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2018 ELECTIONS

Trump Says November Will Bring a ‘Red Wave!’ – The Wall Street Journal Predicts a Very Different Outcome

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‘Our Sense Is That Republican Voters Haven’t Recognized How Much Jeopardy the Party Is In’

The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal delivered a reality check to President Donald Trump on Thursday morning, saying his claim of a “red wave” in the coming midterms could not be further from the truth.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump tweeted a simple all-caps “RED WAVE!,” on Twitter expressing his belief that the GOP will be making large gains in November.

According to the WSJ, the Republican Party is instead looking at devastating losses tied directly to the president’s unpopularity and even more unpopular policies.

“Republicans on present trend are poised in November to lose their majority in the House of Representatives and a slew of governorships,” the editorial bluntly began. “That’s the clear message from Tuesday’s election contests and a growing body of evidence. The President’s persona is trumping positive policy results among voters, and without some intervening news or a change in strategy the result is likely to be a national left turn.”

According to the editors, the GOP narrowly averted a devastating loss in an Ohio special election, and that is a warning sign that there is major trouble on the horizon for Republicans seeking to hold both houses of Congress.

“The ominous news for Republicans is that they hold about 68 House seats that are less Republican than this Ohio district. Most include stretches of suburbia that have been GOP strongholds but where many voters dislike Mr. Trump’s abrasive style and polarizing governance,” the editorial warned, noting Democrats only need to pick up 23 seats to retake the House.

According to the WSJ, the GOP’s biggest problem going into the midterms is the face of the party; President Donald J Trump.

“Tuesday’s results cast doubt on the current White House strategy to make the election a referendum on Donald J. Trump,” the piece maintained. “His omnipresence also motivates Democrats, while it may de-motivate soft Republicans and independents who dislike Mr. Trump.”

Touching on “swing voters” Republicans need to stave off losses, the Journal said Trump is driving them away.

“They aren’t impressed by Mr. Trump’s name-calling, his brawls with the media or taunts of LeBron James,” they wrote. “They don’t like the debacle of family separations driven by immigration-enforcement obsessives inside the White House.”

The Journal’s editors unsurprisingly also focused on Trump’s economy-damaging tariffs.

“Trade protectionism also doesn’t help among Republicans who work in large companies (and live in those swing districts) and are beginning to see the cost of tariffs. GOP policy successes on the economy and taxes are drowned out by the Trump cacophony,” the piece continued, before noting that the Senate is in play.

“In this political environment, even the GOP’s Senate majority isn’t safe,” the editors continued. “Only three or four GOP seats are in play, but the party could lose Nevada, Arizona, and Tennessee. Republicans need to defeat Democratic incumbents to hold the Senate, which isn’t easy in this kind of year.”

Then came the big warning.

“Our sense is that Republican voters haven’t recognized how much jeopardy the party is in,” they explained. “Many are content to listen only to their safe media spaces that repeat illusions about a ‘red wave’ and invoke 2016 when the media said Mr. Trump couldn’t win.”

You can read the whole piece here (subscription required)

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2018 ELECTIONS

Blue Wave? More Like Blue Tsunami – Analyst Proves Democratic Voters Made This a Historic Election

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Democrats have broken the record for the largest number of House votes between two parties. Ever.

On Election Day evening two weeks ago, as the results of the November midterms slowly trickled in, reporters and pundits were quick to declare, “No blue wave.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper insisted, “this is not a blue wave.”

Even liberal pundit Van Jones on CNN pronounced sentence: “This is heartbreaking, though. This is heartbreaking…it’s not a blue wave,” he insisted.

The following day, Fox News was telling viewers, “All that talk about a blue wave, all the talk about the American people rising up as one to repudiate Donald Trump, that just didn’t happen.”

They were all wrong.

(NCRM is proud to state that on Election Day night we reported it was, in fact, a big blue wave, based on a Princeton scientist’s work.)

Now that nearly all the races have been called (two House races remain), we can repudiate the naysayers, the GOP, Fox News, and the pundits who weighed in far too early.

Here’s some historic news: Democrats have broken the record for the largest number of House votes between two parties. Ever.

According to the Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman, Democrats’ national lead over Republicans for House seats is now 8.8 million votes, breaking a record that goes back to the Watergate era:

Democrats have now flipped seats 40 House seats from red to blue, losing two, for a grand total of 38. But again, there are two House races that have yet to be called, so that number could grow to 40.

Wasserman, who is also an NBC News and FiveThirtyEight contributor, links to his spreadsheet with all the data to satisfy your inner nerd.

RELATED STORIES:

Yes, Democrats Had Huge Wins at the Polls – Here Are 11 Reasons to Celebrate That You May Not Even Know About

Hey Democrats! Don’t Listen to Republicans – This Is a Big Blue Wave – Princeton Scientist Explains Why

Image by Steve Lacy via Flickr and a CC license

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2018 ELECTIONS

Attorney for Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson Smacks Down Marco Rubio in Battle of Bible Quotes

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Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio has gotten into the habit of commenting on the events of the day with an occasional morning Bible quote. It’s his way of weighing in while telegraphing to his base that he’s a strong religious conservative, but there are drawbacks.

Recently, Senator Rubio has been tweeting up a daily storm over Florida’s Senate and governor races, both of which are now in a legally-forced recount because the vote count is so close.

On Friday, perhaps to offer his base some support from above, Rubio posted this biblical tweet:

But it is his stone-throwing conspiracy theory tweeting and dogged defense of GOP nominees Rick DeSantis, who is hoping to win the governor’s race against Democrat Andrew Gillum, and Rick Scott, who is hoping to unseat Senator Bill Nelson, that has raised eyebrows – but drawn the support of President Trump.

Rubio has been on the attack for a week now, spreading rumors and sowing doubt about the validity of the Florida election system – exactly what Vladimir Putin was trying to achieve when Russia attacked the U.S. during the 2016 election.

That box turned out to be office supplies.

He’s made clear he thinks lawyers for Democrats who are merely trying to ensure every vote is counted are trying to steal the election.

Hours after Sen. Rubio quoted from the Book of Psalms on Friday, President Trump lauded Rubio’s attacks.

But others have been less than impressed with Rubio’s Bible quoting.

The attorney supervising the recount for Senator Bill Nelson turned the tables on Rubio Wednesday morning.

Sen. Rubio tweeted what was obviously his commentary on the Florida recount – which the GOP has been suing to halt entirely – by cherry-picking a Bible verse to support his thoughts.

Marc Elias, Nelson’s attorney, smacked-down and one-upped Senator Rubio:

A writer with bylines at New York Magazine, The NY Times, GQ, and The Washington Post praised Elias:

 

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license

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2018 ELECTIONS

Election Law Professor Schools Rick Scott for Attacking ‘Unethical Liberals’ Who Just Want All Votes Counted

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“Rick Scott had 8 years to improve Florida’s system of election administration.”

Florida Governor Rick Scott‘s campaign for the U.S. Senate didn’t do as well as he may have hoped. The vote count, which is still ongoing, is so close it looks like a recount will have to take place.

Republican leaders, including Gov. Scott, President Donald Trump, Senator Marco Rubio, and GOP Chair Ronna McDaniel have been ranting about the vote count in heavily-Democratic Broward County, hoping to get it to stop.

Gov. Scott on Thursday “falsely accused Democrats of trying to “steal this election” and called on law enforcement to monitor the counting of ballots in two of the state’s most Democratic counties,” Mother Jones reports. “He also filed a lawsuit, along with the Republican Party, seeking access to Broward County’s ballot records. His unsubstantiated allegations of ‘rampant fraud’ were amplified by top Republicans, including President Donald Trump, who tweeted, ‘Law Enforcement is looking into another big corruption scandal having to do with Election Fraud in #Broward and Palm Beach.'”

“Every day since the election,” Gov. Scott also claimed, “the left-wing activists in Broward County have been coming up with more and more ballots out of nowhere,” for which there is no proof.

“I will not sit idly by while unethical liberals try and steal this election from the great people of Florida,” Scott said, speaking as both governor and the political candidate in the race.

As it turns out, for years Broward County has been a problem. Some point to technical issues, while Republicans are currently focused on the Broward County Supervisor of Elections.

Which is where election law expert Rick Hasen steps in.

A Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, Hasen is the go-to expert on election law and voting.

And he has a mouthful for Governor Scott.

“Rick Scott had 8 years to improve Florida’s system of election administration,” Hasen says, for starters.

“Two things can be true at the same time: Broward county is incompetent in counting votes and there is no evidence of intentional fraud,” he adds, via Twitter.

He’s not done, either.

Take a look:

Hasen also retweeted this smackdown from an NPR News reporter:

 

 

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