Thanks to Donald Trump, a poll released today shows that 41% of Americans think the election could be stolen from Trump. All this talk coming from Donald Trump about a rigged election and ongoing voter fraud is definitely having an effect. Trump has succeeded in poisoning the electoral process.
I think it was Chuck Todd of NBC who said this morning that Trump may be losing the election but he does not want to be seen as a loser so he wants to make it look like the election was stolen from him, you know, save the brand stuff. So in 23 days, we could wake up in America and a good chunk of the population will think that the election results are illegitimate.
One of the most talked about articles this weekend was the one in the Boston Globe by Matt Viser and Tracy Jan. It was a downright scary piece. Here are highlights, err lowlights of the article:
In an arena normally reserved for ice hockey, the Donald Trump crowd was on edge.
Some wore shirts with slogans like “[Expletive] Your Feelings” or, in reference to the female Democratic nominee, “Trump that Bitch.” Others had buckets of popcorn, ready for the show. When the media entourage entered, thousands erupted in boos.
Anger and hostility were the most overwhelming sentiments at a Trump rally in Cincinnati last week, a deep sense of frustration, an us-versus-them mentality, and a belief that they are part of an unstoppable and underestimated movement. Unlike many in the country, however, these hard-core Trump followers do not believe the real estate mogul’s misfortunes are of his own making.
They believe what Trump has told them over and over, that this election is rigged, and if he loses, it will be because of a massive conspiracy to take him down.
At a time when trust in government is at a low point, Trump is actively stoking fears that a core tenet of American democracy is also in peril: that you can trust what happens at the ballot box.
His supporters here said they plan to go to their local precincts to look for illegal immigrants who may attempt to vote. They are worried that Democrats will load up buses of minorities and take them to vote several times in different areas of the city. They’ve heard rumors that boxes of Clinton votes are already waiting somewhere.
And if Trump doesn’t win, some are even openly talking about violent rebellion and assassination, as fantastical and unhinged as that may seem.
“If she’s in office, I hope we can start a coup. She should be in prison or shot. That’s how I feel about it,” Dan Bowman, a 50-year-old contractor, said of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee. “We’re going to have a revolution and take them out of office if that’s what it takes. There’s going to be a lot of bloodshed. But that’s what it’s going to take. . . . I would do whatever I can for my country.”
He then placed a Trump mask on his face and posed for pictures.
And:
“It’s one big fix,’’ Trump said Friday afternoon in Greensboro, N.C. “This whole election is being rigged.’’
He saved some of his harshest criticism for the media, which he said is in league with Clinton to steal the election.
“The media is indeed sick, and it’s making our country sick, and we’re going to stop it,” he said.
Mainstream Republicans are watching these developments at the top of the ticket with a growing sense of alarm, calling Trump’s latest conspiracy theories of a rigged election irresponsible and dangerous. They also say the impact of voter fraud or errors on the outcome of elections is vastly overblown.
“How do you proclaim fraud before the incident takes place? It’s like my calling you a robber before you rob the bank,” said Al Cardenas, who was chairman of the Republican Party of Florida during the 2000 electoral recount. “In America, you call out a crime or malfeasance after it happens.”
Cardenas, having been immersed in the Florida recount for 37 days, said an average of 1.5 percent of votes cast in the nation are not recorded, due mostly to technical issues and procedural errors.
“That’s a significant number in a close election, but they are not wrongdoings,” Cardenas said. “Americans should feel that the ultimate outcome of the election is fair. That’s how we defend our democracy.”
Cardenas said he would not vote for Trump or Clinton — even if that means Clinton wins.
“Hey, the radicals had their day,’’ he said. “This is the result of it.”
Fergus Cullen, former chairman of the New Hampshire GOP, said it was an incredibly important moment in 2000 when Democrat Al Gore gave a speech saying he accepted the results of the Supreme Court decision to award the majority of electoral votes and presidential victory to George W. Bush.
“Had he not done that, or done so halfheartedly, or even suggested that he’d been robbed, or otherwise tried to delegitimize the results, it would have been a huge blow to our democratic process,” Cullen said.
Cullen expects Trump’s warnings about a rigged election to get even uglier in coming weeks, and he fears they will incite violence if Trump loses.
“That’s really scary,” Cullen said, recounting the violence at Trump rallies around the country leading up to the Republican National Convention. “In this country, we’ve always had recriminations after one side loses. But we haven’t had riots. We haven’t had mobs that act out with violence against supporters of the other side. There’s no telling what his supporters would be willing to do at the slightest encouragement from their candidate.”
And:
Trump has recently started encouraging his mostly white supporters to sign up online to be “election observers” to stop “Crooked Hillary from rigging this election.” He’s urging them to act as posses of poll watchers in “other” communities to ensure that things are “on the up and up.”
“Watch your polling booths,” he warned.
His supporters are heeding the call.
“Trump said to watch your precincts. I’m going to go, for sure,” said Steve Webb, a 61-year-old carpenter from Fairfield, Ohio.
“I’ll look for . . . well, it’s called racial profiling. Mexicans. Syrians. People who can’t speak American,” he said. “I’m going to go right up behind them. I’ll do everything legally. I want to see if they are accountable. I’m not going to do anything illegal. I’m going to make them a little bit nervous.”
And:
It’s a common strand among the Trump crowd. They say they have seen videos of Clinton supporters ripping up Republican registrations. They believe Obama is rushing to allow illegal immigrants to become citizens in order to vote.
“We’re going to have a lot of election fraud,” said Jeannine Bell Smith, 65-year-old longtime teacher in a red Trump shirt with a bucket of popcorn under her arm. “They are having illegals vote. In some states, you don’t need voter registration to vote.”
After a prayer is said and the national anthem sung, she leans in.
“We can’t have that lying bitch in the White House,” she said.
“If Hillary wins, it’s rigged,” said Judy Wright, who is from Illinois but took off work recently to come volunteer for Trump in Ohio.
Here is the entire article: http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/10/15/donald-trump-warnings-conspiracy-rig-election-are-stoking-anger-among-his-followers/LcCY6e0QOcfH8VdeK9UdsM/story.html?event=event25.
Here is what Speaker Paul Ryan’s office put out on Saturday in response Trump’s claims of a rigged election:
“Our democracy relies on confidence in election results, and the speaker is fully confident the states will carry out this election with integrity.”
This is a pretty weak statement if you ask me. Of course, this is the typical cowardly response from GOP leaders these days.
Cleveland last won the World Serious in 1948. Who did they beat?
A new poll says Hillary Clinton has a 50-point lead over Donald Trump among Latino voters. Here is from an online story:
The poll, conducted by NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Telemundo, revealed that 67 percent of Latinos support Clinton, while 17 percent back Trump. According to the poll, Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein each have three percent support from Latinos.
The poll data suggests that Latinos’ interest in the election has increased over the last few months.
A recent interest in the election was expressed by 69 percent of Latino voters. That number grew from 60 percent last month.
In addition, 82 percent of Latinos said they are sure to vote in the election — that’s eight in 10 voters.
When an election is about us – Latinos – we turnout to vote.
And now some Latino GOPers are not happy with their party for not standing up to Trump. I don’t blame them. Like I said earlier, the GOP leaders have acted cowardly. They have let Trump poison everything. Here is from yesterday’s Chron:
Latino Republicans from Texas and around the country plan to gather in Las Vegas, site of the final presidential debate this week, for a “reckoning” amid fears that Donald Trump’s extremism has caused long-term damage to GOP efforts to appeal to the burgeoning Latino electorate.
The Latino leaders intend to vent frustration at GOP national chairman Reince Priebus and the Republican National Committee for failing to halt Trump’s insults of Hispanics over the past 16 months. They also will use the gathering to organize a new group that will have a Washington office to promote and express the party’s Latino agenda.
And:
“It appears to be that we’re headed for a big debacle,” said Jacob Monty, a Houston lawyer and one of the organizers of the meeting. “My personal opinion is that there needs to be some sort of reckoning.”
Here is the entire Chron article: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Texas-Latinos-angry-with-GOP-leadership-for-not-9973504.php?t=c5fb60f5c5.
Remember when Commentary said this on Friday?
Commentary is waiting.
Governor Mike Pence said this morning on the “Today” show that in a “matter of hours” the Donald Trump campaign would produce evidence to refute the latest claims by the women who accused Trump of you know what.
Commentary thinks the Trump campaign put Pence out on a limb.
I am still waiting.
H-Town had some pretty good football the last couple of evenings.
In 1948, Cleveland beat the Boston Braves, 4 games to 2.
Jose Altuve got to do the coin toss last night a NRG.
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