L-R Former Vice President Joe Biden, Donald Trump From CBS News:
In the final stretch of the campaign, we find three Southern battlegrounds that could still go either way. Our estimates show Joe Biden with just a two-point edge over President Trump in Florida, Biden up four points in North Carolina, and the contest even in Georgia.
Millions have already voted and many others say they’ve already decided.
While early voters in each state told us they substantially favored Biden, those who have not yet voted heavily favor Mr. Trump, setting up a key turnout test running now through Election Day for both parties.
Sixty-one percent of people who already voted said they voted for Biden while 59 percent of those who haven’t yet said they were in favor of Trump.
This post is not to insinuate Biden has this in the bag. It’s meant to encourage everyone to vote, vote, vote, because we’re in this to win. (graphics via CBS News)
(screen capture) ‘The Village People’ (Kenan Thompson, Mikey Day, Beck Bennett, Chris Redd, Bowen Yang) stopped by SNL’s Weekend Update to address Donald Trump using their music at his rallies. Earlier this week, video clips of the Trumpster ‘dancing’ (kinda, sorta, ish) to their disco hit “YMCA” made their way onto the interwebs becoming a source for numerous viral memes. For months now, recording artists like Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Phil Collins and even Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber have publicly asked the Trump camp to stop using their music at campaign rallies. Tony Award-winner Betty Buckley recently fired off an epic takedown of the Donald after learning her recording of “Memory” was being played at Trump events.
Academy Award winner Meryl Streep Alan Alda, Annette Bening, Meryl Streep, and Glenn Close offer a reading from Trumpty Dumpty Wanted A Crown by film star John Lithgow. From the YouTube page:
John Lithgow presents a 21-episode video series based on the poetry in his book, TRUMPTY DUMPTY WANTED A CROWN: Verses for a Despotic Age—starring 19 luminaries from the acting, literary, and political spheres.
Covering Trump’s impeachment, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement, and much more, Lithgow’s new book arrives at a time when we need it most. With the 2020 election looming, it’s important to remember all of the atrocities of the past four years—and to do everything we can to prevent more.
As Lithgow says, “I wrote this book to make you laugh, to make you mad, and to make you remember… and maybe also to make you vote.”
The Trump campaign and the Nevada GOP are attempting to stop the count of mail-in ballots in my home city of Las Vegas (Democratic stronghold Clark County) by suing the Nevada secretary of state and Clark County registrar on Friday. From The Hill:
The lawsuit, filed less than two weeks before the Nov. 3 elections, says observers cannot get close enough to workers and machines as they tally votes in Nevada’s largest and most Democratic county, which includes the city of Las Vegas.
Republicans are arguing that observers cannot confirm that votes get second- and third-step validation, warning that the situation runs the risk of permitting fraudulent votes from being tabulated.
Judge James Wilson in Carson City later decided to not issue an immediate order to stop the count but did schedule a hearing on the issue set to take place next Wednesday.
The Nevada Democratic Party dismissed the lawsuit as an effort by Republicans to suppress the vote, casting it as a “desperate play.”
“This lawsuit from Trump and Republicans is nothing more than an obvious attempt to impede record-breaking momentum in Clark County, the most diverse county in the state,” said Nevada State Democratic Party Chairman William McCurdy. “The demands articulated in the GOP’s lawsuit amount to voter suppression, plain and simple.”
Currently, 516,000+ ballots have been cast in Nevada in the 2020 general election. As you can see via the Secretary of State’s website, Democrats are voting by mail at more than twice the rate of Republicans. • 304,448 mail-in ballots – 160,125 received from registered Democrats; 74,384 from registered Republicans; 69,939 Other • 211,930 in-person votes have been cast – 70,504 by registered Democrats; 99,808 by registered Republicans; 41,618 Other
A small group of Log Cabin Republicans and other quislings made their way up to San Vicente Boulevard to Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood last night chanting “gays for Trump, gays for Trump.” Hardly a face mask in sight – which is local ordinance – but who’s surprised?
From the educational video Voting Is Sexy (screen caps) So, I’ve been serving up news, polling, debate recaps – what else can I do to make sure you vote? How about a voting PSA from semi-naked folks? Via Grindr:
You know what really turns us on? Democracy. Watch your faves detail just how horny their constitutional right makes them and head to http://headcount.org/pride to register, check your status, and Grind the Vote.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden (screen capture)NowThis News serves up the “Top Moments” from the final presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle:
From Donald Trump comparing himself to Abraham Lincoln to Joe Biden blasting the president’s COVID-19 response, here are some of the biggest moments of the final 2020 presidential debate.
The last presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was a lot less chaotic than the first.
Still, there were some big standout moments throughout the night, such as Donald Trump saying he was the ‘least racist person’ in the room and Joe Biden talking about the government’s coronavirus response.
Three quick real-time polls all showed most folks felt Joe Biden, as with the first presidential debate, came out on top. From the NY Times: This time, the instant polls had a consistent and clear story: Mr. Biden won the debate by a double-digit margin.If the results in the chart look familiar, that’s because they’re reminiscent of many national survey results we’ve seen over the last month. You could interpret that to mean that the debate was more or less a draw on the merits, with most Biden supporters concluding that Mr. Biden won, and vice versa for the Trump supporters.Indeed, the CNN/SSRS poll didn’t find that either candidate improved his favorability rating compared with interviews conducted before the debate.
Donald Trump on 60 Minutes (screen capture) Donald Trump followed through on his threat to release the “full video” of his interview with CBS News journalist Leslie Stahl prior to airing on “60 Minutes” on Sunday night. From the Washington Post:
Trump was interviewed by Stahl at the White House on Tuesday but abruptly ended the interview after declining to participate in a scheduled walk-and-talk that would have included Pence.
Later that day, the president said on Twitter that he was “considering” posting the White House’s copy of the video, “so that everybody can get a glimpse of what a FAKE and BIASED interview is all about.”
Then, on Thursday morning, after he again teased a release of the video (“the vicious attempted ‘takeout” interview of me”), a 37-minute-clip of the interview appeared on the president’s Facebook page.
As with numerous business agreements in his past, Trump violates the agreement with CBS News in releasing the video. The White House had previously claimed their camera was “for archival purposes only,” according to a network official with knowledge of the interview.
Donald Trump stormed out of his 60 Minutes interview because Lesley Stahl asked him tough questions.
And he admitted that.
And then he posted the footage thinking it made him look good.
Grilled by Stahl about the irresponsibility of holding huge rallies that make a mockery of public health precautions during a pandemic, Trump has no defense other than insulting her and lying pic.twitter.com/UowM4rRrjE
Trump's 60 Minutes interview with Lesley Stahl ended with him whining about her asking him tough questions and storming out in a huff pic.twitter.com/zuiwYpKnFb
Tony Award winner and proud Texas Democrat Betty Buckley (photo: John Boal) Do not mess with Broadway legend Betty Buckley. She. Will. Call. You. Out. Buckley, a proud Texas Democrat, became aware that the Trump campaign has been playing the recording of her Tony Award-winning performance of “Memory” from CATS at the Donald’s rallies. Months ago, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Trump campaign asking that his music not be played at the events, but was clearly ignored. And so, the mighty Ms. Buckley has now fired off an open letter to the Trump/Pence campaign demanding they cease and desist using her music. “We must insist that you stop this misappropriation of music and performance that has nothing to do with the representation of your regime. Your presidency, completely devoid of empathy or humanity, is the very antithesis of art.” She goes on to note his “disastrous mishandling of the pandemic” which is responsible for closing down Broadway and theaters across the country as well as his “super spreader events” which are “undoubtedly exacerbating the problem.” Buckley also underscores the many artists who, like her, have asked that their music not be associated with Trump’s “deplorable mendacity and ill behavior.” Among those musicians are Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Phil Collins and many more. The star closes her epic takedown writing, “The good news is that we, the voters, have the ultimate say. We will reject you at the polls, and by January the utter hell of your presidency, your criminal enablers and regime will be nothing more than a (wait for it) memory.” Buckley recently produced a new music video in which she sings a beautiful medley of “For the Beauty of the Earth / Jesus Loves the Little Children” with the School of Arts & Enterprise Virtual Choir in a gorgeous arrangement by longtime collaborator Christian Jacob. The video was created to promote social justice, turn out voters in her home state, and encourage donations for the American Civil Liberties Union, Save The Children, Black Lives Matter, and Voto Latino. In a statement, Buckley shared:
“I grew up as a military brat on Air Force bases around the World. My Father Ernest Buckley was a Major turned Lt. Colonel in the United States Air Force. Kids of every race and color were my classmates and our neighbors.
“When I was in the fifth grade my father retired from the military, and we settled in Fort Worth, Texas. Every Sunday morning we went to the Methodist Church. I sang in the Youth Choir on Sunday evenings. ‘For The Beauty Of The Earth’ is one of my favorite, most beloved hymns. I learned ‘Jesus Loves The Little Children’ when I was very young at Vacation Bible School.
“It is my hope that via the remembrance of the simple truths contained in the beautiful music and lyrics of these two traditional hymns some persons will feel a call to a soul remembrance of Truth. And it is my hope that the gorgeous faces and voices of the Children of the School of Arts and Enterprise will touch hearts and minds to remember our connected humanity.
“These children, their teachers and families did these recordings from their homes. Over 200 people have participated in creating this project. If this music and the images in this video touch one person, ten or one hundred, it will have been worth it.”
Watch and listen to Buckley’s hymns for humanity below. #Bravo
A new campaign ad for Joe Biden premiered on Tuesday during the first game of the Major League Baseball World Series featuring a voiceover from iconic film actor, Sam Elliott. Titled “Go From There,” the voiceover plays out over a simple piano accompaniment of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” The message of the spot: “There is only one America.” “No Democratic rivers, no Republican mountains, just this great land and all that’s possible on it with a fresh start. Cures we can find, futures we can shape, work to reward, dignity to protect.” “There’s so much we can do if we choose to take on problems and not each other.” “Joe Biden doesn’t need everyone in this country to always agree, just to agree we all love this country — and go from there.”
Buckley recently produced a new music video in which she sings a beautiful medley of “For the Beauty of the Earth / Jesus Loves the Little Children” with the School of Arts & Enterprise Virtual Choir in a gorgeous arrangement by longtime collaborator Christian Jacob. The video was created to promote social justice, turn out voters in her home state, and encourage donations for the 