Pence opens presidential bid with denunciation of Trump over Jan. 6 insurrection and abortion
Source: AP
By JILL COLVIN and THOMAS BEAUMONT 13 minutes ago
ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — Former Vice President Mike Pence opened his bid for the Republican nomination for president Wednesday with a firm denunciation of former President Donald Trump, accusing his two-time running mate of abandoning conservative principles and being guilty of dereliction of duty on Jan. 6, 2021.
Pence, launching his campaign in a suburb of Des Moines, became the first vice president in modern history to challenge the president under whom he served. He said Trump had disqualified himself when he insisted that Pence had the power to keep him in office — even though he did not.
Trump, he said, “endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol” on the 6th. “But the American people deserve to know that on that day, President Trump also demanded I choose between him and our Constitution. Now voters will be faced with the same choice.”
“I believe anyone that puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States, and anyone who asks someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the United Sates again,” he said.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum jumps into crowded Republican race for president
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a former software entrepreneur who enacted a slate of laws this year advancing conservative policies on culture war issues, highlighted his small-town roots and business experience as he announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday.
Burgum, 66, joins a long list of contenders hoping to dent former President Donald Trump’s early lead in the race. The governor of the nation’s fourth-least populous state kicked off his campaign in Fargo, near the tiny farm town of Arthur where he grew up.
“Small-town values have guided me my entire life,” Burgum told the crowd. “And frankly, big cities could use more ideas and more values from small towns right now.”
Burgum spoke under a sign declaring him “A new leader for a changing economy,” echoing a slogan from his successful 2016 gubernatorial campaign. Reelected in 2020, he’s eligible to run for a third time in 2024.
weatheriscool wrote: ↑Thu Jun 08, 2023 1:05 am
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum jumps into crowded Republican race for president
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a former software entrepreneur who enacted a slate of laws this year advancing conservative policies on culture war issues, highlighted his small-town roots and business experience as he announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday.
Burgum, 66, joins a long list of contenders hoping to dent former President Donald Trump’s early lead in the race. The governor of the nation’s fourth-least populous state kicked off his campaign in Fargo, near the tiny farm town of Arthur where he grew up.
“Small-town values have guided me my entire life,” Burgum told the crowd. “And frankly, big cities could use more ideas and more values from small towns right now.”
Burgum spoke under a sign declaring him “A new leader for a changing economy,” echoing a slogan from his successful 2016 gubernatorial campaign. Reelected in 2020, he’s eligible to run for a third time in 2024.
Makes me laugh these announcements by unknowns who clearly are not going to win and don't have the clout to push for VP or a cabinet position. They must have extraordinary levels of vanity.
What the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act Opinion Means for 2024—and Beyond by Pema Levy
June 9, 2023
Introduction:
(Mother Jones) The Supreme Court’s surprise ruling upholding the use of the Voting Rights Act in cases challenging political maps is likely to affect the 2024 elections and beyond—though how big the impact will be depends on how quickly courts across the country move in multiple cases challenging racial gerrymandering schemes.
Thursday’s opinion in Allen v. Milligan came out of Alabama, where civil rights groups alleged that the Voting Rights Act required the state two draw two districts where Black voters are likely to elect their preferred candidate instead of just one. And it is there where the case will have its most obvious effect. “Black voters in Alabama are entitled to an additional opportunity district in the upcoming election,” says Yurij Rudensky, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice.
In Louisiana and Georgia, similar cases brought by civil rights groups and voters targeting maps enacted by Republican legislatures were awaiting Milligan‘s outcome. Now that the Alabama case has been decided in favor of the maps’ challengers, it is likely that both Louisiana and even Georgia could see new maps in 2024. If they do, each state could end up with an additional congressional seat with a large African-American population that would favor Democrats.
Most (61%) of Republican primary voters say that their view of Trump doesn't change based on the indictment. However, of those who say it does change their view of Trump, twice as many think it is a GOOD thing. 14% say it changes their view of Trump for the better. Only 7% view it as an actual negative thing, lol.
80% of Republican primary voters think that Trump should be able to be President even if convicted:
An overwhelming majority of Republican primary voters think that the indictment is politically motivated:
In sharp contrast to voters overall, most Republican primary voters do not think it is a risk to national security to keep nuclear documents and military war plans in unsecured locations and to show them to people without security clearances:
Kamala Harris to Receive 'Politically Unprecedented' Image Boost Ahead of 2024: Report by Brandon Gage
June 11, 2023
Introduction:
(Alternet) Now that the 2024 election cycle is officially underway, Vice President Kamala Harris is getting an "unprecedented" wave of support to boost her image ahead of the likely rematch between President Joe Biden and indicted former President Donald Trump.
Politico reported on Sunday that EMILY's List "will be spending tens of millions of dollars' to defend and prop up the vice president during the 2024 election."
The move by the pro-choice group, which backs female candidates, "is politically unprecedented," Politico explained. "And it reflects the lack of broader efforts that have been made to date to help bolster the vice president amid persistently low approval ratings."
Because "Harris may play an outsized role in what is sure to be a tough election," Politico noted, "Republican presidential candidates have made it clear they will be using the specter of a Harris presidency as a way to hurt Joe Biden's chances at reelection, particularly by raising questions about his age and capacity for the job."
One unnamed senior GOP strategist told Politico that Harris is "a boogeyman that Republicans can [and will] use when it comes to pushing their message," stressing that Harris' experience makes her a formidable foe.
Takeaways from CNN’s Town Hall with Chris Christie by Eric Bradner
June 13 , 2023
Introduction:
(CNN) Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie laid into Donald Trump in a CNN town hall Monday night, calling the former president “angry” and “vengeful” and accusing him of “vanity run amok” within the event’s opening minutes.
His comments set the tone for the night and made clear that Christie – who leaned into his own record as a former federal prosecutor – sees his role in the 2024 Republican presidential primary as being the chief Trump critic, willing to take on the front-runner while most other contenders duck confrontation.
Christie warned that if Trump wins another term, he would spend those four years focused on “settling scores” with his political enemies.
“He has shown himself, particularly in his post-presidency,” Christie said, “to be completely self-centered, completely self-consumed and doesn’t give a damn about the American people, in my point of view.”
He called Trump a “loser” and a “child,” comparing the former president’s refusal to accept his defeat for reelection in 2020 to a blame-deflecting tantrum from a child who had failed a test at school.
“President Biden is expected to be endorsed by the AFL-CIO this week ahead of a Saturday union rally in Philadelphia, according to people familiar with the process, marking the earliest presidential endorsement in the labor federation’s history as the two major parties battle over working-class voters,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The AFL-CIO, which includes 60 unions representing more than 12.5 million workers across a host of industries and the public sector, has long supported Democratic presidents and presidential nominees. While its support of Biden has been widely anticipated, the endorsement will land more than 16 months before the 2024 election, and at the start of the Republican presidential primaries.”
A new Morning Consult poll finds that in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s federal criminal indictment, his lead in the Republican presidential primary is now the largest to date — more than tripling Ron DeSantis’s support, 59% to 19%.
Being “Woke” is an American Value by Jim Hightower
June 14, 2023
Introduction:
(Other Words) As Scottish literary giant Robert Burns wrote, “The best-laid schemes of mice and men / Go oft awry.”
His 1785 poem, titled “To A Mouse,” could be directed today at the right-wing sloganeers who’ve been scheming so furiously to turn their hokey “woke” snobbery into a winning political stratagem.
“Your local librarian is woke!” they screech. “So is Disney, Inc.! Some of your churches, too, plus all Democrats, and — OMG — even Bud Light!” Wokeism is the Red Scare, Welfare Queen, and Willy Horton rolled into one, forming the main “issue” of Republicans now running for president, Congress, and dogcatcher.
But rather than getting defensive, insisting you are not woke, consider firing back by saying, “Of course I’m woke!”
For the great majority of Americans, being “woke” is a very positive characteristic — it means simply that you’re awake, attentive to what’s going on. Indeed, in Black communities, “stay woke” has long meant staying alert to racial and social injustices.
Tennessee lawmakers expelled for gun protests victorious in special primary elections
Two Tennessee state lawmakers who were expelled from the state legislature earlier this year for protesting gun violence on the House floor easily won their special primary elections on Thursday.
State Rep. Justin Jones ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination in his Nashville-area district, while state Rep. Justin Pearson sailed to victory over challenger David Page in the Democratic special primary for his Memphis-area district.
Pearson garnered more than 94 percent of the votes, according to Decision Desk HQ.
“The first wave of votes are in and WE WON!!!” Pearson tweeted. “We are now officially the Democratic candidate for the General Election in District 86!! #PeoplePower did this!! Let’s keep going!!!”
The Tennessee House of Representatives, which is controlled by a Republican supermajority, voted to expel Jones and Pearson from the chamber in early April.
