Mediaboss Marketing

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden delivers remarks at a Voter Mobilization Event campaign stop at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S., October 12, 2020.

Tom Brenner | Reuters

Democrats easily outraised Republicans during the third quarter, beefing up their money advantage as polls increasingly indicate a potential blue wave on Election Day.

ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising website, processed $1.5 billion in donations spanning the July-September period. Small-dollar donors gave over $750 million in September alone. To compare, GOP fundraising site WinRed processed over $620 million in donations during that same time period.

Democrats taking on Republican senators in races deemed "lean Democrat" or "toss-up" are also dominating their opponents in the fundraising game.

Democratic nominee Joe Biden announced late Wednesday that his campaign brought in $383 million during September, slightly more than he raised in his record-smashing August. His campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon, tweeted that the campaign had over $400 million going into October. Biden has an approximate 10-point national lead over President Donald Trump, according to polling averages.

There is at least one bright spot when it comes to Republican fundraising down the stretch of the election. The pro-Trump super PAC Preserve America raised just over $83 million in the third quarter, according to Federal Election Commission records. The fundraising success was largely off of $75 million in big money contributions from casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, and his wife Miriam.

CNBC previously reported that Sheldon Adelson was plotting a last minute spending blitz in support of Trump and that he was eyeing up to $50 million in contributions. He ended up giving $37.5 million to the super PAC last month.

Record numbers of people have already voted. Election Day is Nov. 3.

A spokesman for the Trump campaign did not reply to a request for comment. Late Thursday night, the campaign said it, along with joint committees, raised $247.8 million in September.

Democrats reaped large gains during multiple events, such as the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. ActBlue had its biggest fundraising day ever the day after Ginsburg died, processing just over $70 million.

Other key moments include the August announcement that Biden chose Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate. She had an immediate cash impact, with her allies in the business community jumping in to help Biden's campaign raise cash. Just before the quarter ended in September, Biden's debate performance versus Trump helped raise at least $25 million for Democrats.

Trump, meanwhile, has continued to face criticism for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. He has returned to the campaign trail after recovering from Covid-19.

U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally at John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, October 13, 2020.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

The enthusiasm for Democratic Senate candidates led to a good chunk of the fundraising haul. Republicans hold a 53-47 lead in the chamber, but they are defending several more seats than Democratic candidates this year.

In South Carolina, Arizona, Iowa, North Carolina, Colorado and Montana, Democrats combined to raise over $200 million over the past three months. All six of those states have been deemed either "lean Democrat" or toss-ups by the Cook Political Report.

In South Carolina, Democrat Jaime Harrison raised $57 million in the third quarter, while his opponent, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, brought in $28 million. For Graham, it's the most he's ever had to raise when trying to defend his Senate seat. A Democrat hasn't held the seat since the 1960s.

In Arizona, astronaut Mark Kelly said he brought in more than $38 million. The campaign said on Thursday that it will be going into the final month of the election with nearly $19 million on hand. It remains unclear how much his opponent, GOP Sen. Martha McSally, raised.

Continued here:
Democrats are crushing Republicans in fundraising as campaign hits the final stretch - CNBC

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