It was a scene right out of "The Apprentice."

Donald Trump was headlining a fundraiser on Wednesday night at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla. But before the dinner began, the former president had some business to take care of: He summoned four Republican Senate candidates vying for Ohio’s open Senate seat for a backroom meeting.

The contenders — former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, former state GOP Chair Jane Timken, technology company executive Bernie Moreno and investment banker Mike Gibbons — had flown down to attend the fundraiser to benefit a Trump-endorsed Ohio candidate looking to oust one of the 10 House Republicans who backed his impeachment. As the candidates mingled during a pre-dinner cocktail reception, one of the president's aides signaled to them that Trump wanted to huddle with them in a room just off the lobby.

What ensued was a 15-minute backroom backbiting session reminiscent of Trump’s reality TV show. Mandel said he was “crushing” Timken in polling. Timken touted her support on the ground thanks to her time as state party chair. Gibbons mentioned how he’d helped Trump’s campaign financially. Moreno noted that his daughter had worked on Trump’s 2020 campaign.

The scene illustrated what has become a central dynamic in the nascent 2022 race. In virtually every Republican primary, candidates are jockeying, auditioning and fighting for the former president’s backing. Trump has received overtures from a multitude of candidates desperate for his endorsement, something that top Republicans say gives him all-encompassing power to make-or-break the outcome of primaries.

And the former president, as was so often the case during his presidency, has seemed to relish pitting people against one another.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/25/trump-ohio-candidates-478059

Voter suppression is not a thing of the past.

“Things have changed dramatically” in the South, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in 2013 when he authored the majority opinion gutting the Voting Rights Act, ruling that states with a long history of discrimination no longer needed to have changes to their voting procedures approved by the federal government.

Voter suppression in Georgia is Exhibit A for why he is wrong.

After Joe Biden carried the state in November and Black voters turned out in record numbers in the January runoffs to elect Democrat Raphael Warnock as the state’s first Black senator and Democrat Jon Ossoff as the state’s first Jewish senator, Georgia Republicans passed a sweeping rewrite of the state’s election laws on Thursday to make it harder for Democratic constituencies to vote and have their ballots counted.

Though some Georgia Republicans, most notably Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, defended the integrity of the 2020 election, the “Election Integrity Act of 2021” heavily restricts mail ballot drop boxes, adds new ID requirements for mail-in voting, throws out ballots cast in the wrong precincts, and makes it a crime to give voters food and water while they’re waiting in line.

In addition to making it harder to vote, the new law allows the GOP-controlled legislature to appoint a majority of members of the state election board and gives the board the power to take over county election boards, making it easier for Republicans to challenge election results, take over election administration in large Democratic counties, and even decline to certify the results if Democrats win close races—which Trump tried and failed to get the state to do in 2020.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/03/john-roberts-georgia-voting-rights/

If you’ve always wanted to help in feeding the hungry here is your chance.

Forgotten Harvest is looking for volunteers to help with its pop-up pantries throughout the months of March and April.

"We are actively recruiting for volunteer opportunities now that the weather is better and more outdoor opportunities are available," said Chris Ivey, director of marketing and communications for Forgotten Harvest, noting that in all cases, safe social distancing will be practiced.

Volunteers who are scheduled throughout the day help with the distribution of emergency food boxes throughout Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. This is an outside volunteer opportunity.

In addition to food distribution, which includes placing boxes and groceries into trunks, volunteers assist in collecting information and direct traffic.

https://www.macombdaily.com/news/local/forgotten-harvest-in-need-of-volunteers-for-pop-up-pantries/article_11de38b0-8bef-11eb-8fdf-fb59732be2c5.html

Michigan Republicans are crafting plans to work around Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to make changes to the battleground state’s voting laws after losses in the 2020 election.

Ron Weiser, chairman of the Michigan GOP, told the North Oakland Republican Club Thursday night that the party wants to blend together bills proposed in the House and Senate for a petition initiative.

If Republicans gathered enough signatures — more than 340,000 would be needed — the GOP-controlled Legislature could approve the proposal into law without Whitmer being able to veto it.

Senate Republicans unveiled 39 bills Wednesday to require applicants for absentee ballots to present a copy of identification, overhaul large counties’ canvassing boards and bar Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson from sending absentee ballot applications to voters unless they specifically request the applications.

“If that legislation is not passed by our Legislature, which I am sure it will be, but if it’s not signed by the governor, then we have other plans to make sure that it becomes law before 2022,” Weiser said, according to a video posted on social media….

The Senate bills would place restrictions on ballot drop boxes and would bar local governments from providing prepaid postage for absentee ballot return envelopes as some did to encourage participation last year. Another bill would require voters without photo identification to vote through a provisional ballot.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/26/michigan-gop-chairman-plans-go-around-whitmer-voting-law-changes/7010417002/

Despite recent mass shootings, Marjorie Taylor Greene is helping a gun manufacturer promote a controversial AR pistol through a give away on her website.