Georgia

“Socialism” And “Defund The Police” Killed Democratic House Numbers, Endangering Majority In 2022

The Democratic Party needs to realize that if it goes too far to the Left, it will doom President Joe Biden’s efforts for success!

Unfortunately, the Congressional Elections of 2020 demonstrated that the nation is still very split on what is desirable to accomplish, as the Republican opposition and Donald Trump utilized fear of the word “Socialism”, as if Joe Biden and the Democrats are equivalent of Communist leaders in Cuba, China, the Russian Federation, and other left wing regimes, such as Venezuela and Nicaragua!

This shows total ignorance of the term “Socialism”, and the reality that America is a mixed Capitalist-Socialist nation, with the Socialist party of Eugene Debs and Norman Thomas in the first half of the 20th century contributing many ideas, which over time, were part of the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, and many other progressive reform since then.

But it is clear that had Bernie Sanders somehow been the Democratic nominee for President, he would NOT have been able to win, as only a moderate centrist with a tip to the Left, as Joe Biden has been his whole life, could possibly have won back the Midwest states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, along with the Sun Belt states of Georgia and Arizona, and not lose any of the 20 states that Hillary Clinton won in 2016.

Also, while there have been too many outrageous examples of police abuse and brutality, and particularly against African American males and Latino males, and really even females, the answer is police reform and accountability, not “Defund the Police”, as they are still essential.

Sadly, the Senate only saw two Democrats elected (Mark Kelly, John Hickenlooper), while one (Doug Jones) was defeated, gaining only one seat, to 48, although Georgia creates an opportunity in its runoff election for the chance to have a 50-50 Senate, that Vice President Kamala Harris could organize as a Democratic Senate, with Chuck Schumer as Senate Majority Leader, instead of the horrible Mitch McConnell.

But there is danger of the House of Representatives, in a midterm election, going back to the Republicans, since they have gained at least 5-7 seats in the 117th Congress, and with the reality, that the party in the White House usually loses seats in the following midterm election.

The Senate will have, again, twice as many Republican seats up for election in 2022, but this scenario did not work out in 2020, so no assurance there either of retaining or gaining a Democratic Senate majority, which is so urgent to make Joe Biden a successful President!

A Hellish 24 Hours Of Stress And Lack Of Sleep, As The Nation Waits For The Result Of The Election

This blogger and author has gone through what many of his readers and others have felt: a hellish 24 hours of stress and lack of sleep as the nation waits for the results of the Presidential Election of 2020.

Five states–Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina–remain, as I write, unsettled as to the winner.

But at this moment before 5 AM, and having failed to post an article as usual on November 5 due to the turmoil, I am happy to report that Joe Biden is ahead in all the remaining states, except Pennsylvania and North Carolina, and is on the path to being declared President Elect!

Joe Biden On Road To Presidency, But Without Democratic Senate, A Major Handicap For Success!

Joe Biden is on his way to the Presidency, but sadly, he will not have a Democratic Senate, as the situation now stands.

So this is a major handicap for success of a Biden Presidency.

Mitch McConnell won reelection, and seems almost certain to remain Senate Majority Leader, unless both Georgia seats up for election, not likely to be decided until January, go to the Democrats, which seems highly unlikely! Also still up in the air is Alaska and North Carolina, but it does not look good for the Democrats at this writing, and Michigan Democrat Gary Peters is losing his race at the moment.

Donald Trump will mount legal challenges, but it seems certain that Joe Biden will become the 46th President of the United States, although not under the hoped for landslide that did not develop, as Florida, Ohio, Iowa, and Texas went to the Republicans, leaving Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina still in play in the Electoral College, along with Nevada still not final for Biden at this point. But happily, Arizona and Wisconsin switched from Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020!

Biden could gain 270 electoral votes in the next day or two, if and when Nevada, Michigan and Georgia put him over the top! And Pennsylvania and North Carolina are still possible!

Final Projection On Congressional Elections Of 2020

With only five days to go until the Congressional Elections of 2020, this author and blogger wishes to indicate his final projection on what is likely to happen.

The House of Representatives will witness a major Democratic gain, with the estimate being about 15 seats, to a total of approximately 250 Democrats and 185 Republicans, giving the Democrats a wide margin for the next elections in 2022.

Democrats will gain seats in California, Florida, Illinois, Texas, Virginia and Pennsylvania, reaching about five more than I estimated on May 2 in my earlier projection, and a large number will be female and minority.

The US Senate will see a Democratic takeover, and have 53-55 seats. The Democrats will lose Alabama, regrettably, although Doug Jones is an exceptional Senator, the best Alabama has had in a long time, but Alabama is simply unwilling to appreciate a man as decent and accomplished as Doug Jones. If he does indeed lose his seat, however, Jones should be part of the Biden team, maybe as a cabinet member.

The Republicans will lose seven to nine seats, with assuredly the following seven gains and possibly two more:

Arizona, Mark Kelly over Martha McSally

Colorado, John Hickenlooper over Cory Gardner

Maine, Sara Gideon over Susan Collins

Georgia, Jon Ossoff over David Perdue

Montana, Steve Bullock over Steve Daines

North Carolina, Cal Cunningham over Thom Tillis

Iowa, Theresa Greenfield over Joni Ernst

Kansas, Barbara Bollier over Roger Marshall

South Carolina, Jaime Harrison over Lindsey Graham

Georgia’s other seat, presently held by Kelly Loeffler is more difficult to determine, and will not be settled until January.

Sadly, this author and blogger doubts the defeat of John Cornyn in Texas or Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, but sees the first seven listed above sure to go Blue, and Kansas and South Carolina possible, so therefore, with the loss of Alabama, but the gain of seven Republican seats, at least 53 Democrats, and the possibility of up to two more, for a grand total of 55 maximum!

Democrats Gaining In Southeast And Southwest, Likely Transforming American Politics In The 2020s

Indications are that Democrats are starting to gain support in both the Southeast (North Carolina, Georgia) and the Southwest (Arizona), and are running even in Florida and Texas, and keeping their lead in Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada.

If this trend continues, the Midwest Rust Belt states (Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania), while still important, will be less significant in future Presidential elections.

And it looks as if many of the Senate seats that are being decided this November will end up with a Democratic Senator–as in North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.

The electoral map in future elections will be vastly different than it has been in previous election rounds.

The Donald Trump Base Is Withering Rapidly

As the election day ticks down to 22 days today, it is clear that the Donald Trump base of about 35-40 percent is withering rapidly.

The COVID 19 Pandemic and the outrageously poor reaction of Donald Trump and Mike Pence to that disaster is turning senior citizens and even white working class men away from Donald Trump.

The fact that he has called his followers “disgusting”, and glad he does not have to shake their hands, is being noted by many former Trump supporters who now realize Trump would not want them at his Mar A Lago residence in Florida.

Trump is massively losing among those of his former supporters who have a brain and intelligence, morality, and ethics, and see what a disgusting human being he is!

More Trump backers in 2016 have seen how dangerous and unstable he is, and how his narcissism has led him to endanger American foreign policy, and side with authoritarian leaders, including Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Mohammed bin Salman, among others.

Many conservatives are realizing that Trump is not a conservative, and many former Republican officeholders have repudiated him as a destroyer of Republican Party history and values.

Trump has made no effort to expand his receding base, and every poll, even on Fox News Channel, shows Joe Biden far ahead in “swing states”, and competing even in states that by all rights should not be contestable, including Georgia, Texas, Ohio, Iowa, and Arizona.

This is not an issue of whether Joe Biden is a perfect candidate, as no such person exists, but rather whether he represents the interests and concerns of average Americans, whose families have struggled and continue to struggle.

Joe Biden comes from a working class background, and has always had the traits needed for a President—intelligence, knowledge, experience, compassion, empathy, decency, morals, ethics, humanity, and a magnificent record of service unmatched in American history.

The nation is realizing Joe Biden is the right person to deal with the worst conditions we have seen since the Great Depression, far greater than the Great Recession of a decade ago. Only his approach to the future, with Kamala Harris by his side, can help the nation to recover from the COVID 19 Pandemic, the economic calamity, and the racial divide that has been encouraged by the Trump Administration.

Cuban Americans Are Distinctly Republican, But Competition For The Vote Of Other Latinos Is Strongly Democratic

It is well known that the majority of Cuban Americans have been conservative and supporters of the Republican Party, since the first migration of Cubans to South Florida in 1959, and particularly after the failed Bay of Pigs fiasco under President John F. Kennedy in 1961.

And yet, younger Cubans are much more Democratic, as this scholar and professor discovered in his classes over the years.

Still, the effect of Fidel Castro and his brother Raul Castro permeate the strong anti Communism of Cuban Americans in Florida, New Jersey, New York and California, major centers of Cuban Americans. But Cubans are only about 4 percent of all Latino Americans.

Other Latino Americans still tend to be strongly Democratic, so it is expected Joe Biden will win the vast majority of Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and other Latino groups from Latin America, with the one exception of Venezuelans.

Florida will be more complex because of the strength of the Cuban vote in South Florida, but the growing Puerto Rican presence, especially in central Florida in the last few years, makes it a real competition for both Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Elsewhere, the Mexican American vote, and population (which is two thirds of all Latinos in America), makes it likely that Arizona may turn “Blue” and that Texas will be much more competitive than ever in the past thirty years. And Georgia and North Carolina also will be tight races due to Latinos.

Already, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado are strongly Democratic.

So the battle for the Latino vote is very much to be noticed in this upcoming Presidential election, and in Senate and House races.

Reality: If Biden Wins Florida, He Only Needs To Win One More Trump State Of 2016!

The odds of Donald Trump being able to pull out a win in November is very poor, particularly if Florida, third in electoral votes with 29, goes to Joe Biden.

The Democratic states of 2016 all seem solid for Joe Biden, although the Republicans are trying to win New Hampshire, Minnesota, Nevada and New Mexico, but the odds are very long against that occurring.

With Florida being won by Biden, all that the Democratic Presidential nominee needs to hit the 270 mark is win one of the following:

Pennsylvania 20 electoral votes

Michigan 16 electoral votes

Wisconsin 10 electoral votes

North Carolina 15 electoral votes

Arizona 11 electoral votes

Ohio 18 electoral votes

Georgia 16 electoral votes

Right now, in public opinion polls, Biden is ahead of Donald Trump in all but the last two states, and one must remember that in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, Trump only won by a combination of 78,000 votes combined in 2016!

Florida is prime territory for Democrats, with the growing Puerto Rican population, enhanced by the hurricane which hit that island in 2017, and by senior citizens notably turning against Donald Trump in the midst of the CoronaVirus Pandemic. Since Trump did not win by very much in Florida in 2016, and with the enhanced Democratic campaign that will be mounted in Florida, the likelihood of Florida going Democratic, along with at least one of the above seven states is, seemingly, not all that difficult.

Also, Florida could end up trending “Blue” on Election Night, throwing the plot of Trump to declare victory that evening out of possibility.

It would be fitting and ironic that the state that Donald Trump has now made his official residence could put the nail in the coffin of Donald Trump staying on as President!

QAnon Conspiracy Theory Overtaking Republican Party, With Victory Of Marjorie Taylor Greene

There is an element of totally crazy conspiracy people, known as the QAnon believers, which advocate a supposed secret plot by an alleged “deep state” against President Donald Trump and his supporters.

QAnon has accused many liberal Hollywood actors, Democratic politicians, and high ranking public officials of being members of an international child sex trafficking ring. They claimed that Hillary Clinton was part of the child sex trafficking ring, and that Barack Obama and George Soros were connected to a great conspiracy against Donald Trump, who is portrayed as being totally innocent of any charges against him.

The FBI has said that QAnon is a likely domestic terrorist group, and Twitter has banned it from its platforms.

QAnon has promoted antisemitism, racism, nativism, and arguments that only Donald Trump can save the nation, making him out to be a demigod.

And now, we will have at least one, possibly more, members of the 117th Congress in 2021, who espouse these theories, but are being elected to the House of Representatives in 2020, and will have a platform to espouse their crazy, hateful rhetoric.

One such person is the future new Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was repudiated by Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, until she won the nomination this past week, and has now been embraced by both McCarthy and by President Donald Trump.

Greene spews racist, nativist, islamophobic, and antisemitic utterances, and refers to “Satan worshipping pedophiles'”, who are out to bring Donald Trump down, and also brandishes a rifle, and promotes all kinds of lunatic conspiracy theories in a reckless manner.

She makes crazies like Louie Gohmert of Texas, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Devin Nunes of California appear, by comparison to her, to be “moderates”!

QAnon has spread like wildfire on Facebook groups, and is seen by some as a religious cult, with no interest in fact checking or any sense of accuracy. Greene will become a total nightmare for a party which already is too much oriented toward extremist right wing fringe elements.

The “Red State” Governors Presiding Over Major Disaster Because Of Refusal To Enforce Mask And Other Limits: The Downfall Of Trump Strongholds!

What began as a primarily “Blue State” health crisis has now hit Southern and Western states, what are known as “Red States”, as hard, and in many cases, harder than New York and New Jersey and other states that vote Democratic.

The governors of these states, particularly Brian Kemp of Georgia, Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas, and Doug Ducey of Arizona, can be blamed for this by their lax policies on dealing with the CoronaVirus Pandemic.

This is specifically the issue of face masks being mandated, and since they have not been, the disease has spread like wildfire, causing mass loss of life, and alarming increases in cases.

Donald Trump’s refusal to set a national standard is also causing this crisis, which will destroy the Trump reelection bid, but he has refused, as them, to promote a unified approach.

Donald Trump strongholds will see many Trump supporters dying, but sadly, also those who hate Trump and the Republican Party.

But the Republican Party will pay the price in the fall and in the future, as it now seems possible Trump will lose all of these four states, and also Senate and House seats.

People suffering and dying is not a winning strategy for the Republican Party, which could now be called the Party of Death, not of Life!