Election 2020 – Pensito

Family of Welshers

February 1, 2021 Buck Banks

Now Eric Trump is a feisty and loyal young pup,
In the electoral college betting pool, he ante’d up.
Eric bet that his Daddy
Would get a cool 320,
We don’t know what he lost, but we’d bet he didn’t pay up.

Sidney Powell Sued for $1.3 Billion

January 8, 2021 Buck Banks

$1.3 billion

Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit against lawyer Sidney Powell, demanding more than $1.3 billion in damages for havoc it says Powell has caused by spreading “wild” and “demonstrably false” allegations, including that Dominion played a central role in a fantastical scheme to steal the 2020 election from President Trump, the Washington Post reports.

Pence on the Fence

January 5, 2021 Buck Banks

Presiding when Congress certifies electors,
Mike Pence will be “Democracy’s Protector.”
If he delivers for Trump,
He’ll get over the hump,
If not, he’ll be proclaimed a Trump defector.

Business Leaders Call on Congress to Certify Election

January 5, 2021 Buck Banks

200

Almost 200 of the country’s top business leaders urged Congress to certify the electoral results for President-elect Joe Biden in a letter Monday, arguing that “attempts to thwart or delay this process run counter to the essential tenets of our democracy,” the Washington Post reports.

Battleground States Had Four Times the Disinformation

December 18, 2020 Buck Banks

4X

Swing states had four times as much election disinformation in 2020 as non-swing states. Pennyslyvania, Michigan, Georgia, and Florida experienced the biggest disinformation deluges, in that order, according to MIT Technology Review.

Trump: Always a Loser

December 18, 2020 Buck Banks

“[Trump] is crying so long and loudly about the unfairness of his loss that he is forcing officials at every level of government, across the country, to take sides—against him. His frenetic efforts to deny his defeat have simply underscored it. Trump really is leaving office on January 20th, and he really will go out as an impeached and defeated President, forevermore listed in the history books alongside Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter and all the other one-termers he disdains. He is now, and will always be, a loser.”

— Susan Glasser

Republicans Just Missed Winning the House in 2020

December 18, 2020 Buck Banks

31,751

Inside Elections: “Republicans needed a net gain of 17 seats. They won 10, and may net another two (Iowa’s 2nd and New York’s 22nd), where their candidates cling to slim leads but are fending off challenges from their Democratic opponents. … If those results stand, Republicans will be five seats shy of a majority. In the five closest races won by Democrats, the Republican candidates lost by a combined 31,751 votes.”

Thune: ‘Time to Be Done with This’

December 18, 2020 Buck Banks

“I know there probably are members who still have concerns about the election… But the fact of the matter is-that’s been litigated over and over. The DOJ has weighed in. The states have all certified. The Electoral College has acted. It’s time to be done with this.”

— Sen. John Thune (R-SD), quoted by CNN.

Dems’ Long-Term Structural Issue with Rural Voters

December 17, 2020 Buck Banks

“I think there’s a long-term structural issue. And by the way, I’ve had this conversation with Chuck Schumer several times — that we have to do a better job developing a message so that rural Americans can say, ‘Yeah, those guys, they think like I do.’ Because that’s what Trump has right now.”

— Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), quoted by the New York Times, on Democrats and rural voters.

Australian Pol: Trump’s Mishandling of Pandemic Lost the Election

December 17, 2020December 17, 2020 Buck Banks

“If Donald Trump had handled the pandemic half-decently he would have won the election. He was headed towards a victory until the pandemic hit. It was his mishandling of that because, in the end, the public, when threatened, want their leaders to defend them against the threat.”

— Former Australian prime minister John Howard said that Donald Trump penned a lengthy “political suicide note” with his “terrible” handling of the coronavirus pandemic, The Guardian reports.

$1.3 billion

200

Almost 200 of the country’s top business leaders urged Congress to certify the electoral results for President-elect Joe Biden in a letter Monday, arguing that “attempts to thwart or delay this process run counter to the essential tenets of our democracy,” the Washington Post reports.

4X

Swing states had four times as much election disinformation in 2020 as non-swing states. Pennyslyvania, Michigan, Georgia, and Florida experienced the biggest disinformation deluges, in that order, according to MIT Technology Review.

— Susan Glasser

31,751

“I know there probably are members who still have concerns about the election… But the fact of the matter is-that’s been litigated over and over. The DOJ has weighed in. The states have all certified. The Electoral College has acted. It’s time to be done with this.”

— Sen. John Thune (R-SD), quoted by CNN.

— Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), quoted by the New York Times, on Democrats and rural voters.

“If Donald Trump had handled the pandemic half-decently he would have won the election. He was headed towards a victory until the pandemic hit. It was his mishandling of that because, in the end, the public, when threatened, want their leaders to defend them against the threat.”

— Former Australian prime minister John Howard said that Donald Trump penned a lengthy “political suicide note” with his “terrible” handling of the coronavirus pandemic, The Guardian reports.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“I hope that at the end of the day this resolves quickly for Matt because I don’t want him to miss the prom.”

— Michael Cohen, talking about Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on MSNBC.

“I don’t beat anybody up, it’s not really my style, except that jerk.”

— Former House Speaker John Boehner, in an interview with CBS News, on Sen. Ted Cruz.

“A lot of people want me to. The Border Patrol and all of the people of ICE, they want me to go. I really feel I sort of owe it to them, they’re great people.”

— Former President Donald Trump told Fox News that he will visit the southern border “over the next couple of weeks.”

“Oh, come on. I don’t even think about — I don’t — I have no idea. I have no idea if there will be a Republican Party, do you?”

— President Biden, quoted by the Washington Post, when asked if he was going to run against Donald Trump in 2024.

“Some of them went in and they’re — they’re hugging and kissing the police and the guards. You know, they had great relationships. A lot of the people were waved in, and then they walked in and they walked out.”

Numerati

$13.7 million

Wall Street Journal: “Median pay for the chief executives of more than 300 of the biggest U.S. public companies reached $13.7 million last year, up from $12.8 million for the same companies a year earlier and on track for a record.”

35

“A new report examining voting access across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., finds that more than 70% of states offer all voters access to a mail ballot and early voting, while 15 others lag in the methods available to cast a ballot,” CBS News reports.

100

“More than 100 chief executives and corporate leaders gathered online Saturday to discuss taking new action to combat the controversial state voting bills being considered across the country, including the one recently signed into law in Georgia,” the Washington Post reports.

$3 trillion

60%

A new Pew Research poll finds the 60% of Republicans think the coronavirus pandemic — which has killed 550,000 Americans so far — has been made a bigger deal than it really is.