Let’s Show Some Love For Our Man In Alabama, Doug Jones
The senator’s reelection is a long shot but he deserves to win.
Democratic Alabama Senator Doug Jones beat Republican Roy Moore in the 2017 special election by less than two points, which is not the most comfortable margin if you want to defend your seat against candidates who aren't mall-cruising perverts. Come November, Jones will either face off against Alabama's former senator and Donald Trump's current punching bag Jeff Sessions or Tommy Tuberville, the former Auburn football coach the president endorsed because of his promising “Not Jeff Sessions" platform.
The coronavirus outbreak postponed the GOP primary runoff from March 31 to July, so Sessions will have to wait awhile for his public humiliation. Jones currently has $8 million in the bank, which is 10 times more than Sessions or Tuberville. Still, Alabama is a deep-red state, and the few polls available show either Republican candidate handing Jones his ass.
If Jones loses reelection, Democrats would need to flip four other seats to regain the Senate majority. (They can even get by with just three if Joe Biden wins the presidency and Vice President Kamala Harris breaks the tie.) This still seemed insurmountable -- most of the races were in states Trump won in 2016. However, now Democrats appear to have something more than a hope, and several Republican incumbents have something less than a chance.
WATCH: Sen. Jones' full statement on Trump's impeachment trial | Trump impeachment trialwww.youtube.com
Colorado GOP Senator Cory Gardner and Maine GOP Senator Susan Collins both look weak in states Hillary Clinton carried. Democrat Mark Kelly has led every recent poll in Arizona against unelected incumbent Martha McSally. Girlfriend's toast. Democrat Cal Cunningham is running ahead of Republican Thom Tillis in North Carolina. Democratic Montana Governor Steve Bullock is also bringing the heat to Republican incumbent senator Steve Daines.
Those are five races Democrats have a better chance of winning, and there's evidence that the party's hanging Jones out to dry. Politico reports that neither the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, whose whole raison d'etre is defending incumbents, nor Chuck Schumer's Senate Majority PAC have fully committed to Jones's race.
Jesse Hunt, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said that "Doug Jones has been abandoned because even national Democrats want no part of this suicide mission."
Indiana GOP Senator Mike Braun, who beat Democrat Joe Donnelly in 2018, is already talking smack about Jones. He claimed the Alabama seat is "one pick-up we figured we were going to get," and he suggested that Democrats have seen the polling data and aren't going to bother wasting money on a race they can't win.
Jones, however, remains confident that Democrats are aware he exists.
JONES: I don't think they have to [invest money] right now. I don't even have an opponent yet. I don't think that they're going to leave us out at all. We feel very good about where we are in this race. There's no question about that.
Democrats are talking up Jones's “independent record" while Republicans are slamming him as a “loyal lapdog for Chuck Schumer." Aside from voting to confirm Attorney General Bill Barr, Jones has defied Trump consistently during the past two years. He also voted to remove the president from office. Yes, that was just three months ago, and it was a bold, principled move from a Democrat up for reelection in a state where Trump is still popular. Even if we run the table in every other contested race and are popping open the champagne while watching Susan Collins concede, we still need to keep Jones in the Senate.
You can donate to Jones here.
[Politico]
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GA Gov Brian Kemp Has Lost His Damn Mind
We really needed Stacey Abrams to win this, didn’t we?
Georgia's fake Gov. Brian Kemp declared war on the public health of his constituents Monday when he announced that he was reopening certain businesses in the state effective April 24, which is Friday. It's also months too soon. The White House's model, from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, states that Georgia hit its projected “peak" for daily deaths April 7, less than a week after Kemp realized COVID-19 was super contagious. Hooray! Unfortunately, the model still predicts that dozens of people will die every day from the coronavirus in the coming week, and if social distancing measures are relaxed before June 15, the virus will — unlike the South — rise again.
Kemp, whose brain must be frolicking on a Florida beach somewhere, specifically said he's reopening the doors of fitness centers, bowling alleys, body art studios, barbers, hair and nail salons, and massage therapy businesses. This is not just bad governance. It's criminally negligent homicide.
I miss the gym, but let's get real: They are gross, sweat factories. And unless you're Inspector Gadget, it's physically impossible to keep six feet away from someone while cutting their hair, painting their toenails, or giving them a massage. Theaters and restaurants will "be allowed" to open on Monday, April 27, and we should stress that these businesses will either open at great risk to the public and their employees or face bankruptcy. The governor isn't doing businesses a favor when he prematurely lifts restrictions and mandated closures. If people (sensibly) refuse to patronize your establishment because they don't want to die, that's just the invisible hand filing Chapter 11. This is why only spoiled brats demand that the economy “reopen" when it's not safe.
This also is a body blow against low-wage workers, who likely can't continue receiving unemployment benefits if they willingly choose not to work. Kemp is putting the wait staff of a restaurant in the position of either starving or contracting a highly infectious and physically debilitating illness. The coronavirus incapacitated CNN's Brooke Baldwin for two weeks, and she was one of the lucky ones. Fuddrucker's might send your sick ass a half-off coupon for a cheeseburger, but you ain't getting paid sick leave.
Georgia: 14th highest infection/7th lowest testing rate; less econ resilient & 1000s of low-wage workers already fo… https://t.co/JxDRsY0x4R— Stacey Abrams (@Stacey Abrams) 1587421120.0
Stacey Abrams, the Democrat who should've been elected governor if Kemp hadn't actively suppressed the vote, tweeted out receipts for all the reasons Georgia's not ready to safely reopen businesses. She correctly described Kemp as “dangerously incompetent." If Abrams was justly the governor right now, she'd listen to medical experts and prioritize Georgians' health over Donald Trump's re-election campaign. Trump wants to give Republican governors enough rope to hang themselves, while distancing himself from the inevitably lethal fallout. Meanwhile, he'll continue painting responsible Democratic governors as communist despots who want hardworking Americans to become dependent upon government handouts and functioning lungs.
During his press conference yesterday, Kemp claimed he didn't “give a damn about politics right now" when making an obviously political calculation. The coronavirus hit Albany, Georgia, “like a bomb." It was one of the state's “hot spots." Its population is 74 percent black. Black Georgians are 31 percent of the population but make up 56 percent of COVID-19 fatalities. They are also more likely to represent the workers Kemp has irresponsibly called back to their jobs. As secretary of state, Kemp purged black people from the voter rolls. Now his rank incompetence or plain-old malicious negligence is going to purge them from existence.
"In my mind, it's reckless, it's premature and it's dangerous." Savannah, Georgia, Mayor Van Johnson said Gov. Bria… https://t.co/rngx13kSto— CNN (@CNN) 1587432278.0
Kemp's order also supersedes any local ordinances, so sensible cities can't prevent the Touchy Feely Massage Parlor from reopening. Savannah Mayor Van R. Johnson denounced Kemp's actions as “premature" and “irresponsible." Rushing to reopen "places the lives of Savannahians at risk."
JOHNSON: The science has been clear that expanded and comprehensive testing, combined with decelerated infections rates and reduced hospitalizations, are the prerequisites to any phased re-openings or relaxation of emergency order. It is not clear to me that all of these boxes have been checked.
I have friends and family in Georgia, and I'm concerned for their safety. Someone has to be, because the governor sure as hell isn't.
Chef Mashama Bailey's Savannahwww.youtube.com
[CNN / The Daily Beast]
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Poll Finds Kris Kobach Narrowly Beating Coronavirus, But Losing To Democrat In Kansas Senate Race
They hate him. Still.
Time for some Poll Porn, bow chicka bow bow! Now, don't get too excited — we are talking about Kansas here, so you know the GOP dude will be a godbothering freak show and the Democratic lady will have sensible, midwestern hair. Also the poll is from Public Policy Polling, a Democratic shop. But FiveThirtyEight gives PPP a "B" rating, and that's good enough for us, so TAKE IT ALL OFF BABY!
Actually, Kris Kobach can keep his clothes on forever, thankyouverymuch. And he might not want to quit his day job either, if the latest Senate polling is correct. (Does Kobach have a day job since that vote-rigging commission got disbanded and his legal insurance scam dried up?) Because PPP gives Democratic candidate Barbara Bollier a narrow, two-point lead over Kobach in this year's Senate contest. Which is, coincidentally, the same margin polls had for Democrat Laura Kelly over Kobach leading up Kansas's 2018 gubernatorial race, before she dick-kicked him 48 to 43.
In the PPP poll of 1,271 voters, about half approved of Donald Trump and preferred to vote for a Republican in November. But when asked, "If the candidates for US Senate this November were Democrat Barbara Bollier and Republican Kris Kobach, who would you vote for?" 44 percent chose Bollier, 42 percent went for Kobach, and 13 percent were undecided.
The survey went on to offer a two-sentence bio of each candidate. Bollier being a medical doctor made 49 percent of respondents more likely to vote for her, while Kobach's law degree and experience as Kansas's secretary of State only made 30 percent more likely to pull the lever for him. Possibly because Kansans remember his disastrous effort to defend the state's voter ID law in court, which earned him a contempt finding and a judicial order to attend remedial legal education. But the pollster didn't mention all that, because HELLO, PROFESSIONALS!
And yet, after the little blurb about each candidate's resume, support for Bollier jumped to 47 percent, and Kobach's declined to 42. Apparently alluding to Kobach's legal experience was a net negative for him — go know! — while 60 percent of respondents trusted an IRL doctor to make rational choices to get us out of this nightmare pandemic. Hence 50 percent think Bollier would do a good or excellent job handling the coronavirus response, compared to 34 percent for Kobach. (We wouldn't trust Kobach to handle his way out of a paper bag with a flashlight and a map, but we are not a Kansas voter.)
The problem for Republicans is that the party faithful love Kobach and his schtick about mythical hordes of undocumented immigrants voting all over the place, while the general population thinks he's a total jackass. Only 35 percent of respondents in this poll voted for Clinton in 2016, but Kobach can't break 45 percent. Which is why Mitch McConnell was desperate for Mike Pompeo to run when there was still a chance to stop that fucking idiot Kobach, who couldn't even spell his own name right on the candidate registration form. Yes, really. Martha McSally, Cory Gardner, and Susan Collins all look to be in serious trouble, and now Mitch has to defend a seat in blood red Kansas because that dipshit Kobach will not sit down and stop throwing races to the Democrats?
YOU HATE TO SEE IT.
Oh, and PS, 76 percent of respondents agreed that enforcing Democratic Governor Laura Kelly's inclusion of church services on the statewide ban on mass gatherings to protect public health was more important than their right to assemble in holy fellowship. Because no one is buying the GOP's clown dance in Kansas and nationwide about Democrats using coronavirus as an excuse to persecute Christians. That dog won't hunt. Probably because it is trapped in the house with its terrified humans.
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Wisconsin GOP Vote Suppressing F*ckery Bites 'Em In The Ass
Karma's a bitch.
GOOOOOO BADGERS! The Wisconsin GOP's gambit to rig last week's election by forcing in-person voting during a pandemic backfired spectacularly. Last night the votes came in, and Republican hack Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly got crushed at the polls by progressive Dane County Judge Jill Karofsky. Remember 2016 when Donald Trump won Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes? Well, last night Karofsky won by more than 163,000 votes. Because we are madder than they are!
"Obviously I had hoped my service would continue for another decade, but tonight's results make clear that God has a different plan for my future," Kelly said last night. Indeed, God and the people of Wisconsin seem to have expressed their preferences pretty strongly, despite multiple tweets from the president endorsing Kelly and urging Wisconsinites to go out and vote for him.
This election was batshit from the jump. Kelly was appointed by then-Governor Scott Walker to fill out the last four years of a retiring Justice's term in 2016, and Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald publicly mused about moving the election so it wouldn't coincide with the Democratic primary for the express purpose of depressing turnout for Kelly's advantage.
The same Scott Fitzgerald teamed up with Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to block every single change that would have made voting safer for Wisconsinites. No postponement of the election, no switch to vote by mail, no waiving the signature requirement, no accommodation at all for the hundreds of thousands of Milwaukee voters who would have to cram into five polling places instead of 182 because the state couldn't muster enough poll workers during a highly contagious pandemic, and no extending the deadline for absentee ballots — with a special assist from Chief Justice John Roberts, who torched his last remaining shred of credibility for nothing.
Here's Vos on election day, decked out in PPE that could have gone to a frontline hospital worker, reassuring voters that all is well.
Republican Speaker Robin Vos says “you are incredibly safe to go out” on election day. He said that while dressed… https://t.co/pcd99UrXL1— UpNorthNews (@UpNorthNews) 1586298697.0
Vos and Fitzgerald were fighting for their political lives, because their lives depend on Wisconsin's maps being gerrymandered to shit. Those maps netted the GOP 64 percent of the seats in the Wisconsin Assembly on the strength of 46 percent of the actual vote. Dan Kelly would have blessed that gerrymander for all eternity, which is why Vos and Fitzgerald were willing to risk the lives and health of millions of their own constituents to keep him on the court when the electoral districts get redrawn after the 2020 Census. (And if we can oust conservative Chief Justice Patience Roggensack in 2023, we can take this court back.)
But in the short term, Kelly would have greenlighted the purge of 200,000 voters from the rolls before the November election. With Karofsky being sworn in on August 1, that plan is dead. The court will still have four conservatives and three liberals, but conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn voted against the purge last time, and Kelly had recused himself. With Kelly out and Karofsky in, Democrats at least have a fighting chance against whatever insane vote suppressing fuckery the GOP is plotting for the fall.
The maddest of MAD PROPS to Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, who organized under these ridiculous conditions.
With the extreme caveat that Bernie Sanders hadn't dropped out when Wisconsin voted, so Democrats had a semi-competitive primary last week where Republicans didn't, last night's results should make us cautiously optimistic about our chances there in the fall. It's not a straight throughline between the 2016 presidential election, the 2018 gubernatorial contest, and yesterday, but Trump won the state by less than 1 percent, Democratic Governor Tony Evers won by 1 percent (a 2 point leftward swing), and Karofsky managed a 10.5 point rout. Because the GOP is increasingly toxic in the suburbs.
For instance, in the WOW suburbs of Milwaukee — that's Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington Counties — the GOP has lost a lot of its shine.
Waukesha: Trump +28, Walker +34, Kelly +22
Ozaukee: Trump +20, Walker +28, Kelly +12
Washington: Trump +32, Walker +44, Kelly +36
Remember, Walker was an incumbent governor, and even with those high margins, he still lost.
And in the cities, it's worse. Trump squeaked out a 1 percent win in Kenosha County in 2016, Evers won it in 2018 by 5 percent, and last night Karofsky's margin was 15 points. Remember, Biden doesn't have to do as well as Karofsky; he just has to do a little bit better than Clinton, and we can take all 10 of Wisconsin's electoral votes. And despite Trump campaign spokesdick Tim Murtaugh's crowing that, "In November against hapless Joe Biden, President Trump will win Wisconsin again, as he did in 2016," the polling remains neck-and-neck.
So stay mad, Dems! Anger is energy, anger is fuel, anger is how we win. Luckily, with Trump in the White House, we have an inexhaustible source of vote-sustaining rage.
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