Vote!

[shoothoops]

A couple of follow-up thoughts to Tuesday's elections:

1) The lawsuits need to stop. Judges need to ask a simple set of questions: "Do you have any credible evidence of widespread fraud that you can present to this court right now?" The lawyers will hem and haw but if the judge is firm, their answer will be "no." The second is, "Do you have any credible evidence of a violation of a voting law by a commissioner of elections in our state?" Again, hemming and hawing will be the order of the day but, the answer likely will be "no." In both cases, just dismiss the damn lawsuit and go home.

2) Believe it or not, Florida had it right on election day. After the disastrous 2016 mid-term election, Governor Ron DeSantis used his constitutional authority in our state to fire the Palm Beach County Commissioner of Elections. Broward County cleaned up their act. As a result, everything went off without a hitch. Our races were close but by 11:30 p.m., Tuesday, we knew results. What happened was that Florida counted ballots as they came in. Our County Election Commissioners allowed you to go on their website to see if they had received a ballot and if it had been counted. If it had not by election day, you go vote. Second, in most media markets, there were PSAs from County election officials outlining the rules. Those started back in May and have been broadcast ever since. Early voting started in mid-October and ended Sunday. The procedures at the polls were clear and well broadcast. Oh, and you were required to bring a government issue photo ID which had to be presented to a voting official.

3) To Brother Hoops and others who had advocated that Mr. Biden was not suffering from diminished capacity, I sure hope you're right. In fact, I pray you are. We elected a man for four years and his supporters deserve the right to have his wisdom, his visions and his hopes executed. I'm not a fan of the platform on which Mr. Biden ran and as a former Amtrak finance professional, I had some real problems with "Amtrak Joe", but assuming the expectations bear out, he will be my President. I think he's a decent man who truly cares about our country. As a Republican, I'm confident that if Mr. Biden is elected President, he'll be wheeling and dealing with the Republicans in the Senate. I think that will be good for our country.

4) If President Trump loses, and I think he will, he needs to set into the west. He needs to head down here for Mar Lago and enjoy life as a retired President. Write another darn book if you will, but do what honorable former Presidents do -- give your successor a chance. Recommended role model: George W. Bush or Jimmy Carter. The latter had a tough loss to a ideological opposite but he showed a great deal of dignity and class and exemplified the best of what our country is about.

OK, I know Item 4 aint going to happen! Item 1 probably is a lost cause too, but I can hope we rise above bitterness in this country and do something profound.

Tell your Republican friends that in several states Republicans have been the reason votes have not been counted as they come in. That is a Republican policy in several states. I agree with you that counting votes as they come in is the better way to go. 👍

(I will repeat my disclaimer again, not that it matters, that I don't personally believe in political parties.)

The other thing I would point out is misrepresentation of people's positions. Biden, Harris, Clinton, Obama, etc....on down the line are Moderate Centrist people. Many Presidents are this. Too often I see partisan talking points. As Bill Parcells said, "You are what your record says you are."

Many of course believe they have been and will be waaaaaaaaay too conservative moving forward, especially Biden and Harris. I am well aware there has been much spin and revisionist history that may say otherwise.

The big question many have for Biden is can he, be a bit more progressive on some key things knowing overall he will be what he is, a moderate, conservative Democrat. He will get other types of supporters, fellow moderates etc...but that is the big question for him.

I have yet to see you say a single thing about Donald Trump's mental acuity despite repeated ly bringing it up about Biden. It comes across as if you are simply regurgitating manufactured Fox News talking points.

It isn't simply Biden's job to bring people together. Any time Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Donald Trump etc...want to take part in the process as well, that'd be great too.

[Pakuni]

A short time ago, Donald Trump tweeted "STOP THE COUNT!"

If the count stopped now, Joe Biden wins.
Such a stable genius.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

OK, I know Item 4 aint going to happen! Item 1 probably is a lost cause too, but I can hope we rise above bitterness in this country and do something profound.

I wish I could share your optimism, but I don't think 3 is going happen either. There is no evidence that McConnell is willing to compromise on anything. Unless by compromise you mean Biden pass legislation that McConnell has written.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Amy Gardner
@AmyEGardner
UPDATE: 61k votes are outstanding in Georgia. 17,157 from Chatham; 11,200 from Fulton; 7,338 from Gwinnett; 4,713 from Forsyth; 3,641 from Harris; 1,797 from Laurens; 1,552 from Putnam; 1,202 from Sumter; 700 from Cobb. FEAST

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Amy Gardner
@AmyEGardner
UPDATE: 61k votes are outstanding in Georgia. 17,157 from Chatham; 11,200 from Fulton; 7,338 from Gwinnett; 4,713 from Forsyth; 3,641 from Harris; 1,797 from Laurens; 1,552 from Putnam; 1,202 from Sumter; 700 from Cobb. FEAST

So if the 61K is correct, and the 18,144 vote different reported by the AP tracker is correct, that would mean that Biden needs to win ~78% of the remaining vote correct? Is that doable?

[Galway Eagle]

So if the 61K is correct, and the 18,144 vote different reported by the AP tracker is correct, that would mean that Biden needs to win ~78% of the remaining vote correct? Is that doable?

He's been winning ~80% with the last couple updates but it's a tall task to expect.

[Uncle Rico]

So if the 61K is correct, and the 18,144 vote different reported by the AP tracker is correct, that would mean that Biden needs to win ~78% of the remaining vote correct? Is that doable?

Yes, but it’ll be a close and a recount will happen. 

[Uncle Rico]

Wanted to check in and congratulate those dirty democrats for stealing the presidency.  Luckily for us, they were too incompetent to steal the senate or any state legislature.  I’d like to congratulate them for also buying off republican secretary of states who keep counting.  It’s one of the most incredible frauds in the history of this country

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

So if the 61K is correct, and the 18,144 vote different reported by the AP tracker is correct, that would mean that Biden needs to win ~78% of the remaining vote correct? Is that doable?

68% of 61k would be 41,000 to 20,000.

70% of 50k would be 35,000 to 15,000.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Wanted to check in and congratulate those dirty democrats for stealing the presidency.  Luckily for us, they were too incompetent to steal the senate or any state legislature.  I’d like to congratulate them for also buying off republican secretary of states who keep counting.  It’s one of the most incredible frauds in the history of this country

Uncle Rico is evil and must be destroyed

[dgies9156]

I have yet to see you say a single thing about Donald Trump's mental acuity despite repeatedly bringing it up about Biden. It comes across as if you are simply regurgitating manufactured Fox News talking points.

OK, fair point on The Trumpster. Not sure where his mental acuity is, but I have said many times in private he's a narcissist. His ego has run amuck and probably is the single biggest factor in his perilous hold on the Presidency. A more balanced candidate would have shown empathy and had the courage to reach beyond himself. Had he thrown away his Twitter account, stopped the verbal harassment of people and focused on things that didn't have orange hair -- aka, his record -- he might be basking in the afterglow of an election well done.

One thing the Donald never learned was that when the President says something, it's very different than when anyone else says something. When a President fires back at his critics, he gives them legitimacy. When a President accuses someone of a crime or makes judgment on their character, he causes rash judgment and harsh backlash that's largely unnecessary. That's why the dignity of the office is so important and why many of us grimaced when President Trump tweeted.

President Nixon figured that out when he publicly commented on the Charles Manson trial and led defense attorneys to ask for a mistrial.

Another thing Trump never understood but his predecessors and Mr. Biden did -- a President and Presidential candidates never make direct accusations. They let their henchmen do it. President Obama, for example, never accused anyone (to my knowledge) of being racist. But his supporters and his "henchmen" weren't afraid to. In fact, the old beer summit President Obama had was a brilliant move designed to separate the President from that kind of ugliness. President Trump never did this.

Oh, and one other thing. I RARELY watch Fox News. I don't watch CNN, MSNBC either. None of them are objective.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Wanted to check in and congratulate those dirty democrats for stealing the presidency.  Luckily for us, they were too incompetent to steal the senate or any state legislature.  I’d like to congratulate them for also buying off republican secretary of states who keep counting.  It’s one of the most incredible frauds in the history of this country

It’s been very civil in this thread, let’s keep it that way yea?

[Uncle Rico]

OK, fair point on The Trumpster. Not sure where his mental acuity is, but I have said many times in private he's a narcissist. His ego has run amuck and probably is the single biggest factor in his perilous hold on the Presidency. A more balanced candidate would have shown empathy and had the courage to reach beyond himself. Had he thrown away his Twitter account, stopped the verbal harassment of people and focused on things that didn't have orange hair -- aka, his record -- he might be basking in the afterglow of an election well done.

One thing the Donald never learned was that when the President says something, it's very different than when anyone else says something. When a President fires back at his critics, he gives them legitimacy. When a President accuses someone of a crime or makes judgment on their character, he causes rash judgment and harsh backlash that's largely unnecessary. That's why the dignity of the office is so important and why many of us grimaced when President Trump tweeted.

President Nixon figured that out when he publicly commented on the Charles Manson trial and led defense attorneys to ask for a mistrial.

Another thing Trump never understood but his predecessors and Mr. Biden did -- a President and Presidential candidates never make direct acquisitions. They let their henchmen do it. President Obama, for example, never accused anyone (to my knowledge) of being racist. But his supporters and his "henchmen" weren't afraid to. In fact, the old beer summit President Obama had was a brilliant move designed to separate the President from that kind of ugliness. President Trump never did this.

Oh, and one other thing. I RARELY watch Fox News. I don't watch CNN, MSNBC either. None of them are objective.

BBC?

[shoothoops]

OK, fair point on The Trumpster. Not sure where his mental acuity is, but I have said many times in private he's a narcissist. His ego has run amuck and probably is the single biggest factor in his perilous hold on the Presidency. A more balanced candidate would have shown empathy and had the courage to reach beyond himself. Had he thrown away his Twitter account, stopped the verbal harassment of people and focused on things that didn't have orange hair -- aka, his record -- he might be basking in the afterglow of an election well done.

One thing the Donald never learned was that when the President says something, it's very different than when anyone else says something. When a President fires back at his critics, he gives them legitimacy. When a President accuses someone of a crime or makes judgment on their character, he causes rash judgment and harsh backlash that's largely unnecessary. That's why the dignity of the office is so important and why many of us grimaced when President Trump tweeted.

President Nixon figured that out when he publicly commented on the Charles Manson trial and led defense attorneys to ask for a mistrial.

Another thing Trump never understood but his predecessors and Mr. Biden did -- a President and Presidential candidates never make direct acquisitions. They let their henchmen do it. President Obama, for example, never accused anyone (to my knowledge) of being racist. But his supporters and his "henchmen" weren't afraid to. In fact, the old beer summit President Obama had was a brilliant move designed to separate the President from that kind of ugliness. President Trump never did this.

Oh, and one other thing. I RARELY watch Fox News. I don't watch CNN, MSNBC either. None of them are objective.

Fair enough. What I would say about media is to break every single individual person down individually. That is way too broad of a brush. Top of head example...Take MSNBC/NBC.....Lester Holt has been a long time Registered Republican, Chuck Todd is king of both sides. Nicolle Wallace is former Communications Director for GW Bush and now has a two hour show and lots of other on air times. Michael Steele is former Chair of Republican Party and he is very conservative. We could go on and on here. Andrea Mitchell has been married a long time to Alan Greenspan, a very conservative Republican former Chair of Federal Reserve. That is just one top of head media outlet. Joe Scarborough is a firmer Republican Congressman from Alabama. These people all have shows all day long on MSNBC or NBC etc...

So whether it is a publication or tv station etc...my advice would be to take each person and situation on an individual basis.

These broad brushes are often super incorrect. Go to a wide variety of people and places for info.

I don't want to get off track but intentionally keeping kids from their parents only for kicks, Being Racist, Xenophobic, Mysogonistic etc...being this way for many decades.....is a non-starter for many people. It is disqualifying, as is lying tens kf thousands of times and so on. Some people say well if you look past that...etc ..well....no.

There will be more QAnon Republicans in the House in 2021 than African Americans. Wow. Long long long way to go there. Good luck.

[Warrior Code]

It’s been very civil in this thread, let’s keep it that way yea?

I thought he was making a joke...?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

So we've often heard the line about "there are bad people on both sides" very often. Most often from conservatives trying to minimize actions taken by far right extremists.

Honest question, I promise I'm not being snarky, are there any liberal leaning groups out there demanding to stop the count in places where Biden is winning? The fact that there are people demanding that legally cast votes not be counted so their candidate can win is terrifying to me. I understand we can disagree on a lot of key issues but I thought the democratic process was something both sides firmly endorsed.

[shoothoops]

68% of 61k would be 41,000 to 20,000.

70% of 50k would be 35,000 to 15,000.

I have heard 60k outstanding which would mean Biden needs 65%. If it is 50k, he would need 68%. Both are very doable for Biden bases on how he has been doing so far.

(I believe that math is correct)

[forgetful]

Sources saying Biden could win PA by 200K+ when all votes are counted.

I hope this is right. I'm concerned by how many of the remaining ballots are in Trump counties.

I think Arizona and Georgia will end up narrowly for Trump. PA is going to be key.

Now Pittsburg area stopping counting because of 30,000 ballots hung up in legal proceedings.

[Pakuni]

Biden just picked up about +3,290 in Fulton County (4,633-1,364 margin from about 6,000 new votes).
About 5,000 votes still to be counted there.
Trump lead now below 15K in Georgia.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

NPR
@NPR
·
23m
Estimated number of uncounted votes left, as of 9:30 a.m. ET:

• Georgia: 50,000 uncounted; Trump leads by 18,148
• North Carolina: 348,000; Trump leads by 76,701
• Nevada: 398,000; Biden leads by 7,647
• Pennsylvania: 784,000; Trump leads by 164,418


I guess I am not fully on-board with the Biden optimism here, especially since his lead in Arizona is shrinking.

[Galway Eagle]

NPR
@NPR
·
23m
Estimated number of uncounted votes left, as of 9:30 a.m. ET:

• Georgia: 50,000 uncounted; Trump leads by 18,148
• North Carolina: 348,000; Trump leads by 76,701
• Nevada: 398,000; Biden leads by 7,647
• Pennsylvania: 784,000; Trump leads by 164,418


I guess I am not fully on-board with the Biden optimism here, especially since his lead in Arizona is shrinking.

Trumps lead in GA has shrunk to 14.8k since this tweet but I'm in agreement. Especially given how many ballots are frozen in Pittsburg due to legal challenges.

*14.2k via Fox

[forgetful]

NPR
@NPR
·
23m
Estimated number of uncounted votes left, as of 9:30 a.m. ET:

• Georgia: 50,000 uncounted; Trump leads by 18,148
• North Carolina: 348,000; Trump leads by 76,701
• Nevada: 398,000; Biden leads by 7,647
• Pennsylvania: 784,000; Trump leads by 164,418

I guess I am not fully on-board with the Biden optimism here, especially since his lead in Arizona is shrinking.

I obviously see the logic behind why Biden has a strong position.

But when I dive into the numbers, I see major cause for concern. The numbers suggest that he will run out of runway in PA, and Georgia. Trump has plenty of runway in Arizona. That would be enough.

Now the professionals are seeing places like PA differently, so I'm hopeful the pros know what is going on. But the pros also had polls saying a landslide for Biden.

[Billy Hoyle]

NPR
@NPR
·
23m
Estimated number of uncounted votes left, as of 9:30 a.m. ET:

• Georgia: 50,000 uncounted; Trump leads by 18,148
• North Carolina: 348,000; Trump leads by 76,701
• Nevada: 398,000; Biden leads by 7,647
• Pennsylvania: 784,000; Trump leads by 164,418


I guess I am not fully on-board with the Biden optimism here, especially since his lead in Arizona is shrinking.

Jake Tapper
@jaketapper
·
2m
Updated data: Biden lead over Trump in Nevada expands from 7,647 to 12,042

[BM1090]

I obviously see the logic behind why Biden has a strong position.

But when I dive into the numbers, I see major cause for concern. The numbers suggest that he will run out of runway in PA, and Georgia. Trump has plenty of runway in Arizona. That would be enough.

Now the professionals are seeing places like PA differently, so I'm hopeful the pros know what is going on. But the pros also had polls saying a landslide for Biden.

I don't see any numbers suggesting he'll run out of runway in PA. I agree on GA. I just don't think there are enough votes left there.

In PA, there are 784K votes left with a deficit of 165K. 62% (486,080) to 38% (297,920) of the remaining vote would put Biden ahead by ~20K votes. He is hovering around 73% of the vote in every update.

[Pakuni]

@RalstonReports: NEWS: First batch of new votes from NV, from Clark, shows Biden lead up to 12K.