Too Soon To Start Thinking About 2020? No, it's 2020!

[El Guapo]

A preview of the general election? Widespread problems at the polls in GA today. Problems were reported as soon as polls opened with polling places with machines not working and very long lines. If only there was a solution!?!

Is there evidence of malice vs. incompetence?

[malchior]

A preview of the general election? Widespread problems at the polls in GA today. Problems were reported as soon as polls opened with polling places with machines not working and very long lines. If only there was a solution!?!

Is there evidence of malice vs. incompetence?

I don't know if we can tell anymore.

Edit: Fixed broken link

[coopasonic]

I feel like malicious incompetence is an option at this point.

See the Trump's cabinet thread for examples.

[El Guapo]

A preview of the general election? Widespread problems at the polls in GA today. Problems were reported as soon as polls opened with polling places with machines not working and very long lines. If only there was a solution!?!

Is there evidence of malice vs. incompetence?

I don't know if we can tell anymore.

Are the problems worse in Democratic leaning areas than in Republican leaning areas?

I'm not sure if there's any reason to suspect active voter suppression at the primary level at this point, so I'm kind of interested in what the baseline is like for Georgia voting.

[malchior]

They had problems in 2018. Now the guy who screwed that up is in charge of the entire state. It is a good case for incompetence. However, perhaps they figure that the electorate is swinging against the GOP. So the question is why would you shape up when you can just appear incompetent? It is a no brainer since people apparently stopped caring about competence *long ago*.

[El Guapo]

So, there's this:

https://twitter.com/lbarronlopez/status ... 2605454340

Part of what I'm wondering / suspecting in general is that the state is spending more money maintaining polling places in more white and GOP friendly areas than in more African American and Democratic leaning areas.

[malchior]

Oh totally - I expect Roberts will realize his "mistake" imminently.

[LordMortis]

Live in a rural area or a middle class to affluent white conservative neighborhood whose district was picked for you by your state representative?

This confirms my bias so it must be true (though I seemed to have thought I typed affluent and/or white conservative suburban neighborhood to contrast against rural areas but did what I do and left my thought words out of my typing words)

https://twitter.com/lbarronlopez/status ... 2605454340

[Holman]

They had problems in 2018. Now the guy who screwed that up is in charge of the entire state. It is a good case for incompetence. However, perhaps they figure that the electorate is swinging against the GOP. So the question is why would you shape up when you can just appear incompetent? It is a no brainer since people apparently stopped caring about competence *long ago*.

In 2018, Georgia's GOP Secretary of State Brian Kemp was running for Governor and was allowed to oversee his own election.

(Wikipedia)

Irregularities in voter registration occurred prior to the day of the election: over 300,000 people were wrongly flagged by the state as being ineligible to vote, and 53,000 voter registrations were delayed by Kemp's office without adequately notifying the applicants. These irregularities, which disproportionately affected black voters, resulted in allegations that Kemp was using voter suppression to increase his chances of winning the contest. Georgia election officials responded to these allegations by stating that any voter flagged for irregularities could still vote, receiving a regular ballot (not a provisional ballot), by providing ID at a valid polling place, as is required of all voters by state law. Concerning the question of why the pending registration status mattered if those voters could vote normally at the polls, critics claimed that learning of this status might discourage those voters from turning out to the polls at all.

Kemp's margin of victory was fewer than 55,000 votes.

So weird that there were so many problems today in, yes, Democratic-leaning areas.

[malchior]

Remember this election will probably be the worst one you've ever seen.

https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1 ... 1546118147

[El Guapo]

It's terrifying. You have to assume that Trump's not going to hesitate to declare victory on election night, so when election results come back later against him....it's a huge shitstorm.

[Smoove_B]

It's a mystery!

https://twitter.com/abbydphillip/status ... 6150889478

Absentee ballot mystery: Georgia says 96% of ballots that were requested were delivered. Voters and local officials report many people did not receive them so they showed up in person. Vendor used by state says they sent out 100% of ballots. What happened? No one seems to know

It's really hard to not look at this like a smoke test to see what happens.

[Smoove_B]

This can't be serious:

https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1270770336418709505

This is a formal request. There is a letter from a lawyer.

Quote Tweet Donie O'Sullivan
Trump campaign demands CNN apologize for poll that shows Biden leading

[Isgrimnur]

Gallup

President Donald Trump's job approval rating has fallen to 39% amid nationwide protests about racial injustice. His ratings this year had been the best of his presidency but are now back near his term average of 40%.

President Donald Trump's current 39% job approval rating is down from 49% in the prior poll and the lowest since October 2018.

The latest reading is from a May 28-June 4 poll, conducted as protests occurred throughout the country after the May 25 death of George Floyd.
...
Forty-seven percent of Americans approve of President Trump's handling of the economy, a decline from 63% in January and 58% in February. Approval of Trump's handling of the economy had not been under 50% since November 2017, when 45% approved.

[hepcat]

Oh great, he's gonna sue Gallup now, isn't he?

[Isgrimnur]

They didn't mention Biden.

His current level of approval would make another term as president unlikely, given the historical relationship between job approval ratings and incumbent reelection. With five months to go before Election Day, there is still time for those ratings to improve and get back near the 50% level associated with incumbent reelection in the past, but also time for them to get worse and give the president even longer odds of winning a second term.

[pr0ner]

This can't be serious:

https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1270770336418709505

This is a formal request. There is a letter from a lawyer.

Quote Tweet Donie O'Sullivan
Trump campaign demands CNN apologize for poll that shows Biden leading

It is. CNN responds:
https://www.twitter.com/CNNPR/status/12 ... 5201576962

[malchior]

It was signed by a vigilante! Trump demands law & order!

[ImLawBoy]

It was signed by a vigilante! Trump demands law & order!

I work with that guy!

(Well, not directly, but we did attend the same company legal conference last October.)

[Holman]

It was signed by a vigilante! Trump demands law & order!

I work with that guy!

(Well, not directly, but we did attend the same company legal conference last October.)

What a letter! I suspect he'll never again have to buy his own drinks at a legal conference.

[Alefroth]

Gallup

President Donald Trump's job approval rating has fallen to 39% amid nationwide protests about racial injustice. His ratings this year had been the best of his presidency but are now back near his term average of 40%.

President Donald Trump's current 39% job approval rating is down from 49% in the prior poll and the lowest since October 2018.

The latest reading is from a May 28-June 4 poll, conducted as protests occurred throughout the country after the May 25 death of George Floyd.
...
Forty-seven percent of Americans approve of President Trump's handling of the economy, a decline from 63% in January and 58% in February. Approval of Trump's handling of the economy had not been under 50% since November 2017, when 45% approved.

He's falling harder than Martin Gugino.

[ImLawBoy]

It was signed by a vigilante! Trump demands law & order!

I work with that guy!

(Well, not directly, but we did attend the same company legal conference last October.)

What a letter! I suspect he'll never again have to buy his own drinks at a legal conference.

Almost certainly not, since no one ever pays for drinks at our legal conferences.

[Holman]

It was signed by a vigilante! Trump demands law & order!

I work with that guy!

(Well, not directly, but we did attend the same company legal conference last October.)

What a letter! I suspect he'll never again have to buy his own drinks at a legal conference.

Almost certainly not, since no one ever pays for drinks at our legal conferences.

Open-bar academic events are more rare, and they usually end with someone destroying their career.

[Isgrimnur]

It was signed by a vigilante! Trump demands law & order!

I work with that guy!

(Well, not directly, but we did attend the same company legal conference last October.)

What a letter! I suspect he'll never again have to buy his own drinks at a legal conference.

Almost certainly not, since no one ever pays for drinks at our legal conferences.

Open-bar academic events are more rare, and they usually end with someone destroying their career.

Beats waiting on a faculty death to open up the tenure track.

[Smoove_B]

https://twitter.com/DanRather/status/12 ... 7988318208

So. Let's set the stage...
President Trump has chosen as the venue for his first rally in months, Tulsa, Oklahoma, site of a horrific massacre of African Americans. And he has set the date for June 19th, Juneteenth, a celebration of the end of slavery in the United States.

Stephen Miller, earning his paycheck?

[El Guapo]

LeBron James and others are starting a voting rights group.

Good for them. We really can't have enough attention focused on voting between now and November.

[malchior]

I look forward to evaluating this madness. My short form guess? Mobilize white fear and hate. Just a guess.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/sta ... 9266628611

[El Guapo]

It's 100% going to be a three item list written out by Trump.

(1) Keep America Great
(2) THE WALL!
(3) More Liberal Tears

[Octavious]

I'm waiting for the caravan bs to start again. One thing he hasn't tried yet.

[Holman]

I'm waiting for the caravan bs to start again. One thing he hasn't tried yet.

Antifa is the new caravan.

The caravan is coming from inside the house!!!

[Octavious]

Nah we still need the angry outside brown men to scare up the troops. It's coming just wait.

[El Guapo]

https://twitter.com/ForecasterEnten/sta ... 7877772288

It's only one poll, BUT it's a high-quality poll. And even if she wins, if Ernst is facing a competitive race in IA, then the GOP is going to be losing a lot of races elsewhere.

[Zaxxon]

https://twitter.com/ForecasterEnten/sta ... 7877772288

It's only one poll, BUT it's a high-quality poll. And even if she wins, if Ernst is facing a competitive race in IA, then the GOP is going to be losing a lot of races elsewhere.

But isn't it too early for polls?

[malchior]

It is for predicting winners but we're getting close enough to be able to use them as indicators how competitive the race itself may be.

[Defiant]

From my recollection of previous elections, I think after the conventions/labor day, we start seeing Republicans/Democrats that have been flirting with the idea of voting for the other party start to come home (Also, those who flirt with voting for third parties, but some of those tend to linger longer, as third party poll numbers tend to stay higher than the final results).

But yeah, it does suggest how competitive the race will be, and does give an idea of how things stand *today*.

[Sudy]

I just had to stop by and say, every time I read the revised subject title, all I can hear in my head is Phil Hartman saying, “Works on contingency? No, money down!”

[Isgrimnur]

Colorado

A Loveland man faces felony charges after allegedly concluding that two men going door-to-door in his neighborhood were members of the protest movement known as Antifa – and then ordering them to the ground and holding them at gunpoint, 9Wants to Know has learned.

The incident unfolded after the man called police, said there were two men wearing masks near his home, and announced he was armed and going to go confront them, Loveland Police Lt. Bob Shaffer confirmed to 9Wants to Know.

When officers arrived in the 2400 block of Dawn Court around 6 p.m. Thursday, they encountered Scott Gudmundsen (pictured) – dressed in fatigues and holding two men on the ground at gunpoint, Shaffer said.

But the men weren’t troublemakers – they work for a local roofing company and were wearing blue polo shirts with the firm’s name on them, shorts, tennis shoes and white surgical-style masks, Shaffer said.

One of them is a Colorado State University football player who is 20 years old and works part-time at the roofing company. The student is a "man of color," according to a statement from the university.
...
Shaffer said that Gudmundsen called police, said there were two “Antifa guys” in the neighborhood and that, “I am going out there to confront them.” Gudmundsen told police in the call he was armed and wearing tactical gear, Shaffer said.

[Alefroth]

2020 even got Isg posting in the wrong thread.

[Zaxxon]

It is for predicting winners but we're getting close enough to be able to use them as indicators how competitive the race itself may be.

Hear that whooshing sound?

[RunningMn9]

I wonder how this trash person got the idea that these must be two Antifa guys?