I want to start out today with some reasons to be hopeful about the presidential election.
I’ve seen a lot of panicking about the Michigan poll and I get it. The former guy would be catastrophic so it is terrifying and mind boggling that it could happen.
But I am very hopeful.
Let me tell you why.
First, Democrats are working really hard
For example:
Democratic group plans $140 million voter testimonial onslaught against Donald Trump
Democrats began the search last summer, fanning out through the northern swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania to find the nurses, electricians, farmers and floor installers who could best testify to the danger of Donald Trump returning to power.
The previously unreported project by the outside group American Bridge 21st Century developed 732 leads, conducted 472 interviews and then filmed about 50 voters who will anchor a $140 million ad campaign starting this spring, aimed at reminding women and working-class voters why they voted against Trump in 2020, according to the group’s leaders.
The planned ad campaign will expand upon a smaller effort American Bridge launched in 2020 to turn working-class voters in the same states against Trump. This time, with the tacit support of the White House and President Biden’s team, the focus will narrow somewhat to working-class female voters in those states, with the possibility of expanding into North Carolina later, Beychok said.
Second, we have learned some about how to get people to vote and are fighting in courts and on the ground. Here are a few examples:
New Nashville program provides eligible jail inmates pathway to voter registration, restoration
People in county jails often are eligible to vote, and a new program in Nashville aims to guide potential voters through the process.
“The requirement to serve jail inmates has been around for a long time,” Davidson County Administrator of Elections Jeff Roberts said in an email. “The goal is to create a more effective and efficient program for both the Election Commission and the Sheriff’s Office. This new effort has no additional cost for Metro.”
Voter registration, navigating the absentee ballot request process, voting rights restoration support, and civics education will be a part of the new program, according to a news release from the Davidson County Election Commission, Sheriff’s Office and Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s office announcing the program, which started in late December. The Sheriff’s office is in charge of Metro’s jails.
Wisconsin Judge Partially Rejects Right-Wing Challenge To In-Person Early Voting Sites
a Wisconsin judge partially rejected a right-wing lawsuit brought by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) that sought to limit the availability of early, in-person absentee voting sites in the City of Racine.
In yesterday’s order, the judge agreed with WILL that Racine’s use of an “election van” in 2022 — which moved from place to place to allow for early, in-person absentee voting — violated Wisconsin law and held that Racine’s distribution of absentee voting sites unlawfully afforded an advantage to the Democratic Party.
However, the judge rejected the group’s other claims that aimed to undermine the use of in-person absentee voting sites more broadly.
In particular, the judge rebuffed WILL’s argument that in-person absentee ballot sites should be located as near as possible to the office of the municipal clerk or board of election commissioners. As a result of the ruling, Wisconsin municipalities can continue to offer early in-person absentee voting across multiple locations.
Federal Judge Rules North Dakota’s Legislative Districts Violate Voting Rights Act, Orders New Map
A federal judge ruled today that North Dakota’s legislative districts violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting Native American voting strength.
The ruling stems from a federal lawsuit brought by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Spirit Lake Tribe and individual Native American voters that went to trial in June. The tribal plaintiffs alleged that certain North Dakota legislative districts deprive Native American voters of an equal opportunity to elect their candidates of choice in violation of Section 2.
Third, I am pretty much ignoring polls this far away from November, but for those of you who were freaking out about that Michigan poll, here are some to cheer you up → Good New Polls in NH, PA
PA - A new large sample Quinnipiac poll has Biden up 3, 49-46. He was down 2 in this poll in October, 45-47, so this is 5 point gain. Biden won PA by 1.2 pts in 2020.
NH - Biden is up 8, 42-34 in a new USA Today/Suffolk poll. Biden won NH by 7.4 points in 2020.
and this:
Morning Consult and Economist/You Gov, have Biden-Trump at 43%-42% and 43%-43%. Since Thanksgiving, the race has stablized around these kinds of results, with Biden being tied or ahead now in a majority of recent independent polls. He has clearly recovered from a dip earlier in the fall, and it is no longer accurate to say that Trump has a polling advantage or leads in the election. It’s a close, competitive race right now, with lots of undecideds and people flirting with third parties. It’s why it’s good the Biden team turned is significantly ramping up it’s campaign now - it’s time to go out and win this thing.
Fourth. Trump is a much weaker candidate than he was in 2020.
He is far more degraded, extreme and dangerous. His public performances are far more erratic. He keeps making huge unforced political errors, almost daily, on things that really matter. 35%-40% of Republican voters are not supporting him. A majority are not supporting him in the four early states. His party has splintered, badly, and the NeverTrumpers are going to be a huge problem for him in 2024. We know from polling that he will take a big hit if people believe he has committed crimes, and courts have *already* determined that he committed sexual assault, decades long financial fraud and insurrection. In a Tweet I posted yesterday, I argued that there may be as many as 9 things that he’s already done that will make it very hard for him to win in 2024:
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His ongoing efforts to end American democracy
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That’s he’s a sex offender, epic fraudster, insurrectionist, stealer of state secrets, Russian fifth columnist - all of these are known, already
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That he and his family have taken more money from foreign governments than any other political family in American history
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No one is more responsible for ending Roe and stripping rights and freedoms from women than Trump
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He is now talking and raving like a madman - his public appearances are far more disturbing and delusional than 2020
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His deep relationship w/Epstein, one of the most significant sex traffickers and pedophiles in the modern history of the United States
Fifth, Biden is actually a great candidate! We just need to get the word out and lots of us are working on that. You can join the effort! I’ve been publishing a Boosting Biden post every weekday of this year and plan to continue to the election. You can share these every day (or some days) with Facebook groups or other groups via email with friends on other social media… anywhere! Educate other people about what Biden has done and we can win!
Here are the posts so far. Not too late to read and SHARE:
Dark Brandon Saved us From a Recession: Boosting Biden Day 1
Dark Brandon Destroyed Crime: Boosting Biden Day 2
Dark Brandon Reduced Inflation: Boosting Biden Day 3
Dark Brandon Put the First Black Woman on the Supreme Court: Boosting Biden Day 4
Dark Brandon Cleaned up the Great Lakes: Boosting Biden Day 5
Dark Brandon's Stimulus Saved the Economy: Boosting Biden Day 6
Dark Brandon Created Workforce Hubs to Retrain Workers for Modern Jobs: Boosting Biden Day 7
Dark Brandon Expanded ACA so 10 States have (almost) universal health care! Boosting Biden Day 8
Dark Brandon went after cheating 1%ers AND WON: Boosting Biden Day 9
Dark Brandon Protected People with Disabilities: Boosting Biden Day 10
Finally, I am optimistic about this election because i know what we can do. I’ve seen it. We outperformed every poll in 2022 and 2023 and the majority of special elections and we can do it again.
This is because of OUR HARD WORK. When we fight, we win.
So I know we will win because I know YOU will get involved!!!
What can you do?
Well, as already mentioned, you can share the boosting Biden posts.
You can also donate to re-elect Joe via the Good News community:
Looking for something else? Maybe something that doesn’t involve donating? GREAT! Here are some other ideas:
So pick just one and get to it!
Now onto more good news!
Democrats do great things
Record 20 million Americans signed up for Affordable Care Act coverage for 2024
Twenty million Americans signed up for affordable health insurance for 2024, breaking an enrollment record under the Affordable Care Act for the third consecutive year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Wednesday.
"With six days left to still get covered, 8 million more Americans have signed up for ACA coverage than when I took office," President Biden said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that most enrollees will be eligible to select a plan that could cost just $10 a month — or even less.
Mr. Biden also slammed Republicans who have blocked efforts to "build upon this progress and make these lower health care premiums permanent," alleging that the GOP's healthcare plan would raise healthcare costs for millions — specifically for elderly Americans and small business owners.
"That would be a catastrophe for families who would face skyrocketing health care costs. I won't let it happen on my watch," Mr. Biden said.
US producer prices unexpectedly fall; goods deflation seen persisting
U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell in December amid declining costs for goods such as diesel fuel and food, suggesting inflation would continue to subside and allow the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates this year.
The report from the Labor Department on Friday, which also showed prices for services were unchanged for the third straight month, implied that a pick-up in consumer prices last month was likely a blip. It led economists to anticipate that the key price measures tracked by the U.S. central bank for its 2% inflation target rose moderately in December from the prior month.
"The inflation pipeline is clearing and consumer prices will gradually get to the Fed's 2% target," said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Biden denounces 'poison' of white supremacy in South Carolina Black church
U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday denounced white supremacy and political violence in a direct message to Black voters during a visit to South Carolina
Biden spoke from the pulpit of the historic Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, where avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof gunned down nine Black parishioners in 2015
Describing the 2015 attack at the church, Biden said: "The word of God was pierced by bullets of hate and rage propelled by not just gunpowder, but by a poison. Poison that has for too long haunted this nation. And what is that poison? White supremacy ... This has no place in America — not today, tomorrow or ever."
Trump failed to concede the 2020 election or acknowledge the votes of millions, Biden said, despite dozens of court cases affirming Biden's victory.
"He's a loser," Biden said, drawing applause from hundreds attending the speech.
Crime in 2023: Murder Plummeted, Violent and Property Crime Likely Fell Nationally
Murder plummeted in the United States in 2023, likely at one of the fastest rates of decline ever recorded. What’s more, every type of Uniform Crime Report Part I crime with the exception of auto theft is likely down a considerable amount this year relative to last year according to newly reported data through September from the FBI.
Bad News for Bad Guys
Judge Signals Trump Is Doomed in New E. Jean Carroll Trial
With Donald Trump’s second rape defamation trial only one week away, a federal judge has rewarded the billionaire’s unceasing legal insolence and delusional defense strategy with a brutal order laying out just how punishing the court battle is going to be.
Until recently, the former president’s lawyers had been preparing for the upcoming defamation trial as if the first one never happened—seeing it as a chance to rewrite history and try to clear Trump’s name after a jury last year concluded he sexually assaulted the journalist E. Jean Carroll decades ago.
But on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan made it clear that Trump is not getting another go at whether he raped Carroll.
“In other words, the material facts concerning the alleged sexual assault already have been determined, and this trial will not be a ‘do over’ of the previous trial,” Kaplan wrote in an order.
Calm Down, the Allegations Against Fani Willis Won’t Put Trump’s Georgia Prosecution at Risk
The motion was filed by attorney Ashleigh Merchant who represents Trump co-defendant Michael Roman—a former Trump campaign official—and accuses DA Willis of misconduct, conflict of interest, and even possible federal crimes based upon Merchant’s unsupported claim that Willis had “engaged in an improper and clandestine personal relationship during the pendency of the case” with a special prosecutor she hired to work on the case.
Holding aside the fact that the motion manages to ramble on for 39 pages without offering any proof of a relationship between the two prosecutors, the motion’s legal theory is defective because at most the allegations amount to an HR personnel issue, not a prosecutorial misconduct—one much less a supposed federal crime.
‘Shocking’ Reality of Ukraine Blowback Hammers Putin at Home
For years, Russian government officials and state media propagandists have been claiming that Western sanctions don’t cause any real harm to their economy and to the contrary, actually help it develop. But the main industry that seems to be thriving despite the sanctions is the country’s military-industrial complex. As for everyday people, their lives are progressively getting worse.
The relative stability of the Russian economy is ensured by injections of trillions of rubles from the budget, secured through the National Welfare Fund (NWF). Since the beginning of the invasion, half of this stash has already been spent. Analysts say that the remaining liquid part of the National Wealth Fund, $52 billion, wouldn’t be enough to handle another crisis.
The Russian ruble showed its strongest decline since 2015 and became one of the three weakest currencies of developing countries tracked by Bloomberg. This comes at the same time as a “demographic catastrophe” bemoaned by Russian experts and commentators, which has seen migration exacerbate a natural population decline in almost half of the regions. Migrants from the CIS nations are also less inclined to work and live in Russia, due in part to a weakening ruble and also because police raids, rounding up migrants for military mobilization, have become so frequent.
Russia is certainly not escaping the economic and demographic consequences of its own actions.
On the Lighter Side
that one was for the Steve Miller Band fans.
that last one was for fans of The Bear. You ladies know what I mean ;-)
I am so lucky and so proud to be in this with all of you 💓💚💛🧡✊🏻✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿✊❤️🧡💛💚