Vote Counts in AZ & GA?

[Not A Serious Person]

Biden is going to win the Electoral College with 306 Electoral Votes. Biden has a margin of millions in the popular vote, and there are still 5 million more votes to count in CA, NY, IL. Winning the popular vote 7 out if the past 8 elections is a lot.

That's not close. That's a rout. If everyone can say that first, I am willing to say that Trump has a 40% following, which of course is bigger than him. His following is rural White, and White men. Everyone else? No. As Nick Bakay used to say, the numbers never lie.

The republicans 2022 strategy is based on the belief that democrats truly believe this.

[shoothoops]

The republicans 2022 strategy is based on the belief that democrats truly believe this.

The Republican strategy is not one person, one vote. Republicans don't believe they can win without tricks, gimmicks, and voter suppression. All of these legal challenges right now just so happen to be in high Black populated geographies. Imagine that.

Let's abolish the archaic Electoral College if everything is so equal. One person, one vote. Lets's stop district gerrymandering. Let's stop purging voter rolls. Let's give Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico fair representation. Let's define Senator quantity based on the quantity of population. On and on. Voting is about representation of the people, not empty space. Since it is about being fair and all.

You keep telling yourself otherwise. Let's make it fair, if that is what you are about.

[brewcity77]

Abrams is also famous for what? Losing.  Why you pin a strategy on people that cannot win is beyond me.

Abrams just won in Georgia this past week. Who do you think was leading the registration turnout there? It was her New Georgia Project organization. What, you think one late in the race visit from Biden flipped the state?

[shoothoops]

Pennsylvania update:

Biden is now leading by 45,103. This of course is more margin than Trump had in Pennsylvania in 2016. Biden's lead is expected to possibly double that when all remaining votes are counted.

[Skatastrophy]

A general comment ...

Yes, we are a highly polarized country.  But this is not unique for a developed country.  They largely are all in the same position. 

It is really about an urban (left or D)/rural (right or R) divide.  And the populations are about evenly split between urban and rural.

And what is driving this?  The lifestyles between urban and rural are differing more and more every day.  We are living differently from each other to a degree not seen before.

As such our political priorities are different.  Urban is about social/cultural issues.  Rural is about economic issues.

Truth. Urban centers drive the economy of this nation and rural people feel like they're left in the dust. Rural people do not believe what the Dems believe: That Dem programs will indeed help rural downtrodden. Dems really need a way to get rural people employed, because right now their towns are dying as jobs disappear.

For some reason, though, rural people believe the hogwash the Repubs sell them about "getting their jobs back from" <insert country here>, and that it's all <minority's> fault. Rural people, too, tend to believe that the trade war with China over the last 4 years was a good thing. They just don't see that the unnecessary trade war, caused by backing out of the TPP, has irreparably damaged the ability of our nation's farmers to sell products to Asia. Those supply chains have reformed between China and centra/south America.

Same with manufacturing jobs never coming back unless the factories are automated (which we're very close to, and will further the urban/rural economic divide). Americans, with our endless desire for consumption, are not willing to pay the 3x-10x for goods manufactured in the USA over China just to pay someone in Janesville a liveable wage.

I don't believe that either party has an actionable plan for revitalizing rural areas. I think that the Republicans have captured the rural people's hearts, anger, and fear though.

I believe that projects like Starlink and legislation like Net Neutrality will allow everyone in software, like myself, to at least consider moving away from top-5 urban centers if we want to have a good career. I move my business anywhere because of a lack of super-fast internet. Maybe someday soon.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

It is clear that Republicans outperformed predictions last week.  However the House is gerrymandered to hell so it's hard to draw conclusions from that.

Really the key is to see if Republicans have actually made inroads with this group of previously overlooked voters, or if it was simply a cult of personality thing.

[Pakuni]

The Ds are a 190-year-old party, the oldest political party in the world.

Four years ago...

President = R
Senate = R
House = R
Majority of Governors = R
Majority of State Legislatures = R

This is the first time in nearly 200 years the Ds were the majority of nothing.

If this lopsided setup held for two election cycles (2018 and 2020), it would have meant the Ds were done as a political party (the modern Whigs).

So yes, the Rs are in a worse position than 2016, but they only had one way to go.  But they are doing much better than forecasted (probably a comment about how lost the pollsters are).  And now the demographics for 2022 and 2024 (which Senate seats and Governorships are up, the President's party loses House seats in the mid-term, etc) all turn negative for the Ds again.

Two things established here, then:

1. The Republican party is worse off after the 2020 election than 2016 election, despite your hyperbole about the destruction of the Democrats.
2. You haven't looked at the 2022 Senate races if you think it sets up badly for the Democrats.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

2022 could see a scenario where both the House and Senate flip.

[shoothoops]

Truth. Urban centers drive the economy of this nation and rural people feel like they're left in the dust. Rural people do not believe what the Dems believe: That Dem programs will indeed help rural downtrodden. Dems really need a way to get rural people employed, because right now their towns are dying as jobs disappear.

For some reason, though, rural people believe the hogwash the Repubs sell them about "getting their jobs back from" <insert country here>, and that it's all <minority's> fault. Rural people, too, tend to believe that the trade war with China over the last 4 years was a good thing. They just don't see that the unnecessary trade war, caused by backing out of the TPP, has irreparably damaged the ability of our nation's farmers to sell products to Asia. Those supply chains have reformed between China and centra/south America.

Same with manufacturing jobs never coming back unless the factories are automated (which we're very close to, and will further the urban/rural economic divide). Americans, with our endless desire for consumption, are not willing to pay the 3x-10x for goods manufactured in the USA over China just to pay someone in Janesville a liveable wage.

I don't believe that either party has an actionable plan for revitalizing rural areas. I think that the Republicans have captured the rural people's hearts, anger, and fear though.

I believe that projects like Starlink and legislation like Net Neutrality will allow everyone in software, like myself, to at least consider moving away from top-5 urban centers if we want to have a good career. I move my business anywhere because of a lack of super-fast internet. Maybe someday soon.

Let's agree to not blame the American consumer, many of whom are the rural people discussed, for corporate greed.

No one is forcing wealthy corporations to increase prices to offset having to pay workers a respectable wage/benefits. They can make less margin and still do just fine. Average CEO makes 35 times more than the average worker they employ.

Many American consumers buy things at Walmart or insert here because their day to day life situation doesn't allow them to buy similar items at the more expensive store down the street. They are doing what they have to do. Dollar Store CEO makes $15-30 million a year. etc...The over emphasis of delivering quarterly stock market numbers is one of the biggest problems we have in society.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

BTW, my guess is that if you added up the total votes for Democratic and Republican House members, the percentage of Democratic House *votes* would exceed the percentage of Democratic House *seats* by a decent margin.  That's a result of gerrymandering.

[Galway Eagle]

As such our political priorities are different.  Urban is about social/cultural issues.  Rural is about economic issues.

This is absolutely false. Religion is considerably more engrained in rural communities as they trend largely uneducated susceptible to scare tactics ("socialism" hyperbole attacks, "radical leftists") and they are 100%  obsessed with social issues like stopping gay marriage, stopping abortion, protecting zero gun regulations.

You should argue that the suburbs are the ones concerned with economics as that's pretty much who decides elections.

Also whiles it is isn't unusual to be polarized it is extremely unusual to be this different in beliefs. The right has pulled farther right, which makes it by far the most Conservative party in the westernized world. The left at the farthest left is no different than the new deal trying to pass more socialized programs to lift up the bottom portion of our country. There's no parties between this our polarization is different than places like Europe, Australia, Canada, NZ, S Africa.

[Pakuni]

This is absolutely false. Religion is considerably more engrained in rural communities as they trend largely uneducated susceptible to scare tactics ("socialism" hyperbole attacks, "radical leftists") and they are 100%  obsessed with social issues like stopping gay marriage, stopping abortion, protecting zero gun regulations.

You should argue that the suburbs are the ones concerned with economics as that's pretty much who decides elections.

Yeah, this is largely true. Setting aside the stuff about who is and isn't more susceptible to scare tactics, cultural issues are no less important to rural voters than urban voters. It wasn't the urban voters who raged about Obama's "guns and religion" remarks, after all. Urban voters aren't the ones laying claim to the title "real Americans." Or pining for the past. Or thinking God takes sides in an election.
I'd suggest the cultural issues are perhaps more important than economic ones in rural areas because their culture is often tied to their economy. But that's splitting hairs. The reality is no side can claim they're less motivated by the "culture wars."

Also, if the GOP is hanging its future on rural voters, it's a losing strategy. About 46 million people live in rural counties, compared to 175 million in the suburbs and 98 million in urban cores. And the percentage of Americans living in rural areas is shrinking.

[MU82]

Richard Pilger quits, wow:

https://twitter.com/davidgura/status/1325992179895037953

Thanks for posting. This is an important story that has gone ignored here. Barr is quietly working behind the scenes to invalidate a legal election. His sergeant was so appalled that he resigned.

Osoff has shown he is good at only one thing, losing races. Abrams is also famous for what? Losing.  Why you pin a strategy on people that cannot win is beyond me.

You know who else was famous for losing, Smuggles?

Joe Biden.

+++

And then there's this ...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/us/arkansas-police-resigns-parler.html

As the results of the presidential election unfolded last week and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. took the lead in the Electoral College, the police chief of Marshall, Ark., a town of roughly 1,350 people north of Little Rock, shared his feeling of rage online.

“Will you and several hundred more go with me to D.C. and fight our way into the Congress and arrest every Democrat who has participated in this coup?” Chief Lang Holland posted Friday on Parler, a right-wing messaging site. “We may have to shoot and kill many of the Communist B.L.M. and ANTIFA Democrat foot soldiers to accomplish this!!!”

“Death to all Marxist Democrats. Take no prisoners leave no survivors!!” Chief Holland added.

Quinn Foster, a 26-year-old Arkansan who runs the Ozarks Coalition, an anti-racist watch group, and shared screen shots of Mr. Holland’s Parler posts with The New York Times, said he was alerted to the posts at 7 a.m. on Saturday. An hour later he had taken screen shots of Mr. Holland’s online statements on Parler that were then shared with the mayor’s office in Marshall.

By 3:20 p.m. the mayor’s office released a statement saying that Chief Holland had resigned, effective immediately.

Resigned? How is this insane traitor not in jail awaiting a trial that hopefully will result in him getting a nice long "vacation"?

[shoothoops]

81 of 159, Georgia Counties have now been certified, over half.

Biden leads by 12,292 votes.

[Uncle Rico]

I can tell you this, after being out and about in the public the last day and a half, I’m more convinced than ever that we are a nation of the willfully ignorant.  Also, we need to teach civics and government again.

[Jockey]

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/us/arkansas-police-resigns-parler.html

As the results of the presidential election unfolded last week and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. took the lead in the Electoral College, the police chief of Marshall, Ark., a town of roughly 1,350 people north of Little Rock, shared his feeling of rage online.

“Will you and several hundred more go with me to D.C. and fight our way into the Congress and arrest every Democrat who has participated in this coup?” Chief Lang Holland posted Friday on Parler, a right-wing messaging site. “We may have to shoot and kill many of the Communist B.L.M. and ANTIFA Democrat foot soldiers to accomplish this!!!”

“Death to all Marxist Democrats. Take no prisoners leave no survivors!!” Chief Holland added.

Quinn Foster, a 26-year-old Arkansan who runs the Ozarks Coalition, an anti-racist watch group, and shared screen shots of Mr. Holland’s Parler posts with The New York Times, said he was alerted to the posts at 7 a.m. on Saturday. An hour later he had taken screen shots of Mr. Holland’s online statements on Parler that were then shared with the mayor’s office in Marshall.

By 3:20 p.m. the mayor’s office released a statement saying that Chief Holland had resigned, effective immediately.

Resigned? How is this insane traitor not in jail awaiting a trial that hopefully will result in him getting a nice long "vacation"?

Just your run-of-the-mill republican. (This is not sarcasm.)

[Jockey]

81 of 159, Georgia Counties have now been certified, over half.

Biden leads by 12,292 votes.

Certification does not matter to these people. Trump will not concede after ALL of the states are certified.

I hope to be wrong, but I am not convinced the transition will be without violence. After all, these are the same people who threatened to murder Fauci.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Trump may not officially concede but eventually the process will begin after all of these lawsuits die off.  While he would love the idea of being a despot, he's too lazy to actually be one.  And there won't be much violence either.  You are giving these guys way too much credit.

[shoothoops]

Certification does not matter to these people. Trump will not concede after ALL of the states are certified.

I hope to be wrong, but I am not convinced the transition will be without violence. After all, these are the same people who threatened to murder Fauci.

1) In the voting thread, I am most interested in all things voting.

2) It doesn't matter if Trump concedes. Trump will leave when it's time to leave. He is not likely to publicly concede. And those around him will let him do that until the end.
Many people close to him have said this.

What you are seeing right now is an intentional strategy by those around him, to keep their base voters interested, particularly for the January 5th Georgia run off elections. They don't care about Trump. They never did. Republicans have calculated (correctly) that they need the Trumpers in order to win January 5th in Georgia. Trump is for Trump. All of the other GOP leaders are for Trump voters.

Many gutless GOP leaders see little incentive to speak up and take on DT and his supporters. And if any unrest takes place between now and then, as they stoke the flames, they don't care. They never did. But Biden is winning Georgia, and, he'll be sworn in in late January. Those things will happen.

[shoothoops]

Biden leads popular vote by 4.6 million, and, that number is only going to increase. It is the largest % for an incumbent challenger since FDR in 1932.

Also, Trump's lawsuit in Arizona is over 186 votes. Biden leads by more than 14,000 there. In the 5 states where Trump has lawsuits, Biden leads by 256,000 votes.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Don't forget the Nebraska district for one EV got flipped to Biden too.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

This is very likely Trump's major reason for continuing this fight.  His campaign needs the money.

https://twitter.com/toddgillman/status/1326019818588409857?s=20

[Skatastrophy]

This is very likely Trump's major reason for continuing this fight.  His campaign needs the money.

https://twitter.com/toddgillman/status/1326019818588409857?s=20

His campaign needs money, and if he's smart he's going to launch his next venture in the coming month. He needs to control the news cycle for a successful launch, imo.

[Pakuni]

This is very likely Trump's major reason for continuing this fight.  His campaign needs the money.

https://twitter.com/toddgillman/status/1326019818588409857?s=20

Ha. The fundraising emails that went out last week said 50 percent was going to retire campaign debt. Now it's up to 60 percent. Must be in a big hole.

In the meantime, South Dakota's governor is sending out a fundraising request that implies the money will assist Trump's efforts, but the fine print indicates the money will go to her campaign instead.
Grifters.

https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-donald-trump-south-dakota-elections-campaigns-b922c257150cb723f738d2591524279b

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

And Bill Barr's memo yesterday had enough wriggle-room for Justice Department officials to ignore it completely.  All theatre.