elections

Dems Need To Make Midterms Single-Issue Election

February 8, 2022 By John DeProspo 3 Comments

Forget about “Build Back Better.” Leave that and all other policy proposals for another day.

If Democrats want to be successful in the upcoming midterm elections (hold the House and gain seats in the Senate) they need to emphasize one thing and one thing only … they are the party that is standing up for our system of government and the Constitution. Heck, you could say they are the one major political party fighting to protect democracy itself.

In a resolution formally censuring GOP Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, the Republican National Committee last week described the events surrounding the January 6, 2021 insurrection as “legitimate political discourse.”

How incredible and messed-up is that! The official arm of the Republican Party has made a choice. They are siding with the traitors and insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol and tried to stop the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as the newly-elected president. They’ve gone all-in with Donald Trump and his Big Lie.

What an amazing gift for the Democratic Party!

Going into the midterms, Democrats need to keep their message simple because the choice really is simple. You are either on the side of democracy and the Constitution or you are on the side of traitors and insurrectionists. You are either on the side of a party that believes in the rule of law or on the side of one that believes in taking the law into its own hands.

That wise old evil owl, Mitch McConnell, knows what the RNC did is not good for his party. He came out today saying what occurred on January 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol, was “a violent insurrection.” McConnell said the committee should not be “singling out members of our party who may have different views from the majority,” adding that it’s “not the job of the RNC.”

Sorry, Mitch, but it’s a bit too late for damage control. The bed’s been made. The Republican National Committee showed its hand. It will not retract the statement as it would not be the Trumpian thing to do.

Call me a silly optimist but I have to believe that if given a choice between a true functioning democracy or a Turkish-style “democracy”, most Americans, including independents and moderate Republicans (yes there are still some) will choose the former.

The Republicans have handed the Democrats a hammer and they need to pound the Party of Trump over the head with it every day.

To paraphrase a wise old political strategist … “It’s the democracy, stupid”

Photo | abcnews.com

Cyber Ninjas Hires Bill Barr To Summarize Arizona Audit Report

September 25, 2021 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

Reprint from moronmajority.com

In an effort to stem the confusion surrounding the release of its Arizona audit report, Cyber Ninjas has hired former Trump Attorney General, William Barr, to distill the essential findings.

At a news conference this morning, Barr said, “While the audit showed Biden receiving more votes than Trump, that doesn’t necessarily mean Biden won the contest. Some are actually claiming the report ‘conclusively shows there were enough fraudulent votes, mystery votes, and fake votes to change the outcome of the election 4 or 5 times over’.”

Arizona Republicans are not happy with the work of Cyber Ninjas and are said to be contemplating another audit of the Maricopa County election results to be conducted by the little-known firm, Sumo Warriors.

Photo | people.com

*moronmajority.com is a satirical site … seriously!

For Trump, And Republicans, Not All “Invasions” Are Of Equal Concern

August 8, 2019 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

The word “invasion” has been much bandied about lately. For Trump and his allies, it refers to the hordes of brown-skinned people seeking to illegally enter our country. For our intelligence community, it’s about Russia’s attack on our country’s 2016 presidential election, and its continuing efforts to do so in 2020.

The thing about all this “invasion” talk is that one is 100% real; the other is 100% made up.

Russia did attack our country in order to help elect Trump. The crisis along our southern border is not one of forced entry but one of desperate people fleeing for their lives hoping to find asylum and safety in the U.S.

But even if you buy the Republican talking point that we have an “invasion” of dangerous people along our Mexican border, it seems not all “invasions” are created equally.

For Trump and his Republican lackeys, the two “invasions” are being treated entirely differently. For one, you do all you can to build a wall; for the other, you graciously open the front door.

There is no doubt Russia attempted, and succeeded I would say, to get Donald Trump elected president. But Republicans in Congress are just peachy keen with all that … so much so that they are, in effect, welcoming a repeat performance in 2020.

Mitch McConnell, aka “Moscow Mitch,” who, as leader of the Senate, has the power to do something about preventing a second assault on our elections, is refusing to even bring up bipartisan election security bills.

Heck, Donald Trump has had the chutzpah to publicly state he would welcome foreign interference in our next presidential election!

So where have Trump and his Republican handmaidens focused their “invasion” efforts? On the real or the fake?

Yep, they’ve been focused on building a costly, and useless, wall along our southern border; on throwing destitute asylum seekers into cages; on discouraging other migrants, desperate enough to make the 2000-mile journey from Central America to the U.S., by separating families at the border.

Yes we have an “invasion” problem in our country. But it’s not coming from our Mexican border. It’s coming 5000 miles away from the land of Putin.

Photo | salon.com

Democrats, You Need To Focus On What Really Matters In 2020

August 2, 2019 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

If you’ve watched any of the presidential debates so far, you have witnessed two things: (1) a number of Democrats offering up their progressive “wish lists” and, more importantly, (2) a group of Democrats attacking one another.

Yes, you first have to win the nomination before you can win the election. But this group of presidential hopefuls has focused too much on contentious, wonky policy discussions instead of presenting a more unified attack on Donald J. Trump.

The number one goal for Democrats in 2020 is to defeat the abomination currently occupying the White House. Period.

Look guys (and gals) most people know no matter how great your proposals, they will only die in the Senate … even if you regain the chamber! Unless you secure a filibuster-proof majority (60 votes) nothing will get done, Mitch or no Mitch.

The fact is most Americans already know you all want great things for the country: better and more accessible healthcare; for the U.S. to regain its rightful place on the world stage; comprehensive (and humane) immigration reform; to combat the threat of climate change.

Martin Longman of the Washington Monthly has observed, “If the Republicans maintain their majority in the Senate, the new Democratic president will not be enacting one iota of their top shelf legislative agenda. There will be nothing major on health care or college loans or immigration or climate change.”

Take the advice of Andrew Yang who, after the second presidential debate, stressed the need for Democrats to focus on beating President Donald Trump instead of attacking each other.

“I think it’s unfortunate,” said Yang when asked about the clash between Sen. Kamala Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden. “The Democrats need to focus on beating Donald Trump in 2020 and not beat each other up.”

So, Democratic presidential hopefuls, spend more time talking about Trump’s crimes and lawlessness; zero in on what he has done (and continues to do) to the very fabric of our democracy; drive home how four more years of Trump is unacceptable as it will leave us with an America we no longer recognize.

Candidates, you need to keep it simple. Your talk about what type of healthcare system is best is enlightening but it is only confusing the American public. They don’t want to see how the sausage is made. They just want what Donald Trump promised them when he ran for office.

“We’re going to have insurance for everybody,” said then-candidate Trump in an interview with The Washington Post. “There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can’t pay for it, you don’t get it. That’s not going to happen with us.”

Here’s the deal … just work out the details once in office … if you can get Senate Republicans (and those “conservative” Democrats) to go along with you!

Unite, don’t fight!

Photo | freepik.com

The Flip Side Of Energizing The Republican Base? Demoralizing The Democratic Faithful

June 19, 2019 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

Nancy Pelosi is intent on carrying out her “clever by half” slow-walking of the constitutionally mandated impeachment proceedings against perhaps the most vile and corrupt individual ever to occupy the White House.

One of the Speaker’s “main reasons” for tamping the brakes on even beginning an impeachment inquiry is that it would rile up Trump’s base. Hey, you wouldn’t want to stir up a hornet’s nest, right?

Impeaching Trump would also allow the master con man and media manipulator to play the “martyr card,” all to the detriment of a Democrat winning the presidency in 2020. And since the Senate will never vote to remove Trump from office, what’s the point?

Yet what Pelosi fails to recognize (or give enough credence to) is that by not doing her job, she is demoralizing her very own base. The same group that swept Democrats into power in the 2018 midterm elections on the hope and promise of holding the lawless Trump to account.

Pelosi’s calculated move of letting Trump twist in the wind for as long as possible could very well be the reason Trump gets re-elected in 2020.

Just like in 2016 when many Democrats were so disillusioned by the corrupt way the Democratic National Committee did everything to help Hillary Clinton get the Democratic presidential nomination, they just might sit out the 2020 election or vote third party.

When you add that very real possibility to the fact that Trump and his Republican cohorts will do everything in their power to stay in power, you have the recipe for electoral disaster for Democrats in 2020.

Disillusionment, in political terms, can often lead to voter cynicism and withdrawal. It gets people to believe there just is no justice and all politicians are the same (crooked). It’s the old “politics as usual” syndrome. It goes directly to the “I hate politics, a pox on all your houses” way of thinking.

Nancy Pelosi, as shrewd a politician as she is, may just resign many Democrats to the belief their vote doesn’t matter. The thinking could run along these lines: “We came out in droves in 2018 to give Democrats the power to remove Trump and you did nothing!”

Time is of the essence. An official impeachment inquiry needs to begin ASAP. Or Democrats run the risk of a demoralized and disillusioned blue electorate in 2020.

Photo | nypost.com

Democrats’ Big Win Reveals Stark Reality … We Are As Divided As Ever

November 8, 2018 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

Democrats won big on election night. They achieved their primary goal of retaking the House. Finally America might have a check on Donald Trump’s total disregard for norms, customs and the rule of law itself.

The much-anticipated “blue wave” did materialize. Democrats flipped over 30 House seats, took seven gubernatorial races (and counting), and made significant gains in down ballot races—winning over 260 state legislative seats with more to come.

But many Democrats are not celebrating their big night. Perhaps it’s because the “blue wave” came with a harsh red undertow.

Three red-state senators lost their races, giving Republicans greater control of the Senate. Two charismatic Democratic candidates – Beta O’Rourke in Texas and Andrew Gillum in Florida, lost their election bids, though narrowly.

What the midterms clearly revealed is that we are a divided nation mostly separated along urban-rural lines.

Defeated Claire MaCaskill of Missouri perhaps said it best: “The further you get from metropolitan areas, the more powerful Donald Trump is and the more allegiance there is to whatever he says or does.”

As Robert L. Borosage of The Nation writes, “Republicans are increasingly the party of rural, white, non-college-educated males, and aging and evangelical voters.” This so-called “Trump base” was susceptible to “Trump’s manic, unhinged, dishonest, and scurrilous campaigning…No doubt his blend of hate and fear helped build Republican turnout.”

But change may be in the air. Democrats made dramatic advances in formerly Republican suburbs, and in the Midwest, while continuing to gain in the Southwest.

Many Progressive ballot initiatives across the country fared well. The new Democratic House is expected to include 100 women.

Trump incredibly tweeted Tuesday’s election results were a “Big Victory” for him!

The truth is Donald Trump is a con man and more Americans are not falling for the sting.

As Borosage aptly put it, “The 2018 election exposed once more how divided the country is—but it also showed the tide is running against Trump’s hateful brand of politics and the party that he continues to deform.”

Photo | politico.com