“If Republicans win, you lose . . . .”
November 2, 2022
Trump finally broke his silence about the savage assault on Paul Pelosi by a MAGA extremist who says he was on a political “suicide mission” that targeted Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Trump, of course, expressed no sympathy for Mr. Pelosi but instead spread defamatory falsehoods about the attack. Trump said that
weird things going on in that household . . . . The glass it seems was broken from the inside to the out. So it wasn’t a break-in, it was a breakout.
Per an Application for an arrest warrant filed by the DOJ, David Depape admitted to an FBI agent
“that he broke into the house through a glass door, which was a difficult task that required the use of a hammer.”
The break-in by Depape was also captured on surveillance cameras maintained by the Capitol Police at the Pelosi residence. Per an exclusive report by the Washington Post, the Capitol Police reviewed video after seeing police lights at the Pelosi residence. Per the Post,
There, on camera, was a man with a hammer, breaking a glass panel and entering the speaker’s home.
In other words, the only fact in Trump’s description of the incident that is subject to fact-checking demonstrates that Trump is spreading a damnable lie. On one level, the lying is secondary to Trump’s callous inhumanity about an attack on an 82-year-old man that left him with a fractured skull and “severe injuries” to his arms and hands. To the everlasting shame of the “party of Lincoln,” Trump’s performative cruelty is what passes for “leadership” in today’s GOP.
But worse than Trump’s cruelty is that he is (once again) dissolving the sinew of our union by spreading caustic disinformation about MAGA-inspired violence. With Trump and Elon Musk pouring accelerant on conspiracy theories that should be relegated to the noisome underbelly of the internet, the lies about the attempted assassination of a national leader will become uncontainable. Governing a pluralistic democracy is inherently difficult; doing so when a substantial portion of the population is engaged in a delusional alternate reality is an existential challenge.
Trump knows that he is unfit to lead the America rooted in reality and is therefore creating a fantasy universe in which truth is replaced with grievance as the governing principle. That is why it is incumbent on defenders of democracy to combat MAGA’s lies whenever and wherever they appear. The slanderous, homophobic lies being spread by leaders in the GOP, the owner of Twitter, and right-wing media are the latest battleground for the truth.
So, here’s the truth: Trump told a radio interviewer that the glass on the Pelosi home “was broken from the inside to the out. So it wasn’t a break-in, it was a breakout.” Trump is a liar, as demonstrated by the DOJ’s Application and the video in the hands of the Capitol Police. Tell a friend. The democracy you save may be your own!
“If Republicans win, you lose . . . .”
On Tuesday, I participated in a panel discussion on Jill Wine-Bank’s (@JillWineBanks) live podcast, iGen Politics. It was a fun and interesting experience for many reasons, including the fact that two of the guests are former Republicans (Kurt Bardella and Joe Walsh) and one (Dr. Rachel Bitecofer) has an outstanding record of predicting election outcomes over the last four years. Part of the discussion included hard-to-hear truths about the failure of Democratic messaging. All of the panelists with experience in politics (i.e., not me) believed that Democrats were too passive in responding to hard-hitting Republican attack ads.
Against this background, Jill Wine-Banks asked the panel what messaging they would recommend for Democrats. Without hesitation, Rachel Bitecofer said, “If Republicans win, you lose . . . .” In the moment, the slogan seemed brilliant. With the benefit of reflection, it seems even better than I originally thought. It is compact, aggressive, flexible, and true!
At its core, the message communicates an essential truth: The Republican Party is working against the interests of every American . . . on democracy, the economy, taxes, Social Security, drug prices, climate, reproductive liberty, gun safety, personal privacy, LGBTQ equality, . . . [fill in the ellipsis as appropriate for the circumstance].
Yes, we must tout the accomplishments of Biden and the Democrats, but that is a heavier lift requiring more explanation after we have grabbed the attention of our intended audience. In a world where airtime and the interval between clicks of the mouse are measured in seconds not minutes, we must be able to communicate the essence of this critical moment in seconds. I wish it were otherwise, but Republicans are doing the obverse to ill effect. We must fight fire with fire. “If Republicans win, you lose” . . . . Tell a friend!
Lindsey Graham runs out of places to hide.
Lindsey Graham attempted to interfere in the Georgia presidential election of 2020. If you don’t recall what happened, Vox explained Graham’s actions in this contemporaneous article, Lindsey Graham’s call on Georgia ballots with state official Brad Raffensperger, explained (11/18/20). Per Vox,
a question has arisen about whether Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of [Trump’s] close allies, tried to get Georgia’s secretary of state to throw out vast numbers of legally cast mail ballots. . . . Graham asked whether [the Georgia Secretary of State] had the power to throw out all mail ballots in counties where there were relatively high rates of rejection of mail ballots because their signatures did not match voters’ signatures on file.
On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court denied Graham’s request for review of a lower court’s order requiring Graham to appear before a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia. See Talking Points Memo, SCOTUS Slaps Down Lindsey Graham’s Bid To Evade Georgia Grand Jury.
But . . . as noted in the Supreme Court’s order denying a stay of the subpoena, Graham can still refuse to answer questions on the ground that he was engaged in “informal” legislative activity. The Court wrote that
the lower court assumed that the informal fact-finding Senator Graham assertedly engaged in constitutes legislative activity protected by the “Speech or Debate Clause” [and] they held that Senator Graham may not be questioned about such activities. The lower courts also held that Senator Graham may return to the District Court should disputes arise regarding application of the Speech or Debate Clause . . . .
In other words, even though Graham will appear before the grand jury, he will refuse to answer specific questions about his call to Raffensperger. That’s okay because the other participants in the conversations have already testified to Graham’s statements during the call. Why, then, does the Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis, want to take sworn testimony from Graham?
The District Attorney will likely probe Graham’s conversations with Donald Trump about the call to Georgia—conversations that are unlikely to be within the ambit of the “Speech or Debate Clause.” Conducting an “informal investigation” of Georgia’s election does not (should not) include conversations with Trump. Nor should such conversations be covered by executive privilege. A US Senator is not a presidential adviser. Stay tuned for Lindsey Graham’s next bad-faith effort to evade justice.
Some good news about Arizona’s vigilante poll watchers.
A federal judge issued a broad injunction against the activities of the deceptively named Clean Elections USA, which has posted armed poll observers and videotaped and photographed voters using dropboxes. The League of Women Voters filed suit in federal district seeking an injunction against Clean Elections’ activities. On Tuesday, a Trump-appointed judge granted relief that went beyond that requested by LWV. See NYTimes, Judge Curbs Actions of Election-Monitoring Group in Arizona. Per the temporary restraining order, Clean Elections USA is prohibited from
taking photos or videos of voters or disseminating information about voters online, and also from “making false statements” about Arizona’s statutes regarding early voting in interviews or on social media.
The facts are egregious. According to one voter and his wife,
eight to 10 people filmed the couple and told them they were “hunting mules.” Images of him and his car were posted online and Ms. Jennings [of Clean Elections USA] subsequently appeared on the podcast of Stephen K. Bannon, the former Trump adviser, saying they had caught a mule and “blasted it out viral.”
The DOJ needs to prosecute those who engage in unlawful voter intimidation. In the meantime, good for the League of Women Voters for standing up for the rights of Arizona voters! Check out the good work of the Arizona League of Women Voters here: LWV Of Arizona | League of Women Voters.
Concluding Thoughts.
Jennifer Ruben discusses why Democrats have reason to hope, notwithstanding the flood of polls suggesting otherwise. Indeed, as Jennifer notes, Republicans are “flooding the zone” with dozens of low-quality polls to confuse and distract the media—and it has worked! Many media organizations cite to unreliable, poorly designed polls as if all polls are created equal. They are not. We can still affect the outcome, and don’t let anyone tell you differently, even if he is wearing khakis, a white dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and a red tie! Here is Jenifer Rubin’s column: Opinion | Is election polling trustworthy? Here are reasons to be sketpical. - The Washington Post. Keep the faith and keep working hard until every vote is cast!
Speaking of continuing to work hard, is there anything that we can do in the next few days to improve Democratic prospects on November 8th? Yes! Jessica Craven asked me to share her list of action items she compiled for her newsletter, Chop Wood, Carry Water | Jessica Craven | Substack. As with everything Jessica does, her list is superb. I am going to cut and paste her work-product in my newsletter for ease of access—but the credit and hard work all belong to Jessica! Here are the action steps you can take, from Jessica Craven, in her own words:
Hi. You’re realizing this election is going to be close, and you’re also realizing WE CAN WIN! You want to do something. But what? I’ve got you covered!
I have a daily actions newsletter called Chop Wood, Carry Water that’s been providing people with easy ways to help save our democracy since 2016. Here are a few ways you can make a meaningful difference in the next seven days, curated from the newsletter.
Go to Vote Save America’s Priority Actions page and find an event to volunteer at.
Sign up for an Activate America phonebank or a Reclaim Our Vote phonebank. Both have calling every day into critical states and districts. Both offer on-your-own-time calling once you’re trained. (And they offer great training.) Reclaim Our Vote focuses on Black and Brown Voters in Southern states to help them overcome voter suppression.
SIGN UP TO PHONEBANK INTO NEVADA! This is our most vulnerable state. We need help! This phonebank offers great training.
If you can, sign up to do one canvass wherever you live. JUST ONE! This is legitimately the best way we have of moving voters–plus it’s fun! Look for opportunities near you here. (If you’re in SoCal look here.)
Textbank with Movement Labs. They’re doing incredible work and need tons of volunteers.
Donate to this fund going to Black-led grassroots groups getting out the vote in critical battleground states. This is important! Another great place to give is Down Home North Carolina, which is doing critical canvassing work and will use your money immediately to get more folks knocking doors. Give here.
Postcards to Voters is sending postcards for a few more days. Act fast! You’ll need to provide your own cards. Text HELLO to (484) 275-2229 to get started.
Joan’s Democracy Cafe is doing phonebanking into both PA and GA several times a week. Sign up here. Their training is top rate.
Demcast has created a new toolkit JUST for amplifying races in Nevada, New Hampshire, and North Carolina. Go here, pick your favorite social media platform, and AMPLIFY away.
If you live in AZ, CA, FL, GA, MI, NC, NV, OH, TX and WI—Join Vote Rev Action Fund’s high traffic on-the-spot vote tripling program, the latest in site-based relational turnout programs! This high-impact tactic is easy to execute: no experience is necessary, and you can volunteer in your own community. We also know it’s INCREDIBLY effective.
Sign up for Indivisble’s Neighbor-to-Neighbor project. Indivisible will send you a list of up to 5 likely progressives near you, a short script, best practices, and an optional printout to leave if they aren’t home. Then? You just knock on your five neighbors’ doors and remind them to vote. It’s a simple way to make sure we’re getting every last voter to the polls. A note that this is only available in some states (AK, AZ, CA, CO, GA, MI, NC, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OR, PA, TX, WA, and WI.)
Kudos to Jessica Craven on such a comprehensive list!
Talk to you tomorrow!
Were Democrats to adopt the slogan “If Republicans win, you lose,” I would suggest their follow-up talking points be formatted to amplify a working family agenda that has received zero Republican support. Here’s a sample:
“Who do you want here—somebody who doesn’t want to extend the child tax credit or those who do?” “Somebody who doesn’t want to provide paid family and medical leave or those who do?” “Doesn’t want to preserve Social Security and Medicare or those who do?” “Doesn’t want to establish a $15 hourly minimum wage or those who do?” “Doesn’t want to deliver affordable, quality childcare or those who do?” “Doesn’t want to invest in universal healthcare, in housing, in eldercare, in climate, or those who do?” And so forth.
As stated previously, while I don’t expect going on the offensive and taking the fight to the Republican Party will have much, if any, impact on far right MAGA extremists, I do imagine there are sufficient numbers of “persuadables,” who could help Dems hold the House, pick up some Senate seats, and also win contests in battleground state and local elections.
Thank you Robert! Great panel discussion - appreciated your insights as always.
Spent Monday poll watching at Univ of NV Reno and learned a few things. Here’s how WE all can help turn out #GenZ Voters:
🗳 Remind them that if they did not get their mail in ballot, they may be able to same day register & vote at the polls. (22 states and Washington, D.C. do this - see comments for state list.) Need proof of res/ID. (Ck www.iwillvote.com for state reqs/reg.)
🍩 Seriously, get some donuts or candy & go to your nearest student union of a community college, or university. Walk around and ask them if they’ve voted. If they haven’t, find out why and help them. Most kids I’ve talked to who haven’t voted WANT to vote but feel overwhelmed. (Last night, I spoke with a 19 year old hotel reception clerk - he said he wanted to vote, but he wasn't sure how to do it and that his family are Trumpers so he didn't want to ask them. I gave him www.iwillvote.com and my number for any questions about voting.)
📲 Make sure your kids (and their friends) have their ballots and will vote! And even if they are in a blue state, it's so important for young people to vote so they have political power and don't have 70+ yr old white conservative voters deciding their futures.