Mediaboss Marketing

The web of those exposed by President Donald Trumps coronavirus diagnosis reads like a whos who of his peripatetic campaign: his campaign manager, the chair of the Republican National Committee, the leader of the House GOPs campaign arm, and several high-profile members of Congress.

Now, those officialsnot to mention countless supporters of the presidenthave either contracted COVID-19 or are at high risk for it after a week in which an infected Trump has criss-crossed the country. It also means a wide swath of the GOPs formal campaign apparatus could be sidelined a month before a pivotal election in which the party is losing ground in its efforts to hold onto the White House, keep the Senate, and recapture the House.

Last Friday, the president had a packed day on the campaign trail, with events in Miami, Atlanta, and Virginia, with a stop in between at his hotel in Washington for a roundtable with supporters. Somewhere along the way, Ronna McDaniel, the RNC chair, was with Trump. It was reported on Friday morning that she had contracted the coronavirus. An RNC spokesperson said that McDaniel had tested for COVID-19 after a member of her family had contracted the virus, and said shed been at home in Michigan since Saturday.

Over the weekend, Trump traveled to Pennsylvania for a rally, and held a White House event with many notable GOP officials to honor Judge Amy Coney Barrett, his nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was in attendance; video taken of the event by a CNN reporter shows him hugging and greeting other attendees without wearing a mask. He announced Friday that hed tested positive for COVID-19.

Then, on Tuesday, much of the Trump campaign team, along with a top ally, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), traveled on Air Force One to Cleveland, where they shared a debate hall with Democratic nominee former Vice President Joe Biden and his staff, supporters, and family.

The day after, Trump traveled to Minnesota for a campaign rally, bringing along his top campaign aides as well as Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, on Air Force One. The president held a private fundraiser beforehand that attracted GOP Reps. Jim Hagedorn and Pete Stauber of Minnesota, as well as Jason Lewis, the GOP nominee in the U.S. Senate race, and a number of key donors and GOP officials in the state. Later, an evening rally outside the Twin Cities featured a speech from Trump that was half his normal length; aides reportedly sensed he was tired.

On Wednesday, Lara Trump, the presidents daughter-in-law, posted photos to social media showing herself mingling with various Trumpworld figures at a campaign event at Trumps hotel in Washington; she and others were not wearing masks. The day before, she had traveled to the debate in Cleveland on Air Force One with her family.

Many of those who work for Trump or accompanied him during his aggressive week of campaign travel announced on Friday their plans to get tested or that theyd already received a negative result.

But the unprecedented situation has complicated life for a much broader group of peopleincluding Barrett, who Senate Republicans are aiming to confirm to the court within a historically tight timeframe. After she and her family attended the Rose Garden event on Saturday, Barrett met with dozens of U.S. senators on Capitol Hill for closed-door meetingsincluding with Lee. Photos of their meeting show Lee and Barrett posing with and without face masks.

On Friday, White House spokesperson Judd Deere said that Barrett had tested negative for COVID-19, but said she was following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for social distancing and mask-wearing for those exposed. He did not mention if Barrett would be quarantining for 14 days from exposure to someone with the virusa practice that is, in fact, CDC guidance. Barrett had been scheduled to meet with more lawmakers in the coming days; its unclear if those plans will continue, though Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on Friday morning that he did not see the brewing COVID outbreak as an obstacle to the speedy confirmation process theyve outlined for Barrett.

Beyond Barrett and the Senate, the House of Representatives has things to worry about, too. After traveling with Trump this week, several Republican lawmakers returned to Washington for multiple votes on the floor of the House. Emmer said on Friday morning that he was not exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms but had gotten a test that morning. Jordan, meanwhile, announced that hed gotten a test, but planned to work in isolation in his Capitol Hill office until he received a result. And Hagedorns office said he planned to continue his official dutiessuch as voting on the House flooruntil he gets a negative COVID-19 result back.

I think people are a bit rattled, a House GOP aide told The Daily Beast on Friday morning, as lawmakers headed again to the floor for votes. Things have been a little bit more back to normal the last two weeks, so I think this snaps everyone out of that complacency.

See more here:
Entire Top of the Republican Party Has Been Exposed to COVID - The Daily Beast

As US President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans' behavior over the past four years has made abundantly clear, American democracy itself is on the line in this year's election. Without an overwhelming victory for Democrats at all levels, Republican minority rule will be locked in indefinitely.

NEW YORK Whereas Nero famously fiddled while Rome burned, US President Donald Trump has famously hit the links at his money-losing golf courses while California burns and as more than 200,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 for which he himself has now tested positive. Like Nero, Trump will undoubtedly be remembered as an exceptionally cruel, inhumane, and possibly mad political figure.

Until recently, most people around the world had been exposed to this American tragedy in small doses, through short clips of Trump spouting lies and nonsense on the evening news or social media. But in late September, tens of millions of people endured a 90-minute spectacle, billed as a presidential debate, in which Trump demonstrated unequivocally that he is not presidential and why so many people question his mental health.

To be sure, over the past four years, the world has watched this pathological liar set new records logging some 20,000 falsehoods or misleading statements as of mid-July, by the Washington Postscount. What kind of debate can there be when one of the two candidates has no credibility, and is not even there to debate?

When asked about the recent New York Times expos showing that he had paid just $750 in US federal income tax in 2016 and 2017 and nothing for many years before that Trump hesitated and then claimed without evidence that he had paid millions. He was clearly offering whatever answer he thought would move things along to a more comfortable topic, and there is no good reason why anyone should believe him.

Even more disturbing was his refusal to denounce white supremacists and violent extremist groups like the Proud Boys, whom he instructed to stand back and stand by. Combined with his refusal to commit to a peaceful transition of power and persistent efforts to delegitimize the voting process, Trumps behavior in the run-up to the election has increasingly posed a direct threat to American democracy.

When I was a child growing up in Gary, Indiana, we learned about the virtues of the US Constitution from the independent judiciary and the separation of powers to the importance of properly functioning checks and balances. Our forefathers appeared to have created a set of great institutions (though they were also guilty of hypocrisy in declaring that all people are created equal so long as they are not women or people of color). When I served as chief economist at the World Bank in the late 1990s, we would travel the world lecturing others about good governance and good institutions, and the United States was often held up as the exemplar of these concepts.

Enjoy unlimited access to the ideas and opinions of the world's leading thinkers, including weekly long reads, book reviews, and interviews; The Year Ahead annual print magazine; the complete PS archive; and more All for less than $9 a month.

Subscribe Now

Not anymore. Trump and his fellow Republicans have cast a shadow on the American project, reminding us just how fragile some might say flawed our institutions and constitutional order are. We are a country of laws, but it is the political norms that make the system work. Norms are flexible, but they are also fragile. George Washington, Americas first president, decided that he would serve only two terms, and that created a norm that would not be broken until the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. After that, a constitutional amendment codified the two-term limit.

Over the past four years, Trump and his fellow Republicans have taken norm-shattering to a new level, disgracing themselves and undermining the institutions they are supposed to defend. As a candidate in 2016, Trump refused to release his tax returns. And while in office, he has fired inspectors general for doing their jobs, repeatedly ignored conflicts of interest and profited from his office, undermined independent scientists and critical agencies, attempted outright voter suppression, and extorted foreign governments in an effort to defame his political opponents.

For good reason, we Americans are now wondering if our democracy can survive. One of the greatest worries of the founders, after all, was that a demagogue might emerge and destroy the system from within. That is partly why they settled on a structure of indirect representative democracy, with the Electoral College and a system of what were supposed to be robust checks and balances. But after 233 years, that institutional structure is no longer robust enough. The GOP, particularly its representatives in the Senate, has failed utterly in its responsibility to check a dangerous and erratic executive as he openly wages war on the US constitutional order and electoral process.

There is a daunting task ahead. In addition to addressing an out-of-control pandemic, rising inequality, and the climate crisis, there is also an urgent need to rescue American democracy. With Republicans having long since neglected their oaths of office, democratic norms will have to be replaced with laws. But this will not be easy. When they are observed, norms are often preferable to laws, because they can be more easily adapted to future circumstances. Especially in Americas litigious society, there will always be those willing to circumvent laws by honoring their letter while violating their spirit.

But when one side no longer plays by the rules, stronger guardrails must be introduced. The good news is that we already have a roadmap. The For the People Act of 2019, which was adopted by the US House of Representatives early last year, set out an agenda to expand voting rights, limit partisan gerrymandering, strengthen ethics rules, and limit the influence of private donor money in politics. The bad news is that Republicans know they are increasingly in the minority on most of the critical issues in todays politics. Americans want stronger gun control, a higher minimum wage, sensible environmental and financial regulations, affordable health insurance, expanded funding for preschool education, improved access to college, and greater limitations on money in politics.

The clearly expressed will of the majority puts the GOP in an impossible position: The party cannot simultaneously pursue its unpopular agenda and also endorse honest, transparent, democratic governance. That is why it is now openly waging war on American democracy, doubling down on efforts to disenfranchise voters, politicize the judiciary and the federal bureaucracy, and lock in minority rule permanently through tactics like partisan gerrymandering.

Since the GOP has already made its deal with the devil, there is no reason to expect its members to support any effort to renew and protect American democracy. The only option left for Americans is to deliver an overwhelming victory for Democrats at all levels in next months election. Americas democracy hangs in the balance. If it falls, democracys enemies around the world will win.

The rest is here:
The Republican Threat to the Republic by Joseph E. Stiglitz - Project Syndicate

The Senate Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC, plans to spend $10 million in South Carolina, hoping to boost Sen. Lindsey Graham's re-election campaign as the race has tightened considerably, McClatchy reports.

Why it matters: The campaign has become unexpectedly competitive, with Graham's Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, having a massive financial advantage. Harrison was once thought to be a long shot against Graham in the typically Republican state, but the two are now tied 48%-48% according to a recent Quinnipiac poll.

The state of play: Harrison's fundraising has surged through small-dollar online donations, and now a Democratic super PAC is dropping an additional $6.5 million. "Harrisons campaign had reserved more than $15 million in ads in October and November, according to a GOP source tracking the ad data, compared with just over $6 million in reservations for Graham and his Republican allies," per McClatchy.

View original post here:
GOP super PAC will spend $10 million to help Lindsey Graham in South Carolina - Axios

Topline

Notorious GOP operatives Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, known for their roles in a slew of outrageous political schemes, were each charged with four felonies on Thursday by Michigans attorney general for allegedly orchestrating a large-scale robocall campaign aimed at suppressing the minority vote ahead of the 2020 election.

Jack Burkman, a conservative lobbyist and conspiracy theorist.

According to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessels office, Burkman and Wohl created and funded a false robocall discouraging mail-in voting that targeted Detroit and other urban areas.

These calls, made in late August to nearly 12,000 Detroit residents, may have also reached New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois, the attorney general said, noting residents of those states in areas with significant minority populations reported receiving similar calls.

Burkman, 54, and Wohl, 22, who are both from out of state, were each charged with four felonies for intimidating voters, conspiracy to commit an election law violation, using a computer to commit an election law crime and using a computer to commit a conspiracy crime.

They each face a maximum sentence of 24 years in prison.

Neither Wohl nor Burkman could be immediately reached by Forbes.

Any effort to interfere with, intimidate or intentionally mislead Michigan voters will be met with swift and severe consequences, said Nessel. This effort specifically targeted minority voters in an attempt to deter them from voting in the November election.

Wohl, a conservative social media personality, recently booted from Facebook and Instagram, has joined conspiracy theorist and conservative lobbyist Jack Burkman in numerous outrageous plots in the past. Most well-known are the duos attempted smear campaigns against rivals of President Trump, including the fabrication of sexual misconduct allegations against Robert Mueller, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Wohl was previously charged with a felony for unlawfully selling securities in California for which he pleaded not guilty in February. The settlement hearing, originally set for April, was rescheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Continue reading here:
Republican Operatives Jacob Wohl And Jack Burkman Charged With Felonies In Voter Suppression Scheme - Forbes

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is heading to Grand Rapids on Friday, making a play for voters in a traditionally Republican county that has become more blue in recent elections.

President Donald Trump won Kent County in 2016 when he became the first Republican to flip Michigan in nearly three decades. Four years later, its among the top targets for Democrats emboldened by their success in recent elections.

Going to West Michigan, and Kent County in particular, is their attempt to put their foot on Trumps throat, said John Sellek, a veteran GOP strategist. If they really tamp down Trumps ability to hold on there and pick up votes, it becomes very hard ... for Trump to win Michigan.

Trump flipped Michigan by 10,704 votes, the narrowest margin of any state in 2016 and the closest result in Michigans history. He earned the fewest Kent County votes of any Republican presidential candidate since 1996.

The city of Grand Rapids leans Democrat like most urban communities, but the surrounding county is undergoing a political shift that could decide the 2020 election in Michigan.

The population of Kent County rapidly grew in the last decade while becoming more diverse, younger and better educated, all factors that generally correlate with more Democratic votes.

Kent County voters went on to support Democrats in Senate and gubernatorial races two years after Trump took office. Democrats picked up two seats on the county board of commissioners in 2018, and state Sen. Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, flipped a formerly Republican district covering suburban communities.

Kent County is going south for the GOP in a hurry, broadly speaking, said Adrian Hemond, a Democratic consultant and CEO of Grassroots Midwest. There are still some rural and ex-urban parts of the county there that are pretty ruby red, but the places where people live are getting more and more Democratic by the year.

If the results in suburban Kent County look like the 2018 results, then the president has lost Michigan.

David Dulio, professor of political science at Oakland University, said Kent County is undergoing similar demographic changes that transformed Oakland County, another battleground in Southeast Michigan.

Kent County grew by 9% from 2010-19, twice the rate of Oakland over the same period. The county has a smaller percentage of college-educated and non-white residents, but thats changing.

Sellek pointed to East Grand Rapids and Kentwood to show how Republican votes are being squeezed from two sides."

In East Grand Rapids, the population is largely white and affluent, with 79% of residents having a bachelors degree or higher education. Kentwood is significantly more racially diverse than the rest of the county, partly due to a growing immigrant population.

Stark said theres been a surge in political activism and grassroots organizing, which paid off for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2018 and will help candidates up and down the ticket in 2020.

When you look past the obvious things about West Michigan is supposedly conservative and religious, in the last five years that is less true than it has been in the past, said Kent County Democratic Party Chair Gary Stark. We feel that the demographics and the politics here are all moving left in favor of the Democrats.

Stark said the county party has distributed literature to 15,000 homes. Organizers arent personally canvassing voters, but have been active in phone banks and dropping off campaign materials on voters' doorsteps.

Sellek managed Mitt Romneys 2012 presidential campaign in Michigan and now runs Harbor Strategic Public Affairs. He also compared Kent and Oakland counties, but said the change in West Michigan has been slower.

Its still a bastion of Republican voters, Sellek said. The GOP still has a very strong position there, it has a long tradition and history of voting Republican. The local Republican parties, especially in Kent and Ottawa are very well organized and well funded.

Republicans are unified around Michigan 3rd District candidate Peter Meijer, who is vying to replace U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, I-Cascade Township. Amash left the Republican Party in part because of his disapproval of Trump, and isnt seeking reelection.

One of the biggest questions for the area, and Michigan generally, is which candidate can pick up voters who rejected Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Nearly 7% of the vote in Kent County went to third-party candidates in 2016. Only 1.25% of voters in the county supported a third-party candidate four years earlier.

Holy smokes, Dulio said when he looked up the figures during an interview. Thats pretty significant."

Sellek said the 2016 vote was a combination of anti-Trump and anti-Clinton sentiment, but the presidents rough personality probably doesnt endear him to conservative voters who embody the West Michigan nice personality.

Whats appealing about Joe Biden to a lot of people is just his basic decency, that he comes across as a likable guy that actually has the ability to care about or understand what youre going through, Biden said. When he showed that in the debate those were his best moments.

Linda Trout, a 67-year-old retired teacher, considers herself an independent, but would vote for anyone besides Donald Trump. She said Biden signs are all over neighborhoods in East Grand Rapids, where she used to teach.

I mean hes a horrifying human being, Trout said of Trump. I am totally in Joe Bidens camp. Theres just no contest on character.

Dulio said Bidens Grand Rapids visit is likely focused on energizing Democrats in the city and surrounding suburbs.

I think its smart, because Democrats in West Michigan didnt see the candidate until the final weekend last time, and that was a mistake," Dulio said.

Clinton held two campaign visits in West Michigan four years ago. She held an August rally in Grand Rapids and another rally at Grand Valley State University in suburban Grand Rapids the night before the 2016 election.

Trump also held a Grand Rapids rally on the eve of the 2016 election. He returned to the city last year for his first Michigan campaign rally in 2019.

Biden sent his wife Jill Biden to Grand Rapids on Sept. 15, but it wasnt a very prominent campaign stop. She toured a farm on the outskirts of the city and didnt invite the public to attend.

Trumps campaign has held a series of well-attended rallies across the state. Dulio said its only a matter of time before Trump returns to West Michigan.

Meanwhile, Stark said Democrats are eager to hear from Biden with only a few weeks left until the election.

The fact that hes coming here right after the debates is a really good sign," Stark said. Theyre paying attention to Michigan they know how important it is, they know how important this part of the state is. People learned some things in 2016. Democrats are not going to make the same mistake."

READ MORE ON MLIVE:

Trump administration officials swarm Michigan ahead of 2020 election

Joe Biden to visit Grand Rapids Friday

Whitmer, Democratic governors denounce attacks on election integrity

Trump and Biden clash in worst presidential debate in history

The rest is here:
Joe Bidens Grand Rapids visit targets former Republican stronghold - MLive.com