May 24-26, 2020
May 24 03:08 What is Tim Walz afraid of? May 24 04:39 Is there a red wave building? May 24 12:23 Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden, "You ain't black enough" edition May 24 18:25 What will Joe Biden do, Amy Klobuchar as VP pick edition May 25 10:19 The Democrats' disunity dilemma May 26 04:26 What the Minnesota Poll shows May 26 10:35 Biden campaign update
Prior Years:
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
What is Tim Walz afraid of?
Powerlineblog's Scott Johnson has a bunch of pointed questions that he'd like to ask Gov. Tim Walz. The bad news is that Gov. Walz isn't interested in answering difficult questions that doesn't have a good answer to. The worse news is that the DFL legislature is acting as Gov. Walz's Praetorian guard. The DFL House won't untighten the controls so real reporters who would ask difficult questions can ask those difficult questions:
The Washington Free Beacon's Collin Anderson reports on my exclusion from the daily COVID-19 press briefings by the state authorities in 'Minnesota governor stonewalls conservative journalist.' Working on the story, Collin elicited statements from the governor's office and from the Minnesota Department of Health regarding my exclusion. By contrast, my inquiries have elicited the sound of silence, so we're getting somewhere.
Collin forwarded the responses to his inquiries for my comments. Walz's office sent a message explaining that "the Governor's press conferences are covered by the Minnesota Capitol Press Corps, a dozen media outlets that are credentialed by the Minnesota State Legislature, rent office space in the Minnesota Capitol building, and routinely cover state government."
What is Tim Walz trying to hide? Why is he afraid of answering difficult questions? If your policies are right, there isn't a reason to be worried about the questions.
Thus far, though, Gov. Walz has had to be dragged kicking and screaming into every major decision. He hasn't done things proactively. The DFL governor has been reactive with each major policy reversal.
The fact that Gov. Walz hasn't made any confident-looking major COVID-19 decisions signals that he wouldn't want to answer Scott's questions. That's because Scott's questions wouldn't be softballs, though they might include follow-up questions that were tougher than the introductory questions. Gov. Walz is like the general in this MASH episode:
[Video no longer available]
The general's famous final words were "Just wait a minute. This is a press conference. The last thing I want to do is answer a lot of questions." I'm betting heavily that Tim Walz identifies with that general from MASH. It's one thing to get asked softball questions from KARE11, MPR, the Strib or KSTP. That's easy. It's another to take questions from Alpha News or Powerline. Then again, most citizens would ask better questions than the Twin Cities media on the subject of COVID.
Let's settle this. Scott Johnson and Kevin Roche have done fantastic work on the topic of COVID-19, though that's been mostly because of their tenacity. It isn't like Gov. Walz has helped whatsoever.
Two months ago, protesters pushed Gov. Walz into changing policies with their protests. It's time to push Gov. Walz into other policy changes. Perhaps, we'll see more capitulations by Gov. Walz like this :
Through consultation with Minnesota faith leaders, the Minnesota Department of Health has developed additional guidance for faith-based communities, places of worship, and services. Starting May 27, places of worship may open at 25 percent occupancy if they adhere to social distancing and other public health guidelines to keep congregants safe.
"I have had many meaningful conversations with faith leaders over the last few weeks," Governor Walz said. "From a personal and public health perspective, the decision around places of worship has been a challenging one since the beginning of the pandemic. We know large gatherings of people raise the risk of spreading COVID-19. We also know worship is an essential part of many Minnesotans' lives, including mine."
GOV. WALZ TRANSLATION: After President Trump pulled the rug out from underneath me, I've had to modify my policy. My initial policy didn't make any sense but now it's totally indefensible. Churches are now open.
Seriously, Gov. Walz has, once again, gotten dragged kicking and screaming into a decision he didn't want to make. Perhaps that's why he doesn't want to answer Scott Johnson's and Kevin Roche's questions.
Posted Sunday, May 24, 2020 3:08 AM
No comments.
Is there a red wave building?
In this post , I wrote about how Republicans won 2 special elections to fill empty congressional seats. Mike Garcia flipped the empty seat in California while Tom Tiffany held Sean Duffy's seat in Wisconsin. This morning, I'm writing about something should scare the daylights out of Democrats. I'm writing about the city council races in Staunton, Virginia .
It isn't just that Republicans swept the races. It's the fashion in which they won that should frighten Democrats. According to the article, "The last Staunton election for all four members was in 2016 in which fewer than 7,000 votes were cast." That was then. This is now:
More than 17,000 votes were cast in the election in which all four council members were vying to protect their seats.
That's just the start of it. This isn't what people were expecting:
Noting the eye-popping voter turnout, Graham credited Democrats for getting more votes than they did in the last cycle. However, Republican voters left no chance for defeat, with a turnout "more akin to, not quite a presidential year, but approaching gubernatorial their rivals at polls," according to Graham.
DC Republicans are worried about a blue sweep this November. It's undisputed that there will be some tough fights to maintain control of the Senate and take away Pelosi's Speaker Gavel, though I'm not quite as worried about Joe Biden's vice president running the nation. While the polls show one thing, the vote totals say another thing. The question I'd ask the DC GOP geniuses is this: does anyone think that Gov. Whitmer's executive actions and Gov. Wolf's corruption in Pennsylvania will cause GOP turnout to increase or increase by orders of magnitude?
Waves happen when people are upset, not when they're happy. While it still remains to be seen how deep the frustration goes, it's clear that the frustration is with the Democrat governors, not with President Trump. Truckers are rallying in front of the White House:
[Video no longer available]
These protesters aren't rallying in Gov. Whitmer's favor:
[Video no longer available]
This video is brief but powerful:
[Video no longer available]
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that these events aren't working in the Democrats' favor. These people aren't mad as hell. They're downright pissed and they aren't taking it anymore. Whenever Democrats retake control, they overstep their mandate by orders of magnitude. It's as predictable as the sun rising in the east. This video is inspiring and infuriating:
[Video no longer available]
Watch the entire thing. It's worth it. PS- There weren't any undecideds at that protest/rally. I don't have as much data as I'd like but the trend is clearly in one direction. HINT: it isn't pointing in the direction of a blue wave.
Posted Sunday, May 24, 2020 4:39 AM
No comments.
Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden, "You ain't black enough" edition
John James' op-ed highlights how upset James is with Joe Biden's disrespectful statement that "If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, you ain't black." Biden's statement was thoroughly disrespectful but that didn't prevent Democrats from spinning the incident.
Sheila Jackson-Lee told Bret Baier that Joe Biden had said this offensive line in jest but that it didn't turn out as funny as they'd hoped. There's just one problem with that statement. Biden issued a statement an hour earlier that essentially apologized to black voters. As for Biden's record vs. President Trump's record towards African-Americans, Biden should tread lightly. Biden authored the 1994 crime bill, which led to the mass incarceration of African-Americans. Another part of that bill was the 3 strikes law, which also disproportionately hurt African-Americans. Finally, income inequality between communities of color and whites increased. That isn't a record to be proud of.
By comparison, President Trump's economic policies reduced the gap in incomes between African-Americans and whites. Trump's policies also led to the lowest minority unemployment rates in our nation's history. While those are significant accomplishments that've improved the lives of African-Americans, they aren't the pinnacle of Trump accomplishments towards the African-American community.
This ad, featuring Alice Johnson, blows away all of Biden's accomplishments:
[Video no longer available]
To Vice President Biden, if you think that your record of mass incarcerations of African-Americans is a positive, especially compared with President Trump's reversal of those evils, then your moral compass is worthless. Here's something worth considering from John James' op-ed:
Do leaders of the Democratic Party really think they "own" the black vote? Will anyone from the Democratic Party call out Joe Biden? Will my opponent in Michigan's U.S. Senate race, Sen. Gary Peters? After 30 years of rank-and-file partisanship as a career politician, I suspect he won't.
This isn't just a Joe Biden problem. It's a white Democrat problem. This is important, too:
Biden's views have been exposed and stand in stark contrast to President Trump, who visited Michigan Thursday and actually listened to the needs of black people from black people.
On his visit the president asked black community leaders what we need to deal with COVID-19 , a disease that has unmasked long-standing inequities in black communities. I was there, joining in advocating for jobs and training to build up our black communities and the entire state of Michigan.
The biggest difference between President Trump and Joe Biden is that President Trump listens to people. Joe Biden doesn't. Biden is an arrogant bastard. Shame on him.
Posted Sunday, May 24, 2020 12:23 PM
Comment 1 by eric z at 25-May-20 10:16 AM
"Biden is an arrogant bastard. Shame on him." Yes, Gary, and Donald J. Trump ever so clearly to every human on earth shows such a staggering lack of arrogance, that we wonder at it every day. Jarad being the only human less arrogant.
What will Joe Biden do, Amy Klobuchar as VP pick edition
This article highlights the pickle that Joe Biden is in. If he picks Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar as his running mate, there's a strong probability he'd lose the election. If you think that sounds a little hyperbolic, consider the pickle that Biden currently finds himself in.
Late this week, Biden went on the Breakfast Club, then dissed the African-American community by saying that "If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, you ain't black." If you want to drive down minority turnout, that's an effective way of doing it. Though Sheila Jackson-Lee defended him, Ms. Jackson-Lee didn't have much company.
Apparently, people from the community have a problem with Sen. Klobuchar:
The Minnesota Democrat would "risk losing the very base the Democrats need to win," said Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, according to Politico.
"It comes from her performance in the primary - her weakness in being able to motivate them," BlackPAC executive director Adrianne Shropshire said. "The engagement and the enthusiasm of black voters is going to be a difference-maker in this election, and the concerns about her in this role stem from the degree to which she resonated or not with those core constituencies."
Compare that message to what's transpiring in this video:
[Video no longer available]
It's obvious that President Trump won't win a majority of the African-American vote. He doesn't have to. In Michigan, Rep. Karen Whitsett, a Democrat, sat down with President Trump, HUD Secretary Ben Carson and John James, a Republican African-American candidate for the US Senate, during a meeting in Detroit. During the meeting, Rep. Whitsett proposed an idea that caught President Trump's attention when she said it'd be great to open an HBCU in Detroit.
President Trump just signed legislation providing additional funding for HBCUs so he thought that would be possible. He then suggested that Rep. Whitsett work with John James on that issue. Rep. Whitsett agreed to do that, adding that "John will get it done."
BONUS QUESTION: Does that make Republican John James black enough in Biden's opinion? Perhaps, only Biden's leg hair stylist knows for sure.
The serious question facing Mr. Biden is whether he can sufficiently energize the African-American base to win this election. At this point, that's a major question for his campaign. I'm not sure if they even know.
Posted Sunday, May 24, 2020 6:25 PM
Comment 1 by eric z at 25-May-20 10:10 AM
While not knowing what an HBCU is, and not taking time to separately Google it; here is wishing you, Gary, a good Memorial Day, however you spend the time.
Presuming a Klobuchar pick, her dreadful lack of any progressive, non-Republican lite policy thinking would make your post somewhat irrelevant. She'd sink the ship on that situation. Yes, an honest and sincere politician, which is a rare combination. But that "eve of South Carolina" coordinated primary withdrawal also rankles greatly among progressives; but fits ambition, and tepid policy chops.
SO - Why do you think Biden will pick Amy? Because Strib speculates it, plugging the hometown product to boost readership, or is there more? Or is it just a "what if" post while thinking it unlikely?
Yes, Biden might. But it might interest other readers too if you were to consider: What would you see as strengths and weaknesses if he goes for the other ex-prosecutor, Harris?
Response 1.1 by Gary Gross at 25-May-20 03:36 PM
HBCU = Historically Black Colleges & Universities. Think Grambling, Morgan State, Winston-Salem, etc.
FYI- I don't think he'll pick Klobuchar because she adds anything to a terrible ticket.
The Democrats' disunity dilemma
Perhaps, Joe Biden shouldn't think that he's got the Democrats' base solidified. After reading this article , it's clear that his base is split and likely unenthusiastic. By comparison, President Trump's base is fired up and waiting instructions. Check this out:
Noting the eye-popping voter turnout, Graham credited Democrats for getting more votes than they did in the last cycle. However, Republican voters left no chance for defeat, with a turnout " more akin to, not quite a presidential year , but approaching gubernatorial their rivals at polls ," according to Graham. More than 17,000 votes were cast in the election in which all four council members were vying to protect their seats.
That's in Virginia. If Biden loses Virginia but flips Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, Trump still wins. That's a heads-I-win-tails-you-lose situation.
Mrs. Whitsett praised the president at the White House after she recovered from COVID-19 after taking hydroxychloroquine, a decades-old treatment for malaria and lupus that Mr. Trump has touted as a prophylactic or treatment for coronavirus.
Last week, Michigan Democrats censured her:
As a result of her White House appearance, a Michigan Democratic organization censured her. Last week, Mrs. Whitsett filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and several other Democrats, claiming violations of free speech and defamation.
Mrs. Whitsett's praise for President Trump represents the Democrats' worst nightmare. She's African-American, urban and willing to challenge her party elders in a swing state. If that doesn't represent the Democrats' nightmare trifecta, what does? If the Democrats want a future, they need someone this articulate, this sensible:
[Video no longer available]
Unfortunately, Rep. Whitsett isn't considered leftist enough. She'd likely be called Republican lite or something similar to that.
In Pennsylvania, county Democratic leaders rose up to castigate the party's highest-ranking politician, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. They also slammed Rep. Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who led the impeachment effort against Mr. Trump. It is part of a "Democrats for Trump movement," according to a Washington Post report, that is causing headaches for the party's county and state leaders in the Keystone State.
I've been operating from the position that this election won't be about right vs. left as much as it'll be adults vs. children. Joe Biden has changed his positions more times than a chameleon changes colors. Why would blue collar Pennsylvania Democrats stick with Biden are he names AOC and Bernie Sanders to co-chair his climate change advisory panel? That's like waving a red flag in front of a bull.
Justin Haskins' article highlights Biden's difficulties:
It's a strategy that has been adopted by virtually every U.S. presidential candidate in modern history: During the primaries, candidates appeal to their base, but after capturing a party's nomination, campaigns move to the political center to win over undecided voters.
But in this unconventional cycle, Joe Biden is being forced to throw conventional campaigning to the wind. Instead of positioning himself as a centrist, Biden is choosing to move further to the left than ever before to satisfy the demands of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and his radical base of dissatisfied progressives and "Bernie bro" socialists who hate the Democratic Party establishment almost as much as they do free-market capitalism.
Biden is frightened by the prospect of a Bernie Bro rebellion. This means that the Obama coalition is dead. I can't imagine socialism appealing to affluent suburban voters.
Further, it's impossible for me to think that the Green New Deal will appeal to Blue Collar America. That's like a pale of cold water on a hot fire. While it might not put the fire out, it'll stop it from burning hot. This isn't the way to unite Democrats. It's a way to split it in two for a generation.
That's a Democrat dilemma.
Posted Monday, May 25, 2020 10:19 AM
No comments.
What the Minnesota Poll shows
Despite DFL Gov. Tim Walz's total failure during the COVID-19 crisis, his approval has increased . While that's disappointing, it's understandable. Because the Twin Cities media hasn't asked Gov. Walz a single hard-hitting question, much less a difficult follow-up question, all Gov. Walz has to do is not totally disintegrate to have his approval improve.
To the Twin Cities media, it isn't relevant that hundreds of lives have needlessly been lost in long-term care facilities. The Minnesota Department of Health, aka MDH, can be utterly incompetent but that apparently doesn't impact Gov. Walz's approval rating, either. Who cares that 500,000 Minnesotans have lost their jobs as a direct result of Gov. Walz's tight-fisted lockdown order? After all, they're just jobs. It isn't like they're important to people.
Gov. Walz is still letting COVID patients into nursing homes. That's led to a high percentage of COVID-related deaths coming from long-term care (LTC) facilities. Unfortunately, that's the only category Minnesota leads in.
Minnesota's economy is tattered. The percentage of COVID-related deaths in LTC facilities is the highest in the nation. Gov. Walz's orders have been supported by the DFL. Most importantly, those policies haven't worked. Some policies have been reversed just days after implementation. Bankruptcies are increasing rapidly. Life savings have gotten lost. Family businesses have gotten shut down.
What part of that sounds like something worthy of a 65% approval rating? It sounds more worthy of a 35% approval rating. Gov. Walz is a failure from a medical and financial standpoint. He's especially failed from a constitutional standpoint. Initially, Gov. Walz "had said churches would have to wait before reopening for large, in-person services until subsequent phases in his reopening process, but gave no date for when that would happen." This past Saturday, he changed his mind. Perhaps this is why:
A U.S. District Court judge in Minnesota will conduct a hearing Tuesday about a temporary restraining order on behalf of Minnesota churches to suspend enforcement of Minnesota's Stay Safe MN order as it relates to religious services. The telephone hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday. It will address the Governor's current phase of the Stay Safe MN order, which restricts church services to 10 people or fewer.
Check out this headline :
Gov. Tim Walz to let Minnesota churches open at 25% occupancy
This is why the Twin Cities media constantly doesn't understand the Constitution. Gov. Walz isn't letting anything. He's being forced into changing because that's what the Constitution requires. When you have constitutionally illiterate idiots writing things like that, it isn't surprising that Gov. Walz isn't getting asked difficult questions.
[Video no longer available]
Equal application of the law is essential. Gov. Walz failed that test. I'm not surprised.
Posted Tuesday, May 26, 2020 4:26 AM
No comments.
Biden campaign update
The Biden campaign hasn't gotten tested much thus far. It's beginning to show. Between the podcasts from hell to the interview from hell, it's clear that Sleepy Joe will need tons of help between now and Election Day. Forget about the national polls showing Biden leading Trump. Forget about the battleground polls that show Biden ahead. They aren't junk polls but they aren't predictive, either.
This article frightens the Biden campaign. That's because of this information:
A new Quinnipiac poll shows that 81 percent of African-Americans support Biden. If that seems high, remember that Clinton won 88 percent of the black vote in 2016 and lost the election. African-American turnout was also down in 2016. In other words, Biden must turn out more black voters than did Hillary and win a larger percentage of their votes. Biden can't win with 81 percent of a tepid African-American turnout, and his campaign knows it.
This is why the enthusiasm gap matters. In this instance, if President Trump gets 1 in 5 African-American voters and turnout is mediocre, that'll turn into a Trump trounce of Biden. Whether Trump can pull that off remains to be seen. If Trump increases his percentage of the African-American vote from 8% in 2016 to 12% in 2020, then Trump gets re-elected easily.
Sunday morning, Charlamagne was asked on MSNBC if he believed that this was the Democratic attitude:
I know that's the attitude. That's why I don't even care about the words and the lip service.: It has to come to the point where we stop putting the burden on black voters to show up for Democrats and start putting the burden on Democrats to show up for black voters.: They have to worry about voter depression, people staying home on Election Day because they just aren't enthused by the candidate.: You can't act like this is the most important election ever but run a campaign from your basement, not make some real policy commitments to the black community, and not listen to some of the demands that the black community is making.
Charlamagne doesn't speak for the entire African-American community but he's listened to by a big portion of the African-American community. At this point, Biden is light years away from locking down their enthusiastic support.
[Video no longer available]
The Biden campaign isn't ready for the African-American community making demands in exchange for their votes. Biden didn't hide the fact that he thought his past record was sufficient. Charlamagne's attitude was kinda a version of 'what have you done for me lately?' That isn't what the Biden campaign is prepared for.
Posted Tuesday, May 26, 2020 10:35 AM
No comments.
