A lot of people have found themselves super stressed out about these allegations against Biden this week by Ms. Reade.
I get it. We all know how big the stakes are and any and all threats to Biden winning (and thus us saving our democracy) are terrifying.
If you count yourself among the people worrying: Stop. Or at least, tone it down.
Below are seven reasons to not worry about this ending our chances of saving democracy.
Note: the allegations are being investigated, which is good.
These reasons below are focused on the worry that no matter how unlikely the allegations seem after investigation, it will still sink BIden. If evidence comes out proving that this happened, this would, obviously, be a whole different thing.
Here are seven reasons to not worry about this ruining our chances to save our democracy.
1. The election is six months away. The news cycles are FAST and this news will not maintain the nations attention for six months. There is too much else going on.
2. Biden has some of the smartest people in the world working to get him elected. These are people who have seen dirty trick after dirty trick. They will know the best way to deal with this to get it to go away and they will do just that. It is not YOUR job to be Biden’s campaign manager. It is your job to GOTV, donate, and spread your enthusiasm to those around you. Focus on that. Let them figure out the best way to deal with this.
3. The way Biden is handling this will provide a study in contrast with Trump. He is addressing it. He isn’t insulting her (even when given the opportunity). He is asking for an investigation instead of running from one. He is being respectful.
4. When it comes right down to it on November 3rd, no one is going to vote for Trump over Biden because of this accusation. It is just not going to happen.
5. A search is going to be made for the accusation she claims she filed and it isn’t going to turn anything up (or the Biden camp wouldn’t have agreed to it). If it DOES find evidence that he did something wrong then we need to face that so it would be best to learn it
6. Twitter is not the world. You can look at Twitter and assume that many people everywhere are really worrying and focusing on this but they are not. Most people have way more pressing matters and concerns. It is easy (in particular with Russian help) to get an issue pushed up on Twitter.
7. Biden is destroying Trump in every match up — even since this became a story (actually, even more so since then).
No one wanted this to happen or to become an issue. Regardless of whether she is telling the truth or not, I wish Ms. Reade peace and happiness and a sense of closure over whatever she has going on. But most of all, I wish for all of you to not spend your time worrying about every issue that comes up. They will play dirty. We will have more things to deal with (look how hard they tried with the Ukraine thing). They will sling dirt and try to destroy him every minute from now until November 3rd. But, in the end, if we stay focused, they will lose anyway.
Eyes on the prize, my friends. Eyes on the prize.
Don’t forget:
We Can Beat Trump
Every single piece of data aligns: Trump is behind and dropping
Trump is behind no matter what set of polls one looks at. He trails Biden by 6.3 points as of Thursday morning in the RealClearPolitics average. His job approval rating has sunk in recent days to a mere 44.9 percent, down from a recent high of 47.3 percent on March 31. Though his job approval is still higher than his share of the vote in ballot tests against Biden, he would still trail by more than 3 points even if he did as well as those ratings. There’s no plausible path to winning the electoral college if he loses the popular vote by that much on Election Day.
here is another poll:
lots of stories not only about how ahead Biden is, but also how freaked out Trump is about Biden being ahead. How do we know about this? Multiple leakers in his inner circle
We know about his anxiety over this poll thanks to leaks from people who work in the White House
People with good access to circles of power at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue are leaking major stories to the media. On Monday, they offered up the story that Trump’s Presidential Daily Briefings had warned of the deadly danger of the coronavirus since January and that Trump had ignored the warnings. Today they leaked that Trump is so upset about his internal polling numbers that he ranted last week to Kushner and head of the Republican National Committee Ronna McDaniel, as well as other officials, before attacking Brad Parscale, his campaign manager, and threatening to sue him.
Trump’s polling is bad, to be sure, but it’s too far out from the election to conclude much about those polls. More significant in these stories right now is that people in the White House are leaking sensitive stories to reporters. That says either that they want to undermine Trump or that they think he is already such a bad bet for future employment that they are auditioning for their next job.
The people close to him are worried! Good!
And people from all sides are pulling for Joe:
Howard Stern: 'I am all in on Joe Biden'
Howard Stern announced Monday he's "all in on Joe Biden," saying President Trump "could have been ahead of this curve" on the coronavirus pandemic.
And Biden is making really smart moves. Did you hear how he keeps mentioning that Trump is going to try to delay the election? This has two smart functions first, it makes Trump look desperate, which Trump hates:
Biden Steps Up Warnings of Possible Trump Disruption of Election
Joseph R. Biden Jr. has increasingly speculated that President Trump may try to delay or disrupt the election in some way, sending a warning signal that attempts to frame the president as desperate.
Second, it sets up a narrative which makes it harder for Trump to actually try to do this. Now it is already framed as pathetic. (and as we discussed weeks ago, he couldn’t do it without Nancy approving anyway because: the constitution. So please don’t waste worry on this).
We Can Win the Senate
Democrats see Senate suddenly within reach, boosted by Biden’s ascent
Biden’s ascent has dented GOP plans to paint Democratic candidates as left-wing extremists, something they were eager to do had Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) emerged as the nominee. Instead, the Democrats now have a more moderate standard-bearer who is intimately familiar with the Senate, in close touch with top candidates and keenly aware of how Senate control could affect his potential presidency.
The former vice president’s emergence is part of a larger shift in prospects that has become clear in states such as Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and even Montana and Georgia, as a surge in Democratic fundraising, along with President Trump’s struggles to manage the coronavirus pandemic, have led independent analysts to upgrade Democrats’ chances.
Even in Alabama, one of the most conservative states, underdog Sen. Doug Jones (D) stands an outside chance of an upset
Even Montana is within reach!!!
And Wilkerson seems to see where his bread may soon be buttered:
Former Lindsey Graham donor flips to back Democratic opponent in Senate race
A former top donor to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and business executive is jumping across the aisle to support Democrat Jaime Harrison in South Carolina’s Senate race.
Richard Wilkerson, the former chairman and president of Michelin’s operations in North America, said he has known Harrison for years and is confident he can “bring lasting economic opportunity to the people of South Carolina.”
Even Georgia is in doubt:
GOP senator gives activists grim 2020 assessment amid fears over holding Senate
Sen. David Perdue, a Georgia Republican up for reelection and a close Trump confidant, issued a blunt warning to GOP activists during an off-the-record conference call this week: Democrats are in position to turn his state blue and take the Senate.
"Here's the reality: The state of Georgia is in play," Perdue said Monday, according to an audio recording of a call with "Women for Trump" obtained by CNN. "The Democrats have made it that way."
The stark warning from a GOP senator -- who is not considered among the most vulnerable Republicans this election cycle -- illustrates the fear among Republicans that Democrats' chances of taking back the Senate continue to grow.
And the turtle isn’t helping them → Is McConnell trying to lose the majority?
McConnell’s indifference to the burgeoning train wreck in state and local government, we see in poll after poll, is out of sync with voters’ desire for more government involvement and federal aid. The latest Morning Consult poll shows that "74 percent of registered voters, including 84 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of Republicans, agreed that the federal government should be responsible for providing financial support to states during the coronavirus pandemic.” Note, that’s 65 percent of Republicans.
One wonders how Republican incumbents already facing tough reelection races (e.g. Susan Collins of Maine, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Martha McSally of Arizona) are going to explain this to laid-off first responders, teachers, nurses at city hospitals, librarians and others. Even if McConnell tried, it would be hard to come up with a position and set of priorities more likely to enrage his members’ constituents.
And the demoncrats are on this —> Democratic Senate campaign arm hits McConnell over bankruptcy comments in new ad
The Democrats’ Senate campaign arm is launching a new digital ad hitting Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) over his suggestion that states file for bankruptcy rather than seek more federal funds amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The four-figure ad buy from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), shared first with The Hill, will begin running on Facebook on Monday.
Democratic Senate campaign committee books $30M in fall TV ads
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is booking more than $30 million in fall television advertisements as it looks to broaden its electoral map ahead of November.
The reservations from the group’s independent expenditure arm include bookings in two states that Democrats see as crucial to their efforts to recapture control of the Senate: Arizona and North Carolina.
But in a sign that the party is looking to expand its opportunities, the group is also reserving airtime in Montana and Iowa, two states that lean Republican but that Democrats believe could come into play down the line.
and part of the reason they are losing is that they are tied to a super unpopular president: The GOP Bet It All on Trump. Now They’re Paying the Price.
Don’t look now, but the chickens are coming home to roost. Everything that Never Trumpers warned Republicans about Donald Trump is coming true.
As his failings become a matter of life and death for millions of Americans, they are also posing an existential threat for the Republican party that has already bet the House (and lost) on Trump, and is now betting the whole farm. They are in serious danger of losing not just the presidency but also the U.S. Senate, in 2020.
As National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar writes, “Of the 10 most-competitive Senate races, Democratic candidates outraised their Republican rivals in eight of them—often by massive margins.”
This is a recent development that is largely the result of Trump’s inability to manage a crisis.
A smart president would tell people from his party to run in whatever way will make them win. Obama told Democrats in 2012 to run with him or against him based on their own district. Think trump will make that smart move?
Trump campaign lashes out over 'Don't defend Trump' memo
Earlier this month, the Senate Republican campaign arm circulated a memo with shocking advice to GOP candidates on responding to coronavirus: “Don’t defend Trump, other than the China Travel Ban — attack China.”
The Trump campaign was furious.
The episode illustrates how the Trump political apparatus demands — and receives — fealty from fellow Republicans and moves aggressively to tamp down on any perceived dissent within the GOP. The president maintains an iron grip on his party, even as his poll numbers sag and he confronts fierce criticism from Democrats over his response to the coronavirus pandemic.
LOL. His ego is way more important to him than being smart. Good.
And meanwhile, our party is giving us plenty to cheer for:
Democrats are Amazing
House says it wants to keep investigating Trump for possible impeachable offenses
The House Judiciary Committee says it needs grand jury secrets from the Mueller investigation as soon as Friday, so it can keep investigating President Donald Trump for potentially impeachable offenses, even during the coronavirus shutdown, according to a new court filing.
The House told the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit on Wednesday the court shouldn't delay access to the Mueller material, which the appeals court previously decided the House could see.
Senators demand answers from Pompeo on Wuhan lab cables
The State Department was warned two years ago of safety concerns at a Wuhan lab doing dangerous research on bat coronaviruses. Now, two Democratic senators want to know if those warnings were ignored — and why, despite these warnings, the Trump administration reduced our government’s health presence in China before the novel coronavirus pandemic broke out.
Schumer, Warren demand investigations of small business loans
Sens. Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats are calling on government watchdogs to investigate the $670 billion small business rescue program that Congress replenished with funding this week, amid concerns that large companies got too much of the money.
Senate and House Democrats sent requests to the inspectors general of the Small Business Administration and the Treasury Department asking them to investigate how banks implemented the Paycheck Protection Program and whether businesses that received funds were really in need.
Exclusive: One Democrat’s plan to stretch expanded unemployment insurance through December
A new bill introduced by Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) would extend the amount of time people who are unemployed due to the coronavirus can stay on the federal government’s expanded unemployment insurance until December 31, 2020.
“We can’t have these short-term interventions for what will be a long-term problem,” Kildee told Vox in a recent interview. “We need to scale the response to the actual crisis.”
Democrats directly challenge Trump — and GOP incumbents — over president’s handling of pandemic
After three years of dodging White House scandals in their political campaigns, Democrats have shifted their focus to confront President Trump head-on over his handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Democratic super PACs and other liberal groups, following a brief political pause in the first weeks of the health crisis and economic free fall, have emerged with a strategy of directly confronting Trump on the biggest issue of the moment.
We are the majority
It is easy to watch those people storming state offices and assume that they are a real force and that most people feel that way. They aren’t and we don’t
Things not to worry about
Here are some things that may have had you worried in the past that you can let go of.
First, remember that really disturbing story about the ozone hole?
The largest-ever Arctic ozone hole developed this spring. Now, scientists say it's closed.
An ozone hole that formed over the Arctic this spring and eventually grew into the largest ever recorded there has closed.
Thus, despite what you may be thinking, it's recovery most likely can't be tracked to the
reduction in pollution due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"COVID19 and the associated lockdowns probably had nothing to do with this," the
group said on Twitter. "It's been driven by an unusually strong and long-lived polar vortex, and isn't related to air quality changes."
also, I was super worried about people who had the virus getting it again. Seemed very bad for a vaccine. Turns out it isn’t real either:
Tests in recovered patients found false positives, not reinfections, experts say
South Korea’s infectious disease experts said Thursday that dead virus fragments were the likely cause of over 260 people here testing positive again for the novel coronavirus days and even weeks after marking full recoveries.
Oh, were you worried that the new Flynn info is really bad for us? Stop worrying → The new Michael Flynn documents aren’t the bombshell Trump is making them out to be
What this effort to portray Flynn as a victim ignores is not only that the FBI already had evidence that he may have broken the law at the time the notes were written, but also that Flynn did lie to FBI officials during the January 24 interview, saying that he and Kislyak did not discuss sanction
Now, however, Trump is trying to reframe Flynn’s prosecution as a symptom of the same anti-Trump bias that produced the Mueller “witch hunt.” And with the Mueller investigation having wrapped up without charges being brought against him, Trump is trying to turn the tables against his old foes in law enforcement and the intelligence community.
Finally, it is easy to assume that this God awful SC is going to make every bad decision possible. It is easy to worry and be all “all is lost” when it comes to the SC. They do suck. But all isn’t lost:
A Republican effort to sabotage Obamacare was just rejected by the Supreme Court
On Monday, the Supreme Court voted 8-1 to reject a Republican effort to sabotage parts of the Affordable Care Act. The upshot of this decision is that health insurers will receive payments owed to them under Obamacare’s “risk corridor” program.
The vote in Maine Community was not close. Eight justices joined all or nearly all of Sotomayor’s opinion, leaving Justice Samuel Alito in a lonely dissent. That’s a bit of a surprising outcome given what was at stake in the case, which involved a $12 billion Republican scheme to sabotage Obamacare.
And yet, after years of litigation seeking to destroy the Affordable Care Act, and after many more years of partisan rancor bitterly dividing the two major political parties on whether Obamacare should continue to exist, only Justice Alito was willing to endorse this particular effort to undercut President Obama’s primary legislative accomplishment.
and: Supreme Court dismisses anticipated New York gun rights case because the law in question has been rescinded
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a major gun rights case from New York because the law in question has been rescinded, disappointing Second Amendment activists and several conservative justices, who said the court had been manipulated.
You Can Make A Difference
We managed to raise over $13,000 to take back the Senate! Thanks so much for all your donations!
We have a new way to donate!
The best path to saving our democracy will come if we take the White House, take the Senate, *and* keep the House of Representatives.
We set up a new fund to help us do all three! Your donation will be split between the 8 closest Senate races, the 7 closest House races, and the race for the White House!
One donation can address all three of those important areas!
Let’s do this!
Want to do something other than donate?
Want to help from the comfort of your quarantine? Of course you do. You don’t want to be the reason we lose, right?! Here are things you can do:
(click on the links):
Get involved with Postcards to voters. Postcards to Voters are friendly, handwritten reminders from volunteers to targeted voters giving Democrats a winning edge in close, key races coast to coast.
Register voters in key battleground states. Vote Forward has active campaigns going in 8 key states to encourage under-represented (potential) voters to register. In 6 of them, the packet you send to each potential voter will include the actual voter registration forms and instructions with pre-paid postage for that state. The folks at Vote Forward have collected data on this technique and determined that it does, indeed, appear to increase voter registration.
Text voters in key Senate races Payback Project has a comprehensive, four-pronged approach to make sure Republicans Senators are held accountable for their actions, their votes, and their enabling of Donald Trump.
Organize your community online The Democratic National Committee’s digital organizing team put together a list of ways you can keep organizing in your community online.
Do whatever we can to promote Biden in tweets and posts and emails and wherever. The same goes for other D candidates. Help them get positive recognition!
Also, contact your reps and senators on important issues like funding for the states and cities and for increased testing.
Finally, Saturday Funnies
all those damn bread pictures on social media:
For the trekkies:
and the Twilight Zone fans:
A couple of fans of The Office:
A few for those of us “home schooling” while also working from home:
Not all kids are human:
Sigh. This one really spoke to me:
a few from the “what now 2020!!!” edition:
just some silly:
A couple of political ones:
Can you get Bingo?
Meta humor:
And finally, a few for the married folks:
That is it for this week. I am so lucky and so proud to be in this with all of you ❤️ ✊ ❤️