There’s a line not only at the polls today, but at the grave site of women’s suffragist Susan B. Anthony, where folks are placing “I Voted” stickers on her headstone.
As many know, on November 8, 1872, Susan B. Anthony was arrested for illegally casting a ballot in the presidential election.
All to honor the fact that we are voting today for not only the first female presidential candidate of a major party, but most probably our first female president.
If you want to watch the BIG show tonight with Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi along with Hillary & Bill Clinton, President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Chelsea Clinton, click below.
In addition to the performances, I hear Hillary will make her final pitch to the American people, as well as Presidents Clinton and Obama warning voters about a dangerous Donald Trump.
The North Carolina Republican Party sent out a stunning press release today that literally bragged about it’s success in depressing the black vote this election cycle.
African American Early Voting is down 8.5% from this time in 2012.
A big part of the vote suppression was limiting the early voting methods used most often by African Americans — including eliminating “Souls to the Polls Sunday” and reducing the number of early voting locations.
Check the text of the press release below via Ari Berman:
North Carolina GOP eliminated Sunday voting because “counties with Sunday voting were disproportionately black and Democratic” pic.twitter.com/G55KWY9EKD
CNN’s Anderson Cooper asked Donald Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway about her candidate’s decision to speculate on the recent “Comey Incident” regarding possible new emails found on an aide’s laptop.
(p.s. nothing new was found, greatly disappointing the Trumpsters)
Here’s the text of the interchange:
Anderson: Is it irresponsible if a man who might be president of the United States to speculate about something about which he has no facts?
Conway: Everybody speculated for nine days.
Anderson: If everybody jumped off a bridge it doesn’t mean you should jump off a bridge too.
Conway: I’ll take note of that.
Anderson: Don’t you think it’s irresponsible? Apparently you don’t.
The conversation moved on to recent comments by the Nevada Republican chair who asserted that rules were broken during early voting (don’t worry – they weren’t) for “certain groups.” Of course, what the GOP Chair was talking about was the huge Hispanic turnout on Friday night at a Latino supermarket.
Cooper asked if Conway had any proof that “special favors” were being given to these “certain groups.” Conway admitted she had no proof.
Anderson replied, “Don’t facts matter? If the chairman of the Nevada Republican Party is making this inaccurate claim, that polling places are kept open so a certain group could vote, it was people in line in time to vote. Why imply that it is this certain group?”
The clever and talented Randy Rainbow reminds folks, with this parody of the Mary Poppins classic “Feed The Birds,” that “Trump/Pence is bad.”
Kudos to Randy for his quick, resourceful wit throughout this election cycle. I’ve previously shared his hilarious work here and here and here and here.
Larry Sabato, of University of Virginia’s respected Center for Politics, is predicting Hillary Clinton will become the nation’s 45th president by winning 322 electoral votes, well past the required 270 votes.
“Not even on Clinton’s worst campaign days did we ever have her below 270 electoral votes,” the team at University of Virginia wrote.
The team predicts that Clinton will win Tuesday with 322 electoral votes compared to Trump’s 216 and that the U.S. Senate will be tied 50-50 with Vice President Tim Kaine serving as its tie breaker.
Despite some wobbles along the way, we’ve favored Hillary Clinton as the 45th president of the United States ever since we did our first handicapping of the Clinton vs. Donald Trump matchup back in late March. The edge we had for her back then has eroded a little bit at the end — we had her as high as 352 electoral votes, and in the final tally we have her down to 322, with 216 for Trump. If this is how it turns out, Trump will fare 10 electoral votes better than Mitt Romney, and Clinton will do 10 electoral votes worse than Barack Obama in 2012 — 11 or 12 if rogue Washington electors follow through on their threat to refuse to vote for Clinton (but we can’t assume that at this time).
The two closest states here are North Carolina and Ohio. For a long time, it appeared that Florida was a shakier state for Clinton than the Tar Heel State, but our sources indicate that the Sunshine State looks somewhat brighter for her now, although both should be tight. Meanwhile, Ohio may be a real Toss-up state. Buckeye history and demography point to Trump, but Clinton’s ground operation could come through for her in the end. If Ohio does vote for Trump while he is losing the White House, it will be just the third time in 31 elections that Ohio will have voted for the loser.
Florida may tell us a lot about whether we’re going to have a long night or a short one. About two-thirds of voters will likely have cast their ballots early, so the vote count should not take that long. If Clinton wins the state by two or three points and is declared the victor early on, it’ll be hard to find a plausible path to Trump victory. If Trump captures the state, though, then we’ll have to see if her firewall states, like the aforementioned states of Michigan, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania, as well as Colorado, Nevada, and Virginia, come through for her.
[snip]
Overall, we’re picking a net gain of four for Democrats in the Senate, which results in a 50-50 tie in Congress’ upper chamber. If we’re right about the presidential contest, that means Vice President Tim Kaine (D) will be breaking ties after Inauguration. Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-VA) would appoint Kaine’s replacement in the Senate (long-serving Rep. Bobby Scott, an African American, is the likeliest choice)
From a legendary journalist who’s seen more than his fair share of elections, Dan Rather pens this essay as the end of Campaign 2016 looms on the horizon.
A shameful campaign winds up with a shameful final chapter. How fitting. How disappointing. And how rallying it must be for us to strive for a far different national narrative going forward. After bombshell headlines by FBI Director James Comey – it’s, oh nevermind. But we should mind – very much. And we shouldn’t forget.
I suspect we shall hear a lot of, “oh nevermind” after November 8.
From GOP supporters of Donald Trump who backed him for a cynical political calculus – they may want to say nevermind. But we should mind – and not forget.
From far too many of the press who gave Trump an open mic and treated his many serious transgressions with indifference and false equivalence – they may want to say nevermind. But we should mind – and not forget.
From those who whipped up xenophobia and misogyny in the name of rallying the base – they may want to say nevermind. But we should mind – and not forget.
From those who suppressed the vote and were called out on it – they may say nevermind. But we should mind – and not forget.
From those who fanned the flames of lies and persecuted the truth – they may want to say nevermind. But we should mind – and not forget.
I suspect historians will find fault with many and virtue with few when they look back at this election. But let us not descend into cynicism. The future of this country is indeed at stake. But even with the vote on November 8, the chapters of our American story will be written in ink not yet dry. Our destiny will depend on how we act going forward. Will we buy into the “nevermind” crowd, or will we resolve, together, to demand better of our elected officials, our press, and ourselves?
Hillary Clinton makes her final appeal of the presidential campaign with a call to action for all Americans – “Tomorrow.” No flash, no fancy editing. Just a personal, positive appeal from her to us.
Hillary reminds us that this isn’t about her name on the ballot, it’s about what kind of country we want for the nation’s children and children to come.
Saying she would be a president for all, she calls for hope and inclusion: “I believe in our people. I love this country. And, I’m convinced our best days are still ahead of us if we reach for them together.”
“So tonight, I’m asking for your vote. And tomorrow, let’s make history together.”
According to campaign officials, the two-minute ad (her first) will run nationally during the two network television shows with the largest Monday audience, The Voice on NBC, and Kevin Can Wait on CBS.
Emerson College Polling predicts that Hillary Clinton will win the White House in a landslide victory.
Using polling results from it’s own recent surveys plus polling averages from RealClearPolitics for state where they did not poll, the pollsters project that Hillary will win 323 votes in the Electoral College, leaving Donald Trump only 215 votes.
This matches just about where most pundits were predicting before the “Comey Intrusion” ten days ago.
Additionally, the prediction says Democrats will prevail in at least four Senate races which would be enough for the Dems to regain control of the Senate, with Vice-President Kaine to vote as tie-breaker.
Emerson College shows the Democrat will win the Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri and Pennsylvania Senate races, as well as retain retiring Sen. Harry Reid’s seat in Nevada.
