US Election Week 2020

[The Larch]

So, what's the point of this? Is there any long term goal to it?

Trump Campaign to Run Ads Promoting Effort to Overturn Election

TV campaign begins as Trump has repeatedly failed in court
Commercial repeats debunked claims in Pennsylvania, Georgia

President Donald Trump's campaign plans to buy ads on unspecified cable television networks to promote his effort to overturn the election he lost, highlighting claims that have been refuted by elections officials and dismissed by judges across the country.

One commercial claims that mail-in ballots were "a recipe for fraud" and urges viewers to "contact your legislators today." Trump has sought to persuade Republican state lawmakers in several battleground states to override voters and award him their states' Electoral College votes.

The campaign did not say in a release how much it would spend on the ads or which networks would run them. Trump and the Republican Party have raised about $208 million since the election. The campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday evening.

One ad shows footage of ballots being pulled from under a table at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, where ballots were counted as a narrator decries "suitcases of ballots added in secret in Georgia."

But Gabriel Sterling, Georgia's Republican election system manager, has said the "suitcases" were standard ballot-handling boxes and that the video was innocent. The entire video shows election workers had been preparing to go home and had packed up uncounted ballots for the night, before being told they had to stay and keep counting, Sterling has said.

The commercial also highlights "poll watchers denied access in Pennsylvania," part of the Trump campaign's complaint that Republican observers weren't allowed to monitor the counting of mail-in ballots in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Yet Republicans never provided evidence of actual fraud that would justify invalidating legally cast votes, just complaints that observers were kept too far away. While observers were kept behind barriers at a distance in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the state's elections code doesn't specify how close they are allowed and that county officials have discretion in setting the limit.

The president and his allies have failed in courts across the country to convince judges that their claims of a fraudulent election have merit. Attorney General William Barr has said the Department of Justice hasn't seen evidence of widespread fraud in the election.

On Friday night, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid by Texas and Trump to nullify the election results in four pivotal states.

[The Brain]

So, what's the point of this? Is there any long term goal to it?

Trump personally thinks that accepting defeat in the election would make him look like a pathetic weakling, and that this campaign makes him look like a strongman who goes 15 rounds if necessary. For Republicans it's part of their effort to dismantle democracy in America. If, when it's all done, a significant part of the country thinks that the 2020 election was an evil coup orchestrated by Jews and Latin American countries then that's a good foundation for their continuing efforts in the years to come. As for why Republicans want to end democracy... I don't know exactly, but it may be tied to their strong anti-American feelings and Putin worship.

[katmai]

To keep getting money from the dip shits who are gullible enough to believe him

[Malthus]

I assume it is mostly just a grift game - get the suckers to donate money to a cause that cannot succeed.

However, there is also an element of preparing the ground for more serious fights to overturn close elections in the future. They are conditioning their "tribe" to not abide by the norms of democracy (to accept defeat in the hopes of doing better in the future).

[Solmyr]

Over on The_Donald, they seem to think that the next stage is Trump using the military to establish martial law and thus having his legal cases heard in military courts.

[Admiral Yi]

I just learned that Biden spent 60% more than Trump, and Democrats overall spent 80% more than Republicans on their campaigns.

[Malicious Intent]

Trumpists turning on the GOP:

https://twitter.com/BilancieriNews/status/1337991688942481411

[Darth Wagtaros]

I just learned that Biden spent 60% more than Trump, and Democrats overall spent 80% more than Republicans on their campaigns.

They spent it all on fixing the vote and stealing the election from good honest hardworking americans and only a commie would sayotherwise because the Party is always right

[Zanza]

I just learned that Biden spent 60% more than Trump, and Democrats overall spent 80% more than Republicans on their campaigns.

The Republicans worked hard to make American democracy purchasable for those with the deepest pockets, so they should welcome this.

[DGuller]

Trumpists turning on the GOP:

https://twitter.com/BilancieriNews/status/1337991688942481411

Ironically, it looks like those who have fomented the revolt had the revolt turn on them.  Has this ever happened in history before?

[The Brain]

Trumpists turning on the GOP:

https://twitter.com/BilancieriNews/status/1337991688942481411

These last years they were off? Fuck.

[grumbler]

I just learned that Biden spent 60% more than Trump, and Democrats overall spent 80% more than Republicans on their campaigns.

The FEC filings say that Trump and the RNC spent $1.91 billion, and Biden DNC spent $1.68 billion, per NPR (https://www.npr.org/2020/05/20/858347477/money-tracker-how-much-trump-and-biden-have-raised-in-the-2020-election).

If you look just at the Presidential Campaign Committee numbers, it's Trump $208 million to Biden $272 million (31% more than Trump).

The Democrats overall spent $5.5. billion (excluding the $1.4 billion Steyer and Bloomberg spent on themselves) to the Republicans $3.8 billion, per CRP (https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/10/cost-of-2020-election-14billion-update/.  That's a 45% spending advantage.  The Democrats have never had a fundraiser as effective as Trump.

I assume you meant that you "learned" your numbers from right-wing media.

[Razgovory]

You know, you can contest facts without being a total dick about it.

[Habbaku]

He actually can't.

[Valmy]

Over on The_Donald, they seem to think that the next stage is Trump using the military to establish martial law and thus having his legal cases heard in military courts.

And then the military courts still throw out the cases for lack of evidence.