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US Elections 2020 : The Joe Biden vs Donald Trump Thread

If Kanye West stands he would put a dent in the black votes of Biden.

Surprisingly it looks like Trump would lose easily this time.
 
Democrats in the United States could take a step towards wresting control of the US Senate from Republicans on Tuesday when voters in Maine, Texas and Alabama cast ballots in nominating contests.

Maine Democrats pick a challenger to Susan Collins, one of the Senate's most at-risk Republicans; Texas Democrats choose who will go up against Republican Senator John Cornyn in a Republican-leaning state that analysts said has become more competitive, and Alabama Republicans pick a candidate to take on Doug Jones, widely considered the chamber's most vulnerable Democrat.

President Donald Trump's dismal public approval numbers are weighing on his fellow Republicans, dimming the re-election hopes of senators in Colorado, North Carolina and Arizona and leaving even senior Republicans in conservative stakes like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's Kentucky having to work harder than expected to defend their seats.

Democrats would need to pick up four seats in the 100-member chamber for a majority if Trump is re-elected, or three if presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins the White House, giving the party a tie-breaking Senate vote.

"If the coronavirus continues to get worse and the economy doesn't improve, it's hard to imagine any president ... getting re-elected very easily, and it's hard to imagine that president's party doing well," said Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.

Democrats see Collins' Senate seat representing Maine as one of their top pick-up opportunities. Sara Gideon, the Democratic speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, has been leading Collins by a few percentage points in recent opinion polls even before Tuesday's primary between Gideon and two more left-wing Democrats, Betsy Sweet and Bre Kidman.

Collins is a moderate Republican first elected in 1996 who has long enjoyed a reputation for bipartisanship in a state with many independent voters. Her support eroded after she sided with Trump in several votes, including backing his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.

Collins' vote for Kavanaugh served to "enrage many Mainers, and it's caused a different reaction to Collins than there ever really has been before," said Mark Brewer, political science professor at the University of Maine.

U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) is flanked by Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and John Cornyn (R-TX) as he speaks about his new police reform bill unveiled by Senate Republicans during a news confe

In Texas, state Senator Royce West and Air Force veteran MJ Hegar are battling in a runoff race for the Democratic nomination to take on Cornyn.

The growth of young non-white populations on the outskirts of Texas' urban areas has made the state long dominated by Republicans more competitive, Blank said. Biden has built a five-point lead over Trump in Texas, a Dallas Morning News/University of Texas at Tyler poll said on Sunday.

The voting in all three states was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Democrats play defence in Alabama

In Republican stronghold Alabama, Republicans will pick between Jeff Sessions - a former US attorney general fired by Trump who now wants his old Senate job back - or political newcomer Tommy Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach endorsed by Trump.

A poll from Auburn University at Montgomery last week said Tuberville is 15 points ahead of Sessions. The results also showed the incumbent, Jones, faces a difficult battle for re-election against either Sessions or Tuberville, said poll director David Hughes.

In a 2017 special election, Jones became the first Democrat to win a Senate seat from Alabama in a quarter-century after defeating Roy Moore, whose campaign was derailed by accusations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls.

"Look, we've won when no one thought we could win," said Joe Trippi, strategist for the Jones campaign. "Most of the conventional wisdom out there about Alabama, and this race is wrong."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...imary-elections-3-states-200714154828508.html
 
Donald Trump has replaced his campaign manager Brad Parscale with veteran republican Bill Stepien four months before the US election.

Mr Parscale was Mr Trump's digital media manager during his 2016 election campaign and was promoted to campaign manager in 2018.

Despite being widely credited with helping bring about his surprise victory four years ago, the 44-year-old has now been demoted to his previous "digital and data strategies role", the president said on Twitter.

He wrote on Wednesday night: "I am pleased to announce that Bill Stepien has been promoted to the role of Trump Campaign Manager.

"Brad Parscale, who has been with me for a very long time and has led our tremendous digital and data strategies, will remain in that role, while being a Senior Adviser to the campaign.

"Both were heavily involved in our historic 2016 win, and I look forward to having a big and very important second win together."

Mr Parscale had been increasingly sidelined in recent weeks, with the president unimpressed by the publicity he had in the role.

But his comeback rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma last month appears to have been the final straw when just 6,200 people turned up amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The then-campaign manager had bragged a million people had requested tickets, leaving the president furious.

Poll numbers have also taken a hit over Mr Trump's handling of the US COVID-19 outbreak, which has killed more than 135,000 people and left 40 million without jobs.

Unlike his predecessor, Mr Stepien has been in politics for years and is a veteran Republican.

He worked for former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and served as Mr Trump's national field director in 2016.

Last month, Mr Trump promoted him to deputy campaign manager and brought back his former communications chief Jason Miller, taking away influence from Mr Parscale.

Although it comes just four months before the vote, the reshuffle is not expected to affect the day-to-day running of the campaign, with his son-in-law and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner ultimately in charge.

In 2016, shake ups became a feature of Mr Trump's election trail, with the president now on his fifth campaign manager in four years

https://news.sky.com/story/us-elect...rad-parscale-four-months-before-vote-12029415
 
Donald Trump's hopes of being re-elected in November appear to have been dealt a major blow after his Democrat challenger Joe Biden opened up a 15% lead in a new national opinion poll
 
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is facing pressure from contending groups inside his party as he prepares to interview a shortlist of women for the most important hire of his political career: His running mate.

Biden, who committed to choosing a woman for the job he held for eight years under President Barack Obama, said this week he expected the background vetting process to conclude around July 24. He would then interview each finalist before making a decision, expected by early August.

The selection of the vice presidential candidate has taken on outsize importance this year, reflecting the desperation to defeat Republican President Donald Trump among Democrats, who have agonised over which candidate would give Biden the biggest boost in the November 3 election.

Biden leads in national and battleground-state opinion polls as voters fault Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the subsequent economic recession and race relations.

Adding to the weight of Biden's choice is his age, he would be 78 at his January inauguration, making him the oldest US president, setting up his vice president as an early frontrunner for the 2024 race should he serve only one term.

"There's a lot of attention on this for a number of reasons, not least of which that Vice President Biden is 77 years old," former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.

Reid, who has had several conversations about the topic with Biden, said the list narrowed in recent weeks but remained fairly large.

The women under serious consideration include Senators Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth; US Representatives Val Demings and Karen Bass; former US National Security Adviser Susan Rice; New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham; and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, according to interviews with Democratic officials.

Harris cemented herself early on as a favourite after dropping her presidential bid, particularly among top fundraisers, who have Biden's ear and tend to be more centrist. Online betting site PredictIt puts her odds of being picked at 41 percent, far higher than any of the other candidates on the list.

The Biden campaign declined to comment on the search.

In making his choice, Biden has to balance many factors, including ideology, race and ethnicity, as well as candidates' ability to raise money, create enthusiasm and fulfil the traditional vice presidential "attack dog" role by going after Trump.

Alex Heckler, a member of Biden's national finance committee who backs Harris as running mate, said the ideal candidate given Trump's "bogus" allegations about Biden's lack of mental stamina would be someone who could attack Trump's shortcomings and be qualified to serve as president if needed.

Calls for a Black running mate

Perhaps the biggest question facing Biden is whether to select a Black woman following national protests over racial injustice following the police killing of George Floyd, an African American, in Minneapolis. Warren is the only white candidate on the shortlist, which includes five Black women as well as Grisham, who is Latina, and Duckworth, who is Asian American.

"As I am witnessing what is happening in this country right now, I am more convinced than ever that Joe Biden needs a Black woman as his vice presidential candidate," said LaTosha Brown, a co-founder of the advocacy group Black Voters Matter.

Leah Daughtry, a Democratic official who ran the 2008 convention that nominated Obama, the country's first Black president, has also lobbied Biden and top campaign officials like Anita Dunn to pick a Black woman.

"Nominating a Black woman will get you the enthusiasm that Joe Biden is going to need to run a successful race in this pandemic environment," she said.

Left-wing activists mounted a campaign to support Warren, who they argue would help unite the party's liberal faction behind the more moderate Biden and whose commitment to "big structural change" could address the country's deepening health and economic crises.

Biden Warren
Senator Elizabeth Warren is on a short list of potential vice presidents for Biden's campaign [Elise Amendola/The Associated Press]

Some progressive Black advocates pointed to Warren's attention to racial inequity in crafting her policy platform as a presidential contender, while noting that Harris's background as a prosecutor in California and Demings's as a police chief in Florida might make them less appealing to criminal justice activists.

"Representation is important; it's just not sufficient," said Maurice Mitchell, executive director of the liberal Working Families Party. Mitchell said he planned to make the case for Warren directly to Biden or his senior aides during an expected sit-down soon.

Among the other potential picks, Grisham could boost Latino turnout in key Sun Belt states like Arizona and Florida, which the campaign regards as an area Biden needs to shore up.

Duckworth, a military veteran who lost her legs in combat, would give the ticket a compelling personal narrative and help bolster the campaign's national security credentials.

Some advisers harbour doubts about whether Harris's ambition for higher office might upstage Biden's message. But Keith Williams, chairman of the Democratic Black Caucus in Michigan, a battleground state Trump narrowly won in 2016, said he told the Biden campaign that Harris was hands down the best option.

"She's been on the world stage. She has acquitted herself in the debates," he said. "She is the most likely choice that they should go with."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...ng-mate-search-continues-200717131737967.html
 
Trump calls Biden 'not competent' to lead the country

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump assailed likely opponent Joe Biden as "not competent" to lead the country, speaking as polls over the weekend showed deepening voter disenchantment with his own handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

"He's shot, he's mentally shot," Trump said about Biden in a wide-ranging interview with "Fox News Sunday."

He said that if Biden is elected on November 3, he would "destroy this country."

Trump made several unfounded or highly speculative accusations against the former vice president, saying he would "triple your taxes" and "defund the police."

He added, "Religion will be gone," referring to Democratic officials banning large church services to stem the virus spread.

The interview, which was taped in advance, came as new polling results showed support for Biden surging as doubts about Trump's handling of the pandemic grow amid a resurgence in many states.

Interviewer Chris Wallace told the president that a new Fox opinion poll showed Biden with a substantial lead over Trump not only on his ability to manage the pandemic and deal with racial unrest, but even -- by a single point -- on handling the economy, long a Trump strong point.

And a new Washington Post-ABC News poll has Biden leading Trump among registered voters nationwide by a resounding 15-point margin, 55-to-40 percent.

Trump dismissed such polling as "fake," saying White House surveys show him winning both nationally and in key swing states.

He repeatedly pummeled Biden, who has kept a relatively low profile amid the restraints imposed by the pandemic.

Trump claimed that the Democrat wanted to "defund the police" -- a battle cry of some anti-racist protesters -- and insisted that such language was in a Biden policy document, though he was unable to produce it when challenged by Wallace.

As he repeatedly questioned his rival's mental acuity, Wallace asked him directly if thought Biden was senile.

"I don't want to say that," Trump replied. "I say he's not competent to be president."

He questioned whether the Democrat could pass a cognitive ability test that he said he had "aced," and said the former vice president would fall apart under tough questioning.

"Let Biden sit through an interview like this, he'll be on the ground crying for Mommy. He'll say, 'Mommy, Mommy, please take me home.'"

Trump again defended his handling of the pandemic, claiming that "we are the envy of the world" on testing; and, of his early prediction that the virus would someday disappear, said, "I'll be right eventually."

He again opposed any national mandate for mask-wearing, saying, "I want people to have a certain freedom."

Trump said the economy was "doing very well," even as millions remain jobless.

And asked whether he would accept the election result in November, even if he loses, he repeated his position of 2016, saying, "I have to see ... I'm not going to just say yes."
https://www.brecorder.com/news/40006121/trump-calls-biden-not-competent-to-lead-the-country
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Trump won't commit to accepting result if he loses election <a href="https://t.co/x7OOWUnB7W">https://t.co/x7OOWUnB7W</a></p>— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/latimes/status/1284941832565252098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Trump wrongly claims US has lowest mortality rate

US President Donald Trump has said in an interview that the US has had the lowest mortality rate during the pandemic, a claim that is not true.

The country's more than 140,000 deaths linked to Covid-19 put it among the top 10 highest mortality rates, according to data collected by the Johns Hopkins University.

Trump made the statements in a contentious interview on Fox News, where he also claimed that his country was "the envy of the world" on testing.

Over the past day, the US recorded almost 64,000 new infections. It now has 3,768,056 confirmed cases, by far the highest number worldwide.
 
BREAKING: Joe Biden tells Muslim-Americans he will end Muslim ban on day one. Pledges to include Muslim American voices in his admin. if he wins.
 
Trump campaign runs Facebook ads on whether TikTok should be banned

U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign ran Facebook ads this weekend claiming that the Chinese-owned short video app TikTok is spying on users.

The ads link to a survey asking whether TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based tech giant ByteDance, should be banned in the United States. They also ask for respondents’ names and contact details.

“TikTok is spying on you,” claimed one ad. “TikTok has been caught red handed by monitoring what is on your phone’s clipboard,” it said.

TikTok is facing scrutiny in Washington over concerns that China could force the company to turn over its user data.

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States was “certainly looking at” banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok. India banned TikTok and other Chinese apps in June.

TikTok has said that it has never provided user data to China and that it would not do so if asked, and a spokeswoman told Reuters on Monday the company has “no higher priority than promoting a safe app experience that protects our users’ privacy.”

Last month, when Apple released to developers a test version of its iOS operating system with new privacy features, developers showed images of TikTok’s app triggering notifications that it was copying data from users’ clipboards, where data is temporarily stored while copying and pasting from one app to another.

TikTok said the notifications were caused by an anti-spam feature but it ended the practice June 27. here

TikTok also hit out at Facebook for running the ads. “Facebook is taking money for a political ad that attacks a competitor just as it’s preparing to launch a TikTok copycat,” the spokeswoman said in an email to Reuters.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company’s photo-sharing app Instagram will soon be expanding its test of a short video format called Reels to the United States,
according to media reports.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-u...er-tiktok-should-be-banned-idUKKCN24L2N2?il=0
 
from_da_lost_dim3nsion said:
Trump's got it in the bag . The silent majority is with him ( along with the crazy loud ones) .
Click to expand...

The majority of whites are with him. He is not winning the minority vote, which increases year by year. Thats going to cost him if minority turnout is at the same level it was for Obama.
 
It's amazing that they couldn't find anyone else to take on Trump. An old man whom the internet has been suspicious of for a long time, in regard to an alleged fondness for certain age groups.

I know these are serious things to play around with, even for someone like Trump. But other than his son making a reference and then claiming it was a joke, I haven't heard anything on this from the Trump camp. So maybe it was all an elaborate lie.

Unfortunately I just can't unsee the Youtube videos I've seen of creepy Biden during official ceremonies.
 
In the four months since Joe Biden effectively won the Democratic presidential nomination, he has focused on consolidating the party's divergent and often warring internal factions. As the closing stretch of the campaign nears, he is turning his sights on another, more elusive, prize - Republicans disaffected with President Donald Trump.

Biden's first score? Former Ohio Governor John Kasich, a Republican and frequent Trump critic, who is expected to speak at the Democratic National Convention on Biden's behalf next month. Kasich, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, is among a handful of high-profile Republicans likely to become more active in supporting Biden during the campaign.

Trump, meanwhile, is doing virtually nothing to expand his appeal beyond his most loyal supporters. Some Republican operatives believe the suburbs are lost while a contingent of high-profile Republicans is openly questioning the president's re-election message. In an acknowledgement of the mounting challenges, Trump named a new campaign manager last week.

In crucial battleground states such as Florida, some Democrats are concerned that Biden's current standing could be a high-water mark, however. Some polls suggest Biden's strength comes more from voters' displeasure with Trump than excitement about Biden, whose regular gaffes, long Washington record and recent attempts to appease progressives leave him in a tougher spot than some Democrats would like to believe.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the only Democrat elected to statewide office there, praised Biden's message and said he could appeal to rural and middle-class voters. But she said "it's way too early" to predict a victory.

"As we get closer, polls are going to get tighter," Fried said.

That happened in 2016 when Trump narrowly won the election after trailing Hillary Clinton in the polls for months. The Democrats' reluctance to enjoy the current moment reflects the sting of that loss, Biden's nagging vulnerabilities and Trump's mountain of campaign cash.

Trump's campaign has reserved $146m in television advertising, led by a $36.3m investment in Florida alone, according to data compiled by Advertising Analytics. That is more than double the next closest state, Ohio, where Trump has reserved $18.4m. Biden, so far, has not reserved any advertising for the final months of the campaign, although he's amassed a fortune in recent months that will allow him to compete, even if he cannot match Trump dollar for dollar.

While the specific ads have yet to be finalised, Trump's team signalled it was preparing to ramp up attacks on Biden's record and mental competence designed to "redefine" the lifelong politician and scare away tentative supporters. Underlying the strategy is a risky assumption that the coronavirus and related economic devastation will improve before voting begins.

"A lot of people know Joe Biden. They don't know about Joe Biden's record. Right now, he is this blank canvas," said Nick Trainer, the Trump campaign's director of delegates and party organisation. "As they get more and more information about what Joe Biden's done and what he'll do, I'm more and more confident."

Republicans working on congressional races across several battleground states believe the nation's suburbs, where higher-educated white voters have traditionally favoured the Republican Party, are almost completely lost for Trump. These voters, they warn, are more intensely opposed to Trump's re-election than they were during the 2018 midterm elections, when a suburban backlash allowed Democrats to seize a majority in the US House of Representatives.

The suburban shift is emblematic of Biden's potential to expand the Democratic coalition to include more women, seniors and moderate Republicans, who may have reluctantly voted for Trump or a third-party candidate in 2016, but may vote for a Democrat in 2020 after watching Trump struggle to govern.

Biden's team would not confirm specific discussions with Kasich, but deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield acknowledged the campaign has begun working with Republicans, just as it has worked with progressives in recent months. At the least, she said GOP backers could help mute Trump's efforts to paint Biden as a tool of the left.

"In terms of Republican supporters, I think it speaks to a career of being able to work across the aisle, of being able to actually get things done," Bedingfield said. "We welcome the support of anybody who'd rather see Joe Biden be president than Donald Trump."

Trump's team believes the president will eventually benefit when the explosion of coronavirus infections begins to subside, and the economy recovers.

So far, the numbers are moving in the opposite direction. The nation continues to break new records of daily infections, and several states have scaled back reopening plans.

"It's really a perfect storm coming. It's like Trump's on a sinking ship," said former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a prominent Biden ally.

"Everybody every day is now dealing with coronavirus in their personal lives," he told The Associated Press news agency in an interview. "Yeah, they're going to blame Trump. They should. And there's nothing he can do about it."

Still, McAuliffe warned: "If any party can screw this up, it's the Democratic Party."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...urting-republican-voters-200720183147996.html
 
Some of you are being extra cautious because of 2016. And I'm certainly not taking a Trump loss for granted - god knows dirty tricks what the GOP can pull.

However Biden has opened up a lead over Trump in the polls that is much larger than anything Obama in 2012 or Clinton in 2016 achieved. Not only does he lead in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin which is enough to win the Electoral College - but also in Florida and Arizona.

And he's done that despite not being the favourite of the Woke Twitter crowd who some posters think = the electorate who don't care about politics until election time.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-poli...rump-2020-winning-polls-polarization-election

That doesn’t mean Biden is taking base mobilization entirely for granted. But he’s doing it through the patient work of coalitional politics, not through public, polarizing stands on symbolic issues. The 100-plus page Sanders-Biden task force recommendations moved the substance of Biden’s agenda significantly to the left without tying Biden to any of the lightning rod issues that animate cable news conflict.
Click to expand...
 
Gharib Aadmi said:
The majority of whites are with him. He is not winning the minority vote, which increases year by year. Thats going to cost him if minority turnout is at the same level it was for Obama.
Click to expand...
Majority of white men are generally pro-Republican, but support for Biden amongst white women is up. Trump won white women 53-43 in 2016 according to exit polling.

EdDy6DzXYAAsIct


That number for non-college educated white voters looks bad for Biden - but bear in mind Clinton lost that group 28-67 to Trump in 2016 !

The real story though is with seniors (65+) who chose Trump over Clinton in 2016 by 8 points. Biden leads Trump with seniors, who turn up in far higher numbers than youngsters, by 5 points - presumably because they don't want to die from coronavirus by an incompetent President who won't fund testing. And seniors are very important to win Florida.
 
Trump orders voting districts to exclude people in U.S. illegally

President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Tuesday that would prevent migrants who are in the United States illegally from being counted when U.S. congressional voting districts are next redrawn, triggering swift rebukes from Democrats and threats of litigation.

U.S. census experts and lawyers say the action is legally dubious, and not easily executed in practice. Democratic-led states, including New York, and civil rights groups have already vowed to mount a legal challenge or said they are considering it.

If enacted, the plan could benefit Trump’s Republican Party by eliminating the largely non-white population of migrants in the United States illegally, creating voting districts that skew more Caucasian.

It could also cause populous states with large immigrant contingents to lose seats in the 435-member U.S. House of Representatives, including big left-leaning states like California - currently with 53 seats - and New York, with 27.

The process of drawing voting maps for federal congressional districts is known as apportionment.

“Including these illegal aliens in the population of the state for the purpose of apportionment could result in the allocation of two or three more congressional seats than would otherwise be allocated,” the memo said.

Redistricting, in which voting districts are redrawn to reflect changes in the population, is next slated for 2021, after the results of the 2020 U.S. census are in.

Each state will be given a share of the 435 congressional seats based on population. Historically, the distribution of seats has been based on total population, regardless of immigration status. Trump’s memo would exclude those not in the U.S. legally.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said in a statement the measure was “unlawful” and was “designed to again inject fear and distrust into vulnerable and traditionally undercounted communities, while sowing chaos with the Census.”

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-u...de-people-in-u-s-illegally-idUKKCN24M27R?il=0
 
As we mentioned earlier, President Trump has announced that the August Republican National Convention has been cancelled.

It had already been moved from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida, because of covid restrictions.

Trump blamed the “virus flare-up” for the cancellation.

Democratic Party officials have taunted the president over the announcement.

They have planned an almost entirely virtual convention in Wisconsin in August where Joe Biden will formally accept the party nomination.

A Democratic strategist involved in their conference planning said: "I wonder who will have the better convention - the party who recognised the limitations early on and have been planning for a mostly virtual/digital television production to capitalise on a prime-time audience of millions, or the clowns who keep moving theirs from place to place and have no concrete plan a month out."
 
Watchdog accuses Trump campaign of hiding $170m in spending

President Donald Trump’s re-election effort allegedly hid nearly $170m in spending from mandatory public disclosure by routing payments through companies tied to his former campaign manager, a government oversight group claimed on Tuesday.

The use of firms linked to former campaign manager Brad Parscale masked the ultimate recipients of the money, which the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) described as a "laundering" effort that violates election law, according to a complaint the group filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Trump communications director Tim Murtaugh disputed the allegations and said the "campaign complies with all campaign finance laws and FEC regulations".

Most of the payments by Trump's campaign committees were made to American Made Media Consultants, which has received at least $177m since 2018, according to FEC records. The other firm, Parscale Strategy, has collected at least $32m during that period, the records show.

The campaign said that American Made Media Consultants was formed to purchase advertising directly - and save money by not relying on middlemen. But records show the company instead acted as a clearinghouse for spending, while still using third-party vendors, which it was ostensibly created to avoid, the complaint states.

In at least two cases, outside firms owned by Trump's digital director Gary Coby appeared to have been the firm tapped to make purchases or develop digital communication products, though there is no record of payments made to Coby in Trump's campaign finance disclosures, according to the complaint.

Meanwhile, Parscale Strategy has been used to pay the salaries of some Trump re-election officials, including Lara Trump, the wife of Trump's son Eric, and Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Trump's eldest son, Don Jr, the complaint states.

Parscale, a political novice and ally of Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, ran Trump’s digital advertising in 2016 and was credited with helping bring about his surprise victory that year with micro-targeted online advertising campaigns on social media platforms such as Facebook.

Earlier this month, facing increasingly dismal poll numbers, Trump replaced Parscale as campaign manager with Republican operative Bill Stepien, who worked for former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and served as Trump’s national field director in 2016.

Trump and Parscale’s relationship had been increasingly strained in the run-up to the change, with the president annoyed by the publicity Parscale had garnered in the role. But the final straw appeared to be a Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally last month that drew an unexpectedly low crowd of about 6,200 people after Parscale had bragged that more than a million people had requested tickets.

Parscale remains employed by the campaign as a senior adviser for digital strategy.

In a statement, Murtaugh did not address the salaries paid through Parscale Strategies. But he said that American Made Media Consultants is not paid a fee and does not earn a commission.

"It builds efficiencies and saves the campaign money by providing these in-house services that otherwise would be done by outside vendors," Murtaugh said. "The campaign reports all payments to AMMC as required by the FEC."

Brendan Fischer, a lawyer with the CLC, said the campaign was improperly avoiding mandatory disclosure.

"This illegal conduit scheme leaves voters in the dark about the entities working for the Trump campaign, the nature of their services and the full amount they are paid," Fischer said. "We don’t know all of what is being hidden by this scheme, but we do know that it violates the law."

While the CLC bills itself as a non-partisan organisation and was founded by a Republican who once worked on late Senator John McCain's 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns, its work in recent years has tended to be on behalf of left-of-centre causes such as felons' voting rights and voter suppression issues. Its leadership includes veterans of the left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union, and it received funding from ActBlue and the George Soros Open Society Foundations.

In any event, it is unlikely that the group's complaint will be taken up by the FEC before the election. The federal agency can take years to address complaints and it often deadlocks along partisan lines.

Earlier this month, one longtime commissioner announced she was stepping down, denying the FEC enough members to legally meet to conduct business.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...ign-hiding-170m-spending-200728171151102.html
 
Democrat Biden says he will name running mate in first week of August

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday he would name his running mate in the first week of August, days before he formally accepts his party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention.

Biden’s search for a vice presidential candidate has drawn intense scrutiny, in part because he would be the oldest president in U.S. history at 78 years old as of Inauguration Day.

Biden has vowed to select a woman to join his ticket ahead of November’s election against Republican President Donald Trump.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-u...te-in-first-week-of-august-idUKKCN24T2ZR?il=0
 
Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden has promised to spend tens of billions of dollars to help people of colour overcome economic inequality, if he wins the election in November.

In a speech in his home town of Wilmington, Mr Biden promised to boost opportunities for Black, Latino and Native American businesses.

He accused President Donald Trump of stoking the flames of racism.

He also accused Mr Trump of failing to protect people from coronavirus.

Mr Biden holds a clear lead over the president in national polls.

He said he would choose his running-mate "in the first week in August". He has already promised to choose a female vice-presidential candidate.

"This election is not just about voting against Donald Trump," Mr Biden said.

"It's about rising to this moment of crisis, understanding people's struggles and building a future worthy of their courage and their ambition to overcome."

The former vice-president to Barack Obama accused Mr Trump of playing politics of division.

"This is about trying to split the country. And so far, thank God, the American people aren't having any of it," he said.

"Did you ever think you'd see 77% of the people saying Black Lives Matter? Because they see what happens. And they're not buying into this racial division. That's what he's done since the beginning."

Mr Biden said he would "leverage more than $150 billion [£116 billion] in new capital and opportunities for small businesses that have been structurally excluded for generations". This would include by increasing access low-interest business loans.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53575883
 
U.S. Republicans worry China might use TikTok to meddle in election

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of top Republican U.S. Senators on Tuesday ramped up pressure on TikTok, asking the Trump administration to assess the threat that the popular Chinese-owned video sharing app might meddle in U.S. elections.

In a letter dated Tuesday, Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton and other lawmakers cited alleged censorship by TikTok of sensitive content, including a video critical of China’s treatment of its Uighur minority, as well as alleged attempts by Beijing to manipulate political discussions on social media apps.

“We are greatly concerned that the (Chinese Communist Party) could use its control over TikTok to distort or manipulate (political) conversations to sow discord among Americans and to achieve its preferred political outcomes,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODHI), the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

A spokesperson for the company said that TikTok, though not a “go-to” for political news, was “proactively investing to safeguard our app” and taking cues from the experience of peers during the last election.

“TikTok already has a strict policy against disinformation, and we don’t accept political ads,” the person said, adding that content and moderation policies are led by a California-based team and aren’t “influenced by any foreign government”.

The FBI and DHS did not respond to requests for comment while an ODNI official confirmed receipt of the letter and said “we will respond accordingly.”

Chinese foreign spokesman Wang Wenbin, speaking at a daily news conference in Beijing on Wednesday, said that China has no interest in the U.S. election and urged certain people in the United States to stop “suppressing” Chinese companies.

The U.S. lawmakers, joined by Republicans Ted Cruz, Joni Ernst Thom Tilis, Kevin Cramer and Rick Scott, asked the officials to say whether Beijing could amplify certain political views and conduct influence operations through the popular app, which is owned by Beijing ByteDance Technology Co.

“If evidence emerges of CCP electoral interference via TikTok, would ByteDance be eligible for sanctions” under an executive order on foreign electoral influence, the lawmakers asked.

TikTok is in the crosshairs of the Trump administration as U.S.-China ties have soured over the pandemic and Beijing’s move to curb freedoms in Hong Kong. This month, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said action was imminent to address national security risks posed by TikTok.

Trump’s poll numbers have been sagging as he prepares to face Democrat Joe Biden in the November election. In 2019, special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s report found extensive cases of Russian meddling that benefited the Trump campaign in the 2016 election.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...se-tiktok-to-meddle-in-election-idUSKCN24T309
 
The Viper said:
Democrat Biden says he will name running mate in first week of August

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday he would name his running mate in the first week of August, days before he formally accepts his party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention.

Biden’s search for a vice presidential candidate has drawn intense scrutiny, in part because he would be the oldest president in U.S. history at 78 years old as of Inauguration Day.

Biden has vowed to select a woman to join his ticket ahead of November’s election against Republican President Donald Trump.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-u...te-in-first-week-of-august-idUKKCN24T2ZR?il=0
Click to expand...

Hopefully it’s Warren or Harris
 
Donald Trump has called for November's presidential election to be postponed, saying increased postal voting could lead to fraud and inaccurate results.

He suggested a delay until people can "properly, securely and safely" vote.

There is little evidence to support Mr Trump's claims but he has long railed against mail-in voting which he has said would be susceptible to fraud

US states want to make postal voting easier due to public health concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

In a tweet, Mr Trump said "universal mail-in voting" would make November's vote the "most inaccurate and fraudulent election in history" and a "great embarrassment to the USA".

Earlier this month, six US states were planning to hold "all-mail" ballot elections this November: California, Utah, Hawaii, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.

These states will automatically send postal ballots to all registered voters, which then have to be sent back or dropped off on election day - although some in-person voting is still available in certain limited circumstances.

Does US postal voting lead to ‘tremendous fraud’?
About half of US states allow any registered voter to vote by post on request.

Critics of postal voting argue that people could vote more than once via absentee ballots and in person. Mr Trump has in the past said there was a risk of "thousands and thousands of people sitting in somebody's living room, signing ballots all over the place".

However, there is no evidence of widespread fraud, according to numerous nationwide and state-level studies over the years.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53597975
 
Top Republicans have rejected President Donald Trump's suggestion that November's presidential election should be delayed over alleged fraud concerns.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy both dismissed the idea.

Mr Trump does not have the authority to postpone the election, as any delay would have to be approved by Congress.

Earlier, the president suggested that increased postal voting could lead to fraud and inaccurate results.

He floated a delay until people could "properly, securely and safely" vote. There is little evidence to support Mr Trump's claims but he has long railed against postal voting, which he has said would be susceptible to fraud.

US states want to make mail-in voting easier because of public health concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Trump's intervention came as new figures showed the US economy had suffered the worst contraction since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

How have Republicans reacted?
Senator McConnell said no US presidential election had ever been delayed before.

"Never in the history of this country, through wars, depressions and the Civil War, have we ever not had a federally scheduled election on time. We will find a way to do that again this November third," he told local Kentucky station WNKY.

Mr McCarthy echoed him. "Never in the history of the federal elections have we ever not held an election and we should go forward with our election," he said.

Trump ally Senator Lindsay Graham meanwhile said a delay was "not a good idea".

However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to be drawn on Mr Trump's suggestion. Quizzed by reporters on whether a president could delay an election, he said he would not "enter a legal judgement on the fly".

The spokesman for Mr Trump's re-election campaign, Hogan Gidley, said Mr Trump had just been "raising a question".

Donald Trump can't delay November's presidential election without Congress, partially controlled by the Democrats, first approving the decision. If he didn't already know this, someone has certainly told him by now.

The president also must know that tweeting about a delay - even framed as an "I'm just asking!" question - is sure to ignite a political firestorm, particularly after he has repeatedly refused to say whether he'd accept an adverse result in the upcoming presidential election.

Mr Trump appears to be doing everything in his power to undermine the credibility of November's vote, in which a record number of Americans are predicted to rely on mail-in voting to avoid the risk of exposure to the coronavirus. He's repeatedly made false and misleading claims about the reliability of the mail balloting and suggested broad conspiracy theories. Critics warn that he could be laying the groundwork for contesting the results - although the purpose may be simply to give him a scapegoat if he loses.

His tweet could also be an attempt to divert attention away from the truly dismal second-quarter economic numbers just released. He's been relying on a financial turnaround to breathe life into his re-election campaign, and instead the outlook appears exceedingly gloomy.

Whatever the reason, tweeting about an election delay is not the move of a candidate confident of victory - and could be a sign of more desperate moves to come.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53599363
 
Former US President Barack Obama has sharply criticised what he described as Republican attempts at voter suppression in a speech at civil rights leader John Lewis's funeral.

He said people in power were "attacking our voting rights with surgical precision" and called for wide reform.

He also decried the police killing of George Floyd and the subsequent use of federal agents against protesters.

Lewis died of cancer earlier this month aged 80.

He was one of the "Big Six" civil rights leaders, which included Martin Luther King Jr, and helped organise the historic 1963 March on Washington.

In a fiery eulogy delivered in Ebeneezer Baptist Church in the city of Atlanta, Mr Obama, a Democrat, launched a stinging attack on Republican President Donald Trump's administration and some police departments.

"Today we witness with our own eyes, police officers kneeling on the necks of black Americans," he said. "We can witness our federal government sending agents to use tear gas and batons against peaceful demonstrators."

He said people in government were "doing their darnedest to discourage people from voting" by closing polling stations and imposing "restrictive ID laws" on minorities and students.

Mr Obama singled out the role of the US postal service in delivering postal votes amid the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier on Thursday Mr Trump suggested the 2020 presidential election in November should be delayed because he said - without providing evidence - that postal voting would enable large-scale voter fraud.

Mr Obama also proposed a series of reforms to voting in the US, including:

He also called for people in Washington DC and Puerto Rico to have the same representation as other Americans, a long-cherished ambition of Democrats.

Washington is a federal district and so does not have representatives in Congress, but only a delegate to the House of Representatives with limited powers. Puerto Rico is a US territory that does not have representation in Congress and Puerto Ricans cannot vote in presidential elections.

And he called for an end to the filibuster - which requires 60 votes to pass legislation instead of a simple majority of 51. He described it as a "Jim Crow relic". Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation in southern states until 1965 and were used to disenfranchise black people.

"If all this takes eliminating the filibuster, another Jim Crow relic, in order to secure the God-given rights of every American, then that's what we should do," he said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53603501
 
The US Republican Party's vote to nominate its presidential candidate this month will be held in private, without press in attendance.

A Republican National Convention spokeswoman gave coronavirus health guidelines as the reason, the Associated Press reports.

Delegates are due to gather in North Carolina to formally renominate President Donald Trump.

The 336 delegates will meet on 24 August in the city of Charlotte.

They will cast proxy votes for some 2,500 official delegates. Mr Trump is the party's sole remaining nominee, and his renomination will officially launch his re-election bid.

The party was "working within the parameters set before us by state and local guidelines regarding the number of people who can attend events", the spokeswoman said.

The decision marks a significant change for the convention, which historically has worked to draw media attention to spread party messaging to the public.

Mr Trump had switched the location of the convention to Jacksonville, Florida, after the Democratic governor of North Carolina insisted in May on limiting the crowd size at the convention, on the grounds of social distancing.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53626546
 
Joyce Elliott, an Arkansas state senator who is seeking a seat in the United States Congress in November, was the second Black student to attend her local public high school; the first was her older sister. If elected in November, she will be the first Black lawmaker in Congress from Arkansas, ever.

On the campaign trail in June, Elliott attended a demonstration against racism in White County, which is more than 90 percent white, and spoke to attendees in the shadow of a Confederate monument.

The November election is a "chance to change our history," she told the Reuters news agency in an interview afterwards. "I really decided I needed to run because I could see a pathway to winning."

As the US grapples with a deadly coronavirus pandemic that has disproportionately sickened and killed Black Americans and recent upheaval over police brutality, a record number of Black women are running for Congress.

Elliott is one of at least 122 Black or multi-racial Black women who filed to run for congressional seats in this year's election; this figure has increased steadily since 2012, when it was 48, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP).

As primary season draws to a close, nearly 60 Black women are still in the running, according to Collective PAC.

"People are becoming more comfortable with seeing different kinds of people in Congress. You don't know what it looks like to have powerful Black women in Congress until you see powerful Black women in Congress," said Pam Keith, a Navy veteran and lawyer who is running in the Democratic primary for a Florida congressional seat.

Black women make up nearly 8 percent of the US population, but 4.3 percent of Congress, according to a report by the CAWP and Higher Heights for America, a political action committee that seeks to elect more progressive Black women to elected office. They are underrepresented in statewide executive's jobs and among mayors as well, according to the report.

But Black women voters showed the highest participation rate of any group in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.

Historically, Black women have been more likely to win in majority-Black districts, but many are running this cycle in majority-white or mixed districts, some of which had previously voted for Republicans.

"We're going to flip this seat from red to blue," said North Carolina's Patricia Timmons-Goodson, the first Black judge to serve on the state Supreme Court and a former member of the US Civil Rights Commission. "We have a candidate that knows and understands the district and its people," said Timmons-Goodson, who is running for a seat in Congress.

Several of the eight Black women congressional candidates Reuters spoke to said they relate to voters better than their often wealthier opponents, because they, too, have lived through financial hardships.

"We almost lost our house a couple of times. We ran into financial difficulties when I was first starting my business," said Jeannine Lee Lake, a former journalist who is running for Congress from Indiana against US Vice President Mike Pence's brother, Greg Pence, an incumbent business executive who reported millions in assets last election cycle.

The coronavirus crisis has also highlighted the importance of issues these women are running on - improving healthcare, creating better jobs and improving access to broadband internet.

"It really has just amplified and co-signed what I was already talking about with voters," such as the importance of agriculture and expanding Medicaid, said Alabama's Adia McClellan Winfrey, who holds a doctorate in psychology and is chair of the Talladega County Democratic Party.

Ohio candidate Desiree Tims returned home in 2019 after a stint in Washington, DC, as a congressional aide and White House intern, intending to work at a law firm and pay down her student loan debt.

But she decided to run after watching people come together to bag clothes, share food and provide shelter following a rash of tornadoes that tore across the state, with little support from the federal government.

"After coming back from Washington, DC, what I saw was the community doing the work, but their tax dollars not working for them," Tims said.

Kimberly Walker, a veteran and former corrections officer from Florida running for Congress, says the solution to that discrepancy is clear.

"We need to have more people, average, everyday American citizens who are there fighting for average, everyday American citizens," she said.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...en-running-congress-2020-200730162301866.html
 
WASHINGTON: The Urdu service of Voice of America (VOA) has landed itself in the middle of a struggle between America’s two major parties — Republican and Democratic — to win over Muslim votes.

Some Urdu journalists may lose their jobs for airing a video that favours Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

There are only 3.5 million Muslims – about 1.1 per cent of the total US population – and apparently that’s why no party made a serious attempt to grab Muslim votes in previous elections. But this election is different.

And this point was also highlighted in the revised Urdu content of the July 22 video, which initiated the probe. “The number of Muslim voters in several key US states could play a significant role in the upcoming presidential election. In the 2016 election, President Trump won Michigan with less than 11,000 votes. The number of Muslim voters in this state is 1.5 million,” the post noted.

The video, posted on VOA Urdu’s website with logos and subtitles, featured clips of Mr Biden speaking at a July 20 Million Muslim Votes event that was organised by nonprofit Emgage Action. In the video, he promised to undo President Donald Trump’s alleged anti-Muslim measures “on day one” and urged Muslims to vote for him to defeat “Islamophobia”.

About a week after it was broadcast, some pro-Trump groups forwarded the video to Michael Pack, the CEO of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which runs VOA. He immediately ordered a probe to determine how and why this video was broadcast. “Staff members who attempt to influence American elections will be held accountable,” he said in a statement.

The statement noted that two of Mr Trump’s biggest congressional foes — Democratic Congresswomen Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashid Tlaib of Michigan — also “made appearances in the video”.

The USAGM statement underlined the importance of Muslim voters in the November 2020 elections.

The content, which appeared on the VOA’s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts as well, has since been removed and may have violated federal law, the USAGM said.

US media reports said that “several VOA Urdu employees” were being probed for broadcasting the content while Mr Pack said that once the probe was over, those found responsible would be “dealt with swiftly and fairly”.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1572430/voa-urdu-in-trouble-for-airing-biden-video
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/jonathanvswan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jonathanvswan</a>: “Oh, you’re doing death as a proportion of cases. I’m talking about death as a proportion of population. That’s where the U.S. is really bad. Much worse than South Korea, Germany, etc.”<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realdonaldtrump</a>: “You can’t do that.”<br><br>Swan: “Why can’t I do that?” <a href="https://t.co/MStySfkV39">pic.twitter.com/MStySfkV39</a></p>— Axios (@axios) <a href="https://twitter.com/axios/status/1290497186489348096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate in November's US presidential election, will not accept his nomination in person due to the pandemic.

Both Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls formally become candidates at their respective parties' national convention, where they also announce their running mate.

Biden's party said the former vice-president "will no longer travel to Milwaukee and will instead address the nation and accept the Democratic nomination from his home state of Delaware", with no speakers physically attending the event, which is due to take place from 17-20 August.

Last month President Trump, who is the only remaining Republican nominee, scrapped a Florida convention, blaming the coronavirus "flare-up", and announced a scaled-down event in North Carolina.

The election will take place on 3 November.
 
President Donald Trump's re-election campaign and the national Republican Party have sued Nevada to block a new law that will send a mail-in ballot to every registered voter ahead of November's United States national election.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, claims the Democratic-sponsored legislation will result in "inevitable" voter fraud.

Trump, a Republican, will likely face presumptive Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden in the November 3 contest.

Nevada is among eight states that plan to mail every voter a ballot. Election officials in most states have encouraged at-home voting as the highly contagious nature of the novel coronavirus has made voting in person a concern.

In an interview on Fox News on Wednesday, Trump sought to distinguish between the security measures involved in absentee voting versus mail-in voting, though election experts have said there is essentially no distinction.

Trump floats election delay, claims voter fraud risks amid virus

"Absentee is OK because you have to go through a process," he said. "What they're going to do is blanket the state. Anybody who ever walked, frankly, will get one."

The president, who has voted by mail in Florida, said that state's system is more trustworthy because it has had "two good governors". Florida's current governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, is a staunch Trump ally; Nevada's governor, Democrat Steve Sisolak, is a Trump critic.

Trump has repeatedly claimed that voting by mail, which is expected to increase dramatically this fall (autumm) due to the pandemic, is susceptible to large-scale fraud. Experts say voter fraud of any kind is exceedingly rare in the US.

The lawsuit said Nevada's new law is unconstitutional because it effectively extends the date of the election by mandating that ballots received up to three days afterwards should be counted, even if they lack a postmark.

The complaint cited recent New York congressional primary elections, which are still being tabulated weeks after election day, as evidence of the "chaos" the law will create.

In a statement on Monday after signing the bill, Sisolak said it would protect Nevadans and "safeguard their right to make their voices heard".

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...a-inevitable-voter-fraud-200805124300335.html
 
Voters in America will decide on 3 November whether Donald Trump remains in the White House for another four years.

The Republican president is being challenged by Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden, who is best known as Barack Obama's vice-president but has been in US politics since the 1970s.

As election day approaches, polling companies will be trying to gauge the mood of the nation by asking voters which candidate they prefer.

We'll be keeping track of those polls here and trying to work out what they can and can't tell us about who will win the election.

How are the presidential candidates doing nationally?
National polls are a good guide as to how popular a candidate is across the country as a whole, but they're not necessarily a good way to predict the result of the election.

In 2016, for example, Hillary Clinton led in the polls and won nearly three million more votes than Donald Trump, but she still lost - that's because the US uses an electoral college system, so winning the most votes doesn't always win you the election.

With that caveat aside, Joe Biden has been ahead of Donald Trump in national polls for most of the year. He has hovered around 50% in recent weeks and has had a 10-point lead on occasions but Mr Trump has recovered somewhat in the last few days.

By contrast, in 2016 the polls were far less clear and just a couple of percentage points separated Mr Trump and his then-rival Hillary Clinton at several points as election day neared.

Does Trump have the power to delay the election?
Which states will decide this election?
As Mrs Clinton discovered in 2016, the number of votes you win is less important than where you win them.

Most states nearly always vote the same way, meaning that in reality there are just a handful of states where both candidates stand a chance of winning. These are the places where the election will be won and lost and are known as battleground states.

In the electoral college system the US uses to elect its president, each state is given a number of votes based on its population. A total of 538 electoral college votes are up for grabs, so a candidate needs to hit 270 to win.

As the map above shows, some battleground states have a lot more electoral college votes on offer than others so candidates often spend a lot more time campaigning in them.

What is the electoral college?
Who's leading in the battleground states?
At the moment, polls in the battleground states look good for Joe Biden, but there's a long way to go and things can change very quickly, especially when Donald Trump's involved.

The polls suggest Mr Biden has big leads in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - three industrial states his Republican rival won by margins of less than 1% to clinch victory in 2016.

But it's the battleground states where Mr Trump won big in 2016 that his campaign team will be most worried about. His winning margin in Iowa, Ohio and Texas was between 8-10% back then but he's neck-and-neck with Mr Biden in all three at the moment.

Those poll numbers may help explain his decision to replace his re-election campaign manager in July and his regular references to "fake polls".

Betting markets, however, are certainly not writing Mr Trump off just yet. The latest odds still give him about a one in three chance of winning on 3 November.

Trump's shortcomings make weak opponent look strong
Has coronavirus affected Trump's numbers?
The coronavirus pandemic has dominated headlines in the US since the start of the year and the response to President Trump's actions has been split predictably along party lines.

Support for his approach peaked in mid-March after he declared a national emergency and made $50 billion available to states to stop the spread of the virus. At this point, 55% of Americans approved of his actions, according to data from Ipsos, a leading polling company.

But any support he had from Democrats disappeared after that, while Republicans continued to back their president.

The most recent data, however, suggests even his own supporters have begun to question his response as states in the south and the west of the country have dealt with renewed outbreaks of the virus. Republican support had fallen to 78% by early July.

This may explain why he has recently tried to change his message on coronavirus, moving away from saying the virus will "just disappear" and warning instead that the situation will "get worse before it gets better".

He also donned a face mask for the first time recently and called on Americans to wear them, saying "they'll have an effect" and show "patriotism".

One leading model produced by experts at the University of Washington predicts the death toll will have passed 230,000 by 1 November - just two days before the election.

Can we trust the polls?
It's easy to dismiss the polls by saying they got it wrong in 2016 and President Trump frequently does exactly that. But it's not entirely true.

Most national polls did have Hillary Clinton ahead by a few percentage points, but that doesn't mean they were wrong, since she won three million more votes than her rival.

Pollsters did have some problems in 2016 - notably a failure to properly represent voters without a college degree - meaning Mr Trump's advantage in some key battleground states wasn't spotted until late in the race, if at all. Most polling companies have corrected this now.

But this year there's even more uncertainty than normal due to the coronavirus pandemic and the effect it's having on both the economy and how people will vote in November, so all polls should be read with some scepticism, especially this far out from election day.

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53657174
 
Facebook and Twitter have penalised Donald Trump and his campaign for posts in which the president claimed children were "almost immune" to coronavirus.

Facebook deleted the post - a clip from an interview Mr Trump gave to Fox News - saying it contained "harmful Covid misinformation".

Twitter followed by saying it had frozen a Trump campaign account until a tweet of the same clip was removed.

US public health advice makes clear children have no immunity to Covid-19.
 
US President Donald Trump has said Joe Biden is "against God", ramping up attacks on his Democratic rival and foreshadowing an ugly election battle.

The remarks, during a trip to Ohio, came as Mr Trump tries to make up ground in the crucial Midwestern states that were his path to victory in 2016.

"He's against God. He's against guns," said the president, a Republican.

Mr Biden, an avowed Catholic, will take on Mr Trump in November. Opinion polls suggest the Democrat currently leads.

How is Donald Trump doing in the polls?
The former US vice-president has spoken frequently about how his faith helped him cope with the deaths of his first wife and daughter in a 1972 car accident.

His campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement on Thursday: "Joe Biden's faith is at the core of who he is; he's lived it with dignity his entire life, and it's been a source of strength and comfort in times of extreme hardship."

Mr Trump, who identifies himself as Presbyterian, said of Mr Biden earlier in the day in Cleveland, Ohio: "He's following the radical left agenda.

"Take away your guns, destroy your Second Amendment. No religion, no anything, hurt the Bible, hurt God.

"He's against God, he's against guns, he's against energy, our kind of energy."

Mr Trump has been accused of using the platform of the presidency for political gain by injecting campaign-style rhetoric into taxpayer-funded official engagements intended to communicate US government policy.

Trump's White House convention speech idea scorned
At a washing machine factory later on Thursday, the president kept up the onslaught on his challenger.

"I wouldn't say he's at the top of his game," the president said.


Media captionTrump and Biden exchange personal insults
On Thursday, Mr Biden appeared to suggest the African-American community was homogenous - a comment Mr Trump then described as "very insulting".

In an interview, Mr Biden had said: "What you all know but most people don't know, unlike the African American community with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly different attitudes about different things."

He later issued an apology on Twitter.
For his part, Mr Trump has long been accused of stoking racial tensions, going back decades before he became a political figure.

Last year, Democrats from Virginia's Black Legislative Caucus boycotted Mr Trump's visit because of what they termed his "racist and xenophobic" rhetoric.

Both the Trump and Biden campaigns have also traded accusations that their candidate has dementia. Mr Trump is 74 and Mr Biden 77.

In an advertisement released by the Trump campaign this week, the Democrat was depicted as "hiding" alone in his basement, using an image that had been edited to remove several other people.

Religion has previously come up in this campaign. Mr Biden accused the president of cynically using a Bible for a photo op outside a church in early June after protesters - who were described by journalists at the scene as peaceful - had been forcibly dispersed by law enforcement outside the White House.

Throughout his tenure, Mr Trump has enjoyed a mostly strong backing from evangelical Christians.

In his list of "six promises" for a second term unveiled in Ohio on Thursday, Mr Trump focused heavily on economic recovery, vowing to turn the US into a premier medical manufacturer, launch "millions" of manufacturing jobs and bring back American jobs and factories from abroad.

The pledges echo many of those from his 2016 campaign, a platform of economic populism often credited with his wins in swing states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

But the president's message of prosperity has been thwarted this time around by the coronavirus outbreak. The US economy shrank at a 32.9% annual rate between April and June as the country faced lockdowns and spending cuts during the pandemic, marking the steepest decline since the government began keeping records in 1947.

Now, polls show Mr Biden with leads in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - three industrial states his Republican rival won by margins of less than 1% to claim victory in 2016. And in Iowa, Ohio and Texas, where Mr Trump won last time by 8-10%, he is currently neck-and-neck with Mr Biden.

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53688009
 
China targeting U.S. election infrastructure with cyberattacks, says O'Brien

Chinese government-linked hackers have been targeting U.S. election infrastructure ahead of the 2020 presidential election, White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said on Sunday, indicating a more active level of alleged Chinese interference.

O’Brien’s comments appeared to go beyond a statement released on Friday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence which said China “has been expanding its influence efforts,” and that Russia was already trying to undercut Democratic candidate Joe Biden. But did not specifically accuse Beijing of hacking attempts against U.S. election-related systems.

“They’d like to see the President lose,” O’Brien said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “China - like Russia, like Iran - they’ve engaged in cyberattacks and phishing and that sort of thing with respect to our election infrastructure, with respect to websites and that sort of thing.”

China has consistently denied U.S. government claims that it hacks U.S. companies, politicians or government agencies. “The U.S. presidential election is an internal affair, we have no interest in interfering in it,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in April.

O’Brien said the United States had seen hackers try to infiltrate websites belonging to Secretary of State offices around the country, which are responsible for administering elections at the local level, and collecting data on Americans.

“It is a real concern and it’s not just Russia,” he said. “There will be severe consequences for any country that attempts to interfere in our free and fair elections.”

The National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The ODNI declined to comment or clarify whether O’Brien’s comments contradicted their own.

The ODNI previously said that “adversaries” seek to compromise the private communications of American political candidates and penetrate U.S. election systems ahead of November’s election. And that China would prefer President Donald Trump does not win reelection.

Multiple reviews by U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia acted to boost Trump’s 2016 campaign and undercut his rival Hillary Clinton’s chances in that election.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-u...e-with-cyberattacks-says-obrien-idUKKCN2550QA
 
Farz said:
Awesome. Criticizing her record or opposing her would be racist in eyes of "liberal" Democratic party.
Click to expand...

All these candidates are same , I don’t mind tbh I am ok with the establishment (Obama, Bush, Biden, Kamala, Clinton, Kerry) over Trump and Socialist democrats.

I respect only Bernie(but do not support) , personally all for Jo Jorgensen who will never win lol.( Am not an American citizen, my views are based on as an Indian living in America).
 
Kamala Harris is a strong & safe choice as Veep. Comes across as too brash at times, but is capable of easily taking on Pence & considering Biden’s age, possibly even the presidency some day. A positive for the markets too as she isn’t some loony socialist.
 
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Farz said:
Awesome. Criticizing her record or opposing her would be racist in eyes of "liberal" Democratic party.
Click to expand...

I have only seen racist gaslighting as this. Not a single decent person ever opposes if the criticism is genuine. But racist always use this excuse when genuine racism is called out

Saddest thing is we have brain dead insecure desis lapping up to racists and trump who hate them and look down on them becuase they have zero self respecy an
 
sweep_shot said:
I think Biden should pick Bernie as VP. Rest probably don't have much appeal.
Click to expand...

bernie has very little popular support outside his online cult. He will drive away independents and disgruntled republicans
 
JaDed said:
If Kanye West stands he would put a dent in the black votes of Biden.

Surprisingly it looks like Trump would lose easily this time.
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Nope. Black people have shown time and again they are pragmatic voters who put practicality above populism. Also polls reflect this as thry show kanye taking voters away from trump and not biden
 
dildilpak said:
Dont think that could have worked practically..i really cant see how Bernie Bro could have played second fiddle to a moderate.
Click to expand...

Well, Democrats need to be united. The reason why they are not winning is because they are divided.

If Bernie wants to form a new movement, he should get his own party. He has hijacked Democratic Party just like Trump has hijacked Republican Party.
 
Democrats, White House 'miles apart': Pelosi

United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats and the Trump administration remained far apart regarding any agreement over further economic aid amid the pandemic.

"We're miles apart," Pelosi told MSNBC in an interview, citing education funding in particular, among other needs. "It's a chasm ... but as a practical matter, they're going to have to come to the table."
 
Kamala Harris? She used to refer to herself as Indian American, but now refers to herself as African American. I guess it's appealing during these times! 😆
 
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris have attacked "whining" President Donald Trump as an incompetent leader who has left the US "in tatters".

The pair held their first campaign event together, a day after Mr Biden unveiled Ms Harris as his number two.

President Trump hit back, saying Ms Harris had "dropped like a rock" in her own presidential bid.

Mr Biden will face Mr Trump, a Republican, in November's election.

Wednesday's event in Wilmington, Delaware, was not open to the public, with Mr Biden, 77, citing coronavirus prevention needs. Both candidates walked on stage wearing masks to address a socially distanced group of masked journalists.

About 75 people gathered outside in a light rain before the event to catch a glimpse of the two candidates, according to Reuters news agency, although some of the crowd were critics of Mr Biden.

Speaking from the gymnasium of the Alexis I DuPont High School, Mr Biden noted that Ms Harris, a California senator, is the first woman of colour to serve as a presidential running mate for a major US party.

Mr Biden said: "The choice we make this November is going to decide the future of America for a very, very long time."

He continued: "Donald Trump has already started his attacks, calling Kamala, quote, nasty, whining about how she is, quote, mean to his appointees.

"It's not a surprise because whining is what Donald Trump does best, better than any president in American history.

"Is anybody surprised that Donald Trump has a problem with a strong woman, or strong women across the board?"

He also attacked Mr Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, the unemployment rate and "his politics of racist rhetoric that appeals to division".

The 55-year-old former prosecutor told reporters: "This is a moment of real consequence for America. Everything we care about, our economy, our health, our children, the kind of country we live in, it's all on the line."

Ms Harris - the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica - continued: "America is crying out for leadership, yet we have a president who cares more about himself than the people who elected him."

She continued: "He [Mr Trump] inherited the longest economic expansion in history from Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

"And then, like everything else he inherited, he ran it straight into the ground."

Ms Harris added: "This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn't up to the job - our country ends up in tatters, and so does our reputation around the world."

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53754294
 
JaDed said:
All these candidates are the same , I don’t mind tbh I am ok with the establishment (Obama, Bush, Biden, Kamala, Clinton, Kerry) over Trump and Socialist democrats.

I respect only Bernie(but do not support) , personally all for Jo Jorgensen who will never win lol.( Am not an American citizen, my views are based on as an Indian living in America).
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The biggest reason that made me a Bernie supporter is his rejection of money from corporate PACs and relying more on grassroots support. If these Biden types do the same, progressives will still be my first choice, but I would not mind voting for centrist who actually belives in centrist policies. Biden is doing what his wall street donors are telling him. I still don't know what Biden's signature policy is. All he has said is we will go back to America of Obama years and Trump is evil. The MSM just ran with that narrative.

I know Biden wanted a centrist African American woman and wall street darling type as VP. However, I am not sure what Kamala brings to the table? Stacey Abrams might have been a better political choice, she would have made Georgia more competitive for Democrats.
 
dildilpak said:
Kamala Harris is a strong & safe choice as Veep. Comes across as too brash at times, but is capable of easily taking on Pence & considering Biden’s age, possibly even the presidency some day. A positive for the markets too as she isn’t some loony socialist.
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You don't want a loony socialist in office, you want a loony corporate socialist.
 
Indiafan said:
I have only seen racist gaslighting as this. Not a single decent person ever opposes if the criticism is genuine. But racist always use this excuse when genuine racism is called out
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Really? Kamala didn't take the criticism well, especially towards the end of her presidential campaign. She played the race and women card rather than accepting that she ran a horrible campaign. I guess African Americans are racisit for not backing her in primaries.

Indiafan said:
Saddest thing is we have brain dead insecure desis lapping up to racists and trump who hate them and look down on them because they have zero self respecy an
Click to expand...

Who here lapping up to racists and Trump?
 
US 2020: Biden campaign says Trump 'abhorrent' for fuelling Harris conspiracy

The campaign team for Democratic White House candidate Joe Biden has issued a scathing response after US President Donald Trump amplified a conspiracy theory about his running mate.

Mr Trump said he had "heard" that Kamala Harris - a US-born citizen whose parents were immigrants - "doesn't qualify" to serve as US vice-president.

This is not true. Ms Harris is eligible to run for president or vice-president.

The Biden campaign called the comments "abhorrent" and "pathetic".

They noted that Mr Trump spent years promoting a false "birther" theory that ex-President Barack Obama was not born in the US.

Ms Harris, a senator from California, on Tuesday became the first black woman and the first Asian-American to be named as a running mate on a main-party US presidential ticket.

"Donald Trump was the national leader of the grotesque, racist birther movement with respect to President Obama and has sought to fuel racism and tear our nation apart on every single day of his presidency," a Biden campaign spokesman said in an email.

"So it's unsurprising, but no less abhorrent, that as Trump makes a fool of himself straining to distract the American people from the horrific toll of his failed coronavirus response that his campaign and their allies would resort to wretched, demonstrably false lies in their pathetic desperation."

Ms Harris was born to a Jamaican father and Indian mother in Oakland, California, on 20 October 1964. As such, she is eligible to serve as president or vice-president.

Constitutional scholars have dismissed the fringe legal theory that Mr Trump was referring to.

To be vice-president or president, Kamala Harris "has to be a natural-born citizen, at least 35 years old, and a resident in the United States for at least 14 years", Juliet Sorensen, a law professor at Northwestern University, told the Associated Press news agency. "She is. That's really the end of the inquiry."

Anyone born in the US and subject to its jurisdiction is a natural born citizen, regardless of the citizenship of their parents, says the Cornell Legal Information Institute.

What did Trump say?
After a conservative law professor questioned Ms Harris' eligibility based on her parents' immigration status at the time of her birth, Mr Trump was asked about the argument at a press conference on Thursday.

The president said: "I just heard it today that she doesn't meet the requirements and by the way the lawyer that wrote that piece is a very highly qualified, very talented lawyer.

"I have no idea if that's right. I would have assumed the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice-president.

"But that's a very serious, you're saying that, they're saying that she doesn't qualify because she wasn't born in this country."

The reporter replied there was no question that Ms Harris was born in the US, simply that her parents might not have been permanent US residents at the time.

Earlier on Thursday, a Trump campaign adviser, Jenna Ellis, reposted a tweet from the head of conservative group Judicial Watch, Tim Fitton.

In that tweet, Mr Fitton questioned whether Ms Harris was "ineligible to be vice-president under the US constitution's 'citizenship clause'".

He also shared the opinion piece published in Newsweek magazine by John Eastman, a law professor at Chapman University in California, that Mr Trump was asked about.

What is the law professor's argument?
Prof Eastman cites Article II of the US Constitution's wording that "no person except a natural born citizen… shall be eligible to the office of president".

He also points out that the 14th Amendment to the constitution says "all persons born… in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens".

Prof Eastman's argument, which he claims is also being made by other "commentators", hinges on the idea that Ms Harris may not have been subject to US jurisdiction if her parents were, for example, on student visas at the time of their daughter's birth in California.

"Her father was (and is) a Jamaican national, her mother was from India, and neither was a naturalized US citizen at the time of Harris' birth in 1964. That, according to these commentators, makes her not a 'natural born citizen' - and therefore ineligible for the office of the president and, hence, ineligible for the office of the vice president," he wrote in the Newsweek op-ed.

Experts in constitutional law have dismissed his claims

In 2010, Prof Eastman ran to be the Republican candidate for California attorney general. He lost to Steve Cooley, who went on to be defeated by Ms Harris, the Democratic candidate, in the general election.

Following furious backlash to the Newsweek op-ed, its editor-in-chief Nancy Cooper stood by the decision to publish, arguing on Thursday that Prof Eastman's article had "nothing to do with racist birtherism" and was instead "focusing on a long-standing, somewhat arcane legal debate".

What do other constitutional experts say?
Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky told CBS News, the BBC's US partner, that Prof Eastman's argument about Ms Harris' eligibility was "truly silly".

"Under section 1 of the 14th Amendment, anyone born in the United States is a United States citizen. The Supreme Court has held this since the 1890s. Kamala Harris was born in the United States," he said.

Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School, told the Associated Press: "Let's just be honest about what it is: It's just a racist trope we trot out when we have a candidate of colour whose parents were not citizens."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-us-2020-53783177
 
Farz said:
The biggest reason that made me a Bernie supporter is his rejection of money from corporate PACs and relying more on grassroots support. If these Biden types do the same, progressives will still be my first choice, but I would not mind voting for centrist who actually belives in centrist policies. Biden is doing what his wall street donors are telling him. I still don't know what Biden's signature policy is. All he has said is we will go back to America of Obama years and Trump is evil. The MSM just ran with that narrative.

I know Biden wanted a centrist African American woman and wall street darling type as VP. However, I am not sure what Kamala brings to the table? Stacey Abrams might have been a better political choice, she would have made Georgia more competitive for Democrats.
Click to expand...

Bernie had donations from multiple PACs and super PACs. He also outspent Biden in most places

You are just parroting the lies and propaganda spread by Rose twitter. Biden's polcies and detailed plans about every single thing from healthcare to climate change is easily available to check. if you don't know about them it's your own fault at this stage

You are just parroting online points like MSM, wall street donors, etc. In short a typical online leftist, who just parrots what twitter keeps feeding him
 
Farz said:
The biggest reason that made me a Bernie supporter is his rejection of money from corporate PACs and relying more on grassroots support. If these Biden types do the same, progressives will still be my first choice, but I would not mind voting for centrist who actually belives in centrist policies. Biden is doing what his wall street donors are telling him. I still don't know what Biden's signature policy is. All he has said is we will go back to America of Obama years and Trump is evil. The MSM just ran with that narrative.

I know Biden wanted a centrist African American woman and wall street darling type as VP. However, I am not sure what Kamala brings to the table? Stacey Abrams might have been a better political choice, she would have made Georgia more competitive for Democrats.
Click to expand...

Berneie's shadow groups which donate to him

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/shadow-group-sanders-super-pac-support-scorns-68132348

https://apnews.com/345bbd1af529cfb1e41305fa3ab1e604

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/bernie-sanders-super-pac/420930/

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/497786-sanders-aides-change-super-pac-name-after-he-objected
 
The US Postal Service (USPS) has warned that millions of mail-in votes may not arrive in time to be counted on the presidential election day, 3 November.

In letters to states across the country last month, the agency said "certain deadlines... are incongruous with the Postal Service's delivery standards".

Critics have blamed the new USPS head - a loyal supporter of President Donald Trump - for a slowdown in deliveries.

A record number of people are expected to vote by mail due to the pandemic.

But on Thursday, Mr Trump said he was blocking additional funding for the USPS to help with election issues, because he opposed mail-in voting.

He has repeatedly said mail-in ballots will lead to voting fraud - and give a boost to his rival Democrat Joe Biden. Experts say the mail-in voting system - which is used by the American military and by Mr Trump himself - is safe from tampering.

Former President Barack Obama strongly criticised what he described as Mr Trump's "attempts to undermine the election", writing on Twitter that the administration was "more concerned with suppressing the vote than suppressing a virus".

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53782331
 
Turkey slams Biden's past call for U.S. to back Erdogan opponents

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey on Saturday condemned as “interventionist” comments that U.S. Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden had made in December when he advocated a new U.S. approach to the “autocrat” President Tayyip Erdogan and support for opposition parties.

Biden’s comments to New York Times editors resurfaced in a video that made him the most popular topic on Twitter in Turkey, where Erdogan has governed for 17 years and has good relations with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Biden, the former U.S. vice president, says in the video he is “very concerned” about Erdogan’s approach to Kurds in Turkey, his partial military cooperation with Russia, and access to U.S. airfields in the country, a NATO ally.

“What I think we should be doing is taking a very different approach to him now, making it clear that we support opposition leadership,” Biden said in the video and verified by a transcript published in January by the Times.

“He has to pay a price,” Biden said at the time, adding Washington should embolden Turkish opposition leaders “to be able to take on and defeat Erdogan. Not by a coup, not by a coup, but by the electoral process.”

In response, the Turkish president’s communications director Fahrettin Altun said the comments “reflect games and an interventionist approach towards Turkey” and are inconsistent with current diplomatic relations.

“Nobody can attack our nation’s will and democracy or question the legitimacy of our President, who was elected by popular vote,” Altun said on Twitter, noting the failed coup in Turkey in 2016.

“We believe that these unbecoming statements which have no place in diplomacy by a presidential candidate from our NATO ally, the United States, are unacceptable to the current administration too,” he added.

There was no immediate response from the Biden campaign.

While Trump and Erdogan speak regularly, diplomatic relations have been strained over Ankara’s purchase of Russian air defences, policy in Syria and over U.S. charges against a Turkish state bank for allegedly helping Iran evade sanctions.

Turkey’s main opposition party won a handful of big city elections last year in a stinging defeat for Erdogan and his ruling AK Party, which polls show still has the most support nationwide.

Biden made the comments on Dec. 16 2019, before he emerged as the Democratic candidate.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-u...-to-back-erdogan-opponents-idUKKCN25B0XK?il=0
 
Trump campaign plans digital ad campaign during Democratic convention

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign will sink millions of dollars into a digital ad campaign next week during the Democratic presidential convention, a Trump campaign spokesman said on Saturday.

The Democratic National Convention begins on Monday and will conclude on Thursday with former Vice President Joe Biden formally accepting his party’s nomination to take on Trump in the Nov. 3 presidential election.

Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said the ad purchases could total more than $10 million and the expenditure will be at least in the high-seven figures. Some digital ads can include extra charges based on engagement.

The ad purchases, which were first reported by the New York Times, will include the Trump campaign taking over the banner of YouTube for 96 hours starting on Tuesday. The campaign will also run ads on the websites of major U.S. news outlets, Murtaugh said.

Digital ads have comprised a small share of overall advertising by the two campaigns, but the Trump campaign’s purchases for next week are sizable compared with each side’s recent expenditures.

On traditional media, which includes television and radio, Biden spent $14.8 million in the week of Aug. 8-14, while Trump spent $7 million, according to ad tracking firm Advertising Analytics.

The Democratic convention will feature an online and televised lineup of heavyweight politicians, rising stars and everyday Americans making the case for Biden.

Biden will address the country from his home state of Delaware, after the party canceled in-person convention festivities in Milwaukee over concerns about the coronavirus epidemic.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-u...ring-democratic-convention-idUKKCN25B0VF?il=0
 
Universal mail voting would make the US "a laughing stock", President Donald Trump has said, as he continues his vocal opposition to postal voting.

It comes after the US Postal Service (USPS) warned that millions of mail-in votes may not arrive in time to be counted in November's election.

A record number of people are expected to vote by mail due to the pandemic.

Critics have blamed the new USPS head - a loyal supporter of President Donald Trump - for a slowdown in deliveries.

Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, have accused Mr Trump of attacking postal voting and the USPS in a bid to "undermine the election".

The president has repeatedly said mail-in ballots will lead to voting fraud and give a boost to his rival Democrat Joe Biden.

However, experts say the mail-in voting system, which Mr Trump himself uses, is safe from tampering.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, is considering recalling Congress early to address the changes introduced to the USPS and the potential impact on the 3 November election, according to Reuters news agency.

Only a handful of states have so far said they will holding universal mail voting, meaning that voters will automatically receive a postal ballot ahead of the election - and a number of these did so before the pandemic.

Elsewhere, voters will still have to request to cast their vote by mail.

What did Trump say?
Speaking at a news conference on Saturday evening, the president said he had no issue with absentee voting, which he himself uses.

But he added: "Universal mail-in voting is going to be catastrophic, it's going to make our country the laughing stock of the world."

"The problem with the mail-in voting, number one, is you're never going to know when the election is over," he continued.

He went on to say that the result of November's vote might not be known "for months or for years, because these ballots are going to be lost, they're going to be gone".

He also blamed the Democrats for failing to reach a deal on USPS funding.

He has previously told Fox News he was blocking additional funding for the financially troubled agency, because he opposes mail-in voting.

"Now they need that money in order to make the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots," he said. "Now, if we don't make a deal, that means they don't get the money. That means they can't have universal mail-in voting, they just can't have it."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53795876
 
Democrats prepare for unprecedented digital convention

A presidential primary season like no other will culminate this week for the Democratic Party in the United States in an unprecedented, mostly digital convention that is set to cement Joe Biden as the official candidate tasked with taking on President Donald Trump in a November election.

Only essential staff will be on the ground at the convention centre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a pivotal swing state that had spent millions of dollars preparing to host the high-profile event, which runs from August 17 to 20, before it was scaled back in light of the pandemic.

This year, the fanfare and spontaneity of past conventions - in which about 4,800 delegates officially nominate the Democratic candidate and the party lays out its policy priorities - will be replaced by a series of speeches streamed from across the country, which leads the world in terms of confirmed coronavirus cases and related deaths.

The speeches, about half of which will be pre-recorded, will run for two hours each night. They will include former Democratic presidents and several high-profile senators who just months ago challenged Biden to be the party's candidate, as well as some of the party's most respected former officials and rising stars.

The lineup also includes a former Republican governor and presidential candidate who has become a fierce critic of Trump, and organisers have hinted that at least one other prominent Republican may make an appearance.

Musical guests featured during the event will include John Legend, Common, Billie Eilish and the Chicks - formerly the Dixie Chicks. The Biden campaign on Friday also announced there will be online watch parties in all 50 states featuring elected officials and celebrities such as actress Alyssa Milano, former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and former Democratic adviser Valerie Jarrett.

The four-day convention is sure to pose some logistical problems for the party, the most notable expected to be the challenge for speakers to deliver rousing speeches from empty rooms devoid of cheering supporters.

While party caucus and council meetings will be held digitally, observers have also noted the cyber gatherings will likely lack much of the strategising, deal-making and networking between different interest groups that have defined past conventions.

"Nothing about 2020 has been normal. So I don't think anyone expected that this convention would be normal either," Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who was under consideration to serve as Biden's running-mate and will speak at the convention on Thursday, told The Associated Press news agency.

"I hope wherever people are that they're excited about the moment and the opportunity that lies before us."

Democrats unify

The convention comes as Democratic officials work to energise voters behind Biden's candidacy - and not simply against Trump.

While defeating the Republican president is a huge motivator for many within the party, there is some concern that less-engaged voters who lean Democrat and swing voters are not locked in to cast ballots for Biden, especially as the pandemic is expected to create barriers to voting.

Following a fractious and ideologically diverse 28-candidate primary season, the party has also sought to unify before the convention and avoid a repeat of 2016 when Hillary Clinton's supporters clashed with those backing her progressive rival, Bernie Sanders.

The more moderate Biden, a former vice president, has already enlisted the progressive wing to help formulate the party platform and has been carefully calibrating policies - notably on healthcare and climate - more to the left.

Democratic National Convention programme executive Stephanie Cutter has said speakers across the party's political spectrum will highlight "Trump's failed leadership and the promise of what we can and should be with Joe Biden as president".

Those speakers are organised around themes for each of the four nights.

On Monday, the "We the People" lineup will feature speakers who the party says have risen up to face three defining challenges in modern US life: the coronavirus pandemic, the resulting unemployment crisis and racial injustices.

The speakers include former First Lady Michelle Obama, former Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, and former Republican governor and presidential contender John Kasich.

Tuesday night has been titled "Leadership Matters" and will include progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former President Bill Clinton and Biden's wife, Jill Biden.

Wednesday's "A More Perfect Union" programme will include the official party nomination of Biden's history-making vice presidential pick Senator Kamala Harris, as well as speeches from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Senator Elizabeth Warren and former President Barack Obama.

Finally, on Thursday night's "America's Promise", Biden will officially accept the party's nomination during a speech streamed from an event centre in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.

Republicans prepare

The event will be a precursor to the Republican National Convention, which will also be a digital event set to begin on August 24

On Monday, Trump is set to visit Wisconsin, where he plans to deliver a speech in Oshkosh, north of Milwaukee, addressing Biden's "failures on jobs and the economy", according to the president's campaign.

Trump will not attend the Republican convention in person the following week. He will deliver his speech from a yet-to-be-announced location, although he has told the New York Post he will "probably" make the speech from the White House lawn.

Trump's re-election campaign has also said it plans to spend millions of dollars on a digital advertising campaign during the Democratic convention.

Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh has said the advertisement purchases during the week could total more than $10m and the expenditure will be at least in the high-seven figures.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...ented-digital-convention-200816152429797.html
 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi will call on the House of Representatives to return to session in the coming days to vote on a bill to protect the US Postal Service.

In a letter released on Sunday, Ms Pelosi accused President Trump of a "campaign to sabotage the election".

It comes after the USPS warned that millions of mail ballots may not arrive in time to be counted in the election.

Critics blamed the new USPS head - a loyal supporter of the president - for a slowdown in deliveries.

A record number of people are expected to vote by mail ahead of the 3 November presidential election due to the pandemic.

The president has repeatedly said mail-in ballots will lead to voting fraud and give a boost to his rival Democrat Joe Biden. However, experts say the mail-in voting system, which Mr Trump himself uses, is safe from tampering.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53796435
 
The Democratic national convention begins on Monday with a star-studded lineup and heavy emphasis on unity aimed at presenting Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the US’s best hope for healing a deeply divided nation reckoning with the parallel crises of a global pandemic and racial injustice.

The party’s four-day presidential nominating convention has been entirely reshaped by the public health crisis. Originally planned for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in mid-July, it has been forced into a compacted, virtual affair, renamed the “Convention Across America.”

The event, which usually draws thousands of the party faithful to a single city for days of celebrating, deal-making and politicking, will now take place from remote locations across the US. There will be no roaring crowd, bespoke thunder sticks or oversized balloons.

Biden is scheduled to formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday, delivering the most consequential speech of his decades-long career from a mostly-empty ballroom, near his home in Wilmington, Delaware.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...c-national-convention-joe-biden-kamala-harris
 
Michelle Obama has launched a stinging attack on US President Donald Trump as Democrats prepared to crown Joe Biden as their White House challenger.

"Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country," said the former US first lady in an emotional recorded message to the Democratic convention.

Disaffected members of Mr Trump's Republican party also piled in on him at the Democratic party conference.

The election takes place on Tuesday 3 November.

Because of the coronavirus outbreak, Democrats scrapped plans for a crowded party extravaganza with balloon drops and all the other political razzmatazz in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

But it is unclear whether the largely virtual schedule of pre-recorded speeches with no live audience can generate the same level of enthusiasm as pre-pandemic gatherings of the party faithful.

Republicans will face the same challenge as they make their case for four more years in the White House at a drastically scaled-down convention next week.

Mrs Obama, who recorded her keynote address before Mr Biden announced his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, six days ago, launched a blistering attack on Mr Trump.

"You simply cannot fake your way through this job," she said in remarks that closed the first night of the convention on Monday.

The headline speaker added: "Our economy is in shambles because of a virus that this president downplayed for too long."

"Stating the simple fact that a black life matters is still met with derision from the nation's highest office," Mrs Obama continued.

"Because whenever we look to this White House for some leadership, or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get instead is chaos, division and a total and utter lack of empathy."

She said the last four years had been difficult to explain to America's children.

"They see our leaders labelling fellow citizens enemies of the state, while emboldening torch-bearing white supremacists.

"They watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages and pepper spray and rubber bullets are used on peaceful protests for a photo op."

Mrs Obama continued: "Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head.

"He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is."

She described Mr Biden as a "profoundly decent man", touting the Democratic White House candidate's experience as vice-president under her husband, President Barack Obama.

"We have got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it," she said, wearing a necklace that said "Vote".

An emotional punch
A lot of politicians spoke at the camera during the "virtual" Democratic convention on Monday night. The only speaker who landed an emotional punch, however, was Michelle Obama.

The truth, she said, was that Donald Trump "simply cannot be who we need him to be for us".

"It is what it is," she said, employing the same words the president recently used about the coronavirus death toll - a jab that was as subtle as it was devastating.

She wasn't trying to convince Republicans to switch sides. That was John Kasich's job.

She wasn't trying to get left-wing progressives to rally to Biden. Bernie Sanders handled that.

Mrs Obama was speaking to loyal Democrats, some of whom may stayed at home or voted for a third party in 2016, some of whom may be dispirited or scared this year.

Her goal was to drive home the gravity of the moment and to give them a call to action.

What else happened on Monday?
The opening night of the convention, a two-hour programme hosted by former Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria Baston, was titled by party organisers "We the People".

John Kasich, a former Ohio governor who ran against Mr Trump in 2016, recorded a message calling on Americans to deny the president a second term in office.

Mr Kasich endorsed Mr Biden, saying: "We can all see what's going on in our country today and all the questions that are facing us, and no one person or party has all the answers.

"But what we do know is that we can do better than what we've been seeing today, for sure."

Bernie Sanders, the left-wing Vermont senator who was Mr Biden's fiercest competitor during the Democratic party's contest to pick a challenger to Mr Trump, also recorded a message.

He said: "My friends, I say to you, and to everyone who supported other candidates in this primary and to those who may have voted for Donald Trump in the last election: The future of our democracy is at stake. The future of our economy is at stake. The future of our planet is at stake."

He added: "Nero fiddled while Rome burned - Trump golfs."

Along with Mr Kasich, three other high-profile Republicans recorded messages for the convention's opening night: California businesswoman Meg Whitman, former New Jersey Governor Christine Whitman and former New York congresswoman Susan Molinari.

While their inclusion left the Biden team claiming a broad coalition, some Democrats grumbled that the Republicans used up precious time that could have benefited progressive speakers or lesser-known rising stars.

But Cedric Richmond, a Louisiana congressman and Biden campaign co-chairman, rejected that idea, saying, "remember tonight's theme is 'We the People,' not 'We the Democrats'".

The opening night also featured pre-recorded messages from everyday Americans, including repentant Trump voters and a woman who blamed her father's death of Covid-19 on the president.

How did President Trump hit back?
Speaking to the BBC on Air Force One as he flew back from a trip to the presidential swing-voting states of Minnesota and Wisconsin, Mr Trump lashed out at Mr Kasich.

"He was a loser as a Republican, and he'll be a loser as a Democrat," the president said on Monday. "The guy was a major loser as a Republican."

During a campaign speech earlier in the day in Mankato, Minnesota, Mr Trump warned that if Mr Biden won in November, news outlets would lose their audiences.

"Nobody's going to want to cover sleepy Joe," Mr Trump said. "We will end up with one very boring socialist country that will go to hell."

Mr Trump on Monday also confirmed he would accept the Republican nomination for a second term during a live speech at the White House next week.

His plans have been criticised by Democrats and even some fellow Republicans.

How will the rest of the Democratic convention play out?
The four-night jamboree will culminate in Mr Biden's speech on Thursday in a mostly empty ballroom in his home state of Delaware.

On Wednesday, his vice-presidential pick, Ms Harris, the daughter of immigrant parents from India and Jamaica, will accept her nomination as the first woman of colour to be a running mate on a major party presidential ticket.

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53815566
 
Joe Biden has been officially anointed the Democratic presidential candidate at the party's convention, helped over the line with some glowing testimonials from elder statesmen.

Two Democratic former US presidents, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican, endorsed Mr Biden.

Mr Clinton said President Donald Trump had brought "chaos" to the Oval Office.

Mr Trump trails Mr Biden in opinion polls ahead of November's election.

The former vice-president under President Barack Obama became his party's nominee on Tuesday night as a pre-recorded roll call vote from delegates in all 50 states aired at the largely virtual convention.

This is Mr Biden's third White House bid, having formerly run in 1988 and 2008. The 77-year-old's campaign appeared to be in danger of collapse back in February this year.

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53830373
 
Woke brigade are whining online about how John Kasich got a speaking role at the DNC.

Err because you need some moderate Republican votes in order to win an election ?

Some people online just want to stay in a state of permanent outrage.
 
American death toll from COVID-19 is higher than the number of fatalities from the Korean, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.
 
It's all about the money, no one really cares about Covid in Amreeka.

NASDAQ and SP500 hit all time record highs. This is all that matters.

Latest anti-Biden video from Trump campaign has all but destroyed Biden. It's before (2015) now (2020) comparison of Biden speaking; Biden is clearly not healthy and suffering from dimentia.
 
Here is the ad:

https://youtu.be/oYZvj7uUsgw

Dimentia is not anything to laugh about. It's real, it's serious, and it's sad.

Biden should have retired. This doesn't look good for Biden. Just goes to show how the Democrats have wasted 3 years. Biden (and Bernie) heading into their 80s is the best bet?
 
Barack Obama planned to warn on Wednesday night that “democracy itself is on the line” in the approaching presidential election contest between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, Obama’s former vice-president.

In a speech on the third night of the Democratic national convention, airing directly after Senator Kamala Harris was due to officially accept the party’s nomination to be vice-president, the former president was expected to attack Republican efforts to sabotage mail-in voting and ballot access.

“President Obama will highlight the cynical moves by the current administration and the Republican party to discourage Americans from voting,” a spokeswoman, Katie Hill, said in a statement before the speech. “He’ll make a pointed case that democracy itself is on the line – along with the chance to create a better version of it.”

Trump has for months been working to destroy faith in mail-in voting, which an unprecedented number of voters were expected to use in November owing to the coronavirus crisis, which has killed more than 170,000 Americans.

The Trump presidential campaign on Wednesday sued the state of New Jersey over a plan by the Democratic governor to mail a ballot to every household. The Trump campaign previously sued Nevada on similar grounds. While the cases have not been resolved, states have broad authority to set their own voting rules.

According to speech previews, Obama was prepared on Wednesday night to respond to the Trump campaign by amplifying what Democrats have long been saying: Trump does not want people to vote because he knows that if they are allowed to, he will lose.

In its third day, the Democratic convention, at which Biden was officially nominated as the party’s presidential candidate on Tuesday, was planned by organizers to build momentum with an increasing deployment of star power.

In addition to Obama and Harris, Senator Elizabeth Warren and the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi – both of whom have seen their popularity with Democrats rise over multiple rounds of public battle with Trump – were scheduled to speak late on Wednesday. Musical performances were expected from Billie Eilish and Jennifer Hudson.

And something of a tantalizing mystery surrounded the plans of another scheduled speaker, Hillary Clinton. It was unclear whether her anticipated digs at Trump would tacitly draw a contrast with a presidency that could have been: hers.

Clinton last week raised the alarm about the fragility of democracy after the postmaster general, a Trump mega-donor, announced cost-cutting operational changes to the US Postal Service (USPS), in a move critics said was an effort to rig the election.

“Trump and Republicans aren’t just trying to dismantle the USPS – a crucial American institution,” Clinton tweeted. “They’re trying to dismantle American democracy, and using a deadly pandemic they made even deadlier to do it. We have to fight back and we have to win.”

After being called to testify by two congressional committees, the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, announced on Tuesday that the operational changes would be delayed until after the November election.

While the Democratic convention’s virtual format, in which speakers address the all-online audience remotely from home studios across the country, has muted the impact of some speeches, a rousing address by former first lady Michelle Obama on Monday night showed the possibilities of the form.

Democrats were expectant about the return to the national stage of Barack Obama, the party’s premier get-out-the-vote cheerleader, in a contest where voter enthusiasm could be unusually important in navigating unpredictable election day dynamics.

In helping to drive record turnout for Democrats during the 2018 midterm elections, Obama frequently chastened crowds who jeered Trump administration misdeeds with a phrase he seemed sure to reprise on Wednesday: “Don’t boo. Vote.”

Obama remains a strongly popular figure among Americans, with 55% overall approval according to YouGov, versus 39% who approve of Trump.

The former president was also expected to speak about why he believes Biden has “the experience and character” to take the reins of the presidency, at a time when a historic majority of Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Biden and Obama have been seen as unusually close political allies. After running against Obama in the 2008 presidential primary, Biden agreed to join the ticket as vice-president on the condition that he would have Obama’s ear. Through the administration’s eight years, the two ate lunch together most days and Biden was seen as an unwaveringly faithful lieutenant.

After Biden was formally nominated at the convention on Wednesday night, Obama marked the news with a personal tweet.

“Congrats, Joe,” he wrote. “I’m proud of you.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/19/barack-obama-democratic-convention-dnc
 
“President Obama will highlight the cynical moves by the current administration and the Republican party to discourage Americans from voting,” a spokeswoman, Katie Hill, said in a statement before the speech. “He’ll make a pointed case that democracy itself is on the line – along with the chance to create a better version of it.”
Click to expand...

Bit of a hypochrite, why didnt he bring about vote by mail when he was president. You cant support the ongoing riots but then say going to vote is dangerous.
 
Indiafan said:
Bernie had donations from multiple PACs and super PACs. He also outspent Biden in most places

You are just parroting the lies and propaganda spread by Rose twitter. Biden's polcies and detailed plans about every single thing from healthcare to climate change is easily available to check. if you don't know about them it's your own fault at this stage

You are just parroting online points like MSM, wall street donors, etc. In short a typical online leftist, who just parrots what twitter keeps feeding him
Click to expand...

Not all PACs and Super PACs are the same or created equal. I was talking about Corporate PACs. Bernie outspent Biden because Biden didn't have money to spend, no one was donating to his campaign. Biden campaign was almost out of money at one point. Let's just assume Bernie got donations from billionaires, but these donations didn't lead to Bernie giving any "Special Access" to corporates or big donors. However, Biden gave special closed-door access to big donors. You can knock Bernie for some of his language on PACs, but you cannot ignore the fact he was calling for elimination for corporate money from elections.

Rose twitter Lies? Huh, what bubble are you living in? Policies are not words that are published on websites and expect voters to read them. There were more than 25 candidates in Democratic primaries, you were expecting voters to read policies of every single candidate? I have read Biden's polices, but that's not the job of a voter. The campaign's job is to win you over with their policies. Their job is to educate voters through media events, rallies, interviews, town halls etc. MSM shoved one thing down the throats of their viewers, Biden is electable rather than talking about policies. Even his wife, Jill Biden, said vote for Joe Biden even if you like policies of other candidates more because Joe is more electable. You cannot deny that the MSM talked more about Biden's electability and getting rid of Trump than Biden's policies. This came full circle when a recent poll showed 56% are voting for Biden because he is not Trump, and only 9% for his policies. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/08/13/perceptions-of-trump-and-biden/

I am not going to discuss any policies here. If you want to discuss Biden's policies, Bernie's policies, loopholes in policies etc. You can start a new thread, and more than welcome to tag me on it. You can educate me on stuff that I am misinformed about or don't know about, and I can do that same for you.

Yeah, media bias against Bernie and wall street rejoicing at Biden/Harris ticket are just leftist twitter lies.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/business/wall-street-joe-biden-bernie-sanders.html
https://www.wsj.com/articles/kamala...t-wall-street-doesnt-seem-to-mind-11597254609
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGyrmDbiF6k

You should watch Bernie Blackout, it's a Vice TV documentary.

You are a typical MSM viewer who thinks MSM never misinforms its viewers, and they have no bias. In short, you are a Neo-liberal who puts blinders on when someone points out wrongdoings of Democratic party establishment and MSN.
 
Indiafan said:
Berneie's shadow groups which donate to him

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/shadow-group-sanders-super-pac-support-scorns-68132348

https://apnews.com/345bbd1af529cfb1e41305fa3ab1e604

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/12/bernie-sanders-super-pac/420930/

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/497786-sanders-aides-change-super-pac-name-after-he-objected
Click to expand...

Did you even read the articles? Or just read the headline and it was enough for you? I don't think you read or even looked at the articles. If you had actually looked, you would have noticed the first two articles are the same and no need to post same article twice. Again typical neo-liberal, no research just believes what MSM tells you. The Hill article talks about Bernie's objection to the new PAC formed by his aides to help the Biden campaign. Again, no research just copy and paste.

Total "big donations" to Our Revolution are less than 100K, that's a drop compared to overall grassroots donations to Bernie's Campaign. https://theintercept.com/2020/02/26/our-revolution-bernie-sanders-donor-contributions/

Like I said in my earlier post, Bernie did not give access to any of these big donors for their donations. Biden gave closed-door access to wall street donors.
 
Polls are showing Biden is ahead. However, polls during last election also showed Hillary would win.

If polls get it wrong again, it can become embarrassing. Their credibility is on the line.
 
Markhor said:
Woke brigade are whining online about how John Kasich got a speaking role at the DNC.
Click to expand...

Neo-Liberal were crying and whining 100x louder when Joe Rogan said he would vote for Bernie. Why were they whining? Because Joe Rogan has had controversial views on transgender people in sports. At that time Democrats and MSM didn't see that Joe Rogan is a Libertarian with a very big audience, and he can bring a wide range of voters to Dems tent.

Now they gave stage, at DNC, to someone who actually worked/passed on laws that denied rights to LGBTQ community, someone who is against labor unions, someone who called Biden a liar, someone who is pretty much against all social policies that Democrats stand for. But MSM spins it as we need a bigger tent of voters to win against Trump. Left-wing is pointing out the hypocrisy of DNC.

Err because you need some moderate Republican votes in order to win an election ?
Click to expand...

No, Dems don't need Republican votes to win the elections. Voter turnout was down in 2016 in swing states. Dems just need to give those voters, in swing states, a reason to vote. They did not need to include warmonger politicians in their camp to win this election. Geroge Bush has become a good man in eyes of neo-Liberals and MSM, just because he is on Never Trump side.


Some people online just want to stay in a state of permanent outrage.
Click to expand...

If Dems think they need moderate Republicans to win elections, then don't whine and show outrage for 4 years that Bernie supporters didn't vote for Hillary in 2016. Even though the number didn't back up their claim, they are still whining about Bernie supporters not voting for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Your term "State of Permanent Outrage" fits well for Hillary Clinton and neo-liberals.
 
Gilly said:
Bit of a hypochrite, why didnt he bring about vote by mail when he was president. You cant support the ongoing riots but then say going to vote is dangerous.
Click to expand...

Are you Kellyanne Conway? You got all of her tricks of spinning the topic into something else.

Vote by Mail (Absentee Vote) is available to all eligible voters if they fall under certain conditions. All states have different laws, but general law is over 65 years of age, if in hospital, etc. Your boy Trump, and many people in his administration vote by mail. Obama wasn't a hypocrite on this subject. There was no special need for Vote by Mail for all eligible voters in 2012 or 2016 as there was no pandemic during those election years. Good spin trying to make it about riots, but didn't work here. Voting in person is dangerous because the USA is still registering 35000+ new cases of COVID every day.
 
sweep_shot said:
Polls are showing Biden is ahead. However, polls during last election also showed Hillary would win.

If polls get it wrong again, it can become embarrassing. Their credibility is on the line.
Click to expand...

Biden still has led nationally, but lead is narrowing. A recent CNN poll showed Biden lead is down to 4% nationally. That's a 10% shift in Trump's favor in one month. Biden lead has narrowed to one-point in the average of 15 battleground states.

The credibility of polls and the Democratic Party is on the line. You cannot, you better not lose to this guy twice.
 
[utube]bps3m4eFTuE[/utube]


Barack Obama has delivered his most scathing attack on Donald Trump, accusing the US president and his enablers of trying to suppress the vote in November’s election and making the heartfelt plea: “Don’t let them take away your democracy.”

Kamala Harris makes history at DNC after Barack Obama rallies voters against Trump – as it happened
Read more
In the most withering critique by a former president on his successor in modern times, Obama made the case that Trump, a billionaire businessman and celebrity, has not grown into the job of president because he cannot, and instead treats it as a reality TV show.

His grave address mentioned the word “democracy” 18 times and offered a stark warning: “This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win. So we have to get busy building it up.”

Obama, the country’s first Black president, spoke on the third night of the virtual Democratic national convention just before Senator Kamala Harris of California became the first Black person to be formally nominated for vice-president by a major party and promised to fight with conviction and hope.

Obama spoke from the symbolic location of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. The words “Writing the constitution” were displayed on an exhibit wall behind him. The absence of cheering crowds that greeted him at past conventions, including two successful presidential nominations, fitted the sombre occasion.

This time, Obama argued, the election is not merely a battle of blue versus red but for the survival of democracy itself. “What we do these next 76 days will echo through generations to come,” he said.

Obama noted that he had sat in the Oval Office with both men who are running for president and said sardonically he had hoped that Trump might “show some interest in taking the job seriously … But he never did.

“For close to four years now, he’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves. Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t.”

The consequences, he continued, were 170,000 Americans killed by the coronavirus pandemic, millions of jobs lost while the rich get richer, “our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before”.

Obama also lavished praise on Trump’s challenger Joe Biden, his vice-president, “friend” and “brother”, as well as Biden’s running mate, Harris.

“Joe and Kamala have concrete policies that will turn their vision of a better, fairer, stronger country into reality,” he said. “But more than anything, what I know about Joe and Kamala is that they actually care about every American. And they care deeply about this democracy.”

Even as Obama spoke, Trump tweeted angry retorts in all caps. Obama said he understands why many people are down on government and wondering: what’s the point?

“Well, here’s the point,” he said. “This president and those in power – those who benefit from keeping things the way they are – they are counting on your cynicism. They know they can’t win you over with their policies. So they’re hoping to make it as hard as possible for you to vote, and to convince you that your vote doesn’t matter.

“That’s how they win. That’s how they get to keep making decisions that affect your life, and the lives of the people you love. That’s how the economy will keep getting skewed to the wealthy and well-connected, how our health systems will let more people fall through the cracks. That’s how a democracy withers, until it’s no democracy at all.”

He urged: “We can’t let that happen. Do not let them take away your power. Don’t let them take away your democracy.”

He called on Americans to make plan now on how to get involved and how to vote: “What we do echoes through the generations.”

Obama apart, the night belonged to Democratic women across generations, from host Kerry Washington to singer Billie Eilish, from House speaker Nancy Pelosi to former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head in Tucson, Arizona, nearly a decade ago yet survived and now found the courage, grit and determination to speak about resilience and even play a French horn.

In a sign of how much has changed in the pandemic, Harris introduced herself to the nation in a sparsely attended auditorium in Wilmington, Delaware. She was applauded by supporters on a giant video screen. When nominee Joe Biden walked out, he remained physically distanced and could not embrace her.

Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, sketched out her personal biography. “My mother taught me that service to others gives life purpose and meaning. And, oh, how I wish she were here tonight. But I know she’s looking down on me from above. I keep thinking about that 25-year-old Indian woman – all of five feet tall – who gave birth to me at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, California.

She went on: “On that day, she probably could have never imagined that I would be standing before you now speaking these words: I accept your nomination for vice-president of the United States of America.”

She, too, lambasted Trump but also offered hope. “There’s something happening, all across the country,” she said. “It’s not about Joe or me. It’s about you. It’s about us. People of all ages and colors and creeds who are, yes, taking to the streets, and also persuading our family members, rallying our friends, organizing our neighbors, and getting out the vote.”

Democrats are seeking to capitalise on a “gender chasm” between the parties. Women support Biden by 56% to 40%, roughly the same as their margin for Hillary Clinton over Trump in 2016, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Wednesday night’s programme seemed calculated to ram home that advantage.

Harris’ nomination also marks the elevation of Black women in a Democratic party that has for decades relied on their electoral power but whose loyalty was rarely reflected in leadership. In the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd in May, which sparked a national reckoning on racism, Biden faced pressure to choose a Black woman as his running mate.

But there was also a rueful look in the rearview mirror. Clinton wore suffragette white just as she did at her triumphant convention in 2016. Instead of the wildly enthusiastic crowds in Philadelphia anointing her as a likely future president, now she was alone at her home in Chappaqua, New York.

She said of Trump: “For four years, people have said to me, ‘I didn’t realise how dangerous he was.’ ‘I wish I could go back and do it over.’ ‘I should have voted.’ This can’t be another woulda-coulda-shoulda election.”

Clinton made reference to her own defeat in the electoral college, in spite of winning the popular vote, and fears that Trump will sow chaos and distrust in the process in a bid to claim victory again. “Remember: Joe and Kamala can win three million more votes and still lose. Take it from me. We need numbers so overwhelming Trump can’t sneak or steal his way to victory.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren, who finished third in the Democratic primary, spoke from the Early Childhood Education Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, which has been closed for months due to the coronavirus pandemic. In another display of party unity, she said: “Joe and Kamala will make high-quality child care affordable for every family, make pre-school universal, and raise the wages for every childcare worker.”

Videos produced for the third of the virtual convention included 11-year-old Estela Juarez from Florida, reading a letter she wrote to Trump after her mother – who married a US American marine with whom she had two American children – was deported to Mexico in an indictment of the president’s harsh immigration policies.

Another montage celebrated this week’s centenary of women winning the right to vote, weaving together footage of women marching throughout American history, including the historic women’s march that came a day after Trump’s inauguration.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/20/barack-obama-dnc-speech-trump-attack
 
Last edited:
Barack Obama accused Donald Trump of treating the US presidency like "one more reality show", in a withering speech to the Democratic convention.

The former US president said his Republican successor "hasn't grown into the job because he can't".

At the White House, Mr Trump hit back that he was only elected because of the "horror" Mr Obama left Americans.

On the third night of the Democratic conference, Kamala Harris accepted the vice-presidential nomination.

Kamala Harris savages Trump 'failure of leadership'
The grand finale of the four-night convention will see Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden deliver a speech on Thursday.

The Biden-Harris ticket will challenge President Trump and his Vice-President Mike Pence for the White House in the election on 3 November.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced Democrats to abandon the cheering throngs and razzmatazz that are the hallmarks of the quadrennial party convention in favour of a virtual event of pre-recorded and live speeches.

What did Obama say?

On Wednesday night, Mr Obama unleashed possibly his most scathing attack yet about Mr Trump, speaking live from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

He said: "He has [Mr Trump] shown no interest in putting in the work. No interest in finding common ground.

"No interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends.

"No interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves."

He said the consequences of the Trump presidency have been "our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before".

The former president lamented "the circus of it all, the meanness and the lies and the conspiracy theories".

"Do not let them take away your power," he implored American voters. "Do not let them take away your democracy."

Mr Obama encouraged voters to elect his former vice-president, Mr Biden, in 76 days' time - praising him as "my friend" and "a brother".

According to the Associated Press news agency, sources close to Mr Obama say he fully supports Mr Biden, but is concerned about engagement among younger voters and especially voters of colour.

Former US presidents mostly observe a dignified public silence about their successors.

But Mr Obama warned four years ago while still in office that he would regard it as a "personal insult" if Americans elected Mr Trump, then the Republican candidate and a former star of TV's The Apprentice.

The 44th president has become gradually more outspoken about his successor as he has watched him dismantle his legacy.

On Monday night at the Democratic convention, Michelle Obama delivered an impassioned attack on her husband's successor, painting him as incompetent and "clearly in over his head". Her salvo was especially striking to many Americans because US first ladies, serving and former, tend to carefully steer clear of the political fray.

How did Trump respond?

During a White House news conference on Wednesday, Mr Trump was asked about his predecessor's remarks.

"I see the horror that he's left us and the stupidity of the transactions he made," the US president said.

"Look at how bad he was, how ineffective a president he was, he was so ineffective, so terrible.

"Now President Obama did not do a good job, and the reason I'm here is because of President Obama and Joe Biden."

He added: "They did such a bad job that I stand before you as president."

In a subsequent tweet, Mr Trump said: "Welcome, Barack and Crooked Hillary. See you on the field of battle!"

The president is expected to accept his re-nomination as the Republican candidate from the White House lawn next week during his party's convention.

Who else spoke at the convention?

On Wednesday night, Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic nominee, also assailed the man who thwarted her White House ambitions.

Speaking from her home in Chappaquiddick, New York, she said: "I wish Donald Trump had been a better president. But, sadly, he is who he is."

The former first lady and ex-secretary of state added: "For four years, people have said to me, 'I didn't realise how dangerous he was.' 'I wish I could go back and do it over.' Or worst, 'I should have voted.'

"Well, this can't be another woulda coulda shoulda election."

She added: "Vote like our lives and livelihoods are on the line, because they are."

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53844037
 
Farz said:
Neo-Liberal were crying and whining 100x louder when Joe Rogan said he would vote for Bernie. Why were they whining? Because Joe Rogan has had controversial views on transgender people in sports. At that time Democrats and MSM didn't see that Joe Rogan is a Libertarian with a very big audience, and he can bring a wide range of voters to Dems tent.
Click to expand...
The outcry over Rogan's endorsement was just as nonsensical as this one over Kasich.

Now they gave stage, at DNC, to someone who actually worked/passed on laws that denied rights to LGBTQ community, someone who is against labor unions, someone who called Biden a liar, someone who is pretty much against all social policies that Democrats stand for. But MSM spins it as we need a bigger tent of voters to win against Trump. Left-wing is pointing out the hypocrisy of DNC.
Click to expand...
Tell me the part where John Kasich is writing the Democratic Party platform. Is Biden proposing any of those policies ?

No, Dems don't need Republican votes to win the elections. Voter turnout was down in 2016 in swing states. Dems just need to give those voters, in swing states, a reason to vote.
Click to expand...
And this is why Leftists have failed in election after election. They've used this "give non-voters a reason to vote" argument for decades. Can you explain then why Bernie Sanders was unable to increase his voter turnout in the primary from 2016 ?

Despite giving stayaway voters many reasons to vote and spending the last five years selling his agenda, first-time voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada FELL compared to 2016 ! So what happened to Bernie's Non-Voter Revolution ? Also, whilst I'd like it to be true, why do you assume non-voters will automatically support a Leftist agenda ?

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/truth-about-non-voters/607051/

Nonvoters are also far less progressive than is commonly believed. They are more likely than voters to support constructing a wall on the southern border with Mexico, less likely to support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, less likely to support abortion rights, and less likely to favor gun control. Nonvoters do skew left on some important economic issues, such as support for a higher minimum wage. But on the defining cultural issues of the moment, they are markedly more conservative.

In light of their views on public policy, it is hardly surprising that nonvoters are not particularly likely to describe themselves as liberal or to say that they favor the Democratic Party. Among voters, 38 percent consider themselves Democrats and 30 percent Republicans, for a differential of eight points. Among nonvoters, 31 percent consider themselves Democrats and 26 percent Republicans, for a differential of only five points. The ideological breakdown of nonvoters is even more revealing: A clear majority of them consider themselves either moderate or conservative; only one in five say that they are liberal.
Click to expand...

I heard the same rhetoric from Corbyn supporters here on our side of the Pond, and they were hammered last December. Whether we like it or not, you can't just rely on our base to win electoral majorities, especially when the Leftist base has shrunk over decades due to the decimation of trade unions.

Finally: A) Swing Democrats who helped retake the House in 2018 were mostly moderates winning in Republican suburbs, not firebrand Leftists. B) Look, if Biden or ANY Democratic President wants to pass progressive priorities - they need 60 Senate votes. At the very least they need 51 to pass some policies via Budget Reconciliation. You know as an American the Senate map favours whiter, rural states - meaning some moderates must be brought into the tent to win.
 
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