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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEARLY VOTING SUGGESTS BIDEN IS GOING TO ANNIHILATE TRUMP, AND THE GOP IS SOILING ITSELF - VF
Posting this with a warning. Don't even begin to think this is over with all the crap they are going to try and pull. Get out and vote and get everyone and their grandmothers to the polls.
Vanity Fair Magazine
The presidents attacks on mail-in voting are backfiring spectacularly.
BY BESS LEVIN
SEPTEMBER 30, 2020
If youve turned on a TV, radio, phone, or computer in the last several months, odds are youve heard Donald Trump ranting about how mail-in voting is rife with fraud. Obviously hes taking this approach not because he actually thinks thats the casehe and the first lady requested mail-in ballots to vote in Floridas primarybut because hes trying to sow fear in the system and undermine the election. And so far, its working! While Republicans once had an edge in requesting mail-in ballots, the president seems to have successfully scared off his own supporters. Now, Democrats ballot requests are reportedly surging ahead in key battleground states, making Republicans more than a little bit anxious.
The Washington Post reports that the Democratic voters who have requested mail-in ballots and sent them back greatly outnumber Republicans in states such as Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maine, and Iowa. A similar trend is apparently occurring in Ohio, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin, and GOP leaders and strategists are freaking out. The disparity has reportedly been the subject of urgent discussions among GOP officials, who are stunn[ed] by the margins and fear the news is not just bad for Trump but for other Republicans on the ballot. While the party is said to be focused on voter turnout on Election Day itself, Whit Ayers, a longtime Republican pollster, told the Post the fear is that older voters, who typically support Republicans, are concerned about being infected with COVID-19 and could choose to stay home if the pandemic intensifies in the run-up to November 3 (which would be yet another reason not to cast a ballot for Trump, whose handling of the crisis has been shambolic at best).
While theyd likely never say it in public, privately, officials know they have the president to thank for the skewed numbers when it comes to mail-in ballots, and Republicans have spent the last few months frantically trying to clean up the mess:
...several Republicans acknowledged privately that there is little upside for their party in the numbersand said they are working feverishly to reverse the trend with a last-minute press with voters. Its astronomical, said one Republican strategist involved in Senate races who said he was horrified by the discrepancy and, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal concerns. You see these numbers in a state like North Carolina, and how can you not be concerned?
The issue is reportedly of such concern that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has twice met with Trump to urge him to shut the hell up with his talk of fraud and rigged elections. And while hes clearly been unable to get through to the guy, Republicans have a not-so-secret weapon theyre prepared to deploy should Bidens edge continue through election day:
More: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/09/donald-trump-joe-biden-early-voting?fbclid=IwAR1e1NEWj3PfSdqYgQE-AUznFexX2NofIm6aWxEr13oGnTQpVLrVDk7MDio
Blue Owl
(50,348 posts)n/t
madaboutharry
(40,205 posts)Not one single mail in ballot has been sent back in Iowa. The ballots wont even be sent out to voters until Oct. 5th. What is the case is that there is a huge number of requests for mail in ballots.
regnaD kciN
(26,044 posts)..so it really doesn't mean much in terms of final totals (although it might contribute to a "red mirage" in states that don't start even verifying mail-in ballots until Election Day.
Quixote1818
(28,928 posts)Maybe the weather will be bad, maybe they just decide they don't want to wait in line etc. As the saying goes, a bird in the hand is worth two in a bush and if it's close just 1 in 100 staying home is enough to change the outcome.