an estimated $15 million to $20 million on a voter registration drive designed to weaken President Trump’s reelection chances in five battleground states,” the AP reports.

$45 million

A progressive nonprofit funded mainly by Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer is investing $45 million as part of a youth voter turnout campaign ahead of the 2020 election, The Hill reports.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“One thing you have to remember when you work for President Trump is that you don’t make the waves. He makes the waves. Your job is to surf the wave as best as you can every day. And you have to always smile and have a sense of humor with it, because he’s the one who’s got the instinct.”

— Jared Kushner, quoted by Time.

“President Trump knew exactly what was going on. He was aware of all my movements. I wouldn’t do anything without the consent of Rudy Giuliani, or the President. I have no intent, I have no reason to speak to any of these officials.”

— Lev Parnas broke his silence in an interview with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC.

“There is an effort to limit the press …. I’m going to vote against that, if I’m allowed to vote. U.S. senators are grown women and grown men. If they don’t want to make a comment, they know how to say ‘no comment.”

— Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) distanced himself from proposed restrictions on reporters covering the upcoming Senate impeachment trial, calling it a “huge mistake,” The Hill reports.

“I presume I’ll be voting in favor of hearing from John Bolton.”

— Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), quoted by The Hill, on calling witnesses for the Senate impeachment trial.

— Jonathan Chait

Numerati

49% to 45%

38th

“Virginia moved to the brink of becoming the crucial 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment on Wednesday, a momentous victory for many women’s rights advocates even though it is far from certain the measure will ever be added to the U.S. Constitution,” the AP reports.

25%

4

“Four Republicans have agreed to vote with Democrats in support of the measure, according to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who wrote the legislation that seeks to prevent President Trump from further escalating hostilities with Iran,” the Washington Post reports.

15%